Other – Page 21 – Earth First!

EF! summer gathering – exact location, travel info & updated workshop programme announced; coal-blighted communities visit

Earth First! Summer Gathering, 18th-24th August 2009, Cumbria

Never has halting the destruction of our planet been so important… Learn how to make them stop!

The gathering this year will be held at Seathwaite in the beautiful Borrowdale. The site is right in the heart of the Lake District and surrounded by mountains, streams and tarns. The nearest train station is Penrith. More detailed directions, public transport, walks & cycle rides to the site

Workshop programme in a variety of formats

Earth First! Summer Gathering, 18th-24th August 2009, Cumbria

Never has halting the destruction of our planet been so important… Learn how to make them stop!

Workshop programme in a variety of formats

WHO
Earth First! is a network of people and campaigns who fight ecological destruction and the forces driving it. We believe in doing it ourselves rather than relying on governments or industry. Direct action is at the heart of what we do, whether we’re standing in front of a bulldozer, shutting down an opencast mine or ripping up a field of GM crops.

Join us for 5 days of workshops, networking and planning actions at a low impact eco-living camp organised non-hierarchically

WHAT
Planning actions and campaigns, meeting and sharing skills with others who care. Over 80 training workshops plus games and evening fun:
• Learn skills for direct action. Tree Climbing, Orienteering, Security for activists, Legal briefing, Escaping public order situations, street medics – first aid, self defence, Boat blockading using kayaks, radio procedures and rock abseiling.
• Network your campaign against ecological destruction. opencast mining, genetic engineering, agrofuels, dam-building, hunt-sabbing, climate actions, oil pipeline resistance, road stopping, anti-whaling, squatting, rainforest protection.
• Learn about ecology, ecocentric ethics and alternatives to the corporate world of exploitation.
• Practical skills for ecological restoration and sustainable living, field trips and hands-on work.

YOU
We are all crew! This is your gathering come prepared to help run the camp and contribute to the programme. Contact us in advance with ideas for workshops, help with organising the gathering, come early to help setup the site or stay on for a couple of days for takedown.
If you can help get in touch!

BRING
Bring tent and sleeping bag. You can either cook food for yourself or for £4 per day chip in with collective cooking of delicious vegan organic food. There’ll be quiet sleeping areas, toilets and running water, a children’s space and spaces for workshops and info stalls.
Veggies will provide vegan cake and snacks. Children and young adults welcome with subsidized meals.

Arrive Tues pm. Workshops from Wed am until Sun pm.

Loads of campaigns are taking to the water in defence of the planet, like at Rossport where Shell are trying to lay onshore pipelines and the Great Rebel Raft Regatta at last summers climate camp. This summer’s EF! gathering will be building on these tactics with training in water based actions.

An excursion to visit communities in the North East threatened by an expansion of coal mining on Monday 24th August. Visit beautiful valleys and strong spirited communities and make links for ongoing resistance.

We aim to make the site as accessible as we can please contact us in advance if you have special needs, questions or concerns.

WHERE
The site is near in the Lake District, Cumbria. The nearest train station is Penrith and there is a bus service to the site, there are car and living vehicle spaces outside the camp.

Dogs: We are fortunate this year to be able to accommodate well behaved owners with dogs on leads but think about whether your dog will feel comfortable in workshops. Please call beforehand so we know numbers.

Cost: £20 – £30 according to what you can afford. We are not for profit all extra cash goes to help fund next year. Under 14’s free.

For more info contact us at :
summergathering@earthfirst.org.uk
www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk

Climate Activists occupy roof of 2nd Vestas factory!

4.8.2009

4.8.2009
Climate activists have occupied the roof of the Vestas turbine factory at Venture Quays, East Cowes, Isle Of Wight, in solidarity with workers occupying a factory in Newport. The protestors have hung a banner above the Ferry Port saying: “Vestas Workers – Solidarity in Occupation. Save Green Jobs,” and issued the following statement:

This Cowes Week, tens of thousands of people have come to the island to use and celebrate the free, abundant, and natural power of the wind. At the same time, workers at Vestas are struggling to keep Britain’s only wind-turbine blade manufacturer open. Factories in East Cowes, Newport and Southampton are being closed with the loss of over 600 jobs, and hundreds more in support industries like Gurit, devastating not only green promises but the Isle of Wight local communities.

Now the people are saying enough is enough. At Newport dozens of workers are in the second week of their factory occupation with messages of support coming in from around the world. These courageous people are showing more vision and commitment to the future of jobs, communities and our planet than all the do-nothing business and political leaders put together.

In the face of man-made climate-change, keeping these workers with their unique specialist skills is as urgent for powering a sustainable future as it is for the for the island communities. But the government which was so quick to nationalise Northern Rock and pour billions into the ailing banks has so far done NOTHING to protect the future of Britain’s wind-power generation, despite their recent pledge to invest in “Green Jobs”.

Vestas meanwhile are leaving their workforce high and dry, with peanuts in redundancy pay and little hope of work, while they make off with the £76 million profits they made in the first quarter of 2009 out of their non-unionised workforce.

The Venture Quays roof occupation is in support of Vestas workers demands. We say,

– Take Vestas factories into public ownership, under workers management
Re-instate all workers, including those sacked while in dispute
Invest in developing wind-power in Britain
Retool the Vestas plant to produce for Off-Shore Wind Generation

This dispute comes in a period of crisis, both economic and ecological. The economic crisis has already seen a million people losing their jobs while banks ask for hand-outs, with massive cuts and tax rises on the horizon. On top of that, unless we act quickly, the ecological crisis of climate-change will threaten the very future of human life. Motivated by greed and paralysed by fear, our rulers seem incapable of responding. Instead, the lead is coming from below.

Working people are increasingly standing up and staying put. Occupation by not only workers but local residents is becoming a default option. This year we have seen occupations at the Visteon factories in Enfield and Belfast, schools occupied against closure in Glasgow and Lewisham, a London care-home, Thomas Cook in Dublin and now Vestas. People have been dis-empowered for too long!

Listen to the Vesta workers song “Boys on the Balcony” at http://www.seizetheday.org

http://savevestas.wordpress.com

Latest EF! Action Update bursts forth

Car tyres deflate in the night, diggers halted in their tracks, buildings and MPs covered in slime…airports plagued by crazy golf, picnics, city gents and hostage-taking…eco-villages and other autonomous spaces sprout, as others are under threat…tree-sits, banks evicted, fake phone-masts and whaling ships sunk….it must be time for another Earth First! Action Update, bringing you a concentrated quarterly blast of inspiration and contacts to get out there and take direct action against the bastards threatening this planet and its inhabitants.

News from the front-lines – permanent protest camps old and new, and temporary gatherings in a field near you, all the dates and info you need for a summer of blistering action and torrential outpourings!

Successes here, across the pond and round the very other side of the world.

Successes here, across the pond and round the very other side of the world.

A report back from the Coal Caravan, plus info about the communities along its route.

Court news – what happened after protesters planned to shut a coal-fired power plant, and climbed atop a train, plus handy Security Tips for Going on Actions.

Leaving it All in the Ground – news of global fights against the mining of gold, copper, bauxite and aluminium – blockading, torching and night-time pixieing.

A View from the Trees – a story from our eco-centric cousins. And indigenous Peruvians fight on against the wholesale onslaught on our world.

And a round-up of your favourite public order situations – G20, SmashEDO and Athenian rubbish dumps!

Read, download and print it here, subscribe so you get it direct to your door, or look out for it at a climate camp near you.

If you want to be listed or get a bunch of them to distribute, please get in touch.

Share your inspirational news at EF! Action Reports, and it’ll find it’s way into your very own printed EF!AU, in good old black and white print.

Daring Action Gets Supplies To Vestas Workers Occupation

30.7.2009
A group of twenty people successfully brought vital supplies into the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight this afternoon, to the whoops and cheers of the occupying workers.

The group including workers, local supporters, and campaigners from the Climate Camp, Workers Climate Action, the Anarchist Federation and Workers Liberty split into two teams. At around 2pm, one team approached the main entrance of the factory, carrying decoy bags of food, to draw off police and security guards. While this first team was being escorted and carried bodily from the site, a second team ran through a hedge and were able to pass a large sack of supplies up to the occupying Vestas workers. The supplies were based on a wishlist provided by the occupiers, and included food, drink, and crucially a kettle with tea and coffee.

Jim Spencer, a member of the Climate Camp who took part in the action, said the Vestas management have been attempting to starve the occupiers out. After much protest, they are currently providing them with one insubstantial meal per day such as a single slice of pizza or a lone sandwich per worker. This is an utter disgrace, and so many of us camped outside have been thinking about how to get supplies in to them. It turned out that some of the factory workers and their local supporters were thinking the same way, so we all decided to work together.

Mr Spencer went on: The fact that workers, locals, environmentalists and labour campaigners are all working together reflects how important this occupation is. It’s vital to the factory workers and their families, it’s vital to the local economy, and it’s vital in the fight to avert climate disaster. The Vestas wind turbine factory must be saved.

ENDS

For interviews with someone onsite, call 07932 096677
To contact the Climate Camp media team:
phone: 07040 900 905 (or 07772 861 099 or 07932 096 677)
email: press@climatecamp.org.uk

Save Vestas – Defend Jobs, Save the Planet – Support the Occupation – UPDATE below: arrests, cops starving them out…

Workers at the Vestas Wind Turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have JUST NOW occupied their factory. They are fighting for 600 jobs and the future of the planet. They need help now.

PLEASE TEXT AND CALL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Workers at the Vestas Wind Turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have JUST NOW occupied their factory. They are fighting for 600 jobs and the future of the planet. They need help now.

PLEASE TEXT AND CALL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

There is a large picket of support starting outside the factory. This will be crucial in giving people confidence inside. We want hundreds of people by morning.
If you are not working, come now, by car, bus or train.
If you are on the South Coast and working, come for the night and go to work exhausted and proud.

If you can’t come, call up friends and offer to pay the fare or petrol money for someone else to come down. Or part of the fare.
Don’t just call the environmental and union activists you know. Call your friends and ask them who they know. Call your brother’s friends or your children’s friends. Text everyone. Get your friends calling and texting.

WE WANT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE NOW. SAVE THE JOBS – SAVE THE PLANET.

The workers want Gordon Brown to step in as if it was a troubled bank and save the jobs and keep making wind turbine blades. They gave the bankers trillions. They say they care about climate change. He has talked about creating 40,000 “Green Jobs”, the first step should be protecting these 600.

The workers will need solidarity – donations of money, food and other assistance. In the first instance please send messages of solidarity to savevestas@gmail.com

We will suggest other forms of solidarity soon. Do this now. Reach for your phone.

—-

How to get there, and more info at:

http://savevestas.wordpress.com/

—-

A protester claims the 30 demonstrators at a sit-in at the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have been told they will be sacked.

Danish company Vestas Windsystems plans to make 625 workers redundant at the end of July, despite rising profits.

One of the protesters, who occupied the Newport site on Monday, said managers gave them until 2230 BST on Tuesday to end their action or face the sack.

Vestas said consultation on the site was on-going and would not comment.

The worker, who did not want to be named, said: “We have been told we will be sacked.

“We were given the choice to leave by 2230 BST last night and keep our redundancy package and walk out with no charges.

“Obviously we have stayed in. We didn’t want it to come to this.

“We want the company to explore the possibility of the government taking the site over and improving the redundancy package.”

The campaigners have called on Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, to travel to the island and speak to them.

Luke, one of the protesters, said: “We’re prepared to stay here for as long as it takes.”

About 200 workers staged a protest outside the factory on Tuesday after being turned away when they arrived for work.

They were also joined by climate change protesters who are supporting them.

Police said Vestas has started legal action to gain an injunction which would remove the protesters.

The company said the factory was being closed next week due to reduced demand for wind turbines in northern Europe

—-

Update, 22nd July: ARRESTS AT VESTAS + FOOD IN

At 5.10am this morning, a climate activist at the protest outside the Vestas plant attempted to take a bag of food to the occupying workers by means of a rope which the workers had lowered from the balcony. The activist was grabbed by 5 police officers and arrested. On his release he obtained the police report of his arrest, which stated that the reason for his arrest was that, as his bringing food to the occupiers had the stated intention of prolonging the protest, it was facilitating a breach of the peace – clearly ludicrous as the police have themselves admitted that the protest is not breaching the peace.

At 1248, a large number of protestors walked through the line of police holding food in their hands which they threw up to the balcony. The police pushed some of the protestors and attempted to obstruct the line but did not offer substantial resistance. One protestor was harassed by a security guard, and asked a police officer, whose number was 24266, if he intended to do anything about it; the officer said he didn’t. Another protestor saw a police officer grabbing the arm of an activist as he attempted to throw food to the balcony – the activist told the police officer that this constituted harassment, the police officer took no notice.

A second climate activist was arrested and taken through the front doors of the factory. Later, a sergeant whose number was 3027 came out and said that no-one had been arrested for carrying food, but that one activist had been arrested for assault. Other protestors present have commented that as the activist in question, who has not given permission for his name to be released, is a christian pacifist, this seems unlikely.

Security have started putting up a fence around the site, with protestors outside attempting to get a second food-carrying walk-in past the police before its completion. There are currently around 50 protestors outside the factory, over 30 of them Vestas workers, and sources say they expect numbers to increase drastically around 6pm when the protest starts.

EARTH FIRST! @ DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ROME

ACTIVISTS OF EF! ROME YESTERDAY PROTEST IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BEFORE BIG CONFERENCE OF SEGRETARY. LOT OF MEDIA IMPACT.
NEWS IN ITALIAN FROM OUR BLOG EF! ITALY

HOka hey! brothers and sister!

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FUORI PROGRAMMA ALLA FESTA DEL PD
da agenzia ADNKRONOS

ACTIVISTS OF EF! ROME YESTERDAY PROTEST IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BEFORE BIG CONFERENCE OF SEGRETARY. LOT OF MEDIA IMPACT.
NEWS IN ITALIAN FROM OUR BLOG EF! ITALY

HOka hey! brothers and sister!

******************************************************************************************
FUORI PROGRAMMA ALLA FESTA DEL PD
da agenzia ADNKRONOS

Roma, 16 lug. (Adnkronos) – Fuori programma alla festa del Pd a Roma per unaincursione ‘ecologista’ sul palco in cui il candidato alla segreteria PierLuigi Bersani stava per iniziare il suo intervento. Alcuni ragazziambientalisti hanno consegnato una lettera a Bersani (che avrebbero volutoleggere ma l’organizzazione della festa ha ritenuto che non fosse il caso)nella quale si denuncia la scarsa attenzione all’ambiente della festademocratica di Roma. “Certo ambientalismo produce solo rifiuti -diceMassimo, uno dei ragazzi che hanno inscenato la protesta- perche’ non e’possibile che ad una manifestazione del genere non si faccia la raccoltadifferenziata”. Dopo che i ragazzi sono stati fatti scendere dal palco Bersani ha volutocomunque subito rispondere alla loro sollecitazione: “si critica lo scarsoecologismo di questa festa ed io rispondo che si puo’ sempre fare di meglioe ricordo che i governi di centrosinistra sono stati quelli che per primihanno posto le tematiche ambientali tra le priorita’ delle azioni digoverno”. (Mon/Ct/Adnkronos) 16-LUG-09 21:24

PD: BERSANI CONTESTATO DA AMBIENTALISTI A FESTA DE L’UNITA’ DI ROMA
da Agenzia IRIS

ROMA, 16 LUG – Pierluigi Bersani, ospite al Democratic Party di Roma, è stato contestato da alcuni ragazzi di un movimento ecologista, Earth First Roma. “Si può sempre far meglio, tutte le critiche sono accettabili ma voglio ricordare che quando eravamo al governo abbiamo fatto i primissimi passi per accendere il motore verde nell’economia italiana. La legge per i pannelli fotovoltaici l’abbiamo fatta noi. Bisogna fare di più perché questa è la frontiera per rilanciare l’economia” risponde Bersani.

RAGAZZI CONSEGNANO UNA LETTERA DI CRITICHE AL CANDIDATO SEGRETARIO
da APCOM (nella foto lo striscione esposto)

Piccolo fuori programma alla festa del Pd a Roma dove questa sera viene intervistato Pierluigi Bersani. Quando il candidato alla segreteria prende posto sul palco alcuni ragazzi di un movimento ecologista che si chiama Earth First! Roma, cercano di prendere la parola per denunciare lo scarso ecologismo della festa, esponendo un cartello con la scritta ‘Certo ambientalismo produce solo rifiuti’. Massimo spiega che non c’era alcun intento violento nell’iniziativa ma solo il desiderio di consegnare una lettera a Bersani per denunciare il fatto che “alla festa del Pd non c’è la raccolta differenziata, non si usano prodotti riciclati, non ci sono pannelli fotovoltaici”. Bersani dal palco spiega e risponde: “Si può sempre far meglio, tutte le critiche sono accettabili ma voglio ricordare che quando eravamo al governo abbiamo fatto i primissimi passi per accendere il motore verde nell’economia italiana. La legge per i pannelli fotovoltaici l’abbiamo fatta noi. Bisogna fare di più perché questa è la frontiera per rilanciare l’economia”.

Pitched battles over open refuse dump outside Athens

8th July

Pitched battles between locals of Grammatico, outside Athens, and riot police forces over the construction of an open refuse damp with locals digging trenches, building barricades and torching bulldozers; scores have been wounded as battles continue amidst spreading fires.

8th July

More than 1500 locals of the Black Mountain village of Grammatico, outside Athens, have erected barricades and dug trenches in order to stop the beginning of an open refuse damp (XYTA) construction in their area. The locals torched the company’s bulldozers after riot police forces arrested and beat the resisting mayor, refusing to take him to the hospital to treat his wounds.

One of the local council members has been declared: “There are fires everywhere and strong police forces. We are afraid of a massacre. The police is using brutal force and we have scores of wounded citizens. The riot police forces (MAT) have reached our last barricade. If they manage to cross it, then the situation will be out of control. However this will prove hard, as it is our strongest barricade. We have dug the earth planting tractors and bulldozers in it. All the village is here and is ready to fight”. Many people have been arrested during the clashes, and several policemen have been wounded by projectiles. The fire brigade has deployed 3 airplane, 3 helicopters and over 15 fire engines in order to fight the fires caused by the riot police mindless use of tear gas and “blast and flash” grenades and are threatening a children summer camp nearby.

The construction of XYTA around the country has created a chain of violent environmental struggles, whose prototype is Lefkimmi, a Corfu village which has been resisting State plans for 18 months, losing one comrade in the battles with the police.

Shell to Sea activists board supply ship to Solitaire in Killibegs

6th July 2009

6th July 2009
This afternoon seven Shell to Sea activists in kayaks visited the Toisa Independent, which supplies pipe to the Solitaire, a vessel used by Shell to lay the Corrib gas pipeline. The Solitaire, which left Broadhaven Bay (1) yesterday after laying the first section of pipe for the project, has been the target of several actions recently in the continual campaign against Shell. (2) Despite Shell’s increasingly heavy handed response to protests, Shell to Sea activist’s have continued their fight.

Niall Harnett, speaking from the protest in Killybegs today said “We demand that this port stops supporting the Corrib gas project which is destroying the lives of the people in Erris. There has been much misinformation about the Corrib gas pipeline in the media, as campaigners continue to protest in order to bring a halt to this unsafe project which threatens the homes and livelihoods of many in the local area”. The pipeline would carry unprocessed gas across the region to the refinery at Bellanaboy. (4)

Harnett continued “We are also acting in protest against the theft of Ireland’s natural resources. At a time when unemployment levels are set to reach record numbers and the government attacks ordinary people with levies taxes and pay cuts it is obscene that Shell are allowed to steal billions of euro’s of our resources.” (5)

St.John O Donobhain, also on the protest, said. “Shell’s attempts to pretend the Corrib project is a done-deal is misleading. This is project is unjust, illegal, and immoral. It will fail.”

Activists strike at Chorlton Tesco, Manchester

4.7.2009
Manchester residents concerned about the presence of a Tesco store in Chorlton covered the shop in a hard hitting message to locals and the company late last night. They sprayed “Tesco is a virus” and “Tesco destroys places” in large letters across the front of the business.

Those who graffitied the supermarket say they did so because they are concerned about the effect of stores such as this on the local area. They are also angry about Tesco’s record on workers rights, both abroad and at home, and their massive contribution to climate change.

The new Tesco is proving damaging to small local businesses, many of which have been around for many decades. Far from increasing choice, the introduction of Tesco has just added to Tesco’s stranglehold and is pushing out all of the area’s variety and vitality.

Dan, one of those involved in last night’s activity said, “It’s pretty horrifying that 1 out of every 3 pounds spent on groceries in Britain is spent in Tesco. This kind of uniformity is not what we want, it’s destroying the vibrancy of local communities.”

The planned opening of the Tesco was the subject of much anger in the local area and kick-started a campaign against its construction called Keep Chorlton Interesting (It should be stressed that none of those involved in this campaign were responsible for this action). Despite opposition from hundreds of local residents, independent retailers, councillors and the local MP, the national planning inspectorate overturned the decision by the Manchester City Council Planning Committee to refuse the application.

Tesco’s record on workers rights is shocking. War on Want, the anti-poverty charity, showed last year that workers in one of Tesco’s factories in India were being payed £1.50 a day and forced to work 60 hour weeks.

Barak Obama recently weighed into the debate and attacked Tesco for refusing to allow workers to unionise in its stores in a letter to its boss Terry Leahy.

On top of all this Tesco is a major contributor to climate change: its shops are energy-intensive, food is flown in from thousands of miles away, and the company’s demand for products like palm oil is destroying vast tracts of the rainforest.

“Tesco will trample on anyone or anything for a quick buck. All they care about is their profit margins. Well, we say, it’s time we fought back and that’s just what we’ve started to do here,” said activist, Dan.

The group say they will be willing to act in a similar way in the future if it helps to highlight the true nature of Tesco. Manchester residents concerned about the presence of a Tesco store in Chorlton covered the shop in a hard hitting message to locals and the company late last night. They sprayed “Tesco is a virus” and “Tesco destroys places” in large letters across the front of the business.

Barak Obama recently weighed into the debate and attacked Tesco for refusing to allow workers to unionise in its stores in a letter to its boss Terry Leahy.

The group say they will be willing to act in a similar way in the future if it helps to highlight the true nature of Tesco.

Rossport solidarity demo at Irish Embassy

2nd July 2009

2nd July 2009
People gathered in London outside the Irish Embassy at 1pm yesterday to protest at the draconian jailing of 7 Shell to Sea protestors in Co. Mayo, Ireland. The 4 women and 2 men were arrested on Sunday June 28th for their part in the ongoing campaign against the construction of the Shell Corrib gas pipeline in Erris, Mayo. They were remanded on Mon June 29th to appear at court this Friday, 3rd July at 10.30am. Those being held on remand were all charged with minor public order offences (section 6: breach of the peace, section 8: refusing instructions of a guard and section 9: willful obstruction of a highway – 3 of them were arrested for simply walking across the road). None of these offences would usually result in someone being put on remand. We are concerned that the treatment of the protestors has been unjust for the following reasons;

– None of the protestors had previous convictions, yet they were refused normal bail conditions
– Judge Devins denied and/or deferred decisions on their kegal aid, although it was evident that some of the protestors are not able to afford their legal representation.
– Judge Devins has shown her disdain and bias against Shell to Sea protestors. Sending people to jail whose first offence is to be arrested for not obeying the directions of a guard is ridiculous and unprecedented.

We delivered a letter to the Irish Ambassador calling for him to ensure that the protestors are treated fairly, released from remand, and are allowed access to the legal aid to which they are entitled. It also expresses general concerns regarding the recent treatment of protestors by the Gardai and by the security that Shell have employed have employed to protect their gas project – Integrated Risk Management Services. I-RMS have been continually accused of using excessive force against the protestors. The letter also calls for a fair and thorough investigation into the recent allegations and for assurances that campaigners who are carrying out their democratic right to protest are treated fairly and their human rights upheld.

* The protest also hoped to raise awareness of events in Co. Mayo by holding banners and giving out leaflets asking people to support the seven on remand, and to make their protest against the actions of Shell and the Irish Government.

For further infomationa and updates: www.indymedia.ie and www.corribos.com
Email: info@corribos.com

Shell to Sea spokespersons: Ms Maura Harrington (T.087 9591474) an Mr Terrence Conway (T.086 0866264). Rossport Solidarity Camp media co-ordinator: Mr Niall Harnett (T. 086 8444966)