Sligo Protest Demands Fracking Ban

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has re-iterated the party's continued opposition to the giveaway of our natural resources.  He also expressed support for calls to ban the process of extracting natural gas called hydraulic fracturing, also known as 'fracking'. 

Casey was speaking following a protest on Saturday night (September 17) outside the Sligo Park Hotel where the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte was attending a function.

Between 40 and 50 protesters braved the heavy rain to make their concerns known to the Minister.  They made clear their total opposition to fracking and called on the Minister to impose an immediate ban on its use in Ireland similar to bans imposed in other countries and in some states in the USA.

This is just the latest in a series of protests and public meetings organised by residents throughout the north-west. It follows the commencement of exploratory works to discover commercial gas by Australian company Tamboran Resources in what is known as the Lough Allen basin.  The Lough Allen Basin covers parts of counties Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Tyrone, covering an area of 8000 square kilometres in total. 

Speaking following the protest, éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey who was among the demonstrators, said:

"An immediate halt must be called to this entire process.  Despite paying lip service to it, there has been no meaningful consultation by the Dublin government or by Tamboran with the communities set to be affected by this exploration and extraction of natural gas despite the massive dangers involved.  More importantly the communities affected have not given their consent for it." 

He added:  "Once again éirígí supports the call for the process known as fracking to be banned.  The potential for grave environmental damage and the dangers posed to human and animal health and safety are too great and cannot be ignored.  The health and safety of the people of the region must be put before the quest to amass profits by private exploration companies."

Casey also called for the nationalisation of all our natural resources.  He said:

"The decision by Pat Rabbitte and his colleagues in the Fine Gael/Labour coalition to continue with the shameful policy of giving away valuable natural resources begun by Fianna Fáil can only be described as despicable.  These resources, whether it is the Corrib gas off the Mayo coast or the onshore gas in the Lough Allen and Clare basins, should be taken into public ownership.  If, and only if, those resources can be safely extracted without damage to our environment and to health and safety then the wealth created should be used to benefit the people of Ireland not the shareholders of private exploration companies."

Casey concluded:  "Let Tamboran Resources as well as Pat Rabbitte and his colleagues be fully aware that the people of this region will not roll over and accept the current situation.  If they ignore the massive opposition that there is within this region to this process, then just as Shell  and the Dublin government discovered in north Mayo over the past decade, they too will meet fierce and determined resistance here."

Minister Rabbitte to face Anti-Fracking Protest in Sligo Tonight

An Anti-fracking protest will take place tonight (Saturday 17th) at 8.30PM outside the Sligo Park Hotel on Pearse Road in the town.

Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte is the guest of honour at a dinner in the hotel which starts at 8.30 p.m.

People are asked to assemble in the hotel carpark at 8PM.

For previous articles on fracking and the giveaway of our natural resources please click here & here 

Gasland is an American documentary film written and directed by Josh Fox. The film focuses on communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a stimulation method known as hydraulic fracturing.

Click on the image above to watch the documentary in full.

 

éirígí Activists Among Four Injured By Shell Thugs in Mayo

éirígí Chairperson Brian Leeson has condemned the thuggish behaviour of Shell security personnel and Gardai who injured a number of anti-Shell activists in Mayo earlier today.  At least four protesters required medical attention for their injuries, whilst a number of other people suffered cuts and bruises.

One of the injured, éirígí’s Joe Keegan, required stitches to a head wound following an attack by a number of IRMS personnel (IRMS are the private security firm employed by Shell in Mayo).  Joe had gone to the aid of a female activist who was being manhandled by IRMS boss Jim Farrell.  Another activist, Gary Ronaghan, required stitches to his mouth after he was struck by a large piece of steel fencing which was pushed at him by IRMS staff.

Leeson said, “Today we have seen yet another example of violence from the Gardai and Shell’s hired thugs.  Those who are opposed to Shell’s operations in Mayo have a fundamental right to protest without fear of assault.  For years that right has been deliberately and systematically suppressed by the Gardai, a fact which they haven’t even tried to hide. Superintendent Joe Gannon has publicly declared that there is a ‘no arrest’ policy in relation to the Shell protests.  Instead of arresting people the state are using brute force to facilitate Shell’s robbery of the Corrib gas reserve.”

Leeson continued, “The oil and gas that lies off Ireland’s coast has the potential to secure Ireland’s energy needs for decades to come and to address many of the financial challenges we now face.  Corrib and the other oil and gas reserves belong to the people of Ireland, not to a handful of politicians in Leinster House.  They don’t have the right to give away that which is not theirs in the first place.  Those who took part in the protests and direct actions in Mayo today are acting in the interests of the people of this country.  For that they are to be applauded.”

Leeson concluded by re-committing éirígí to the battle for Corrib: 

“Through corruption, manipulation, bribery and brute force Shell have succeeded in tapping the Corrib reserve, in building their refinery in Ballinaboy and in laying their offshore pipeline.  But they have not  succeeded in laying the onshore section of that pipeline and without it they cannot extract the gas.  We in éirígí are committed to fighting the laying of every inch of that pipeline.  To fail to do so is to surrender countless billions of euro’s to Shell and the other private energy companies.”  

 

 

Shell to Sea Spokesperson Terence Conway also condemned the assaults on peaceful protesters.

He said:  "The injuries inflicted today indicate an expectation of impunity on the part of those assaulting Shell to Sea campaigners. It is clear that individual Garda and private security personnel feel confident that serious assaults on campaigners will not lead to them being prosecuted. The level of violence we have seen today against Shell to Sea campaigners engaged in civil disobedience is confirmation of how little has changed in the policing of the Corrib project."

Fine Gael & Labour Treat Cancer Patients with Contempt

Fine Gael Minister and TD for Sligo/north Leitrim John Perry has been accused of treating cancer patients and their families with contempt in order to further his own political career.

Sligo/north Leitrim FG TD's John Perry & Tony McLoughlin flank their leader Enda Kenny in Sligo

In a scathing attack éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey also accused Perry of gross dishonesty and of engaging in a deliberate deception to dupe people into voting for him and Fine Gael at the general election.

Casey was speaking following a press conference held on Friday (June 17) in Sligo Park Hotel by Perry relating to his pledge to have breast cancer services returned to Sligo General Hospital (SGH) within 100 days of Fine Gael taking power.  Friday marked the 101st day of the Fine Gael/Labour coalition.

At the press conference, cancer care campaigners from the north-west called on Perry to resign his seat as promised by him if the services were not delivered within those 100 days.  This is just one of a series of  U-turns carried out by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition since assuming power. 

(Below is a video of Friday's press conference courtesy of Sligo today.  The second video below, also courtesy of Sligo Today  shows the pre-election commitments given by John Perry, Susan O'Keefe, Tony McLoughlin and other politicians in relation to restoring breast cancer services to SGH)

In a statement released after the press conference the Save Our Cancer Services - North West campaign called on Fine Gael and Labour representatives to resign their seats.



"This is a profoundly disappointing and disturbing day, not only for the North West region and healthcare provision, but for the image and integrity of politicians and the democratic process itself. It is very clear that both Fine Gael and Labour gave unambiguous commitments to restore cancer services to Sligo General Hospital on assuming power and those promises and commitments were predicated on the reality that to leave one half of the country denuded of these services was not only very bad governance regarding the running of a health service but it was grossly unfair and discriminatory."

"These commitments and pledges are well documented and it is disingenuous, to say the least, for anyone to suggest now that there may be some valid excuse or explanation for reneging on them. To do so merely adds to the growing and dangerous disconnect that is emerging between the electorate and politicians."

Expressing his support for the cancer care campaigners, éirígí activist Gerry Casey said: 

“Perry's pledge to the people in the north west was unequivocal – the return of breast cancer services within 100 days or he would resign. There was no ambiguity, no room for any fudge.”

“The time is up and Perry and his colleagues have not delivered on their promises. All the Fine Gael and Labour TD's and Senators in Sligo/north Leitrim should now live up their pre-election commitments and resign their seats.  ”

“In the days before the general election, Labour Senator Susan O'Keefe went to great lengths, including erecting posters, outlining her and Labours pledge to return breast cancer services and indeed make SGH a ninth centre of excellence."

"During that whole campaign she made much of her so-called 'integrity'. People can now see clearly for themselves how little integrity O'Keefe actually has. She refuses to resign her seat or resign from the Labour party despite it supposedly being a 'red line issue' for her and Labour when she was looking for votes at the start of the year.  Now as she collects her fat salary and generous expenses as a Senator, the suffering of cancer patients and their families in the north west have been quickly forgotten.”

Susan O'Keefe & Labour leader Eamon Gilmore making bogus pre-election promises to cancer care campaigners in Sligo City Hall

Casey concluded: “These broken promises show the true nature of our so-called democracy. Relying on electing politicians every five years is to a large degree meaningless as we have no control over what they do, what decisions they make once they get their grip on power. Occasionally putting a mark beside a candidate on a ballot paper is designed not to enable change or allow people's participation in decisions effecting their communities or country. It is designed to give people that illusion while the decision making processes remain firmly within the grip of the political and business classes that control this country."

Water Tax Will Be Resisted

Below is a letter which was published in this weeks edition of the Leitrim Observer (June 15).  The letter, from éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey, was a reply to an editorial in the paper the previous week relating to the planned introduction of domestic water charges.

A chara

Please allow me reply to your editorial relating to the imminent introduction of water charges by Fine Gael and Labour.

You say that “there is a great deal of water wastage in this country”. You add that “this charge will hopefully tackle the whole issue of water conservation and see a pro-active attitude towards water leakage and burst pipes”.

The vast majority of water wastage has absolutely nothing to do with domestic households, the people who will pay this new charge. Burst pipes, water leakage and industrial usage account for the vast majority of water wastage. For a fraction of the hundreds of millions they are to spend having water meters installed in every household, they could upgrade the water infrastructure, eradicating leaks and accompanying wastage.

Fine Gael and Labour are using the fig-leaf of “water conservation” as a cover to introduce a new tax, which will impact hardest once more on social welfare recipients and low and middle income earners. It is also the first step towards privatising another essential public service, the domestic water supply.

And while talk of waivers for the less well off is occasionally mentioned, this is an attempt to deflect opposition from this double tax. Whether or not there is a waiver when water charges are introduced, you can be sure it wont remain in place too long. Remember the waivers with refuse charges? They are now a thing of the past, as the millionaire pays the same amount to get rid of his rubbish as the poorest family does.

The focus of all these cutbacks are the less well off not the wealthy. So while the government target Joint Labour Committee's to cut wages and conditions for low paid workers, and while carers and welfare recipients have endured cut after cut driving tens of thousands into poverty, there is no mention of targetting the rich. No mention of a 'wealth tax' or of nationalising our natural resources, moves that would generate hundreds of billions of euro's for the public purse.

We did not create the crisis and should not pay for it, either through water charges or other wage or welfare cuts. It is not our debt or the debt of this state. It is the private gambling debts of a number of greedy bankers and developers.

If the government proceed with their plans éirígí will, as part of the No Water Tax campaign, play its part in building a vigorous campaign of opposition to defeat this tax and ensure the domestic water supply remains in public hands.

Is mise

Gerry Casey

'Fracking' in the Lough Allen & Clare Basins

'Fracking' is a term that not everyone may be aware of. It is used to describe a method of shale gas extraction known as Hydraulic Fracturing.  Unfortunately it is a term we are very likely to hear a lot more about in the coming months and years.

The dangers that this procedure poses to the environment, to water quality and to human safety is well documented worldwide. France has recently banned the use of fracking as have a number of regions in the United States. In Lancashire in England, fracking has been halted in recent weeks following a series of earthquakes that occurred and are believed to be linked to the recent exploration activity using this method in that region.

In the dying days of the Fianna Fáil led administration back in February of this year, one of their final acts was to award licences to a number of companies to explore for commercial gas in the Northwest Carboniferous Basin (more commonly known as the Lough Allen basin) and the Clare basin. The Lough Allen Basin is a huge area that covers parts of counties Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Tyrone. It covers an area of 8000 square kilometres in total. The Clare basin encompasses parts of Counties Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick.

Awarding the licences the then Minister of Natural Resources Conor Lenihan awarded licences to two companies to begin exploration in the Lough Allen basin – Australian company Tamboran Resources and the Irish Lough Allen Natural Gas Company. Enegi Oil Plc was awarded the licence to begin exploration in the Clare Basin.

Last April when Lenihan first invited applications for licences to explore for natural gas in these areas, éirígí warned of the potential dangers that lay in store if this exploration and drilling was allowed proceed without meaningful consultation and the consent of communities effected.

Responding to Lenihan at the time (click here to read article) éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey said that “such exploration and extraction has the potential for grave environmental damage and danger to human health and safety. We have seen in north Mayo the conflict that can arise when such developments, with the potential risks involved, are imposed on local communities. Once again in these instances, there has been no proper in-depth consultation with local communities who may be effected by this prospecting and possible extraction of gas.”

He added: “If our natural resources are to be exploited, then it needs to be done in consultation with local communities, in a manner that protects the environment and protects peoples health and safety. To date, the record of the political establishment and of the exploration companies, as exemplified in the ongoing dispute over Shell's planned pipeline in north Mayo, on environmental and safety issues does not breed confidence.”

Claims by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources who now say that fracking would not be allowed in the Lough Allen basin without a public consultation phase and an environmental impact assessment should be treated with contempt.

Indeed, both companies involved in the Lough Allen basin exploration have already confirmed that fracking is their intended method to extract gas from this region. So much for consultation!

Lough Allen Basin

One need only look at the example of Shell's pipeline in north Mayo to see how the department deliberately ignored the dangers to human safety and the environment, ignored deliberate breaches of the law and environmental regulations by Shell and never held any meaningful consultation with the local community.

Instead, they ignored their legitimate concerns, tried to demonise and criminalise them and then sent the Gardai in to intimidate and beat them into submission when they realised they could not be duped or bought off.

The whole Corrib gas saga is proof of how environmental regulation in this state does not work and cannot be relied upon to protect citizens from large oil and gas companies whose only concern is profit.

As in the Corrib case, any gas extracted in the Lough Allen or Clare basins will be of no benefit to the public, the rightful owners of this natural gas. Once again the shareholders of private companies will benefit from this at our expense.

As the start of exploration in the region is imminent éirígí activist Gerry Casey said that the whole process needs to be stopped immediately.

He said: “There has been no consultation with the local communities effected and no consent given by them to this project. This whole process needs to be stopped immediately and the use of fracking banned before any damage can be done.”

“Genuine and in depth consultation must be held with the people in these regions. If the gas can be extracted safely without any threat to the environment and public health, then and only then, it should be extracted to benefit the people of the region and the island as a whole, not to boost profits for private companies.”

Casey added: “All our natural resources must be nationalised and extracted safely where possible. The vast wealth that could be generated would go a long way towards creating well resourced and efficient public services in areas such as Health and Education. It would provide long term funding to create sustainable long term employment and help to eradicate the scourge of fuel poverty and poverty in general.”

“If Fine Gael and Labour think that people will roll over and just accept the current situation they are sadly mistaken. If they insist on continuing this process they will meet fierce resistance, just as Shell and the government have faced for the past ten years in north Mayo.”

In recent weeks Cinema North West have been holding public showings of the award winning US documentary 'Gasland' which exposed the dangers of the fracking process throughout the US. Their next screening takes place next Thursday night (June 23) at 8PM in their mobile cinema beside the Coach House Hotel in Ballymote, Co Sligo. (Click here for more details)

éirígí Reply to Business Calls for JLC Abolition

The following letter from éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey was published in this weeks Sligo Weekender (June 6).  Click on the image below to read it.

It was a response to an article in the previous weeks paper from a representative of the Sligo branch of the Irish Hotels Federation who called for the abolition of Joint Labour Committee's (JLC's).

The JLC's establish basic rates of pay and conditions of employment for low paid workers in a variety of employment sectors. 

Click here to read previous article on this issue.

The Windsor Visit & The illusion of Change

The following is an opinion piece written by éirígí Tír Chonaill spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig

If we were to believe our politicians and the corporate media, the recent Windsor visit was about the Irish people 'maturing' as a nation, 'putting the past behind us' and normalising relations between the people of Britain and Ireland.

What they did not tell us is how welcoming the head of state and commander in chief of an army that still occupies part of our country is 'putting the past behind us'? Or how spending tens of millions of euros at a time of widespread unemployment, emigration and poverty to host lavish banquets in honour of an anti-democratic sectarian monarch is a sign of us 'maturing' as a nation.

They didn't tell us because it is manufactured spin produced by a cosy consensus of political and corporate media elites. Instead of reporting news and analysis of this visit the media acted as cheerleaders for it.

What they produced was a one-sided commentary full of gushing praise for the Windsors which bore no relation to the reality of this visit or what they represent. It resembled a fashion magazine social diary column rather than coverage of a visit by the Commander in Chief of an army that has one of the worst human rights records in the world.

In order for us all to 'mature' sufficiently, Britain's crimes had to be ignored. The families of the victims of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings were snubbed once more with Britain again refusing to open its secret files in relation to Britain's involvement in those murderous attacks.

Here was the Head of State and Commander in Chief of an army which continues to commit human rights abuses, torture and murder around the world being fawned over by our politicians. Nobody dared mention the 'occupation', whether it be Afghanistan or the one nearer to home, in case it might offend the Windsors. Reporting on Britain's human rights abuses and crimes are apparently in the minds of many journalists of far lesser importance than reporting the colour of Windsors outfit.

The main aim of this visit was 'normalisation'. But it was the normalisation of partition and the occupation of the six counties, not normalisation of relations between the people of Ireland and Britain.

But there is nothing normal about five thousand British troops remaining in Ireland, backed up by 9000 of the human rights abusing paramilitary RUC/PSNI and hundreds of MI5 operatives. There is nothing normal about their systematic campaign of intimidation against those who dare challenge British rule in Ireland. There is nothing normal about their thousands of illegal stop and search operations which are in violation of European human rights legislation.

There was also nothing normal about the Garda response to protests against this visit. For weeks éirígí activists and others opposing the visit, endured intimidation and threats at the hands of the Gardai. On the eve of the visit, as myself and other éirígí activists legally erected posters in Dublin advertising protests, we were stopped and interrogated. And while Windsor was praised for using cúpla focail, only for the arrival on the scene of a TV crew, I was set to be arrested for speaking my native language.

Gardai tore down and stole posters off activists. They effectively banned the tricolour in Dublin city centre, confiscating and dumping them in refuse trucks while the union flag flew above government buildings. A number of banners including one that read 'fund communities not royal visits' was siezed by Gardai who deemed it 'offensive' during a search of a car belonging to éirígí Dublin City Councillor Louise Minihan.

These bully boy tactics underlines the fundamentally anti-democratic nature of the state. It exposes the lie that this state allows freedom of assembly, freedom to engage in peaceful protest and freedom to organise political activity. As a socialist republican and someone who has witnessed Garda policing of anti-Shell protests in Mayo, this behaviour is no surprise. Peaceful protest in this state is tolerated only if the Gardai and their political masters say so.

But there was also another agenda at play here. Many of those pushing for this visit to happen in recent years wish to see this state re-enter the British commonwealth. And while some might say this could never happen, the same would have been said ten years if it was suggested that this visit would ever happen. People were accused of scaremongering when they suggested this states neutrality was under threat, yet now Shannon airport is virtually a US military airbase, while Irish troops operate regularly alongside NATO.

It is vital that people dont allow their politicians to sleep-walk them into re-entering the British Commonwealth. So I am calling on the government's two TD's in this county, deputies McGinley and McHugh, to publicly declare where they and their party stand on this issue. We need to be ridding this island of the final remnants of British rule, not seeking to be re-conquered by Britain.

The last visit of an English Monarch to the twenty six counties took place 100 years ago. Opposition to that protest was led by socialist republicans like James Connolly and Constance Markievicz. While the majority of the political establishment led by Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore were bowing and scraping before the Windsors, and others weren't too sure whether they were actually for or against this visit, once again it was socialist republicans that led the resistance and protests against it.

To conclude, let me reiterate our opposition to any 'British royal' being welcomed to any part of Ireland. In the aftermath of the Windsor visit, it has now emerged that invites have been extended to Charles Windsor to visit the north-west. In the event of any such visit, éirígí will organise resistance and demonstrations against it here in this region just as we did in recent weeks in Dublin.

Sligo's Cancer Services & the Illusion of 'Democracy'

In the run-up to the general election in the twenty six counties earlier this year, the usual rash of political promises were made by those hoping to be elected to Leinster House. In the Sligo/North Leitrim constituency, probably the one single issue that was to the fore in that campaign and indeed throughout the past couple of years, has been the removal of breast cancer services from Sligo General Hospital and the campaign to have it returned.

Despite massive public opposition, in 2009 Sligo's Breast Cancer Services were finally shut down and transferred to University College Hospital Galway (UCHG). The Health Service Executive (HSE) rationale was that UCHG was one of the eight new centres of excellence established by the government  where those from the north-west requiring treatment would recieve superior treatment than Sligo could provide, despite Sligo's excellent record in cancer care.

 100 day Countdown Near Sligo General Hospital

The reality was totally different as campaigners and medical personnel had warned of in the run-in to the transfer of services. UCHG was already having difficulty as a result of government cutbacks in the health service coping with its present workload and patient care before they ever had to deal with the increased volume of cancer sufferers from the north west.

Since the move, government cutbacks have caused chaos at times for the medical staff trying to provide an essential service and for patients who have had to endure long waits, lying on trolleys, canceled appointments and delayed surgery. Indeed the numbers of patients, including cancer sufferers, forced to lie on trolleys at UCHG in 2010 reached an all-time high of 4,100. Those figures are set to be surpassed in 2011 as so far this year the numbers confined to trollies has been increasing steadily on last years record high.  Most days the numbers effected are somewhere between 20 and 40 patients.

In April the HSE's own Healthstat survey confirmed UCHG as the state's worst hospital. So much for the hyped up 'centre of excellence'!

 Health Minister James Reilly

Just over a year ago (March 29 2010) the then Fine Gael spokesperson on Health, now Minister for Health, James Reilly made a firm commitment to return the services to Sligo, describing the transfer of Sligo's cancer services to Galway the previous year as “not a balanced approach to cancer care”.

Yet as recently as this week that very same James Reilly, now the Minister with responsibility for this issue, replying to a question in Leinster House as to fulfilling their 100 day pledge, the Minister refused to give any answer as to if and when the promised return of services would occur.

All the candidates bar the Green party's Johnny Gogan, expressed their support for the return of the cancer services to Sligo General Hospital if they were elected and their parties were in government. Specific promises were made, and recorded during live debates on Ocean FM radio and at a public meeting in the Clarion Hotel that was broadcast live on the internet (click on the video below).

In particular, the Fine Gael candidates, Minister John Perry and Deputy Tony McLoughlin and the then Labour candidate and now Senator Susan O'Keefe made specific commitments that the cancer services would be returned within 100 days of them taking office.  Not only did they give those commitments, they also promised to resign their seats if the pledges were not delivered as promised.  Indeed Labour's commitment went even further, pledging not just to return breast cancer services to Sligo but to actually make Sligo General Hospital a ninth centre of excellence.

With just 15 days to go until that deadline expires, it is clear that this Fine Gael/Labour coalition have no intention of re-instating these services despite all their promises. Once again, people are being betrayed by those who claim to represent them and their interests.

A spokesperson for the Save our Cancer Services - North West told the Sligo Today website that the Ministers reply sounded “as if Mary Harney herself wrote it”.

Former Health Minister Mary Harney

In relation to the pre-election commitments the spokesperson added that “we have strong clear commitments they (breast cancer services) will be restored and if this letter means otherwise than we are talking about an imminent letter of resignation from John Perry followed by a similar one from Tony McLoughlin.”

“That was the clear pre-election promise they both gave and this turn of events could not only turn out to be tragic for Sligo General Hospital and the provision of cancer care in this region but also for both these politicians. Their commitment was not just that services would be restored but that in the event that that did not materialise they would resign”.

Yesterday (June 2) Minister Perry refused to say on local radio whether the services would be restored or not within the 100 days. In a live interview on Ocean FM's North West Today programme, Perry refused to give a straight answer to any question relating to the services. Unhappy with the issue of the pledge and his promise to resign being raised if the services were not returned, Perry hung up in the middle of the interview. (Click on the image below to listen to the interview)

While campaigners and the public in general throughout the north west will be extremely angry at this U-turn by both Fine Gael and Labour, they should not be surprised. Already, just three months into this coalition, there are a litany of election promises that have been binned now that they have secured power and have their backsides on Ministerial seats.  

These broken promises show the true nature of our so-called democracy. It shows how relying on electing politicians every five years is to a large degree meaningless as we have no control over what they do, what decisions they make once there. Allowing us to occasionally put a mark beside a candidate on a ballot paper is designed not to enable change or allow people's participation in decisions effecting them, their communities or their country. No, it is designed to give people that illusion while the decision making processes remain firmly within the grip of the political and business classes that control this country.

Real democracy must be a continuous process of decision making relating to all aspects of society with those who are affected by those decisions controlling the decision-making process and must be based upon economic democracy. Power and influence are only ever wielded by those who control the wealth and wealth producing means in society. Therefore to have real democracy then it must be based upon the ownership and control of the means of production by the mass of working people.  Without that ownership and control, meaningful change and a just truly democratic society is impossible.

To borrow a phrase from the title of former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone: If voting changed anything they would abolish it

Resist the Latest Attacks on Workers Pay & Conditions

The Dublin governments enterprise minister Richard Bruton yesterday (May 26) issued a series of proposals designed to undermine the current system of Joint Labour Committees (JLC's), Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreements (REA).  These are the structures which set basic rates of pay and conditions of employment across a variety of employment sectors.

Under Bruton's proposals, more than 200,000 workers could face further wage cuts and deterioration of their working conditions, particularly in the catering, hotels, security and hairdressing industries.

Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton

Amongst his proposals are plans to cut overtime and end workers entitlement to Sunday premium payments that they currently are obliged to receive under the legally binding ERO's. He also plans to scrap half of the existing 13 joint labour committees and 'review' the remit of the remainder. Extremely worrying also for workers is the creation of a new procedure whereby agreement would no longer be necessary to change legally binding registered employment agreements.

Defending his plans, Bruton described them as “a fair and balanced set of proposals that would be in the interest of creating employment”.

Unsurprisingly, employers organisation IBEC welcomed these proposals but urged Bruton to go even further and abolish the JLC's completely. They too are pushing the line that the JLC's and ERO's are causing job losses and that cutting overtime, ending Sunday premium payments and abolishing these structures completely would actually create jobs.

According to Torlach Denihan of Retail Ireland (IBEC), the Retail JLC “is destroying jobs, is unnecessary because of the minimum wage and should be abolished.”

Not everyone agrees with IBEC or Minister Bruton's jobs claims. On Tuesday the government published the review it had commissioned on this whole area of JLC's. The authors of the report, Chairman of the Labour Court Kevin Duffy and UCD professor of economics Frank Walsh, made clear that abolition of this system will NOT create employment.

However, Brendan McGinty, IBEC's director of industrial relations, was more revealing in outlining the real motives in attempting to abolish the JLC's which has nothing to do with job creation.

IBEC's Brendan McGinty

Calling for the complete scrapping of the JLC system McGinty said: “These employers and workers (in the sectors covered by the JLC's) should be free to determine their own arrangements in the same way as the overwhelming majority of those in the private sector do.”

That is precisely why workers should be very worried about any attack on the JLC's. Let's be clear - the JLC's are no radical bodies acting on behalf of workers awarding them excessive rates of pay.

They are very basic structures designed to provide basic rates of pay and minimal conditions of employment for workers in extremely vulnerable sectors of employment. These are areas where trade union representation and collective bargaining are quite often non-existent.

When McGinty says he wants employers and workers to be free to sort their own arrangements like most in the private sector do, what he actually means is they want empoyers to be free to exploit their workers, to drive down wages and working conditions without any legal recall for their employees. They want their members to be free to intimidate, to bully, to hoodwink and to pit worker against worker in order to maximise their profits at workers expense.

One of IBEC's main arguments for abolition has been that employees rights are already covered by existing employment rights legislation. Once again however, this was dismissed by the authors of the government review who outlined quite clearly that primary legislation does not adequately cover matters currently dealt with by joint labour committees and registered employment agreements.

Even despite the presence of the JLC's and of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA), an office of Minister Bruton's department whose mission statement claims that it “aims to secure compliance with employment rights legislation and to foster a culture of compliance in Ireland”, exploitation of workers is rife by McGinty's members within the private sector.

NERA's quarterly report for September 2010 (click here to read it) revealed that in the first nine months of last year, almost €600,000 in wages owed was recouped by workers following investigations by the authority of industry sectors governed by Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) or Registered Employment Agreements (REAs).

Last year also seen the highest ever numbers of cases being referred to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). More than 15,000 complaints were made by individuals in 2010, an increase of more than 1,100 on the figures for 2009.

For anyone in any doubt the figures above are a compelling reason for workers to, at a minimum, maintain the protection and the rights afforded them through the JLC's and other legal mechanisms.

As éirígí have repeatedly pointed out, current legislation and its enforcement is inadequate. Employers have been forced to pay back money that they owed to their workers. However, the absence of fines in most instances or the miniscule fines when they are actually imposed coupled with the lack of prison sentences, means there is no effective deterrent for employers who break the law.

So rather than diminish and abolish JLC's and reduce the rights of workers, what is actually needed is that those already in existence need to be enhanced, enforced properly and punished severely when breached. A slap on the wrist and 'pay back what you owe' is not enough.  Employers who break these laws need to be going to jail for their crimes.

Condemning this latest attack on workers, éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey described them as the the “thin end of the wedge”. He said that all trade unionists and workers must unite to resist what is “a serious attack on the living standards and working conditions of employees in already vulnerable sectors”.

Casey said: “These proposals to slash rates of pay and conditions have nothing to do with creating jobs as Bruton and the employers organisations would have us believe. This is part of a long term ideological strategy to drive down wages and diminish the rights of workers using the recession as their excuse. They are about creating even larger profits for employers and making it easier for them to exploit their employees.”

“They must not be allowed to succeed. If they do they will turn back the tide of all the hard won rights and entitlements that workers struggles have achieved over the past century, imperfect as they may be."

He added: “According to IBEC, Bruton should go further and abolish the JLC's altogether to bring the wage setting framework 'into the 21^st century'. In reality, abolition of the JLC's, further restricting workers rights and scrapping premium payments would not be taking us into the 21^st century as IBEC suggest, it would be taking us right back to the start of the 20^th century.”

“All trade unionists and workers need to unite to defeat these proposals. Low paid workers have already suffered massive reductions in income in order to bail out the banks and pay off the private gambling debts of big business. There can be no compromise with these proposals.”

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James Connolly, Monarchy & Labour Party Hypocrisy

The tweet below was posted by Labour party TD for East Galway Colm Keaveney on the first day of the Windsor visit and was reproduced in the Galway Independent newspaper the following day in its May 18th issue.

Below is the contents of a letter from éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey in response to Keaveney's remarks which was published in yesterday's Galway Independent (May 25th).  Just click on the image below to read the digital edition or click here to read it on the papers website.

The following text is the full content of the response to Deputy Keaveney.

A chara

Please allow me to respond to the Labour TD Colm Keaveney's ill-informed tweet relating to the Windsor visit published in last weeks Galway Independent. In it he describes the socialist republican party éirígí as 'thugs'.

So what merits such a tag in Deputy Keaveney's eyes?

Is it upholding our right to organise a series of protests against the visit of the British head of state, all of which were peaceful despite huge provocation from Gardai? Is it our refusal to be intimidated by persistent Garda actions who, in the run-up and during the visit, intimidated and threatened activists engaged in legal political activity?

Party members erecting posters in Dublin, including myself, were illegally stopped and searched and interrogated by Gardai refusing to show ID or cite what act they were acting under as obliged by law. Despite having permits to poster, these were torn down and the remainder seized by Gardai.

éirígí Dublin City Cllr Louise Minihan had her car searched by up to a dozen Gardai who seized a banner that read 'Fund Communities Not Royal Visits' deeming it to be 'offensive'. Other similar banners and flags were also seized as Gardai tried to prevent peaceful protests taking place. I was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground by Gardai as I videoed their attempts to prevent people joining a protest at the Spire.

While the Union Jack flew over government buildings, Gardai effectively banned our national flag from Dublin city centre, seizing tri-colours and throwing them in refuse trucks.

As someone who has watched Gardai police anti-Shell protests in north Mayo, this intimidation, illegality and blatant attempts to prevent peaceful protest does not surprise me. But if Deputy Keaveney is concerned about 'thugs' he would be better served taking on those 'thugs' for which his government are responsible i.e the Gardai. Or does Deputy Keaveney think that the right to engage in legal political activity and peaceful protest should only extend to other countries and not here?  Does he believe the thuggery outlined above is acceptable?

Is mise

Gerry Casey

éirígí Sligeach

Labour TD Colm Keaveney

Previously a full-time Trade Union official with SIPTU until his recent election to Leinster House, Keaveney and his colleagues in the Labour party would like us all to believe that they are following in the footsteps of James Connolly and James Larkin.

Speaking at Arbour Hill just two days before he welcomed the first English Monarch to visit the 26 counties in 100 years off her plane, Keaveney's party leader Eamon Gilmore said: 

"It is an occasion to honour the memory of a man who, through his ideals; through his vision; and through his sacrifice; bequeathed to us a living legacy. That legacy is the Labour Party."

Gilmore welcomes Windsor to Dublin

 

He added:

"So as we gather to celebrate the life of James Connolly - the values he stood for, the ideals he fought for - we might also reflect on our own call to duty."  

So what were those values of Connolly's that the Labour party leader wanted to celebrate?  What for instance were Connolly's views on Monarchy and of royal visits to Ireland?

Speaking in the advance of the last 'British royal' visit in 1911 Connolly made his views absolutely crystal clear "that the occasion will be utilised to make propaganda on behalf of royalty and aristocracy against the oncoming forces of democracy and National freedom".

James Connolly

 And in comments that could just as easily be directed now at Gilmore and Keaveney he said:

"Let the capitalist and landlord class flock to exalt him; he is theirs; in him they see embodied the idea of caste and class; they glorify him and exalt his importance that they might familiarise the public mind with the conception of political inequality, knowing well that a people mentally poisoned by the adulation of royalty can never attain to that spirit of self-reliant democracy necessary for the attainment of social freedom."  

Gilmore and the Labour party have portrayed  this visit as one of the greatest moments in Irish history, as they grovelled before the English monarch, the head of what Connolly described as "a survival of the tyranny imposed by the hand of greed and treachery upon the human race in the darkest and most ignorant days of our history."

 

While Connolly along with other socialist republicans was leading the opposition to the last 'royal visit' to Dublin,  Gilmore and the Labour party were shutting down large sections of the city, using their political police to try to prevent protests against this visit.   Cheered on by a largely compliant and unquestioning media, they attempted to demonise and criminalise those who dared take to the streets in opposition to this visit in the same way that Connolly and Markieveicz were treated in 1911 by the British authorities.

Clearly at odds with the current Labour party view of monarchy, Connolly described it as deriving its only sanction "from the sword of the marauder, and the helplessness of the producer, and its gifts to humanity are unknown, save as they can be measured in the pernicious examples of triumphant and shameless iniquities."

So while Gilmore, Keaveney and the rest of the Labour party may wish people to believe that they are following in the footsteps of James Connolly, do they seriously think he would have welcomed the Commander in Chief of the British army to our shores while they continue to occupy part of our country?

They may want us to believe that Connolly would have wined and dined in Dublin Castle rubbing shoulders with the political and capitalist classes that have caused so much suffering to Irish workers  in order to honour  an English monarch, but does anyone with capacity for rational thought seriously believe them?  

Unlike Eamon Gilmore and the Labour party, James Connolly was avowedly opposed to capitalism, to monarchy and to all forms of privilege.  Unlike them, he was a staunch defender of workers rights and of the poor.  Unlike them, he was not a social democrat - he was a socialist and a revolutionary socialist at that.  Unlike them, he was an anti-imperialist opposed to the occupation of any part of Ireland by a foreign government.

In his final statement which was given to his daughter Nora on the eve of his execution, Connolly re-iterated his position on the British occupation in no uncertain terms.

"The British Government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland" 

JAMES CONNOLLY,
Commandant-General, Dublin Division,
Army of the Irish Republic

May 9th 1916 


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