I4C Trouble with Daly and Wallace

As the world looks on in horror at the situation in Gaza, we take a moment to discuss the need to contextualise recent events and point to the real root of violence: Israel's apartheid against Palestinians. In declaring unconditional support for an extreme right-wing government employing genocidal and dehumanising rhetoric on Palestinians, EU institutions are validating and emboldening Israel's acts of aggression and undermining the EU's ability to play a credible role in the peace process.

We're back in Strasbourg for another plenary week after having organised some very successful events in the past few days, which we're very happy to share with you. We also talk about the tragic developments in Nagorno-Karabakh, where over 100,000 Armenians have been forced to flee; the Media Freedom Act, which despite its name, allows governments and private companies to use spyware against journalists; the EU's refusal to ban glyphosate; the shameful new asylum and migration pact and the Parliament's report on economic coercion by third countries.  

Mick and Clare are joined by two very special guests this week: Ilia Lobzhanidze and Beka Natsvlishvili, who tell us about their country and help us better understand Georgian geopolitics and the concerns of ordinary Georgian citizens.

Join us as we discuss Clare and Mick's meeting with European defence industry representatives, the latest protests in Ireland, funding for Ukraine and much more.Fins aviat!

We're back from the summer holidays, ready to bring you the latest from the plenary week in Strasbourg. Clare and Mick talk to Bethany about Ursula von der Leyen's State of the European Union (fitting name, if you ask us),  the EU throwing taxpayers' money at the arms industry (again), their clash with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the EU-Tunisia migration deal and the heated debate about criminalising sex work.You can click here to read the article Clare mentions about Zelensky.

This week we’re wrapping up for the summer. We discuss the Latin American People’s Summit where Mick and Clare had the chance to hear leaders from across the Latin American left. We also discuss a visit to the parliament by Dominic Óg McGlinchey who is seeking a proper investigation into the murder of his parents in the Republic of Ireland in the late 1980s and 1990s in connection with the troubles.

This week Mick and Clare are in Strasbourg. They discuss the small victory in the passing of the much-weakened Nature Restoration Law by the parliament. They discuss what is next for that major piece of legislation as well as the scandal that is the new children's hospital in Dublin.

This week on the podcast we're reflecting on the question of Irish neutrality, Michael Martin's laughable consultative forum and the event Mick and Clare hosted in Dublin.

This week we’re sharing the recording of the event we held in Dublin on Saturday 24th June, Neutrality: Who Cares? *** note that this is part 2, if you haven’t yet listened to part 1, we recommend you go back and listen to that first *** Speakers featured - Clare, Mick, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, and British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner Lowkey Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK. She is also co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange, the Peace in Ukraine Coalition, Unfreeze Afghanistan (which advocates for returning the $7 billion of Afghan funds frozen in U.S. banks), ACERE: The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect, and the Nobel Peace Prize for Cuban Doctors Campaign. Medea has been an advocate for social justice for 50 years. Described as "one of America's most committed -- and most effective -- fighters for human rights" by New York Newsday, and "one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement" by the Los Angeles Times, she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide. Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS university and is an advisor to the website Declassified UK which investigates the activities of the British Intelligence Services and the Ministry of Defence.

This week we’re sharing the recording of the event we held in Dublin on Saturday 24th June, Neutrality: Who Cares? This is part one, featuring Clare, Mick, Ann Wright, Yanis Varoufakis and Sevim Dagdelen, MP for Die Linke, Germany. Part 2 to follow soon. Ann Wright served for 29 years in the US Army and 16 years as a US diplomat in US embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the US government in March 2023 in opposition to George Bush's war on Iraq. She has been a strong anti-war voice for the past 20 years. She is the co-author of "Dissent: Voices of Conscience." Yanis Varoufakis is Greek politician and former Greek Finance Minister. In 2016, he co-founded DiEM25, Europe’s first transnational pan-European movement. In 2018, together with US Senator Bernie Sanders, he established the Progressive International – a global movement with affiliated members of over 200 million people from across the world. In addition to these organisational endeavours, he has travelled extensively giving talks and participating in various activist events and projects. He is the author of several best-selling books. His latest, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, will be released in autumn 2023. Sevim Dagdelen of the Left Party (Die Linke) has been elected four times as a member of the German Bundestag for North Rhine Westphalia. She is Deputy Leader of her party in parliament and chair of the German-Turkish parliamentary group, as well as spokeswoman for the Left Party parliamentary group on the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs. She previously worked as a journalist for German and Turkish newspapers.