Archive for the ‘Ireland’ Category
Dail Rushes Property Tax on to Statute Book – PickPocket Law Ridiculed by Clare Daly TD
A short sharp speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HQDViPGe05c
United Left established within the ULA
From the Cedar Lounge 3rd March 2013
“With the new opinion poll there was a timely agreement yesterday in Dublin by the supporters of Joan Collins TD (including the Dublin 12 ULA Branch), Clare Daly TD, Cllr. Declan Bree (Sligo) and most of the active ULA nonaligned to form a new platform or organisation within the ULA, ‘United Left’.
The main focus of United Left will be the need for a new, broad based non sectarian party to represent and organise working people and to build the United Left and the wider alliance as a preparation for such a party. United Left bases itself on the founding statement of the ULA.
It also aims to develop a strategy to build further by involving other left organisations and groups either as part of the United Left or the wider alliance.
United Left will register as a ‘party’ for electoral purposes.
It is planned to have a public launch of United Left and a series of local public meetings in the near future.”
Rally of Education Public Servants against Croke Park 2: Saturday 9th March, 12:00, Gresham Hotel Dublin
All public servants welcome
Vote “NO” to Croke Park 2. Defend Education. Defend Public Services.
Colleagues,
A grass-roots rally of public servants in the education sector will take place in the Gresham Hotel Dublin at 12:00 on this Saturday 9th March 2013.
The focuses of the rally will be on:
- securing a “NO” vote to Croke Park 2 in as many unions as possible
- the need for unity amongst all public servants in the face of the on-going attacks on us, and
- the way forward to better representation and mobilisation of public servants
- sending a message to our unions, to ICTU and to the Government that this so-called agreement will not be accepted
This rally is not called by the Executive of any union and has absolutely nothing to do with ICTU, which clearly no longer represents public servants at all.
Please attend and advertise the rally to all other public servants you know, both within the Education Sector and outside it: All public servants are very welcome to come along.
The intention is to show our own union leadership and ICTU that in the absence of representation from them, we can and will mobilise ourselves.
We urge you to attend.
Regards,
Michael Carr (TUI Branch Chair Dublin Colleges)
Gregor Kerr (INTO District 14)
Maria Parsons (TUI Branch Chair IADT Dun Laoghaire)
Claus Derenda (TUI Branch Chair IT Carlow)
Gerald Mills (IFUT UCD)
Richard Crowley (TUI Branch Chair Dundalk IT)
Thomas Dooley (TUI Acting Branch Secretary Dundalk IT)
Andrew Phelan (ASTI)
Paddy Healy (TUI Dublin Retired Members Association)
Kevin Farrell (TUI Executive, Area 15)
Eddie Conlon (TUI Executive, Area 16)
Niall Smyth (INTO)
Paul Farrell (TUI IT Tallaght)
Ronan Callanan (TUI Dublin City PP)
Meeting to organise opposition to Croke Park 2, Dublin, 27th February 2013
From Paddy Healy
A meeting to organise resistance to the changes to pay and conditions under Croke Park 2 will be held in Teachers Club, Parnell Square, on Wednesday next, Feb 27, at 8pm.
The meeting has been called by 5 branches of TUI to organise resistance to Croke Park 2 within the Education Sector.
The organisers have agreed to facilitate discussion among all public sector trade union activists and pensioners (pensions are to be reduced under the Deal) on organisation to oppose the Deal
Please Come along at this time of great danger for public servants and for the trade union movement generally.
Property Tax – New Tactics Needed
What tactics can be used to defeat the property tax? That is a very pressing question because the boycott weapon, used pretty effectively against the bin and house taxes, will not work. No taxpayer can “boycott” tax increases deducted at source from pay by the state.
The SBP notes that:
Self-employed workers will not be able to get tax clearance certificates if they do not pay the new property tax, it has emerged.
This had been the general analysis from those involved in the CAHWT, but it is interesting to see it now confirmed. And it is, naturally, yet another salvo in the on-going campaign the government is waging on the issue – particularly since the first of the 1.6 million letters to householders with estimates of their tax liability are going to be sent out in the next week or so.
In many respects the government has played this quite cleverly, clearly learning from the property ‘charge’ debacle. The room for movement is now extremely circumscribed, at least in terms of refusing payment, given, as the SBP notes…
The tax authority has been granted a range of new powers to secure payment of the new…
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Lies Damn Lies and Statistics
This is a wonderful educative article on how to read polls accurately : strongly recommended
Posted by Eoin O’Malley (21 February, 2013)
A poll released today by the Pro-Life Campaign seeks to ‘challenge the notion that there is broad middle ground support for abortion in Ireland.’ This polls claims to show that two-thirds of Irish people want ‘legal protection of the unborn’ and suggests that this means Irish people are against legalised abortions. This should surprise some as it follows on from a IpsosMRBI poll in the Irish Times recently which showed a substantial majority in favour of legalised abortions in a variety of circumstances.
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Legislate for X – Shocking Leak of HSE Halappanavar Report
Joan Collins TD, Clare Daly TD Statement –13 Feb 2013 –
Legislate for X –Now No restrictions that make abortion unavailable
Today’s leaked report of the draft HSE investigation into the death of Savita Halappanavar contains shocking confirmation of what was reported at the time of her death –and more. Commenting on the leaks in the press Joan Collins said
“The first person to see this report should have been Praveen Halappanavar. We hope this has happened and that he has not read about it in the papers. It is unacceptable that a report which was apparently concluded six weeks ago should be delayed for another ten days before being published. The leaks from this report confirm that a dying fetus was given priority over an increasing risk to Savita’s life. It says that even before her request for an abortion, ‘the clinical situation indicated a significant and increasing risk to the mother’; and that ‘… septic shock could have been avoided by an earlier termination knowing that –without a termination –the prognosis for the fetus and potentially for the patient was poor”
Yet a consultant is quoted as saying “our hands were tied” by the current legal situation as long as there was a fetal heartbeat and no immediate risk to the woman’s life.” Clare Daly said: “Whatever the interpretation of current guidelines by the doctors concerned, this must never happen again. There must be legislation so that doctors can perform abortions when pregnancy puts a woman’s life at risk. And as the Chief Justice said in the X Case ruling, that risk should not have to be ‘immediate or inevitable’ in order for abortion to be approved. The forthcoming legislation must not have restrictions so that abortion is unavailable in practice. The opinion of no more than two medical practitioners should be sufficient to unds of physical risk to life ocal practitioners should be sufficient to approve abortion –either on grounds of physical risk to life or risk of suicide. Abortion should be available throughout the country –as near as possible to women’s homes –and not restricted to just a few hospitals. And abortion should be available if a fetus has an abnormality that means it cannot survive.
Legislation for X might have saved Savita’s life. But what her death shows is that abortion must be available if a pregnancy puts a woman’s health at risk. There is overwhelming popular support for abortion in such situations, as well as for rape and incest, or fatal fetal abnormality. The most recent poll shows 60% support for ‘a woman’s right to choose’. Abortion in these circumstances, which we support, requires the repeal of Art 40.3.3 of the Constitution.
Savita’s unnecessary death must not be the fate of other women. There must be no more delays in legislating to the X case. Once that’s in place we will be campaigning for the repeal of Art 40.3.3 and the introduction of
free, safe, legal abortion in Ireland.
Mr Gilmore’s Labour Party To Lose 27 of its 37 Seats?
This analysis fits in very comfortably with the assessment published on this blog last Saturday February 9 following the publication of an Irish Times Opinion Poll.
A different related question which deserves attention is what to do about the construction of an anti-capitalist/anti-coalition akternative, both inside and outside the Dail.
I know we’re probably a few years away from an election but ….. with Labour now sliding in the polls , Paddy Healy made an interesting Comment on the recent Sunday Business Post Red C poll stating
When the Labour party vote declined to 10.4% in the 1997 GE following the Spring/Bruton/De Rossa government , it retained 17 of 33 seats. I believe that if Labour polled 11% in a general election to-day that it would retain far less seats. Traditionally, many Labour candidates were elected on transfers from independents and minor parties (in addition to benefitting from the surplus of coalition partner Fine Gael). The current poll indicates that Sinn Fein will be above the Labour Party on first counts in a large number of constituencies. Sinn Fein transfers will be unavailable in far more constituencies than was the case in the 2011 General Election. The decline in the…
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Pope Benedict’s Resignation Brings an Awful Papacy to an End – On the Same Day Irish People Show They Want Abortion Legalised Now
http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-beneditc-resignation-paradoxical-papacy
Shed no tears in Ireland for a Pope whose record on Catholic Church child abuse is awful. His successor is unlikely to be an improvement, and his loyal laity in what used to be called “the land of saints and scholars” swim against the tide of pro-choice popular sentiment on the abortion issue.
All out on March 4 to insist on the legalisation of Abortion in the Irish state – tell the Dublin Government to abandon Rome Rule!
On the same day a new Irish Times Opinion Poll showed huge majorities in favour of legalising abortion in Ireland :
There is strong public support for the Government’s plan to legislate on abortion, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
It also shows that a substantial majority of voters back much wider access to abortion than that being proposed by the Government.
Asked if the Government should legislate for the 1992 X case to allow abortion where a mother’s life is in danger, including the threat of suicide, 71 per cent said Yes, 11 per cent said No and 18 per cent had no opinion.
Pro-Choice Sentiment is now very strong in Ireland :
In regional terms Dublin was strongest in favour, with the rest of Leinster the least supportive of legislation.
Nonetheless, there were big majorities for legislation in all regions, social categories and age groups
Web link :
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2013/0211/1224329906498.html?via=rel
However the government is still putting necessary legislation on the long finger – and that is totally unacceptable.
Put Kenny and Gilmore Under Pressure :
Tomás Ó Flatharta 