In this episode we talk to Mark Fitzpatrick. Mark is an animal rights and vegan activist originally from Cork and now based in New Zealand, where he is on the board of the Vegan Society of Aotearoa.
We discuss Mark’s politicisation in the anarcho-punk scene in Cork in the late 1980s, his involvement in hunt sabotage in Ireland and the UK, his perspective on the animal rights movement and its relationship with the Left, and his newly launched website project to document the history of animal rights in Ireland, The Humanity Trigger.
If you are or were involved in animal rights in Ireland and can contribute information to the history of that movement, you can contact Mark about the project by email at markhumanity@thehumanitytrigger.com.
Listeners can also hear Mark discuss hunt sabotage and the police response in more detail on episode 17 of the Policed podcast, from February 2021.
The Irish Left Archive Podcast looks at Left politics in Ireland, talking to activists, writers, historians, politicians and others involved in Left organisations and movements about their experiences of participating in Left parties and campaigns. The podcast is hosted by Ciarán Swan and Aonghus Storey.
View this episode on our website: #34: Mark Fitzpatrick: Anarcho-punk, Hunt Sabotage, and Animal Rights.