Unnecessary Health Cuts & the Give-away of our Natural Resources

Opinion piece by éirígí's spokesperson in Donegal Micheál Cholm MacGiolla Easbuig.  This article was carried in yesterdays Tir Chonaill newspaper (Aug 4th 2010)

In recent weeks, the Fianna Fáil/Green party coalition have been flagging up yet further cutbacks they plan to introduce in the upcoming budget. This follows a series of the most savage budget cutbacks imposed since the foundation of the 26 county state.

This administration's policies has decimated the economy, created mass unemployment (22,000 + in Donegal alone), driven thousands of families into poverty, forced tens of thousands of young people to emigrate once more and systematically stripped down our hospitals and health services to crisis point.

Letterkenny General Hospital

Not content to see tens of thousands of people lose their jobs, the government heaped further misery on already struggling familes by slashing their social welfare, cutting child benefit, ending the Chrismas bonus, introducing the carbon Tax and increasing fuel costs. All this has led to a sharp decline in people's living standards and has caused increased poverty.

Institute of Public Health in Ireland research published in 2007 claimed that fuel poverty directly effects people’s health. According to the Report, every year during the winter months, almost 3,000 people die due to preventable, cold-related illness.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that, in 2008, more than four per cent of people were living in consistent poverty, with almost 15 per cent at risk of poverty. Almost a third of those living in consistent poverty were children. All those figures will have risen dramatically over the past two years as unemployment soared and wages and welfare were cut.

In recent weeks we have seen HSE proposals to slash services even further at Letterkenny General Hospital and elsewhere throughout the state. Smaller hospitals such as Lifford's community hospital and the Sheil Hospital in Ballyshannon face closure also. Such cuts, if the government get their way, will mean severe reductions in essential services, longer waiting lists, increased workloads for already overburdened front line hospital staff and increased suffering and even deaths for patients who will not get the medical care and assistance they need when they need it.

However, if that was not bad enough, the HSE's political masters are now intent in forcing through even more severe cutbacks in the upcoming budget. They are planning to slash the Health, Education and Social Welfare Budgets by €1.1 billion, €700 million of that from an already underfunded, understaffed and under-resourced health service.

Fianna Fáil say these cuts are necessary but the reality is the opposite. There is no excuse for cutting funding and services for hospitals. It is a deliberate political decision and strategy based on Fianna Fáil's and the now-defunct PD's right wing privatisation ideology.

When it comes to throwing tens of billions of euros to bail out the banks or €8 million to bring the Commander in Chief of the British army Elizabeth Windsor to this state next year Fianna Fáil and the Greens have no problem. Yet ask them to invest in our hospitals and and they tell us the money is not there.

But the money is there, only they believe bailing out banks is more important than our health. This remains a wealthy state, however the wealth is controlled by a small minority. As workers and those on welfare have seen their incomes slashed, the rich in this state have become even richer. Yet the administration in Leinster House refuses to introduce a wealth tax and refuses to nationalise our natural resources which would bring in hundreds of billions of euros that could be used to create a first class health service for all.

Under the seabed off the coast of Mayo, Sligo and Donegal lies oil and gas that rightfully belong to the Irish people. These valuable resources are worth at least €500 billion and in all likelihood far in excess of that. Yet, in one of the most shameful decisions ever made, Fianna Fáil signed away the rights to this vast wealth to private multinational oil giants like Shell, who have an appalling environmental and human rights record around the world.

But it is not too late to do something about this – all that is lacking is the political will. This wealth, could and should be used to reverse the savage welfare and pay cuts and to create jobs and stem the flow of young people emigrating. It should be used to eradicate the shameful blight of poverty that continues to increase. It should be used to, not just reverse the cuts at Letterkenny General Hospital and elsewhere, but to invest in creating efficient health and education services accessible and available to all based on need, as opposed to a person's wealth.

In short, it should be used to create a fairer society, one that cherishes all the children of the nation equally in line with the 1916 proclamation, with a better standard of living for all. So the next time you hear a Fianna Fáil politician telling you how these cuts are unavoidable and how hard decisions have to be made, dont hesitate in telling them that the decisions they need to make are to tax the wealthy, nationalise our natural resources and to fund our hospitals, not the banks. Your health is more important than keeping the wealthy political and business elite living in the luxurious lifestyles they are accustomed to.

éirígí Condemns Announcement to Privatise School Building in Letterkenny

The proposal to use the widely discredited public private partnership scheme to build a new school premises for Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny has been condemned by éirígí.  Building of the school, which is intended to provide accommodation for 350 pupils, is expected to get under-way in 2012.

Under the Public Private Partnership scheme, new schools will be designed, built, financed and maintained for 25 years by which ever private company is successful in obtaining the tender for each school. The school in turn will then be rented back from that private company by the government during that time.

Criticising the scheme, éirígí spokesperson in Donegal, Micheál Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig said, “While we would always welcome the building of new schools as a positive step, the manner in which this is being proposed by the Fianna Fáil/Green Party government and Taniaste and Education Minister Mary Coughlan, must be utterly condemned.”

He added:  “Allowing private business to profit from the education of our children is an outrageous proposal. It should also be recalled that that a report from the Comptroller Auditor General found that schools built and operated through Public Private Partnership schemes can cost up to 13% more than schools provided through the conventional method. I would therefore question the rationale for this scheme and demand public answers from Mary Coughlan as to how she can justify a scheme that will end up costing the tax payer more and allow private business profit from the education of our children.

Micheál went on to comment, “Unfortunately, this proposal represents yet another step in the government's plan to use the current economic crisis to sell off and privatise state assets. We only have to look at the privatisation within our health service for evidence of the disastrous consequences of privatisation. Private business controls many aspects of the health service, from care of our elderly, to hospital car parks and cleaning. All matters which should be under the public ownership and all of which have been issues of concern in recent times here in Donegal.”

In conclusion Micheál called on the trade union movement to actively oppose this latest attack on public services and for the public to stand up and defend our schools, hospitals and state assets from the hands of private profiteers.   "Together we must actively oppose these latest proposals and fight to keep our children's education out of the hands to those whose only interest is profit'' he said.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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. ”

McCarthy report a “savage attack” on public services, workers & welfare recipients

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described the McCarthy report as a “savage attack” on essential public services, on workers and on those dependent on social welfare. He said the proposed cutbacks would significantly increase the levels of poverty and inequality in our society and would further decimate essential health and education services.

Amongst the most severe of the proposed cutbacks are the following:

Ø 5% reduction in social welfare payments

Ø 20% reduction in child benefit

Ø €5 charge per prescription for medical card holders

Ø Reduction in medical card income limits

Ø 17,000 public sector job cuts

Ø 6,000 job cuts in health service

Ø 7,000 job cuts in education service

Ø Public sector pay cuts

Ø Removal of 2,000 special needs assistants

Casey said: “The cutbacks proposed by this report are a savage attack on workers and the less well off in our society. They will result in untold suffering for thousands of families. They are also another serious blow for essential public services such as health and education which have already been decimated by cutbacks in staff numbers and the provision of services over the past twelve months. ”

He added: “Despite the sweeping cuts being proposed, nowhere does this report refer to the multi-billion oil and gas reserves off our coast in the Corrib gas field and elsewhere. The wealth generated from these fields could be used to combat this recession and to provide essential funding for public services which have already seen their budgets and resources slashed and which this report is proposing to slash even further. Rather than proposing, or even discussing, the nationalisation of these valuable resources, they have instead focused their report on how they can target our health and education services, target our workers and target the most vulnerable sections of our society.”

“The savage nature of these proposals reveals a mindset which has no concern for the living standards and well-being of low paid workers, of families on welfare or of people in need of medical care. The central theme of the report is that public sector workers and the poorest sections of our society must be made to pay for the corruption and greed of the political and business classes which led to the current economic crisis. Workers are viewed as commodities to be used and disposed of to create profits for the political and business elite in this state.”

Casey concluded: “There must be no compromise in our attitude to these proposed cutbacks. They must be resisted by all means necessary - by the trade unions, by political parties that represent workers interests and by working class communities throughout this state. We must organise and take to the streets to prevent these cuts being implemented, to reverse the cuts already imposed over the past twelve months and to defend the rights and living standards of workers and the less well off in our society.”

Responding to the report, éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson said: “This report reflects the thinking of a government committed to a failed neo-liberal ideology.

“While Colm McCarthy may have chaired the group, Fianna Fáil’s fingerprints are all over it. For the last 12 years, Fianna Fáil in government has been more interested in supporting the interests of a privileged elite in Irish society than addressing the needs of the majority. Rather than investing in public services and developing universal health and education systems, it chose to facilitate private profiteering.

“Working class communities in rural and urban areas are suffering because of the greed of Fianna Fáil’s developer friends. Not content to risk billions of euros of taxpayers’ money in bailing out the very people who created the economic mess, Fianna Fáil, through their proxy Colm McCarthy, is proposing both utter devastation upon the most vulnerable in Irish society and the gutting of the public sector. This cannot and will not be allowed to happen.

“éirígí is calling upon communities, workers, trade unions and activists to mobilise in their tens of thousands to prevent these cuts. It is the only way in which they can be stopped. The choice now is simple: the business and political class wish to cement a society based on greed and poverty for the majority, the rest of us must build a vision of a country based on public ownership and a decent life for all.”

Challenge to politicians over Human Rights abuses in Mayo

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has described as “shameful” the silence of the north-west’s TD’s and MEP’s over continuing human rights abuses being inflicted on those opposed to the giveaway of our natural resources to Shell in County Mayo. He also claimed that the police forces of this state have become enforcers for Shell law, abandoning their own laws and has challenged these local politicians to make public their stance on these abuses.

Casey said: “In recent weeks, as the pipe laying ship, the Solitaire, has returned to Broadhaven Bay to commence work yet again on Shells pipe-line, intimidation of local residents and shell to sea campaigners has intensified. Local fishermen have been arbitarily arrested as they worked and have had their boats impounded at Shell’s insistence. Despite the fact that these fishermen have a licence to fish where they were doing so, the Gardai have tried to justify their actions by claiming they were breaching a 500-metre exclusion zone around the Solitaire. However, according to the Department of Transport no such zone exists.”

He added: “Local campaigners, including Willie Corduff, one of the Rossport five, have been severely assaulted and hospitalised while one fisherman also had his boat sank. Both incidents were carried out by gangs of masked individuals. In both instances the Gardai treated the victims of these attacks with hostility and have not investigated these incidents. Yet the Gardai are regularly arresting and assaulting peaceful protestors against this project while ignoring completely the regular law breaking being carried out by Shell and its security goons.”

“The actions of Shell, with the assistance of the Gardai, navy and their political masters, in north Mayo are outrageous. The only viable solution to this dispute is for our natural resources in the Corrib gas field and elsewhere to be nationalised. This would allow the local community's genuine environmental concerns to be properly addressed also."

"Our health and education services have suffered major cutbacks in recent times, with nurses and other essential front line staff being laid off. Hospital wards are being shut down and cancer services are being removed. School transport fees are set to increase dramatically with special needs classes being scrapped. Yet as they prepare to inflict even more cutbacks and hardship on workers and those reliant on social welfare, this administration continues to refuse to bring an end to the giveaway of our natural resources.”

He concluded: “Local TD's and MEP's have all remained silent as the people of Erris have suffered continued harassment, intimidation, assault, arbitary arrest and jailing at the hands of the Gardai and the IRMS at the behest of Shell. They have betrayed the people that they claim to represent. They should hang their heads in shame. I am now challenging them to make public their stance on these continuing abuses and the give away to Shell of these valuable resources that belong to the Irish people.”

éirígí slam latest Health and Education cuts for Sligo

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has condemned the Fianna Fail led administration and the Health Service Executive (HSE) following revelations that Sligo General Hospital is to have its 2009 budget cut by seven million euro, while seven primary school teaching posts are to be lost at a number of schools throughout the county.

Responding to the Hospital Budget reduction Casey said: “These latest cutbacks are the actions of an administration that has failed completely the people that they claim to represent. This is yet another serious blow to already under-pressure services at Sligo General Hospital and to the people in need of those vital services.”

“This Fianna Fail led administration has repeatedly shown a callous disregard for the health and well being of the people of this region and they must reverse these cutbacks or resign from office. Peoples’ health must not be made suffer to pay for the greed of the politicians, developers and bankers that have squandered the wealth of the Celtic Tiger.”

“There is a clear and workable alternative. What is now needed more than ever is the building of a first class health service that is truly free and equal, paid for by direct taxation and that is based on medical need and not ability to pay.”

In relation to the cutbacks in Primary Schools throughout Sligo, Casey said: “The loss of seven teachers in primary schools in County Sligo is a direct result of the budget cutbacks announced last year. At the time, éirígí said that the measures, if implemented, would do untold damage to the education of our children for years to come, particularly the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.”

“Sadly this is now what is happening and children attending the schools affected will now see their education suffer. Those schools include St Edward’s, Carbury, Carraroe and the Mercy in the town, with schools in Ballymote, Castleknock and Cliffoney also affected.”

He concluded: “This administration’s vision for the future is one that witnesses parents of school children struggling to fund the education of their children, that sees their children in classrooms that are overcrowded in rundown schools or having to be sent home because there is nobody available to teach them. This is not éirígí’s vision and it is not the vision that parents have for the education of their children. Education is a right – not a privilege to be granted one moment and snatched away the next. They must reverse the education cuts in their entirety.