Thursday 25 December 2014

Drunken journalists ?



The first journalist provides great amusement or even irritation with their ignorance in the geography of Ireland.

From RTÉ NEWS Wednesday 24 December 2014 21.33

“An investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Unit is underway after a small plane crash landed in a field east of Portumna, County Galway.
The four-seat plane was en route to Galway from the UK when the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in a field outside BorrisoKane, County Tipperary.

Portumna is small town on the banks of the River Shannon providing a watery division between the west and  the midlands of Ireland so any field to the east of  Portumna has to be in a neighbouring county and it is not clear as to why Portumna needed to be mentioned in the article.


****



And from The Irish Times Wed, Dec 24, 2014
Journalist Genevieve Carbery who has masters degrees in both equality studies and journalism writes :-

“In what has almost become a Christmas Eve tradition, singer Glen Hansard led **a rabble** of musicians in song to a crowd of hundreds on Dublin’s Grafton Street” busking for The Simon Community among who were Damien Rice, Mundy, Paddy Casey, Liam O’Maonlai, Declan O’Rourke, Danny O’Reilly from the Coronas and Danny O’Donoghue from the Script

RABBLE: meaning people, who are regarded as socially inferior or uncouth, the use of this word is completely out of place and untrue.


Saturday 20 December 2014

A message from Lin

© Jane Brideson 
"Winter Solstice Rebirth"


I received this message from a special friend and I have had her permission to share
this with You.


OLD HIPPY MAXIMS
As above.......so below,
Macrocosm.......microcosm,
Turn on... tune in... drop out
Heads...          Freaks..... Go with the flow
We get stoned, on crystals.....megaliths.....mother earth
Give peace a chance
Attitude gratitude......Devotion
.................................................................
Old hippies, were in recovery. the 60,s.... you know
We are now recovered
We have got our 2nd wind
Riding the post 2012....
Wave of light.
In aquarian age, ascension, party mode.
......................................................
Then, we dropped out
Of, world we saw
Greed, poverty, negative emotions, male domination, power over....
Poverty, hatred, war, toxic medications, hatred of mother earth,  and women
SO
We created a new one. Turned on, tuned in , created 
Organic farms, crystal healing, respect for mother earth and all our relations
Art, music fashion,, whole-foods shops, cnd, single mums, healers etc
Our musicians our prophets
Our inner voice, our guide
.................................
Cos we are aquarian age, ascension, forerunners
The crystal children, The rainbow warriors
hippies
Worked hard, to build the dream,
All our brothers , of fur feather and fin, joined in too.

Burnt out
.......................
Now we flow on the lightwave of 2012, ascending
We let the dying die,
Co-create, the new earth, the new body of light,
love, peace beauty truth, abundance,
Balanced in true love,
Soulmates of the inner flame
Ecstatic with joy, our dreams coming true
We turned the tide, earth is safe,
Still lots of light work to do
----------------------------------------------------------
Being shown, our Avalon phoenix,
is ready to take flight; she will be riding on the gentle
solstice dawn light, 
her wings tipped radiant. orange, gold
As she takes flight.
I see her watch the light at mount kailish
Then flowing with the earth grid, catching dawn at each site, through Carnac ; Giza, glaston, as the womblike cairns, gavanis, new-grange,As ancient ancestors built for us,  so in time to remind us
They were the abodes of immortals, the beings of light, built to remind us, which way to go, aligned to let in the winter solstice light, to touch the spiralled stones,
you know, incase we got lost
to recover true humanity, in a world gone blind
She sings the song of creation,
Her gift to us this season, 
to renew our humanity
In the ascension light, 
she will fly on to Mexico
 sit on the stone of the sun,, and sing the new creation, now
 being born

for mother earth, all our relations

....................................................
Lennon, song,                 
                                    Some say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one, 
One day you will join us, and the world will be as one
...................................
So with this wonderful, gentle, new ascension wave 
of winter-solstice light,
I wish you a 
HAPPY SOLSTICE 2014
Happy hippy Lin

Thursday 11 December 2014

Culchies demonstrate in Dublin

This is only part of the demonstrators

This was Novembers Demo the feelings are
even stronger.

They came from all over Ireland: from the North, from Donegal, Down & Louth, from the South as far as Cork & Kerry, from the West, Mayo to Clare, from the East, Wexford & Wicklow and from the Midlands too. People from every county were there for themselves and to represent others unable to travel to Dublin.

They brought their placards, their voices and their determination. They stayed for a day and went away carrying their experiences to pass on to others.



We are proud of them !

Proud to have them as neighbours and to call them our friends.



On reading the newspapers it easy to see that the journalists are lost for words to describe what they witnessed when the ‘culchies’ came to town; unless of course, as I suspect, many of them are suppressed by a secret committee of censors!

Approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people took part in the peaceful,self disciplined demonstration. Out of this number six people were arrested and none of them actually charged. Were they the fifth columnists planted in the crowd? - I don’t know.


There is a new wave of governance flowing through the land. We know it for now as People Power which occurs when the electorate reach within themselves to become enriched with a sense of personal worth and value. Flowing from this comes the empowerment to become Activists who have ability and inner confidence to tell members of the government what they want and do not want.


That is what happened on the streets of Dublin on 10th December 2014 and from this example even larger numbers will be drawn on 31st January 2015 to another demonstration of People Power.


Tuesday 9 December 2014

Calls on People To Deregister From Irish Water

Householders in Co. Roscommon will not have clean water until March 2017, more than a year after the next general election, the Dáil has heard.
As the Government prepares itself for an anti-water charges protest this afternoon outside Leinster House, Independent TD Denis Naughten said he had received correspondence from Irish Water in the last few days it would be 2017 before people in the county’s north eastern region would be able to “drink the water that’s coming out of their taps, which is a long way down the road yet”.
Press Statement - issued 4pm

Tuesday 9 December 2014

People Before Profit Alliance Calls on People To Deregister From Irish Water

Ahead of tomorrow’s Right2Water National Demonstration when tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Dail Eireann to demand the abolition of the water charges, the People Before Profit Alliance is calling on those who have registered with Irish Water to engage in a deregistration campaign.

John Lyons, a Dublin City People Before Profit councillor for Beaumont/Donaghmede stated:

‘ I have received confirmation from Irish Water that those who have registered with the company but wish no longer to be a customer can simply call Irish Water on 1890 448 448 and close their accounts. I know of many people who registered over the last while and now regret having done so: some registered through fear and panic, which is understandable given how hundreds of thousands of families were treated by the Government with regard the Local Property Tax; others registered so as to hedge their bets, looking to avail of the now scrapped “free water allowance” whilst keeping a close eye on the water charges resistance with a view to adopting a non-payment position down the line. And of course,’ continued Cllr Lyons, ‘we know of the thousands of families who returned their Irish Water application packs with no information contained within save for “No Contract, No Consent” and other similar messages of disobedience that Irish Water have actually included in their 930,000 “respondents” figure. Well now, anyone who wants to reverse that registration decision can do so by simply picking up the phone and letting Irish Water know where to go.’

Tina MacVeigh, People Before Profit’s councillor for the Crumlin/Kimmage area, continues: “It is my firm belief that tomorrow’s Right2Water national demonstration will put yet another nail in the coffin that is the superquango called Irish Water. The mass movement of grassroots resistance to the water charges that has emerged over recent weeks and months in villages, towns and cities across Ireland is of such a scale that it has the power to topple this Government. If the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition thinks it can kick the Irish Water can down the road to the spring of 2016 when the first penalties for non-payment apply and govern the country in the interim, they have another thing coming,’ Cllr MacVeigh stated. ‘The information we have obtained relating to peoples’ right to deregister from Irish Water is welcome as it is yet another opportunity for people to express their disgust of and resistance to the water charges. It will also give confidence to those who have registered but who are now determined not to pay these hugely regressive charges. So I would encourage those people to call Irish Water on 1890 448 448 and 

Detroit supports Irish Water Protest

Loyal friends across the pond



Today, a delegation  from The Detroit Water Brigade arrived in Dublin to stand in solidarity with Ireland and people around the globe who are fighting for strong public water systems and water accessibility. The Detroit Water Brigade provides bottled water, water coolers, rainwater catchment barrels, and water filters, to people in need. They will be visiting residents across Ireland who have been fighting against the installation of  water meters
Over the summer the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department shut off water for over 3,000 household each week due to residents being behind on payments. And though half of Detroit’s residents live below the poverty line, the Detroit city council recently approved a significant increase in water charges, making a total increase of 119% over the last 10 years. The water charges in Detroit are nearly double the US national average.
“To take water away from those who cannot afford it by handing it to a private, for-profit company isn’t just irresponsible — it’s genocidal.” Says Detroit Water Brigade’s Political Director. “We know that from firsthand experience here in Detroit and we can’t allow it to happen to Ireland.”
Since protests began the Irish government has completely lost the trust of the people. It is now obvious that the government are not listening to the people who they claim to represent, and the dogs on the street know that the people are fed up. What will it take to convince the government that access to water is a human right and not a revenue stream for bailing out big banks? How many times must we say that we demand water charges abolished before they will abolish them? And how many hundreds of thousands of people marching to the Dáil will it take to convince them that  water charges will not be accepted that people know full well that they already pay for their water.  The world is about to find out.
The peaceful protest against water charges on Wednesday, 10 December will begin at 1pm at Leinster House, Merrion Square. Solidarity protests will also take place outside Belfast City Hall, and in London outside of the Irish Embassy.
Céad míle fáilte to the delegates from Detroit 




The 1997 Act that absolves the Irish people from paying
water charges






Sunday 7 December 2014

No Privatisation !


NO PRIVATISATION.... Irish Water,Irish Nation!
Recorded live in the kitchen of Campbells Tavern, Cloughanover Co. Galway by Eamon deStaic and Liam Donoghue and edited by Philip Noone.
Featuting Aindrias deStaic,Noelie McDonnell,Donal Gibbons,Fabian Joyce,Liam Ivory,Dave Clancy, Willy Merrigan and Joe Fury.
This is what happens when a bunch of friends and musicians, after playing a gig together ,start talking politics in a rural kitchen in the wee hours.


Saturday 6 December 2014

The EU Needs to Cop On!

Lyn Boylan MEP  SF

European Commission rep's 'patronising and arrogant' comments on water protesters.


A REPRESENTATIVE of the European Commission clashed with Sinn Féin's Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan on Thursday after the Policy Officer made "patronising and arrogant" comments about Irish water protesters during a conference in Brussels – apparently unaware that an Irish MEP was present.
During the Aqua Publica Europea conference, a spokesperson for a private water operator claimed that water should be treated like any other utility and should not be considered a free resource.
Responding to the comment, the European Commission Policy Officer for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, Lukasz Latala, said: 
"The Irish just don't seem to understand they need to pay for water."
The comment prompted an immediate response from Irish MEP Lynn Boylan - who has been appointed author of the European Citizens' Initiative Right to Water report – and was in the audience listening. 
Speaking from the floor, the Dublin MEP described the policy representative's comments as "patronising", telling him:
"The Irish people absolutely understand that water has to be paid for. But they don't understand why they are being asked to pay for it twice."
"We already pay for our water through general taxation and the wholly inept and shambolic entity that is Irish Water has also been funded by Irish taxpayers."
Speaking after the conference, Lynn Boylan said:
"The Irish Government alludes to conservation being a factor in the introduction of this tax. It is appalling that 40% of domestic water is being lost through leaking pipes. 
"Instead of the Government investing in the aged and decrepit infrastructure it has spent half a billion euro of the National Pension Reserve Fund in setting up a quango that is not fit for purpose and in the installation of water meters."

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Danger Ahead for EU Countries !

Matt Carthy MEP Sinn Féin

MIDLANDS NORTH WEST MEP Matt Carthy today launched a discussion document produced by Sinn Féin which outlines concerns in relation to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations currently taking place between the US and EU. 
TTIP is the most significant free trade agreement of modern times but elements of it have been shrouded in secrecy.
Speaking at the European Parliament Information Office in Dublin this morning, Matt Carthy said it is important that a comprehensive public debate takes place in relation to the impact TTIP will have on Irish interests. 
Criticising the lack of transparency surrounding the negotiations and highlighting how MEPs only became aware of the mandate for negotiations via a leaked document, he told An Phoblacht that his party has major concerns surrounding the establishment of an Investor State Dispute Settlement Procedure.
"It operates outside of the rule of law and allows investors to sue member states as a result of potential loss of revenue. It is the mechanism by which tobacco giants are currently suing Australia as a result of that country’s public health measures against smoking."
Representatives from a number of trade unions, NGOs and pressure groups attended the launch and outlined their concerns in the areas of employment, workers' rights, agriculture and the environment.
Matt Carthy called on more organisations to evaluate the potential consequences of TTIP and to raise their concerns with public representatives.
"It has become increasingly apparent that there is a clear need for public engagement and debate on the consequences of TTIP for Ireland, particularly as we have lost our veto to block this agreement as a result of the Lisbon treaty."