tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77275616181914569012024-03-13T15:38:08.052+00:00SINN FÉIN - KEEP LEFTWe hope that this blog will create an opportunity for people to share their views on Sinn Féin in a positive and constructive manner. We believe positive discussion of our strenghts and weaknesses can help build Sinn Féin into a mass 32 counties wide party. If we do this then we will be on the way to building the Republic that the people of this island deserve.
If you would like to submit an article for this site, then post it as a comment or send it to sinnfeinkeepleft@hotmail.commellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.comBlogger2521500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-91100979102739627852011-06-01T19:35:00.002+01:002011-06-01T19:40:56.654+01:00SINN FÉIN KEEP LEFT SITE IS CLOSING DOWNThe aim of this site was to encourage left wing debate amongst party members and supporters. Unfortunately, we have not suceeded in this aim and have been unable to generate enough articles and debate to keep this site going. <br /><br />We never aimed at using this site as an opportunity to simply express the views of 4 - 5 people, but rather to go beyond that. <br /><br />We here still believe Sinn Féin offers the only realistic left wing political alternative in this country and would encourage as many people as possible to become involved in the party. <br /><br />Thank you to all those who read the pieces on this site and to those who have contributed and perhaps others will suceeded where we have failed.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-43366753990238233852011-04-25T16:54:00.001+01:002011-04-25T16:54:58.524+01:00The General Election - A Members View.While we undoubtedly achieved huge gains in the General Election, I can't help but feel that some of these gains were only made through brutally hard work and a certain amount of good fortune. The truth I discovered in this campaign is that our party is still not fit for purpose despite four years since efforts begun following the disasterious General Election campaign in 2007.<br /><br />Many of the problems identified then, and further identified in Killian Forde's departing note, still exist and show no signs of being rectified, and until they are rectified I feel that the party will be continuing to float along while being the organisational equivalent of the Titanic. Briefly, I'll outline some of the problems I've identified:<br /><br />1. Communication: The party still lacks effective communications between grassroots and it's structures. For someone trying to flag some issue or aid in some project it's still, as Killian Forde pointed out, a near impossible task of attempting to navigate through a maze of bureaucracy whether policy groups, committees, or an executive that is uncontactable directly. <br /><br />2. Structures: We have redundant structures which function as simply a rubber stamp for the decisions of subordinate structures, one fine example being the Cuige. Sinn Fein is the only organisation I've been a member of in which the concept of a structure which by-passes all other structures has been conceived or even found necessary, going by the name of the Organisation Development Unit (ODU). Surely this indicates that there are dire organisational problems, which the ODU should have been a temporary fix to until some kind of reform could take place.<br /><br />3. Appointments: There has still been no changes to how the party seeks candidates for full-time positions within the party. This is still resulting in people who lack qualification in the areas they are responsible for getting the job. An odd advertisement in An Phoblacht does not count as transparent recruitment while other jobs are appointed almost without competition. The party is still in clear breach of employment legislation as long as this practice continues.<br /><br />To conclude, I think that it is vital that our party must be a mirror reflection of the Ireland we wish to create. The grand aspirations are no good if those who seek to bring them about cannot act in their image.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51555765091996617422011-03-13T22:06:00.001+00:002011-03-13T22:08:07.987+00:00In about 30 years time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjedevm1-JTelOnewvr6fjt3fLwUJSdwhIx_OQf45s22GS0xeZtzYtk_xkCW6IY2J8K3BHrrTgQ_hRdTWZvbGXF_CghNAWeIUW9uMWASLxwr9mgFt4FK_xqGQn2Lw9m9c76w4pbbAnhS6/s1600/cormac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjedevm1-JTelOnewvr6fjt3fLwUJSdwhIx_OQf45s22GS0xeZtzYtk_xkCW6IY2J8K3BHrrTgQ_hRdTWZvbGXF_CghNAWeIUW9uMWASLxwr9mgFt4FK_xqGQn2Lw9m9c76w4pbbAnhS6/s400/cormac.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The talented drawer Brian Moore has passed away. He was the man behind the "Cormac" cartoons in An Phoblacht.<br />
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Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD has expressed his ‘deep sadness’ at the death of Brian Moore and he has extended his condolences to Brian’s partner Máire and their son Cormac, to Máire’s son Conor and Brian’s brothers Gerry and Danny and his sister Maura, and his family circle and friends.<br />
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Gerry said: <br />
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“Brian will be best known to most republicans as the irrepressible and politically perceptive cartoonist Cormac who for many years was a regular feature in Republican News and then in An Phoblacht/Republican News after the papers merged. <br />
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His weekly contribution to the paper touched on the big issues of the time; the war, repression, sectarianism, collusion and much more. His cartoons lampooned the British Army and RUC; the British government and media. If he witnessed injustice he turned his satirist’s pen loose.<br />
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His cartoons were incisive and funny. And for many readers the back page was the first they read to see what gem ‘Notes by Cormac’ held for them. Brian was a republican and a socialist.<br />
He supported the struggle for freedom and the peace process. <br />
In the 70’s he published political comics and he contributed to other publications, including the British weekly Socialist Challenge and Fortnight magazine.<br />
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Brian was also a song writer and performer. He founded ‘The People of No Property’ with whom he sang. <br />
His death is a huge loss for his family but also to the wider republican community. <br />
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Go ndeanfaidh Dia trocaire air.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51137336580824993082011-03-12T20:54:00.000+00:002011-03-12T20:56:23.488+00:00Victory for Peace Movement in new Programme for GovernmentPress Statement 8/3/2011 Peace & Neutrality Alliance<br /><br /> Victory for Peace Movement in new Programme for Government<br /><br />The Peace & Neutrality Alliance (PANA) welcomes the statement in the new Labour/Fine Gael Programme for Government, promising to implement international law in terms of the use of Irish airspace and airports by foreign powers. Under the section Foreign Affairs, ODA and Defence, the Programme says: "We will enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace, airports and related facilities for purpose not in line with dictates of<br />international law."<br /><br />PANA Chair, Roger Cole, a delegate to the Conference, asked for clarification of this statement in the Programme for Government. He pointed out that a key part of international law governing the behaviour of Neutral States is the Hague Convention of 1907 which prohibits the use of a neutral state's territory to prosecute a war. Switzerland quotes the Hague Convention to explain why no US planes land in Zurich Airport on their way to and from their wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Cole asked: " Does this mean the termination of the use of Shannon Airport by US troops in these permanent ongoing wars?" citing Afghanistan and Iraq.<br /><br />Eamon Gilmore in his closing speech to the Conference, replied to Roger Cole's call for clarification. The Labour Party Leader stated that: "Yes, Roger Cole has pointed out an area where is there is a difference" and "that it may be hard to believe" but that the statement in the Programme for the Government " does mean what is says".<br /><br />In the context of the question asked and the reply given, this means the new government will, like the Government of Switzerland, implement the Hague Convention, and terminate the use of Shannon Airport by US troops on their way to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We would hope the new incoming government would do so on Easter Monday, the 95th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. PANA will also seek an early meeting with the new Minister for Foreign Affairs.<br /><br />for more information contact Roger Cole, Chair of PANA Tel: 087-2611597 or Seamas Ratigan Tel: 086-8369793<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-49913481844849333322011-03-06T09:00:00.002+00:002011-03-06T09:00:08.627+00:00Gibraltar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sCKiMmsR_Q0ZS_NpVt994sUsh_Uo_2Dy1FyiKY_odSbdp8DU1oev8OKw-gHvr7Hi7P1eIMvMGGapZbQk8qyCf7wO0ydoWyZFFnNQ1qe7j1cjWmjMGp2EWTCNPMXV0mSkU-wyQAq3u319/s1600/Gibraltar+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sCKiMmsR_Q0ZS_NpVt994sUsh_Uo_2Dy1FyiKY_odSbdp8DU1oev8OKw-gHvr7Hi7P1eIMvMGGapZbQk8qyCf7wO0ydoWyZFFnNQ1qe7j1cjWmjMGp2EWTCNPMXV0mSkU-wyQAq3u319/s400/Gibraltar+3.jpg" width="387" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>23 years ago today Volunteers Danny McCann, Seán Savage, and Mairéad Farrell were shot dead in Gibraltar.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/Rij3Za8Iy_M/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rij3Za8Iy_M&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rij3Za8Iy_M&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-85461271556606359212011-02-27T12:26:00.000+00:002011-02-27T12:26:40.250+00:00A Progressive Oppostion<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">It looks likely that there will be 14 Sinn Féin and up to 10 progressive left deputies in the incoming Dáil. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">These 24 progressive left Representatives need to eclipse Fianna Fail as the opposition to the incoming conservative administration and ensure that victory could be grasped from the jaws of defeat, so to speak. This is a platform that we could barely imagine a few short weeks ago,</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The election campaign was dominated bu the specific budgetary issues and the immediacy of the crisis facing the people. Ideology struggled to feature. It can now be a central feature of debate from the first day of the incoming Dáil. The people can hear how and why we are in this crisis and just how similar FG and FF are. It will also continue to force the members of the Labour Party to examine how best to use their political strength. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I would make a particular appeal to the members of the ULA to resist the temptation to take an elitist view of what it means to be on the progressive left. The days of political sectarianism on the left need to be left behind.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The British Labour politician Tony Benn described British Labour something like this. Labour is not a socialist party, but it has many Socialist within it. SF could be described that way, Certainly, the ULA should reach out to the membership of SF. It would be good for both groups. All activism is educational and it works both ways.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-60121667433622339682011-02-16T16:30:00.000+00:002011-02-16T16:30:31.356+00:00Language Freedom movement redux eile<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Fine Gael seem to think that the Irish language is a barrier to progress. They are trying to lower Irish's status as a Leaving cert language.<br />
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Just like the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/05/language-freedom-movement-redux.html">Language freedom movement</a> Fine Gael is bringing the past back into Irish politics.<br />
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Irish is a defining feature of Ireland. No matter where you are from or what your background the Irish language is the patrimony of everyone.<br />
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Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have together tolerated 8 decades of failed language policy. For me the failure to restore Irish is a good example of how failure is tolerated in this state. Fine Gael instead of improving the teaching of Irish has responded with the out dated agenda of weakening it.<br />
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A move which has been widely condemned by ordinary students and people. <br />
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FG or FF does not have a right to destroy our language. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nrrLXWv3F7o" title="YouTube video player" width="440"></iframe></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-29386902607976611592011-02-14T11:44:00.001+00:002011-02-14T11:44:00.651+00:00Keeping jobs, giving new opportunities and stopping emigration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/images/500/Jobs_mobile_ad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="176" src="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/images/500/Jobs_mobile_ad.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In 2010, unemployment peaked at almost 460,000. There are 439,000 people on the Live Register. The country has also seen a return to high levels of emigration with the ESRI recently predicting that 100,000 people, mainly young people, would leave Ireland over the next two years. This level of emigration exceeds anything seen during the worst days of the 1980s. Unemployment is the only figure that matters for those of us concerned with economic recovery.<br />
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Employment, not percentage increases in GNP/GDP, is a true reflection of meaningful economic growth. High rates of unemployment don’t just spell bad news for the economy now – structural unemployment into the future will have a devastating impact on any hope of restoring the Irish economy.<br />
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The relationship between jobs and the deficit is a clear one – more people in work produce higher levels of spending activity and tax revenues, as well as lower welfare payments. In 2008, employment in this State fell by 84,000. This was associated with a decrease in tax revenues of €6.5billion and an increase in social welfare payments of at least €2.5billion, a total deterioration in Government finances of €9billion.<br />
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Sinn Féin’s employment and financial stimulus package costs €7.595billion and will create 160,000 jobs directly over the medium-term, tens of thousands more jobs indirectly and also save thousands of jobs. The full cost of our employment stimulus amounts to €7billion. The financial stimulus of €595million is accounted for in our tax and saving measures. The multiplier effect on GDP of creating 160,000 jobs would amount to 1.8%, according to ESRI figures. And this would be real GDP growth – not growth based on the profits of multinational companies based here.<br />
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Our stimulus is about providing immediate and direct employment in key sectors such as infrastructure in the immediate term. But in the longer term the impact of our stimulus plan would see the State’s competitiveness increase as we become a world leader in green energy, IT and research and development, in addition to having world-class infrastructure to attract Foreign Direct Investment and support indigenous enterprise for longer-term employment creation.<br />
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Furthermore, the completion of key strategic infrastructure projects, such as the National Broadband scheme, and the improvements in the education and health services, will make Ireland more competitive and put us in a better position for economic recovery in the years ahead. In addition to these proposals, Sinn Féin has a strategy to boost the tourism sector including developing tourist attractions and amenities and a plan to create a new generation of co-operatives. This sustainable, long-term employment would broaden the tax base and secure it.<br />
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The 10-point plan<br />
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1. A jobs stimulus. Sinn Féin is advocating the transfer of €7billion from the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) for a State-wide investment programme (stimulus). We are calling for a transfer from the fund of €7billion –– for a jobs stimulus package. This money should be administered out of the NPRF over the next 3.5 years, with the Department of Finance signing off on proposals as they are submitted from the departments. All proposals would have to have ‘value for money’ clauses and total number of people that would be employed under the proposal. €2billion would be spent on the employment stimulus in 2011.<br />
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2. Growing the agri-food sector. Deploy funding of €500million to set up and support central production hubs for SMEs involved in the agri-food sector so that they have access to advice, support and, most importantly, infrastructure and equipment perhaps not available to early- stage start-ups. We envisage existing agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and An Bord Bia to come together with Government to drive this project. This would create 5,000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.<br />
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Coupled with regional networking, partnerships and branding across the whole country, this measure alone has even greater potential for job creation. Investment in agriculture and the agri-food sector provides high returns for the Irish economy. The multiplier for agriculture on GDP is 1.73 and 1.76 for the food and drink manufacturing industry (if you invest €1million in these sectors, the wider economy sees a return of €1.73 million). Funding required = €500m.<br />
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Creating jobs through the construction of essential infrastructure<br />
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3. Health infrastructure. We would build 100 new primary healthcare centres throughout the State at a cost of €500million. This would alleviate the strain on our main hospitals. It would provide local healthcare for a variety of medical conditions and an excellent resource for communities. The building of these centres would create in the region of 5,000 jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs. Our pre-Budget submission provides for the lifting of the current recruitment embargo, which would allow all these centres to be staffed in the years following their construction. Funding required = €500m.<br />
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4. School buildings and refurbishment. An increased school-building and refurbishment programme for 2011 to take at least 125 schools through the construction stage. A 16-classroom generic repeat design project costs approximately €3million in current market conditions. This would cost €375million in total and create approximately 4,000 jobs directly and 1,600 indirect jobs. A minimum of 150 school-building projects should enter the architectural and planning stage each year so that school projects are ready to proceed as quickly as possible to the construction phases. Funding required = €375m.<br />
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5. Crèches. Build 100 crèches State-wide for state childcare provision at a cost of €200million, creating 2,000 jobs directly and 800 jobs indirectly. Funding required = €200m.<br />
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Assisting businesses and entrepreneurs<br />
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6. Improving communications infrastructure. Augment the current National Broadband Scheme to provide a fibre-optic island-wide network. Fast-track the €435million spend so that it is delivered beginning in 2011 instead of 2013. This will provide in the region of 4,500 jobs directly and 1,700 jobs indirectly. Funding required = €435m.<br />
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7. Assistance for those starting a business. Change the PRSI system to create a safety-net for those who attempt to establish their own business. Provide a one-stop-shop virtual helpdesk for business start-ups with legal, HR, patents, accountancy and funding advice. In addition, create an innovation website where budding entrepreneurs can pitch their business and invention ideas to investors at home and abroad. Funding required = €2 million.<br />
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8. Helping businesses to export. Create a ‘Sales Ireland’ strategy to help Irish firms access export markets outside the US and Britain and to help Irish firms looking to set up manufacturing businesses with the potential to compete with out largest imports, including R&D funding. Currently, almost 90% of exports come from foreign-owned multinationals and foreign-owned firms import over 86% of the materials they use, bypassing Irish firms.<br />
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9. Maximising employment on public projects. Rethink local authority and public sector construction, service and procurement contracts to create a level pitch for small businesses to tender. Breaking tenders into smaller pieces allows contractors with less significant turnover to efficiently tender for work. Make the employment of a set amount of apprentices a condition on which public contracts are awarded to contractors building public infrastructure.<br />
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10. Initiate a ‘Frontline Services Aides Scheme’ where people are employed to take on specific work from overworked frontline workers (e.g. civilianising administrative work that is currently done by Gardaí). Funding required = €250m.<br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-52017013783596441952011-02-13T11:36:00.001+00:002011-02-13T11:36:00.939+00:00The Sinn Fein election manifesto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In this election Sinn Fein, as set out in our <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/SF_GeneralElectionManifesto2011.pdf">policy manifesto</a>, is seeking a mandate to safeguard society and the economy. We cant afford to sacrifice either to the narrow interests of a small clique - either here or in the banking halls of Europe and the policy rooms of the IMF. Too much is at stake. Now we have to stand up for our interests as a society. Beyond this Sinn Fein will be seeking a mandate for:<br />
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- Root and Branch reform of the Political System to produce a really open and accountable form of government that empowers citizens and end the influence of the political elites.<br />
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- The protection and creation of jobs.<br />
- An end to the two tier health system and and the two tier education system<br />
- The proper use of Ireland’s natural resources in the common good<br />
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- Continued support for the Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement<br />
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<a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/SF_GeneralElectionManifesto2011.pdf">http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/SF_GeneralElectionManifesto2011.pdf</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36322210491578573002011-02-12T11:29:00.001+00:002011-02-12T11:29:01.003+00:00If you cant canvass maybe this is an option.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The election is in full swing now and the party, its candidates, activists and supporters are putting their backs to the wheel in terms of time and money.<br />
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Its going to be a challenging year for Sinn Fein. Elections to be fought in the southern and northern areas of our country.<br />
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If you can canvass or help out please do contact your local cumainn. Look at the map on the side of this page to find your nearest cumainn.<br />
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If you cant canvass for any reason but want to make a contribution then a donation is an option. These are difficult times as we all know but it may be an option for some.<br />
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Please consider it if you can. The <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/donate-to-sinn-fein">Sinn Fein donation</a> link is here<br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18661344427721132592011-02-11T11:28:00.000+00:002011-02-11T11:28:31.816+00:00Safeguarding Irish interests<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4vroGAJ5kY&feature=player_embedded"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O4vroGAJ5kY" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></a><br />
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Gurdgiev, Ross and even the Fine Gael man agreeing Sinn Fein and Pearse is bang on the money</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-74199191798372377132011-02-10T18:44:00.000+00:002011-02-10T18:44:32.072+00:00Please Like our new Facebook page<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We experienced some technical issues recently and our Facebook page closed. <br />
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In order to avoid that happening again we have moved over to a Facebook fan page.<br />
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This will allow us to keep building our friends and keep in contact with you all.<br />
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Our new page is <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2011/02/6-reasons-to-vote-for-sinn-fein-in-this.html">here</a> - Please hit like.<br />
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We'll have it back up to full speed in the next few days</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-23309201508825139582011-02-10T11:08:00.001+00:002011-02-10T11:08:27.072+00:00Helping young people to stay at home<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngF-s4aHYxybO6V1Kl0hPadMcXOTyX76efNxbMZ28B-OpdWXlUB5XCe77R8LaKF2PlPPY8zvjmDk88pEOzfyfl7yM9revbe-d4MjhLSr75VtSegowBEy1cstwnjVF94UapmF1AoHCIbWE/s1600/Jobspotting+Sinn+Fein-707073.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngF-s4aHYxybO6V1Kl0hPadMcXOTyX76efNxbMZ28B-OpdWXlUB5XCe77R8LaKF2PlPPY8zvjmDk88pEOzfyfl7yM9revbe-d4MjhLSr75VtSegowBEy1cstwnjVF94UapmF1AoHCIbWE/s320/Jobspotting+Sinn+Fein-707073.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572016152008454258" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-68105005932911410392011-02-10T11:02:00.001+00:002011-02-10T11:02:24.468+00:006 reasons to vote for Sinn Féin in this election<h1><font size="2"></font> </h1> <p>1. Sinn Féin has shown that there is a better way. We were the only party not to sign up to the government's consensus for cuts and instead put forward a real costed alternative for economic recovery. </p> <p>2. Sinn Féin would reverse cuts to public services and social welfare introduced in Budget 2011. We are the only party to clearly state that we would do this.</p> <p>3. Unlike the other parties Sinn Féin would stand up to the IMF and EU. Sinn Féin is an Irish republican party. We are a United Ireland party. We believe in the sovereignty, independence and freedom of the Irish people and the right of our people to build our own society. </p> <p>4. Every TD elected for Sinn Féin will mean a stronger voice for working families, the unemployed and all those struggling to survive. The more Sinn Féin TDs elected the louder the voice for those they represent in the Dáil.</p> <p>5. Sinn Féin stands up for ordinary people. Over the last year it is our party, which confronted this government and demanded higher standards. For us, actions speak louder than words. Sinn Féin was the only party to oppose the Lisbon Treaty, pointing out the dangers for our sovereignty. Sinn Féin forced the government to hold the Donegal SW by-election, exposed the Taoiseach's contacts with leading people in Anglo, is the only party not to sign up to the Fianna Fáil / Green Party / Fine Gael / Labour consensus for cuts and instead put forward a real alternative for economic recovery. Sinn Féin TDs only take home the average industrial wage.</p> <p>6. Sinn Féin will change politics and put an end to cronyism. Reform must start with the Dáil. That means cutting TD's wages and expenses. It means changing how the Dáil business is done so the Government can be held to account. We would abolish the Seanad in its current form</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-71732241007788590082011-02-09T21:59:00.001+00:002011-02-09T22:00:50.289+00:00Ireland’s Austerity WoesBELOW IS A PIECE FROM TASC.<br /><br />Ireland’s Austerity Woes<br />07/02/2011 By Nat OConnor <br />From the very beginning of the crisis, the Irish Government’s response has failed to protect vulnerable people and has damaged the long-term prospects of the economy.<br /><br />To put the scale of Ireland’s austerity measures into context, about €30 billion worth of austerity measures (cuts to public spending and tax increases) have occurred since the crisis began at the end of 2008. In scale, these total just under a fifth of the current size of Ireland’s economy (GDP €160 billion). To apply the same level of austerity across the EU, with its GDP of €12.5 trillion, there would have to be €2.4 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts.<br /><br />What is even worse is that Ireland is only half-way through the process. The last budget was the first of four agreed with the EU and IMF in order to secure loans to Ireland. What follows is a brief overview of events, and austerity measures adopted in response, for those who might not be familiar with the details of the Irish case.<br /><br />Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on 15 September 2008. The Irish Government held a ‘midnight meeting’ on 29 September 2008, centred on Ireland’s banking crisis. Hence, Ireland’s financial and economic crisis dates from then, although other aspects of the crisis only emerged into broad public discourse in later months.<br /><br />The discourse around the crisis centred on ‘external’ events from the outset. The problems in Ireland were blamed on the global financial crisis. However, it soon became apparent that Ireland would probably have suffered a recession sooner or later, even in the absence of international events; although some people denied this for quite some time. Ireland’s speculative property/construction bubble peaked just as Lehman Brothers fell. As a result, the coincidence of both national and international factors has led Ireland to experience a particularly severe and prolonged economic collapse.<br /><br />The fiscal policies of the Government in the years leading up to 2008 were increasingly unsustainable. The construction bubble brought in much increased revenue from transaction taxes (e.g. stamp duty on property purchases, plus VAT from construction-related activities). Much of this tax revenue was from private debt invested in the construction market. In addition, income tax receipts were high and low unemployment reduced demand for welfare spending.<br /><br />During the boom, the Government cut personal taxation and continued to permit high levels of tax relief to individuals and corporations, fatally undermining the stability of tax revenue. When the bubble burst, tax receipts fell by a third in two years. Up until this point, Ireland had been living a fantasy, where unsustainable tax receipts masking otherwise low taxation miraculously allowed the state to raise public spending and provide more services. When tax revenues collapsed, suddenly a massive current deficit appeared. One direct result is that the future size and role of the state is now at stake in Ireland. The balance of austerity measures between taxes and cuts will determine whether Ireland takes a route of low taxation (and therefore eviscerated public spending) or more public services (and therefore more European-average levels of taxation to pay for them).<br /><br />On 30 September 2008, the day after their emergency midnight meeting, the Government announced a bank guarantee scheme, with the state guaranteeing €440 billion to six Irish banks, with the objective of safeguarding the Irish banking system. To put the scale of the guarantee into perspective, Ireland’s GDP in 2008 was €180 billion. Some prominent figures had called for a bank guarantee scheme, but the devil is in the detail. The guarantee was a blanket guarantee, which did not discriminate between banks of genuine systemic importance to the economy and others, which were not (notably Anglo Irish Bank, which was heavily involved in lending to the construction sector). It also covered more bondholders than should have been protected. Ultimately, it was a costly gamble that assumed liquidity was the only problem. However, it quickly came to light that the problem was not one of liquidity, but of solvency across the entire banking sector.<br /><br />The Irish Government established NAMA (the National Assets Management Agency) in late 2009 to remove ‘bad loans’ from the balance sheets of Irish banks. However, NAMA was slow to start and has faced legal challenges to its powers. It was quickly overtaken by events. The lack of solvency in the Irish banks has forced the state to recapitalise them. This has led to the complete nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank (known as ‘Anglo’) and more recently, the near-total state ownership of Allied Irish Bank (known as AIB). Perversely, NAMA continues to transfer loans from these state-owned banks to itself, a state-owned institution, costing unnecessary millions in legal and accountancy fees.<br /><br />As a euro area member, Ireland has had no direct recourse to monetary policy. A range of monetary policy measures were taken by the European Central Bank in response to the crisis; however, these were insufficient compared to the scale of the problems Ireland was facing.<br /><br />To date, the government has had four national budgets during the crisis period. (Details available on www.budget.gov.ie) The first budget, at the end of 2008, was two months early in order to respond to the emerging global financial crisis. Taxation was raised and public spending lowered. This budget did raise the level of unemployment payments, but subsequent budgets cut the rates and qualifying criteria for benefits to a greater degree than this budget raised them.<br /><br />In the 2009 budget, the Government announced a policy of encouraging workers back in to employment by cutting their social welfare payments. Payments for young people (20-24) were set at special low rates. For all other cases, the rate was to be reduced where job offers or activation measures were refused. Further cuts and tax increases followed in the 2010 budget.<br /><br />The fourth austerity budget, for 2011, again reduced social welfare payments. The national minimum wage was also reduced by nearly 12 per cent. Increases in personal tax in this budget have also disproportionately impacted on the low paid. Changes to rates and bands meant that an employee on €20,000 per year paid as much extra tax as an employee on €200,000. In addition, changes to social insurance created a new Universal Social Charge, which introduced much higher rates onto low- and middle-income employees than had previously been the case. And, of course, people on lower incomes are more reliant on the state services that are suffering cutbacks.<br /><br />Unsurprisingly, consumer spending in the economy has collapsed and Ireland continues to experience negative growth in the domestic economy; GNP continues to fall. Unemployment is at 13.4 per cent and renewed high emigration masks a higher rate of job losses. The situation is better for GDP, which is growing again (albeit at low levels) due to strong performance by exporting firms.<br /><br />The last budget was merely the first instalment in a four-year plan, which envisages further cuts and tax increases. Polling day in Ireland’s General Election is 25 February. The result will determine the extent and timing of further austerity measures, but one thing is sure: much more pain is yet to be inflicted on the Irish people. At the same time, the election provides an opportunity for the next government to change direction on economics: more can be done to increase investment and foster job creation, especially by indigenous companies; private bank debt can be separated from the sovereign national debt; and the conditions of the EU-IMF loans can be changed. Indeed, all of these things must happen if Ireland is to be realistically able to afford to repay the loans.<br /><br />The resistance within some quarters in Ireland to such measures is perhaps more surprising to an outside observer than it is from within. Part of the solution to Ireland’s current insolvency is that many economic commentators and practitioners have to admit that our previous economic model was – and remains – seriously deficient. There is no going back to ‘business as usual’, but to accept this implies a great deal of cognitive dissonance for those who were the strongest supporters of the economic consensus that brought Ireland to ruin.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-43679538002873516532011-02-09T17:04:00.001+00:002011-02-09T17:04:23.017+00:00The Pipe - A state against its own<div>If anyone is looking for a bit of down time from canvassing then a good show is on tonight.</div> <div> </div> <div>The documentary 'The Pipe' is being shown tonight at 9.30 on TG4.</div> <div><br>The <a href="http://www.thepipethefilm.com/">Website</a> for The Film.</div> <div> </div> <div>Worth looking at I'd say.</div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-57813180249434789092011-02-01T15:55:00.000+00:002011-02-01T15:55:11.215+00:00Its Our Choice! Isn't it?<span class="js-singleCommentText jsk-ItemBodyText">Fine Gael and a increasingly unsure Labour Party are saying that any alternative to compliance with the terms of the IMF/EU deal is a reckless gamble. Vincent Brown (whether mischievously or otherwise) rounded on Eoin O Broin of Sinn Fein on the basis that burning the bondholders and the strategy that SF is advocating would see us unable to pay public servants, including the Gardaí, within a year or so. Scaremongering, in other words. <br />
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None of us have a crystal ball, but it seems to be that it is entirely reasonable to go back to the major European governments - the movers behind the deal - and outline in clear terms that we are not going to subject our people to this level of misery over a prolonged period and we are not going to be restricted in our ability to invest in job creation, if the democratic will of our people is to vote for parties that advocate this approach. <br />
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And there's the rub. Are we saying that advocating anything other than an agenda suitable to the IMF - a conservative and deregulated economic approach - like the one that facilitated the runaway banks for example-is tantamount to a reckless gamble? So that's it. Its the same political and economic approach or nothing. That's the real danger here and it needs to be challenged. The IMF and EU don't see Fine Gael challenging and, alas, Labour seem to be moving towards the continuation of this right wing agenda too, though I suspect that they are wobbling. I hope so</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-5367381248585776342011-01-31T16:52:00.001+00:002011-01-31T16:52:34.788+00:00Its time to unite against a FG-FF political arrangement<p>Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has welcomed the decision by the Labour Party decision to seek a longer period for dealing with the deficit. Sinn Fein has argued from the outset for a six year period for reducing the deficit.<br> <br>Mr. Adams speaking at the opening of the party's new campaign office in West Street, Drogheda this morning said:<br><br>"There is a widespread desire for a realignment of Irish politics. The prospect of a minority Fine Gael government supported by Fianna Fáil, as proposed by Micheál Martin, makes sense for the conservative parties. It also makes sense for progressive politics. It is time for all those who believe that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland – to work together.<br> <br>"Voters want a real alternative. They are looking for change, for a break with the failed politics of the past and for hope that this is possible. A hundred years ago James Connolly appealed for unity among the left in Ireland. It made sense then. It makes sense today."<br> <br>The Full Text of Gerry's remarks:<br><br>There is a growing demand for genuine change. Citizens know this is will not come from a Fine Gael led government.<br><br>They also know that the incoming government will frame the economic, social and political life of the state for the next 10, 20 or 30 years.<br> <br>Voters are also calling on politicians to stop bickering and petty point scoring and present positive, concrete proposals for change.<br><br>Sinn Féin is seeking a mandate for:<br><br>· Root and branch political reform aimed at producing a genuinely open and accountable form of Government which ends the notion of political elites and empowers Irish citizens; <br> <br>· The protection and creation of jobs; <br><br>· An end to the two-tier health and education systems; <br><br>· The proper use of Ireland's natural resources for the common good;<br><br>· Continued support for the Peace Process, and the Good Friday Agreement.<br> <br>Sinn Féin has a plan to protect and invest in jobs and for a fair and sustainable tax system. Sinn Féin will renew our public services. And we believe that taxpayers' money must not be used to pay for private banking debt. Irish citizens cannot afford €80 billion of debt for the banks. <br> <br>We want the reversal of the social welfare cuts and tax increases imposed on low and middle-income families.<br>We want a realistic deficit reduction plan that does not punish these same low and middle-income households. We want and end to EU/IMF austerity and interference.<br> Over the coming weeks we will be outlining in greater detail how Sinn Féin in government would set about undoing the damage done to our society and economy by 13 years of bad government.<br><br>A Fine Gael government will not deliver real change. They want to continue bailing out the banks, cutting social welfare and public services. They want to slash 30,000 public sector jobs and sell of profitable semi-state companies. They want to allow the EU & IMF to dictate government policy.<br> Real change can only be delivered by a new kind of government. Sinn Féin has long argued for realignment in politics. This process of realignment is something that has already begun in the North.<br><br>Imagine the type of change a government without Fianna Fail and Fine Gael could achieve.<br> That is now, for the first time, a real possibility. For too long we have changes of governments and a change in the faces in cabinet but no change in the policies they have implemented.There is a widespread desire for a realignment of Irish politics. The prospect of a minority Fine Gael government supported by Fianna Fáil, as proposed by Micheál Martin, makes sense for the conservative parties. <br> <br>It also makes sense for progressive politics. It is time for all those who believe that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland – to work together.<br><br>Voters want a real alternative. They are looking for change, for a break with the failed politics of the past and for hope that this is possible.<br> <br>A hundred years ago James Connolly appealed for unity among the left in Ireland. It made sense then. It makes sense today.<a href="http://www.politics.ie/sinn-fein/150261-time-realign-irish-politics-adams.html"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-17188171494169449812011-01-25T13:00:00.002+00:002011-01-25T13:00:45.380+00:00The Election - So Far<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Just a few days into this campaign, but a few observations arising out of it so far</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Fine Gael are still getting away with presenting themselves as the ‘difference’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have been able to sit there without feeling the need to present policy positions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead they are just hiding behind the notion that they are listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"> I don’t think that there has been enough reference to ideology so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The progressive left may well be missing an opportunity to point out the inherent failings of the dominant political paradigm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The banks failed because there was insufficient democratic control over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fine Gael, like Fianna Fail, champion deregulation to free up business activity – or more accurately, to give undue advantage to the private sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public sector should be about democratic ownership and accountability, the removal of effective regulation leads to zero accountability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fine Gael has been a subscriber to Irish Thatcherism every bit as much as Fianna Fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The inherent failings of this approach are the root cause of our current financial difficulties and also the visible divisions that exists in society – the huge inequality.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Labour are struggling to distance themselves from the consensus for cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are vulnerable on the question of supporting the finance bill and saying that their rationale is to move the election forward a few weeks is questionable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more than FG, Labour are open to be nailed on the charge that they are happy to let this government take the hit for budgetary measures that they will shake their heads at but do nothing to change in post election period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Labour would also be very sensitive to the charge that they will be responsible for keeping Irish Thatcherism alive by supporting Fine Gael instead of using this opportunity to nail it now and build a new political and economic dispensation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">As I have said before, there is an opportunity to have an election campaign that serves to educate as much as wrest power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What seems clear from public responses on media shows like Liveline or The Frontline is that the anger and frustration is turned towards FF and individual bankers and bondholders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The link to a future government implementing the same ideological approach is missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FG are getting away with it.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-14269798401945252352011-01-23T10:17:00.001+00:002011-01-23T10:25:11.996+00:00Enda Kenny reappears but still makes a fool of himself<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN6O5lYQSY1BIY8fqIuh5AzJbmnM7DK0NP6xFzF21SDODtRvamH_IERjbrB8jZHKzACBAtj5T7ke_RWpqfMGFY1MKJKNwvZUP3-0skpjeySCC9N3MHrPNR_1FSTlld_kPleKYIoXR_FyY/s1600/kenny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN6O5lYQSY1BIY8fqIuh5AzJbmnM7DK0NP6xFzF21SDODtRvamH_IERjbrB8jZHKzACBAtj5T7ke_RWpqfMGFY1MKJKNwvZUP3-0skpjeySCC9N3MHrPNR_1FSTlld_kPleKYIoXR_FyY/s1600/kenny.jpg" /></a></div><br />
At a time of unprecedented politcal turmoil there is one political constant - Fine Gael. Steady as she goes, careful now, take it easy and dont change anything Fine Gael. In the current environment people believe that Fianna Fail are the architects of our misery. They are not however the sole designers of this deeply flawed state. Fine Gael has more than enthusiastically played its role in creating a state incapable of functioning or providing needed services to the Irish people, and more seriously it has failed to defend the interests of all of the people of Ireland against oppresion. To then find Mr. Enda Kenny, the man hiding god knows where, popping up at an Alliance party conference to give lectures to Sinn Fein is deeply frustrating.<br />
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And for wiser, more modern, FGers they must be deeply confused. Why is Fine Gael playing to its backwoods men - incidentally from the same genus as your typical Fianna Fail backwoods men a la FF TD Thomas Byrne commenting about Gerry Adams coming down to our country - why is FG making a fool of itself by talking about Sinn Fein when only half a cabinet is "running" the counry.<br />
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And for anyone who might doubt FG makes a fool of itself on this issue then watch the following. When the audience of the Late Late are laughing at you not with you then you should be twigging something is up:<br />
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Responding to those comments by Enda Kenny at the Alliance Party conference Mary Lou said:<br />
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“The fact is that Sinn Féin has no desire whatsoever to go into Government with Fine Gael. That party signed up to the ‘consensus for cuts’. They would further cut social welfare and would fire thousands of public sector workers.<br />
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“The simple facts are that Enda Kenny and Fine Gael have nothing to offer that is different to Fianna Fáil. <br />
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“Unlike Fine Gael Sinn Féin offers a clear alternative to the failed policies of the current government.<br />
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“Sinn Féin’s economic proposals would grow the economy – Fine Gael’s proposals would depress the economy and drive it further into recession.<br />
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“While Fine Gael supported the Lisbon treaty and previous treaties which have undermined Irish sovereignty Sinn Féin pointed out the implications of these treaties.We now see that Sinn Féin was right and Fine Gael was wrong.<br />
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“We won’t be taking any lectures from Enda Kenny on these issues.”<br />
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Amen to that.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-45315735202925386302011-01-22T14:37:00.000+00:002011-01-22T14:37:29.786+00:00Coalition KillingDefinitively ruling a given party out of coalition is a tactic. It is a tactic designed to undermine credibility and to dissuade support.<br />
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In spite of the designed ambiguity of Sinn Féin' approach during the 2007 election on the matter of potential coalition with Fianna Fail, the latter used every opportunity to rule out such an arrangement. Fianna Fail's approach was designed to undermine SF and arguably it was a successful tactic in limiting the growth of a party that had been making inroads.<br />
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I believe that it was also true that regardless of the outcome, that FF - still heavily influenced, if not populated, with the PD's and fellow travellers, would not have accommodated SF in any event. The antipathy to SF among the political establishment of all hues should never be underestimated..<br />
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Of course, what isn't always given a fair hearing by the progressive left is that there wasn't an appetite among the SF grass roots for any coalition with FF. SF's postion was placed before the membership as tactical - that ruling out the option to participate in government in the south, while in 'government' in the 6 counties, would have been foolish. It would have flown in the face of realpolitik. I would have disagreed with that approach, but having had a fair argument, I would have been on the losing side in the debate. Fair enough.<br />
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Labour ruled out coalition with FF at that time. It probably served them well to do that, as they grew in the polls and could present themselves as principled. Where Labour completely fall down is in their willingness to coalesce with FG - a mirror image of FF and who advocate policies that would have led to exactly the same inequality and cronyism as we have seen.<br />
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Many people are watching Labour and Sinn Féin in terms of what both parties will say about Coalition with conservative and reactionary parties. Both parties can and should use the tactics employed by FF and FG in terms of ruling out coalition with right wingers. The credibility of a FG government would take a real hit if Labour looked to its progressive soul and sought alternative options. The prospect of wiping FF from the map would be given a huge boost by SF making it crystal clear that coalition with them is off the agenda.<br />
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There is enough fluidity out there for anything to happen.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-69703419396814313302011-01-22T09:08:00.000+00:002011-01-22T09:08:36.966+00:00The First Dail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">90 odd years ago an chead dail set out a vision for the southern state. It never got to see the light of day. What followed was 90 years of governance no more imaginative than parochial home rule. Fine Gale and Fianna Fail never heeded these words. These are the principles upon which the new Ireland must be built.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">We declare in the words of the Irish Republican Proclamation the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be indefeasible, and in the language of our first President. Pádraíg Mac Phiarais, we declare that the Nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation, and with him we reaffirm that all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">We declare that we desire our country to be ruled in accordance with the principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all, which alone can secure permanence of Government in the willing adhesion of the people.</div><div class="HIDDEN" style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="hiddentext" style="visibility: hidden;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">We affirm the duty of every man and woman to give allegiance and service to the Commonwealth, and declare it is the duty of the Nation to assure that every citizen shall have opportunity to spend <span class="column" style="color: blue; font-size: 8pt;">[23]</span> his or her strength and faculties in the service of the people. In return for willing service, we, in the name of the Republic, declare the right of every citizen to an adequate share of the produce of the Nation's labour.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">It shall be the first duty of the Government of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training as Citizens of a Free and Gaelic Ireland.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">The Irish Republic fully realises the necessity of abolishing the present odious, degrading and foreign Poor Law System, substituting therefor a sympathetic native scheme for the care of the Nation's aged and infirm, who shall not be regarded as a burden, but rather entitled to the Nation's gratitude and consideration. Likewise it shall be the duty of the Republic to take such measures as will safeguard the health of the people and ensure the physical as well as the moral well-being of the Nation.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">It shall be our duty to promote the development of the Nation's resources, to increase the productivity of its soil, to exploit its mineral deposits, peat bogs, and fisheries, its waterways and harbours, in the interests and for the benefit of the Irish people.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">It shall be the duty of the Republic to adopt all measures necessary for the recreation and invigoration of our Industries, and to ensure their being developed on the most beneficial and progressive co-operative and industrial lines. With the adoption of an extensive Irish Consular Service, trade with foreign Nations shall be revived on terms of mutual advantage and goodwill, and while undertaking the organisation of the Nation's trade, import and export, it shall be the duty of the Republic to prevent the shipment from Ireland of food and other necessaries until the wants of the Irish people are fully satisfied and the future provided for.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">It shall also devolve upon the National Government to seck co-operation of the Governments of other countries in determining a standard of Social and Industrial Legislation with a view to a general and lasting improvement in the conditions under which the working classes live and labour.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1pt; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-top: 0px;">Read more about the f<a href="http://www.firstdail.com/?page_id=25">irst dail</a></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36052877277467900372011-01-20T22:19:00.000+00:002011-01-20T22:19:48.743+00:00End of one chapter; beginning of another<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTEh6jnNCTGehF70GB4FF6t7znW-t6YfjobHy025xRMHd5UQVzCByhkZjVgcY2GMpMkBr2bRjh8uHx-pQdIiw8F9ZYKBFwEEC-cewwQYAt-TkXrQ9sLpDDvhLIHPVW4hal7N8yF-O1due/s1600/people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTEh6jnNCTGehF70GB4FF6t7znW-t6YfjobHy025xRMHd5UQVzCByhkZjVgcY2GMpMkBr2bRjh8uHx-pQdIiw8F9ZYKBFwEEC-cewwQYAt-TkXrQ9sLpDDvhLIHPVW4hal7N8yF-O1due/s320/people.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The election is finally called. After two of the most shameful years of prevarication and confusion in the face of one the deepest crisis ever faced by this country we now have the opportunity to end this sorry state of affairs. There is a common phrase in political circles about the voters waiting in the long grass. Well this time the voters wont be waiting in the long grass they will be standing in full sight and they fully intend to give the Fianna Fail cronies and gombeens a kicking.<br />
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But just as we are hopefully about to bring to an end a sorry chapter in Irish history we must think now about the next chapter. Sinn Fein will hopefully have a stronger presence in the next Leinster house so that it can acclerate even faster the process of breaking down this failed state and building a modern state in its place.<br />
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Looking ahead we must face the prospect of a power Fine Gael with Minister Varadkar and Hayes all backed with a strong Labour party settling in for a few years of power and ministerial baubles.<br />
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What will have changed? Nothing! FG and Labour agreed with Fianna Fail so much they went in and had budget consensus talks. They failed to even question the policy of 3% deficit target until given permission by the IMF. The fully backed the FF policy of deflation and dis-investment through austerity.<br />
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The only way to change is to now make a political step-change. To build a real opposition in south Ireland. With Fine Gael and Labour in govt. and FF broken on the margins the only way to build a real oppositoin is to vote Sinn Fein. We've proven that with 5 TDs we can make a difference and put the govt. under severe pressure. <br />
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After 10 years of closed-minded autocratic rule we dont need a FG-Labour super majority.<br />
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Put 10, 15 or 20 Sinn Fein TDs in their and that will be a break from the past and a new chapter in Irish politics. Sinn Fein will provide real opposition to a too powerful FG-Labour govt. <br />
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Its time to write a new chapter in Irish history. Tá an lá ag teacht.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-836163946118854002011-01-14T17:54:00.000+00:002011-01-14T17:54:00.612+00:00Shankill Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6LIR_rxEJozdLFQ0oeccELwu1EMZ4rZOlqcKYHqeSoIyzgVpefEUGegkB6k71CokhqywkFRz882AV98gvzsR5to3x6HC8zugUVvFJhH7hTONWn_tUnx90v4yQQ5ZZL68e2i0nbMCsXNx/s1600/shankill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6LIR_rxEJozdLFQ0oeccELwu1EMZ4rZOlqcKYHqeSoIyzgVpefEUGegkB6k71CokhqywkFRz882AV98gvzsR5to3x6HC8zugUVvFJhH7hTONWn_tUnx90v4yQQ5ZZL68e2i0nbMCsXNx/s200/shankill.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>An interesting piece in An Phoblacht about how Sinn Fein is building a vote amongst loyalist communities.<br />
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VOTERS in <a href="http://aprnonline.com/?p=81573">staunch loyalist areas</a> such as the Shankill Road are switching to Sinn Féin because republicans are seen to be active for working-class communities, unionist and nationalist, senior UDA members have told the unionist daily, the News Letter.<br />
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UDA leader Jackie McDonald explained that the switch to Sinn Féin is happening because unionist politicians have abandoned their working-class support.<br />
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Former UDA prisoner Colin Halliday said:<br />
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It wasn’t big numbers but there were votes from loyalist areas went into the box for Sinn Féin.<br />
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What we’re taking from that is that voters believe, ‘These people are doing the work for us. We’re being neglected by our own politicians.’<br />
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He said the DUP and UUP are ignoring the people of unionist working-class areas:<br />
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The days of putting a rosette on a donkey and parading it through unionist areas are over.<br />
The UDA-linked Ulster Political Research Group will be contesting the council elections in May.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-27545036899998639902011-01-01T13:40:00.002+00:002011-01-01T13:46:14.877+00:00Shine a Light on Fine Gael<span style="font-size:130%;">Received this piece from Vincent Woodwood who has an excellent site at <a href="http://vincentjwood.blogspot.com/">http://vincentjwood.blogspot.com</a> that is well worth a read.</span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Shine a Light on Fine Gael<br /></span></strong><br /><br />One of the clear objectives for people who want to see far reaching progressive change is to work towards the best possible government from the next election.<br /><br /><br />It is a given that Fianna Fail won’t form part of that government. Nobody would touch them. Even if the figures added up and it was technically possible to form a government between Fianna Fail and Labour, it was long ago ruled out by Labour. That, as it turned out, was a smart move for them to make at time. Support rose for the party, as people drew the conclusion that principle lay behind the decision. It was also very astute. Labour saw that there was a sizable and expanding progressive electorate out there. The decision to create clear distance between them and Fianna Fail was calculated to increase their political strength.<br /><br /><br />The bookies favourite is for a coalition between Fine Gael and Labour. Labour are going along with this perception. In the immediate aftermath of the fallout from the collapse in the banking system and the run up to the last budget, the public mood has been swayed towards looking for the quickest and most effective way of consigning the current government to history. Therefore, there has been a boost to both parties poll ratings. The boost to Labours ratings can be explained in two ways. In the first instance, they have been presented as the most obvious partner to Fine Gael. They have been in government together before and in does not stretch the imagination to put them in a partnership again.<br /><br /><br />The other factor is that one connected to Labour’s decision to rule out Fianna Fail and to take off the gloves in attacking the main governing party inside at outside Leinster House.<br /><br /><br />The rise in the Fine Gael vote I think also falls into two main areas. As the largest opposition party, they are seen as the most likely to replace Fianna Fail and in simple terms, they are the quickest and easiest way to punish the incumbents. There are also a safe home for conservative minded voters and those who want to maintain the political and economic system pretty much as it is. If Fianna Fail are removed together with all of the negative baggage they carry, then a new administration with a different cast of characters can take over without having to change the overall way in which the economy is run.<br /><br /><br />The ideology and policy platform of Fine Gael is indistinguishable in any meaningful way from Fianna Fail. They both believe in deregulated and privatised provision of public services. They both want to roll back the state. They are both conservative parties. That needs saying and repeating at every opportunity.<br /><br /><br />There are a group of people who I believe are thinking about their politics. People have been exposed to a one-size fits all ‘choice’ between two conservative parties and a largely compliant media who have dismissed any variation in policy positions or any fresh thinking that may challenge what had become economic orthodoxy. The collapse in the banking system and the light that this has shone on the weaknesses of this capitalist open economy has stirred enough debate to at least open minds towards alternatives.<br /><br /><br />That these people may feel that their best option would be to vote for Fine Gael in order to sufficiently change the order, has to be a major concern to all who want to see real progressive change. It also poses a challenge.<br /><br /><br />There are two elements to that challenge. The first is to convince this group that a vote for Fine Gael would not change anything. Fine Gael need to be challenged on their policy platform and on their ‘vision’. What do they want to see in 5 or 10 years time. They are open to attack on there plans for the public sector and the increased role for the private sector.<br /><br /><br />The other way that people could be discouraged from voting for Fine Gael is to ensure that the party that would have to support them in any new government, Labour, moved away from that position.<br /><br /><br />That is an enormous challenge. All current indications are that the leadership of the Labour party are gearing up for government with Fine Gael. It’s the easiest option for them. There are also conservative elements within the Labour party who would feel comfortable with this type of coalition. However, there are many within the Labour party and the wider Labour and Trade Union Movement who can see the opportunity for much wider and more radical change in the current climate. They can see that this is one of those moments in history when real change can be effected. They too can see that the political and social landscape can be radically changed and that we are on the verge of being able to consign the neo-liberal domination of the past few decades to history.<br /><br /><br />The Labour party have an opportunity to contribute to the atmosphere of change. They can join with others to put a different type of vision before the people. One that shifts the political paradigm. In doing so, they would be playing a significant part in influencing that group of electors who mistakenly believe that Fine Gael can be a lead actor in creating a better society.<br /><br /><br />Conservative people will stay with Fine Gael and whatever remains of Fianna Fail. Progressive forces can then work together to forge ahead with putting a people-centred vision before the electorate.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-29825870698025977212010-12-11T11:44:00.007+00:002010-12-11T15:49:03.976+00:00Brilliant Pearse - Now Marty don't fail us nowPeasrse Doherty made a brilliant speech in response to the budget and many more people in the South are now seeing Sinn Féin as a genuine alternative to the main parties.<br />
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Sinn Féin is seen to be fighting for the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised people of this country. Sinn Féin is seen to be offering a modern ecomic alternative to the market based policies that created the current world economic crisis. Sinn Féin is seen to be taking on the priviliged groups in this country and refusing to allow an economic elite to get away with making the working class pay for the mess we are in.<br />
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However, in the North Sinn Féin is in a postion of power and is being told by London to make budget cuts of 4 Billion pounds. If Sinn Féin agrees to implementing cuts of this nature, then what the hell are we doing down the South. We cannot oppose cuts in the South and implement them in the North. If we do we will loose all crediblility with the Irish people, and what is worse is that we will be seen as liars.<br />
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Sinn Féin must fight for working people North and South and it must refuse to implement the cuts in the Six counties.<br />
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Below is Pearse's speech and he outlines for me the direction Sinn Féin must go throughut the island.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-19374521002066626692010-12-09T12:41:00.000+00:002010-12-09T12:41:33.652+00:00Irish Citizen's News : FG & Labour "knowledge economy"<a href="http://irishcitizensnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/fg-and-labour-refuse-to-reverse-cuts-to.html">Irish Citizen's News</a> is a punchy news blog providing short news stories and insights into current affairs. Worth bookmarking. <br />
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<em><strong>FG and Labour refuse to reverse cuts to students grants </strong></em><br />
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Last night, the "government in waiting", Fine Gael and Labour could not make a promise to strickened students to reverse the cuts to their grants.<br />
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The Union of Students in Ireland is furious over the change which it claims will force many to drop out of college.<br />
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Anger is mounting over drastic cuts in grants for 25,000 students who will lose €1,700 each on average from next September.<br />
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The students will be forced onto lower grants because they live less than 45km from college. <br />
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Until now they got the higher 'non-adjacent' grant which kicked in at 24km from college. <br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-49612738344291356842010-12-07T21:13:00.000+00:002010-12-07T21:13:08.081+00:00Fighting RTE censorship - making an official complaint<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQ1lxZ_DamuGY5VluJmJcZ1lsqAzdWwCD7Dz8knMKj9xPinf5fzExbR60_OtU5j7pkqA9otp1SHz2SeSRcD5PoJnVAIwyTWmj8JkuUKgN6Up1sdvDcxoWO44ks7OlTnPi7x73xPySg6S9/s1600/censorship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQ1lxZ_DamuGY5VluJmJcZ1lsqAzdWwCD7Dz8knMKj9xPinf5fzExbR60_OtU5j7pkqA9otp1SHz2SeSRcD5PoJnVAIwyTWmj8JkuUKgN6Up1sdvDcxoWO44ks7OlTnPi7x73xPySg6S9/s200/censorship.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I came across a few things on Facebook about complaining over RTE bias and today I saw some more material and folks talking about the same so here is an overview of the process. If you dont like RTE bias or other media sources' treatment of Sinn Fein then politely and firmly challenge them. Use the mechanisms in place and within which they must react to put pressure on them. Who knows a multiple of favourable jdgements and things could change very quickly. Everyone can play their part.<br />
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Hope this helps some of you get complaints about RTE impartialty and force them to treat SF fairly.<br />
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For Broadcasters the relevant body is the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland<br />
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Complaining to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland:<br />
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(1) <a href="http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints.html">http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints.html</a> <br />
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Information on their site about the <a href="http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints_complaintprocess.html">complaints process </a><br />
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The <a href="http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints_complaintform.html">Complaint Form</a> to use<br />
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I would suspect the categories objectivity; impartiality in news , and fairness and objectivity, impartiality in current affairs would be the main ones relevant here.<br />
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Once you identify a broadcast that you believes infringes one of the above then you have under 30 days from the date of broadcast to submit your complaint.<br />
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(2) <a href="http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints_complaintprocess.html">http://www.bai.ie/broadcasting_complaints_complaintprocess.html</a><br />
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When you complete the form it can be mailed, faxed or emailed.<br />
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Your must inform the BAI of the name of the programme/advertisement, station, date & time of the broadcast and what legislative requirement/code you feel the broadcaster has not adhered to <br />
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The Station name is like : RTE One.<br />
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The legislative requirement would be: Broadcasting Act 2009, section 48 (1)(a)(fairness, objectivity and impartiality in current affairs)<br />
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Programme name, date and time would be unique of course but make sure you use the correct name, date and time. <br />
Seeing as how its impartiality thats the issue then that seems the best to use. Scroll down to the bottom to see some of the relevant legislation. Full link here - <a href="http://www.bai.ie/pdfs/BroadcastingAct2009.pdf">Irish broadcasting act</a> <br />
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The specific point on which most complaints related to bias or impartiality against SF would be relate to F, O and I. In the making of any complaint it may be useful to repeat the language used by the BAI - they will have a language they use when assessing complaints and phrasing it using their language should be of benefit. <br />
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From the BAI.ie it states : Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality: There is a requirement that all news broadcast by a broadcaster is reported and presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views. In the treatment of current affairs, including matters which are either of public controversy, or the subject of current public debate, broadcasters must ensure that they are fair to all interests concerned and that the broadcast material is presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views<br />
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That paragraph is effectively the rules within which your complaint will be considered. In order to have a successful complaint then you would need to point out how the broadcaster failed in one of those criteria.<br />
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The BAI in turn will evaluate the complaint see and the programme to determine that "every reasonable effort to present a range of significant viewpoints to the matters under discussion and be fair to all interests concerned" has been made. Again a statement within your complaint that it was your belief that broadcaster x on programme Y did not make reasonable efffort to present different view points/ establish impartiality/etc would help to place your complaint within a suitable framework.<br />
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The BAI committee may choose to either fully accept, partialy accept or reject your complaint once it gets to the end process so it may be worthwhile specifiying a number of elements to your complaint as done in this <a href="http://www.bai.ie/compliance%20decisions/274_10_201005026_rtenofrontiers_aob%20(2).doc">example</a>. These case records would prove useful templates for preparing a complaint<br />
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It would also seem to be a good idea that the segments of the programme which your complaint is centered around is referenced in your complaint i.e at 14:36 into the show the presenter said ...<br />
This approach would help focus the committee's evaluation to certain areas which they should treat. The whole show though should still remain an element of a complaint as otherwise it may be they will reject the stated instances and a good case might be lost.<br />
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what hapens when you make a complaint: It will get sent to RTE who will have to reply .<br />
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Their response can either be accepted or rejected by the person making the complaint i.e you. In order for your complaint to go to the BAI's excutive complaint forum then you would have to write to the BAI and confirm you are unhappy at the broadcasters response. Once thats done they will analyse your case seriously, discuss it and determine whether they will formally make a judgement against the broadcaster in question. In order to make an impact on the broadcasting policy of RTE a successful formal judgement , or a series of such judgements would be needed meaning that rejecting the broadcasters response in order to achieve a formal review of your complaint would appear the best way to ensure RTE abandoned its biased policy.<br />
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as per the BAI.ie :<br />
Initial consideration: if you are not happy with the response to your complaint, you can inform the BAI and your complaint will be given initial consideration by the BAI's Executive Complaint Forum. In this regard, all written material on file, together with the relevant recording of the broadcast will be considered in a collagaite manner by the Forum. If the Forum determines that the issues as raise by you are not borne out by the broadcasting content, the complaint will be considered resolved. If the Forum decides that there are complaint issues borne out by the broadcasting content which require further consideration, the complaint will be referred to the Compliance Committee for assessment.<br />
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Compliance Committee: In assessing a complaint, the Authority considers all written material on file together with the relevant broadcast material. The issues are discussed in a collegiate manner at a meeting of the Compliance Committee. If the Committee agrees with the complaint, it will be upheld. If the Committee disagrees, the complaint will be rejected.<br />
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A copy of the decision will be sent to the complainant and the broadcaster before its publication<br />
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The legislation also provides that broadcasters must broadcast decisions of the Compliance Committee where a complaint has been fully or partially upheld. Broadcasts of this nature must be made within 21 days of the Compliance Committee issuing its decision<br />
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48 a <br />
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) a complaint that in broadcasting news given by it and specified in the complaint, a broadcaster did not comply with one or more of the requirements of section 39(1)(a) and (b) (<br />
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b ) a complaint that in broadcasting a programme specified in the complaint, a broadcaster either did not comply with one or more of these requirements or was in breach of the prohibition contained in section 39(1)(d) <br />
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(<br />
C ) a complaint that on an occasion specified in the complaint, there was an encroachment by a broadcaster contrary to section 39(1)(e) <br />
d ) a complaint that on an occasion specified in the complaint, <br />
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a broadcaster failed to comply with a provision of a broadcasting code providing for the matters referred to<br />
in section 42(2)(a) to (d) and section 42(2)(f), (g) and (h) <br />
<br />
(2) A complaint under subsection (1) shall be in writing and be <br />
made to the Compliance Committee not more than 30 days after—<br />
a ) in case the complaint relates to one broadcast, the date of the broadcast,(<br />
<br />
b ) in the case of 2 or more unrelated broadcasts, the date of the earlier or earliest, as the case may be, of those broadcasts, or<br />
(<br />
c <br />
<br />
) in case the complaint relates to 2 or more related broadcasts of which at least 2 are made on different dates, the later or latest of those dates.<br />
<br />
(3) The Compliance Committee may, at their discretion, refer the complaint in the first instance to the broadcaster, for consideration in accordance with a code of practice prepared under <br />
section 47(3) <br />
Section 39:<br />
<br />
a <br />
<br />
) all news broadcast by the broadcaster is reported and <br />
<br />
presented in an objective and impartial manner and without<br />
<br />
any expression of the broadcaster’s own views,<br />
<br />
(<br />
b <br />
<br />
) the broadcast treatment of current affairs, including <br />
<br />
matters which are either of public controversy or the subject<br />
<br />
of current public debate, is fair to all interests concerned<br />
<br />
and that the broadcast matter is presented in an<br />
<br />
objective and impartial manner and without any<br />
<br />
expression of his or her own views, except that should it<br />
<br />
prove impracticable in relation to a single broadcast to<br />
<br />
apply this paragraph, two or more related broadcasts may<br />
<br />
be considered as a whole, if the broadcasts are transmitted<br />
<br />
within a reasonable period of each other,<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18975165231757377872010-11-30T20:04:00.003+00:002010-11-30T20:09:31.647+00:00NOW MORE THAN EVER WE MUST FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR NEUTRALITY AND INDEPENDENCE.AGM OF THE PEACE AND NEUTRAILTY ALLIANCE (PANA)<br /><br />Roger Cole, Chair of PANA said:<br /><br /><br />"PANA is really only an idea, as with an annual income of less than €10,000, what else could it be. <strong>The idea is that Ireland should be a United Independent Democratic Republic with its own Independent Foreign Policy with neutrality at its heart."</strong><br /><br />It is an idea that originated in 1790 with Wolfe Tone. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century the Irish political elite gave their allegiance to the British Union and its imperial wars until the 1916 Rising broke their power over the Irish people. It took some time before the Irish imperialists regrouped and the Fianna Fail/Fine Gael/Labour elite gave their allegiance the European Union and its Battle Groups. However, as between 50,000-100,000 Irish people cheered on Saturday 27 as once more the 1916 Proclamation was read outside the GPO, as a clear majority of the people in the Donegal by-election voted for supporters of the Proclamation, we can realistically ask, has the time for that idea come again? As Admiral Mullen, Chair of the US military Joint Chiefs of Staff and the real boss of the US/EU/NATO military axis states war with Iran is being considered, will the Irish political elite be able to sustain their power over the Irish people as they are drag! ged not only into mass poverty but yet another war? PANA has resisted these Irish imperialists since our foundation. We are part of a tradition that has resisted imperialism for 220 years. We shall never surrender."<br /><br /><br />The PANA AGM will be held in the Ireland Institute, 27 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 on Saturday December 4 from 11.30am-1.00pm with reports from the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and International Secretary followed by elections. There will then be a public meeting with Alan Mackinnon, Chair of Scottish CND,<br />Jill Gough, National Secretary of CND Cymru and David Hutchinson Edgar, Chair of Irish CND<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Roger Cole<br />Chair<br />Peace & Neutrality Alliance<br />www.pana.ie<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-24916488581480399492010-11-28T20:46:00.001+00:002010-11-28T20:46:14.142+00:00Government has negotiated a terrible deal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyMOI_iNVaKs0md0QlQSCHBUnTNubztAZ_l0jhlWp2fOWUCwpAC9HrRQFZIW26jsr_1rdzY0Ox9uUHf9ms5G-bGJ9vysreCbzop1UpD9RmbCEkpXtbY0L7GuKo2th5fZc4Ni-hEJcOuFm/s1600/economic+recovery+ireland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyMOI_iNVaKs0md0QlQSCHBUnTNubztAZ_l0jhlWp2fOWUCwpAC9HrRQFZIW26jsr_1rdzY0Ox9uUHf9ms5G-bGJ9vysreCbzop1UpD9RmbCEkpXtbY0L7GuKo2th5fZc4Ni-hEJcOuFm/s200/economic+recovery+ireland.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In an initial response this evening to the details of the EU/IMF bailout, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said:<br />
<br />
“The government has negotiated a terrible deal.<br />
<br />
"The 5.8% interest rate is unaffordable. The decision to force the state to take €17.5 billion out of the Pensions Reserve Fund to pour into black hole that is our banking system is a disaster.<br />
<br />
“Sinn Féin had proposed €7 billion be taken from the Pension Reserve Fund for a jobs stimulus programme. The Government refused to do this. But now they are prepared to rob the pension fund to give a digout to the bankers.<br />
<br />
“The decision to protect bondholders is disgraceful.<br />
“The banks are getting another €15 billion while simultaneously €15 billion is being taken out the economy- out of people’s pockets.<br />
“The costs of this deal to ordinary people will be deep and will result in hugely damaging cuts to public services, social welfare and wages.”<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-62728770176811638272010-11-21T12:32:00.000+00:002010-11-21T12:32:50.558+00:00The Republic has not fallen.<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovZYB4ItZBExS8SqkhMeU2XukrSOW6pkWsbIqc8ky8mzXbJ3VWL_pGGL28bE_Q1O70UsCBDm3rf2hlJdzXC371Xpcam10xlMIx4a98i276TuH0ubS39z4q_qs2JSwYG7zE-RyfS4iBbhP/s1600/Easter+Lily+Irish+War+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovZYB4ItZBExS8SqkhMeU2XukrSOW6pkWsbIqc8ky8mzXbJ3VWL_pGGL28bE_Q1O70UsCBDm3rf2hlJdzXC371Xpcam10xlMIx4a98i276TuH0ubS39z4q_qs2JSwYG7zE-RyfS4iBbhP/s320/Easter+Lily+Irish+War+Dead.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If ever there was a proof required that the govt. in Dublin was not capable of defending, encouraging and bringing to full fruition the Irish Republic then the last week was full testament to how they have failed once again. There have been many witty uses of the proclamation text over the last week or so. The <a href="http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/11/19/proclamation-2/">Irish Left</a> Review and the <a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/home/proclamation-of-dependence-136950.html">Irish examiner</a> both have examples which skilfully set the destructive arrogance of the Fianna Fail govt. in stark contrast against the selflessness and vision of the founders of this Republic. Further commentators have noted that the Republic is dead, disestablished in 2010, last Thursday to be exact. Typically we hear that the patriot dead of the rising and tan war would be spinning in their graves.<br />
<br />
The sentiment is understandable. The southern state has suffered a very serious loss of control over its own fate. Its laudable that people are going back to the well - to the proclamation which is not just a historical document but alongside the programme of the first dail effectively the constituting document of the Republic that was founded in 1916.<br />
<br />
The anger of people who believe that for all purposes the Republic has fallen due to the actions of the Fianna Fail govt is understandable. Yet its mistaken so far as it believes that the Irish Republic is Fianna Fail's or the Dublin Govt's to destroy.<br />
<br />
One version of the oath of the Irish Republican Brotherhood had its members "swear allegiance to the Irish Republic, now virtually established". A republic established in principle in the 1860s and in reality in 1916 is not and never will be Fianna Fail's to destroy. <br />
<br />
Which raises the question then of how the men of 1916 would view this. From their own words and their proclamation we know what there vision for Ireland was.<br />
<br />
Did they envisage a 'Republic' whose governing class would welcome emigration twice in the space of three decades?<br />
<br />
Did they envisage a 'Republic' where you are scared when your relative goes to hospital because it will probably kill them rather than save them?<br />
<br />
Did they envisage a 'Republic' where the wealth of a generation was squandered to the defend the interests of a well heeled ascendancy, a native aristocracy of gombeens and arrogant crooks whose interest lays in their own land developer class over the mere Irish.<br />
<br />
Did they envisage a 'Republic' which ignored the apartheid statelet's discriminaton to the north?<br />
<br />
Connolly who was shot unconscious in a chair hardly would be happy to see an 80 year old woman in Sligo hosptial suffering from Lung cancer being slapped into a chair for the night.<br />
<br />
The men of 1916 didnt die to establish Irish sovereignty alone. Each of them had a vision whether it be cultural (which the state is failing), educational (which the state is failing), social equality ( which the state is failing) etc etc.<br />
<br />
If the men of 1916 where spinning in their graves last Thursday then they have been doing it for decades.<br />
<br />
Last Thursday was a new low, another step away from the Republic, not marking the end of the Republic, but maybe marking the realisation for may people that the so called republic was not a republic and has not been for decades. What was called the 'republic' was an oligarchy geared to the benefit of the few and failing at practically every task it turned its hand to whether that be the development of robust and functioning institutions, a stable economy, a revival of our national language or maintaing fiscal control.<br />
<br />
So has the Republic fallen. No it has not. Its still there. The task is the same task it has been for a while now - to dismantle the oligarchical states and replace them with a functioning republic.<br />
<br />
The 6 county orange state has been broken down and is being destroyed more and more and now the Fianna Fail state has destroyed itself.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">But the Republic still exists and maybe today with the prospect of the end of the gombeen state built by Fianna Fail and tolerated by Fine Gael the men of 1916 are spinning a bit slower in their graves</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-1882801413172812582010-11-20T14:18:00.000+00:002010-11-20T14:20:35.190+00:00TIME FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS NOWTEEU delegates have voted in favour of a campaign of civil disobedience if the Government does not call a General Election.<br /><br />The emergency motion was passed by an overwhelming majority at the biennial conference of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union in Galway this morning.<br />It condemned the Government for what it describes as 'negligence in the management of the economy'.<br /><br />The union's General Secretary, Eamon Devoy, told delegates that he believes Ireland is on the brink of significant civil unrest.<br />He attacked the Government's plan to take €6 billion out of the economy in the next Budget.<br /><br />'When the draconian measures being proposed are heaped on top of the €14.5 Billion cuts already implemented in the last three brutal budgets, life in Ireland will be unbearable', he said.<br /><br />ICTU General Secretary David Begg accused banks of 'lying through their teeth to NAMA about the value of their loan books.<br /><br />He told delegates that the Government guarantee to the banking bond holders was 'a terrible mistake' and the trade union movement would not 'acquiesce in the ruination of our society'.<br /><br />Mr Begg said Congress was calling for a mass mobilisation on 27 November to 'allow ordinary working people to voice their opposition to a policy that could destroy 90,000 more jobs in the short term and any prospect of long term prosperity.'<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-69982919956343502432010-11-13T08:42:00.002+00:002010-11-13T08:46:11.830+00:00Peace and Neutrality Alliance Annual Conference<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2OIEiQYRNnbljsRCOp4942upr45Eea7Iro6TFQ819fW8TZBppBPrV2X2EBxYLJLpXHFVKgST2nlw400WT0IJZTaNu7DFwUv_GV_JXBDGT2k1ershOZkGEJtZ0HaK4KYzq9Hano2Dtko/s1600/shannon-poster-101028.jpeg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 282px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538952880269450690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2OIEiQYRNnbljsRCOp4942upr45Eea7Iro6TFQ819fW8TZBppBPrV2X2EBxYLJLpXHFVKgST2nlw400WT0IJZTaNu7DFwUv_GV_JXBDGT2k1ershOZkGEJtZ0HaK4KYzq9Hano2Dtko/s400/shannon-poster-101028.jpeg" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong></strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong></strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>Peace & Neutrality Alliance Annual Conference</strong><br /><br /></span><br />The Annual Conference of the Peace & Neutrality Alliance will be held on Saturday December 4 in the Ireland Institute, 27 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. It will start at 11.30am with reports from the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, International Secretary and resolutions followed by the elections to the NEC. It is open to the public, but only paid up members can vote.<br />The second session will be a public meeting commencing at 2.30pm. Speakers are John Macinnon, National Secretary of Scottish CND, Jill Gough, National Secretary of CND Cymru and David Hutchinson Edgar, Chair of Irish CND.<br /><br />I hope everybody interested in learning more about these three peace movements attend.<br /><br />Since 1996 PANA has worked to build a broad alliance throughout Ireland to oppose the neo-liberal militarist ideology that offers the people of this country nothing but war and mass poverty. While we have won some major victories, in particular the winning of the first referendums on the Nice and Lisbon treaties the Irish corporate media and all the mainstream political parties have continued to support their wars and their neo-liberal economics.<br />However the desire of the leadership of Fianna Fail/Fine Gael/Labour Party to continue to support the use of Shannon airport by US troops, the acceleration of the process of the militarisation of the EU and massive cuts in a four year period will absolutely inevitably mean a total transformation of Irish politics. This will however will not necessarily be a "good thing". When Obama got elected with the help of the peace movement in the US he ignored them and did the exact opposite by escalating the war and maintaining then neo-liberal economic ideology. By opposing change, Obama has opened the way for the US Republicans that offer the same but even more of it. In Ireland those that appear to offer change like TASC and Claiming our Future deliberately make no mention of Irish participation in the Imperial Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Pakistan or the militarisation of the EU. But there can be no option for social justice in Ireland or elsewhere wh! ile supporting Imperial wars. It is the job of PANA not just to attack the blood soaked warmongers in Fianna Fail but ensure at every stage that opposition to Irish involvement in these horrific wars be an integral part of the emerging political alternative. Neither can this process be achieved in isolation which is why we have invited speakers from Scotland and Wales, taking part in the NO to WAR NO to NATO conference and have continued to build stronger links with other peace groups in the US and other countries. Let there be no mistake. As war and poverty grows, so will the resistance. They will be defeated.<br /></div><br /><div>Roger Cole<br />Chair<br />Peace & Neutrality Alliance<br />www.pana.ie </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-57098229211687963332010-11-11T22:14:00.004+00:002010-11-11T22:29:25.698+00:00THE RISE AND RETURN<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXNfz1w1HGflmnfLq1KEat-ezz1Zteu1QeeKgd-8x4aRdrThGYJ34hAjkFxRcSF8u7jqEenUWbLwnCJAS4O03RYD3c197n1hNBRQ0c496-8orxNpii6TihhEYeauzb9zDW5yjAoKFXgM/s1600/phoenix.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 326px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538422838598141410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXNfz1w1HGflmnfLq1KEat-ezz1Zteu1QeeKgd-8x4aRdrThGYJ34hAjkFxRcSF8u7jqEenUWbLwnCJAS4O03RYD3c197n1hNBRQ0c496-8orxNpii6TihhEYeauzb9zDW5yjAoKFXgM/s400/phoenix.gif" /></a><br /><div align="left">Below is a piece received from "The Guarantor" on our failure to break through in national opinion polls.</div><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;"></span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">The Rise And Return<br /><br /></span></strong>Well that is that then ,we are through, them opinion polls say so and the old order of things believe it and crows. Should we believe their words? Hell no. </div><br /><div align="left"><br />I for one chooses to ignore them. Opinion polls ha. Do not take them seriously, they insult our intelligence. Pay no attention to them cause it was cooked up by individuals who failed Leaving Cert Maths.<br /><br /><br />Let us face facts here, we have bitter enemies so called nationalists, unionists and every journalistic hack in the comics wants a piece. I know, you as well as I have long memories. I remember the venom spread about us, the utter trash they came out with about the Republican movement.<br /><br /><br />So what is our response? Wring our hands in despair? Whinge? Write poison pen letters to the tabloids? Give up? Nah not us. Such is below our dignity, our character. The answer to them all is this we aren’t through with yet. Speaking of their venom reminds me of a poem by <strong>A.E.Housman in A Shropshire Lad. </strong></div><br /><div align="left"><br />About King Mithridates how he made himself immune to the venom’s in nature.<br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"><strong><em>‘And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,<br />Sate the king when healths went round.<br />They put arsenic in his meat<br />And stared aghast to watch him eat;<br />They poured strychnine in his cup<br />And shook to see him drink it up;<br />They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt;<br />Them it was their poison hurt.’<br /></em><br /></strong><br />They who zealously pursue our destruction have written our obituary prematurely.</div><br /><div align="left">Why do they hate us?</div><br /><div align="left">Why do they attack us so? </div><br /><div align="left">Self interest and fear. It is so because we are power, a wind of change, we have a point, we are on to something here….. We have an idea: A republic. <strong>They fear us cause we will succeed.<br /><br /></strong><br />In our history as republicans in struggle we have remained ,and will remain, steadfast to the idea of a free independent Ireland. All other ideas of ours will change, alter and adapt cause they must. Our core identity, our core belief, will be unaltered standing the test of time - a republic. Heh, if Plato can 2500 years ago says it’s the most perfect form of government available. I tend to agree.<br /><br /><br />Polybius said ‘Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than before.’<br /><br /><br />Pessimism and defeatism are the bane of this nation. Micko organised a massive bluff and fooled the Empire and liberated for us 26 counties. It was some game they played in the face of such division at home. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Read Michael Flanagan’s Presidential Address ‘The Strength of Sinn Féin’ to see why I draw such a conclusion. And if the Irish race could stand against such adversity divided, what could we achieve together united?<br /><br /><br />After Collins and the lads hard fought battle during the Tan War, what happened in the intervening 80 odd years? We know well there were those who quit at that and went no further, resting on their laurels. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">As Polybius said.<br />This is the mark Sinn Féin make we are relentless, unceasing that is the true difference between us Republicans and the middlemen of the Gombeens nation. The people of the Republic will always need Sinn Féin.<br /><br /><br />So take heart, Things for us are not so bad for us as portrayed.<br /><br /><br />The gombeens have gifted this island with a <strong>3 fold curse, partition, emigration and debt</strong>. Such I call Clan Breaga. And us we have the youth of this country and our hard work, our graft. What are we to do? Wait? No, we are not Labour, who crucially for themselves must decide who they will stand with. To do James Connolly proud, us and Clan Séan Bean Vocht or the middlemen of Clan Breaga.<br /><br /><br />Today’s our day, if Ireland is to rise anew reborn it is republicans must lead as always. It must be now not some far flung distant date sometime in the future.<br /><br /><br />The first test of our strength and the republic’s soon November 25th. </div><br /><div align="left"><br />Donegal South West. A by election. The FF/Green cabal hell bent to subvert the democratic principles of government to cling on to power for just a wee while longer.<br /></div><br /><div align="left">I ask of the voters of this constituency elderly and middle aged accustomed to vote in tribal fashion for FF or FG. Why? Cause of loyalty to what your daddies and granddaddies done? I do not question the brave sacrifice of those individuals but I question rather was this sorry FF/FG axis of power what they fought for. Look at the unemployed, yourselves, your sons and daughters.<br /><br /><br />Finally to the youth of this constituency , the students, and the emigrants return home to the hills of Donegal. Drop everything cancel everything, nought else matters. </div><br /><div align="left"><br />Travel up, return home. Make your plans revolve round this moment. More of the same or something else.<br /></div><br /><div align="left">This is your future in an instant.<br /><br /><br />There is only one man to thank Senator Pearse Doherty, thank only one party,<br />Sinn Féin, for this opportunity to stand up for Donegal, and indeed for the national interest. Your vote you can bring a government to its knees, to its end. You can alter the fate of this island. Its destiny. Sink it to new lows or raise it up from the mire. Build the republic as it was envisioned. Let the world say of Ireland A people that said enough and no further. Let Ireland say ‘Here stands a Republic our Republic!’<br /><br /><br />Old Ireland has throughout its history has the gombeen as its enemy.<br />So do what you can do what you are able.<br />Write thesis to educate so that you may be free,<br />Demonstrate to show your opposition so others may be inspired;<br />Canvass to gain support so that you will be an example<br />Join Sinn Féin and Vote Sinn Féin<br />Suas agus troid an naisiun gombeen!<br /><br /><br />And may our endeavor prove: The Rise And Return<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-17172027138471542272010-11-04T17:56:00.000+00:002010-11-04T17:56:02.102+00:00You makes your bet and takes your chances - facing the bondholders and special interests downSinn Féin versus the Bank Bail Out. Rathangan SF blog discusses the <a href="http://rathanganrepublicannews.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html">Irish banking crisis,</a> the Sinn Fein reponse and the failures of the FF strategy. To see how far Fianna Fail's approach is from reality <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">you could look at the Financial Times editorial of 01st November which looked on in amazement at the <a href="http://www.progressive-economy.ie/2010/11/burn-all-bondholders.html">insane strategy</a> followed by Dublin<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO_x4H_8Szcb43CazaGsMpygbbkn-yTZH7drqzxGwcMKEoQ1jyDmLv3OMtZ4U2lsgMXr-QgdjW9Cjm8EY8DYlMZrD_yFteAwiInurvg8TU9z1CVmQ3lzINzi-EiBK-Y7UKiBs0fWgE_WY/s1600/irish+economy+recession-recovery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdO_x4H_8Szcb43CazaGsMpygbbkn-yTZH7drqzxGwcMKEoQ1jyDmLv3OMtZ4U2lsgMXr-QgdjW9Cjm8EY8DYlMZrD_yFteAwiInurvg8TU9z1CVmQ3lzINzi-EiBK-Y7UKiBs0fWgE_WY/s200/irish+economy+recession-recovery.jpg" width="200" /></a>. Even the right wing think FF have lost the plot. Its time to stand upto the bank debt bondholders. If we dont then the economy will likely be crippled. </div><br />
A few short months ago this blog was both shocked and saddened to read an American headline entitled, "The bank that brought down a nation". Prehaps that wasnt the exact wording, but it was a clear meaning. The Americans, and the rest of the world, were watching in amazement as the Irish government chose covering subordinated bond holders tied to their nations failed banks, over the welfare of its own citizens. The rest of the world were watching our government ignore convention in promising to make Irelands citizens pay for the banking crisis, which they clearly were not responsible for and could only pay for at the expense of their whole way of life.<br />
<br />
The recapitalisation of our banks is expected to cost in the range of €45 billion to €50 billion. Over €30 billion is already wrote off to loss in Anglo and Irish Nationwide. Sinn Féin believes that there will be a minimal if not zero return on the funds committed to recapitalising the remaining institutions. The cost of NAMA is not included in these figures. In the worst case scenario, NAMA will cost the Irish taxpayer €40 billion, while the very best scenario still sees the Irish taxpayer €1 billion down.<br />
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Sinn Féin believes rather than standing up for the bank bondholders, our government needs to stand up for the Irish people and the future of our economy. If additional billions can always be found for the banks, money can be found for our recovery. The Fianna Fail/Green coalition has it backwards; banks follow the economy; they do not lead it: fix the economy and you fix the banks as well as fix the future.<br />
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Certain opposition parties who seem unable to come up with their own progressive economic proposals are spending their time attacking Sinn Féin over our original stance on the bank bail out two years ago. It is true that Sinn Féin supported the original motion, as the guarantee appeared to be a measure to stabilise the entire banking sector which was about to collapse and the party agreed to support it only with the provision of proper terms and conditions. Sinn Féin, along with the rest of the nation were misled on the facts, and when we learned that the terms and conditions provided were inadequate, we voted against it and have done so ever since.<br />
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Let no one blur the truth, Sinn Féin is one hundred percent against the bank bail out, and find the fact that the government has refused to reveal the identities of the bond holders to the Irish people, who are bankrolling their get out of jail free card, disgusting. Roman Abramovic recently outed himself as a bond holder and had the cheek to threaten to sue the Irish state if it defaulted on any part of his bond. The fact is, Abramovic invested in a high risk bond with the bank. As the caveat under every financial institution reads - Caution: the value of your investment can go down as well as up.<br />
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Sinn Féin believes that the Anglo bondholders must take the hit of their bad investment and the good deposits in the bank must be moved to the now nationalised AIB, which must become a state bank. The banking guarantee as it stands should be abolished immediately, leaving just a depositors guarantee in place.<br />
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Sinn Féin refuses to take part in the consensus pretending that the bank bail out and its effects are somehow separate from the rest of the economy, and have no impact on government finances. The bank bail out has heightened the effects of our recession, made recovery much more difficult and left us as a state on our knees before the EU and the IMF. Our international reputation is ruined and despite what Brian Cowen thinks, allowing Irelands citizens and infrastructure to decay in order to save bondsmen will not appeal us to multinational investment. You cannot separate the bank bail out and our government finances, the international markets certainly wont. In reality, the bank bail out places our true deficit in excess of 32%, a truly horrifying figure.<br />
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Remember this when the Minister for Finance slashes your social welfare, old age pension, disability payments or single mothers benefits on December the seventh. Remember this when your local hospital loses its A&E, when your local rail line is closed or when your kids cant afford to continue college due to rising fees. This budget has nothing to do deficit reduction. Every cent that is cut from frontline services, welfare benefits and general public spending next year will be redirected at least ten times into our governments bank bail out. You can stop them, but time is running out. It beyond time for the Irish people to pull the rug from under these people, once and for all.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-44742335127328749112010-11-02T10:59:00.001+00:002010-11-02T10:59:37.332+00:00Countries with Death Wishes. David McWilliams questions austerity machismo<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihllPBV_Px9esYPNhfyb688px89l-lqPh1_9KPKvwOUNCK0UvtKuhQXIz-2F0P3zThZHnJjY7LysPAVg8S8xubG-eBbptCk5vroAqXkl0uiZg3JJtyI9e2FYxRAnJib8lXbuTNPPPgQvUd/s1600/davidmcwilliamsEconomist-777333.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihllPBV_Px9esYPNhfyb688px89l-lqPh1_9KPKvwOUNCK0UvtKuhQXIz-2F0P3zThZHnJjY7LysPAVg8S8xubG-eBbptCk5vroAqXkl0uiZg3JJtyI9e2FYxRAnJib8lXbuTNPPPgQvUd/s320/davidmcwilliamsEconomist-777333.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534905365851745314" /></a></p><div>David McWilliams wrote a very good piece which effectively demonstrates why the neo-liberal reaganite model is such a failure. Such a model assumes that the interests of business and state are always aligned and the state benefits incidentally as long as business is booming. The more business booms the more the state will boom. Unfortunately it does not work like that does it. The interests of the state (and more accurately the nation) are frequently similar to those of business but most definitely superior to them. Thats where Linehan and company have gotten so lost. They still think that as long as you are slavishly acting in the interests of businesses, property holders or debt holders then somehow that raises the state's boat as well (with a few bob won on the horses as well of course) . Naive men and women blinded by ideology (and personal greed) who are incapable of performing the jobs they hold and as a result need men like Suds and Seanie to tell them how to proceed.</div> <div> </div> <div><em>David McWilliams:</em></div> <div> </div> <div>I am writing this article from a ''ghost hotel'' in Leinster. Rumour has it that the business was recently sold for €1, but the hotel itself is probably in Nama.</div> <p>It will never be worth what it was built for. Today, as well as owning a small part of this hotel, I am the only guest in it. The reason I know this is that, when I asked about the lack of hot water, the very charming hotel manager said that I'd have to run the water for a bit as there was no other hot water being used in the whole hotel.</p> <p>There were no other guests. The hotel has more than 90 rooms. This is reality in Ireland, and this reality needs to be defined and accepted. The reality is that bank lending is falling, prices in most sectors are falling, lending to residential housing is falling and the economy is in the grips of a credit crunch. People have too much debt and don't want to borrow, and the banks have too much bad debt and don't want to lend.</p> <p>Against this background, the people who run the country make announcements about ''front loading'' budget cuts as if budget cuts are some sort of clean arithmetic, which has no impact on the economics. This is not arithmetic, it is economics and, in economics, everything is related.</p> <p>On paper, arithmetic can look clean and incisive, but in reality it affects jobs and people's decisions to spend. It means nights in a ghost hotel and wages for hotel managers, it means Christmas parties and Christmas presents, it means investments in machinery and the difference between some hope and no hope.</p> <p>Those who best understand the difference between simple arithmetic and complex economics are the financial markets. </p> <div>Investors want to invest in an economy which has the prospect of growth. If they see that a country is being turned into a large debt-servicing machine, they will pass. If they see that the people who run the state on behalf of the citizens are little more than despised debt collectors for owners of capital, the financial markets will take flight.</div> <div> </div> <div>Read the full article: <a href="http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2010/11/01/who%E2%80%99ll-invest-in-a-country-with-an-obvious-death-wish">Death Wish Economics</a></div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-33555548810214861532010-11-01T14:42:00.002+00:002010-11-01T17:32:17.219+00:00Just Like That.<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGpBmyMmWw1e05jELUaCpLuQcoub31bwKRAYKPeEOwwVxxUOZxVIek9LAadjrM8rRbgy6zosmKidB_3lB4tbWmXkXQ_J4kFT0Cmx4KM7MBaQz2kON2AMw7E0bp6zj6SQxx5a4woLXFCpg/s1600/cooper-759356.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534591755692145058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGpBmyMmWw1e05jELUaCpLuQcoub31bwKRAYKPeEOwwVxxUOZxVIek9LAadjrM8rRbgy6zosmKidB_3lB4tbWmXkXQ_J4kFT0Cmx4KM7MBaQz2kON2AMw7E0bp6zj6SQxx5a4woLXFCpg/s200/cooper-759356.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div>How do you get rid of €1.8 billion just like that? Well you dont get goofball comedian Tommy Cooper. Instead you get a goofball finance minister and hey presto the National Pensions Reserve Fund is down by €1.8 billion. The Sinn Fein <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19444">budget proposals</a> calls for a multi-year investment strategy to reflate the economy using money from the National Pension Reserve Fund. Can anyone seriously tell me that throwing away €1.8 billion in a flash is a better option than using the money to invest in the economy. Yet against all common sense I am sure the Govt. will say it.</div><div></div><div>As noted on the NamaWineLake blog and taken up again on IrishEconomy.ie Lenihan has engaged in another bail out of AIB shareholders and subordinated debt holders for reasons that are hard to fathom.</div><div></div><div>Brian Lenihan made a <a href="http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=6515">statement</a> of October 30 that "<span class="bodytext">AIB's upcoming €5.4 billion will be fully underwritten by the National Pension Reserve Fund Commission (NPRFC) at a fixed price of €0.50 per share." The catch as noted by Karl Whelan is "Unfortunately, </span>the shares closed on Friday at €0.337." <br />
So the way things are being set up the Fund is going to drop an impressive €1.8 billion when those shares are bought. So what would be the alternative. IS there an alternative. Well one possible option layed out is " Cancel the underwriting, nationalise the bank and appoint an assessor to value the shares. If, for instance, the shares were valued at their closing price on Friday, this would cost us €364 million. Which sounds better? Losing €1.8 billion or losing €364 million. Is it worth €1.4 billion to retain a tiny private ownership share?" <br />
Which again would be the SF position. Get these banks nationalised. Grasp the nettle and stop trying to keep them in private hands via huge, unwarranted state subventions for no benefit to the state.<br />
How can Brian Lenihan agree to just provide a 1.8 Billion subvention simply to avoid nationalisation. They are totally in hock to the bond holders and the developers as noted by Martin Ferris and Pearse Doherty. And the property developers and bond holders are no fools. There advise is good advice. Good for bond holders and good for developers. Indeed the only fools here would appear to be the Min. of Finance and his team who despite all their pro-market fawning have only succeeded in driving interest rates over 7%.<br />
They have brought us to the Greeks level of debt. The way things are going we'll end up fire saling every single asset which will be bought for next to nothing by investors. That may well be the end game here. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-42063176776341561412010-10-30T11:03:00.000+01:002010-10-30T11:03:42.821+01:00Housing advice from developers and debt advice from debt holders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiURgGATmLUkET9pl_XP0zm6DgCqYDdlQaB6qXacx0iVif3jezGr-Ws-g_QCGGsv0S0zBQUJWFbKpl1nKnCm6Sz93Yw8pqKjXNij4CNRnxeAg2tYwWH5pmVoY3j3Fa_de1jv4uLtjabye/s1600/crooked+Irish+Politicians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiURgGATmLUkET9pl_XP0zm6DgCqYDdlQaB6qXacx0iVif3jezGr-Ws-g_QCGGsv0S0zBQUJWFbKpl1nKnCm6Sz93Yw8pqKjXNij4CNRnxeAg2tYwWH5pmVoY3j3Fa_de1jv4uLtjabye/s1600/crooked+Irish+Politicians.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Over the last week the SF Oireachtas team put the focus right on the grossly negligent decision of the govt. to continue to take advice (and act in the interest of) property developers while at the same time relying on bond holders to give advice on dealing with the economy. The south of Ireland is now a profit center designed to maximise returns for a few business interests rather than a state seeking to guarantee the highest standard of well-being for its inhabitants. </div><br />
<strong>Bond Holders:</strong><br />
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The Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Workers Rights, Martin Ferris TD has claimed that the Government’s austerity programme is not only designed to pay for failed bondholders and speculators but is being advised by them. He referred to the fact that the Chairperson of <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/costs-of-pensions-and-problem-with.html">Goldman Sachs Peter Sutherland</a> whose Asset Management section holds Anglo Bonds has been advising the Government on the cuts. <br />
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Deputy Ferris said: “Apart from the economic and financial issues that we have discussed here for the past few days there is the whole moral and ethical aspect of the situation.<br />
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“All of the proposed misery is being planned to benefit failed speculators among whom are the Anglo bondholders. There are websites which have published the names of these companies and there are discussion groups on the internet about it. And yet no national newspaper here has regarded it as of sufficient importance. <br />
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“While most of the bondholders are European based there are Irish connections and no doubt some of our fine patriotic and charitable<a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/rich-pay-too-much-tax-me-arse-just-look.html"> tax exiles</a> have their noses in the trough. <br />
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“More importantly perhaps is the connection between all of this and the fact that representatives of these people are advising the Government on how best to make the rest of us pay for their mess. <br />
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“Take Peter Sutherland for example. He has held various high positions in this state and on behalf of this state abroad. His views are still given a lot of credence and he was recently widely quoted in claiming that this state had an obligation to protect the Anglo Irish bondholders.<br />
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“And of course he has been advising, in a totally disinterested way of course, the Government on how they should deal with the crisis. Among his proposals has been to sell state companies. And no doubt he probably knows chaps who might be interested in buying them at a fair price.<br />
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“How many of those who referred favourably to Sir Peter’s excellent advice also referred to his own possible self interest and the interest of his friends in all of this? He is, after all, Chairperson of Goldman Sachs whose Asset Management section is a key Anglo bondholder and which incidentally made profits of more than €13 billion last year.<br />
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“If our priority is to look after people like this, then the description given on one web site of Ireland as, ‘an international welfare state for super-rich bankers’ is all too accurate.”<br />
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<strong>DEVELOPERS:</strong><br />
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Pearse Doherty shows that the only opposition, the only alternative voice in the Oireachtas, is Sinn Fein. Labour and Fine Gael think you can build a consensus with corrupted and bought out politicians. <br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HHmz0BlOyUc?fs=1&hl=nl_NL"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HHmz0BlOyUc?fs=1&hl=nl_NL" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-5006200000702325202010-10-26T13:28:00.003+01:002010-10-26T13:48:05.526+01:00NO RETREAT AND NO FUDGE ON FIGHTING TORY CUTS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6tzbHRIulErz9WRRX5arHwwLYwXBamj3Xh2c2O4EOlxiKyKu6IuPeZSvXhEvbIsRhhAqW9RJ7GVmS4lOOdAwxmwmvNPVNFO7Kh4xYFAcf-rjpjITa58IWIul5OlNwiYgUqkYkH9r0dg/s1600/no_to_tory_cuts_blue_sticker-p217588345027266738tdcj_210.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 210px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532334470891491714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6tzbHRIulErz9WRRX5arHwwLYwXBamj3Xh2c2O4EOlxiKyKu6IuPeZSvXhEvbIsRhhAqW9RJ7GVmS4lOOdAwxmwmvNPVNFO7Kh4xYFAcf-rjpjITa58IWIul5OlNwiYgUqkYkH9r0dg/s400/no_to_tory_cuts_blue_sticker-p217588345027266738tdcj_210.jpg" /></a><br /><div><strong>Below is a statement from Conor Murphy on the need to fight the planned Tory cuts. As stated previously I believe Sinn Féin must refuse to implement these cuts full stop.</strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong>We are a left wing party and must refuse to be pawns of a right wing goverment which is directly attacking working people. We must show working people from across Ireland and from various cultural traditions, that Sinn Féin will fight for them. It was not the working class that caused this mess.</strong></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong></strong></span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>Executive must take lead in challenging cuts</strong><br /></span><br /></span>Sinn Féin MLA and Executive Minister Conor Murphy has stated that the Executive should now prepare a united approach to fighting the punitive cuts being brought forward by the British government. This follows today’s Executive meeting which dealt mainly with the Comprehensive Spending Review and the affect it will have on the local economy.<br /><br />Speaking earlier Mr Murphy said:<br /><br />“Today’s meeting was realistic and dealt with the issues at hand.<br /><br />“We put it to our Executive colleagues that there needs to be consensus when fighting these cuts. We were elected to do this and represent the citizens of the North, to deliver for them and not to acquiesce to what the British government has proposed. This would be failing our electorate gravely.<br /><br />“The Tory government, though Owen Patterson, has said that they received an endorsement for their platform of cuts from the electorate and that people knew what they were voting for.<br /><br />“Let us be clear. That mandate was rejected whole-heartedly at the last election in the North of Ireland with not one conservative candidate being elected. We said no then to cuts then and we are saying no now.<br /><br />“We have laid out measures to grow the economy based around what was promised from the Gordon Brown. Owen Patterson stated he would honour this agreement yet £4bn has been removed from this package.<br /><br />“This is a disaster for the local economy, especially the construction industry. There is no fairness in devastating one of the main sectors of the northern economy, as there is no fairness in attacking the most vulnerable in society through attacks on pensions, benefits and low-income families.<br /><br />“Coming from this we need to see the political parties sitting down, bringing proposals to the table to work out a clear strategy on the best way forward.<br /><br />“Sinn Féin have already released our document and there has been positive acceptance of it containing viable and workable economic proposals. Let debate these and lets have the other parties bring forward similar proposals. The initiative lies with us all here.<br /><br />“The Assembly has already been recalled to debate the economic crisis and as an Executive we must follow suit. Today is the start of that process. We need to accelerate our efforts and work towards safeguarding and providing jobs in the immediate future and putting in place economic stimulants for future growth.”<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-59433263468493597202010-10-22T13:10:00.001+01:002010-10-22T13:10:00.587+01:00The story of the NHS rowers - Tony Benn“There was a boat race between a Japanese crew and a crew from the National Health Service (UK). Both sides practised long and hard and the Japanese team won by a mile. So the NHS ...faced with this problem setup a working party which reported that the Japanese had eight people rowing and one steering and the NHS had eight people steering and one rowing. <br />
<br />
<br />
So they brought in management consultants and the management consultants confirmed the diagnosis, suggested the NHS team be completely restructured to make it more efficient, more cohesive, streamlining and all-round better performance. A strategy document was drawn up and the recommendations encouraged restructuring for the entire organisation. <br />
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As part of the restructuring, a number of appointments were made including three Assistant Steering Managers, three Deputy Steering Managers, a Director of Steering Services and the rower was given an incentive to row harder. They had another race, this time the NHS team lost by two miles, so management laid off the rower for poor performance, sold the boat and gave the Director of steering services a large payout for making the ‘hard decisions’ and concluded they had too many management consultants and not enough managers!"<br />
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A story from Tony Benn.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-92194999155659347932010-10-20T18:13:00.000+01:002010-10-20T18:13:04.345+01:00Too busy to hold an election.The Government is telling us its too busy with the "job in hand" to hold elections. But they are not too busy to open new FF offices in Crossmaglen (80 years late better than never I guess) or attend Ogra FF talk-ins, attend their own drink ins and waste time opening shops and conferences and any other myriad number of locations and non-events over the last 16 months. What a weak and watery excuse.<br />
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<a href="http://maryloumcdonald.blogspot.com/2010/10/there-is-something-seriously-wrong-when.html">Mary Lou McDonald</a> noted in her blog that there is something seriously wrong when a government will go to any lengths to prevent elections<br />
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The government is dead set against a general election. It would be a ‘distraction’, they say, from ‘the job in hand’. They don’t want to be ‘distracted’ from their bailouts for the bankers- cutbacks for the people agenda. <br />
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They don’t want to hold elections to fill the empty seats in Donegal South West, Waterford and Dublin South either. The ‘distraction’ of losing those bye-elections could bring the government down. <br />
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Avoiding elections is an expensive business. It cost €9000 to transport junior minister Dara Calleary from Brussels to the Dáil to vote against holding the bye-elections. He travelled by government jet and the taxpayer picked up the tab. <br />
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Today the government goes into the High Court to defend their refusal to hold the bye-elections. Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty took the case. He believes that no government has the right to withhold people’s democratic right to vote and to have full representation in the Dáil. He’s right. <br />
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There is something seriously wrong when a government will go to any lengths to prevent elections. <br />
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The government, Labour and Fine Gael have an agreed position to introduce crushing cutbacks over the next four years. Brian Cowen and company now want to formalise that consensus so they’ve invited like-minded parties to talks. <br />
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The Taoiseach’s decision to exclude Sinn Féin from discussions because we oppose those cuts shows that the Government is not willing to listen to any alternative opinion.<br />
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Politicians talking among themselves is no substitute for an election. <br />
The scale of our economic problems, the length of the dole queues and the staggering numbers emigrating – these are the reasons why the government is running scared of elections. They are the very same reasons why an election is so necessary. <br />
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We need an agreed way forward. A way forward democratically agreed by the electorate. After all it is the people who are in charge here.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-80203835511486790532010-10-13T21:53:00.001+01:002010-10-14T12:33:41.645+01:00Campaign against Water chargesThe <a href="http://www.nowatercharges.ie/">campaign against water charges</a> has a new and valuable portal that to help organise a campaign against the unfair water charges - <a href="http://www.nowatercharges.ie/">http://www.nowatercharges.ie/</a> .<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRO5cwWx6FQZgoHE5RKBd2ZQEdzB7xofKIbsRgz2AU22XQigVg2_DdrkGHxP2zdzmIWzQf9MiIcrOTxFKw6h53SsOv_n0Gm_6ZI0qZkAolc2ugJZulcA8G6NQUL-b7JuuGnJuFM5Gay5M/s1600/water+charges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRO5cwWx6FQZgoHE5RKBd2ZQEdzB7xofKIbsRgz2AU22XQigVg2_DdrkGHxP2zdzmIWzQf9MiIcrOTxFKw6h53SsOv_n0Gm_6ZI0qZkAolc2ugJZulcA8G6NQUL-b7JuuGnJuFM5Gay5M/s200/water+charges.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The site highlights how water charges will "hit the lowest income group four times harder than the highest. It will give rise to annual bills in the region of 170 euro per person or 685 per family of four."<br />
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This is also a campaign for a more thoughful approach to how the state should handle the issue of water distribution in the southern state.<br />
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One option the Govt. is looking at is an outlay of €500 million to install meters in 1.1 million households with proponents pushing a demand for full cost recovery i.e the householders will pay for everything with the possibility of a bill of up to €500 before the tap started to flow.<br />
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The Govt. focus is wrong. The focus must be on making the water distribution system more effective rather than trying to control the pattern of consumption. Currently 58% of treated water is lost through broken pipes. Actively tackling leaks would, according to the Local Government Review Group, make a significant contribution to managing the cost of the system. <br />
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The Fianna Fail govt. decided to build housing state after housing state and encouraged its friends to enter into large scale investment property deals domestically and internationally when it should have been investing in the national infrastructure.<br />
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Now they want us to pay for their mistakes...again.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-74517662527708288932010-10-11T19:58:00.000+01:002010-10-11T19:58:54.395+01:00Remembering the Past: Fenian Col. Michael Corcoran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDzdfUh-v0FqvBTdLBCx78Sj8z9FwSyY_aPKAaauDZ0wQmODr-JbrgiTOn9VA5mF2Ke3nG87R2TWP7m8QJlr6V2o0QAxC4vcHl117_CuvZcs-PcojDvQ3AO-8pHC5RZhKQ3Q6w4gKzluE/s1600/Michael_Corcoran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDzdfUh-v0FqvBTdLBCx78Sj8z9FwSyY_aPKAaauDZ0wQmODr-JbrgiTOn9VA5mF2Ke3nG87R2TWP7m8QJlr6V2o0QAxC4vcHl117_CuvZcs-PcojDvQ3AO-8pHC5RZhKQ3Q6w4gKzluE/s200/Michael_Corcoran.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>On October 11, 1860, US army units in New York City were instructed to turn out in parade in honour of the visiting Prince of Wales, the 19-year-old heir to the English throne. One unit refused to do so: The fighting Irish 69th Regiment.<br />
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The refusal by leading fenian Col. Michael Corcoran to march led to an significant increase in the recruitment of soldiers into the Fenian movement.<br />
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Corcoran himself was an interesing figure. When his father died his pension ceased and Michael joined the Revenue police and worked in Donegal. By 184e he had however joined the Ribbonmen and spent the next two years involved in agitation. Then suddenly he quit the police and went to America. He joined the New York Militia the 69th and became involved in the Irish cause. When the New York branch of the fenians was founded he was the first man sworn in by John o'Mahony<br />
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Corcoran later led the Irish legion, an all Irish brigade, in the Federal army. One of the units in that brigade the 155th NY had very significant Fenian Brotherhood. In June, 1866 they took part in the Fenian invasion of Ontario with the aim of using Canada as leverage in negotiations to secure Irish independence. The invasion was not a success and the unit was later forced to withdraw back to New York. John Corcoran was not involved. He had already passed from a stroke a few years earlier.<br />
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One of the most striking tales of his life started on the 6th October 1860..Corcoran had just turned down tickets to a dinner in the Prince's honor as he was not "not desirous of joining in the festivity."<br />
The "festivity" was going to be an undemocratic assembly of the high and mighty. Corcoran would not follow suit. A democratic vote was put to the men who agreed that marching was not an option.<br />
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Corcoran stated that the men would not march in honour of "a sovereign under whose reign Ireland was made a desert and her sons forced to exile." making clear that Irish men in New York would not be turning out for "the bald-faced son of our oppressor."<br />
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Polite America, ignorant or uncaring of the exploitative and opressive conditions then pertaining in Colonial Ireland, was furious. Corcoran was arrested, stripped of his command and prepared for court-martial. The wider Irish community however appreciated his, and his men's efforts. A green flag remembering the event was presented to the regiment. Before the court-martial was carried out the American civil war had begun and the Federal state had more pressing concerns.<br />
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Corcoran died from a stroke in 1863.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-60352514158228994882010-10-10T10:39:00.001+01:002010-10-10T10:43:05.147+01:00Martin, Ulster fry and the ToriesWell, who would have thought it? Martin McGuinness sitting with a bunch of Unionists eating an Ulster Fry at a fringe meeting of the British Conservative Party conference. OMG!<br /><br />Okay, I’ll try and look beyond the obvious confusion at seeing a major republican figure sitting in the company he was at the venue he was, but what was he doing there?<br /><br />Martin is Deputy First Minister of the six counties and he is in a coalition government with Unionists, okay we accept this fact. The British government is planning on imposing massive public expenditure cuts that if introduced will destroyed the lives of thousands of working class people. So the coalition partners in the Northern government head to the Conservative conference to argue the case for not introducing the cuts in the North. Okay I can accept that.<br /><br />As Martin said at the assembly prior to his trip, “Let me be very clear, Sinn Féin will oppose the unfair and unjust proposed cuts by the British Government; our position remains that we must grow our economy, protect those most vulnerable in our society and ensure that we work to meet the requirements of those in most objective need.”<br /><br />Also an excellent piece in An Phoblacht argues the case against the cuts and the need to move power over the Northern economy away from London and back to Ireland. http://aprnonline.com/?p=78042 This article concludes with this paragraph.<br /><br /><strong>United resistance</strong>“As a party we are looking to build an alliance with the trade union movement and the community and voluntary sector to resist the cuts and to defend frontline services,” Mitchel said. “The public sector did not create the economic crisis – it was the private sector.<br />“We should not accept the inevitability of cuts. We should focus our minds on challenging them. All parties should agree a common approach in all of this.<br />“We need to enter into a negotiation with the British Government to resist cuts and secure proper control of the economic levers which will allow us to map a way out of the current recession and to protect the most vulnerable and those experiencing disadvantage at the same time.”<br />“We need to plan to grow the economy and all options must be on the table. This includes the development and harmonisation of the all-island economy. The existence of two currencies, two different tax and social welfare regimes, two health services, and so on, all restrict our ability to effectively tackle the effects of the recession. <br />“We need to end needless duplication and develop efficient systems that benefit everyone on this island.”<br /><br /><br /><strong>THE BIG BUT…</strong><br /><br />All of the above I have no problem with and indeed support. We entered into the GFA in order to build a better Ireland, with Ireland’s future being determined by Irish people. So, all of the above in my mind fits into this category. <br /><br /><br />BUT, what if the attempt to build a successful opposition to Tory/Lib cuts fails to stop the cuts? What then? <br /><br />I believe we cannot allow our party to be a tool to implement massive cuts in services across the North. We cannot accept that we are powerless to resist the inevitability of these cuts and therefore our job is to make them as palatable and painless as possible. <br /><br />If we were to allow this to happen we would be heading for disaster North and South of the border. <br /><br />At present in the South we are attacking the major party consensus on the need for cuts. We are organizing a mass march in Dublin on 4th December against these cuts and we are right to do this. However, whether we like it or not we are judged by most people as a largely Northern party, and if people want to vote for us they will look to our record in the North as proof or what we really are all about. If Martin’s Ulster fry up fails to stop the cuts then the party must fight them in every way possible and refuse to implement them. <br /><br />If this does not happen then people across the 32 counties will make their own judgments on Martin’s trip to the Tory Conference, and they will make up there own mind as to who and what we are all about.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-33487973225720246882010-10-09T23:50:00.000+01:002010-10-09T23:50:58.402+01:00You've won the Sweepstakes - The outsourcing of responsibility in south Ireland.<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGkBblgpcfTz27kxDep-SkByHjFRoa_FZOxcXCeSMnShilJq-x8SmLOWECjhrZga1tXWFQGqa5nlL9y_z3j5ulcQ3X2toSbU_8bTbPfvZ_KHYrYMkSwt9xWYWkp2d1-_NfPPvMBtXwwdD/s1600/irish+hospital+sweepstakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGkBblgpcfTz27kxDep-SkByHjFRoa_FZOxcXCeSMnShilJq-x8SmLOWECjhrZga1tXWFQGqa5nlL9y_z3j5ulcQ3X2toSbU_8bTbPfvZ_KHYrYMkSwt9xWYWkp2d1-_NfPPvMBtXwwdD/s1600/irish+hospital+sweepstakes.jpg" /></a></div>When the saorstát was set up the new administration choose the least path of resistance when it came to the provision of a number of important services. Two fundamental services necessary for the development of a state where effectively devolved from state control - Education and Health. While there may have been a reason at the start to do so to allow this to continue for decades was a serious failure of State responsibility and helped create or perpetuate a state not able to identify its responsibilities and act on them.<br />
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Significant elements of Health care was provided by a mix of hospitals predominantly ran by the catholic church, with some few provided by the protestant churches and some intermittent, and resisted, state oversight. However while both voluntary hospitals resisted the state they accepted its funding as and when needed. The saorstat was naturally in a financially weakened state considering the turbulent times it had passed through. Due to a low population base and a weakened economy it had difficulty raising the necessary funds to support hospitals. The answer was the <a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/irish-sweepstake-scandal-remains-a-lesson-to-us-all-497325.html">Irish hospital sweepstakes</a> - a state monopoly on lottery i.e a gambling racket - not that I dont have anything against a flutter but you'd think churches would. The sweepstakes was an okay idea in the sense that it managed to extend the funding of hospitals beyond the limited population of the saorstát with significant funds coming from abroad. It was a bad idea in that it was used to fund institutions which were not under the absolute control of the state but were the equivalent of privatised institutions. Mary Harney would have liked the idea - State money to support non-state monopolies of critical services.<br />
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The Sweepstake itself was open to all the flaws of a racket managed by Govts. (of both parties) with a penchant for handing responsibility to someone, anyone. The American edition of Reader's Digest once described the Sweeps as "the greatest bleeding heart racket in the world". Many of the funds raised in America of Britain never made it back to Ireland but went into the pockets of distributors. But there was a more pernicious element to the Sweepstakes than that. <br />
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The story of the Sweepstakes has many parallels with modern Ireland. The Sweepstakes was set up with loopholes that allowed its organisers leave large sums undeclared as expenses. The impact of the sweepstakes started to spread to other sectors beyond the health. Soon directors of the Sweepstakes were to be found in every sector of the economy with some directors sitting on up to 30 company boards. Similar to the golden circle mapped by TASC a small group of men were taking control over every aspect of the economy. Apparently RTE had enough material in the mid 1970s to expose the deep concerns many felt about the Sweepstakes. It will surprise no one that RTE choose not to broadcast it. (How RTE can be made a neutral non-govt. controlled station is an important challenge for the future.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUpEBq5NqZ1nMi2faY4mluAwg3qUmZWSsnfE6b96ONUk3f0IUpJJa5uFGrW_BNp16NpJzOxLQq7rwXcwDEm5bSFdysIdsTDCB1un8Xj84ZaYNMRXG9xd6VuRX9qFOF8dXtxWDbwY3jK4V/s1600/Radio+teilifis+eireann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUpEBq5NqZ1nMi2faY4mluAwg3qUmZWSsnfE6b96ONUk3f0IUpJJa5uFGrW_BNp16NpJzOxLQq7rwXcwDEm5bSFdysIdsTDCB1un8Xj84ZaYNMRXG9xd6VuRX9qFOF8dXtxWDbwY3jK4V/s200/Radio+teilifis+eireann.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
The state failing to provide important services, instead relying on non-state institutions funded by state raised revenue, corruption and the misuse of state funds to gain control of wide sectors of the economy, a media gagged and incapable of reporting the truth. A decades long story unchallenged by FF or by FG.<br />
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Education is also another area where the state just mosied on glad that someone else was doing the lifting. Currently about 90% of primary schools are patroned by the Roman Catholic church. These schools are privately owned, publicly funded institutions. Across the school sector the state is an outside party - there to pay the bills. The patron is not a figure head. They have ultimate responsibility for the school ethos, the appointment of the board of management, financial and legal matters and the supervision of staff appointments in accordance with Department regulations. Patrons generally discharge their responsibilities in close consultation with boards of management and other interested parties involved in the schools. In other words they have significant powers.<br />
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While the catholic church figures heavily in the outsourcing of Education as well this is not about the catholic church. Indeed there are many other denominations and of course non-denominational schools. Similarly while in the Health sector there are some very objectionable acts by catholic denominated churches. (Notably in 2005 the board of the Mater Hospital in Dublin stopped a trial for a new cancer drug. Women who wished to take part in the trial could not get pregnant which obviously meant they had to use contraception or not have sex. This was in conflict with the ethos. Money from gambling was not in conflict with the <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/three-who-stopped-the-cancer-tests-234253.html">ethos of hospitals</a> though - but as horrible a story as that is I am not trying to focus on the catholic church here)<br />
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The main focus must be on the state's tendency to step back from taking responsibility for critical functions. While they may have reason to do so for a few years at the foundation of the southern state it was not acceptable to leave the situation continue for decades across two of the most important areas in which a state must provide services. To do so was to accept the principle that any service, no matter how critical need not fall under the Govt's direct and complete control. The Govt. became a partner rather than a leader. Rather than forcing the pace of change, modernisation etc. it just sat back and let society drift. Little surprise then that the current Govt. has provided little leadership in the financial crisis. Instead it has taken the Banks at their word, it has followed the interests of the developers and the golden circle rather than steering its own course. Commentators like David McWilliams and Brian Lucey have both wondered aloud about whose interest the Govt. is serving. At this point about 3/4 of the south's residents agree its not the Irish nation. But I dont believe that the Govt. could ever have done anything other than follow the Banks and the advice of the special interest groups even if they were not as delinquent as they have proven. The tradition of governance in south Ireland is not one of leadership but of relinquishing sovereignty to any group willing to take over some of its tasks. <br />
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Fianna Fail stand indicted as do Fine Gael on this point.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">The final point on this abdication of responsibility I will leave to Professor Kathleen Lynch who recently gave the annual Tasc lecture. In a speech entitled <em><a href="http://www.tascnet.ie/upload/file/TASC_AnnualLecture_2010.pdf">From a Neo-Liberal to an Egalitarian State: Imagining a Different<strong> </strong>Future'</a></em> she notes: </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a society, we do not have a strong commitment to public solidarity despite our rhetoric. This is reflected in failure over the course of the last 10 years for social welfare provisions to keep pace with the cost of living. We have one of the lowest rates of social expenditures on education, housing, transport and welfare within the EU. (See Tables 1 and 2 below using the SILC data). Our lack of commitment to the public sphere is evident in many concrete ways, from the lack of public spaces for play for children (especially safe indoor places) to the lack of public sports facilities, to the lack of investment parks and public amenities in so many towns and villages. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is even evident in our churches. Most of our leisure and sports facilities are actually privately owned by clubs that are legally constituted as private bodies; GAA pitches, tennis courts, gyms, rugby pitches, golf courses etc. are all private. Indoor play areas for children are almost universally commercial. And the lack of commitment to the good of the public sphere is evident when public and private interests collide; it is evident in the way space is organised and the quality of the built environment between public and private hospitals, in the relative luxury and comfort of private rooms versus public wards; it is visible in the pitches, tennis courts and other facilities in well-off schools compared with the bare yards of small fields that are there for those in less-well-off or poorer areas.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-7941126678700971212010-10-09T09:47:00.000+01:002010-10-09T09:47:07.555+01:00Ar muin na muice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmn1Cct5scICk8bTumMBpUO5xG3SBY_qy5g4ZpJCOHRdo8Aoh3o8ObEIcEV_dyNSoTHqCqy0ToX9JV9MHBaBARQeexZNJPuDG3UCt_OdsgI6yPra1k5FcKy2cu2Kjuh_ExjlmMzd_cIWQ/s1600/near.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmn1Cct5scICk8bTumMBpUO5xG3SBY_qy5g4ZpJCOHRdo8Aoh3o8ObEIcEV_dyNSoTHqCqy0ToX9JV9MHBaBARQeexZNJPuDG3UCt_OdsgI6yPra1k5FcKy2cu2Kjuh_ExjlmMzd_cIWQ/s1600/near.bmp" /></a></div>Labhair Darren Mac an Phríora le Comh. Críona Ní Dhálaigh faoi bpolaisaí ainmnithe nua a mbeidh ag teacht i bhfeidhm i gCathair Bhaile Átha Cliath.<br />
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<a href="http://nearpodcast.org/podcast/index.php?id=454">Link</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-12398416933501891182010-10-08T21:13:00.001+01:002010-10-09T21:13:51.398+01:00Will they, Fu*k!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjZKoBbEW8mAPvQ6XyMWSjam2tPuRT-WR2MjUYRHt8rb4xZwYEd6FWPgrfF0OKn7OL59_8EeKQ90ZaUemTRg7E5qwz9HiPPDeZl8yCfsVXVC1cCGMIjEdqCKuyqjS9fhZo1If6B1YNLz6/s1600/james+gogarty.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjZKoBbEW8mAPvQ6XyMWSjam2tPuRT-WR2MjUYRHt8rb4xZwYEd6FWPgrfF0OKn7OL59_8EeKQ90ZaUemTRg7E5qwz9HiPPDeZl8yCfsVXVC1cCGMIjEdqCKuyqjS9fhZo1If6B1YNLz6/s1600/james+gogarty.bmp" /></a></div>Blogging comment of the week would surely be from Betty who posted the following on Irishelection.com in relation to all this talk of a <a href="http://www.irishelection.com/2010/10/first-get-the-history-right/#more-11119">grand coalition</a> :<em>Question–if there is a change of govt will FF support the new administration??? </em><em>As Mr James Gogarty [might have] said “will they, F***</em><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-20247740703680846852010-10-02T17:07:00.003+01:002010-10-02T17:17:20.313+01:00Irish Politicians or American mobsters?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4uvHdxaoMVKBwb939ev_Dp3QpO1QnR-Ln9kZyV0lnKcQdE-EMtLorOHNrpryAzseKqEkzqoijG7ybr45eiNv277dj7R_85KqV-4ljB0e_dgZPqFBRr27XBWVxgarF1-nO1T9xo-PEMnn/s1600/american+mobster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4uvHdxaoMVKBwb939ev_Dp3QpO1QnR-Ln9kZyV0lnKcQdE-EMtLorOHNrpryAzseKqEkzqoijG7ybr45eiNv277dj7R_85KqV-4ljB0e_dgZPqFBRr27XBWVxgarF1-nO1T9xo-PEMnn/s200/american+mobster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>A man who set the world record for current account deficits. An embezzler from a charitable fund. A beneficiary of passport retailing. A tax dodger with a lucky streak on the horses and a man known the world over as a "drunken moron". What do they all have in common?<br />
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Are the above decent Irish people, a list of Fianna Failers or 5 of America's nastiest mobsters.<br />
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They are off course random mobsters from American history. Do you think any country would so damned to have 5 useless leaders like that in a row? Certainly not in Ireland. We set high standards for political office you know.<br />
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Sure we've only ever had decent, honest men rule us here.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-63427745524973494872010-10-01T17:08:00.002+01:002010-10-01T20:21:28.623+01:00Is Ciaran Cuffe lost in a ghost estate?<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJpUBEEB7DLmsy33NTM9uUvYk_MMmxjPqeaXuzqjGjj_sf7WIC1pmZkOAC4A6dhhEd2fVkNtrQwV1JS1I0fe7Z6p63Lwumg973cBbY326Pp6bzfpWgWzBRZVOzRFvQ2eokDsP-no8r9Ty/s1600/casper-741182.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523110368162177058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJpUBEEB7DLmsy33NTM9uUvYk_MMmxjPqeaXuzqjGjj_sf7WIC1pmZkOAC4A6dhhEd2fVkNtrQwV1JS1I0fe7Z6p63Lwumg973cBbY326Pp6bzfpWgWzBRZVOzRFvQ2eokDsP-no8r9Ty/s320/casper-741182.jpg" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">An excited <a href="http://cuffestreet.blogspot.com/2010/09/back-from-break_6580.html">Ciarán Cuffe</a>, as opposed to an </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1001/1224280075655.html"><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">excitable Paul Gogarty</span></a><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">, wrote on his blog about what he wanted to achive now that he had finished up his staycation on the Beara. </span><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">There is a whole list of ambitious things to do, or just talk about. One of which was a review of the nationwide survey of ghost estates carried out by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, where Ciarán is whiling his time away as junior minister, with the intention of coming up with a plan to put the <a href="http://corksinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/09/cork-sinn-fein-housing-campaign-gathers.html">empty houses in Ireland</a> and the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/moral-hazard-or-moral-turpitude-in.html">excess Irish hotel capacity</a> to use. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">One of the things he promised was b</span><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">y the end of September we should have "some good analysis completed, and be in a position to sit down with stakeholders and offer some positive advice on these issues." </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">As the excellent <a href="http://namawinkelake.wordpress.com/">Nama Wine Lake</a> notes its now October 01st and neary a peep out of Minister Cuffe? Did he forget to do the work? Was he over excited after his holidays or is it just another sorry episode in the demise of the Greens - a party that made big promises about being in Government but when it got there didnt really know what to do. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS";">Is he waiting for permission from Fianna Fail or m</span><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif;">aybe Ciarán's still driving around a ghost estate wasted on the noxious fumes of planet Bertie. Save yourself some trouble Ciarán and get in contact with Sinn Fein to learn about solutions to the housing issue. </span></div><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-5270838694205318482010-09-30T20:00:00.002+01:002010-09-30T20:04:35.733+01:00IS THIS THE REAL FIANNA FÁIL COMMANDMENTS - OR JUST A JOKE<span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>This piece was sent into us by a Mr X. Is it a real internal document of just a piece of humour. You decide!</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>FF - The Republican Party – The commandments</strong></span> =============================================<br />Excerpts from the parties Green “cheque” book, the idealogical manual for all its volunteers and party activists. It seems that FF's radical interpretation of Republicanism is still as strong as ever.<br /><br />"any gombeen or billionaire is just entitled as any other gombeen or billionaire to unfettered access to state funding and contracts, (here after known as Group B)".<br /><br />“who here objects if we take power in this state, with a ballot box in this hand and an arm load of brown envelopes in the other”.<br /><br />“Every Irish person, irregardless of their religion or station in life is entitled to die on our roads (which are the envy of Albania) or contract MRSA in our hospitals. (Group B excepted).”<br /><br />“In order to increase the wealth of the nation, property will become communal in ownership. Everyone will have a share. For example, young couple buys house, couple of years later Bank takes house, and sells it to local Gombeen man who was bailed out by Nama. Everyone will have a piece at some stage.“<br /><br />“Everyone no matter how small or insignificant, (publicans otherwise) has their part to pay.”<br /><br />“If we cannot take ownership of this country at this moment and through our current actions then be confident that If our deed has not been sufficient to win ownership of Ireland, then our children will win it by a better deed, by more medical cards, more tar on the road and “sure wasn’t my old fellow a great friend of you auld fella”<br /><br />“To break the connection between the Irish electorate and the ballot box, the never-failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the independence of our party, to do what it likes. 3 times in 3 generations FF have risen up and tried to bankrupt the state. Standing on that fundamental right to rule and ruin in self-interest and again asserting it in in the face of the world’s politicians and economists. We propose that Blueshirt or Sticky or Shinner be replaced with the one title “ shure dem lot are just as bad”<br /><br />FF - The Republican Party<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-67025225515109171332010-09-30T11:00:00.003+01:002010-10-01T18:26:06.715+01:00The last term for this Govt?Sinn Fein TDs set out the strategy for the coming <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/last-term-for-this-govt.html">Leinster house</a> session<br />
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<object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhuwnbZfLuk?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhuwnbZfLuk?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="470" height="405"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-56788623820002384162010-09-29T20:38:00.000+01:002010-09-29T20:38:26.834+01:00Ruin a gate and your nailed. Ruin an economy and you'r scot free.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-1fV2LMuLbnj8WEwYPmpQrddxkgfZRvBOgprlP22IiEszgGYw_onpIZaTvi2gvY_xudAR2xmnaWHBgdvDIGErRaJPq_W90xpg9l890NvdCkkwlbQgw6ZSTcWKNDMNDNmKftbEjozCdgd/s1600/anglo+cement+truck+dail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-1fV2LMuLbnj8WEwYPmpQrddxkgfZRvBOgprlP22IiEszgGYw_onpIZaTvi2gvY_xudAR2xmnaWHBgdvDIGErRaJPq_W90xpg9l890NvdCkkwlbQgw6ZSTcWKNDMNDNmKftbEjozCdgd/s200/anglo+cement+truck+dail.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Its plain wrong that a man will be indicted tomorrow, probably for criminal damages, for driving a cement truck into the gates of Leinster House for damages that will run to maybe a few thousand. Who has been prosecuted for driving a coach and four horses through financial regulation, through the banking system, through the whole economy?<br />
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No one yet and if it wan't for Sinn Fein pushing a <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/great-post-from-rathangan-republican.html">banking fraud inquiry</a> then maybe it might not even be an issue for investigation.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-578144119873016312010-09-28T17:57:00.002+01:002010-09-28T18:39:47.422+01:00Irish Workers more committed than ever.<div class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXEm0cJnLhNTTJob2_AV8yMr26NR-rxsvtKd4ykWZ2GJd_oh8v9gzZfK06K8aRk_Tb1JC45luR2XSZpJUIFvBx3d8BoH0N2JbzLOhhyphenhyphenkwygMmaHBctY3KPLYCtBIFAsZcLWOCbMIT3tgT/s1600/workers+irish-768513.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522009680399552674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXEm0cJnLhNTTJob2_AV8yMr26NR-rxsvtKd4ykWZ2GJd_oh8v9gzZfK06K8aRk_Tb1JC45luR2XSZpJUIFvBx3d8BoH0N2JbzLOhhyphenhyphenkwygMmaHBctY3KPLYCtBIFAsZcLWOCbMIT3tgT/s320/workers+irish-768513.jpg" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thats the finding of the latest ESRI report which states that " Our workers are more committed than ever; they are more willing to accept change and to take on more responsibility...". The broad study reviewed the <a href="http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publications/jacb201045/BKMNEXT168.pdf">Irish workplace</a> in 2009 against that of "Celtic tiger" Ireland. Irish workers are stepping up to the plate - taking on more responsibility for less pay. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Over half of the respondents to the survey, conducted between March and June 2009, noted that there had been workplace job losses in the preceding two years and workers were feeling more nervous and under pressure. One-third of employees said that their own job security had decreased compared to only 4 per cent in the previous 2003 survey.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In both the public and private sectors the impact of the recession, and the impact of the "</span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0826/1224277609898.html"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">manual devaluation</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">", are evident. 21 per cent of employees reported a decline in hourly pay in the previous two years. Some 37 per cent of public sector workers reported a decline in pay, compared to only 16 per cent of those in the private sector. The burden of adjustment is being borne by ordinary folks who are losing job security and seeing reduced pay conditions.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Typically in all down-sizing organisations the work frequently remains but the no. of people to do it ends up falling. The result is increased burden on the remaining staff. 54 per cent of employees reported increased pressure compared to 34 per cent in 2003. 61 per cent reported an increase in responsibility. Yet the percentage of employees who would work harder to help the organisation to succeed increased from 81 per cent to 89 per cent.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There is a tendency among the more right wing commentariat, or the loony right which cheered on deregulation and excessive credit, to constantly ask for workers to give more, to do more and to accept less. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lurking in the background to all that commentary was the idea that ordinary Irish people had fooled around and now the bill was due. We had lost the run of ourselves, wanted too much and lost competitiveness. The report has an answer to that hoary chestnut as well: </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"This deterioration in competitiveness in recent years is primarily a result of the labour market pressures exerted by the growing bubble in the property market and the building sector of the economy. However, other inefficiencies, including a lack of competition in key areas of the economy, also contributed to the problem." </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Consider that in </span><a href="http://dublinopinion.com/2010/08/24/nama-100-borrowers-3518-loans-e272-billion/"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">NAMA tranches</span></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> 1 and 2 that loans valued at €52 billion (pre-hair-cut) were given to 100 people and its clear how tight the inner circle was behind the boom. The self same boom which force the prices up. However as the boy from Pontchartrain says "We are where we are". I personally think it will be difficult to secure appropriate financial and legal redress against these people. It may be that we are forced to instead focus on how to create the anti-corruption framework, and appropriate regulatory controls to ensure that one interest group and one political party can never again co-operate for self profit while risking the future of the state</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> they operate in.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The commentary in the press seems to have forgotten the role of the select, well connected, few. Instead looking at the easy option of blaming the feckless ordinary worker. Well as demonstrated in the ESRI report the ordinary Irish worker is anything but feckless and is more willing to work harder than ever.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It may be countered that well all well and good to blame the developers and Fianna Fail but we need solutions now not blame. And thats a perfectly valid comment because we do need solutions. People dont want finger pointing or retribution. First of all they want to be able to pay their bills like Seamus Sherlock or avoid emigration. But there does need to be a demonstration to the markets, the god like markets*, the interests of the Irish economy are not subservient to the interests of developers or other sectional interests.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As long as Fianna Fail are in power there is every chance that the foreign lenders will doubt the ability of that party to restructure the economy back onto a trajectory of growth and subsequently may question the long term ability of sth. Ireland to repay its debts.</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Those commentators in awe of the market's wisdom should now start to focus on the fact that Fianna Fail itself, and its tendency towards sectional interest, may be a factor in why sovereign funds think we are likely to default (and consider that a few days ago the ECB wanted Ireland to activate the <a href="http://www.eurointelligence.com/index.php?id=581&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2905&tx_ttnews[backPid]=901&cHash=9a976a2b12">bail out fund</a> to see how precariously close FF have now brought us - potentially days away from a default) . </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Irish workers are clearly willing to put the head down. Its time that the Irish media took note and started to focus on two other possible reasons that Ireland's bond yields are going through the roof:</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(1) Fianna Fail's slash and burn approach is ripping the heart out of the economy;</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(2) Fianna Fail are so entrenched with sectional interests that the market must have doubts about whether their commitment to growing the economy is not at odds with their commitment to sectional interests which they have nursed for over a decade. </span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">ESRI: </span><a href="http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publications/jacb201045/BKMNEXT168.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publications/jacb201045/BKMNEXT168.pdf</span></a><br />
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* which same markets are new nailing us at near to 7% interest rates. Despite RTE's spin about last weeks debt sale as successful selling debt at over 6% is as successful as buying a litre of milk for a €10. There'll be somebody to sell it to you but you still get taken for a ride.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-6672221062969612552010-09-24T22:09:00.003+01:002010-09-24T22:23:59.008+01:00The costs of pensions and the problem with servants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2BxzgspN2J-Fzu6RDJvD0lMqbHMV_d1_QLrCwhdU4JbCK0gMS4wve-U1j75qNHzDtFcAdH_cEH1_qSX4LNPZ2iQgXgdMa9ixUD_gdBemlubv59xxlpW1NlDBKANXGTDwd-SAxfRbA7fZ/s1600/sutherland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2BxzgspN2J-Fzu6RDJvD0lMqbHMV_d1_QLrCwhdU4JbCK0gMS4wve-U1j75qNHzDtFcAdH_cEH1_qSX4LNPZ2iQgXgdMa9ixUD_gdBemlubv59xxlpW1NlDBKANXGTDwd-SAxfRbA7fZ/s200/sutherland.jpg" width="110" /></a></div>"Pretty soon, we’ll be having serious, completely un-self-conscious discussions in major magazines about the servant problem.". So wrote <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/have-you-left-no-sense-of-decency/">Paul Krugman</a> as he discussed an article which highlighted how the richest percentile in America are feeling hard done by even though they make twice what their counterparts in 1980 did. <br />
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Krugman believes that today the American super rich have become coarsened by their super wealth, have lost even the sense they should be embarassed by thinking life is hard on them and only move in circles "where complaining that you only have 9 or 10 times median family income is considered totally acceptable" <br />
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A small bit like Peter Sutherland then I guess<br />
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Mr Sutherland claimed that our costs - in the main but not exclusively pay - were too high and need to go down.<br />
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'If we did so, it would be apparent that we are still way above average in many areas, particularly in the public sector and this says nothing about pension costs,' he said <br />
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Yes Peter. What about the pension costs? You as <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/wealthy-elite-still-claim-bumper-state-pensions-2161803.html">former Attorney General</a> were still receiving a state pension of €51,538 in 2008. You have a fortune of €128 million.<br />
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Clearly you are a man of rare talents. Your career is an amazing series of pinnacles and that is impressive (although BP, RBS and Goldman Sachs makes you wonder - they all hit nasty speedbumps ). But for all your talent and your preaching on costs and pensions you were still hitting up the state even with your huge fortune for a measly €51,538 a year. <br />
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Another freeloader. As far removed from reality as Krugman's top 1% in America.<br />
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For the love of god man give up your paltry, in comparison, state pension before having the gall to talk about the cost of pensions and Dublin's expenditure.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-52727800826266788072010-09-22T21:21:00.000+01:002010-09-22T21:21:36.100+01:00Courage of conviction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnvdHA9kXrWQ4lLqtgtjd1JSzlC7w8kEUiH5CrHLcEQSCRVH0U3LVbtDagFQn4TfCUkK5ynbHIL_StVseALG9fYMiTP9ptlPNUtBLDPQdoVBXKudKebrA4y6rixsk-G4ERvkAv45EP1RD/s1600/memorial.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnvdHA9kXrWQ4lLqtgtjd1JSzlC7w8kEUiH5CrHLcEQSCRVH0U3LVbtDagFQn4TfCUkK5ynbHIL_StVseALG9fYMiTP9ptlPNUtBLDPQdoVBXKudKebrA4y6rixsk-G4ERvkAv45EP1RD/s320/memorial.bmp" /></a></div>1996 seems like an eternity away. It must seem awfully close for two families though. Volunteers Ed o'Brien and Diarmuid o'Neill both died in that year. They were both young men when they died and as a young teenager at the time I remember being struck by the level of committment and courage that both men must have had. <br />
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Ed o'Brien's birthday was 18th September. Diarmuid o'Neill died on 23rd September.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-35737222889662898572010-09-21T19:57:00.000+01:002010-09-21T19:57:32.346+01:00Poverty and Exclusion in Rural Ireland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZR13pIro6xxsNIpBWrntgw0W2DMOMQIr4M87gHozBnPgJlPMJk0dfMbZzU7DU9JjbAD3MYOwdm74SPdrlC6Yyjk5P9dvyXioWsLifLdTay6BgX5hMZQ37Z2jSotgfOPnqy42_40f4RLZ/s1600/Irish+Ploughing+Championships.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZR13pIro6xxsNIpBWrntgw0W2DMOMQIr4M87gHozBnPgJlPMJk0dfMbZzU7DU9JjbAD3MYOwdm74SPdrlC6Yyjk5P9dvyXioWsLifLdTay6BgX5hMZQ37Z2jSotgfOPnqy42_40f4RLZ/s200/Irish+Ploughing+Championships.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>With the ploughing champions underway its timely to look at the difficult challenges <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/PearseDohertyReportWeb.pdf">rural Ireland</a> faces with poverty. You are 7% more at risk of poverty in rural Ireland. Suicide rates can be up to 25% greater than Dublin. Some <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16472">Farm Incomes</a>, are as low as 12,000, significantly lower than other employment opportunities as highlighted in the Ferris report. After over a decade of Fianna Fail rural Ireland has been sorely treated. Rural voters need to ask themselves would Fine Gael have done anything different. With the EU budget likely to see some fairly <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19222">radical changes to CAP</a> rural voters need to have a party that can argue their case with conviction and ensure that the smaller Farmer does not lose out simply because they have no connections while the meat processors do or the bigger milk buyers drive down the price.<br />
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Additionally the report highlights that there tends to be a low uptake in Rural Ireland of entitlements such as the <a href="http://rathanganrepublicannews.blogspot.com/2010/09/are-you-entitled-to-farm-assist.html">Farm Assist allowance</a>. Many part time farmers who were relying on construction to boost income should have no hesitation in claiming and as this article points out it can make a real difference in helping to fight poverty.<br />
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If you are in Around Athy today or tomorrow make sure you drop by the Sinn Fein stand at 184 Row K.<br />
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Post From the European Anti-Poverty Network:<br />
Rural poverty, intertwined with exclusion and isolation, has been around for a long time. It is documented in Patrick Kavanagh’s “The Great Hunger” and the writings of John B. Keane. Though it is well over a decade on from the publication of Curtin, Tovey and Hasse’s “Poverty in Rural Ireland” the issues examined within each chapter continue to be the main challenges in addressing social disadvantage in rural areas. These include demography, agriculture, access to services and limited employment opportunities.<br />
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Poverty is more likely to occur in rural areas than urban areas. In 2008 the risk of poverty in rural Ireland was 6.9 per cent higher than in urban Ireland with at risk rates of 18.2 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively. Trutz Hasse data shows remote rural areas are consistently amongst the most disadvantaged in the state. The difference between the ‘poorest’ and ‘richest’ counties increased over the Celtic tiger period and disposable incomes in rural areas are below those of urban areas. In rural areas poverty and disadvantage is experienced at individual level, or it is dispersed over large geographical areas. Rural poverty can exist side by side with considerable wealth and affluence but is frequently hidden and unnoticed. Isolation can have serious psychological effects and suicide rates in rural areas can be up to 25% greater than in Dublin.<br />
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Rural areas experience higher levels of child poverty and there is some evidence that take-up rates are lower in rural areas, due to less access to information and advice about public benefit entitlement, a prevailing culture of independence and self-reliance in rural areas, and the lack of anonymity in collecting benefits.<br />
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The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice is carrying out a ground breaking study on the cost of a minimum essential standard of living in rural areas and preliminary findings suggest the same basket of goods and services costs rural households significantly more than their urban counterparts.<br />
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At the Budapest EU seminar on poverty and social exclusion in rural areas held in June 2009 an interesting piece of research was presented. The study, completed at the end of 2008 – before the worst of our current recession became known – made it clear that rural poverty is still a disappointingly strong constant in the 15 EU countries surveyed, including Ireland. The report cites the importance of European development policy in fighting poverty and social exclusion in rural areas, particularly in terms of its support for improved infrastructure, tourism, rural small and medium enterprises and the continued development of farming. Allied to these are more recent supports for initiatives such as renewable energy, and information and communications technology.<br />
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Because of the nature of the rural housing stock, the types of fuels available (with limited opportunities to switch to cheaper fuels such as gas) and their lower incomes rural households are at greater risk of fuel poverty. The carbon tax could cost rural households ten times more than some urban households and the continued lack of detail on the measures proposed to protect low income rural households is regrettable.<br />
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Having a job is probably the best safeguard against poverty and exclusion but unemployment in the more rural counties is running above that in the cities. Rural areas are characterised by their narrow economic base. The rise in unemployment occurring across all sectors will be most difficult to resolve in rural areas which are over-reliant on primary industries such as agriculture, construction and low-level manufacturing. According to the 2006 Census, one in five of the working population of rural areas is working in agriculture (as a farmer or agriculture worker), a decline from one in three in 2002. Clearly opportunities for jobs beyond farming and for the families of farmers must be created.<br />
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Average farm income last year was €12,000 per farm, the lowest income since 1999. Farm income lags considerably behind the national average with farm incomes in the BMW region lagging even further behind those in the South and East. A social group significantly impacted upon by the decline in construction are smallholders and part-time farmers who supplemented farming income with off-farm work. In many cases they worked full-time in construction and undertook farming in their off hours. A study by O’Brien and Hennessy (2007) has shown that participation in the off-farm labour market plays an important role in ensuring the sustainability of farm households and in insulating farm families from poverty. The challenge faced by this cohort is giving them the opportunity to benefit from retraining.<br />
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According to the CSO the greatest factor in determining a household’s access to services is not income, but location. The development of a community based rural transport programme has been a huge asset to rural communities however it is still only in its infancy. According to NESC “Access to services – in health, education, housing and other areas – is also integral to social protection and, in some instances, more important to securing people’s living standards and participation in society than having a higher money income”. The report concludes that such services are vital to maintaining social cohesion and combating social exclusion. At an EU level access to well functioning, accessible, affordable and high quality public services is seen as an important part of citizenship and a fundamental right. The provision of access to services of good quality makes a major contribution to the prevention, reduction and ultimate elimination of rural poverty and social exclusion. Experience has shown that devoting a higher proportion of resources to essential services achieves better outcomes for vulnerable groups, than an over reliance on income support.<br />
... <a href="http://eapnireland.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/valuing-community-in-the-battle-against-rural-poverty-exclusion/">Read More</a><br />
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This post appeared on the European <a href="http://eapnireland.wordpress.com/">Anti-Poverty</a> Network site was written by Seán O’Leary<em><strong>.</strong></em> Sean is a Policy and Communications Officer with Irish Rural Link – the national network of rural community groups. <br />
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Both sites are great resources for<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-77450673886261255022010-09-21T15:44:00.004+01:002010-09-21T15:53:55.979+01:00Ireland: A WarningThis article is taken from Duncan's economic blog. Which looks at british politics from a left perspective.<br /><br />This article looks at the disasterous economic deflationary policies of the FF/Greens. The labour party here must look at these facts and decide do they wish to go into the next government as coalition partners of FG and end up pesuing the same defaltionary policies, that will result in further economic disaster for the ordinary irish citizen.<br /><br />Labour must join forces with SF and other pogressives to change politics here for good and build an ecomic that works in the interests of the ordinary Irish citizen.<br /><br />http://duncanseconomicblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/ireland-a-warning/<br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Duncan’s Economic Blog<br /><br /><br />Ireland: A Warning<br /><br />A year ago I wrote a post for Left Foot Forward on the Irish economy. I noted how, unlike Britain, the Irish Government had reacted to the global recession by cutting spending and attempting to drive down costs to remain globally competitive. I also noted this was broadly the policy pushed by the Conservatives at the time.<br /><br />I assessed what had happened in the year between September 2008 and September 2009.<br /><br />Nearly one year on, what has been the effect of these polices? Irish GDP is expected to fall by 12%, a staggering decline. Unemployment has reached 12.4% and is still rising. The economy is now in the grip of a severe deflation (minus 5.9%). Finance Minister Brian Lenihan openly talks of the need to “get our cost base down” in order to regain competitiveness. A policy of aiming to balance the budget and drive down wage costs is a throwback to the so-called Treasury View of the 1930s, a policy rejected then by progressives and rightly rejected now. The final irony is that, despite all of this needless suffering, the Irish Government will still be running a budget deficit of 12% of GDP this year while the ratings agencies have already cut Ireland’s sovereign bonds from AAA to AA.<br />In December last year, as Ireland delivered yet another emergency budget that was again praised by British Tories, I wrote an update.<br /><br />Iain Dale writes that:<br /><br />“The PBR the British Chancellor should have delivered, was delivered yesterday in Dublin. Hopefully George Osborne is studying it in great detail.”<br /><br />The results of Ireland’s policy are plain to see:<br /><br />• Irish unemployment is 12.5 per cent;<br /><br />• The country is experiencing deflation at –6.6 per cent;<br /><br />• GDP has fallen 7.4 per cent over the past year and 10.5% from its peak;<br /><br />• And despite the cuts they have still had their credit rating downgraded.<br /><br />But what exactly are the measures that the Tories are so keen to praise?<br /><br />– Child benefit is being cut by 10%.<br /><br />– Unemployment benefit is being cut by 4.1%, with larger cuts for those under 25.<br /><br />– Public Sector workers are facing pay cuts of 5-8%.<br /><br />– Prescription charges are being increased by 50%.<br /><br />– Other increased health charges including A&E, inpatient and outpatient charges and a higher monthly threshold above which people cannot get free drugs under the Drug Payment Scheme.<br /><br />– The Health budget is being cut by €400mn on top of previously announced cuts<br /><br />– Further departmental cuts will be announced in coming days.<br /><br />– €960mn is cut from the investment budget<br />So, a year after the first post and two years after Ireland embarked on its programme of cutting, where are we now?<br /><br />Not in a good place. As the FT reports:<br /><br />Ireland’s central bank governor has indicated that Brian Cowen’s government needs to go even further in cutting the forthcoming budget if it wants to restore international confidence in its management of the economy.<br /><br />…<br /><br />A year ago the populist Fianna Fáil-led coalition won international plaudits as one of the first EU countries to tackle the crisis head on, administering cuts in public sector pay averaging 15 per cent, and reductions in child and other benefits in the most savage budget in decades.<br /><br />Yet today Ireland, together with Greece and Portugal, is seen as the most vulnerable of the EU’s peripheral economies, as it struggles with a property and banking crash that has blown a hole in the public finances and threatens the economic recovery.<br />As Ireland prepares to engage in (another) round of cuts, Bloomberg reports how unconvinced “the markets” are by Irish policy.<br /><br />Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed say Ireland is likely to default, more than double the rate three months ago, according to a quarterly poll of 1,408 investors, traders and analysts.<br />Ireland is providing a vivid example that the “cuts don’t work”. As the head of asset allocation at Credit Suisse Private Bank warned a year ago<br /><br />Spending cuts to be announced today by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan may end up sacrificing long-term economic growth for reducing the budget deficit, an Irish author and head of asset allocation at Credit Suisse Private Banking has warned.<br /><br />Michael O’Sullivan, whose book, ‘Ireland and the Global Question’, was published in 2006, warned this week that Mr Lenihan’s expected swingeing cuts could do long-term damage. “Arguably the Irish bond market is being saved at the expense of Irish society”, said Mr O’Sullivan.<br /><br />“By cutting spending you lower the trend line of growth and store up bigger fiscal problems down the line,” he added.<br />Cutting now reduces growth and tax revenue and increases unemployment and welfare spending. It does not close the deficit in a sustainable manner.<br /><br />Ireland, a euro member, may have little choice but to pursue this policy. The UK though does face a choice, and we are making the wrong one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.leftfootforward.org/2009/09/irelands-budget-balancing-hurts-economy/"></a><a href="http://www.leftfootforward.org/2009/09/irelands-budget-balancing-hurts-economy/"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-20243536737970324232010-09-21T13:35:00.001+01:002010-09-21T13:40:36.791+01:00Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin - Outlines the ONLY way forward in the South<object width="600" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/myNnGW5MGgU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/myNnGW5MGgU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-64603929054320416142010-09-17T18:38:00.002+01:002010-09-17T18:47:12.113+01:00HELP THE SAVE 16 MOORE STREET CAMPAIGN<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtoZGkX1Nq2iJ303B3eo3czvzF0dZ-U80r4lCsGTCre_vbk_MYvDhy6y9bcCF6iRlM9H9r_dv3S3vAlV9MfmCQo7Jeg6iiwDeJI3DXGigwDvFeAQmGD7RL2eK_nxHaod0GTHlRRz-BSc/s1600/62978_138862789491545_100001034755559_197457_1799895_s.jpeg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 199px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517938452659385138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtoZGkX1Nq2iJ303B3eo3czvzF0dZ-U80r4lCsGTCre_vbk_MYvDhy6y9bcCF6iRlM9H9r_dv3S3vAlV9MfmCQo7Jeg6iiwDeJI3DXGigwDvFeAQmGD7RL2eK_nxHaod0GTHlRRz-BSc/s400/62978_138862789491545_100001034755559_197457_1799895_s.jpeg" /></a> The Save 16 Moore Street campaign represent those people who would like to see the full preservation of 16 Moore St and all its contents dating back to 1916 instead of being demolished by developers. This group has no political bias and is open to all. Below is a message I received from them asking for support in their campaign.<br /><br />The facebook page of the group is<br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=114656558567416&v=info&ref=ts">http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=114656558567416&v=info&ref=ts</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Subject: Certificate of Support<br /><br />Now is the time to show real support for the Moore Street campaign. Adapted from a 1930's 1st battalion Dublin Brigade Certificate of Service, a limited edition scroll will be inscribed with your chosen name and signed by the founders of the Moore Street campaign including James Connolly's great grandson. It is already a collectors item.<br /><br />Please see main above for image.<br /><br />Funds raised will be used to pay for the design and print costs for HQ16: The Citizens Plan for Dublin: Part 1 which offers a real alternative to the destruction of the Battlefield area. Any monies left over will go towards the restoration and maintenance of the various Dublin Brigade memorials throughout the city.<br /><br />There are no office, administration costs involved.<br /><br />Price: E 25.00 inc p&p<br /><br />Cheques/ Drafts payable to P Cooney c/o 46 Shantalla Drive. Beaumont. Dublin 9<br /><br />Thank you for supporting the Save Moore Street campaign.<br /><br /><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-6419271933003865282010-09-17T18:30:00.001+01:002010-09-17T18:32:20.072+01:00Fraud Inquiriy - Bankers and Fianna Fail politicians have questions to answer<strong>Great post from Rathangan Republican News blog on Eoin o'Broin's recent call for a fraud inquiry. Steps like this allied with the wide ranging campaigns on <a href="http://corksinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/09/city-council-put-on-notice-change-is.html">housing</a>, <a href="http://meathsinnfein.ie/news">hospitals</a> etc are bringing the fight to those who thought they were above the law or have no responsibility. The culture of inpunity is going to have to end in this country.</strong><br />
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Dublin Sinn Féin representative, Eoin O' Broin is demanding that Gardaí launch a <a href="http://rathanganrepublicannews.blogspot.com/2010/09/sinn-fein-rep-goes-after-government.html">fraud inquiry to investigate the Taoiseach Brian Cowen</a>, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and top officials at Bank of Ireland and AIB. Mr O' Broin has contacted Gardaí at Pearse Street in Dublin, saying the men should face questions on whether they deliberately withheld information from the Dáil regarding the insolvency of Anglo Irish Bank. He also wants the chiefs of the banks to answer questions on whether they withheld information from Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan in meetings before the enactment of the bank guarantee scheme which led to huge financial loss for the Irish taxpayer. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5SS4G6yWnv8CAtS3ShsEWyQZJZX0cLRQg3-3lz9-2pHLXB530qtqP20OicYUffi5gWoo0SBMhUDkxUk4T6gJI71PsZiY4bkkDkw-Qn8r4H5wFbtHpD2rXLcNQugGpMXUkBzhdsDUkWkV/s1600/convictcowen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5SS4G6yWnv8CAtS3ShsEWyQZJZX0cLRQg3-3lz9-2pHLXB530qtqP20OicYUffi5gWoo0SBMhUDkxUk4T6gJI71PsZiY4bkkDkw-Qn8r4H5wFbtHpD2rXLcNQugGpMXUkBzhdsDUkWkV/s320/convictcowen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Criminals should be prosecuted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>O' Broins move comes in the wake of the decision by Iceland authorities to bring charges against former government ministers over their alleged failings connected to the economic crisis. The ministers, including former PM Geir H. Haarde will now be sent to court where they will have to prove their innocence. In such a climate, it comes as no surprise that someone should bring similar charges against our own incompetent government. Every man, woman and child in this country has been effected by their failures to deal with the economic decimation of our nation, and if you walk into any public gathering in Ireland, you will hear our citizens criticising this government for their inaction.<br />
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The only surprise is that it was left to a Sinn Féin representative to do this, while the supposed main opposition of Fine Gael/ Labour sat on their thumbs, sniggering about Brian Cowens alcohol problems. It was left to a Sinn Féin representative to take action while the many banner waving "socialist" parties did nothing, except perhaps critising Sinn féins status as a peoples party because they don't waste time holding meetings to discuss the finer points of dogma created by men who have been dead for a century. It was left to a Sinn Féin representative to take the peoples fight to the heart of the corrupt regime in Leinster house while the rest did nothing.<br />
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Eoin O' Broin deserves a medal for bringing this action against these people, who have been protected by the inadequacies of the opposition, and their amiable relationship with the O' Reilly media for so long. Now is not the time to sit back and allow Joe Duffy to tell us that this is Ireland, and not Iceland or Greece. Don't listen to Kevin Myers tell you that Eoin O' Broin is a supporter of terrorism who wants to eat your children and turn the country into a homosexual, vegetarian, communist utopia. Don't mind George Hook when he tells you that the Government are to blame but bringing them to court is a step to far, and will turn Ireland into a joke.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Breaking stones in the mid day sun..."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>They have already succeeded in turning Ireland into a joke.<br />
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The protesters in Greece carried banners declaring proudly, "WE ARE NOT THE IRISH".<br />
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This is not the view of Ireland I want the rest of the world to have. This is not the way I would like future generations of Irish men and Irish women to remember us. <br />
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We are Irish and we are proud. We don't lie down for anyone, and we certainly don't allow rulers to get away with hell and leave us lying in the gutter. Just ask the english.<br />
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Ninety four years ago, brave Irish men and Irish women rose up against a corrupt regime that seemed untouchable at the time. Though few in number, and though eventually forced to surrender, the news of their actions spread around the globe, and the memory of their rising has inspired Irish people the world over since.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our own Irish Republican Super Hero, O' Broinman?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Eoin O' Broin has taken the fight to the government, but he cant do so alone. It is time for all of us to rise up and stand behind O' Broin. Its time to get rid of these criminals and the equally guilty main opposition that have allowed them to stay in their Ivory tower for so long.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-43409102683735363222010-09-16T18:45:00.000+01:002010-09-16T18:45:37.283+01:00Our National (Irish) Language - By Thomas DavisThomas Davis of Mallow died on the 16th September 1845. In his short life he made a great contribution towards restoring the spirit of Irish nationhood and and remphasing that an Ireland without the Irish language would only be half a country. Davis wrote the following pamphlet urging that the Irish nation have the courage to forge its own path. It called for a sense of courage and purpose that would serve us well today.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib16PwjdOmz7Ldj8zJUINL4tiZ7MVZhBsqGDSQIGc4yhj-V2JS115cIUEbyBJpDkfSKyyRUcNNYNLnwRvr0uZjpVYWQLnyq4_2hQrHkFGxbV25qtpVuGUPUtM2nk3fG2hxsORQEq1F5kK8/s1600/thomas+Davis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib16PwjdOmz7Ldj8zJUINL4tiZ7MVZhBsqGDSQIGc4yhj-V2JS115cIUEbyBJpDkfSKyyRUcNNYNLnwRvr0uZjpVYWQLnyq4_2hQrHkFGxbV25qtpVuGUPUtM2nk3fG2hxsORQEq1F5kK8/s200/thomas+Davis.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>MEN are ever valued most for peculiar and original qualities. A man who can only talk commonplace, and act according to routine, has little weight. To speak, look, and do what your own soul from its depths orders you are credentials of greatness which all men understand and acknowledge. Such a man's dictum has more influence than the reasoning of an imitative or commonplace man. He fills his circle with confidence. He is self-possessed, firm, accurate, and daring. Such men are the pioneers of civilisation, and the rulers of the human heart. <br />
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Why should not nations be judged thus? Is not a full indulgence of its natural tendencies essential to a people's greatness? Force the manners, dress, language, and constitution of Russia, or Italy, or Norway, or America, and you instantly stunt and distort the whole mind of either people. <br />
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The language, which grows up with a people, is conformed to their organs, descriptive of their climate, constitution, and manners, mingled inseparably with their history and their soil, fitted beyond any other language to express their prevalent thoughts in the most natural and efficient way. <br />
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To impose another language on such a people is to send their history adrift among the accidents of translation--'tis to tear their identity from all places--'tis to substitute arbitrary signs for picturesque and suggestive names--'tis to cut off the entail of feeling, and separate the people from their forefathers by a deep gulf--'tis to corrupt their very organs, and abridge their power of expression. <br />
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The language of a nation's youth is the only easy and full speech for its manhood and for its age. And when the language of its cradle goes, itself craves a tomb. <br />
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What business has a Russian for the rippling language of Italy or India? How could a Greek distort his organs and his soul to speak Dutch upon the sides of the Hymettus, or the beach of Salamis, or on the waste where once was Sparta? And is it befitting the fiery, delicate-organed Celt to abandon his beautiful tongue, docile and spirited as an Arab, "sweet as music, strong as the wave"--is it befitting in him to abandon this wild, liquid speech for the mongrel of a hundred breeds called English, which, powerful though it be, creaks and bangs about the Celt who tries to use it? <br />
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We lately met a glorious thought in the "Triads of Mochmed," printed in one of the Welsh codes by the Record Commission: "There are three things without which there is no country--common language, common judicature, and co-tillage land--for without these a country cannot support itself in peace and social union." <br />
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A people without a language of its own is only half a nation. A nation should guard its language more than its territories--'tis a surer barrier, and more important frontier, than fortress or river. <br />
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And in good times it has ever been thought so. Who had dared to propose the adoption of Persian or Egyptian in Greece--how had Pericles thundered at the barbarian? How had Cato scourged from the forum him who would have given the Attic or Gallic speech to men of Rome? How proudly and how nobly Germany stopped "the incipient creeping" progress of French! And no sooner had she succeeded than her genius, which had tossed in a hot trance, sprung up fresh and triumphant. <br />
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Had Pyrrhus quelled Italy, or Xerxes subdued Greece for a time long enough to impose new languages, where had been the literature which gives a pedigree to human genius? Even liberty recovered had been sickly and insecure without the language with which it had hunted in the woods, worshipped at the fruit-strewn altar, debated on the council-hill, and shouted in the battle-charge. <br />
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There is a fine song of the Fusians, which describes <br />
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"Language linked to liberty." <br />
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To lose your native tongue, and learn that of an alien, is the worst badge of conquest--it is the chain on the soul. To have lost entirely the national language is death; the fetter has worn through. So long as the Saxon held to his German speech he could hope to resume his land from the Norman; now, if he is to be free and locally governed, he must build himself a new home. There is hope for Scotland--strong hope for Wales--sure hope for Hungary. The speech of the alien is not universal in the one; is gallantly held at bay in the other; is nearly expelled from the third. <br />
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How unnatural--how corrupting 'tis for us, three-fourths of whom are of Celtic blood, to speak a medley of Teutonic dialects! If we add the Celtic Scots, who came back here from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and the Celtic Welsh, who colonised many parts of Wexford and other Leinster counties, to the Celts who never left Ireland, probably five-sixths, or more, of us are Celts. What business have we with the Norman-Sassenagh? <br />
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Nor let any doubt these proportions because of the number of English names in Ireland. With a politic cruelty the English of the Pale passed an Act (3 Edw. IV., c. 3) compelling every Irishman within English jurisdiction "to go like to one Englishman in apparel, and shaving off his beard above the mouth," "and shall take to him an English sirname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale; or colour, as White, Blacke, Browne; or art or science, as Smith, or Carpenter; or office, as Cook, Butler; and that he and his issue shall use this name, under pain of forfeiting his goods yearly." <br />
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And just as this Parliament before the Reformation, so did another after the Reformation. By the 28th Henry VIII., c. 15, the dress and language of the Irish were insolently described as barbarous by the minions of that ruffian king, and were utterly forbidden and abolished under many penalties and incapacities. These laws are still in force; but whether the Archaeological Society, including Peel and O'Connell, will be prosecuted seems doubtful. <br />
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There was also, 'tis to be feared, an adoption of English names, during some periods, from fashion, fear, or meanness. Some of our best Irish names, too, have been so mangled as to require some scholarship to identify them. For these and many more reasons the members of the Celtic race here are immensely greater than at first appeals. <br />
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But this is not all; for even the Saxon and Norman colonists, notwithstanding these laws, melted down into the Irish, and adopted all their ways and language. For centuries upon centuries Irish was spoken by men of all bloods in Ireland, and English was unknown, save to a few citizens and nobles of the Pale. 'Tis only within a very late period that the majority of the people learned English. <br />
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But, it will be asked, how can the language be restored now? <br />
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We shall answer this partly by saying that, through the labours of the Archaeological and many lesser societies, it is being revived rapidly. <br />
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We shall consider this question of the possibility of reviving it more at length some other day. <br />
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Nothing can make us believe that it is natural or honourable for the Irish to speak the speech of the alien, the invader, the Sassenagh tyrant, and to abandon the language of our kings and heroes. What! give up the tongue of Ollamh Fodhla and Brian Boru, the tongue of M'Carty, and the O'Nials, the tongue of Sarsfield's, Curran's, Mathew's, and O'Connell's boyhood, for that of Strafford and Poynings, Sussex, Kirk, and Cromwell! <br />
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No! oh, no! the "brighter days shall surely come," and the green flag shall wave on our towers, and the sweet old language be heard once more in college, mart, and senate. <br />
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But even should the effort to save it as the national language fail, by the attempt we will rescue its old literature, and hand down to our descendants proofs that we had a language as fit for love, and war, and business, and pleasure, as the world ever knew, and that we had not the spirit and nationality to preserve it! <br />
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Had Swift known Irish he would have sowed its seed by the side of that nationality which he planted, and the close of the last century would have seen the one as flourishing as the other. Had Ireland used Irish in 1782, would it not have impeded England's re-conquest of us? But 'tis not yet too late. <br />
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For you, if the mixed speech called English was laid with sweetmeats on your child's tongue, English is the best speech of manhood. And yet, rather, in that case you are unfortunate. The hills, and lakes, and rivers, the forts and castles, the churches and parishes, the baronies and counties around you, have all Irish names--names which describe the nature of the scenery or ground, the name of founder, or chief, or priest, or the leading fact in the history of the place. To you these are names hard to pronounce, and without meaning. <br />
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And yet it were well for you to know them. That knowledge would be a topography, and a history, and romance, walking by your side, and helping your discourse. Meath tells its flatness, Clonmel the abundant riches of its valley, Fermanagh is the land of the Lakes, Tyrone the country of Owen, Kilkenny the Church of St. Canice, Dunmore the great fort, Athenry the Ford of the Kings, Dunleary the Fort of O'Leary; and the Phoenix Park, instead of taking its name from a fable, recognises as christener the "sweet water" which yet springs near the east gate. <br />
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All the names of our airs and songs are Irish, and we every day are as puzzled and ingeniously wrong about them as the man who, when asked for the air, "I am asleep, and don't waken me," called it "Tommy M'Cullagh made boots for me." <br />
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The bulk of our history and poetry are written in Irish, and shall we, who learn Italian, and Latin, and Greek, to read Dante, Livy, and Homer in the original--shall we be content with ignorance or a translation of Irish? <br />
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The want of modern scientific words in Irish is undeniable, and doubtless we should adopt the existing names into our language. The Germans have done the same thing, and no one calls German mongrel on that account. Most of these names are clumsy and extravagant; and are almost all derived from Greek or Latin, and cut as foreign a figure in French and English as they would in Irish. Once Irish was recognised as a language to be learned as much as French or Italian, our dictionaries would fill up, and our vocabularies ramify, to suit all the wants of life and conversation. <br />
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These objections are ingenious refinements, however, rarely thought of till after the other and great objection has been answered. <br />
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The usual objection to attempting the revival of Irish is, that it could not succeed. <br />
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If an attempt were made to introduce Irish, either through the national schools or the courts of law, into the eastern side of the island, it would certainly fail, and the reaction might extinguish it altogether. But no one contemplates this save as a dream of what may happen a hundred years hence. It is quite another thing to say, as we do, that the Irish language should be cherished, taught, and esteemed, and that it can be preserved and gradually extended. <br />
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What we seek is, that the people of the upper classes should have their children taught the language which explains our names of persons or places, our older history, and our music, and which is spoken in the majority of our counties, rather than Italian, German, or French. It would be more useful in life, more serviceable to the taste and genius of young people, and a more flexible accomplishment for an Irish man or woman to speak, sing, and write Irish than French. <br />
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At present the middle classes think it a sign of vulgarity to speak Irish--the children are everywhere taught English and English alone in schools--and, what is worse, they are urged by rewards and punishments to speak it at home, for English is the language of their masters. Now, we think the example and exertions of the upper classes would be sufficient to set the opposite and better fashion of preferring Irish; and, even as a matter of taste, we think them bound to do so. And we ask it of the pride, the patriotism, and the hearts of our farmers and shopkeepers, will they try to drive out of their children's minds the native language of almost every great man we had, from Brian Boru to O'Connell--will they meanly sacrifice the language which names their hills, and towns, and music, to the tongue of the stranger? <br />
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About half the people west of a line drawn from Derry to Waterford speak Irish habitually, and in some of the mountain tracts east of that line it is still common. Simply requiring the teachers of the national schools in these Irish-speaking districts to know Irish, and supplying them with Irish translations of the school books, would guard the language where it now exists, and prevent it from being swept away by the English tongue, as the Red Americans have been by the English race from New York to New Orleans. <br />
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The example of the upper classes would extend and develop a modern Irish literature, and the hearty support they have given to the Archaeological Society makes us hope that they will have sense and spirit to do so. <br />
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But the establishment of a newspaper partly or wholly Irish would be the most rapid and sure way of serving the language. The Irish-speaking man would find, in his native tongue, the political news and general information he has now to seek in English; and the English-speaking man, having Irish frequently before him in so attractive a form, would be tempted to learn its characters, and by-and-by its meaning. <br />
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These newspapers in many languages are now to be found everywhere but here. In South America many of these papers are Spanish and English, or French; in North America, French and English; in Northern Italy, German and Italian; in Denmark and Holland, German is used in addition to the native tongue; in Alsace and Switzerland, French and German; in Poland, German, French, and Sclavonic; in Turkey, French and Turkish; in Hungary, Magyar, Sclavonic, and German; and the little Canton of Grison uses three languages in its press. With the exception of Hungary, the secondary language is, in all cases, spoken by fewer persons than the Irish-speaking people of Ireland, and while they everywhere tolerate and use one language as a medium of commerce, they cherish the other as the vehicle of history, the wings of song, the soil of their genius, and a mark and guard of nationality.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-29066217753362668692010-09-15T14:27:00.001+01:002010-09-15T14:27:03.652+01:00He was hungover and the taxpayers were hung up<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdRhqRwm8_vn7Ox-V_cxo0rz_J2wPb2pYViQ8o4vBSULkXaco2wCvqYmMLY34gFt_ljQwBNsmza_rU3Zvkg_gml8a3bv9LUupckvml1_mGyVE-bM2ZmQ9qTmaxNdU6yyARXB-01PM-Pdl/s1600/brian+cowen+hungover-723653.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdRhqRwm8_vn7Ox-V_cxo0rz_J2wPb2pYViQ8o4vBSULkXaco2wCvqYmMLY34gFt_ljQwBNsmza_rU3Zvkg_gml8a3bv9LUupckvml1_mGyVE-bM2ZmQ9qTmaxNdU6yyARXB-01PM-Pdl/s320/brian+cowen+hungover-723653.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517131270384879634" /></a></p><div>Over 600 world wide media sources picked up on the embarassing interview with Brian Cowen recently. A country which is very keen to demonstrate itself as a serious player as a place to invest money and do business is not best served when the state leader plays into the sterotype of Ireland Land of Saints and Skullers.</div> <div> </div> <div>Cabinet ministers were quick to state that they had found nothing wrong with the content of the speech. Rather pathetically nobody mentioned the man himself but limited their support to the content of the speech.</div> <div> </div> <div>The Irishelection.com website has reviewed the content of that speech. By the way Its a good website and worth checking in on every so often. As they note focussing on the content of the <a href="http://www.irishelection.com/2010/09/hungover-or-not-theres-a-problem/">Brian Cowen speech</a> makes the whole tawdry event even more pathetic. Their post points out: </div> <div> <blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote"> <p>In the now infamous <a href="http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20100914,2818579,2818597,real,209" target="_blank">interview</a> (<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/politics/2010/09/14/taoiseach-transcript/" target="_blank">transcript</a>) with Morning Ireland, Brian Cowen –</p> <ul> <li>Could not provide a headline number for the total budgetary adjustment being sought next year</li> <li>Was reduced to vague jargon in trying to explain the budgetary process ('estimates campaign") — this from someone who served 4 years as finance minister</li> <li>Barely could muster an opinion on whether Dublin should have a Mayor, a critical urban policy decision</li> <li>Made it clear that despite earlier claims to <a href="http://www.irishelection.com/2010/07/recycling/" target="_blank">the contrary</a>, nothing has been done on initiating the Croke Park Agreement or will be before 2011</li> <li>Hadn't been briefed on the earlier interviews that had taken place about the conference, not least with the despairing graduate and couldn't generate any specific message for her </li></ul> <p>The FF circling of the wagons today includes the claim that we should focus on the content of what he said. It ain't pretty.</p></blockquote> <div>It certainly aint pretty. </div> <div> </div> <div>I dont go to work hungover. Its not too much to ask that Cowen could do the same especially since he has been paid nearly €2 million gross over the last 7 years to manage the economy.</div> <div> </div> <div>And look at the economy. </div></div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-38121653188472966122010-09-14T18:13:00.000+01:002010-09-14T18:13:42.464+01:00Links between the Basque and Irish peopleThe Basque struggle and the Irish struggle has seen deep bonds of friendship arise between both peoples. In response the post on the recent initiative by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna a comment by John pointed out an article on what those deep links are and also some differences as well. An excellent article which is reproduced here - worth reading.<strong><br />
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<strong>In the wake of the ETA ceasefire, John Dorney takes a look at the historical similarities and differences between Irish and Basque nationalism.</strong><br />
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To many Irish people, the events of this week (September 6, 2010), with the armed Basque separatist group <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA">ETA</a> declaring an end to its attacks, have a strangely familiar ring.<br />
An armed nationalist group, variously pilloried as terrorists, lauded as freedom fighters and provoking also ambiguous reactions verging from contempt to quiet admiration, declares a ceasefire. The metropolitan government voices caution and declares that the end to violence will not be credible until arms are handed over. Other nationalists welcome the move and call on the government to engage with the political wing of the armed movement.<br />
All of the above could equally be said of the Provisional IRA’s ceasefire of 1994 as of ETA’s announcement in September 2010.<br />
There are other very obvious parallels between the Basque and Irish situations. What radical nationalists think of as the Basque Country, or <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Country_(greater_region)">Euskal Herria</a></em>, comprises of three provinces of France and four in Spain. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Country_(autonomous_community)">Basque Autonomous Community </a>has just three provinces in northern Spain.<br />
<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>There are very obvious parallels between the Basque and Irish situations</em></strong></div>Thus for the radicals, or <em>abertzales</em>, as they call themselves, the current Basque institutions are “partitionist”, the nationalists who accept them are “<em>espanolistas</em>” and the <a href="http://www.ertzaintza.net/public/wps/portal/ertzaintza">Basque police </a>are “<em>cipayos</em>” (“sepoys” – an analogy to native troops in British India). It doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to find the equivalents in the world view of Irish Republicanism – Northern Ireland as a British-occupied statelet, the Republic a partitionist sham, its police as “Free State” traitors and its nationalist opponents as “West Brits”.<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1664" style="width: 220px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/riot-basque-2.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1664 " height="140" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/riot-basque-2.jpg" title="riot basque 2" width="210" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="wp-caption-text"><i>The Basque police or Ertzaintza break up an abertzale demonstration</i></div><div class="wp-caption-text"><br />
</div></div>Nor have the similarities been lost on either Basque or Irish separatist movements. Sinn Fein and Batasuna (the currently banned Basque separatist party) routinely send delegates to each others conferences and Sinn Fein personnel regularly travel to the Basque Country to advise on the peace process there.<br />
But how similar are the two movements really? A look backwards into history reveals important similarities but also significant differences.<br />
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<strong>Differences</strong><br />
Perhaps the most long standing and powerful basis for Irish nationalism is in the historical grievances of the Irish Catholic community. While Irish Republicanism itself has had strong secular features at times, its core support has always come from the Catholic community and this remains the case in Northern Ireland today.<br />
Historically, since the mid 17<sup>th</sup> century until the 19th this community, an ethnic mixture comprising of Old English as well as Gaelic Irish, found itself dispossessed of land and excluded from political power, in favour of an administration based in England and a ruling class, landed and economic, largely composed of Protestant settlers from Britain.<br />
Nothing like this has ever existed in the Basque Country. If anything, ethnic Basques in the 19<sup>th</sup> century found themselves in a superior position to the workers from other parts of Spain who flocked to the region to work in the Basque Country’s burgeoning industries. In fact, one aspect of early Basque nationalism, as articulated by its founder, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabino_Arana">Sabino Arana</a>, in the late 1800s, was hostility to such immigrants, who could be derided as dirty, un-Basque and irreligious.<br />
Moreover, while in Ireland, Irish Catholic folk memory, being both excluded and defeated by the state, generally celebrated its hostility to Britain, until the 20<sup>th</sup> century, this was simply not true in the Basque Country. Many Basques of the early 19<sup>th</sup> century fought to protect the autonomy or <em>fueros</em> of their provinces, but they did so as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlism">Carlists</a>, loyal to the “traditionalist” branch of the monarchy in Madrid against “liberal” line. So according to one interpretation, Basques were actually a repository of the real Spanish identity.<br />
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<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>Irish Catholic folk memory, excluded and defeated was traditionally hostile to the state. This was not always true in the Basque Country</em></strong> </div><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/euskadi-needs-you.bmp"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1668" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/euskadi-needs-you.bmp" title="euskadi needs you" /></a>The idea that the Basque Country was occupied and oppressed by Spain only really became a reality after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War">Spanish Civil War</a>, when the Basque nationalists sided with the Spanish Republic against the right wing military uprising. Two Basque provinces, Guipuzcoa and Viscaya declared themselves autonomous during the war.<br />
With the victory of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Franco">Franco</a>’s forces, the two “traitor provinces” were harshly dealt with. Many nationalists were executed and imprisoned and the Basque language was banned. Modern Basque separatism and ETA in particular, is therefore closely bound up with opposition to the Franco dictatorship and with left wing politics. The radicals close to ETA argue that without a Basque right to self determination, the dictatorship has never really ended. <br />
The point is that whereas in Ireland, particularly in Northern Ireland, where you stood on the national question was largely determined by your family’s religion, origin and class; in the Basque Country it has always been much more fluid. There are children of Andalucian immigrants who have joined ETA. And there are also native Basque speakers, with unbroken Basque ancestry, who support the unity of Spain.<br />
An outgrowth of this difference is that while nationalist conflict in Ireland could sometimes be described as a conflict between communities, this was never true in the Basque Country. It was and is an ideological conflict, running across linguistic and class lines, over what the Basque Country really means. Is it an oppressed nation or a region of Spain?<br />
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<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>The conflict in Ireland was sometimes between communities. In the Basque Country it was ideological</em></strong></div><strong>Similarities</strong><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1669" style="width: 300px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Hurlers.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1669" height="174" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Hurlers.jpg" title="Hurlers" width="290" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text"><i>Hurlers from the early years of the Gaelic Revival -promotion of native sports was important to both Basque and Irish nationalists</i></div></div>If those are important differences, there are also intriguing parallels.<br />
Both Ireland and the Basque County are home to very old languages – Gaeilge and Euskara respectively. In both places, the languages, (neither of which are any relation to English or Spanish respectively) are associated very closely with a traditional rural culture and with national identity. In both Ireland and the Basque Country, the languages of the towns and cities had long been English and Spanish, well before the rise of nationalism in the 19th century.<br />
In the late 19<sup>th</sup> century, both Basque and Irish languages, as well as the traditional customs that supported them, looked to be in deep trouble. In Ireland’s case, by emigration and language shift in Irish speaking areas. In the case of Basque, by the advance of Spanish with the rise of industrialisation and the arrival of many thousands of Spanish speakers into the Basque Country (persecution of the language also became a factor under the Franco regime).<br />
The interesting thing is that in both places, at roughly the same time – from the 1890s onwards, the native language and also things like traditional sports –in the Irish case hurling, in the Basque pelota (like handball) – became political symbols for national identity in a way they had never previously been.<br />
<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>The fear that national identity is under mortal threat is common to both Irish andBasque nationalism</em></strong></div>In Ireland, nationalists formed the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Fianna to promote Irish language, sports and customs. In the Basque Country, the newly formed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Nationalist_Party">Basque Nationalist Party</a>, or PNV, promoted the use of euskara, held festivals, encouraged pelota competitions and formed mountaineering clubs to appreciate the beauty of the Basque Country. <br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eta-ira.bmp"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1670" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eta-ira.bmp" title="eta ira" /></a>This fear that what makes “us” different and special is under mortal threat is common to both Irish and Basque nationalism and can provoke the most radical actions. In 1916, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_FitzGerald_(politician)">Desmond Fitzgerald</a>, an Irish language enthusiast and member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, justified the armed insurrection of Easter 1916 on grounds that if things continued as they were, “it would be futile to talk of ourselves other than as inhabitants of that part of England that used to be called Ireland. In that state of mind I had decided that extreme action must be taken”<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn1">[1]</a>.<br />
Similarly, ETA remarked in an open letter to the Mexican Zapatistas that, “with a certain irony we could say that it is the tenacity of the struggle for freedom that keeps us Basque”.<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn2">[2]</a> In their most recent statement, ETA claimed their fight had, “kept the Basque people alive”, in the face of the negation of the Basque People… ETA acted to oppose the attempt at assimilation” <a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn3">[3]</a> <br />
In both cases, armed action was not only a tactic for achieving independence, it was also a way, for some, of saving national identity. “We” were the people who fought against “the oppressor”.<br />
This emphasis on action can have positive consequences. ETA, unlike previous generations of Basque nationalists, made no distinction between children of immigrants and “ethnic” Basques. One researcher, Jeremy MacClancy records: “To members of Herri Batasuna, Basque patriots are <em>abertzales</em>, a status not defined by birth but by performance: an <em>abertzale</em> is one who actively participates in the political struggle for an independent Basque nation with its own distinctive culture. One told me: ‘not being born Basque doesn’t matter, I <em>feel</em> Basque’ ”.<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn4">[4]</a><br />
<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>The emphasis on action over orgin can be positive but can also lead to a murderous intolerance</em></strong>.</div>Similarly, Irish Republicanism has always welcomed those outside the Catholic community provided they are committed activists.<br />
It can also, however, lead to a murderous intolerance. If the “real” Irish or Basque people are those who take part in the struggle, then those who do not, or who oppose it, are not only traitors, but not true compatriots at all. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_O'Malley">Ernie O’Malley</a>, for instance, IRA leader of the 1920s, recalled stating in 1921 that, , “the people of this country would have to give allegiance to it or if they wanted to support the Empire, they would have to clear out and support the empire elsewhere”<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn5">[5]</a>.<br />
Notice that it was the revolutionaries who would decide to whom the people should give their allegiance. O’Malley, in the Civil War, ended up turning his guns on other Irish nationalists.<br />
Similarly, in modern times, ETA has targeted Basque politicians, journalists and academics who have spoken out against it. The Basque sociologist Begona Aratxaga called this, “the ruthless and authoritarian policing of identity”.<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn6">[6]</a><br />
<strong> </strong><strong>The Split</strong><br />
Another intriguing parallel is the importance of the “split” in both movements. Both ETA and the IRA split in the 1970s, and along similar lines.<br />
<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>Some former IRA and ETA activists ended up as the harshest critics of Irish and Basque nationalism</em></strong>[</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1671" style="width: 190px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eoghan-harris.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1671" height="180" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eoghan-harris.jpg" title="eoghan harris" width="180" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">Eoghan Harris</div></div>In both countries, a left-wing faction – the Official IRA and ETA Politico Militar, renounced the use of violence in favour of the primacy of political action. The Official IRA called a ceasefire in 1972 and ETA PM in 1980. Another faction committed to “armed struggle”, respectively the Provisional IRA and ETA Militarra continued their campaigns and eventually became the sole bodies claiming to be the IRA and ETA.<br />
Both the Official Republicans and ETA PM instead concentrated on their political parties, respectively, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers'_Party_of_Ireland">Workers’ Party </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euskadiko_Ezkerra">Euskadiko Ezkerra</a> (“Basque Left”) letting their armed wings fall into abeyance.<br />
The really curious thing is that the WP and EE followed an almost identical path, first rejecting violence, then reviled as traitors by their former comrades, coming to view them, the militarist nationalists, as the main cause of the problem and finally ending up in moderate social democratic parties that rejected not only violence but also the precepts of separatist nationalism.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1672" style="width: 250px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/azurmendi.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1672" height="195" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/azurmendi.jpg" title="azurmendi" width="240" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">Mikel Azurmendi</div></div>Most of the Workers’ Party activists of the 1980s are now to be found in the Irish Labour Party – some others, notably Eoghan Harris, have actually worked for northern unionist parties, such was their dislike for the Provisionals. Similarly, Euskadiko Ezkerra merged with the Spanish Socialist Party or PSOE in the 1990s. Currently in government in the Basque Autonomous Community, they have outlawed not only Batasuna but also any public act that, “supports or glorifies terrorism”.<br />
Former ETA activists such as<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Juaristi"> Jon Juaristi </a>and <a href="http://www.foroermua.com/english/about.htm">Mikel Azurmendi</a>, are now among the harshest critics of Basque nationalism in general. For Azurmendi, the <em>abertzales</em> have fraudulently defined Basque identity entirely as struggle between the “Basque people” and “Spain”; “almost half of my countrymen …believe that being Basque means not being Spanish and it is even more Basque to reject or hate what is Spanish”… “for ETA and HB it means designing an imaginary state of war and acting on it, what they call the ‘armed struggle’”. <a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn7">[7]</a><br />
<strong>Links</strong><br />
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<strong><div class="simplePullQuote"><em>The Basque National Day was partly inspired by the Easter Rising</em></div></strong><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1665" style="width: 186px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eli-gallastegi.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1665" height="252" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eli-gallastegi.jpg" title="eli gallastegi" width="176" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">Elli Gallastegi, 'Gudari', who found refuge in Ireland after the Spanish Civil War</div></div>If there are philosophical and ideological similarities between Irish and Basque nationalism, there have also been concrete links going back to the 1920s. Such was the admiration of some Basque nationalists for the Easter Rising of 1916 that they located their national day, the <a href="http://www.buber.net/Basque/Folklore/aberri.html">Aberri Eguna</a>, on Easter Sunday.<br />
After the fall of the Basque Country in the Spanish Civil War in 1937, nationalist leader <a href="http://www.freecatalonia.com/fc/contingut.asp?opc=4&idi=eng&c=5&s=8&ss=0">Eli Gallastegi</a>, nicknamed Gudari, or “soldier”, was granted asylum in Ireland, where he settled in county Meath until 1958.<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn8">[8]</a><br />
Moving on to the 1970s, when both ETA and the Provisional IRA emerged as formidable armed organisations, there has been a long series of contacts between the two movements, including, allegedly, exchanges of weapons, explosives and expertise.<br />
In the 1990s, as their armed wing weakened, ETA launched a campaign of street rioting in the Basque Country known as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/21/spain.weekend7">Kale Borroka </a>(street struggle) – based apparently on admiration for republican street fighters in the nationalist ghettos of Northern Ireland.<br />
In the present day, several ETA and Batasuna activists, fleeing arrest and imprisonment in Spain, including the hunger striker <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_de_Juana_Chaos">Inaki de Juana Chaos</a>, have found refuge among republicans in Ireland.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_1666" style="width: 269px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sf-in-basque.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1666" height="194" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/sf-in-basque.jpg" title="sf in basque" width="259" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">Ogra Shinn Fein in the Basque Country</div></div>Ogra Shinn Fein, the republican youth movement, make an annual trip the Basque Country to visit Segi, their (now outlawed) opposite numbers..<br />
<strong>Peace Processes</strong><br />
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who is close to people in Batasuna, has urged the Spanish government to respond positively to ETA’s cessation of violence this week. However, the Basque separatists’ ability to benefit from a political process has been severely damaged by their bungled handling of past ceasefires.<br />
In 1998, inspired largely by the Good Friday Agreement, ETA called a permanent ceasefire, only to break it two years later. Again in 2006, the organisation called a “permanent truce”, but again broke it months later with a bomb in Madrid airport. No Spanish government would now dare face the public opprobrium of risking another failed peace process.<br />
<div class="simplePullQuote"><strong><em>It is unthinkable that the Spanish government would say it has “no selfish or strategic interest” in the Basque Country</em></strong></div>While the IRA also broke its 1994 ceasefire in 1997, thereafter the Sinn Fein leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness maintained strict and ruthless internal discipline until well into the peace process. The Basque separatist movement has no such clear leadership. Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of Batasuna, is currently imprisoned on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and it is in any case, by no means certain if the political wing of the movement has ever been able to tell the armed wing how to act.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_1673" style="width: 310px;"><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eta-bomb-barajas-airport-madrid-Jan-07.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1673" height="450" src="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/eta-bomb-barajas-airport-madrid-Jan-07.jpg" title="eta bomb barajas airport madrid, Jan 07" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">ETA's bomb at Barajas airport that ended thier ceasefire in 2007.</div></div>Finally, the Northern Ireland Peace Process had its end result mapped out well in advance – power sharing between nationalists and unionists within an autonomous administration in Northern Ireland. There is no such clear solution to the Basque question. <br />
Part of the historic Basque Country already has extensive autonomy. Self determination of the Basque Country is not something that the Spanish government will permit –nor could it, in any case, legislate for the French Basque provinces. Moreover, while Northern Ireland is a major financial drain on the United Kingdom (up to 70% of the six county economy comes from British public spending), the Basque Country is one of the richest parts of Spain and a net contributor to its tax base.<br />
It is, as Irish journalist <a href="http://www.pixelatedorange.com/PADDYWOODWORTH/index.html">Paddy Woodworth </a>has pointed out, simply inconceivable that Spain would say of the Basque Country, as Britain did of Northern Ireland, that it, “has no selfish or strategic interest” there.<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_edn9">[9]</a> The best that ETA are likely to get out of any negotiation would appear to be an exchange of arms for the release (or at least repatriation to the Basque Country) of its 800 odd prisoners. For Batasuna (banned in 2001) and the wider separatist movement, legalisation and their return to politics is the short term priority.<br />
Whatever the result of the current phase of politics in the Basque Country and in Ireland, the links between Basque and Irish separatists have proved strong and enduring. There is, as this article has argued, important common ground between the two movements and such links will no doubt continue in the future.<br />
<strong>Notes</strong><br />
<hr size="1" /><a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref1">[1]</a> Desmond Fitzgerald, The Memoirs of Desmond Fitzgerald, p80<br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref2">[2]</a> Podríamos decir con cierta ironía que es la tenacidad en la lucha<br />
<br />
por la libertad la que nos mantiene vascos <a href="http://www.uv.es/pla/terrorisme/etamarco.htm">http://www.uv.es/pla/terrorisme/etamarco.htm</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref3">[3]</a> Gara, 6/9/10 <a href="http://www.gara.net/paperezkoa/20100906/219143/eu/Euskadi-Ta-Askatasunaren-agiria-Euskal-Herriari">http://www.gara.net/paperezkoa/20100906/219143/eu/Euskadi-Ta-Askatasunaren-agiria-Euskal-Herriari</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref4">[4]</a> Mar-Molinero, Clare, Smith, Angel, Nationalism and the Nation in the Iberian Peninsula, Berg, Oxford 1996. page 213<br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref5">[5]</a> Ernie O’Malley, On Another Man’s Wound, p370<br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref6">[6]</a> Aretxaga, Begona, (2005), States of Terror, Begona Aretxaga’s Essays, University of Nevada. P246<br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref7">[7]</a> Mikel Azurmendi, La Herrida Patriotica, 1998, p64-66. <br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref8">[8]</a> For Basque–Irish links in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, see Daniel Leach, Fugitive Ireland, European minority nationalists and Irish Political Asylum, p52-58<br />
<a href="http://www.theirishstory.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1595&action=edit&message=10#_ednref9">[9]</a> Paddy Woodworth, Why Do they Kill?, The Basque Conflict in Spain, World Policy Journal April 2001 <a href="http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/national-security-international/896365-1.html">http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/national-security-international/896365-1.html</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36096688994800827572010-09-11T09:41:00.004+01:002010-09-11T09:49:34.549+01:00THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE - AND THEY KNOW IT!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyWh5rvKpL8n1l3UZdQsJdFPF4-vx8RhFtfvKF3HtU5ogoyUw4o46CNTaVbIYDq6XegACm_zqn0Jtta-MAhn5pdqRbgScMvCSvThsFevHa3uZW4xKn2CWSxJok35xjD9bWKm9WITDmw8/s1600/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_jobs_front_flyer.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 282px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515575294373838562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyWh5rvKpL8n1l3UZdQsJdFPF4-vx8RhFtfvKF3HtU5ogoyUw4o46CNTaVbIYDq6XegACm_zqn0Jtta-MAhn5pdqRbgScMvCSvThsFevHa3uZW4xKn2CWSxJok35xjD9bWKm9WITDmw8/s400/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_jobs_front_flyer.jpg" /></a><br /><div>This article was taken from Mary Lou McDonald's Blog. A blog which is always well worth a read.</div><br /><div><a href="http://maryloumcdonald.blogspot.com/">http://maryloumcdonald.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">There is an alternative to this rotten government</span></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><br />Each year Sinn Féin presents to government the party’s pre-Budget submission. As Ireland’s fortunes have changed significantly over the last two years December’s budget has become an important day of the year, particularly for the least well off in our society as they face cuts in critical supports and services and the double whammy of an increase in inequitable stealth taxes.<br /><br />Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats’ right wing agenda coupled with their fiscal recklessness during Ireland’s boom years hardened the collapse of our economy. The Green’s have compounded the states public finance deficit and double-digit unemployment figures by signing off on Fianna Fáil’s golden circle policy approach. Or maybe they have just found their political home in a Fianna Fáil led government!<br /><br />Fianna Fáil was so beholden to those within it golden circle it decided to nationalise the worst bank in the history of the state. Anglo Irish Bank has cost the Irish people 22 billion euro to date with rating agency Standard Poor’s recently estimating that the total cost of bailing out the bank will rise to 35 billion euro.<br /><br />But it is not enough for those of us in political opposition to bemoan the horrific failings of this government; we need to present our political and fiscal alternatives to the people. And that is what we in Sinn Fein have done each year with a particular focus on job creation since the collapse of the economy in 2008. We are currently working on our Budget 2011 submission, which will be published and submitted to government in advance of budget day on December 7th.<br /><br />Click on the below links to download Sinn Féin Job Creation strategy document and our 2010 Budget submission to government. In these document’s you will find sensible viable alternatives to the government’s budget decisions including a range of tax revenue measures and proposals to address wasteful spending of public monies. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bwa0F8Eb46geNzE3MmQzZjQtYTIyZi00OWU1LTkwZjctYTMwMzJhMzk3YmJh&hl=en">https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bwa0F8Eb46geNzE3MmQzZjQtYTIyZi00OWU1LTkwZjctYTMwMzJhMzk3YmJh&hl=en</a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bwa0F8Eb46geODE1MzViNGQtNDExZi00ZjdkLWI2OGQtODg2ODdhNzYzZGZk&hl=en">https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bwa0F8Eb46geODE1MzViNGQtNDExZi00ZjdkLWI2OGQtODg2ODdhNzYzZGZk&hl=en</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-48916039575631003072010-09-11T09:00:00.000+01:002010-09-11T09:00:04.722+01:00Westminister's Decades Long Campaign to defeat NationalismThe Tory and Labour Governments of Westminister have waged a decades long struggle to defeat nationalism: Scottish nationalism. <br />
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BBC Alba covers the many tricks, strategems and mistruths employed by Westminister to keep the union intact. <br />
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Only our Scottish comrades could provide comment on this but I wonder have the english language BBC ever ran such a documentary - a documentary on how the UK govt. lied to the Scots.<br />
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I think of RTE and the contrasting example of TG4 which ran that fantastic series on prison breaks, including the Great Escape. RTE could never, would never (in its current form) run such a broadcast. <br />
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Its a 6 part series but worth a look.<br />
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<object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TGYVXoDMrQw?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TGYVXoDMrQw?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="405"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S9BgbQ8fo6A?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S9BgbQ8fo6A?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="405"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-38562544319440137832010-09-09T13:32:00.001+01:002010-09-09T13:32:53.853+01:00The local economy - relying on We Ourselves rather than the Government.<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LFTxu0orEj5cv4HkuoJnRMwF5Q6MdRuU8AsxwwMuZUcsR_oDthLxswUtr3pfozStkuRQjUL-sA0f3DPXXwKkvroIiF7s_dnEV-GtV0wr5zSTJYv1WUoHCNXrR_NuYHZkdXm_1ItjEITW/s1600/rural+Ireland+desertification-773854.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LFTxu0orEj5cv4HkuoJnRMwF5Q6MdRuU8AsxwwMuZUcsR_oDthLxswUtr3pfozStkuRQjUL-sA0f3DPXXwKkvroIiF7s_dnEV-GtV0wr5zSTJYv1WUoHCNXrR_NuYHZkdXm_1ItjEITW/s320/rural+Ireland+desertification-773854.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514890793348047842" /></a></p><div>The underwhelming approach of the Government continues to damage sth Ireland terribly. Brian Cowen may believe the spiking of the interest rate on 10-year <strong>Irish</strong> bonds to over 6% - Greek style rates was a blip. Its not. Its how lenders view our long term ability to repay debt and a vote of no-confidence in the Govt. handling of the crisis. Commentators from every quarter are now bemoaning the <a href="http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2010/09/08/anglo-announcement-a-multiple-systems-failure/">economic failures</a> of the Dept. of Finance who are changing the plans again for Anglo Irish. We wont even know the full cost of the <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19150">Anglo Irish bank crisis</a> until next month. A never ending evasion of responsibility, especially to Leinster house and tax payers as noted by Arthur Morgan. Brian Lenihan said the high yield rates were a result of our transparent policies. The tax payers never sees those transparent policies. </div> <div> </div> <div>So what does all this mean in real terms. By 2013 for every 4 euros to spend on the economy 1 euro will be spent on interest payments abroad </div> <div> </div> <div>For those of us still working one day a week will be worked not for the benefit of the Irish economy but to pay for the Developers and Fianna Fail's gambling.</div> <div> </div> <div>As has been noted in many places we will need to raise our levels of production. We need to get people off the dole ques and into jobs. The scale of the task is huge - hundreds of thousand of jobs lost must be replaced.</div> <div> </div> <div>How are we going to do this? Well there are <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16424">job creation strategies</a> put forward but not implemented by Fianna Fail and additionally there are good ideas on helping <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19044">young entrepreneurs strategies</a> bring jobs back into local communities.</div> <div> </div> <div>Look at Munster Rugby who now gets all its juice shakes from a small local company in Limerick. A small company employing 6-7 people set up by a man who gained experience with multi-nationals and used that experience to create jobs in rural Ireland. Jobs that dont depend on decisions made in America or wont relocate at the drop of a hat. </div> <div> </div> <div>Instead there has been a Govt. led over-reliance on the promise of multi-nationals, to the neglect of more balanced development of the economy, and the high value <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/04/knowledge-econonmy-is-for-you-and-you.html">knowledge economy</a>. The problem with this is jobs from medical devices, financial services, digital media etc will be overwhelmingly urban based and likely to cluster around the largest towns and cities. Large swathes of the countryside will remain in economic decline.</div> <div> </div> <div>Boosting the rate of young entrepreneurship will be a valuable way of getting jobs into small towns, the country side and housing estates which may be left behind. It will help to stem the decline of rural Ireland and revitalise urban Ireland. </div> <div> </div> <div>Back in 1995 an academic from Galway University published a paper called "Desertification: Measuring population decline in rural Ireland". My own local region was one of those communities marked for a slow painful death - we were just far enough away from the major urban centers to be isolated rather than included. </div> <div> </div> <div>The Celtic Tiger didnt solve the problems of rural decline and economic imbalances - it papered over them. The Celtic Tiger didnt end poverty in Ireland - it simply ignored it. Witness the recent report on poverty by the ESRI:16% in 2007 - before the bubble burst. A fifth of young children at risk of falling below the breadline with 7pc of them in consistent poverty. <p>Even harder for lone parents - "In 2004, children in lone parent families accounted for 53pc of children in consistent poverty, while in 2007, 65pc of children in consistent poverty were in such families". But lone parents in the south are excluded from the economic life of the stated by an <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/for-me-sinn-fein-is-about-building.html">Irish childcare</a> system thats not fit for purpose despite a decade to make it so.</p> </div> <div>How many skilled young people will emigrate and create good jobs in other countries. How many would stay here and create those jobs in rural and urban Ireland if given the support and opportunity to create new businesses - the type of support laid out by Sinn Fein. Businesses which would save local communities from dying, and help the most marginalised in Irish society share in any future economic growth.</div> <div> </div> <div>Fianna Fail should view the emigration of every Irish worker not as one less dole payment but six less jobs. </div> <div> </div> <div>Fianna Fail's mindset is the mindset of the past. In order to save our communities the electorate must consign them to them past.</div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18979304612507443862010-09-07T18:57:00.000+01:002010-09-07T18:57:07.855+01:00Raising the Red Flag at the Rotunda. The workers occupation of January 1922.<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/irishtimes.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5506" height="269" src="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/irishtimes.jpg?w=395&h=100" title="." width="195" /></a>The seizure of the Rotunda concert hall by a reasonably large group of unemployed workers, and the hoisting of the red flag over the premises, remains one of the most bizarre and understudied events of the Irish revolutionary period. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The story of this event is enjoyably recounted on the Come Here to Me website which covers the political, <a href="http://comeheretome.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/raising-the-red-flag-at-the-rotunda-the-workers-occupation-of-january-1922/">social, and radical history</a> of Baile Atha Cliath. The article is reproduced with the kind permission of the author. Go raibh maith agat Donal.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The seizure of the Rotunda by unemployed people had as one of its leaders a man called Liam o'Flaherty who like many unemployed was in an Irish unit of the British army in WW1 before entering radical left politics, the Citzen Army and eventually seeing action with the anti-treaty forces in the civil war. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In his excellent history of the ITGWU, <em>The Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union: The Formative Years</em> C. Desmond Greaves wrote that, early in 1922 <em>“….industrial conflict took the form of individual struggles rather than a concerted class war.”</em> The occupation of the Rotunda came two days after the foundation of the new state, and was perhaps the earliest example of class anger within it, a direct response to the existing high levels of unemployment. One of the leading figures of this occupation was Liam O’ Flaherty, today well-known as the author of <em>The Informer,</em> the classic novel, but then acting as a dedicated socialist.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/scan0017.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5501" height="100" src="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/scan0017.jpg?w=100&h=164" title="." width="100" /></a>He, like so many other unemployed men in Dublin, had served in the Great War, serving with the Irish Guards. He had been on a strange journey before returning to Dublin, and Emmet O’ Connor notes in <em>Reds and the Greens</em> that <em>“After being invalided out of the British Army he set off trampling about the Mediterranean and the Americas, joining the Wobblies in Canada and the Communist Party in New York. He returned to settle in Ireland in December 1921….”</em></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On January 18 1922, a group of unemployed Dublin workers seized the concert hall of the Rotunda. <em>The Irish Times </em>of the following day noted that:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em> “The unemployed in Dublin have seized the concert room at the Rotunda, and they declare that they will hold that part of the building until they are removed, as a protest against the apathy of the authorities.”</em></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em><em>“A ‘garrison’, divided into ‘companies’, each with its ‘officers’ has been formed, and from one of the windows the red flag flies”</em></em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Liam O’ Flaherty, as chairman of the ‘Council of Unemployed’, spoke to the paper about the refusal of the men to leave the premises, stating that no physical resistance would be put up against the police and that the protest was a peaceful one, yet they intended to stay where they were.</div><br />
<em>“If we were taken to court, we would not recognise the court, because the Government that does not redress our grievances is not worth recognising” </em>O’ Flaherty told the Times.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A manifesto was issued by the occupiers, the first publication of O’ Flaherty. O’ Connor notes in his study that “<em>Their manifesto was O’ Flaherty’s first publication. One could say that Phelan </em>(A reference to a CPI comrade of O’ Flaherty, Jim Phelan)<em> was impressed. ‘It’s language has not, I think, been approached since the days of the American War of Independence and the first French Revolution’ “</em></div><br />
A later <em><em>Irish Times </em></em>report gives some idea of the level of organisation involved in such an occupation. On January 20 the paper noted that a man had been court martialed and reduced to the ranks.<em> “…we reduced him to the ranks for disobeying orders” </em>the paper quoted the<em> “leader of the men”</em> as saying. By that stage, two days into the occupation, around 200 men were present.<br />
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The paper noted a maintainance fund had been established, with Bolands bakery on Capel Street making a grant of 500 loaves to the men. The paper also noted that sporadic concerts had taken place inside the occupation, and that <em>“A meeting of the unemployed was held during the day yesterday, and the “garrison” paraded Parnell Square”.</em><br />
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Of course, many Dubliners were extremely hostile to the sight of the red flag in Dublin. Angry demonstrations occurred each night during the occupation, and the <em>Irish Independent </em>noted (January 21) that <em>“About 8.30 last night a hostile crowd of about 500 assembled in Cavendish Row, and indulged in shouts and derisive cheers. About 10pm a young fellow made an attempt to reach the red flag hung out from a window, but fell to the ground. He was taken to Jervis St. Hospital, but he was not detained.”</em> When the flag was removed, the crowd cheered loudly.It was only thanks to the Dublin Metropolitan Police and the Republican Police that those inside the Rotunda were unharmed, as the crowd stormed the building. It was becoming clear the occupation was not sustainable. On the Thursday night, a member of the occupying group had been attacked collecting money near the premises, and since then tensions had been high.<br />
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The occupation, which had begun on Wednesday, was to end late on Saturday night. As the hatred outside intensified, shots were fired over the heads of the mob from inside the hall. Just before midnight, and under the protection of the combined police forces, the occupiers left the building and the crowd soon departed without incident. O’ Flaherty took off for Cork.<br />
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_5509" style="width: 510px;"><a href="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/gatetheatre.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5509" height="374" src="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/gatetheatre.jpg?w=500&h=374" title="." width="500" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">The Gate Theatre, site of the occupation today.</div></div><br />
O’ Flaherty would later fight in the Irish Civil War, one of the socialists present in Vaughan’s Hotel, a republican seizure of note owing to the fact it was a favourite meeting place of a certain Michael Collins during the War of Independence! O’ Flaherty is not the only Irish writer of note to have partaken in the Civil War of course, with Sean O’ Faoláin just one other example. The early parts of 1922 saw much industrial unrest, and a number of creameries in the south of Ireland were sized in May. Greaves noted in his prior mentioned study of the history of the ITGWU that the Labour Party and TUC had attempted to <em>“…ensure the neutrality of the Citizen Army by incorporating it into a ‘Workers Army’ that would cover the whole country….But no army can fight for neutrality, and the project soon fell through”</em><br />
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Still, the physical battles between two armed factions and the class conflict remained more or less disconnected from one another. An editorial in the Workers Republic, printed on July 22 1922, noted<br />
<em>“What will attract the masses to support the Republicans? At present, they cannot see any benefit in fighting for it! At present the Free State offers them more economic and social advantages. At the moment it seems as if the Labour Party, representative of the masses, can find its salvation in the Free State rather than in the Republic”</em><br />
<a href="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/liammellows1.jpg"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5521" height="323" src="http://comeheretome.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/liammellows1.jpg?w=500&h=323" title="." width="500" /></a><br />
Liam Mellows, perhaps the republican figure who fought hardest for republicanism to add a real social dimension to its goals, was to be executed in a hail of bullets. His now famous prison notes noted that <em>“In our efforts now to win back public support to the Republic we are forced to recognise whether we like it or not- that the commercial interest, so-called, money and the gombeen men are on the side of the Treaty”</em><br />
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The occupation of the Rotunda remains an often overlooked piece of the history of the period. Before Mellows penned the above, O’ Flaherty and a small band of followers had demanded a Workers Republic, and nothing short thereof. In Irish history, the Rotunda is seen as being of great importance as the site of the foundation of the Irish Volunteers. Sadly, no plaque marks the workers occupation of the site in 1922.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-22429283485989552112010-09-05T14:59:00.003+01:002010-09-05T16:54:03.641+01:00Euskadi Ta Askatasuna announce ceasfire<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPlln6g7bXM5DhfrETv-mikiwBS_9lcn-TgDRiJioTf-6cyfXOMN2bJkdbuxq35_XH9uObKNBqX9eQMsNJsyeehX0_XfwlYJX7RSwKGTCkuZ7jMpeVLQfIPvLgsznViNiptw3g8LmJzCc/s1600/Gora+Euskadi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPlln6g7bXM5DhfrETv-mikiwBS_9lcn-TgDRiJioTf-6cyfXOMN2bJkdbuxq35_XH9uObKNBqX9eQMsNJsyeehX0_XfwlYJX7RSwKGTCkuZ7jMpeVLQfIPvLgsznViNiptw3g8LmJzCc/s200/Gora+Euskadi.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Responding to a call made last Friday by the Basque political parties Batasuna and Eusko Alkartasuna, ETA has announced a new initiative to resolve the conflict in Euskal Herria. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In a statement spokespersons for ETA confirmed "its commitment to finding a democratic solution to the conflict". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
"In its commitment to a democratic process to decide freely and democratically our future, through dialogue and negotiations, Eta is prepared today as yesterday to agree to the minimum democratic conditions necessary to put in motion a democratic process, if the Spanish government is willing,"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
"We call on all Basque citizens to continue in the struggle, each in their own field, with whatever degree of commitment they have, so that we can all cast down the wall of denial and make irreversible moves forward on the road to freedom."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Commenting on the <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19136">Basque Ceasefire</a> events Gerry said 'This is a significant statement and has the potential to bring about a permanent end to the long-running conflict in the Basque country. Its now vital that the Spanish government respond positively and grasp the opportunity'.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
There is a regrettable mindset in Spanish political circles which believes that the more people they imprison or the more activists like Jon Anza who disappear only to reappear after many months in a morgue then the more progress is made in resolving the conflict.<br />
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They are wrong. The only way forward is inclusive political negotiations. Lets hope they take that step. </div><div></div><div><em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-88783284257740226582010-09-01T20:20:00.003+01:002010-09-03T10:15:58.122+01:00An unbroken chain - The escape of Vol. Tom Malone from Spike in 1921<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcT6kRhOh3mN_nDvluSJDqOk4W0KyTnVG8EzEEFpLoBbCHSCrLN98OzuZRyjGuUNEE1u4r02SGofBBOr0L2u7nSZkDwNA1BjiKiUcOetkL_03JVMY9LhIN4ZLYVFnoHWN2xhFToOvwV6G/s1600/Volunteer+Tom+Malone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcT6kRhOh3mN_nDvluSJDqOk4W0KyTnVG8EzEEFpLoBbCHSCrLN98OzuZRyjGuUNEE1u4r02SGofBBOr0L2u7nSZkDwNA1BjiKiUcOetkL_03JVMY9LhIN4ZLYVFnoHWN2xhFToOvwV6G/s200/Volunteer+Tom+Malone.jpg" width="135" /></a>At age 8 Tom Malone from Westmeath stood on a land league platform with Davitt. His mother was dismissed from her school job for teaching Irish. He was out in 1916, and went on to become a key Volunteer in the Tan war and throughout the 30s. In 1921 Vol. Tom Malone and two comrades audaciously escaped from Spike Island, becoming the first to do so.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As we approach the 27th anniversary of the Great Escape planned by Volunteers in the north of our country it is fitting to consider 3 volunteers in the south of our country who performed an equally daring escape.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">An unbroken chain, an unbroken tradition, linking many generations in one continous struggle.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The story of <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/">Tom Malone</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Video Part 1 <object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MtLH51t0uBE?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MtLH51t0uBE?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="405"></embed></object></div>Video Part 2:<br />
<object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kWuFjzsgQc8?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kWuFjzsgQc8?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="405"></embed></object><br />
Video Part3:<br />
<object height="405" width="660"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kv_sCuFBnoc?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kv_sCuFBnoc?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="460" height="405"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-56129677496653176552010-09-01T11:57:00.006+01:002010-09-01T13:11:46.131+01:00Limerick - One story but indicative of whats happening across Rural Ireland.<div class="mobile-photo" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSYqR-6Jiun6cYBHnQ-fxGS2bDM-gpIy3VX-G2EGggn4hAwn5vtfsX9LABxKib9xQg411O_oN8s52X3i-KB_tokz4NEe4a_a2Vi_An6QJMMWqjtj5v8RRVKj6ALtmHB-lpgbC6hb6HlYv/s1600/Limerick-726618.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511897432151978898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSYqR-6Jiun6cYBHnQ-fxGS2bDM-gpIy3VX-G2EGggn4hAwn5vtfsX9LABxKib9xQg411O_oN8s52X3i-KB_tokz4NEe4a_a2Vi_An6QJMMWqjtj5v8RRVKj6ALtmHB-lpgbC6hb6HlYv/s320/Limerick-726618.jpg" /></a>Just read this on Breakingnews and for me, just like the Seamus Sherlock story, it sums up how <a href="http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/limerick-man-emigrates-after-closing-121-year-business-471682.html#ixzz0yGv76nOj">rural Ireland</a> is going to be doubly battered - by the recession and the Govt. response. </div></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">"A Limerick man has had to close his family business of 121 years and emigrate to Australia because of the recession and is adamant that he will never return to Ireland.</div><br />
Forty-seven-year-old Declan Murphy has said he was forced to close Murphy and Son Menswear in Newcastle West - a business which first opened its doors in 1889.<br />
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1889 is one year before Michael Collins was even born. Minister of Finance Brian Lenihan is a student of history. He should appreciate that while that business survived land wars, world wars, guerilla war and civil war it didnt survive his administration.<br />
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Father of three Declan Murphy said he can no longer support his family with the business and has made the difficult decision to emigrate."<br />
</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Both Rural and Urban Ireland are going to get it in the neck. I am not saying its better in one place or the other. Rural and Urban Ireland will be affected in similar and also different ways. A town smaller than Newcastle West may not have the critical mass required to even launch new shops and establish alternative providers, that large population centers will have. Larger population centers may well have the critical mass but they too will face unique problems and hardships associated with an urban context. <br />
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NewcastleWest town has a population of about 11000. In the Social Welfare office in the town there are 3,739 people now registered - people from the town and its wider economic hinterland. This is replicated across rural Ireland - urban centers being stripped of amenities and services while their hinterlands enter into a particularly severe economic decline.<br />
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Its sad to think that soon in rural Ireland there will be many towns with no post office, no bank, no clothes shops, no jobs and no amenities, even no <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/shouting-stop-return-of-emigration.html">Gaelic football</a> teams, no hospitals nearby. The sheer breadth of the assault being carried out on rural Ireland is awe inspiring. The last budget also targetted rural Ireland harshly. </div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><br />
During the Tan War the enemy army tried to destroy rural areas of resistance by burning towns and destroying centres of economic activity - to break the backbone of small communities. They didnt succeed but Fianna Fail might just - they have a lot done and more to do.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"> <br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-10113738439724299932010-08-30T12:44:00.000+01:002010-08-30T12:44:46.113+01:00Save the banks but lose a generation - Why Fianna Fail's approach wont work!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-_rgcs3VxqTBCc9YMxx7KwURczxW6IYkLerrk8Zdo9z2Vbci-qJTdR4x5UEwvDSbmj9GmEM11vrxaaSdOT7hfT8miXunjeT97_YiStWtIMVTIP-7INiaVKmvPkvP7IA9mooUMmOHKIw0/s1600/dessie+ellis+Dublin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-_rgcs3VxqTBCc9YMxx7KwURczxW6IYkLerrk8Zdo9z2Vbci-qJTdR4x5UEwvDSbmj9GmEM11vrxaaSdOT7hfT8miXunjeT97_YiStWtIMVTIP-7INiaVKmvPkvP7IA9mooUMmOHKIw0/s200/dessie+ellis+Dublin.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>At the ‘Reclaim the City’ rally in Dublin Cllr. Dessie Ellis challenged the idea that there is no alternative to the current economic mis-strategy. Dessie's speech goes to the heart of the crisis and the needed response. Are we trying to save and rebuild Irish society and an economy to support it or do we just save the economy while Irish society is hollowed out.<br />
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A few days ago, organised by the Right to Work Campaign, Sinn Féin Councillor <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Dessie-Ellis/100000051374440">Dessie Ellis</a> said Fianna Fáil cannot claim any economic competence when they are complacently presiding over increasing unemployment.<br />
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Councillor Ellis said the biggest lie from the Coalition Government is that there is no alternative to the savage cutbacks and mass unemployment.<br />
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Dessie said: “Fianna Fáil cannot claim any economic competence when they are complacently presiding over increasing unemployment. The government is determined to slash public services and put even more people on the dole. Unemployment is not a price worth paying for a negligent Government – it destroys lives and leaves permanent scars on our communities. What this Government fails to accept is that behind every statistic is a personal tragedy.<br />
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“Current policy seems to consist of attacking those on low wages and social welfare. This is not just a short sighted policy, it is an anti social one. We are told we need to tighten our belts, cut back, have a lower standard of living while the government bends over backwards to bail out bankers and big business.<br />
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"Indeed the greatest contribution of some of our own native entrepreneurs was to piggyback on the genuine growth in the economy by charging us exorbitant amounts for everything from mortgages to rents to pints of lager and paninis while being careful at the same time to ensure that they paid as little tax or wages as possible.<br />
<br />
“And these are the patriots whose bacon the so-called ‘Republican Party’ is proposing to save by imposing a massive drop in living standards on the decent people of this country, whose only crime was to work when there was work and suffer the indignity of unemployment when the work was gone.<br />
<br />
“However the biggest lie in all of this is that there is no alternative to the cutbacks and the mass unemployment. There is an alternative, SF’s proposals on tackling <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19044">youth unemployment</a> costed at €1.316 billion would create at least 50,000 jobs.<br />
<br />
“Now 1.3 billion might sound like a lot of money but if we compare that to the 25 billion that is being pumped into Anglo, the private piggy bank of some of the most corrupt figures of this State, we can clearly see where the Government’s priorities lie. If the same amount was diverted into Sinn Féin’s <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16424">job creation</a> package, our proposals could support nearly 1 million jobs.<br />
<br />
“In one month, 2938 young people under 25 signed on – the equivalent of nearly 100 people a day. This figure is further dwarfed by the thousands of young people who <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/shouting-stop-return-of-emigration.html">emigrated from Ireland</a> because this Government are only able to secure jobs for their political and banking cronies.<br />
<br />
“We need to make employment a reality for people outside the golden circle.”<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-74638026190172299672010-08-28T09:00:00.004+01:002010-08-29T18:12:21.463+01:00Thank God almighty free at last.On 28th of August 1963 - Martin Luther King gave his famous speech demanding that the opportunity and rights promised by the American Republic's founding fathers be extended to all its citizens irregardless. They had made a promise to Americans about what that Republic would mean and King intended to see it fulfilled.<br />
<br />
One of the great speeches of history. At 17:28 mins long it is without doubt worth watching every minute.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/thank-god-almighty-free-at-last.html">Martin Luther King</a><br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PbUtL_0vAJk?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&autoplay=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PbUtL_0vAJk?fs=1&hl=nl_NL" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-11198245444501327262010-08-27T22:38:00.002+01:002010-08-27T22:46:44.987+01:00Welcome Ma'am. Hope you'll take the time to apologise.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-48qXXd9rTOSQL5qSyzqNoLqlTwv8gfOsFxXV_2Ml-oZtCboCFS3oe87YYRQYRyjifiuF6JPNfZ7eKhHo6v8fk-jT9gCYKXy6bd8J5DBPnwbh-vMIK69h1EWM7OKpHEEEEuuGIJeWjrfQ/s1600/Elizabeth_I.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-48qXXd9rTOSQL5qSyzqNoLqlTwv8gfOsFxXV_2Ml-oZtCboCFS3oe87YYRQYRyjifiuF6JPNfZ7eKhHo6v8fk-jT9gCYKXy6bd8J5DBPnwbh-vMIK69h1EWM7OKpHEEEEuuGIJeWjrfQ/s200/Elizabeth_I.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome Ma'am your <br />
subjects await</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Considering the southern part of Ireland is likely to have a visit soon from Elizabeth Windsor then its time to have another quick look at the Windsors and their illustrious history.<br />
<br />
If Elizabeth lands in Dublin then it wont be the first time she has been to Ireland. The Irish Times and other southern media jobbers should keep that in mind. Its nothing new thats she visits Ireland cause well she has been here many times already.<br />
<br />
The Times, and others, will ram home the message that anyone who is not over the moon about her visit is against peace and reconcilliation. Nothing could be further from the truth. The English royal family is an anachronism. Its illegal to even call for their abolition and its illegal to marry a papist and keep the job. Great example eh!<br />
<br />
There are many valid reasons to oppose her visit - the institutionalised sectarianism, the claim to sovereignty to part of our country, her role as commander in chief of an army that brutalised so many communities etc.<br />
<br />
None of this will influence the Irish Times or the other excitable types in south Ireland. They'll fawn and preen and lose all sense of dignity as they try to impress upon us that they are not embarassing themselves but instead are broad minded progressives.<br />
<br />
The thing is she is going to come to the south. Its going to happen. I dont like it but she has visited other parts of the country and she'll end up on a visit to Dublin as well.<br />
<br />
Whats really going to turn the stomach is how so many in the south will lose all sense of dignity and self-respect and then tell everyone else that they are being broadminded and progressive. Thats not reconcillation or building a new relationships. Nobody is working harder to build new relationships than Republicans. The Irish Times should bear that in mind. If they want to welcome Elizabeth Windsor prematurely thats their business but they should not lose the run of themselves and start recruiting again for the British army again - their most recent relationship building exercise.<br />
<br />
A few years back Peter Berresford Ellis explored the origins of the fake House of ‘Windsor’ and highlighted some of the more questionable links between the <a href="http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/royalty/">British royals</a> on the Irish Democrat and their German family counterparts. They are quite a family to say the least:<br />
<br />
NOW WE are heading for the jubilee of the accession to the throne of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, ‘Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth’. And there’s not a protocol cloud in the sky.<br />
<br />
I’m told that the departure from the cares of this world of the Queen Mother came as somewhat opportune for the royal protocol watchers. Any later departure might have resulted in the cancellation of the jubilee celebrations. It was rather like the relief that was expressed when old Queen Mary died in 1953 at an appropriate time for the mourning to have finished in order to allow the coronation celebrations to take place in June. Tricky stuff, these royal protocols.<br />
<br />
Perhaps I should not mention my political views on the subject of that family as the Treason Felony Act of 1848 is still in force in the United Kingdom. This means that if anyone advocates the abolition of the monarchy, even by peaceful means, they can wind up being imprisoned for life.<br />
<br />
Last October, in the House of Lords no less, Lord Greaves asked Lord Rooker, minister of state at the Home Office, whether the government planned to repeal that outmoded piece of legislation and was told: “We have no plans at present to repeal the Act”.<br />
<br />
Kevin McNamara MP tried to introduce a bill last year in the House of Commons, which sought to amend section three making it no longer a criminal offence to advocate the abolition of the monarchy by peaceful means. He failed. And when The Guardian newspaper tried to get a judgement on the matter in the High Court they were told that Britain still maintains the right of punishing people with life imprisonment for advocating a republic, whether in writing, broadcasting or through other means.<br />
<br />
People in these islands are generally confused about this family who so affects all our lives. Most people even believe that the current royals are direct descendants of every monarch that has sat on the throne of England. It’s interesting that the ‘English monarchy’ has rarely been English but it is amazing how jingoistic the English are about these economic-immigrants that reign over them.<br />
<br />
The fact is that the current royal family is the product of a series of political decisions rather than being ordained to its position by natural descent. No, I won’t mention Willem van Oranje, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Stadholder of the United Provinces, who became William III and caused Ireland so much grief.<br />
<br />
In 1714 the English government invited Georg von Braunschweig-Länberg to be King of Great Britain and Ireland. Georg was Duke and Elector of Hanover. He was made George I because he was a Protestant -— the idea being to prevent a Catholic coming to the throne even if they had a better successional claim.<br />
<br />
Georg’s mother was Sophia Wittelsbach, and her mother, in turn, was Elizabeth, daughter of James I, who had married Friedrich V, King of Bohemia. Thus royal watchers could claim a distant female link to the Stuart dynasty.<br />
<br />
The von Braunschweig-Länberg family settled in and to help the natives — because von Braunschweig-Länberg is a wee bit difficult to pronounce —- they became the Hanoverian dynasty. However, Georg spent most of his time in Hanover where he died in 1727. He never learnt English and his cabinet had to discuss matters with him in French.<br />
<br />
George II had been born in Hanover but, aged 17, he learnt English, and sometimes translated for his family. George III was the first of the Hanoverians to actually be born in England but he suffered periods of royal insanity and the then undiagnosed disease of prophyria.<br />
<br />
None of the first three Hanoverian kings bothered to visit Scotland, Wales or Ireland. The dynasty also maintained its German cultural background. From 1714 through to 1901 the kings always married to a German spouse and ensured that every ‘English’ king had a German born mother and a German-speaking father. German was the natural language of the court. When Victoria came to the throne, while she spoke English, German was her language of preference. She was, of course, mother to an Empress of Germany, grandmother to the Kaiser Wilhelm, mother of the Grand Duchess of Hesse and to the countess von Battenberg —- matriarch to a regiment of European kings, queens and other royals.<br />
<br />
The dynasty of von Braunschweig-Länberg remained until Victoria married a German cousin. His name Albrecht von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha.<br />
<br />
Victoria, unlike Elizabeth II, was traditional enough to adopt the name of her husband. Thus in 1840 Victoria became the head of the new dynasty of Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha.<br />
<br />
In 1914 George Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (George V) found himself declaring war on his first cousin Wilhelm Hohenzollern (Kaiser Wilhelm) much to the distress of his consort Mary von Teck. Some might remember old Queen Mary who died in 1953 who was not allowed to speak in public due to her rather awkward German English.<br />
<br />
The first sacrifice of the family was Prince Louis von Battenberg, a cousin, married to Victoria von Hesse und Rhine. He had to resign his position as first lord of the Admiralty in October, 1914. One couldn’t have a German in charge of the English Navy fighting the Germans could one?<br />
<br />
Prince Louis also felt it expedient to change his name to ‘Mountbatten’ in 1917, when English war casualties were mounting and feelings were running high against those who a younger and more radical Lloyd-George had once denounced as ‘princes —- no better than German half-breeds!’<br />
<br />
George Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha thought his cousin had found a great answer to the problem that had arisen. The natives had become confused at being told it was their patriotic duty to fight for one branch of a German family against another branch of a German family. The problem was compounded by the fact that Londoners and citizens in the Home Counties were being bombed by a German aircraft bearing the name of their royal family —- the Gotha!<br />
<br />
A brilliant idea -— the Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha family would become the Windsor family.<br />
<br />
Cousin Willie in Berlin (the German kaiser) thought it a bit of a laugh. He made one of his rare jokes telling his staff that he wanted to go to the theatre to see a performance of The Merry Wives of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. His grandmother might not have been amused.<br />
<br />
The newly invented Windsor family managed to survive the family fracas of 1914-18. But there were continuing problems resulting from the rise of Adolf Hitler. Members of the family were joining the Nazi Party. Some even joined the SS.<br />
<br />
A cousin — Philip von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg —- whose parents had tried to pass as Greeks in order to sit on the Greek throne but had been kicked out in 1922 —- came to the UK in 1937.<br />
<br />
This could have been a recipe for disaster. Philip had been educated in Germany near Lake Konstanz; a place called Schloss Salem, founded by Prince Max von Baden and Kurt Hahn. It was based on the Nazi’s educational philosophy. Hahn initially supported the Nazis until it was discovered he had some Jewish ancestry whereupon he left for Scotland.<br />
<br />
Philip’s sister had married a cousin, Prince Christoph of Hesse. Prince Christoph had joined the Nazi Party in 1933 and by 1935 was a standartenführer (colonel) of the SS on the personal staff of Heinrich Himmler and chief of the forschungsamt (directorate of scientific research) —- in reality a special intelligence operation using new electronic intelligence gathering methods.<br />
<br />
Their son was named Karl Adolf after Hitler and Philip afterwards took a keen educational interest in his nephew.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the family was spared some embarrassment when the Prince of Hesse was killed on active service in 1943. His sister was killed in an Allied bombing raid.<br />
<br />
Another of Philip’s sisters Cecilia was married to Georg Donatus, Grand Duke of Hesse-by-Rhine, also a great-grandson of Queen Victoria. They died when the Luftwaffe Junker aircraft, personally supplied by Herman Göring to allow them to attend Georg’s brother’s wedding, crashed.<br />
<br />
Another relative of Philip was the Prussian Prince Bernhard von Lippe who joined the Nazis while studying at the University of Berlin in 1934 and worked openly in the motorised SS.<br />
<br />
According to Newsweek (April 5, 1976) it was known that Prince Bernhard was a member of a special SS intelligence unit in IG Farben and this had originally been pointed out in testimony at the Nuremberg trials.<br />
<br />
Bernhard resigned from the SS, in 1937, when he married the future Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Adolf Hitler forwarded a congratulatory message though Bernhard, who became a naturalised Dutchman<br />
<br />
Philip and Bernhard remained not just distant relatives but close friends and in October, 1961, founded the World Wildlife Fund. Prince Philip rather ruined his image more recently when, doubtless filled with nostalgia for his days at Schloss Salem, he told a journalist that he hoped to be ‘reincarnated as a deadly virus’ to solve ‘population problems’ in the world.<br />
<br />
Prince Bernhard was forced from public office in 1971, of course, not for his politics but over the financial mis-dealings known as the Lockheed scandal.<br />
<br />
At the age of sixteen, in November, 1937, Philip joined his former headmaster Kurt Hahn in Scotland where he had established a new school called Gordonstoun. Hahn was also advising the UK Foreign Office on German affairs and urging a policy of appeasement based on appeals to ‘centrist’ Nazis.<br />
<br />
Things were upset when, in spite of the strong appeasement lobby among the English establishment, England and Germany went to war again. What’s more Hitler had developed a plan to invade England and replace George VI with his older brother Edward (who had abdicated in 1936). Edward was much more amenable to Adolf and his ideas. Philip, who had just joined the Royal Navy, was told to change his name to that of his uncle —- not von Battenburg but Mountbatten.<br />
<br />
The royal family, all branches, kept in touch throughout the war. The ‘post-box’ seemed to be through Sweden where Mountbatten had a sister Louise who was crown princess of Sweden. Through this back channel all the German royals, in England and Germany, kept in close communication.<br />
<br />
The family has been keen to depict this wartime collaboration between ‘enemies’ as merely family correspondence. Yet when Kronberg Castle fell to the Americans the royals were in panic. This was the home of Prince Philip’s sister Sophie and her SS husband, Prince Christoph. In June, 1945, George VI, despatched a former MI5 officer to Kronberg to ensure all the correspondence was gathered up and brought to the safety to Windsor Castle.<br />
<br />
The intelligence man entrusted with the job was Sir Anthony Blunt, later rewarded as ‘Keeper of the King’s Paintings’. When he was arrested in 1979 and interrogated by MI5, having been revealed as a Soviet agent, Elizabeth II insisted that there should be no interrogation of Blunt about his secret trip to Kronberg.<br />
<br />
The family was desperate to keep these documents secret. Clearly, they had not just been sending Christmas Cards to one another.<br />
<br />
The royals weathered the storm. Even Edward (Duke of Windsor) was publicly exonerated in the 1950s in spite of the revelation by former SS Oberführer Walter Schellenberg, head of counter-intelligence, whose job was to help put Hitler’s plans for the Duke into operation. Prince Philip finally married Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and she became Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 —- the coronation was in 1953.<br />
<br />
So why aren’t the Windsors called the Mountbattens —- let alone the von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksbergs?<br />
<br />
Poor old Philip had to accept that his children would bear the name of his wife’s father and not his —- well, the Windsor name, that is, not Sachsen-Coburg Gotha. Philip had gone so far as to become a naturalised British subject as ‘Philip Mountbatten’ on February 28, 1947, but to no avail.<br />
<br />
I suppose the royal names have been changed so much that it really doesn’t matter. But he was not even allowed to officially be called ‘Prince’ Philip until February 22, 1957. Whether they be German or English, Irish or Scots, Welsh or Manx or Cornish, I really can’t see why I should pay any deference to a family whose sole claim to assume their modern station in life is that their ancestors were better thieves and robbers than my ancestors.<br />
<br />
Come to that, ancestors apart, the recent generations appear to have kept up family traditions. Roll on a true egalitarian social democracy and if you don’t hear further from me, you’ll know the 1848 Act is still taken pretty seriously in the UK.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-80639703649914861732010-08-22T19:00:00.005+01:002010-08-22T21:13:03.624+01:00Michael Collins versus Brian Lenihan<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqbEFoMxFett0Axspn6_1_NIpdCrOgyrdpzQsoQgOiXlWW1md88sOu4jc9XRQNjKl0Nx3Zn4s3vfrzYWCzFcF4b1uHIIojncGKLCo7GBb8VxxnGHrAcgqwPYA2vZfbYh0N1PIcjLC3arx/s1600/collins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibqbEFoMxFett0Axspn6_1_NIpdCrOgyrdpzQsoQgOiXlWW1md88sOu4jc9XRQNjKl0Nx3Zn4s3vfrzYWCzFcF4b1uHIIojncGKLCo7GBb8VxxnGHrAcgqwPYA2vZfbYh0N1PIcjLC3arx/s200/collins.jpg" width="100" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The legacy of Michael Collins is much argued over in sth Ireland. He became a totem pole and a lighning rod for political parties who used him to champion their positions while ignoring the great many divergences between his vision for Ireland (all of it) and the Ireland Fine Gael and Fianna Fail constructed.</div></div><br />
Today is of course the anniversary that Michael Collins was killed in action at Béal na mBláth. Brian Lenihan, the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/glorious-leader-gains-recognition.html">fiscal taskmasters </a>right hand man, today gave a speech at that location.<br />
<br />
As you can imagine there was much nonsense in the media about how this was the polar opposite of what Michael Collins stood for. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkFJPgtqrsOKiCtIxwjORZigF1zJhxsAgMJkgaTVPD8Evbgf0d8CsbIcxeQ5ryhuz7BO8Nv3BCtXHYmGo3pNcwMS5gs481hBw8yRdl5Wps3giO1mgWUd0a_E3H6ssR2z-84-DUe4yQ11p/s1600/lenihan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkFJPgtqrsOKiCtIxwjORZigF1zJhxsAgMJkgaTVPD8Evbgf0d8CsbIcxeQ5ryhuz7BO8Nv3BCtXHYmGo3pNcwMS5gs481hBw8yRdl5Wps3giO1mgWUd0a_E3H6ssR2z-84-DUe4yQ11p/s320/lenihan.jpg" width="100" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Well lets look at a speech from Michael Collins written the month he died. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We will see that the state that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail built was the polar opposite of what Michael Collins could have imagined. Brian Lenihan opined that if Collins had not died then maybe he would have formed a new party pre-empting FF. This is not as fanciful as it may seem. The vision Collins had for the country as laid out below was very different from the attitudes of the CnaG govt. which thought people <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/people-may-have-to-starve-86-years-on.html">starving in Ireland</a> due to <a href="http://dublinopinion.com/2010/08/04/there-are-certain-limited-funds-at-our-disposal-people-may-have-to-die-in-this-country-and-may-have-to-die-through-starvation/">unemployment</a> was a tolerable economic situation.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In a paper called the "Building up Ireland - Resources to be developed" Collins laid out a plan for Ireland that would have brought him into definite conflict with the men who would eventually set up Cumann na nGaedhael. Equally the socio-economic vision he had for the whole country is hugely at odds with the utopian hippy fantasy of deValera or the gombeenism of the Haughey-Ahern-Cowen years.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The uses of wealth are to provide good health, comfort, moderate luxury, and to give the freedom which comes from the possession of these things. Our object in building up the country economically must not be lost sight of. That object is not to be able to boast of enormous wealth or of a great volume of trade, for their own sake. It is not to see our countrycovered with smoking chimneys and factories. It is not to show a great national balance-sheet, nor to point to a people producing wealth with the self-obliteration of a hive of bees.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Brian Lenihan believes the uses of wealth is for bailing out banks and buddies. </div><br />
<br />
<blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If our national economy is put on a sound footing from the beginning it will, in the new Ireland, be possible for our people to provide themselves with the ordinary requirements of decent living. It will be possible for each to have sufficient food, a good home in which to live in fair comfort and contentment. We shall be able to give our children bodily and mental health; and our people will be able to secure themselves against the inevitable times of sickness and old age. That must be our object.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In today's Ireland we cannot assure contentment in any home. <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/housing-campaigns.html">Negative equity</a> and <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/shouting-stop-return-of-emigration.html">unemployment</a> has seen to that. We cannot guarantee the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/suffer-little-children-outside-golden.html">health of children</a> who die in the care of our health boards while our old fear <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19053">Irish hospitals</a> because it can kill rather than cure them.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">What we must aim at is the building up of a sound economic life in which great discrepancies cannot occur. We must not have the destitution of poverty at one end, and at the other an excess of riches in the possession of a few individuals, beyond what they can spend with satisfaction and justification. Millionaires can spend their surplus wealth bestowing libraries broadcast upon the world. But who will say that the benefits accruing could compare with those arising from a condition of things in which the people themselves everywhere, in the city, town, and village, were prosperous enough to buy their own books and to put together their own local libraries in which they could take a personal interest and acquire knowledge in proportion to that interest?</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> After the Cumann na nGaedhael there were actually more people in tenant housing. Both parties failed to provide the infrastructure of a <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/for-me-sinn-fein-is-about-building.html">modern state</a> across the south. Today Fianna Fail is still failing but if it were Fine Gael their paucity of vision would mean it would be no different. Michael McDowell a man who worked with Fianna Fail and wants to rejoin Fine Gael believed that such inequality was the bedrock of prosperity.</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The keynote to the economic revival must be development of Irish resources by Irish capital for the benefit of the Irish consumer in such a way that the people have steady work at just remuneration and their own share of control.Investors must be urged and encouraged to invest Irish capital in Irish concerns[...]We shall hope to see in Ireland industrial conciliation and arbitration taking the place of strikes, and the workers sharing in the ownership and management of businesses. </div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> On that charge alone both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have failed spectacularly. Now we develop Irish resources fot the benefit of soverign debt funds. Workers having a share in the ownership of businesses - instead we have a state where workers subsidise developers and the <a href="http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/economics-country-briefings/ireland-a-recession-of-the-banks-by-the-banks-and-for-the-banks/">banks</a> own businesses from golf courses to hotels to even selling tractors. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Taxation, where it hinders, must be adjusted, and must be imposed where the burden will fall lightest and can best be borne, and where it will encourage rather than discourage industry.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So much for Lenihan's last budget then. </div><blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We have now in Ireland, owing to the restrictions put upon emigration during the European war, a larger population of young men and women than we have had for a great many years. For their own sake and to maintain the strength of the nation room must and can be found for them.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Well room cant be made for them. This island is too small for all of us. Brian Lenihan today is pushing deflationary policies that are forcing people to emigrate.</div><br />
<blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The development of mines and minerals will be on national lines, and under national direction. This will prevent the monopoly by private individuals of what are purely national resources belonging to all the people of the nation. The profits from all these national enterprises – the working of mines, development of water-power, etc. – will belong to the nation for the advantage of the whole nation. But Irish men and women as private individuals must do their share to increase the prosperity of the country. Business cannot succeed without capital. Millions of Irish money are lying idle in banks. The deposits in Irish joint stock banks increased in the aggregate by £7,318,000 during the half-year ended December 31, 1921. At that date the total of deposits and cash balances in the Irish banks was £194,391,000, to which in addition there was a sum of almost £14,000,000 in the Post Office Savings Bank. If Irish money were invested in Irish industries, to assist existing ones, and to finance new enterprises, there would be an enormous development of Irish commerce. The Irish people have a large amount of capital invested abroad. With scope for our energies, with restoration of confidence, the inevitable tendency will be towards return of this capital to Ireland. It will then flow in its proper channel. It will be used for opening up new and promising fields in this country.</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A telling passage. Under Fianna Fail billions of borrowed euros were invested to build houses in Bulgaria, London etc etc. Cumann na nGaedhael set up an Agricultural Credit Corporation but never managed to set up an Industrial Credit Corporation [eventually becoming Bank of Scotland(Ireland) which last week pulled up sticks from the south]. One of the strange things about Ireland in the 30s-50s was the almost fatalistic belief that Ireland was destined to be always an agricultural country and that any attempt to industrialise was to try to reach above our station. Brian Lenihan's Fianna Fail thought that construction was the new farming. At least Collins had the vision to think otherwise. In that he again is the polar opposite of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Finally Collins ndid not forgot one key point. </div><br />
<blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">He believed that "A prosperous Ireland will mean a united Ireland. With equitable taxation and flourishing trade our North-East countrymen will need no persuasion to come in and share in the healthy economic life of the country."</div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">How very un-Fine Gael of him.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Which begs the question how do Republicans see Collins today? Republican Ireland has never forgotten its patriot dead. It has always remembered the names of Mellows, Sands, Pearse, Farrell, Connolly, Hughes, Tone, Burns, Lynch and Moley and all the many others with pride. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">How does Collins fit into Irish history today for Republicans? Certainly he is not in the same vein as o'Higgins or DeValera. Is he friend, foe or like people note on facebook is the relationship complex?</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-84130062532696280132010-08-18T22:12:00.006+01:002010-08-30T21:22:22.199+01:00De-electrification - Seamus Sherlock takes a stand against ESB bureacracy.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINx-9X0xx8NTSKlCyqvQNfHB4cHiDPBXdB0-TlEk9X8GA8LFuUYHXPlglov0fcB4E7hbMGuxANcSHN-pKuTD9-LGlAUHa43JRmk9ql6GUIliyRfn_i5NcJHDmD1tX96wz5n9Fn1EolRaK/s1600/sherlock+electricity+cut+off.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINx-9X0xx8NTSKlCyqvQNfHB4cHiDPBXdB0-TlEk9X8GA8LFuUYHXPlglov0fcB4E7hbMGuxANcSHN-pKuTD9-LGlAUHa43JRmk9ql6GUIliyRfn_i5NcJHDmD1tX96wz5n9Fn1EolRaK/s320/sherlock+electricity+cut+off.bmp" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center">Seamus Sherlock campaigns </div><div align="center">against ESB</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh and other party activists today lend their support to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/aprnonline">Seamus Sherlock</a> who is being threatened with disconnection by the ESB despite making efforts to pay outstanding debts. Seamas chained himself to the railings of ESB headquarters in Dublin. [<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seamus-Sherlock-ESB-Protestor/108048479253589">Seamus Sherlock</a> is now carrying his campaign to Facebook - so give him some support there. I am sure it will mean a lot to him]<br />
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Seamus is unemployed and has a family to support. The total bill outstanding was €€2,261. Seamus borrowed more than 1,100 euro from family and friends to pay off half the debt in a lump sum. He then offered to use 50 euro a week from his 196 euro social welfare to cover the rest of the bill.<br />
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Instead the ESB wanted €150 euro a week even though Seamus only receives €196 a week. Then they came out and warned him they would cut him off and added an extra €97 to his bill for the warning. <br />
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About 900 people a month are having their <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19061">electricity cut off by ESB</a>. Bord Gáis is disconnecting another 120 a month. Over a thousand people a month being cut off.<br />
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Its going to get worse the <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19032">Public Service Obligation </a>is going up by about 5%, even more for small businesses, shortly. Then in December will we see the squeeze from the other end - will the dole be cut, other living allowances reduced thereby reducing further the ability of people to pay. Tie in the likely sustained increase in food prices and its clear how serious the situation is going to be for households.<br />
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The ESB made half a billion in profits last year. Nobody is asking for free electricity. Whats needed is for the ESB to work with people to manage the repayment of debts rather than steamrolling over them in a bureaucratic way.<br />
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Fianna Fail and the Greens have failed to guarantee clean drinking water in Galway, adequate <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/leader-of-developing-world-country.html">flood defences</a> across the country, failed to provide <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/01/dempsey-needs-to-make-peace-with-public.html">salted roads</a> in winter and now to top it off we have sections of communities being blacked out.<br />
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And somehow out of that mess they'd have you believe we can establish a cutting edge knowledge economy.<br />
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Check out the video on the at the new An Phoblacht YouTube channel<br />
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<object height="405" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VdT5_IuKzWA?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VdT5_IuKzWA?fs=1&hl=nl_NL&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="470" height="405"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-17605086598564715072010-08-18T10:39:00.001+01:002010-08-18T12:27:17.057+01:00Glorious leader gains recognition despite an ungrateful people<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZGFXA5pbwHFxT7wzSpXHb6ogbJn92ayhLISsh24unEY2yr3zkh1JERtipEIyLp7m-ky9AtqhvYw2MhEAAVV3Hz5ZaRxxKEyxSPwf3Lj16ZZb6jWXWWAd-RMslrRJK0gp4D37PTXMIZlZ/s1600/cowen+newsweek+leader.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZGFXA5pbwHFxT7wzSpXHb6ogbJn92ayhLISsh24unEY2yr3zkh1JERtipEIyLp7m-ky9AtqhvYw2MhEAAVV3Hz5ZaRxxKEyxSPwf3Lj16ZZb6jWXWWAd-RMslrRJK0gp4D37PTXMIZlZ/s1600/cowen+newsweek+leader.bmp" /></a></div>According to Newsweek magazine sth. Ireland is ruled by one of the World's great leaders. A man who has managed to win some serious respect in international circles.<br />
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Newsweek has, maybe for the craic, listed Brian Cowen as no. 5 in a list of 10 impressive world leaders. <br />
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Instead of calling him the Big Ignorant Fu$%er From Offaly he shall now be know as <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/16/go-to-the-head-of-the-class/the-fiscal-taskmaster-brian-cowen.html">The Fiscal Taskmaster</a>. Brian and his "able Finance Minister have pushed through austerity packages drastic enough to win the admiration of the international community, raised taxes, and slashed some public salaries by more than 10 percent. But the Irish aren't showing much gratitude".<br />
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Could that be because our <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/problem-with-freeloaders.html">economy</a> is on life support, our <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/shouting-stop-return-of-emigration.html">young emigrating</a> and our <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-country-for-old-men.html">old people</a> being treated like second class citizens all so we can bail out the bould Brian's developer and banker friends.<br />
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If Newsweek likes Brian Cowen for his slash and burn, bail out the boys who gave FF money, approach then they will love Brian Lenihan - a finance minister who comes from the "We had to destroy the village in order to save it" school of finance.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-83579759161929062010-08-17T22:57:00.001+01:002010-08-17T23:00:27.335+01:00Voices on Unity - Different Perspectives<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8f2e3PbRjZRvIwwOo7Rj8j75BlnifuEMu_L-E1Grlxv12ed9ZHAye-XNzfQm0NNMwTKccqc_A1Nz7Gvnx-5N16anqFpMFFgBHF5kFRxu1xPsHuhhG06oV8AEQKfeXKX3CnbboPWVNYCF/s1600/banner.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8f2e3PbRjZRvIwwOo7Rj8j75BlnifuEMu_L-E1Grlxv12ed9ZHAye-XNzfQm0NNMwTKccqc_A1Nz7Gvnx-5N16anqFpMFFgBHF5kFRxu1xPsHuhhG06oV8AEQKfeXKX3CnbboPWVNYCF/s400/banner.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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Ogra are running a very interesting series of interviews and videos called <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/">Voices on Unity</a>. It includes responses from varied political figures - Unionist and others to investigate their perspectives on national unity.<br />
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Some of the responses are exactly what you'd expect - a harumph and a kick up the backside to the fenian who asked it but others actually take the time to write a response, and rational ones at that.<br />
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Worth a look.<br />
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East Derry UUP MLA <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-david-mcclarty.html">David McClarty</a> takes the time to write a courteous response.<br />
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Cllr John Smyth of <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-john-smyth.html">Antrim DUP</a> would rather not have you as a neighbour.<br />
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Cllr. Andrew Lewis of the <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity.html">Lisburn</a> DUP actually seems reasonable and approachable. <br />
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Ruairi McGinley Fine Gael <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-ruairi-mcginley.html">Dublin councillor</a> - The Obama of Ireland?<br />
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DUP's <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-adrian-watson.html">Adrian Watson</a> is, shall we say, not receptive to even the friendliest approaches.<br />
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Samuel Cole of the DUP writes a friendly if some what out there rebuttal of the "Pope's green island" approach and touches briefly on the refusal of Vikings to speak Irish and how the <a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-samuel-cole.html">Newry shopping run</a> is the equivalent of economics migrants crossing the Rio Grande.<br />
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Finally there are some youtube interviews on<a href="http://ograshinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/08/voices-on-unity-online-video-project.html"> Irish unity</a>.<br />
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All in all some interesting material on show.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-31479701856275280852010-08-12T19:08:00.000+01:002010-08-12T19:08:19.561+01:00People may have to starve! 86 years on the same old track.<em><strong>'</strong></em><strong><em>People may have to die in this country and may have to die through starvation.</em>'</strong> <br />
<em>Cumann Na nGaedheal Minister for Industry and Commerce, Patrick McGilligan 1924</em><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="left"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tweedledum and Tweedledee</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">70 years ago.</span></div></td></tr>
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</div>A quote from an enjoyable post in the<a href="http://dublinopinion.com/2010/08/04/there-are-certain-limited-funds-at-our-disposal-people-may-have-to-die-in-this-country-and-may-have-to-die-through-starvation/"> Dublin Opinion</a> blog clearly showing how the southern state existed from an early day to protect the interests of a well heeled few who could peddle influence. How different, in mindset, is that McGilligan quote above to the words of Brian Lenihan snr. saying the underpopulated south could not support us all. How different to the deeds of Brian Lenihan jr. who has raised levies, taxes and cut services while bending backwards to protect the interests of failed developers and failed bankers. <br />
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The same bankers who are now relying on captial infusions taxed, levied and promised against ordinary Irish people. Which institutions are now the self same banks jacking up the interest rates on mortgage rates<br />
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A month or two ago Sinn Fein spokesperson on <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/18789">Workers Rights </a>Martin Ferris in a speech on the Social Welfare bill pointed up the Government hypocrisy in how it treats people on social welfare and those who through property and financial speculation were largely responsible for the current economic mess.<br />
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Martin said: <br />
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“The current policy of attacking those on low wages and <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/04/shifting-burden-by-eoin-broin.html">social welfare</a> is not just a short sighted policy, it is an anti social one. It is also one that I suggest would not have gone down well with earlier Fianna Fáil cabinets who were attacked not for cutting social welfare payments and programmes but for increasing them. And they were attacked by the very same sort of people whose interests Fianna Fail now seems to have adopted as its priority. <br />
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“These were the people who in the 1930s were claiming that they couldn’t afford to take their money out of the London banks and stock exchange and invest it here because the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/working-class-housing-in-20th-century.html">tenement dwellers</a> of Ireland would have no incentive to work for buttons if they were given outrageous luxuries like proper<a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/housing-campaigns.html"> housing</a>, schools, hospitals and so on. <br />
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“We are hearing the very same arguments now from people who are of the opinion that the only way to get the economy working again is to force people to work for a few hundred Euro a week and as part of that to reduce social welfare far below what it is now. <br />
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“In theory that may make sense but it overlooks a few important facts. Chief among them is that much of the growth during the Celtic Tiger was in highly skilled and well paid employment and of course a large proportion of that came from overseas investment in technology and other sectors. The economy did not grow on the basis of employing demoralised brow beaten poorly educated people on low wages, as IBEC and ISME and their cheerleaders in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would have us believe.<br />
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“Indeed the greatest contribution of some of our own native entrepreneurs was to piggyback on the genuine growth in the economy by charging us exorbitant amounts for everything from mortgages to rents to pints of lager and paninis. And being careful at the same time to ensure that they paid as little tax or wages as possible. And these are the patriots whose bacon that the so-called republican party is proposing to save by imposing a massive drop in living standards on the decent people of this country, whose only crime was to work when there was work and suffer the indignity of unemployment when the work was gone.”<br />
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I think he hit the nail on the head. Cumann Na nGaedheal, Fianna Fail, Fine Fail, Fianna Gael. 86 years is enough of that lot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36600469824096384752010-08-10T13:32:00.002+01:002010-08-10T17:26:25.293+01:00Housing Campaigns<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8-mkTLwfhTYa5huzyTKk-fV9mj7fS-Nv648JyoOLAMMbg4MjRG6qEvQGTxASKXm0ILtbSQSr5ELYYlVNCVRP2VD0Z16yPvM0MNOxzx5RAhtUiutv0t52o17T5ezTdzKJWXUNmtPHLKmI/s1600/Cork+Housing+list.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500852505825390178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8-mkTLwfhTYa5huzyTKk-fV9mj7fS-Nv648JyoOLAMMbg4MjRG6qEvQGTxASKXm0ILtbSQSr5ELYYlVNCVRP2VD0Z16yPvM0MNOxzx5RAhtUiutv0t52o17T5ezTdzKJWXUNmtPHLKmI/s320/Cork+Housing+list.jpg" style="float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 350px;" /></a><br />
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The construction of housing was one sector where the Govt. caused much wastage and squandered so much investment. Dont mind those people who say we the people got carried away with ourselves. Its the responsibility of the Govt. to manage the economy or not to. They choose not to.<br />
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Now its time to clean up the mess and try to salvage what we can. As we noted previously there is significant housing over supply in most Irish counties. Whats going to be done with all this housing? Is it going to be left rot or can something be done to put that housing stock to work on behalf of society. After all through NAMA we'll end up paying for most of that housing again (didnt we already pay for it once through the state's over generous subvention of developers via tax breaks)<br />
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Cork Sinn Féin has launched a <a href="http://corksinnfein.blogspot.com/2010/07/cork-sinn-fein-launch-housing-campaign.html">Cork Housing Campaign</a>. Its a major new policy document titled 'Lets End The Wait' and was presented to the media by the party's five Councillors, Jonathan O'Brien, Fiona Kerins, Henry Cremin, Thomas Gould & Chris O'Leary, at Cork City Hall.<br />
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There are now more than 8,000 families on the housing waiting list in Cork. Thats an increase of more than 1,000 in just two months.<br />
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The campaign will focus on several core issues:<br />
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•A charter for social tenants<br />
•Help for those facing negative equity<br />
•Clearing the waiting list<br />
•Reforming the housing list<br />
•Providing genuinely affordable housing<br />
•Improving housing maintenance<br />
•A new deal for private tenants<br />
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There'll be a series of meetings across Cork to discuss the policy with local communites in Cork. The first public meeting takes place in Togher Community Centre on September 16th at 7.30pm.<br />
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NAMA is about managing the decline in value of properties. But a property with no one likely to live in it has no value. These houses represent sources of capital but if nobody lives in them they are worthless.<br />
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Its time to put all this otherwise wasted capital to productive use.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-49174960442176752572010-08-07T17:05:00.003+01:002010-08-07T17:05:00.513+01:00Shouting Stop - the return of emigration.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGdEXtYHYBoBAT9q0e6HB4FOxD9krqpIQPYPGe4SRHXSGn6pAFlkaewOhdssVWOfdT_ydQdd6uJ8N1yHanWmf4ztIzMiYzGBDNPEWIPghP_L-aBZjW6CK0esc5sBj1v2eAuk7qne6rZmK/s1600/anniemoore.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500500278306349922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGdEXtYHYBoBAT9q0e6HB4FOxD9krqpIQPYPGe4SRHXSGn6pAFlkaewOhdssVWOfdT_ydQdd6uJ8N1yHanWmf4ztIzMiYzGBDNPEWIPghP_L-aBZjW6CK0esc5sBj1v2eAuk7qne6rZmK/s320/anniemoore.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 302px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 209px;" /></a><br />
<div>Over 5,000 people a month are now choosing to <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/19003">emigrate from Ireland</a> every month. Just like in the 80s communities are being drained of their lifeblood and their futures threatened by emigration. The death of rural Ireland was a consistent theme for years. We all thought this era had ended with the advent of the Celtic Tiger but we didnt figure on Fianna Fail and developers gambling with the future of Irish communities and losing.<br />
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An example of the destructive return of emigration is the village of Gneeveguilla in County Kerry. Gneeveguilla is well known for its Athletics club which epitomised the spirit of Irish communities - a communal spirit, a volunteer ethos, a sense of local pride.<br />
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Another expression of that local spirit is naturally the local GAA club. Gneeveguilla is a small village and emigration can quickly make its mark. The BBC noted that the local GAA club is being particulary hard hit by emigration (and isn't it typical that we must rely on foreign media to bring such a story to our attention rather than having RTE report on it. State broadcaster? yeah right!)<br />
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Emigration has made such an impact that the local GAA chairman is worried about the team’s collapse because so many players are likely to have eimgrated in the near future.<br />
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The collapse of the Irish construction industry hit rural Ireland especially hard. As economist Ronan Lyons demonstrated construction of new housing was particularly feverish in the west. Voters in Kerry and elsewhere would do well to remember that the reason their sons and daughters are emigrating is because the Govt. singularly failed to build a sustainable economy. All the way up the west coast in Donegal they will face the exact same problem. While the govt. dallies over the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/democracy-by-court-decree.html">Donegal By Election </a>the rate of unemployment for males under 25 in <a href="http://www.ronanlyons.com/2010/07/06/who-has-been-worst-hit-visualising-irelands-unemployment-crisis/">Donegal</a> is estimated at up to 75% making Donegal a <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-next-for-irelands-young.html">youth unemployment </a>blackspot.<br />
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The Economic and Social Research Institute estimated that 120,000 will have emigrated in 2010 and 2011 combined, if the current rate continues.<br />
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Additional proof of the scale was evident last week when Eurostat revealed figures showing that the south of Ireland had the highest net outflow of<a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-27072010-AP/EN/3-27072010-AP-EN.PDF"> population </a>in the EU.<br />
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Once again the prospect of Irish communities withering away is a possible future.<br />
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We have been here before. John Healy famously shouted stop about the looming death of his homebirth place Charlestown. He firmly pointed the finger at the failed policies of the Govt. which did so little to save small town Ireland.<br />
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43 years later we need another John Healy as history repeats itself. Ogra Shinn Fein are currently running a campaign to highlight the current <a href="http://www.osf.ie/">level of Emigration</a> in Ireland </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18031340090628389772010-08-05T17:54:00.003+01:002010-08-07T20:44:57.828+01:00Visualising the Failures of the Govt's Construction policy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytjw959D1AIjp8ERb7WCsaf4aTghyphenhyphenuh5FVv42UW0nkPtBxugRnH39pMTcBFzxT7FTcxLoIMYempzxstEv-c_MFxS4FkVtP19JG_ul2mGIVfCdwqQwv71DBo19OCQiIfbGvgxp0mLwAYp9/s1600/housing.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500498802632510962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytjw959D1AIjp8ERb7WCsaf4aTghyphenhyphenuh5FVv42UW0nkPtBxugRnH39pMTcBFzxT7FTcxLoIMYempzxstEv-c_MFxS4FkVtP19JG_ul2mGIVfCdwqQwv71DBo19OCQiIfbGvgxp0mLwAYp9/s320/housing.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 185px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 266px;" /></a> Economist<a href="http://www.ronanlyons.com/"> Ronan Lyons </a>has put together a nice picture which shows how directionless the Irish construction industry was, how purposeless so much of the economic activity of the Celtic Tiger and clueless the Irish Govt. So clueless that some counties already have 12 years of housing supply already in place while others have under a year.<br />
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Western Irish Counties like Donegal and Kerry are particularly over supplied. As Martin Ferris noted in his report on the future of <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/MartinFerrisReport.pdf">Farming and Fishing in Western Ireland</a> the over reliance on construction encouraged by the Govt. at the cost of other types of investment would result in increased emigration as that industry collapsed. Unfortunately there was no alternative in place to prevent renewed rural emigration.<br />
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Ronan's picture is here. How many year's supply of housing is there already built in your south Ireland county?<br />
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<a href="http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/visualizations/years-oversupply-of-property-by-co/comments/e7cabcee9b2511dfb5d2000255111976"><img alt="E70ffda0-9b25-11df-8eea-000255111976" src="http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/files/thumbnails/e70ffda0-9b25-11df-8eea-000255111976.png?size=200x150" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(175, 117, 93); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(175, 117, 93); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(175, 117, 93); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(175, 117, 93); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 10px;" /> <img alt="Blog_this_caption" src="http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/images/blog_this_caption.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt; display: block; margin: 0pt; padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-left: 0pt; padding-right: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; position: relative; top: -5px;" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-22182579749596846152010-08-03T12:08:00.005+01:002010-08-03T21:30:05.432+01:00Its the True spirit of Republicanism Roysh.<div class="mobile-photo"></div><div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDFmkatU-uJoCzix0Kb78qOYqgCteJOr1P3ShS03YX05A3q_29EIpDbMT71koN7ifUdqhCaeSviMhPb6u4uGASWEo5Y8-YgKsdBZwgs33HWmf1z4Na4QsWEADuPtcOA5e03z3uUiLX2mG/s1600/ross-704225.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501138871575376338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDFmkatU-uJoCzix0Kb78qOYqgCteJOr1P3ShS03YX05A3q_29EIpDbMT71koN7ifUdqhCaeSviMhPb6u4uGASWEo5Y8-YgKsdBZwgs33HWmf1z4Na4QsWEADuPtcOA5e03z3uUiLX2mG/s320/ross-704225.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Only a few days ago we were wondering why in God's name would the Irish Times be a recruiting Sgt. for <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/martin-mcguinness-speech-that-has.html">Afghanistan</a>. Some redemption for the self styled paper of record today. <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0803/1224276086229.html" target="_blank">Fintan</a> o'Toole is amazed at the strange spectacle of a former PD talking about the idea of a Republic. Bear in mind that while Fintan might not be all that bad he is apparently not the flavour of the month at the Irish Times who find his left wing leanings at odds with their own agenda.</div></div><div></div><div>Fintan writes:</div><div></div><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: #ccc 1px solid; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div>I WAS very disappointed to read <a href="http://www.rossocarrollkelly.ie/" target="_blank">Ross O'Carroll-Kelly</a> in <em>The Irish Times</em> on Saturday. It's not that Ross hasn't been in flying form of late. It's just that I was hoping to confirm that the author had pulled a fine satiric stunt and persuaded Madam to move the column to the front page on Friday.</div>The idea of Michael McDowell addressing a private audience at the Kildare Street and University Club about "true republicanism" just had to have been dreamt up by Ross's father and his sidekick Hennessy. It has all the hilarious absurdity of their myopic south Dublin self-regard.<br />
But alas, no. There was Ross on his usual Saturday pedestal. Michael really was thrilling the private diners with flirtatious intimations of his own patriotic duty to save the Republic</blockquote><br />
<div>And isn't it so typical of the PDs and their ilk that plans to save the country are worked out at private dinners with no doubt champagne, stories about who pulled a mulligan on the 18th hole and how the country was too small for all of us.</div></div><div></div><div>Fintan correctly identifies what will be one of the central themes of the next 5 years - the idea of the Republic. Already there has been a ongoing debate in the Times about a <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0622/1224273028764.html" target="_blank">new Irish Republic</a>. A discussion which Gerry Adams has been part of. The idea of the Republic is pervasive through out the south's political vocabulary with everyone claiming a piece of the action - even Fine Gaelers and the PDs. Imagine how bad it will get once Fianna Fail go into opposition.</div><div></div><div>But Fintan spots the one weakness in Republican McDowell's plans:</div><div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: #ccc 1px solid; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Michael wouldn't recognise a republic if he shared a cell in Thornton Hall with it for 10 years.</blockquote><br />
And isnt <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/ga/contents/18983">Thornton hall Prison</a> the place to look for PD/FF Republicanism. At €200k an acre of farmland for a prison that wont be open until about 2014 but still costs 125k a year. €3o million for a site worked €6 million. Shop around as Mary Harney used tell us.<br />
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Usefully o'Toole then examines what the essence of a Republic should be and tries to examine recent events against its benchmark.<br />
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<div>"A republic is an entity in which reasoned dissent and open debate about public policy are highly valued."</div><div></div><div> In contrast look at how McDowell censored reports, crushed the Center for Public Inquiry.</div><div></div><div>"A republic is a system in which public service is undertaken with a certain humility." </div>Look at the excesses of his former leader Mary Harney and her circle of buddies in Fas who showed all the humility of Marie Antoinette.<br />
<div>But the final nail in the coffin of this dissident Republicans can be seen 'In 2004 – rather deliciously while serving as minister for equality – he told the <em>Irish Catholic</em> that "a dynamic liberal economy like ours demands flexibility and inequality in some respects to function". It was such inequality "which provides incentives".'</div><div></div><div>So much for the Republic of McDowell. Are Fine Gael daft enough to bring him back? They might as well get Sean Fitz. back into Anglo.</div>9XYHYCXK7E6W<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-88052769933224169692010-08-03T12:00:00.003+01:002010-08-03T12:00:06.358+01:00Working Class housing in 20th Century Ireland<h2><span class="frame-outer "><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="font-size:0;"><img alt="" src="http://www.rsai.ie/photos/darkest_dub.jpg" /></span></span></span></span></span><br />*</h2><div class="entry">The housing conditions of the 20th Century Irish working class were frequently abysmal. </div><div class="entry"> </div><div class="entry">Famously Dublin was a city of Georgian splendour with infamous slums tenaments.</div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry">Tracking the history of Irish labour, the conditions under which they lived and worked and tracking the history of class and class relationships in Ireland is the focus of the <a href="http://www.irishlabour.com/">IrishLabour.com </a>website.</div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"> </div><div class="entry">The below is an enjoyable post taken from Irishlabour.com and is posted to highlight a site that may be of interest to readers who would like to explore the history of Irish Labour. There is a wide range of posts on Irish involvement in the Spanish civil war, the unemployment protests of the 1950s or the tax protests in the late 70s. </div><div class="entry"> </div><div class="entry">Fascinating website and an enjoyable read:</div><p class="entry"><em>Below is an article by Ruth McManus. It’s from 2003 and was first published in International Labor and Working-Class History. </em></p><div class="entry"><em>The title is ‘Blue Collars, “Red Forts” and Green Fields: Working Class Housing in Ireland in the Twentieth Century.’</em></div><p class="entry"><em>Her book, Dublin 1910-1940: Shaping the City and Suburbs (Four Courts Press, 2002) is in the public library system, and is available for purchase from Four Courts </em><a href="http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=205"><em>here</em></a><em>. </em></p><div class="entry"><em>She says on her website that the article is available for free from the Cambridge Journals website, but it’s a dead link.<br /></em></div><div class="entry"><em>However, I’m going to assume that it’s ok to reproduce the article online for research purposes, so here it is below.</em></div><div class="entry"><em>Have a read. It’s excellent</em></div><div class="entry"><em>[PDF of McManus' article is </em><a href="http://www.irishlabour.com/dublinopinion/McManus-Red-Forts.pdf"><em>here</em></a><em>.]</em></div><div class="entry"><br /><em><object style="WIDTH: 520px; HEIGHT: 390px"><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=100714123955-93a8c2af95e24424948e99e2a517fc90&docName=mcmanus&username=conormccabe&loadingInfoText=McManus&et=1279111416605&er=25"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="menu" value="false"><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" menu="false" style="width:520px;height:390px" flashvars="mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=100714123955-93a8c2af95e24424948e99e2a517fc90&docName=mcmanus&username=conormccabe&loadingInfoText=McManus&et=1279111416605&er=25"></embed></object></em><br /></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry">* [Photo from 'Darkest Dublin' collection, RSAI] </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-43869848914297792832010-07-31T13:34:00.004+01:002010-07-31T14:35:51.536+01:00Irish Times SycophanticsRecently the issue of Irish men serving with the British Army came up. The context was <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/martin-mcguinness-speech-that-has.html">Irish soldiers in World War 1</a>. True we needed to look and figure out what that means in 2010 for republicans. Its fair to say we can remember their deaths with sadness while opposing the foreign army that slaughtered them and the craven men who recruited them to their deaths. Today that craven attitude is still on show. The Irish Times has an article which glorifies a British regiment called the "Micks" and postively recommends signing up and heading out to Afghanistan.<br /><br />Why Irish men join I dont know but they are not the focus of my ire. Instead its more apt to challenge those who push such recruitment in Ireland and to persuade them that such misguided efforts are not in anyway reconciliatory or evidence of a maturing relationship between Ireland and Britain.<br /><br />So who are the Micks. Its a regiment that has a wolfhound, gets shamrock from a royal and has twee songs about Oirland and and which did two tours of occupation in Fermanagh and East Tyrone.<br /><br />Its sad to see Irish men join a foreign army to play paddy.<br /><br />Its sad to see Irish men join a foreign army that has brutalised communities here.<br /><br />But its sickening to see a paper like the Irish Times pushing recruitment to such an outfit. When those poor eejits loose legs, arms, their sight, or even their lives out in Afghanistan the Irish Times wont be helping them or their surviving families. They wont give a damn.<br /><br />We will move on from the conflict in the north. We will build better relationships with Britain but that does not mean we need to become a supine recruiting pool for their foreign adventures so young Irish men can die in Kandahar.<br /><br />Was this article a misguided attempt at reconcillation or the Irish Times London correspondent proving his trust-worthiness and loyalty?<br /><br />People should be in no dount that Republicans are capable of moving out of their comfort zone to build trust and new relationships. Nobody has worked harder than Republicans at doing this. Certainly not the preaching Dublin media. But building genuine relationships and deep trust cannot be built by toady demonstrations of inoffensiveness. That just belittles us and demeans us as a nation.<br /><br />Be in no doubt that there will be a relentless push by interests such as Henessy or others with Harris like views on the north to push Britishness into every facet of the island as the process of reunification continues. This will be done so as to supposedly make the south a warm house for unionists.<br /><br />Ultimmately it will fail because the union is fraying not least in Scotland and Wales.<br /><br />It will fail because as long as Sinn Fein is leading the reapprochement with Irish unionists in the north it will be able to resist the push of sycophants in the south who would like to abandon every single aspect of Irish identity in a misguided attempt at reconciliation. <br /><br />Mark Henessy and the Irish Times may think they are contributing to the development of new relationships but tipping the hat was tried before and it didnt work. Reconiliation will be built as equals not by sending our young to die in foreign wars.<br /><br />Oh and Mark why dont you join up and head out to Afghanistan yourself.<br />Nah didnt think you would but you'll happily see loads of Irish lads go there.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-13170562383042643262010-07-30T14:58:00.000+01:002010-07-30T14:58:03.012+01:00Ballincollig News July 2010<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/34668050/Ballincollig-News-July-2010">Ballincollig News July 2010</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-34771832590864041092010-07-29T16:45:00.002+01:002010-07-31T14:50:58.382+01:00How monolithic is Irish politics really?<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLTXanXirb76G68GWgwJ6Ktd6muao9BEKk4hpIKGzCsmegmZXs3cuLZlUL5wnCtY2XCU8QLgS3u0q3JMhtLckJVurZGoiyeR_1ZLUnvzzGPg0RjjrbjD9uF3vsAvK9gCtbaPuYDCPGXOZ/s1600/easter+island-741968.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499354908346453090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLTXanXirb76G68GWgwJ6Ktd6muao9BEKk4hpIKGzCsmegmZXs3cuLZlUL5wnCtY2XCU8QLgS3u0q3JMhtLckJVurZGoiyeR_1ZLUnvzzGPg0RjjrbjD9uF3vsAvK9gCtbaPuYDCPGXOZ/s320/easter+island-741968.bmp" /></a></p>Election result after election result says very but referendum results hint at a large undercurrent of dissent, favourable to progressive parties but which somehow has not been fully exploited by progressive parties.<br /><br />Despite an overwhelming campaign by the Yes side in Lisbon 2 with every type of trick, lie and inducement played by the Yes side 32.9 % of voter choose not to listen to their betters and still voted no. <br /><br />Referendums have often hinted at a strange dislocation or dissatisfaction amongst the Irish electorate. Frequently despite a unified establishment call for one result a large cohort, often 30-35% would not bend the knee and do as it was told. Effectively saying to establishment parties that we do not trust you on matters of social policy, we do not trust your guarantees on Europe and further integration. Its difficult to know how much to read into these referendum results due to the single focus associated with referendums but sure might as well give it a go.<br /><br />Repeatedly in referendum after referendum a block of 30-35% voters separate from the herd, but not in every referendum. This is not a contrarian vote but a reasoned choice.<br /><br />The abortion referendum, the divorce referendum and every Euro referendum most especially all pointed to a large segment of voters who would not toe the line automatically - but were not necessarily a cohesive group. However it did point up that Irish politics is not as a monolithic as some might imagine - yet election after election seemed to prove otherwise. On social issues and distant issues such as europe the left had some traction but on the immediate issues of economic policy and governance we and other left seemed to suffer or at the least not fully exploit the possibilities inherent in such a large voter block.<br /><br />Consider the Divorce referendum of 86 - Areas in Dublin with Workers Party representation had a higher Yes vote than elsewhere. 36% voted yes across the state.<br /><br />Look at <a href="http://iol.ie/~tdermody/tally1.html">Dublin North East</a> where Pat McCartan of the Workers Party won a seat in 1987 , 51% voted Yes to the Divorce Referendum, 15% more than the state average (36%). Right across every area of the constituency the Yes vote was higher than the national average. Yet this was not a Dublin/Urban phenomenon. <a href="http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/FileDownLoad,1894,en.pdf">Rural constituencies</a> also had very significant voter blocks who voted Yes (and this in many constituencies were choice was limited to FF and FG with no other options available). Who knows how they would have voted otherwise.<br /><br />Where did it pass Dublin North, Dublin NE, Dublin South, Dublin south east, Dublin south west,Dun laoighaire,The Workers' party held seats in half of those constituencies (DNE, DSW,DunLao) in 1989. In the other three Dublin North, Dublin NE and Dublin SE - Sinn Fein would soon be fighting for seats save Dublin North where the Socialist Party was particularly strong.<br /><br />Looking at Lisbon 1 you see the same pattern. Where were the big No votres <strong>- Cavan Monaghan,</strong> Cork North Central, both Donegals, in several Dublin areas constituencies but many voted yes as well. Kerry North, Louth, Mayo, Meath West, Waterford/Wexford. All areas where Sinn Fein have either already established themselves solidly or were building well.<br /><div class="gmail_quote"><br />Lisbon 1 helped give a clear view of who these dissenting voters were. In the most affluent constituencies of Dublin, such as Dun Laoghaire, where even a modest home was running at €1 million 60% or more voted for the treaty. In working class areas of the city, it was the no vote which scored in excess of 60%. <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=428306" target="_blank">Brouard and Tiberj (2006)</a> show that precisely the same division between rich and poor, or the skilled and unskilled, can be discerned in the French 2005 vote. <div> </div><div>In Ireland the results were explained as follows - rich with a nice house meant well educated meant you were smart enough to vote yes while working class (urban or rural) meant you lacked the wit to realise Yes was the way to go so better give the poor cráturs another chance with Lisbon 2.</div><div> </div><div>Without trying to extend this too far look at an area like Kildare where neither SF nor Workers Party made a breakthrough, instead there it is indeed monolithic politics. Looking at the 1981 election you see the names McCreevy, Stagg, Durkan, Power and Dukes. Those names continue with occasional swaps and some substitutions finally up until 2007. The same political menu on offer for 30 years. Kildare North voted strongly for Lisbon 1, while Kildare south just about rejected it with 51%. Kildare south was one of the few constituencies in the south without a SF candidate in the 2007 elections. One candidate in the 2009 locals did a solid job in building the vote in whats a difficult constituency for progressive parties. Yet even in such a difficult location political strength is being built.</div><div> </div><div>There would appear to be at the least a rough rule of thumb whereby referendums can demonstrate the resonance a political party has with its local constituents and the prospects it has for building further electoral strength by indicating where voters are registering significant distrust of establishment parties on issues of sovereignty or social policy. </div><div> </div><div>In the '86 Divorce referendum The Workers party helped deliver yes votes in several areas , the other Yes vote constituencies would all prove fertile for SF or Socialist parties. In Lisbon 1 strong no votes were achieved in areas with Sinn Fein TDs or with strong Sinn Fein presences.</div><div> </div><div>Irish politics can appear monolithic with FF and FG swapping time and time again. But the results of many referendums in the south have shown the existence of a large voter block ready to defy the monolithic parties and follow the lead of parties with more progressive and radical agendas. </div><div> </div><div>Even without the chaos of financial collapse it could be argued that there was sufficient room for political growth over the years for a progressive party to wean large sections of the electorate away from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. </div><div> </div><div>It could be argued that Irish politics was not as monolithic as we might have imagined. Yet despite the evidence from referendums that a large block of voters, in some areas quite a significant no. were willing to disregard received wisdom and choose their own course, somehow or other those votes didnt translate into electoral gains.</div><div> </div><div>What stopped the centralisation of these dissenting voters around a progressive party? While the reasons for voting against the majority differs from referendum and within each referendum it does appear that there is quite a large block of voters out there who are willing to stand on the same side as parties like SF.</div><div> </div><div>Today in 2010, after Lisbon 1, we still have clear evidence that a large group of voters are willing to dissent from the received wisdom. The addition of a financial crisis makes the opportunity to coalesce those votes all the more doable. </div><div> </div><div>How should Sinn Fein best do this? The last party to do try to achieve this realignment was the Workers' Party but it was not able to complete that realignment due to a no. of reasons. It collapsed just as it may have been on the verge of staring that realignment. The Fianna Fail working class vote has dropped from its high of 45% in 1969 to a low of 32% in 1997. Yet it went back up to 47% of working class votes in 2002. The opportunity to wrest working class votes away from FF had passed... but not for long.</div><br /><br />That opportunity is back with a vengeance. Sinn Fein has a great chance to now take a large segment of the working class vote away from FF permanently. And while I wish the SP, Labour, WP etc. well I'd rather that SF were the party that brings together this sizable dissenting vote and gives it cohesiveness and consistency.<br /><br />Once this crisis ends then there might not be a period of such flux for another decade.<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-49802554311384739202010-07-29T12:34:00.004+01:002010-07-29T12:45:27.664+01:00Democracy by court decree<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55u7KXnYo9Kw0sR5rQ4TOJeAV6Z6wWa2S-kK-c4y0TAJc3kSRqN2G_8aFvzooW-WQsrvnG93QxuAQXHvPuNVQMV0GEXXb4qdTsbNuh2fhp6a0k7oIS77clRgpikhK5QwC77Mm6j_sZDIP/s1600/Senator+Donegal.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 129px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 130px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499291425444031330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55u7KXnYo9Kw0sR5rQ4TOJeAV6Z6wWa2S-kK-c4y0TAJc3kSRqN2G_8aFvzooW-WQsrvnG93QxuAQXHvPuNVQMV0GEXXb4qdTsbNuh2fhp6a0k7oIS77clRgpikhK5QwC77Mm6j_sZDIP/s320/Senator+Donegal.jpg" /></a><br />There is something bad wrong in a state when you have to go to court to force a Govt. to honour the principle of democratic representation. Donegal is getting battered by recession, the ESRI is talking about the return of large scale emigration and instead of doing something useful and acting like adults the Fianna Fail-Green govt. has its head in the sand ostrich like hiding from the voters. <br /><br />Pearse Doherty has welcomed the setting of a date for a hearing of his case against the Government over its failure to hold the Donegal South West by-election. The case has scheduled for listing on 18th October with a view to having the case heard that week subject to the court’s availability.<br /><br />However Senator Doherty said the Government’s decision to fight the case has delayed the by-election even further and if they had any sense of decency they would have used the opportunity today to set a date for an election rather than a court case.<br /><br />Speaking at the High Court today Senator Doherty said:<br /><br />“While I welcome the setting of a date for listing and hope the case will be heard during the week of October 18th however the Government must be condemned for fighting this case which will delay the by-election even further.<br /><br />“If the Government had any sense of decency it would have used the opportunity today to set a date for an election rather than a court case.<br /><br />“They are attempting to defend the indefensible and the fact that they have come to the high court to defend this is an indictment on their record and a testament of their fear of facing the electorate.<br /><br />“This is an arrogant excuse for a Government which is more interested in its own fate than it is in the democratic rights of the citizens of this state.<br /><br />“It has continually failed the people of my constituency and has arrogantly left them under represented for more than a year at a time when a third of the workforce is unemployed, when our general hospital is facing ward closures and when some of our community hospitals are facing full closure.<br /><br />“This whole episode highlights the urgent need for a reform of the system of dealing with Dáil vacancies as they arise.”<br /><a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/18993">Donegal By-election</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-62830222260709030602010-07-25T13:57:00.004+01:002010-07-25T14:42:28.884+01:00Remembering the Past - Enigmatic Robert Emmet<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLB_zxANa93DiZjHzp5L4IOQ6jQCPWrvts9UtAUuB6uP05MhRC9KG3Yn8gaDNvgJ0g3tUBB4NU77pp8tRwOmH5W0dQqA_AZt-o31U5wcSqRoXOgYuMvfI4ysIDqEUadH2dUyAYfmZWUoY/s1600/Robert-Emmet-poster01.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 234px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497838464444819298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLB_zxANa93DiZjHzp5L4IOQ6jQCPWrvts9UtAUuB6uP05MhRC9KG3Yn8gaDNvgJ0g3tUBB4NU77pp8tRwOmH5W0dQqA_AZt-o31U5wcSqRoXOgYuMvfI4ysIDqEUadH2dUyAYfmZWUoY/s320/Robert-Emmet-poster01.jpg" /></a><br /><div>On July 23rd 1803 Robert Emmet, with other United Irish men, launched an ill-fated rebellion in the streets of Dublin. This, with other <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/remembering-past-rockite-rebellion.html">local Irish rebellions</a>, would result in the remilitarisation of Ireland and demonstrate that Ireland would never be anything other than an occupied colony - act of union or no.<br /><br />A nice side note on the act of union was that it took two runs to get it onto the books. The first vote was defeated but seeing as how they didnt like the result they tried again and eventually succeeded. Whereas the first attempt had been defeated in the Irish House of Commons by 109 votes against to 104 for, the second vote in 1800 produced a result of 158 to 115. Sounds a bit like another modern treaty of union.<br /><br />In the <a href="http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/emmet-enigma/">irish democrat</a> site Historian Ruán O’Donnell assessed the real significance of one of Ireland’s most iconic and misunderstood national heroes, the United Irishman Robert Emmet, who was executed over 200 years ago in the wake of the failure of the 1803 rising :<br /><br />JULY 2003 marks the anniversary of the rising with which Robert Emmet is widely associated. Emmet’s personal fame, fanned by his rousing ‘speech from the dock’, has ensured a lasting place in the folk memory of Ireland and he was unquestionably the premier nationalist hero figure of the 19th century.<br /></div><br /><div>A corollary of this ascendancy, however, has been the eclipsing of many important United Irishmen who fought and died in 1803, not to mention those who escaped detection.<br /><br /><br />Emmet remains something of an enigma 200 years after his execution in Dublin for high treason. His claim to prominence in the complex historiography of Ireland rests in the first instance from his leadership of the failed rising of 23 July 1803.<br /><br />This attempt to remove Ireland from the United Kingdom by force of arms was far more serious than the government admitted. Persistent calls for a parliamentary enquiry were strenuously resisted as this would have revealed that the rising had surprised the Dublin Castle regime and exposed the weakness of British security. Britain was then in the grip of an invasion scare as the interminable war against France showed no signs of favourable resolution.<br /><br />The rising, therefore, undermined the Act of Union which, from 1 January 1801, had incorporated Ireland into the UK. Emmet’s role in re-cementing the United Irish-French alliance had not been anticipated and was poorly understood at the time of his death in September 1803.<br /><br />Emmet’s father was the State Physician of Ireland, and, ironically, the man responsible for the health of King George III in the unlikely event of a royal visit to Dublin.<br /><br />The Emmets were wealthy and the future revolutionary graduated with ease from the socially elite academies of the capital, where he was born in 1778, to Trinity College, aged fifteen. Robert Emmet’s youth coincided with the rise of the reform movement in Ireland when pro-American ‘patriotism’ gripped his family.<br /><br />By December 1796 a French invasion fleet lay off Cork and Emmet was a United Irishman pledged to establish an independent Irish republic with their assistance.<br /><br />His elder brother, Thomas Addis Emmet, was a member of the organisation’s executive directory from 1797 but had played a key role in shaping its ideology from its inception in six years previously.<br /><br />Although poorly documented, the younger Emmet’s seditious activities in Trinity resulted in de facto expulsion in April 1798 but he remained in situ when the ‘Great Rebellion’ erupted the following month.<br /><br />What is known of Emmet’s actions in 1798 points to his close workings with the rump leadership built around Lord Edward Fitzgerald’s highly influential military committee. This coterie was, for all intents and purposes, the Dublin based headquarters of the United Irishmen. Its members included Philip Long, surgeon Thomas Wright, Walter Cox and others who connected the conspiracies of the United Irishmen in the mid-1790s to the rising of 1803.<br /><br />Robert Emmet advanced to the executive directory in January 1799 by which time several of the original incumbents had been executed and many others jailed. Consequently, the August 1800 arrival of an emissary warning of concern in Paris as to the commitment of the United Irishmen disposed Emmet to accompany Malachy Delaney on a mission to brief Napoleon Bonaparte.<br /><br />He first travelled to Fort George in Scotland to meet the high-ranking United Irishmen interned there before sailing from Yarmouth to Hamburg. General P F C Augureau received the fiery Emmet/ Delaney petition and forwarded it to Bonaparte.<br /><br />Arrangements were made to receive the Irish plenipotentiaries in Paris. Foreign minister Tallyrand introduced them to the staff officers drawing up plans for an Irish invasion and Emmet later met Napoleon.<br /><br />Peace overtures from Britain, however, temporarily stalled these preparations and from March 1802 the treaty signed at Amiens postponed French assistance. Thus thwarted, Emmet waited for the resumption of war by touring centres of Irish emitters on the continent.<br /><br />He returned to Dublin in October 1802 and assumed the position of chief military strategist of the United Irishmen. Associates arrived secretly from France and England to reactivate dormant cadres ahead of the predicted resumption of the Anglo-French War during the spring.<br /><br />Co-operation was initially envisaged with British based republicans led by colonel Edward Marcus Despard and this had been discussed in Paris and London in talks attended by Philip Long and William Dowdall.<br /><br />Any chance of simultaneous strikes was quashed by Despard’s arrest in November 1802, although Dowdall and other militants based in Britain realigned with Emmet.<br /><br />The conspirators hired numerous premises in Dublin where war material was manufactured and stored. Sophisticated improvised ordnance such as rockets and mines were to be used against the garrison of the capital during the critical mobilisation phase.<br /><br />This surprise onslaught was to be seconded by an influx of rebels from counties Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. Emmet believed that capturing or isolating the executive would gravely hinder its ability to repel a large-scale French invasion in the provinces.<br /><br />Supporting uprisings were intended to assist the advance of the French in what was essentially a more efficient reworking of the strategy of 1798.<br /><br />The majority of United Irish veterans in contact with Emmet’s circle had undertaken to fight alongside the French, or without foreign assistance, if provided with modern weaponry. Failure to deliver either the French or muskets, therefore, was the fatal flow of the rising of 1803.<br /><br />This was not intentional as the hand of the leadership was forced by the accidental destruction of the Patrick Street depot when loose powder ignited on 16 July 1803. Fearing that all the crucial dumps were in danger of discovery, Emmet unwisely backed those who argued for an immediate insurrection in the hope that the French would sail to their aid without delay.<br /><br />The date was fixed for 23 July with no provision for cancellation and insufficient time to acknowledge the concerns of regional leaders. Thomas Russell, James Hope, William Hamilton and other senior long standing radicals went to Ulster to warn their allies, while Dublin residents such as Miles Byrne and Arthur Devlin primed their fellow Leinster men.<br /><br />Their reception was decidedly uneven and exceptionally so when the moment of truth arrived. It must be presumed that the whole effort would have been cancelled had Emmet realised sufficient forces to capture Belfast, Downpatrick and Ballymena would not be fielded on the 23rd.<br /><br />The first wave of attacks in Dublin was entrusted to cells of heavily-armed men who gathering in private houses close to their objectives. The Castle, Island Bridge artillery barracks, the Pigeon House and other complexes were earmarked for assault. These sudden strikes were to be assisted by around 2,000 auxiliaries hidden in Costigan’s distillery on Thomas Street.<br /><br />The reserve consisted of thousands of rank and file followers from Kildare and Dublin who were told to mass in Thomas Street to await final instructions at 6.00 pm. A series of ill-disciplined attacks on army officers, magistrates and loyalists, however, threatened to alert the government in the early evening.<br /><br />Remarkably, misunderstandings between the civil and military command in the capital left Dublin more vulnerable than anyone realised. No troops were deployed. Nevertheless, by 9.00 pm Emmet decided to dismiss rebel units blocking the suburban roads and launched a solitary signal rocket to countermand his previous orders to rise.<br /><br />The vast majority melted away unchallenged. Emmet then hastily read extracts from the Proclamation of the Provisional Government to ensure that those who had already turned out would be treated as political prisoners if captured.<br /><br />He then headed a feint on the Castle with a view to bringing his exposed junior associates into the Dublin mountains. The veteran groups were deliberately not deployed and in their stead were low-level activists, unfamiliar with Emmet’s rank and authority.<br /><br />He and the senior officers present very quickly abandoned Thomas Street for Rathfarnham and the mountains beyond.<br /><br />Several hundred organised rebels, however, refused to disperse without a fight and confronted companies of the 21st regiment in three linked and bloody skirmishes. Soldiers inflicted far more casualties than they sustained but, nonetheless, retreated to barracks where they remained until the danger had passed.<br /><br />The rising of 1803 petered out in the capital long before the garrison flooded onto the streets to restore order. Even then, the military response was chaotic and undertaken without specific orders from CIC lieutenant-general, Henry Edward Fox. Rebel movements occurred in several counties, most notably Kildare (where two villages were captured), Antrim and Down but very little of the potential of the United Irishmen was manifested in 1803.<br /><br />Stunned by the post-Union strength of the <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/remembering-past-napper-tandy-forgotten.html">United Irishmen</a>, the government shouldered the political embarrassment and considerable expense of remilitarising Ireland. Contrary to the ostensible objective of Union, the country remained (and to a degree remains in the North) a garrisoned colonial entity rather than an equal member of the United Kingdom.<br /><br />Thomas Russell was one of the more prominent fatalities in the round of judicial executions which followed but over thirty men perished in the treason trails of the Special Commissions.<br /><br />Emmet, captured in Harold’s Cross on 25 August, refused to make terms and was executed in Thomas Street on 20 September.<br /><br />Thousands of his comrades then languished in the jails, provosts and prison tenders of the thirty-two counties where many were held until the spring of 1806 when the more liberal incoming government of Charles James Fox restored habeas corpus.<br /><br />Emmet was already a hero-martyr and his demand to be vindicated by the sole means of Ireland taking its place ‘amongst the nations of the Earth’ has resonated with periodic vigour ever since. His name, for this reason alone, will be associated with the final resolution of the national question in Ireland.<br /><br />Professor Ruán O’Donnell is head of the history dept. at the University of Limerick He has published a two volume biographical study of Emmet.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-41274132127516329682010-07-22T01:59:00.002+01:002010-07-22T02:03:52.944+01:00Rape charge for Arab posing as a JewFound this piece and think it just seems to sum up so much that is wrong with Isreal and its attitude to the arab population. Surely what difference does it make if somebody is a Jew or an Arab.<br />This is taken from the Jeruselm Post. <br />http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=182113<br />-----------------------------------------------<br /><br />Court rules consensual sex between Jewish woman and Arab constitutes rape.<br /><br /><br />Jerusalem District Court ruled that consensual sex between a Jewish woman and an Arab posing as a Jew constituted rape.<br /><br />On Monday, the court sentenced Sabbar Kashur, 30, an Arab from Jerusalem, to 18 months in prison as part of a plea bargain for rape by deception.<br /><br />Kashur met a Jewish woman in downtown Jerusalem in 2008 and introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship, the indictment said, according to media reports. The couple then went to a nearby building and had consensual sexual intercourse; Kashur then left.<br /><br />The woman filed a complaint after realizing that Kashur was not Jewish.<br /><br />The court ruled that the consent for sex was obtained under false pretenses.<br /><br />"If she hadn't thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she would not have cooperated," the judges wrote<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-86389946310156023662010-07-20T23:38:00.006+01:002010-07-25T13:48:04.859+01:00Modern Childcare for a modern state.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO1q5xSjPnlaTEMw0RpI6VvOj3Mdh4Ra3FFpBQE1dVJZgvEgpyOW67C1W0sTcH_UYmxyHCtPgjAg9QwF6_OM9gGjg3jjEgnr_aDQMFMleqFf3tYAW92VlDxc2BWrubu7O9vOInco_flnJ/s1600/Dublin_Spire.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496125572029661682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO1q5xSjPnlaTEMw0RpI6VvOj3Mdh4Ra3FFpBQE1dVJZgvEgpyOW67C1W0sTcH_UYmxyHCtPgjAg9QwF6_OM9gGjg3jjEgnr_aDQMFMleqFf3tYAW92VlDxc2BWrubu7O9vOInco_flnJ/s320/Dublin_Spire.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfwfm_rp77EPu0GkNvyZ-O1hVoYGrUFiFf_wKIckfcL5wHab8FR2PZJQ5mYJKcvb1UG7dhJKeQMuEJATeyJrWph21eHi0-zY5HCwBN8r60t4SNJshF4wP32IDiqMbZ25AtfpEG8NJRHgb/s1600/image_provider.jpg"></a><br />For me Sinn Fein is about building a <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/07/martin-mcguinness-speech-that-has.html">modern state in Ireland</a>, replacing the half baked relics of failed partion with one state. But we are still a distance from a modern state , and thats not to focus on the record of the greasy fumblers governing us in the south, but instead to look at who is ruling us. Overwhelmingly they are men! Six out of every Seven TDs in Leinster house and there is four male for every female Seanadóir. The situation is actually lamentable with 14% of TDs being women, compared to the EU average of 27%.<br /><br />Increasing the proportion of women in Leinster house, the seanaid and northern assembly would seem to be a fair proposition solely on the basis of having the legislative bodies reflect the gender divide. The imperative to do so is not solely based on notions of fairness though but the urgent need to improve the standard of governance and the responsiveness of govts. to the requirements of all its citizens.<br /><br />The south has a national strategy for increasing women's participation in the legislative bodies. However it has its work cut out for it. At the current rate of increase it will take 370 years for the percentage of women in the Leinster house to reach 50%. Hardly good enough.<br /><br />Noted economist Anne Sibert, and others, have already commented on how an increased percentage of women in financial circles could have mitigated the worst excesses of the financial bubble.<br /><br />The other aspect of this is ensuring the responsiveness of the Govt. to the needs of its citizens. Legislative bodies overwhelmingly stacked with men might not be best suited for developing policy that considers how to create a women friendly society, in other words a modern society giving equal opportunity, a society that does not simply throw its hands in the air and say thats how its always been.<br /><br />A good example of this carry on sure tis grand attitude is childcare. One of the stories of the Celtic Tiger (late of this parish) was the greatly increased participation of women, of all ages, in the workforce. Considering this was an increasing trend since the early 90s then it would be reasonable to expect that a suitable childcare policy would have been developed over the years such that a decade after the boom started we might have an affordable childcare system.<br /><br />The OECD a few years back did a series of reports on the<a href="http://www.oecd.org/document/37/0,3343,en_2649_34819_28932069_1_1_1_1,00.html"> Kids and Careers balance</a> . In 2003 Ireland was one of the countries covered. Even a decade after the boom started to take off it found that while married Irish mothers were at work in huge numbers single mothers were not. While up to 80% of single moms in Australia were working in Ireland it was half that. The buden of expensive childcare was denying these women the opportunity to build a career and was effectively forcing them into a benefits trap. For a Govt. that boasted so much of incentivising the independent<br />entrepreneurial spirit keeping single mothers out of the labour market through high childcare costs just didnt register as an issue. Instead childcare in southern Ireland was to be provided by the extended family if you couldnt afford the exorbitant costs of care.<br /><br />Hardly a fair response from the govt. and as damningly typical of their short-sighted policies. France considers child care provision as not only a social policy but equally as an economic policy allowing greater labour force participation while making sure that the state (and companies) play there part in building a child friendly society. In a Europe faced with an imploding demographic such an approach makes sense.<br /><br />In Ireland though its clearly not a concern for the old boys club. 7 years after the OECD pointed us out as failing in our provision of childcare support we still have cildcare costs that are far above the EU average, with Irish families spending 20% of their incomes on full-time crèche facilities compared with 12% of income for families in the rest of Europe.<br /><br />2003 was the year the OECD pointed out our second rate childcare policies. It was also the year the Spire was finally topped off in Dublin. This was the symbol of a new and modern Ireland.<br /><br />A much more fitting symbol would have been <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/childcare">childcare system </a>that was at least the equal of what our neighbours in Europe have.<br /><br />How likely were the lads who thought the Spire a good idea to even consider that. A bit of different perspective would have made a difference. More women in the legislative bodies would have helped provide that perspective.<br /><br />There is a new blog trying to give voice to that perspective and give a greater role to <a href="http://sinnfeinwomen.blogspot.com/">Irish women in politics</a>. There is plenty of work to be done before that job is finished and I wish them well.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-80621534656880736572010-07-19T13:34:00.006+01:002010-07-19T13:58:40.613+01:00The Martin McGuinness speech that has caused so much anger.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-YtFHMuqJp0yo93r0QIx4r5lhCrRltER5josyK5Cpijub8xIhtKWpnt596z37vW7UHwvfIF2mNglwG7NspB4CTe9DnAWnW7x6tRwjTwGYstyTyPWT28VXgzIXeOq-bjDlQY5gnduiAH_/s1600/02553v.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-YtFHMuqJp0yo93r0QIx4r5lhCrRltER5josyK5Cpijub8xIhtKWpnt596z37vW7UHwvfIF2mNglwG7NspB4CTe9DnAWnW7x6tRwjTwGYstyTyPWT28VXgzIXeOq-bjDlQY5gnduiAH_/s400/02553v.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495600676849629074" /></a><br />Below is the text of the speech made by Martin McGuinness at the McGill summer school. His comments regarding the need to remember with respect those Irish men in the British army who died in World War 1, has caused many republicans to condemn him. I myself see nothing wrong with the speech as a whole and feel he makes a strong argument. Have a read and see what you think. <br /><br />Here is a link to the McGill summer school site. <a href="http://www.macgillsummerschool.com/"></a><br /><br />--------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br />I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to deliver this year’s John Hume Lecture. When I was in Liverpool this week for the awarding of the City of Culture title to Derry I was very pleased to see John and Pat Hume celebrating in Derry’s Guildhall, an announcement of immense cultural and economic significance for the North-West and our entire island. I have no doubt that those passionate about arts and culture in Ireland will rally to the cause for 2013. <br />And whilst the past week brought a great result for Derry, we who are from Derry are deeply sensitive to the fact that the Buncrana area of Inis Eoin, a place very close to my heart, was plunged into unbearable grief and sadness, with the deaths of eight people, seven of them young men, with their lives before them and the eight man in his sixties.<br />On this occasion here in County Donegal I want to extend sympathy to the families and the people of Inis Eoin who suffered this appalling tragedy at around this time last Sunday. Suaimhneas síoraí dóibh uile. <br />John Hume, like Gerry Adams, myself and others in the Sinn Féin leadership, took huge political risks and faced, at times, vilification in order to make a beginning to the Irish Peace Process. <br />For that enormous contribution John Hume has quite rightly been honoured and he continues to be recognised fittingly in this Annual Lecture. I am happy to join the list of speakers who have given the lecture and to acknowledge again John Hume’s pivotal role in helping to initiate and to build the Peace Process and all that has flowed from it. <br />The fundamental premise for that was that the status quo was not an option; and that a process of change was required.<br />The Peace Process moved us from the tragedy of conflict to an era of dialogue, negotiation and a new political dispensation. As a result, the political landscape in the North has been utterly transformed in recent years. The demilitarisation of society, the existence of fully functioning all-Ireland political institutions and the transfer of powers on policing and justice from Britain to the North are all evidence that the Peace Process is delivering and that politics is working. This is a work in progress.<br />However, there remain small groups and individuals who cannot grasp the political realities of Ireland in 2010; that is, that change has happened, that it is ongoing, that it is unstoppable and that the status quo they hanker back to is unacceptable. They can be found in the unrepresentative militarist factions who continue to carry out armed actions and the criminal elements who operate under the cover of bogus patriots. This was graphically illustrated last week in Ardoyne, where it is widely believed that many of those who sat on the road wearing t-shirts describing themselves as, residents not dissidents, told those anxious for a riot, many of them children, to do so only after they had left the road. Regrettably the Orange Order also appear rooted to the past and unwilling to join with the rest of us in making necessary compromises in the interests of peace and progress. They continue to refuse to talk to nationalists and hold the rest of society to ransom, over a tiny number of contentious parades out of thousands of Loyal Order marches each summer.<br />The sectarianism played out on the streets of Belfast in recent days needs to be tackled. I have long argued that the Orange Order themselves could transform relationships by taking a bold initiative, by thinking of the greater good and by stepping forward and making their contribution to a new and better future. By dealing with the issue of contentious parades in a generous fashion the Orange Order has the potential to build a new relationship with their Catholic neighbours. My door remains open to them always.<br />These issues are the legacies of an island emerging from four decades of conflict and point to the fact that Ireland needs a process of National Reconciliation. The recent publication of the report of the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday, the reaction of the new British Prime Minister David Cameron and the exoneration of the 14 people murdered on the streets of my home city that day has the potential to be a defining moment in such a process.<br />Republicans caused much hurt during the conflict. I have acknowledged that and as a republican leader I accept my responsibilities both for the past, for building a new future and importantly for ensuring that the truth about the past is told – for the victims and survivors but also to ensure that mistakes are not repeated in the future.<br />I repeat here tonight a call for the establishment of an independent international truth recovery process – one which is victim-centred and which can generate the confidence necessary for full participation.<br />I along with other republican leaders have made it clear that we will participate in such a process. We now need the same commitment from the British Government and from unionist leaders. We need to go beyond simply telling the stories of the past 40 years. We need to examine the root causes of the conflict as well as the consequences.<br />Within civic society across the island we have much to share and to learn from. One of the effects of partition has been the separate development of communities whether on religious grounds in the North or between the communities North and South. Yet we all share common problems that do not recognise any border. <br />I believe that greater cooperation within civic society can bring about innovation, create change and promote best practice. In particular we need to jointly address the issues of community regeneration, sustainable economic growth, environmental protection, sectarianism, racism, road safety, child protection and social inclusion. Again I would ask what more can civic society do to deepen our understanding and our actions in addressing these issues. <br />While highlighting areas for additional activity I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those in civic society who have and continue to be vital to social cohesion in Ireland. In some cases they are the very threads that hold our society together.<br />I am thinking of the community sector, the trade union movement, the GAA and other sporting bodies, the credit union movement, and ordinary grassroots activists across this island.<br />The recent cycle of economic growth and recession demonstrates the interdependent nature of the economy North and South. The establishment of the Northern committee of NAMA, dealing with 5 Billion Euro worth of loans, demonstrates the level of our interdependence. <br />For too long the economy of the border counties has been the victim of the changing tides of cross border trade. This level of volatility and instability undermines the economy of the community living along the Border. We need to develop joint processes that will create the stability vital to sustainable development.<br />On a national level there is no advantage to having two competing economic development agencies vying with each other for Foreign Direct Investment. It is counter-productive. It confuses investors and drives down value as we compete to provide the cheapest option. <br />As one US investor recently said in relation to the North — “It is hard to get excited about a market place and labour pool of 1.5 million people, but when you look at 6 million people then it gets interesting.”<br />So we need to plan our economy on an all-Ireland basis. The plan must identify how to use our assets, our people, our universities and our reputation to grow the economy in a sustainable and beneficial way.<br />We do not have the luxury of a long time to ponder this. We are in the middle of the greatest economic challenge to our nation and we need to act quickly and strategically. The decisions we arrive at will have implications for generations to come. Let’s not repeat the past. Let’s not circle the wagons. Let’s look at how we grow the economy and how we can deliver for all. <br />We are told that statistically the recession is over but anyone who believes that has to be living in cloud cuckoo land. <br />We have close to half a million people unemployed in Ireland, some 450,000 of them in this State. Emigration from our country is now being measured once again in the tens of thousands per year. Nowhere is it worse than here in County Donegal which, even during the Celtic Tiger years, did not enjoy the benefits of the economic upturn to the extent of other parts of the state.<br />Businesses of all sizes are closing. Families are struggling with massive mortgage debt. People dependent on social welfare are being pushed further into poverty. Our public services are subject to cuts that are challenging their ability to meet basic needs in health and education. <br />And alongside that we have the spectacle of the bankers walking away with super huge golden handshakes. <br />Over 70 percent of the population live in debt on a week-to-week, year-by-year basis<br /><br />The top five percent of the population held 40 percent of the state’s wealth whilst those on the lowest ten percent household income group struggle to get by on less than €158 a week.<br />The vast majority of people see and understand clearly where the responsibility for all of this lies. <br />There is a myth that everyone in Ireland was having a wild party during the Celtic Tiger years. This is untrue. It is also insulting to the vast majority of people. It is important to point this out because if we forget what happened in the very recent past we are liable to repeat the same mistakes. There were alternative roads to follow, roads that we now need to travel. <br />The question we have to ask now is not just what to do next but how well equipped are the people of Ireland to address the huge problems we face. <br />The growing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have noughts’, the rewarding of private greed at the expense of the public good, the failure to think strategically and in the long term interests of the citizens needs to end.<br />As always, partition complicates matters. In the North we are tied to the British Exchequer and our Executive and Assembly are denied fiscal autonomy. We do not have revenue-raising powers and are dependent on a block grant from London which is based on Barnett– a population statistic based formula rather than need and which takes no account of the legacy of partition and decades of underfunding by the British government.<br />In the 6 Counties Catholics remain twice as likely as Protestants to be unemployed.<br /><br />100,000 children in relative poverty and 44,000 children living in severe poverty<br /><br />Of the 20 areas in the north suffering highest levels of deprivation 17 are nationalist.<br /><br />We are now faced with a massive reduction in the block grant to the North. In this situation we in the Executive and Assembly must battle to protect public services from cuts. It is a huge challenge. <br />The current situation emphasises, as never before, the need for the Executive and the Assembly to have fiscal autonomy and for the economy in the North to be more closely integrated with the rest of Ireland.<br />The effects of recession are worsened and our ability to respond effectively is hampered by the existence of two currencies, two different tax and social welfare regimes, two sets of public services and all the inefficiency and duplication that entails. <br />I need not tell people in County Donegal, the neighbouring County to my native County of Derry, about the disruptive effect of Partition on the Border Counties themselves. Greater cross-border co-operation and integration is an economic necessity. <br />My party has continually raised the issue of duplication of administration in an island the size of ours. We cannot sustain such duplication. We have two Health systems, two education systems, two Arts councils, two sports councils, three bodies with responsibility for tourism, and as I already highlighted two competing economic development agencies. <br />We have patients and families in the North having to travel to England for treatment that is available in Dublin. We have patients in Letterkenny travelling to Dublin when the same services are available in Derry. <br />The Border has a negative impact on all communities who live along it. <br />Two currencies, two tax systems and a myriad of issues which affect citizens' everyday existence — things like wages, pensions, benefits, terms and conditions — all of these are daily 'bugbears' for people living in this region, and especially for those who have to cross the invisible border to work in the "other jurisdiction".<br />These are only examples of duplication of administration and while they have a cost implication the lack of co-ordination also impacts on the quality of service. <br />To get the best out of our public spending, we need to end this duplication and competition and develop and deliver co-ordinated services on an all-Ireland basis.<br />The North-South Ministerial Council and the All-Ireland bodies are doing good work in this regard but much, much more needs to be done. <br />Both in terms of democratic governance in Ireland North, South, East and West and in terms of the economy of the island, I believe that we need to be bold in our thinking and to aim high. <br />The theme ‘Reforming the Republic’ for me does not mean tinkering with two partitioned political and economic systems on our small island! <br />The Irish Republicanism I believe in holds that a national republic has yet to be achieved. It holds that it is futile to speak of ‘renewing the republic’ or ‘reforming the republic’ without addressing the need to end partition and to bring together all the people of Ireland. And to achieve this through purely peaceful and democratic means is I believe a flag we can all rally to.<br />We need a national debate on the desirability of Irish unity and on how it can be brought about. That debate must, of necessity, involve unionists. I reject the view that to even speak of unity is ‘damaging’ or ‘backward looking’ or a threat to the institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrew’s Agreement. <br />The Good Friday Agreement provides an agreed mechanism for bringing about the reunification of Ireland. Unity is not an issue of the past. It is a live issue of the present and, I firmly believe, the direction in which we are all ultimately heading. How best and how soon to reach that goal is the question we need to address. <br />A start could be made next year by granting to Irish citizens in the Six Counties the right to vote in the Presidential Election. The current Uachtarán na hÉireann is a native of Belfast but if she had still lived there at the time of her election she would not have been able to vote for herself. <br />Provision should be made for such voting rights, not only for citizens in the North, but also for Irish citizens living abroad. Voting rights are granted by many states to their citizens living abroad, within a reasonable period from their leaving the home country. At a time of renewed mass emigration it would be a real recognition of the importance and value of our recent exiles if such rights were granted. Patrick MacGuill was, after all, one of our exiles forced out by poverty. <br />We need a re-built the Irish economy, an all-Ireland economy. We need strategies for saving and creating jobs; reforming the tax system to ensure the wealthy are paying their fair share; eradicating waste in public spending, such as exorbitant executive salaries; drawing up a realistic debt repayment structure on the basis of a growing economy, that will grow if it is invested in; and fully regulating a new finance system with necessary secure measures like stronger capital requirements for banks and the supervision of credit rating agencies. <br />All of this should be done with the aim of building an economy to serve the people. This would provide the basis for a transformed, equitable and efficient health service, education with access for all, decent and affordable housing, sound social welfare support for everyone who needs it and security for our older citizens. <br />A political system in which careerism for personal gain has for some come before commitment to public service must look seriously at itself to ensure our island economy is run not on the basis of individual greed but the good of all.<br />We need to renew our commitment to public service and to the common good. When we as a people have achieved great things in the past we have done so because individuals put the nation before themselves. That is the spirit of the 1916 Proclamation of the Republic and the Democratic Programme of the first Dáil Éireann. <br />For me, renewing the Republic, means applying the principles of those documents to our own time. It means unity, equality and lasting peace for all the people who share this island. It means building an Ireland of Equals.<br />This 30th Patrick MacGuill Summer School gathers as we enter the decade which marks the centenary of a number of defining events in Irish history including the Great Lockout of 1913, the Easter Rising, the Battle of the Somme, the Ulster Covenant and the Partition of Ireland. Nobody should be afraid of commemorating or debating these landmarks in our history.<br />It is right to recognise the heroism of those who stood for the vision of the Irish republic articulated on Easter Sunday 1916. A republic that pledged:<br />‘religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally’<br />The Proclamation remains a living testimony to the vision and commitment of the leaders of 1916.<br />And it continues to represent a charter for change for Irish Republicans. It spells out the unfinished business and what is required to complete it. <br />To build the united independent Ireland of Equals it invites us once again to bring together all strands of Irish nationalism, republicanism and the labour movement.<br />It challenges us to become persuaders, to reach out the hand of friendship to all who share this island with us, particularly unionists, to build new alliances, to devise and develop new strategies and shared positions and to build and broaden support for this objective.<br />It is also right to recognise in the period ahead the sacrifice of those Irishmen who fought in the First World War. While some may question the value of their actions no one can set aside the scale of the loss or doubt the personal tragedy. <br />Republicans have no wish to erase the memory of their bravery or their part in Irish history. Many working class Irishmen fought in the British Army at that time because of the unrelenting poverty that they and their families experienced. Their motivation and their experience were articulated by Tom Kettle, an Irish National Volunteer, who shortly before his death at the Somme in September 1916 wrote these lines to his daughter: <br />Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead,<br />Died not for Flag, nor King, nor Emperor,<br />But for a dream, born in a herdsman's shed,<br />And for the Secret Scripture of the poor.<br />Among the courageous Irishmen who gave their lives in that war also were those who fully believed in their actions and the choices they took. Their sacrifice and their loss are no less worthy of remembrance.<br />The experiences of republicans, nationalists, unionists and all others form part of our collective memory. They are part of who we are as a community, as a nation.<br />While we must remember these events we also must critically engage with our past. The past one hundred years, while a fraction of the life of the nation, was taken up by partition, divergence, exclusion and conflict. <br />These failures must be consigned to the past. I believe that Ireland is now set on a course towards unity, convergence, inclusion, and lasting peace.<br />This is not a bland aspiration. In this way we will deliver equality, prosperity and reconciliation for all our people in all their diversity. In this way we will build a nation of which our children can be proud and a republic worthy of the name<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-64841448280413545232010-07-09T19:11:00.005+01:002010-07-09T19:18:15.035+01:00Fianna Fáil are dead - We must forget about the left alliance and put the boot into Labour NOW or else!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jXvpqO8KcvNQAcERFVKcafgrakarBGduHPRCoeO7UBueX2zYrOglihl_8w23aK3rOQ3Al3ufaMEfTCs7HClsP_K9pIhmfeGKkPaK_Qpub7soM90tGMDKZKROCK8tjFipPkoSPPR04fiK/s1600/1-labour-sell-out.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 377px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 343px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491972221942044066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jXvpqO8KcvNQAcERFVKcafgrakarBGduHPRCoeO7UBueX2zYrOglihl_8w23aK3rOQ3Al3ufaMEfTCs7HClsP_K9pIhmfeGKkPaK_Qpub7soM90tGMDKZKROCK8tjFipPkoSPPR04fiK/s400/1-labour-sell-out.jpg" /></a><br />Received the piece below from a contributor in Dublin. Well worth a read.<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br />At the next elections only about seven people out of every hundred will put a vertical mark beside our candidate. So say the opinion polls. So said the last two elections. Against a backdrop of one in three of our core demographic (under 25s) without a job and a half a million people rotting on the dole queues this situation is calamitous. On top of this we have an electorate thirsty for change like never before in the history of the 26 county-state - who want to find hope from a dismal political landscape and have so far sought refuge in the mirage that is the Labour Party who have hovered up virtually all Fianna Fail’s lost support while the rest of us look on.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Even the gutless Blueshirts have tried to eat their own young as a response to the polls. Where is our reaction?!!</strong><br /><br /><br />The unprecedented defection of councillors in Dublin did not jerk us from our deep sleep and now neither is the potentially ruinous poll numbers. It seems to me as if we are a/ consciously adopting a careful strategy of non-strategy whereby we let the other party’s discredit themselves and we succeed on election day by default or b/ we have no clear strategy. I suspect b.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>A cunning plan…</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />At this stage in the game, flogging the rotten Fianna Fail carcass isn’t the answer – the voters that will abandon them have already declared for Labour and it is unlikely the deluded dregs of the Fianna Fail vote (22-24 per cent) will abscond now. It follows therefore that we start to lay the boot into Labour and expose the raging populism where they will say and do what ever it takes to get their grubby arses into the back of a ministerial merc. Their Croke Park cop out is a good place to start.<br /><br /><br /><br />We need to plant the seed in the public mind that a vote for Labour is a vote for Enda Kenny and his fascist policies and that this impending government is looming over them and their communities with a massive knife waiting to cut their incomes and services further. Unfortunately our unwillingness to reject coalition with the two main parties was a mistake that weakens our position a bit in this regard. Hopefully at the next Ard Fheis we will collectively realise this and rebuff them properly.<br /><br /><br /><br />In discussing this with a fellow Shinner lately he responded that we couldn’t really go after Labour with all our zeal because we ideally want to build an alliance with them. Bollocks. The next government will be Fine Gael-Labour and talk of left alliances are presumptuous and premature. When the sums are right Labour is our best option. But for now we are in a fight with them for our own survival and if we don’t claw back our votes they will have nobody to align with.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Get the simple things right lads…</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />But as well as a flagging political strategy, the nuts and bolts of the Sinn Féin operation are failing as well. The mechanics of having a party leader based in Belfast dipping in and out of a debate in Dublin does not wash with people. Like others have already mentioned, we need twin leaders, north and south, operating under the party president. This leader has to be elected from the current Dáil deputies at a special meeting of Sinn Féin members. Such a figurehead would take part in leaders’ debates, feature on the ‘satisfaction with party leaders’ polls and act as the visual front for the party in the twenty-six. As pointed out by Ruadhán here previously - by accident of history we are seen as a northern-based party and this crisis of identity is threatening to sink us in this state. It is within our power to set right this imbalance of power but if we are inflexible on it we will continue to pay the price.<br /><br /><br /><br />The leadership issue is but one element necessary to force us into the debate. It is only half of the equation. We have to get more inventive with our output. With only four TDs, by and large the media ignore us. Entire weeks go by with only a handful of meaningful mentions. It is back to the chicken and the egg. Unless our message gets out we won’t have more TDs and unless we have more TDs we won’t get our message out. Our press team needs to think up creative ways of cracking into the media by making it impossible to ignore us. To supplement the leaflets and community work done on the ground we need the Sinn Féin message coming across the media more than it is.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Cries in the wilderness…</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Various people including Toiréasa Ferris have vented their dissatisfaction with Sinn Féin in the south. Still it seems to me that en masse, as a party, we don’t seem to be engaging with the obvious problem of static support in a time of massive political disorder - like a dysfunctional family ignoring the alcoholic father. Even if you scroll down to Ruadhán’s previous article below there is only there is only one comment in response. It is as if we think we are due one good poll result and after we magically get it then everything will be dandy. Or that after we get seven TDs (enough for a technical group in Leinster House and a bit of guaranteed airtime) we’ll be grand. These things are not on the cards as of now – and they won’t be if we trundle on month after month without addressing our problems.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Finally and in conclusion…</strong><br /><br /><br /><br />At the Ogra Shinn Féin National Congress in Belfast in November, Gerry Adams called for ‘impatient Republicans’ to stand up and be counted. He’s right. A bit more constructive impatience is what will turn it around for us.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36608551352768263922010-07-05T23:28:00.006+01:002010-07-05T23:42:52.271+01:00West Belfast - curfews, Ballymurphy and Joe McDonnell<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLTBuL-UguyZV5SccBUex8mgRew7f2TqnMEoRLHbeQD5MtQb9yM3a3j_6ABmQGj1NzySjYHiabHHKGuCd0p8wkxQTkUZP_eOBsm4HJY6zSyIVUl34NARossMmkNvUPUWLAzA59AmmRyIA/s1600/lg_new_joe_mcdonnell_events_2010_poster_medium_copy1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 226px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490553044181357138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLTBuL-UguyZV5SccBUex8mgRew7f2TqnMEoRLHbeQD5MtQb9yM3a3j_6ABmQGj1NzySjYHiabHHKGuCd0p8wkxQTkUZP_eOBsm4HJY6zSyIVUl34NARossMmkNvUPUWLAzA59AmmRyIA/s320/lg_new_joe_mcdonnell_events_2010_poster_medium_copy1.jpg" /></a> The Bloody Sunday report helped raise the profile of other massacres by the British army in the north, especially that of Ballymurphy in West Belfast. West Belfast was especially hard hit during the troubles and paid a heavy price. This period is the 40th anniversary of the Falls curfew and the 28th anniversary of Vol. Joe McDonnell. A reminder of the difficult times that West Belfast has undergone.<br /><br />A series of anniversary vigils will take place across Belfast this Wednesday, 8th July, to mark the 28th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of IRA Volunteer Joe McDonnell.<br /><br />Joe, a 30 year old married man with two children from the Lenadoon area of West Belfast, died after sixty-one days on hunger strike and was the 5th hunger striker to die.<br /><br />Ex POW and West Belfast Sinn Fein MLA Jennifer McCann said:<br /><br />'Joe McDonnell was a deeply committed IRA Volunteer.<br /><br />'He was a loving father to his children and a good friend and comrade to many, many people.<br /><br />'Joe was interned twice in the early '70s and was arrested again while on active service in 1976 along with Bobby Sands and a number of others.<br /><br />'He was sentenced to 14 years and upon entering the H-blocks he refused to wear the prison uniform and joined his comrades on the blanket protest.<br /><br />'On 9th May, 1981, he commenced his hunger strike, taking the place of his friend and comrade, Bobby Sands, who had died four days earlier on 5th May.<br /><br />'In June 1981, during his hunger strike, Joe stood as a candidate in the Sligo/Leitrim constituency during the general election and came very close to being elected.<br /><br />'Joe McDonnell was a great Irishman and today his name and the names of all the other Hunger Strikers inspire people in Ireland and across the world.<br /><br />'He was a brave and courageous volunteer and that is why we will remember him with pride on Wednesday.<br /><br />'I would encourage members of the community to come out and attend the vigils.'<br /><br />The assembly points for the Joe McDonnell anniversary vigils on Wednesday, July 8th, are;<br /><br />Falls Road Sinn Fein Centre - 5pm<br /><br />Bottom of Whiterock Road - 5pm<br /><br />Connolly House Sinn Fein office, Andersonstown Road - 5pm<br /><br />Stewartstown Road (Front of Dairy Farm Centre) - 5pm<br /><br />Top of New Lodge Road/Antrim Road junction - 5.30pm<br /><br />Mountpottinger Road/Short Strand - 5pm<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-12952748578584441412010-07-03T20:51:00.006+01:002010-07-03T23:58:38.911+01:00Community Politics, Popular Fronts and the first thing on the agenda<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGY8hSyAFUU_oAkbgxxwsZeODZd1p8jFeKNqhj3NJAA7SEevx49Ep6H7zHkVSh5TwuWqAvw6gQe8YgkuMeL0jSqIMTJ9iXocCrtpisIPK8aZ2WCmNfxf9ri9wgfFZsDXqT9W5mLV1sqtS/s1600/imagesCAI36TTA.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGY8hSyAFUU_oAkbgxxwsZeODZd1p8jFeKNqhj3NJAA7SEevx49Ep6H7zHkVSh5TwuWqAvw6gQe8YgkuMeL0jSqIMTJ9iXocCrtpisIPK8aZ2WCmNfxf9ri9wgfFZsDXqT9W5mLV1sqtS/s320/imagesCAI36TTA.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489814769893124914" /></a><br />The Belfast Telegraph today carries a short piece on the creation of <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/a-popular-front-could-be-answer-to-tribal-politics-14863080.html"> cross community </a> politics in the north of Ireland. <br /><br />It lays out a strategy of developing a Popular Front in order to unify sectional interests in both communities who would you think have much in common i.e getting ordinary working class people in both communities to recognise they have plenty in common.<br /><br />The specific strategy is to establish an:<blockquote> electorally focused 'popular front', consisting both of political parties and individuals. The organisation would raise funds, provide organisational support for elections, support other campaigns, and, most importantly, promote debate around developing a progressive agenda. Activists would come from all traditions and would seek support from all.</blockquote> Okay but easier said than done and based on the premise that there is no party already working on building cross community politics. Even though its a short piece it does not mention Sinn Fein once. <br /><br />Its very easy to write a plan on building a cross community vote but very hard to do that in practice. One of the issues that makes this so difficult obviously is the political divide. Even if working class people in both communities have common interests they also have different political aspirations that cant be ignored, though they can be persuaded to change. The Workers Party tried to build cross community politics in the north previously, and for this article its good to park the many differences with that party, but its efforts to expand into loyalist communities were unsuccessful while its reading of the political reality of the north resulted in it losing support in the nationalist communities. <br /><br />The proposed "Popular Front" strategy in the Bel Tel argues that "certainly, on a local level, there's no advantage in class terms to either remaining part of the UK or becoming part of a united Ireland." Is that true though? Does that set the value people place on having a sense of national identity at zero? And in a place like the six counties where two communities have aspirations to different national identities does it mean that looking at the challenges of the north purely in "class terms" is to miss out on the realities of political life there. Is an analysis purely in "class terms" a viable option today, or for the next few years? That doesn't mean progress cant be made towards it but first ground work has to be done before its an option. Any thoughts on that?<br /><br />Look at the work of Sinn Fein in <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/09/as-irish-republican-my-politics-and-my.html">East Belfast </a>or the recent meeting of Gerry Adams and Jackie McDonald as they paid the respects at a funeral. <br />Cross community relations are being built and thats going to lead to cross community political relationships. Look at the warm congratulations of John Stevenson to Michelle Gildernew, the independent, left wing candidate from a presbyterian background in Fermanagh South Tyrone. Small things but thats how cross-community politics is being built. <br /><br />Critics of Sinn Fein can ignore the party's work in building new political relationships with loyalist communities but ignore it or no its making a difference and will allow class poltics to develop in the north. Thats more done than any putative popular front.<br /><br />Regretably in the south a different left wing group, People Before Profit, choose also to ignore the work Sinn Fein does in towns, cities and rural areas and instead launched a fairly strong attack via The Village magazine. Robbie Smith in An Phoblacht has more on the <a href="http://aprnonline.com/?cat=176">The Village</a> article and the <a href="http://rathangansf.blogspot.com/2010/07/divided-left.html">Rathangan Sinn Fein</a> blog notes that while others on the left might wish to engage in such squabbles well we in Sinn Fein shouldnt care. The only thing we do care for is the welfare of the Irish people.<br /><br />We have more ambition to create real change than these groups, and have more support to do just that. We can just rise above this type of stuff and keep on working.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-49898943145135734082010-07-01T17:18:00.011+01:002010-07-10T11:04:16.468+01:00Dead loss unveils the dead useless<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhee2tt6OOexWbFONSZTWWIM4bgaEeiY-Dw1Yh8KcIFQJHFexFhn7XIF9NKUOyGJ5Pp92h8ywcuT0QwGRBrsH6mfBOtmhI1U-0UxKe8ujilsxDs2uy10UctW6zGpFjfZg6NkyuT9frJM9eb/s1600/zombies-3.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 257px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488973111543491090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhee2tt6OOexWbFONSZTWWIM4bgaEeiY-Dw1Yh8KcIFQJHFexFhn7XIF9NKUOyGJ5Pp92h8ywcuT0QwGRBrsH6mfBOtmhI1U-0UxKe8ujilsxDs2uy10UctW6zGpFjfZg6NkyuT9frJM9eb/s320/zombies-3.jpg" /></a> Looking through the list of the new FG front bench its like a bad slasher movie. Zombie like the have runs, the never weres and the never coulds have all reappeared with a vengeance<br /><br />The first thing I saw about the new Fine Gael line up was Enda Kenny is going to be the spokesman for the six counties. Owen Patterson will be pleased. He'll look competent in comparison but maybe just maybe Enda is getting clued in...finally.<br /><br />Look at that bald, scary thing lumbering in from left of stage. Politically dead and buried Michael ah yeah Noonan has resurrected himself into the Finance position.<br />Over in Foreign affairs we have Sean Barrett - a man who retired from politics in 2002 before deciding he wanted to change his mind in 2006. At thirty years in the Dail he'll bring an unheard of freshness to the new line up. Still tríocha blian ag fás seems to be a fine gael thing. Look at Enda.<br /><br />Many of the new appointees have kept a low profile for years managing to escape public attention only to pop up like mushrooms when a bit of Fine Gael fertiliser was spread around. David Stanton a TD since 97 is hardly a big hitter, nor Andrew Doyle who comes from nowhere to become Agri. minister. Sure why not sure Enda cant trust half his party.<br /><br />But what about Brian Hayes. He is no longer on the bench..<br />We'll miss you Brian.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-19888736663732375512010-06-29T20:01:00.003+01:002010-06-29T20:11:27.764+01:00How to stop a three-horse race - and stop Sinn Féin being squeezed out AGAIN!Below is a piece from Ruadhán. The questions raised are crucial if Sinn Féin is not to be squeezed out yet again by the three main parties in the South. Is the time ripe for some major new thinking in our strategy, or should we just carry on with what we are doing? <br /><br />_____________________________________________________ <br /><br /><br />While there may be questions arising from the recent RedC and Irish Times /Ipsos polls as to Labour’s actual support and its future sustainability, it is undeniable that there is now a 3-way contest.<br /><br />For the first time since the foundation of the 26-county state, the electorate have decided that Fine Gael are no longer the only viable alternative to Fianna Fáil. Unfortunately for the Republican movement, however, the electorate are now turning, not to Sinn Féin, but to our main rivals: the Irish Labour Party.<br /><br /><strong>Fianna Fáil’s support has plummeted SINCE 2007. The party polled 42 per cent in 2007, falling to 24 per cent in 2008: today's RedC poll confirms that FF remains stuck at this all-time low. However, it is the Labour party, under Eamon GiLmore, that has benefited from Fianna Fáil’s collapse - all other opposition Dáil parties, including Sinn Féin, remain unchanged.</strong><br /><br />The Labour tide is high not only because Eamon Gilmore is more appealing than his inept Fine Gael rival, Enda Kenny, but because Labour has succeeded in ideologically distinguishing themselves from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on key issues, such as the bank bailout and taxation, even if, from a left perspective, this distinction is an optical illusion.<br /><br />This seismic shift in the Southern political landscape could only have happened in the current climate: spiralling unemployment and mounting public debt. All are traceable to the criminal behaviour - incentivised by Government - of bankers and builders.<br /><br /><br />Under these unprecedented conditions, <strong>Sinn Féin should be doing a lot better</strong> than 8 per cent. Our present stagnation is unacceptable. While the usual excuses, such as our limited Dáil representation and the so-called hostile media, may be proffered, we are still the third opposition party in the South. Furthermore, we retain a relatively wide-reaching organisational capacity and, in theory, a distinct socialist republican ideology.<br /><br /><br />The argument that we must wait for greater Dáil numbers to improve our support is one that has repeatedly been made. This contention is as flawed as it is fatalistic. At the height of the Celtic tiger, during Fianna Fáil’s golden period in 2004, Sinn Féin polled at 12 per cent. If the party had been able to sustain that momentum, we could be ahead of Fianna Fáil today.<br /><br />The last two elections have made it clear that our core vote is stuck at 6 per cent. There may be a further 4 per cent who could vote for us but, for various reasons, when it comes to polling day, these soft supporters migrate. When it comes to the last week of a general election, Sinn Féin vanishes into thin air, deprived of media oxygen just when it needs it most. Just as we were choked by the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael battle in 2007, so we could be strangled by the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Labour contest in 2012.<br /><br />The real problem for Sinn Féin today is this: not only could Labour capture almost all of the Fianna Fáil’s lost support, but they could also hoover up our own voters while so doing. While Sinn Féin’s support has broadly held up in the latest opinion polls, it is only two months since we nosedived to 6 per cent in the April RedC poll. That 4 per cent drop, remember, went primarily to Labour and is directly related to an increase in its media coverage.<br /><br />The media will focus on the main opposition parties in the last 2 weeks of a general election, as they usually do, to the exclusion of Sinn Féin, and so we face another death-bed squeeze, as voters vote for the parties in the media. If the current trend continues and our strategy remains the same, the party seems doomed to poll once again below 7 per cent at the next general election.<br /><br /><br />Local campaigning alone will not grow Sinn Féin: in today's fraught political environment, the battle for hearts and minds will be fought over the big issues. Only national realpolitik can save the day. <br /><br />The party’s overriding difficulty, however, <strong>is the public’s perception</strong>, which seems to be that Sinn Féin is northern-centred. This is partly due to our extraordinary electoral and political achievements in the Six Counties, which have long overshadowed and, indeed, now serve to underline, our current stagnation in the South. This imbalance, coupled with the fact that we not have an obvious figurehead in the South, has led to the public perception of northcentricity, namely, that Sinn Féin is led from the North.<br /><br />The overwhelming risk here is that the Southern electorate will decide that party leaders, such as Eamon Gilmore, whose constituency lies in the South, have a superior understanding of the daily grind faced by ordinary working people, and are therefore in a better position to represent them.<br /><br /><strong>A clearly identifiable Southern leadership is therefore required, if we are compete with Gilmore, undermine Cowen and out-manoeuvre Kenny.</strong><br /><br />I believe we can transform and grow in the South in addition to consolidating and expanding in the North. All it requires is confidence and courage.<br /><br />That Sinn Féin requires an elected leadership North and South in order to successfully campaign in both jurisdictions has crystallised. That leadership must be united. It must be rooted in parity of esteem, in dual leadership. Only this can give the party the tools it so badly needs to appeal to all voters on this island, and to deliver the balance of power required to achieve our goal of a united Ireland.<br /><br />I believe the time has come for Sinn Féin to act decisively. We can no longer wait for the natural evolution of a Southern leadership. That evolution is premised on a vain hope, namely, that we will, in the fullness of time, somehow reach an optimum level of TDs.<br /><br /><strong>Now is the time to act, to capitalize on the state of the nation by establishing our leadership in the South. This will enable us to go in to the next election with renewed energy and rewired momentum.</strong><br /><br />That leadership can only be established through election. Anyone who believes that it is not necessary for a leadership to be elected is mistaken. Moreover, future leaders should be selected following a contest decided by the party’s grassroots.<br /><br />A Southern leader should now be chosen without delay from our current group of elected public representives in Leinster House. The major issues of the day break in Leinster House and the Dáil remains our best platform for translating our socialist republican ideals into policies that will attract an electorate hungry for change.<br /><br /><br />Brave decisions taken now to form a recalibrated united leadership will optimize our chances of winning fresh Dáil seats. The alternative is face a potentially crippling election defeat in the upcoming general election.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-60159210837997277182010-06-27T14:08:00.004+01:002010-06-27T14:27:55.488+01:00Remembering the Past - Napper Tandy, a forgotten patriot.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJwWQSQIyDjsJESt-WSBD3N5riF45FOvm1tu-ihlh7g24G6jcJWYhnY7M7M2AGfhp2NvDNOgR7GfwGpHHKM0fysk_-J-dVqeuNwP_DzgY2BOoeMBiO5QSafN9YwkYyayS0GyN5-fa1y5c/s1600/450px-James_Napper_Tandy.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487444119328791538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJwWQSQIyDjsJESt-WSBD3N5riF45FOvm1tu-ihlh7g24G6jcJWYhnY7M7M2AGfhp2NvDNOgR7GfwGpHHKM0fysk_-J-dVqeuNwP_DzgY2BOoeMBiO5QSafN9YwkYyayS0GyN5-fa1y5c/s320/450px-James_Napper_Tandy.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The United Irishman Napper Tandy was a larger than life figure who was reputed to be nearly seven foot tall and boasted a nose so large that a political adversary once suggested it stand for election in its own right. But political humour aside Tandy was a driven and committed Republican who established a reputation for exposing corruption in officialdom and also played an active part in the 1798 rebellion, though regretfully arriving too late with the arms and ammunition needed to make the rebellion a success.<br /><br />Ian McKeane of Liverpool University’s institute of Irish studies reassesses the reputation of one of the most colourful figures of the United Irish movement in an article that originally appeared on the Irish <a href="http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/tandy/">Democrat</a> website in 2002.<br /><br />MOST PEOPLE meet James Napper Tandy in the song the Wearing of the Green. He pops up again, or rather his Dublin residence does, in the ballad The Spanish Lady.<br /><br />Apart from that he is rather a shadowy figure, one of the United Irishmen but condemned by events to be eternally in the shadow of such as Wolf Tone, Russell and Lord Edward Fitzgerald. He is dismissed as a drunk, a gossip unsuited to conspiratorial activity, another Irish failure without the saving grace of martyrdom.<br /><br />A Dubliner, born in 1740, he became involved in the political animation of late 1770s Dublin. As secretary of the Dublin branch of the United Irishmen, he was the link between the upper class Protestant leaders and the Catholic rank and file.<br /><br />When the government proscribed the United Irishmen in 1792, Tandy felt exposed and travelled to America. There he continued his United Irishmen activities which brought him into contact with the French minister plenipotentiary of the French republic, citizen Adet. Adet described him as: “an excellent republican, a man entirely devoted to France and hating England as much as he is attached to our cause”<br /><br />The French diplomat sought to gain Tandy’s support for a French action in Ireland suggesting that he should “contribute” to the project of an invasion of Ireland with the possible reward of an “honourable situation in France.”<br /><br />Adet was surprised that Tandy left for Paris in the spring of 1797 without demanding or discussing any personal financial reward. Once there, he joined with Tone in pestering the Directory (French government) to send an invasion force.<br /><br />Finally, director Carnot gave the orders which set in motion the series of confused, and uncoordinated French military moves against Ireland during 1798. As part of these preparations, Tandy was commissioned in the French army with the rank of brigadier general on 2nd April 1798.<br /><br />Tandy was appointed second in command of the Dunkirk invasion force under general Rey. They set sail in the brig Anacréon, one of the fastest ships in the French navy, on 4 September.<br /><br />The Anacréon arrived off Co. Donegal, on the 18th and anchored by Rutland Island. Rey, Tandy and other members of the party, including, James Blackwell, and William Corbett, went ashore. They landed, addressed the locals, distributed a proclamation signed by Tandy and gave out green cockades.<br /><br />It is suggested that Tandy was rather the worse for drink at the time but, despite the enthusiasm of the moment, he heard confirmation of the defeat of Humbert and therefore advised Rey that their force was unequal to any formal confrontation with British troops and that they should withdraw -- hardly the action of a man in his cups.<br /><br />Withdraw they did and set sail for Bergen in Norway. On the way the Anacréon met and captured two English ships. One was subsequently lost but the Anacréon eventually reached Bergen with its remaining prize which financed the entire expedition.<br /><br />Tandy, Blackwell, Corbett and Morris decided to return to France. The first stage was to travel to Hamburg where they arrived on the 22nd November 1798.<br /><br />Hamburg was a self governing city but relied on the protection of its powerful neighbours, such as Prussia, for defence and the senat’s (city government’s) ability to negotiate with Russia, Britain and France to enable its ships to pass unhindered in the Baltic and the Atlantic.<br /><br />Hamburg’s position as a neutral port rendered it useful to continental powers and in time of war it provided conduits for communication, both open and illicit, between the larger belligerents.<br /><br />The Irishmen’s first act was to present their documents to the French consul so as to gain papers to enter French controlled Holland. They then put up at the American Arms hotel.<br /><br />Sir James Crawfurd, the British representative in Hamburg had been waiting for their arrival from Bergen and had almost given up on them. He acted swiftly and demanded the arrest, pending extradition, of Tandy and Blackwell from the Prätor, the city's chief magistrate.<br /><br />Crawfurd’s reasoning was simple. Since the Hamburg authorities were dependent on British goodwill to allow their ships to move freely, he felt that there would be little problem in arranging for Tandy and the others to be extradited to Britain where they could be tried for treason and eliminated by execution or, at least, by transportation.<br /><br />However, Crawfurd forgot that the Hamburg authorities also had French troops not far from the gates of the city, on the Dutch border. Forgot is perhaps ingenuous -- he felt that the pressure that he could bring to bear on the spot far exceeded that available to the French government.<br /><br />Crawfurd thought that the French might bluster a bit but would consider that Tandy and Blackwell were really of little consequence to them. Even if the Directory, reacted badly to the extradition of the Irish, for Crawfurd, the end would have justified the means.<br /><br />Good relations with Hamburg were not essential to Britain’s game plan -- useful, but not essential. The war situation was fluid, a cessation of hostilities was a real possibility and new developments would just have to be dealt with. The Irish problem, though, had to be settled.<br /><br />So, very early on the 23 November, Crawfurd’s arresting party burst in on the Irish who resisted manfully. The French press wrote that Tandy threatened an officer with his pistol while the official report by the French minister at Hamburg stated that it was Blackwell who struck out with his sword but that four marines jumped on him and forced him to the ground. Crawfurd himself then transported the prisoners to jail to await extradition.<br /><br />he Hamburg magistrature soon began to have second thoughts -- Blackwell and Tandy had valid French commissions and this was no light matter. The Directory had not revoked the commissions and since Tandy and Blackwell had lodged them with the French consul as soon as they had landed the Hamburg government had a problem.<br /><br />The French consul protested to the Hamburg authorities without success. The French ambassador Marragon argued with Burgermeister, Von Sienen, (who happened to be pro-British) equally fruitlessly. Marragon promptly demanded a meeting of the Hamburg senat the next day. The city elders could not reach any conclusion. Pro-British senators questioned the identities of Tandy and Blackwell. If their identities were false, the argument went, the British had every right to extradite them.<br /><br />The international situation was changing and Hamburg seemed about to find itself on the front-line in renewed hostilities. Britain would regard a refusal to hand over the prisoners as an excuse for war. France would resist this by taking Cuxhaven, Russian troops were poised to occupy nearby Holstein, Prussia would take Hanover and, all in all, Hamburg would suffer greatly for the imprisonment of two Irishmen.<br /><br />The senat’s indecision was compounded by rising anti-British public opinion in the city. The French consul was concerned that the British would become impatient and attempt a double cross by ‘springing’ Tandy and Blackwell from jail and tricking them onto an English ship. Suspecting a trick, Tandy kept his nerve and refused to rise to the temptation to escape. Stalemate resulted.<br /><br />Months passed. British pressure increased and finally in Autumn 1799 the Hamburg senat agreed to the extradition of the Irish. They were taken to London. The French were furious and imposed an Atlantic embargo on Hamburg’s ships. What made this more serious was that the Directory had fallen and the French government’s voice was now that of general Napoleon Bonaparte.<br /><br />Bonaparte gave the Hamburg senators a piece of his mind and foreign minister Talleyrand warned the British that the whole prisoner exchange programme would be jeopardised and Britain’s reputation would be permanently stained if the commissions held by Blackwell and Tandy were not respected.<br /><br />The British were highly irritated by all this and shipped Tandy off to Dublin. Despite a trial for treason carrying the death sentence the Lord Lieutenant, Cornwallis, was instructed not to carry it out.<br /><br />Tandy claimed the protection of the court on a technicality and was acquitted. He was promptly rearrested and taken to Lifford Jail to face charges for his treasonable activities in Donegal. He was found guilty and sentenced to die on 4 May 1801.<br /><br />It was hoped that Tandy would incriminate his comrades and possibly accept conditions for mercy which would compromise his reputation amongst his associates. Despite months in prison, the Hamburg extradition, two trials and a death sentence Tandy did not weaken.<br /><br />The British government, realising that his exchange was all that impeded peace with France, ordered Cornwallis to arrange for him to be quietly shipped over to France. He arrived in Bordeaux on the 14 March 1802. On the 24th the Peace of Amiens was signed in London.<br /><br />Britain had hoped that Tandy would be more or less ignored in France but they were wrong. French propaganda made the most of Tandy’s arrival in Bordeaux. A brilliant dinner was organised to welcome him and he was immediately paid 6000 livres as army pay due to him. He was honoured with a military parade and Bonaparte personally awarded him the pension of a full general, 6000 livres.<br /><br />He was very comfortably placed as a result. The only restriction was that he was not permitted to travel to Paris. Bonaparte wished to keep him away from the capital where some of his old adversaries, including Crawfurd, were now in residence.<br /><br />Ostensibly, he was kept quite busy working on a scheme to invade Louisiana -- a cover for an new invasion of Ireland. But Tandy died on 24th August 1803, some two months before Robert Emmet’s attack on Dublin castle and there was no new French invasion.<br /><br />Tandy was given a huge funeral in Bordeaux. His companions were quietly released and made their way to France. Tandy then slips from history which is an undeserved fate for such a colourful, brave and committed United Irishman and patriot.<br /><br />Had he been of a higher social class, and perhaps more charismatic, he would be better known. As it was, only the French were prepared to support him -- for their own reasons, of course. In the end they generously provided for him, recognising his qualities in a way that others did not, and have not since.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-79829833720719312152010-06-24T14:36:00.005+01:002010-07-01T18:42:22.802+01:00Left wing Govt? Yes Please!<p class="mobile-photo" align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRWsFCWZwZQNh6CXRGAYvCXFPhtZfCukfm65-GroEJ4vrmtYzbdptO7MQx9jNLQRqVMBmooc0uyFCkUONWMU7nxwlVNzTvnUOXUHSWn-UdYYcHe5PJyTlFvWiZHoeHqneFFJIAf1tKkbBw/s1600/images-719169.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486333755250380626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRWsFCWZwZQNh6CXRGAYvCXFPhtZfCukfm65-GroEJ4vrmtYzbdptO7MQx9jNLQRqVMBmooc0uyFCkUONWMU7nxwlVNzTvnUOXUHSWn-UdYYcHe5PJyTlFvWiZHoeHqneFFJIAf1tKkbBw/s320/images-719169.jpg" /></a>As contained in the brand new An Phoblacht <a href="http://aprnonline.com/?p=395">Eoin o'Broin</a> looks at the possibilities implied by the groundbreaking recent poll that put Labour in the lead for the first time ever. But the poll also included some other noteable firsts. And I am not talking about the Fine Gael's cannibalism. For the first time the combined progressive vote is over 50%. This is a huge jump as even back in the late 1980s with the country in dire economic straits (and a radical left wing party in the form of the Workers party peaking at 7 seats,though only 4.9% of the vote) the progressive vote was only about 24%. The possibility of a left wing govt. is becoming a viable option. At the very least the ability of left wing actors to steer the course of the country towards the left is increasing. Eoin's article:</p><br /><br /><br />The most important aspect of the most recent Irish Times poll was not the 32% for Labour, but the combined 45% for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. By Eoin O Broin.<br /><p>Individual polls tell you very little, it's the overall trend that counts.</p><p>Since February 2009 Labour has scored from 20% to 25% in the MRBI polls. Their recent dramatic 10-point jump could either be an anomaly or an indicator of a significant surge.</p><p>Until we have a few more polls we just won't know.</p><p>However the slump in support for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael has been coming for some time. </p><p>Historically the states two main parties held between 70% and 80% of the votes in local and general elections.</p><p>However, since the end of 2008, both election results and opinion polls have witnessed a steady decline in their combined share of the vote.</p><p>In the 2007 general election the Fianna Fail-Fine Gael vote was at 69%. Throw in the PDs and the total right-wing vote was 72%.</p><p>Opinion polls for the remainder of 2007 and pre-recession 2008 demonstrated a similar vote distribution.</p><p>Things started to change from the autumn of 2008.</p><p>In every poll from that date the combined FF-FG vote has slipped, from 61% in the November Irish Times poll, to 51% in the September 2009 Irish Times polls.</p><p>This decline was in evidence in the 2009 European parliament elections, with the combined FF-FG vote hitting an all time low of 53%.</p><p>And now, for the first time in the history of the state the total FF-FG vote has slipped below the 50% mark to a historic low of 45%.</p><p>So what does this general trend tell us?</p><p>Clearly it indicates a growing disillusionment with the two main parties. As unemployment rises and the recession continues to bite, the failed politics and policies of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are cutting less and less ice with the electorate.</p><p>While Labour has been the chief beneficiary of this to date, Eamon Gilmore's declared intention of entering coalition with Fine Gael will mean that many voters are sure to be disappointed by the compromises that will inevitably ensue.</p><p>The Labour Party's promise of One Ireland can not be delivered within the framework of Fine Gael's economic, fiscal and political conservatism.</p><p>Of course there is an alternative, and the Irish Time poll suggests, even if only tentatively, that the voting public may just be open to persuasion.</p><p>Fifty five percent of those polled by the Irish Times opted for parties other than Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.</p><p>The combined progressive vote is for the first time in polling history above 50%.</p><p>Could this be a sign that the electorate wants real change, and not just a cosmetic changing of the same old political guard?</p><p>There has never been a better time for the left to argue for a real alliance for change, an alliance that has no place for the failed politics or policies of Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.</p><p>Such an alliance should be about policies, not personalities. It should involve Labour, Sinn Fein and those smaller left parties who are interested in radical reform of institutions and policies.</p><p>Civil society groups and individuals should seek to define a role independent of but encouraging such a party political alliance and act as a social engine and guarantee of the agenda for change promised in advance of any general election.</p><p>This alliance for change should be based on the principle of equality. Its core aim should be the creation of a more economically, politically, culturally and affectively equal society.</p><p>Its understanding of equality should go further than equality of opportunity and focus on equality of outcome and condition, challenging structural and collective inequalities as well as individual ones.</p><p>It should offer a job creation plan to get 200,000 people back to work in 12 months; a universal health care system delivered on the basis of need and not ability to pay; real reform of the tax system making it both progressive and sustainable; substantial institutional and constitutional reform making politics more democratic and participative; a comprehensive plan anchored in new equality architecture to tackle the structural inequalities imbedded in our society; and the democratic advancement of all-Ireland economic and political reunification in the context of the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.</p><p>It is too early to tell whether the Irish Times poll signals the beginning of a real shift in public opinion. However, there is no doubt that a real opportunity exists to make the argument that a better Ireland is possible.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-42343375844366341322010-06-22T18:14:00.003+01:002010-06-22T19:10:47.317+01:00The problem with freeloaders<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZgONw_FODqfbtCD3cqdnZtOrBq_fLWl2KcalL42xEctCnUpe37-K_C5pK4U7qB6YpXISnFN7lKosbDCO07mS_Wz8KdfKRkYbw9jjYoM9OmpnTkTGS60_Q0tDRfgoQEoRmkqmJchR-QEQ/s1600/Freeloaders.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 183px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZgONw_FODqfbtCD3cqdnZtOrBq_fLWl2KcalL42xEctCnUpe37-K_C5pK4U7qB6YpXISnFN7lKosbDCO07mS_Wz8KdfKRkYbw9jjYoM9OmpnTkTGS60_Q0tDRfgoQEoRmkqmJchR-QEQ/s320/Freeloaders.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485661948782559106" /></a><br />Brian Lenihan has today put it up to those of us who still have jobs. We all have to stop being freeloaders according to the Minister.<br /><br />If you believe Brian, and many dont, there is a perception in Europe that if we did not tackle wage rates here we were "freeloading on the euro". Public and Private sector wages are out of line when it comes to Europe.<br /><br />Now there are just a whole load of things objectionable in that statement.<br /><br />Firstly the contention that our wages are high in comparison to Europe. Michael Taft nailed that lie forcefully recently demonstrating that our <a href="http://notesonthefront.typepad.com/politicaleconomy/2010/03/with-industrial-action-in-the-public-sector-ramping-up-a-couple-of-notches-it-is-worth-revisiting-a-couple-of-issues-in-rela.html">Public Sector wages</a> are not the highest in Europe. In fact they are far from it. Looking at a combined <a href="http://www.progressive-economy.ie/2010/01/memo-to-ibec.html">Public/Private</a> sector we see that again our wages are again lower than Europe in general. We have a difficult economic situation to face but half-truths wont help solve it Brian. <br /><br />And by the way Brian what about this <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1212/1224260595062.html">report</a> from December 2009 which shows that the very very top of the civil service including an Taoiseach and your good self are all over paid when compared to Europe. Leave the ordinary people out of this and look at your own pay packet first<br /><br />Secondly you have to admire the brass tack on a Fianna Fail minister talking about freeloading. Full stop. But to do it on the day when Brian Cowen finally admitted what we all know - that the money lent to Anglo will never be returned nor ever yield any return to the state, is either incredible neck or really bad luck. I suspect the former.<br /><br />Thirdly Brian Lenihan has made much noise of the perception of the markets, the need to court market opinion etc. When he extends that forming policy in responses to the perception in Europe we should be equally worried<br /><br />The entire strategy of courting market opinion has been a flaw judged by the sole useful criteria - the cost of Irish debt. Paul Krugman comments:<br /><br /><blockquote>So, I’m glad to hear that Ireland’s stoic acceptance of austerity is reassuring markets; it must be true, because that’s what everyone says. Because if I didn’t know that, I might look at the data and conclude that markets actually have less confidence in Ireland than they do in Spain, and that austerity in the face of a deeply depressed economy doesn’t actually reassure markets at all.<br /><br />But hey, what are you going to believe: what everyone knows, or your own lying eyes?</blockquote><br /><br />Who are we going to trust? Brian Lenihan and his freeloading party or hard economic fact.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18014559674795589402010-06-13T21:11:00.004+01:002010-06-13T21:41:22.153+01:00Suggestions on a postcard to 51 Mount Merrion Street please<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxsYMcXGtvNvuyzTFy4ATLgVJiV_WBeZlQtT4bNH3E16n8fRV4y4lpDV63NiI8uQUYaxZbh6Y8CmT5fveZTUptsRIOoPZOfafT3YiKH7og99X5pAqCBoJOp-AuQ9_jqpjqXswoplHhcQA/s1600/open-mouth-insert-foot.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxsYMcXGtvNvuyzTFy4ATLgVJiV_WBeZlQtT4bNH3E16n8fRV4y4lpDV63NiI8uQUYaxZbh6Y8CmT5fveZTUptsRIOoPZOfafT3YiKH7og99X5pAqCBoJOp-AuQ9_jqpjqXswoplHhcQA/s320/open-mouth-insert-foot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482355986364786130" border="0" /></a>Last week Fianna Fail dropped to 17% in the polls.<br /><br />Last week Brian Cowen's govt. were exposed for the incompetent oafs we know them to be.<br /><br />Last week the govt. shut down Leinster house rather than face the consequences of this report.<br /><br />Last week the HSE hit another low point.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">But thanks to Fine Gael's bumbling this week the focus is on the main party of the opposition and the Govt. is out of the spotlight. Its Kenny rather than Cowen and the HSE scandal is old hat. The banking crisis is smaller than the blueshirt crisis and the vote on Tuesday is no longer about Cowen.<br /><br />If anyone has suggestions to help Fine Gael stop being so F...ing useless as to be actively aiding and abetting the Govt. can they please send it on a postcard to the FG HQ above.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-32898153681214193802010-06-12T19:35:00.008+01:002010-06-12T20:52:29.044+01:00Remembering the Past - The Rockite rebellion<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGsIJYDPxRl2QCs62pjTriydFP7gPP5yLQx4l7V7CmcpYmoEJul0w2PQkjhjmKO_GaxHxCa1tpqVYOTrQ0K-dlKr9IXlXgxJQXdFZVUjK4zxA6k3Q8hldPsXaZMT3F8NjSLBAPBKcNsAt/s1600/Nov1409M5.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 297px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 222px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481961417302821186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGsIJYDPxRl2QCs62pjTriydFP7gPP5yLQx4l7V7CmcpYmoEJul0w2PQkjhjmKO_GaxHxCa1tpqVYOTrQ0K-dlKr9IXlXgxJQXdFZVUjK4zxA6k3Q8hldPsXaZMT3F8NjSLBAPBKcNsAt/s320/Nov1409M5.jpg" /></a> Famously the proclamation of the Republic states our ancestors asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty "six times during the past three hundred years ... in arms."<br />But between those leading rebellions and wars were frequent, sometimes highly localised, insurrections. Rural Radicalism provided the engine for transmitting the ideas of '98 onto the next generation.<br />The historian Peter Berresford Ellis wrote a fascinating account in the Irish Democrat on Ireland's forgotten <a href="http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/rockite-rebellion/">'Rockite' rebellion</a> and the militant agrarian movement active in the south west of Ireland in the early part of the 19th century. Radical rural revolt whether by the Rockites (or transmitted into an urban industrial setting via the Molly Maguires) is one of the most fascinating aspects of our history.<br /><br />Ellis writes:<br />When I first published my History of the Irish Working Class, in 1972, I wrote in the preface that I was conscious of many aspects of working-class history that deserved to be dealt with in more detail. Indeed, many aspects at that time were largely unexplored territories. In the last thirty years, some of the avenues of research that I mentioned have now been studied and written about.<br /><br />Among them I felt that the militant agrarian organisations of the 17th to 19th Centuries should be investigated. Movements like the 'Whiteboys', the 'Ribbonmen', and the followers of 'Captain Steel' or 'Captain Right' and so on. In the south-west of Ireland during 1821-1824 there arose a movement, whose leader was a mysterious 'Captain Rock'.<br /><br />The Rockites caused a serious insurrection in January, 1822, in Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Tipperary. It was so determined that five extra regular regiments had to be sent from England to reinforce the local garrisons. An Insurrection Act, with curfew at night and trial without jury, was proclaimed in the south-west counties and 1,500 Munster men were immediately arrested, more than 200 transported to the Penal Colonies and 36 executed in February, 1822, alone. But raids and ambushes continued.<br /><br />Who were 'Captain Rock' and the Rockites and what did they want to achieve?<br /><br />The movement started, like other Irish agrarian movements, initially as a reaction against the great English and Anglo-Irish feudal landlords and their absolute power in Ireland.<br /><br />In 1776, the English traveller Arthur Young, had observed:<br /><br />"A landlord in Ireland can scarcely invent an order, which a servant, labourer or cotter dare refuse to execute. Nothing satisfied him but an unlimited submission. Disrespect or anything tending towards sauciness he may punish with his cane or his horse-whip with the most perfect security; a poor man would have his bones broke if he offered to lift his hand in his own defence… Landlords of consequence have assured me, that many of their cotters would think themselves honoured by having their wives or daughters sent for to the bed of their master; a mark of slavery that proves the oppression under which such people must live."<br />Between 1728 and 1845 the colonial landlord system in Ireland had produced twenty-eight artificial famines in which millions of Irish men, women and children had suffered death while their landlords sent off rich harvests and herds to the English markets.<br /><br />This was the cause of the agrarian unrest among the rural population. Indeed, in 1822 a major artificial famine was about to occur. We have William Cobbett's horrendous picture of people starving in the midst of plenty in that year. In June, 1822, in Cork alone, 122,000 were on the verge of starvation and existing on charity. How many people died is hard to say. A minimum figure of 100,000 has been proposed. Most likely it around 250,000. At the same time, landowners were able to ship 7 million pounds (weight) of grain and countless herds of cattle, sheep and swine to the markets in England.<br /><br />Some of the Rockite leaders saw a wider picture. Several notices around Mallow bore the signature of "John Rock, Commander-in-chief of the United Irishmen". Could the Rockites have inherited the United Irishman organisation? A government informer said that 'Captain Rock' was, in fact, "son to one (Arthur) O'Connor who went to France from this country".<br /><br />John Hickey of Doneraile, who the English authorities suspected of being 'Captain Rock', also tended to use United Irishman rhetoric and mentioned that "assistance was to be given from France" to the Irish insurgents. He also acknowledged that one of the Rockite aims was placing "Catholics upon a level with Protestants".<br /><br />Among the colonial landlords was Lord Courtenay of Powderham Castle, Devonshire, an absentee whose Irish estate was at Newcastle, Co Limerick. The estate was run with harshness by his agent, Alexander Hoskins. Even the Under Secretary, William Gregory, (the father-in-law of Lady Augusta Gregory), had been forced to comment "nothing can be more oppressive than the conduct of Lord Courtenay's agent".<br /><br />In July, 1821, Hoskin's son, Thomas Hoskins, was assassinated. The assassin called himself 'Captain Rock'. His real name was Patrick Dillane.<br /><br />Troops were called out to search for the assassin and cottages broken into, doors smashed with sledge hammers, the people ill-treated. In reaction, rural workers on other estates began to organise and raid for arms were made not only in Limerick but also in north Co. Cork. Between October, 1821, and April, 1822, it was recorded that 223 raids for arms and ammunition had occurred in Co. Cork alone. Raids were also occurring in Limerick and Kerry.<br /><br />On September 15, 1821, a local magistrate, wrote to Chief Secretary Charles Grant (Lord Glenrig): "this insurrection will turn out more serious than any which has occurred in the south of Ireland for some years past."<br /><br />Patrick Dillane had gathered a band of followers into the uplands on the Limerick, Kerry and Cork borders. At the time, it was an isolated region with roads too difficult for wheeled vehicles and for mounted troops to negotiate. But soon Dillane had handed his leadership to an elected body. Secret committees were organised with delegates sent to a central committee meeting in Mallow.<br /><br />In December, 1821, magistrates in north west Cork discovered an oath. The administration soon found evidence of a widespread organisation with co-ordinated groups through the southern counties. By early 1822, the mountains of west Muskerry had become the central guerrilla base.<br /><br />The insurrection occurred on January 24, 1822. The first major engagement between the Rockites and companies of Yeomanry troops, commanded by Lord Bantry, took place when Bantry, led his troops to the Pass of Keimaneigh. He was ambushed and several of his men were killed before he could retreat.<br /><br />That same day Lt. Colonel Mitchell, commanding the garrison at Macroom, reported that hundreds of men armed mainly with pikes had surrounded the town, attacked and stopped the mail-coach from Cork City. The Rockites fought with "presumption and boldness although so badly armed".<br /><br />Colonel James Barry, commanding the garrison at Millstreet, reported that upwards of 5,000 'rebels' had surrounded the town and many houses of loyalists between Inchigeelagh and Macroom were destroyed. The local Millstreet magistrate, E McCarty, added: "The people are all risen with what arms they possess and crown all the heights close to the town …" Cork City and Tralee were cut off for two days before troops fought their way through.<br /><br />Reports of battles between the insurgents and troops were growing. Colonel Mitchell reported that he engaged some 2,000 insurgents at Deshure, between Macroom and Dunmanway. His men killed six, wounded many and took 30 prisoner for the loss of 'a few' of his own men.<br /><br />Soldiers were among the casualties although the government reports make light of them and claim high figures for the insurgents. At Kanturk, Captain Stephenson reported his men had attacked a thousand insurgents, killed forty of them for one soldier slain.<br /><br />It would seem that during this January, according to the local newspapers and military reports, many thousands of people from Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Tipperary were being mobilised by express orders to report to certain rallying points at certain times. This shows an organisation at a time when we are told that the United Irishmen organisation had ceased to exist and agrarian unrest was confined to small groups of 'disturbers' from isolated communities rising without co-ordination against local landlords.<br /><br />The Rockite oath had the line: "I will plant the Tree of Liberty in as many hearth as I can depend my life upon" according to the Cork Constitution of March 24, 1823.<br /><br />The so-called Rockite movement was more than just agrarian unrest. It was trying to give birth to another national uprising. The mobilisation of such diverse bodies of people, from such a large area, leads one to the inevitable conclusion that there was a directing committee with a single premeditated plan for insurrection.<br /><br />In spite of the months of arms raids from loyalist houses and occasional barracks, the main bodies of insurgents seemed to have few weapons other than pikes. Most were unarmed as Reverend J Orpen wrote on February 25, 1822. "… by far the greater part were totally unarmed, driven like sheep to a slaughter house."<br /><br />The events of January 24 and 25, 1822, constituted the main attempt of the Rockite movement and following the victories of government troops, many people began calling on magistrates for pardon, surrendering what arms they had and accepting a new oath of allegiance to the Crown. This opened the way for the introduction of more repressive policies by England.<br /><br />The Insurrection Act was hurriedly passed and a new special police force set up in north Co. Cork where a chain of military posts, and two extra regiments to man them, were established.<br /><br />However, this did not mean that the Rockites had gone away. In the following two years there were over 300 attacks in which arms were either taken or the produce of the great estates. If the produce could not be distributed to the starving people then it was destroyed to prevent it being shipped to English markets for sale.<br /><br />Patrick Dillane, the first 'Captain Rock', seems to have disappeared. We know that in 1822 there was a trial held at Limerick Assizes of someone who was accused of the murder of Thomas Hoskins but it has proved difficult to find records of who was charged. We do know that in November, 1823, a farmer named Cornelius Curtin of Gortnaskehy, a mountain farm bear Newcastle, had his crops burnt in retaliation for appearing as a witness for the prosecution.<br /><br />In March, 1823, John Hickey, a gardener by profession, was arrested near his home at Doneraile. According to A. Hill, reporting to Colonel Gough, Hickey had commanded 300 Rockites in committing agrarian outrages in Fermoy. Hickey was questioned with some severity by Major Carter but he refused to reveal the names of his associates and was executed. Hickey had indicated that the Rockites hoped for a national uprising. "When destruction of property and the (colonial) system is established in each county, then there will be a general rising," he assured Major Carter.<br /><br />Hickey was a senior member of the Rockite leadership but he was not their leader.<br /><br />David Nagle had been elected to lead the Rockite organisation. He was from Annakissy in the parish of Clenor, barony of Fermoy, and a member of one of the leading Catholic families in the county. The Nagles were moderately wealthy for Catholics at this time but clear in their politics. In 1798 they had their house burnt down by English troops. David's father appears as James Nagle Esquire.<br /><br />There were many Nagles in the Fermoy area whose names appear on lists of suspected person, including that of David, then living at Ballydraheen.<br /><br />David Nagle was betrayed by an informer and arrested near Cork City in July, 1823. He was reported to be an outstanding leader and was said to have been seen at the head of his men in a blue coat, a sash and sword and wearing a military hat with a big white feather.<br /><br />Nagle was reported to have signed a confession before being sentenced to death but without naming anyone. It seems that, unwisely, some papers were found at his home revealing that there was a network of local secret Rockite committees. Mallow was where the central Rockite committee met consisting of sixty delegates, one of which had been Hickey.<br /><br />The Mallow meeting in late 1822 had discussed ways of collecting money, manufacture and distribution of pikes and how to stage an uprising.<br /><br />One of the Rockite committees, meeting in Charleville, in May, 1823, was arrested. They were fifteen men of various social backgrounds and professions.<br /><br />Alas, I have not been able to trace any details so far about David Nagle's execution. The Connaught Journal's Cork correspondent did report, in the 4 September 1823, edition, that "R Nagle and Denis Barrett" were executed at Buttevant. However, they were charged specifically with raiding the home of Thomas Heffernan of Kilbarry for arms and ammunition.<br /><br />However, there were several Nagles involved in the movement. It is dubious that 'R Nagle' was the same as 'David Nagle'. And there were several David Nagles, one of whom left for Québec in Canada, that very month of July, 1823. But he was only ten years old.<br /><br />So much more research needs to be done on this hidden working class movement which has been almost ignored by those 'revisionist' historians who would have us believe how Ireland was happy under the 19th Century colonial system.<br /><br />This essay appeared in the Irish Democrat <a href="http://www.irishdemocrat.co.uk/features/rockite-rebellion/">website</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-73512982807923140132010-06-10T21:22:00.003+01:002010-06-10T21:24:34.698+01:00ENOUGH SAID<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KHRgluGVz1QkZUjEfDB3vCsnbYoYxf7R3h5EYt8pcSHt6BVo0sfJHpsUlP23yk0nkAiCtivVZg3MYP7XoRGakCFwd4TDzO4KiOur1GnhtPlIjpM8kpZvUN45AHKeIMhhIz_KNonAMBbN/s1600/31698_1297314194874_1290952761_30665960_8098424_n.jpeg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 498px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 567px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481243178255728546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KHRgluGVz1QkZUjEfDB3vCsnbYoYxf7R3h5EYt8pcSHt6BVo0sfJHpsUlP23yk0nkAiCtivVZg3MYP7XoRGakCFwd4TDzO4KiOur1GnhtPlIjpM8kpZvUN45AHKeIMhhIz_KNonAMBbN/s400/31698_1297314194874_1290952761_30665960_8098424_n.jpeg" /></a><br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-48521061177827877032010-06-08T20:48:00.005+01:002010-06-08T21:05:03.283+01:00No country for old men<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV4sS_zfNv8b3pPMwoBumVGa371X4VMgV3rF3mgJi3AH1O5M9jzHVn0J9XHW4OSv8elCDlNkysfjZ77kfeErC5ncgBvF16UThXVYibeZvMEgOjjBG1vpZtleQhT-2JugRuFafTs0LrEr9/s1600/artblog-23-old-man-rembrandt-large-smk.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 169px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 224px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480492905687479938" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV4sS_zfNv8b3pPMwoBumVGa371X4VMgV3rF3mgJi3AH1O5M9jzHVn0J9XHW4OSv8elCDlNkysfjZ77kfeErC5ncgBvF16UThXVYibeZvMEgOjjBG1vpZtleQhT-2JugRuFafTs0LrEr9/s320/artblog-23-old-man-rembrandt-large-smk.jpg" /></a><br />They say that you can judge a society by how it treats its young and its old. Last week with evidence that 188 kids died while under <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/06/suffer-little-children-outside-golden.html">HSE care </a>or remit it was clear that kids were not well served. Its the turn of the old this week with old people in a resident's home being pressured by the HSE to relocate. With the pressuring and threatening of old people the HSE shows how morally bankrupt it is.<br /><br />Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Hogan has called on Health Minister Mary Harney to intervene after a third resident of <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/18728">Loughloe House</a> has died since the HSE's announcement on 6 May of its plan to close the home. He described the tactics being used by the HSE to relocate residents as despicable and disgusting.<br /><br />Councillor Hogan said: “A third resident of Loughloe House has passed away today. She had suffered a stroke in Loughloe House after pressure was put on her to agree to move to another home. She was transferred to Mullingar Hospital where she died in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday).<br /><br />“Two residents of Loughloe House died within a week of the 6 May announcement. Relatives and staff with whom I have spoken are in no doubt that the stress caused by pressure to move out of Loughloe House was the key factor in their untimely deaths.<br /><br />“Two other residents had heart attacks and another man had a stroke. Six people have now been hospitalised, three fatally, in one month. I want to extend sympathy to the three families concerned.<br /><br />“We are talking about people’s lives here. Something needs to be done. I am calling for the Minister for Health Mary Harney to directly intervene and stand down the HSE’s disgusting and despicable methods of relocating residents. As Minister for Health she has a duty of care for all residents of Loughloe House.<br /><br />“I have also called for an independent investigation into the methods being used by the HSE to relocate residents. Some residents have been threatened with the street if they talk to media or public representatives. Some were threatened with the door if they refused to take another bed offered to them by the HSE.<br /><br />“Today I am meeting Joe Ruane, Health Manager for Longford and Westmeath. This will be my third time to meet him since the announcement was made to close Loughloe House. I am also meeting Minister for Health Mary Harney tomorrow in Leinster House. I will be raising these matters with them in a compassionate plea to stop the HSE from using such tactics, which is obviously causing huge stress and anxiety amongst the residents.”<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-37902270135420793452010-06-04T20:46:00.005+01:002010-06-04T22:05:33.224+01:00Suffer the little children outside the golden circle<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLBP-mKXx12QjUpQZa26ctKAQNLrwu3PP4TDVOtlmyejxEIdMbX7ET9H4qbTbFPzx9I7lQlcCRpeow4VLZmwz3xUneiIjBfVQNjKuY-Rk7mL_62D8m7XfJ4DnAlNfsldoiYM61l_9j0LG/s1600/28.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 93px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 88px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479016125402628066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLBP-mKXx12QjUpQZa26ctKAQNLrwu3PP4TDVOtlmyejxEIdMbX7ET9H4qbTbFPzx9I7lQlcCRpeow4VLZmwz3xUneiIjBfVQNjKuY-Rk7mL_62D8m7XfJ4DnAlNfsldoiYM61l_9j0LG/s320/28.gif" /></a><br />Today the Health Service Executive revealed that an additional 151 kids who were known to social services have died since 2000. Last week the HSE confirmed that 37 kids who were in the care of the state since 2000 also died<br /><br />This has all come to the fore since the tragic death of Daniel McAnespie<br /><br />The HSE have a breakdown of how these kids died. Of this additional 151 kids 62 died of natural causes and 84 died of unnatural causes.<br /><br />Deaths from natural causes during the period include deaths from illnesses such as brain tumours, leukaemia, heart disease and sudden infant death syndrome.<br /><br />Of the 84 unnatural deaths the breakdown for causes of death is as follows:<br /><br />•21 Suicide<br />•10 Unlawful Killing<br />•14 Drug Related<br />•15 Road Traffic Accidents<br />•24 Other Accidents<br /><br />The terrible tragedy in Monageer in 2007 demonstrated that part time solutions for social services wont work.<br /><br />Nows there is going to be less money than ever to provide these services. But I dont think its just about money. Its as much about responsibility. The usual problem in the southern state with nobody being responsible. Sure the Dept. of Health isn't responsible its the HSE etc etc.<br /><br />Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews said he thought there might be some 'shock' at the figures in the report. <br /><br />There will be shock that its kids dying but little shock that the southern state fails everyone who might rely on on it. <br /><br />Barry can wonder why this state is like that.Maybe as Minister for Children he could talk to his father, former Fianna Fail TD David, or his uncle former Fianna Fail TD Niall or he could run along and have a chat with his cousin Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrew.<br /><br />Or why not talk to the previous Minister for Children Brian Lenihan TD whose brother Conor is as we know a Fianna Fail TD and whose dad was a FF td and whose auntie is the formidable Fianna Fail TD Mary o'Rourke.<br /><br />Some kids have every advantage in this state Barry and some kids have none. <br />You of all people should not be surprised by that. <br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-13293158887366876232010-06-02T18:08:00.005+01:002010-06-02T19:10:42.941+01:00The Working Class is being replaced with the Unemployed class<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldEq0qng0lIIHo0Ri9Rwugkts1tUGDZdIrfCHRFvUOuGGINNFTsFJfdqfhutgjgxutsDIbeWdU-xLuePWH6WBP43jMIvTcEFZP-MyRCSWpNlLOA2pat8PKRnlzBQFqXRBcpJ-Qv1GzqEv/s1600/Working_Class_by_carts.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 268px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478239059005205426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldEq0qng0lIIHo0Ri9Rwugkts1tUGDZdIrfCHRFvUOuGGINNFTsFJfdqfhutgjgxutsDIbeWdU-xLuePWH6WBP43jMIvTcEFZP-MyRCSWpNlLOA2pat8PKRnlzBQFqXRBcpJ-Qv1GzqEv/s320/Working_Class_by_carts.jpg" /></a><br /><div>The relentless trend of economic bad news is not going away. CSO figures for the <a href="http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/current/lreg.pdf">Live Register</a> shows unemployment is only getting worse. The Figures have now risen from 13.4% up to 13.7%. Since the last election the govt. has tripled the unemplyment rate from 4.5% up to that 13.7%.<br /><br />But how long will all this last. Aren't things looking up according to the dublin govt. Well according to Ernst & Young's latest report persistent unemployment is going to remain around for a long time. <a href="http://www.progressive-economy.ie/2010/06/inter-relationship-of-it-all.html">Progressive-economy</a> reports they suggests that it will be well over a decade before all-Island employment returns to its peak of 2.9m achieved in 2007. (And interestingly the report repeatedly focuses on all-Ireland rather than the component economies of each state which is at least one positive trend). For the 26 counties employment levels won’t return to their pre-recession level until 2022.<br /><br />Some commentators have optimistically looked at the jobless figures and noted that the rate of increase for the live register is droppiing off.<br /><br />But thats to miss the huge social implications of the return of long term unemployment, under-investment and emmigration. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Over 10 years of Fianna Fail jobs for the boys means another 10 years of unemployment and pain for ordinary people.</div><br /><br />Its got to end. We need those bye-elections held, the govt. removed, and the serious work to begin so that the inherent stregth of the economy is developed for the benefit of ordinary people and not a cosy circle of insiders.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-78973995151366062132010-05-31T16:33:00.001+01:002010-05-31T18:48:34.497+01:00Attack on the freedom Flotilla<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0lJFmQRXC0MEMw1VaKfctMzaLGOCWhguyfzUJuD0UFx_XlwFcpSgB5o3Kf4Lh4LVhQQSEXgGJXI3R4pskoOi9lTmRGgxDp1W4H3Jsw_fxFh0EwKUYWmgpELt8HXWMa5L01fNRdQHHdHU/s1600/aid_atack2-742997.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477457880147549202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0lJFmQRXC0MEMw1VaKfctMzaLGOCWhguyfzUJuD0UFx_XlwFcpSgB5o3Kf4Lh4LVhQQSEXgGJXI3R4pskoOi9lTmRGgxDp1W4H3Jsw_fxFh0EwKUYWmgpELt8HXWMa5L01fNRdQHHdHU/s320/aid_atack2-742997.png" /></a></p><h1><span style="font-size:85%;">Response to murderous Israeli attack must be firm and resolute — Adams</span></h1>Speaking this morning about the attack by Israeli military forces on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in which a number of people have been killed, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said:<br /><p>"People across the world have been shocked and horrified by the reports this morning of the killings of up to 20 civilians taking part in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish ship.<br />"People in Ireland are extremely concerned for the safety of the eight Irish nationals on board the flotilla.<br />"The Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a humanitarian aid mission carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid to the besieged city of Gaza. The blockade of Gaza is illegal under International law. The flotilla organisers had repeatedly declared their peaceful intent.</p><p>"This murderous attack took place in international waters, in breach of international law.<br />"The response of the international community must be firm and resolute.<br />"Israeli policy towards the Palestinian people must change.<br />"This Israeli action must be condemned by all governments and political leaders who believe in democracy, peace, security and the standing of international law.<br />"My thoughts are with the families of those who died in this outrageous attack."</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-59149321228843783272010-05-28T20:17:00.005+01:002010-05-28T20:31:26.221+01:00An Phoblacht - The future looks bright<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNlJTSmMEnS9aT0MGERilxgrt7VFDZFDtWIwNA6VmbrSKlCe-EeXsKGHadJf1eDt5LgyqwHeUkpHrQ76exa9WImkxsRGEn3DbdhvSzyR3FWXMRBiLJl9PCl2C7Ats5lXq1gY86zexeO8/s1600/An-Phoblacht2-p12.jpeg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476403977512450434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNlJTSmMEnS9aT0MGERilxgrt7VFDZFDtWIwNA6VmbrSKlCe-EeXsKGHadJf1eDt5LgyqwHeUkpHrQ76exa9WImkxsRGEn3DbdhvSzyR3FWXMRBiLJl9PCl2C7Ats5lXq1gY86zexeO8/s400/An-Phoblacht2-p12.jpeg" /></a>As we all know An Phoblacht is moving to a new format and the web is going to become an increasing focus for putting forward the republican argument for change in Ireland.<br /><br />Below is a piece from this week's An Phoblacht on what is hoped to be the future shape of An Phoblacht. Here's hoping that we deliver on the great potential of the web for encouraging debate and analysis within the republican movement.<br /><br />_________________________________________________<br /><br /><div></div><a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39960">http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39960</a><br /><div></div><br /><div>BY ROBBIE SMYTH<br /><br /><strong>Why do we need journalism, what is it for and what does it actually do?</strong>’ are not questions you might expect a newspaper to ask, but in truth these issues are on the minds of media news rooms across the world whether its print or broadcasting, daily, weekly or even on the web. </div><br /><div><br />Journalism is changing, its audience is fundamentally different from five or ten years ago and the method of creating a simple weekly paper like An Phoblacht has been transformed by the impact of digital technology. From the writing of this article, to how it was researched and sent for editing, how it delivered to printer and how the finished paper is published, has all come on in leaps and bounds.<br /><br /><strong>First on the web</strong><br />All of this happens in a digital format. An Phoblacht was one of the first news publications in Ireland to move its layout and design functions onto computer using Apple Macs and a computer programme called QuarkExpress in 1989 which became the standard across newspaper publishing. In 1994 the paper began to put its content on line, again one of the first in Ireland to do so. </div><br /><div><br />Today more and more of the audience has migrated from traditional to new media platforms whether it is a laptop, PC or the iPhone.<br /></div><br /><div>When An Phoblacht began using computers to create layout, Sky News and CNN were in their infancy. Now people don’t even have to wait to see the news on the hour, they can access and download bulletins whenever they please. Google news is the sharp end of the process of change. Its stories and headlines are generated entirely by computer, siphoning content from news sites around the world, and it’s not uncommon to find An Phoblacht articles on its pages.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Citizen journalism</span></strong> </div><br /><div><br />It is this metamorphosis that is driving An Phoblacht’s decision to move from being a weekly paper to a monthly with a fresh daily updated internet presence. As we go through the summer the paper will launch a new look website, which will have more interactive features for readers, such as photo galleries of republican events, where before the paper would only carry one or two photographs with an article, and critically there will be space for readers’ comments. </div><br /><div><br />There will also be more video slots enabling readers see and hear critical news events and happenings, and like the readers comments, there is potential for reader content to be included here also. </div><br /><div><br /><strong>Citizen journalism is one of the critical features of new digital journalism, where your audience also becomes the broadcaster, writer, interviewer and commentator. This interactivity is crucial and we will be able to have a Phoblacht that is the sum of a greater number of parts. </strong></div><strong><br /><div><br />It was citizen journalism that highlighted through mobile phone pictures and shaky videos uploaded onto You-tube the social devastation created by US government ineptitude after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. </div><br /><div><br />In the aftermath of the disputed elections in Iran last year, it was citizen journalism accounts online in pictures and words that gave an alternative view of what was happening on the streets and in homes across Iran. In Ireland the political activists protesting against Shell have used the internet as a tool against the establishment view of the protests as did the M3 protestors.<br /><br />Centuries of change</strong></div><br />This process of change is nothing new. In the 19th century, developments in printing technologies, allowing greater quantities of newspapers to be printed in shorter time periods led to the first mass produced papers. Add in the technology of the telegraph providing daily news updates across huge geographical distances and distributed by an emerging rail network meant that in Britain it created a market where people waking up in Glasgow, Manchester or London could read the same morning newspaper.<br /><div><br />The new publications moved from being driven by political commentary to the news event reporting that is still the bedrock of news media today. </div><br /><div><br />However today, the morning newspaper reader is disappearing and young adults increasingly don’t buy or read newspapers. They still want to access news, but want it on demand and not hours or days old. </div><br /><div><br />Older readers often want more in-depth news, more commentary and insightful analysis. Expanded internet content from An Phoblacht could support both these audiences.<br />The most recent Irish newspaper circulation and readership figures highlight aptly the challenges facing the modern newspaper. All the main Irish papers sold less copies in the last six months of 2009. But they all had more readers with significant jumps in some cases.<br />In Britain the Guardian was selling just over 284,000 copies on average daily in February, compared to an average daily sale of 340,000 a year earlier. Online the Guardian had 1.87 million daily unique visits to its website. The Mail online had the highest daily traffic with 2.27 million daily browsers.<br /><br /><strong>Online news matters</strong> </div><br /><div><br />The print news media sector is in a state of chasis, with some outlets closing and some changing beyond all recognition. In Dublin we have a free sheet paper the Metro, now produced by Associated Newspaper and Independent News and Media. Previously the two companies had competing free-sheets, fighting for circulation running up multi million euro debts for the companies involved. </div><br /><div><br />In the United States some newspaper groups have gone into bankruptcy such as the Tribune chain which printed the LA Times, Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune. There are growing new news media outlets such the Huffington Post and the Daily Beast and Politico websites whose commentary and reporting can influence the national politics of the USA.<br /></div><br /><div>Politico journalist Mike Allen’s daily email news round up Playbook, was recently described by the New York Times as making him one of the “most powerful” and most “important” journalists in the USA, yet his articles appear only online. </div><br /><div><br />There is also another aspect of the news media on the web, which is a positive force and needs to be harnessed. It is its ability to link up communities at the smallest of local levels. The internet has played an active role in creating virtual communities, increasing political participation and social interaction after decades of individualism have left many of us living behind locked doors, hooked up to the TV set. </div><br /><div><br />Micro newspapers are one example of this localism. In Monaghan what began as the Carrick Gazette, a subscription driven online paper has morphed into the Monaghan Gazette selling local news as it happens. In the coming years expect a lot more of this type of paper.<br /><br /><strong>Right to information </strong></div><strong><br /><div><br /></strong></div>We need a news media service that reaches all of the people who support and embrace the republican vision. So we need a paper that reaches not just onto the coffee table but into your PC and your mobile phone. An enhanced An Phoblacht can in the coming months and years be that multimedia news source.<br />Finally there is another critical issue underpinning the development of an expanded web presence for An Phoblacht. It is that citizens, as readers and viewers, have a right to information and knowledge, they also have a right to a diversity of opinion and comment.<br /><br /><div>We didn’t need media oligopolies and cartels in printed papers, radio and television. We still don’t. The commercial media did not and do not present a picture of the whole world as it really is. A radical republican news outlet is one small stand against the prevailing orthodoxy.<br />Republicans didn’t give up the printed word to Murdoch, O’Reilly and the mainstream media and we won’t be surrendering the internet to either them or the Googles and Microsofts either. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-45691668353289561792010-05-22T11:49:00.004+01:002010-05-22T12:00:11.154+01:00One country one message?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMJG5yLQZ7H0yM3EEtKvTDdq9o11kfYRnbqD5UV2owwa-_myEQkpGKzeQY7DwR-5llp36V8C0Xs-RRpv-ktGGo53phSTQntMZ4PVZwkjHZ7ntd7IeUc6k8GANxa6MZGiet2lyUMhIjSc/s1600/sinn+f%C3%A9in+fight+back.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 282px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474047108826066034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMJG5yLQZ7H0yM3EEtKvTDdq9o11kfYRnbqD5UV2owwa-_myEQkpGKzeQY7DwR-5llp36V8C0Xs-RRpv-ktGGo53phSTQntMZ4PVZwkjHZ7ntd7IeUc6k8GANxa6MZGiet2lyUMhIjSc/s400/sinn+f%C3%A9in+fight+back.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Received this piece from Féilim and I feel it poses many questions that Sinn Féin need to look at if we are to continue to grow North and South of the border. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>_________________________________________</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>One of the difficulties that Sinn Féin has, as a party in the 26 Counties, is that its policies in Government in the Six Counties often appear to contradict its image as a left wing party in the 26 Cos. It is clear that there are different priorities for the party North and South. However, the main problem which prevents Sinn Féin from growing in the South stems not simply from different sets of priorities in both jurisdictions, but from a lack of a clear ideological analysis of Ireland today, the Ireland we’d like to bring about, and how we’re going to do this.<br /><br />In the Six Counties the main priority currently is to promote the interests of the nationalists (an ethno-centric approach rather than an historic republican approach) and the idea of a united Ireland. While virtually all SF people in the Six Counties have experienced poverty and disadvantage and have a natural affinity and empathy for those in similar situations, that does not translate necessarily into a socialist ideological perspective. Indeed many northern republicans would probably be quite happy with the 26 County Labour Party’s view on socio-economic issues – and some might even be content with Fianna Fáil if it adopted a more pro-active approach on Partition. Certainly northern republicans are more likely to say they oppose Fianna Fáil because it ‘sold out’ on Irish unity, rather than because it supports capitalism.<br /><br />And here lies the problem for republicans in the South who want to make the party relevant to people in the 26 Cos. and whose priority is to create a socialist alternative.<br /><br /><strong>The fact is that outside of republicans there is little interest in the 26 Cos. in the position of nationalists in the Six</strong>. <strong>There is no serious interest in a United Ireland, certainly not one which will cost the tax payers £6 billion annually or which will mean having to accommodate a million northern Protestants.</strong><br /><br />Since Sinn Féin is strongest in the Six Cos. and its leadership is primarily from the Six or the Border Counties, its priorities tend to represent the priorities of those in that part of the country. Unfortunately since Sinn Féín’s analysis is ethnocentric in the North and therefore cannot be extrapolated in any meaningful sense to the 32 Counties as a whole, this stunts the potential growth of the party in the South (and in the long run, also in the North). For example, Sinn Féin may well be the biggest party in the North with 26% of the vote - a great achievement by any standards. However, this vote is based on an ethnocentric appeal to a (limited) number of nationalists and the 74% which oppose us there appear to be quite consolidated in their opposition. Add to that the 94% who oppose us in the South and the question has to be asked – will a northern nationalist ethnocentric approach to politics do the trick ever bring about a united Ireland never mind a socialist one?<br /><br />The problem is that Sinn Féin has never properly developed an ideological approach to the condition of Ireland as a whole and the potential change we would like to see. <strong>Policies which we have developed have been largely pragmatic responses to political problems rather than based on in-depth analysis from an ideological standpoint or a vision of where we’d like to see the country end up.</strong> It’s no wonder than political actions in the North have often appeared contradictory to what we say we stand for in the South.<br /><br />One example of this is seen in Sinn Féin’s support for the Public Assemblies Bill, which is jointly sponsored by Sinn Féin and the DUP. This Bill is the result of negotiations between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the transfer of Policing and Justice powers to the North and the resulting discussions over Orange marches. In order to satisfy its priorities in this regard Sinn Féin has agreed to support a Bill which in effect curtails the right to protest for whole sectors of society in the North – NGOs, the Trade Union movement, solidarity groups etc. Indeed if this Bill was passed in the 26 Cos. the recent protests supported by Sinn Féin outside Leinster House would have been illegal. In recent days disquiet about the human rights implications of this Bill have been expressed by prominent trade union leaders in the North including leaders of the biggest public sector unions, NIPSA and UNISON. The N.I Human Rights Commission has also suggested that the Bill may contravene human rights legislation.<br /><br />The Human Rights Commission's response to the draft bill is available at:<br /><br /><a onclick="onClickUnsafeLink(event);" href="http://www.nihrc.org/index.php?page=subresources&category_id=26&from=0&resources_id=129&search_content=&Itemid=61" target="_blank">http://www.nihrc.org/index.php?page=subresources&category_id=26&from=0&resources_id=129&search_content=&Itemid=61</a><br /><br />The SDLP has also suggested it will oppose the Bill in its current form on civil liberties grounds!<br /><br />There are several things wrong with the Bill. However, the most objectionable element relates to the condition that any group organising a public meeting of more than 50 people (it doesn’t have to be a march) in a public area (street, footpath, town square), must give 37 days notice to a newly appointed body which will then adjudicate on the matter. This removes current rights to protest enjoyed by the community in the North and restricts the opportunity to dissent, at least in the short term. The fact that Sinn Féin in the North doesn’t see this as objectionable or as anti-worker or anti-solidarity movement or anti-civil rights or even anti-republican reflects the depth of the problem which exists in terms of a lack of republican analysis and ideology. It also explains in part why Sinn Féin is unlikely to grow in the 26 Cos. until/unless there is a major rethink on republican strategy generally.<br /><br />There are always going to be different priorities in struggle North and South while Partition and two separate socio-economic, political (and I would add cultural) entities exist. However the pursuit of these separate priorities would not throw up the contradictions we are currently experiencing if it was grounded in an agreed ideological analysis and a strategy based on that instead of pragmatism, as is currently the case.<br /><br />Féilim Ó hAdhmaill</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-65937145922388059402010-05-17T20:12:00.009+01:002010-05-17T21:34:04.980+01:00Ireland - From basket case to superstar and back again<p align="left"> Morgan Kelly has written a great piece on VoxEU.org very concisely <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFe-lNRnzTwWU6EvJfqmHsNNJoNsdQGLUszGGV9r4cN2pVSYskz7jP2F9JkxVEREo8ui3QwL-G_gc_wo-CYDAyXzjWMbWtR5eFHNd2GHp6AI79wh0K4T_67vHpuh-RJji8_s90amlK75E3/s1600/kelly.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 140px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 205px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472338324734887090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFe-lNRnzTwWU6EvJfqmHsNNJoNsdQGLUszGGV9r4cN2pVSYskz7jP2F9JkxVEREo8ui3QwL-G_gc_wo-CYDAyXzjWMbWtR5eFHNd2GHp6AI79wh0K4T_67vHpuh-RJji8_s90amlK75E3/s320/kelly.jpg" /></a>covering the greed by a closed circle that abused the <a href="http://voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/5040">economy</a> for self gain on a massive scale. At the core of his message the idea that those who gamed our economy for self-gain cannot be the ones we now turn to for help out of this mess as they now seek to protect that closed circle and jeopardize our future rather than decisively tackle the problems in our economy. </p><div>From Voxeu.org:<br /><br /><div>The Celtic Tiger faces severe challenges. This column argues that the Irish government’s commitment to absorb the losses of its banking system may well lead to a Greek-style debt ratio by 2012. It is a test-in-waiting for the EU, but one that could be solved by a debt for equity swap to cover the losses of Irish banks.<br /></div><div> </div><div>From basket case to superstar and back again – or almost. One has to wonder: How did all this happen? How did an economy where employment doubled and real GNP quadrupled during the “Celtic Tiger” era from 1990 to 2007, come to have GNP contract by 17% by late-2009 (with further falls forecast for 2010), the deepest and swiftest contraction suffered by a western economy since the Great Depression? The adjustments faced by the nation are monumental (see Cotter 2009 and Honohan and Lane 2009).<br /><br /><strong>Two booms<br /></strong>The key to understanding what happened to Ireland is to realise that while GNP grew from 5% to 15% every year from 1991 to 2006, this Celtic Tiger growth stemmed from two very different booms. First, the 1990s saw rising employment associated with increased competitiveness and a quadrupling of real exports. As Ireland converged to average levels of western European income around 2000 it might have been expected that growth would fall to normal European levels. Instead growth continued at high rates until 2007 despite falling competitiveness, driven by a second boom in construction. I analyse this second boom, the Irish bubble, in a recent CEPR Discussion Paper (Kelly 2010).<br /><br /><strong>Credit bubble</strong><br />Ireland went from getting about 5% of its national income from house building in the 1990s – the usual level for a developed economy – to 15% at the peak of the boom in 2006–2007, with another 6% coming from other construction. In effect, the Irish decided that competitiveness no longer mattered, and that the road to riches lay in selling houses to each other.<br /><br />However, driving the construction boom was another boom, in bank lending. As Figure 1 shows, back in 1997 when Ireland’s economy really was among the world’s best performing, Irish banks lent sparingly by international standards. Lending to the non-financial private sector was only 60% of GNP, compared with 80% in Britain and most Eurozone economies. The international credit boom saw these economies experience a rapid rise in bank lending, with loans increasing to 100% of GDP on average by 2008.<br /><br />These rises were dwarfed, however, by Ireland, where bank lending grew to 200% of national income by 2008. Irish banks were lending 40% more in real terms to property developers alone in 2008 than they had been lending to everyone in Ireland in 2000, and 75% more to house buyers.<br /><br />Figure 1. Bank lending to households and non-financial firms as a percentage of GDP (GNP for Ireland), 1997 and 2008.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhSrWSbXhTHYUXFHEFPwRy72oSDRpZhz3Swb_mfdu2ZhWWlfgtpD6oBsySr_-MmvXlJyTzjwu-wGmiCTusn1WE_t-9U7EfjhNFZasuFxkPbFECTelDfBm-M5Ep4RMwFCEC_e6tfy5ETeN/s1600/kelly_fig1.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 542px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 310px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472332176871580146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhSrWSbXhTHYUXFHEFPwRy72oSDRpZhz3Swb_mfdu2ZhWWlfgtpD6oBsySr_-MmvXlJyTzjwu-wGmiCTusn1WE_t-9U7EfjhNFZasuFxkPbFECTelDfBm-M5Ep4RMwFCEC_e6tfy5ETeN/s400/kelly_fig1.gif" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><br /><div>This tripling of credit relative to GNP distorted the Irish economy profoundly. Its most visible impact was on house prices. In 1995 the average first-time buyer took out a mortgage equal to three years’ average industrial earnings, and the average house cost 4 years’ earnings. By the bubble peak in late 2006, the average first-time buyer mortgage had risen to 8 times average earnings, and the average new house now cost 10 times average earnings, with the average Dublin second-hand house costing 17 times average earnings (see Figures 2 and 3).<br /><br />As the price of new houses rose faster than the cost of building them, investment in housing rose. By 2007, Ireland was building half as many houses as Britain, which has 14 times its population.<br /><br />The flow of new mortgages peaked in the third quarter of 2006, and then fell rapidly. By the middle of 2007 the Irish construction industry was in clear trouble, with unsold units beginning to accumulate. More than one-sixth of housing units are now estimated to be vacant.<br /><br />Figure 2. Irish house prices relative to average industrial earnings, 1980 – 2009<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgb6-A5Sh0Abncu3yZHjqY4FmctlOpw1kLKqysv8XCMDNQpPXOFao66iuJgXFW9y1NsUfwMK-wp4SkNEaHMbW9-WfkfJHVNPwm6idf12fX6Xaf2gOzU-nzEy-hKbK7ZtwNAUq15Ewhpc7/s1600/kelly_fig2.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 506px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 352px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472332745143485362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgb6-A5Sh0Abncu3yZHjqY4FmctlOpw1kLKqysv8XCMDNQpPXOFao66iuJgXFW9y1NsUfwMK-wp4SkNEaHMbW9-WfkfJHVNPwm6idf12fX6Xaf2gOzU-nzEy-hKbK7ZtwNAUq15Ewhpc7/s400/kelly_fig2.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Figure 3. Irish new house prices and first time buyer mortgages relative to average industrial earnings, 1990 – 2009 </div><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyg_nTMoqDxDP3NQPB87oAYvbjYqebO8pxqso1B4gSMAkhiA6OtiPcRJgHXeXd0nETYIw3-WUoiPitNC7OhFQfKUwbFbuEpD9TH4o4pMfOJ83tGR83cCkU0DGp8d_hWpHrpb6ddfM3zCHU/s1600/kelly_fig3.gif"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 530px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 336px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472337541334418690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyg_nTMoqDxDP3NQPB87oAYvbjYqebO8pxqso1B4gSMAkhiA6OtiPcRJgHXeXd0nETYIw3-WUoiPitNC7OhFQfKUwbFbuEpD9TH4o4pMfOJ83tGR83cCkU0DGp8d_hWpHrpb6ddfM3zCHU/s400/kelly_fig3.gif" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Banking collapse<br /></strong>This property slowdown was bad news for an Irish banking system which had lent, usually without collateral, an amount equal to two-thirds of GNP to property developers to finance building projects and make speculative land purchases. Share prices of Irish banks fell steadily from March 2007, with the crisis coming to a head in late September 2008 with a run in wholesale markets on the joint-second largest Irish bank, Anglo Irish. After aggressive denials that the banking system faced any difficulties, the Irish government has been forced to improvise a series of increasingly desperate and expensive responses.<br /><br />As well as guaranteeing the deposits and most bonds of Irish banks, the Irish government has currently spent, or committed itself to spend, around €40 billion on a National Asset Management Agency to buy non-performing development loans from banks, and to invest around €30 billion in Irish banks. Despite this large injection (equivalent to half of GNP), Irish banks remain moribund.<br /><br />While the Irish government bailout deals with bank losses on loans to property developers, it does nothing about their two other problems: a heavy reliance on wholesale funding; and the prospect of further large losses on mortgages and business loans.<br /><br />Half of Irish bank funding comes from international wholesale markets. Without continued government guarantees of their borrowing and, more problematically, continued access to ECB emergency funding, the operations of the Irish banks do not appear viable. Borrowing in bond markets at 6% to fund mortgages yielding 3% is not a sustainable activity, and Irish banks face no choice but to shrink their balance sheets. Should Irish bank lending return to normal international levels, our results indicate that property prices will return to an equilibrium two thirds below peak levels, with larger falls possible in the medium term as the flow of new lending is curtailed sharply.<br /><br />The third problem facing Irish banks is their mortgages. With house prices down by around 40%, renewed emigration, and unemployment tripled to above 13%, Irish banks face substantial mortgage defaults. For comparison, in Florida and Arizona, whose investor fuelled housing bubbles closely resembled the Irish one, 25% of mortgages are non-performing.<br /><br />On top of the continued disintegration of its banking system, Ireland faces two other problems: unemployment and government deficits. Private sector employment has fallen by 16%, while the number of males aged 20-24 in work has halved. The collapse in Irish competitiveness (wages have risen over 40% relative to its main trading partners since 2000) which cannot be solved by a devaluation, will frustrate efforts to reverse this decline.<br /><br /><strong>Debt crisis</strong><br />Fifteen fat years allowed the Irish government to cut income taxes, increase spending and still run a budget surplus. Between 2007 and 2009 however, tax revenue fell by 20%, while expenditure rose by 9%, moving the state from a balanced budget to a deficit of 12% of GDP. In contrast to its inept handling of the banking crisis, the Irish government has moved decisively to reduce expenditure and increase tax rates, and appears on target to reduce its deficit to 3% of GDP by 2012.<br /><br />Ireland’s government debt is still moderate. At the end of 2009 gross debt was 65% of GDP and, after subtracting the state pension reserve and pre-funded borrowing, net debt was 40% of GDP. Assuming that deficit targets are not missed too badly, gross debt should still be under 85% of GDP by the end of 2012.<br /><br /><strong>Conclusions</strong><br />This debt would probably be manageable, had the Irish government not casually committed itself to absorb all the gambling losses of its banking system. If we assume – optimistically, I believe – that Irish banks eventually lose one third of what they lent to property developers, and one tenth of business loans and mortgages, the net cost to the Irish taxpayer will be nearly one third of GDP.<br /><br />Adding these bank losses to its national debt will leave Ireland in 2012 with a debt-GDP ratio of 115%. But if we look at the ratio in terms of GNP, which gives a more realistic picture of the Ireland’s discretionary tax base, this is a debt-GNP ratio of 140% – above the ratio that is currently sinking Greece. Even if bank losses are only half as large as we expect, Ireland is still facing a debt-GNP ratio of 125%.<br /><br />Ireland is like a patient bleeding from two gunshot wounds. The Irish government has moved quickly to stanch the smaller, fiscal hole, while insisting that the litres of blood pouring unchecked through the banking hole are “manageable”. Capital markets may not continue to agree for long, triggering a borrowing crisis which will start, most probably, with a run on Irish banks in inter-bank markets.<br /><br />Ireland may therefore present an early test of the EU bailout fund. However, in contrast to Greece, Ireland’s woes stem almost entirely from its banking system, and could be swiftly and permanently cured by a resolution which shares the losses of Irish banks with the holders of their €115 billion of bonds through a partial debt for equity swap.<br /><br /><strong>References<br /></strong>Cotter, John (2009), “Crises in the banking sector and attempts to refinance”, VoxEU.org, 19 May.<br />Honohan, Patrick and Philip Lane (2009), “Ireland in crisis”, VoxEU.org, 28 February.<br />Kelly, Morgan (2010), “Whatever Happened to Ireland?” CEPR Discussion Paper 7811. </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51825288949028522942010-05-14T18:19:00.003+01:002010-05-14T18:30:03.909+01:00Adams calls for unity to oppose tory cuts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPCS0CmVa2L0jZWd2ugo7Qk1VCGpdj0bIgmKTrg9YuLCClaw444HefqRgtwCWd3Qygx4iS6bw62pScjB72G0fWu9VZ5p9qk_B0tzATN691N3qD1JwwW-VgnIYVlUoOC7wLwgq0juF62U/s1600/gerry_adams_1363061c.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471179101179687154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPCS0CmVa2L0jZWd2ugo7Qk1VCGpdj0bIgmKTrg9YuLCClaw444HefqRgtwCWd3Qygx4iS6bw62pScjB72G0fWu9VZ5p9qk_B0tzATN691N3qD1JwwW-VgnIYVlUoOC7wLwgq0juF62U/s400/gerry_adams_1363061c.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Well, the election across the water is over and we have a tory led government to deal with. For us in the South I believe the manner in which the party in the North deals with the cuts to come will be of massive importance. If we can point to the North and say look what we have achieved in fighting to maintain jobs and services, then come the next election down here we will have added credibility. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">If however</span> the party simply allows the cuts to happen then we will be in big trouble in terms of our claim to be a party that supports the ordinary working people of this island.<br /><br />anyway, here is an article from this week's An Phoblacht<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39898">http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39898</a></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Party leaders urged by Adams to unite against cuts</span></strong><br /><br /><br /><br />Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP, MLA has written to other party leaders in the North seeking a meeting to discuss an agreed strategy against any proposed cuts by the British Government.<br /><br />Speaking in Stormont on Monday, Adams said: “I have today contacted the other party leaders to put to them a proposal that we should meet to work out an agreed strategy to oppose any proposed cuts from an incoming British government.<br /><br />“I believe that it is imperative that all parties in the Executive act with a unity of purpose to safeguard public services, to defend frontline services in health and education, and to promote investment in our economy.”<br /><br />Referring to last week’s election, Adams said that, whatever the outcome of the negotiations in London, both the Tories and Labour have indicated that there will be considerable cuts in public spending.<br /><br />“These proposed cuts would have a detrimental impact on public services and jobs. They would undermine the ability of the economy here to recover from the recession. This is unacceptable. If we are to protect those most disadvantaged in our communities, if we are to promote economic growth, then the parties here must unite on a positive agenda.<br /><br />“I am proposing that we unite under the tutelage of OFM/DFM to prepare to go to the next British government from this Assembly with a united opposition to the planned cuts.”</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51573468013215688842010-05-08T12:45:00.005+01:002010-05-08T12:57:45.146+01:00The Red C poll and the challenge for Sinn FéinRead this letter in An <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Phoblacht</span> this week and for me it is the crucial challenge for the future of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span>. We can continue to have great success in the North , but without this being mirrored in the South <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> will fail to meet its objective of a free, united and just Ireland. <a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/letters/2010-05-06">http://www.anphoblacht.com/letters/2010-05-06</a><br /><br /><br />____________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T<strong>he <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">RedC</span> poll</strong></span><br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">SINN</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">FÉIN</span> is slipping in the South. The latest <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">RedC</span> poll (showing <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> down four points to 6%) augurs badly for <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> at the next general election.<br /><br />If we keep on with the same hallowed but failed strategy, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> will be eclipsed by the Labour Party and no amount of canvassing or leafleting will halt this trend.<br /><br />We need to come up with a new strategy to appeal to the 26-County electorate. Wishing that <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> will have seven or more elected <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">TDs</span> is not going to do it – it requires radical action. There is no way that we can expect to increase our <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dáil</span> representation through on-the-ground campaigning alone. We must compete at a national level.<br /><br />There is a widespread view that we are a Northern party – not an all-Ireland party. What we must do is to show the electorate that our public representatives in the South are at the heart of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span>.<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sinn</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">Féin</span> needs to be seen to have a strong Southern leadership. Power can no longer be seen to devolve from the North to the South. We need a new vision of power sharing – within our own party.<br /><br />I look forward to the publication of this letter and I hope it kick-starts an overdue debate.<br /><br />In solidarity,<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_23" class="blsp-spelling-error">RUADHÁN</span> Mac <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_24" class="blsp-spelling-error">AODHÁIN</span>,<br />Dublin.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-65335238225665368102010-05-07T15:38:00.004+01:002010-05-08T10:37:32.647+01:00As Pat Doherty might say...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZQ-83gJGf1Cr7hnFQ-nwa310W_2oWjck7scan0IEnM3PU7Jv_N9Vzwu4gByb5d1DsMNfYdBpEEQiOhYbaqRu-azpaSpsXorPdtwJmhZYB79vBDz6_FIyOo3NALmFLtkNcrTTO82WSAEh/s1600/GildernewMichelle.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 141px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZQ-83gJGf1Cr7hnFQ-nwa310W_2oWjck7scan0IEnM3PU7Jv_N9Vzwu4gByb5d1DsMNfYdBpEEQiOhYbaqRu-azpaSpsXorPdtwJmhZYB79vBDz6_FIyOo3NALmFLtkNcrTTO82WSAEh/s200/GildernewMichelle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468566748715274466" /></a><br /><div>What a marvellous win for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh South Tyrone.</div><div><br /></div><div>But today its more apt to quote Arlene Foster : "This will lift the whole country ". I think you might be right Arlene. You might just be right.</div><div><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>Boy was it close but what a testimony to the hard work of the whole party to stand its ground against the orange order candidate and the rather paltry attempt by the SDLP to aid him.</div><div><br /></div> <div> </div> <div style="text-align: left;">The republican struggle is not about electoral politcs and is not epitomised by electoral politicals. It is epitomised by the hard work, tenacity and commitment to win through and step by step build the republican project in the 32 counties as demonstrated by Michelle Gildernew and all the Sinn Fein team who supported her.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>This not just another electoral result. This is a testimony to the trust that voters in FST and across the 6 counties placed in SF yesterday.</div><div><br /></div> <div> </div> <div>Indeed this was a marvellous win. Fair play to Michelle and all the team. You did us proud.</div> <div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-23347287244813437672010-05-05T14:53:00.004+01:002010-08-03T17:51:56.264+01:00Donegal to finally get its chance?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgey4QmGP9Dri7eDtdewrIIxNCLW-N7G0-GjJfAOZeUMVfCh84p9eTjsoxWPE8qVbOFYqfFFn6JTay0ldjH1dC9Hk_Y9ytIVWkTlrTQA23qCCkjm1teJBDGe2p28RvqhV_enpWc-zV7Rd/s1600/logo.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467785205067789490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgey4QmGP9Dri7eDtdewrIIxNCLW-N7G0-GjJfAOZeUMVfCh84p9eTjsoxWPE8qVbOFYqfFFn6JTay0ldjH1dC9Hk_Y9ytIVWkTlrTQA23qCCkjm1teJBDGe2p28RvqhV_enpWc-zV7Rd/s200/logo.gif" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 94px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 72px;" /></a><br />
<div>The Sinn Fein Leinster house team are going to move the writ for the Donegal South West bye-election.<br />
<br />
Back on the 8th June 2009 Pat the Cope Gallagher retired his TD position to take up a salary of just under 100k as an MEP (with pension intact mind you).<br />
<br />
At that time 19,895 Donegal residents were unemployed (June '09). Only a year earlier it was 10,352 (March '08). Early this year it pushed through 21000 and continues to rise.<br />
<br />
But some people are beating the recession. Jim McDaid has a job but wont turn up to it. Pat the Cope has a job and a pension, and Mary Coughlan has a job but cant do it.<br />
<br />
This situation has to end. Donegal's unemployed have been abandoned by these three hidalgos who'd rather skim the cream than work for their constituents.<br />
<br />
Lets hope the writ gets moved successfully, Pearse gets elected and Donegal gets a champion for its unemployed and those struggling to make ends meet.<br />
<br />
Good facegroup to follow for any future Pearse campaign is <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Pearse.Doherty">Get Pearse elected</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/Pearse.Doherty" target="_blank"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-42507391120832005782010-05-05T11:44:00.003+01:002010-05-05T12:08:49.521+01:0029 years ago today Bobby Sands died<p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcvZqC0B7wbEK7D6Z3iWS5XV9aUpOPfYRVqa2cCYlk7U2rsCBP1d_QKBUpXIdX7ZXVuXmviO5BDUhkyg8xeZp9i31wuySzX2WZMPsMuiUeivYQ6cPPEa3zDKGt_j3ak_sng53y7G3cqM5/s1600/bobby-sands-portrait.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 158px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 215px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467737201305397250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcvZqC0B7wbEK7D6Z3iWS5XV9aUpOPfYRVqa2cCYlk7U2rsCBP1d_QKBUpXIdX7ZXVuXmviO5BDUhkyg8xeZp9i31wuySzX2WZMPsMuiUeivYQ6cPPEa3zDKGt_j3ak_sng53y7G3cqM5/s200/bobby-sands-portrait.jpg" /></a></p><div align="left"><br />The Lonesome boatman<br /><br />In the middle of the sleeping lake<br />The Lonesome boatman dwells,<br />Around him rise the bracken hills<br />The dreamy glens and dells.<br />The skies are red and rolling<br />Tinted in the twilight’s velvet hue<br />The ragged scarecrow peers in relief<br />To where the crackling crows have flown.<br /><br />The lonesome boatman doesn’t move<br />His clothes are old and worn<br />Oh, lonesome boatman reveal to me why,<br />Why you look forlorn.<br />Is it life’s sorrows<br />Or a forgotten memory that you have found<br />Or do you listen to the wind<br />For the boatmen you’ve seen drown?<br /><br />Oh, lonesome boatman, there’s a gleaming star<br />High above your head.<br />The waters glisten in the dusk<br />Are they tears that you have shed?<br />Oh, lonesome boatman, the birds are here,<br />The morning shadows fall.<br />Oh, friends, why must you be<br />But a dying shadow on my lonely cell wall. </div><p align="left">The Lonesome Boatman by Vol. Bobby Sands (1954 - 1981)</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-44181153224342983622010-05-04T22:12:00.002+01:002010-05-04T22:18:15.616+01:00VOTE SINN FÉIN IN FERMANAGH SOUTH TYRONE<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XWQ5VBBoUJg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XWQ5VBBoUJg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18923067103339464352010-05-04T11:17:00.001+01:002010-05-04T11:17:32.564+01:00The Language Freedom Movement - Redux<div id="TixyyLink" style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> Fine Gael has been making more and more frequent noises to do away with compulsory Irish at leaving cert level. Their arguments against the retention of leaving cert Irish are a mix of the valid and the tendentious. </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> Certainly valid because the teaching of Irish by the southern state is a tolerated failure. Tendentious because it leverages the number of students opting not to do the Irish exam as a support of their position to scrap compulsory Irish rather than successfully disproving the argument that its indication of demographic change in Irish schools were an increased number of students may not have been present at the national school cycle to study Irish and decide to not bother at leaving cert.</div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> The one point where they are on strong ground is that the teaching of Irish in the south is an abysmal failure. I suspect that their decision to end compulsory Irish is more to do with their outlook on the place of Irish, its relevance and also a misplaced sense that in an agreed Ireland compulsory Irish may have no place rather than a genuine desire to increase the no. of speakers in the state.</div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> Considering the FGers will surely be the next Government then it looks like compulsory irish is dead and buried. Compulsory Irish as a policy failed pretty much everyone I know and I would not mourn its loss - meaningless gesture that it was. However there must be a quid pro quo here. If compulsory irish in Leaving cert goes then maybe those inevitably surplus teachers should be redirected to the junior and national school cycles ( And is that what this is about - a way of dropping more teachers). Kids should be fluent in Irish by the time they leave national school. If we as a state can move closer to that then who cares about compulsory Irish in leaving cert. But will Fine Gael do that. Or will they tolerate the same poor return on Irish teaching as they have always done and let the language weaken further.</div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> The Examiner reports:</div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div> <div style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: hidden; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> <em>Fine Gael is calling for the ending of Irish as a compulsory subject, claiming students would be better off using their school time to study subjects they are interested in. <br><br>New figures show 15.8% of the 55,000 students who sat the Leaving Cert last year chose not to do the Irish exam. The number choosing not to do it has increased by about 600 a year since 2006. <br> <br>Education Minister Mary Coughlan said: "While Irish is an essential subject that must be studied by all students other than those who have been granted an exemption, there is no obligation on students to sit an examination in the subject." <br> <br>Fine Gael's education spokesman Brian Hayes claims the numbers are not down to exemptions, or an increase in students who have recently arrived in the country, but the fact that students are "voting with their feet". <br> <br>He said: "If 15% of all kids who have to do Irish don't even turn up for the exam it's an example of the crisis the language is facing in schools." <br><br>Fine Gael believes Irish should not be compulsory after Junior Cert, but rather than damaging Irish this would "liberate the language" according to Mr Hayes. "It will get people doing the language who want to do it," he said. <br> <br>"If you don't have a particular ability for languages you shouldn't have to waste your time, two hours a day, five days a week on Irish when the time could be used for other subjects," he said. <br></em><br> Read more: <a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/end-compulsory-irish-says-fg-as-14000-drop-subject-118897.html#ixzz0mx3M6BcO">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/end-compulsory-irish-says-fg-as-14000-drop-subject-118897.html#ixzz0mx3M6BcO</a><br> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-5913964517484517982010-04-30T17:01:00.002+01:002010-04-30T17:07:41.908+01:00Shifting the Burden by Eoin Broin<strong>Shifting the Burden</strong> <a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39824">http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39824</a><br /><br /><br />WHO is shouldering the burden of the recession? The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has this month released a report which seeks to answer that question.<br /><br />The report is called Shifting the Burden: Why the Government wants to load the cost of the collapse onto the less-well-off and why their plan will just make things worse.<br /><br />It argues that at the heart of Government policy is “a determination to load the full cost of the collapse onto working people and the poor”.<br />The consequence of this strategy, argues ICTU, “could turn Ireland into a social and economic wasteland for a decade or more”.<br /><br />In support of their argument, ICTU examine the impact of recent budgets on wages, social welfare and pensions. The report outlines the loss of real income experienced by workers and the unemployed while highlighting those sectors of society who are gaining from the recession.<br /><br />In 2009, 300 individuals held a personal wealth of €50 billion. Despite this, the total tax take from these millionaires was just €73 million. In the same year, the Budget took €760 million from social welfare claimants in cuts.<br /><br />In 2009, the share of national wealth going to wages fell by €5 billion while profits from trade, farming and rents are expected to rise by €3 billion.<br /><br />These figures, and the disparities they highlight, argue ICTU, are the consequence of a Government policy that is determined to lower the cost of labour. And there is more to come.<br /><br />Shifting the Burden details Government plans to further reduce social welfare payments; cut the minimum wage and other sectoral wage rates; and reduce the size and cost of the public sector.<br /><br />All of this is being done in the name of restoring Irish competitiveness, and is the key plank of the Government’s plan for economic recovery.<br /><br />Yet the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), established to advise Government on competitiveness policy, doesn’t share the Government’s concern with wages.<br />Successive NCC reports argue that costs such as rents, energy, health insurance and childcare are primarily responsible for the economy’s loss of competitiveness in recent years. The Government has brought forward no proposals to address these issues.<br /><br />In opposition to the Government’s deflationary economic strategy, ICTU quotes Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz who argues that, “In a recession you want to raise (and not decrease) the level of total spending – by households, businesses and government...”<br /><br />In response to what it believes is the Government’s failed economic strategy, ICTU outlines its alternative which it contends would not only share the burden of the recession more fairly but also address the causes of the recession.<br />Among the measures proposed are:<br /><br /><br />Increased investment in job protection and creation<br />Protecting incomes<br />Ending social welfare cuts<br />Protecting people’s homes<br />Safeguarding public services<br />Reforming the tax system<br />Protecting pensions<br />Enhancing workplace rights<br />Stronger regulation of the banks<br />Extending the estimated period of time for economic recovery.<br /><br />At the core of Shifting the Burden is a call for a significant shift in social and economic policy. ICTU want an end to those policies which privilege the wealthy in society at the expense of equality and long-term social and economic sustainability.<br /><br />Shifting the Burden can be downloaded here <a href="http://www.ictu.ie/publications/fulllist/shifting-the-burden/">http://www.ictu.ie/publications/fulllist/shifting-the-burden/</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-60369240569046876722010-04-29T16:45:00.001+01:002010-04-29T16:45:40.304+01:00Radical irish Lives - Peadar O'Donnell<div>Peadar o'Donnell was an interesting figure in Irish political circles. More and more he seems to be coming to the fore in terms of being a political touchstone for the left.</div> <div> </div> <div> The author William Wall, <a href="http://www.williamwall.eu/" target="_blank">www.williamwall.eu</a>, has penned a review of the book "Radical Irish Lives - Peadar O'Donnell" by Donal ó'Drisceoil. It was oringally posted in the <a href="http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/04/28/book-review-peadar-odonnell-donal-drisceoil/">Irish left review site</a> and is reproduced with William's permission. Its a very good review and is worth reading.</div> <div> </div> <div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div> <div> </div> <div> <p><strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peadar-ODonnell-Radical-Irish-Lives/dp/1859183107/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272459390&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Radical Irish Lives: Peadar O'Donnell</a> by</em> Donal Ó'Drisceoil - Cork University Press</strong></p> <p>The recent reportage of the teachers' unions conferences would have delighted Peadar O'Donnell, who began his career as an activist in the INTO. The general tenor of the media response was 'how dare these people object to having their pay slashed and conditions of work and contracts interfered with unilaterally'. 'The teacher conference season has exposed deep and fundamental divisions among the unions.' was the Irish Times take, reporting that two out of the three unions had rejected the public service pay deal and that a third had narrowly squeaked past rejection by four votes. So much for 'deep divisions'. O'Donnell, as a trade union activist, and later as editor of <em>The Bell</em>, would have seen it all as typical of a press that is fatally prejudiced against workers.</p> <p>Peadar O'Donnell was born on a five-acre farm in The Rosses of Donegal in 1893. This in itself would seem to be a remarkable and unlikely beginning for a left-wing radical. That he should begin his working life as a National School teacher in 1913 made it even more unlikely, schoolteachers in those days, if not today, being under so much pressure to conform.</p> <p><span id="more-2796"></span></p> <p>Nevertheless, he would quickly move into full-time organisation on behalf of the ITGU and one of his first successes was the occupation of Monaghan Asylum in 1919. The occupation was, in fact, the first action in Ireland to describe itself as a soviet and the red flag was raised above it. The occupation occurred after talks with the Asylum Committee had broken down on the issue of equal pay increases for men and women. The workers occupied the premises and ran it successfully, electing O'Donnell as governor, and in the end, the Asylum Committee met all their demands. This tendency to adopt radical practical approaches to political problems stayed with O'Donnell. He borrowed his tactics promiscuously - from anarcho-syndicalists, communists, republicans and even, on occasion, from bourgeois politics. The aim of such actions, besides the immediate effect of solving a particular local problem, was always politicisation. He was conscious that involvement in direct action helped to change how people analysed their problems, it radicalised them and shifted their focus from the personal to the communal and social.</p> <p>Thus began a remarkable and long career of labour and left-wing activism that saw him fight in as an active flying column commandant in the War of Independence, take the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War, be elected to the first Dáil, edit <em>An Phoblacht</em> and later <em>The Bell</em>, help start the agitation against the Land Annuities, and be a founder member of the Republican Congress. A committed Marxist, he worked tirelessly for land redistribution, a cause close to the heart of the Rosses man whose family subsisted on five acres of land and tatie-hoking in Scotland. Until the late forties he was at the heart of the radical left in Ireland and saw it wax and wane, be devastated by the Spanish Civil War and eventually crumble in the face of the new Troubles.</p> <p>Although he fought in the IRA, he was always conscious of the bourgeois nature of it's leadership and cadres and believed from the outset that the political class that was developing around Dáil Éireann would sell out the labour movement in favour of a bourgeois peace with the empire. That was his analysis of the Treaty, when it came, and his reasons for opposing it were founded in a Marxist critique rather than the objections to the Oath of Allegiance, which motivated many others. The middle-class anti-labour government that emerged in the Free State confirmed him in his opinion. He wrongly believed, however, that it was possible to organise the farm labourer, small farmer and the industrial worker around common injustices and that such a group could become a powerful political force in Ireland. Despite occasional episodes of solidarity no such lasting movement was to develop. This was, probably, his life's ambition. When, in his latter years, it became clear that such a popular front was impossible, he withdrew into his other life - that of a writer - without ever fully abandoning his cause.</p> <p>He was a key figure in the attempt to get the IRA, diminished by the Civil War and by the founding of Fianna Fáil, to adopt a socialist programme and plan of action. Again here he was frustrated by the leadership which was sympathetic but believed the struggle for complete independence should come first and the social struggle later. In fact, they believed that the success of the national struggle would bring them to power and allow them to impose social change. This messianic certainty dominated the IRA's thinking until at least the late sixties. And anyway the IRA became an increasingly hostile environment for a socialist activist, to the point where it made a determined effort to destroy O'Donnell's brainchild, The Republican Congress.</p> <p>This short-lived attempt at unity and solidarity in the left has much to teach us for our present circumstances. O' Donnell's dream was that the left parties and movements would put aside factional differences and dreams of becoming the next government but one, and concentrate on what they had in common. The history of the left in Ireland is little known outside specialist circles, but a glance at this section of the book will show that it was alive and well and considered a very serious threat indeed by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (which was founded during the period in question). Hunger marches, rent strikes, anti-eviction actions, squatting, resistance to cattle seizures and land evictions, protest meetings attended by as many as 10,000 people at a time, street clashes with the Blueshirts - this was the atmosphere of the time. Ireland, like the rest of Europe was in a ferment of possibilities and social constructs were fluid enough to allow radicals to imagine a different future to the Catholic-confessional petit bourgeois statelet that had been installed by the Treaty. There was a substantial socialist element in the IRA and, particularly, in Cumann na mBan; a communist party; a radical tendency in the Trades Union Congress; numerous <em>ad hoc</em> resistance groups that developed out of the slum problems, tenant leagues, unemployment and small farmer action against the land annuities; and a variety of smaller parties, factions and tendencies, as well as the Labour Party. The latter was viewed with suspicion by the radical left because of various positions it had adopted over the years, beginning with the decision not to contest the 1918 General Election, but to cede the ground to Sinn Féin. But for a brief period in 1934, it seemed as if these disparate groups could make common cause against a Fianna Fáil intent on serving the interests of big farmers and rent-earning landlords. That unity was so brief was not the fault of O'Donnell whose Marxism was eclectic and broad enough for him to embrace with affection even the Anarchists of Catalonia. That factional interests won over solidarity should be a warning to us all, in the light of recent calls for a unified left front to fight FF and FG in the next election, but equally the history of this moment can be an inspiration for those who are intent not on power, but on resisting the hegemony of the jobbing politician, the banker and the developer in this auctioneer's republic of ours.</p> <p>One aspect of the activism of the period that might be of particular and local interest now, was the agitation over rental property and evictions which led to the Tenant League forcibly retaking property on behalf of homeless families. Now that we're talking about bulldozing ghost estates, maybe the time has come to install homeless families in some of these 'desirable residences' instead of allowing them to stand idle, or be recycled so the developers can build on them again at some future stage.</p> <p>O'Donnell found himself on holiday in Spain in 1936, in search of a quiet place to finish a novel when the Franco rebellion began. Famously, he had made attempts to make contact with the Communist Party in Barcelona only to discover that the left in the city was almost entirely anarchist and the communists a tiny hole-in-the-corner operation. When the war broke out he was astonished to see the anarchists not only defeat the fascists in that part of Spain, but set about transforming their city in a methodical and orderly fashion into a model of equality and fraternity, organise their principal industries so as to be effective in feeding the citizenry and arming the resistance to fascism, and ultimately fight very effectively. He fell in love with anarchism without ever abandoning his deeply felt commitment to Marxism and would eventually return to Ireland to write <em>Salud!</em>, his own <em>Homage to Catalonia</em>, in the hope of correcting the infantile but effective propaganda of nun-rape and church-burning that had been whipped up by a church hell-bent on fascism Spanish-style.</p> <p>O'Donnell was, as well as all these things, an interesting and successful novelist. Liam O'Flaherty, a fellow communist, had advised him about a publisher and he had a long and continuing relationship with Jonathan Cape. Most of his novels reflected his political analysis of Irish society, but no more so than the writings of his contemporaries reflected, by their silence or otherwise, their own political stance. Politics is always archived in a text, whether it is a deliberate part of the scheme of the book or simply part of the mental architecture that produced it - this despite the fact that writers often claim their work is apolitical. O'Donnell's work arose out of his personal and political engagements - that the stuff of his life was political is at least part of the explanation for the political structure of the relationships in books such as <em>Islanders</em>, <em>Adrigoole</em>, <em>On the Edge of The Stream</em> and possibly his best book <em>The Big Windows</em>.</p> <p>There are many fascinating insights here into the wellsprings of O'Donnell's inspiration, as well as, for example, his editing methods (avoidance) at The Bell where he encouraged the young Brendan Behan and James Plunkett, and where he published Patrick Kavanagh's <em>Tarry Flynn</em> in the correct belief that the censors 'would never dare ban a thing I was responsible for.' He was a great encourager of writers, something always to be valued in an editor. There is an account of his good, if occasionally combative, personal relationship with O'Faoláin, as well as a neat and accurate description of Anthony Cronin, whom O'Donnell tried to help and who, in return, would write savage caricatures of him in <em>The Life Of Riley</em> and <em>Dead as Doornails.</em> Ó'Drisceoil describes him as 'representative of the kind of cynicism and individualism that O'Donnell wanted challenged.' Cronin would later become a sort of cultural commissar to Charlie Haughey and help establish Aosdána, the entirely apolitical nature of which would strike O'Donnell as political in the extreme. O'Faoláin always claimed that it was O'Donnell who started The Bell, while O'Donnell responded that it was 'Sean O'Faoláin's creation'. Such mutual generosity is rare among writers and editors. Whoever the founder was, The Bell was a remarkable achievement, a breath of fresh air in the isolationist Ireland of the 1940s.</p> <p>To continue to document the life and engagement of this remarkable man would take something almost as long as the book itself and would do a disservice to the detail that O'Drisceoil marshals with such scholarly ease. An elegantly written piece of history, it is a marvellous introduction to the forgotten narrative of left-wing agitation in the first half of the twentieth century, and a service to the memory of a man of whom the author rightly says, 'everyone has his own Peadar O'Donnell.' Nowhere does he burden the reader, despite the plethora of acronyms describing political organisations whose very existence has been forgotten for fifty or more years. This is a highly readable and consistently interesting account by a man who understands the left as well as the history. But in summary, let me simply quote the author's own final assessment of the man:</p> <p>'The failure of his overall socialist republican project to achieve its aims should not blind us to O'Donnells many real achievements, most of which cannot be measured by conventional, state-centred criteria of political success. His trade union work, his campaigns on behalf of emigrants and small farmers, his involvement in the battle against the slums - all of these led to real and fundamental improvements in the lot of many ordinary people. His private generosity benefited many; his encouragement and ability to empower and inspire transformed the lives of countless writers and activists; and it is impossible to know how many people were influenced by his journalism and literature to view the world in a different way.'</p> <p><em>William Wall is the author four novels, the most recent of which, This Is The Country (2005), has been described as a 'broad attack on the Celtic Tiger'. He has also published poetry and short stories. <a href="http://www.williamwall.eu/" target="_blank">www.williamwall.eu </a></em></p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-19707156073428073712010-04-26T08:56:00.007+01:002010-04-28T22:17:05.935+01:00The Tories spell it out.With the Tories looking like they are experiencing a bit of a bounce at the moment its topical to focus on them. This light hearted clip about Cameron's vision for Britain isn't so light hearted when you consider the SDLP's spoiler run in FST might be the cause of another MP on the Tory benches.<br /><br /><br /><object style="WIDTH: 545px; HEIGHT: 385px" width="545" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mHR6-KN-8uI&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mHR6-KN-8uI&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><p><br />And here's another funny one but by the end of it all I could think was sh!t another 5 years of the Tories might be on the way. Not much funny about that.<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKFTtYx2OHc&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&autoplay=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKFTtYx2OHc&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&autoplay=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51981953658717225852010-04-25T13:00:00.001+01:002010-04-25T13:52:21.097+01:00What would a Lib Dem Government mean for Scottish independence?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9yl2JTI_c_Mz2tTUCvBOjtPkXsWwNdlBnayBgGi4SDWAM3ugnueroUG7746exyPk8M50iGybVA3neGqxu9D-cwo8uNfoMCRZl8BD7LtX8_4lzh-40BUVr3hTwXTJLj8szjYo6kMD9AoV/s1600/2143739373_4048d33116.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9yl2JTI_c_Mz2tTUCvBOjtPkXsWwNdlBnayBgGi4SDWAM3ugnueroUG7746exyPk8M50iGybVA3neGqxu9D-cwo8uNfoMCRZl8BD7LtX8_4lzh-40BUVr3hTwXTJLj8szjYo6kMD9AoV/s200/2143739373_4048d33116.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464038837035367986" /></a><br /><br /><div>Naturally the focus of Republicans these last few weeks of the British election has been the building of strength in the 6 counties in order to further the strategy of removing the last part of Ireland from the union and building a new Ireland.</div><br /><div><br />Only 13 miles east the same project is being pursued in Scotland by the Scottish National Party.<br /><br />The enjoyable <a href="http://www.snptacticalvoting.com/">SNP Tactical Voting</a> blog is providing excellent focus on the Scottish elections which have so frequently been lost in the London-centric view of the BBC. Amongst some excellent reviews of the various constituencies and the prospects of SNP candidates in their quest for independence is a consideration of what the strategic implications for Scotland might be if the man of the moment in Britain, Nick Clegg, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7107646.ece">wins big</a>. A Liberal Democrat victory may actually weaken the Scottish pursuit of independence while perversely as noted in the British <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article7107392.ece">Times</a> today a Tory victory may aid it. <br /><br />However that being said it could be that a Liberal Democrat move to link voting strength to seats won would aid the Scottish nationalists who under such a scheme would presumably come close to tripling their no. of seats.<br /><br />What ever the results in Scotland, Wales or England our project will continue to build its own momentum independent of that but its nice to know that while we work to end the union here we have friends and allies in the Scottish and Welsh govt. doing the same and helping create a context where London more and more readily focuses on itself rather than other countries.<br /><br />Tapadh leat SNP Tactical Voting for the following consideration of the Liberal Democrat phenomenon:<br /><br />"So what would a Lib Dem Government mean for Scotland, whether in its own right or with Labour as the minor partner? And in particular, what effect would this rug-pull from under the SNP’s feet mean for independence?<br /><br />We could, overnight, move towards a Britain that adopted an aggressively pro-Europe stance, a Britain that had sensible policies on civil liberties, a Britain that was intent on scrapping Trident and a Britain that was significantly more serious than has hitherto been on tackling climate change? I know I should stop myself but it’s so easy to get swept up in the tantalising prospect of the next Government not being Tory or Labour. Clegg may not be the political equivalent of Jedward after all but the full Gary Barlow, the long-haul Lionel Ritchie. He could be the everlasting Diana Ross! Imagine that?<br /><br />I could honestly see support for independence sink to single figures in such circumstances. It would certainly make Alex Salmond’s job significantly harder than it would have been had he been going up against the hated Tories at Westminster. How can you fight against the feel-good political result of the century?<br /><br />I could even see Alex Salmond opting to retire in the face of this altered terrain. Fight youth with youth and leave Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon to pick up the reins and devise a new strategy to heave independence forwards. Let’s be honest, spitting out ‘Lib Dem cuts’ has even less of an impact than the Tory or Labour variety.<br /><br />Then again, there is a persuasive theory out there that a Lib Dem/Labour coalition may well be the perfect result for Nationalists in Scotland. Five years of cuts, however necessary they may be, will be painful and there is a chance that Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories will be seen as three cheeks of the same bahookey, however biologically improbable that may seem. Were the fairy dust of Lib Dems in Government to evaporate quickly, Scotland may take a new look at independence and see it as an attractive option, even through a process of elimination. The Tory years were painful and the Labour years were wasteful, perhaps a separate Scotland really is the bright new dawn that we’re all crying out for.<br /><br />That said, if the reasons for Scotland being independent are so that we don’t get taken into illegal wars, so that we don’t gorge on nuclear power, so that we aren’t saddled with nuclear weapons and so that we can get involved with the EU more, those arguments will surely be weakened by a Liberal Democrat Government that shares those views. You would have to search pretty hard for a clear dividing line between an independent Scotland and a Clegg-governed UK.<br /><br />So, if the unthinkable happens and Nick Clegg is carried over the line on a wave of gregarious goodwill and British bonhomie, there is a real risk (if you choose to see it that way) that Scotland will sink into the warm fuzz of a Liberal Democrat United Kingdom and not look back."</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-83905448851674278372010-04-23T19:59:00.003+01:002010-04-23T20:04:28.678+01:00A Politics of Change?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Vwd3jM73nvKhz5pudJfnBR55x8eIbM4pNZU20CdXNP5ZQ-oyeQyw2wZC5kAJ0Jidfcsd_C4LRE6nUIw-j8pGK8G3EkQ384vRCRDm5mclC9lsKhTk2TQJb3KTHD8mZhBxyq-_0GqS7jiU/s1600/%C3%B3+broin.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463410810098378738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Vwd3jM73nvKhz5pudJfnBR55x8eIbM4pNZU20CdXNP5ZQ-oyeQyw2wZC5kAJ0Jidfcsd_C4LRE6nUIw-j8pGK8G3EkQ384vRCRDm5mclC9lsKhTk2TQJb3KTHD8mZhBxyq-_0GqS7jiU/s400/%C3%B3+broin.bmp" /></a><br /><div>Another good piece from Eoin O'Broin in this week's An Phoblacht. <a href="http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39793">http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39793</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Eamon Gilmore’s leader’s address to the Labour Party Ard Fheis last weekend makes for interesting reading.<br /><br />Gilmore told delegates that he wanted a government that would both “change the way the system works and be prepared to change the system if necessary”.<br /><br />He outlined proposals for jobs creation and committed his party to a programme of political and public sector reform on entering government.<br /><br />The most widely reported section of the speech was his offer to the electorate to head a Labour-led government.<br /><br />Jobs was the only detailed section of the speech, with promising proposals including the creation of a Strategic Investment Bank that would fund both infrastructural projects and small and medium sized indigenous industry.<br /><br />On health and the public sector there was little substance other than a commitment to universal health insurance and the creation of a new Ministry of Public Sector Reform.<br /><br />There was also a commitment to introduce ‘within weeks of being elected’ a programme of political reform. Again, while short on detail, the promise of a Convention to rewrite the Constitution deserves serious consideration.<br /><br />So on balance the speech had some good ideas and some nice aspirations. But lurking in the background was an unspoken but obvious contradiction.<br /><br />It is hard to see how even the most optimistic observer can imagine Labour becoming the largest party in the state in the next election. In 2007 the party took 10% of the vote. In the 2009 European and local government elections they took 14%.<br />While Labour’s poll rating has them currently on 17%, a doubling of vote share in the space of 12 months would be an achievement of unprecedented proportions.<br />Of course none of this means that Labour shouldn’t be ambitious or that becoming the state’s largest party is impossible. But it does raise an important question for potential Labour voters, attracted by the ideas outlined by Eamon Gilmore in Galway last weekend.<br /><br />If Labour fails to achieve its target in the next general election then, having ruled out coalition with Fianna Fáil, they will support Enda Kenny for Taoiseach and take their place in a Fine Gael-led government.<br /><br />It is hard to see Kenny leading a government that would either “change the way the system works” or “change the system itself”. Rather, it would be back to business as usual, with social and economic policy falling within the broad parameters of the existing right-wing consensus.<br /><br />On job creation, Fine Gael also have a series of proposals that include the selling off of profitable state companies to fund investment and cutting taxes.<br /><br />On public service reform Fine Gael want to reduce the size of the public sector by 14,000 and to reduce expenditure across a range of Departments.<br /><br />On political reform it is hard to imagine Fine Gael making any serious changes to democratise our governmental or electoral system.<br /><br />Eamon Gilmore is absolutely entitled to spell out what he would do in a Labour-led government. But as a Fine Gael-Labour coalition is the more likely outcome of the next general election, he also has a responsibility to explain how Labour would square the circle of coalition partnership with a right-wing party wedded to maintaining rather than changing what is a very broken system. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-41846852705185401212010-04-18T00:08:00.004+01:002010-04-18T00:31:00.737+01:00The Knowledge Econonmy is for you and you but not you.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ubd-vD8eVto5nQpvtQedUZheOq9Qsopsz5o4xA9RESx6t3dU0iCawLTAf2E8eL8vJUho0YYjlRBCnbe1IxrKHV8z8v0tDIlQBVTdpStz4euBODjru8nzUdE1JZ3VMolIzAVjop-ocR-d/s1600/college.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 134px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461251573236932738" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ubd-vD8eVto5nQpvtQedUZheOq9Qsopsz5o4xA9RESx6t3dU0iCawLTAf2E8eL8vJUho0YYjlRBCnbe1IxrKHV8z8v0tDIlQBVTdpStz4euBODjru8nzUdE1JZ3VMolIzAVjop-ocR-d/s200/college.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br />The knowledge economy is one of the great tropes of modern political discourse. It righfully takes its place as one of the key strategic considerations for all policy makers in how to manage the transiton of the economy. However the knowledge economy does not in and of itself promise a bright future for all. The knowledge economy will only help those who are given the opportunity to skill up to take advantage of it. The new <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/03/ministur-for-edukation.html">minister</a> for Education might think the govt. is providing equal opportunity to raise all boats but the evidence says otherwise.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>There is a continued social inequality in access and entry to higher education among particular socio-economic groups according to the Higher Education Authority/ ESRI’s recent report –“ <a href="http://www.hea.ie/files/files/file/DoE/Hidden%20Disdvantage%20HEA-ESRI%20Non-Manual%20Study.pdf">Hidden Disadvantage</a>, a study of the low particpation in Higher Education by the Non-Manual Group”. While the trend has been for increased particpation in Higher education one social group, the non-manual, is participating less and less in higher education. </div><br /><div><br />So who are the non-manual group? Well they are 1 in 5 of the adult population of the southern state but they are split between intermediate non-manual (i.e Garda Seargeants, Govt. Executivbe officials) and “other non-manual”workers. Its the latter of course who are facing the obstacles. Typically their occupational positions are bus drivers, service sector workers etc. They are a demographic in south Irish society that is experiencing many barriers to participation in Hgher education and rather than seeing their equality of opportunity extended it is instead being restricted. </div><br /><div><br />The knowledge economy or Smart economy has been defined as a strategy of using high value add roles to generate further economic activity. But to whose benefit. Its been well noted that the completion a higher education course contributes to higher earnings over a person's lifespan. While not the be all and end all greater access to Higher Education for all demographic groups will contribute to the process of solving class inequalities "not by making the working class more middle class, but in working at dismantling and sharing out the economic, social and cultural capital which goes with middle-class status". </div><br /><div><br />The average rate of participation in Higher Education in the south is 55%. The Govt. has a stated target of 54% for all socio-economic groups by 2020. Yet the Non Manual group is sliding the other direction - from 29 per cent in 1998 to between 25 and 27 per cent in 2004. And rather than be alarmed at these figures the Govt. instead decided to wield the axe on <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/01/details-emerge-of-budget-2010s-brutal.html">educational equality</a> of opportunity by cutting funding for school infrastructure, cutting the student maintenance grant by 5%, scrapping the Millennium Partnership Fund, which provides financial assistance for further and higher education students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending college. </div><br /><div><br />The Higher Education Authority report demonstrates that such an approach will only exacerbate the situation. For students in the non-manual demographic the consideration of cost of education plays a role either due to the direct cost of education or the prospect of lost income by going straight into education. However as the report notes the recent collapse of the labour market will remove the lure to bypass Higher education yet failure to tackle the other factors cotributing to the low participation rate by this social group will result in even greater marginalisation. </div><br /><div><br />The other factors contributing to low particpation rates by the non-manual group are varied but one is key - Socio-economic background :your background determines the forms of cultural, social and economic capital and resources you have which differentially frames the choices you can make.</div><br /><div>This means that "Young people from non-manual backgrounds do not possess the cultural capital necessary to succeed within an educational system geared towards the dominant class." i.e if neither your siblings, your parents, your neighbours or many in your learning environment have experienced Higher Education or see it as a viable educational option then you are at a severe disadvantage.<br /><br />But even having made it to a Higher Education faciltiy as an other-non-manual worker background student the odds are still stacked against you. The other-non-manual group has a drop out rate of 17 per cent compared to the average of about 10%.</div><br /><div>And considering for a moment other demographic groups as marginalised we see that the dropout rates are particularly high among those from non-employed backgrounds (three-in-ten), raising questions over the adequacy of supports (financial and otherwise) at HE to assist those from disadvantaged backgrounds in meeting the costs of fully participating in college life and integrating into the full range of student (academic and non-academic) activities. As noted above this will not improve with the cutting of the maintenace grant or the dropping of the millenium partnership fund.<br /><br />The Govt. will plead lack of funds but its not solely an issue of funds as repeatedly students noted the secondary school phenomenon of the "honours class" being streamed for extra attention with the remaining students getting infrequent or unenthousiastic attention. Career guidance was frequently absent and there was a demonstrable lack of understanding regarding financial considerations among students. The resolution of these issues or at the least a serious contribution to resolvlng them does not require significant sums of money.<br /><br />Instead of spending money the govt. could consider ways of ensuring that the negative associations created around learning need to tackled from the very start. The cycle of exclusion needs to be broken and once broken that process of change can become self sustaining. </div><br /><div>What is Sinn Fein’s policy for increasing particpation by certain demographic groups in further <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/EducationPolicyMini_2.pdf">education</a>. In the 6 counties what have we done to push this issue? Well the tackling of the 11plus is a big effort. The fairly twisted practice of sorting kids at 11 years old is surely one of the most restrictive obstacles facing equality of opportunity in the north of this country. Its not proving an easy road to travel but its a worthwhile one. And down here in the other state the party's push for universal childcare, calls for the provision of adult education free to all up to third level qualifications, the abolition of part-time fees and grant part-time students eligibility for maintenance grants; and third level access programmes for schools with a low take-up of places are all solid ideas to change the socio-economic dynamic that is forcing one section of society further and further into the margins. </div><br /><div>The danger is that the non-manual workers and indeed other workers will become trapped in a type of structural unemployment - a whole segment of society left behind in the so called knowledge economy and all because nobody was willing to break the cycle of exclusion.<br /><br />As was noted before here <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/10/are-working-class-kids-just-thick-or-do.html">Working class kids aint thick</a>. They just have more obstacles to overcome than most. Its about time some one gave them some support and I cant see Brian Hayes or Mary Coughlan doing anything to help.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-10103649904670078782010-04-12T17:11:00.001+01:002010-04-12T17:11:03.912+01:00Shhh. Rewrite at Work - Budgetary Loopholes in the Public Sector Agreement.<div>As has been noted the new public sector pay deal, which is going through its consultation at the moment, raises as many questions as it tries to answer. Some commentators have suggested that the deal is nothing more than an attempt to mend fences by the Govt. for the purposes of shoring up a weakened voter base. Regretably there may be some truth in that and certainly it would be fairly typical of the govt. to focus more on the optics of the situation rather than to honestly seek a solution. </div> <div> </div> <div>Michael Taft, on <a href="http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/04/12/shhh-rewrite-work-recession-diaries-april-12th/#more-2737">Irish Left Review</a>, has conducted a review of the agreement and focussed closely on point 1.28:</div> <div> </div> <div><em>'The implementation of this Agreement is subject to no currently unforeseen budgetary deterioration.' , </em>- which is a get out of jail card as big as you will ever find anywhere. </div> <div> </div> <div>The one consistent mark of the Dept. of Finance has been its inability to predict budgetary movements with any accuracy. Detioration beyond what they have foreseen has almost become a rule. So is this agreement just a feel good hearkening back to the days of partnership or is there some merit here. There may well be some merit in the agreement but only if the Govt, were to approach the deal in an open and honest manner in the spirit of partnership rather than the spirit of fear. His post it reproduced below.</div> <div> </div> <div>As Michael Taft notes:</div> <div> </div> <div><font size="4">"</font></div> <div>The Government insisted on inserting the following phrase into the proposed <a href="http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/other/2010/payagree/payagreement201014apr.pdf" target="_blank">public sector pay deal:</a></div> <div> </div> <div><em>'The implementation of this Agreement is subject to no currently unforeseen budgetary deterioration.' </em></div> <p>Now the Government is busily rewriting this. Apparently, the agreement is no longer subject to currently unforeseen budgetary deterioration. Indeed, <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0410/1224268047418.html" target="_blank">to even refer to </a>the Government's clause is now considered to be irresponsible.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>'The department also described as "a red herring" criticisms which have been raised about the so-called "get-out-of-jail" card in the agreement. This states that the implementation of the measures set out in the deal is subject to there being no unforeseen deterioration in the Government's finances. The Government would follow through on all the commitments in the deal except in very exceptional circumstances such as another major financial crisis, said the department yesterday.' </em></p> </blockquote> <p>There is a good reason why the Government is busily rewriting the agreement.</p> <p><span id="more-2737"></span></p> <p>For whatever about the 'unforeseen' part, there is little doubt that the budgetary situation is deteriorating. And Ministers are getting a bit touchy about this.</p> <p>The Government is projecting the deficit this year to come in at -11.6 percent - only fractionally lower than last year. Maintaining this level is crucial both economically and politically; slippage would call into question the very premise of Government strategy. .</p> <p><strong>Slippage 1</strong>: In the last few weeks the <a href="http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/economy/current/qna.pdf" target="_blank">CSO recorded GDP levels</a> more than €1 billion below the Government's projections published in December. In addition, on foot of the recent Quarterly Household Report, <a href="http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/current/lreg.pdf" target="_blank">unemployment figures were revised upwards</a> from - 12.6 percent to 13.4 percent. Out of all this, last year's deficit has to be revised downwards again -from -11.7 to -11.8 percent; admittedly marginal, but downwards nonetheless.</p> <p><strong>Slippage 2</strong>: After the first three months of this year, the Government <a href="http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/exchequerstatements/2010/End-March_2010_Tax_Receipts_Analysis.pdf" target="_blank">is already off-target</a>. By March, tax revenue was -3.6 percent below target, down from February's undershoot of -1.3 percent. The Government expected tax receipts this year to be €2 billion below last year's level. In the first quarter alone, tax receipts are already €1.2 billion under target. The slippage is getting slippier.</p> <p>It's not just that the Government's strategy is coming under internal pressure, it's also getting a wallop of external pressure.</p> <p>The EU Commission in its <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/sgp/pdf/20_scps/2009-10/03_commission/2010-03-17_ie_recommendation_for_co_en.pdf" target="_blank">most recent statement</a> on Irish public finances has warned the Government that (a) its growth projections are too optimistic, (b) expenditure will over-run, and (c) it will have to engage in 'additional' consolidation measures (more spending cuts/tax increases beyond what the Government has already projected). Even if the Government comes in on target, the EU Commission wants Ireland to 'consolidate' further to bring down overall debt levels.</p> <p>The IMF also gives the Government <a href="http://www.imf.org/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/SCR/2009/CR09195.PDF" target="_blank">similar warnings</a> and argues that the Government must cut spending even further if it is to bring the deficit below -3% by 2014 (the Maastricht guideline).</p> <p>The final straw on this deteriorating camel comes from <a href="http://centralbank.ie/data/QrtBullFiles/Domestic%20Economy.pdf" target="_blank">the Central Bank.</a> While much attention was paid to their projection that the economy will return to growth by the second half of the year, some of the fine print was glossed over. Namely, that GDP will be well below the Government's projections - by nearly 3 percent by 2011 in nominal terms. This will put even more pressure on the deficit.</p> <p>All this will lead to 'budgetary deterioration'. How much is hard to say but there are certain symbolic targets. For instance, the Government is projecting a small decline in the deficit this year. If it actually worsens - no matter how much - the optics will be bad. If it goes beyond -12 percent, it will look particularly bad. That this is certainly possible can be seen from the <a href="http://www.bis.org/publ/work300.pdf?noframes=1" target="_blank">Bank for International Settlement's</a> projection of a deficit of -12.2 percent for this year.</p> <p>It is doubtful that such a slide would result in the Government tearing up the agreement if it is accepted (though this cannot be ruled out). But what it would certainly mean is that there would be little chance of reversing any pay cuts in 2011.</p> <p>No wonder that the Government wants to shift the goalposts of the agreement by redefining 'deterioration' as 'another financial crisis' (does Quinn count as such a crisis?). They hope that it will take everyone's mind off the actually existing deterioration and the thin to non-existent chance of any pay claw-back.</p> <div>It is the ultimate in ostrich-like indifference to the reality around us. The Government may want to find a soft bed of sand to stick its head in - that doesn't mean we have to. </div> <div><font size="4">"</font></div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-3230148164111876442010-04-09T09:30:00.002+01:002010-04-09T09:33:44.645+01:00Victory for Irish & US Peace MovementPress Statement Peace & Neutrality Alliance<br /><br />In Jan. 09 Ed Horgan, International Secretary of the Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance, was granted a 10 year visa by the Bush Administration. In Jan, 2010 the Obama Administration revoked the visa after Ed had been invited to speak at a conference on rendition and torture in Duke University in North Carolina.<br /><br />After an intensive campaign by PANA Ed was granted a 3 month visa and will be attending the conference.<br /><br />This was a victory for the Irish and US peace movement. It was a defeat for those in favour of war and who seek to destroy free speech. A powerpoint presentation of his address in on the PANA website: <a href="http://www.pana.ie/">http://www.pana.ie/</a><br /><br />PANA would like to thank all those involved in the campaign. PANA believes that the Irish people and the people of the United States have a vested interest in ending these wars and the termination of the use of Shannon Airport in these wars needs to happen immediately. The reality is that it is only by ending these wars can economic stability be restored. Our demand is clear, JOBS AT HOME NO WAR ABROAD.<br /><br />for more information contact:<br />Roger Cole, Chair of PANA Tel: 087-2611597<br />Seamas Rathigan PRO of PANA Tel: 086-8369793<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.pana.ie"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-74786274583851549452010-04-06T16:03:00.001+01:002010-04-06T16:04:46.346+01:00The end of the line for the SDLP?The piece below was received recently and is published below.<br /><br /><br /><br />In January 2009 Mark Durkan MP said in his key-note address to the SDLP “Deep in me is a belief in this party and the people in it. We have it in us to recapture lost votes and recover lost ground”...then collapse. Mark Durkan had his head in the clouds. He was speaking to a party on the road to collapse with no political direction. What kind of a leader steps down at a cross-roads for its party when it is slowly splintering? A weak one. A strong leader would have taken the party beyond the cross-roads then allowed them to build their own future with continued support.<br /><br /><br /><br />Was he pushed? “If it was a matter of being forced out I offered my resignation a couple of years ago and it was refused, declined,” he said. This doesn’t seem to me as someone who has a “deep belief in this party and the people in it”. The SDLP are finished as a political party. Is there only viable option a merger with Fianna Fail and becoming an all-island party and lose their own identity? This would be an obvious desperate attempt to try and claw back some credibility with Nationalist voters on the question of a united Ireland. and in truth, would Fianna Fail want them?, other than to use them as a stepping stone into all Ireland politics, personally I can’t see any benefits in adopting that” lame-duck”.<br /><br /><br /><br />MLA Margaret Ritchie is in the frame as one of the fore runners for the role of leader of the SDLP, which in turn suggests a lack of confidence in her ability to succeed Eddie McGrady as south Down’s next MP, yet more signs of a party in disarray?..<br /><br /><br /><br />Mark Durkan tells us that one of the reasons he is leaving his post as party leader is because he is unable to fulfil a “dual role as Assembly Member and MP”. This view is contradicted by his party colleague, Allister McDonald, the south Belfast MP, who believes the opposite and that he indeed can carry out both roles. Again, opposing voices in an ever dividing camp.<br /><br /><br />So where does this leave Mark Durkan? Durkan is content to step back from leadership and try to get re-elected to Westminster so he can sit and take a salary for back slapping and tooth-less deals, and ultimately follow in the footsteps of other isolated SDLP members such as Gerry Fitt. I wonder how long he can get away with it before declaring himself an independent in Westminster? Or becoming a life-peer? Baron Durkan maybe? <br /><br /><br /><br />When the date for the Westminster election is set in 2010 the SDLP may have a new leader but with the same problems. The main one being the rise of Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein are the only party that continually grow electorally and will continue to dwarf the SDLP. With Sinn Feins Martina Anderson continuing her ongoing hard work with her party activists SF have left the SDLP at their heels and this gap will grow and will inevitably lead to the election of Martina Anderson as MP for Foyle. The only choice in my opinion, as her and her party’s hard work ethic, at doors in Derry on a nightly basis with updates of campaign news and views, while others you only see when they want something from you, and not when you want something from them.<br /><br /><br /><br />Some Durkan supporters say he has a good chance of being re-elected for Foyle next year, but he is not a certainty. As we all know Foyle was a safe SDLP seat under John Hume, but since Hume left, the SDLP position has weakened. In the 2005 Westminster election the gap between the SDLP and Sinn Féin halved, and it is likely that Durkan got some strategic votes from unionists.<br /><br />Mark Durkan knows the writing is on the wall for the SDLP and would be more than content to sit in Westminster and fiddle as the SDLP burns. <br /><br /><br /><br />Personally, I look forward to the election of Martina Anderson as Foyles first republican MP and the continued rise of Sinn Fein.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-17548775328773957272010-04-05T16:31:00.003+01:002010-04-05T16:52:10.928+01:0015 years old and murdered.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqss_rgC4t_t8Rl6pmBCzYO_aQx3qeIaKFM7UF_-0FPUQOuedy9aarzCErL7jExxdDY5SshdQki0URgFcXo5nPMCVtHFDhdzNyiFxPPxIG7-lheNiUC_Ewq5R7R8jvBZZbxAde3MwaxO7v/s1600/1224267706986_2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqss_rgC4t_t8Rl6pmBCzYO_aQx3qeIaKFM7UF_-0FPUQOuedy9aarzCErL7jExxdDY5SshdQki0URgFcXo5nPMCVtHFDhdzNyiFxPPxIG7-lheNiUC_Ewq5R7R8jvBZZbxAde3MwaxO7v/s200/1224267706986_2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456681356327121922" /></a><br />Its hard to even contemplate whats happened in Tyrrelstown. 15 years old, bright future as a soccer player, a good kid trying to stay out of trouble and just trying to live life to the full. <br /><br />And then its all taken away in a flash for no reason save his name was Toyosi Shitabbey and he was born in Nigeria. <br /><br />A shameful day and our prayers and sympathies are with his family and friends.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-15476827004379289322010-04-05T15:54:00.004+01:002010-04-05T16:30:05.290+01:00Dublin Commemoration - Sean Crowe's speech.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBFqdHq78nB4ky4BK0CXG3jX8i49or8fltRat1FVB5cntlWZIpaXq8NtdEVSToS6nxfaJj1unylR-xrOLmzw__txc4BGJ8bIi3LvI9YNCtCoWllJACHn55dbkKwmsXoCNYqytt25IwCYn/s1600/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_lastmanleavinggpo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 120px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456671985117351602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBFqdHq78nB4ky4BK0CXG3jX8i49or8fltRat1FVB5cntlWZIpaXq8NtdEVSToS6nxfaJj1unylR-xrOLmzw__txc4BGJ8bIi3LvI9YNCtCoWllJACHn55dbkKwmsXoCNYqytt25IwCYn/s200/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_lastmanleavinggpo.jpg" /></a><br /><div><em>The excellent </em><a href="http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/"><em>Cedar Lounge Revolution </em></a><em>blog has Seán Crowe's Easter speech up in full. Its reproduced below.<br /></em></div><div><em>Sean highlights that whats happened in the the southern state has been a wholesale protecting of the rich at the expense of the poor. Its been socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor - the rich have all the protection the state can offer but the ordinary people must make their own way and devil take the hindmost.</em></div><div><em></em> </div><div><em>The Sindo rich list published recently which shows that the richest 300 people in the southern state have a combined wealth of €50 billion just shows how successsful Fianna Fail golden circle socialism has been for the small circle. Its definitely time for an alternative. </em></div><div><br /><strong>Táim</strong> brod agus go hán sasta ag caint sa an ait seo i Baile Ath Cliath le an comoradh Eiri na Casc naoi deag is a se deag.<br /><br />Easter for republicans is a time for reflection, remembering and celebrating what has been achieved in the past.<br /><br />We remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, laying down their lives that we would have the opportunity as a people and a nation to be free and independent.<br /><br />A time when we honour and remember friends and comrades who have died.<br /><br />I would like now to remember a friend and life-long republican, Chrissy Heffernan, who passed away on Thursday. We extend our deepest sympathy to her husband Vinnie, her children, grandchildren and to her extended family<br /><br />Ar Dheis De go raibh a Anam.<br /><br />Easter is also a time of pride in our heritage.<br /><br />From the start of the First World War, Liberty Hall displayed a banner draper across the front of the building stating “We serve neither King nor Kaiser, we serve Ireland.”<br /><br />It was under this slogan that a small band of Irish men and Irish women marched out on Easter Sunday to take on the might of the British Empire.<br /><br />The 1916 Easter Rising was a beacon of hope for oppressed people all over the world. Both Ho Chi Minh and Mahatma Gandhi refer to our Easter Rising as the start of the inspiration for their own liberation struggles.<br /><br />The leaders of 1916 had a clear vision that their rebellion was not only about achieving Irish freedom but was also about creating a more equal and just society. It was James Connolly who said:<br /><br />“The national movement must demonstrate to the people of Ireland that our nationalism is not merely a morbid idealising of the past but is also capable of formulating a distinct and definite answer to the problems of the present and a political economic creed capable of adjustment to the wants of the future.”<br /><br />That is still true today, more than 100 years later.<br /><br />Our political philosophy cannot be about solely idealising the past. It has to about tackling the economic problems of today and building a equal and just society.<br /><br />Dublin was the catalyst of the revolution that was the Easter Rising and the Tan War that was to follow.<br /><br />Dublin was the centre of trade union resistance during the 1913 Lock-Out.<br /><br />O’Connell Street where we stand today, has been the scene of the biggest public protests in Ireland, including the trade union PAYE tax marches of the 1980s, the hunger strike protests and the protests against the Iraq War in 2003.<br /><br />Dublin can be the catalyst for social revolution in 2010<br /><br />The revolution that is needed to right the wrongs and the decimation of our public services.<br /><br />Th wrongs including the ongoing attempts to divide workers in to public and private, union and non-union.<br /><br />A social revolution that will halt the utter waste of talented workers thrown on the scrap heap of unemployment.<br /><br />It is utterly wrong that ordinary working families and future generations who will have to pay for the casino banking and property speculation of the wealthy.<br /><br />Do the super rich, the golden circle, the developers, the speculators always have to stay rich while a large proportion of our population always have to stay poorer?<br /><br />The super-rich get NAMA, bail-out Tuesdays, and billions of taxpayers’ money.<br /><br />They get the cosy benefits – they keep the villas and hideaways in Spain, the million euro bonuses, the golden handshakes.<br /><br />Ordinary workers get their P45s and, if they are lucky, a cheque from Social Welfare.<br /><br />***<br /><br />Large flagship industries such as Ryanair and Quinn discourage the formation of unions in their industries. When things are going well it is okay but when things go sour who is there to represent the workers?<br /><br />It is quite correct to express concern at the potentially huge job losses in Quinn, but it is the workers, not Anglo Irish Bank or the Quinn family, who will suffer yet again.<br /><br />Who now speaks for the workers?<br /><br />***<br /><br />The Proclamation promised a Republic that would cherish all the children of the nation equally.<br /><br />The actions of this government has only applied this equality to the bankers.<br /><br />They have promised to bail them all out equally, even if they have no positive role to play in the Irish economy.<br /><br />Yes, they treat them all equally<br /><br />***<br /><br />Brian Cowen and his cronies say there is no alternative.<br /><br />We say here today he is wrong – just as wrong as when he was Minister for Finance.<br /><br />There is an alternative to the gombeenism that has wrought so much pain on hard-working families.<br /><br />There are always alternatives.<br /><br />Sinn Féin has different priorities. Sinn Féin offers a fairer and better solution.<br /><br />And answering James Connolly’s call, Sinn Féin is the national movement that has the potential, the will and the policies capable of formulating a distinct and definite answer to the problems of the present and a political economic creed capable of adjustment to the wants of the future.<br /><br />We would start by giving people hope again, by getting people back to work, through capital investment in much-needed schools, public transport and hospitals.<br /><br />Investing in a jobs stimulus package.<br /><br />Taking 50,000 young people off the dole<br /><br />Working together, out of this despair, out of this recession.<br /><br />Rebuilding people’s shattered pride and confidence.<br /><br />Building unity in the workplace – in the public sector and in the private sector.<br /><br />It is about working for Ireland.<br /><br />Working for all its people, not just the chosen few.<br /><br />Let’s stop the media dividing workers.<br /><br />Let’s put Fianna Fáil out of government.<br /><br />Let’s keep Enda Kenny and Fine Gael out of government.<br /><br />Let us rededicate ourselves today to build an ‘Alliance for Change’.<br /><br />Let us recommit ourselves today to building a truly inclusive Republic and making the 1916 Proclamation a reality for all our citizens.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-63778268039776764302010-04-02T15:20:00.003+01:002010-04-02T15:28:17.766+01:00An Phoblacht to take major step forward - HopefullyIt was announced in An Phoblacht this week that the paper will be moving to a monthly format and focusing on a new website to promote republican politcs. This I feel is a welcome move and I hope it will also be a vocal point for on line political discussion.<br /><br />The section of the article that states<br /><br /><strong>“Republicans also still want a platform for ideas, discussions and debate. An Phoblacht has provided such a platform but we need to build and strengthen that; we need to make it more widely used and known</strong>.<br /><br />Is one I think is of vital importance and one which I hope will lead to the end of this blog.<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Paper to go monthly and introduce new website</strong><br /></span><br /><br /><br />http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39716<br /><br />IN a significant development, An Phoblacht, the voice of republicanism, is soon to be transformed. In the coming weeks the print edition of the republican paper will become a monthly publication and a brand new An Phoblacht website will be launched, including an online daily news service; up-to-the-minute videos featuring interviews; historic film footage; and an archive section with access to thousands of photographs and historic republican material including back issues of An Phoblacht/Republican News.<br /><br /><br />The newly-designed, monthly print edition of An Phoblacht will be complemented by a range of republican publications, including the republican magazine IRIS, which is to appear quarterly, and the highly popular Republican Legends booklet series.<br /><br /><br />Speaking about what he described as “a major step forward” for An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin Director of Publicity Seán Mac Brádaigh said this week that in a rapidly changing media world, An Phoblacht needs to move with the times.<br /><br />“Over 100,000 people now read the paper online. A radical republican political agenda is needed in this country more than ever and we believe it is time for republicans to embrace the new media age and get our message out to as many people as possible.<br /><br />“Things have moved on from the days when An Phoblacht was really the only outlet in Ireland, North or South, where you could hear the republican message.<br /><br />“<strong>What is needed now, and indeed demanded by our readers, is the ability to delve deeper into the issues that affect Irish society. The new monthly format for the print edition will lend itself much more to in-depth features, interviews and political analysis. </strong><br /><br /><strong>“Republicans also still want a platform for ideas, discussions and debate. An Phoblacht has provided such a platform but we need to build and strengthen that; we need to make it more widely used and known.</strong><br /><br />“Recent years have seen phenomenal growth for Sinn Féin across Ireland. We are in government in the North. We have TDs, MLAs MPs an MEP, a Seantor and hundreds of councillors across the island. That level of growth for the party has affected the conditions in which we operate and means we need to fine-tune all aspects of our publicity operation to better respond to those conditions. There are huge opportunities and challenges there.<br /><br />“While overt state censorship of Sinn Féin is long gone, the party is still at the receiving end of incredibly distorted and biased coverage in the establishment media. This means that it is just as important as it ever was that we have our own means of getting the republican message out, unmediated and direct.<br /><br />“An Phoblacht is a very distinguished title with a long and proud history in republican politics. The paper has survived state harassment on both sides of the border, raids, arrests, imprisonment of staff and even assassinations. An Phoblacht is still here and it will continue long into the future. These latest developments bring it bang up to date with the political and media environment of 2010.<br /><br />“In its new format, An Phoblacht aims to meet the challenges of the modern political media environment and not just survive but grow. I believe that with the active support of republicans throughout Ireland we can do that.”<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-45422215773354915952010-03-28T19:56:00.006+01:002010-03-28T23:03:50.296+01:00At the Crossroads - an entire political philosophy not just Sinn Fein.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">La le Phadraig for me was a bit of a disaster to be honest. I had to stay at home waiting for the cops to send over their forensics team to dust down the back window to our house. Some bastard popped the window and had a root around in our house and took my girlfriend's laptop. So that was a fine holiday alright.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">But as I noted I was distracted by burglary. Therefore when I read the article "</span><a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/03/sinn-feina-party-at-crossroads.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Sinn Fein - A party at the Crossroads</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">" I did so from a certain perspective - someone who had been robbed a few days earlier. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">That article was a robust criticism of Sinn Fein as a left wing party. Criticism is welcome. It can promote reflection, assessment and evolution. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">But as someone who had been robbed my concerns at the time were not ideological, marxist, republican or even fine gaeler. I was only interested in looking at this issue through the prism of crime.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I scanned through the Communist Party's website searching for what their policy on crime is. How they propose to manage this very serious issue which has a heavy impact on working class areas. As a victim of crime what message did they have for me.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The only reference to crime was sixty years of imperialist crime committed by Nato. If there are policies on crime or crime prevention then they were not on the site. If there are no policies on crime prevention then why not. How can such a deeply important issue be ignored while 60 years of Nato crimes is highlighted. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is a serious omission on the Communist Party of Ireland's part. Its a failure to speak directly to a real life, real world need. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">However they are not the only ones who have ignored this issue on their site. Searching through the Socialist Party's site with the term crime the first article returned discussed </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“references to ‘neo-Stalinism’, ‘commandism’, ‘lack of democracy’ and other alleged ‘</span></span><span class="highlight"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">crime</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">s’". If the thug who stole our laptop also committed the crime of "commandism" then this may be of relevance to us and other victims of crime. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:medium;">Fair dues to the Workers Party who focussed on the issue of crime in their Drug Crime - A dagger at the heart of the working class document.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:medium;">And also to Sinn Fein with our 19 page publication on <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16913">crime and policing</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; line-height: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><div><br /></div></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">But I did not pen this post to obliquely come around to highlighting Sinn Fein's policy work on crime and policing etc as opposed to others. Nor did I write it to have a pop at the CPI in response to their fine contribution below nor indeed to have a go the Socialist party. Both of which are on the same side as us - progressive left wing politics. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Each and every left wing party in Ireland must recognise that we are all at the crossroads. Each left wing party has its weakness. If we are to either separately or together change society then as an entire political philosophy we must up our game and become more relevant to the society we want to influence. The left cannot talk about the crimes of Nato or the crimes of stalinism yet not mention the crimes that immediately affect our own communities daily. And if we do talk about them then they should be readily accessible on the web etc otherwise we are failing to communicate them which is as serious an omission.</div><div><br /></div><div>As someone who was a victim of crime I went searching amongst progressive parties to determine who had put together actual policies on dealing with the issues of crime and I did not find much solace. </div><div><br /></div><div>There were 26,793 burglaries in the southern state in 2009. Where will they seek solace and why? </div><div>If they end up voting Fine Gael then how many left wing parties can say they gave those voters a genuine alternative.</div><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-71068868009223153502010-03-23T15:55:00.001+00:002010-03-23T15:55:44.834+00:00Ministur for Edukation<div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"I am not completely incompetent." - Mary Coughlan</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></span> </div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Last week when musing over the Innovation policy announced by Cowen I wondered how a man incapable of innovation could launch a policy on that topic.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I have to admit that the big yin has proven all doubters wrong. If innovation is fresh, unexpected thinking then the moving of Mary Coughlan into education is innovative to say the least.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The knowledge economy will be spearheaded by a minister who thinks Einstein came up with the theory of evolution.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">A minister who Paul Curley, chief executive of Norkom Technologies, said there was a cringe factor around her on trade visits abroad. </span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Remember last June former Intel boss Craig Barrett spoke at the Farmleigh summit on </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ireland</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">'s economic future. He put the boot in and told the govt. to stop pretending we have a world-class education system and face the truth: </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ireland</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> is average on education, and average is no longer good enough.</span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Unless it's the Minister for Education we are talking about in which case average is more than we can hope for and fairly incompetent is what we will get.</span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Other highlights are Mary Hanafin the minister who we noted refused to honour pensions promised to Farmer's wives (who would have actually worked and earned it) while she herself was building up a 415K pension pot for a job she has not done in decades. She has been bumped out from Social Welfare. Who can have sympathy for her. The cuts she pushed in Social Welfare were the equivalent of the tax breaks given to landlords each year. Yet the poor must pay and the rich may play. </span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Mary Hanafin still has her pension. Mary Coughlan still has her job. </span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">That's an innovative approach alright.</span></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-17934813254251763122010-03-21T01:08:00.002+00:002010-03-21T01:15:11.212+00:00Sinn Féin—a party at the crossroadsBelow is a piece sent in fron the Communist pary of Ireland. It is clearly an attack on the party, but despite this it still asks questions that all those in the party need to answer.<br /><br />------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The recent ard-fheis of Sinn Féin was a somewhat quiet affair, with not a lot on the agenda to stir interest other than two motions, from Waterford and from Drimnagh, Dublin, dealing with possible participation in a coalition Government after the next general election in the Republic. <br /><br /> The motion from the Drimnagh cumann stated: “This Ard Fheis calls on Sinn Féin not to go into power with other parties in government such as Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, as this would be incompatible with our politics and would damage the party.” But the Ard-Chomhairle put forward an amendment that effectually leaves the door open for participation in a future Government, and this was overwhelmingly carried. <br /><br /> The arguments made by those supporting the two motions drew on experience from previous coalition Governments and the consequences for the junior parties in those Governments. Underlying the debate—not mentioned during it but certainly part of the subtext—was the fact that many members in the Republic are greatly concerned that if the Sinn Féin leadership get an opportunity to join a coalition Government they will do so. The experience of the dumping of central policies just before the last general election is still a painful memory for a large number of Southern members. <br /><br /> The position of the Ard-Chomhairle was that any decision in relation to joining a Government would be taken by a special party conference. Given that Sinn Féin is in effect a Northern party, controlled from Belfast, its priorities are shaped by political developments and the priorities surrounding the Northern situation. The majority of delegates to the recent ard-fheis, as with previous ard-fheiseanna, were from the North. If the opportunity arises to enter government in the Republic, the likelihood of their joining a coalition is very high—simply because the political priorities are determined by that relationship. <br /><br /> What is also obvious from the speeches during the ard-fheis and in media interviews afterwards is that the Northern leadership has little more than a superficial understanding of the political, economic and social situation in the Republic. When it comes to the nitty-gritty of the political and economic questions, they flounder—which is quite understandable, given the nature of the conflict in the North over such a prolonged period and the preoccupation with the peace process. <br /><br /> If the opportunity arises of entering a Dublin Government, a majority at any special conference for taking that decision will be Northern delegates, who will approach such participation from an entirely different set of political priorities. <br /><br /> Yet the agenda of the ard-fheis shows that the majority of motions down for discussion came from branches in the Republic, while those dealing with the Northern situation came mainly from the Ard-Chomhairle, with very few from individual cumainn in the North. There were no significant motions dealing with the social and economic situation in the North, and those that there were were devoid of any real depth. <br /><br /> This reveals a number of possibilities: that there is complete unity on the economic and social strategy of the national leadership; or they have no clear idea of an alternative strategy; or the leadership brooks no criticism of its attitude to government; or if there is criticism it is muted or corralled, in the interest of sustaining the unity of the organisation and a united front against unionism. <br /><br /> Another area that shows how far Sinn Féin has shifted politically was the section dealing with “European affairs.” Motions 11, 12 and 13, all again from the Ard-Chomhairle, show a further diminution of opposition to the European Union. There was no indication of the nature of the European Union and what it represents; there was no challenge to the view presented by the media or assessment of the effect of the Lisbon Treaty. All three motions were full of woolly thinking and pious aspiration. “Bring information on the EU back to different sectors and local communities in Ireland through a programme of outreach . . . Engage on the basis of our progressive policy positions on issues within EU’s competences . . . Promoting democratic change in the EU.” <br /><br /> What is ignored is the fact that the policies of the European Union itself have contributed to the crisis and have a major bearing on the measures that member-states can introduce to overcome the crisis. <br /><br /> The question is, How can you call yourself a republican and support the European Union? Republicanism is about democracy and the sovereignty of states, equality between states as well as equality between peoples, and the centrality of the people in democratic and economic policy and decision-making. <br /><br /> The European Union has been deliberately constructed and is treaty-b<br />ased to ensure the very opposite, by removing the people from the whole process and actively discouraging their involvement, undermining national democracy and national accountability, making all political and economic decisions subservient to the needs of transnational corporations, and all this backed up and imposed by the main imperialist states at the heart of the European Union. <br /><br /> There is a token throwing in of the idea of using the European Union to “raise the issue of Irish Unity, and other issues related to the peace-process.” It is not clear what “Irish unity” would mean, considering our inability to change or do anything independently of what the European Union will allow and what is possible within an imperialist superstate. <br /><br /> A revelation of the pretence at being some sort of radical party while hiding this from some of those it believes are allies in the struggle for Irish unity is the fact that there was no criticism and no indication of their understanding of the role of the United States in global politics, or its central role in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. <br /><br /> In relation to the coup in Honduras, the motion from the Ard-Chomhairle “condemns the coup d’état in Honduras which resulted in President Zelaya, who was democratically elected, being removed at gunpoint. This act undermines democracy in the region.” <br /><br /> The coup in Honduras was planned, organised and supervised by the CIA and the US State Department. No calls for President Zelaya to be allowed back; no expression of support or solidarity with the democratic forces now engaged in an intense struggle with the puppet government; no acknowledgement that a number of leaders of the democratic opposition have been assassinated. <br /><br /> From reading the motions and the speeches of leading figures in Sinn Féin one cannot help seeing that it is a party moving steadily to the centre. It is caught up in electoral politics and is prepared to make whatever compromises are required to secure participation in government. It will surely end up in government but with nothing radical to bring to the table. <br /><br /> At this stage, what separates Sinn Féin from the Labour Party is that it still has a commitment to Irish unity; but its attitude to other central questions makes the achievement of that goal unrealisable. As for the rest, the establishment can rest easy. <br /><br /> The question now is, Where will those in Sinn Féin who believe in a radical republicanism go from here?<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-83576844821115322522010-03-19T19:56:00.002+00:002010-03-19T20:03:17.623+00:00Laughter Of Our ChildrenSaw the below piece on Mick Hall's excellent site , who himself got it from The Bobby Sands trust, who got ity from Jafar Alam's site. <a href="http://www.organizedrage.com/2010/03/inspired-by-genius-of-banksy-and.html">http://www.organizedrage.com/2010/03/inspired-by-genius-of-banksy-and.html</a> <a href="http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/archives/1689">http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/archives/1689</a> <a href="http://jafaralam.blogspot.com/2010/03/inspired-by-genius-of-banksy-and.html">http://jafaralam.blogspot.com/2010/03/inspired-by-genius-of-banksy-and.html</a> So why not pass it on yourself.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aF0bchUIKCjDVd3EY5GNr1Y7UjrnKlqHD-n-AJqXuDPvRjInZ5j0f7yY85efHLhF7Yq0ZoodBnkJiwU1aRS3CKgrN09qxGlTFtaj2fHyU_t33rahK4ME4KrNYp-mUbPdDAi-Yp6zmclT/s1600-h/back-endoriginal-laughter-of-our-children.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 288px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450436717656198674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aF0bchUIKCjDVd3EY5GNr1Y7UjrnKlqHD-n-AJqXuDPvRjInZ5j0f7yY85efHLhF7Yq0ZoodBnkJiwU1aRS3CKgrN09qxGlTFtaj2fHyU_t33rahK4ME4KrNYp-mUbPdDAi-Yp6zmclT/s400/back-endoriginal-laughter-of-our-children.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Blogger, 27-year-old Jafar Alam, a Muslim, based in Toronto, posted this painting on his blog, Divine Breezes, which was inspired by ‘the genius of Banksy’, the British graffiti artist whose real identity remains a mystery.<br /><br />Jafar writes below the painting: ‘Inspired by the genius of Banksy and the perpetual, revolutionary words of Bobby Sands:<br /><br />‘“They will not criminalise us, rob us of our true identity, steal our individualism, depoliticise us, churn us out as systemised, institutionalised, decent law-abiding robots. We refuse to lie here in dishonor! We are not criminals, but Irishmen! This is the crime of which we stand accused. Never will they label our liberation struggle as criminal…Our revenge will be the laughter of our children” – Bobby Sands<br /><br />‘We refuse to lie here in dishonor! We are not terrorists, but Palestinians. This is the crime of which we stand accused. Our crime remains that we were born Palestinian.’<br /><a href="http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/archives/1689">http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/archives/1689</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-79564574829084930952010-03-11T18:38:00.002+00:002010-03-11T20:27:31.890+00:00Innovation task force launched by man who cant innovate.<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">An Taoiseach Brian Cowen has today unveiled a new plan to help us out of the mess he created - an innovation report. ( lets see how much innovation he supplies at the cabinet shuffle - not a lot I would think)</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Whats the great idea? Well it's the Knowledge economy – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>sure its your only man. The Knowledge economy has assumed an almost gold like currency in the position of public debate. Its only rival is of course green jobs. Both the "knowledge economy" and "Green jobs" are the successors to "competitiveness" which has for so long been a driver of public policy.</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Now I am not railing against either the need to build an economy that controls its costs and has high productivity; nor against the utilisation of our well educated population to create jobs and wealth or against the bottom half of our country developing sustainable energy sources etc.</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">My concerns with such initiatives are two-fold:</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Firstly the Irish media is only all too keen to seize such easily processed soundbites and add them as impressive baubles to whatever article they are writing. The upshot is that the debate becomes centered around powerful slogans that dominate and ultimately stifle discussion. Tremendous heat may be generated reporting these ideas but often there will be little discussion on where ultimately we want these approaches to take us. </span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Secondly I am sceptical that the current Govt. is capable of actually developing and rolling out the ideas in the report in a useful way.</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">Having failed to develop such initiatives at a time when the southern state was running surpluses then it seems unlikely that the self same ministers will have the ability to provide them when there is a deficit – and its not a question of money but of ability, imagination and vision. </span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;">The study wants:</span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Additional seed funding for start up enterprises and entrepreneurs,</span></span></span></i></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span></i> </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore"><span style="font-size:100%;">-</span><span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;">but can a govt. that oversaw an economy where the Irish-owned business sector got under €200 million in venture capital investment while €13.9 billion was invested in European property deals have any credibility in providing seed funding.</span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Better co-operation between the jobs creation agencies. </span></span></span></i></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore"><span style="font-size:100%;">-</span><span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:black;">Yet as noted by the Business post a while back this part of </span><span style="color:black;">Ireland</span><span style="color:black;"> is "drowning in an alphabet soup: HEA, Hetac, Fetac, SFI, IRCSET, IRCHSS,HRB, EI, Fás, Forfás, NCC, IDA. . . the list goes on". <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Fas anyone confident about their contribution? This soup of agencies is dished out to political appointees in a system created by the present administration. Can they then reliably reform it?</span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Finally and briefly I'd like to consider their point on start up funds. In their own words:</span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1"><span style="font-size:100%;"> <em> </em></span></span></span><em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><u><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" >Insufficient early stage funding is currently available</span></u></b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" > through the private sector and </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" >Enterprise</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" > </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" >Ireland</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:10;" ></span></em></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><em></em></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:9;" ><em>The Taskforce recognises that some <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><u>of the following recommendations have substantial resource implications</u></b> which cannot be met from EI's existing budget without cancelling other significant programmes, while others would require a change in Government policy regarding the provision of matching funding. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><u>We acknowledge the extreme pressures on the Exchequer</u></b> and recognise the rationale for requiring co-funding in a scheme of this nature. However, we believe that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><u>there is a clear market failure at present which may prevent worthwhile start-ups proceeding</u></b>. For that reason, some flexibility in this provision is proposed.</em></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: TheSans-Plain;font-family:TheSans-Plain;font-size:10;" ></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">(my highlights – report pg 67.) </span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Well NAMA should solve that problem shouldn't it? And an interesting question might be to what extent did the Irish govt. simply allow non-state bodies, like the banks, assume almost responsibility for nurturing Irish businesses and creating jobs. When, as the report noted, the market failed in its assigned responsibility there was a dearth of investment for companies and potential jobs not created.</span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">This situation does not just happen. It's the result of a conscious abdication of responsibility by the Govt. over the last 10 years. Now we are seeing the Irish govt. pick up the financial tab from the banks and also having to reassert control over the areas of responsibility it left to those same banks etc. </span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">How then can we entrust them with the responsibility for solving these issues?</span></span></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span> </p><p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><a href="http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Innovation_Taskforce/Report_of_the_Innovation_Taskforce.pdf">http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Innovation_Taskforce/Report_of_the_Innovation_Taskforce.pdf</a></span></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-74407177381690342632010-03-10T18:24:00.004+00:002010-03-10T19:00:45.748+00:00Home possessions set to soar.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclChpqK7QA2a9hKdgw1_gReAhBYkBEhQlIsneURWGInsqzurREYOqswCHoC4VrH2G5uo5jAnkT3jM7gNgP7Jby0EPZNo2ZR2aMnbHebyzbR02Qu4DyFuuVg5OPNj19_pjy1HsP4wcyb1J/s1600-h/house-repossession.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 132px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447082019148929394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiclChpqK7QA2a9hKdgw1_gReAhBYkBEhQlIsneURWGInsqzurREYOqswCHoC4VrH2G5uo5jAnkT3jM7gNgP7Jby0EPZNo2ZR2aMnbHebyzbR02Qu4DyFuuVg5OPNj19_pjy1HsP4wcyb1J/s200/house-repossession.jpg" /></a><br /><div><em>Joanne Spain has an article on the Home Possessions crisis on the Irish Left Review. As she notes its an elephant in the room that nobody seems to want to face up.<br /></em><br />Sixteen months after the Dublin government committed the state to underwriting the six main banks’ total deposits and loans, and half a year since the introduction of the NAMA initiative - the issue of home repossessions has come to the fore. Billions of euro have been invested in the banks, eleven to be exact. Not a cent has gone into helping people talked by the banks, developers, estate agents and government policy into buying overpriced houses at the peak of the boom.<br /><br />Most of these people are now sitting in houses with massive negative equity, trapped in extortionate long-term fixed rate mortgages, and saddled with 30-year debts that they are struggling to repay in the current climate of wage cuts and job losses.<br /><br />All of these people will have been pleased to hear the government announcement at the start of February that it is committed to helping homeowners struggling with mortgage payments. However, the ambiguity about what form this help will take and the fact that the government is not talking about implementing any plan until the summer, is no help. The only ‘help’ on offer for the past year has been a moratorium on repossessions, but that has run out now and only applied to the six guaranteed banks anyway. Almost one home a day was repossessed last year following proceedings by non-guaranteed banks.<br /><br />Read <a href="http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/03/10/home-repossessions-set-balloon/#more-2591">the</a> rest of the article</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-18853251673961421792010-03-09T00:38:00.000+00:002010-03-09T00:39:33.934+00:00Green isle despute resolvedGreen Isle Foods Limited, a major employer in Co Kildare, and the TEEU (Technical Engineering and Electrical Union) are pleased to confirm that the mediation process to resolve the industrial dispute at the company's manufacturing site in Naas has been concluded, with both parties agreeing to be bound by the proposals put forward by the independent mediators. <br /><br />The agreement will be implemented, and accordingly, all forms of industrial action and other activity will cease with immediate effect. Both parties will be bound by confidentiality under the terms of the mediation agreement.<br /><br />Both parties acknowledge the efforts and assistance of all involved in reaching agreement, and in particular pay tribute to Mr Bernard Durkan TD and Mr Jack Wall TD who facilitated the independent mediation process.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-42165859455930405222010-03-06T16:51:00.002+00:002010-03-06T16:52:26.594+00:00Video of Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on motions that would prevent Sinn Féin from going into coalition with FF or FG<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R1tTbDHtjrU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R1tTbDHtjrU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-22479464587950185132010-03-05T21:23:00.002+00:002010-03-06T17:05:07.821+00:00Day 14 of Jim Wyse's Hunger strike diary at Green IsleDay 14<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Fourteen<br /><a href="http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp">http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp</a><br /><br />I slept well last night and the health is holding up. Things were fairly good today. I’m beginning to get the few headaches and I find I can’t get up suddenly or I feel dizzy. Apart from that I’m feeling better in myself than I was a few days ago.<br /><br />I didn’t have any calls this morning but I think John had one from Newstalk. We were over in the hotel for a meeting with the mediators and we met up with KFM, so we did a piece for local radio.<br /><br />After that it was up to Dublin for the press conference, which seemed to go fairly well. Then we had to head back down here again for another meeting with the mediators at five o’clock.<br /><br />They talked to us for about 15 minutes. The rest of the time we’ve been hanging about waiting for the company to come back. It is very tiring, very wearing. Whether or not that is the company’s intention I don’t know. We’ll have to see what comes out of tonight’s talks<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-36891951529536027092010-03-03T00:19:00.000+00:002010-03-03T00:20:04.427+00:00Latest Sinn Féin video<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xtJYU9vO-wk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xtJYU9vO-wk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-54446479032177610262010-03-02T19:35:00.003+00:002010-03-06T17:05:31.067+00:00Day 12 and Day 13 of Jim Wyse's hunger strike diary<strong>Day 12<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Twelve</strong><br /><a href="http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp">http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp</a><br /><br />We managed to keep a lot warmer last night. I won’t say how we compensated for the cold.<br />It was bitterly cold last night outside. The temperature was minus five degrees when I went out to warm the car engine this morning.<br /><br />We slept well, although there is always the odd truck arriving at the plant in the night and then there’s a shift change about 6am.<br /><br />Despite the good night’s sleep I woke up no more refreshed than I went to bed. It’s not so much that I need to force myself to get up as I feel the need for more sleep during the day.<br /><br />We went down to meet Green Isle management at 3pm but they are keeping us waiting again. It’s par for the course. They’ve had since 3am on Friday, all weekend and all this morning to consider the proposals.<br /><br />Common decency and good manners would dictate you don’t leave the other side waiting around like this.<br /><br />Is it arrogance or something worse? I don’t know.<br /><br />It is encouraging to hear about all the support coming in. We need all the help we can get. I see the Northern Foods share price is continuing to slide so the bad publicity can’t be doing them any good.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------<br /><br /><strong>Day 13<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Thirteen</strong><br /><br />It was a good day today. The mini-depression I’ve had since Saturday has gone. I feel very good mentally as well as physically. I feel as well as I did when I started, although I don’t have the same energy.<br /><br />I saw the Doctor for my weekly medical check up earlier. It was very good, very reassuring. Everything is 100 per cent and the Doctor said I should be good for another week.<br /><br />The bad news is that the high cholesterol hasn’t gone down. The doctor said there was no reason that it should just because I am on hunger strike.<br /><br />He is very interested in how I am getting. He hasn’t had a hunger striker before. I’m his guinea pig. He’ll be able to talk about me for years.<br /><br />There is no downward trend in John Guinan at all. We slept well last night in the caravan. I woke up the odd time with passing trucks for a few minutes but you would do that at home.<br /><br />I think I’ll skip the start of the talks today. They kept us waiting a couple of hours yesterday. It’s only done to wear us down. I’ll wait this evening until there is something to discuss.<br /><br />There have been a lot more callers today. It was very busy, strangers a lot of them coming to offer their support. One was from Mandate and there were people up from Offaly . One of my brothers calls twice a day. Once on his way to work and once on the way home to see how I am. He is just pulling up now.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-12424515431091803602010-03-01T19:06:00.003+00:002010-09-24T19:28:48.484+01:00Is it raining Minister Hanafin?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So about 400 folks from<a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/local-economy-relying-on-we-ourselves.html"> farming families</a> are holding a protest outside the Department of Social and Family Affairs in Dublin at the removal of pensions from wives of farmers.<br />
<br />
The pension for farm women was given last year, but taken away this year. The logic being apparently sure there only women anyhow and they dont deserve anything arent their husbands farming. So much for independent financial existence for these women.<br />
<br />
The IFA have come out and criticised Minister Mary Hanafin for not meeting them. Also a few more people are camped inside the dept. and holding their ground until they get a meeting. Hanafin should climb down form her ivory tower and start talking.</span></span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What advice might she say to them?</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Probably tell them how the <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/retirement-age-new-plan-to-keep-us-working-beyond-65-2084121.html">pension age</a> is going up and we'll all have to tough it out. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Alternatively she could suggest that they all become Michael Woods. Remember how he was the sole beneficiary of a change in the law about ministerial pensions. Sole beneficiary to the tune of about 75k. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Or maybe she could point them in the direction of Bertie Aherne or Rory o'Hanlon who scooped 98k and 82k respectively last year. </span></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
What ever Mary Hanafin says to those protesting about the loss of granted pensions they would do well those sums in mind. While pension reform is something that must be faced the protestors should remember that Mary Hanafin's pension will beat anything they'll ever see and as long as this govt. is in power they'll keep it that way. Reform is for the little people. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Clint Eastwood once commented in The Outlaw Josey Wales " There's another saying, Senator: Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. "</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Those protesting in the Dept. would do well to bear it in mind when the Minister meets them, as she eventually must.</span></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-52447558963870472722010-03-01T16:21:00.001+00:002010-03-01T16:23:37.585+00:00Day 10 and 11 of Jim Wyse's hunger strike diaryDay 10<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Ten<br /><br />We had a good night’s rest for a change. I slept from 11pm until about 7am. I freshened up and met with some people gathering for the march. John Guinan took me up. He’s the designated driver and minder now. <br /><br />I met all the family and friends. My four sons and daughter Rebecca were there and all the grand children, brothers, sister, in-laws, nephews and nieces. There was a great crowd of supporters. I met people who came up from Cork, a group of Post Office workers and the crowd of supporters from Wyeth. It was a great march and we were blessed with great weather.<br /><br />I didn’t feel well enough for walking. Declan Shannon brought me down to Green Isle in the Jeep at the head of the march. There was a security cordon. At that stage I got out and walked down to the gate and everyone else came down. It was peaceful and dignified and we went back for the rally to the main entrance at the gate. <br />When you see a lot of people like that it gives you a lift, although I was not well enough to speak. John spoke for both us and spoke very well. <br /><br />We have had plenty of visitors afterwards but I managed to snatch a bit of a nap.<br /><br />I am down about a stone and a quarter in weight. Everything is good except the energy levels are low all the time now. I don’t think they will get back up while I’m on hunger strike.<br /><br /><br />Day 11<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Eleven<br /><br />We were up late enough last night and didn’t get to bed until about 1am with visits and calls. Then John and me spent a lot of time chatting. The talk always seemed to get back to food for some reason.<br /><br />We slept well but I woke up a number of times with the cold. My feet were very cold. That wasn’t a problem before, even though the temperatures were lower. <br /><br />We found there was a bit of condensation forming and the bottom of the mattress is getting damp. There is a formica base that is trapping the moisture. We are going to have to air the mattress and the caravan today.<br /><br />It was quiet this morning but we expect friends and family to visit in the afternoon. <br /><br />Physically I still feel a bit down energy wise, much the same as yesterday. I think this is the way it’s going to be from now on.<br /><br />I get a queasy feeling. It’s hard to describe but it isn’t normal. <br /><br />I find I am more relaxed when it is quiet and I am just sitting here. I usually have a lot of things going on in my mind when I’m not active, but maybe this is part of my body adjusting.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-29101762107035356332010-03-01T12:03:00.002+00:002010-09-24T19:02:15.459+01:00Is pro-business anti worker?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Michael Hennigan has a very nice financial news aggregator site called </span><a href="http://www.finfacts.ie/"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">FinFacts</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">. Today he has IBEC in his sights and castigates them for fearing radical reform not because such reform would lead to chaos but simply because they are too entrenched in the old way of doing things to be able to react purposefully in the new economic environment we live. IBEC issued a new business survey result today which shows most Irish companies believe that the Public Service Procurement sector in sth. Ireland is dysfunctional. When asked to rate the process of selling goods and services to the Public sector 56% of companies stated it as poor. And this is no small slice of pie. Last year it was €16 billion euros.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Hennigan describes the Public Procurement process in south Ireland as of the Victorian era with generally no transparency.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Mary Coughlan is apparently trying to do something about this issue. While her commentary on it might be colourful I don't think it will be useful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">It might be more useful if she packed up her bags. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Sinn Fein has been focussing on this issue for quite a while and has called for <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/files/jobcreationdocumentweb.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">procurement exercises</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> to be split so as to allow smaller companies the opportunity to win contracts, safe guard jobs and keep local economies going and its tried to help </span><a href="http://www.newryarmaghsf.com/news/15676"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">small businesses</span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> get educated on what opportunities exist. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">And its clear that they need this help. 55 per cent of businesses were refused bank funding in the three months to the end of February, compared to 42 per cent who were did not get credit facilities in the three months to the end of October. Quite a sharp rise Mar-May 2008 when only 20 per cent of SMEs who applied for funding were refused credit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">So much for NAMA helping small businesses, so much for the govt. trying to develop indigenous Irish firms so as to avoid the over-reliance on multi-nationals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">And so much for ISME and IBEC which have failed to deliver for small <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/limerick-one-story-but-indicative-of.html">Irish business women</a> and men who are going to the wall at a huge rate and who cant get credit but somehow or other are supposed to create jobs through exports.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">A friend once mentioned in passing that a left wing party should have nothing to do with businesses, that we should focus solely on the workers and not push policies that are targeted at helping businesses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Yet these businesses give jobs to our communities and give people the opportunity to live in their own home towns etc. if they wish.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">As a left wing party we have to support small businesses. We have to ensure jobs are provided to ordinary people. </span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Pushing supports for businesses is not a rocky road to neo-liberalism. It's the only road to keeping our communities working and living in </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ireland</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">None of these supports precludes us from building on and defending workers rights. </span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-45061730198330114322010-02-27T21:35:00.004+00:002010-02-27T22:15:46.062+00:00Dual Sovereignty over the North - How it might look<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggoHG80CYyLuhJh3UZ4giNzRm_-f_Xc4sM1QtvS27vHz5NPaFYiP0iGFGHv_Yv4OhrF1GlqfX52tDlYj08PncOy_ZFHg42pVU_tzcNwJcdz-x8ij8Foxd6_LaWx_YuNT7LDBMQirz_KP8/s1600-h/_45060921_a89160b1-b018-4e93-9b0f-03a2327b8715.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggoHG80CYyLuhJh3UZ4giNzRm_-f_Xc4sM1QtvS27vHz5NPaFYiP0iGFGHv_Yv4OhrF1GlqfX52tDlYj08PncOy_ZFHg42pVU_tzcNwJcdz-x8ij8Foxd6_LaWx_YuNT7LDBMQirz_KP8/s400/_45060921_a89160b1-b018-4e93-9b0f-03a2327b8715.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443049710319318834" /></a><br />Below is a piece we received from Sean Swan. It arose out of a discussion around the passing of Thomas MacGiolla <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/strange-quite-surrounding-passing-of.html">http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/strange-quite-surrounding-passing-of.html</a> .<br /><br />Sean raised the issue of the failure of republicanism to deal with, what he sees as the realities of Unionist Identity. He proposed some form of dual sovereignty for the North. He was asked to put some meat on his idea of how such a system would operate in the North and as a result he sent in the piece below as a comment.<br /><br />However, I felt it would be interesting to post this in its own right and allow people to discuss it.<br /><br /><br /><br />His ideas are below.<br /><br />------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br />The heart of it (<strong>dual sovereignty</strong>) would have to be an NI parliament which is internally sovereign over NI, which can set the tax rate, make laws etc. BUT this parliament would exist as only a devolved, not a federal, parliament – its existence, sovereignty and powers would only be devolved from Dublin and London. Its acts would have to be signed into law by both Dublin and London to have legal effect. In the vast majority of cases that would be a mere technicality, but it would be an important reserved power in cases of any potential discrimination. All taxation raised in NI would stay in NI plus it would continue to receive a subvention from Dublin and London in proportion to the GDP of both states. As to foreign policy, it wouldn’t have one. NI would absolutely not be a sovereign state for any external purposes. That would be the province of the national governments. It would make sense to maintain NI as a demilitarized zone in relation to either the British or Irish army except in the case of invasion by a foreign power (not a likely event for the foreseeable future). ‘Designation’ would be dropped, but the D’Hondt formula for allocating seats in the executive would stay. NI would become part of the Republic while remaining part of the UK, but the relevant tax rate, currency, laws, etc would be decided by the NI parliament. NI would continue to send MPs to London but would also return TDs to Dublin – though in both cases a good argument could be made for reduced representation for NI TDs and MPs compared to what exist for southern constituencies in the Dail or English constituencies in the House of Commons.<br /><br />Ending ‘designation’ and granting the NI parliament the right to raise taxes, make all laws pertaining to NI, etc, would make the emergence of left/right politics more likely. Here’s the bit nationalist won’t like – no future referendums on the constitutional status of NI. That’s the only way unionists would agree to joint sovereignty which they currently see as simply a staging post on the way to a united Ireland. That does not mean there could never be a united Ireland. That could still evolve out of the situation. Britain’s actual sovereignty over NI could fade over time if it was never exercised, whatever the technical status. This is what happened in Canada where the British North America Act remained on the statute, but despite this actual British control over Canada faded to nothing. Of course this lacks the appeal of an ‘instant karma’ situation where tomorrow the British government says they are kicking NI out of the UK (which is what ‘Brits out’ would amount to) or a referendum in which there’s a 50.1% vote in favour of a united Ireland. But the trouble with the ‘instant karma’ situation – apart from anything else – is how the unionists might react to this ‘doomsday’ scenario. How does UDI or repartition, a rerun of 1912 (remember that unionists were happy to let 3 counties go when it became clear that they couldn’t run a 9 county Ulster) sound? Like a nightmare. Nora will argue that a smaller ‘rump’ NI would not be economically feasible. I think that’s possibly wishful thinking. Firstly NI is not economically feasible now – though it goes on existing. Secondly there’s no minimum size for economic feasibility (particularly in the context of the EU) and it’s a mistake to imagine that economics trumps everything. North Korea is, compared to South Korea, an economic disaster – but there’s still no united Korea. The Republic was an economic disaster in the 1950s, but it didn’t lead it back to the UK.<br /><br />Sean Swan<div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-46815630344568151952010-02-27T01:08:00.006+00:002010-02-27T01:29:40.336+00:00Diary of Jim Wyse who is on hungerstrike at the Green Isle plant in Naas.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN4sAY1MX3lB3DFpCK5GZOLaZwlxFeaac2UzhmiWttmwOmxYtPkfolxfL1oVvkTaGvAZZxFgdjAPSXmCwqtncnG_gsPwODJ2FxRuuIqwJYVlMh3uKWlkkf4rI6V0uxOj3l5u8640BNSc/s1600-h/hungerStrike_pa_519672t.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 322px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442726448909233698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN4sAY1MX3lB3DFpCK5GZOLaZwlxFeaac2UzhmiWttmwOmxYtPkfolxfL1oVvkTaGvAZZxFgdjAPSXmCwqtncnG_gsPwODJ2FxRuuIqwJYVlMh3uKWlkkf4rI6V0uxOj3l5u8640BNSc/s400/hungerStrike_pa_519672t.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Jim Wyse is still on hunger strike at the Green Isle plant in Naas and he has now been joined by former Offaly All Ireland footballer John Guinan. As mentioned previously Jim feels he has not alternative but to take this action. <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at.html">http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at.html</a></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><br />Jim has been keeping a diary of his experience and this is being posted on the TEEU website<br /><a href="http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp">http://www.teeu.ie/allddgreenisle.asp</a><br /><br />Below are his entries to date and I will try to put up new ones as they appear.<br /><br />Also there is a Rally in support of the Green Isle workers and the TEEU have issued this statement:<br />We are asking you to support the rally being organised by Kildare Council of Trade Unions on Saturday, February 27th to show solidarity with Jim and his colleagues in the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union. It starts at 12 noon in the Storm Cinema car park, Naas, and will be followed by a march to the Green Isle plant.<br /><br />_________________________________________-<br /></div><div></div><div><strong>DIARY OF JIM WYES</strong><br />Day 9<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Nine<br /><br />I didn’t get much sleep last night. We were up until 3 am talking to the company and I had to get up early again to go to the doctor for my check up. He said everything was okay.<br /><br />He took my blood pressure, checked my heart and took some blood samples for tests. He couldn’t see anything wrong with me but is sending them away to be on the safe side.<br /><br />I am down about a stone. I haven’t lost much weight over the past day or so. I think whatever was going to go fast has gone and what’s left is going to go much slower from now on.<br /><br />There was a lad in from the This Week programme on RTE this morning talking about doing something for Sunday. He was going off to see the company afterwards.<br /><br />There was another lad from a group of An Post workers who want to do something and are planning to come to the march tomorrow. I think a Start Labour write-in campaign is getting underway for people to contact Northern Foods, the parent company.<br /><br />I hope to get the head down this afternoon and catch up on a bit of sleep.<br /><br /><br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 8<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Eight<br /><br />We went back up to the Caravan after the Press Conference in Maudlins and had some press photographs taken. There were the usual visitors, family and friends to see how we were getting on.<br /><br />Two lads called from my native village Coilldubh to make a video for a local history project. I was asked where Coilldubh is. It’s between Celbridge and Edenderry, and it was a Bord na Mona village built in the late 1940s. They’re good lads and very interested in what’s going on.<br /><br />This morning I was okay, but in the afternoon I seemed to lose energy and there was a bit of a reaction in my stomach, a bit of nausea. I felt a bit of hunger come back as well but it went away again.<br />I arrived for talks with management about 1pm, but there was no one here so I went to have a nap. I actually feel better now for it.<br />There have been talks this evening but nothing much has happened. The company doesn’t seem in any hurry, but then they never are.<br /><br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 7<br /><br />Green Isle Hunger Strike Diary – Day Seven<br /><br />I’m starting to feel the effects of the hunger strike now to be honest. I feel a bit drowsy, woosie. They say you get highs and lows and today I woke up feeling low. I’m still feeling low now but I’ll feel better tomorrow.<br /><br />A cup of hot water helps but the salt is a penance.<br />My body is beginning to operate in a totally different way. It may be that it is beginning to switch over to feeding off the fat reserves.<br /><br />I didn’t feel I was answering questions as well as I could at the press conference today but I’m told it went well. The company is beginning to come out and try to smear us with all sorts of innuendos but we wouldn’t have been out here for six months on the picket line or gone on hunger strike if what they said was true. All we have ever asked is that act fairly. I have no problem if people are brought through a fair procedure and dismissed for misbehaving but that is not what happened.<br /><br />Management also say we have no support in the factory but people coming out are stopping and chatting to us on the way home. They are afraid to join us and I don’t blame them. Some people do live in fear in there, especially those on work permits. People have mortgages to pay and loans and families to support.<br /><br />I don’t know if there will be any talks before the rally on Saturday. We are available to meet them at any time.<br /><br />At least I have John Guinan here to talk to tonight. I know his family will be worried now that he has joined me on hunger strike, but I also know that it will make my own family feel a little bit less anxious to know there is someone else here with me.<br /><br />The only question is who gets the large bed. He’s a big fellow.<br /><br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 6<br /><br />I've lost nearly a stone but I am feeling fairly good today. I reckon I have about another half stone to spare as far as the weight is concerned.<br /><br />I slept very well last night but then I was wrecked after the ruckus the previous night and the meeting with management. That did not get very far and we've had no word back from them so far today.<br /><br />John Guinan, who is joining me on hunger strike tomorrow, called by again today to have a chat and Ciaran Tyrell, a TEEU activist in Wicklow called over to see what they could do to help raise public awareness.<br /><br />The other shop steward here at Green Isle Foods, Declan Shannon, says he is getting in a lot of calls offering support.<br />We are looking forward to the press conference in Maudlin's tomorrow to get an opportunity to put our case across. It is right beside the Storm Cinema in Naas, which is handy for any journalists who want to know where the rally is starting from on Saturday.<br /><br />Some of the family and lads are worried at the rate I'm losing weight, so I might get a medical check-up on Thursday to keep their minds at rest. But they know I am here for the duration. Everything else is in the hands of Green Isle Foods and their owners in Leeds, Northern Foods. They are the ones calling the shots and it looks like it's a case of out of sight out of mind.<br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 5<br /><br />I woke up last night about 2 am. A guy who had some drink on him was pulling down some of the signs. We had a few words with him and he left, but we had to repair the signs.<br /><br />It meant I didn't have a proper night's sleep before the meeting with management today.<br /><br />John, who is going to be next on the hunger strike, spent the night with me. I talked to him about it and told him what to expect. I think he is psychologically ready for it. He has discussed it with his wife and is talking to the children tomorrow.<br /><br />I went up to the house before the meeting with management to have a shower and tidy up. We didn't make much progress with them. We reported back to the lads and they agreed there was no basis for a settlement yet.<br /><br />There were a lot of visitors to the caravan this evening by people who missed me during the day because I was at the talks.<br /><br />I am really tired tonight. I should sleep well.<br /><br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 4<br /><br />The press conference at the TEEU offices in Dublin broke up the day for me. Declan Shannon, my fellow shop steward at Green Isle Foods drove me up.<br /><br />My body moved down a gear today but I still feel fine.<br /><br />I told journalists I would be getting a medical check up after ten days, or when I lost more than ten per cent of my body weight; whichever comes first. But I also made it clear that whatever the outcome of the medical there was no question of me stopping my protest. That won't happen until we have a result from the talks, something we can bring back to the members.<br /><br />They also asked me why I was the first member at Green Isle Foods to go on hunger strike. I told them the hunger strike was my idea and I couldn't very well come up with an idea like that and not do it myself.<br /><br />We had been out six months and if we didn't do something soon everyone would have been broken eventually. That's a fact.<br /><br />We knew from dealing with the company that talks alone wouldn't do it.<br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 3<br /><br />Green's Isle Hunger Strike Diary - Day Three<br />Last night wasn't too bad as I was at meetings until 2.30am today so I wasn't cold. At least the company is talking to us now.<br /><br />I had to be up early for Newstalk but the traffic would wake you anyway. I could have done with a bit more time on the programme to explain the issues properly. I hope it was okay.<br />A guy came in to talk to me for about an hour this morning about the dispute. He lives locally but runs some sort of EU Blog. He says he will have to talk the company as well to get their side. He seemed very interested in our case. He said he would be putting something out shortly and that the blog goes to some key people in Europe.<br /><br />I am feeling good physically but the energy seems to go very quick when I have to do anything. I am travelling up to Dublin tomorrow for the Press Conference at the TEEU offices.<br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 2<br /><br />After's a quiet start I had a busy night, meeting with management, through the good offices of Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan and Labour TD Jack Wall. Management said they mean business but after the events of the past six months I am not ending the hunger strike until we have a deal that is signed, sealed and delivered.<br /><br />There are no ill effects at this stage but the craving for food has gone. I don't feel the urge to rush out any more and grab someone's bag of chips. I was told it would be like this and now that I have stopped thinking about food I can concentrate on the issues.<br /><br />I have books here to read but I haven't had a chance to open them, there are so many callers and phone calls.<br /><br />Kfm are calling me now. It looks like my interview with the local station is become a daily feature.<br /><br /><br />.......................[ Back to Top of page].....................<br /><br /><br />Day 1<br /><br />It's just over 24 hours since the start of the strike. I was hungry this morning and I'm even hungrier now; but it's nothing more than a lot of people put up with on a fast for charity. A burger would be nice.<br /><br />There was an odd incident at start of the hunger strike yesterday afternoon. A courier arrived with four large pizzas to be paid for on delivery. Hopefully it was a one-off stunt.<br /><br />A lot of people dropped by to have a chat, including two lads from Sinn Fein up from Wicklow for a meeting and some Coca Cola workers who were on strike.<br /><br />There were union meetings last night until nearly midnight. At least it helped to keep my mind off food. My son Jamie stayed overnight. It took us a while to get the balance right between using the heater and the number of quilts we needed on the bed to keep warm.<br />We got up about 7am today.<br /><br />I''m drinking water most of the time. It is fairly tasteless so I sometimes heat it on the gas ring for a change. It helps me keep warm.<br /><br />I did an interview with Highland Radio this morning and a journalist called with a photographer from the Sunday Tribune to hear why I was on hunger strike.<br /><br />My brothers Pat and Martin called up to see how I was getting on. My wife Anne is with me now.<br /><br /><br />Day One Over </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-34553110573203951482010-02-22T18:05:00.006+00:002010-02-22T19:07:39.219+00:00Shifting Sand - economic mismanagement is catching up on this govt.<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Recently I commented that the Govt. had managed to create a sense, at least, of stability but that it was in danger of seeing its story on </span></span><a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/problem-solved.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the economic crisis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and how best to handle it start to spin out of control with the likelihood that this would provide some new opportunities to challenge their economic prescriptions.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Well so much for stability. Some fairly boorish action in the </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Leinster</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> house debates about o’Dea (he of </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Limerick </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">regeneration project fame) demonstrated that the Govt. believes the old Brian Cowen approach of barracking down all challengers will keep on working. That will likely be a big mistake.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But what about the unravelling of the Govt. economic narrative which has been so carefully built up to centre around debt reduction and bond holder appeasement at all costs, even at the cost of a more thoughtful response. Any signs of that story line slipping?</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Well, firstly, for me a reasonable fear was that Fianna Fail would perform the usual trick of holding on long enough so as to be able to sell themselves as having stabilised the economy and sown the seeds of recovery. Setting up the bond holders, an external force, as the main protagonists and describing the crisis as externally created would have allowed this possibility nicely.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">However the best laid plans oft go awry. Patrick Honohan the newly appointed Central Bank Governor is proving himself to be independent of his appointer (and from what I can gather of him it is not unexpected) which is not helping the govt.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In a speech to the </span></span><a href="http://www.centralbank.ie/data/NewsFiles/Address%20by%20Governor%20to%20the%20British-Irish%20Parliamentary%20Assembly%2040th%20Plenary%20Conference.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">British Irish Parliamentary conference</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Honohan has been talking about the similarities between the Irish and British crises. For the govt. it represents another shift away from their version of events and further creates a tone of public discourse where alternative economic policies can be offered without immediately being dismissed simply because they are not from the govt. I think specifically of the €4 billion magic number for </span></span><a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/magic-numbers-in-southern-media.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">budget cuts</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> last year. The govt's cuts agenda, their economic story, was the yardstick by which all others were measured. They were in control and its that level of control which allowed a successful steering through of the budget.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But that control continues to weaken. Straight of the bat Honohan highlights the key issue stating </span></span></span></p><blockquote><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“the crisis has served to expose strikingly similar pre-existing vulnerabilities in our economies – not shared by most others in </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Europe</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> – which would sooner or later have led to trouble even if it had not been for the global meltdown”.</span></span></span></blockquote><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Well Governor Honohan please have a word with the Min. of Finance and an Taoiseach who will strongly disagree with that. You see Governor the crisis is solely a product of external agents and events. Well Honohan is having none of that and punctures that myth as well in no uncertain terms. As he himself says his speech is not about “questioning the largely-home-grown nature of the Irish credit bubble”</span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He specifically highlights the “wide-ranging imbalances created by a credit-fuelled property boom”, “growing dependence of the financial sector on wholesale market-funding, increasingly in the form of foreign borrowing” and the over reliance</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">on transitory tax revenue to fund expenditures.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And what might have created such imbalances. He suggestion is that its directly as a consequence of Govt. tax policy:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tax incentives for developers and homeowners have long been a feature of the Irish taxation system and must have contributed significantly to the oversupply of houses which now exists, especially in parts of the country where underlying demand is likely to remain weak for many years to come.</span></blockquote></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We’ve examined the impact of imbalances as a consequence of a </span><a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/02/moral-hazard-or-moral-turpitude-in.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">credit fuelled property</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> boom and poor tax policy before and its a costly mess that can be squarely laid at the feet of this govt. Honohan points out </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Even before the global crisis metastasized in September 2008, Ireland</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">‟</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">s fiscal position was coming under pressure, not just because of an accelerated expansion of spending in the previous few years, but especially because of the sharp fall in tax revenues which began soon after the property prices started to turn down." </span></span></span></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How poor the govt tax strategy of relying on windfall taxes is demonstrated by the collapse of the tax tale from 24 per cent of GDP in the first seven years of the new millennium to 20 per cent of a greatly reduced GDP by 2009. In his words there was an "excessive reliance on revenues related to the value of property transactions."</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For Patrick Honohan, Governor of the Central Bank of the Irish state there are some clear culprits as to who is responsible for this situation.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And if the two Brians think that this is just a one off bad report then they had better not read the Davy report just published which highlights the </span><a href="http://notesonthefront.typepad.com/politicaleconomy/2010/02/davy-stockbrokers-has-produced-the-must-read-report-so-far-of-the-year-entitled-years-of-high-income-largely-wasted.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">wasted wealth of the boom years</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> as reported by Taft</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That and add in the </span><a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/18139"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Docklands report </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">as highlighted by Mary Lou and it seems like some sand is beginning to shift under this govt. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We have waited a while for the mismanagement of the economy to catch up with the govt. Finally it seems the general discourse may be starting to focus on the real villans in this piece.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That should allow SF sufficient room to carve out its own niche by providing a progressive analysis rather than being forced to explain its economic policies on the govt. terms</span></span></p></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-1092462001739847882010-02-20T17:58:00.006+00:002010-02-27T01:27:17.496+00:00Shopsteward, Jim Wyse, Begins Hunger Stike at Green Isle Foods<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9gR20_GQxOMa63ab4BfwZ1EPQAO1u1rPtpC8SBwodLGnLUeOWLVH5rzLJ5tX-dnSoc0WI4bObkIccCbNPmoGzLzhyNTYEcXnFrn9_ev441QddcCMfn5vZvDpFdYlb0CYgOhEZVnVtZ0/s1600-h/green+isle.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 291px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440399039328114626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9gR20_GQxOMa63ab4BfwZ1EPQAO1u1rPtpC8SBwodLGnLUeOWLVH5rzLJ5tX-dnSoc0WI4bObkIccCbNPmoGzLzhyNTYEcXnFrn9_ev441QddcCMfn5vZvDpFdYlb0CYgOhEZVnVtZ0/s400/green+isle.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Our island has a tragic history of hunger strikes and once more an individual feels he has no other way to get his voice heard by those in power than to refuse to eat food. Le's hope this dispute is resolved quickly. The below piece is taken from the ICTU website <a href="http://www.ictu.ie/press/2010/02/17/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at-green-isle-foods/">http://www.ictu.ie/press/2010/02/17/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at-green-isle-foods/</a><br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jim Wyse, the TEEU shopsteward at Green Isle Foods, began his hunger strike at the company's Naas plant at noon today (Feb 17) in protest at management's refusal to accept Labour Court proposals to settle the six months long dispute.<br /><br />"I don't mind what I have to do to resolve this", he said, "but I do mind how it is affecting my family. They are supportive but they are angry as well that it has come to this. They've put up with six months of hardship, as have the other families involved. Now they are facing into this as well."<br /><br />Asked how long he thought he would be on the protest, he said, "I'm not expecting a quick result. The history of this dispute so far is that the company will drag things out again".<br /><br />He said he appreciated the efforts local TD Bernard Durkan had made over the past few days to assist by contacting the company and the strikers, "but we're not getting our hopes up". His wife Anne and daughter Rebecca were among the supporters who turned out for the start of the hunger strike. Jim will spend the hunger strike on the picket line in a caravan.<br /><br />Jim's wife Anne Wyse said it was "crazy people have to resort to a hunger strike to get the company to listen to them". His daughter Rebecca said she fully supported her father in what he was doing but that she was "very, very angry he is having to take such a drastic step when the Labour Court and everybody else has offered a solution to the company".<br /><br />Declan Shannon is the other shop steward in the dispute and he was not hopeful of an early breakthrough either, although he said that Bernard Durkan had met with both sides separately yesterday. His wife Ann Shannon, who was on the picket line today, said that the attitude of the company directors appeared to be that the men could stay outside forever.<br /><br />"The have been outside the gate for six months now through the worst winter in 40 years and they have been here every single day", she said.<br /><br />Technical Engineering and Electrical Union General Secretary Designate, Eamon Devoy, said, "The union is four square behind our members. The Labour Relations Commission, the National Implementation Body and the Labour Court have all put forward initiatives we accepted, as we did the final Labour Court recommendations but the company has shown no willingness to engage in the search for a solution."<br /><br />The men are seeking the reinstatement of three colleagues who were dismissed for alleged misconduct and for the company to honour existing terms and conditions for the remainder of the strikers. The Labour Court recommended that the company either pay the men €40,000, €60,000 and €80,000 respectively for unfair dismissal or reinstate them. The company has declined to do either. Nor has it been willing to engage with the TEEU or even allow it to represent the men when they were being dismissed.<br /><br />Congress granted the TEEU an All-Out picket against Green Isle Foods. Its products include Goodfellas and San Marco pizzas, Donegal Catch, a variety of savoury filled pastries, potatoes and other vegetables.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ictu.ie/press/2010/02/17/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at-green-isle-foods/"></a><a href="http://www.ictu.ie/press/2010/02/17/shopsteward-begins-hunger-stike-at-green-isle-foods/"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>mellowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12844166986997608405noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-52235861933082598152010-02-18T22:25:00.000+00:002010-02-18T21:42:25.934+00:00ONE DOWN FIFTEEN TO GO<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILdu96_0_dbHDd0OLlqlbr4JGHR_Pa_H7I6hb9pTI4RmdAP3-7Q1ebh31RYUpQq00CpxEop3vJUCkJjBTdMCFdCFwUAfwyzV4OFnUbDmXDfebhJQIMa3Hfl2tmhiU6azcW314mMSmxewi/s1600-h/mario-link-bowling-pins.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 169px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 230px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439699025409142050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILdu96_0_dbHDd0OLlqlbr4JGHR_Pa_H7I6hb9pTI4RmdAP3-7Q1ebh31RYUpQq00CpxEop3vJUCkJjBTdMCFdCFwUAfwyzV4OFnUbDmXDfebhJQIMa3Hfl2tmhiU6azcW314mMSmxewi/s200/mario-link-bowling-pins.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div>One down!</div><div></div><div></div><div>Fifteen to go.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Set up the next cabinet minister we are only getting started.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-51895994642656470612010-02-18T22:23:00.001+00:002010-09-24T18:48:37.838+01:00Problem Solved?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3uK_V9ofcKttmZ44YiWj8E73dZnkg19N3OQksXIWG7wu31l-iSbKmkLCOgNLlhHUGW15bm-lcLL4xo7hkaPnTMMEL0Do88ikae-WxhSmOUwlaNGxl_NzlSfQcKqElyqPJvPEoT5-m_DI/s1600-h/realsimplemarcover.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439352533733713442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3uK_V9ofcKttmZ44YiWj8E73dZnkg19N3OQksXIWG7wu31l-iSbKmkLCOgNLlhHUGW15bm-lcLL4xo7hkaPnTMMEL0Do88ikae-WxhSmOUwlaNGxl_NzlSfQcKqElyqPJvPEoT5-m_DI/s200/realsimplemarcover.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 209px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 157px;" /></a><br />
<div><span style="font-size: 100%;">The Govt. could be forgiven for thinking that things were starting to improve for them. The recent bounce in the opinion polls and a fairly deft treading on water over the last few months saw them apparently pull through a difficult period. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">And although today they did have the embarassing situation of defending a perjurer they did seem to be stabilising a bit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">The reason for that stability I contend is their success in defining the debate on the economy so narrowly. <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/sinn-feins-caoimhghin-o-caolain.html">Successful economic policy</a> today is not defined by how many people are in employment, wealth creation etc. but by how much our borrowing requirement can be reduced. The only criteria for success is the often arbitrary opinion of the the sovereign debt market. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">And how successful they were in defining that as the yard stick of success. The budget, the McCarthy report, savage and sectional in their targeting went through without any real opposition.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">The issue of <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/09/there-is-alternative-and-they-know-it.html">budget deficit</a> was a substantive one and no party could shy away from it, certainly SF did not and sought to tackle the structural deficit in a non-deflationary way. Sustantive as it is its not the only issue to be handled.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">When <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2010/08/michael-collins-versus-brian-lenihan.html">Brian Lenihan</a> went on RTE yesterday to state that Ireland was out of danger and commented we had found our own solution to our problems he was to some extent stating the truth. Indeed we have managed to avoid the situation whereby we undergo soverign default. But at what cost to our medium term economic prospects and societal cohesion. And while no one is arguing against avoiding an unsustainable deficit many are arguing against the deflationary measures of the Govt, even from the pages of the Wall street journal. And what about Michael Casey the former <a href="http://www.progressive-economy.ie/2010/02/all-of-adjustments-are-being-done-to.html">chief economist </a>with the Central Bank and currently board member of the International Monetary Fund who commented that:</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote>Our Government and the EU Commission have sold out to the rating agencies, none of whom cares about unemployment or emigration.</blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;">For a govt. which has defined our economic problems as being under the control of foreign lenders and money markets this is a worrying shift back to real world concerns. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">The govt. have skilfully turned fear of default into one of its success criteria and having avoided such a default and created the illusion of stability it has managed to stabilise its own position in the polls. However I suspect that rather than this marking a come back for the govt. they now face a new danger. The narrative of fear surrounding debt default is receding and the more Lenihan claims we are out of the woods the weaker it gets.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Its been a successful diversion but with nearly <a href="http://sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-next-for-irelands-young.html">half a million unemployed</a> its becoming less possible for the govt. to sideline the issue. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Ultimately the govt. will have to face the issue of job creation. And job creation will not be easily managed or manipulated in the media since the govt. record is extremely poor on this issue. </span><br />
According to Forfas in the years 98 to 08 less than 4000 net new jobs were added by foreign and irish-owned firms in the international tradable goods and services sectors.<br />
<br />
Yet in retail, constructions etc up to half a million jobs were created. Likewise <span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
in 2006, 83,000 new jobs were added to the economy but yet direct job creation in the export sectors was less than 6,000.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Clearly the capacity of the Irish economy to create jobs on its own is tiny, or is it more that the capacity of the economy to create jobs has been simply ignored. Considering that in 2007 </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">the Irish invested €13.9 billion in European property deals but the Irish-owned business sector got under €200 million in venture capital investment is it surprising. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">The SME sector has been sorely neglected by the govt. over many years and these difficult times are showing how. The </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">number of corporate insolvencies in Ireland has soared to 1,406 in 2009, according to InsovencyJournal.ie</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<br />
The govt. would love people to think that with the cost of Irish debt stabilising that they have saved us.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Yet we now have an economy that has very little demand in it and very little investment (now at 1998 levels) - the 2 pillars that created most jobs in the tiger era. People are saving like crazy and shops and construction are flatlining. But at the same time the lack of vision of the govt. is now catching up with the neglected SME sector and jobs are being lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Brian Lenihan may be happy thinking that its problem solved. However there is only so much treading water this govt. can do and as the debate switches away from bond spreads to job creation and the need for real reform on the structural deficit then the govt. will be once more vulnerable on the economic front.</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-54889448312129351582010-02-15T16:56:00.001+00:002010-02-15T16:56:34.149+00:00Getting caught at the Horse Fair. Why its tough to be a Green these days.<div>The reputation of politics in the mind of Irish voters is low . </div> <div> </div> <div>But I think the Greens have just managed to drag it a bit lower. The sheer naked hunger for position and sense of entitlement as displayed by former senator deBurca is striking a new low; not because there are no other politicians as venal but because Senator deBurca seems to have even lost any notion of being embarassed by such a sense of privilege. This is approaching Pee Flynn territory.</div> <div> </div> <div>Senator deBurca and the Greens went to do a deal with Fianna Fail, the master horse traders, and all they got for their money was an old mare fit for the yard. They got caught and there is no going back. They tried to secure a job for their candidate simply because she was their candidate. </div> <div> <div>DeBurca claimed the Greens only agreed to support Maire Geoghegan Quinn as Ireland's EU Commissioner in return for her getting a sinecure, sorry I mean job, in the Commissioner's cabinet. </div> <div> </div> <div>Well the Greens promised:</div></div> <ul> <li>A proper waste strategy for Dublin and instead we have an incinerator and several court cases;</li> <li>They promised transport reform;</li> <li>They promised they wouldnt breath the air on planet Bertie but instead became the famous FF mud guard;</li> <li>They promised about Tara etc etc.</li></ul> <div>And what about the half million on the register. Are they not entitled to a job as well Deirdre. They cant horse trade their way into a fancy position though.</div> <div> </div> <div>This seems to be a case of what goes around comes around and I have little sympathy for her. </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7727561618191456901.post-81844856918803186892010-02-14T22:05:00.007+00:002010-02-14T23:15:13.728+00:00No good thing ever came from the crooked timber of partition.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02xabSSd2Wc1BD-3B9npQCJVKNj8kIH0erN0gftuHmQVr1CsIHgxSYIbbUoB4OTR313mHlQv77dApei5y2djRVVxQrG_MhRGNF2f6pqwB3p9uVsAO1BWAyzwAgzVloq6KUSk52DJ7RzN7/s1600-h/219581402_4cd89ec4cc.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02xabSSd2Wc1BD-3B9npQCJVKNj8kIH0erN0gftuHmQVr1CsIHgxSYIbbUoB4OTR313mHlQv77dApei5y2djRVVxQrG_MhRGNF2f6pqwB3p9uVsAO1BWAyzwAgzVloq6KUSk52DJ7RzN7/s200/219581402_4cd89ec4cc.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438240776475610562" /></a><div><br /></div><div>John Quiggin, who is listed in the side column of links is a well known Australian economist who often writes on a blog called C<a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2010/02/04/zombie-ideas-walk-again/#more-14590">rooked Timber</a>.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>At the moment, as noted by <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/brains-brains/">Paul Krugman</a>, John is writing a book on Zombie economics. Basically the trust of the book is going to be ideas that should have been canned by history are proving really persistent and instead of staying buried are rising again.<br /><br />The neo-liberal, chicago school or free-market crazies who made such a mess of things have seen the world economy steered away from disaster by huge govt. interventions. Something which they thought should never happen.<br /><br />Perversely it seems the success of the Keynesians priming the pump is actually giving the neo-liberals room to survive and regroup.<br /><br />As Krugman says "Now that we seem to have avoided a full replay of the Great Depression, a large part both of the economics profession and of the political establishment seems ready to pretend that none of it happened."<br /><br />In sth Ireland though we have no such debate. Instead Fine Gael are keen to try out the same old ideas as FF . Fianna Fail is proposing a deflationary solution thats sucking life out of the economy (look at those tax returns) and Fine Gael spent months telling everyone how they were going to cut jobs in the public services. Michael Taft notes "the effect of cutting 17,000 public sector jobs - as measured in the ESRI simulation in its working paper 287 - is fiscally irrelevant but economically damaging. By the 4th year, the borrowing requirement falls by only 0.1% of GDP but the GDP falls by 0.7% (the effect on the domestic economy is even worse - at 1%). However, the effect on consumer spending (-1.1%) and employment (-0.8% or about -15,000 jobs) makes the cut extremely damaging."<br /><br />Recently this type of Fianna Fail-Fine Gael approach was labelled a death spiral for the country in the Wall Street Journal of all places.<br /><br />In America the debate is oscillating between two schools of thought. Here there is only one school of thought with two parties pushing it. Whoever will win the next election will lead to little change as many have long known.<br /><br />George Lee for all his faults eventually saw this and decided he couldnt stick with Fine Gael. He couldnt stick with a party pushing deflation just like Fianna Fail. He should have spotted it earlier but sure no one is perfect.<br /><br />If Lee wants to do the country some service then he can start to show how Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are the two sides of the one coin pushing a deflationary death spiral.<br /><br />Welcome the real world George. <div><br /><div>You have just joined the growing group of people who know that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail offer no useful solutions to our current problems.<br /></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Please go to www.sinnfeinkeepleft.blogspot.com and post your comments regarding this article</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1