OUT AND ABOUT IN BRUNSWICK ON A HOT AUTUMN NIGHT

Andy Irvine

 

Andy and the maestro Donal Lunny

 

Having a lark at the Cornish Arms with the boys from Mozaik.

Great venue, great music and no pokies

 

Bruce Molsky - a great US fiddler and banjo player

 

Rens van der Zalm. The boy from Holland who had a fiddle in his hand at age 10.

 

Alistair Hulett, a moving and thoughtful voice from the left.

There's nothing like an evening with Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny to fire the soul. Andy's Tom Barker IWW song with it's damning refrain about the little digger, First World War Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, continues to bring a tear to my eye. And when the maestro, Donal Lunny, is there overseeing the production it's a special occasion.

As always the Scottish born ALISTAIR HULETT, who left Australia for his native home in 1995, reminded us of the importance of the song in understanding the political questions that are so mangled by the media. 'Hitch the wagon to the Scottish Socialist Party,' was his piece of advice when we discussed the state of politics. Wonder if Billy Connolly's a member?

I didn't hear Mozaik play but the fiddle and banjo man, Bruce Molsky, treated the punters at the Cornish Arms to something quite special.

Will Planxty or Moving Hearts ever be seen again? The good news is that Donal and Christy have reappeared in Ireland recently.

POSTSCRIPT

Hello All,
the purpose of this circular email is to spread the good news that the attempt by Strathclyde Police to frame my partner, Fatima Uygun, totally collapsed in Glasgow Sheriff Court this week. For those of you who didn't know about the case, Fatima was facing two charges of police assault and one breach of the peace after heavy handed police turned a peaceful protest into a violent confrontation.

It all began over three years ago, when we became involved in a campaign to prevent the closure of our local, council-run swimming pool. After an occupation of the building that lasted 141 days, around 300 police were sent in to break up the picket. 600 local residents and supporters faced up to the police and the end result was that 10 people, mostly Asian Scots, were charged with a range of offences. All of those charged had themselves complained about being assaulted by the police and the charges made against them were a classic instance of 'tit for tat' frame-ups.

Fatima was found not guilty on all three charges brought against her, thanks in no small part to the diligence and commitment of our campaign and its defence lawyer Aamer Anwar. The police were shown to have collaborated in the preparation of their statements, with identical paragraphs appearing throughout. This is of course, highly illegal, but apparently tolerated by the judicial system here in Scotland.

The document attached is the press statement put out by Southside Against Closure, the group formed to fight the decision to close Govanhill Pool, and which is now demanding that the charges against the four remaining activists be dropped.

All the very best,
Alistair Hulett