A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.

---Fidel Castro

‘No es facil’ - It’s not easy.

I am not a fan of Castro. I don’t like dictators. I think the execution of over a thousand Cubans after the Cuban revolution in 1959 coupled with ongoing Human Rights violations, repressive censorship and the jailing of dissenters does not make him an admirable man or his regime likeable or even acceptable.

However Cubans have fared better under Castro then they would have under the continued government of the likes of dictators like Fulgencio Batista whose corrupt government murdered, tortured and jailed dissenters and allowed the exploitation of the Cuban people, their country and its natural assets.

Until the revolution the Cubans were illiterate and lived in poverty. With the connivance of Batista the Mafia had the run of the Cuban Casinos and US big business had a licence to do what they wanted in the name of commerce.

This had come about since 1902 when Cuba became an independent republic after over two years of occupation by the US who had installed a governor. As part of achieving their independence Cuba was forced to accept the Platt Amendment, which gave the US government the power to intervene militarily in Cuban affairs. In 1903 the US used this to obtain a Military Base in Cuba, which he maintains to this day in Guantanamo Bay.

After independence a series of weak and often corrupt governments left the country vulnerable and the US sent its military into Cuba in 1906, 1912 and 1917 to protect its interests, which were considerable.

By the 1920s US companies owned two-thirds of Cuba’s farmland and most of its natural resources. The prohibition years in the US meant that Cuba was host to rich Americans who came to gamble and drink in the many Casinos. A series of US backed dictators ran the country inflicting terror campaigns to keep the population in line.

The last of these Fulgencio Batista came to power with a coup supported by the US government. By 1958 half of Cuba’s land, most of its industry and commerce and essential services were owned by US businesses.

Castro’s Revolution toppled Batista in 1959 and set about nationalising Cuba’s industries, banks, and services at the same time redistributing the land to the people.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone was right when he called the Cuban Revolution a highlight of the 20th Century, it was. It was a massively popular public uprising against a brutal, murderous and unjust regime and such a revolution would have been welcomed by the US had it occurred in Iraq anytime within the last 15 years.

In response the US put in place the trade embargo, which is still there today. The US government has also plotted to kill Castro and to date there have been over 630 plans for his elimination. These have become a bit of joke, but is it a joke that a nation like the United States openly admits to plotting to kill a man? Would it be so funny if they had succeed in killing Castro? Would that be ok?

Of course there was the Cuban Missile Crisis in between which strengthened the US's resolve and motivation to continue the embargo and it was neither Cuba’s finest hour nor Castro’s.

As the 1960s turned into the 1970s conditions radically improved for Cubans with universal health care and education. The income of the average Cuban skyrocketed, as did employment levels as the USSR took up the slack created by the US embargo. Trade withe the USSR and other Communist countries accounted for nearly 90% of Cuba’s international trade.

But the collapse of the USSR and that of Cuba’s international trade has meant a return to the poverty of old. The problems of housing were never successfully addressed and as a result the Cuban people live in substandard housing. And now they are poorer than ever.

With the 1990s began the severe rationing of food, forcing the legalisation of private income and the opening up of Cuba to tourism and US dollars.

In the 21st Century Cuba is creaking under the strain with only tourism and Chavez's oil for doctors scheme keeping the system afloat; though last year the economy grew by just over 1%.

The situation that Cuba finds itself in is in no doubt due to the un-workability of the ideal of Communism. But the suffering of ordinary Cubans is also due in equal part to the US’s maintenance of an embargo that serves no purpose, that is vindictive and spiteful in nature and which hinders the development and quality of life of the ordinary people of Cuba.

When one considers that the US trades openly with China whose Human Rights abuses, torture and execution of dissenters dwarf those of Castro and Cuba in scale, size and barbarity it is amazing that the US can keep a straight face as they continue to justify their embargo. Indeed under Bush the embargo has been strenghtened.

It has been estimated that the US loses over a Billion dollars of trade a year and is missing out on nearly 20,000 new jobs in the US by the continued embargoing of Cuba. Surely this is a case of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face on a massive scale. Or is it a case of cutting off one's nose to spite Castro?

Castro and his regime should go but so too should the US embargo.

‘No es facil' but it could be!

I have concerns over the police use of CCTV in small towns like Westport (pop. 5,000) as I feel not only is the population too small to require such an expensive system but that as we are such a small town it is very likely that the those watching you will in fact know you personally thus breaching your privacy.

I am opposed to whole scale CCTV surveillance as I think it breaches my rights as a citizen to go about my business without being subjected to surveillance. I also believe that CCTV is used to justify less Gardai on the streets.

I don't believe that CCTV is either effective as a deterrent to crime or as a useful tool for crime solving. The number of cases it is used in is low and the number of convictions even lower.

I am not on my own on this one. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has concerns in this area also. According to the ICCL "a series of studies that seriously questions the effectiveness of CCTV in preventing crime. Certainly, CCTV does not seem to achieve anything that can't be achieved by common sense measures such as better street lighting or more effective police patrols in city-centres.

"In recent years, many politicians have suggested that extensive spending on camera schemes was a panacea to street crime. Now it is clear that this is not the case. What is also disturbing is that the impact of such schemes on the privacy rights of the public at large has been largely ignored."

You can read more about that here.

Accrding to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, staff must be made aware that CCTV is in place and what the purpose of the cameras are. If staff are told that the cameras are there to protect staff against violent customers that’s the only thing they can be used for.

CCTV cameras can’t be used for monitoring attendance at work or to see whether staff are sitting at their desk all day long.

For more information on this read this article

There is also an interesting blog in the UK on this subject and the issues involved here.

So the issue is not as black and white as some people claim and I hope that after reading this post you might see my concerns or at least have questions over such systems. CCTV is not benign, it does affect your rights. Think about it before you support it in your town or area.

(I do however accept that it is necessary in areas like O'Connell St and high crime areas but this should be the exception not the norm)

Don't let them give you the" eye in the sky", demand more Gardai on your streets instead.

Note: we don't have CCTV in Westport..........yet!!

Northern Ireland currently has 26 councils but under a Review of Public Administration undertaken by the British Government that is set to be slashed to just seven super councils with increased powers. This will come into effect inn 2009.

I think it is shameful that the UK is to reduce Northern Ireland's local authorities to seven "super" councils. The only thing "super" about these councils will be there massive increase in bureaucracy and the distance between them and the people, local issues and concerns they supposed to deal with.

Worse again there does not seem to be a great deal of opposition to this plan from the political parties of the six counties.

We in Westport are twinned with Limavady, one of the 26 councils that will now disappear up into what will be called "North-West Local Government District," (the name just trips of the tongue doesn't it).

Those from Limavady that I have spoken to are upset because they will be losing their Mayor and their council chamber as everything de-camps to Derry. This is not local government. This is regional government.

It would be the same as if Westport were to come under the administration of Galway. Swallowed up by a bigger neighbour who will be more concerned with their own troubles than the local issues.

Whatever the faults of local government are, and there are many, the solution is not to remove it even further from the communities it is supposed to serve and represent. The way to make local government more effective is to decentralise real power to it. Decisions need to be made at as local a level as possible.

It is ironic that as the UK and Ireland try to increase democracy and participation in the North and as they are setting up a six-county power-sharing body, at the same time, they are strangling local government.

Who will cry "Stop!"

Ever since we set up the Fairtrade committee in Janurary 2005 we have received great support from the people of Westport and from the businesses in town like Super Valu, Centra and Ylang Ylang. Both churches came on board immediately and we were able to launch it after Mass with a tea morning for the congregations of St Mary's and Holy Trinity.

With the unanimous support of my fellow councillors we passed a motion in support of Fairtrade products and began working on the seven steps to becoming a Fairtrade town.

Today Westport Fairtrade Steering Committee have been notified by Fairtrade Ireland that Westport is to be granted status this week. It will officially become a Fairtrade Town a week before Castlebar does.

I am delighted that our town has achieved Fairtrade Status and now becomes the first Fairtrade Town in Connaught to join Galway which is a Fairtrade city.

Fairtrade is a better deal, a ‘fair’ deal for producers and workers in developing countries. Any product carrying the distinctive Fairtrade logo is guaranteed to have paid the farmer a fair price for his product, ensuring they were not exploited. You will be giving farmers in developing nations a fair day’s wage and the chance to improve the conditions for their families and communities, and isn’t that what we all ultimately want for ourselves?

Ever since we established the Steering committee we have been out and about spreading the word about Fairtrade and what it means for farmers and producers in the developing world. When we started in 2004 with a tea and coffee morning after church in Carrowbeg House we never dreamed that we would get such support and that people would embrace the idea so quickly. We owe a lot to the shoppers of Westport who made the switch to Fairtrade tea, coffee, bananas, wine, chocolate and the whole range of projects. We are also grateful to the shops, cafes, restaurants, schools, businesses and organisations which made the switch over to the Fairtrade mark. The children of Westport in particular took the Fairtrade project to heart.

Over the last two years we on the committee have been at the Food and Craft Markets on the Mall, in the St Patrick’s Day Parade, in the schools, in the shops and on the streets spreading the word about Fairtrade. A highlight of our campaign was when Alivera Kiiza a Fairtrade Coffee famrer and the first woman manager of the fair-trade coffee cooperative in Tanzania was our guest at a talk about Fairtrade for the secondary schools.



In order to achieve the status of Fairtrade Town for Westport we had to accomplish the following.

A local steering group is convened to ensure continued commitment to its Fairtrade Town status.