The average Iris person is presumed to create 17 tonnes of carbon a year. This is called our carbon footprint. Since the ratification of the Kyoto agreement by Ireland 2002 which seen quotas on carbon been produced,the value of the carbon credit has realised real wealth.

The average carbon credit in "laymans terms" trades on the open market for E20 per tonne. Companies with a big carbon production rate say 40,000 tonnes and a quota for only 10,000tonnes ,must purchase the deficit of carbon credits (30,000 tonnes) on the open market or invest in new carbon reducing machinery. read full story / add a comment

Niall Farrell of the Galway Alliance Against War is to be arrested on Friday, 1st of August on his return from abroad and sent to Limerick Prison for his involvement in a peace protest with Margaretta D'Arcy last September on the runway at Shannon airport. In June they were found guilty of having "interfered with the proper use" of Shannon airport and given a two week suspended sentence and what approximates to a €100 fine. Both refused to pay the fine or sign a so-called peace bond and Ms D'Arcy has since been imprisoned for her failure to comply with the Ennis District Court's ruling. read full story / add a comment

Good Energies Alliance Ireland (GEAI) views the latest developments where preparations for shale gas exploratory drilling has begun in Belcoo as a National, not local issue.

Dr Aedin McLoughlin, Director GEAI, expressed extreme dismay. “Make no mistake about it – any exploratory drilling, with or without hydraulic fracturing, is part of the overall fracking process,” she said. “An exploratory well without hydraulic fracturing leads to more wells with “test fracks”, leading to full fracking as shale gas is extracted. In Belcoo, the first stage is starting, with the industry bleating their mantra, “This is only drilling, it’s not fracking!” When is fracking not fracking? When the industry wants to hide what is obvious – that a good result from this first exploratory well could lead on to more wells and more wells and a full-scale fracking operation with all its environmental and social issues.” read full story / add a comment

Disturbing discoveries relating to glyphosate—the active ingredient in Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide Roundup—keep emerging. No less than two shocking discoveries recently went public on the same day...

Earlier this month, groundbreaking research was published detailing a newfound mechanism of harm of the chemical.

Now, testing shows that people in 18 countries across Europe have glyphosate in their bodies1, while yet another study reveals that the chemical has estrogenic properties and drive breast cancer proliferation in the parts-per-trillion range2. As reported by GreenMedinfo.com:

“Does this help explain the massive mammary tumors that the only long term animal feeding study on Roundup and GM corn ever performed recently found?”

Meanwhile, a new EU-US free trade agreement3,4 known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), has again cracked the door open for genetically engineered (GE) crops and foods into Europe.

This may effectively negate the hard work Europeans have done to limit the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their food supply, and with genetically engineered “Roundup Ready” crops and the food made from it come increased glyphosate exposure... read full story / add a comment

Irish animal protection groups are renewing their call for a total ban on live hare coursing following the latest series of shocking reports on coursing events compiled by State appointed wildlife rangers. read full story / add a comment

On the 30th of August at 1pm, An Spréach Housing Action Committee will be protesting against the appalling housing crisis outside Dublin City Council’s Civic Offices on Wood Quay.

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Did Abbot really think he could suppress a story like this? He seems intent on turning Australia into a dictatorship. KM


Today, 29 July 2014, WikiLeaks releases an unprecedented Australian censorship order concerning a multi-million dollar corruption case explicitly naming the current and past heads of state of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, their relatives and other senior officials. The super-injunction invokes “national security” grounds to prevent reporting about the case, by anyone, in order to “prevent damage to Australia's international relations”. The court-issued gag order follows the secret 19 June 2014 indictment of seven senior executives from subsidiaries of Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The case concerns allegations of multi-million dollar inducements made by agents of the RBA subsidiaries Securency and Note Printing Australia in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries.
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The WSM have produced an article that puts in context the way the Palestinian land has been stolen from them by the Israeli state.

For the size of its population Ireland has seen very large Gaza solidarity demonstrations. It is also one of the few places in the world outside the USA where there has been public displays of support for the Israeli military assault. Internationally there are many variations of this map where activists present to their population what the expulsion of the Palestinians from much of the land they once occupied would look like in a local context. One of our members prepared this but we soon realised its an impossible image to post without some reflection on our own settler colonialist past. read full story / add a comment

Mark Bray author of 'Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street' will be giving this talk in the WSM space in Seomra Spraoi, 19.30, August 18th as part of a European speaking tour.

Translating Anarchy tells the story of the anti-capitalist anti-authoritarians of Occupy Wall Street who strategically communicated their revolutionary politics to the public in a way that was both accessible and revolutionary. read full story / add a comment

The best of recent Irish Short Films will once again screen in Daingean at the end of the month. The screening will take place in Seery’s, Daingean [www.facebook/seerys bar] on Thursday 31st July, starting at 7.00 pm. The closing short film RUNNER will have local filmmaker, Paddy Slattery in attendance. As always, admission is free to the bilingual screening agus beidh fáilte roimh Gaeilge ar an óiche.

After, the 7.00 screening of Irish Shorts, the night will proceed at 9.00 with a screening of the very stimulating PERIPHERAL VISION, the latest documentary by Donnacha Ó Briain (synopsis below) [www.peripheralvision.co]. read full story / add a comment

Galway City Council granted planning permission for a Mosque in Galway City last year however it seems it may not be a Mosque at all. The Sharia Council maintain that the Ahmadiyyas Mosque is an insult to Islam and this group have been banned from attending the Hajj in Mecca since the 1970s following a conference in Pakistan which seen Saudi Arabia bann this group from entering its most sacred territory.

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We were soldiers in a wide variety of units and positions in the Israeli military—a fact we now regret, because, in our service, we found that troops who operate in the occupied territories aren’t the only ones enforcing the mechanisms of control over Palestinian lives. In truth, the entire military is implicated. For that reason, we now refuse to participate in our reserve duties, and we support all those who resist being called to service.

The Israeli Army, a fundamental part of Israelis’ lives, is also the power that rules over the Palestinians living in the territories occupied in 1967. As long as it exists in its current structure, its language and mindset control us: We divide the world into good and evil according to the military’s categories; the military serves as the leading authority in deciding who is valued more and who less in society – who is more responsible for the occupation, who is allowed to vocalize their resistance to it and who isn’t, and how they are allowed to do it. The military plays a central role in every action plan and proposal discussed in the national conversation, which explains the absence of any real discussion of non-military solutions to the conflicts Israel has been locked in with its neighbors. read full story / add a comment

The Intercept has published the guidelines whereby a person can be labelled a terrorist and
put on a no fly list by the US government. These are very vague and broad and it would be remarkably easy to end up on this list for a principled social activist, merely exercising their democratic right to protest read full story / add a comment

We are doctors and scientists, who spend our lives developing means to care and protect health and lives. We are also informed people; we teach the ethics of our professions, together with the knowledge and practice of it. We all have worked in and known the situation of Gaza for years.

On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel. read full story / add a comment

Yesterday independent TD's Clare Daly and Mick Wallace carried out a protest designed to highlight use of Shannon for military purposes yesterday. They were later released. Daly has vowed to hold the state to account for it's complicity in US military warmongering in the middle east and elsewhere. Fair play to Clare and Mick. read full story / add a comment

In the past week, Israeli military forces have escalated their offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted houses, civilian-populated areas and civilian facilities in the Gaza strip. Israeli warplanes have destroyed a number of houses while their residents were inside, without any prior warnings, killing and wounding many Palestinian civilians.
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Meeting on Building the People's Network

This is an important discussion for the future:
* Summing up the experience of the elections.
* How do we strengthen the movement?

Ideas on the table are ....
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Stop NATO Cymru Week of Action, Sat 30th Aug - Fri 5th Sep, Newport, South Wales plus Newsletter: https://network23.org/stopnatocymru/files/2014/07/scd.pdf read full story / add a comment

The Summer Series of the Easter Rising walking Tours has started. read full story / add a comment

The public and animal welfare organisations feel let down by the Irish judicial system.

E.G A.R (EAST GALWAY ANIMAL RESCUE) Moyglass, Loughrea Run by Sarah Gunther.
Miss Gunther was charged with eight counts of animal cruelty and received a fine of 250 euro at Galway District Court.on the 09/07/2014.

Many people have been appalled by the leniency of the judge in passing sentence on Miss Gunther and the state of the dogs found in her care.
Dogs which were removed from her care were ordered to be placed back into her care.With no surety that this will never happen again.

Miss Gunther in her own words called it an "Error of judgement".
Many believe she has showed no/little remorse for her actions and many worry that this will happen again and again.
It cannot be allowed to happen. What message has this just sent to the Irish public?

Miss Gunther has been very outspoken regarding individuals and rescues in the past and has been quick to point the finger at many Irish rescues regarding their standard of care.
She was also implicated in an on-line hate campaign directed at the family of Lennox. dog seized and destroyed by Belfast council on the 12/07/2012.

There are questions to be answered and larger issues to be addressed.Why was her fine so small? Why was she not banned from keeping animals? Why can she continue as a charity and receive public donations?

This case highlight the need for regulation within Irish animal welfare groups, qualifications, transparency, adequate support and perhaps a sentence that fits the crime of animal abuse.
And that Miss Gunther closes her rescue for good.
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