Social Housing Leasing Scheme - a “bail-out for developers”

According to the housing and homeless charity Focus Ireland, there are currently in the region of 100,000 households on local authority social housing waiting lists across the State, 5000 people who are homeless at any one time and more than 93,000 households receiving rent supplement due to difficulty in paying their rent within the private rented sector.

At the launch of their annual report published last month,  they said that the Dublin government would fail to meet its public commitment to end homelessness by the end of this year.  They also warned that the absence of more effective action by government would only result in a deepening of the housing and homeless crisis as the need for housing is now greater than ever.

Describing those statistics as "shocking", Focus Ireland Life President and Founder Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy said that “these dramatic increases in housing need have taken place at a time when we have been building more houses than ever before.  How can it be that Ireland managed to build in the region of 250,000 homes that were not needed during the boom years yet we have still failed to provide enough homes for those who need them most?”

Questioning the governments priorities and lack of investment in housing, Sr Stanislaus asked "how can the government secure €50 billion to bail out the banks but at the same time cut welfare payments and continue to underinvest in housing and essential services?"

In county Donegal there are around 500 families on the housing waiting list, while here in County Sligo alone there are in the region of 1400 families waiting to be housed by both Sligo Borough and County Councils. 

Last year, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government introduced what is called the Social Housing Leasing Scheme.  According to the Departments website, the supposed aim of the scheme is to expand the options "available to local authorities for the delivery of social housing. Properties will be leased from the private sector and used to accommodate households from local authority waiting lists. Leased properties will be allocated to tenants, in accordance with the local authorities allocations schemes".

Under the scheme Councils are entering into lease arrangements with property owners for periods of between 10 – 20 years.  Among the benefits the developer will secure is that their properties will be tenanted, managed and maintained throughout all of this period by the local authority.

Even better news for the property owners is that the rent they receive from the council will be guaranteed for the entire time of the lease, and that rent will be an ‘inclusive’ one that includes all rates, charges and taxes that may apply to the leased property. The houses will also be provided unfurnished and on  a ‘repair and insure’ basis where the Local Authority will be responsible for the insurance, maintenance and general repair of the properties. 

However éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey has dismissed the scheme as "no solution" to the housing crisis and "nothing more than another bail-out  for developers". 

Accusing Fianna Fáil and the Greens of ignoring the plight of the homeless and those on housing waiting lists, Casey said:

"This is yet another shameful bail-out of developers  cynically dressed up as a measure to tackle the housing crisis.  The only people to benefit will be those developers who will basically have their mortgages paid and have their investment maintained at tax payers expense for between 10 to 20 years before being handed back to them in pristine condition." 

He added:  "For those in need of housing, being allocated one of these properties  by the Council to rent will not offer any long term solution.  All it provides is uncertainty as families will have no security of tenure.  Once the lease between the council and the developer runs out, the families and individuals in question will  be put out of their home and once again be placed back on the waiting list and in need of housing.  This is an unacceptable situation for families to be placed in."

"What families need, and what this administration has failed miserably to deliver, has been not just a house but more importantly a home.  Security of tenure is central to that."

"This also makes the threats to punish those who refuse to take up the offer of one of these properties by having them lose their place on the waiting list all the more despicable.  Housing is a right, not a privilege."

éirígí Tír Chonaill spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig also attacked the scheme describing it as "scandalous" and "unjustifiable".

He said:  “Having local councils basically paying the mortgages of property developers and maintaining their properties at tax payers expense for between ten or twenty years is a scandalous and unjustifiable move. The developers who built these houses, driven by greed and a belief that they could make themselves rich on the backs of working families by selling the properties at grossly over-inflated prices, have now been left unable to sell them as the economy collapsed.”

“Along with the policies of this government and the bankers, this unbridled greed by developers also contributed greatly to the current economic crisis. Now their Fianna Fáil cronies are rescuing them by means of this long term scheme which sees tax payers pay to protect these developers investments while the developer doesnt have to spend a cent or lift a finger.”

“Fianna Fáil are happy to see families lose their homes and hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs. They are happy to impose savage cuts in income for low paid workers and welfare recipients. They are happy to see our young people emigrate once again and they are more than happy to shut hospitals and reduce and remove essential health services.”

He concluded: “However, when it comes to allowing developers take a loss or go out of business as a result of their greed, thats a step too far. Fianna Fáil insist that they must be protected, just like the banks. That's what this scheme is about. That's Fianna Fáil priorities for you.”

éirígí welcome TUI & ASTI rejection of Croke Park Pay Deal

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has welcomed the rejection on Friday (May 21) by both the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) of the Croke park deal on pay and reform within the public sector. He also rejected comments by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen in Mayo today that rejecting this anti-worker deal was somehow not good for the country.

Casey said: “The fact that this deal was negotiated and agreed to in the first place by certain Trade Union leaders who claim to represent workers was appalling.”

“It offers public sector workers absolutely nothing. The TUI and the ASTI are to be commended for taking this stance and seeing through the propaganda being espoused by the Dublin government and the so-called Trade Union leadership who have attempted to coerce their members to endorse their sell-out.”

"Employers and the Dublin government are using the current recession as an excuse to drive down workers pay and conditions of employment. This deal is part of that process. It is designed to tie hands of public sector workers in their ability to take industrial action to defend their already rapidly diminishing pay and rights That the leadership of ICTU are colluding in this attack on workers is truly shameful and both they and the deal must now be vigorously resisted by all Trade Unionists and workers, both on the streets and in the workplace."

Reacting to comments by Taoiseach Brian Cowen on Mid west Radio during a visit to Mayo on Friday, Casey said: “It is ironic to see Cowen lecture workers to act 'for the good of the country' and to think of 'the bigger picture' considering the damage that he, first as Finance Minister and more recently as Taoiseach, has done to this country, and particularly to workers and the less well off.”

He added: “Those workers who voted to reject the Croke Park deal are the ones who clearly see the bigger picture and have acted in the national interest and in the interest of all workers. If Cowen wants people to act for the good of the country then he needs to take the first steps.”

He concluded: “ He needs to scrap NAMA, reverse the cuts in income and essential health and education services and nationalise our natural resources. In fact, considering the social and economic vandalism that he and his political and business cronies have caused, if he is serious about people doing what is good for the country, then he and his sidekicks should immediately retire from public life and ride off into permanent obscurity.”

éirígí challenge “gas campaigners” over refusal to support nationalisation

A delegation from a local campaign group seeking to have the gas network extended to Sligo and the north-west met with the Junior Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Conor Lenihan on Wednesday (May 19). Amongst those taking part in the delegation was Sligo/North Leitrim's three TD's, Fianna Fáil's Jimmy Devins and Eamonn Scanlon as well as Fine Gael's John Perry.

Also participating on the delegation were Fianna Fáil Senators Marc MacSharry and Geraldine Feeney, Labour party Mayor of Sligo Jim McGarry, Hugh McConville of Sligo Council of Trade Unions, as well as representatives from Sligo Chamber and Sligo Fair Dealers.


This meeting was originally due to take place four weeks ago but had to be postponed and re-arranged due to Lenihan's unavailability. In recent weeks, another delegation which included Senator Marc MacSharry and Deputy Eamonn Scanlon, met with the CEO of Bord Gais John Mullins on this very same issue.

Deputy Devins, who has repeatedly called for the Corrib gas to be piped to Sligo because of its close proximity, described the meeting as "positive". This is despite the fact that it was re-iterated to the deputation that a government subvention of €39 million was needed before the gas network could be considered to be extended to Sligo and that the government remained unwilling to fund such a venture. Devins said they would now seek a meeting with the gas regulator to press their case further.

The role of Jimmy Devins in recent months in organising delegations to meet with Ministers and with Bord Gais on the issue of the Corrib gas and bringing it to Sligo cannot have been missed by anyone who has been following these events. His enthusiasm and dedication to this campaign has not gone unnoticed. For those who think this is commendable, think again.

As éirígí have repeatedly pointed out, under the current arrangements, the only people who will benefit from the Corrib gas, will be Shell and their shareholders. So for those who believe Devins zeal to secure a new market for the Corrib gas in Sligo is just the public spirited and altruistic actions of a public representative keen to serve his electorate, nothing could be further from the truth.


According to the Leinster House Register of Interests published earlier this year, Devins is a shareholder in Standard Life. This is a company that holds over 46 million shares in Shell oil, who have been given the rights to the Corrib gas off the Mayo coast by Fianna Fáil and is one of its biggest shareholders.


So Devins and fellow shareholders, which includes other party colleagues and TD's in Leinster House, unlike the rest of the Irish people, will benefit financially from the Corrib gas being brought ashore, sold under current arrangements and brought to Sligo. It is in his financial interest to oppose any talk of nationalising the Corrib gas and all our natural resources.

It explains quite clearly his support for Shell to get their pipeline built in north Mayo. It also explains his enthusiasm to press the government for almost €40 million of tax payers money to be spent on a project that will benefit his bank balance and that of his fellow shareholders - not the people of Sligo, the north-west or the island as a whole.

However, his enthusiasm does have limits. It does not, for example, extend to preventing his party from imposing savage cutbacks at Sligo General Hospital, with cuts of €12 million to this years budget confirmed by the HSE. This comes on top of cutbacks in recent years which have decimated services at the hospital. More than 70 beds have been removed, wards have closed, waiting lists have increased for essential procedures like colonoscopies, cancer services were removed to Galway and front-line staff numbers have been reduced to what many believe are unsustainable and unsafe levels.

Perhaps the fact that reversing those cutbacks at Sligo General will not benefit Deputy Devins financially, and will only benfefit working people in need of decent health care, explains Devins' lack of enthusiasm for campaigning on this particular issue.

If he was genuinely interested in bringing the gas to Sligo in order to benefit everyone, as éirígí and others are, then he would be wholeheartedly supporting the nationalisation of ALL our natural resources and packing Shell out of Ireland with their tail between their legs. The fact that he has consistently refused to even discuss the issue tells its own story.

Following the meeting on Wednesday éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey challenged those involved in the deputation to explain why they refuse to publicly support the nationalisation of our natural resources despite being repeatedly asked to do so.

Casey said: “If these campaigners who met Lenihan today are serious about bringing natural gas to the north-west, then they need to publicly support the campaign to take back our natural resources. éirígí have already publicly and through correspondence requested that those who met with Lenihan, and previously met with Bord Gais CEO John Mullins, to publicly call for the nationalisation of our oil and gas. To date, they have refused to do so. They have also refused to explain why.”

He added: “Those on the delegation have been told that to extend the gas network to Sligo would require a once off subvention from the Dublin Government of €39 million, which to date has been ruled out. However, the simple solution is to nationalise these valuable resources, extract them safely and use that vast wealth to benefit all the people on this island, not just the shareholders of multi-national oil and gas companies.”

“Under the sea off our shores, lies hundreds of thousands of euros worth of oil and gas that rightfully belongs to the Irish people. By nationalising these resources, the vast wealth generated would make the cost of extending the network to Sligo and other parts of this island a non-issue. At the present time, lack of finance is the excuse. Nationalisation takes away that excuse.”

Casey concluded: “Once again, éirígí are challenging those delegation members to publicly justify their reasons for refusing to support such a simple and just demand that would benefit all the people of this island and not just the shareholders of oil and gas companies. At a time when savage cutbacks in income and essential public services are being imposed, if they are content with this giveaway to multinationals of hundreds of billions of euros that could instead be used to create economic prosperity for all then, let them explain to the public why that is so.”

Freedom for Pat O’Donnell

Freedom for Pat O’Donnell

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson has called on people to come out in support of the Dublin Shell to Sea protest at Shell HQ on Friday [May 21].

The protest, which will commence at 5pm, has been called to mark Erris fisherman and prominent Shell to Sea activist Pat O’Donnell’s 100th day in prison.

Leeson said: “The imprisonment of Pat O’Donnell at the behest of Shell is a travesty of justice and a clear demonstration of the corrupt nature of the Twenty-Six County state. The rights of citizens are being subordinated to the interests of the profits of multinational corporations.

“Pat O’Donnell’s only ‘crime’ was to stand up for the rights of his community and to demand they be allowed to live in peace and safety. The imposition of Shell’s experimental high pressure gas pipeline project in Erris has been bravely resisted by that community for over a decade. For refusing to bend the knee to private profit, they have been vilified, criminalised, beaten off the streets and many activists, including Pat, have been imprisoned on trumped up charges.

“People like Pat have been an inspiration to all of us who strive for a society that puts the rights of its people before private profit.”

Leeson continued: “In a week when protestors against NAMA and the bank bailout, including éirígí activists, have faced the full brunt of state brutality, it is important that support and solidarity is demonstrated to those who have faced similar treatment from the forces of the state.

“The Shell to Sea campaign and the events of recent weeks have highlighted the fact that the state will attempt to stamp out all resistance to its defence of private profit. The Gardaí, despite the weasel words of their senior representatives at the recent GRA conference, have made it clear time and again that they are simply a force that will, at all times, defend private interests. History however, has demonstrated that the will of a risen people is not easily extinguished. The people of Erris and the Shell to Sea campaign have shown that determined and organised resistance can halt the onward march of private capital.”

Contrasting the treatment of campaigners like O’Donnell and Fianna Fáil’s banker and developer friends, Leeson said: “Over the last 12 months, despite ample evidence of endemic corruption; not one banker, developer or speculator has faced the courts. Indeed, many of these people have been rewarded for their corruption and avarice. This is not all that surprising given that Fianna Fáil, has, for decades, been bankrolled by developers, speculators and bankers.

While former Anglo Irish Bank boss Seán Fitzpatrick is free to jet around the world on sunshine holidays and former boss of National Irish Bank Michael Fingleton is given a €1 million pension pay off, honourable men like Pat O’Donnell languish in prison cells. Meanwhile, the giveaway of Irish natural resources to multinational oil corporations continues at the same time as the state is implementing savage cuts in public services: cuts that are driving down the living standards of workers and creating real hardship in working class communities across the state.

Leeson concluded: “It is becoming increasingly clear that, unless people get out on the streets and stay on the streets, this state will continue to trample on the rights of citizens. Pat O’Donnell is one of the people who have refused to bend the knee, justice needs to be served and he should be released from prison immediately. éirígí is calling on people to show their support for him on Friday.”

The Dublin Shell to Sea protest takes place on Friday, May 21 at 5pm at the Shell HQ on Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2. For further information, check www.dublinshelltosea.com

Right to protest asserted on the streets of BÁC

For the third time in eight days, éirígí activists in Baile Átha Cliath were again on the streets last night [Tuesday] in opposition to the right-wing economic policies of the Twenty-Six County government. On this occasion it was as part of a multi-organisational anti-capitalist block which formed part of the Right to Work demonstration outside Leinster House. As in excess of 350 protesters gathered at the Wolfe Tone monument on Stephen’s Green the Garda helicopter rattled noisily overhead and dozens of Gardaí watched on.

Following a number of short speeches the march attempted to set off, only to find the road blocked by a line of Gardaí and four Garda horses. With typical arrogance the Garda could provide no adequate explanation for blocking the free passage of a political demonstration.

Undeterred by the Garda tactics the crowd surged forward to chants of ‘Whose Streets? Our Streets!’, before making its way to Anglo Irish Bank Headquarters, just two hundred metres away. Outside the bank a number of speakers addressed the crowd including Cathaoirleach éirígí Brian Leeson. The protest then continued onto Dawson Street before joining the Right to Work rally on Molesworth Street.

Even the constant rain could not dampen the spirits of the estimated 1200 people in attendance. So much so that even after the Right to Work rally has finished up to 150 people made their way closer to Leinster House to chants of ‘Regulation Doesn’t Work, Let the Banks Burn!’.

Once at the Garda lines the protesters were addressed by Brian Leeson, who encouraged people to show that they were not intimidated by the Garda tactics of recent days. With chants of ‘Whose Cops? NAMA’s Cops!’ the crowd did just that. Despite provocation from the Garda the protesters remained disciplined and dignified before returning to the other end of Molesworth Street and dispersing.

Speaking after the demonstration éirígí spokesperson and Dublin City Councillor Louise Minihan said, “Tonight was another important step in building resistance to the NAMA republic. With each passing week the numbers of people turning out to these protests are growing. Nobody should think that we are going to win this battle in the next week or two. It is going to take months and years of hard work to reclaim this country from the golden circle, but it must be done.

“Each and every one of us need to make it our business to get our friends, families and workmates onto the streets. It’s a simple fact that 90% of the people of this state have everything to gain and very little to lose by a radical change in the way that wealth and power are distributed.”

If you are interested in joining or helping éirígí please:

Phone: 00353 (0) 86 236 72 98

or
Email: eirigimembership@gmail.com

éirígí accuse Labour of 'cowardice' over Croke park pay deal

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused the Labour party of “cowardice” for refusing to take a stand against the Croke Park public sector pay and reform deal. He also challenged local Labour party councillors and representatives to publicly declare their position on this deal.

Casey said: “The Labour party have refused to take any stance on the shameful public sector pay and reform deal agreed between the government and ICTU leadership, despite the negative impact this deal will have on workers. Indeed, one of their TD's Kathleeen Lynch went as far as to tell Newstalk radio (May 7) that it was 'none of their (Labour's) business'.”

He added: “James Connolly and Jim Larkin would be spinning in their graves at the cowardice and lack of action in defence of workers by those who claim to inherit their political legacy. By staying silent they have exposed once again their contempt for the right of working people to resist the savage cutbacks imposed on them by the current leinster House administration.”

“While it is despicable, it is not surprising. Labour have consistently betrayed workers interests, most recently, when Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore publicly sided with the wealthy political and business elite in opposing the planned national strike by workers last March.”

He concluded: “If the rights and living standards of all Irish workers and their families are to be protected then the Croke park deal needs to rejected. I am now challenging the Labour party representatives here in the north-west to publicly declare their position on this deal. Do they believe like their party colleagues that the deal and the negative impact it will have on workers, including their ability to take industrial action, is 'none of Labours business'? They must stop hiding and clarify their position publicly.”

New British Army Recruiters - FÁS

The article below is reproduced courtesy of Sligo Today


Who's taking the Queens shilling - It would appear that an Irish FÁS sponsored unemployment advisory office is now acting as a Recruiting Office for Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

The Millennium Jobs Club based in the Watch House Cross Shopping Centre in Limerick, whose letterhead has the FÁS logo along with the National Development Plan logo endorsing it's activities, has been advising jobseekers that there are 'many careers on offer' in today's British Army.

It fails however to advise that a new overseas military career could put the applicants directly in harms way as the British Army is currently fighting a war on two high-profile fronts, Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also many worldwide covert active service 'hot spots' enjoying the presence of the soldiers. In both primary theatres of conflict many deaths and serious casualties are being recorded on a daily basis.

The Limerick Jobs Club also omitted to inform any applicants that it's recruitment policy is illegal and that under the current Irish law stiff penalties could be imposed for attempting to recruit Irish nationals, in Ireland, for a foreign army.

The letter, dated 19th April 2010, to an job seeker enquirer is reproduced below. The addressee's name has been removed.

The 'Royal Irish Army', see letter below, refers to the Royal Irish Regiment with it's headquarters in St.Patrick's Barracks, Ballymena, Co Antrim and was renamed from the original the Royal Irish Rangers. Battalions of the Irish Regiments have featured prominently in all wars, including the present operations.

Several members of the regiment have been 'upgraded' to MI5 status and have been assigned to the spooks HQ, Palace Barracks in Belfast, where over 400 agents are currently based.

éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey said “That Fás believe it is appropriate or justifiable to target the unemployed in this country by becoming recruiters for the British army is appalling.”

“This is an organisation responsible for the slaughter of thousands upon thousands of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and here in Ireland. They continue to occupy part of our country. British troops, including undercover troops from the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, a sister regiment of the SAS, have been involved in military operations just across the border in Garrison in Co Fermanagh and in Derry in recent months.”

“The skies above Fermanagh and Tyrone are being used by them to train their pilots for their war in Afghanistan which has resulted in the widespread slaughter of innocent Afghan civilians.”

“Recruiting cannon fodder for foreign armies, no more than emigration, is not a solution to our unemployment crisis. While it may suit the Dublin government to see young Irish people squeezed by job losses and then dole cuts to emigrate or enlist to kill and be killed in the imperialist adventures of foreign armies, Fás must immediately cease their role as recruiters and propagandists for the British army murder machine.”

Cutbacks to essential health services as Drumm receives €70,000 bonus

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described as "scandalous" revelations that the Health Service Executive (HSE) are to pay out a €70,000 bonus to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manorhamilton native Professor Brendan Drumm. Casey said it was an "insult" to the patients and over-worked front line staff in our hospitals and other areas of the health services who have suffered as a result of cutbacks imposed by Professor Drumm and the HSE.

Casey was speaking as the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) met with management at Sligo General Hospital on thursday (Oct 15) over continuing bed closures and proposed job losses at the facility. The INO have expressed their concerns over the future sustainability of the hospital as a result of current and proposed cutbacks.

Casey said: "It is outrageous that the HSE and their political masters feel that such as bonus is deserved at a time when they are imposing severe cutbacks in essential front line services and staff. Our local hospitals, including Sligo General and Our Lady's in Manorhamilton, are being decimated by these very same people."

He added: "In recent times we have seen vital medical services being downgraded and withdrawn. These include the closure of an orthopaedic ward as well as Sligo's Stroke unit, despite HSE denials, and the removal of our much needed cancer care services to Galway. Nurses and other front line staff are losing their jobs in significant numbers causing huge concern for staffing levels and the impact that this will have on patient safety in our hospitals."

"According to the nursing unions, more than seventy beds have already been removed from Sligo General so far this year. With more staff cuts planned by the HSE, the reality is that the hospital will see a further reduction in the services it provides to the public, including the possibility of further ward closures.”

"What we are witnessing is the health and well-being of people being made to suffer to pay for the incompetence of the HSE and the greed of the politicians, developers and bankers that squandered the wealth of the Celtic Tiger. éirígí insist that not only must Professor Drumm not receive this unjustifiable bonus but that the HSE reverse the cutbacks and actually upgrade the essential services in our hospitals. They must also abandon completely their failed policies of a two–tier system of medical apartheid and privatisation of health care, all of which is based on a failed right wing ideology."

He concluded: "Their system has failed but there is a clear, workable and just alternative to ward closures, lengthy waiting lists, private hospitals on public land and excessive charges. éirígí believe what is now needed more than ever is the building of a first class health service that is truly free and equal, based solely on medical need and not ability to pay. A world class health service for all. The public deserve no less."

VOTE NO TO LISBON 2

On October 2nd éirígí are urging people to once again vote NO to the Lisbon Treaty. Despite democratically rejecting the Treaty last year, we are now being forced to vote again on this exact same Treaty.

The French and Dutch public also democratically rejected this Treaty in 2005, then titled the European Constitution, when it was put to them in referenda. Instead of accepting the democratic decision in those countries, the EU simply changed the name of the Treaty and had the French and Dutch government's ratify it without putting it back to the people to avoid it being defeated again.

That this Treaty has not been scrapped despite being rejected by the people of three different European states, only serves to confirm the undemocratic nature of the Treaty and the contempt with which the EU and our so-called government have for democracy itself.

Despite the pretence of the political establishment, this is exactly the same Treaty we rejected last year. Not a single line, word or comma has been changed. Their claims to have secured "legal guarantees" that address the concerns that the public has over the Treaty are disingenuous and a deliberate effort to deceive the public.

Their guarantees have no legal basis, are not included in the Treaty and have not been added as protocols to the Treaty. They are empty political promises by politicians and bureaucrats at Irish and European level who have shown consistently that they cannot be trusted. The actual content of the Treaty, which is what we are voting on, overrides any "guarantees" or pre-referenda promises that may be given in order to secure your vote.


The Treaty also intensifies the push towards a more heavily armed and militarised Europe, drawing this state closer to a nuclear armed NATO. It creates a mutual defence pact, obliging ALL states in the union to come to the assistance of another EU state where an armed attack takes place on its territory. According to the Dublin Government's own White paper on Foreign Policy (1996) "provisions committing the parties to collective action in the event of armed attack against one or more of them .... would not be compatible with an intention to remain neutral."

It also obliges all states to increase their military spending. This at a time when Fianna Fáil and the Greens are imposing savage cutbacks in essential health and education services properly. Clearly this administration views the profits of the European arms industry as a higher priority than the education and health of the people of this state.

The reality is that this administration has already seriously eroded this states supposed neutral status. They joined NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) without holding the referendum they promised. They have assisted the US and British war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have turned Shannon airport into a virtual US military base, providing refuelling and rest and recreation facilities for US aircraft and troops on their way to and from slaughtering civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.


The announcement in recent weeks by Ryanair, by Intel Ireland and by the Business group IBEC, that they are to spend hundreds of thousands of Euro campaigning for a yes vote clearly shows who will benefit from the Lisbon Treaty. Lisbon is a charter for big business. For workers it is an extremely bad deal. If Lisbon is ratified it will see a continuation of the neo-liberal economic madness that led to the current recession, with its mass unemployment and cutbacks in essential public services, that we are currently in. The one thing that Lisbon will provide for workers and their families is increased misery and hardship and yet further attacks on their working conditions and living standards.

While that may be the political and business establishment’s vision for Europe, it is not éirígí’s. All the reasons why we opposed this Treaty last year remain. A yes vote will increase the militarisation of Europe and see the further erosion of workers’ rights, sovereignty and democracy. On that basis we are campaigning and asking people once again to vote NO for a better Europe, not a Europe based on greed over need and the exploitation of its 500 million workers.

Lisbon 2 Official Campaign Launch

The official launch of éirígí’s No to Lisbon 2 campaign took place yesterday (Saturday) in Dublin’s Belvedere Hotel. Close to forty éirígí activists were on hand for the event which began with a number of presentations relating the Lisbon Treaty itself and the éirígí campaign calling for a NO vote in the October 2nd referendum.

Party Chair Brian Leeson, General Secretary Breandán Mac Cionnaith, spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír, Belfast Ciorcal Chair Nuala McGurk and Councillor Louise Minihan all took part in a panel based question and answer session which followed the presentations.

éirígí’s main campaign leaflet entitled ‘500,000 UNEMPLOYED – EUROPE ISN’T WORKING’ was also revealed at the launch. 100,000 of these leaflets are to be distributed across the country during the course of the campaign. These leaflets are in addition to the 3,000 No to Lisbon posters calling for a No vote that éirígí has produced.

Following the launch thousands of leaflets were distributed to pedestrians across the city centre. Speaking after the launch éirígí’s Lisbon spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mhaistír said: “éirígí played a major role in the first Lisbon referendum, distributing tens of thousands of leaflets and erecting hundreds of posters and banners. Given the growth that éirígí has experienced in the intervening period our Lisbon 2 campaign will be considerably bigger. We will bring the message that the EU isn’t working to the doorsteps of tens of thousands of homes across the state.

“The establishment political parties, IBEC and big business – the very people who have led this country into economic ruin – are asking people to vote yes. éirígí is proposing a radical socialist alternative to the failed economic policies of the EU and the Twenty-Six County government. By voting NO to the Lisbon Treaty, people can express their support for the building of a different society build upon the principles of economic democracy and genuine equality. Saying No to Lisbon is to stand on the side of democracy and a vision of Europe wherein the people are sovereign.”

NO to Lisbon 2 Poster Campaign launched in Sligo

éirígí Sligeach launched the first phase of its poster campaign against the Lisbon Treaty earlier this week. Posters and banners opposing the Treaty and calling for a NO vote were erected throughout Sligo town and also in Ballisodare and Collooney.

éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey said that this was just the start of what he claims will be an intensive campaign by the party in Sligo and throughout the north-west.

He said: "While this is certain to be a very tough campaign, we in éirígí are more than confident that we can achieve a second NO vote in the upcoming referendum on October 2nd. For our part we will be stepping up our campaign in Sligo and the north-west in general over the coming weekend and in the weeks to come."

He added: "This is the exact same treaty we voted on and rejected last year. Every word, sentence and paragraph included in the Treaty is the very same as last time around."

"The so called guarantees which the political establishment is so intent to promote as being "legally binding" are nothing of the sort. They have no legal standing, are contrary to the actual content of the Treaty in many instances and do not override the content of the Treaty itself. As éirígí have pointed out repeatedly, these are no more than political promises from politicians at both Irish and European level who, on the basis of their records, are totally discredited and are not to be trusted."

"This Treaty, under its previous guise as the EU constitution, has already been rejected by the French and Dutch public. The EU have ignored those democratic decisions. Following our rejection of that re-named constitution, now called the Lisbon Treaty, once again the EU and the Fianna Fáil led administration have ignored that democratic vote also."

"This reveals the fundamentally undemocratic nature at the heart of the EU itself and how they will stop at nothing as they attempt to entrench their neo-liberalism and privatisation agenda, further deepen the democratic deficit of the union and move towards their desired EU super-state."

He concluded: " éirígí oppose this Treaty, as we did last time, as it undermines sovereignty, is fundamentally anti-worker, promotes greed over need and increases the militarization of Europe. We will also continue to challenge and expose the attempts by Fianna Fáil and the so-called "opposition" in Fine Gael and Labour to deliberately mislead and deceive the public with their bogus arguments about so-called legal guarantees that are in fact worthless."

Cruinnithe faoin spéir sa Chlochán Liath faoi Chonradh Liospóin

(English version follows.)

Ag labhairt ag cruinniú eagraithe ag éirígí sa Chlochán Liath ag éileamh ar vóta Níl sa reifreann i mí Dheireadh Fómhair, dúirt eagraí Cheardchumann Neamhspleách na nOibrithe Tommy McKearney nach bhfuil sé de ghustal ag Éirinn ligeant don Eoraip talamh slán a dhéanamh dá comhlíonadh.

“Le ceann de na daonraí agus eacnamaíochtaí is lú san Aontas Eorpach, ní féidir le hÉirinn cáil a fháil ó chomhlíonadh i gcónaí nuair a ordaíonn na stáit mhóra é sin a dhéanamh agus sin an rud a tharlóidh má athraíonn muid an cinneadh tógtha ag ár ndaoine in 2008,” dúirt sé.

Bhí an cruinniú sin ar cheann de sraith chruinnithe iarAifrinn curtha ar siúl lasmuigh de eaglasi chaitliceach an Chlocháin Liath oíche Dé Sathairn agus maidin Dé Domhnaigh [29-30ú Lúnasa]. Labhair urlabhraí éirígí Thír Chonaill Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig ag na cruinnithe freisin.

“Cuimhnigh,” lean McKearney, “dá mba rud é gur athraíodh an conradh seo go mór ó dhiúltaigh muid é in 2008, bheadh ar phobail an Aontais Eorpaigh vóta a chaitheamh air arís. Tá muid, mar sin, ag vótáil ar an chonradh céanna. Seo conradh a dhéanann leatrom ar oibrithe agus i bhfábhar na mbaincéirí, amhantraithe agus gnóthaí móra trí thacú le hiomaíocht roimh shaothar.

“Cén fáth, an dóigh leat, go bhfuil Michael O’Leary ag infheistiú €500,000 san fheachtas Tá?” arsa McKearney.

Dúirt sé go bhfuil páirtithe na bunaíochta atá ag tabhairt comhairle dúinn vótáil Tá ag tabhairt le tuiscint go gcuirfear amach as an Aontas Eorpach muid agus go mbeidh muid brúite amach ón Euro má theipeann orainn sin a dhéanamh.

“Tá sé seo bréagach amach is amach,” arsa é.

“Ní féidir muid a dhíbirt agus muid ag feidhmiú ár gceart daonlathach Níl a rá agus ní chaillfidh muid an Euro trí dhiúltú don chonradh seo.

“Breithnigh gur iad na páirtithe comhrialtais atá ag tabhairt comhairle dúinn ar vótáil, na daoine oll-neamhinniúlacha céanna atá i gceannas ar thubaiste ár ngeilleagair agus atá meáite anois ar reachtaíocht NAMA a thógaint isteach chun na baincéirí agus na hamhantraithe a tharrtháil agus iad tar éis an méad sin a dhéanamh chun muid go léir a scrios.”

Chríochnaigh sé ag rá gur bhain muintir na hÉireann úsáid as a ndea-chiall agus dhiúltaigh siad bulaíocht an uair dheireanach a vótalaíodh ar an chonradh seo agus gur chóir dúinn an rud céanna a dhéanamh i mí Dheireadh Fómhair.

Open Air meetings in Dungloe on Lisbon Treaty

Speaking at a meeting organised by éirígí in Dungloe to call for a No vote in October’s Lisbon referendum, Independent Workers’ Union organiser Tommy McKearney said that Ireland cannot afford to allow the European Union take its compliance for granted.

“With one of the smallest populations and economies in the European Union, Ireland must not earn a reputation for meekly rolling over when ordered to do so by the bigger states and that is what will happen if we change the decision delivered by our people in 2008,” McKearney said.

The meeting was one of a series of after mass meetings held outside Dungloe catholic church on Saturday and Sunday [August 29-30]. Donegal éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig also addressed the meetings.

“Let us remind ourselves,” McKearney continued, “that if this Treaty had been significantly altered since we rejected it in 2008, the peoples of the EU would have had to vote on it again. We are, therefore, voting on the same treaty. A treaty that by endorsing the right of competition over that of labour, discriminates against workers and in favour of bankers, speculators and big business.

“Why do you think Michael O’Leary is investing €500,000 in the Yes campaign?” McKearney asked.

He said that the establishment parties advising people to vote yes are implying that if they fail to do so, the Twenty-Six Counties will be expelled from the EU and forced out of the Euro.

“That is simply untrue,” he said.

“We cannot be expelled for exercising our democratic right to say No and we shall not lose the Euro for objection to this treaty.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that the coalition parties now advising us on how to vote are the same grossly incompetent people that have presided over the collapse of our economy and are now hell bent on introducing the NAMA legislation in order to rescue the bankers and speculators who have done so much to ruin us all.”

McKearney concluded by saying that people in the Twenty-Six Counties had used their good sense and refused to be bullied the last time the Treaty was voted on and they should do the same again in October.

NO to Lisbon 2 launched

With just six weeks to go to the second Lisbon Treaty referendum, there was a real sense of vigour, urgency and determination amongst activists and members of the public who packed into Liberty Hall for the launch of the No to Lisbon 2 campaign.

Organised by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, Tuesday’s meeting heard calls for a united left-wing campaign that would put a halt to the grand plans of the European Union’s political elite. The meeting was addressed by trade union activists from both Ireland and Britain as well as Irish political representatives and attended by over 150 people.

Jimmy Kelly, regional secretary of trade union Unite, denounced the European Court of Justice, which he said had savaged the principles of social justice and solidarity and eroded workers’ rights, subordinating them to the interests of business. Linking the erosion of workers’ rights with the Lisbon Treaty, Kelly contrasted the Twenty-Six County government’s refusal to legislate for free collective bargaining and statutory recognition of trade unions with the state’s swift response to end the occupation by workers at Thomas Cook and haul them before the courts. Pledging the full support of Unite, he called for a united left-wing campaign that would mobilise grassroots members of the trade union movement to take the message into workplaces and local communities.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, delivered an impassioned speech that denounced the principles upon which the Lisbon Treaty was constructed. Reminding the meeting that the Lisbon Treaty enshrines the principle of competition, the internal market and the policy of privatisation within the EU, he called for the unity of workers across Europe to defeat the neo-liberal agenda. The EU project as enunciated in Lisbon was about controlling labour and privatising public services; workers’ rights came second to the movement of free trade he said. Rejecting establishment attempts to label the No side as ‘anti-European isolationists’, Crow declared he was pro-European, pro-African, pro-American, pro-Asian but anti the European Union. Summing up, he argued that the Lisbon Treaty presented two options: a bosses’ Europe or a workers’ Europe and workers’ world. He pledged the support of his comrades in Britain and said the referendum in the Twenty-Six Counties offered an opportunity to re-ignite a European wide campaign.

There followed a lively discussion from the floor, during which a range of issues were debated. Workers’ rights, specifically the ongoing lock-out of workers at Dublin docks and the employment of scab labour, were of particular concern. The meeting was also addressed by Ed Horgan of the Irish Anti-War movement, who pointed out that the Twenty-Six County government has allowed 1.5 million US troops to pass through Shannon airport over the last eight years and is complicit in the killing of a million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 250,000 children.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mháistír, who attended the launch of the No campaign on Tuesday morning, called for the maximum effort from all activists over the coming six weeks.

“éirígí intends playing a full and active part in the campaign to defeat the bosses’ charter that is the Lisbon Treaty,” Daithí said.

“Already, our activists have been busy getting the message out. This referendum represents a blatant attack on democratic principles; regardless of the spin, it is the same Treaty.

“The economic model proposed by Lisbon has completely failed working class people. The antidote to the current jobs catastrophe facing workers is not an even stronger dose of neo-liberalism.

“This treaty must be defeated because the fact of it being put to referendum in the Twenty-Six Counties on October 2 represents a negation of democracy. This is the third time that the provisions contained in Lisbon will have been voted upon. On both previous occasions, it was defeated: the peoples of France and the Netherlands rejected the identical EU Constitution in 2005, and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties did likewise when the Lisbon Treaty re-incarnation of the EU Constitution was defeated by the votes of almost a million people in June 2008.

“Once again, the right to vote on the provisions of Lisbon has been denied to over 350 million European citizens. Indeed, éirígí has activists across the Six Counties who will, once again, be denied their say on a treaty that, if ratified, will utterly transform the economic, political and social character of the EU in a direction that is damaging to their interests. It is therefore incumbent upon all those who profess to believe in democracy to campaign to ensure that Lisbon is defeated once again.”

Fianna Fáil MEP accused of misleading the public over Lisbon guarantees

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused Fianna Fáil MEP Pat the Cope Gallagher of "misleading the public" over the Lisbon Treaty. He said that the "guarantees" that the Cope claims are legally binding are in fact "political promises from untrustworthy politicians" with no legal standing.

Casey said: "Pat the Cope Gallagher claims that people are being disingenuous by highlighting the fact that the second Lisbon Treaty referendum is exactly the same as the first referendum which was democratically rejected last year. However, it is Pat the Cope who is being disingenuous and misleading the public."

He added: "This is the exact same treaty we voted on and rejected last year. Every word, sentence and paragraph included in the Treaty is the very same as last time around. The guarantees which Pat is so intent to promote as being "legally binding" are nothing of the sort. They have no legal basis and do not override the content of the Treaty itself. They are simply political promises from politicians at both Irish and European level who, on the basis of their records, cannot be trusted to keep any promises they make."

"This Treaty, under its previous guise as the EU constitution, has already been rejected by the French and Dutch public. The EU ignored those democratic decisions. Following our rejection of that re-named constitution, now called the Lisbon Treaty, the EU and the Fianna Fáil led administration ignored that democratic vote also. This reveals the fundamentally undemocratic nature of the EU itself and how they will stop at nothing as they attempt to entrench their neo-liberalism and privatisation agenda, further deepen the democratic deficit of the union and move towards their desired EU super-state."

Also responding to the claims by the Fianna Fáil MEP, éirígí Tír Chonaill spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig said that "this is a deliberate tactic to deceive the public into thinking that they are voting on something different in this second referendum."

"It is an attempt by them to make people believe the treaty has somehow been altered, even though this is clearly untrue" he said.

éirígí challenge Pat the Cope over Lisbon scaremongering

Tír Chonaill éirígí spokesperson Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig has refuted claims by Pat the Cope Gallagher that the future of the Irish economy depended on a yes vote in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum. He also called on him to stop engaging in such scaremongering tactics.

MacGiolla Easbuig said: “Pat the Cope's claims that a yes vote is essential for economic recovery is just the latest in a long line of attempts by him and his party colleagues to deceive the public and to frighten them into voting yes to a referendum that they have already democratically rejected.”

He added: “Despite Pat the Copes best efforts to pretend otherwise, a vote for Lisbon will not solve the economic crisis that he and his colleagues created. It will in fact make matters worse. It would give the green light to continue with the same economic madness, the neo-liberal, privatisation agenda responsible for the crisis, globally and here in Ireland. Pat the Cope is trying to deceive people by pretending that more of the disease that actually caused the recession – unbridled greed and neo-liberal capitalism – will cure the disease. Nothing could be further from the truth”

“We need to be very clear here. The Lisbon Treaty is about consolidating political power in a centralized, ‘free market’ based, neo-liberal Europe that the Eurocrat establishment has as its primary objective. A united states of Europe for the benefit of wealthy politicians and businessmen, maintained on the exploitation of the 500 million working citizens of this continent. While that vision of Europe may be acceptable to Pat and his cronies, such an undemocratic and unjust Europe is not acceptable to éirígí.”

MacGiolla Easbuig concluded: “The deception and scaremongering that Fianna Fáil and the political establishment are engaged in is despicable, but not surprising. The public expect and deserve a lot better from their elected representatives and I would urge Pat the Cope to stop trying to frighten people into voting for a Treaty on the basis of this type of misinformation. ”