Yearly Archives: 2017

 

This afternoon

Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Boisterous junior activists take to the street to plead with Minister for Education Richard Bruton: Don’t be cruel, build our school.

Ballinteer Educate Together National School has been housed in temporary accommodation since 2012 with no word on a permanent building in sight.

They’re a goddamn mini sinister fringe.

Tyke fight!

Yesterday: Where’s Our School?

Rollingnews

In Cork city?

For any of its live gigs between June 9 and July 7?

Well…

Tom writes:

I’m going to Eddie Vedder on Sunday, June 11 and ust got this email from Ticketmaster about its security restrictions…

Extra security checks for Marquee gigs following Manchester attack (Alan Healy, Evening Echo)

Pic: Rudi Enos Design

Fish Diamonds writes:

I just found a large white Samsung smartphone lying face down at Herbert Road car park in Bray [County Wicklow]. Tyre track across the back, with a thin crack across the screen I’m afraid. Recent loss- battery at 80% and I can see the main user name.  left my business card in with the uniform shop nearby, and will drop the phone in to Bray Garda station now.

Wishing you both a happy reunion.

Fair play in fairness

 

This afternoon.

Government Buildings, Dublin 2

The launch of the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017, tabled by Independent Senator Lynn Ruane (top right.)

The bill, co-signed by former Minister of State for the National Drugs Strategy Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and supported by the Labour Party, the Green Party and a “significant number of independent senators” would make three major reforms to Ireland’s drug laws:

Decriminalise the possession of controlled drugs for personal use, allow for the Minister for Health to set ‘personal use’ and decriminalise addiction.

Establishes a Drug Dissuasion Service to case-manage people found in possession of controlled drugs and to divert people away from the courts.

Provides for a system of harm reduction measures for those found in possession including drug awareness, drug rehabilitation and community engagement programmes.

The bill will debated tomorrow in the Seanad.

More as we get it.

FIGHT!

Top from left: Niamh Eastwood (Release) Anna Quigley (Citywide) Niall Neligan (Fweed) Emily Reaper and Senator Lynn Ruane.

Lynn Ruane (Facebook)

Pic via Fweed

Earlier today.

In an unanimous decision.

The seven-judge Supreme Court ruled that the ban prohibiting asylum seekers from work is unconstitutional.

The challenge to the ban was taken by a man from Burma, who spent eight years in direct provision, after he was offered a job in 2013 but couldn’t accept it.

Last September, he was granted refugee status and, following that, the State had argued that his challenge be dismissed – given his new status allowed him to work – but the man, and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission urged the court to address the issue.

Mary Carolan, in The Irish Times, reports:

“The point has been reached when it cannot be said the legitimate differences between an asylum seeker and a citizen can continue to justify the exclusion of an asylum seeker from the possibility of employment,” [Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell] said.

“This damage to the individual’s’ self worth and sense of themselves, is exactly the damage which the constitutional right [to seek employment] seeks to guard against.”

The evidence from the man of the depression, frustration and lack of self-belief at being unable to work “bears this out”, he added.

He said, in principle, he would be prepared to find, in circumstances where there is no temporal limit on the asylum process, the “absolute prohibiton” on seeking of employment in Section 9.4, and re-enacted in Section 16.3.b of the International Protection Act 2015, “is contrary to the constitutional right to seek employment”.

Because this situation arises because of the intersection of a number of statutory provisions, and could arguably be met by alteration of one or other of those, and since that was “first and foremost a matter for executive and legislative judgment” , the court would adjourn consideration of what form of order to make for six months, he said.

After that period elapsed, the court would hear submissions from the sides as to what form of order should be made “in the light of the circumstances then obtaining”.

Ban on asylum seekers working unconstitutional, says Supreme Court (The Irish Times)