From May 1916 ‘A Rebels Who’s Who …Notes of Their Careers” April 2, 2013
Posted by irishelectionliterature in History, Ireland, Irish History.3 comments
Saw this at the back of a copy of the freesheet The Southside People recently and dug it up online. Its a very interesting piece of History giving a sense of the time, just after the rising when the various leaders were sentenced to death, Life Imprisonment or Ten Years. There are profiles of Thomas Clarke, Padraig and William Pearse, Thomas McDonagh, Joseph Plunkett, W.T Cosgrave, Countess Markievicz and more. Whats particularly interesting is the profiles of those less well known but had prominent roles in the Rising.
Click on the image to enlarge
Shamrock Rovers XI V Brazil 1973 January 15, 2013
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Ireland, Irish History, Sport.4 comments
Forty years ago , Brazil, the 1970 World Cup winners visit Dublin for a historic friendly match against a team composed of players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Unable to officially call themselves an “All-Ireland” team, the Irish side takes on the moniker of “Shamrock Rovers XI” All Ireland selection lined out in Shamrock Rovers colours to play the then world champions Brazil in Lansdowne Road.
Brazil won 4-3
The State’s position on the rights in the kind of situation before Savita Halappanava’s death November 17, 2012
Posted by Tomboktu in Bunreacht na hÉireann, Ethics, Feminism, Health, Human Rights, Ireland, Medical Issues.add a comment
Here is what the government says is the official procedure to be followed in the kind of situation that preceeded Savita Halappanava’s death, as explained by the Government to the European Court of Human Rights in 2009, and summarised by that Court in September 2010. [I have added the emphasis. Here they are dicussing the case of "C".]
189. As regards the third applicant specifically, the Government made the following submissions.
In the first place, they maintained in response to a question from the Court, that the procedure for obtaining a lawful abortion in Ireland was clear. The decision was made, like any other major medical matter, by a patient in consultation with her doctor. On the rare occasion there was a possibility of a risk to the life of a woman, there was “a very clear and bright line rule provided by Irish law which is neither difficult to understand or to apply because it is the same law that has been applied under Section 58 of the 1861 Act, under Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution and under the legislative provisions of every country which permits a pregnancy to be terminated on that ground”. As to the precise procedures to be followed by a pregnant woman and her doctor where an issue arose as to such a possible risk, it was the responsibility of the doctor and a termination could occur when the risk was real and substantial. If the patient did not agree with that advice, she was free to seek another medical opinion and, in the last resort, she could make an emergency application to the High Court (as outlined above). The grounds for lawful abortion in Ireland were well known and applied. Referring to the Medical Council Guidelines, the CPA Guidelines and the evidence of practitioners to the Committee on the Constitution, the Government considered it clear that, while there were issues regarding the characterisation of medical treatment essential to protect the life of the mother, medical intervention occurred when a mother’s life was threatened, the refusal of treatment on grounds of moral disapproval was prohibited and a patient was entitled to a second opinion. While the Irish Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists had no published guidelines concerning a pregnant woman presenting with life threatening conditions, that Institute would be in agreement with the Guidelines of the United Kingdom Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists concerning the management of ectopic pregnancies and it was probable that Irish gynaecologists would “by and large” follow the latter Guidelines with or without minor amendments or additions. This clear process of how a decision to terminate a pregnancy was taken in Ireland by the patient in consultation with the doctor was regularly followed in the case of ectopic pregnancies./blockquote>
[You may wish to know that Ireland was found by the European Court of Human Rights to have breached the human rights of "C".]
The 90-page PDF is available here.
Tax and income — a detail of our political priorities November 11, 2012
Posted by Tomboktu in Ethics, Ireland, Justice, Taxation Policy.4 comments
This morning, I saw the breakningnews.ie story on what I assume is a “Sunday press release” from Mattie McGrath. The answer to a parliamentary question he asked established that 1,700 employees in four Irish banks earn receive more than €100,000 each.
In a moment of (poor-taste) whimsy, I wondered if anybody in IBEC is rewriting Martin Niemöller’s famous poem:
First they came for the top civil servants,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a civil servant.Then they came for the judges,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a judge.Then they came for the balied-out bankers,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a balied-out banker.
But I don’t think they need worry. I don’t hear the high earnings in the private sector questioned — whether that is the publicly traded companies whose financial results are public records or the legally private firms (like Dunnes Stores), where all is secret.
What I did hear though, was that on Friday, our good deputies put some time into debating Eoghan Murphy’s Tax Transparency Bill 2012. I am not surprised that the deputies understanding of tax transparency is ineffective and that the Bill is pointless. Real tax transparency would follow the Nordic model, where the amount of tax paid by everybody is a public record.
Declaration of the 4th European Transgender Council September 9, 2012
Posted by Tomboktu in Gender Issues, Human Rights, Inequality, Ireland, LGBT Rights.add a comment
I received this in an email today.
Declaration of the 4th European Transgender Council on transphobic and racist violence and harassment, targeted at three Council participants
We the participants and organizers of this 4th European Transgender Council condemn the transphobic attack directed towards three participants of our Council in Dublin – two of the newly elected steering committee members and a Council of Europe official. Two years ago delegates were attacked during the 3rd European Transgender Council in Malmö (Sweden). We are shocked and deeply concerned that this type of violence has been repeated in Ireland. Once again it has been proven that no space is a safe space for trans people.
On Saturday night, 8th September 2012, a group of ten delegates were on their way to the Council’s social events in the Temple Bar District. Two persons, unknown to them, targeted our Turkish Steering Committee member, Kemal Ördek, and physically and verbally attacked hir and hirs colleague Laura LePrince from France. Lauri Sivonen, Advisor to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, intervened to protect the delegates and the attackers spat in his face before leaving the scene. Due to the fact that their first target was one of our Turkish delegates, we assume that the attack was not only based on trans- and homophobia, but as well on racism and xenophobia.
Lauri Sivonen, accompanied by a representative of TENI, reported the incident on Saturday night to An Garda Síochána. Kemal Ördek and Laura LePrince will give a report at the garda station as well. The gardai are expected to ensure that the delegates will have a chance to report in a safer space with respect to their gender identity and expression. TGEU has been assured that TENI will observe and follow up on the process.
In view of the above,
We require An Garda Síochána toInvestigate this case quickly, properly and without any trans-, homo- or xenophobic or racist prejudice. Implement a trans-inclusive monitoring system that will effectively record transphobic incidences. Have LGBT trained liaison officers on duty 24 hours. Collaborate with TENI to make Dublin and Ireland a safer space for trans people. We demand that the State of Ireland
Ensure that gender identity and gender expression are explicitly covered by equality legislation and work to develop hate crime legislation that protects all trans people. Collaborate with Irish trans organizations and support their work to make Ireland a country that does not tolerate bigotry, discrimination or violence against trans people. Raise awareness that trans people’s equality and human rights must always be respected thus making sure that such incidents cease to happen. Protect trans people’s private life through gender recognition legislation that fully respect human rights according to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe’s Recommendations and the Yogyakarta Principles. Dublin, 9th September 2012.
“The Dail Bonds Film 1919″ September 3, 2012
Posted by irishelectionliterature in History, Ireland, Irish Politics.9 comments
The film is shot at St Enda’s in Rathfarnham, (Patrick Pearse’s school) and was used to promote The ‘Republican Loan’.
Historically it has an all star cast featuring amongst others Michael Collins, Margaret Pearse, Grace Gifford, Nora Connolly,Arthur Griffith, Eoin MacNeill, Erskine Childers and W.T. Cosgrave.
More details on the film and those that appear in it.
Any ideas about this poster? August 31, 2012
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Ireland, Irish Politics, The Left.12 comments
A poster that I was sent recently (many Thanks) that I have little or no idea about.
I’m not sure when it is from , the circumstances it refers to and if it was produced by the Dublin Council of Republican Congress, its hard to make out at the bottom of the poster.
The October 21st 1921 issue of “An t-Ógláċ The Official Organ of the Irish Volunteers” August 15, 2012
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Ireland, Irish History.2 comments
In light of the debate about Republicanism, Irish and so on, I figured I’d post this which arrived in my inbox recently. The October 21st 1921 issue of “An t-Ógláċ The Official Organ of the Irish Volunteers”. There are articles about Revolvers, the importance of ‘cover’, Night Training and ‘The Indian Situation’.
War of Independence Witness Statements taken from the Bureau of Military History (1913-21) July 25, 2012
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Ireland, Irish History.5 comments
Update…. The Bureau of Military History 1913-1921 (BMH) Collection at Military Archives is now online and can be found here. Aside from the statements there is also an image gallery and audio recordings.
This is fascinating stuff done by Limerick City Library Local Studies Team and their website.
They have done an interactive map with links to each of the witness statements in pdf format. A place I have lost hours on already and I’ve only read a few of the statements.
The War of Independence Witness Statements taken from the Bureau of Military History (1913-21) , Tipperary and Limerick Statements ONLY
The Military Archives are currently completing digitisation of the nationwide Witness Statement files. I gather that many on the Anti Treaty side didn’t give statements.
Worker directors July 24, 2012
Posted by Tomboktu in Business, Ireland, Labour relations, Workers Rights.2 comments
One of the disdvantages of using Enlgish as our ‘lingua franca’ in Ireland is that we are not exposed often enough to ideas from outside the English-speaking world. A report published last week by TASC, Good for Business? Worker Participation on Boards (PDF here), is a case in point.
The existence of worker direstors in companies in Ireland — and the rest English-speaking world to which we so often look for policy examples — and the legislation on this issue are so poor that it can easily be forgotten that not only is it normal practice in many other European countries, but actually a legal requirement in some of our fellow EU member states. The poor situation in Ireland means that it is a difficult task to undertake a study of the role and effect of worker directors in Irish companies. The sample of companies is tiny and utterly unrepresentative: in the commercial sector, worker directors exist in only a handful of state-owned companies. (Worker directors also exist in a wider range of non-commerical public bodies, although that terminology is not always used to refer to them. Examples include the vocational education committees, the National Disability Authority, and the Legal Aid Board.)
It is worth setting out some of the legal requirements in those other EU countires. In Germany, depending on the size of the firm, either one-third or half the seats on the board must be worker representatives — worker directors or their nominees; in Sweden, a company with 25 employees must have worker directors; in Austrian PLCs regardless of the size of the firm, workers have a right to a third of the seats on the board. Across the EU 27 and Norway, 12 countries provide for worker directors of some form in private forms. The little-known directives on EU-level companies also provide for worker directors.
The TASC report presents a literature review and data drawn from a focus group with nine worker directors from six companies and thirteen interviews with other people: non-worker directors, company executives, and “independent experts”. We are not told what the basis of this last group’s expertise — or, importantly, the the view that they are independent — is.
In Ireland, we are a long way from the kind of values that are reflected in the 12 other EU countries. Two details from the TASC report show how much of a hill we have to climb.
The first detail is that the five recommendations in the report do not include anything would lead to an extension of the model to be extended outside the public sector. I would have thought that this is the kind of idea that a progressive think tank should be introducing into the debate in Ireland. And the report contains a reference that shows why ding that at this time would be opportune. In discussing the legal roles of comapny directors, TASC uses not the current legislation but propoals from a draft companies bill that is expected to be introduced next year. That bill will be a massive overhaul of the Companies Acts — the draft proposals come in at over 1000 pages. (The scale of what is comming doen the line for the TDs and Senators can be seen in the time the preparation of the bill has taken. The Company Law Reform Group has been working on this for over a decade.) TASC should be calling for that process to be used to strengthen industrial democracy in Ireland.
The second detail is that a majority of the the interviewees in the study — that is, the non-worker directors, the company executives and the “independent experts” — believe that worker directors should not sit on remuneration committees. That mind-set, which sees executives as being in a different market from others — so different that it often looks like they are on a different planet — is one of the key factors that has contributed to the obscene income inequalities we see in Ireland and the rest of the English-speaking world.
