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CORK SOCIAL FORUM
NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2003 Printer friendly version, formatted to save paper and printing time, it has also been checked for viruses. Before printing, it is best to check that PAGE SETUP specifies portrait mode and that you printer is configured for double sided printing (sometimes called BOOK). Please print out one or two to pass around..; Then use the Back Button to return to previous page WHAT IS THE CORK SOCIAL FORUM? A MEETING POINT; for anyone opposed to war, globalisation, environmental destruction and political corruption; for anyone in favour of co-operation, positive action, sharing information and working towards a better world. A STARTING POINT; for actions and initiatives for change, locally and globally. CSF (Cork Social Forum) is linked to the World Social Forum, the Irish Social Forum, and through them all other forums around the world. The Social Forum movement is run according to a democratic Charter of Principles, which you can read on www.irishsocialforum.org , or to get a printed copy call 026 47352. MINUTES OF CORK SOCIAL FORUM, COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE, FERMOY, 10TH DECEMBER. Approximately 10 people attending The following agenda was agreed:
CORK LETS An explanation of how LETS works was given, and a new initiative of LETS was outlined, whereby community groups/voluntary organisations are to be included to a greater degree. Proposal for changes being drafted; submissions welcome to email hanrahanone@hotmail.com A discussion followed considering some of the changes possible, including groups offering music services, LETS for asylum seekers (who are not legally permitted to work for hard currency). Website under construction. A LETS market is to be held in Cork City at Tig Filí on 20.12.'03 from 3pm to 6pm C.S.F. EVENT Discussions from previous CSF meetings were summarised, about the possibility of having a seminar/conference type event, with workshops, stalls etc. Options discussed included a one-day event in either Cork City or West Cork, or a two-day event with one day in each location. One suggestion for a theme for the event was the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the EU. It was noted that there are other organisations doing considerable work on this theme, such as Dóchas, who may be of assistance. It was agreed that CSF needs to publicise itself as an organisation, and such an event would be an ideal opportunity. SHANNON & IRISH NEUTRALITY There was a general discussion on neutrality. It was noted that Irish neutrality is not officially enshrined in the constitution, but the Shannon demo was against American war mongering rather than promoting /defending neutrality. Experiences from the Shannon demo of the previous week were discussed, with the following being noted: Gardaí more proactive/ lack of communication amongst various groups/ high proportion of young people/ important not to de-humanise Gardaí/tactics - is Shannon demo still relevant? Non-violent workshops were suggested - Mike offered to facilitate LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Poor recycling facilities in Fermoy were discussed. A local environmental issue was discussed, whereby a small local laboratory is dumping illegal waste into a skip that was not suitable for such biological waste (live cultures). Statutory authorities were informed, but were very slow to respond. One employee who complained was fired. It was suggested that a database of such incidents be kept. There was a waste transfer facility outside Fermoy, where waste (including chemical waste) was stored above ground in tanks. It was developed on a site where people had been turned down planning permission to build a house for safety reasons, as it was too close to the road. Roscarbery dump, which was lined, was filling up with leachate (liquid waste from dump), which was being pumped into a septic tank before being discharged out into the bay. This was inadequate treatment for leachate. IMMIGRATION While 10% of the population are not Irish born, only a very small percentage of these people are asylum-seekers. Yet, asylum-seekers are viewed negatively by sections of society/media. There was a discussion on these issues, with an appeal for people to get involved in support/solidarity. AMNESTY Literature & postcards relating to Amnesty campaigns was available and distributed. Literature/campaigns included Child Soldiers, Mental Health legislation, Group News & Catalogues. "Slow food" was discussed, which is an alternative to the fast food culture espoused by the likes of McDonalds. NEXT MEETING Monday 19th January at Creedons, Inchageela From January onwards, meetings will be on the third Monday of every month at Creedon's Hotel, Inchigeelagh, unless otherwise stated. NEWS. NO ROOM AT THE INN SOLIDARITY MARCH. 2003 years on and still there's no room at the inn. If Jesus Christ were a Traveller, what kind of a welcome would he get in Cork today? He'd be told to move along and to get along. He'd be told to shift! The four halting sites in the city are full. Travellers in Cork with no bay on a site have nowhere to legally set down their caravans. It is impossible for them to comply with the law. They are constantly being moved with nowhere to go. This is continuing even in the runup to Christmas. What are they to do? Where are they to go? It is unjust to move people on without offering them a viable alternative. MARCH IN SUPPORT OF TRAVELLERS AND AGAINST THE UNJUST TRESPASS LAW. Meet outside Brown Thomas at the top of Winthrop Street, Cork, SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER 2P.M. Travellers rights are human rights! BUY A TREE FOR XMAS? The Native Woodland Trust has acquired what we hope will be the first of many sites in order to create new woodland. This 7-acre site in County Leitrim is located in an undeveloped and peaceful part of the countryside,on the Longford-Leitrim border. The surrounding area abounds with wildlife,especially birds, with lakes, bogs and natural grasslands nearby. Over the next several years, the site will be completely planted with a range of native trees, planted in such a way as to replicate a natural woodland. Trees of no commercial value, which are not being planted as part of new woodlands in Ireland - such as Elm and Black Poplar - will be included. No trees will ever be harvested in this woodland and no hunting will ever be permitted. During subsequent years after the initial planting, as the woodland canopy develops, the woodland will again be planted - this time with native woodland flowers such and Bluebells and Purple OrchidsThe woodland will then be allowed to regenerate naturally and provide a safe haven for wildlife and people alike - in perpetuity. The Trust has been set up in such a way that even if it is dissolved, the woodlands must be transferred to the care of another similar organisation - so the continuity of your gesture is made certain. To sponsor a tree in Ireland, please follow the steps below; 1. To sponsor by phone, call +353 87 902 0038. Please have your credit card ready and full details of the name and address to send the certificate to. 2. By post, please write to; Stoneybrook, Kilteel, Co. Kildare, Republic of Ireland. Payment can be accepted by Bank Draft, Postal Order, International Money Order, VISA, MASTERCARD or LASER. We will also accept personal cheques, including those in non-Euro currencies. However, processing of these payment types may take an additional several days. If you are interested in sponsoring more than 10 trees, please email us for details of bulk discounts available. newtrees@nativewoodtrust.ie Check out our website, sponsorship form available. www.nativewoodtrust.ie FANCY WORKING IN INDIA? The Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh are looking for volunteers to work in their centre, helping local victims of the 1984 Union Carbide chemical leak help themselves. This month is the 19th anniversary of the "Hiroshima of the chemical industry"and it continues to poison people, with each monsoon washing more and more toxic chemicals into the soil. In 1994, ten years after the leak, money raised in the UK was used to fund a multi-purpose clinic on a 2 acre plot, ½ kilometre from the now deserted chemical plant. Volunteers work with local residents of Bhopal in providing herbal remedies, yoga and educational programmes to those still affected by the chemical leaks. The Sambhavna Clinic is in the process of expanding their operations, building a new clinic which intends to be a "model for holistic, integrated health care", helping the community to help themselves. Anyone is welcome as a volunteer, with people staying for a minimum of two weeks, often integrating the work with a broader tour of India. People with medical skills are in big demand at the centre. Work is also needed on video documentation, solar electric system and biological wastewater management. The Pesticide Action Network (www.pan-uk.org, 020 7274 8895) needs help with raising funds and awareness. www.bhopal.net JOBS IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTOR. The website of DevNetJobs.org at http://www.devnetjobs.org would be of interest to those people who are working in the International Development Sector or aspiring to get involved with it. DevNetJobs.org lists vacancies arising in all areas of international development, including environment, health, human resources and relief and humanitarian assistance. Over 900 organizations now post vacancies relating to international development on the website and its FREE Jobs Newsletter is now subscribed by over 38,000 colleagues. At present, over 170 valid vacancies are listed on the website which could be applied for directly by the aspirants. To subscribe to the FREE Jobs Newsletter issued once in 10 days, send a blank email to developmentjobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or write to jobs@devnetjobs.org CAMPAIGNS SUPPORT FOR FINTAN LANE. As you are (probably) aware, Fintan Lane is serving a 60-day prison sentence in Limerick Prison for his refusal to pay a EURO750 fine imposed on him for his part in a peaceful protest at Shannon Airport in October 2003. The Cork Anti-War Campaign, which is co-ordinating the campaign to ensure publicity and support for Fintan Lane, has launched an appeal to raise funds to provide various items for Fintan in prison and to assist him on his release; in addition, a small amount of money is required to pay for publicity materials related to the campaign (posters, etc.). Fintan himself is not aware of this financial appeal; however, we have become aware of the financial difficulties encountered by Fintan as a result of his loss of earnings, and feel that we need to demonstrate our solidarity with him by helping him to overcome these difficulties upon his release. We are seeking to raise a substantial amount of money and are appealing to anti-war activists for donations. If you wish to make a donation to the campaign, please lodge money into the campaign account and let us know details of your donation by contacting the campaign at 087 1258325 or corkantiwar@hotmail.com Account name: Cork Anti-War Campaign Account no: 03811074 Bank: Allied Irish Bank (AIB) Address: College Road, Cork (sort code: 930121) Alternatively, you may send a cheque, payable to Cork Anti-War Campaign, to: Dominic Carroll, Dunowen, Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co. Cork If you wish to organise a donation through some other means, please contact the campaign at 087 1258325 or corkantiwar@hotmail.com Thanking you in anticipation Dominic Carroll / John Jeffries / Joe Moore on behalf of Cork Anti-War Campaign PS: Fintan Lane has now served 22 days of his 60-day sentence. He is in good form and looking forward to a 60-hour Christmas release. He will be released on Christmas Eve and will return to prison on St Stephen"s Day. His sentence will run until 25th January. Fintan has expressed gratitude to all who have written to him in prison. These cards and letters, he says, have been vital in helping him cope with the harsh conditions of prison. He intends to reply to all who have written to him, though it may take some time as the number of letters he can post from prison in any one week is restricted. If you haven"t already written to express solidarity with Fintan, and wish to do so, please write to him at the following address: Fintan Lane, E Wing, Limerick Prison, Mulgrave Street, Limerick Even if you"ve already written to Fintan, please write to him again. Just as importantly, please write a letter to the newspapers (local and national) to express your opposition to his imprisonment and to the use of Shannon Airport by the US military. A number of letters have already been published in various papers, and it"s important to keep both Fintan"s jailing and the illegal use of Shannon in the public eye. WILL HANLY TAKE A SCALPEL TO BANTRY? Phase One of the Hanly report, to examine staffing levels in local health board facilities, has resulted in cutbacks and helped to sound the death-knell for Ennis Hospital in Co. Clare. Phase two, to be released in mid-2004, will look at Cork and Kerry, and it seems likely that Bantry's Accident and Emergency dept. could be for the chop. If you're living in the further reaches of County Cork, this will leave you with no choice but to haul yourself to the city for emergency treatment. in some cases over 70 miles. But don't fret, if you're really in a bad way they can keep you "stable" at Bantry until the helicopter arrives. By the time the report is released, it will be too late to do anything about it. the time to speak up for your local services is NOW. Contact the Southern Health Board, Wilton Rd., Cork. 021 454 5011 communications@shb.ie website: www.shb.ie You can read the Hanly Report on the Department of Health website: www.doh.ie A NEW BRIEFING by Corporate Watch, looking at the personal experiences of farmers in Oxfordshire, provides an interesting insight into the way corporate control has been probably the most damaging influence on the farming in the last forty years www.agricultured.org HI ALL, thought you might be interested in these two american web-sites: http://www.idealswork.com/ http://www.zerowaste.org/resources.htm The first could be a great help to consumers in connecting buying power with the issues that are important to them. i.e. how does IBM or Ford rank on gay rights, insider trading, the Environment etc. The second is an organisation that methodically takes commercial companies through the steps in 'greening' themselves. The only shame is that as usual these sites apply to another country... We need Irish versions!! Joseph Little SIGNING AWAY OUR FREEDOM? Gisela Stuart is the British Labour MP who was Tony Blair's nominee on the 13- member Praesidium of the Convention that drafted the EU Constitution under the chairmanship of former French President Valery Giscard d'Esting. John Bruton TD was the Irish member of this 13-person Praesidium. The two other Irish members of the 105-member Convention, though not of its Praesidium, were Dick Roche TD and Proinsias de Rossa TD. Ms Stuart has just written a pamphlet for the British Fabian Society that casts doubts on the motive, process and final product of the whole Convention: namely, the EU Constitution that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is going to Rome this weekend to sign us all up to - and our children and grandchildren. The "Treaty to Establish a Constitution for Europe," which is the exact title of what Taoiseach Ahern hopes to sign, repeals all the existing EU treaties from the Rome Treaty to the Treaty of Nice, which we voted on only last year. It abolishes the existing EU that we have been members of for years, and replaces it with what is legally and constitutionally quite a new European Union, founded on what is to all intents and purposes the Constitution of an EU Federal State. If the EU Presidents and Prime Ministers agree to re-found the EU on the basis of a Constitution, this will then go around for ratification by the 25 EU Member States over the coming 18 months. If that happens, Irish politicans of all the main parties, and most of the media, will be expected to do their damndest to induce the Irish people to vote for it. Ms Stuart gives a revealing account of how this Draft EU Constitution came into being . "The Making of Europe's Constitution" by Gisela Stuart MP is published by the Fabian Society on Monday 8 December 2003 www.fabian-society.org.uk Anthony Coughlan, E.U. Watch. CSF AND ISF EVENTS TO FOCUS ON CONSTITUTION. The proposed E.U. constitution will affect ALL of the issues that we are ALL involved in.trade agreements, environmental responsibility, basic human rights and freedoms. It seems likely that a referendum on accepting this constitution will happen here in June, to tally in with the local elections and make an impressive end to Ireland's six months as head of the E.U. We need to focus our energy onto this issue before it's too late. The next All-Ireland Social Forum and our own CSF seminar next spring aim to examine the constitution, and what we can do about it, from all angles. The CSF events group will be meeting to discuss this in West Cork on Saturday 3rd January. All welcome, please call 026 47352 if you wish to attend. If you can't come along but would like to suggest topics, speakers etc., please call that number or e-mail lilydesylva@hotmail.com. *Last weekend, EU Foreign Ministers discussed an Italian proposal obliging EU countries to provide military aid in an emergency - even without a specific request from the country that has been attacked. "This is what you have to do if you want the people to build statues of you on horseback back in the villages you all come from." Valery Giscard d'Estaing, convincing Praesidium members that the constitution is a GOOD thing. IT IS INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP WEEK. See the World differently. If you compared the World to a village with one hundred citizens, which included all cultures and races, this village would consist of: 57 Asians - 21 Europeans - 14 Americans (North and South) - 8 Africans 52 women - 48 men 70 non-white - 30 white 70 non-Christian - 30 Christian 89 Hetero - 11 Homo 6 people who possess 59% of the entire world's wealth 80 who are homeless 70 who are illiterate 50 who are dependant of another 1 who will die 2 who will be born 1 has a PC 4 have a degree When we look at the world in this way it is clear that understanding, tolerance and education are necessary. If you woke up this morning and are not sick, then you are luckier than the 1 million people who in the coming days will die. If you have never experienced war, loneliness or wounds, then you are luckier than 500 million people in the world. If you can go to church without feeling threatened, without being arrested or killed, then you are luckier than 3 billion people in the world. If you have food stored in your freezer, if you are dressed, have a roof and a bed, then you are richer than 75% of the people in the world. If you have a bank account, some money in your wallet, some change lying around, then you belong to the top 8% of the richest people in the world. If you can read this, you are doubly blessed, because: 1. You are not one of the 2 billion people who can not read 2. Someone has thought of you. Thanks to the Village Buzz. "Ours are not Western values. They are the universal values of the human spirit and anywhere, anytime, ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same. Freedom not tyranny. Democracy not dictatorship. The rule of law not the rule of the secret police." Tony Blair, talking to the US Congress Where there are too many policemen, there can be no liberty; Where there are too many soldiers, there can be no peace; Where there are too many lawyers, there can be no justice. Lin Yutang. If you would like to submit a news or opinion piece for the next newsletter, please e-mail it to news4csf@eircom.net post it to CSF Newsletter, Derrinalechan, Ballingeary, Co.Cork , or better still bring it to the next meeting of the Cork Social Forum. This is an unregulated, anti-copyright newsletter, so please feel free to copy it and pass it on to friends, local shops, libraries etc. ANY VIEWS EXPRESSED HERE ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL, NOT THE CSF AS A BODY. ~WISHING ALL OUR READERS THE FUNKIEST OF FESTIVITIES~ |