Following the defeat of the Nice Treaty referendum, Ireland committed that our Defence Forces would only be sent overseas where approved by (i) the Government (ii) the Dáil and (iii) the United Nations.

Known as the “Triple Lock”, this commitment made in Seville, Spain, was a key argument in favour of accepting the Nice Treaty in the second referendum. (It also reaffirmed the position set out in the Defence Act 1960.) read full story / add a comment

Observations and a suggestion regarding the recent Defence Forces Commission report. read full story / add a comment

Irish Journalist Declan Hayes has written a brilliant insightful article on Joe Biden's presidential visit to Ireland and reveals who is ancestors really were and cuts through the fawning BS that spewed from RTE and the rest of the MSN media covering his recent visit. He writes:

Thank God and His Holy Mother they are gone. Hunter and Joe Biden have left the Emerald Isle and flown back to America.

Thank God and His Holy Mother they are gone. Hunter and Joe Biden have left the Emerald Isle and flown back to America. But not before visiting The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock Shrine, which Our Lady herself, Queen of Ireland, visited in 1879, a mere generation after Edward Blewitt, Biden’s direct ancestor, was directly implicated in the Irish genocide of Black ‘47 which still cuts very deep (scratch an Irishman’s imagination and you get a black potato) and which, thanks to scum like Blewitt, was particularly pronounced around Knock.

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It is an arresting coincidence that the course of Enoch Burke's trial is in full flow at this time. The Burke case echoes the gospel readings for Holy Week which is now almost upon us. read full story / add a comment

Judicial Review demonstrates need for access to Courts
Dursey Island Case shows draconian targeting of environmental defenders a serious mistake

The High Court today approved a final Court Order quashing permission for the €10m Dursey Island mass tourism project. The Judicial Review, taken by Friends of the Irish Environment, was conceded by the Council on 23 September, 2022, stating that ‘it does not intend to pursue the proposed development at issue in the proceedings’.  read full story / add a comment

A phone call was sent to the Minister's office who requested the complaint in writing. The letter explains itself read full story / add a comment

This press release is from Aug 31st but has gone unnoticed in mainstream

The IAWM condemns Minister for Defence Simon Coveney’s decision to support the proposal by EU Ministers to train Ukraine’s military and to possibly “contribute a small number of military personnel” from Ireland as reported in the Irish Times today -

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Ennis Data Centre’s 66 gas generators ‘threat to Local Health’ – expert

Ennis Data Centre will add ‘nearly 1%’ to Ireland’s nitrous oxide emissions

A gas plant consisting of 66 generators required under the planning permission for the Ennis data centre is a ‘threat to local health’, the public will be told at a forthcoming Press Conference.

Organised by members of the local community as well as an alliance of local and national environmental groups, Professor David Carpenter of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany will outline the effects of the 66 diesel generators that are required for the data centre backup power. According to the environmental impact report (EPIR) submitted by the applicant during the planning process, nearly 1% of Ireland’s total nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions are predicted to come from this development. read full story / add a comment

Clare County Council Decision to Approve 66 Diesel Generators for Data Centre 'Threatens Ennis Residents Health'

Ennis Data Centre and Gas Plant ‘totally unsustainable’

‘The plans to build one of the largest data centres in the country here in Ennis brings with it an additional threat to the health of people here as the plans include a gas burning plant that will only make the air quality here worse than it already is, leading to asthma and other respiratory problems.’

Despite the concerns of local residents, multiple environmental groups, as well as Eirgrid , Clare county council has made the abhorrent decision to give planning permission to an unknown company (Art Data Centres Ltd.) to construct a data centre on the Tulla Rd, Ennis which will consume as much electricity as 200,000 homes and emit 657,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

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Video urges Bord na Mona to ‘do better’ on bog restoration
€108m Bord na Mona rehabilitation questioned in East Galway bog video

A video of a bog restored last year by Bord na Móna in East Galway published by the environmental defenders Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] urges Bord na Móna to ‘Do Better’ in its bog restoration program. read full story / add a comment

Dear Editor,

Change we would all agree is essential if the world is not destined to endure further destruction and devastation and even a third world war .

A ceasefire in Ukraine and the declared neutrality of Ukraine long sought after by Russia would be beneficial to all concerned.

Would this not be preferable to an escalation of armed conflict which is all too often the preferred option in a world conditioned and habituated to the belief that the world is divided up into goodies and baddies. “We” being preternaturally the “goodies”.

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URGENT CALL FOR TD’S TO TABLE A MOTION ON THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION’S AGREEMENT ON PANDEMIC, PREVENTION, PREPARATION AND RESPONSE: STOP THE GOVERNMENT FROM AGREEING TO A GLOBAL LEGAL INSTRUMENT THAT SUSPENDS IRISH SOVEREIGNITY UNDER ARTICLE 6 OF THE CONSTITUTION

We have received several queries following our post of 27th February. We have below explained the implications on a World Health Assembly legal Treaty or Regulation on pandemic response and, at the end of this post, we have drafted a submission that people can send to their TD’s to table a motion. The people of Ireland have a right to be publicly informed and involved in any decision that could potentially suspend our Constitutional right to sovereignty. read full story / add a comment

From the outset, the composition of the Defence Forces Commission was flawed. The list of members does not represent the citizens of Ireland in a balanced way. Of the fifteen commission members, two-thirds are pro-EU ex-military men and officials favouring expanding military spending; people who benefit from enhanced career opportunities, have vested interests in remuneration, careers, promotions, salaries, pensions and medals, resulting from an enlarged military budget allocation. Foreign agents, Haakon Bruun-Hanssen a Norwegian, Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen a Dane and Esa Pulkkinen a Finn, should have no place on neutral Ireland’s Defence Forces Commission.

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Legal first: European Court of Justice must decide if ministers broke law with unsustainable fishing limits

In a legal first in the history of fisheries, the Court of Justice of the European Union has been called on to decide if EU ministers have illegally set unsustainable fishing limits. read full story / add a comment

INVITE TO VIRTUAL EU WIDE PESTICIDES PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW MORNING AT 9 AM

IRELAND’S OPPOSITION TO DIRECT TRANSMISSION OF FARMERS PESTICIDES RECORDS TO BE CHALLENGED.

Friends of the Irish Environment, Pesticides Action Network [PAN] Europe members, GLOBAL 2000 and ClientEarth, invite you to a press conference to present our new findings on the Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural Input and Output [SAIO] on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 9.00 AM Irish time.
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Doctors, Medics, Comedy and Song Thank You Show for Frontline Workers

Ireland’s legendary Battle of the Axe open mic comedy and song night is back with an ONLINE open mic Thank You Show to frontline workers donating all gig profits to heroesaid.ie

Following on from its very successful, first online nationwide show in September 2021 as part of Culture Night Ireland, Battle of the Axe is delighted to back with its first online show of the new year on January 28, 2022. Highlighted at No 9 out of 1200 events for Culture Night, the show delivered a splendid night of comedy and song. Now the club wishes to turn their next gig into a thank you night for frontline workers around Ireland and worldwide online. read full story / add a comment

Open email letter in the defence of children to the patrons of Schools, the boards of management, school principals and teachers, parents and grandparents of pupils: read full story / add a comment

Irish High Court hears EU overfishing challenge

Court hears failure to end overfishing breaches Common Fisheries Policy

European fishing quotas are being challenged before the Irish High Court this week after Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) lodged a Judicial Review in June 2020.

According to the conservation charity, ‘setting unsustainable fishing quotas goes against the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, which contained a legal obligation to end overfishing by 2020. Yet the national regulations implement EU quotas which are consistently above the scientific recommendations.’

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Lawyers for Justice have received many inquiries from the public about be blocked access to hospitals for medical treatment and have published some advice on their telegram channel and this is republished in the interests of the public

We are receiving many urgent queries from people now being refused access to hospitals for medical treatment, whether on an emergency basis or for necessary and urgent treatment, where the refusal is based on vaccination status. Unfortunately this is becoming more common over recent days and weeks. It is important that people are aware of this situation in order to plan ahead, and to establish what the hospital access will be ahead of treatment, or to make other arrangements if this is possible. We attach a draft letter here for use if you are refused hospital access and medical care. Very often the refusal takes place where you present on an emergency basis and have no warning that you would require admission to a hospital, or treatment. We would suggest that you utilise the draft letter as soon as you can, where you are refused emergency care, or in advance where refusal of hospital access is established on your enquiry. It is important to register your objections/ refusal to accept these exclusions. You can PM us or make at contact via email on the above.

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We have been contacted by many people about Senator Horkan’s recent statements in the Seanad. We have drafted a submission you can lodge with the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and the complaints department of the two Houses of the Oireachtas in the first instance.

It is fundamental that people collectively act against such discriminatory and divisive statements to hold public representatives to account. read full story / add a comment