Irish political priorities

Thursday August 22, 2002 14:58

by Jenny Butler

remembering what's what...

folks, I would like to appeal for comments on what I see as a weird twist of priorities amongst many Irish people campaigning for social justice around the country. I just read an article on the An Phoblacht site at http://www.irlnet.com/aprn/current/news/15stud.html - It's about a young Catholic student being beaten to death because of his religion. This is Alabama and it's only a few hrs from Dublin. I realise the importance of reclaim the streets, the earth summit work, travellers and refugee rights, racism work, sustainable development etc. etc BUT - are brothers and sisters are under daily attack. It seems we have been collectively brainwashed to consider 'the north' as an unsolvable problem that we must leave up to the champagne politicians of all sides. Do we really care about the North. Has anybody even bothered to travel there. It seems many in the 26 counties can't even name

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also...noticed another good article

by jb

Thu Aug 22, 2002 14:59

check out the British (imperial...whatever you wanna call it) state movement towards a 'peace process' http://www.irlnet.com/aprn/current/news/15sout.html

So what should be done?

by Badman

Fri Aug 23, 2002 00:24

How can activists in Dublin assist the residents of the Short Strand without simply becoming pawns or cheer-leaders of the Shinners and ploughing further down the cul-de-sac of nationalist politics. Where's the space?

How can people who are afraid of becoming pawns support the people of the Strand?

by Marc

Fri Aug 23, 2002 00:57

My dear Comrade,
Firstly if you are afraid of becoming someones pawn then you need to take a good long look at yourself. There is no reason that any of us should feel that we do not have a part to play. Even if your knowledge of the Short Strand is basic then the first thing you should do is visit the sight below.

www.32s.org

The second step you should take is sign the petition.

The third and possibly the most important thing to do is to tell others about what is happening in the Short Strand, through conversations, emails, letters to Newspapers, TV stations(when they portray interface areas as tit-for-tat),local Councillors, lobby government officials, Trade Unionists to give their support.

FYI
Did you know that most if not all Councillors in Dublin were asked to walk with the parents at Holy Cross but all except those who proposed the motions rejected the motion. No points for guessing who proposed the motion.

*Hint* The "Republican Party" voted against showing solidarity with the Parents & children at Holy Cross by walking the walk with them.

Done all 3

Fri Aug 23, 2002 03:15

But it still seems somewhat insubstantial. I mean it's not really fair complaining at people for not giving a damn about the people of the short strand when there is no real proposition of something substantial that free staters could do to help. I mean online petitions hardly get the PSNI and UDA scared and it's hardly as if the 'republican party' or the rest of the establishment give a damn what people such as us think about them. They survived section 31, internment etc... so they are hardly likely to be stung into action by popular opinion on this one.

So rather than moaning at us, how about a proposal for something real that can be done, ideally something that doesn't just feed into the electoral strategy of the Shinners.

ps nice photo of Martin in the Short strand on the front page.

There's a lot of screwed up people in the north

by robbie

Fri Aug 23, 2002 09:56

No problem with people taking more of an interest in what's going on here, and yes, we have a bunch of politicos from all parties who are busy hiking their own salaries and employing every member of their family in the Stormont administration. However, as a resident of Belfast (NI, not Alabama), just be careful who you get hooked up with here.
For a start, to tie the death of Chris Whitson into some sort of campaign against British imperialism is just sick - yes, Mr Whitson was attacked and killed by a bunch of sick, hateful loyalist bigots, but I'm not sure his family and friends would appreciate his use as a political pawn, and there are a hell of a lot of bigots on all sides here.
Also, the 'whataboutery' over Short Strand from our politicians here has been amazing, but, again, politicians and so-called community leaders on all sides seem more interested in playing to the crowd in their own community than actually doing something about it. Meanwhile, the rest of us just try to keep on keepin' on. Rest assured that there are many people living in loyalist communities here who are disgusted with the garbage that gets peddled in their name.
Finally, despite the dubious record of the PSNI here, I really don't think (from what I've witnessed lately) that standing in the middle of a road while nuts, bolts, pipe and petrol bombs are thrown at them from republican and loyalist youths can be portrayed as some sort of conspiracy theory. And, despite some of the dirty tricks here over the years, to equate the PSNI with the UDA is laughable. Haven't seen republican dissident terrorists trying to murder Catholic recruits to the UDA lately, for one thing.
Ta-ra from sunny Belfast.

Those Dastardly Shinners

by Justin Moran - Sinn Fein

Fri Aug 23, 2002 15:46

maigh_nuad at yahoo dot com

086 3667694

First of all, I think the fact that people refuse to support or work for the residents of the Shrt Strand for fear of being 'polluted' by contact with Sinn Fein members is ridiculous. Elsewhere people made the point that the GR demo on Saturday should be supported despite some people having prioblems with the organisation who called it. Absolutely it should be supported, regardless of what one thinks of the people or organisation behind it. (Personally I think they should be congratulated)

Secondly, for thos looking to offer practical help, republicans across the country have been inviting people from the SHort STrand down for holidays or breaks. Ográ Shinn Féin put up a load of young people from Ardoyne in Derry and Dublin entral Sinn Féin organised a weekend trip to Dublin for people from the Short Strand. Demonstrations of solidarity like that are welcomed, and provide practical support. As was suggested by another poster, educate yourself about the issue but then, educate others. There are a lot of people, including so-called anti-establishment activists only too willing to recite the lines given to them by the establishment media regarding what's going on in Short Strand and Ardoyne, educating people, writing to the media and asking for better coverage of the issue etc. are other practical ways of helping.

Lastly, helping the people of the Short Strand has nothing to do with our 'electoral policy' (The idea that a protest in Dublin about the Short Strand benefits us electorally is laughable)It's about standing with a working class community under siege from reactionary loyalism. We're doing it, honestly, bullshit about hating us aside, why aren't you?

Ogra Sinn Fein

Tue Aug 27, 2002 12:40

An interesting bunch - my only dealings with them have been dealings ...

Ogra SF

by hs - sp

Fri Aug 30, 2002 00:32

Noticed around townb osf's logo. Its a petrol bomb. To use a logo of a petrol bomb while people are being burnt out of there houses on a daily basis sends out a pretty nasty meassage. I'm sure they'll say it represents resistance, but the first thing that entered my head was pogroms. Its a very very infantile symbol or it is supposed to send out a certin message? What is behind this justin. And this question is extremely serious I'm not taking the piss.
It should be removed.

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