Friends of the Earth has called for the 15c levy on plastic bags to be doubled. On the the fourth anniversary of its introduction analysis of Department of the Environment figures shows the number of bags being bought is rising steadily. After the plastic bag tax was introduced on 4th March 2002 the number of bags being put into circulation fell dramatically with visible environmental benefits. In the first year after the introduction of the 15c levy just under 90 million bags were bought by the public and this fell to less than 85 million in 2003. But since then the number has been on the up again, to 100 million in 2004 and at least 113 million in 2005, a rise of over a third. read full story / add a comment

International Women’s Day Protest
Wednesday 8th March protest begins at 4.00pm

Holywood Arches

At the junction of the Holywood Rd and Newtownards Road (close to Connswater Shopping Centre)

Belfast
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Every International Women's Day since 2000, women in over 60 countries have taken all kinds of grassroots actions to demand that society Invest in Caring Not Killing, and that the money squandered on war is spent instead on what our communities need, beginning with the needs of women the first carers on whom everyone else depends.

We invite you again to take action together in the 7th Global Women's Strike on or around 8 March.
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A comrade from NEFAC (North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists) is currently visiting Ireland.

Come along to hear about the political situation in the States and Canada and how and what anarchists are doing ... read full story / add a comment

Two US soldiers - Frank Corcoran (Vietnam Veterans Against War) and Benjamin Hart Viges (Iraq Veterans Against the War). will speak in Cork this Wednesday as part of a national speaking tour organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement.

Details are as follows......

UCC Meeting
Wed March 8th 1PM
"Musrea" room in the Students Centre, UCC

Town Meeting
Wed 8th March 8PM
Spailpin Fanach, South Main Street

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In a striking departure from customary practice, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday 3 March attempted to abolish the Danish principle of freedom of information by charging award-winning journalist Bo Elkjær a fee for copying documents requested under the Danish Open Administration Act. In return, Elkjær accuses the ministry of conducting “considerations of matters of principle” and charging fees that have no basis in the legislation, in an attempt to obstruct his access to official documents concerning Denmark’s invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In January, 2004, Elkjær was awarded the prestigious Cavling Prize, Denmark’s most coveted award for journalism, for his work in exposing the misinformation and disinformation with which the Danish government succeeded in gaining support for the ill-fated invasion of Iraq. Denmark has approximately 500 troops in the British-controlled area of southern Iraq.

The foreign ministry has blacklisted Elkjær, rejecting his frequent requests for an interview with Conservative foreign minister Per Stig Møller. In January this year, the ministry nevertheless reassured Elkjær that he was entitled to seek access to documents in accordance with the Danish freedom of information act, or Open Administration Act. But, following a period of “considerations of matters of principle”, the ministry has now demanded that Elkjær sign an undertaking to pay for each document copied.

Elkjær greets this latest attempt to obstruct his access to information with derision: “Have you gone stark raving mad?” he asks chief clerk Thomas Winkler and other staff at the ministry.

Elkjær points out that the Danish Open Administration Act – in stark contrast to the Irish legislation – makes no provision to charge journalists a fee for copying official documents.

Please read the dramatically entertaining exchange between Elkjær and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in translation below. read full story / add a comment

Speaking to a meeting of 76 ambassadors in Copenhagen on Friday 3 March, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen deplored the publication of twelve cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper last September and asserted that Danish freedom of expression is tempered with tolerance and respect for different religions.

Up to very recently, referring to freedom of expression as “the very foundation of Danish society”, Danish prime minister and minister for the press Anders Fogh Rasmussen had refused to meet with a group of Muslim ambassadors to discuss what they perceive as an “ongoing smear campaign” against Islam.

The ambassadors quote four instances where Danish politicians and media have expressed hatred for Muslims:
Speaking two months before the publication of the controversial Muhammad cartoons, radio host Kaj Vilhelmsen suggested that Islamic terrorism could only be combated by expelling or killing Muslims.
Writing on her website two weeks before the cartoons were published, member of parliament for the Danish People’s Party Louise Frevert compared “the Muslim menace” with “a tumour which we know will kill us, if we don’t find and annihilate it ...”
In a speech at the Conservative Party’s national conference six days before the Muhammad cartoons were published, Minister for Culture Brian Mikkelsen accused Muslims of developing a “parallel society” within Denmark, “where minorities practise their medieval norms and undemocratic ways of thinking.”
And, of course, there are the infamous cartoons themselves, published in Jyllands-Posten on 30 September last. The text of the accompanying article states explicitly that the cartoons were commissioned specifically to offend against the Islamic taboo on depicting the Prophet – and not, for example, to tackle the issue of terrorism.

Please read the excerpts from the website of the Danish national broadcasting station, DR, and from the centre-left daily, Politiken, in translation: read full story / add a comment

According to the Irish Times two protesters who sued the State and Garda Commissioner for assault following the reclaim the streets protest three years ago have settled out of court. No details were disclosed. read full story / add a comment

From WCR 11. We don't usually print articles from WCR so soon after publication but in light of requests made in the wake of the rioting in Dublin sparked by an attempted Love Ulster rally we are making this article available online at this time.
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discuss links between women from different background living in Dublin Inner City read full story / add a comment

A response to a Martin Mansergh article in the irish Times read full story / add a comment

Two Respect Councillors resign read full story / add a comment

The 7pm Radio 1, news bulletin announced that a major security operation is being mounted this evening/night in advance of the expected arrival of Air Force One and Bush "in the early hours of tomorrow morning".

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Yes folks its true -

The wonderful people at Lismullen Institute (Opus Dei school) in the middle of the sacred valley of the Royal City of Tara are to give a lecture entitled - “The Gabhra Valley through the centuries to 2000AD. read full story / add a comment

One of the biggest lies to emerge over the year was the lie that nuclear power is the solution to the problems of climate change. read full story / add a comment

over 1000 irish people have blogs read full story / add a comment

held at the Helen Roe Theatre, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
on Thursday March 9th 2006.
Dr's Edel Breathnach Joe Fenwick, Conor Newman and Mary Deevy
from the NRA will speak.
Full programme and info: http:// www.hilloftara.info
RSAI: 01-6761749 read full story / add a comment

Bush is not very good at anything, with that fact the world is fully acquainted, however, even the lowliest morons are usually good liars but recent video evidence has proven that Bush is not even skilled in the lowly art of lying. All doubts regarding Bush’s prior knowledge of the magnitude and destructive impact expected of Katrina have been dispelled by the release of video evidence clearly portraying Bush in full knowledge of the then pending emergency. We leave the pathological problem of Bush and the lying neo-cons in the incapable hands of the American people; the Bush regime is internationally known as the most deceitful and tawdry in American history. Good luck doodles, China and Russia could not hope for better! read full story / add a comment

Two Labour Party councillors in Stoke -on-Trent have resigned and joined the Socialist Party in response to threatened disciplinary action over their refusal to support budget cuts. read full story / add a comment

The annual Seán Keenan Commemoration will be held on Sunday, March 5 at the monument in Fahan Street (opposite Free Derry Wall) at 3p.m.

Speaker: Mary Ward
Chairperson: Michael McGonagle read full story / add a comment