While the corporate media froths and sputters over fantasy foreign "armies of anarchists" invading Irish soil and overstretching the "young inexperienced Gardai" a full scale invasion is taking place with the assistance of the government, the Gardai and the airport authorities at Shannon.

Thousands of US troops (and probably munitions) are passing through Shannon every month.

Plane-spotter extraordinaire Tim Hourigan is the only reason that we are aware of this: in this latest report taken from the newswire he details his latest spotting and the petty harrassment of him by a secret police goon and Garda who managed to obtain a banana skin from him. NUJ journalists could learn something about ethics and originality in reporting from Tim.

"Went out to Shannon yesterday following reports of military traffic. Saw plenty, and got a rude visit from a cocky detective.

3 ATA planes carrying troops for the military and 2 USAF Hercules. One had been there since noon on Saturday and the other probably stayed over last night, after depositing a number of passengers."

So a Video (punctuated by visuals of scaremongering 'riot' newspaper headlines on the subject of planned protests on Mayday) posted on this site becomes front page news in the Irish Examiner. Strange days indeed. Here's what the maker of the Video had to say about the video in question on the newswire a few days ago. The journalist concerned - Juno McEnroe of the Irish Examiner - obviously read this. The ironies are multiple:

By Maydayer Wednesday, Mar 31 2004, 9:08pm: "It was a piss-take, a bit of fun. Propaganda can work both ways. It was meant to show how silly (and frightening) the whole thing is. I am sure most Indymedia viewers are smart enough to see what’s going on. Using the media to create fear as justification for violence - that’s what I said in the video. As for attracting "extreme elements" of whatever the cops are calling peace protesters or environmental activists - I think the corporate media has already done a good job of that. The only thing this video advertises is peaceful protests like Critical Mass and RTS. Not one stone let alone one petrol bomb has ever been thrown at a (anti-War / Globalisation) protest in Ireland - It is not the Irish protesters who are arming themselves to the teeth and training for violence is it? Lets look at the facts and look behind the propaganda lie machine. Any violence on Mayday if there is any will likely come from the State against the protesters, the Government is running scared - every day now they make another announcement escalating and militarising the situation. As for the video - tongue in cheek ;) stay tuned for many more..."

Continue at link below for info on the latest Scare Story and an analysis (from an Irish Imcer) of how Juno McEnroe helped the Irish media eat its own Shit .

The Concert has been cancelled. All of the tabloid trailers for the riots have been filed. The 'Powers that Be' are planning a fence around Farmleigh House. The Elites are making their travel plans as are the protesters. The Army are practicing their formations and looking for Wombles in the bushes at the Curragh. Only one piece of the puzzle is missing - An Independent Media Centre to tell the story. We need help to create it. Come and have a look at the space available for the Centre this Sunday – help clean it up, talk about what could happen there and volunteer some time over the next month to make this thing a reality. Click here for more details on how to get involved and info on how to make a donation to the Mayday IMC.

Draft Timetable
Map and Plans of Centre
Clean up meeting

Floor Plan of Festival Space 0.02 Mb

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Early copies of Saturday's Independent reveal that Ireand's biggest selling daily has compounded the media hysteria that is building up around planned protests for Mayday. The Independent is only the latest paper to join in the frenzy, in the wake of an anonymous smear campaign in the tabloids which sought to link protestors to terrorism and football hooligans.

The Independent headline seems to include a revealing Freudian slip. It reads "Riot troops drafted in to put down EU protestors." So apparently protestors are going to be "put down". I wonder if it will be by lethal injection? Presumably the sensationalising editor meant to write - "put down protests" - but the mistake sums up what sections of the media in cahoots with elements in the Gardai and Government are attempting to do to the right to protest.

All of the media reporting about Mayday so far has concentrated almost exclusively on the "violent" protestors. No evidence is presented of a real risk of violence, nothing beyond a few pictures from an Italian city of "the type of violence that could occur in Dublin". The stories focus on the resources the Gardai are going to need to quell the violence. Barely a mention is made of the reasons that people are protesting. No questions are asked about why the government feels the need for thousands of police to protect itself from protestors.

This type of reporting creates a state of fear. The tabloids build up a picture of protesters as violent thugs, football hooligans and skinheads. They constantly emphasise how stretched the Gardai will be and the need for extraordinary repressive measures against this terror. All of this is presented without any evidence and based on quotes "from a website", but who expects evidence from a tabloid?

The respectable broadsheets weigh in with tales of garda preparedness. They are lighter on the lurid details about violent thugs, but the assumption that the repressive measures are needed is never questioned. We are told how "International police forces are supplying vital intelligence to Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park on the movements of known anarchists and troublemakers." We are told about the sudden appearance of a dedicated force of 1,200 newly trained riot cops with "new riot gear" and "water cannons".

A state of fear is created in the hope that the citizenry will accept the state repression of protests with force. In all of this coverage the organisers have not had a voice at all. No chance to defend themselves in the face of a massive scare story. The corporate media is creating the climate for repression.They are trying to drive people away from protests and creating the climate where the police can smash the protests with force. It's not really that surprising; the corporations who control commercial media would be expected to react like that to those who attempt to stand up to them.

The Independent also report that they are considering erecting a fence around Farmleigh! At least it shows that they are worried. At least somebody is making them worried. The union leaders have bowed to their master and called off their Mayday lest they inconvenience the state. The Trots will be listening to minor pop-stars. These scares are all the more reason to get out on Mayday with the Grassroots.

Related Stories/Background from 'The Real Irish Independent'

Mayday Plans
Demonstrators Challenge Anonymous Smear campaign
What to do about ‘Anarchist Menace’ Corporate Journalists?
Requiring Army Deployment? Was her Editor Drunk Too?
Reclaiming Mayday
Comments on Cancellation of Mayday in London from Collective Members

From the newswire [3:06pm Fri Mar 26th 2004]:

UPDATE: arrested person has been released

"One person has been arrested in the past hour while protesting against the US Ambassadors visit to NUI, Galway. He is being held in Mill St Garda Station on some bogus charge, so anyone in the vicinity, please come down & show your support.

The visit began this morning in the main quad, where the Bush appointed US Ambassador, James Kenny, was to meet with local whigs. It appeared as though the whole morning shift from Mill St. was in attendance, along with a number of Special Branch & various assorted Spooks in Suits. Banners were grabbed and a few scuffles took place, as they tried to smuggle the publicity-shy Ambassador in through a back entrance.

From there it was on to a planned ‘meet & greet’ with selected American students, which was held in Moffets café, one side of which was conveniently made of glass. This gave Kenny a pretty good view of the thirty or so people present. Some of them were dressed in orange jump suits, shackled & kneeling. Others brandished Palestinian flags and other banners people had cobbled together on the morning of the protest. The poor old Ambassador had to strain to hear what students were saying above the shouts from outside, bangs on the window, whistling, drumming & the Tibetan horn someone had fortuitously brought along.

The arrest was made, as Kenny emerged from the quad after lunch, by a couple of over enthusiastic cops who were extremely heavy handed in their approach. A number of people tried to stop the cop vans, one of which contained our arrested friend, from leaving but they were also dragged out of the way & threatened with arrest."