Traffic cams show riot in real time

Looking on through the lens of the virtual on Saturday I was stunned by the breath and depth of the live and parasitic (in a healthy way) critique of the action which unfolded alongside the action on O'Connell Street on Indymedia Ireland and throughout the hiberno-blogosphere. I quickly realised that this was definitely the first example of an ad-hoc flashmob of citizen journalists banding together with a decentralised diy publishing infrastructure, spontaneously, as live and with no pre-planning whatsoever and with no notice, flexing its muscles and absolutely wiping the floor with the methods of the traditional media. RTE had just about caught up with events by the time the (10 minutes later than scheduled) late evening bulletin came around. All of the blogs all day were choc full of dissatisfaction with the performance of the 'public service' broadcaster.

I, like almost everybody I know, didn't predict the events of Saturday. In fact the only person I know who did predict a major riot was a friend of mine who happens to hail from the wee North - in retrospect I should have realised that he had his finger on the pulse, for not only does he have much more experience of sectarian marches, but through his job he knows many of the people who were involved and has an unusual insight and sympathy for those people who most Dubliners write off as 'scumbags' and 'knackers'. This article is an analysis of what happened and why almost everybody got it so wrong. This article is a companion piece to the photo essay which I published yesterday.

A 13 minute video of the rioting in Dublin is now available on the global indymedia video site. You can download it by clicking here or by visiting the global indymedia website at video.indymedia.org. The file is made with the xvid codec and mp3 audio. It is approximately 100 MB in size, you will require a broadband connection to view it.

Republican Prisoners, 1921

Eoghan Contradictions Harris Plays Both An Orange Protestant Card And A Green Catholic Card: A Story In Four Parts

Extract: "In the Sunday Independent Eoghan Harris played both an Orange Protestant card and a Green Catholic Card in an effort to explain away this historical context, in dealing with one of the last acts of the War of Independence. In so doing he sought to arouse sectarian feeling where there is little if any. It was the Republican side that overtly rejected an association of religion and nationality. The empirical evidence thus far uncovered supports this contention. In their courageous determination to keep politics separate from religion, and to sweep away centuries-old divisions, Republicans of the Protestant faith broke with the historical identification of their community, while Catholic Republicans defied the ultimate sanction of excommunication from their church. But in playing with sectarian fire, Eoghan Harris risks undoing 80 intervening years that have tended towards harmony and reconciliation."

An account of apparently sectarian murders by the IRA in Co. Offaly in 1921 was publicised by Eoghan Harris in the Sunday Independent in October 2005. The allegation of the sectarian murder of the apparently unassuming Protestant Pearson family of Coolacrease was made by William Stanley of Carlow in his "I met Murder on the Way - The Story of the Pearsons of Coolacrease" (2005). This account of events that took place during the Irish War of Independence was then promoted by Eoghan Harris and by the Sunday Independent.

In the course of his analysis Eoghan Harris criticised Protestants in the South for not supporting his analysis and that of the Reform Group: "a group which wants to dig up the buried British and Protestant parts of Irish identity", according to Harris.

This article gives readers the other side of the story, the side ignored by Harris and the Reform Group, and by the Sunday Independent.

BODY which is a diverse group of young pro-choice activists that are campaigning for safe and legal abortion services in Ireland lauched today. BODY stands for bold open decisive youth. The launch involved pro-choice women setting up a cage made of coat hangers from within which they leafletted passers-by.

Click below for an interview by Tobie:

From the newswire:

Street Seen* sure know how to show a crowd a good time. In the space of three hours we had; a rally with music; two occupations; and a magical mystery protest march. All to highlight the growing number of people dying on our streets for the want of a home. Joan Collins, John Boorman and some of Kila turned up to show support. A small, but perfectly formed, crowd were entertained by singers, musicians and the Happy City Samba Band. The well worn Kila bodhran made an appearance too.

The first occupation was in the old Colaiste Mhuire building on Parnell Square, where banners were hung from the windows. The first guards to arrive were the undercover / unmarked car variety. Uniforms arrived later but meanwhile the two from the first car walked through the crowd asking 'who's in charge?' While they practiced their interrorgation skills, those who were in the building made good their escape. Reinforced - the large group of guards made their way into the building but neglected to leave a man on the door. The door, closed firmly in the faces of the protestors, proved too much of a temptation for some. The cry went up ' anyone got a padlock?'. Surprisingly, someone had and it was employed on the door. The guards were now locked in. More reinforcements arrived and a bolt cutters the size of my leg was used to free them from the prison of their own making.

*Editorial note:The occupations were not organised by Street Seen, neither was the magical mystery tour. They were organised by concerned people and members of the homeless community and not directly by Street Seen. This article was submitted by regular contributer Elaine and is her personal reflection on the day's events.

Previous Indymedia.ie Coverage
"Bertie, Where's Our Houses?"
Housing protest meeting discuss use of "containers" to house the homeless
Homeless Propose Motion At Dublin City Council
Interview: Tommy