Dear Friends

A general meeting of IMPERO will take place on Saturday 12 October 2019 at 14:00. Fr. Stephen Duffy PP, Lordship and Ravensdale, has kindly given permission to use the meeting room in our Lady of The Wayside Church, Jenkinstown, Co. Louth, for our meeting. We will meet there.

Agenda

1. Read minutes of the previous meeting
2. Confirm officer board for 2019/2020
3. Sean Crudden will read his thread on the UNDP (United Nations' Development Program) Global Development Hub. The recent on-line consultation was around the question of digitalisation and the sustainable development goals of the UN
4. Equality
5. Finances
6. Fix dates and venues for meetings for the next year
7. Strategy

Due to unavoidable circumstances the meeting scheduled for mid-June was let slide but, hopefully, this will not happen again. The meeting on the 12th is important for IMPERO. It is also taking place at a time of universal change. Is there any way technology can be turned to the advantage of the mental patient?

The meeting is open to everyone. But, if you are coming to the meeting, let us know beforehand so that we can make proper provision for all those attending.

Yours faithfully

Seán Crudden
Secretary
IMPERO

Lower Jenkinstown
Dundalk
A91 A092

0858636391
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This is a global rebellion of the willing, from America to Scandinavia, Brazil to Australia, from Europe to The Solomon Islands we will take to the streets in protest against our governments criminal inaction on climate change.

Extinction Rebellion Ireland invites everyone to be part of this compassionate revolution. Join us as we make history. read full story / add a comment

State faces further legal challenge to Shannon LNG terminal
Fracked gas as ‘Projects of Common Interest’ challenged

The State has been warned that it cannot approve the proposed Shannon LNG terminal as a ‘Project of Common Interest’ [PCI] without undergoing a Strategic Environmental Assessment [SEA] and a period of public consultation.

PCIs are key cross border infrastructure projects that link the energy systems of EU countries. They are intended to help the EU achieve its energy policy and the long-term decarbonisation of the economy in accordance with the Paris Agreement. read full story / add a comment

After a year-long debate within the Socialist Party, we have decided to leave and to establish a new democratic socialist political group, RISE. The four letters of RISE give a picture of the politics we stand for: Radical, Internationalist, Socialist and Environmentalist. read full story / add a comment

This blog entry from 16th Sept on the ShannonWatch.org website is reproduced here because while it might seem old news one week late, it will in fact be news to a lot of people since the mainstream just don't cover this, certainly not from the side of peace perspective.

The following was written by Veteran for Peace activist Tarak Kauff who is currently being refused permission to leave Ireland. He is accused of minor offenses linked to the attempt he and Ken MAyers made to inspect a US contracted military plane at Shannon Airport. read full story / add a comment

In the High Court today, Justice Garrett Simons granted Friends of the Irish Environment's application for a judicial review striking down regulations made by Ministers Eoghan Murphy and Richard Bruton in January which exempted industrial peat extraction from the planning system and granted them a period of unlicensed operation in the EPA licensing system. The Court found that the regulations were in breach of EU environmental law and were outside the powers of the Ministers who made them. read full story / add a comment

Saudi Arabia has just now begged Iran for gasoline after the sudden cut of Saudi domestic supplies due to the new Yemeni drone attacks on Saudi major oil facilities on Tuesday.Saudi was once the world's largest crude oil exporter read full story / add a comment

The radical movements of the “long 1968” shook the postwar order from Prague to Paris, Derry to Mexico City, Rome to San Francisco. “Voices of 1968” (Pluto) lets those movements speak in their own words – posters, flyers, graffiti, manifestos, songs, underground texts and more. read full story / add a comment

High Court refers case to Court of Justice of the EU over Irish Courts Service’s refusal to provide public access to litigation documents

Crucial point of transparency law will be determined by Court of Justice

A challenge regarding the Courts Service’s refusal to provide public access to litigation documents relating to a High Court environmental case that concluded in 2016 has been referred to the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg. read full story / add a comment

Focus Ireland has launched a new hard-hitting campaign to highlight the trauma that the deepening homelessness crisis is causing to nearly 4,000 children in Ireland.

The emotive campaign projects images of children who are homeless on to a number of landmark buildings in Dublin* to highlight homelessness and Focus Ireland’s 4 point plan to end the crisis.

The charity is running an innovative outdoor projection campaign to shine the spotlight on the growing crisis as the number of children homeless has shot up by a shocking 356% in five years (From 828 children homeless in Sept 2014 to 3778 in July 2019* ) read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch are calling for an immediate review of the safety standards applied to US military and military contracted planes at Shannon Airport. A fire on an Omni Air International troop carrier brought the airport to a standstill on Thursday August 15th. This once again highlights the dangers posed by daily military traffic at a civilian airport like Shannon.

The troop carrier, which is reported to be carrying approximately 150 troops, was on its way to the Middle East. It had arrived earlier from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma USA. read full story / add a comment

With the release of first round CAO offers this week and the new academic year quickly approaching, tens of thousands of students across the country are beginning the search for a place to live. Against the backdrop of the housing crisis, this search has become a punishing and demoralising experience for many students – campus beds are limited in number, private rents are extortionately high and conditions are often cramped or otherwise inadequate. The lack of quality affordable student accommodation has been a serious problem for a number of years now but each year the scale of crisis grows. In 2015, a Higher Education Authority (HEA) report revealed a shortage of 25,000 student beds nationally whilst also predicting an additional 25-30,000 full time students by 2024. read full story / add a comment

As we draw towards the end of the hottest summer on record, the effects of climate change are becoming rapidly more evident. From the uncontrollable fires in the Arctic circle to the devastating floods in Kathmandu, from the rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet to the scorching heat waves being experienced around the world, it is clear that a climate emergency is no longer a future catastrophe to guard against but a reality that must be faced up to right now. read full story / add a comment

Richard Boyd Barrett TD has said he and People Before Profit are fully behind the protests by the Beef Plan movement over the last number of weeks and says the protests will be a key factor in winning a victory for small farmers in Ireland.

Talks between representatives from the Irish Farmers Association, Meat Industry Ireland, the Beef Plan movement and Bord Bia began yesterday at the Department of Agriculture and Boyd Barrett says these talks have been forced by the determination of the Beef Plan farmers. read full story / add a comment

Intensive chicken farming under scrutiny
Trans-boundary impact of factory farming highlighted in planning appeal

Residents of County Monahan are being left exposed to runaway intensive chicken factory farming as the Local Authority ducks and dives through the regulations meant to protect them, according to an appeal lodged against a planning permission for a 26,000 broiler unit recently approved by Monahan County Council.
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Butchery’ of protected woodland halted by National Parks and Wildlife Service

The National Parks and Wildlife Service [NPWS] has halted all felling in a private estate in County Longford on Friday evening after a report was filed by the environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment.

The felling was taking place within an ancient forest which Minister Heather Humphries signed a Statutory Instrument in October 2017, completing the legal designation process as the Lough Forbes Special Area of Conservation. read full story / add a comment

Shock as ESB peat-powered plant at Shannonbridge refused permission by An Bord Pleanala

Cessation of use of peat as a fuel ‘key component within national climate and energy policy’.

An application under the Strategic Infrastructure Act for the continuation of the ESB’s peat powered plant at Shannonbridge, West Offaly, beyond 31 December 2020 has been refused by An Bord Pleanala. read full story / add a comment

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has released a report outlining “serious and urgent concerns” regarding the state’s attitude towards the democratic right to protest. After consultations with protest groups from across the country, the ICCL reports “severe misuse” of the Public Order Act by Gardai, in the form of arrests without charge, harassment of protesters and imposing limits on where people can protest, seemingly in order to punish and discourage such action. read full story / add a comment

JUDGEMENTS FROM HIGH COURT AND SUPREME COURT ON INDUSTRIAL PEAT EXTRACTION DUE THIS WEEK.

Cases that originated in a 2013 ruling by An Bord Pleanala that industrial peat extraction requires planning permission have led to two judgements due this week in Ireland’s highest courts that may result in temporary closure of the industry.

The environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] originally referred three test cases of industrial peat extraction to An Bord Pleanala [ABP], the planning appeals board, in 2010, involving well-known companies like Westland, Bullrush, and Harte Peat. The peat is used for fuel, horticulture, mushroom growing, animal bedding, and as an industrial sorbent. None of the sites of up to 180 hectares in extent had planning permission from the local authority or a licence from the EPA. read full story / add a comment

From 1 July, Irish Water is seeking to implement excessive-use water charges of up to €500 per year. This will come as no great surprise to those of us who highlighted the programme for government agreed between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael back in 2016. The Socialist Party opposed and warned about this element of the legislation at the time, as we knew that is could be used as a back door to the re-introduction of full water charges in the future. The legislation allows the government to lower the amount of water that is considered normal usage over time. Just like with tuition fees and bin charges, the amounts will be increased incrementally until the idea of direct payment for water becomes normalised, or at least this is their hope. read full story / add a comment