Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘People Before Profit’ Category

The United Left Alliance in Dublin Central

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The United Left Alliance (ULA) has held a series of launch meetings since the February 25 General Election.

This is a report of the Dublin Central Gathering, held on Monday May 30 in the Teachers Club, 36 Parnell Square.

About 34 people attended. 

The meeting was chaired by Eddie Conlon of the ULA A Steering Committee and the speakers were :

Joan Collins TD ULA/People Before Profit (PBP) Dublin South-Central.

Paul Murphy Member of the European Parliament (MEP) ULA/Socialist Party (SP) –

[Paul took over the seat vacated by Joe Higgins, who is now a TD for Dublin West]

Colm Stephens PBP/Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) Dublin Central.

Joan Collins opened the meeting with fresh news that an actor who shares the socialist TD’s name was recently hit by the property crash – Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Jun 11, 2011 at 12:55 am

Posted in Éirigí, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

United Left Alliance “A Work in Progress” – Steps Towards a New Party

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The Irish election returned five TDs for the United Left Alliance, with 2.8 per cent of the first preference votes. But this victory for the Left is only part of a bigger picture of political change, writes Brendan Young, in an article commissioned by Scottish Left Review. Republished here with kind permission of the author and SLR.

This article is also published on the Irish Left Review Site  :

United Left Alliance A Work In Progress – Steps Towards a New Party

Joe Higgins TD - Socialist Party and the United Left Alliance

Described as a sea change by commentators, the biggest shock of Ireland’s recent general election was the collapse of the vote of Fianna Fáil (FF), the State’s largest party; from 41.5 per cent in 2007 to just 17.4 per cent this time. FF has governed in Ireland for 61 out of the 79 years since it was formed in 1932 and has won 14 out of the 19 general elections. Yet it now has only one TD (member of parliament) in Dublin – down from 13. Its first preference vote in Dublin was only 12.5 per cent, whereas the United Left Alliance, on its first outing, got 7.1 per cent. What stands out is the loss of support for FF among working class voters – confirming what has already been happening in local elections. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 20, 2011 at 6:26 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, Trade Unions, United Left Alliance

Gilmore’s Goons May Visit You Soon! – Broy’s Harriers Ride Again

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Gilmore’s Goons May “Visit” You Soon – Broy’s Harriers Ride Again
Labour Leader and Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore, Enda Kenny’s second-in-command, has advised citizens to expect “visits” from the political police, possibly instructed or escorted by USA “counter-terrorist” operatives – that is one possible meaning to be taken from this RTÉ News Report :

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

May 4, 2011 at 2:24 pm

Posted in Barack Obama, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Queen Elizabeth II, USA

Six County Referendum on May 5 – Alternative Vote or First Past the Post?

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Gavin Stamp has published what appears to be an accurate summary of party political opinions about the Alternative Vote Versus First Past the Post Referendum on the BBC website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11609887

The six-county summary is interesting – I do not know if People Before Profit has a position – I hope Socialist Workers’ Party members declare a mini unilateral declaration of independence from the London mother-ship – judging from Mark P’s comment

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2011/04/26/do-most-british-far-left-groups-understand-proportional-voting-systems/#comments

the Socialist Party is a lost cause, this chip will not stray too far from its block! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 30, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Posted in Britain, European Union, General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit, Referendums, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party

Do Most British Far-Left Groups Understand Proportional Voting Systems?

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The answer appears to be a resounding NO!

In Ireland – both sides of the border – we are used to the Proportional Representation (PR) Voting System – it is used for all state elections in the part of Ireland ruled from Dublin – the other bit, ruled from Belfast, uses PR for assembly and local elections, but is lumbered with the First Past the Post method in Westminster polls.

The system is not perfect by any means – but it does mean seats are won more or less in proportion to votes cast – it would be even more proportional if constituencies were larger than the current five seat limit which applies in 26 County Dáil elections, or if we used a list system, as is used in the German State. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 26, 2011 at 1:59 pm

Posted in Britain, European Union, Ireland, People Before Profit, Referendums, Sinn Féin, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party

Bernadette McAliskey Says Vote for People Before Profit in the May 5 Stormont Assembly Election

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Well Done Bernadette! :

http://www.eamonnmccann.com/1/post/2011/04/bernadette-mcaliskey-voting-for-people-before-profit.html

The former Mid-Ulster MP is also supporting Patricia Campbell And other independent left candidates :

http://www.facebook.com/people/Vote-Patricia-Campbell/100002194692882

A left unity strategy is happening in the six counties, as well as the twenty-six (let us hope the United Left Alliance continues to develop in a positive way after the February 25 result, when  five ULA TD’s won seats in the current Dáil).

Written by tomasoflatharta

Apr 25, 2011 at 10:22 pm

Posted in General Election 2011, Ireland, People Before Profit, Six County Elections 2011, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Labour Voters – How Cool Are They About Coalition With the Right?

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John Meehan has put together a statistical analysis of Labour Party lower preferences, where no other Labour candidate is in the contest (these are known as terminal transfers), and candidates from both the left and right are still in the race.

The table is at the end of this article.

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Healthy debate is developing on this blog and other Irish sites on the composition of the Labour Party’s electoral base.  The February 2011 General Election broke new ground in many ways, and we can learn a lot from detailed study of the numbers.

An interesting question is : how keen are Labour voters on coalition with the right?  How sympathetic are they to the arguments of left rivals that helping to elect Enda Kenny as taoiseach is a very bad idea? Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 15, 2011 at 10:18 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

The February 25 General Election changed something in Ireland

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The article below  – by John Meehan –

has been  published in the British Magazine Socialist Resistance :

http://socialistresistance.org/1775/70-votes-for-socialism

 

Writing in the North American online magazine Counterpunch Harry Browne zoned in on two key features on the Irish February 25 2011 General Election Result

 

 

Same Old at the Top – but Irish Election Makes Room for the Left

Same Old, Same Old at the Top, But – Irish Election Makes Room for the Left

The same old :

A Fine Gael / Labour coalition takes over the government after 14 years of Fianna Fáil rule. Since 1932, Fianna Fáil have been the governing party for 61 out of 79 years.  They have won 19 out of 25 General Elections. On the rare occasions Fine Gael dominated coalitions have come to power the smaller right-wing party never held on longer than one term in office.

That said, the scale of the 2011 Fianna Fáil defeat is without precedent Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 10, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), Opinion Polls, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Should Irish Times ex-Trot Journalists Throw Stones in their Glass-House?

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This is a fascinating article about the far-left history of many new TD’s.

Left Lineages

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0304/1224291281717.html

where the talented author Patrick Smyth observes “Today the majority of them, now firmly in the bosom of Labour, have rejected revolution, embrace wholeheartedly its centrist social democratic values, and are politically indistinguishable from their Old Labour colleagues.”

Absolutely right.

Ex-comrade Patrick Smyth advises his current fellow-thinkers not to get too alarmed by the growth of the real fighting left “Although the ULA should work as an informal marriage of convenience, attempts to create a party out of its constituent elements may prove more difficult. Ideological purity on the hard left comes easier than the much-desired oxymoron that is “left unity”. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 5, 2011 at 4:06 pm

Posted in European Union, General Election 2011, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), People Before Profit, Socialist Party, United Left Alliance

Why Does The Irish Labour Party Seek Fine Gael’s Kiss-of-Death?

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In the last days of the 2011 Irish General Election Campaign Labour Party leaders and spinners are warning that the voters might choose a Fine Gael single party government. Their alternative? : Coalition – Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny for Taoiseach, Labour’s Eamon Gilmore the Tánaiste – that’s the message.

SIPTU leader Jack O’Connor, for example, claims “that a coalition government would be far preferable as the country imposes spending cuts as part of its EU and IMF bailout.

“If you look at the lessons of history, they (Fine Gael) haven’t been in government on their own since 1927 when their predecessor Cumann na nGaedheal was in government,”….

“They pursued policy which resulted in economic stagnation for 60 years. And that’s the kind of policy that’s being advocated by both of the centre-right parties at the present time.”

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/15/ireland-politics-union-idUKLDE71E2C620

First – is a single-party Fine Gael government possible or likely?

We will know for sure on Saturday February 26 – at the time of writing, if the polls are right, a single party Fine Gael government is possible but unlikely.

http://politicalreform.ie/2011/02/22/seat-estimates-for-irish-independent-millward-brown-lansdowne-opinion-poll-23rd-february/#more-2337

A second factor is political – many Fine Gael backers, for example the former party leader Garret FitzGerald, argue that coalition with Labour is a better tactical option for this right-wing party. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by tomasoflatharta

Feb 23, 2011 at 12:32 pm

Posted in Fianna Fáil, Financial Crisis (September 2008 onwards), Fine Gael, General Election 2011, Green Party, Ireland, Labour Party (Ireland), Opinion Polls, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, SIPTU, Socialist Party, Trade Unions, UNITE, United Left Alliance

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