W O R K E R S Twenty two years of Irish Anarchist News FREE! SOLIDARITY Number 94 Dec 2006

SHELLA consortium of Shell, Statoil, and Mara- ’S COPS! thon do a deal with the government al- lowing them exclusive exploitation rights to the Corrib gas field, off Mayo. Not only that, but they are allowed to write off their costs against taxes, meaning that the whole project is being funded by the PAYE taxpayer, who will receive noth- ing, not even lower gas prices. It may sound a bit iffy but there is no garda in- vestigation into possible bribery or cor- ruption. The locals in Rossport have a problem with a high-pressure gas pipeline going close to their homes, and want the gas re- fined offshore instead. That shouldn’t be a problem, Shell can well afford it, last year they made a profit of !2.39 million every single hour. But the companies don’t care and the government, after ‘listening’ and ‘con- sulting’, takes the side of big business. Above: Gardai film peaceful picketers in Rossport pic:indymedia So the locals, having petitioned, lobbied and pleaded, decide they have no option Of course not. Their one initiative was of Shell is more important the needs of left but to obstruct construction of the to appoint former Dublin City Manag- working families? In a capitalist so- pipeline and refinery. er, John Fitzgerald, to “co-ordinate ini- ciety those with capital (and oil & gas tiatives at tackling social exclusion in giants have shedloads of it) come first. The government springs into action, Moyross”. This is the man who was in It’s not called capitalism for nothing. ‘law and order’ must be upheld. Over a charge when anti-bin tax activists were hundred gardai are sent to this sparsely jailed. He was also the one who tried The gardai sometimes do a good job, populated rural community. Locals are to ban postering, so that only those rich putting drunk drivers off the road is provoked, called names, pushed about. enough to buy newspaper ads could ad- one example. Sometimes they do a bad They have never experienced anything vertise their events. one, like the Donegal frame-ups. And like this before. sometimes they do a deadly one, like He will ‘consult’, publish expensive re- the unexplained deaths of Brian Ros- Meanwhile, down in Limerick residents ports, and tell us that things are getting siter and Terence Wheelock in garda of Moyross have been subjected to in- better. His job is not to do anything stations. timidation, arson and shootouts between much, just to make it look as if the gov- gangs of drug dealers. This has gone on ernment ‘cares’. If the government get Whatever your experience of them is, for years. Has the government done any- around to doing anything useful it will it is clear that their main and most im- thing to uphold ‘law and order’ there? be because they feel under pressure, portant function is not upholding some Have they moved in hundreds of gardai not because they care. If they cared impartial ‘law and order’, but uphold- to close down the gangs? Have they put they would have done it already. ing the power and privilege of the mil- in cash for education and jobs to provide lionaires. a future for young people? Should we be surprised that the greed

Rossport Seomra Clandestines state defiance Spraoi book review social space NEWSPAPER OF ANARCHISTS IN IRELAND Anarchism & Ecology Workers Struggle Anarchist Ideas book review contract workers on organisation Rossport: In Defiance of the State The month of October saw the com- where a teacher is involved in the cam- munity of Rossport occupied by the paign, for two hours. Gardai Siochana. This occupation is the State response to a commu- This accompanied the daily assault of com- nity trying to protect themselves munity members as they tried to peace- against Shell: a multinational with fully protest. The media were more than a track record for maltreating com- willing to aid the gardai when they printed munities which they operate in. stories claiming that the local community were the ones harassing people. In Erris the State coldly laid its relationship to big business bare for all to see. The po- The most interesting aspect of this cam- lice came in with clear orders to brutalise paign has been the community reaction to the community. The gardai have shown in it. Many of us imagined we would back Donegal and Dublin’s inner city that they down in the face of such might against us. are more than able for such a task. They However the community has not been in- have lived up to this reputation in Erris. timidated. They have turned out day af- ter day to protest or blockade against the On the first day in their attempt to break destruction of their community. Indeed, the picket they hospitalised a local teenag- numbers have increased. er and broke the finger of Philip McGrath (one of the Rossport 5). This was followed This is not say people don’t have fears but up with a campaign of harassment, intimi- it shows that the power of capital and cor- Above: A Garda draws his baton pic - indymedia dation and provocation. porations isn’t almighty and through soli- previous isolation from the police. They darity we can help each other overcome have learned the upper class myth that Local people have been continually pho- their harassment. only troublemakers get hassle from the po- tographed, filmed randomly, stopped at lice is untrue. When you interfere, or even checkpoints. This campaign increased The community is now aware of the state’s threaten to interfere, with the status quo - in its ferocity from Monday October 9th. potential to escalate the situation. They be that to blockade Shell or just question This saw police patrol small villages of have learned this the hard way due to the the orders of those in power - they will use less than ten houses with riot vans. They Erris com- force, legal or illegal, against you. parked outside a local primary school, m u n i - - Sean Mallory t y ’s More at www.wsm.ie/story/1289 Backing from Waterford Council of Trade Unions “On behalf of the Waterford Council of Trade Unions, I would like to offer our sup- port to the Shell to Sea campaign and the people of Rossport who are facing down the might of Shell who are backed to the hilt by the forces of the state...The WCTU has agreed to contact the Irish Congress of Trade Unions requesting that ICTU ask all affiliated unions to ‘black’ the construc- tion of the pipeline to ensure that no trade unionist is party to the despicable actions of Shell.”

At our recent national conference, the Workers Solidarity Movement donated !500 to the Rossport Solidarity Camp. You can donate directly to ‘Rossport Solidarity Camp’ Bank of Ireland account 24306733, sort code 90-52-99 TERROR BOMB PLOT Slaving your life away just so you NOT NEWSWORTHY? On the road with an Irish pirate can make ends meet; having no say in the major decisions that Clandestines, The Diary of an Irish Pirate Exile by Ramor Ryan AK Press !13.45 / £9.00 affect your life; criminal politi- Two men have appeared cians and businessmen plunder- While it can be hard to come across before magistrates accused ing the country. Try to do some- political documents that inspire, en- thing about it and they’ll lock of having “a master plan” tertain and amuse, Ramor Ryan‘s you up. Yes.. after what is believed to be Clandestines succeeds in doing just a record haul of chemicals that. Some may know Ryan from his used in making home-made articles in “We Are Everywhere” and bombs was found in Colne, “Confronting Capitalism” but Clan- destines is his first published book. northern England. Robert It is, for the main part, a travel diary Cottage and David Bolus and a readable mixture of personal were charged with “being in memoir and political essay written Two years after being set possession of an explosive over his many years as an anarchist up, the Private Residential Tenancies Board has still to substance for an unlawful activist. The book covers his jour- neys to a broad gamut of societies prosecute a single owner of purpose”. The 22 chemical in struggle, from Berlin to Northern the estimated 35,000 rented components recovered by Ireland, Nicaragua to Turkey and houses which have not been registered. Chasing down many places in between. police are believed to be the tax dodging landlords does largest haul ever found at a not appear to be a priority. house in England. The book is full of true, fantastic and Above: Ramor at Dublin book launch pic - indymedia Surprise, surprise. at times audacious tales seen through the eyes of an Irish anarchist who is Bagless vacuum cleaner Cottage is an ex-British Na- While the book could have fallen into In Turkey, he finds the volunteers experiencing an irreversibly chang- an unintelligible journal of wholly of the PKK in training, young men inventor James Dyson tional Party member who ing world first hand. The world separated and abstract events, Ryan and women willing to give up their awarded himself a £31.5m sterling payout last year. This stood as a candidate in the Ramor traverses sees the collapse of brings events and people together lives for their idea of a Marxist is the same guy who moved “communism” in Eastern Europe, a and finds a common theme, of the revolution, and a feeling that if Pendle Council elections in his vacuum and washing growing sense of revolution in South shaping of these characters from the world wasn’t ready for revolu- May. A search of Jackson’s America and the birth of a modern machine production to home uncovered rocket the historic and social pressures of a tion they, at least, were. In South Malaysia, because he thinks anti-globalisation movement. While rapidly changing world. America he watched the Sandanis- launchers, chemicals, BNP at all times political yet personal, that British workers are paid tas take power in Nicaragua, while too much. literature and a nuclear bio- Ramor frequently forays into his From the Kurdish guerrillas, to the the FMLN were on the brink of logical suit. relationships with activists, friends Sandanistas, to the female bartender overthrowing the government in The three richest people in and strangers he picks up along the he meets in Cuba, Ramor documents El Salvador and the radical move- the world own assets that way, each who provide the reader exceed the combined Gross If they had been Muslims people and communities coming to ments in Guatemala and Honduras with their personal affections and terms with a new, neo-liberal, world gained ground. Domestic Products of the this story would, no doubt, experiences. order. In Berlin, he experiences the world’s 48 poorest countries, have featured on every TV life of a radical squatter and the reg- Whether read as a travelogue, po- and Forbes Magazine reports that 358 billionaires have a What follows is something that reads ular running battles with local po- litical document or collection of and radio news report, and combined net worth equal to like a modern hybrid of Behan’s Bor- lice associated with it. In Northern nostalgic memoirs, “Clandestines,” in every newspaper. But, the combined income of the stal Boy and the Canterbury Tales, Ireland, he encounters the massacre is a book that anyone with an in- because they are fascists, it with Ramor compiling the charac- bottom 45% of the world’s of mourners at a republican funeral, terest in late 20th Century politics population. was judged not worthy of ters’ stories as he goes along, and us- and a community drawn together to will understand, and enjoy. ing them to meaningful, insightful, more than the briefest men- cope with a violent and sectarian so- At the same time and, at times, touching effect. tion. ciety. - Ciaran Murray approximately one-fifth of the world’s population, over one billion people, earn less than $1.00 a day. This means Dublin gets new radical centre that each day over a billion After more than a year of search- volt Video film collective, as well as collective has constructed a ‘positive people in the world lack basic ing for a suitable venue, the Seomra the regular Thursday assembly of the spaces’ policy which explores these food needs. And each day Spraoi collective has finally taken Seomra Spraoi collective. issues and creates a structure for con- 35,000 children under the possession of a space at 6 Ormond fronting this behaviour as it occurs. age of five die of starvation Quay, across the river from Bono’s But the Seomra is not just about or preventable infectious disease. Clarence Hotel. Despite the long meetings and organisation, it is an With all the positive activity happen- wait, the hard work of the collective ongoing attempt to create a genuine- ing in the Seomra, the future looks Ever wonder what the mega- seems to have paid off, as the Seom- ly free space, organized collectively bright for Dublin’s growing libertar- rich spend their ill-gotten ra’s calendar struggles to fit all those by the people who use it. Part of its ian community. If you wish to par- cash on? How about a car who wish to use the space. Every project is an ongoing attempt to chal- ticipate come to one of the weekly that costs € 436,275. This is week it hosts meetings for the Revo- lenge and overcome oppressive be- meetings, or see seomraspraoi.org the price tag for a Saleen S7. lutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group, haviour such as sexism, racism, and for more details. Or an off-the-peg “Newman” Anarchist Prisoner Support, the Re- hetero-sexism. In order to do so, the - Ronan Above: Seomra Spraoi suit, which sells for €2099, though made-to-measures A apparently can reach €2725. Anarchism and the WSM The Workers Solidarity Movement is Gregor Kerr, Secretary of the Fed- books to flags and t-shirts. The Mujeres an organisation of working class anar- eration of Dublin Anti-Water Charge Libres (Free Women) had the most cre- A benefit gig for Belfast’s Just Books chists who have come together to max- Campaigns, kicked things off with a ative stall offering t-shirts commemo- collective finished off the night with imise the impact of anarchist ideas. discussion on how the water charges rating Free Derry, the Paris Commune, Anti-State and Tin Pot Operation play- Pooling the resources of many people were defeated in the Republic and the Spain 1936 and the Limerick Soviet as ing to a packed bar. Hundreds of stick- allows us to distribute over 6,000 cop- role anarchists played in that struggle. “temporary autonomous zones”, with ers and anarchist papers were distrib- ies of this paper every two months, The current campaign in the North to cool front and back logos. uted to the crowd as well as leaflets and 1,000 copies of our twice yearly defeat the tap tax was discussed with detailing the Justice for Terence Whee- magazine, Red & Black Revolution. It updates on the campaign provided by a Ramor Ryan, author of “Clandestines lock campaign. allows us to discuss the best ways to comrade from the Belfast-based anar- gave a reading of his book to a packed advance working class interests, and chist group Organise! and Eamonn Mc- upstairs room with a discussion after- This was the WSM’s second public prioritise particular activities rather Cann of the SWP. Julia Doherty of the wards and a Swiss comrade put on a event in Derry and the positive reac- than be so widely dispersed as to have WSM then gave an introductory talk “comedy” show about police violence. tion we received from many people little effect. on Anarchism, covering history, theory It was very informative and gruesome attending was encouraging. Although and practice and a lively debate ensued although this writer didn’t really see anarchism is still a very small politi- Among our recent activities was the over violence, white-male dominance the comedy aspect. The dangers of cal current in Ireland it is growing and ‘Change Not Chaos’ mini-festival or- of anarchism and republicanism. baton rounds, tear gas and other “less we need a strong, organised and united ganised by a Derry WSM member. lethal” weapons were explained and working class to get beyond the dead Saturday September 30th saw the Stalls by Just Books, WSM and Mu- the gory reality of the damage these end of both republican and loyalist Dunlgoe Bar play host to a day of an- jeres Libres Derry were on hand stock- weapons cause was projected on a six ideas. archist talks, films and music. ing everything from pamphlets and foot screen. RALLY FOR Thinking About Anarchism: THE NURSES The Role of an Anarchist Organisation Ireland’s 40,000 nurses are to step up their cam- Looking around the world today it can be doing simple things like producing our relationships that involve subordination paign for a pay rise and a difficult to imagine how the society that newsletter, pamphlets and leaflets. It also and domination. Our aim is a truly 35 hour week. The Irish we want to see can be created. But rather means arguing for anarchist methods as classless society that isn’t divided into Nurses Organisation and than sitting back and waiting for capitalism much as possible in campaigns that we bosses and workers, or order givers and the Psychiatric Nurses to collapse, or for the revolution to come, are involved in. order takers. So while we see ourselves Association are holding we believe in organising in the here and as offering leadership we reject the idea a mass rally in Dublin now. This can take the form of fighting for that we should become some sort of on November 22nd. It democratic structures in the Anti-Bin institutional leaders or managers of the takes place at the Helix in Throughout history anarchist- Tax campaign, helping to organise the movement. Dublin City University at communists have embraced different huge Mayday 2004 events, arguing for 11.30pm. If you can get forms of organisation from the affinity democracy in our unions or advocating We refuse to take positions of power which along, they will welcome group, to revolutionary cells, to anarchist direct action in the anti-war movement would lift us above the broad movement your support. syndicalism. We in the WSM, consider but in all cases we try and promote actions and give us control over it. Instead we A migrant’s place ourselves within to fall within the that actively transform those that take part rely on the strength of our ideas, and is in her union ‘platformist’ tradition. Among other in them. Actions that help people gain a the example we set, to convince people, things this means that we think that a sense of their own power and abilities and rather than hoping our position on some Cases won by SIPTU group can achieve far more when it works prepare them for the revolution and the hierarchical ladder will allow us to control against Cavan mushroom in unison, rather than constantly having libertarian communist society we want to the people below us. farmer, Eamonn Murray, the same fundamental theoretical and create. for non-compliance with tactical disagreements. In this spirit we look forward to the time employment law, have so We analyse the society we live in, history when an organisation like ours becomes far resulted in awards to- The role of a group like ours is to and try to learn from the mistakes of the unnecessary. Following a successful taling !342,600. In the lat- popularise the aims and methods of past. We also try to elaborate a common revolution we would gradually lose our est development, the Em- anarchism amongst working class people, strategy that attempts to link the various reason for existing and disband. ployment Appeals Tribunal mainly because we believe that these alone expressions of the class struggle. found in favour of thirteen will result in the free society we want to So to summarise we don’t make the mushroom pickers. They create. Our ideas link an understanding In a sense we seek to provide a leadership revolution for the working class, we were all found to have been of the present with a viable vision of the of ideas but this does not mean we come don’t direct it in their interests and we dismissed for “mere mem- future. down from the mountain top like Moses, don’t govern them for their own good. bership of a trade union” carrying the blueprint for a new society We simply exist as an organisation within and were awarded com- This link involves a practical understanding under our arm. Rather we learn from the the class that attempts to encourage its pensation of !26,000 each. of the means necessary and acceptable to struggle and the people we interact with. development in a libertarian fashion and The other awards related to minimum notice, annual achieve results but also to help build the speed up its emancipation. leave and pay for public confidence of the class in its own abilities Anarchists not only want to abolish holidays. and decision-making power. This can be capitalism, but we also want to abolish all by John Flood

REMEMBER THIS NAME: JESÚS MARINO MOSQUERA Come to your planet’s rescue How many members of your union have recently been murdered simply be- Anarchism and Ecology by Graham Purchase. Black Rose Books cause they were trade un- Euro 20.00/£13.99 (available from WSM Books, P.O. Box 1528, Dublin 8) ionists? Hearing or reading about ecology or our Given the heavy nature of the subject mat- If that union is the rural workers union in Colombia natural environment isn’t an exciting ter, this book (a collection of essays from known as SINTRAINA- proposition for most of us. The inevita- over the past 20 years but fitting very well GRO, the answer is four ble emphasis on destruction and likely ca- together) makes for a surprisingly cheery hundred. That’s right: more tastrophe isn’t what we want to face into read. than 400 members have lost when our day-to-day lives are already their lives since their union tough enough. At 20.00 it weighs in on the pricey side was founded. but it’s seldom we get top-drawer writing Graham Purchase, in this book, never on this exact subject and it makes clear The most recent victim was dwells too long on the possible or likely the necessity of combining ecological Jesús Marino Mosquera, a results of centuries of disregard for ecol- sustainability with class-struggle anar- union rep from Carepa. He was murdered in October. ogy in the pursuit of profits, resources and chism in tackling the global environmen- With so many deaths - and land. tal crisis. Colombia continues to hold the world record for trade Instead, we get a convincing outline of We are left in no doubt as to the need for It’s worth the cost, however, if only for unionists killed each year - the easy relationship anarchism has to the revolutionary social anarchism and for his mercilessly efficient take on the futil- it is easy to forget that each natural world, the anarchist emphasis on ity of parliamentary Green politics. It’s statistic is a name, a human destroying nation-state capitalist-individ- decentralisation, autonomy and diversity ualism. There’s little mention, however not backward-looking either and is clear being, a person like your- contrasting sharply with the centralised in not arguing for a return to some sort self who had a family and of the enormous social and political strug- uniformity of the state. He makes con- of tribal lifestyle but for redistribution of a life. gle involved, building mass movements, vincing arguments for his vision of an ec- industrial trade unions as well as political wealth and power. We must never get used to ologically appropriate planet, organised in and propaganda organisations. Nothing this, we cannot accept it, a federation of “bio-regions”, that is com- either to advise us on defending our revo- Anarchists need to learn from environ- and we must intensify our munities or city-regions sharing cultural lution - the newly dispossessed statist and mentalists and need to become such. The efforts to create a world in and ecological traits and supplying most capitalist class is unlikely to share our af- reverse also applies. which working people can of their own needs, water, food, building fection for harmonious eco-regionally or- freely organise and join materials and the like. - Eugene W trade unions without fear. ganised anarchism. CONTACTS Big gains for contract workers in UCD Anarchist Groups Workers Solidarity Movement Anarchist Organisation Publishes this paper PO box 1528, Dublin 8, Ireland www.wsm.ie [email protected] [email protected] Organise! Working Class Resistance Anarchist Organisation Publishes “Working Class Resistance” PO Box 505, Belfast, BT12 6BQ ww.organiseireland.org Anarchist Youth For younger anarchists Ph: 0879184604 www.anarchistyouth.org [email protected] Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group Anarchist Women P.O. Box 10785, Dublin 1 www.ragdublin.org Libertarian Networks Networks and collectives with a libertarian ethos in which anarchists are involved Above: UCD Campus Belfield Dublin Indymedia Ireland Like many other employers UCD Irish Branch of Global Media Collective has sought to save money in the this stalling could go on indefinite- brought are to get permanent con- The place to find Irish campaign news. last couple of decades by refusing www.indymedia.ie ly. In addition, management were tracts. This includes the union rep to create permanent pensionable Barracka Books refusing to renew the contract of who had been let go in June, with posts. Instead, a growing percent- Radical Book Store one of the union reps in what was the remaining 20% going to arbi- 61 Barrack Street, Cork City age of the workforce have been left seen by us as victimisation. tration. Cork Autonomous Zone on short-term contracts without Social Space * Management agreeing to submit- 61 Barrack St., Cork any pension rights. [email protected] A large majority of SIPTU mem- ting future short term contracts to bers voted to give the section com- a union / management committee. Union organisation in UCD has Seomra Spraoi mittee the power to call a one-day This means short-term contract Dublin Social Centre been quite weak; of some 3,000 www.seomraspraoi.blogspot.com strike, to be followed by a work posts that are really permanent workers fewer than a third are un- to rule. Rather than act on this posts should be made permanent. Activist Groups ion members. Most of these are Activist groups fighting for social justice straight away at the start of the in SIPTU. Over the last two years summer when action would be less It will take some months to tell if Shell to Sea management has been engaged in Website of campaign to move Shell’s effective the section committee these concessions are genuine or an aggressive “restructuring” ex- pipeline offshore from Co. Mayo delayed this action until the first were simply an exercise to buy www.shelltosea.com ercise leading to increasingly well day of the new autumn term. As time at a point management were Alliance For Choice attended union meetings and new Campaign for women’s freedom to choose it happened the restructuring also under massive pressure. It is also www.struggle.ws/ireland/allianceforchoice/ recruitment. index.html started to unravel before this date, the case that contract workers not as many students were unable to directly employed by UCD will not The abuse of short-term contracts BODY use the new computer system to get these benefits - all the cleaning Pro Choice Youth Activist Group was identified as a key issue, some [email protected] register for their courses. work, for instance, is outsourced. Louise: 086 329 3741 900 contract workers, it was re- However, in either case, more vealed, were excluded form the fi- Residents Against Racism The surprise result was that by the progress was made in a matter of Campaign against racism & deportations nal pay related pension scheme that Meets every Friday at 7pm in the Teachers Thursday before the strike was due days once the threat of direct ac- permanent workers were signed up Club, 36 Parnell Square in Dublin to take place management appeared tion by the workers concerned was www.residentsagainstracism.org to. Despite recent EU legislation to concede on all the key issues. on the table than had been made in Revolt Video that required employers to pro- Apparent concessions include: decades of Labour Court hearings Video Activist Collective vide pension schemes for contract revoltvideo.blogspot.com * Bringing 900 contract workers and mediation workers UCD, like other colleges, Anti-War Ireland into a final pay related pension Democratic anti-war organisation was dragging its feet. with branches in Belfast, Cobh, Cork, scheme. Dublin and members elsewhere. * 80% of the contract workers Joe Black - (UCD SIPTU member) www.antwarireland.org By June 2006 it was very clear that whose test cases the union had Justice for Terrence Wheelock Died after being injured in Garda custody 087-6221218 [email protected]

Red and Black Revolution issue eleven There is power in a union SIPTU estimates that almost staff have been used – in some a third of workers in UCD are cases on three-month contracts. ‘fixed term workers’. The uni- The insecurity of contract work- versity also made a number of ers makes it much more difficult them redundant over the sum- for them to defend their working mer, including one who had been conditions and pay. working for the college since 1981. It was no surprise when over 80% voted for strike action. When All of this is part of a trend in management seemingly backed universities (and in other work- down SIPTU agreed to suspend places) to replace permanent the strike action – though we re- staff with contract workers. For served the right to strike again if example, two years ago there they renege on the agreement. were 21 permanent staff in the The latest issue of the WSM magazine includes arti- union can and should fight for its clers on Insurrections, Selling off our services, Gender exams office but today there are This was a huge victory for the differences, Unionising casual workers, and more. only 11. Instead, approximately most insecure workers in the members’ interests. Send !1.50 for a copy. 30 temporary / fixed contract university, and showed how a Aoife Fisher - UCD SIPTU member