White Paper Review - Public Consultation

As part of the government review of the White Paper on Irish Aid, a period of public consultation has been launched.

To have your say and influence the future direction of Ireland's aid programme, get involved HERE.

Anglo: Not our Debt

A new campaign was launched in Ireland today by a group called Debt Justice Action which calls on the government to stop paying the debts of the former Anglo Irish Bank/Irish Nationwide Building Society "as a first step towards renegotiation and writedown of this unjust debt".

Check out their campaign launch video and press release:



To get involved, there is a public meeting at 7pm in the Teachers Club Parnell Square Dublin on Tuesday 24th January.

Unfriend Coal

Great stuff!



To find out what this is all about, take a look here.

Tackling the Tax Havens

There's a great website with lots of facts, figures and easy to understand explanations of all the tricky ins and outs of tax and tax havens. Very helpful for anyone working on tax justice issues.

Take a look and watch their quirky little promotional video released this month:

Blog Action Day Vs World Food Day

Today is Blog Action Day and bloggers around the world are talking about one thing - FOOD.

As we celebrate World Food Day, nearly a billion people on the planet still go to bed hungry every night. Yet this inexcusable and tragic reality that is faced by around 1 in 7 people is made all the more offensive by the fact that the world currently produces enough food. It is not a lack of food that is the problem but rather a broken food system that fails so many.

The world's population is growing and will reach 9 billion by 2050. This will present its own problems with demand for food rising by 70%, but what of the issues facing the world now:

- 40% of US corn crops end up in gas tanks instead of stomachs.

- 4 in 5 people lack access to social protection of any kind.

- The amount of arable land per head has almost halved since 1960.

- Consumers in rich countries may be wasting up to a quarter of the food they buy.

That is why Oxfam launched its GROW campaign earlier this year - to encourage people to share ideas for better ways to grow, share and live together and work towards a future where everyone on the planet always has enough to eat. During the next few days of GROW Week (October 15th - 22nd), we have a chance to take stock and strengthen our commitment to this more hopeful future.

06/10/2011 - Ireland at the UN Human Rights Council

Via Your Rights. Right Now:

"On 6 October 2011, Ireland will be examined for the first time by the United Nations on our human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review or UPR. Seventeen leading organisations have come together to make sure that the United Nations hears your views about Your Rights. Right Now. Our voices are stronger if we work together. Read our report, and follow the process live from Geneva on this website from 8am (Irish time) on 6 October 2011."

WATCH THE LIVE FEED HERE.

An Audit of Ireland's Debt

I recently had the pleasure of attending the launch of the results of an audit of Ireland's debt in Buswell's Hotel.

Carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Limerick and led by Dr. Sheila Killian, 'An Audit of Irish Debt' provides a very accessible picture of Ireland's debt. The audit was commissioned by the trade union UNITE and the Irish NGOs Afri and Debt and Development Coalition Ireland. Based on information from the Central Bank, the ECB, the CSO and NTMA as well the financial accounts of various financial institutions, Reuters data, Dáil questions and wikileaks cables; the report is extremely thorough.

Of key importance though is that the report is independent and politically neutral.

It may sound like a dry read but the information within this audit personally affects every citizen in Ireland and is well worth a look.