Campaigners Call for Halt to Anglo Debt Re-Payments

Press Release – Debt Justice Action

18 January 2012

A new campaigning network of local and global justice organisations, Debt Justice Action, has today called on the government to stop paying the debts of the former Anglo Irish Bank / Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS). The campaign group – encompassing a strong and unique coalition of representatives from the trade union, community, faith-based, global justice and academic sectors – argues that the debts of these now state-owned institutions are not the responsibility of people in Ireland. Their new campaign – Anglo: Not Our Debt – is calling for the suspension of Anglo/INBS repayments as a first step towards renegotiation and writedown of this unjust debt. The bulk of the re-payments are government issued “promissory notes” – a promise to pay money in future – to Anglo/INBS which will cost Ireland over €30 billion during the next 20 years.

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Afri PEACEMAKER 2011 is now available!

The 2011 Peacemaker is now available here. The Peacemaker covers the highlights of 2011 including the Possibilities Civic Summit held in April and attended by the Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson and community activists such as Rita Fagan and John Monaghan from Rossport, as well as reports on our regular events such as the Féile Bríde, and the Famine Walk. We also include updates on our recent campaign. Please contact the Afri office if you would like to receive a hard copy of the publication.

Vuvuzela Protest: Climate Change Blows!

Stop Climate Chaos Protest

24th November: 1pm at the Dáil, Kildare Street

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan prepares to travel to Durban in South Africa for the UN conference on Climate Change at the end of this month. Stop Climate Chaos want to send him off knowing climate change matters to people.  Come down to the Dáil on Kildare Street, Thursday 24th of November at 1pm and join the call.

Afri is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition.

Do those who flaunt the poppy on their lapels know that they mock the war dead?

This article by Robert Fisk raises questions about the wearing of the poppy, which seems to be ever more aggressively promoted by media and other interest groups. Why is there such emphasis on the wearing of this symbol? And what does it mean? Read more…

Robert Fisk’s article in The Independent

US Veterans for Peace To Attend Shannon Vigil

Shannonwatch press release, 8 November 2011

Members of the U.S. organization Veterans For Peace will take part in a vigil at Shannon Airport action on Sunday next, November 13th, at 2 pm. The vigil is organised by Shannonwatch to demand an end to the ongoing US military use of the airport, and to express opposition to the ongoing US occupation of Afghanistan. It will also call for action to be taken against landing US aircraft that are involved in renditions, illegal assassinations and other human rights abuse.

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Climate Change Bill not a priority for Government

Press release, 4 November 2011

The Justice and Peace organization Afri has expressed dismay at the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan that a Climate Change Bill will not be a priority for the Coalition Government. As Ireland reels from the latest experience of extreme weather events, severe flooding at least partly attributable to climate change, Afri spokesperson Joe Murray said he found it almost incomprehensible that Mr. Hogan could deem the issue not to be a priority.

Mr Murray pointed to the near hysterical reaction of farming and business groups when such a Bill was previously proposed as a clear indication of who dictates policy in Ireland on this issue. “It is clear that Mr. Hogan’s environmental policy now constitutes an abject surrender to these vested interests of industrialized farming and big business, underlined by his decision not to impose statutory targets for emissions reductions,” said Mr Murray.

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Syria: IPB calls on Ban Ki-moon to act urgently in Syria

Statement issued by the IBP Council on the 2 November 2011

Photo: Reuters

The IPB Council meeting in Potsdam on 29-30 October 2011, calls on the UN Secretary General to use all the non-violent tools of the UN to protect civilians in Syria, and in other places where people are striving for democracy and decent human conditions. IPB appeals to him to involve international expertise in peace-building and peaceful handling of conflicts, as well as the regional bodies, notably the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in facilitating negotiations between the Syrian Government and those protesting against undemocratic and violent behaviour. IPB urges Ban Ki-moon to exert his influence on member states in order to avoid that the Security Council adopts a militaristic interpretation of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, as we saw in Libya.

Ban Depleted Uranium! Public Meeting

Afri invited Doug Weir, coordinator of the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), to Dublin on the 28th September to speak at a public meeting in the Central Hotel.

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Wangari Mathai and Teresa Treacy

Teresa Treacy, a 65 year old woman, sits a prison in an Irish jail as Wangari Maathai is laid to rest in her native country in Africa.  Maathai is considered a national and international hero.

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Ban Depleted Uranium!

Public meeting: Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Wednesday 28th September 2011, 7.30pm

Doug Weir, Coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Uranium Weapons, will visit Dublin on Wednesday 28th September and will speak about the importance of banning depleted uranium weapons in a public meeting organised by Afri on the 28th September in the Central Hotel at 7.30pm.

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