Join the Sick of Plastic campaign for an online screening of the newly released feature length documentary The Story of Plastic available from May 12th to May 14th. Having watched the film join us at 7pm on May 14th for an Zoom webinar where we will have a panel of experts to discuss the full Story of Plastic; from fossil fuel extraction, through the many stages of plastic production and on to the noxious wastes it leaves behind, and how all of this impacts on our lives. read full story / add a comment

The People's Movement have been producing comprehensive analysis of events and legislation in the EU and it's effect on Ireland for many years now. They are currently up to No 212 of their newsletters. Their analysis is extensive and should not be missed by anyone who is interested in this political sphere. All their issues are available from their website.
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Sally Maaz (17) died in Mayo University Hospital on April 24. Her cousin speaks out in this video.

What has happened here is criminal and requires investigation although this is unlikely to be done in any honest way given the blatant lies and propaganda around this Covid crisis.

Sally was moved to the #COVIDー19 ward even though she tested NEGATIVE twice. 1/14

To bring to light the disgraceful story we are reporting the main part of the thread of this from twitter read full story / add a comment

Invasive Australian flatworm reaches west Cork
Sellers of plants should warn public of dangers of contaminated garden matter

The invasive Australian flatworm has reached the Beara peninsula in west Cork. Flatworms from New Zealand were first recorded in Ireland in the 1960’s but the Australian flatworm was not recorded until 1981.

Flatworms are top-level predators of soil organisms. They eat earthworms and appear to have met no natural enemies of their own in Ireland. According to the National Biodiversity Centre, the implications of its indefinite spread for the drainage and fertility of our soil ‘pose a threat to Ireland’s biodiversity and economy’. Japanese knotweed and the zebra mussels are examples of invasive species now out of control in Ireland. read full story / add a comment

On April 18th Clare Daly highlight the hypocritical actions of the government where they had imposed a severe lockdown everyone and closed many businesses because of their concern to stop the spread of Covid. Yet in the middle of all this they flew in hundreds of workers from Bulgaria to work for a company that has had very favourable treatment from Fine Gael. Her statement appeared on her facebook page and received many comments. The statement in presented in full here and an attempt is to made to reconcile the what is going on. read full story / add a comment

130 national and international groups have today written to all Irish Party leaders requesting them to remove support for fracked gas infrastructure in Ireland. The letter comes as negotiations for Government intensify and requests an explicit policy statement to be included in the next Programme for Government against the development of all new fossil fuel infrastructure in the form of LNG import terminals that could facilitate the entry of unconventional fracked gas into the Irish energy mix.

Two fracked gas terminals, or - LNG - terminals are currently proposed, in Shannon and Cork. The terminals would be developed as import hubs, allowing fracked gas into the European market from the USA where there is currently an oversupply of this controversial fuel. The terminals would play an important role in the shale gas supply chain, the market for which is currently very unstable. read full story / add a comment

Dr Marcus de Brun a GP based in North Dublin who joined the Medical Council in 2018 at the invitation of Health Minister Harris has resigned over criticism at the government response to the Covid-19 virus in relation to the handling of nursing homes where many of the death occurred amongst the most vulnerable part of the population. read full story / add a comment

Never before in the history of the world has there been such a massive and widespread shutdown of the economy for as long as for this Covid-19 scare. As of today April 21st it has been more or less shutdown for a month and the politicians instead of doing their usual and saying we will be out of this soon are saying we need to continue it indefinitely and even when the lockdown is lifted, it will only be gradual return to normality. Clearly everyone is worried and a lot depends on how long this lockdown continues for. The question is not whether the economy both here in Ireland and globally will be damaged but more by how much. This is an important question because real lives depend on what happens in it
Here we attempt to assess where we are, what has happened and what logic dictates are some of the possible outcomes. read full story / add a comment

High Court to rule Friday on challenge to National Development Plan
‘Project Ireland 2040’ will lock-in fossil-fuel dependent infrastructure

The failure of the State to properly assess the impact of the National Development Plan and National Planning Framework (‘Project Ireland 2040’) and to fully examine the alternatives will be the subject of a High Court Judgment to be published electronically this Friday, 24 April, 2020.

Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] was granted leave to challenge the Irish Government’s adoption of ‘Project Ireland 2040’ in May 2018. Mr. Justice Barr presided over four days of hearings beginning on 10 March, 2020. read full story / add a comment

Why a more widespread comprehension of debt relief and interventions for households with non-mortgage debt are essential both now and after COVID-19

Ireland has the fifth highest rate of personal indebtedness in Europe, and living with debt is a daily reality for over half of all Irish households. According to the recently published Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), nearly a third of all Irish households (30.5%) have non-mortgage debt read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch are appalled at the continuing use of Shannon Airport by US military troop carriers, despite the issuing of a stop movement order to the US military by US Defence Secretary Mark Esper on March 25th. This was intended to halt travel and movement abroad for up to 60 days in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus. However, troop carriers have been landing at Shannon as recently as April 10th, 11th and 12th.

“We are astonished that in these times of national emergency, our leaders continue to permit the landing of foreign troops at Shannon Airport” said Shannonwatch spokesperson John Lannon. “Facilitating the movement of troops half way across the world to invade and occupy other countries is never good. But now more than ever it is absolutely unconscionable and unacceptable.” read full story / add a comment

High Court refuses State’s request for Covid-19 adjournment in Shannon LNG Judicial Review
Administration of Justice Can Not ‘Grind To a Halt’

The High Court has issued a Judgment refusing the State’s application for a delay in hearing an environmental challenge to the inclusion of the €500 million Shannon LNG fracked gas terminal on the fourth EU Projects of Community Importance (PCI) list. Inclusion on this list makes a project eligible for up to 50% funding and requires ‘the most rapid treatment legally possible’. read full story / add a comment

The Covid-19 global health crisis is one that required a global response led by health workers but with the consensus of almost everyone. Instead we face a piecemeal response, often in the form of repressive policing solutions that are not even particularly effective and where the borders between the states have undermined collective action and allowed the virus to multiply in the gaps.

Fear has led many to wish for harder state clampdowns as if a policing apparatus had any hope for substituting for collective solidarity between neighbours. The very ideology of neoliberal capitalism and its mantra of everyone looking after themselves has cut into the sort of community solidarity essential to popular enforcement of physical distancing. Thankfully in Ireland we discovered this process was not complete and a sufficient sense of solidarity remained that almost everyone implemented physical distancing measures before the state backed that process. read full story / add a comment

The Irish health system is entering the Covid-19 crisis in a very poor position. Before the virus hit, it was already at breaking point. This is a result of chronic underfunding by successive governments stretching back decades and made worse in the last decade of austerity. Despite the spin from the government, the Irish state is actually one of the lowest spenders on healthcare in the OECD.

An estimated 1.9 million people could contract the Covid-19 virus in the State. A feature of the infection for some is respiratory difficulties. It is estimated that 5%-10% will need more intensive treatment in hospitals and up to half of them will need access to ventilation equipment. There is a real fear on the part of working class people generally and of course healthcare staff of the impact of COVID-19 in the context of an underfunded and overstretched health system. read full story / add a comment

The number of young Irish people in their 20s living at home has risen to 47.2% according to research by EU agency Eurofound. Ireland, along with Luxemburg and Romania, have the highest increases in Europe.

While throughout other EU countries there was a 2% increase, Ireland saw a 11% increase. According to the report, after the recession many young people had to move back home as they would be the first ones to lose their jobs due to them having just entered the job market. read full story / add a comment

Between 5th and 12th March you are invited to attend one of our nationwide special screenings of the highly acclaimed Palestinian documentary film ‘Naila and the Uprising’. All screenings of the film will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with the film’s producer Rula Salameh. read full story / add a comment

Climate Case Ireland, brought by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), is a legal challenge to the Irish government’s 2017 National Mitigation Plan, a key plank of the State’s climate policy. FIE argues that the government’s decision to adopt a Plan that allows greenhouse gas emissions to increase by about 10% between 1990 and 2020 (instead of decreasing significantly over this period as the government has accepted is necessary to help avert dangerous climate breakdown) constitutes a violation of citizens’ constitutional and human rights and Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. read full story / add a comment

A public consultation on a review of sustainable transport policy is set to this Friday 28th Feb at 5:30pm after the deadline was extended.

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport said that the review was started after a commitment in the May 2016 Programme for a Partnership Government “to ensure services are sustainable into the future and are meeting the needs of a modern economy”. read full story / add a comment

In the aftermath of the election that cemented their historically poor results of four years ago, Labour leader Brendan Howlin resigned, triggering a leadership race. The race will pit Alan Kelly, the most prominent figure remaining from the 2011-16 cabinet, against Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. read full story / add a comment

General Election 2020 was historic. It was only the second time that the combined vote of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael went below 50%. 2016 was the first, when it dipped just below 50% by 0.2%. However, this time it plunged to just 43.4% — an historic low.

The election unfolded around the desire that emerged from below for “real change” and included the widespread understanding that this could only be achieved by a rejection of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.

Sinn Féin were the winners, receiving the biggest share of the popular vote at 24.53%, but Fianna Fáil have taken the most seats, as Sinn Féin didn’t stand enough candidates to maximise the full value of its surge in support. read full story / add a comment