Belfast Grassroots Gathering weekend of October 23rd

by Mark Fri Jul 30, 2004 11:18

Its wayyyy out of date
http://grassrootsgathering.freeservers.com/

by James - WSM Sat Jul 31, 2004 17:48

It'll probably get totally redone after the summer. There was talk on the list of doing one and a couple of people volunteered. Probably will come together after the summer. Meanwhile the Dublin Grassroots Network have their own site at http://struggle.ws/dgn/index.php.

by interested Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:06

this is happening in around six weeks time - any more information on what the plans for the weekend are? where is it on, what are the talks?

by Joe Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:32

It was moved to the following week to avoid clashing with the ESF

by still interested Thu Sep 09, 2004 13:35

this is happening in around six weeks time - any more information on what the plans for the weekend are? where is it on, what are the talks?

apologies for cut n paste :-)

by j26 Mon Sep 20, 2004 02:06

I've heard nothing more about it.

Is there going to be a GG??

by Confused Mon Sep 20, 2004 15:04

Is this on the weekend of the 23rd or the week after which Joe seems to say?

by Mark - DGN. wsm (personal capacity) Mon Sep 20, 2004 21:12

The date is the weekend of 22nd Oct 2004.. plans are underway, workshops have been discussed....and some special surprises in store no doubt, given the smiling faces of those crazy kids up north. More concrete details will be posted a.s.a.p.

by michael - greenaction Mon Sep 27, 2004 20:10 Belfast (UK) 07729785327

The 2nd Belfast Grassroots Gathering: an invitation



Sept 25th 2004
(for contact details see below)

Following the success of previous gatherings throughout Ireland over the past three years the grassroots gathering will be back in Belfast over the weekend of 22nd to the 24th of October.

 The grassroots gatherings have aimed towards a network which would:
 Be based on the principle that people should control their own lives and work together as equals, as part of how we work as well as what we are working towards.
 Within the network this means rejecting top-down and state-centred forms of organisation (hierarchical, authoritarian, expert-based, Leninist etc.). We need a network that's open, decentralised, and really democratic.
 Call for solutions that involve ordinary people controlling their own lives and having the resources to do so: the abolition, not reform, of global bodies like the World Bank and WTO, and a challenge to underlying structures of power and inequality.
 Organise for the control of the workplace by those who work there.
 Call for the control of communities by the people who live there.
 Argue for a sustainable environmental, economic and social system, agreed by the people of the planet.
 Working together in ways which are accessible to ordinary people, particularly women and working-class people, rather than reproducing feelings of disempowerment and alienation within our own network.

The grassroots gathering in Belfast has been booked into Queens Students Union, located on University Road opposite the main Queens building.
A theme this gathering hopes to tackle is building safe communities with an emphasis on undoing racism (both structural and interpersonal) and addressing gender bias and patriarchal structures and attitudes throughout society and within our social movements. There will be space to discuss issues pertinent to the campaigns coming out of grassroots activism all over Ireland, such as, anti-water charges campaigns, war resistance, environmental campaigns, the global women’s strike and the other issues brought to the gathering by the people attending.
As always the success of the gathering is dependent upon the involvement of those attending. Between then and now here’s how you can get involved. You can pass this invitation on to people who support the aims of the gathering and would like to be involved. There are regular organising meetings in Belfast. If you would like to get involved or have suggestions for workshops get in touch, there is contact information below.


Signed with Solidarity & Autonomy,

the co-ordinating group for a grassroots gathering that will help prepare us to stop globalisation, war, capitalism and patriarchy dead in their tracks!

Contact Information
To receive further information about this grassroots gathering contact:
By email contact us at grassrootsbelfast2@safe-mail.net
Belfast - c/o PO Box 505, Belfast, BT12 6BQ
Telephone: (UK) 07729785327
More information on the web at http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=66080
or http://www.mallusk.net/grassrootsgathering


The Grassroots Gathering is a space for communication, learning and debate between people organising non-hierarchically for a new society in Ireland and worldwide. We include environmentalists, community activists, worker’s and consumer’s cooperatives, anarchists, trade unionists, feminists, cultural activists and others united in our rejection of capitalism and commitment to the voluntary creation of alternatives without coercion. Children are welcome at this event.

The gathering will include video showings, workshops, evening festivities, direct actions and presentations from all over Ireland and abroad, and a bookstall by Just Books. Veggie and vegan food will be provided by Belfast food not bombs, and free accommodation will be provided (bring a sleeping bag). Volunteers are needed each day for an hour or so to supervise play activities, help in the kitchen and clean up.

There will be workshops on the themes:
• gender, queer activism, Global Woman’s Strike (March 8th), and other issues such as dealing with rape and sexual harassment in our communities.
• racism, understanding white skin privilege, anti-racist/anti-fascist organising.

If you have experience in these areas and want to get involved in planning the discussions or presenting a workshop please contact us at grassrootsbelfast2@safe-mail.net

Other workshops suggested or confirmed include:

• politics, democracy & technology
• water charges
• student politics in Latin America
• education workers network
• fire your boss workshop
• understanding different stages social movements go through
• guerrilla/community gardening
• food not bombs
• bin skipping and recycling
• the Dissent network (planning for G8 UK 2005)
• bicycle repair workshop
• wild food gathering
• 3 sided football
• home brewing

If you would like to present a workshop or facilitate a discussion please, or have experience relating to some of the workshops listed, please contact us as soon as possible at grassrootsbelfast2@safe-mail.net

We are also planning to set aside time for ‘renegade workshop’ space for shorter meetings, workshops and announcements.

We want people to get involved, we need help with cooking, children’s activities, providing accommodation (if you live in Belfast), facilitating workshops and discussions. Come along and muck in.

Web Links
• The Grassroots Gatherings in Ireland http://grassrootsgathering.freeservers.com
http://www.mallusk.net/grassrootsgathering

Location
• Queens University Belfast Student Union http://www.qubsu.org/contact.htm
• City of Belfast http://www.gotobelfast.com
• City Map http://www.belfast.net/mo/belmap.jpg
http://www.tripadvisor.com/DisplayMap?src=1076823

Belfast City of Culture
• Belfast Festival at Queens http://www.belfastfestival.com
• Children’s Art Festival http://www.gotobelfast.com/Events/ViewDetail.cfm/Events_Id/729/level/page/category_key/197/Page_Key/278/parent_key/0/type/Page/pagename/Young%20At%20Art%20Festival.htm
• Catalyst Arts http://www.catalystarts.org/
• The Vacuum/Factotum http://www.factotum.org.uk/

InterContinental Links
• Global Women’s Strike http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/
• People’s Global Action http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/index.htm
• Dissent Network (Opposing the G8 in Scotland 2005)
http://www.dissent.org.uk/content/view/62/52/
• Irish Social Forum http://www.irishsocialforum.org/index.php
• European Social Forum (ESF) http://www.fse-esf.org/
• Autonomous Spaces (at the ESF) http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=04/09/07/1445248

Irish Environmental and Social Movement Organisations
• Gluaiseacht Network http://www.gluaiseacht.net/
• Workers Solidarity Movement http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm.html
• Organise! http://flag.blackened.net/af/orgireland/
• Greenaction http://quis.qub.ac.uk/greenaction
• Cork Autonomous Zone http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm/ws/2003/ws75/caz.html
• Campaign against Mallusk Landfill http://www.no-more-landfill.com




What Happened at the Last Grassroots Gathering In Belfast?
There have been several highly successful Grassroots Gatherings across Ireland in the past three years. The previous Grassroots Gathering in Belfast held over the weekend of October 26th – 27th 2002, it brought together over one hundred grassroots activists, environmentalists, union members, feminists, working people, anarchists, children and other assorted troublemakers from across the island and beyond. There were almost 20 different workshops on a wide variety of topics including Gender, Direct Action, Social Centres, Opposing US Military Use of Shannon Air, Workers Control, Reclaim the Streets, Confronting Sectarianism, and Forest Gardens.
It took place in Giros, which was a democratically managed social centre in Belfast, with gigs, meetings, a cafe, a darkroom, a library, and much more.
Given the international situation, unsurprisingly talk about the war took up a lot of time. One excellent workshop was introduced by the Shannon plane spotters of Refuelling Peace. The discussion following this was mostly about schemes to establish a peace camp at Shannon, creating a democratic anti–war network and a call for a further demonstration at Shannon warport. These proposals were then taken to the Morning meeting, i.e. to all folk at Grassroots, not just attendees at one workshop.
Many concrete plans and ideas emerged from the many workshops during the two days, including the formation of a grassroots network against the war, the staging of Reclaim The Streets, and the suggestion to host a People's Global Action conference in Ireland. In fact the only problem that seemed to occur was that of two or more interesting workshops coinciding and the sheer lack of time to attend everything.
A special word of thanks has to go out to the Belfast crew for all their hard work and the organisation of this Grassroots Gathering. It was a roaring success thanks to their hospitality and meticulous attention to detail!

by southerner Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:45

This is a bank holiday weekend in the south, lots of people gone away and the like. Is it one up the north?

by z Tue Oct 26, 2004 14:00

Any chance of some feedback on this event for those who werent able to make it up there?
How many people were at it, what was discussed, any upcoming future actions or networks formed out of it?

Dunk of FUPSEY is right - too much stuff is publicised on the newswire in the run up, but then you dont hear enough of what happened afterwards. Still havent heard anything about the ISF. Also what happened at the Weapons Conference protest? There were LOADS of stories in the run up to it; and then afterwards not one proper report on how many people attended, if a blockade was attempted, etc. More feedback people from events - Indymedia is for that as well, not just promotion!

by z Wed Oct 27, 2004 17:47

Sorry to sound like a stuck record here, but surely at least ONE Indy reader was at the GG & can fill us in.

How many people were at it, what was discussed, any upcoming future actions or networks formed out of it?

by Anonymous Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:39

It was fine yeah

by z Fri Oct 29, 2004 14:11

Great report, very informative, thanks for your time. Sounds like loads of interesting stuff went on.

by dunk Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:27

z
there has been some feedback on the mailing list and all those messages are on the site
sign up if your interested
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grassroots-dublin/
i sent a post re feedback to the list, not sure if it got through?
it is a pity that there is not further feedback.
the above poster doesent really help matters
again it outlines our lack of feedback, which is a very important tool.
after all the talking at ISF look at the website
http://www.irishsocialforum.org/latestcomments.php

from what i can gather, the belfast crew did a very good job at GG