Quotation: Fr. John Powell
'A growing person is self-renewing.......as new as each new day....Study his face and hands, listen to his voice....look for change.....It is certain that he has changed.

'To tell you my thoughts is to locate myself in a category. To tell you about my feelings is to tell you about me'...............Have we lost this capacity to share feelings!!!!!! read full story / add a comment

25 years ago today after a hunger strike of 66 days, Robert Gerard Sands more commonly known as Bobby Sands died. He had been born on the 9th of March 1954 and was only 27 when he died.

He was serving a 14 year sentance for possession of firearms, a pistol which had been found in car in which he and 4 others had been travelling. His trial in 1977 saw other charges relating to a bomb which had been planted nearby the car dropped for lack of evidence. It was not his first experience of imprisonment. He had joined the IRA in 1972 and that same year been interned and held without trial till 1976. Of his 27 years' life, only 17 were spent in freedom.

Ireland as they say - was different then. read full story / add a comment

An investigation of government and Garda Siochana policies on bullying and harrassment within the Gardai read full story / add a comment

Recent events in Iraq, Denmark, Paris and many other countries demonstrate the power of conviction as a motivator for action. When that conviction lacks the mollifying factor of “perspective” it can motivate actions that are destructive for the person and the community at large. read full story / add a comment

The recent controversy concerning names not included on the voting register prompted me to ask how democratic are our elected representatives?
!. People can personate and vote more than once.
2.People who believe themselves to be registered are turned away from the polling booths or told their vote is in Tipperary or whatever and who go away without casting their vote.
Since fewer and fewer people vote and Governments are elected with smaller and smaller majorities then how many of us vote or more importantly don't vote for them.
Remember they make descisions that affect our lives from everything from how much you pay to get rid of your rubbish to how long you spend on a plastic chair in a hospital A & E not directly mind but by not providing enough money for those services.
So Don't whinge and decide I won't vote because they're all crooks (I'm sure a lot of them are) But then VOTE AGAINST rather than for.
If you are dissillusioned with a particular party or individual politician don't just not bother to vote VOTE AGAINST them.
Vote for any independent candidate or party standing agaimst them.
Vote for the guy standing on the pot holes or the lDog poo on the street ticket, vote for the person in the Gorilla suit but VOTE otherwise the people who want the current policies of Look after the Rich (Mainly the Rich themselves and some poor fools who think being able to put a deposit on a crumbling pile on the Costa Brava puts them in the Bill Gates bracket) They will romp home again for another constipated five years of more of the same so
Get Registered and VOTE AGAINST. Try it it's more fun than you think. read full story / add a comment

The sale of Aer Lingus via flotation on the stock market was given the green light by Irish Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, on Wednesday, 5th April. All but a quarter of the national airline will shortly be up for grabs to the highest bidder. read full story / add a comment

It would be hard to beat the condescension of Irish Times editorials most days, but they really excelled themselves yesterday - and on the subject of press freedom, what's more. BTW, we are all now 'citizen journalists' here on Indymedia. read full story / add a comment

Foxhunting is just as cruel as many outlawed forms of entertainment which involve violence against animals.
Fox hunters profess to be doing the agricultural sector a favour by hunting and killing foxes. The reality is that foxes are beneficial to crop farmers as they hunt and kill rodents such as field-mice and rabbits to survive. These “pests” are very often responsible for the destruction of crops.
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The debate, discussion regarding left wing unity continues on this site, in the “left wing” political press, in the pages of Daily Ireland and in small meetings.

However this could be the most significant of all the moves so far.

The ATGWU and SIPTU have announced closer ties. The fact that the two largest unions on the island are getting closer together surely must inspire those who care about progressive politics on this island to try and work closer together.
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According to Max Weber, the capitalist economy of the present day is an immense cosmos into which the individual is born and which presents itself to him at least, as an individual, as an inalterable order of things in which he must live. It forces the individual in so far as he is involved in the system of market relationships, to conform to capitalist rules of action. The manufacturer who in the long run acts counter to these norms will, just as inevitably be eliminated from the economic scene as the worker who cannot or will not adapt himself to them will be thrown into the streets without a job. read full story / add a comment

The Venice Commission, also known as the European Commission for Democracy through Law, is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters.

It contributes to the dissemination of the European constitutional heritage, based on the continent's fundamental legal values - while continuing to provide “constitutional first-aid” to individual states. read full story / add a comment

You can understand why government might want to quantify the demographic and social circumstances of the population. Without statistical data it would be impossible to allocate resources appropriately. read full story / add a comment

I don't know how the government in all the different countries that we find ourselves in are acting when it comes to the Bird Flu, but I am sure that the situation here in Aotearoa (New Zealand) is in no way original. There was a mass send out of material a few months ago to all households on the both islands. In this material one would find information about the pandemic and how to protect oneself and one's family. There are regular announcements in the media regarding the flu, its symptoms, vaccinations, etc. I have no idea of how much this campaign is costing the people of this country. A campaign which as far as I can see is only creating more fear in a time when that is the last thing we need. Fair enough, if the Bird Flu was a pandemic, then it might be worth the effort. At this stage though there is no need to be afraid. And please, feel free to contradict me on this, educate me and enlighten me! read full story / add a comment

According to ABN AMBRO Bank, Venezuela “has developed a reputation for fiscal responsibility and is seen as a stablizing influence in the markets of both Ecuador and Argentina.” read full story / add a comment

I’ve reflected hard on John Water’s latest ‘The Chorus’ column for Village (27 May – 3rd May) and concluded, on balance, that the guy has a gift for satire unparalleled in Ireland. ‘Why redistribution can help the wealthy’ (what a hoot!) is a piece that pretends to work its way, via a series of hilariously OTT caricatures and studiedly faux-academic analyses, to Waters’ windingly funny conclusion to his column:
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Summary:Leaving Israel after a ten-day sojourn there, I make the following calls to Israel. Release Vanunu, End the occupation of Palestine, respect their rights, dismantle the Wall, stop the daily oppression, allow people from different regions to meet one another, work for peace by mutual respect, not unilaterally, enter into dialogue with the new authority.
To the Palestinian people: use all non-violent means to resist the unjust occupation and oppression
To the international community: Demand an end to occupation, support the Palestinian non-violent resistance, restore aid, do not be silenced by fear of being labelled anti-Semitic.
To all Israelis and Palestinians: try to build mutual friendship and peace. I appeal to those of you who already work together non-violently for peace and justice to continue with your great work read full story / add a comment

Northern Ireland one of the poorest areas in the UK, suffering from poverty and social exclusion, with the HIGHEST unemployment and second highest number of Income support claimants in the UK read full story / add a comment

Dick"s new fighting rubbish scourge personnel carrier.!

A MOBILE clean-up squad has been handed €350,000 by Environment Minister Dick Roche,in January 2006, to end the scourge of illegal dumping in his constituency by bin tax dodging,ordinary citizens.

The money is being spent on a special vehicle to remove rubbish illegally fly-tipped and to buy specialist equipment including CCTV with night vision.

The Wicklow Uplands Council will carry out the project in the hilly parts of the county.
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Implications of Minister For Justice' comments and actions around the February 25 riots; relationship of same to Minister's re-write of the criminal code currently under consideration by the Dail. read full story / add a comment

Neville Chamberline returned from his final meeting with Adolf Hitler waving a piece of white paper claiming that Hitler had given him an assurances about Germanys expantionist intentions. We all know what happened next.
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