In New York for a few days and will be trying to read up as much as possible on the hysteria of the Mosque and to find out where it’s actually being set up-there has been a lot of media coverage around it:
Rachel Maddow: NYC Mosque This Month’s New ‘Scare White People’ Story
N.Y. Political Leaders’ Rift Grows on Islam Center
Olbermann Special Comment:
And the last Word has to go to Charlie Brooker ‘Ground Zero mosque’? The reality is less provocative
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Posted by Éidín
Got an email last week from a friend with these pictures on the work of a person in Galway-This person has gone around and wonderfully edited all the idiotic racist graffiti and its a wonderful idea!
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Posted by Éidín
Mary White has been doing a lot of talking of her dreams and aspirations for equality and integration but so far we have seen very little action. Yesterday Mary Spoke again whilst launching the new Irish Human Rights Commission Website (i wonder how much the new website cost and there seems to be no twitter feed also if you look at the launch pictures it seems that Mary had an outfit change)-White stated that she was bringing forward a new initiative to monitor racism in Ireland:
“I’m coming up with something innovative that has not been tried before. It is slightly under wraps until I dot all the “Is and cross all the Ts,” she said. “It will certainly give an indication if there are low levels of racist incidents or xenophobics or downright ugly incidence of racism in our country.”
Why not just bring back the NCCRI Mary? Scrapped in 2008 the website is still up and running and they did a fine job providing vital monthly data on racist monitoring. Wonder will her new plan be surrounded by a lot of hot air?
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Posted by Éidín
Doras Luimní are hosting a Free conference in Thomond Park, Limerick on Thursday, September 9th 2010 with the focus on looking back over the last 10 years to see how Ireland has changed, what has been achieved, what has been successful and what not so successful in the actions of society. This conference wants to imagine the future and what the next ten years hold.
Confirmed Speakers and Chairs:
Mary White T.D, Minister of State with Responsibility for Equality, Integration & Human Rights
Dil Wickremasinghe, Broadcaster and Columnist
Paul O’Connell, Munster Rugby Player
Brendan Kenny, CEO Limerick Regeneration
Issah Huseini, One of Ireland’s representatives to the European Integration Forum and NCP Co-ordinator
Josephine Ahern, CEO, The Integration Centre
Piaras MacEinri, Director of Centre for Migration Studies, University College Cork
Fiona Quinn, Theatre Director and Arts facilitator
Kaila Dunne, Limerick representative of Young Persons Parliament
Maura Adshead, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick
Eugene Quinn, Joint Chair Limerick City and County Integration Working Group
Siraj Zaidi, Actor/ Producer/ Director/ Radio & TV Presenter/Writer
Michael O’Suilleabhain, Professor of Music at the University of Limerick, Irish World Academy of Music
Cathy Halloran, Mid-West correspondent RTE
Register Here
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Posted by Éidín
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Posted by Éidín
The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has recently been informed by the Department of Justice and Law Reform that a major review will take place of cases of asylum seekers who have been in the asylum system for approximately five years. The review will start in August and will be conducted with a view to granting leave to remain status to asylum seekers who are in RIA accommodation and who are ‘end of process’.
Please see the following points of information about the review provided by the Department:
1. In the ‘normal course of events’, asylum seekers who qualify for the review will be granted three years leave to remain.
2. ‘Generally’, in older cases which qualify, stamp 4 will be issued.
3. ‘Minor criminality’, meaning actual convictions, will disqualify asylum seekers from leave to remain under this review.
4. Where court proceedings are in process (judicial reviews, hearings before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal), they will be allowed to take their course. The review will be looking at people who have finished in the process.
5. Only in ‘extraordinary circumstances’ will the Department consider revoking a Deportation order and granting leave to remain.
6. The Department of Justice and Law Reform do not need information from asylum seekers. They will be working with the Reception and Integration Agency and will have access to their database, going through case by case in chronological order.
7. The review will apply only to applications which pre-date December 2005.
For those who have subsidiary protection claims in process, it is expected that they will have the option to withdraw the claim in order to be considered within the review.
The process will be quicker for asylum seekers if they have some form of original documentation confirming identity (e.g. national identity card), as this will facilitate the process with the issue of a residence document by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).
The Department of Justice and Law Reform have said that they will contact the relevant people over the coming weeks.
People who think that they may be eligible for consideration in this review should contact their legal advisers to discuss their individual circumstances.
For More Details refer to: IRC Website
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Posted by Éidín
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Posted by Éidín
The Clare People is reporting this week that there has been a significant rise in racism in the county and an increase in immigrants seeking advice for work related situations. The article reports that immigrants are being let go from work and have not been paid what is due to them.The impact of the Habitual Residency Condition* is also having a significant impact with the Ennis Citizen Information Centre reporting that a large number of migrants (many settled for years and have started families) will experience financial difficulty as they are close to using all their PRSI related social welfare. A worker who has been contributing PRSI for more than five years can claim job seekers allowance for a max of one year once they become unemployed.
Bishop Willie Walsh expressed his surprise at the rise of racism and said he was not aware of any incidents however research i was involved with Ennis CDP and the Department of Politics in UL and was launched in April found that immigrants were experiencing unfair treatment and prejudice. you can access a summary on: Discrimination in Ennis and on Making A Living
Also today the Irish Times report the attack of an Asylum Seeker Ethiopian-born Lebeta Debela by two men last Thursday afternoon when he was running on the Knockalisheen Road.
*In May 2004, and as a response to fears of ‘welfare tourism’ the government introduced the Habitual Residency Condition (HRC) as a response to the accession countries joining the EU (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia). In order to be habitually resident the applicant has to have been living in Ireland with ‘permission to remain’ for 2 or more years.
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Posted by Éidín
There are two events being held in Dublin that i am trying to get to that may be of interest
First of all the Anti Racism Network Ireland is launching at The Complex, Smithfield Dublin 7 at 12pm. The aim of the network is to:
Bring together a broadly based anti-racism network that supports migrants’ rights and fights against racism. Such a grouping will have a primary focus on
mobilising when necessary. We hope The Anti Racism Network (ARN) will be a network of individuals, community groups, ethnic and faith-based groups, anti-racism campaigners and non-governmental organisations. It should be committed to be a grassroots, nationwide, community based, member driven network that provides a strong effective voice against individual, institutional and state racism.
For more details you can email the group : arnireland@gmail.com or find them on facebook
The second event being held on Saturday and Sunday is an Activist Fleadh – A Summer School for Radicals-Being held in Kilbarrack CDP Details as follows:
Activist Fleadh –A Summer School for Radicals-The Fleadh is hosting work-camps:
The work-camps are designed to enable us all – activists and non-activists, radicals of all ages and people in many different communities, movements and struggles – to find spaces to talk to each other about what we have in common:
- What are the big structures of power and inequality that shape our world, and how do we meet them? - How can we find effective ways of protesting, disrupting, constructing alternatives and taking action? - How can our local struggles connect to large-scale strategies for change that have a real chance of success? - What is the “big picture” in terms of global justice and ecological sustainability, and where do we fit in? - How do personal transformation and the development of leadership come into the struggle for a better world?
More details to be found here
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Posted by Éidín
Charming Mayor defends Midleton after Facebook page links town to anti-Semitism
On disability funding: Spectre of cuts eclipses value-for-money question
There has been a lot of debates about Quotas for Women- Today’s women TDs don’t want gender quotas
And in the Anti-Room: Female Politicians Reject Quotas
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