Congrats to Joe Higgins MEP and thanks for voting for him on the European ballot paper.

Joe Higgins is standing for the Dublin Constituency in the Euro Elections to be held on Friday, June 5th, to give people throughout Dublin an opportunity to strike a real blow against this governments attacks on working people.

Joe is well known as a fighter for working people for the last thirty years, and as being the real opposition when in the Dail from 1997 to 2007. Now more than ever we need to elect fighters like Joe.

Two key reasons to vote Joe Higgins No. 1
- Wipe out Fianna Fail, & strike a blow against the entire political establishment
- Elect a a real fighter for working people – a workers’ MEP on a workers’ wage who will lead the fightback

For more check out:
http://www.joehiggins.eu/ideas

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You may have met me at a public meeting (yes we do face to face also! The Socialist Party have organised more public meetings in our ward than all sitting councillors put together over the past 5 years) postering leafleting and campaigning cost money. 

Please donate as generously as you can.  And thanks in advance.

Fianna Fail has been found out – clearly and comprehensively – and it is hurting badly as a result. Never before in the 83 years since it was formed has the party stood so bereft of camouflage to cloak its real nature.

Fianna Fail lived a lie for so much of its history that it arrogantly assumed it could never be exposed in he way it now is. It was a party of the gombeen when that class had its fingers on the majority of greasy tills in the newly formed state.

It became the party of the speculators and the developers from the 1960s when groups of assorted cowboys of that ilk saw big opportunities with the ending of protectionism and the beginnings of economic development based on foreign investment. They bought Fianna Fail which has remained in their pockets through the bribed rezonings of the ‘Eighties and ‘Nineties. It went further in its most recent period in power since 1997 and handed 20% of the economy fully over to them to profiteer as they wished.

From the 1960s, of course Fianna Fail also embraced the multinational corporations throwing massive subsidies to them to set up here and making a significant part of the economy dependent on faceless corporate executives in glass towers from New York to Tokyo.

But all the time Fianna Fail masqueraded as the party of the small people. In the 1920s when the Labour Party was too cowardly to lead a movement against the punitive tax on small farmers to pay off the debts owed by the State to their previous landlords, Fianna Fail had no problem with the illegality involved in a boycott. It won the support of a significant number of the small farming community which remained an important base despite selling them out subsequently on numerous issues.

As industrial workers came to have a greater social weight in the 1960s and ‘70s Fianna Fail posed as their friend also. The party even developed its very own mascot aimed at winning and maintaining working class support, one Bertie Ahern, the man in the anorak.

The masquerade worked for a whole historic period largely because of the nature of the opposition. Fine Gael was the party of the rancher farmers and sections of big business. When there were opportunities of building a serious Left alternative to both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, especially in the 1970s and ‘80s, the labour Party in its usual cowardly fashion, opted instead to put Fine Gael into government and then supported swinging attacks on the living standards of working people utterly discrediting themselves in the process and allowing Fianna Fail to pose as the friends of their victims.

Had Fine Gael and Labour won the 2007 General Election, a version of the same process could have been repeated. We would have had a hapless Coalition carrying out cuts in services and living standards similar to the current government, while Fianna Fail would try another makeover to try and crawl back again. However that didn’t happen and for once the party is cornered with nowhere to hide.

The disastrous consequences of the policies of the real Fianna Fail are glaringly obvious to all. The Fianna Fail of the speculators carries the responsibility for the merciless crash of the profiteering driven bubble in the housing market.

The neoliberal, multinational embracing Fianna Fail carries full responsibility for the consequences of handing over vital infrastructure and services to be sweated by vulture foreign capitalist. Thus at a time when broadband is critically needed everywhere in the State, many areas are lagging behind because the vulture capitalists to which were given our telecommunications infrastructure have been too busy sweating the assets rather than investing for the common good.

And 1150 highly skilled SR Technics workers, are seeing their livelihoods slaughtered because Fianna Fail gave their publicly owned Team Aer Lingus to more vultures.

This is the background to the current economic crisis in the State. It is also what is mercilessly stripping away the subterfuge with which Fianna Fail played at being the workers’ friend.

This the context also in which the former Minister of State, John McGuinness, now tries to pose as the salvation of Fianna Fail. It is a posture that should not impress. He carries as much responsibility for the current disaster as the leadership of his party just like all the other backbenchers who for twelve years supported all the policies that have now reaped the whirlwind in which they are caught.

So Fianna Fail faces the Local and Euro Elections on June 5th mercilessly exposed as the party of the speculator, the vulture and the crony capitalists. Among those who will line up to punish them none will be more angry than those whom they succeeded in fooling for a very long time. They and many more will line up to wipe out Fianna Fail for their treachery and then wipe their feet on the hapless Green Party which has chosen to be the doormat for the party of the speculators.

(Originally published in the Daily Mail , April 29th)

‘Fairness must be the cornerstone of all our efforts to achieve economic renewal,’ so said Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in his Budget Speech.  A monstrous political lie because he went on to announce the most unfair, savage and immoral Budget in the history of the State.

With rising unemployment, the slashing of the jobseekers allowance by €100 per week is a vicious attack on young working class people. The workers on North Dublin are being asked to bailout the bankers, the builders and their government friends, we say NO.

Ninety years ago James Connolly said, ‘The time for patching up the capitalist system is past, it must go.’ and Brian Greene says this Fianna Fail / Green Party government should go with it.

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direct link Podcast#1

As the organiser of Wednesday 25/02 meeting I got a telephone call from the owner of the premises who was eager to alert me and anyone attending the meeting that the Council had indeed halted this application and he also confirmed to me that the mobile phone company would NOT be proceeding with the application through the normal planning route. He also informed me that a 3rd planning application with regard to the redevelopment of Bayside Square was at an advanced stage and that planning notice would soon be made and at this stage there would be no further applications for antenna at this premises.

I queried the existing antenna on the roof at the Squash & Leisure building with the buildings owner and after some confirmation of equipment I was informed by him that Vodafone had a “booster” station on the roof with cabinets on the squash courts. I checked with ComReg site www.siteviewer.ie and Vodafone site ID DN744 is situated at Bayside Square. Having monitored but never seen planning or exemption applications for this installation I searched the planning files at Fingal County Council. I wrote to FCC Planning and their own searches were unable to find planning having been granted at the site. I have been informed that the development appears to be UNAUTHORISED DEVELOPMENT.

Community vigilance to date may result in not one but two mobile base station installations not being sited so close to houses and childcare facilities at Bayside Squuare. The process is far from over, as we learned in Baldoyle, the process must be monitored and pursued, retention of planning may be sought or a fresh application may have to be observed. The mobile phone industry has yet to learn to include residents in the sensible citing of base stations in our communities, they still continue to use the exemption route where possible to fast track development and exclude citizens from having an input in the planning process.

I would like to thank the vigilance of the community in Bayside which has brought about the developments at such a rapid pace.

The announcement of the virtual closure of SR Technics aircraft maintenance base at Dublin airport, with the loss of over 1000 jobs, will have the same devastating impact on north and west Dublin as the closure of Waterford Glass and DELL on Waterford and Limerick respectively.

Councillor Daly, an Aer Lingus shop-steward said, “The root of this crisis lies in the privatisation of both TEAM Aer Lingus by a Fianna Fail/Labour government and of Aer Lingus by a Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrats government. As part of the neo liberal agenda that is currently wreaking such havoc on the economy, control of both companies was handed over to uncaccountable vulture capitalists whose only remit is maximisation of profit for private shareholders.

‘SR Technics was formed out of the old Aer Lingus Maintenance & Engineering section. It was given away for practically nothing to FLS and later sold on to SR Technics.

The Aer Lingus fleet has expanded over the past decades, if anything the number of jobs should be increasing. Instead outsourcing has resulted in those jobs going outside the country. Many of the workers are our former Aer Lingus colleagues, they should be still in employment alongside us.”

She continued, “It is nauseating and downright hypocritical of government TDs to shed crocodile tears about these job losses as if they could not be helped. Privatisation is the reason that one thousand families are being plunged into this crisis. The maintenance & engineering functions still need to be undertaken. In fact with the expansion of Dublin airport they need to be increased. Instead the government stood by when Aer Lingus axed the contracts last year despite owning 25% of the company. It is profiteering and greed that has caused this.”

Re Nationalise SR Technics And Aer Lingus
Joe Higgins said, ‘It is simply unthinkable that 1,075 full time jobs and 60 apprenticeships should be destroyed at a stroke and more especially against the background of rapidly rising unemployment elsewhere in the economy.

It is the case that aircraft servicing is critically necessary for the vast number of aircraft using Irish airports. SR Technics and Aer Lingus should both be renationalised. The staff from both companies should be central to planning a secure future for crucial services provided by both and in the process maintaining the thousands of jobs dependent on both.

It is simply obscene that vulture capitalists should have free reign to devastate thousands of good jobs and in the process destroy countless livelihoods and communities in the process in search of private profit.’

Today I was hoarse doing mega phone on the stop the education cuts demo outside Fingal County Council. Inside all the councillors voted in favour of the Socialist Party motion calling on a reversal of the budget cuts in education services. TV by http://www.firstlook.ie/

And the outcome (post debate) video Qik’ed to the web by me.

on the protest outside the dail vanessa has a message for Cowen & Lenihan (message not directed at her dad!)

Thousands of teachers, parents and students have taken to the streets of Dublin, Tullamore, Galway and Cork in opposition to the Government’s education cuts. These cuts represent the biggest attack on education in over 20 years. More than 2000 teachers are being taken out of the system at a time when more young people are coming into it.

In Fingal, it now means we have the worst pupil: teacher ratio in Europe as we already have the highest class sizes in Ireland. Prior to the cuts over 37% of children in Fingal were in classes over 30. Scandalously, this is likely to rise to over 50%! It is no accident that the highest class sizes are occurring in an area like Fingal, where the greatest level of development took place, and the maximum gains were achieved by the banks and the builders. The same individuals, who fuelled the economic crisis and escaped scot free in the budget. Profits on land speculation were reduced from 40% to 20% under the last government. Restoring it back to 40% would go a long way to meet the targets. The government didn’t have to attack education. They chose to do so. They cynically calculated that they could include so many cuts and charges across so many headings that they would leave people confused and divided – that no one issue would galvanise people.

FOR A NATIONAL HALF DAY WORK STOPPAGE

• The Budget was only the start. The economic crisis is escalating. A second Budget in the springtime is now a real possibility with massive new spending cuts.
• The pensioners protests showed how to fight the cuts. That should now be followed up with big protests against the education cuts.
• The Socialist Party believes that pressure should be put on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to organise a half-day work stoppage against the education cuts and all other Budget cuts.
• This could send a clear message to the Government: “We will not accept your plans to make school children, the elderly and the working class pay for the crisis. Further attacks will result in an escalation of our campaign.”
• The Socialist party believes that the banks should be nationalised under democratic workers’ control and their resources used to create jobs, fund education and provide universal healthcare based on need. A progressive tax system whereby the rich pay their fair share of taxes and an increase in corporation tax on the billions in profit that are made in this country every year would raise enough money to cancel all the cutbacks being faced by ordinary people.

Greens sell out

• The Green Party set out their stall in last year’s General Election as the party that would champion education.Eighteen months on they have joined hands with Fianna Fail to butcher it. No doubt the people will remember this when next years elections roll around.

No to student fees

• The Budget increased third level student registration fees from €950 a year to €1500 a year. The government’s threat to re-introduce student fees is still very much alive and could well be acted on in 2009.
• Far from being a measure to “make the rich pay” the re-introduction of student fees of potentially €5,000 a year will place a huge burden on working class families excluding many thousands from third level education. The Socialist Party supports the student-led campaign against the fees and the attempts by the Free Education for Everyone (FEE) campaign to build a national campaign on this issue.

What the Socialist Party Stand For

• Reject the Government’s attempts to increase class sizes: for a campaign involving the teachers unions to bring the pupil/teacher ration down to 15:1 in all schools
• Stop the cuts in substitute teaching cover
• For adequate English language teaching resources to be provided in all schools with pupils for whom English is not a first language
• State funded secular education provided free for all from early childhood to university For a half-day work stoppage organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions against all the