Socialists in Cork confront pro-life activists

The Socialist party, who have sought to take over the campaign on the household tax confronted peaceful pro-life activists in Cork on 27th June. The pro-life group, Youth Defence are currently touring Ireland as part of their annual roadshow.

Readers will recall that last year in Dublin, pro-abortion protestors hurled abuse and threw condoms and other items at young children and elderly women taking part in the annual pro-life rally. This all happened about a hundred yards from where Pearse proclaimed an Irish Republic in 1916.

There are many in the United Left Alliance, who do not support abortion but it has to be remembered the ‘left’ follow in the tradition of the worst mass murders of the 20th century. The Jewish involvement in the creation of Bolshevism and communism is well documented. Let us never forget ‘Red Terror’.

This Red attack in Cork against those defending the innocent is an ideological attack on babies and the family. Real patriots will defend the unborn child and the family.

Ulster Bank refuses to comment on boss Brown's bonus

Very suitable song below the article.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/ulster-bank-refuses-to-comment-on-boss-browns-bonus-557378.html

Ulster Bank is refusing to be drawn on whether its boss Jim Brown will forgo his bonus in light of the massive computer meltdown at the bank, which has affected up to 150,000 people here.
Payment problems at parent company RBS have now entered their 12th day, affecting Ulster Bank as well as UK banks Nat West and RBS.
The head of RBS, Stephen Hester, has already announced that he is giving up his bonus, saying it would be inappropriate after letting customers down.
A report in today's Irish Independent said a spokesperson for Ulster Bank chief Jim Brown last night refused to comment on whether he would follow Mr Hester's lead.
Meanwhile, Ulster Bank is keeping 60 branches open today and 22 tomorrow, to deal with the ongoing fallout from last week's technical glitch.

 

Flowers Teach

Just a reminder that it is possible to subscribe to Dinoscopus at the following email address. The writings of Bishop Richard Williamson are always excellent and contain great wisdom.

englishcomments@dinoscopus.org

info@dinoscopus.org

 

Number CCLVIII (258)

23 June 2012

FLOWERS TEACH

If flowers speak (cf. EC 255), then they can also teach: the value of time, the justice of God, the harmony of grace and nature.

For instance, if God exists and he is not unjust by making a soul’s whole eternity depend upon its choices made during one brief life, even lasting 90 years, then it stands to reason both that every moment of that life counts, and that in every moment (even if not always with the same force) God is appealing to us to join him for eternity. That is why it makes sense that he should be talking through the flowers and through every other gift of his creation, because what soul alive can truthfully say that it has nothing and nobody to love ? Even the most rabid “atheist” has, say, his dog or his cigarettes. And Who designed dogs and tobacco plants, and kept them reproducing down to our own day ?

So just before he dies the “atheist” may still claim that he at least was never spoken to by God, but in the instant after he dies he will grasp in a flash that for every moment of his waking life God has been appealing to him through some creature or other around him. “Am I now unjust,” God might ask him, “if I condemn you for every remaining moment of my life, when for every moment of your life you have been refusing me ? Have what you have chosen. Depart from me int-” (Mt. XXV, 41).

Conversely, take a soul that has profited by every moment of its life to love the great and good God behind all the good things it has enjoyed, and that has even recognized the permission of his Providence behind all the bad things it has not enjoyed. Then who needs to be recognized, or famous, who needs to appear in the media, or to fill drawers of vacation photographs, in order to give meaning to his life ? Small wonder that in past ages talented souls could bury their talents in a cloister or monastery in order to devote them wholly to the loving of God. For indeed every moment of our time is of measureless value, because upon every moment hangs for good or ill a measureless eternity.

Moreover, that flowers speak can help us to make sense of another well-known problem: how can non-Catholic souls be condemned for not having the Catholic faith when Catholic missionaries never reached them ? Whatever mystery is here may at least partly be solved, humanly speaking, if one recalls that it is the selfsame God who creates flowers and instituted the Catholic Church. Thus if God’s Providence never allowed for Catholic truth to reach the ears of a given soul, nevertheless that soul will not be able to plead that it knew nothing of the true God, and it can be judged on what it did know, for instance the beauty of cloudscapes, of sunrises and sunsets. Did it, beholding them, say with the pagan Job (Job XIX, 25), “I know that my Redeemer liveth”, or did it say, “Well, yes, that’s nice, but now let me visit my neighbour’s wife-” ?

In fact a number of complaints that men have today against their Creator arise even with Catholics, because many Catholics are, like everybody else today, more or less cut off from Nature by their urban or suburban lives, and their “spirituality” becomes correspondingly artificial. “Woe to anybody who has never loved an animal,” somebody has said. Children are close to God. Watch how naturally children love animals.

Great and good God, grant us to see you where you are, deep down everything and everybody, at every moment.

Kyrie eleison.

Bleeding Germany Dry The Aftermath of World War II from the German Perspective

http://www.nordbruch.org/bleeding-germany-dry-aftermath-world-war-ii-german-perspective

Bleeding Germany Dry

The Aftermath of World War II from the German Perspective

Pretoria: Contact Publishers  2012

hard cover, dust jacket, lots of pics

560 pages

ISB: 978-0-95843-134-7

Price: 24,80 €

This book deals exhaustively with a subject that many consider heretical: the legal issue of Germany’s demands for a peace treaty and constitution as well as reparations and compensation for the German people.

A distinctive feature of the author’s argument is that he writes from an all-German point of view. The Austrian people are seen as an obvious and integral part of the German Nation and are treated as such. He is a strong critic of the Federal Republic’s standard response that the injustices perpetrated on the German people ‘by foreign powers are rooted in injustices committed by the National Socialist regime’, and consequently the Germans ‘must abstain from making their own demands for compensation against these states’.

This nonconforming author exposes the hypocrisy of such self-protective assertions. He concentrates on giving the reader unadulterated depictions of the premeditated mass atrocities connected with expulsion and deportation of German people, as well as the mass rape of German women and girls, and the Allied campaigns of methodical plunder throughout Germany. He does not omit the well-documented tortures and murders of millions of German civilians and prisoners of war in both East and West, and he devotes an entire chapter to the question of foreign workers in the Third Reich. This is compared with the historical facts about the question of German forced labourers. Nordbruch is the first author to document the actual extent of exploitation of German labour by the victorious powers, Bolshevistic as well as ‘democratic’. After an extensive investigation of these issues, the author presents Germany’s ethical and political grounds for claiming restitution. He provides a thorough explanation of the legal arguments supporting such compensation under international law.

Bleeding Germany Dry is an accurate and hard-hitting revision of historical events that for over half a century have had a decisive influence on the policies of Berlin and Vienna. Nordbruch directs his attention to the millions of German war victims who to this very day remain uncompensated for their sufferings during imprisonment, torture and slave labour. According to the author, all the Allies continue to wage war against Germany, albeit a war no longer waged with bombs and machine guns. Instead, it is a war of an intellectual corrosive subversion, and also conducted against German science. The heart of Europe is still suffering from the consequences of this radical policy of total destruction, which is unprecedented in human history.

This wide-ranging and richly illustrated book is more than a dispassionate study cataloguing death, material losses and suffering in chronological order. With his inimitable style of writing, Nordbruch ruthlessly breaks taboos here. Ignoring the political and intellectual taboos created by the disciples of political correctness, he puts forward unconventional demands that must be addressed by a future sovereign German policy.

Price: EUR 24,80

Martin Mc Guinness and Elizabeth Windsor

With this photograph doing the rounds, see below for a bit of humour.

(AFP, Paul Faith)

“The Pope and the Queen of England are addressing a joint Anglican/Catholic commemoration of the Anglo-Irish accords. The crowd is huge. Her Majesty and His Holiness cannot help but feel a little rivalry - both being heads  of states and churches and all.

The queen said to the Pope, "Did you know that, with just one little wave of my hand, I can make every English person in the crowd go wild?"
The Pope looked doubtful, so she showed him. Sure enough, the royal-gloved wave elicited rapture and cheering from every English man, woman and child in the crowd.   Gradually, the cheering subsided.

The Pope, not wanting to be outdone, considered thoughtfully and then said to the Queen, "Your majesty, that was impressive.  But did you know that, with one wave of MY hand, I can make every Irish person in the crowd go crazy with joy?  Their joy will not only be a momentary display like that of your subjects, but will go deep into their hearts, and they will speak forever of this day to their grandchildren and they to their descendants."

The Queen seriously doubted this, and said so, "One little wave of your hand and all Irish people will rejoice forever?  Show me."
So, the Pope slapped her.”

Mass Immigration to Ireland continues

As stated many times before, mass-immigration is about cheap foreign labour and part of the Judeo-Masonic plan to break up Nations. A good point to mention is the return of Irish ex-pats returning to the land of their birth. Irish patriots must continue to call for the humane repatriation of the immigrants and their off spring back to their country of origin, and to support Irish jobs for Irish workers. A major adversary are those who continue to hire foreign workers instead of Irish people. The Irish diaspora are returning home, and this is to be encouraged and promoted. For the Irish to emigrate is to play into the hands of the enemy. The same applies to the immigrant arriving in Ireland. Are they happy to be the cheap foreign labour for the Capitalist?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/40000-irish-born-people-emigrated-last-year-198914.html

40,000 Irish-born people emigrated last year

By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Thursday, June 28, 2012

More Irish people are leaving the country than immigrants who came here during the boom, a detailed study has found.

New research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows more than 76,000 people left the country last year.
Of this figure — which has almost trebled compared to the 29,000 who emigrated in 2005 — more than 40,000 of these people were originally from Ireland.
The 40,000 figure outstrips the remaining 36,000 of departees, of whom the majority were from the original eight EU countries, with the rest mainly born in recently added EU states — about 15,600 people.

The surge in emigration has been put down to the recent collapse in the country’s economy, with Ireland losing almost 300,000 jobs since the financial crisis began.

However, surprisingly, the OECD research has also found that during this same period there has been a small but notable rise in the number of people arriving or returning to Ireland over the past 18 months.

While overall immigration levels have plunged from 110,000 in 2007 to 42,000 last year, the 2011 rate is still 11,000 higher than just 12 months earlier.
According to the OECD, this small rise is due to an increase in Irish people returning home, and immigration from within and outside of the EU.
Despite the economic crash, the number of Irish ex-pats returning to the land of their birth rose from 133,000 to 171,000 between 2010 and 2011.

While immigration from within the EU remains five times smaller than it was before the economic crash, it still rose by 55% — to 9,000 — over the same 12-month period, while non-EU immigration is up 61%.

The detailed study also notes that there has been a significant fall-off in the number of requests for asylum in Ireland in recent years, with the latest annual rate the lowest since 1996.

In 2011, the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland because of wars or other threats stood at just 1,250.
This is down from a high of 11,634 in 2002, and is the lowest annual asylum application figure since 1996.

The OECD said this dramatic fall is mainly the result of the 2003 Immigration Act and the 2004 Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, which withdrew "birthright citizenship" entitlements for expectant parents coming to Ireland.

The independent thinktank also found that the number of employment permits in Ireland has fallen in the past two years.
* www.oecd.org

Public sector pay

The following featured in the Irish Times.

“sanity clause” wrote in Irish Times, June 23^rd, 2012.

On public sector pay you cannot rely on the media to give you an accurate picture - they're totally biased, don't know why - you have to go to primary sources i.e. the Government department's own figures. When you do that you'll be surprised, if not shocked:

73% earn less than 50,000 per year

82% earn less than 60,000 per year

25% (24.66) i.e. a quarter, earn less than 20,000 per year

Figures for 2009 i.e. before recent pay cuts. Source: http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2011/10/25/unrev... see page 210.

Some people may not like these figures, because the truth conficts with the picture that has been painted for them by the media, a picture they did not have any obvious reason to doubt, and as a result internalised, making it easier to find a simple scapegoat for the current crisis. But they are the truth, and the real culprits for the crisis lie elsewhere. What we've got here is: the problem's A, so let's fix B.

If you want to look for real and incredible waste, recall that FG was the party of Michael Lowry, and more importantly recall that five ministers in this Government, including Enda Kenny, were ministers in the the cabinet that included Lowry, that gave the mobile phone licence to Denis O' Brien and others for a mere 15 million pounds, which O' Brien and the others were then able to turn into more than 2 billion pounds, by doing no more than any company would've been able to do if it had the licence to do it. If that wasn't a licence to print money (our money), what is? Yet again this shows that although the Government doesn't know how to negotiate, and Kenny doesn't know how to debate, they really do know how to give away our money and our assets.

Denis was severely criticised in the tribunal set up to look into the "awarding" of the mobile phone licence in the context of corruption in Irish politics. Denis who doesn't pay income tax here was invited by FG and Labour to the love-in in the Phoenix Park, for luminaries such as he, to allegedly plan how to save us all. He also met with Enda Kenny again in New York recently, and is currently trying to take over another large section of the Irish media.

Then there's Fianna Fail. Leaving aside the tax-break-aided property bubble, the lunatic bank guarantee and the sell out referred to as the bailout, there's the great Corrib Gas giveaway, where incredibly favourable terms were given to oil and gas companies, essentially giving away yet more of our assets and resources, all presided over at the time by the man who would later be prisoner number 33791 in Arbour Hill prison: Fianna Fail's Ray Burke, who, of course, didn't sit in cabinet alone. Yet another example of how FF, FG and Labour, although they don't know how to negotiate, really do know how to give away our money, assets and resources.

On taxes, the trend is to move towards more non-income based taxes, which is socially regressive i.e. redistributes income upwards in an already very unequal society. A handy measure of income inequality is the oft quoted: top 6.5% of income earners pay 50% of income taxes, and top 20% of income earners pay 77% of income taxes. This is usually quoted by right wingers trying to suggest that it's "unfair that so few people pay so much of the income tax collected here", which of course is turning reality on its head, because it's really showing how a relative few get most of the income.

Can never understand why workers want other workers' pay and conditions cut instead of all workers pay and conditions improved - shows the success of the messages being put out that get us looking at each other instead of looking at those who don't want to be seen, but who created the crisis and then had it transferred to the rest of us - for example why are holders of unsecured bonds being paid billions of our euros, making many of them massive profits? The Government are handing over this money even as they claim to be doing all to get sovereign and bank debt separated (see Noonan reported in today's Irish Times) - yet here they are treating bank debt, that isn't even secured, as if it is sovereign debt - Kenny referred to it as "our" debt - and needlessly handing over billions. Yet again they're really expert at giving away our money!

Public service workers do vitally important work for the functioning of this country, and most are not highly paid, many are on low pay - almost everyone who has grown up here has been through our education system, there would be no modern economy without educated people. There is no need to emphasise the importance of the health service to the country and its economy, but consider this: a study by an economic think-tank in the UK discovered that the workers whose work created the largest amount of wealth for the least amount of wealth destroyed were - hospital cleaners. Those who were on the other end of this scale were - banking executives. Bondholders are mostly banks.

If you're looking for wasted money this is where to look. Holders of unsecured bonds from private banks have no claim over public money here, not legally, not morally, these debts are not ours', and these bondholding institutions and individuals do no work for this country while profiting off of it like leeches.

Commemoration of Dresden: Why an apology from Britain to Germany is due.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-_m17TN0OA

Property tax to be deducted from wages

Will a property tax “come into effect” given the mass opposition to the household and septic tank charge in Ireland? The Irish tax revolt has been discussed across the world, and this attack on wages will anger  workers. There should be no tax on a family home.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/property-tax-to-be-deducted-from-wages--report-555659.html

The new property tax is to be deducted directly from the wages of PAYE employees, according to reports this morning's Sunday Business Post.
It is understood Revenue Commissioners will have the power to take the money directly from source, while self-employed workers will be required to declare the tax in their annual assessment.

The move is designed to ensure a much higher level of collection of the controversial €100 household charge, which 42% of homeowners have yet to pay.
It is expected a new property tax will come into effect next year.

The Catholic is called to fight

Many thanks to a regular reader who sent the following. With the 50th International Eucharistic Congress having concluded, this extract is perfect for what is needed in the continued fight. A number of people have made enquiries in relation to the social teachings. Catholicism has everything got to do with politics, economics and society in general. A previous blog post gave a brief outline of suggested reading material. The purpose of a Eucharistic Congress is to show public belief in the Real Presence. Young people in particular have renewed zeal to be Crusader’s for Christ.

http://kingshipofchrist.blogspot.ie/

THE CATHOLIC IS CALLED TO FIGHT – SO LET’S GET BACK INTO THE HABIT!

“I fear that the loving gaze of Jesus, so extolled by this pope, is liable to send him to join those so well described by Dante in the Inferno, for there is no love of truth without hatred of error. Let us pray he repents of his deeds before it is too late.

Let us remind ourselves of Blessed Urban II calling the First Crusade, of the Ecumenical Councils extolling Christians to fight the infidel, of Pope Saint Pius V calling Christendom to fight the Turk and joining this war to a rosary crusade to insure the defeat of the infidel at Lepanto! And what of Saint Bernard, the force behind the Second Crusade, of Saint Peter Martyr, Inquisitor for Lombardy, martyred by the heretics even as he sought to destroy the monster of Catharism? The entire history of the Church resounds with the voices of popes and saints calling Christendom to fight the enemies of Christ with prayer, but also with sword. We see Saint John Capistrano, humble Franciscan friar, leading the Christian forces against the Turks in the 15th Century; we see the Capuchin, Marco D'Aviano rousing the Austrians to fight the Turk in the 16th Century; we see the Catholic kings of Spain fighting the Moors and delivering Granada back to the Faith, while at the same time God granting them the fruits of a "new world". That is Catholicism, not the love-in at Assisi which is little less than the opening to Antichrist.

If we wish to push the matter further, are we to conclude that the Old Testament is only a book of lies about God, who gives Josue the instruction to destroy the pagans in the Promised Land? What of Judith and her violence against the enemy of Israel, whereby she cuts off his head and is declared forever blessed? What of God striking down the priests of Baal by command of the Prophet Elias? What of the Maccabees who take arms against Antiochus? Is this all a misunderstanding? or has the Pope dared to raise his voice against the Most High? God deliver the Church from liberals and blasphemers, and restore to us a Pope who actually is Catholic.”

Posted by Reverend Father Marshall M. Roberts

Cabinet ravaged by bitter infighting amid air of 'defeat'

An extract from an article which the Irish people can take delight in. With the Moanvenlagh Turf Cutters holding a successful protest in Athlone against

“Big Pig Phil” several days ago, it shows how many “fans” Fine Gael really have.  Everywhere they go, they are greeted by their “fans”.

http://www.facebook.com/moanvenlagh.turfcutters

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cabinet-ravaged-by-bitter-infighting-amid-air-of-defeat-3140483.html

By DANIEL McCONNELL and JOHN DRENNAN

Sunday Independent, June 17 201

Within Fine Gael, there is much concern over what some senior party figures have called the "despairing mood and faction fighting" between cabinet ministers.

Several Fine Gael TDs have this weekend expressed real concern about the "demoralised, defeated air" surrounding several ministers, with Mr Hogan and Finance Minister Michael Noonan singled out for mention.

"Phil Hogan made a speech and was greeted by silence when he sat down," one senior Fine Gael TD said. "Then Noonan said he would be looking for €3.5bn in this year's budget and he was greeted with silence too."

"Noonan looked utterly down, all the bounce has gone out of him," said another. "Even from Phil Hogan you could sense the fear and despair. Even the Fine Gael ministers are starting to fight with each other," he added.

A further cause of tension has been the troika's report last week, which said that the pain of austerity must be shared equally and that pay at the top of the civil service should be reviewed -- given that both coalition parties hold differing views on the matter.

Protest outside Sherry Fitzgerald office in Portlaoise

It has been highlighted that Sherry Fitzgerald are attempting to sell a family home. The family were evicted at the behest of Ulster Bank. Potential buyers of this house must be made aware of how the family home was taken from them. This and other cases of the banks taking homes must be highlighted.

http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce

Sherry FitzGerald selling Repossessed family homes

This is a family home. The family were evicted at the behest of Ulster Bank, who are owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The family home is now listed on the website of SherryFitzgerald, who are looking to make money from the misery of this family. The following Facebook page has details and ways you can assist. http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce

http://www.sherryfitz.ie/resi/buy/3-bed-Detached-House-For-Sale-by-Private-Treaty-Mountrath-Knockanina-Mountrath-Co.-Laois-propertydetail.aspx?id=316686&ST=1&pc=1

The agent for this property is
Neala Dunne
Sherry FitzGerald Hyland
2 Lismard Court
Portlaoise
Co Laois
Phone:057 8620044
Fax:057 862027

China and forced abortion

The image of an aborted baby at seven months has shocked the world. http://www.facebook.com/YouthDefence

It’s diabolical. The Devil is behind the abortion industry. This was a forced abortion on the woman, who was seven months pregnant.  In Casti Connubii, a papal encyclical letter from 1930 it is clear “And if the public magistrates not only do not defend them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cries from earth to Heaven.”

The baby was aborted because the family didn’t fill out the paper work required.China have the one child policy. God will avenge this shedding of innocent blood.

State spent €70m on private and state accommodation for asylum seekers

Of course the politicians have a vested interest in supporting mass-immigration and the asylum ‘process’. It’s time to stop this madness and start repatriating. Particularly good and pro-Irish comments on the journal.ie  page. It’s necessary to put the Irish,first.

http://www.thejournal.ie/state-spent-e70m-on-private-and-state-accommodation-for-asylum-seekers-488553-Jun2012/

THE STATE SPENT almost €70 million on housing for asylum seekers at private and state centres around the country last year, according to new figures released by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).

The RIA is a state body under the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service which is in charge of providing accommodation and services for asylum seekers while their applications for asylum in Ireland are being processed.

According to the Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter, there are currently over 5,100 people being housed in the 37 accommodation centres under contract to the RIA.

Asked by Labour TD Dominic Hannigan for a breakdown of the weekly costs per accommodation centre, Shatter said that “it is not in the interest of the taxpayer that details of current individual contracts are known to the public or to other parties who are, or may be in the future, engaged in negotiations with RIA”.

He added that the Information Commissioner has upheld the policy of updating the table of contracts annually at the end of January in respect of all financial information up to the end of December two years previously.

Last year, the RIA spent €69.459 million, of which €8.258 million was spent on fixed costs relating to the provision of management and other services at the seven state-owned centres. Another €1.458 million was spent on utility and maintenance at these seven centres.

In total, the state spent €57.784m on 37 commercially-owned centres last year (of which seven closed down in 2011), while €68,000 was spent on transport costs to bring asylum seekers to the Dublin reception centre and accommodation centres around the country.

Contracts

Shatter said in the Dáil last week that an EU tendering process recently concluded for the management of the seven state-owned centres under contract to the RIA, and the newly agreed contracts are effective from 14 June.

Four of these state-owned accommodation centres are based in Co Kerry and operated by Onsite Facilities Management (OFM) Ltd. The other three are operated by Campbell Catering Ltd (trading as Aramark) and are based in counties Cork, Clare and Westmeath.

The state-owned centres currently have capacity for 1,150 people; three of the centres accommodate families, two accommodate single males, and the other two are mixed.

4,000 people from 110 countries delighted to receive Irish citizenship

The comments after the article are particularly good and show continued opposition to mass-immigration in Ireland. The multi cultural, multi racial society doesn’t work and is not in the best interests of the Irish people or the immigrants.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/4000-people-from-110-countries-delighted-to-receive-irish-citizenship-3139241.html

Nigel Farage on the impending collapse of the Euro

You don’t hear this from Kenny, Quinn, Hogan, Gilmore and Noonan.

Publican in Cork takes back her pub

Beating the Bank! It featured on TV3 News. Please visit and bookmark this website http://www.peopleforeconomicjustice.com/ 

http://www.tv3.ie/3player/show/2/49741/1/News-Updates

Publican takes back her pub

A publican whose premises was taken over when a receiver was appointed four months ago has taken back possession of her pub.

Broadcast:

Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 17:00

Duration:

00:01:44

Website:

http://tv3.ie/newsupdates

Urgent Action at High Court in Dublin

Readers are encouraged to attend the High Court in Dublin NOW. It’s now 11.17am and still possible to go down to the court to assist this man. The link and video gives the background to the case and has implications for future cases.

http://www.peopleforeconomicjustice.com/gerry-burn/

Labour could quit over vote on new bailout

This article and in particular the comments from party chairman Colm Keaveney are very significant. This follows on from Peter Mathews of Fine Gael, who stated there is no “justification for austerity”. Readers will remember that Peter Mathews exposed the banking con in an article a few months ago in the Sunday Independent.

 

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/labour-could-quit-over-vote-on-new-bailout-197366.html

The terms of a second troika bailout must be approved by Labour’s grassroots activists before the Government signs up to it, party chairman Colm Keaveney said.

Such a move would create tension within the Coalition — and could trigger a Labour exit from the Government — but Mr Keaveney warned his party would need a democratic mandate to push through a second austerity deal.
One senior Labour source said a ballot of the party’s 8,000 members on the issue would come down to an "in-out" decision on remaining in Government.
In remarks that will provoke fury among Coalition partners, the Labour chairman said Fine Gael took a "certain degree of comfort" in the policies imposed by the troika.

With most economists saying it is unlikely Ireland will be able to return to the markets to borrow money when the EU/ECB/IMF €67.5bn deal runs out at the end of next year, a second bailout will be the only way the country can continue to pay for day-to-day services in health, education, and welfare. The IMF, approving a €1.4bn disbursement, yesterday completed its sixth review of Ireland’s performance under the bailout, saying it had "once more" met all targets.

Mr Keaveney, who was elected chairman in April against the wishes of leader Eamon Gilmore, raised the bailout at a parliamentary party meeting yesterday, which Mr Gilmore did not attend as he was abroad. The absence meant the meeting was taken by Joan Burton, who many Labour TDs believe is positioning herself for a leadership challenge.

Mr Keaveney confirmed his intervention, saying: "I made a comment that, in the unlikely event of a second bailout, I don’t think we would have a political or moral right to proceed without a mandate from the members of the party.
"We need to learn from the mistakes of the previous government which did not consult with party or country before agreeing to something with highly detrimental social consequences.

"Such a vote would come at a critical juncture with events such as the conclusion of the Croke Park deal approaching. There is a certain degree of comfort within Fine Gael with policy aspects of the troika deal. Labour has had to do most of the heavy lifting in this regard and that has demonstrated itself in the polls."

The dramatic call divided Labour TDs, with one saying: "It would be high-risk. If the membership rejects it we’d be straight into a general election." Another deputy said: "It would reconnect the member with the Cabinet member."

A Labour source present at the meeting said: "This will be an in-or-out of Government vote for the Labour Party and everybody knows that. We had no say in the referendum just held and got kicked all over the place by the likes of Sinn Féin."

Bishop Fellay’s Lawyer/Business partner visits Israeli Military Special Forces Base

Will Bishop Fellay and Menzingen issue a statement regarding this visit? This is no “internet rumour” but based on facts. Facts that are in the public domain.

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.ie/2012/06/sspx-superior-bp-fellays-lawyerbusiness.html

In 2010 it was revealed that Bishop Fellay's lawyer and business partner, Maximilian Krah attended a fundraising event for Tel Aviv University. Another attendee at that event was a man named Oren Heiman. Oren Heiman is a classmate of Maximilian Krah at EMBA-Global which was analyzed HERE.
From Friends of the 'Israel' 'Defense' Forces we find that Zionist fanatic, Maximilian Krah accepted the invitation of Zionist fanatic Oren Heiman to visit a base of the "Maglan*" special forces unit 212 of the Israeli military:

When Oren Heiman decided to get married in the desert in ... Israel, he wanted to celebrate with all of his friends. Oren, a lawyer at Shibboleth [boutique law firm] who spends much of his free time involved with Jewish philanthropies, is also studying in an executive MBA program at Columbia and he invited his classmates, many of whom had never been to Israel ...
His friends gathered from all across the world, and Oren invited them to join him on a base visit with the Maglan unit, a special forces unit of the IDF. The group met the Master Sargeant and several combat soldiers from the unit, and they had the opportunity to try on uniforms, practice climbing ropes, visit the firing range and the tanks and observe soldiers in training.
Oren’s guests ... came away with a clear understanding of the important work of [Friends of the 'Israel' 'Defense' Forces] and the need to support the soldiers.
www.fidf.org/page.aspx?pid=719

In the images below, dated Apr 14, 2011, we see Maximilian Krah, among other things, happily wearing the uniform and beret of the "Maglan" special forces unit of the 'Israel' 'Defense' Force and waving a 'victory' sign.

*Maglan is Hebrew for Ibis, the bird of much occult significance, particularly for it's association with the Egyptian god Thoth who was depicted as having an Ibis head.

Protest in Portlaoise against repossessed house being auctioned

Our readers are encouraged to attend this and make a protest against Ulster Bank. You will remember this bank evicted the family from their home. One of the children has special needs and now the bank are attempting to sell the family home. This is an eviction auction.

 

 

The Anti-Eviction Taskforce have the following

http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce

“If anyone can make it...Lee Wellstead's house (Portlaoise eviction), will be on auction by Sherry Fitzgerald Auctioneers acting for Ulster Bank, the asking price is €90,000, DOHL will be holding a protest outside their portlaoise office tomorrow (Thursday) to advise would be buyers that it is an eviction auction, we are meeting in the Tesco Carpark at 11:30am.”

Fine Gael TD calls for bank debt writedown

Peter Matthews makes the point  “there is no justification for austerity.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/politics/fine-gael-td-calls-for-bank-debt-writedown-197190.html

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A Fine Gael TD has insisted the Government must seek a writedown of Ireland’s bank debt, in a direct contradiction of the Taoiseach’s stance on the issue.

Enda Kenny has thus far refused to seek any reduction of the bank debt, and is instead seeking alternative ways to ease the burden, such as a lower interest rate.
But Peter Mathews said the Government simply had to go back to the EU and the ECB and seek a writedown. "I’ve been emphasising the need to bring it to Frankfurt and to Brussels — that it is only right and just that we would insist on a writedown of the debt that has now fallen on the people of Ireland."
Mr Mathews made the comments during an interview about the bailout on BBC Radio 4.

He said there was "no justification" for the austerity being inflicted on Irish citizens as a result of the bank bailout.
"There’s no justification for it, and in fact, by allowing that to happen and by bearing with it, we, actually in Ireland, saved the euro, because if there had been collapses of the investing funds and banks in our banking system — if they had taken losses up to a level of around €70bn — there would have been many more banks going bust across Europe."

He said the rules of the EU and ECB had to be amended to allow for a writedown of the debt.
"What needs to be done is a setting aside or a rearrangement of the rules of the ECB and the EU, which would agree that the liability of our banks could be written down."

He said he was "glad to see that our Taoiseach... on the day after the referendum result, was straight onto Angela Merkel to put that case".
But a Government spokesman yesterday reiterated that the Taoiseach has not sought and is not seeking a writedown of the debt.
Instead, Mr Kenny is seeking to lengthen the term of repayment, reduce the interest rates attached to the debt, or find some other way of easing the burden.

The Government yesterday released the text of the letter which Mr Kenny wrote to Ms Merkel and other EU leaders following the yes vote in the fiscal treaty referendum.

In the letter, Mr Kenny says: "The solution is, in Ireland’s view, to accelerate moves to develop a joint response to the banking crisis in Europe."
But in addition to not requesting a writedown of the Irish debt, the letter does not spell out what the Government is actually seeking.

Mr Kenny’s spokesman said the letter was a general letter to EU leaders on the European crisis and "wasn’t designed" to go into specifics on Ireland.
The spokesman said it was possible Mr Kenny had gone into more specifics in his telephone call with Ms Merkel following the referendum result.
But he said Mr Kenny was not going to discuss the detail of that call in public, suggesting it would be "irresponsible" to negotiate through the media.

Ben Gilroy in Wicklow

This video has been uploaded to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVC0jZ18DXA

“Ben Gilroy of People for Economic Justice and Direct Democracy Ireland speaking to a group from the No Household Charge campaign on a range of topics including: the real causes of the banking crisis, the crisis the Irish people are in as a result of casino banking by banks in the IFSC, the blatant and massive illegal activities of these banks being the reason for the crisis which The Irish are now expected to pay for, fighting repossessions successfully through the courts, the fraud of the commercial courts in Ireland, dealing with receivers, and a possible solution to these problems in the form of Direct Democracy. This presentation is a must see for every man and woman in Ireland.
This presentation took place in Murphys Hotel, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow, 23rd May 2012.
Please see parts 2 and 3.”

Tony Hancock R.I.P.

Prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Tony Hancock. He was the owner of The Print Factory and the Historical Review Press. His print works were burned down by a Jewish arsonist in 1980. The arsonist was associated with Searchlies, which yesterday expressed delight at the death of Mr Hancock.

An invaluable comrade has gone but he shall never be forgotten

Eucharistic Congress

There is great excitement particularly among young Catholics during these days of the 50th Eucharistic Congress. These are great days to be Catholic and a necessary time to propagate the social teachings. Whilst specifically a Eucharistic congress, it is a public expression of faith. There is a new generation waiting to discover the rich social teachings.

People of Cobh Greet Phil Hogan

The muzzle was taken off Big Phil after the vote in the recent referendum. The video below is from Cobh, where he was met by local people. Hogan, still most unpopular of politicians is greeted by protests in even the smallest of towns and villages across Ireland.

International Eucharistic Congress

Further recommended reading.

St. Adamnan's biography of St. Colmcille

Works of St. Thomas Aquinas

The Everlasting Man- G.K. Chesterton

The Liberal Illusion, Louis Veuillot

Letters of Bishop Richard Wlliamson

Liberalism is a Sin, Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany

I accuse the Council!, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked, Msgr Dillon

Vatican II, Homosexuality, and Paedophilia

Freemasonry and the Anti-Christian Movement, Fr. E. Cahill, SJ

Judaism's Strange Gods   Michael A. Hoffman II

Joan of Arc Mark Twain

The Rulers of Russia Fr Denis Fahey

The Kingship of Christ and The Conversion of the Jewish Nation Fr. Denis Fahey

The Church and the Land by Fr. Vincent McNabb

Come on the Boys in Green!

English Footballers in Auschwitz

Please visit the url below for the excellent article.

English Footballers in Auschwitz-Remembering Dead Poles?

http://finalconflictblog.blogspot.ie/2012/06/english-footballers-in-auschwitz.html

Tensions between Fine Gael/Labour

With Merkel insisting on a “two-speed”/federalist Europe, divisions continue among Fine Gael and the Labour party. It’s necessary to campaign for a Europe of the Nations not a United States of Europe. We need to put Ireland and her people, first.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2012/0608/ireland/public-given-hope-of-bank-debt-reduction-196669.html

A Government TD has criticised the Coalition for prematurely raising people’s hopes that Ireland would secure a reduction on its bank debt.

Fine Gael TD John Deasy said the Coalition had suggested during the referendum campaign that the fiscal treaty and bank debt were separate issues, only to link them after the result was declared.

He said the Government had proceeded to give the impression after last week’s yes vote that a deal on the debt was now more likely. But Germany and the ECB had quickly beaten that idea on the head, he said.
His comments came as Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore acknowledged that any EU deal on Spain’s bank debt might not necessarily be extended to Ireland.
Mr Gilmore told the Dáil that while it was possible a Spanish solution could be "translatable" to Ireland, "we do have to be careful that we don’t hang our hat entirely" on such a hope.

Mr Deasy, speaking subsequently at a meeting of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee questioned the Government’s communications on the issue. "We spent the entire campaign telling people that a yes vote wasn’t linked to a reduction in our banking debt…
"What I don’t understand is that [in] the two days after the referendum result, the impression was given very quickly that a deal might be forthcoming on our banking debt. And then we had a response very quickly from the German ministry of finance, followed up by [ECB chief] Mr Draghi’s comments yesterday talking about no quid pro quo."

People had been given "hope" that there would be a reduction in the debt only for Germany and the ECB to "pretty much beat it on the head very quickly".
Mr Deasy suggested communications on the matter needed to be "tighter". He was directly addressing John Moran, the Department of Finance secretary general.

"I’ve heard ministers coming out and talking about Spanish debt when it’s turned out that there is no basis for their comments in some cases. I think it needs to be tighter, and I think your department is central to that."
It came as Taoiseach Enda Kenny defended his decision not to divulge the response of German chancellor Angela Merkel to his request for a deal on the bank debt.

"It’s not for me to disclose details of discussions I had with any head of government," Mr Kenny said. "We don’t conduct negotiations or international relations by having a press conference on the detail of everything we have discussed."
He reiterated that his "central message" to fellow European leaders in the wake of the referendum result was that "an alleviation, a re-engineering, of our bank situation would be of great benefit to the Irish people".

The Republican Loan film, 1919

Do visit the url below for more details.

http://humphrysfamilytree.com/OMara/republican.loan.html

Jim Sullivan (see his films) and John MacDonagh made this appeal film for the 1919 Republican Loan for the new self-declared Irish Republic.
Jim Sullivan's brother-in-law, James O'Mara, was one of the three trustees of the funds of the underground Irish government, and one of its main fund-raisers.

“The film

The Republican Loan film was shot at St Enda's.
Michael Collins, the Dail's Minister for Finance, is at St. Enda's, using as his desk the block on which Robert Emmet was executed in 1803. (This block is now in Kilmainham Gaol Museum.)
He reads a letter from Michael Fogarty, Bishop of Killaloe, providing a loan to the Republic”.

Eviction of family halted in Bluebell

The Facebook page below has details of this particular eviction attempt. It was Ulster Bank and the Dublin City Sheriff, who attempted to evict a family out of their home. Local people in the community came together and prevented the eviction. Well done to them. The bankers haven’t any shame and it is necessary to have protests outside branches of Ulster Bank. Those in difficulty with the banks can leave us a message. Again well done to the community in Bluebell on this successful action. People should also be reminded there should be no tax on a family home.

http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce

Christendom in Dublin

The following are a couple of books that will interest those  expected  to attend the International Eucharist Congress in Dublin. Further recommendations will be posted.

Christendom in Dublin- G.K. Chesterton

An Essay on the Restoration of Property- Hilaire Belloc

The Outline of Sanity- G.K. Chesterton

A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland- William Cobbett

Nazareth or Social Chaos- Fr Vincent McNabb, O.P.

Our Martyrs- Fr Dennis Murphy, S.J.

Action- Jean Ousset

Rerum Novarum- Pope Leo XIII

Quadragesimo Anno- Pope Pius XI

The Mystical Body of Christ and the Reorganization of Society- Fr Denis Fahey C.S.Sp.

Catholic Action Uses, Abuses and Excuses- Liam Connolly

Calls for Enda Kenny to go

 

Comments on various social/alternative media have suggested Enda Kenny “must go”. The reality is Enda will retire at some point with a good pension. He is now been likened to ‘Biffo’, a Fianna Fail leader never taken seriously by the Irish people. The Irish people have no confidence in Enda Kenny. Many now feel this FG/Lab government are on borrowed time.

Recent protest against Enda Kenny in Mallow, Cork.

Family Groups to hold protest at ‘Dublin Pride’

With militant queers planning to march through Dublin later this month, various individuals and groups are organising a protest to counter these deviants. It’s necessary to defend the family and morality in the public sphere. Andrew Montague, Labour party Lord Mayor of Dublin is proud that Dublin City Council is working with ‘Dublin Pride’. The Health Service Executive are also happy to sponsor this homosexual event. 

There has to be good morals in both public and private. These militant homosexuals are attacking the family. It is a disorder that is against nature.

The well known apologist for homosexuality, Peter Tatchell once stated “Several of my friends…. had sex with adults from the age of nine to 13…It is time that society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful” (27th June 1998, The Guardian)

Stand with us in defence of Children, the Family and Society.

Friends of the Turf Cutters

Friends of the Turf Cutters have a blog. It was established in recent times to be a support group for the turf cutters. The url is http://friendsturfcutters.blogspot.ie/

After Bilderberg, Noonan could usefully visit Moyross

Opinion piece here from Vincent Browne

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0606/1224317369315.html

VINCENT BROWNE

MICHAEL NOONAN spent the weekend at a closed meeting outside Washington with “important people” – the heads of major corporations in America and Europe, senior bankers, people from research organisations (aka “think tanks”), the publishers and editors of “leading” newspapers, a few European royals, a clutch of prime ministers, several former members of the George Bush administration, a few EU commissioners and ex-commissioners, and then the usual suspects at such closed gatherings – a representative of the Rockefeller family, which has bankrolled such meetings for nearly 60 years now, Henry Kissinger, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and Peter Sutherland.

They were attending the annual conference of the Bilderberg Group, an invitation-only meeting of “key” people from the world of commerce, finance, politics and the media, all sharing the same politics or world view, to discuss the important global issues of the day and help shape policy for the coming years.

Extravagant claims have been made about this annual gathering by hyper conspiracy theorists that at the Bilderberg conference in the early 1990s the break-up of Yugoslavia was orchestrated; that the manipulation of oil prices was arranged; and that a world government has been planned.

Some of the regular participants have sought to give lustre to themselves by adding to the paranoia. For instance, David Rockefeller, one of the founders of Bilderberg, said in 1991: “It would have been impossible for us to develop a plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years [from the 1960s to the 1980s]. But the world is more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national autodetermination practised in past centuries.”

While David Rockefeller’s estimation of the power of Bilderberg attendees is fanciful, his remark conveys the pretension that governs such gatherings, notably the claim to being “an intellectual elite” and an underlying conviction that such gatherings can determine world politics. But a claim that such private gatherings of “elites” can set the agenda and influence the mindsets of nations is not at all fanciful and therein lies the insidiousness of such events.

But I want to focus on what such an event may have done to the mindset of the Irish Minister for Finance.

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said on Friday that Michael Noonan was attending the Bilderberg conference because there would be influential industrialists and financiers there who have the capacity to influence the placement of jobs and loans throughout the world, and also to give Michael Noonan an opportunity to explain the significance of the fiscal treaty ratification to such an audience. No doubt he did that and no doubt Ireland was praised for its responsibility and for its compliance with the troika agenda.

It is also true that Michael Noonan would not have had to be persuaded of the correctness of the politics and perspectives of the other attendees at Bilderberg for he shares those already – a belief that countries cannot defy “markets”; a belief in the cliché that no country has ever taxed its way out a recession (ie that the weight of fiscal adjustments has to be borne by those dependent on public expenditure); a belief that a tax on income is a tax on jobs (ditto) and that any significant attempt to advance towards a more equal society will disturb the fragile balance of economic forces and bring catastrophe upon us.

But this Bilderberg conference of important people will have confirmed Michael Noonan in those convictions, perhaps by the way of a rebirth, and will have won him admiration and applause for so splendidly exemplifying, as Minister for Finance, his commitment to same – maybe they spoke of the “courage” of his convictions. They may not have been quite so crass as to congratulate him on the payment of unsecured bondholders in our banks but, unspoken, that will have won him further warmth and assurance.

Just think of the difference there might be to his perspective had he opted instead to spend the weekend with community workers, activists and other citizens from Moyross, Southill and Ballinacurra Weston in his Limerick constituency and heard from them the effects on those communities of the politics that the Bilderberg elite espouse.

Had he gone from one of the about-to-be-disestablished community employment schemes to another and got reminded of the devastation the expenditure cuts – his expenditure cuts – are doing to those enterprises and the communities they serve, he might have a different perspective.

I am talking not just of a visit to these areas for an hour or two on Saturday afternoon but absorption in the lives, the misery, the perspectives and the hopelessness of people in Moyross, Southill and Ballinacurra Weston for an entire weekend – the same time as it took him to travel to and from Washington DC and the time spent at the Bilderberg meeting.

The people of Moyross, Southill and Ballinacurra Weston should matter more to him than the Bilderberg “elites”, for these are his constituents, the people whose needs and interests he supposedly represents, needs and interests he has reflected hardly at all throughout his political career.

But, then, he is a busy man.

New High Court judge has strong links to government

With Michael Noonan planning to hold a press conference as to why he attended the Bilderberg meeting, this High Court appointment has already come in for criticism.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-high-court-judge-has-strong-links-to-coalition-3130586.html

The Government appointed yet another legal figure with links to the coalition parties as a judge last night -- this time putting a former Fine Gael general-election candidate in the High Court.

Fine Gael activist Colm Mac Eochaidh was the running mate of Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald in the 2002 General Election and ran for the Seanad as a party candidate five years later. The relatively recently appointed senior counsel was one of two men who offered a reward for information about planning corruption in a famous newspaper ad that led to the setting up of the Mahon Tribunal.

He was appointed as a senior counsel in 2009 and, just three years later, he is now a High Court judge.

Scrutiny

Mr Mac Eochaidh, an expert in planning, public and commercial law, is the latest lawyer with links to Fine Gael or the Labour Party to be nominated to the bench by the coalition.

The appointments come at a time where there is ever greater scrutiny of the political appointment of judges.

Mr Mac Eochaidh joins the list of judicial appointees with strong links to Fine Gael and Labour parties since the coalition came to office last year: l Michael White, a former Workers Party general-election candidate who also represented Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore as a solicitor. l Kevin Cross, a Fine Gael supporter who made a political donation of €1,200 to European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton, is the son-in-law of former Fine Gael minister Paddy Lindsay.

? Patrick Durkan, a former Fine Gael senator and four-time running mate of the Taoiseach .

And, one-third of 12 new judges nominated by the Government last March also had strong links to Fine Gael.

Friends of the barrister said that he was a talented and "independent-minded" lawyer who is "as qualified as anyone" to serve on the High Court.

But they acknowledged the appointment would attract criticism that the coalition was "packing" the bench with those with political ties to both parties.

Aspiring judges must apply to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, a body set up in 1995 to depoliticise the judicial appointment process.

Mr Mac Eochaidh (49) will fill a vacancy on the High Court arising from the appointment of Mr Justice John Mac Menamin to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Denham recently backed a recommendation that the system for the recruitment, selection and appointment of judges should be "independent of political influence".

- Dearbhail McDonald Legal Editor

Children pay price in flats full of mould and damp

Article here from the Independent. Thought and Action is currently assisting families in trouble with their particular housing authority. Repairs, the council are obliged to carry out are not being done, and the family being threatened with eviction. Do send us an email if you need assistance in your particular area.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/children-pay-price-in-flats-full-of-mould-and-damp-3130603.html

ONE of Sinead Martin's two children has missed 26 days of school so far this year due to sickness from living in a damp and mould-infested home.

In fact, 90pc of schoolchildren living in the 400-plus inner-city housing complex of Dolphin House in south Dublin have missed school last year due to respiratory problems, stomach upsets or nausea.

Among the problems reported by Dublin City Council tenants in the complex are fungal contamination -- which can case lung disease -- sewage exploding up through sinks and a penetrating smell from blocked pipes.

Ms Martin (30), who has been living in her flat with her partner Paul and sons Noel (9) and Aron (5) for the past seven years, blames the black mould that is clearly visible creeping up the walls for her children constantly being sick.

"Noel has missed so much school that it is affecting his social skills. Kids have their groups and when he goes in now he is now on the outside. It's heartbreaking."

All four children are now suffering from asthma and breathing problems and Noel has missed 26 days through illness since Christmas.

"It is stomach bugs, they might stay up all night coughing until they are violently sick," said Ms Martin.

Sewage

"The mould is the first thing you see and smell. In our bedroom it is about an inch thick, in the kids' room the same thing. I've spent a small fortune on specialist cleaning products."

Even their dog Odie has been struck down with pneumonia.

"I told the vet we have aspergillus mould on the walls. He says to me that farmers call that 'lung rot'," Ms Martin said.

The survey of 75 flats was carried out by the Rialto Rights in Action Group, which launched its latest report on living conditions at Dolphin House yesterday.

It found that 92pc of those living in flats with black mould had reported that their children had missed school in the last year due to illnesses.

The campaign group said Dublin City Council (DCC) had finally acknowledged the scale of the problem.

Some flats have been refurbished, waste water pipes have been improved to stop them backing up and a survey of conditions has been carried out .

However, Rory Hearne, a group spokesman, said there was still a level of dissatisfaction among residents as out of 49 flats surveyed with mould just eight of those have so far been relocated by DCC.

Residents have also called on the Department of the Environment to honour its commitments to regenerate the area.

- Louise Hogan

Tarhouna fighters occupying the international airport of Tripoli

News from Libya

http://libyanfreepress.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/tarhouna-fighters-occupying-the-international-airport-of-tripoli/

 

Fighters at Tripoli’s main airport, June 4 (Photo: Akhbar Al Alaan TV, J. Moussa)

The international airport of the Libyan capital of Tripoli has been under the control of fighters who support former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and the Jamahiriya government for several hours on Monday afternoon. Flights have been diverted to Metiga air base in the city’s center after the fighters stormed the airport “with heavy machine guns and armored vehicles”.

According to Reuters, the fighters are members of the Al-Awfea Brigade from the town of Tarhouna who demand the release of one of their leaders, Colonel Abu Oegeila al-Hebeishi, whom they said had disappeared on Monday night after being kidnapped by armed rebels while travelling between Tarhouna and Tripoli.

“The situation in the airport is very tense and tanks are surrounding the buildings. No one is allowed into the building,” an anonymous source told Reuters.

Reports say that several hours later and “after negotiations” the fighters agreed to withdraw from the airport.

Situated 80 km southeast of Tripoli, the town of Tarhourna and its largest tribe, also called Tarhouna, have continued to be loyal to the leader of the Libyan Al-Fateh Revolution and the concept of the free Jamahiriya, and therefore are a target of the western-backed rebels who started an armed revolt against the Jamahiriya government in February 2011.

Only this year, armed Al Qaeda gangs have been responsible for the death of hundreds of tribe members in the south of Libya where the so-called Green Resistance keeps fighting against these NATO-led terrorists who have destroyed and destabilized the country, killing tens of thousands of its civilians.

No celebrations for Enda Kenny!

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Enda Kenny becoming letter of Fine Gael. Phil Hogan, who challenged him for the party leadership in 2002 is also back in the news regarding the household and septic tank tax. The summer months looks set to see heroic resistance as  already many who voted ‘Yes’ to the Stability Treaty are now regretting it. It must be remembered the vast majority of people didn’t vote at all. About 30% of the people voted and very strong ‘No’ vote in key areas.

How to deal with clampers!

 

What's Wrong with the World

G.K. Chesterton continues to be a favourite. He died 76 years ago yet a new generation are discovering his writings. Many attending the upcoming Eucharistic Congress in Dublin will have heard of G.K. Chesterton. Perhaps the Father Brown stories have been the first introduction to Chesterton? Non- Catholics and even the non religious appreciate the writings of Chesterton. The title of this blog post is ‘What’s Wrong with the World’.

Our society is engaged in the same crisis Chesterton warned of in 1910. This recent referendum alone has highlighted the divide between the rich and the poor.  There is agreement that wealth and property should be divided as widely as possible, and G.K. Chesterton advocated the distributist alternative to capitalism and socialism.

One well known quotation from Chesterton is found in this book. It is “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”

The widespread distribution of property and capital does indeed provide greater justice and freedom. Real social justice.

Reading the book, you encounter the characters of Hudge and Gudge. It is easy to see who each of these represent. The character of Jones is ‘the common man’.

“This man Jones has always desired the divinely ordinary things; he has married for love, he has chosen or built a small house that fits like a coat; he is ready to be great grandfather and a local [hero].”

Both Hudge and Gudge have conspired against Jones.

The book can be read here

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1717

Coolrain turfcutters defy EU

Local people are not being intimidated by these ‘rangers’. Good to see the local people coming out supporting the turfcutters.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/local/coolrain-turfcutters-defy-eu-1-3910140

Published on Friday 1 June 2012 11:12

GARDAI stood by and watched last weekend as turf was cut in Coolrain bog, despite it being designated a Special Area of Conservation by the government.

Nearly 100 local men, women and children came out to support a contractor who cut turf for about one third of the plot owners over three days, in what was reported to be a party atmosphere, with enough food donated by the community “to feed an army.”

On Friday evening, May 25 turfcutters blocked the lane into the bog, and machine cutting began at 5am on Saturday morning, continuing until 10.30pm that night, the same on Sunday, and from 4am to 8am on Monday.

A representative from the National Parks and Wildlife Service was barred by men from entering the bog, but after speaking to the group of men for some time, a Garda Inspector was allowed access to walk the bog and speak with the machine driver.

Last week helicopters circled over Coolrain to check if turf was being cut, on behalf of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Earlier this year, the government announced that a new agreement was to be negotiated to accommodate plot owners in SAC bogs, where no alternative bog lay near enough for displaced plot owners to use. They asked that while negotiations were ongoing, no turf was to be cut this summer, but across the country, turf cutters are reported to be defying the request.

For full report and photos, see next Wednesday’s Leinster Express.

Solidarity with Turf Cutters!

In the event of turf cutters been made an example of in court or being fined, it is necessary to attend the court hearing in large numbers. Certain environmental campaigners are happy to ‘criminalise’ those cutting turf on legally owned bogs and private property.  Those cutting turf are not against the environment, and are cutting turf to warm their family home and cook meals.