Cork SWP

Public Meeting/Book Launch-The Case Against the EU Lisbon Treaty.

2008-01-19T18:42:00.000Z

Public Meeting/Book Launch
The Case Against the EU Lisbon Treaty.
Thursday 31st January in the
Victoria Hotel, Cork at 8.00pm.
Speaker Kieran Allen, author of "The Corporate Takeover of Ireland"

The Socialist Workers Party will host a public forumand book launch outlining the case against the EU Lisbon Treaty on Thursday 31st January in the Victoria Hotel, Cork at 8.00pm. Speaker Kieran Allen, author of "The Corporate Takeover of Ireland"
Kieran has written a new guide to the EU Lisbon Treaty which will be officially launched at this meeting.

The French NO vote in 2005 terrified the ruling class across Europe and now they wait anxiously on the Irish vote.
Party leaders Bertie Ahern, Enda Kenny, Eamonn Gilmore and John Gormley have assured them that everything will be allright on the day.But if the lessons of the French referendum are quickly learnt there could be another resounding NO.
The first is that the way to win is to fight from the left. Irish debates on the EU have focused for too long on "national sovereignty" and defending De Valera's constitution of 1937. The NO campaign should not try to re-take that rhetoric.Instead over the next few months, the campaign needs to go to postal workers to show how the EU postal directive will affect their jobs.

It should remind the families of Aer Lingus workers how the EU was used to privatise the national airline. It should alert everyone to the dangers posed to public services by the philosophy of a "free, undistorted market".
It should mobilise the anti-war movement to oppose the EU battle groups and not be taken in by talk of "humanitarian missions" which are a cover for power grabs.By tapping into this enormous well of resentment and resistance, a powerful movement can be built to challenge the elite.
Among the major changes the Lisbon Treaty will bring are;A requirement on member states to increase military spending. Article 27-3 states that" member states shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities".
A legal requirement forcing member states to make troops available for EU battle groups (article 27-3)A fast track system whereby the Commission can conduct negotiations with agencies such as the World Trade Organisation on the premise of promoting a)"the achievement of uniformity in measures of liberalism"b)the "progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade and on foreign direct investment" article 188.
In practice this implies a greater push towards privatisation and globalisation that will become binding on member states.
The more formal creation of an EU state which has its own distinct "legal personality".Greater use of Qualified Majority Voting to give the EU more"competencies" over member states..Thanks to the legal actions of Raymond Crotty, the Irish people are the only people who can vote on these hugely important issues.
We should exercise that vote on behalf of the whole people of Europe.
Kieran Allen has written a new guide to the EU Lisbon Treaty and will put the case for a NO vote on Thursday 31st January in the Victoria Hotel.

Public meeting: The Fight for Womens Liberation Today

2007-11-20T13:14:00.000Z

Public meeting
The Fight for Womens Liberation Today
Speaker, Marnie Holborrow
Thursday 29th November,
Victoria Hotel, Patrick St. 8.00pm.

We are told that women are now equal to men and that there's nothing left to fight for.
Women's lives were certainly transformed in the 20th century.
But while a minority of women can now command high professional salaries, the majority still earn less than men and carry the responsibility for most work in the home.
Meanwhile the commercialization of sexism-"raunch culture"-has reached new heights.

Marnie Holborrow will trace the roots of womens oppression and will show why the way society is organised under capitalism, especially the modern family, continues to leave most ordinary women-and men-losing out.
This is the socialist case for why the fight for womens liberation isn't over and why winning this battle means changing the world.

All welcome

The Take - A film by Naomi Klein (No Logo, the Shock Doctirne) and Avi Lewis.

2007-10-19T10:34:00.000+01:00

Film Showing of the acclaimed documentary
The Take
by Naomi Klein (No Logo, the Shock Doctirne) and Avi Lewis.
Thurs Nov 1st 7.30 PM
Capwell Art Gallery - 16 Frankfield Terrace, Cork

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave.
All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.

In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system.
But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.
The story of the workers' struggle is set against the dramatic backdrop of a crucial presidential election in Argentina, in which the architect of the economic collapse, Carlos Menem, is the front-runner. His cronies, the former owners, are circling: if he wins, they'll take back the companies that the movement has worked so hard to revive.
Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.
With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada's most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of workers' lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing injustice of dignity denied.

Forum of Resistance

2007-09-25T08:03:00.000+01:00

Forum of Resistance
Saturday 6th October
Victoria Hotel, Patrick Street,
2.00pm to 6.00pm.
Organised by the Socialist Workers Party.

Schedule of events.
Bush's War, The Fall of the US Empire ?
Speaker, Sinead Kennedy.
George Bush represents the greatest threat to world peace. Not only has he destroyed Iraq but he also wants to start a new war with Iran.But Bush is only a front man for corporate capitalism.Behind the new drive to war, a system is spinning out of control.At this session we look at the link between capitalism and war.

Selling our Bodies, Capitalism and the New Sexism.
Speaker, Crea Ryder.
Everything is for sale in this market mad world. our bodies are no exception.The increased presence of Brats and Playboy brands are pushing sexual commodification to younger and younger audiences.This session discusses how we can fight the New Sexism while also fighting for liberation and sexual equality. 3. Hugo Chavez, 40 years after the death of Che Guevara, Revolution in the 21st Century.Speaker, Kieran AllenForty years ago, Che Guevara was assassinated in Bolivia as the US took their revengeon one of their great opponents.But today Latin America has become the centre of a struggle against corporateglobalisation and the US Empire.In this session, we look at some of the lessons of one of the most exciting conflicts in the region, the progress of Venezuela under Chavez.

Hugo Chavez, 40 years after the death of Che Guevara, Revolution in the 21st Century.
Speaker, Kieran Allen
Forty years ago, Che Guevara was assassinated in Bolivia as the US took their revengeon one of their great opponents.But today Latin America has become the centre of a struggle against corporateglobalisation and the US Empire.In this session, we look at some of the lessons of one of the most exciting conflicts in the region, the progress of Venezuela under Chavez.

Public Meeting: Darfur: Is UN Intervention a Solution?

2007-08-27T13:55:00.000+01:00

Public Meeting

Crisis in Darfur, Is UN Intervention a Solution?
Thursday 30th August, at 8.00pm
Victoria Hotel, Patrick Street, Cork.
Speaker Donal McGarry.

Following the international clamour to send troops to Darfur in western Sudan, the United Nations has voted to send in troops.More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur in the last three years and around 2 million have been displaced. This is the result of fighting between government forces and rebel groups. Many civilians have suffered and, quite rightly, people across the world want the horror to end.But it is a huge leap from those tragic facts to supporting the right of Western troops to invade Sudan. Far from aiding the suffering people of Darfur, experience shows that intervention may in fact make matters worse.Back in 1992 UN troops went to Somalia. The invasion that began with promises of ending a famine and saving people from warlords, ended with Somalis in revolt against the occupiers and atrocities being committed by US, Canadian and Belgian forces against the Somalis.The warlords were strengthened and progress in Somalia hurled back over a decade.Despite Western governments protestations that their role in Sudan would be purely "humanitarian" an invasion of Sudan by the West would have the added benefit of clearing the way for US and European oil firms to grasp more of Sudan's oil.Sudan has two billion barrels of recoverable oil and currently produces 250,000 barrels a day. Much of that oil is likely to be trapped by Chinese firms and the US wants to challenge them.Sudan has become a frontline in the clash between US and Chinese imperialism. An invasion would also put in place a pro-US government on the shores of the Red Sea, opposite Saudi Arabia.The NGO Action Against Hunger said in May of this year that UN military intervention "could have disastrous consequences that risk triggering a further escalation of violence while jeopardising humanitarian assistance to millions of people".

==Cork Socialist Workers Party
corkswp@yahoo.com
http://www.swp.ie

Public Meeting: The Big Question, Can Africa be truly free from the effects of the Slave Trade

2007-04-23T11:47:00.001+01:00

Speakers:
Uche Odinukwe, Nigerian activist
Joe Moore, Cork SWP.
Thursday 3rd May 8.00pm
Victoria Hotel, Patrick Street, Cork

Two hundred years after the passing of a bill in the British parliament outlawing the Atlantic Slave Trade are the African people still suffering the effects of the greatest crime against humanity.
Two hundred years ago last March, a bill outlawing British involvement in the Atlantic Slave Trade, was passed in Westminster. This was the first step in a long journey that eventually led to the ending of the greatest crime against humanity, ever perpetrated.
From the early 16th century to the end of the 19th century, over 20 million Africans were enslaved and between 10 and 30 million lost their lives.
Although the media focus is on the role played by the MP William Wilberforce, the Atlantic Slave Trade was ended by the resistance of the slaves themselves and the mass movement in Britain in support of the abolition of slavery.

The greatest rebellion was in the country now called Haiti. As a result of the influence of the ideals of the French Revolution, a rebellion began in 1791 which overthrew the slave owning class in what was then France's richest colony.
A British invasion of the island led to one of the greatest military defeats, when an army of ex-slaves inflicted casualties of over 80,000 on the greatest imperial power in the world. In Britain over 350,000 people signed a petition against the Slave Trade. This was supported by a successful consumer boycott of sugar, the main slave produced commodity.
The Atlantic Slave Trade eventually ended in the 1880's, with Cuba and Brazil being the last countries to outlaw this barbarity.This did not however end the suffering of the African people.

From the 1880's until the early 20th century, the European imperial powers divided the African Continent between them, in the so-called"scramble for Africa".Freedom was eventually secured in the second half of the last century after heroic struggles by the African people against the colonial powers, especially in Algeria, Kenya, Mozambique and Angola.Although political freedom was achieved, the continents natural resources are still controlled by Western multi nationals.

This situation was referred to by Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of newly independent Ghana, as "neo-colonialism"
These issues will be discussed at a public meeting entitled "The Big Question, Can Africa be truly free from the effects of the Slave Trade"

2007-03-27T12:43:00.000+01:00

Book Launch and Public Talk

The Corporate Takeover of Ireland
by Kieran Allen

The Victoria Hotel Patrick St
Tues April 3rd 8 PM

People Power against the Corporations.

A government by the people for the people is an ideal of Irish politics. But it is fast disappearing as corporations take more control. They have only one goal -profit - and use buzz words like "competitiveness" and "flexibility"to make all of society serve it.

Major corporations such as Microsoft view Irelandas an Atlantic tax haven which offers light state regulation. They want the countryto become a bridge head for the American way inside the EU.

"The Corporate Take Over of Ireland" examines the effects on Irish life andshows how democratic decision making has been subverted by money.Efforts to ban advertising to children and to restrict promotion of alcohol have beenprevented by large global corporations.

A new medical apartheid is being created inhealth as huge US health corporations stand ready to move into the private healthcare market. Waste collection is no longer organised as a public service but isbeing turned into big business. State enterprises such as Aer Lingus and Eircom havebeen handed over to private investors.

"The Corporate Take Over of Ireland" calls for a new movement of resistancethat will put people before profit and bring about more genuine democracy.

Dr Kieran Allen lectures in the Department of Sociology, University College Dublin andhas published widely including his book "The Celtic Tiger- The Myth of SocialPartnership"

This meeting and book launch is hosted by the Cork Branch Socialist Workers Party, onTuesday 3rd April at 8.00pm in the Victoria Hotel, Patrick St., Cork.

Ken Loach's Land and Freedom sun Nov 26th

2006-11-21T19:44:00.000Z

ISKRA in associatio with New Left Journal presents
Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom"
The Kino Cinema, Washington St, Cork
12.00 noon on Sunday 26th November.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, whenthe fascist General Franco began his assault on the democratically electedgovernment. The Popular Front government had begun to initiate reforms which had ledto the improvement of the lives of both workers and peasants. These reforms wereopposed by the capitalist and landowning classes, who souhgt the support of rightwing elements within the officer corps of the armed forces.With the active support of both Hitler and Mussolini, Franco launched his coup.

The supporters of the government formed armed militias to repel the fascists. A call to support the Spanish government was answered by communists, socialists andanti-fascists from around the world.Ken Loach's film "Land and Freedom" tells the story of one such English volunteer who on arriving in Spain fought with the POUM. Loach examines thedifferent position taken by those who fought with the POUM and the anarchists and those who joined the International Brigades. The debates between the two positionsare handled similarly to the way he dealt with political arguments in "The Windthat Shakes the Barley"

Like in his recent film, Loach also uses both professional and non-professional actors, one of whom at least was a veteran of the war against Franco. "Land andFreedom" is regarded by many critics as Loach's best film and has not been seenon the big screen in this country in over 10 years.The film can be seen on Sunday 26th November in the Kino, Washington St at 12.00 noon.It will be introduced by Harry Owens co-author of Bob Doyle's biography"Brigadista". Bob is the last remaining survivor of the Connolly Column,15th International Brigade.

Normal admission prices apply.

No Pasaran

Eleventh Annual Ken - Saro Wiwa Memorial Seminar 11 Nov. Cork

2006-11-07T12:23:00.000Z

Eleventh Annual Ken - Saro Wiwa Memorial Seminar
Saturday 11 November
Boole Lecture Room 3 University College Cork 10.00am to 5.00pm

Theme: ...land...ultimate heritage. From Ken Saro - Wiwa's final speech

The Eleventh Ken Saro-Wiwa Seminar takes place on Saturday 11 November 2006 in Boole Lecture Room 3 University College Cork from 10.00am to 5.00pm. It remembers the death by hanging on 10 Nov. 1995 of Ken and eight other Ogonis as an outcome of environmental protest against Shell and the Nigerian military ruler, Sani Abacha.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Mark Garavan, will discuss the politics of moral force in the life and work of Michael Davitt and Ken Saro-Wiwa.Steve Mills, International Director of the Sierra Club USA , will lead the Solidarity Forum ( www.sierraclub.org). This is the oldest ( 1892) and largest ( 750,000 members), most influential grassroots environmental organization in the US. It was a strong supporter of the Ogoni issue with Shell.

Other speakers will include Maura Harrington ( Shell to Sea ), Majella Mc Carron ( Ogoni Solidarity Ireland ) and Philip Ikurusi ( Niger Delta Awareness ).Joe Murray ( Afri) will coordinate the Solidarity Forum; Afri is a supporter of the Seminar which is non-funded and volunteer - led by a local committee of eight.Some time will consider the relevance of the UN Aarhus Convention to participation by local communities in environmental matters and who will be represented on the Forum.

Contact Number: 087 628 3835

Public Meeting: Oil -The New Scramble for Africa

2006-08-28T15:22:00.000+01:00

Cork SWP public forum

From the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Guinea.
Oil , The New Scramble for Africa.

Speaker, Philip Ikurusi, Niger Delta activist

Victoria Hotel, Patrick St., Cork
Friday 6th October, 8 PM

The Scramble for African Oil.

After decades of Cold War, when Africa was simply viewed as a convenient pawn on the global chessboard, and a further decade of neglect in the 1990s, the African continent has now become a vital arena of strategic and geopolitical competition not only for the US but also for China, India, Japan and other new emerging powers. The main reason for this is quite simple; Africa is the final frontier as far as the world's supplies of energy (both oil and natural gas ) is concerned.

In the next 10 to 15 years, most of the new oil entering the world market will come African fields because it is only in Africa that substantial new fields have been found and brought into production.Since 1980, the US have been officially committed ( in the words of President Jimmy Carter, which have become known as the "Carter Doctrine") to the use of "any means necessary, including military force" to ensure the free flow of Persian Gulf oil.Now the "Carter Doctrine" has been extended to Africa. "African oil is of strategic national interest to us and it will increase and become more important to us as we go forward", Walter Kansteiner, the former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, declared during a visit to Nigeria in July 2002.

Not surprisingly, the largest chunks of US aid to Africa are going to Angola and Nigeria, Africa's two leading oil suppliers to the US. Total US security aid to these countries in 2002-2004 ammounted to approximately $300m, a substantial increase over the previous three year period.In October 2004, the US European Command (EURCOM) hosted a three day Gulf of Guinea maritime security conference in Naples, Italy (head quarters of the US Sixth Fleet). Participants included naval leaders from Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo Brazaville, Sao Tome and Togo along with personnel from the US, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK.It is clear that as the security of Middle Eastern oil becomes more uncertain, the Imperialist Powers are setting their sights on the Gulf of Guinea.

Socialist Forum: From Bloody Sunday to Guantanamo - The Slow death of Democracy

2006-08-02T21:18:00.000+01:00

Socialist Forum:

From Bloody Sunday to Guantanamo - The Slow death of Democracy.

Speaker :Eamon McCann
Victoria Hotel, Patrick St.
Mon Aug 14th 8PM

The shooting dead of 13 unarmed civilians in Derry during a Civil rights Demonstration in Derry, January 1972 was a decisive event in the history of the North. Unlike all the other atrocities in Northern Ireland, it took place in broad daylight with hundreds of witnesses. The people of Derry know what happened on Bloody Sunday. They saw it! Yet to this day, the British Government has never come clean on responsibility for the mass murder, or charged any of the British Paratroopers involved in connectionwith it.The lack of accountability of so called democratic Governments is still evident today, against the wishes of the people. the US/Israel and Britain are waging a horrific war against the people of the Middle East. The lack of accountability in the so called "War on Terror" is best demonstrated in the illegal detentions of in Guantanamo Bay.

Eamonn McCann has been an active socialist for four decades and was one of the original organisers of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). He is a member of Derry Trades Council and the Bloody Sunday Trust. He personally witnessed the events of Bloody Sunday in January 1972, and has written and campaigned extensively with the relatives of Bloody Sunday victims for truth on what happened on Bloody Sunday to be published. Eamonn is a prominent member of the Socialist Workers Party, and in recent NorthernIreland elections has stood as a candidate for the Socialist Environmental Alliance.

Public Meeting: Resisting Israeli & US terrror in the Middle East

2006-07-20T07:29:00.000+01:00

Socialist Forum

Resisting Israeli & US terrror in the Middle East
Speakers: Jim bowen (Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
Kieran Allen (Socialist Workers Party)

Victoria Hotel, Patrick St.
Thurs Aug 3rd 8 PM

All Welcome

Public Meeting:Revolution in Venezuela

2006-07-02T22:02:00.000+01:00

Public Meeting:
Revolution in Venezuela
11 July 8pm
Victoria Hotel,
Patrick St, Cork

With Roland Denis leading Venezuelan activist and former member of Chavez Government
& Rory Hearne (Attended recent World Social Forum in Venezuela)
Across Latin America in countries such as Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, popular movements are resisting, at a scale not seen for decades, water privatisation, the IMF and neo-liberalism.

Venezuela has been at the high point of this struggle and has witnessed massive protests in recent years and is beginning a revolutionary process.

At this public meeting, Roland Denis, a leading activist in Venezuela, will provide a first hand account of the revolution in Venezuela and what is happening in Latin America.

He will also address such issues as is the Venezuelan experiment a new socialism of the 21st Century and how real is the US threat to invade?

Rory Hearne, who attended the World Social Forum in Venezuela in January will speak on the international movements and what can the movements in Ireland here learn from the struggle of the people of Venezuela and Latin America.

Cork:
11 July 8pm Victoria Hotel, Patrick St, Cork

All Welcome

2006-06-06T06:33:00.000+01:00

Socialist Forum
FROM ROSSPORT TO THE NIGER DELTA:
Shell & the robbery of natural Resources

Speaker:Philip Ikurusi (Niger Delta Activist)

Venue: An Spailpin fanach
Date: Thurs June 22nd. 8 PM

2006-05-12T09:15:00.000+01:00

Socialist Forum

Why is our Health Service in Crisis
Speaker: Dr Peadar O'Grady

Venue: Victoria hotel, Patrick St.
Date: Thurs June 1st 8:00 P.m.

2006-04-11T11:16:00.000+01:00

SWP Socialist forum:
James Connolly 1916 and the fight against Imperialism
Meeting details:
Thursday 20th April:
Spailpin Fanach South Main St,
8 PM

US soldiers speaking tour of Ireland

2006-02-28T13:59:00.000Z

US soldiers speaking tour of Ireland: Stop the US war & torture machine tour

The Irish Anti-War Movement is pleased to announce a national speaking tour of 18 meetings by two US soldiers - Frank Corcoran (Vietnam Veterans Against War) and Benjamin Hart Viges (Iraq Veterans Against the War). They will address meetings in most major cities and towns as well as every major university in Ireland

Wednesday 8th March 1pm Muscrea Building, Students Centre, University College Cork

8pm Wednesday 8th March, An Spailpin Fanach, South Main Street, Cork