Archive for the ‘Ireland’ Category
In Derry, Pressure Mounts on Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster
If Arlene Goes, so does her Deputy Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin.
Goodbye Marlene?
Arlene Foster, First Minister, Under Pressure in Derry
“Arlene needs to resign. Take to the streets! Demand her resignation!
People Before Profit have called a protest at the Guildhall, calling on Arlene Foster to resign over the Renewable Heat scandal. People are outraged because we’re told day in, day out that there is no money for benefits or for public services, but here we have £400 million wasted due to sheer incompetency.
Coming hot on the heels of the Social Investment Fund fiasco, it seems anything goes up on the Hill as long as DUP-Sinn Fein dominance is maintained.
The Coalition partners stage occasional sham fights to maintain credibility. But mostly they are watching and scratching one another’s back.
Sinn Fein goes easy on the DUP now, perhaps remembering how helpful the DUP was two years ago when Spotlight exposed a phoney “research” organisation which Sinn Fein had used to claim a staggering £700,000 in “expenses.”
In the last three years, the DUP has had involvement in the Red Sky affair, the Nama scandal, the SIF/Charter NI fiasco and now the bonfire of public-money that is the Renewable Heat scheme.
But the Assembly hasn’t laid a glove on either wing of the Executive.
None of this is accidental. The Stormont structures are designed to sustain a system based on the idea of communal solidarity. Bread and butter issues don’t figure when it comes to forming or getting rid of a government. In practice, it is permissible to plunder the public finances – but not to upset the Orange-Green balance.
Working-class people should take a hard look at the parties which have either been involved in or turned a blind eye to these events.
Arlene Foster is unfit for office. She should resign without further ado.
Join us at the Guildhall, 5pm – Friday December 16″
Gerry Adams and the Sons of former Portlaoise Prison Officer Brian Stack, Killed by the IRA in 1983
Many of my friends may be surprised, but I think Gerry Adams is telling the truth about his encounters with the sons of Brian Stack, a Portlaoise Prison Officer killed by the IRA in 1983.
Austin Stack probably gave the names of alleged 1983 IRA killers of his father Brian Stack (a prison officer) to the Sinn Féin President, not the other way around. That explains the Gerry Adams email to Garda boss Nóirín O’Sullivan on this matter.
Images, Funeral of Joe Kelly
Joe Kelly Greets the Mourners Coming to His Funeral, Teachers’ Club / Club na Múinteóirí, December 10 2016
Joe Kelly’s Most Recent Campaign
Super Chairperson Joe Kelly – What is the Statement behind Your Question? A Frank Discussion About the Irish Peace Process With John Meehan and Killian Forde
Thoughts of Chairperson Joe Kelly, April 8 1938 – December 7 2016.
Phrases that came immediately to mind :
“How’s Your Love Life?”
“What is the statement behind your question?”
“Are there any loose people in the room?”
“What’s your point?”
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution” [borrowed from Emma Goldman]
“Can we break up into small groups?
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Joe Kelly voted No to the deletion of Articles 2 and 3 from the Irish Constitution in a 1998 Referendum, a very unopular decision – only 5 per cent of the voters wanted to keep these Articles.
Joe was very troubled about this and discussed it often with me. Being the man he was, he organised a broadcast radio discussion between me and a then Sinn Féin member of Dublin City Council Killian Forde.
Here is a transcript : Read the rest of this entry »
The super chairperson – Joe Kelly, born April 8 1938, died Wednesday December 7 2016, Aged 78.
Tributes are pouring in to Joe Kelly. In future days a lot more will be written said and sung about an outstanding political activist and very firm friend.Death Notice of Joe Kelly
A small initial contribution is below, along with some other tributes seen on social media.
The mid-1980’s : The first big mass campaign where Joe Kelly and I worked together was Miscarriages of Justice, primarily the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six : innocent Irish people in British jails, framed by the British State, sentenced to life imprisonment and no mass campaign existed. That changed in Dublin, Joe Kelly was its heartbeat. An enormous “Parade of Innocence” in Dublin, headed by the Diceman Thom McGinty, was one outstanding result. Declan Gorman Writes About Dublin’s Parade of Innocence
A Very Disturbing Court Case in Dublin – Blaming A Woman Called Bernadette Scully
Drowning The Kevin Duffy Water Charges Report
Brendan Young, an anti water charges member of Kildare County Council, examines the Kevin Duffy Report Commissioned by the Minority Fine Gael Government
A Right 2 Water steering meeting with a full discussion on all aspects of the Report would be the best way to tease all of these issues out. Hopefully that can be arranged before Christmas.
The arguments in the Report for charges to penalise or supposedly reduce wasteful use of water are both a trap and a sham.
Pay Restoration: ‘Where Would the Money Come from? Some places to look’ – Eddie Conlon
From TUI Grassroots 28.11.2016
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1717839115137763/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
The main issue the media are focusing on is where would the money come from to pay public servants. Here are some suggestions taken from various sources and going from the modest to the more radical. I have incorporated some of P. Healy’s suggestions below.
To start, some myths we should challenge.
- There is no money in the country! Not true. Ireland is one of the richest countries in the world (8th) but has high levels of income and wealth inequality.
- There is no scope for tax increases! In it pre-budget submission ICTU make the point clearly that tax revenues (as a percentage of GDP) are far below EU levels (31% v. 46% in 2016). As a result, social spending is also low (32% v. 48%). In an analysis of tax levels in 2012 Michael Taft of UNITE has shown that personal tax rates are on a par with the EU (23% v. 26% of GDP) as are household consumption taxes (10% v. 12%). But when it comes to things like taxes on employers we are way out of line.
So where would you start to look.
- The last budget. There are a few hundred million floating around here. The Vat relief to the hotels industry was continued despite a recovery in the sector and its record of low pay and bad conditions. The government could save itself €600m there.
Gregor Kerr: an enlightening Facebook discussion on Lansdowne Road
Can I win? Absolutely. Getting a very good response from branches and members that I have been engaging with. And that discussion about how members relate to the union and vice versa is certainly taking place.
As I see it, policies pursued by the current leadership have brought us to where we are. I think a change is needed and hopefully enough members will agree with me, vote for me but also step up their own involvement.
Another reason why we need a trade union movement that has a bigger vision of how society should be run.
Tomás Ó Flatharta 