éirígí slam latest Health and Education cuts for Sligo

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has condemned the Fianna Fail led administration and the Health Service Executive (HSE) following revelations that Sligo General Hospital is to have its 2009 budget cut by seven million euro, while seven primary school teaching posts are to be lost at a number of schools throughout the county.

Responding to the Hospital Budget reduction Casey said: “These latest cutbacks are the actions of an administration that has failed completely the people that they claim to represent. This is yet another serious blow to already under-pressure services at Sligo General Hospital and to the people in need of those vital services.”

“This Fianna Fail led administration has repeatedly shown a callous disregard for the health and well being of the people of this region and they must reverse these cutbacks or resign from office. Peoples’ health must not be made suffer to pay for the greed of the politicians, developers and bankers that have squandered the wealth of the Celtic Tiger.”

“There is a clear and workable alternative. What is now needed more than ever is the building of a first class health service that is truly free and equal, paid for by direct taxation and that is based on medical need and not ability to pay.”

In relation to the cutbacks in Primary Schools throughout Sligo, Casey said: “The loss of seven teachers in primary schools in County Sligo is a direct result of the budget cutbacks announced last year. At the time, éirígí said that the measures, if implemented, would do untold damage to the education of our children for years to come, particularly the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.”

“Sadly this is now what is happening and children attending the schools affected will now see their education suffer. Those schools include St Edward’s, Carbury, Carraroe and the Mercy in the town, with schools in Ballymote, Castleknock and Cliffoney also affected.”

He concluded: “This administration’s vision for the future is one that witnesses parents of school children struggling to fund the education of their children, that sees their children in classrooms that are overcrowded in rundown schools or having to be sent home because there is nobody available to teach them. This is not éirígí’s vision and it is not the vision that parents have for the education of their children. Education is a right – not a privilege to be granted one moment and snatched away the next. They must reverse the education cuts in their entirety.

éirígí concerned over possible withdrawal of Rheumatology services in Manorhamilton

éirígí activist Gerry Casey has expressed "grave concern" at media reports that the health Service Executive (HSE) are set to remove Rheumatology sevices from Our Lady's Hospital in Manorhamilton.

Casey said: "The HSE's record in downgrading and removing services from Our Lady's Hospital, the removal of endoscopy services being the most recent, has been a matter of concern for the people of north Leitrim for some time now."

He added: "Their refusal to deny these reports only serve to increase concerns raised in recent weeks that they do intend to remove rheumatology services from Our Lady's. Such a move would be a retrograde step and a further blow for the hospital and the people served by it."

He concluded: "Yet again, north Leitrim looks set to suffer at the hands of a so called health service that has shown a callous disregard for the health and well being of the people of this region and of the state in general. They appear more intent on implementing the right wing policies of privatisation and two-tier health services of their political masters rather than creating a first class health service available and accessible to all."

éirígí accuses MacSharry of getting his priorities wrong

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused Fianna Fail Senator Marc MacSharry of getting his priorities all wrong. He claimed that McSharry would be better off defending the rights and the living standards of workers currently being scapegoated by his party rather than feigning mock outrage at accusations of Fianna Fail's links to corruption and golden circles.

Casey was responding to a speech made by MacSharry in the Seanad on Thursday night where he expressed outrage over allegations that the Fianna Fail led administration were protecting the 10 Golden Circle Anglo Irish investors.

Casey said: "MacSharry has got his priorities all wrong. The reality is that the current recession and economic crisis is a direct result of the failed policies of MacSharry's party and the greed fuelled actions of their banker, broker and developer friends. Fianna Fail allowed the potential long term benefits of the Celtic Tiger to be pilfered by a small class of already extremely wealthy people."

He added: "Yet now Fianna Fail are forcing the workers who created, but did not benefit from, the wealth of the Celtic Tiger to carry the burden. While the Fianna Fail led administration are offering billions of euro of public money to bail out the banks, they are forcing workers to take pay cuts, while tens of thousands are being forced onto the dole like used commodities. At the same time the identities of the golden circle at Anglo Irish remain protected despite MacSharry's protestations."

He concluded: "MacSharry needs to get his priorities right. Rather than feigning mock outrage at these accusations over the Golden Circle and Fianna Fail's links to them, MacSharry should be demanding that his party stop attacking the rights and living standards of workers who are already suffering hardship as a result of last years savage budget cutbacks. His outrage would be better directed at those within his own party who have allowed through successive administrations the wealth of the Celtic Tiger to be squandered and who have allowed corruption to flourish and go unpunished in recent decades. He should also be demanding that the identities of those who make up the Golden Circle at Anglo Irish be made public."

éirígí slam dublin government commemoration of First Dáil as "revisionist charade"

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described the Dublin Governments ceremony at the Mansion House commemorating the First Dáil as a "revisionist charade" and an "attempt to gloss over the abandonment of both the national and social ideals contained within the Declaration of Independence and Democratic Programme."

He was speaking after éirígí activists had breached a Gardai security cordon and unfurled a banner from the roof of the Mansion House where the ceremony was taking place. The banner read "- "90 YEARS ON – NO CLOSER TO FREEDOM – END THE OCCUPATION!"

Casey said: "On January 21 ninety years ago the elected members of the First Dáil defied the British occupation forces and assembled in the Mansion House in Dublin to reassert the Irish peoples right to Independence and freedom."

"The Dublin Governments ceremony at the Mansion House commemorating the First Dáil was a revisionist charade. It was an attempt to normalise the continued occupation of part of our country by the same forces that occupied it ninety years ago and to gloss over the abandonment of both the national and social ideals contained within the Declaration of Independence and Democratic Programme adopted at that sitting of the First Dáil.

He concluded: "Unlike the political class in the twenty six counties who have betrayed the ideals of the First Dáil, éirígí remain committed to actually bringing about the First Dáils core demands – an end to the British occupation and the radical overhaul of the social and economic order in Ireland."

Support Palestine – Boycott Israeli Goods

The death toll in Gaza continues to rise as the Israel army reigns down rockets and prosecutes a full-blown land invasion of the besieged Palestinian territory.

The condemnation emanating from all over the world has not yet halted the onslaught or forced supposedly powerful international institutions to exert pressure on Israel to desist.

The UN remains impotent in the face of the pro-Israeli agenda of the USA, which refuse to agree to resolutions that may go some way to pressurise the Israeli regime and hasten an end to the attack. The EU remains equally complicit, as it maintains all agreements with Israel and implements no sanctions.

However, pressure is building and the Palestinian people are receiving solidarity and support from millions across the world. In Ireland, protests and actions are occurring on a daily basis to pressurise the Dublin government who remain non-committal in the face of one of the worst humanitarian disasters in decades.

Thousands have protested in both the capital and Belfast. The Israeli embassy in Dublin has also been repeatedly picketed since December 27.

The Raytheon military technology facility in Derry City was occupied on Monday (January 12), culminating in the assault of at least one woman by the PSNI and the arrest of several activists. The maltreatment of protestors attempting to slow the flow of arms from Raytheon to Israel echoes the vitriol of the unionist political leadership, all of whom enthusiastically support the war crimes of the Israeli state.

Protests have also taken place in many other Irish cites and towns – a pattern which has been repeated in countries across the globe.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistír repeated the call for an all-out boycott of Israeli produce and business, as happened in the 1980s in a successful push against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

“Let everyone in Ireland be clear – no government with any relevance to the conflict will exert pressure on Israel to end this operation unless they are pressurised to do so. The UN, the EU and other international bodies have failed to give even an ounce of the support needed to the besieged Palestinian people. The architects of a very militaristic Zionism have the destruction of the Palestinian nation and people as their object and they will use the weapons of the USA and its allies to do it.

“The USA, Britain, and the government of every European state are all, at a decision making level, supportive of Israeli aggression. They are complicit, and it is the people of those nations that need to challenge their own governments and those complicit in the war crimes we are watching unfold on our TV screens every night.”

Daithí continued: “éirígí is calling on all socialist, republican, and humanitarian organisations in Ireland to mobilise in support of a boycott of the Israeli state and its industries. Those working in stores that stock Israeli goods should refuse to handle or stock those goods.

“A lot of good work has been done by Irish activists since the offensive against Gaza began on December 27. This work must continue until the siege and military bombardment of Gaza are ended.

“On behalf of éirígí, I would like to extend solidarity to the people of Gaza. Their resistance in the face of vicious Israeli aggression is a source of inspiration to people all over the world.”

Stop the slaughter in Gaza

éirígí activists organise and participate in a number of actions protesting the ongoing slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli regime.

Sligo demo for Gaza - Make Sligo an "Israeli Goods Free Zone"

éirígí activists from County Sligo and Leitrim were among the many people who took part in the demonstration held in Sligo today (Saturday) calling for an end to the siege of Gaza.

Speaking following the demonstration Sligo éirígí acitivist Gerry Casey who took part in the protest said that it was vital that such acts of solidarity are held throughout Ireland to show the palestinian people that we will do all in our power to help them and the cause of palestinian freedom. He also called on the Dublin government to expel the Israeli ambassador and for people to boycott Israeli goods and make Sligo an 'Israeli goods free-zone'.

Casey said: "The continuing massacre of palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli military is totally unacceptable. Over 400 have been killed, many of whom are children, with thousands more seriously injured This act of solidarity today was important in showing the palestinian people that we will do all in our power to help them and their cause. Every effort must now be made to have sanctions imposed against the Israeli state and their representatives."

"The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador by the Dublin Government is the first. It would send an unambiguous message to the Zionist state that their lengthy and inhumane siege of Gaza and their war crimes against the palestinian people are intolerable."

Casey concluded: "Locally, we can engage in practical solidarity measures. I would urge people to boycott all Israeli goods and to urge shops in their locality that do stock Israeli goods to cease doing so. We need to make Sligo an 'Israeli goods free-zone'.

éirígí seek expulsion of Israeli ambassador over Gaza slaughter

Sligo éirígí acitivist Gerry Casey has called on the Dublin government to expel the Israeli ambassador due to the continued murderous assault on the long suffering people of the Gaza strip which began on December 26 and which has resulted to date in over 400 Palestinians been killed and more than two thousand wounded. He has also called on people to boycott all Israeli goods and make Sligo an 'Israeli goods free-zone'.

Despite Israeli claims that the attacks were solely targeting Hamas, large numbers of those killed have been civilians, including children. Among the targets hit are family homes, mosques, civilian workshops, media agencies, charitable societies, prisoners' welfare groups and the local Islamic University. Gaza's already crisis-stricken medical infrastructure and supplies are now at breaking-point. Among the dead are seven teenage school children, who were struck down at a bus stop by an Israeli jet.

Casey said: "The ongoing massacre of palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli military is totally unacceptable. Every effort must now be made to not just extend solidarity with the people of Gaza but to also take practical measures against the Israeli state and their representatives."

"The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador is the first step that must be taken. It would send an unambiguous message to the Zionist state that their lengthy and inhumane siege of Gaza and their war crimes against the palestinian people are intolerable."

Casey concluded: "Here in Sligo I would also urge people to boycott all Israeli goods and to urge shops in their locality that do stock Israeli goods to cease doing so. We need to make Sligo an 'Israeli goods free-zone'. This is a practical way in which we, at a local level every day, can show solidarity and assist the palestinian people in their ongoing struggle for freedom and justice."

X Factor Heroes?

In response to the release of the X Factor’s ‘Hero’ in support of Britain’s occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq éirígí has compiled an alternative video highlighting the true nature of modern day imperialism.



Viewer discretion is advised as some may find some of the scenes contained within this video disturbing.

‘The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.’

The propagandists of the British state clearly agree with the substance of the quote above. Since the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq began a small number of points have been endlessly repeated. Chief amongst these constant themes has been the assertion that the people of Britain should support ‘our boys’ as they ‘do a difficult job’ in far-off lands.

The fact that this ‘difficult job’ is a product of British and American imperialism is conveniently forgotten. That this ‘difficult job’ involves the deaths of millions of people is routinely ignored. Support for ‘our boys’ overrides all other considerations and political judgements. You are either with us or against us. Sympathy is to be reserved for British soldiers injured and killed alone. The suffering of those maimed and murdered by those same troops is not worthy of mention.

In recent weeks the British media has succeeded in creating a near-frenzy of support for those British soldiers serving in occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. For the entire month of November it seemed that every public figure in Britain was permanently sporting a poppy on their lapels. Traditionally worn as a tribute to those who died in past wars the poppy has now become a public expression of support for Britain’s modern day great wars.

This is the backdrop against which the producers of the ‘X-Factor’ television show chose to release the ‘Hero’ single at the start of November. While the lyrics of the song refer to the ‘hero that lies in you’ the accompanying video alternates between the young singers and smiling British soldiers, re-united with their families on return from Afghanistan and Iraq. These images stand in stark contrast to the reality of the millions of families that have been torn asunder – quite literally on many occasions - by the actions of these soldiers and the government they serve.

The marketing of both the song and video has been tireless with commercial radio and television stations dutifully playing their part in supporting ‘our boys’. That the audience of the ‘X-Factor’ is largely made up of young teenagers makes the whole exercise all the more disturbing. For this generation a relatively innocent talent show has been cynically hijacked by those who wish to justify the savagery of modern-day imperialism.

It can be expected that the British state will continue to practise the propaganda advice contained within the quote at the start of this article - a fact that becomes all the more understandable when the author of that quote is revealed. He, himself, knew how to rally popular support at home for brutal occupations abroad. He also knew how to create sympathy for the perpetrator at the expense of the victim. His name? Joseph Goebbels.

Bankrolling Murder in Colombia

Francisco Santos CalderónThe Colombian vice-president, Francisco Santos Calderón, was in Belfast this week.

Calderón was here to address a PSNI-run drugs conference on the issue of the cocaine trade and how to combat it. Unfortunately, the senior Colombian politico was not expected to address the involvement of the right-wing death squads in the trade and their dubious relationship with his government.

According to the European Union, Colombia is designated as a developing country.

Over the years, as a result of this classification, under a scheme entitled the General System of Preferences (GSP), Colombia has received preferential trading status with the EU. This scheme and the special benefits that apply and which Colombia is in receipt of are intended solely for countries that respect certain basic human rights and the rights of workers.

Back in 2005 the scheme was altered to a new system entitled GSP Plus, which delivers extra benefits for qualifying countries. However, the new system significantly required those qualifying countries to not just ratify a number of core international conventions on labour rights and human rights, but, more importantly, to also “effectively implement” these international conventions. Among the rights enshrined in these conventions are the right to protection to organise and collective bargaining, as well as the right to freedom of association.

So, while the Colombian regime has indeed ratified the necessary conventions, they have failed to implement them effectively and, in fact, they consistently and regularly breach these and other International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions as a matter of course. Indeed, all the evidence clearly shows that they actively engage in measures, both directly and indirectly through their allies in the right-wing death squads, to hamper the work of trade union activists and to intimidate, disappear, torture and murder those engaged in trade union activity as well as other human rights activists and political opponents. Trade union membership numbers have plummeted in recent decades to just 850,000, just 5 per cent of the total workforce and just half of what union membership figures were 20-years-ago.

For trade unionists, Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world. An Amnesty International report issued in July of last year highlighted the fact that, during the past two decades, over 2,000 trade union activists have been killed (the figure stands at 2,683 in the last 22 years), while 138 have been the victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia. In more than 90 per cent of these cases, the people responsible for these atrocities have yet to be brought to justice.

In stark contrast to the image presented to the world by the Colombian regime and its US and British allies, the situation has not improved and violence in Colombia has increased dramatically throughout 2008. From January 1 this year up until the end of August, 40 trade unionists were murdered, a figure already higher than the numbers for the entire year of 2007. Among those activists murdered were 15 trade union leaders. Over the past decade, the number of trade unionists killed in Colombia has been consistently greater than those killed in all other countries worldwide combined.

Added to that is the extremely worrying fact that 125 death threats were issued against trade unionists trying to carry out their activity in the workplace throughout Colombia this year alone. Considering the propensity of those issuing the death threats to murder or disappear those that they threaten, those figures are a real source of concern for Colombian trade unionists and should be of major concern for the EU and those who decide what countries are to awarded GSP Plus status.

And it is not just trade unionists that bear the brunt of the Colombian regime’s murderous campaign. The reality of life in Colombia is that those that dare speak out against the regime, those that dare stand up to the repression and murder inflicted by the regime and their allies, those that dare to speak out for human rights and against the appalling human rights record of Colombia all face intimidation, arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, torture and murder for their beliefs and activities, whether political, human rights or trade union orientated.

No more state crimes!Human rights groups have shown that, during the current president’s six-year period in office, the Colombian military has been responsible for the extrajudicial executions of around 1,200 civilians, a figure that is almost twice the number killed in the period between 1996 and 2002.

Amnesty International’s latest report, entitled Leave Us in Peace! - Targeting Civilians in Colombia’s Internal Armed Conflict, again documents an increase in the numbers of civilians killed by the Colombian military and calls for an end to all military aid to the regime. Among the many Colombian military units for which there is clear evidence of involvement in torture, murder and other human rights abuses are units who receive British government and British military assistance, the notorious High Mountain Battalions of the Colombian Army. The report also documents a significant upward surge in attacks against human rights and trade union activists and increases in the forced disappearances and forced displacement of civilians by the regime.

That such a regime, with such an appalling human rights record, should be rewarded with special status by the EU is appalling and should not be allowed to continue.

The position of countries that have GSP status is currently under review and a decision will be announced by the EU Commission on December 15. It is imperative that the EU does not renew Colombia’s special trade status. Instead, they should, as has been called for by the CUT trade union federation, the largest union organisation in Colombia, initiate a high-level and thorough investigation into the murder campaign and human rights abuses carried out by the regime and its allies against trade unionists, human rights activists and political opponents.