The Fourth Estate?

When I first thought of becoming a journalist, I had huge ambitions to right wrongs, uncover shady dealings, bring politicians to order, show up the plight of the needy, be the champion of the underdog etc.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out exactly as I expected. While there are moments of exhilaration and a true feeling of satisfaction, these are few are far between. The real role of a journalist as I have found it is to inform people of exactly what is going on in the world around them.

This may not be earth-shattering political corruption or a shocking murder – thought it on occasion is – but mostly is related to the poor state of a local road or a lack of resources for the children of a local school.

The press are sometimes referenced as the fourth estate (historically behind the clergy, royalty and the common man). We are seen as an independent watchdog of sorts who are there to catch people who are trying to get one over on the system.

As part of our job reporting on what goes on in society, the criminal justice system is obviously an important part of that. What greater mirror to view the current state of our world than a district court room on any given day?

The assortment of people who traipse through the doors of a district court and the offences they commit give those in attendance a very clear idea of how our society works and interacts.

From the supposedly-wealthy businessman who is before the courts for failing to pay his rates, to the career criminal/drug addict who knows the Judge by their first name – the whole spectrum of society can be seen.

It is therefore imperative that justice be seen to be done in public. And here is where the press come in. We are there to report what goes on in the court. From speeding fines to 15-year sentences for rape – we have a duty to report it accurately and fairly.

This however didn’t seem to cross the minds of the Courts Service of Ireland when constructing the superb new facility in the Civic Square on The Avenue in Gorey. The new Gorey District Court is a state of the art facility with plush chambers for the Judge, solicitors, and the gardaí.

The courtroom itself is modern and large enough to accommodate the size of crowds coming through its door every Thursday.

However there is no Press Bench. We don’t want anything fancy – just a chair and a desk on which to write and in a position where we can hear exactly what is going on so we can report it properly.

What we got was an afterthought. A piece of wood hammered onto the back of one of the benches in the body of the court where two of us have to jostle with everyone else for some space and strain our necks to make out what is being said.

The results of this will mean we won’t be able to hear what is going on and therefore not report it. Or even worse, we will miss hear some evidence and report it inaccurately.

This is not fair on the press and it is certainly not fair on the person whose testimony is misquoted in the papers.

The need for transparency in this country has never been greater and anything that block a viable press is worrying. I am sure there were no nefarious motives behind the lack of a proper press bench but a lack of foresight and consultation has led to this situation.

The public deserve to know what is going on in their society and their local press is where they go to find this out – therefore we need to be a priority and not just an afterthought.

2010
09/07
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Escorts still for sale

Just over one year ago, this newspaper broke a story that a brothel was operating out of a house across the street from the Rowe Street Church in Wexford town.

Twelve months on and the website which we used to get in contact with the ‘escorts’ is still operating and on Thursday evening had ten women listed as escorts operating in County Wexford. Two of the women advertised their addresses as Gorey, one in New Ross and the rest were located in Wexford.

At the time of the exposé last year, there was outrage that a brothel could operate in such a central and obvious location in Wexford town. However once the furore died down, the website continued to advertise the ‘services’ of these women without any attempt being put in place to curtail the blatant advertisement of sex for money on the internet.

There is no need for a credit card or special password to get onto this site and once you click a button declaring you are over-18 and agree with the terms and conditions of the site, you are given contact numbers for hundred of women across the country.

The two women operating in Gorey advertised their time as being on sale for up to €120-an-hour and while a disclaimer said that anything which happened between the parties was a coincidence, it is clear for all to see that this site is providing names and contact numbers for prostitutes.

The question over whether prostitution is legal or not is not the issue. The issue I have is that a website which openly flaunts women for sale in every county of the country has not been shut down or even curtailed in its operation.

Gardaí are aware of the website yet seem to be powerless to do anything about it. The website is set up outside the country and therefore skirts our laws while raking in money from women, some of whom have turned to prostitution against their will.

The site is run by an Englishwoman who makes no apologises for her business stressing that she is doing nothing illegal. She charges each escort a fee for advertising their goods (for want of a better word) on her site and after that it is all up to the individual girl and her customer.

We are expected to believe that should sexual intercourse occur between the two this is just a coincidence and the customers are paying over €100 an hour for the woman’s company.

This is in spite of each woman having naked and semi-naked pictures of themselves on their profile page.

The website is nothing if not thorough and men (and possibly women) looking to spend some quality time with the women can read in-depth reviews of the girls from previous clients who leave little to the imagination when describing their time with the escorts.

The website is even so helpful as to offer a full reference page explaining all the terms used throughout the site, some of which even the most well-travelled of us would find impossible to explain.

Last year I made contact with a woman using her mobile phone number at the top of her profile page and within minutes I was at the door of the house in Wexford. It is that easy.

The women seem to travel in groups around the country setting up in privately rented houses for a week or two at a time before moving on to another area.

While all escorts on the site claim to be independent escorts, in the murky world of prostitution it is hard to tell who is controlling who and what pressure these women are under to continue in this oldest of professions.

2010
08/31
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The Hunt for Murphy

Convcited rapist Larry Murphy

They seek him here. They seek him there. And for a brief 24hour period last weekend, the residents of north Wexford thought they saw him everywhere.

The whereabouts of Larry Murphy was the only topic of conversation anywhere in Gorey, Courtown, Castletown, Kilmuckridge and everywhere else in north Wexford last weekend. It was also one of the main topics of conversation in the ether of the internet with tweets and comments speculating that Murphy was living in this house or visiting this beach or drinking in this pub.

In reality Murphy was nowhere near north Wexford and was certainly not drinking in a pub in Courtown or driving a Fiesta around Gorey as had been claimed. The people who organised the protest outside a house in Riverchapel had taken these rumours and ran with them.

They used people’s (in particular women’s) natural fear to stoke the fire and generate what amounted to hysteria at one point in the small sea-side village of Courtown.

The reason they did it was out of fear and their desire to make sure the authorities (whoever they are) knew the people of Riverchapel and Courtown didn’t want Murphy in their midst.

The problem of course was that all this was done based on conjecture and rumour. Who knows who started the rumours on the internet – or why they did it?

Was it someone’s misjudged attempt at a joke which was picked up as gospel? Was it a malicious attempt to discredit the people living in the house in Riverchapel? We will probably never know.

The bigger issue emerging from this debacle is that the 60 to 70 people who gathered outside a house in Beachside on Friday morning felt they had no option but to take things into their own hands.

However misjudged the organisers were in their efforts, it still highlights a huge discrepancy in the justice system. While Minister Ahern has now said tagging of “ordinary criminals” will begin next month, it is a bit late for Murphy.

We seem to be too worried in this country about impinging on convicted criminals human rights while displaying a complete lack of regard for the safety and welfare of our law-abiding citizens.

Can you imagine how the young woman who was vicious and repeatedly raped by Murphy in February 2000 now feels? I can’t but I imagine she is not feeling too safe knowing her attacker is free.

I take into account that Murphy served every day of his sentence. It is not his fault that the Irish justice systems deems it an automatic right to give prisoners remission of 25percent of their sentence – even if they don’t engage in any counselling or treatment while inside.

I also realise that at the moment gardaí have Murphy under surveillance and know where he is at all times. That will not last however and eventually people will forget about Murphy and someone else will replace him as the focus of their hatred.

This is why I can understand where the people in north Wexford are coming from when 1,200 of them sign a petition calling for Murphy and his ilk not to be housed in the area.

While the protest outside the house in Beachside was not the right thing to do and caused widespread panic the reasons behind it where perfectly understandable.

People will never feel safe with criminals like Murphy being freed without supervision. The problem is there are hundreds of convicted rapists, paedophiles and murders living in Ireland at the moment without any way of knowing where they live or who they are.

The system needs to change and quickly before we see another situation like that in Courtown last weekend.

2010
08/27
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Free Education?

The collection of Leaving Cert results by students at Gorey Community School this morning marks the end of up to a dozen years of education.

For some it will be a happy end to some of the best days of their lives, for others it will be a welcome end to a time in their lives they would rather forget. Either way it will be an end to 12 years of so-called free education.

However for those parents with children heading back to primary or secondary school in Gorey in a couple of weeks time, this part of the year represents one of the most financially stressful times of the year.

From uniforms to books, administration fees to the school bags the cost associated with the dreaded return to school are huge. It seems as if this time of the year has become another Christmas or Easter for retailers, with signs in all the big supermarkets highlighting their great Back to School value are prominent from early July.

Books for a secondary school student can cost up to €400 and it seems as if the publishers are dictating the timeline for changing books, bringing out revised editions every couple of years so people have to shell out again. The revised editions are essentially the same as the older ones but with pages changed and a couple of extra paragraphs here and there.

The issue of school uniforms is another issue which annoys parents as it seem that someone is making a fortune out of the branded jumpers and tracksuits children have to buy these days.

The problem with uniforms is that a generic grey or navy jumper in a supermarket can cost as little as €10 whereas parents have to shell out up to €40 and more for the same jumper with a school crest emblazoned on it.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that children of school-going age can be very cruel when it comes to trivial matters such as having the wrong type of jumper or school bag. Children will pick on the one kid who has the jumper which is slightly different from the one everyone else is wearing. Some children can deal with this, but the more self-conscious children will retreat further into themselves.

While it may seem trivial to grown-ups, these little things can mean a lot in the school environment when children will use anything they can to get an advantage and mock someone else.

While one of the purposes of school uniforms is to eliminate such discrimination as in principle everyone is wearing the same clothes, if those clothes are just too expensive, it will lead to differences in what students wear.

Parents of secondary school children will be shelling out up to €1,000 per pupil when everything is taken into account. Hardly the free-education the government is so proud of. Imagine if, like most families you have more than one child of school-going age and you quickly realise how September can become the most financially stressful time of the year. At least at Christmas it’s all about one day and its then over.

While September represents the pinnacle of money being spent, throughout the year there are additional costs such as school trips and exam papers which will add to the already large bill for your child’s education.

The solution is pretty simple it seems. School authorities should look at reducing the amount of book changes taking place for subjects, they should look at allowing generic school uniforms to be purchased, onto which school crests can be sewn and they should generally be more aware of the amount of money parent’s are spending on education.

However as the students collect their Leaving Cert results this morning, parents will  now be facing the possibility of their children heading to college – which, no matter what the government tell you, is certainly not free.

2010
08/18
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Most vulnerable targeted

Cutting money and services from the most vulnerable in our society is anathema to most logical thinking people.

Why would you want to take away from those who already suffer the most in society? What good can come from taking away money for vital services provided to those with special needs and learning difficulties?

This is the situation facing St. Aidan’s Services means their hands are tied and no matter what they do, they will either lose money or have to cut services. The indication from the HSE is that they will cut the group’s budget again in 2011. If they follow the trend of the previous two years and increase the cut in the service’s budget, St. Aidan’s could be facing a shortfall of over €300,000.

The problem is St. Aidan’s have already cut everything they can. They have moved suppliers on numerous occasions to find the cheapest deals. They have made savings everywhere they can so as not to cut services.

The whole staff bore the brunt of the 5.75percent decrease in their budget last year taking a pay cut in line with all HSE staff – though they were not obliged to do so.

The staff has even given up one of their overnight rooms so that a service user would have a bedroom.

The dedication and sacrifice made by the staff of St. Aidan’s is something which cannot be quantified and if you spoke to the families of any of the service users they would speak of their gratitude and respect for what St. Aidan’s offers to those that use its services.

Despite all this the HSE have indicated further cuts are coming down the line. But with things already cut to the bone to facilitate the budget cuts of recent years, the management of St. Aidan’s is facing the reality of cutting some of the services they provide.

However it’s not that simple. The HSE pay St. Aidan’s based on the services they provide therefore if they are forced to cut some of the services they offer, the HSE will further cut their funding.

It is a vicious circle and the management in St. Aidan’s are at a loss as to where to go from here.

Among the most vital services offered by St. Aidan’s is training which includes computer skills, personal development, career planning and job seeking skills yet these courses could very well be in jeopardy.

The group are set to move to a fantastic new facility in Gorey Business Park yet there are some worries they will not be able to make the move if further funding cuts are made.

The upshot of all these funding cuts could result in services being cut. These services will however have to be provided in some way by the HSE and will cost a hell of a lot more money for them to operate than it does for St. Aidan’s to provide.

The HSE seem to be looking at the short term rather than seeing the bigger picture. Supporting the amazing work being done by St. Aidan’s now will surely save them a lot of time, effort and money in the long-term.

While the HSE continues to cut the money for services in St. Aidan’s the people of Gorey continue to bolster its finances through continuous fundraising in the area. Without this money the buses would stop running and the effects of the wholly unfair HSE cuts would be a lot more severe.

We all know that money is not readily available at the moment but such penny pinching seems to be striking at the most vulnerable in society and could leave the users and their families with nowhere to turn in the very near future.

2010
08/11
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Festival hits all the right notes

The past weekend has shown what can be done to give a town a major boost in tough economic times through the hard work and dedication of the people involved.

Congratulations and thanks should go to the organising committee of the Gorey Market House Craft and Design Festival which took place over the weekend. With touristy numbers dwindling and people unsure about spending their hard-earned cash, the four-day festival brought locals as well as visitors out in their droves and gave the businesses of Gorey a boost when they needed it most.

It is this type of can-do attitude that we need more of in Ireland if we are to make it through the current recession. The festival not only gave businesses a boost, it gave the whole town a lift as people took advantage of the free street entertainment to come out and enjoy themselves fully.

From Thursday evening in the new Civic Square on the Avenue, it was clear to see that a lot of work and commitment had gone into the planning of the festival. The committee, which was comprised of town councillors, council officials and interested local people had decided to base the festival on the theme of craft and design in a hope to establish Gorey as a centre for these disciplines in the coming year.

Karen Hennessey from the Craft Council of Ireland spoke at the launch of the festival last Thursday and spoke of her admiration for what the committee was trying to do. She added that if the Craft Council could replicate this model all over the country they would have achieved something major.

While the craft and design element of the festival is going to be key to its future development, it was clear to see over the weekend that the live music on the Main Street on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings was what really got people interested.

The fact that the majority of the acts performing were local acts added hugely to the sense of inclusion and togetherness that marked this year’s festival.

The musicians and singers on the stage seemed to be enjoying the weekend as much as those listening and their willingness to give something back to Gorey will no doubt be rewarded with an increase in their fan base.

The amount of work which went on behind the scenes to get the festival organised is never fully seen, but what is remarkable is that all the work was done by people who want the best for Gorey and are willing to go that extra mile to make sure it happens.

Ireland is now overflowing with festivals. There seems to be a festival celebrating everything from potatoes to Marys and ships to Roses.

Marking yourself out as different and unique is tough but Gorey seems to be on the way to doing that. The craft and design trail as well as the Showcase Exhibition formed a central part of this year’s festival and no doubt as word spreads among the craft and design community, the festival will draw even more people in the coming years.

This is all dependant on the continuing work of the dedicated committee and I have a feeling they will not be resting on their laurels and following a well-deserved rest will once again be planning how they can improve a festival which has given Gorey a huge boost when it needed it most.

2010
08/11
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Need to curb drunken acts

As the town prepares for a weekend of festivities the gardaí, residents and business people in the town will be on the lookout for the other side of such a large group of people socialising in Gorey over the weekend.

In recent months gardaí have become very aware of a large spike in the anti-social behavior of people in and around Gorey especially – though not exclusively – at the weekends. From minor offences such as drunk and disorderly and urinating in public to the more serious matters like using threatening and abusive behavior and even assault, gardaí in Gorey have been stretched to the limit when dealing with this increase in offences.

It seems as if the lengthening days sparked off something inside people and following a relatively quiet few months in the town, June saw a huge increase in serious offences.

On June 19 up to 200 people gathered on Pearse Street after tumbling out of various night clubs and pubs around the area and held a stand-off in the middle of the street which saw rocks and glass bottles being hurled in either direction.

Such was the scale of the riot that the gardaí in Gorey had to call for back up from their colleagues in Enniscorthy.

Surely this was a one off and would not happen again. Unfortunately a week later, while not on the same scale, the town was once again the scene of numerous offences caused by alcohol fuelled revelers.

The results left one young woman with a scar on her face and neck following an assault by another young woman with a glass bottle. It saw two men fighting each other in the middle of a quiet housing estate – on a Monday night.

The weeks since have seen the trend continue with numerous arrests each weekend around the town, particularly in the Pearse Street area of the town.

In the past week three shop windows have been broken late at night by people so drunk they can’t stand up properly.

The outcome of all this will be the clogging up of the court system for months to come where the offenders will slowly come before the Judge where their solicitors will claim it was completely out of character for their clients and look for probation reports to be prepared thereby further clogging up the system.

The solution to the sudden upsurge in drunken offences in Gorey will not be easy. There is no money available for extra garda resources and they are stretched to breaking point as it is.

There needs to be some responsibility placed on those serving alcohol to the people who are then churned out onto the street at 2.30am and left to their own devices.

While most pub and club owners are responsible in relation to the serving of alcohol there are some who look to put profit before the safety of their customers and continue to serve drink to people obviously already very drunk.

While the gardaí and bar staff can help lessen the problem, the real issue is with the offenders themselves who are predominantly young men – though increasingly young women are now also being prosecuted for the same offences.

Trying to change the mindset of people who go out with the sole intention of getting as drunk as possible is the real challenge we face today and Gorey is no different from most other areas in the country in this regard.

As the Market House Craft and Design Festival approaches, let’s hope that people are willing to come out and support the festival and businesses around the town rather than causing trouble which will inevitably lead to Gorey getting a name for such behavior and risk turning visitors coming to the area.

2010
07/27
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Fianna Fail’s Shame

It is very hard to sit and watch one person being publicly vilified by a group of people hell bent on reducing him to nothing. When a group of people gang up on one person, you immediately feel sympathy for that person and you want to jump in and save them.

However in the case of Colin Webb versus the Fianna Fáil bullies at the Gorey Town Council AGM, I was an impartial witness and could do nothing but sit back, jaw open, and watch the ferocity with which three Fianna Fáil councillors attacked the out-going Cathaoirleach.

This week, the Echo received a letter from a former Town Clerk, Tom O’Connor of 33 years standing and a strong affiliation with Fianna Fáil. He expressed his shame at the way Cllrs. Lorcan Allen, Malcolm Byrne and Jimmy Fleming vented their “rancour and personal vitriol.”

Mr. O’Connor’s father was a founding member of Fianna Fáil back in 1926 and he has a “long and proud association with Fianna Fáil.”

While the expression of the three councillors anger on the night didn’t come as a complete shock to the press bench, the forceful way it was delivered one after another took everyone by surprise.

Prior to Cllr. Allen opening his mouth, it had been all sweetness and light in the council chamber with Fine Gael members expounding their love for their out-going leader and expressing their belief that he had done a good job in the previous 12months in charge.

So it was a complete reversal of emotions when Cllr. Allen opened by calling Cllr. Webb the worst chairman in 50 years and it was as if a black cloud descended over the council chamber.

For the next 15 to 20 minutes Cllr. Webb sat isolated at the top table for the final time as Cllr. Allen followed by Cllrs. Byrne and Fleming told him exactly what they thought of him. It was tough to watch as Cllr. Webb looked out the window while all his failings – at least those in the eyes of Fianna Fáil – where listed out to all those present.

The only member of the Fianna Fáil party who failed to speak was Cllr. Matt Travers – but as he said afterwards this was not because he liked the way Cllr. Webb ran the council.

Looking back on it now, and following the letter from Mr. O’Connor, it seems a little unreal that such an event took place. The question that now arises is was the behaviour of the FF councillors merited or was it completely over-the-top?

There is no question that Cllr. Webb’s time in the top seat of Gorey Town Council was fractious. There was constant barracking and in-fighting between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over numerous matters – coming to a head with the complete lack of representation for FF on the three subcommittees established.

Why that happened is another matter, but it led to council meetings descending into petty arguments – usually between Cllr. Webb and Cllr. Allen – and very little real work getting done.

On the other hand there is no doubt that Cllr. Webb worked extremely hard during his 12months in charge of the council. He was a member of all four subcommittees of the council as well as sitting on the District committee.

The work carried out by the council over the past 12months has been obvious but unfortunately what most people will remember about the term of Cllr. Webb will be his final ignominious night in the Chair.

The way Fianna Fáil went about systematically destroying his 12months work as Chairman of the Council was uncalled for. They obviously had serious issues relating to his Chairing meetings but the attack became personal and a line was crossed.

With the new chairman now in place and his hopes of unity and inclusiveness, let’s hope the petty fights and personal recriminations are at an end and the councillors can work for the people of Gorey, who – should they forget – put them there in the first place.

2010
07/21
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Gorey creates unique festival

It’s a funny thing with festivals. There isn’t one for months then you can’t move for bouncy castles, sandcastle competitions and face-painting clowns.

Wexford does seem to do well with festivals catering for everyone from strawberry lovers in Enniscorthy to opera lovers in Wexford. Gorey however has long been in the ha’penny place when it came to festivals and carnivals – but no longer it seems.

Announced last week, the Gorey Market House Craft and Design Festival will take place over the August Bank Holiday weekend and is seeking to carve out a niche for the town among the plethora of festivals crowding the Irish countryside every summer.

Among the 31 festivals listed to be taking place over the same weekend in Ireland on the Association of Irish Festival Events (AOIFE) website are the Indiependence Music and Arts Festival in Cork; O’Carolan Harp and Traditional Music Festival in Roscommon; the Spaoi Festival in Waterford; the Castlerea International Rose Festival and just down the road in Bunclody the Eileen Aroon Festival.

So as you can see, the playing field is pretty crowded. With everything from music focused festivals to general community-type carnivals, it means the Gorey festival will have to be unique and well-organised to stand a chance of success and of creating a brand name for itself in years to come.

What the Festival Committee – made up of council officials, councillors and local business people – have come up with is an arts and crafts focused festival which provides a lot of free entertainment for all the family and is making use – finally – of the new Civic Centre on the Avenue.

Most Irish festivals have that all-too-familiar feel to them – barmen races, some sort of talent competition and increasingly Jedward.

The Craft and Design festival however seems to have sidestepped most of these pitfalls and created a schedule of events centred around exhibitions of local, national and international craft work as well as what sounds like an interesting craft trail.

One of the driving forces behind the organisation and rebranding of this festival is town clerk, Ger Mackey and speaking at the launch he said the committee was looking to create a niche in the Irish festival market for Gorey.

He let slip that next year the Crafts Council of Ireland will be celebrating their 40th anniversary and have designated 2011 as the Year of Craft. This, it seems, will put the Market House Craft and Design Festival in the optimum position to take advantage of a likely sure in interest in arts and crafts during the year.

It is all too easy to fall into the complacent position of putting little or no thought into a festival and look for the cheapest option all the time. The festival committee in Gorey must therefore be commended for their ability to think outside the box and not accept the easy option.

While the craft and design elements are at the centre of the festival, the line-up of live music also shows a real sense of community on the part of the committee. Most of the acts who will take to the stage on the Main Street during the weekend have a close link to Gorey.

From the hugely popular and established acts like the Tasmanian Dust Devils and Cathal ‘Elvis’ Byrne to up-and-coming local acts like Rumours of a Rift the line-up will be sure to please all in the town.

With final preparations now being put in place for the four-day festival it is now down to the people of Gorey and the surrounding areas to come out and support this festival  in their numbers – and help it establish itself as a permanent fixture on the festival scene.

2010
07/16
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Activist tells of guns and stun grenades

The gathering of a dozen or so interested parties at the Ashdown Park Hotel last Thursday night must surely have been disappointing.

The story told to those who showed up was one of piracy, navy commandos, run-down jails, kidnapping, shooting, stun grenades and forced entry to a foreign country. No, it wasn’t Colm Tóibín or John Banville reading from their latest novels nor was it a creative writing workshop.

No it was the story told by eminent historian Dr. Fintan Lane about his experiences aboard the Challenger 1 boat which was part of the flotilla which attempted to bring aid to Gaza but was boarded by Israeli troops and brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Dr. Lane’s calm cool re-telling of the story belied what must surely have been one of the most harrowing and frightening experiences of his life.

The small crowd sat in silence as he told them how a stun grenade exploded next to him and how an Israeli commando shoved a rifle in his face and told him he was going to be shot.

There was no exaggeration from Dr. Lane. He told the story as he remembered it without adding spurious detail or emotion tacked onto the story from retelling it so often. The story however didn’t need any embellishment.

The fact that only 12 people showed up to hear this man’s extraordinary story is bemusing. There could be a number of reasons for this. One is that people didn’t know – which is plausible though the meeting was reported in this very paper only last week and hopefully more than 12 people read it.

The other explanation – and the far more plausible one – is that people just don’t care. There is an apathy in Irish society these days that just means not many people are willing to stand up and be counted on any side of the debate.

Whatever your views on the Israel-Palestine debate are don’t matter. The meeting last week was a chance to hear first hand exactly what happened on board the flotilla yet the only people there were those already involved in the campaign against Israel.

The flotilla of seven ships of varying sizes on May 31 was organised not by governments coming together to make a stand, but was organised by grass roots campaigners. You and me. People who go out and try to inform people of the injustices they perceive in the world.

During the boom, activists were scare. People didn’t have the time to go out and campaign against anything as they were too busy with their own lives.

It is possible that in the coming years, now that the boom has been put on hold, we will open our eyes to the travesties of justice that are happening all over the world.

The Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign are trying to grow support for their campaign to boycott Israeli goods through grassroots efforts. And with the news yesterday that Israel is lifting some of the goods allowed to enter Gaza, it shows that grass roots campaigning can work.

For a lot of people the word activist conjures up an ideal of a dreadlocked hippie living off berries in a tunnel under the M1 while chanting. Dr. Lane is the logical and sensible face of activism – and if that is what works and is needed to get people involved then so be it. It is just a pity that more people didn’t take the opportunity to hear his story.

2010
07/16
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