Dissent! G8 infoshop opens in Edinburgh

ab | 20.06.2005 21:59 | G8 2005 | Free Spaces

The G8 public Infoshop opened today to satisfy local curiousity and welcome autonomous groups and individual anti-G8 protesters.
The Infoshop is located 10 Albert Place, Leith Walk, in Edinburgh, EH7 5HN. It is about 10 minutes away from the bus and train station.
From now on, the access point will be opened 24 hours a day, the infoshop is also contactable under telephone number (0044)/(0)131-5611356 .
Collective meetings are held at 6 pm daily to update newcomers and to facilitate the running of the Infoshop.

[ Dissent! | Recent update about Practicalities | Protest Activities Overview | Mobilisation Links ]

Shopfront; to be painted tomorrow

banner and Zapatista coffee collective machine

Blackboard, sofas and infomaterial

Map of Infoshop location (red point)

The main purpose of the space is to be a welcoming point not only for international protesters arriving in Edinburgh needing practical information, but also for the local public to get in touch and get information about activities. Over the next few weeks, the former post office on Leith Walk will act as an information and connectivity hub. Meetings will be held daily at 6pm to facilitate the running of the Infoshop, which is planned to be opened for 24 hours a day. Fairtraded Zapatista Coffee from the Coffee Collective, Tea, resting space on comfortable sofas, Computers and hopefully soon Telephone and Internet Access will be available in the Drop-In. The Infoshop will also provide practical informations for new arrivals, such as faciliting the "ADOPT ON ACTIVIST" campaign, where locals ar asked to provide accomodation for international anti-globalisation protesters, as there is an accomodation shortage in Edinburgh, due to Council policy.

ab
Homepage: http://dissent.org.uk/

Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

Well Done!!

20.06.2005 22:55

Well Done all involved.

The infoshop sounds like it'll be a really useful resource and it looks slick/inviting to all.

cool

Ronny Chip-twist

I thought squatting was illegal in Scotland

21.06.2005 08:43

I thought squatting was illegal in Scotland. It is supposed to be covered by the illegal trespass law up there. Whereas tresspass is a civil offence in England and Wales it is a criminal offence in Scotland.

Tom

Tom...troll

21.06.2005 10:18

WHo said it was squatted, dicksplash?

anarchoteapot

It's not squatted

21.06.2005 18:45

Ever wonder where all the Dissent money went ?

Ever since the little episode with the accounts Dissent has been quick to try and spend as much as they can before the final examination. this is one of those

worker

Please ignore the trolls

21.06.2005 20:34

The mis- and dis-info trolling in the run up to the G8 is getting a little bit silly. *HUGE* pinches of salt required I think!

active lens

press coverage

22.06.2005 08:44

Radical G8 protest group sets up Edinburgh information shop
21 June 2005 17:58

http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=8083

(see website for tv news video)

A radical protest group which is hoping to shut down the G8 summit at Gleneagles has set up an information shop in Edinburgh. The Dissent network says it wants to address public concern over what will happen during its demonstrations next month. With just over two weeks to go, security measures in the capital are being stepped up.

Edinburgh cabbie Eddie Cairney is a worried man. His taxi advertises McDonald's, one of the world's biggest corporations.

He said: "I picked up a few people and they said that I was a potential target during the G8. They were on the protest march and there were going to be targets and I was one of them because I was a McDonald advert taxi."

The Dissent network says those kind of fears are misplaced. It's an alliance of 25 groups, some of which involve anarchists. It's hoping to close down the summit by blockading roads round Gleneagles. It's also planning protests in the capital itself - hence the shop on Leith Walk.

Jane Hill, a campaigner from the Twinford Dissent! group said: "It's a space where people from Edinburgh can come and get the information they need. I'm very conscious that people have concerns about the protests so we're setting up an open space, an open shop where people are welcome to have a cup of coffee and find out what's going on."

Dissent activists will join the Make Poverty History march advertised today on Glasgow's Finniston Crane, but its websites say they will do so under another slogan - Make Capitalism History. Edinburgh is facing a massive security operation. The parliament and Holyrood Palace are being encircled with a steel fence - a precaution, say the police.

Protesters from all over Europe and further afield are now heading to Scotland. But this is kind of unprecedented security really necessary? The simple answer is at the moment, no one can say for sure.

stv