Nick Griffin's invitation to speak at TCD was revoked last week. This is fantastic news for Ireland who in the midst of a recession cannot afford to allow far right racist idealogies to be given any credit or lent any legitimate platforms. The group Trinity Against Fascism of whom I was a member issued the following statement. "Trinity Against Fascism opposed a platform being given to Nick Griffin and the organised racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny and other forms of hatred he represents. We did not see Nick Griffin’s invitation as a free speech issue. Nick Griffin is free to travel to Ireland and to speak whenever or wherever he wants. The invitation for him to speak in a prestigious institution goes far beyond his right to free speech. It gave him a platform to use in the spread of organised hatred in Ireland. Gaining platforms in prestigious institutions is an established tactic of the far-right. They do not do it to sway the opinion of students. Nick Griffin is on-the-record as saying that “well-directed boots and fists” are of more importance than “rational debate” in the pursuit of his ideology. The BNP try to gain these platforms for two reasons. Firstly, to gain legitimacy for their hateful ideology. They want to associate themselves with institutions of standing, like Trinity College and The Phil, and thereby gain credibility. Through their invitation to The Phil they also sought to bring their ideas into the mainstream of the Irish debate on immigration. Immigration is a serious issue – playing an important role in economic and social policy. The BNP hope to insert into the conversation demagoguery and ‘white nationalism’, thereby distorting or destroying serious debate. Their second intention was to give encouragement to hateful and potentially violent racists in Irish society. They want these racists to sow division in our communities along racial, ethnic and national lines. They also want these racists to organise, as demonstrated by their previous association with the failed Irish National Party. The consequences of encouragement to Irish racists cannot be known. Nor can the effects of their organisation. In Britain organised racism has led to hate campaigns and violence. What is certain is that these consequences and effects would be felt by the most vulnerable and marginalised in Irish society. Trinity Against Fascism also asked was the invitation worth its potential consequences. The direct consequences were that someone would get hurt on the night. Evidence from forums demonstrated that far-right groups were organising to attend. Large protests were being co-ordinated also. This posed a risk to Trinity students and staff, minority and migrant groups and any of those invovled in security. The indirect consequences are less obvious. But our call to withdraw the invitation was endorsed by leading Irish anti-racist groups and civic organisations on the grounds that it was likely to contribute to the development of hateful racism in Irish society. We should be very clear about this: the result of an organised racist element in Irish society is real thugs making real people’s lives hell. It is the firework through the letterbox, the assault outside a pub or the hate call in the middle of the night to an immigrant family. These consequences would fall to people in much more vulnerable positions than the vast majority of Trinity students. We stand by our campaign. It broke no rules and resisted any engagement in personal animosities. It stood up for Ireland’s and Trinity's migrant and minority community. It opposed the use of our college as a hub for hate. We thank The Philosophical Society for the withdrawal of their invitation. We feel that it is a responsible course of action." :) Forward the revolution Peace and progress

Reply from the council

Well, after a few months of persistance I have finally seen some progess from the city council with regard to the paths, roads and kerbs around th ecollege that are completely inaccessible to the mobility impaired. I have posted up some of my previous letters on this blog and have finally received a responce form the Senior Engineer Billy Dunne who has informed me that the council have applied for a grant to completely renovate the area surrounding Distillery road and that he expects work to commence in March of next year. While this is a long time frame this is a fantastic result and I will look forward to seeing some progress in tis area. Bit by bit I can see this campus and its surrounding environs improve when it comes to the issue of access. I consider this a small victory for myself as access was one of the main points I made for my manifesto when I ran for this position along with the promise of bringing more music to campus which I am engaging in bigtime. Forward the revolution!

RIP RAG week

So it is decided. With 95% of class reps voting in favour of the RAG week replacement deal made with the University management I have to say I feel very pleased with the maturity of class reps. I was very worried we would see a block of people running for class reps for the sole purpose of voting down the deal. I have mixed feelings on the issue and the election in general. While I am no fan of public drunkeness and disorderly conduct I do feel that there could have been a lot done by the SU and the University in previous years to prevent the problem than RAG week became. To me it is apparent that the trouble associated with RAG week was a direct result of the lack of entertainment opportunities provided during this week to occupy students. I firmly believe that is a lot more effort went into the planning of the week in previous years we would have seen a lot less trouble. I am also very excited by the possibilities presented by the RAG week replacement 1 day festival. I think this has unlimited potential and could easily become one of the biggest music event in the west of Ireland next year. As part of the organisational commitee and the only one with significant experience, contacts and resources for organising festivals and events I feel I have a heel of a lot to offer that willl make previous RAG weeks pale in significance. We are already looking at using Fisheries Field as the venue which hosted the Galway Arts festival and are considering having 2 stages set up, one live stage and one dance stage. We are hoping to recreate a mini campus Oxygen or Electric picnic type event with sponsorship and hopefull attract some big acts. I am already pressing booking agents in the UK I have worked with previously for some major acts that will be touring around the projected time of the event and am excited as to the possibilities that are before us. Unfortunately I can't give away any details until we know exactly what our budget is and what we can work on but I would be very surprised if we didn;t attract some major DJs and bands for this. We have decided to run the event on a not for profit basis so this allows us to offer very competative ticket prices, especially if we gain good sponsors. More details are the unfold and watch this space :)

Equality week

Equality week, thus far has been a huge success. What has taken me so much time planning and worrying about seems to be going very well. The final line up for the week was as follows: Monday GiG Soc film screening – Milk 1pm – 3pm Large acoustic room The Kids aren’t alright 4pm Large Acoustic room Tuesday: GiG Soc film screening – 12.30 – 14.30 Brokeback Mountain in The Space FemSoc stormabout GiG Soc film screening – 15.30 – 17.30 Philadelphia in the Space GiG Soc film screenings 13.30 – 15.30 Swap shop event all day in Aras na Macleinn – Table set up, bring stuff to leave and take stuff you want!  Wednesday: Natty Wailer, FREE gig in college bar! Natty Wailer of Bob Marley and the Wailers! 9pm- 11.30 Equality parade 12pm Slutwalk 1pm Thursday: Same sex marriages, all day in Aras Na MacLeinn Brian Arkins – Lecture on Homosexuality in Ancient Greece (Classics soc) Lecture on Atheism and persecution in Ireland (Skeptic soc) TBC Blackboard Jungle free gig in college bar. Friday: Marriage Equality Lecture – Guest speaker – GiG Soc. TBC Throughout the week there was in place an open soap box for people to use to speak on any topic they wished. I myself used it a few times for various poetry recitals that were welcomed by many. Last night's gig in the College Bar was absolutely fantastic! Natty Wailler and the Reggae Vibes were electric from beginning to the end of the performance with greata crowd interaction and kept their set very relevent to the equality theme. Myself I was providing the front of house soundsystem with Sound System Solutions, which sounded fantastic, and spent the gig behind the sound desk which is exactly where I want to be all the time. There was a great crowd and smiles all round througout the evening. I have to say, in my experience that this was the best event I have ever seen in the college bar and I have had people who have been at NUI Galway a lot longer than I who told me the same. I feel very proud to have been a part of this magical evening. FEE Galway even got a shoutout from the man himself! In other news myself and Senan MacAoide were married today bytthe GiG Soc marriages overseen by Minister Royce. I am sure that the two of us will be very happy together. Right now I have to finish up, need to meet a guy with a soundsystem and some DJs and set up another stage for Blackboard Jungle in the college bar which starts at 9pm tonight.