John Howard arrives in Ireland on Saturday on a four day trip where he will address the Dail and meet key business and political leaders. It is his first visit to Ireland since he was first elected Prime Minister of Australia ten years ago and one he sees as important because of 'the historical and sentimental links between the two countries'.

Howard is currently swamped in controversy surrounding kick-backs to Saddam Hussein, state treatment of Aboriginal peoples and Refugees, his support for George Bush and his decision to send the Navy to East Timor. As he is met by anti-war protesters in Washington, Irish activists are preparing their own welcome for this notorious war monger. ... read full story / add a comment

Short commemorative article on the Irishmen of the International Brigades
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Critics of Hugo Chavez have renewed their charges of authoritarianism against the Venezuelan leader. How well do these claims stand up? ... read full story / add a comment

Susan McKay’s article in the Weekend Review section of the Irish Times (May 13 2006 - see link below) explains the background to the unionist sectarian killing of Michael McIlveen in Ballymena. In this DUP heartland over 90% of the sectarian attacks are unionist.

The PSNI calls this sectarianism that is almost universally unionist a “two way thing”. Ian Paisley wants “all sides” to “pull back”. Instead of examining whether unionist ideology is in any way at fault, Paisley warns nationalists in an insulting and bullying manner not to turn the issue into a “political football”. ... read full story / add a comment

Nowadays none of us want to believe that we are living - or struggling to live - in a "top-down" patriarchal society. ... read full story / add a comment

Review:
Eoin O’Duffy – A Self-Made Hero by Fearghal McGarry, Oxford University Press, 2005, €35/£25

Fearghal McGarry first made his mark as a historian with Irish Politics and the Spanish Civil War (1999), described by me as “the definitive textbook on the subject” in the Fall 2003 issue of Irish Literary Supplement. This was in the context of a review of his second book, Frank Ryan (2002), a biography criticised as both disappointing and sensationalist, with little evidence of the depth of research and analysis required to do justice to its subject. The hope was nonetheless expressed that the author’s future work would demonstrate a return to the “high standards of scholarship, balanced presentation and conscientious evaluation” that he had previously shown. ... read full story / add a comment

CORK COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS
May Day commemorations

by MANUS O’RIORDAN

HEAD OF RESEARCH SIPTU
Metropole Hotel, Cork
MAY 2nd, 2006

James Connolly “Be Moderate”:

“Some men faint-hearted ever seek
Our Programme to retouch
And will insist when e’er they speak
That we demand too much.
‘Tis passing strange, yet I declare
Such statements cause me mirth,
For our demands most modest are:
We only want the Earth!

PHOTOGRAPH
COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESS ON JAMES CONNOLLY AND TERENCE McSWINEY BY MANUS O'RIORDAN ON EASTER SUNDAY 2006 AT THE FORTRESS OF CASTELL DE SANT FERNAN, FIGUERES, CATALONIA. (see linked story) ... read full story / add a comment

Ward Churchill of AIM talking about Sinn Fein?--poor Gerry Adams, Native Americans Continue the Struggle and wonder why while they Watch Sinn Fein Sell out for Glory and the Pound

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A “special all-day debate” on European issues is to be held in the Dáil Eireann, on 10th May. But it’s unlikely that CIA torture flights will be mentioned or indeed the fact that (unelected) EU foreign policy chief claims that he knows nothing or has no power to ask countries about the flights. Or the fact that EU governments, including Ireland's, are covering up the truth.

And meanwhile, the US claims that rendition is a well-established procedure that has no connection with torture. It all depends on your definition it seems. "'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.' ... read full story / add a comment

Chapter VII from Book II

A very short chapter that looks at illogical relationships proposed and adopted by Science. Explores Artificial Intelligence and takes a swipe at the Turing Test. ... read full story / add a comment

mp3 12 mins 128kbps phone interview with Jim Loughran on Human Rights abuses in Mexico and on the nature of Amnesty International as an organisation.

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Oscar Arias has entered history as the first Nobel Laureate ( Peace prize 1987) to be president of a nation twice.

Chavez doesn't like him nor will he ask the Iranians to help him exploit his natural resources.
This is because Costa Rica has very little on the natural resources side.

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mp3 22 mins 128kbps interview

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Quotation: Fr. John Powell
'A growing person is self-renewing.......as new as each new day....Study his face and hands, listen to his voice....look for change.....It is certain that he has changed.

'To tell you my thoughts is to locate myself in a category. To tell you about my feelings is to tell you about me'...............Have we lost this capacity to share feelings!!!!!! ... read full story / add a comment

25 years ago today after a hunger strike of 66 days, Robert Gerard Sands more commonly known as Bobby Sands died. He had been born on the 9th of March 1954 and was only 27 when he died.

He was serving a 14 year sentance for possession of firearms, a pistol which had been found in car in which he and 4 others had been travelling. His trial in 1977 saw other charges relating to a bomb which had been planted nearby the car dropped for lack of evidence. It was not his first experience of imprisonment. He had joined the IRA in 1972 and that same year been interned and held without trial till 1976. Of his 27 years' life, only 17 were spent in freedom.

Ireland as they say - was different then. ... read full story / add a comment

An investigation of government and Garda Siochana policies on bullying and harrassment within the Gardai ... read full story / add a comment

Recent events in Iraq, Denmark, Paris and many other countries demonstrate the power of conviction as a motivator for action. When that conviction lacks the mollifying factor of “perspective” it can motivate actions that are destructive for the person and the community at large. ... read full story / add a comment

The recent controversy concerning names not included on the voting register prompted me to ask how democratic are our elected representatives?
!. People can personate and vote more than once.
2.People who believe themselves to be registered are turned away from the polling booths or told their vote is in Tipperary or whatever and who go away without casting their vote.
Since fewer and fewer people vote and Governments are elected with smaller and smaller majorities then how many of us vote or more importantly don't vote for them.
Remember they make descisions that affect our lives from everything from how much you pay to get rid of your rubbish to how long you spend on a plastic chair in a hospital A & E not directly mind but by not providing enough money for those services.
So Don't whinge and decide I won't vote because they're all crooks (I'm sure a lot of them are) But then VOTE AGAINST rather than for.
If you are dissillusioned with a particular party or individual politician don't just not bother to vote VOTE AGAINST them.
Vote for any independent candidate or party standing agaimst them.
Vote for the guy standing on the pot holes or the lDog poo on the street ticket, vote for the person in the Gorilla suit but VOTE otherwise the people who want the current policies of Look after the Rich (Mainly the Rich themselves and some poor fools who think being able to put a deposit on a crumbling pile on the Costa Brava puts them in the Bill Gates bracket) They will romp home again for another constipated five years of more of the same so
Get Registered and VOTE AGAINST. Try it it's more fun than you think. ... read full story / add a comment

The sale of Aer Lingus via flotation on the stock market was given the green light by Irish Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, on Wednesday, 5th April. All but a quarter of the national airline will shortly be up for grabs to the highest bidder. ... read full story / add a comment

It would be hard to beat the condescension of Irish Times editorials most days, but they really excelled themselves yesterday - and on the subject of press freedom, what's more. BTW, we are all now 'citizen journalists' here on Indymedia. ... read full story / add a comment