Off The Beaten Track was four days of fun filled revelry that took place in July in Tyres Brae outside Downpatrick. This is the second year of the festival and it looks like its a real catalyst for getting people stirring off their arses in Northern Ireland. Petesy Burns was the main organiser of the event. Darren tracked him down at the exciting and dynamic Giro’s Drop-in Centre and threw these questions at him.
 

Give us some background to the whole concept of Off the Beaten Track.
Ok the idea is fairly old in terms of its just to do something over the twelfth because there’s a mass exodus year in, year out, people are saying I wish I didn’t have to do this I wish I didn’t have to go away; but there’s nothing else. That was the idea. But the inspiration I suppose came from a rainbow gathering that happened in Rathlin in ‘97. I was just touched by the whole idea - the whole sharing thing. The rainbow gathering to me was a bit airy fairy, you had a lot of sorta earthy types who weren’t really connected to anything else but the clouds. But the spirit of it was there, it was really good and there were lots of good people there. It was very inspirational the whole idea of people doing things together and actually putting something back into the site. I came back from that a bit enthused and thought we could do something maybe on a bit more of a practical level and a bit more organised - maybe not as spontaneous as the rainbow with a definite programme. I talked to Paul who lived in Fleskwater at the time and he suggested we do something up there.

What’s your role been in the whole thing?
I’m the Boss!…No…The constant role, in the couple of years its been happening, has been the admin, the fundraising which is something that up until this year I didn’t mind doing because its what I do here and I’m used to it. It’s shit work but I feel comfortable enough to be able to do it. Last year it was mostly that, and trying to co-ordinate the actual thing - making sure the workshop people knew what they were doing. This year I was a bit more hands on because there was more people involved which was good. There was a lot more people who jumped in there and when that happens you don’t feel as much responsibility and I was able to participate and enjoy it a bit more this year.

How has N.I. managed to survive up until now without OTBT? Has anything like this ever happened in the past?
Things are happening all the time and have happened all the time in the past. What makes it unique is probably the timing of it. Your talking about the worst time of year here, no matter what forget about the politics of it whether its the Orange Order or Nationalist resident’s groups, forget about that I’m just talking about the atmosphere at that time of year, the apprehension towards staying here, the feeling its shit it just really is shit no matter who’s to blame. There are other things happening you just don’t hear about them – communication is quite bad in that respect. What makes it different is the uniqueness of it - people go to similar things of a similar nature maybe in the south, but it wouldn’t occur to them to stay here and maybe circumnavigate the madness and make their way to somewhere.

What happened at the first OTBT festival that took place in 1998 at Fleskwater Farm Co. Antrim?
The festival was quite different up there. In terms of it was the first one. There was maybe 6 or 7 workshops quite focused ones, like permaculture, renewable energy, the circus people were there too and percussion and art workshop and a workshop on contact improvisation. It was washed out, it pissed down for three days solid. But the atmosphere was great people really didn’t know why they were there they just knew that something was happening and thought that sounded interesting and wanted to be a part of it and be together. There was a lot more positive aspects to the first one because every evening we had discussion. The discussion was very good hearing everyone’s point of view and what they thought of it when they were there. It progressed as it went on through to practical stuff such as how we could keep in touch, what we could do to help each other out in our respective lives, projects, whatever. More or less the same type of feeling. A bit more euphoric because it was the first one. Again the feeling was good and it was a shit time. We were near Ballymoney were those kids got burnt to death and it was a really fucking bad time. Yet in some respects people rose above it. It affected everyone but it didn’t take away from the whole impact of what had already happened and the fact that we were there. We knew we were there it wasn’t escapism but it was like this kinda thing when it goes on when it happens -something really awful happens and everyone is grabbed by it and twisted by it. And your meant to be. But the way the whole thing is handled is everyone has to be dragged into it and everyone has to feel powerless. It wasn’t like that people did get drawn into it but they didn’t feel powerless.

Was there a decision at the end of the Fleskwater Festival to have another one and at a different location?
There wasn’t. The possibility was talked about as much as other vague possibilities. There was possibilities for people coming to Belfast to see what was going on in this place (The Centre/Giro’s) and go to a gig and arrange a gathering to bring people and keep people together. There was supposed to be a news sheet. People were supposed to go to Fleskwater at certain times to help them out. Along with all those possibilities it was sorta touched on that we could do another one. But nothing definite came off it until the offer was made of Tyres Brae.

What kinda work went into preparing for OTBT 2? Was there much support from people who’d been at the festival at Fleskwater?
There were maybe a couple of people who had been at Fleskwater who got involved in the preparation this time. In terms of the list of people it was a bit disappointing. There was maybe about 30 people that I’d kept in contact with, and it was quite disappointing in that respect that nobody did give any time to it. But I understand its not that I take anything from that and go ‘wankers’ or ‘everyone’s full of shit’. It’s just a bit disappointing at times when your trying to get this communication thing and that was such a big element last year that people felt so strongly about communication. And I think people forget about what communication actually is with the lapse of time. That was a bit sad. You get people who it does click with them and that’s fair enough. The group that did go down and get involved in the preparation, it was brilliant, it was just right. Maybe it would have been just right if it had been 20 as well. It didn’t matter, between 5 and 8 people there at all the weekends 4 months previous to the event. It happened people got stuck into what needed to be done.

What went on over the 4 days of the festival?
Fuck sake! You were there!! We’ll take about the programme first. We had three workshops going on. There was a Tools For Solidarity workshop refurbishing tools that were subsequently sent to Tanzania. Making recycled furniture from pallets using simple techniques. And percussion making instruments from waste. In the afternoon it was quite hot; so there was meant to be a lot of working going on and doing bits and pieces. But it ended up as sorta strolls in the sun and Philip talking about permaculture, which he’s good at. A bit of demolition happened in one of the afternoons as well. There were a few impromptu workshops. First thing in the morning there was yoga, and in the evening there was Tai Chi, one evening there was a healing power of herbs workshop, another evening there was divining, and also the same night there henna tattoo’s, and jewellery making. Music on in the evening, some amazing bands, and also some of the people who were at it getting up and playing stuff, and poetry and drama. We usually ended the night off by going down and lighting the fire and talking keek (ie shite, readers!) into the small hours.

How was the festival funded?
This time round by funders, funding agencies. Two of the departments of the Community Relations Council, Cultural Ctraditions and the inter-community one, and the NI Voluntary Trust. So it was all mundane fundraising jumping through hoops, waiting ridiculous amounts of time for money, usually too late to do anything in time in terms of publicity etc. Those are the sort of things you have to live with if you wanna go down that road.

What level of participation was there from the local community in Downpatrick?
Not a lot. A few people came from the immediate area. It was not through want of trying - me and this funny we fellow went out leafleting one day in town, so people got access, we were handing them to people on the streets with the personal touch and they’d been in shops. The press didn’t really help much, they did an article on it and made it sound like a party. Nothing that you’d really sorta want to go to. People perceptions: if there had been ice cream vans and bouncy castles, and things like that a summer fete type thing they might’ve went for it. But it was a wee bit maybe too whacky for them.

How important was it that the event was family friendly?
I don’t know if I would use the term ‘family friendly’ more like people friendly. People being from 0 to what ever age and some provision there for them to participate. Obviously some are a bit young and can’t really do much so they need to be looked after, so those provisions are there. Another aspect is you get people who don’t have someone to look after their kids so a crèche is really good idea. Activities were to cater for everyone. Having said that it would have been better (which we’re addressing this time around) for the kids to do stuff themselves rather than give them something token to keep them amused.

Would you judge it a success?
Oh yeah, mmmm, well it depends on your criteria. But at the end of the day it wasn’t problematic. People came away quite inspired. The idea was not to inspire people or to skill them up but to get them to work together at that time of year. So if that’s the goal to achieve then it was successful.

What is your most positive memory of the event?
Hmmm. Tu Da Kan, Aqua Marina and the Tai Chi class..! The most positive thing for me was probably simple enough, I mean you can go into loadsa things happening and people being touched etc, but the simple thing was the hammer I did in the Tools For Solidarity workshop. I mean learning how to put a shaft on a hammer was great, but knowing that the conclusion was that maybe six months down the line somebody who doesn’t have the means of doing something will have it. It was good to contribute towards something worthwhile. And it was another element - there’s a connection made outside just the simple event.

What would you change if it were to happen again next year? What strengths are there to build upon?
One thing I’ve already mentioned that I think could be improved upon is the whole children’s provision. That’s being addressed as we speak. Adults, no matter how good their attentions are, will provide something token that they think children will enjoy. You can’t do that, they have to determine what they want to do themselves. Again a lot of suggestions other people have made I’ve taken on board in terms of I haven’t really had time to think about what I would feel would be a good thing. Even the whole thing about eating. There was a line in the previous year between workers and people participating in it. Which to some degree is fair enough because you have to look after people who are working and make sure they’re catered for etc. But its also an unnecessary distinction. And one thing that was suggested for next year was everyone eating together. I thought that was a great thing about the rainbow festival. It was brilliant having that time when everyone was together and that was the time people got the feeling that it was a big gathering, people didn’t go off into their separate wee units and nuclear families. I would say in terms of what I would like is to do something that involves communication going on throughout the year. The event being the culmination of a lot of stuff that’s been happening. You know working towards it in tangible ways where people are getting together, people are organising whatever and supporting each others gatherings. That would be the important element rather than anything specific about the event itself.

The focus of the activity this year was very much on practical side of things rather than just talking workshops, was this a conscious decision on behalf of the organisers or did it just work out that way?
I think I was the wrong person to programme for talks and things like that. Because I was a bit disillusioned with the whole way the thing fell by the wayside after so much talking enthusiasm, and commitment, was showed last year, very little actually came out of it in terms of people actually doing things together. It really wasn’t high on my priority to do that. What was programmed in was a vague notion of a ‘talking room’, where if people wanted to have the opportunities in the evenings they could’ve had it. It didn’t work and it wouldn’t work because you do need a focus and go well if we come here at a certain time were gonna talk about this. I thought maybe on another level it could’ve worked because it might’ve drawn people to it who are really interested without having to involve everyone. And everyone who ended up there were genuinely involved. But its something that could be looked at again because discussion and knowledge and learning is such an important part and that whole side is lost.

The theme of this years festival was sustainability. Often an aspect of sustainability that is forgotten about is people in terms off enthusiasm, commitment, etc. Do you think OTBT has achieved the level of sustainability where enough people feel a sense of ownership of the festival, that everything is not left to one person (or a handful of people) who are likely to burn out?
Yes and No, because it remains to be seen. We had a meeting last week, we said on the last night of the festival we’ll have a meeting on Friday 13th of August and we did. As far as I’m concerned that was a resounding success. There were 19 people and a dog at the meeting! There were another 4 or 5 people who would’ve been there who were either away or had other commitments. Out of the meeting everyone there volunteered to do things and to get involved and that’s a good indicator at that early stage. And then there’s something else planned a vision of what’s gonna happen on the 18th a meet and eat event. We’ll have a meeting to talk about more practicalities and then have a medieval theme evening as a fundraiser. It’s good that it happens like that. I think if you leave things for 3 or 4 months people forget about it and get involved in other things and you have to drag them back. Keeping it interesting and keeping it focused saying here’s how we can get together again it could work and that’s the sustainability factor as far as I’m concerned because that’s what its about, it’s about other people taking responsibility, and bringing other experiences and aspects into the organisation of it which makes it a completely different thing. A big part of that sustainability is that everyone is of a similar mind, we’ll just raise the money ourselves and there’s ownership there so that’s real sustainability for me.

OTBT has been dubbed ‘The Alternative 12th’. I also heard the phrase ‘alternative festival full of alternative people’. What do you think of this notion of ‘alternative’?
It really is keek, just another dividing line. We all use terms. We’re all guilty of putting people into categories or using these terms to neatly pigeonhole what you can use as a term of reference. It’s OK on some levels on other levels its missing the point a bit. People look on sustainability - things like permaculture, stuff that’s good for the land and good in terms of empowering people, they look on that in some vague way that its got nothing to do with our lives, that its alternative and not mainstream. It’s a nonsensical way of looking at how things can be done and how people can work together. It’s not really an alternative. It’s a way that undoes a lot of the shackles of what consumerism’s done and what it’s responsible for. I think it’s dangerous to try and put it into the category of alternative almost like it’s opposing something else. I don’t see it as opposition, just the stuff that we do and the possibilities that we try and open up. I see it as coming underneath what’s happening at the moment anyway, and laying the roots of replacing what is going on now because it can’t sustain itself. But it’s hard to get away from the tag because people label you because you have a certain lifestyle. And I’d probably be guilty of other stuff myself - other categorisations but it’s an onggoing process of eliminating them. I don’t agree with the alternative tag as far as OTBT is concerned. OTBT itself will of course bring in connotations of this because your saying ‘Off The Beaten Track’, so it must be away from the mainstream. There’s lots of word play there and its just play. There’s no great statement in it. The beaten track is as well as the track of marchers around the 12th of July and lots of things. Again there was no great meaning in it because it was for everyone. Not just weirdo hippies like you and mad punks like me!

There was a big emphasis on the ‘free’ aspect of the festival avoiding the pitfalls of green consumerism. Do you see it staying like this or will OTBT become NI’s answer to Glastonbury, will we have to pay £75 to see Tu Da Kan on the monsters of rock stage in 25 years?
Well as long as I’m getting a fair cut of it..! Again that remains to be seen. It changes with the involvement in it. But as far as my involvement goes no. I would never be involved in something that is laying the ground work of something that was so exploitative. Things start from pure beginnings and turn into these monsters and as far as I’m concerned its missing the point. There’s enough of that going on, there’s enough consumerism. Wherever you go it’s fired at you from every direction. There’s nothing that’s truly free. Some people that came to the first OFTB were going ‘what’s the catch here what are we expected to do’. But there is no catch and there shouldn’t be. Commercialisation only happens when people run away with their vision going ‘look if we made a bit of money doing this we could put it into this we could make it bigger’. What’s the point? What has happened has been very special. Of course we should be open to change. But that change should be along the line of is it sustainable, is it keeping it accessible to people, can people come along and feel a sense of ownership?. You can feel an ownership if you’re paying an entrance fee and being herded in and out again.

We live in a disenfranchised society. Most of us don’t know our neighbours and organic communities are breaking down. The interpersonal exchange, communication, participation and communality of OTBT is an element that is missing from many of our lives. How important do you see intentional communities coming together with a common purpose such as that as OTBT. Can this sense of community continue without a sense of place, i.e. after the festival is over do we just go home and forget about each other?
I know a few of my neighbours. But that is a problem, in terms of if your involving everyone in something, giving them a taste of what this is like and then disappear into the wood work and hope it will have some sort of impact and they start doing something practical about it. I certainly have a desire of putting that idea of that kinda living into practice with a group or community of people and actually doing things worthwhile. If there’s people there who were involved in the first few and they say look we can do this and I know someone who wants to get involved and do something; whether its a housing co-op or land co-op and if that’s done and the practicalities are known, the pitfalls are known, then that’s an element we can bring into it - and say here’s what we did, here’s how we did it and why we did it. That’s what OTBT or any event like it would be about. Those experiences becoming real. It’s like permaculture was quite a vague notion for me. Ok you could read the definition and think that sounds Ok. But how could that apply. When you meet somebody who actually lives it you went ‘fuck it’s within reach, its a possibility’. The same could be said for anything, so if people do take up the notion that we’re gonna live our lives like this then it can effect others by going well here’s how it was done. Just like OTBT, here’s how we organised it and people who’ve never organised anything before get into that process, do their own thing or get involved and bring their own element in and organise it. They can do the same thing then about living how people live practical steps where you get this where you get that, how you got the land, how you got the house and how you can do it being skint which is really what its about.

A lot of people pinned a lot of hope in The New Assembly et al. ‘A new chapter in N.I. political history.’ This had all disappeared up its own arse in the weeks preceding OTBT. Having seen your organ ‘Warzine’ I know your an opinionated shite. What do you think of the current state of N.I. politics. What part does OTBT and similar events have to play in it all?
I think the whole process of what’s happened over the last few years in terms of politics in N.I. has shown up what opinionated fuckers like myself have been saying for years. If you put your life in the hands of these people they’ll inevitably fuck it up and they won’t come up with the goods, because they can’t. At the end of the day, it’s there’s too many interests at play to allow meaningful change to happen on such a big level and such a big way, that it’s actually gonna make any impact on peoples lives who really need it. There are people in there. I’ve met some of the people involved in Stormont and the talks who’ve got quite a good grounding in community type politics and call them Loyalist or Republican but they’re in there with a fair knowledge of what the people want to happen. And they’re talking about (excuse the nauseating terminology) bread and butter issues which is fair enough. If people are saying to them ‘it’s all fucking well you talking about this or that but what about my house’ or whatever; the conditions people are living in. But there’s so much stacked against them in terms of middle class parties - the biggest ones SDLP, and Ulster Uniionists. If anything meaningful ever happened in terms of changing the way things are run over here - these are the people in power. With people like Sin Fein and the PUP biting at there ankles and Paisley stirring it. Not that OBT plays a part but its a small example of doing something that actually goes ‘I’ll come in here and I’ll do something that’s meaningful to me, or ‘I’ve done something to make things better or improve my own life’. That’s really what people should be encouraged to do rather than be encouraged to wait and listen to these other people tell them that they shouldn’t do this or shouldn’t do that and that their creating all the problems; which is all these people can do. I think that part of OTBT or anything like it is to go well ‘forget about that, its there but pay attention to the things that are gonna effect your life’ but don’t put to much credence in it. The circumstances for cease-fires or people actually talking to each other hasn’t come from any great sea of change, in terms of the politicians, it’s come from people working in those communities who’ve been able to diffuse a few of the nutters and actually make them think of something else and that’s the way it will happen. That’s the part that small things can play. The difference with what we’re doing is the whole non-hierarchy thing is built into it. The danger is with hierarchy and power. OTBT can happen with people making it happen, without anyone in control of it and with everyone owning it and practical things coming out.

OK after that politics and social science tell us a funny anecdote about OTBT.
(After much mental juggling, wrestling, sighing, huming and ha-ing no funny anecdote was forthcoming. The editorial committee apologise profusely for this; however no refunds shall be given…)

Plans for the future?
The basis of a working group has been set up. And the idea there is to raise the funds and to put together a programme that everyone can have an input into for next years event. That’s the immediate future and its as far as I can look. It could go on to different things it could be a number of things it could be not OBT, after a certain time it could change and become something else. In the meantime people learning how to do this, people who haven’t been involved in this type of thing before. Learning to tolerate asshole behaviour at meetings loud people, how to give everyone their say how everyone gets their say and have equal input. That’s quite an interesting thing. It is fairly immediate but that’s good we should focus on what’s going on and what’s happening now.
 

Contact: Off the Beaten Track, c/o Giro's, 1-5 Donegall Lane, Belfast, BT1 2LZ

 
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With packed lunches at the ready the DAAA/Green Action crew (five of us in all) headed off to London for a relaxing break and some shopping! Just by coincidence we came upon J18, a carnival against capitalism. (Wow! What are the chances of that!)

Everyone got handed a carnival mask that corresponded to different coloured streamers so as the crowd split up into several groups to wander off in separate directions to make sure we had a maximum impact on the city. This is when things started getting a bit funny. We were a pretty good natured jolly bunch bringing our colour to the grey of the city, feeling pretty euphoric because we were actually doing it.

Some of us were taking over a road junction when this absolute dick head on motor cycle drove into the crowd. How no one was hurt I have no fucking idea. His path was blocked by someone in a wheel chair, and we manage to push him and his bike back into the stationary traffic, as he protested at his freedom being violated and threatened to kick ass. Unfortunately somehow his keys managed to work themselves loose from his ignition and down a drain…(oops!) Anyway we moved on and were met by some over enthusiastic riot police (obviously keen to get some overtime…) The cops tried to form a line and stop us from advancing, but we just kept moving and they just kept edging back. It was kinda a bit scary (well actually I was shiting my pants). The edging back of the police kinda turned into a trot and next thing they were on retreat and getting back in their riot vans, which were immediately surrounded by our euphoric crowd.   This was a kinda cool feeling having forced the cops back into their vans. However it soon turned to shock as the vans reversed at high speed into the crowd. Fuck I couldn’t believe it, they just fucking drove right into people, a tightly packed crowd and they reversed at speed. This was the first instance of violence that I witnessed. The crowd was panicked we all had to run. It kinda turned pretty surreal after that. (Even thinking of it now several months later I feel sick and fucked up). There was a really stunned angry atmosphere, but suddenly there didn’t seem that many of us, the street was really fucking surrounded by riot troopers, someone was on the ground badly injured.

At this stage I was well separated from any of the people I knew, and I didn’t know if anyone was injured and I felt alone (another shitting my pants incident). How I managed to get out of their I’m not sure, but I spent the next hour or so trying to catch up with the rest of the Belfast party. Most of us eventually managed to track each other down and the carnival continued. It was at this point we happened upon a McDonalds restaurant that had been smashed to bits (oops!). Quite a glorious sight. Our spirits picked up immensely.

Wandering around the city there were mini reclaim the streets everywhere, it was a real Teddy Bears picnic atmosphere. It was at this point chilling out that I was accosted by an obnoxious wanker city trader. He was just so infuriated that we were here having a party when, he ‘had to work to feed his family’. Perhaps engaging in debate wasn’t the most sensible thing to do. But anyway I explained how we all had to work for a fairer world, and that as a direct result of what goes in the city of London, and other financial centres of the world, the majority of the worlds population were unable to feed their families. At this point he ripped off his suit and tie, burnt it on the ground and asked me if I could recommend a hairdresser who could do a decent set of dreads. (Well actually that’s not true…) He went off spitting and scathing in the other direction. Well you gotta try…

The word on the street was that it was all happening at the Futures Centre so we got are arses over there. The scene was kinda sublime. At one end of the street activists grooved to a soul/motown sound system. At the other end of the street a fire hydrant had spontaneously erupted and sprayed up the side of city buildings, as people chilled out by dancing in the shower underneath a banner ‘don’t speculate - live’. The police looked on kinda bemused and irate, however members of the fire service laughed and joked with activists and some of them were even juggling and dancing. I was just beginning to really enjoy my funky groove, when those nasty police decided to charge us again (fucking spoilsports).

They were charging to make a line to protect the Futures centre. But oh dear, they were too late as activists came running outside bringing with them files, and office crap to cheers of the crowd. The place had received a bit of a bashing. Now as much as I disrespect the police, I can’t condone them being showered with bottles when surrounded by a hostile crowd, and no means of escape. I think it’s important here to make a distinction between destruction of property, and violence against other human beings. I think that some of the ‘class war’ ‘another dead cop…’ mentality is a load of macho ego wank. We’ve witnessed enough ‘legitimate target’ rhetoric in N. Ireland. You get an element of tough men/women who wanna flex there muscles at any direct action event where there is a stark interface between authorities and activists. It seriously needs to be questioned if this gets us anywhere. Anyway any of us who tried to engage with this wankdog football hooligan element in our midst we’re told to fuck off and called fluffy hippies. I think it’s important to point out that it was about 50 - 100 people involved in this kinda shit out of thousands of people, compare that with the mainstream media bullshit version.

Anyway things at the Future Centre were hotting up and fuckloads more police were storming in and it was time to move on. Wherever we ended up was were most of the crowd seemed to have converged. There was cool banners everywhere ‘global ecology not global economy’. There was a sound system somewhere in a lorry blasting out hardcore techno that sounded like a cement mixer, and bodies going bikkies, a bloke with a PA playing protest songs, and then the samba band turned up too. The place was bliss. Although it took a while for the adrenaline to calm down before Ooops! (again!) what an (un)fortunate place for a Mercedes showroom. Crash bang wallop etc. Around this point the police came in pretty heavy handed again and a lot of people got badly bashed with those big truncheon things. But the crowd just kept moving forward but there was too many of us for the cops to do much. Again it was pretty shit scary being around the rear end of the crowd knowing they could charge at any minute. Some of the more agile members of the crowd climbed huge poles and covered and smashed cctv camera’s, which received a bit of a bashing in general throughout the day. This proved very popular with the masses and there was rapturous applause, and cries of encore could be heard.

We entered some kinda motorway tunnel which was kinda surreal it seemed to go on for quite a bit and everyone got to cool off periodically with water hoses being showered upon us. Much dancing and fun continued for some time on the other side until it was time to go and party at Trafalgar Square. There seemed to be quite a few McDonalds on this route, although the police seemed to have noticed a pattern developing and formed a line outside some of them to protect Ronald and friends. (Incidentally Ronald and the cops have been good friends for quite some time and the McLibel 2 are currently suing the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, claiming damages for misfeasance in public office, breach of confidence and breach of their right to privacy, which came to light during the McLibel Trial.)

Trafalgar Square hosted a mighty fine party. The place was awash with happy faces, jugglers, drummers, campfire’s, weirdo’s, freaks, naked fountain dancers, it was great. We hung out their till it was dark, swapping tales of the day, and chilling out. Helicopters hovered overhead (just like home…) and the police looked on but kept their distance, as the exhausted and exhilarated smelly people dispersed and disappeared into the night. Hmmmm seems like a nice day out. But what was it all about?

Some people criticised that the ‘protest’ didn’t really get the message across. This kinda misses the point. J18 was not a protest, we weren’t asking for anything. We were coming out of the shadows and saying ‘hello’. We were raising the voice of resistance as an assurance to the gamblers in the capitalist control room that their time is up. This voice of global resistance was resounded in financial centres across the globe.

Taking it to the heart of economic turmoil, to the epicentre of environmental destruction, the control room of social inequity, the castle that protects and numbs the global gamblers from the impact of their fun, the pompous phallic buildings clean clinical steel and glass, stone and concrete, reassuring controlled; conformed and grey. We brought our colour our creativity, our diversity, our happiness, our resistance, our hope and an insatiable hunger for revolution justice and real life. The message to capitalism is simple Game Over.

DISCLAIMER: The daaa collective would like to point out that we do not condone or attempt to justify orchestrated acts of destruction against private property. Even when on the wider scale of things this property is part of the machinery that destroys our planet and assaults our communities in pursuit of the supreme god of money. We take pains to discourage you from participating in subsequent days of action such as the November 30 global day of action against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in a city near you. Perhaps your time would be better spent writing a letter to your local MP. After all, if we can’t depend on democracy to bring about lasting social and environmental change what can we depend upon… http://www.j18.org

 
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Davie Phillips is a man with many hats; he’s involved in Low Impact, Source Media, VOICE, Feasta, and well lots of other stuff. In Summer 98, he was involved in a genetics action at a test site in Wexford. This action led to Davie and 6 others (The Authurstown 7) getting dragged through the courts by our old friend Monsanto. We fired some questions at him over the old jiggery pokery machine and here’s what he had to say…

Give us a bit of background on yourself? Why are you the kinda person who feels the need to ‘disrespect’ the ‘law of the land’ by uprooting a ‘poor farmers’ crops?!
Well I grew up in Scotland. I got to travel a lot when I was younger due to the fact that I was good at skateboarding. Sponsors paid me for trips all over the world. I suppose seeing the world is what opened my eyes to what was going on globally. In Glasgow I owned a clothing company and shop selling snowboards and skateboards, it was quite successful but I got really disillusioned with business. In 1991 I sold out to my partner and went off to Romania to work in an orphanage. I came to Ireland in 1994 after spending a year in a half in Asia. I ended up studying anthropology at Maynooth University and was one of the founders of ‘Low Impact’ the organisers of the ‘Sustainable Earth Fairs’. I am still working on projects that we started as Low Impact and disseminating information on sustainability with Source Media. Apart from smoking a bit of dope I have never broken any laws, so I’m not someone that feels the need to ‘disrespect the law’. With the genetic issue and the ‘poor farmers’ crop in Wexford, that was a spontaneous thing really.

Tell us about the action in Wexford during the Summer of 98, I believe it followed on from a Good Food gathering held in the vicinity.
All we did was organise a public talk in Duncannon Fort, four miles from the test site of the genetically engineered sugar beet, to alert the locals of the dangers of genetic engineering in food and agriculture. Nuala Ahern MEP, John Gormley TD, Joe Higgins TD, and John Seymour informed the 150 people that attended of the immediate threat posed by GMO’s. A few days before, unknown persons dug up about 50% of the test site, there were conflicting statements in the newspapers regarding the amount of damage done so it was suggested that the press should be taken up to the test site to investigate for themselves. No one talked about going to dig up the beet or anything like that.

About 70 people walked to the test site including the politicians. There were about seven policemen and three Monsanto security guards waiting for us when we reached the test site. John Seymour and his friend Ritchie Roach had already been into the test site and had been stopped digging up the beet. It was a very surreal scene, behind a barbed wire fence with a 2 meter gap from the conventional sugar beet were the genetically altered ones, they looked small and scraggly. We walked up to the fence and looked over, people chatted to the police explaining why we were concerned. At first no one did anything then without any prompting people started jumping over or climbing under the fence, the guards followed, it was all very good-natured. Over 30 people went into the ¼ acre test site. While the beet was being pulled Joe Higgins the socialist TD found a team of security guards secretly filming from the bushes, this caused a bit of commotion. No one was arrested on the day, not even a name and address was taken, so it was quite a surprise when I was visited a few months later by two Wexford gardaí to be issued a summons. Seven people ended up being charged with forced entry, occupation and criminal damage without lawful excuse.

Tell us about Monsanto’s pre-action eyes and ears. Did the fact that Monsanto had set up surveillance of the activists become public during the case? I presume this further helped to bring public opinion on your side?
The seven that Monsanto choose to prosecute made it easy to swing public opinion in our favour. Here were a pretty respectable bunch including journalists and writers singled out of over 30 people to be prosecuted by a giant American agrichemical company. Plus the media over in England were having a field day with the GM issue, Dr Putszi’s research that had been suppressed by the industry had been validated by independent scientists. Then during the court case it came out that people had been under surveillance before the public talk in Wexford, our solicitor obtained the film footage from ‘Probe Security Network’ who had been hired by Monsanto to gather intelligence. It showed ‘suspects’ in Dublin getting onto the bus and later people coming out the public talk filmed from the blacked out window of a van. This may have helped to bring public opinion to our side, I don’t know, it’s scary though. Are they listening to our phone- calls and reading our e-mails? Probably

The court case sounded like fun and a good ‘excuse’ to get lots of colourful activists and expert witnesses down in Wexford! Tell us more.
It was planned to have a 2-day long awareness-raising, idea-sharing, informative and discursive event happening in New Ross, to coincide with the court case. The New Ross Hotel’s ballroom was booked for two days and information stalls, public speakers, street theatre, good healthy organic food and music were all part of the plan. We wanted to make the event as colourful and friendly as possible, putting a strong emphasis on informing people about the possible hazards of Genetic Engineering, and giving organic food lots of coverage as a sustainable and preferable alternative. For the court case Mae-Wan Ho the geneticist and author of ‘Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare’ flew in as one of our expert witnesses. Our solicitor David Bulbula, who was brilliant, had prepared our case. We pleaded not guilty to the criminal damage without lawful excuse, we all firmly believed that GM was a serious and immediate threat to health and the environment and therefore according to the law we had lawful excuse.

From all the activists who took part on the day, only 7 were eventually prosecuted. Is this a deliberate coincidence especially since they’re all well known in environmental activist circles?
Well four of the 7 had organised the debate held at Maynooth University where Vandana Shiva, Mae-Wan Ho and Quentin Gargan debated against top geneticists and Monsanto management, also those four had organised most of the event in Wexford. One of the seven was the local town heretic, one was at Caransore Point the anti-nuclear protest, and on paper probably looked the most experienced activist even although he was the most innocent. And the most famous of the seven was an 85 year old writer and organic farmer who has been an outspoken critic of the agrichemical industry for most of his life.

How did having ‘quasi-celebrity’ John Seymour on board help the case?
It was very helpful, he had no fear about possibly having to spend a few nights in prison. His statement was inspiring:
‘…if a government does not take action to protect its citizens from serious danger, is it not reasonable that the citizens should take action to protect themselves? If an army of Normans landed again at Baginbun and started looting and destroying I should expect the Irish army to go and try and stop them. If it did not then I should feel it my duty to go and try and stop them myself, if not with a pike then at least with a pitch fork and I should do so. And when a huge multinational corporation comes and starts planting completely untested and untried genetically mutilated plants in the country where I have made my home, and the government agencies which are supposed to be there to protect us from that sort of thing fail in their duty, then I feel it not only my right but my duty too to do something to try to stop them. And if I have to go to prison because of it then I will go with a good will, and make the best of it, and when I get out I will try to stop them again!’

The judge applied the ‘Probation Act’ in passing his verdict and so both parties claim victory. This seems a definite compromise by the judge, hold on, make that ‘cop-out’. Is this ruling likely to be duplicated for other actions?
Yes, the Judge said that he felt the protest was ‘conducted in a very honest, good-humoured manner’ and applied the probation act instead of charging us. It is understandable, it was a small district court, if he let us off with the lawful excuse it would set a precedent. Our solicitor felt that the judge didn’t really even consider this point of law and that we had very good grounds for an appeal. The same plea is used by the genetic activists in England, it will work.

How has the events impacted on the level of public debate on the whole genetics issue in Ireland? Even more vitally, how has it affected the level of citizen action (be it pressure on Government, supermarkets etc).
In this climate of apathy it feels like no-one cares, the Wexford case got media attention for a few days then everyone forgets again. The governments public consultation process, where the 20 groups that made a submission walked out as they felt the issue was being railroaded through, got some attention. Citizen action here is almost non-existent, if it wasn’t for what is happening in England the supermarkets would be advertising the fact that their products contain GMOs and not what we are seeing, the race for them to source non GM ingredients for their products. There are a few committed groups and people doing some great work, Genetic Concern of course. I wish there was more citizen action.

Why do you feel that direct action is the only way forward on the GMO issue. Do you think that public protest without this spikier edge would be effectively neutered by broader public apathy?
I certainly don’t think that direct action is the only way forward but it is an effective way of getting people aware that there is something wrong with GMOs.

For anyone intending to carry out an action, what advice would you give them before venturing into similar territory?
The best advice I could give is to get a copy of the Genetix Snowballers ‘hand book for action’, which is available on the net. It covers everything you need to know about accountably removing genetically modified plants from release sites, including briefing the action observers, what to do when you are arrested and how to write effective press releases. Monsanto and Agrevo recently attempted to take legal action against the genetiX snowball group serving injunctions against those involved in the snowball to stop them digging up test sites. What the GE giants were also after was a list of everyone that were sent a copy of the ‘Handbook for Action’ so they can be served with copies of the injunction. You can download a copy of the handbook as an Acrobat file at the ‘Green Backlash’ section of the website: http://www.gn.apc.org/pmhp/dc/backlash/

The Wexford action was very different from the previous GELF action in the way that one action was deliberately anonymous and the second was overt. The Wexford action bears many parallels to the Ploughshares action, where the people stayed to ‘bear witness’ to their actions. Give us your thoughts on the merits/disadvantage of both approaches.
Both have merits, I would prefer to see people being accountable and being responsible for their actions. I know it can’t always be done this way, but if it is not accountable then Monsanto and the press can have a field day. That is what is happening now after the hits on test sites in Wexford and Cork, these were clandestine and there is no-one for the press to ask why they did it and only Monsanto’s press release for the journalist to cut and paste into a story. The most effective way to stop this is what happened in England recently where 700 people, all sorts of people, went to decontaminate a test site, professionals, mothers, concerned individuals, all aware of the issues and not some organised rent a mob that the press would have us believe they are.

OK, we know GELF is a flag of convenience (just like Earth First, the Deliberate Incitement campaign etc) but tell us a bit more.
I honestly know nothing about GELF apart from this is the name used by the group that covertly dug up the GE beet in Carlow back in 97. It stands for the Gaelic Earth Liberation Front, sounds like something out of Monty Pythons ‘Life of Brian’ doesn’t it.

Yowser’s Davie, you’re a busy man what with Low Impact, Source Media, VOICE, Feasta etc. Feel free to plug the latest juices from these sterling concerns, and tell us what’s hot and happening.
Well Low Impact is working with Source Media now, the magazine Source, Ireland’s social, environmental and holistic mag, comes out in September. Almost all my energy right now is going into the Sustainable Ireland Source Book, which is a directory of sustainability initiatives in Ireland with articles by some leading thinkers, its being produced by us in association with VOICE. I still work with Feasta, which is the foundation of the economics of sustainability, it has a newsletter for members out now and later this year is publishing its annual book, this year’s theme is indicators of sustainability. What else, I am involved in Sustainable Projects Ltd, which is working on developing a sustainable community, you can see details of this at http://www.sustainable.buz.org. Also I work with the Dublin Food Co-op. Promoting and making organic food more accessible is one of the most effective ways to undermine genetic engineered foods. Yes I’m busy I suppose but I enjoy what I do, hats off to you at DAAA for fighting against the apathy that the corporate spin doctors have been whipping up. Martin Luther King once said, ‘For evil to succeed all it needs is for good men to do nothing’.
 

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