Making Ireland a safer place for women begins with me

In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, with the white ribbon as its symbol.

In recent months, we’ve seen a number of horrific sexual and violent assaults reported in the media, which has led to the perpetrator receiving exceptionally lenient sentences.

Sexual assault or rape is one of the most serious crimes perpetrated against any individual. Yet, from the sentences you see being distributed to violent men by judges in Ireland, you’d think it was on par with something trivial like not buying a dog licence.

Anthony Lyons who was convicted of sexual assault
 and will be released in December after
 only six months in prison

In July of this year, Anthony Lyons, a 51 year old businessman who brutally sexually assaulted a 28 year old woman, was given a six year custodial sentence with five and a half years suspended. Due to him being a man of significant means, he was allowed to purchase his way out of jail with a €75,000 fine. He’s expected to be released in December.

That same week, Glen Humphrey was convicted of brutally beating three woman in a fish and chip shop in Finglas, knocking one woman to the floor and stamping on her body. His penalty, a three year suspended sentence and a €12,000 fine.

In June, a 34 year old man, Piotr Rownicki, was convicted of seven counts of sexual assault. He received a three year prison sentence with almost half of it (16 months) being suspended.

Two weeks ago, Eamon Harkin was sentenced for beating up then-girlfriend Danielle Kerrigan for more than 90 minutes on St Valentine’s Night. He only stopped his attack to get a drink of water and he beat her so badly he left the print of his shoe on her body. His sentence, he had his two-year prison term substituted to 240 hours’ community service.

Just in case you think lenient sentences from the Irish judiciary are a new phenomena, lets go back a few years.

In 2007, Adam Keane was convicted of raping Mary Shannon, a deaf, 33 year old mother of three, as she slept in her bed, with her children in the next room. During the trial, her life was pulled apart and “torn asunder” while Mr. Keane didn’t have to even take the stand.

Mr. Keane was originally given a non-custodial three year suspended sentence, but hours after receiving the sentence, on a train home from court, Mr. Keane flicked a cigarette at Ms Shannon and he was then brought into custody to serve prison time.

Following the original three year suspended sentence, Ms Shannon waived her right to anonymity in order to raise awareness of the horrible crime of which she was victim. This brave act raised awareness in the public arena of the lenient sentence and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) then appealed the judges decision and the sentence was increase to ten years.

Most will agree, Ms Shannon was entitled to justice without having to waive her right to anonymity. And, not only was she entitled to justice, but the public are entitled to be kept safe from violent and vicious criminals like these.

What kind of a message does it send to society when violent men can beat or rape women with relative impunity? A situation whereby a rapist has the prospect of not spending even a day in prison as a consequence for their actions?

Where is the deterrent to men who consider such heinous behaviour, when they see lenient sentences like these? And what does it say to those who have the bravery to come forward after their lives have been turned upside down following such a traumatic experience, only to see the man who raped them walk free?

The purpose of the judicial system should be to punish people for doing wrong and also to protect the innocent public from dangerous individuals. On both of these counts, the judicial system fails women and society badly.

But what can I do to play my part in creating a safer environment for women in Ireland and elsewhere?

Firstly, I will be taking the simple pledge set up by Australia’s White Ribbon Campaign, which goes like this. 

I swear never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women this is my oath.  

You can take this pledge here.

Secondly, I will write to my local politicians and to the Justice Minister in Ireland, Alan Shatter. I’m not an expert in this field, so I will demand that the Irish government sits down with the real experts, the Rape Crisis Network & the National Women’s Council, to discuss the exceptionally lenient sentences given to violent men and to listen to the demands of representatives of women who have been victims of violent crime.

These groups are the experts in violence against women and their recommendations for prevention and penalties for offenders should be listened to and implemented as soon as possible.

If we are to consider ourselves a civilized society, we must take violence against women much more seriously, at a societal level and at a political level, but that won’t happen on its own. We, the men and women of Ireland, must demand action now. I urge you to copy take the pledge, raise awareness by sharing the pledge on your facebook or twitter profile, and write to your politicians today.

Here’s my letter to the Minister (alan.shatter@oireachtas.ie) – feel free to copy it. You can find your politicians at this link. http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Members_emails/document1.htm

Dear Minister Shatter,

In recent months, and during the past number of years, many Irish women have been subjected to heinous, violent and sexual assaults which have resulted in exceptionally lenient sentences for the perpetrators. I am not satisfied, as a citizen of this country, that the seriousness of violence against women is appreciated by the judiciary or by the political establishment.

I am demanding that you meet with the National Women’s Council of Ireland, the Rape Crisis Network and any other relevant women’s representative groups to discuss the lenient sentences and hear their recommendations for the prevention of, and the penalties for, violent assaults against women.

I trust that this is a matter of urgency for you and that you will take action on this issue without delay.

Yours sincerely,

The Eureka movement that gave birth to Aussie labour - The Irish connection

Few small countries can claim to have had as big an impact on the world as Ireland has had. When thinking of the Irish diaspora individual historic figures such as John F. Kennedy, Che Guevara (Lynch) or Ned Kelly spring to mind, but Irish people as a community have also impacted on the development of societies, and none more so than Australia.

Today in Australia, there are thousands of individuals proudly wearing a flag which, to them, represents the birth of democracy in their country. It represents the fight for a just and fair society that the first free settlers endured and it represents the power of the collective over the oppressive powers that ruled the early colony.

Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) members
in Queensland proudly display the Eureka Flag

That flag is the Eureka flag and it is an emblem that is synonomous with the Irish.

It was first raised in 1854 by an Irishman in a small town called Ballarat in regional Victoria.

At the time, Ballarat had become one of the biggest gold mining towns in the world. The Irish, including some who had left home during the Great Famine, sought a better life in Australia flooding the gold fields of Victoria along with many Britons, Canadians, Americans and Chinese.

By 1854 there were about 25,000 gold miners in the Ballarat gold fields and law and order was enforced by the Gold Commission’s police force. There was growing unrest over the deeply unpopular mining licence imposed on all miners irrespective of whether they were successful in their pursuit of gold.

This was particulaly difficult for the small miners who struggled to pay and led to them establishing a code name as a warning call for when the inspectors came to check their licenses.

This warning call was ‘Vinegar Hill’, a reference to to the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the 1804 Irish convict rebellion in Castle Hill (nicknamed Vinegar Hill) near Sydney. What compounded the unrest was the denial of a vote to the miners, despite the imposition of a tax through the mining licence.

The miners were also very concerned with the level of corruption that was taking place around the goldfields and this came to a head after a Scottish goldminer was beaten to death by a mob.

The mob included the local publican, James Bentley, who just happened to be a friend of the local magistrate and he escaped prosecution, as did the three other men in the group.

This led to a mass meeting of up to 10,000 miners, during which, the crowd burnt down Bentley’s Hotel. Soon after, three of the diggers were arrested and charged for their role in the arson attack.

On 11 November, 10,000 miners met to demand the release of the three diggers along with the abolition of the licence and the vote for all males.

The outcome of this meeting was the formation of the Ballarat Reform League which passed the following resolution, "that it is the inalienable right of every citizen to have a voice in making the laws he is called on to obey, that taxation without representation is tyranny".

This was followed by another mass meeting held on the 29 November where the miners decided to publicly burn their mining licences.

In response, the Gold Commissioner ordered a licence hunt for the following day at which eight defaulters were arrested. According to records, military resources were summoned to rescue the arresting officers from the angry crowd.

Later, on the 30^th November, there was another mass burning of licenses, this time led by 26 year old Co Laois man Peter Lawlor.

Lawlor was the brother of Young Irelander James Fintan Lawlor; the Young Ireland revolutionary.

James Fintan Lawlor was one of the most powerful writers of his day and who later influenced the likes of Michael Davitt, James Connolly and Padraig Pearse.

It was at this meeting on Baker Hill that the famous Eureka flag was flown for the first time. 

The original Eureka flag from 1854

The flag has five stars representing the Southern Cross and Professor Geoffrey Blaney claims that the white cross behind the stars “really [is] an Irish cross rather than being a configuration of the Southern Cross.”

Lawlor, along with his fellow demonstrators constructed a stockade enclosing about a half acre where the following oath was taken beneath the flag: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."

Historians have said that as well as most of the miners inside the stockade, in the area around where the defensive position was established, the miners were overwhelmingly Irish. The password to enter the stockade was again, “Vinegar Hill.”

Early on the morning of Sunday 3 December, the authorities launched an attack on the stockade.

The miners were outnumbered, with the colony sending backup from Melbourne, and the battle was over in 20 minutes.

A total of 22 miners - mostly Irish - and six troops were killed. The flag was torn down, trampled, hacked with swords and peppered with bullets by colonial troops. Peter Lawlor escaped with serious injuries and his arm was later amputated.

Of the 120 miners detained after the rebellion, thirteen were brought to trial, of which seven were Irish.

They were: Timothy Hayes (Irish), James McFie Campbell (a black man from Jamaica), Raffaello Carboni (Italian), Jacob Sorenson (Scottish), John Manning (Irish), John Phelan (Irish), John Dignum (Australian), John Joseph (a black American), James Beatie (Irish), William Malloy (Irish), Jan Vennick (Dutch), Michael Tuohy (Irish) and Henry Reid (Irish).

Memorial to the fallen at the Eureka stockade

The first trial was of John Joseph, one of three Americans arrested, but the US Consul intervened in the other two (John Joseph was a black man). When Joseph was found ‘not guilty’, there was a sudden burst of applause in the court room and he was carried around the streets of Melbourne in a chair of triumph. All of the other men were also acquitted to great public acclaim.

The Gold Fields Commission handed down its report a month later, and the government adopted all of its recommendations.

This resulted in all the demands of the miners being met.

A bill was passed to extend the vote to golddiggers possessing a miner’s right costing one pound (it had previously been eight pounds along with six months residency). The hated Gold Commission was replaced by a system of mining wardens.

Peter Lalor, leader of the Eureka Stockade.

In 1855 Peter Lawlor was elected as the first MLC (Member of the Legislative Council) and the Ballarat miners were given eight representatives on the council.

The Eureka rebellion is considered by many to be the birthplace of Australian democracy. It is the only example of armed rebellion leading to reform of unfair laws.

Today the Eureka Stockade symbolises a “revolt of free men against imperial tyranny, of labour against a priviliged ruling class and as an expression of republicanism.”

Many trade unions and trade unionists, particularly in the construction sector, proudly wear the flag today and it is always on display from the roof of the Victorian Trades Hall building in Melbourne, where the very first legislated eight hour day in the world was won one year later, in 1856.

The connections between Ireland and Australia are, and always have been very strong.

According to James Connolly’s Labour in Irish history, the penalty for joining a trade union in Ireland after 1802 was transportation to Australia.

The spirit of those early Irish settlers is still strong in the labour movement and the impact they had on Australian society is still very visible today. 

An Australian worker wearing trade union insignia's including the Southern Cross flag

Send a message to Irish emigrants in Melbourne!

Barry Gough and Jim Cusack of the Connolly Association

The Connolly Association in Melbourne was set up in the mid 1950's. It has been broadcasting to the Irish community in Melbourne since 1976. For more on the Connolly Association, click here. 

On Saturday 16 June, the Connolly Association will be broadcasting a special show in order to raise funds to help keep the show and the 3CR radio station on the air.

All we ask is that you give a small donation to the show and we’ll read out your brief message. It can be a message to your mother, father, sister, brother, friends or anyone else in Australia. It can be funny, stupid, angry or sad, we don’t care. Just give us a few dollars to help keep the Irish voice in Melbourne on the air.

We’ll broadcast your message which will be live at 9:30am Melbourne time (12:30am on Friday night/Saturday morning Irish time).

It’ll also be streamed live online at http://www.3cr.org.au/3CR_streaming and we’ll be podcasting the show afterwards so you can send the link to anyone who misses it.

All you need to do is follow these two steps:

Email your message to theconnollyassociation@gmail.com; and

Donate whatever you can here http://www.givenow.com.au/cause442

Thank you in advance for your support.

Send a message to Ireland – and help keep the Irish voice in Melbourne on air!

The Connolly Association in Melbourne was set up in the mid 1950's. It has been broadcasting to the Irish community in Melbourne since 1976. For more on the Connolly Association, click here. 

On Saturday 16 June, the Connolly Association will be broadcasting a special show in order to raise funds to help keep the show and the radio station on the air.

All we ask is that you give a small donation to the show and we’ll read out your brief message. It can be a message to your mother, father, sister, brother, friends or anyone else in Ireland. It can be funny, stupid, angry or sad, we don’t care. Just give us a few dollars to help keep the Irish voice in Melbourne on the air.

We’ll broadcast your message which will be live at 9:30am Melbourne time (12:30am on Friday night/Saturday morning Irish time) on 855am on your radio.

It’ll also be streamed live at www.3CR.org.au and we’ll be podcasting the show afterwards so you can send the link to anyone who misses it.

All you need to do is:

Email your message to theconnollyassociation@gmail.com; and

Donate whatever you can here http://www.givenow.com.au/cause442

Thanks for your support.

The Connolly Association

Please support an Irish voice in Melbourne

A Chara,

3CR and the Connolly Association are looking for your help to keep the voice of independent radio on the air. 

The annual radiothon takes place on Saturday, 16 June 2012 and this year 3CR is aiming to raise $210,000.

The Connolly’s will go to air at the usual time of 9.30 am to 10.00 am. (12:30am on Saturday in Ireland)

Ring and make your pledge to keep 3CR and the Connolly Association on the air.

The target this year for the Connolly Association show is $3,300. As well as the usual prizes for lucky listeners we’ll be doing cheerios to overseas (for a donation).

Invest in independence make a tax-deductible donation: 

•  Ring us on Saturday 16 June at 9.30am - Phone 03 9419 8377 to pay by credit card;
• Go online at www.3cr.org.au;
• Send a cheque or money order payable to ‘Community Radio Federation Ltd’ PO Box 1277 Collingwood 3066.

3CR is now 36 years old and in times of reality TV, shock jocks and media monopolies, a community voice is hugely important. The Connolly Association is proud to have been with 3CR for nearly all that journey on air and now you can follow us on facebook, stream our show live on computer and send us your thoughts on e-mail to theconnollyassociation@gmail.com 

Yours sincerely

Jim Cusack

Here is an example of the Connolly Association show centered around the recent referendum in Ireland:

Get out and Vote!

The day to vote is finally here. Hopefully we get a good turnout today, whatever the outcome.  There are almost 400 million people around the EU who have been excluded from a vote and there are also thousands of Irish all around the world who this treaty will affect when/if they come home and they won’t get a say either, I’m one of them.

I’ve read through the full Fiscal Compact Treaty and the ESM Treaty and I’ve drawn my own conclusions about the issues involved.

There has been a lot of noise and fear coming from both the YES and NO camps, but I believe people voting today are voting for or against the treaty based on these two issues:

 

• The risk of not having access to further funds in the event that we need them in the future; and
• The risk of handing over a large proportion of our self determination and democracy to Europe.

It’s been clearly established that the economics of the treaty do nothing to address the causes of the crisis and won’t prevent another one. Therefore, people are essentially voting on which of the two scenarios are less risky.

While I believe the scenario of not having access to ESM funds has been fashioned deliberately to coerce a YES vote, the risk is there nonetheless. We may not get access to this funding. We may have to go to the markets and seek a loan at higher interest rates. However, I believe it is highly unlikely that the EU, ECB and IMF would let us fall. They need Ireland to be able to pay back their loans in order to save the European banking system. I’ve covered this in yesterday’s blog.

The second risk is to hand over another proportion of our democracy, sovereignty and self-determination. The articles in the treaty clearly illustrate the penalties that can be imposed on us and how ‘partnership programmes’ can be forced upon a country if they’re not meeting targets. We’d do well to remember that the last partnership programme forced our government to cut the minimum wage, introduce the household tax and pay back unsecured, unguaranteed bondholders billions of Euro.

Let’s face facts; we’re a small fish in a big pond to the EU and the other countries in it. Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkosy had no accountability to Irish voters in 2010 when they decided to load the European banking debt onto Irish taxpayers. They did so to preserve their own people from suffering because that is who they are supposed to represent - they have no allegiance to us.

This is entirely likely to happen again, maybe not to us, but to future generations of Irish people. Also, if we do need another bailout from the ESM in 2014, you can be certain it will come with more strings attached.

For me, I understand the risks involved. I also understand that people are genuinely afraid of where we’ll get the money from if we vote no. This has been a travesty of Irish politics - fear has been deliberately used to influence one of the most important decisions in Irish history.

I know that it’s not as easy as writing NO for some people because the risks involved are so enormous. However, I believe the risks of voting YES are substantially higher. We can vote YES for the sake of cheap credit for the next few years, but can we really trust unelected, unaccountable people to look after the interests of Irish people in the future, particularly when they have such a shoddy track record.

I believe that credit will be given to Irish people if we vote no. I also believe that our hard fought for sovereignty and democracy is too precious to be diluted any further. I would vote NO. 

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme." Aristotle

Why won’t the government allow a real democratic vote?

You may remember back in February, a German Minister Michael Link declared that this treaty was being designed so that the Irish people would not get a vote on it.

It was only under the threat of a legal challenge that the government sought advice from the attorney general, who then advised that a referendum should be put to the people.

When it was realized that a referendum would be needed in Ireland, we had the introduction of the “blackmail clause” (March 2012). This says that unless you ratify the treaty you will not have access to any funding from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). A clause that is genuinely frightening to those who are working hard to stay above the breadline and pay their mortgages, particularly low paid public servants. They’re rightly concerned about where the funding will come from if we vote no.

Let’s not forget that until a referendum was declared, the government insisted that no future bailout would be needed. Suddenly we may need one and in order to get it, we must sign up to this treaty.

Lets talk briefly about the merits of the treaty though. Many prominent economists are recommending a no vote. If the blackmail clause were not included, an even larger proportion of economists would not recommend the treaty. They have stated that this is a bad economic treaty, however, ‘on the balance of it’, they are recommending a yes vote because, apparently, it is the only way we know where future funding will come from.

Earlier this month, our Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan threatened the people saying that if there is a no vote, his budget in December would be a lot harsher on the Irish people.

We also have the undemocratic decision to hold the vote on a Thursday, again, when it is well known that this disenfranchises students, young people and those commuting to work – possibly from the UK.

*from the Irish Times

 

It is these exact people who have been affected most by the austerity measures put in place to date. They are also the people who will be affected most by the treaty in the future.

It is clear there is a link between this treaty and the policies of the past: The establishment are determined to do whatever they can to achieve their agenda - so to hell with democracy.

If they trusted the Irish people, if they believed in real democracy, if they really thought this was a good treaty for Ireland’s people, they would withdraw all the threats, hold the referendum on a day that suits the majority of the public and remove the blackmail clause.

They would explain how the contents were good for the people of Ireland and the EU, not just now, but into the future and refrain from frightening people into voting yes with the ‘gun to the head’ clause of the ESM.

Remember, we all have a responsibility to future Irish generations. Even if this is a good treaty for the next year or two but will be bad in the long run - we must vote no. Iceland put its children first and defaulted on the debt of the bankers so that their children won’t be paying debts in 20 years time. They have not passed on their bad legacy, but we have. Lets not do it again.

It’s not easy to get the toothpaste back in the tube! They should let this ‘economic treaty’ stand on its own merits.

Voting YES to this treaty will enable/force Ireland to participate in the ESM

If Ireland votes YES to this treaty, it will mean that we are participating in the ESM. This has been portrayed as a good thing in the event we need a future bailout. However, the ESM is a different treaty, hidden behind the one you are being asked to vote on. The reason it’s being hidden is clear when you look at the details included in it.

Firstly, Ireland will have an initial liability of over €11.1 billion to pay into the ESM. This can be increased on request by the ESM at any point and we’ll have 7 days to pay up. So what we’re doing here is borrowing money, at 3%, to put into a bailout mechanism that may or may not give us a loan in future. It has been argued that this bailout fund, at €700,000,000 will not be enough, particularly with Spain in severe trouble. So if they need a bailout, and we’ve put 11billion in, they may not have enough to give Ireland anything.

Then you have to look at the clauses in the treaty. This video will give you an idea of how dangerous participation in the ESM actually is.

In Ireland, and throughout Europe, nobody has been held accountable for the crisis we are in. The immunity clauses illustrate that that will continue in perpetuity.

Click here to read the full ESM treaty or see below for some of the clauses.

ARTICLE 9

Capital calls

The Board of Governors may call in authorised unpaid capital at any time and set an appropriate period of time for its payment by the ESM Members.

ARTICLE 32

Legal status, privileges and immunities

1. To enable the ESM to fulfil its purpose, the legal status and the privileges and immunities set out in this Article shall be accorded to the ESM in the territory of each ESM Member. The ESM shall endeavour to obtain recognition of its legal status and of its privileges and immunities in other territories in which it performs functions or holds assets.

2. The ESM shall have full legal personality; it shall have full legal capacity to:

(a) acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property;

(b) contract;

(c) be a party to legal proceedings; and

(d) enter into a headquarter agreement and/or protocols as necessary for ensuring that its legal status and its privileges and immunities are recognised and enforced.

3. The ESM, its property, funding and assets, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy immunity from every form of judicial process except to the extent that the ESM expressly waives its immunity for the purpose of any proceedings or by the terms of any contract, including the documentation of the funding instruments.

4. The property, funding and assets of the ESM shall, wherever located and by whomsoever held, be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation or any other form of seizure, taking or foreclosure by executive, judicial, administrative or legislative action.

5. The archives of the ESM and all documents belonging to the ESM or held by it, shall be inviolable. T/ESM 2012/en 47

6. The premises of the ESM shall be inviolable.

7. The official communications of the ESM shall be accorded by each ESM Member and by each state which has recognised the legal status and the privileges and immunities of the ESM, the same treatment as it accords to the official communications of an ESM Member.

8. To the extent necessary to carry out the activities provided for in this Treaty, all property, funding and assets of the ESM shall be free from restrictions, regulations, controls and moratoria of any nature.

9. The ESM shall be exempted from any requirement to be authorised or licensed as a credit institution, investment services provider or other authorised licensed or regulated entity under the laws of each ESM Member.

ARTICLE 33

Staff of the ESM

The Board of Directors shall lay down the conditions of employment of the Managing Director and other staff of the ESM. T/ESM 2012/en 48

ARTICLE 34

Professional secrecy

The Members or former Members of the Board of Governors and of the Board of Directors and any other persons who work or have worked for or in connection with the ESM shall not disclose information that is subject to professional secrecy. They shall be required, even after their duties have ceased, not to disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy.

ARTICLE 35

Immunities of persons

In the interest of the ESM, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Governors, alternate Governors, Directors, alternate Directors, as well as the Managing Director and other staff members shall be immune from legal proceedings with respect to acts performed by them in their official capacity and shall enjoy inviolability in respect of their official papers and documents.