For the record, the group of four, Tim Hourigan, Mary Kelly, Deirdre Morgan and Edward Horgan, who made a similar submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs on 20 Dec 2005, also offered to make a similar presentation to the EU Committee. The EU declined on cost grounds, and invited me only. However, I have received substantial help from a dedicated group of peace activists, mainly Irish, but with a few significant non-Irish contributors.

Over the past month a Garda has confirmed to me in confidence that they have been directed not to search US CIA aircraft or US military aircraft at Shannon airport, and that many of the Gardai disagree with this directive because it means “… turning a blind eye to the probability of wrongdoing, and we all know what terrible things such policies have led to in the past.”

In my submission to the European Parliament I called a spade a spade, and referred several times to the unlawful killing of over 100,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan and the interconnected rendition for torture programme, and the Irish Government’s complicity in these events. Many MEPs did not want to hear this, and the Irish MEPs in particular were embarrassed at Ireland being publically exposed for its participation in the Iraq War.

If Hitler and his ilk had been robustly challenged much earlier on the murders and torture they were committing in the 1930s, then many of their victims might have been spared. Yet it was considered politically or diplomatically incorrect to do so. 1945 was tens of millions of victims too late to accuse Hitler of mass murder. In my EU submission I referred to Britain as a “rogue European Union state because it is waging in an unlawful war on Iraq that has caused over 100,000 dead", and I referred to Ireland as a “rogue neutral state” for its breach of international laws on neutrality by its facilitation of the Iraq War at Shannon airport.

It was clear from the reaction that MEPs considered that my statements were politically incorrect. I can live with their criticism, but I cannot remain silent given what I know is going on, with a substantial degree of certainty.

Ed Horgan: I went to the European Parliament in Brussels to tell the Parliament what I knew of Ireland’s involvement in the unlawful rendition for torture process at Shannon airport. I insisted on linking the extraordinary rendition process with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the combined serial abuses of international law that these wars and the torture process involved. To a large extent I was telling the EU parliamentary special committee what they did not want to hear – “don’t mention the wars” – I told them anyway in the brief summary of my submission that the 15 minute time slot allowed me. My main submission was thirty-seven pages long, with 45 separate attachments and it became clear very quickly that very few had even read the executive summary of my submission, and some of those who did, read it only with the intention of trying to discredit it, and discredit me. The Irish Times report on Friday captured the tone of the parliamentarians response - “the witness failed to present the facts”.

My response is that the parliamentarians failed to read the facts I put before them. Sean O’Neachtain, FF MEP, standing in for Eoin Ryan MEP, was put forward to attack my submission, but failed to address any of the facts in my submission, including my statement that the Irish Government’s reply to the Council of Europe on Rendition for Torture was fraudulent and misquoted Article 40.4.1. of the Irish Constitution thereby giving the impression that foreign prisoners being taken through Shannon are specifically protected by the letter or wording of the Irish Constitution. Simon Coveney incorrectly accused me of calling Ireland a “rogue state”. My statement was that Ireland was “a rogue neutral state” and I explained this issue in detail.

Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan got a similar response from some MEPs and was accused of “disloyalty” by one UK MEP because he blew the whistle on the Government of which he had been an ambassador.

The primary purpose of my submission to the European Parliament special committee on Extraordinary Rendition (TDIP committee) was to put a dossier of information on the public record in Europe on what the Irish Government has been doing not only in connection with CIA rendition at Shannon, but also on Irish direct participation in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I emphasised through my written submission and my verbal submission that the rule of international law needs to be reinforced not trampled on, as many European states, including Ireland, have been doing.

Builders and machinery have moved in, trees and plants have been taken up and it looks like it might be the end for the Dolphins Barn Community Garden, which celebrated its first birthday on Wednesday the 12th of April. Presently the garden crew has 54 people on its mailing list and there have been at least twice that in the garden.

After nearly a year of what turned out to be a really positive experiment in sustainable urban gardening, re-establishment of community, healthy use of derelict space and the creation of new friendships, things have taken a change for the worse… but it might not be the end. There is the possibility of revisiting matters later in the year, but the gardening project has been put on hold for the moment after a number of meetings with the owners of the land where the garden is established.

dolphins barn community garden birthday party on good friday

1916 – 90 years on Bertie sends troops in against anti-imperialist demonstration

In the run up to the 90th anniversary of 1916 many wondered how best to mark the event. Some marched the day before, some a few hours after. But the teflon Taoiseach trod where few men dared. At 12.00 he was at the GPO to commemorate an insurrection against imperialism. At 15.00 he was sending the troops in against an anti-imperialist demonstration. First Video Edit First Text Report Meeting for Baldonnel arrestees Further footage at indymedia film night

'They are at once the boldest and the most unmanageable of revolutionaries.
with our backs to the Military parade, we handed out flyers specially printed for the day. The front of the flyer contained details of the relevent campaign and on the back, a copy of the Proclamation with the associated text highlighted. For Shell2Sea and Save Tara ("We declare the right of the Irish People to the ownership of Ireland"); Residents Against Racism ("Cherishing all of the children of the Nation equally"); Cosantoiri Siochana's 'Nothing To Declare' / CIA renditions through Shannon ("We hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State"); and Black Shamrock flyers ("In every generation the Irish People have asserted their right to National freedom and Sovereignty"). Our placards had those same quotes with Black Shamrock posters pasted to the back.
Many campaigns, one simple message; Bertie you're a hypocrite - enact the Proclamation!

As Mayday looks like it will pass without a Reclaim The Streets, the story-writers and comenteers of Indymedia.ie are encouraging their readers to set out their stalls in the cities and towns of Ireland.

Under the terms of the Casual Trading Act, 1995, thousands of towns will lose their market trading rights. However, if a town holds a market before the end of this month, the right will be held onto for another 10 years. A list of towns with traditional market rights follows at the end of this article.

Comment from rtm! reclaim your markets!
They are the hub of your cities, thence will you build your cumanns, because you're passionate about politics and you won't be dying yet from the cholesterol yogurt mix thing, and will be ready for 2016. But long before that, we must fight a scourge and blight upon the yesterday's youth of prosperous crossroads and motel nights. & they're the ones who will forbid you selling strawberries.
They will nullify your assets in bric-a-brac. They will confiscate your copies of CDs, DVDs, and assorted frangrances. & they have a name. They have letters and slogans. They have accents. They have red blotchy noses. They begin with F.
& they end with F.

Section of comment from Terry
I recall back in the early 90s that there was a huge increase in the number of home-made produce being sold throughout the country. Apparently it was so successful that the big food companies got worried since it was eating into their market share, so apparently they got their lobbyists in Brussels working hard and that's why a lot of EU legalisation surrounding food and hygene was brought in.
Its sole purpose was to destroy this threat and this current bill to ban markets is designed to permanently kill off any potential threat for alternative ways of getting/buying our food other than through the big supermarkets.

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