Trade unionists, anti-war and human rights activists have planned a protest against "war, racism and privatisation" during next week's informal EU council of employment and trade ministers in Galway city, writes Lorna Siggins
The protest is one of several which are expected to take place during the council, which will be hosted by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, from January 15th to 17th. Although EU ministers and officials will convene outside the city centre in the Corrib Great Southern Hotel, they are due to attend a social evening close to Galway's Eyre Square on Friday evening - when the march will take place.
Some 70 representatives of anti-war and human rights groups, along with trade unionists, will argue that "another Europe" is possible. Speaking at a meeting in Galway earlier this week, Mr Richard Boyd Barrett, chairman of the Irish Anti-War Movement, called for a rejection of the idea that the EU should either align itself with the US, or become a rival economic and military power. Irish people should seek an alternative EU, which would be democratic and concerned with the welfare of its people, he said.
Mr Peter Butler of the Galway One World Centre expressed concern about EU trading practices, which he maintained had a detrimental effect on economies in developing states, while Ms Tríona nic Giolla Choille of the Galway Refugee Support Group said that recent developments had seen the "progressive dismantling of the rights of asylum". It was clear that "fortress Europe" was being strengthened, she said.
The safety implications and effects on working conditions of privatisation of the transport sector was highlighted by Mr Pat Keane, regional secretary of the Technical, Electrical and Engineering Union.
Mr Owen McCormack, a Dublin bus driver and member of the National Bus and Rail Union, said that he hoped to see a coalition of trade unionists, environmentalists and anti-racism groups emerge during the Irish EU presidency - similar to that in Seattle in the late 1990s, when people mobilised against the World Trade Organisation talks promoting privatisation of public services.
Meanwhile, the leading anti-EU campaigner, Mr Anthony Coughlan, has written to RTÉ alleging pro-EU bias in their recent selection of people interviewed about the proposed EU constitution. In an open letter to the Director General, Mr Cathal Goan, Mr Coughlan makes reference to "ex-Trotskyists who people the European Movement" and regard the nation state "as out of date and such concepts as national democracy and national independence as right-wing and therefore reactionary".