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Monday November 15, 2010 23:00
by TD
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Comments (17 of 17)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17Last night, angry students delivered a clear message to Cowen's brownshirts, the government and the Irish people:
No more garda brutalising of people engaged in peaceful protest.
No more Bellanaboy's in Dublin.
No more shoe shine boys and lapdogs in the form of the mainstream media and USI president; Gary Redmond.
No more cutbacks, it's fightback time and the students are angrier than hell.
Well done folks for standing up to the Garda bullies.
Dangerous precedents being set when Riot Police in full combat gear attack a peaceful sit-down protest of civil disobedience.
Complaints to the Garda Ombudsman may or may not be recommended for prosecution to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions). Complaints to the DPP may or may not be prosecuted by the DPP in the courts.
The Garda Ombudsman Commission and the DPP are unnecessary middle men, vulnerable to political interference, in the process of getting your complaint in front of a judge.
You can cut them out and go to straight to court yourself, straight to the judge. You can do it yourself or use a solicitor. You may also be entitled to legal aid. Initiating a private prosecution against a Garda is lawful and doable. The law has procedures to allow you to do it.
It's not possible to go into detail in this comment but have a look at this old article below for starters.
This report is three years old now and the email address there is dead. If I knew then what I know now, the Gardai would have been convicted of assault. I'm happy to share any info.
will some one get people together so we can fight back
http://pix.ie/punkrock/album/393509
Few from last nights protest.
"Where is Gary" the students chanted in contempt last night outside Pearse Street Garda Station; on the couch wanking to his master's tune might be one good answer conjuring up more weasel words to betray, vilify and criminalise the students with conscience who occupied the Dept. of Finance last week and who last night vigorously protested the Garda violence that was visited on them then. it's clear this pusillanimous creature has no stomach to strive for what he was elected to do, only contemptibly abusing his position as a stepping stone to god only knows what but which has now turned into a millstone around his neck. Like the notorious Dr. Frank Skuse of the Birmingham Six case, Redmond should be instantly retired on "limited efficiency" grounds, he is no longer fit for purpose, let him return to what he does best on the couch whilst sipping his Columbian bloody Coca Cola, this time without the conjuring.?
Contrast his Judas act with the UK student leaders: A statement published by student leaders praised the storming of the building housing Conservative party headquarters by a fringe group of protesters on Wednesday. "We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, 'extremist' or unrepresentative of our movement. We celebrate the fact that thousands of students were willing to send a message to the Tories that we will fight to win. Occupations are a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended." (Guardian)
The USI are a complete joke. We need a proper national alternative union to get going that will stand by it's members.
Redmond's craven grotesqueries the past week have breathed fresh life into the acronym GUBU; grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre - but unfortunately, not - unprecedented.
It beggars belief Redmond and his supine USI outfit "did not support" last night's protest: Gary Redmond, president of the Union of Students in Ireland said it and its affiliate student unions did not support tonight's protest and that it had nothing to do with its own planned protests in Galway on November 18th and Cork on December 1st.
Aoife: The USI under the stewardship of the execrable Redmond is sending a clear and pernicious message to the students: The USI will only sanction Grand Old Duke of York mockeries; marches to the top of the hill and down again, only safety valve traipses to government buildings where the anger is vented into the desert air and if anyone is up for stronger stuff such as occupations - "a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended" as the UK student leadership put it - they will disowned, demonised and criminalised.
Solidarity with the students who were savaged and brutalised outside and inside the Dept. of Finance particularly the feisty Vanessa O'Sullivan who was batoned unconscience and then dumped on the pavement outside like a sack of spuds. Contempt for Redmond and the pitiable outfit he now leads - my respect for the ex student leader who spoke strongly against Redmond outside Pearse Street Garda Station last Wednesday night - the USI sorely needs leaders of his mettle and calibre now.?
Whatever about the USI, from what I witnessed last Wednesday night, the students have found a natural born leader of "mettle and calibre" in the form of Donal Fallon.?
Donal Fallon (with loudhailer)
Vanessa O'Sullivan (in the foreground)
It's not USI officers who are the root of the problem, it's the lack of grassroots student organising in USIs constituent organisations that is (and which allows people like Redmond to become president).
If Redmond was removed, some other right-wing gobshite would end up being elected to replace him.
A radical student movement/union can only exist with radical students - it's the lefts job to politicise and organise on campuses. To date it hasn't been great at doing this, but the current climate presents a great opportunity for FEE.
Members of the NUIM IFUT Branch Committee sent the letter below to NUI Maynooth Student Union President congratulating the students on demonstrating in defense of Irish education and expressing grave concern at Garda actions on the Wednesday November the 3rd.
They describe USI Presidents Gary Redmonds condemnation of those engaged in the occupation and sit-down protests as a “shameful betrayal”.
Letter to NUI Maynooth Student Union from members of the NUIM IFUT Branch Committee
November 9th 2010
Dear Aengus,
We are writing to you in order to express our solidarity with Maynooth students in the aftermath of the events of Wednesday last, November 3rd. The national student demonstration against fees in Dublin was a genuinely impressive and heartening occasion. Tens of thousands of students were successfully mobilised in opposition to one of the many pernicious policies being assembled by this discredited government. The response from the student body in Maynooth was particularly impressive. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Students’ Union on all the hard work that went into ensuring that Maynooth students were such a noticeable presence on the demonstration. As both academics and trade unionists, we share with the student movement a profound concern about the direction of government policy in the university sector. In particular, we would echo your misgivings about the impact of increased fees on students from less affluent backgrounds.
While some aspects of the national demonstration offered grounds for optimism, others were more unsettling. In particular, we would like to express our profound concern at the manner in which the Gardai conducted themselves during the events that unfolded at the Department of Finance. Those of us who were present witnessed first-hand a response to the demonstration on the part of the police that was excessive, indiscriminate and downright dangerous. The violence that the Gardai directed at demonstrators in the vicinity of the Department of Finance deserves to be loudly and explicitly condemned by those who hold office within the national student movement. Given that many of the demonstrators outside the Department of Finance were verbally and, more importantly, physically assaulted by police officers, it might reasonably have been expected that the conduct of the Gardai would have been condemned by the President of the Unions of Students in Ireland. Rather than criticise the actions of those who attacked the student demonstrators, the President of USI chose instead to condemn those of his own members who had attempted to occupy the Department of Finance. In our view, his comments on Wednesday last represent a shameful betrayal of those whom he was elected to serve and represent.
In sum, we wish to congratulate the Maynooth Students’ Union on its magnificent mobilisation in support of the national demonstration and to extend our solidarity to those students who were injured in the attempted occupation of the Department of Finance. We appreciate your efforts to generate better relations with the other unions on campus and hope that we will continue to work well with one another in the future.
With Best Wishes,
Dr Colin Coulter, Department of Sociology, Vice Chairperson of the Maynooth branch of IFUT
Dr Colmán Etchingham, Department of History, Chairperson of the Maynooth branch of IFUT
Professor Joe Cleary, Department of English
Dr Brid Connolly, Department of Adult and Community Education
Dr Aileen O’Carroll, Irish Qualitative Data Archive
Dr Éamon Ó Ciosáin, Department of French
Dr Gavan Titley, Department of Media Studies
(Members of the Maynooth Branch Committee of IFUT
"Whatever about the USI, from what I witnessed last Wednesday night, the students have found a natural born leader of "mettle and calibre" in the form of Donal Fallon.?"
Ha ha, cheers TD. The way forward but is in mass movements and grassroots campaigns. FEE still exists in NUIM because of the manner in which we organise. That, or we're just too stubborn to quit. Problem with USI is the 'leader complex'. Some years the Union is ok, other years it falls into the hands of egotists and careerists who drive it into the ground. Building a mass movement where the emphasis will be on the collective is the difficulty.
Thanks to everyone who came out on a very cold winters night. Your solidarity will not be forgotten.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.?
Counterpunch: In an effective vote of no confidence of Aaron Porter, the careerist president of the long discredited National Union of Students (NUS), who co-organised today’s demonstration against the cuts and tripling of tuition fees, hundreds of students broke away from his protest and charged into the Tory headquarters in Millbank chanting Tory “die Tory scum”.
The video above, Outraged Students Protest Against Garda Brutality in Dublin on last Wednesday's student protest is attracting oodles of attention on YouTube; nearly 2,000 views and 141 comments so far.
Strong article by David Sharrock in the Guardian.
Excerpts:
"My class size will have dropped by 50% by next year," Buffini said. "Even lecturers took part in the recent student protests over fees because society here is going to be left with very few educated people. My best friends have already left – they're doing bar work in Spain and Australia."
Mark Ward, president of Tallaght's student union, says that 1,250 students are leaving Ireland every month. One in five graduates is seeking work outside the country. The Union of Students in Ireland believes that 150,000 students will emigrate in the next five years. Ward, a 26-year-old marketing graduate, said: "The government's to blame for bankrolling the banks who were lending to their property developer friends. They all thought the party would never end. "Students shouldn't have to pay for the mistakes of the government and their developer pals. It's going to take years to sort this mess out and it won't be just my generation which will be blighted big time."
Below is more video from the student protest against Garda violence.
-
Caption: Video Id: 16859818 Type: Vimeo
Student Protest
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:34:56 +0000
Subject: Favour
Dear all,
could you spare a couple of minutes to send a brief message of support to some of my students who are currently engaged in a (non-violent) occupation of a university building in protest over the massive and devastating cuts to education funding? (80% of funding for HE teaching, which will hit Arts and Humanities even harder; the UK already has the third most expensive public university degrees in the world - about £350 per year cheaper than the US and Iceland, but the proposed new students fees will treble the fees to £9000 per year, leaving our rivals for this shameful crown far behind.)
This particular protest is about to go into its second week, and everyone there is a little exhausted by it all. I am trying to organise messages of support from around the world to help keep their spirits up. So if you feel able to support them, I'd greatly appreciate it - and please forward this email to anyone else who you think might help out. Be sure to tell them where you work and what country it's in.
I can forward messages, or send them direct to uwe.better.together@gmail.com
Thanks
Mark
as here.
Just as with the health services being privatised into hi-tech, sickness-industry, geriatric care for the international elite while the taxpayer that built them dies on his/her trolly in the draft, so our educational services are to be turned into revenue generators for the servicing of deliberately rigged debt-traps. We will provide 'quality' third level accolades to the lard-arsed rich from the four corners as we cut remedial measures for our own citizens.
Our cabinet salesforce will continue to junket about in the name of rescuing us from the consequences of THEM living beyond OUR means.