One peculiar myth that has gained currency amongst the TLDR crowd is that of the ‘Irish Slaves’. What sounds like a good story over a couple of pints has become a keystone of white supremacist theory in the USA.
Gombeen # 11: The Ringmaster Of Reaction.
There is a jolly man who acts as the ring master for reaction, he whips up callers into a frenzy, rails at them, exudes sympathy, tells people to ‘go on’ with their tales of misery and he pretends to care. Then he mounts campaigns for what HE believes is right His training was being an outsider who got into college, it was being left wing, it was engaging in protest, … Read More
Go East.
Above: Some amazing photos here by Oliver Wia. They all feature in the book. The top one is Dr Motte, who produced the track Der Klang Der Familie. An early anthem that gave the book its title. The first Tressor club features in the rest. The folklore of English and US dancefloors is a well trodden path of familiar origin myths and falls from grace. Unfortunately there’s very little on the … Read More
Insert Cake Pun Here.
Bit Thorn caught up with the Jimmy Cake about their new album ‘Master’ to find what the hell took so long this time round, and received a rather large slice of reflection on the state of the realities facing musicians today in the process. Second helpings? Yes please… So, the Jimmy Cake, you’ve just released your new album ‘Master’ which has been about 5 years in the making. Firstly, I … Read More
IMC Still Standing.
Pictured: William Hederman captured these iconic moments from the 2004 mobilisations against the European Summit in Dublin. In the first a media activist climbs a pole for a better view while the second features a large open air meeting before the long march to Farmleigh. Back in October a question kept popping up among wizened activist heads, where’s Indymedia.ie gone? Had the old dame of online publishing finally shuffled off … Read More
They’re Looting The Town!
While historical re-enactments are all the rage in this ‘Decade of Centenaries’, and we have seen everything from Ulster Volunteer Forces rallies to Fenian funerals re-enacted by enthusiastic historical societies, it’s unlikely we’ll see anyone recreate the looting of Noblett’s sweet shop come 24 April 2016. Donal Fallon has this tale of proletarian shopping in the rare auld times. Somewhat at odds with the popular narrative of the Easter Rising, … Read More
The Property Game.
We’ll be getting all the bits and bobs from #rabble11 up on the site over the next week or two. First there’s this fully immersive 2d role playing game we developed in the weeks prior to Christmas. Download it and kill some time on the bus home. Just open it up on your phone and use a wipe-able marker so you don’t fuck up your screen with scrawls. Let us … Read More
Who Fears To Speak?
Already there has been plenty of uproar about how the government and its cultural institutions intend to commemorate the rising. Sean Finnan takes a look at how conflicting narratives battle over 1916 to legitimise contemporary concerns. Commemorating 1916 has always been both a factitious and contentious event. In 1966 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising, the events of Easter week were celebrated with militaristic bravado while in 1991,with the … Read More
Selective Memories.
Photos: Holly Shortall sent us these snaps of people sorting donations for Calais and working to build a shelter for a pregnant woman in the camp. Jamie Goldrick tries to suss out the reason for Ireland’s pitiful response to the most recent refugee crisis and discovers a state that has been stuck in a cycle of perpetual hypocrisy since its formation. This country is no stranger to emigration, at … Read More
“Th’ whole worl’s in a terrible state o’ chassis.”
Captain Boyle’s words resonate today as much as they did in 1924 on the Abbey stage. Every week we seem to be burying more victims of our careless system; the homeless, the Travellers, the asylum seekers; or repatriating the bodies of exiles, the emigrants, our dearly departed. But in all this there is no change. It’s the same as it ever was. In this issue we examine the repercussions of … Read More