An Annual event for the past 12 years, the Ecotopia-Biketour takes place in a different region of Europe each year. This year the Celtic-Safari Biketour will bring young people from all over europe to cycle from Dover (England, 10th July) across England and Wales to Dublin and on to Clare. En-Route it will promote grasroots solutions to climate change and sustainable transport. The bike tour is also seeking to link with local campaigns - contact:Britain  Ireland  Bike Tour Site

Ecotopia is a gathering of people from all over Europe, and beyond, who are interested in environmental and social change. Ecotopia 2002 will be a two-week environmental festival taking place in Clare, South West Ireland. The campsite is on the shores of Lough Derg in an 83 acre broadleaf woodland with clearings for camping, dining and workshops. People from all over Ireland and Europe will travel to this beautifully scenic place to take part in workshops, discussion groups, talks and activities covering a wide range of issues.

The theme of this years gathering is Conflict Resolution and thus workshops on this will be held throughout. Many other issues will also be covered.

Read more

Timetable of Ectopia Workshops

Available On Web Now Through Indymedia

After two tribunals, numerous trips to the High Court and a further delay to allow for printing, the Ansbacher Report, detailing suspected tax evasion, illegal banking operations and numerous breaches of company law right up to the 1990s, and pointing the finger at builders, bankers, restaurant owners and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, was finally published. It stretches to ten thousand pages and comes in two large boxes. A CD-ROM version was also made available, at a cost of E25.40.

The vast majority of official reports are now made freely available online, for example the benchmarking report. However, the Director of Corporate Enforcement (Paul Appelby) decided not to publish the report on the Web, due to fears over the State being sued in other jurisdictions for defamation - if this was to happen, it would mean a serious restriction on the freedom of the media and even sovereign Governments to report on controversial issues.

You can read the full report online for free, by clicking here. Some sections to note are the conclusions of the inspectors and of course the infamous "list of names", published on the newswire.

The Dáil has been recalled to discuss the report. None of the people or corporations named in the report have been tried before a court, however the Socialist Workers' Party have called for the Ansbacher Gang to be jailed. The Director of Corporate Enforcement in a press release was not willing to commit to any particular course of legal action, and fears are growing that, as was the case with the Beef Tribunal, no prosecutions will follow. Charles Haughey, the subject of much criticism (1) in the inspector's report (2), had a previous trial suspended when his lawyers argued that the statements of Mary Harney and the SWP contributed to a climate where a fair trial would be impossible. The commercial media have reported on the findings in depth, with many journalists writing that those who are alleged to have evaded tax were innocently "caught up" in the illegal banking scheme run by Ansbacher and Haughey's accountant, the late Des Traynor.

(1) Point 3.11, at page 59
(2) Appendix 54

Read the report now!

Last Sunday, the 7th of July, a crowd of 100,000 gathered at the Salthill Air Show. Treated to a display of military prowess billed as the 'greatest free show in Europe', the crowd 'ooh'd' and 'aah'd' as Hercules helicopters, F-15s and a B1 bomber streaked overhead. Defending the air show, The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, who opened proceedings, announced that allowing military aircraft to entertain crowds was not a breach of Irish Neutrality (see Irish Times article). The Galway Anti-War Alliance disagree. They made a loud and vocal protest at the show, airing their contempt for aircraft like the B-1, and pointing out that the price of one B-1 could provide clean water to several thousand villages in the third world (see their press release).

There are allegations that Irish neutrality, which the government claim they are protecting in the current round of Nice treaty negotiations, has been quietly eroded for years now. US military aircraft have been landing in Shannon, refueling, and taking off for the Middle East since the Gulf War (report). Since September 11th the amount of US military traffic coming through Shannon has dramatically increased (reports 1, 2, 3). No longer content with simply refueling they are now carrying out training exercises, something that is mostly unreported in our mainstream news.

The Irish government's claims that these are merely transport aircraft rings false with reported sightings of F-16s and AC-130s landing at the airport. It was an AC-130, which bombed the wedding party in Kandihar last week.

Limerick is several thousand miles from Afghanistan, but it is clear that there are ties between the quiet comings and goings in Shannon and America's 'War on Terror'. Our government is loudly fighting to secure Irish neutrality at the EU summit in Seville, and at the same time quietly breaching our neutrality daily in Shannon.

Related link: Refueling for peace

The situation in Palestine has become more and more extreme in the last couple of weeks. Reports are emerging regularly which detail the use of mass internment against Palestinian civilians living in refugee camps. Many Israelis and foreign observers have been taken aback at the dark symbolism of reports of internees having numbers printed on their skin.

Meanwhile the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the targeting of Palestinian militants for extra-judicial executions continues despite the arrival of an American peace envoy. A series of shocking photographs of such a killing have been relesed in the last few days. It is all depressingly reminiscent of events in Northern Ireland during the early days of the 'troubles'.

IMC Israel is an excellent source of detailed on-the-ground reports of events as they unfold and shows that the Israeli support for the murderous military campaign against the Intifada is anything but monolithic. Up to 250 Israeli Army Reservists have refused to serve beyond the 1967 borders. Objectors are ending up in Israeli prisons as a result of their protests. Another 2,795 Israeli civilians have declared their support for the Reservists on a second strongly worded document that said: "Since we understand that the missions of occupation and oppression do not serve Israel's defense, we express our solidarity with all those who refuse to engage in them."

Perhaps the most disturbing reports are those which indicate that a large proportion of Israels Jewish citizens are in favour of some kind of ethnic cleansing of the occupied territories.

Reports from IMC Palestine are also regularly posted on the site.

Background information and ongoing analysis of the situation can be found in the Middle East Watch section of Znet

Bank Holiday Monday: up to 1000 people partied hard on the streets of Dublin on the south side of the River Liffey along Burgh Quay and George's Quay. The east end of the quay at Butt Bridge was blocked and at 3pm the party was in full swing with three sound systems, capoeira, football, twister, dancing, bongoing, cheering and guerrilla gardening. As a disused car was pushed onto the street the Gardai made their first attack, arresting 2 or3 people including one on crutches. After 2-3 hours of partying the crowd disbanded into smaller groups, one making its way towards Dame St. and then Civic Offices, Wood Quay. The Gardai then continued attacks with batons, injuring many including children and passers-by and making over 20 arrests. There have been many accusations from all sides of overuse of excessive force by Gardai, and of removing their numbers in order to be anonymous.

New: RTS Legal Update
A meeting of the Legal Defense Group will take place on on Wednesday 29th May - all those who were beaten or charged are invited.
Reclaim the Streets information on legal situation. See also reports of treatment of people who have made complaints: 1   2

Photos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Audio Video
Full reports of street party + violent aftermath: 1 2 3 4 5

Censoring the media: This photo sequence shows indymedia camerapeople being prevented from filming. Also a camera battery was taken from an Indymedia journalist and an Irish Independent photographer was arrested

Statements from Reclaim the Streets: 1   2   3

Legal Defense Group
A legal defense group has been set up to deal with issues arising from the behaviour of the Gardai, and a solicitor has been retained to persue legal action against them. All those who were assaulted by the Gardai, or witnessed an assault, are being urged to make contact.
Meeting on Wednesday 29th May