éirígí slam scrapping of Social Welfare Christmas bonus

Tir Chonaill éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig has slammed the Fianna Fáil led administration over their decision to scrap the Christmas bonus payment for Social Welfare recipients. He has also challenged all of Donegals deputies that voted for this measure in leinster house to publicly justify their decision.

MacGiolla Easbuig was speaking following the passage of the Social Welfare Bill 2009 in leinster house on Thursday last April 23.

MacGiolla Easbuig said: “The decision of this administration to target some of the most vulnerable sections of our society by scrapping the Social Welfare Christmas bonus is truly shocking. The extent of the hardship and increased poverty that this measure will inflict on many families already struggling to survive and to make ends meet should not be underestimated. The fact that this administration are willing to inflict such hardship only shows how completely out of touch with the reality of the lives of social welfare recipients they are.”

He added: “For many families on low incomes and particularly social welfare, Christmas can be a very stressful time. Parents stretch themselves to their limits to make ends meet and still provide clothes and toys for their children to make it a happy occasion for them. The Social Welfare bonus for many families was their lifeline. Now that it has been so cruelly taken away by an uncaring administration, many families will now be forced elsewhere to try to make ends meet and to provide for their children. What this will mean is more and more families being forced into the clutches of greedy and unscrupulous moneylenders.”

“These families are now being made scapegoats and been made to pay for the incompetence and greed of this administration and their wealthy business cronies. This was a deliberate attack on the most vulnerable in this state by an administration that has consistently shown their contempt for the less well off in our society. Once again it will be children and the elderly that will suffer the brunt of increasing poverty and hardship caused by their shameful decision scrapping this social welfare payment.”

He concluded: “Donegal has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country yet deputies from this county are willing to add to peoples hardship here by supporting this measure. Deputies Mary Coughlan and Pat ‘the cope’ Gallagher voted to support this savage cutback while their party colleagues Niall Blaney and James McDaid were so unconcerned by this measure that they did not even bother turning up to vote. These deputies should hang their heads in shame for their actions and I am challenging every single one of them to publicly justify their decision to target social welfare recipients in this manner.”

Support for Tesco Workers

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír has extended the socialist republican party’s support to the Cork Tesco workers who took strike action today [Wednesday].

The Douglas-based workers took the action after Tesco refused to honour established terms and conditions when moving staff to a new store in the area.

Daithí said: “Tesco are acting in blatant contravention of an agreement they had with the workers that established terms and conditions would be respected when staff moved to a new store.

“The company is obviously trying to take advantage of the economic crisis to attack the conditions and pay of vulnerable workers. In a disgraceful move, staff were threatened that, if they took strike action, they would be locked out without pay until June. These are clearly bully boy tactics.”

Daithí continued: “The workers in Douglas are to be commended for the stand they have taken. At a time when employers are slashing jobs and undermining rights, it is important to recognise that the situation isn’t a hopeless one.

“Workers in places like Tesco have demonstrated that firm action can put unscrupulous employers under pressure and highlight intolerable situations. The Mandate union must ensure that these workers are given all the support that is necessary.”

éirígí appalled at closure of stroke unit at Sligo General Hospital

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described yesterday’s announcement that the Health Service Executive (HSE) is to close the 16-bed stroke unit at Sligo General Hospital, with the loss of 22 jobs, as “deplorable”.

Casey said: “Once again, what we are seeing is the removal and downgrading of essential services at Sligo General Hospital and other hospitals throughout the north-west. This latest action, which sees 22 job losses, including 15 nursing posts, will have a serious impact on patient care for stroke patients at Sligo General Hospital.”

He added: “This decision, coupled with the planned withdrawal of cancer services from the hospital, is clear evidence of an administration that has repeatedly shown a callous disregard for the health and wellbeing of the people of this region. It also puts paid to the lie being put about by the HSE that job losses won’t effect patient care. The care of these patients will now be spread throughout the hospital, adding to the workload of an already over-burdened medical staff and will cause difficulties in trying to provide the specialist care required by stroke victims. ”

He concluded: “This decision, along with other moves to downgrade services such as cancer care, must be reversed in their entirety. The HSE and their political masters appear more intent on implementing their right-wing policies of privatisation and two-tier health services rather than creating a first class health service available and accessible to all. The health and well-being of people must take priority and must suffer as a result of the greed of politicians, developers and bankers that have squandered the wealth of the Celtic Tiger.”

éirígí slam latest Health Service nursing cutbacks

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has slammed the Health Service Executive (HSE) and their political masters in the Fianna Fail led administration after it emerged that the HSE are planning major cutbacks in the numbers of people employed by them in essential front-line or support services such as nursing. He also rubbished claims by the HSE that these cuts would not effect front line services.

Casey said: “The HSE have decided not to renew somewhere in the region of 14,000 temporary contracts and 3,000 locum contracts of employees who carry out essential front-line or support services, including nursing. According to the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), that will mean the loss of probably 300 to 400 nurses here in the Northwest alone.”

He added: “Claims by the HSE that front line services will not be effected by these job losses are complete rubbish. This is a major blow to an already under pressure and under resourced health service and is set to have major repercussions for people in need of vital services as well as patient safety.”

“This Fianna Fail led administration has repeatedly shown a callous disregard for the health and well being of the people of this region. Patient safety and well-being must not be made to suffer or pay for the greed and incompetence of the politicians, developers and bankers that have squandered the wealth of the Celtic Tiger. These latest cutbacks are, once again, the actions of an administration that has completely failed the people they claim to represent. ”

He concluded: “They must reverse these cutbacks and abandon completely their failed policies of a two–tier system and privatisation of health care, all of which is based on a failed right wing ideology. Their system has failed but there is a clear, workable and just alternative. What is now needed more than ever is the building of a first class health service that is truly free and equal, based on medical need and not ability to pay."

éirígí launch scathing attack over anti-worker budget

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has launched a scathing attack on Fianna Fáil following the budget on Tuesday. He accused them of deliberately targetting workers to pay for their failed economic policies and to bail out the banks and their developer friends.

Casey said: “Contrary to the claims of some Fianna Fáil Ministers prior to its introduction, the measures in Tuesday’s budget were not fair. The increased taxes and cuts in benefits will disproportionally impact on low income workers and those on social welfare. Families who were already struggling to survive and make ends meet as a result of last Octobers savage budget cutbacks, recent pay cuts and soaring unemployment now face into an uncertain future with their living standards due to deteriorate considerably as a result of Tuesday’s budget.”

He added: “Particularly reprehensible have been the cuts in social welfare. Their decision to halve unemployment benefits for under – 20’s and to scrap the Christmas bonus for social welfare recipients is set to cause serious hardship for many families and drive many into the hands of greedy and unscrupulous moneylenders.”

“All of this stands in stark contrast to the administrations bail out of the banks and their developer friends. The administration’s response to this economic crisis has not been to make those responsible for it pay but to instead make their victims pay. While they have turned the screw on the living standards of workers and the most vulnerable in society they are more than content to further supplement the business classes extravagant and wealthy lifestyles.”

He concluded: “This administration has shown clearly where their loyalties lie. They are inflicting untold suffering and poverty on working class families throughout this state. This is a government which needs put into solvency. These measures must now be resisted by all means necessary by the trade unions, by working class communities throughout this state and by political parties that represent workers interests.” ENDS

éirígí protest against 28-day detention

More than 100 people - republican ex-prisoners, community and political activists, young and old - gathered on Belfast's Falls Road on Saturday 28 March to oppose the most recent internment of Irish citizens by the British government.

Labour leader betrays Irish workers by opposing planned general strike

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused the Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore of betraying Irish workers and trade unionists and of siding with the political and capitalist classes responsible for the current conomic crisis.

Casey was speaking following comments by Gilmore in which he expressed his opposition to the general strike scheduled for March 30.

Casey said: “The actions of Gilmore are despicable. At a time like this when workers and trade unionists are having pay cuts forced upon them and being made to pay for the greed and incompetence of successive administrations and their banking and developer friends, the least they can expect is the support of those who claim to have workers interests at heart.”

He added: “Instead of trying to galvanise support for the workers of this country, the people he and his party claim to represent, Gilmore has shown where his loyalties lie. He has sided with the political and capitalist classes in this country. He has betrayed the rights of Irish workers and trade unionists.”

Casey concluded: “Now, more than ever, worker and trade union militancy and solidarity are required to defend those rights. Workers and trade unionists should ignore the weasel words of Gilmore and take to the streets in large numbers on March 30. I would also urge the wider public to publicly support this national strike and help to defend the rights and living standards of all Irish workers and their families.”

Letter to media re 28 day detentions

A chara

Despite the many promises made in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), St Andrews agreements and by the political classes north and south of the border, recent events have shown that the culture of political policing in the six counties remains as deeply rooted as ever. The RUC may have changed their name and uniform but they remain the same force, with the same hostile attitude towards republicans and human rights.

Last week, for the first time since internment, the RUC/PSNI detained individuals in custody without charge for longer than seven days. They may now be held for up to 28 days. In August of last year éirígí held nationwide protests to remember the introduction of internment by the British Government in 1971 and to highlight the introduction of this new legislation that now allows them to carry out these detentions. As éirígí warned at that time, what we are now seeing is the re-introduction of internment under a different name and directed once again at republicans.

The silence of virtually all politicians on both sides of the border at this flagrant abuse of human rights by the RUC/PSNI and the British government is deafening. Contrary to the commitments made at the time of the GFA, the British government have increased militarisation of the Six Counties and have overseen an upsurge in human rights violations. They promised the repeal of repressive and draconian legislation yet they have enacted and have begun implementing new laws effectively re-introducing internment for a 28-day period without a whimper from the political classes. This shows the utter failure and bankruptcy of the agreement and those who championed it.

Those who gave their full support to the RUC/PSNI claimed an era of supposedly “accountable” policing was at hand. Now that those claims lie in tatters the onus rests with Sinn Fein and the SDLP to withdraw their support for British policing in Ireland.

Is mise


Gerry Casey
éirígí Co.Sligeach


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Intimidation of Shell to Sea campaigners intensifies

Over the course of recent weeks the state has intensified its intimidation of Shell to Sea campaigners. The detention in Mountjoy jail of Maura Harrington, the issuing of summons against other campaigners and the assault by Gardaí on Niall Harnett that led to his hospitalisation are a clear indication of the imminent re-commencement of work by Shell at Glengad in north Mayo.

Shell’s attempts to carry out their work at Glengad and to lay their off shore pipe-line failed last year when the pipe-laying ship the Solitaire was forced to depart the area without completing its work following nationwide protests and an 11-day hunger strike by Maura.

Maura was jailed on March 11 for 28 days by Judge Mary Devins, wife of Fianna Fáil Minister Jimmy Devins, on charges of assault relating to an incident that occurred at Pollathomais Pier in June 2007. During that incident, up to 20 people were brutally injured by Gardaí who assisted Shell in forcing their way onto private property with a digger against the wishes of the landowner Paddy McGrath.

While Maura was charged with assault, no Garda was charged for their brutality on the day, or for invading Paddy McGrath’s property. In Jailing Maura, Devins attempted to humiliate her further by ordering her to receive psychiatric assessment, to pay the Garda Benevolent Fund €1000 and to refrain from interfering with Shell’s work for twelve months. Refusing to bow to these insults Maura received a further two days in jail for contempt of court.

Shell to Sea activist Niall Harnett taken from Belmullet courtOn the same day Niall Harnett was assaulted by Gardaí at Belmullet court which resulted in his hospitalisation. The following day Judge Devins dismissed assault charges brought by Niall against three Gardaí as he remained in hospital unfit to attend court.

More than 20 summonses have also now been issued to ten campaigners relating to their involvement in a number of protests last year against Shell in the region. While hundreds took part in those events it seems that Shell’s Cops have deliberately targeted specific individuals with a view to crippling campaigning on the issue.

Also particularly reprehensible has been the long running attempts by sections of the media to smear and demonise those involved in opposing the give-away of our natural resources to Shell. Their gutter journalism is reminiscent of similar such campaigns waged against republicans over the course of the past few decades and was evident again in recent days. In particular their attempts to publicly vilify Maura since her detention were despicable, though not surprising.

There clearly exists a deliberate policy by the state, their surrogates within the media, and by Shell to silence, intimidate, demonise and tie up Shell to Sea activists with ongoing court cases and bogus charges. It is a clear strategy to distract and divert opposition to Shell and the giveaway of the oil and gas reserves worth up to €500 billion off our coast in the Corrib field and elsewhere.

Currently the work Shell need to carry out at Glengad hasn’t begun yet. However, the recent upsurge of state harassment of campaigners, coupled with information coming from the Erris area, indicates that the work is now imminent. Onshore work is likely to begin in the coming weeks with the offshore pipe-laying by the Solitaire now likely to commence sometime in April or May. The Department of Energy and Natural Resources have also recently received more than 200 submissions, most of which are from local residents calling on Minister Eamonn Ryan to agree a public oral hearing so that public opposition to the pipeline can at last be openly aired.

These coming weeks and months are now of vital importance. All of us, republicans, socialists and progressives of all persuasion, must rally our resources and intensify the campaign against Shell. It is a huge challenge as the forces of the state, as we have repeatedly seen, will be deployed in large numbers to act as Shell’s enforcers and bully-boys in Erris. They will spare no effort to defeat us.

It is for these reasons in the time ahead that we must build a mass campaign for the nationalisation of Irish natural resources. We must mobilise to ensure that justice prevails, not just for the people of Erris, but for the people of Ireland as a whole. We must ensure that Maura is freed and that the rights of other activists are upheld, that the pipeline is disrupted, that Shell are run out of Ireland with their tail between their legs and that the Corrib gas field at long last is taken under public control.

Despite the presence of such vast energy resources capable of satisfying Ireland’s energy requirements for decades, tens of thousands of families continue to struggle to heat their homes. Because of this approximately 3000 people die from preventable, cold-related illness annually. Now as the recession deepens and unemployment soars, fuel poverty is set to increase rapidly. Despite this, the Fianna Fáil led administration has spearheaded a witch-hunt against public sector workers and workers in general. Attempts have been made to scapegoat victims as the perpetrators of an economic crisis created by failed policy and the greed fuelled actions of big business in this country.


Given the choice between nationalising the Corrib gas or imposing pay cuts on workers and slashing vital health and education services, the Fianna Fáil led administration has shown where their loyalties lie. They will not make the decision to nationalise the Corrib gas field willingly. It is therefore our collective responsibility as Irish citizens to force the changes in this country that are required to ensure a future for all the children of the nation.

éirígí demand immediate release of Shell to Sea campaigner

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described the jailing of Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington as a deliberate attempt by the state to silence opposition to the give away of Ireland’s natural resources to Shell and has called for her immediate release. He also claimed that her arrest and detention are probably timed to coincide with the likely commencement by Shell of fresh efforts to lay the pipe-line to Glengad beach in north Mayo which had to be abandoned last year.

Maura was arrested on Wednesday and sentenced to 28 days in Mountjoy Jail. Maura spoke at a public meeting at the City Hotel in Sligo last month. At that meeting she warned of Shell’s plans to recommence efforts to lay the pipeline in March or April of this year and that intensified efforts by the state against Shell to Sea activists would be made to try to prevent protests.

Casey said: “It looks increasingly likely that Shell are now planning to commence work yet again at Glengad Special Area of Conservation. They had to abandon their efforts last year following protests and a hunger strike undertaken by Maura. We believe that this arrest is a deliberate effort by the state to assist Shell by removing one of the most active and vociferous campaigners against them. Her detention isn’t the first time the state has jailed campaigners to try to defeat opposition to the give away of our valuable natural resources to Shell. The Rossport Five spent over three months in jail back in 2005 for the brave stance they also took against Shell.”

He added: “Maura must be released immediately. A public inquiry must also be established to investigate fully the true extent of the role played by the Gardaí as enforcers for Shell and to probe the countless abuses, including physical assaults, which campaigners claim that Gardaí have inflicted on protestors.”

He concluded: “It is long past time for the Fianna Fáil-led administration to take the massive amount of gas reserves currently at the mercy of Shell’s greed back under state control and to use the proceeds for the benefit of the people of Ireland. The wealth generated should be utilised to provide investment in efficient and effective health and education systems for all, to redress the neglect by the state of the north-west region and to end fuel poverty. Send Shell to hell – nationalise the Corrib gas.”