The report below comes via this site’s Dublin bureau and is an account of a new electoral initiative in Ireland. A few things strike me about it.
The first is that it is weak on the ecological aspect of the crisis. Tens of thousands of derelict properties may be a treasure trove to archaeologists yet unborn and bored teenagers but they have had a massive environmental impact and the 26 counties’ public transport infrastructure is pretty rubbish. A lot more could have been said about that.
The second is that while it’s good to be positive, asserting that a brand new formation has a strong chance of getting TDs elected is evidence of a too sunny disposition.
It is not hard enough on the abject, pitiful, treacherous failure of the union bureaucracy. They are a failed leadership and a working class resistance has to fight to replace them.
Finally, and a particular bugbear of mine, anything that has the name “Northern Ireland” in the title is explicitly accepting the imperialists’ division of the Irish working and is programmatically suspect. Still it’s new and these things can change.
At a meeting held in Dublin last Sunday, 24th October, involving the People Before Profit Alliance, the Socialist Party, the Tipperary Workers and Unemployed Group, and Cllr Declan Bree and his local group in Sligo, a historic decision was taken to establish a left alliance to contest the next general election and to take the first steps towards a new, left, anti capitalist formation to represent working people.
It is to be called the United Left Alliance. A strong, left wing, anti capitalist and anti coalition with right wing parties, programme has been agreed. This will be circulated as soon as a few small agreed amendments are made. The alliance will be open to anyone who accepts its basic programme and aims, but the aim is to attract as many workers and young people as possible.
A leaflet from the alliance will be circulated at the Claiming our Future event next Saturday. It will be officially launched at a major rally to be held in Dublin on the Friday evening of November 26th, preceded by press activity during that week. Rallies around the country and in the Dublin Constituencies will be held in the New Year.
It will initially have a register of supporters, a steering committee, a website, a media group, and will hold open monthly meetings in all the constituencies where it is fielding candidates for the general election. At this stage 12/13 candidates are agreed, covering Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Wexford, Tipperary South and Sligo, with a number of other areas and candidates to be considered.
The aim is to get people elected to the next Dail, which is entirely possible in a number of areas. It is hoped that a group of left TDs, working together, and being the real opposition, probably to a Fine Gael/Labour coalition, will be the focus for a campaigning alliance and lay the basis over time for a move to a more formal structure, in reality, a new party for working people, union, community, feminist and environmental activists, students and anyone who wants to affect real change. In the situation now facing the country, such a party could grow rapidly, supplanting Labour and Sinn Fein, and providing a real alternative to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
PBPA has been working towards this objective for a number of years and I’m sure all our supporters will warmly welcome this historic development. In the meantime, PBPA remains and we should redouble our efforts to build it. We will be fighting the election as part of this alliance, but we will be PBPA on the ballot paper, and everything we have has to concentrate on winning the two seats we have identified, Dunlaoghaire and Dublin South Central, notwithstanding our campaigns in the other areas we are contesting.
Firstly some points on the budget and the economic crisis.
The scale and severity of the crisis facing the Irish state cannot be underestimated. Since late 2008 this government has, through cuts and tax increases, the pension levy and so on, inflicted a € 14.5 billion austerity programme on working people and the poorest in society. They are now planning up to another € 15 billion over the next four years. This amounts to an austerity programme of 20% of GDP!
This is economic madness. The Dept of Finance estimates that for every €1 billion taken out of the economy, economic growth is lowered by a quarter to a half of one percent. Nobody believes that what the government is proposing to do is possible. The ERSI have now joined the majority of economists warning that this level of austerity will have a massive deflationary effect on the economy. The more they cut, the more people end up on the dole, claiming welfare, less people are paying taxes, and the worse the situation becomes.
But there is an alternative, make the very wealthy who caused the crisis, pay for it. A 2% wealth tax on the estimated € 250 billion in property and shares still held by the top 5% could raise €5 billion a year. The ending of tax loopholes which benefit the super rich could raise another €5 billion. These two measures alone would not only eliminate the deficit in the state finances, but would make it possible to reverse the cuts since 2008.
We say:
- No to cuts and making working people and the poor pay.
- No to corporate bail outs – take the banks into public ownership.
- Make the 5% who own 40% of the wealth pay.
- Pay cuts for bank and company directors, politicians, top civil servants and semi state managers.
- Commence major state investment in sustainable energy production and useful public projects.
- Jobs for the unemployed on public works to provide housing, schools, health centres, and community amenities and services.
Budget protests.
A meeting of ICTU is being held this Wednesday to discuss the budget. The union UNITE will be proposing a protest march for Saturday, 27th November.
It’s possible ICTU will organise some sort of token action. If not, PBPA are proposing to call, with others on the left, community organisations, hospital campaigns and so on, a demonstration in Dublin on that day. A meeting of left groups is scheduled for Thursday of this week to discuss the options.
The role of ICTU in derailing the opposition to what this government are doing is disgraceful. They are now claiming that Irish people are not like the French or the Greeks; we have no tradition of militant struggle. What about 1913, what about the tax marches, the biggest general strikes and mobilisations of working people as a percentage of the population anywhere, at any time. What about the demonstrations of 100,000 in Dublin in 2009 or the 250,000 strong public sector one day strike? What about the thousands taking part in anti health cut campaigns and protests around
the country? They know that even now, after all their treachery, if they called a serious protest, tens of thousands would come out, and demand more action.
That is precisely what they are afraid of, a French or Greek situation. In France the unions called protests in the hope of doing a deal on pension reform as they did in 1995, but a movement from below has spread throughout the whole country, involving public and private sector workers, school students and unemployed youth, putting them under pressure to escalate the struggle and to kick out the Sarkozy government.
The events in France are following on from the huge struggles in Greece. The EU itself is now in a serious crisis. The costs of the bail out of the banks, and the stimulus used to rescue capitalism are being passed on the working people and the poor. Europe is set for an explosion of social struggle, and here in Ireland, working people will find a way, sooner or later, to get round the rotten leadership of ICTU, and show they are as capable of militant action as anywhere else.
While protests may only be in their thousands at this point, because of the refusal of the unions to lead, it is crucial that PBPA does not succumb to the idea that nothing can be done, and that we play a role, as best we can, in giving a lead and an expression to the anger we know is there.
Claiming our Future conference.
This takes place this Saturday at the RDS in Dublin, starting at 10.30am with registration from 9.am. It is fully booked out with 1,000 community, trade union and political activists taking part. We are asking all PBPA members taking part to meet at 9.30 outside the venue to briefly discuss our intervention and then to help with leafleting. Anyone who is not registered but free to help is very welcome.
PBPA National activists meeting.
This will take place in Dublin on Saturday 6th November from 1pm to 5pm. The venue is the same as last time, in the An Oige offices at 51, Mountjoy Street. To get there go by the teachers Club up to the Black Church, you can’t miss it, it is in the middle of the road, then turn right and the venue is on your left. This is an important meeting given recent developments and the run up to the budget, elections and what have you, so please get as many from your area to attend as possible. There will be a house social in Dermot and Joan’s, 30 Ring street, Inchicore that evening. Food provided, fiver in and bring your own booze.
Northern Ireland PBPA meeting.
A meeting of PBPA members in the North is taking place in Toomevara on Sunday 7th November. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together PBPA groups and potential groups in the North, and to put PBPA on a more solid and organised functioning, elect a co-ordinating committee, etc. Anyone from the south interested in attending should contact Dermot Connolly or Brid Smith. There was a good PBPA intervention, with banner, placards and a leaflet on the demo against the Con/Dem coalition cuts last Saturday.
Liam redux 
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