PaPer of the SocialiSt Party
iSSue 107
#JOBSTOWNNOTGUILTY RIGHT TO PROTEST ON TRIAL
aPril 2017
INSIDE
Bus Éireann Strike: Shut down public transport
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Socialists on Trial: What’s the state’s agenda?
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RESIST THIS MISCARRIAGE MISCARRIAGE
OF JUSTICE socialistpartyireland
The North after the elections
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April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
news
SHORTCUTS
By Manus Lenihan
The striking minister as bus workers stayed firm on the picket lines, the most unexpected ally stood alongside them. We’re not talking about irish Rail, Dublin Bus or DaRT workers. Transport Minister shane Ross hid under a rock for day after day of the strike, emerging only to declare that he would take no action. Ross was firmly refusing to do his job – we can only interpret this as the Minister for Transport going on an un-announced sympathy strike. The Minister’s steadfast refusal to work for weeks on end is an inspirational example to striking workers everywhere.
Paddywhackery goes into overdrive When enda visited Washington DC on 17 March, the us politicians went into overdrive with the paddywhackery. Republican speaker Paul Ryan was a particularly bad offender, posing with a flat pint of Guinness and claiming that irish people regard golf course owners as “royalty.” The right wing in the us have a whole load of deluded ideas about ireland, from the “white slaves” myth, to the idea that we’re a load
means betraying your people. Travellers living in massive overcrowding – with no new halting site built in Galway for 21 years – are not Councillor Conneely’s people. helping them would be “treason” to whatever developer has his eye on that piece of land.
“Ask about the 8th or economic evictions, and you know what you’ll get; ask about Beyoncé, & 1/4 of TDs rush to respond”
Queen Bey’s dubious fans
Enda Kenny’s last bowl of shamrocks
of ultra-religious socially-conservative eejits. When we repeal the 8th amendment the look on their faces will be priceless.
Enda against Trump?
“The Minister’s (Ross) steadfast refusal towork for weeks on end is an inspirational example to striking workers everywhere”
irish commentators immediately recognised that enda’s own performance in DC was cowardly and embarrassing even by his standards. But a section of the us media tried to plug part of enda’s speech as if it was some kind of blistering challenge to Trump. The best strategy they can offer to
resist the horror of Trump is to try to big-up discredited establishment figures. We’re not going to defeat the racist far-right by rowing in behind our widely-hated lame-duck Taoiseach and pretending that he represents something progressive.
Last month there was a proposal to build a new halting site on a field that Galway City Council has owned for ten years and done nothing with. Fine Gael councillor Pádraig Conneely exploded with rage, thundering that it would be “economic treason” (Galway independent, 1 March). it’s an interesting choice of words; “treason”
By Carah Daniel
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Exploiting animals for profit This bill will stop circuses from exploiting the wild animals that currently travel with them and prevent Irish circuses from purchasing
a bored journalist decided on a whim to email all 158 irish TDs asking them whether they liked Beyoncé. This email received 37 definitive responses (Only one of which mentioned Beyoncé’s sweat-
Betraying who exactly?
End the cruelty: Ban wild animals in circuses olidarity td, Paul Murphy, has introduced the Prohibition of Wild animals in Circuses Bill 2017 to the dáil. the bill, if passed, would see an end to wild animals being used in circuses in ireland. Travelling circuses with wild animals are inherently cruel by their very nature. In circuses, wild animals are subjected to regular transportation in beast wagons for long periods of time, put into necessarily unnatural social groupings that cause great distress, forced to perform for human entertainment and exploited for profit. The needs of a wild animal simply cannot be met in a travelling circus. Training animals to do circus tricks can’t be achieved with positive rewards either. Tigers are naturally terrified of fire but are often forced to jump through hoops of it. Elephants don’t dance on their hind legs in the wild, and they often suffer joint problems from carrying all their weight.
shops). so one in every four irish TDs replied! ask about the 8th amendment or banning economic evictions, and you know what you’ll get; ask about Beyoncé, and a quarter of TDs rush to respond. Quite a few took the time to write full paragraphs rounding out the nuances of their positions. Last year the nobel Prize Committee finally discovered Bob Dylan, 50 years after everyone else did. now irish TDs are clamouring to prove they know a thing or two about Beyoncé, a singer who’s been world-famous for nearly 20 years. They want to appear down-to-earth, but it comes across as desperate.
No new halting sites have been built in Galway for 21 years
Socialists in the Dáil Removing the Catholic hierarchy from hospital boards A SOlidARiTy bill which be introduced into the dáil to remove the places of the Archbishop of dublin and the parish priest of Westland Row from the board of the National Maternity Hospital, which was put in place in 1936 by Eamon de Valera. This bill will go some way towards removing the toxic influence of the Catholic Church in ireland. Even today we can see the results of this influence, with the Tuam scandal and the continued opposition of the Church to repealing the Eighth Amendment, and their attempts to interfere in the marriage equality referendum. The Catholic hierarchy has no place on the boards of the national maternity hospital, they only sit on it to police women’s bodies, particularly if a more liberal abortion regime is legislated for in this country. We must strive to separate church and state and demand a secular and properly funded national health service for all.
Migrants & the democratic right to vote Wild animals in circuses should be a thing of the past
other wild animals, which they have indicated that they wish to do. It will also prevent Ireland from becoming a dumping ground for circuses from countries that have already implemented bans. This was seen last year when Circus Belly Wien came to Ireland with three elephants, after the Netherlands banned circus cruelty. Due to the mass opposition to their show, they were forced to leave.
This indicated the mood in society against wild animals in circuses. One way to drag this backwards state forward is by having a ban on circuses with wild animals. We are asking people to support this bill and email their TDs to vote in favour of it. This is a serious opportunity for animal welfare in Ireland and we need to ensure we’ve done all in our power to make this bill pass.
THE SOCiAliST Party is demanding that voting rights are given to migrants living in ireland and our Tds in Solidarity are introducing a bill to bring that into effect. in our eyes this is the right thing to do in order to extend democratic rights to those whose voices are frequently unheard in ireland today. Even though many migrants today have been living in Ireland for years, they are unable to vote for representatives who make important decisions that affect their lives due to the fees involved in becoming an Irish citizen, and the lengthy processes involved. We support the extension of full democratic rights to all people living in Ireland in order to achieve a more equal society, and it is hoped that this bill will allow migrants to have a more active voice in Irish society and have more control over issues that affect them.
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April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Inspiring display of solidarity By Conor Payne THE ASSEMbly for Justice in liberty Hall Saturday, 1 April was an inspiring display of solidarity with those facing trial for peacefully protesting in Jobstown. 700 attended, filling the main hall, and 2 overflow venues. The atmosphere was electric. The defendants themselves appeared on the stage wearing gags, representing the restrictions imposed on what they could say at the event. Solidarity was the word of the day as speakers from a wide range of struggles and campaigns spoke and connected their experiences with the state’s attack on the Jobstown protesters. Vincent McGrath from the Rossport 5 spoke of the harassment their community in North Mayo had faced from the state for standing up against Shell and their pipeline. NBRU rep. Stephen Nugent addressed the meeting, which was attended by a delegation of striking Bus Éireann workers- who were given a standing ovation as they went to return to their pickets. Frances Black sang ‘Legal Illegal’ which encapsulated the hypocrisy of a law which penalises workers and the poor while allowing the powerful to
act with impunity. Speaker after speaker drew out the political nature of the charges and linked this attempted miscarriage of justice to the wider inequality and injustice of our society.
Jobstown Speaks The rally heard from a number of Jobstown residents who are defendants or who participated in the protest against Joan Burton. Gail O’Rorke, a Jobstown resident who was prosecuted by the state for her compassionate assistance to her friend in an assisted suicide case, pointed to the myriad of scandals involving the Gardai, the Government and the Church, contrasted this to the criminalisation of the Jobstown community and pointed to the essential role of protest in challenging these injustices.
€10,000 was raised for campaign at rally
GAMA workers In 2005 the GAMA workers, Turkish workers who worked in Ireland under conditions of super exploitation and were paid only €2.20 an hour, waged a successful strike with the support and assistance of the Socialist Party and won up to €40 million of the wages they were owed. In a fantastic gesture of solidarity, representatives from the GAMA workers
attended the rally and donated the remaining €3,000 that was left over in their strike fund to the Jobstown Not Guilty campaign. The rally raised in total over €10,000 for the campaign.
Paddy Hill The highlight of the rally was Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six who knows about real ‘false imprisonment’. Paddy spent 16 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and now fights on behalf of other victims of miscarriages of justice. Paddy lacerated the Irish establishment‘the Irish mafia’- and their greed and corruption. He pointed out that he had spent longer waiting in line in prison canteens than Joan Burton spent ‘kidnapped’ in Jobstown! He pointed out that the best way to fight a miscarriage of justice is to prevent it from happening in the first place and urged everyone to fight now in defence of the Jobstown accused.
Paul Murphy The rally was concluded by Solidarity TD and Socialist Party member Paul Murphy, who drew out the key political lessons of the Jobstown trials. Paul pointed out that the real nature of the Irish state had been exposed by recent events. While establishment voices had ridiculed the concept of political policing, the surveillance of water protesters, the witch hunt
Jury of your peers? Apparently not! By Katia Hancke
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re you from tallaght? do you have connections in tallaght? are you politically active? did you protest against water charges in any way? did you ever express an opinion on water charges? tick any of those boxes and the dPP in the Jobstown trial will want you removed from the jury. apparently being from tallaght, or seeing water charges for the con they are, makes you incapable of judging in a fair way the facts of the case. In fairness to them, the DPP say they will also exclude activists FOR water charges – because we all know there were hundreds of grassroots groups engaging hundreds of thousands across the country ferrying people to the post office to pay asap. Yes, that’s exactly how we ended up with 75% non-payment by the time of the last (and hopefully final) bill. It would be funny, if it wasn’t for the fact that the livelihoods, futures and freedom of 18 of our peers is at stake here.
Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six
700 people packed out Liberty Hall for the Assembly
against Maurice McCabe and other whistleblowers and now the mass fabrication of breathalyser tests had shown that the Gardai are far from a neutral force for good. The excuse of a ‘few bad apples’ can no longer wash. In reality, the Garda and State function as defenders of the 1%, of the inequality of capitalist society. The increased repression of protest is linked to the political
how serious the state is about locking away the defendants in the Jobstown trial. On top of its determination to ensure a one sided jury selection, the DPP attempted to silence the defendants in a most draconian way. The original demand of the DPP was that defendants would no longer speak out about the major miscarriage of justice this trial represents. In particular, they had their heart set on closing down the Assembly for Justice on 1 April.
crisis facing the capitalist establishment- with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael forced to rule together and on the verge of abolishing the hated water charges. Paul called for a fundamentally different type of police force, under democratic control and accountable to working class communities. He linked out a socialist vision, of a society where wealth and power is in the hands of the majority.
State tries, & fails, to silence defendants By Katia Hancke
One sided jury selection If we allow the above conditions to be imposed on the jury selection for the trial, which starts on 24 April , we not only give away the right to be tried by a jury of our peers, we as a class – the working class - give away the right to be involved in any way in the most significant political trial in this state in over a generation. We cannot let this happen. The actions of the DPP in the last week of March have illustrated
Defendants gagged by the DPP at rally
THE dPP did not count on the determined and united stance of the defendants. They immediately decided to bring this out into the open, expose it for the attack on free speech that it is and to oppose it all the way – in the face of immediate jailings. The strong leadership given by the people who have most at stake in this case led to an outpouring of support and forced the dPP to back down. The Assembly was even more successful than anticipated, with up to 1,000 people pouring into Liberty Hall and surrounding venues, including trade union delegations, a delegation of striking Bus Eireann workers, politicians and celebrities. Rather than shutting down the campaign to drop the charges, it elevated it to a new
plain, exposing the blatant class nature of the DPPs proposals. Right to protest Let’s learn a lesson from all this – if we take the same determined stance on the issue of jury selection, we can prevent the DPP’s intentions. This is now a class issue – working class people have a right to protest, we have a right to free speech and we have a right to question the blatant class nature of the justice system. Jobstown Not Guilty is calling for a major mobilisation on the eve of the trial, Saturday 22 April. We need you to be there, with your family, friends and neighbours. Speak out about the inherent injustice of the DPPs actions, get active in support of the campaign, spread the word. Help to prevent a major miscarriage of justice.
Jobstown
Assembly For Justice
4
April 2017
analysis
THE SOCIALIST
Is Sinn Féin right?
Is a united Ireland on the agenda?
t
By Stephen Boyd
he CriSiS at Stormont and Brexit has sparked debate and discussion on the prospects for a united ireland. Sinn Féin, emboldened by their electoral success has seized on the opportunity to push for a border poll under the terms of the Good Friday agreement (GFa). They alongside the SDLP and now Fianna Fáil argue that the Brexit is an accelerant of a process that they believe will inexorably and inevitably lead to a united Ireland. The focus of the various hues of Irish nationalist politicians has been on the need to put forward credible arguments as to why a united Ireland will provide a better future. Nationalist politicians Fianna Fáil is preparing a white paper on the mechanics of how Irish re-unification could be achieved. Sinn Féin wants an Oireachtas all-party committee set up to draft a green paper on reunification, and is of course calling for a Border Poll, simultaneous referenda held North and South on the question of whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK. The GFA allows for the calling of a poll if there are indications that a majority would vote for a united Ireland. However Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire speaking in Westminster said, "I have been very clear that I do not think those conditions have been met." Nevertheless, Article 50 has been triggered, and the prospect of a second Scottish independence referendum along with the possibility of Sinn Féin becoming the largest party in the Assembly, means that the issue of the border is now back centre-stage. The intertwined issues of “Brexit” and a border poll are being used by the sectarian parties to stir up discontent and create greater sectarian division. border poll The UK leaving the EU has raised fears amongst Catholics (a majority of whom voted remain, a majority of Protestants voted to leave), that a “hard border” will be a block to them achieving their aim of a united Ireland. Many nationalists also look to the EU as a form of guarantor of their human rights and a check to stop a return to the discrimination of the past. These fears are being played upon by Sinn Féin in order to rouse support for a border poll. Fears about the future of the Union (UK) amongst Protestants have increased significantly since Sinn Féin’s election result and the possibility of Scottish independence. The DUP is using this anxiety to repair the damage inflicted on them by the RHI scandal.
The Socialist Party does not support the calling of a border poll for the reason that such a poll will result in further sectarian division. Those that claim this is “simply a matter of basic democracy” completely underestimate the sectarian division that still exists in Northern Ireland. The idea that the sectarian division in the North can be overcome by the holding of a referendum is dangerous fantasy. Just as Catholics did not abandon their desire for reunification when they were a minority in successive elections over decades, Protestants will not abandon their opposition to a united Ireland just because there is a majority vote in
a border poll. The opposite would be the case. People will be forced to choose a side therefore, holding a border poll will not lead to unity, but greater polarisation. Recipe for sectarian conflict In the event of a majority vote for unity Protestant opposition to a united Ireland would be strengthened and it would give birth to the conditions within which a civil war could erupt. The Socialist Party is opposed to the coercion of either community in the North. We oppose the coercion of Catholics into remaining in Northern Ireland but we are also opposed to the coercion of
Protestants into a united Ireland. The vast majority of workingclass people in the North do not countenance going back to the conflicts of the past, but there can be no solution to the sectarian conflict on the basis of capitalism. There is now an urgent need to build a genuine cross-community workingclass party: one that can unite Catholic and Protestant workingclass communities against Stormont austerity, in common struggle for socialist change, guaranteeing freedom for all from fear and discrimination. Such a party is the only solution to the sectarian parties of nationalism and unionism.
Uniting workers, women & young people: Solidarity launched charges, the Anti Austerity Alliance gave consistent and vital leadership in the huge movement that took place. The collective non payment of water charges and massive demonstrations were powerful shows of solidarity that forced abolition. A space has opened up, illustrating the possibility for challenging key policies capitalism wants to implement. The water charges has given confidence to workers to fight and win.
By Ruth Coppinger TD SOlidARiTy – The left Alternative is the new name for the Anti-Austerity Alliance. Solidarity is needed between all the struggles of workers, women, youth and the oppressed in order to challenge a powerful and grossly unfair system like capitalism. The need for a left alternative is becoming more apparent if we want to replace the discredited establishment parties – who stand with and for the top 1% and who are a block on change. Solidarity is launching at a time when economic, political and social crises are coming together in Ireland. A rotten culture and history is being exposed in the church, in the Gardaí and in the state generally. Workers on strike Promises of economic recovery ring resoundingly hollow as workers have to strike against pay cuts and erosion of hard-won work conditions, such as at Tesco and Bus Éireann, and for pay recovery at Luas and Dublin Bus.
Solidarity TDs: Paul Murphy, Ruth Coppinger & Mick Barry
The power of solidarity was seen in the Tesco dispute when picketed stores lost 80% of business and even non-picketed shops lost 30%. It was also powerfully demonstrated when
workers at Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Dart refused to cross unofficial pickets by Bus Eireann workers. In the key austerity campaign of recent years, the water
Fighting for equality Similarly, the referendum on marriage equality, which saw tens of thousands actively canvass or register to vote, has given encouragement to take on repeal of the 8th Amendment and other backward laws. Women and young people in particular are increasingly demanding a total separation of church and state. This is something Solidarity will spearhead in and outside of the Dail. The support bases of the two big right wing parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, have shrunk but they remain in political control. We have to actively build an
alternative. Solidarity appeals to all those effected or politicised by issues in recent years to get involved with us to help build a new left movement in this country. When no alternative exists, we've seen globally how dangerous right wing populists like Trump can emerge, exploiting the disillusionment people feel about globalisation and job losses. Eight men have as much wealth as half the world's population. No wonder obscene inequality is prevalent everywhere. In Ireland, the top 300 people have just seen their wealth go over €100 billion during the worst homelessness crisis in history. We need a society where the wealth is owned and controlled by those who create it and planned for the use and betterment of the majority. Capitalism uses sexism, racism, homophobia and a myriad of other prejudices to divide people and maintain control. Solidarity stands for a united movement of all oppressed people against the system that maintains injustice.
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April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Bus Éireann strike enters critical phase
By Councillor Michael O’Brien
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t the time of writing the Bus Éireann strike has entered a critical phase. an invitation from had been given by the Workplace relations Commission (WrC) to both sides to enter talks on the condition that they are no more unofficial solidarity actions take place. Secondary picketing necessary On Friday, 31 March, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail workers respected the secondary pickets mounted by Bus Éireann staff. This entirely justified action was done without the prior knowledge and consent of the union officials. Had any prior notice been given for that action by the workers they would have immediately faced an injunction. It is therefore absurd for the same officials to be asked to guarantee it will not be repeated. The frustration felt by passengers needs to be turned towards the government which has engineered this crisis. They are pursuing a long term agenda of privatisation and low wages in the sector. With that in mind the solidarity action was both necessary and effective. It needs to be repeated to generate the required pressure on the government as well as Fianna Fáil. While portraying themselves as sympathetic to the workers’ cause, they have refused to put the government under any real pressure over the dispute.
Government commitments The fresh round of talks being proposed by the WRC will be fruitless given the government’s stance at the moment. A prior commitment from Minister for Transport, Shane Ross is needed to restore the subsidy to Bus Éireann to the levels that existed before 2008. A similar commitment will also be needed that the Department of Social Protection’s contribution is raised, reflecting the fact that 30% of the company’s passengers are entitled to the free travel scheme. Without such commitments the only deal possible between the unions and Bus Éireann senior management is a bad deal for the workers. Therefore this offer of WRC talks and the condition being attached to it are a trap designed to minimise the impact of the strike and ultimately demoralise the workers into accepting the devastating cuts to their take home pay. The conclusion that flows from this is that further solidarity actions are needed. The tactics employed by rank and file members on 31 March are the very measures that Jim Larkin and James Connolly pioneered to great effect in the founding years of the workers’ movement in this country. The Industrial Relations Act 1990 basically made Larkin’s methods of winning strikes illegal. Instead a balloting and notification process now prevails designed so that many strikes since then have either been lost or ended in a bad compromise.
news
Shutdown public transport Bus strikers must escalate action with further secondary picketing
Solidarity TDs in the Dáil have placed back on the agenda the repeal of the Industrial Relations Act. We are not oblivious to the threat that hangs over the unions in terms of court action from employers and fines being threatened by CIÉ management. While the Industrial Relations Act exists the rank and file needs to take the necessary solidarity actions in a manner that minimising the exposure of their unions to the courts. At the same time while the union leaders will as of necessity have to declare no prior knowledge of these actions, they should not criticise them and feed a public perception that these necessary actions are unjustified. The necessary industrial action is needed to maximise pressure on the government. This means a full shutdown of the transport system across the country.
The Socialist spoke to Mark Fitzgerald, NBRU Shop Steward in Waterford “The action taken last Friday we felt was absolutely needed to bring the matter to the doorsteps of the government. From an outside of Dublin perspective people should remember that Bus Éireann routes in recent times have been pared back or abolished altogether, which means daily inconvenience for loyal passengers. “That’s why we feel the commotion from some quarters about a day’s serious disruption in Dublin is a bit rich. The fact that the WRC all of a sudden invited both sides to fresh talks is definitely a reflection that things only become urgent when they hit the capital as far as the people at the top are concerned. “Talks that are just between us and management will go nowhere. The 2008 act provides for a forum to meet that includes us, management, the nTa [national Transport authority], the Department and passenger representatives. They are the talks that we need to have if an outcome is to be reached that guarantees livelihoods and public transport.”
Mass non-payment & protests force...
humiliating climbdown on water charges By Aprille Scully
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S We go to press it would appear that the capitalist establishment are on the cusp of a major defeat. at minimum water charges being abolished for normal usage. the government has been forced to give a commitment that funding for water will come “from within existing taxation” as opposed to a new charge being implemented. The movement against water charges that involved protests and mass non-payment has successfully pushed back the government. It is a testament to this movement that Fianna Fáil have been pressured into opposing water charges, given that they were the ones who initially proposed its introduction in December 2010. Fine Gael manoeuvring Fine Gael in particular have been doing their best to get allow the charge to be introduced. Their Dublin MEP, Brian Hayes, wrote to European Environmental
Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, looking for the Commission to intervene. Unsurprisingly, the neo-liberal Commission, pushing water privatisation across Europe, came down in favour of water charges. Fine Gael sought to predictably use this letter to insist that massive fines would come if water charges are abolished. However, the Water Committee heard from two expert lawyers who contradicted the European Commission's argument. They pointed out that Ireland's 'established practice', which is a key reference point in the Water Framework Directive, is not to have water charges. The real question here is what backroom negotiation could occur between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in light of threats from the European Commission. Fine Gael has pledged to introduce water charges under the name “excessive usage”. Those who use 1.7 times the average usage (that is one third to one half of the population) would face a fee. The danger is, as seen
with bin charges, this threshold would be lowered if this fee became established and the charge increase.
Water charges defeat shows people power can win
Full abolition now Fianna Fáil has rejected this and instead the proposal is against the “willful wastage of water”. The existing 2007 water legislation could change to allow for a “statutory instrument to be added or created which would outline or assess what is ‘willful abuse’ of water usage”, according to Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen. This is very unclear and noncommittal on the prospect of charges. Discussion on this has been very much resigned closed negotiations between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. But we must be extremely vigilant against any attempt to legislate now for future charges. Maximum pressure needs to be put on both parties. We need to call clearly for the abolition of water charges and for water infrastructure to be funded for through progressive general taxation.
April 2017
THE SO
T
HREE SoCiAliST Party members – Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and Councillors Kieran Mahon and Mick Murphy – are among the first seven adult Jobstown defendants who will stand trial on Monday, 24 April. EDDiE MCCABE and CilliAN GillESPiE look at why socialists are being attacked and vilified by the capitalist state and establishment.
special feature
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1) We don't play by their rules. We don't compromise on our principles. The capitalist establishment fear the Socialist Party because: they can't understand us. We run in elections, but we’re not completely election-focused the way they would like, because we know that fundamental change can’t just happen through parliamentary elections – a rigged set-up that gives the illusion of choice when real power in capitalist society always remains with the super-rich and big business. Only mass political and social movements can bring real change, and our election campaigns and elected representatives are geared towards building such movements. they can't buy us. We don’t take money from business interests. We rely on donations from our members and supporters to fund our campaigns. Our TDs live on a workers’ wage because they represent working-class people. they can't make backroom horse-trading deals with us. We don’t play their game of cynical political manoeuvring. We bring the struggles and issues that concern workers, women, LGBTQ and young people to the political arena, while never conceding an inch to backward, right-wing and anti-democratic ideas and institutions. they can't intimidate us. The Socialist Party has been subject to many witch-hunts over the years, whether by the media, the state or bureaucrats in the labour movement. But as the song says, where “cowards flinch and traitors sneer, we keep the red flag flying here.” We expect the attacks, and we come back stronger.
2) We speak the truth and expose their unjust system. James Connolly once described the socialist movement as “The Great Anti-Theft Movement.” By this he meant that what passes for everyday economics under capitalism is actually just an organised robbery of the majority by a tiny minority. The Sunday Independent’s new rich list (April 2017) informed us that the richest 300 people in Ireland have doubled their wealth since 2010, from €50 billion to €100 billion! While Ireland’s superwealthy have cleaned up in the last seven years, we’ve been subject to: austerity taxes; slashing of public
services; a race to the bottom in our wages and conditions; soaring rents and unaffordable homes. But this is not an aberration. It is the fundamental logic of a system where wealth and profits are obscenely amassed at our expense. Capitalism has never been more parasitic, driving down our living standards and bringing about the destruction of our planet. It is also inherently unjust and undemocratic. Working-class people – be they builders, teachers, cleaners, drivers, engineers or factory workers, to name but a few – create the profits and provide the services that make the capitalist economy function and allow the 1% to amass their wealth. Through our collective labour we can create the wealth and technology needed to end hunger and insecurity and fully meet the needs and wants of all. But we can only do this if we end the rule of the billionaires, banks and corporations who squander and hoard the wealth we create. The Socialist Party proudly advances an alternative: a democratic socialist society where the wealth and resources of society are taken out of the hands of a corrupt and rotten oligarchy. And we actively organise to bring such a society into existence.
SoCiAliSTS
THE ENEMiES class divide in society: one that pits the political establishment, the legal system and the media against the interests and organisations of the working class and the oppressed. This understanding, which is necessary to reach a correct assessment of the balance of forces in any given battle, underlies all of our strategic and tactical decisions, and it makes us effective. In Ireland over decades we’ve helped many workers achieve victories in disputes, most notably the famous GAMA strike – involving migrant workers being paid €2 an hour at the height of the Celtic Tiger. We have twice played a key, leading role in defeating water charges – by championing the decisive boycott tactic – both in the recent campaign and in the Dublin campaign of the 1990s. Our international sister parties have likewise shown how to force concessions through determined people power movements. In Britain, we led the (18 million strong) non-payment campaign against the poll tax that brought down Margaret Thatcher. In the US recently, we led the campaign for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle – which sparked a nationwide movement and many more victories – and elected the first socialist city councilmember in 100 years, Kshama Sawant.
3) We have a real impact. The establishment don’t just fear our ideas, but our actions too. We don’t accept the limits or constraints of the market system which perpetuates inequality. Rather we look at the actual resources in society and the needs of people. So we always demand more than what the system offers. And this gets results. As Connolly also aptly wrote: “Yet, although it may seem a paradox to say so, there is no party so incapable of achieving practical results, as an orthodox, political party; and there is no party so certain of placing moderate reforms to its credit as an extreme revolutionary party.” For a small organisation the Socialist Party has always punched above our weight. Whether we win or lose, our record of assisting, encouraging and often leading working-class struggles shows that we fight to the last, making the task of exploiting, discriminating and repressing that bit more difficult for the ruling class. The strength of our approach to struggle comes from our understanding that all the conflicts between ordinary people and those in power reflect the deep-rooted
Right-wing rag targets socialist TDs
April 2017
OCIALIST
7
Socialism On Trial
S oN TRiAl
S oF THE 1% 4) We represent what they fear most: solidarity amongst the 99%. “The great appear great because we are on our knees; Let us rise!” These words were the rallying cry with which Jim Larkin and James Connolly built the trade union and labour movement in Ireland. It sums up a central idea of socialism and the working-class movement. Socialists have confidence in the power of working-class solidarity. It is through active collective organisation and struggle that working-class people and the oppressed can win real victories against the capitalist system. It was determined and united industrial action by Luas workers last year that resulted in them defeating attempts by Transdev to undermine their wages and conditions, as well as winning a pay rise. It was working-class people coming together from 2014 onwards in a campaign of mass protest and non-payment that forced the government to suspend the water charges last year. When President Trump came to power and issued the notorious ‘Muslim Ban’, it was mass protests uniting working and young people throughout the US that forced the courts to overturn it.
In the North, no strike has ever been broken by sectarianism. In fact, it was united strike action by Protestant and Catholic workers which defeated sectarian attacks and intimidation by paramilitaries. This is the kind of solidarity that the 1% and their representatives dread. They want to atomise and divide us and make us feel powerless when they attack our rights. The Socialist Party consistently promotes and builds the maximum unity of all sections of the working class, young people and the oppressed. Only in this way can we win battles such as those for abortion rights and pay justice, defeat the neo-liberal attacks on our living standards and ultimately transform society in our interests.
5) Capitalism is in crisis & socialist ideas are on the rise. One hundred years ago, capitalism and landlordism in Russia were overthrown by a mass, democratic uprising of the working class. The impact of this event reverberated around the world, inspiring workers and horrifying the ruling elite. To this day they shudder at the thoughts of a repetition, and for good reason.
The global capitalist system remains engulfed in the crisis that erupted in 2008. Stagnation or low growth rates and high unemployment are the norm for the world economy, despite trillions in bailouts and austerity across the world. The OECD estimated in 2014 that this sluggishness would continue for 50 years. In fact, that’s an optimistic best case scenario. The woes on the economic front are reflected on the political and social ones. The traditional parties of the establishment everywhere, but particularly in Europe, are becoming more discredited, and their position is being challenged by right and left populist parties from outside of the establishment. They can no longer rule in the old ways. Once again, with the system incapable of providing for people’s needs and expectations, millions are looking for alternatives. Socialism was the most looked-up word in 2015. Polls consistently show that a new generation in the US and Britain holds a more favourable view of socialism than capitalism. Socialism – which means real democracy and planning of the wealth and resources in the economy to meet the needs of society and the planet – is the alternative to capitalism. It’s an idea that’s on the rise. The capitalists and their representatives know this, which goes some way to explaining their current attacks on socialists.
James P. Cannon outside court in 1941
Reviewed by James McCabe REAdiNG THE transcript of a courtroom testimony might seem like a boring prospect, but the testimony of James published as Cannon “Socialism on Trial” is a real page-turner. On the eve of the US entering World War II, Cannon, along with 28 other socialists and trade unionists were charged with plotting to overthrow the US government. The controversial Smith Act, passed by Congress in 1940, made it a crime to "teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction" of the government or be a member of any group that did. Socialists under attack Cannon was the main organiser of the revolutionary organisation, the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP), which had a small membership but had an influential role in numerous strikes across the US in the 1930s. After the Communist Party - an organisation with 85,000 members - adopted a position of support for the war, the American establishment directed its fire against the SWP. The trials were serious business. The various charges they faced carried sentences of up to 20 years apiece. The government feared that the SWP could potentially cripple war production through leading strikes, so the intention was not just to convict and imprison the individual defendants, but to criminalise and destroy the organisation. Rather than retreat, panic or succumb to defeatism, the leaders of the SWP weighed up the situation and developed a defence strategy. They realised that many people outside of the socialist movement viewed the prosecution as unfair and anti-democratic. They helped to establish a broad coalition of unions and community groups called the Civil Rights Defence Committee that received the support and funding of over 100 union branches across the country. In order to politically isolate the prosecution in the trial, they positioned themselves as defenders of free speech and the Bill of Rights in the Constitution, while openly defending their aim to end the rule of the capitalist class. Cannon described the trial as an “unparalleled opportunity to make more workers acquainted with our program and activities.” Exposing capitalism The format of “Socialism on Trial” consists of a series of questions and answers. The first series of questions were put to Cannon by his defence lawyer, Albert
Goldman, who was another defendant in the case. The back and forth format as well as the odd interjection by the prosecutor or judge really engage the reader. The testimony offers a clear exposition of the socialist view of capitalism, war, revolution and socialism. Cannon’s words ring true today, as he describes the inevitability of war and violence under the capitalist system, as corporations and their nation states compete for a greater share of the world market, “It is impossible to prevent wars without abolishing the capitalist system which breeds war. It may be possible to delay war for a while, but eventually it is impossible to prevent wars while this system, and its conflicts of imperialist nations, remains.” Cannon described how the American capitalist class were not promoting the war in order to bring ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’ to Europe: “We do not think that the Sixty Families who own America want to wage this war for some sacred principle of democracy. We think they would only use the opportunity of a war to eliminate civil liberties at home.” Putting up a defence The prosecution attempted to paint the SWP as a conspiratorial group who were in favour of sabotaging the US war effort with terrorist tactics. Cannon explained that the aim of socialists is to win a majority in society to socialist ideas, and quotes Karl Marx: “the social revolution of the working class is a ‘movement of the immense majority in the interests of the immense majority’.” In an attempt to paint the SWP as instigators of violence, the prosecution incredibly used this quote from their paper: “During the drivers’ strike of May 1934, the employers threw against the embattled transport workers the entire police force of Minneapolis and 5,000 special deputies armed with clubs and guns… the drivers fought the police and deputies to a standstill and chased them off the streets.” In reply Cannon argued, “I think the workers have a right to defend themselves. If that is treason, you can make the most of it.” Public support for the defendants forced the government to back off. Ten of the defendants were acquitted and those that were sentenced got less than 16 months. A far cry from the decades the government demanded at the outset of the trial. In today’s context of increasing state surveillance, encroachments on civil liberties and attacks on workers’ rights, “Socialism on Trial” contains valuable lessons for all political activists fighting for a better world.
special feature
by James P. Cannon
April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Trump humiliated after healthcare debacle
international
8
t
By Jess Spear
he truMP administration suffered a major defeat last month when they were unable to deliver on their signature issue - repealing obamacare. trump attempted to place the blame on the democrats, but in reality it was due to a divided and weak republican Party. this latest climb down by trump follows the defeat of both Muslim Bans and demonstrates that trump’s agenda, when resisted by millions of workers and young people, can be defeated. Trumpcare rejected, Republicans divided During the mid-February congressional recess Republicans were met with thousands of angry and fearful workers who flooded townhalls across the country, demanding answers on plans to radically change healthcare. The mood can be summed up by one Wisconsin worker who exclaimed, “how many times did you vote to repeal [Obamacare] without knowing what the replacement would be?...Dozens!” But, after seven years opposing
Mass opposition can defeat Trump’s policies
Obamacare, the Republicans didn’t actually have a replacement plan. Instead, at the 11th hour they cobbled together legislation (Trumpcare) that would result in 24 million losing insurance, medicaid expansion (free healthcare for low income workers) replaced with vouchers, and $300 million in tax cuts for the very wealthy. Once
Americans learned what the replacement plan was, they were outraged. The growing opposition forced a number of Republicans to pull support from the plan. Facing opposition from the Freedom Caucus, too, House Speaker Paul Ryan was unable to muster the votes needed. Utterly defeated, he was forced to
cancel the vote and admit that “we’re gonna be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” Resistance growing Still, many people are deeply unsatisfied with Obamacare. Trump’s victory in November was due in part to the frustration and anger
over the failure of Obamacare to cover everyone (over 30 million people were left uninsured) and the escalating costs. What neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will offer is what the vast majority of working class people want - single-payer healthcare, this being single state funded universal healthcare insurance. In fact a poll in May 2016 showed that 60% favour single payer. At a recent townhall in West Virginia, a state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, Bernie Sanders demonstrated the popularity of single payer healthcare with Trump supporters. Sanders now plans to introduce a single-payer healthcare bill in the Senate. While it’s unlikely to get the support of Republicans and will also face significant opposition from the corporate-backed Democratic Party, it can give a boost to the revitalized grassroots campaign to push for single payer. A bold push for universal healthcare, combined with the growing movement to resist Trump’s agenda, can help build a broader and more powerful movement to defeat Trump and challenge the rule of the billionaire class.
Striking for free education in the Spanish state
Racist EU upholds hijab ban
The SocialiST spoke to Ana Garcia, secretary of Sindicato de Estudiantes (the main school student union in the Spanish state) who spoke at the recent “Assembly for Justice” in Dublin.
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice's recent ruling that the banning the wearing of the hijab does not count as discrimination is yet another example of the racist nature of the European Union, sparking outrage across Europe. it is indicative of the fact that the EU is not the progressive institution as proclaimed by its supporters. In Dublin at a protest organ-
Why have Sindicato de Estudiantes supported the #JobstownNotGuilty campaign? Firstly, it was an honour for us to attend the “Assembly for Justice.” There I could see the similarity between the struggles that all workers and young people are involved in. In every country the capitalists – bankers and millionaires – are trying to destroy our basic rights: in Spain they make cuts in education and healthcare; in other countries, like Ireland, they try to implement water taxes. They want us to pay the bill of a crisis we have not provoked and that is the only reason which explains these attacks to working class people. As an answer to austerity policies and cuts from the 1%, we must fight together and in order to do that we have done a solidarity campaign like #JobstownNotGuilty. From Sindicato de Estudiantes, we have explained to students and workers in Spain how workingclass people fought and stopped
By Thomas White
ised by the Muslim Sisters of Éire and ENAR took place outside the offices of the European Parliament with placards that included: “my body, my choice” and “I cover my hair not my brain”. Solidarity TD and Socialist Party member, Ruth Coppinger, who attended the protest said: “This ruling, while in theory banning all religious clothing is in reality aimed at the Hijab and the Muslim community throughout Europe.”
Global solidarity with #JobstownNotGuilty the water charges. We have explained how the state is trying to put activists in prison to stop social mobilisations. Can you tell us more about Sindicato de Estudiantes? Sindicato de Estudiantes is the main organization of students in Spain. We are a left wing, revolutionary and anti-capitalist union where workers’ sons and daughters can join to defend the right to a public education. Today in Spain we are suffering huge attacks to that right that our parents and grandparents won in the 1970s. The right-wing government has implemented new laws in order to prevent working-class people from going to university. But young people and workers have had a great response to these attacks, especially the youth. Since 2012 we have gone on strike 25 times. All those strikes were really successful in the whole country. They were so successful
that we could defeat some of the worst measures of the government. But the struggle has not finished. We want all our demands in practice so the struggle will keep on in the next months and years. What lessons can we learn from your struggle for free education? There are a lot of lessons from our struggle. But the main lesson is that when working-class people organize and take the streets, in doesn’t matter the country, we are able to show that right wing governments and capitalists are powerless. They cannot stop our movement. We are the majority and we can stop unfair policies, miscarriages of justice and even change the society we live in. As we shout in our protests in Spain: we have lost everything, even fear and now they are the ones who are afraid. Let´s make them feel more fear! Let‘s keep on struggling! Let’s fight against capitalism!
By Thomas White THE #JobstownNotGuilty international day of action on 23 March was a huge success and a great display of international solidarity. Over 30 protest actions were organised in more than 20 countries, and 88 MPs and MEPs from over 17 countries pledged their support for the defendants and the right to protest, more have pledged their support since then. Role of the CWi Members of the Committee for a Workers International (CWI) played a critical role in organising these actions. The spirit of this inspiring display of solidarity was summed up by SAV (German section of the CWI) member Lucy Redler, the organiser of the protest in Berlin, who said:
"Today's protests illustrate the major international support for Jobstown Not Guilty. The fact that the upcoming trials are seen by so many across the world as an assault on democratic rights and the right to protest will send a message to the establishment in Ireland that their attempts to criminalise protest will not be accepted."
9
April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Strike & protests sends clear message:
By Laura Fitzgerald
M
arCh 8th 2017 saw young people spilling onto the streets for abortion rights, many thousands of whom had walked out of schools and colleges to join the action, often participating in their first protest. The age profile was discernibly younger than even the youthful March For Choice demonstration in September 2016. The mood was defiant – on the ROSA contingent of the march the “Not the Church, not the state...” chant was morphed into “F*** the Church, f *** the state…” by the throngs of young people around! Mass action for repeal An estimated 8,000 people heed the Strike4Repeal call to come onto O’Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre from 12pm, effectively shutting down traffic-flow in the city for hours. Later on that evening 12,000 marched from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil as part of the Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment’s March4Repeal. About 1,000 people filled up Central Bank in Dublin completely to greet ROSA’s Bus4Repeal at 3pm. The fact that the 40 ROSA activists on the Bus had to walk to Central Bank because the Bus4Repeal couldn’t get into the city centre because of the demonstrations did not deflate the welcome of ardent cheers received. Other significant protests, student walkouts and marches took place in numerous other locations across the state. The Strike4Repeal call struck a chord with young people, precisely as it resonated as a bold and radical action. It shows the possi-
women
Take out the 8th! bility for more organised and mass school and college student strikes to be a weapon in the fight for abortion rights. Many workers also took the day off work, and many other organised with their colleagues to collectively wear black, all showing the possibility for further action of workers as part of the repeal movement. Citizens’ Assembly The Citizens’ Assembly is due to decide on its recommendations towards the end of April, and will then take a few weeks to produce a written report. This will go back to a Dáil Committee to be further pontificated on, meaning further delay. It’s most likely that some type of referendum will be proposed by the Assembly. However, the pervasive attempt by the media (eg. The 3 March Irish Times poll that asked people if they wished to ‘replace’, rather than ‘repeal’, the 8th) and political establishment to limit the scope of change and infer that full repeal, that is, deletion of the 8th would somehow not pass or be accepted may be reflected in its recommendations. This argument flies in the face of not only consistent poll results for years, but also the direction of travel of the attitudes of the population that are moving robustly in a pro-choice direction. No matter what the Citizens’ Assembly recommends, there should be another major day of action in May for full repeal/deletion of the 8th named similar to the Strike4Repeal action. Furthermore the whole prochoice movement needs to begin planning and building for the biggest national demonstration for repeal and abortion rights that the state has ever seen on the 5th anniversary of Savita’s death, 28 October 2017.
Thousands of young people demonstrated for repeal on International Women’s Day in March
Sinn Féin hypocrisy in action ON 7 March, Sinn Féin abstained on a bill which would reduce the penalty for abortion in ireland from a ‘Trumpesque’ 14 years in prison, to a symbolic €1 fine. This has exposed their hypocritical stance on abortion rights. Sinn Féin has attempted to talk out of two sides of their mouth on this issue. They claim to support repealing the 8th, although only favouring legislating for abortion in limited circumstances. By claiming to be in favour of repeal they hope to give the impression to young people radicalised by this issue that they are somehow a progressive alternative to the establishment parties. However by abstaining on this bill they signalled to the conservative political establishment that they are not willing to take a stance in defence of a woman’s right to choose. Only parties committed to a full repeal of the 8th amendment and pro-choice legislation can be trusted to win abortion rights in Ireland.
Tuam scandal: Church’s regime of horror exposed By Fiona O’Loughlin
W
hen the full scale of the tuam (grotesquely misnamed ‘Mother and Baby home’) scandal was laid bare with the publication of names of the 796 babies who died from institutionalised state sanctioned neglect, sorrow quickly turned to rage. The infant mortality rate at this home was 30% higher than for babies born into families in the same period, these babies born to ‘sinners’ and were deemed not to deserve the same care as ‘legitimate’ babies. This was clear in their short lives and the callous manner in which they were literally disposed of in death. What remains uncovered? The spontaneous standing ovation local historian Catherine Corless received on The Late Late Show was a snapshot of how people felt. This quiet ordinary woman was determined that the state and the Catholic Church who ran these institutions would not get off the hook, and doggedly kept research-
The site of the mass grave of babies from the ‘Mother & Baby Home’ in Tuam
ing until the facts simply could no longer be denied or covered up. How many more similar stories as yet remain uncovered? Tuam was not just once off case, it was part and parcel the system of
shame that was used to control women and their sexuality. It is the same system that imprisoned women in the Magdalene laundries, butchered women with symphysiotomy and tortured children
from poor working class backgrounds in orphanages and industrial schools. These so called ‘Mother and Baby’ homes were in every county in Ireland and ran up until 1990s.
Separate church and state How many more infants died from neglect and where are their remains? Where are the records of the thousands of babies sold as adoptions from the religious orders who ran these homes? Why is there no accountability from the Church who is being protected by the State? While the horror of Tuam may date back to the 1960s the control of the Catholic Church in Ireland is still invasive in all our lives. The 8th amendment still polices women’s bodies, more than 90% of state funded primary schools are run by the Catholic Church, the religious orders still have control over the public health service, the Dáil starts each day with a prayer and the bongs of the Angelus – a Catholic prayer – are sounded twice a day on the State broadcaster! It is time for a complete separation of the church and state with a guarantee of religious freedom, which is a private matter for each individual.
10
April 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Another scandal shows...
news
Corruption rife in Gardaí M
ibrahim Halawa: Government inaction is damning
By Conor Burke
ore SCandalS from within the Gardaí have come to light in the last month. this time it has been revealed that up to a million falsified breath tests had been recorded by the Gardaí and that 14,700 people were wrongly convicted of motoring offenses as they weren't given the opportunity to pay a Fixed Charge notice. It is clear that the state’s police force is rotten and rife with corruption. This can be seen at a glance with: major irregularities and breaches within the penalty points system, a culture of cover up, intimidation and a vicious smear campaign against whistle blowers like Maurice McCabe, the selective targeting and prosecution of antiwater charge protestors under Operation Mizen, and now the falsification of breath tests. Government under pressure Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O'Sullivan has admitted that this issue could reach beyond the reporting of breath tests into other areas. These include the reporting of serious crimes like domestic violence which is a chilling indictment of just how deep the problems within the force are. Mounting pressure is coming on the Garda Commissioner to stand down as it becomes increasingly difficult for Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance to stand over the scandals. However, there is reluctance on
By Sami El-Sayed
Only a matter of time before commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan is forced to stand down
behalf of the establishment to pursue this too stringently, as a second Garda commissioner in a row being forced to step down would be tantamount to an admission that the force is in crisis. This weakening of state institutions, combined with an already weak government and in the context of a string of major economic, social and industrial crises can potentially have catastrophic consequences for the state and Irish capitalism.
Shifting the blame The political establishment have repeatedly turned a blind eye and have failed to implement significant legislation or reforms despite clear indications of major structural deficiencies, especially within the upper echelons of the Gardaí. Therefore they hold as much responsibility as the Garda management for the scandals that have emerged. What appears to be happening now is a familiar practice of leadership refusing to take respon-
sibility and shifting blame to lower ranking officers or blaming it on inefficient practices within the structures of the force. The alternative to continuing to look the other way or at making platitudes towards minor ineffectual reform is for the creation of a police force which is democratically accountable to working class communities. In this scenario such a force would not be a corrupt entity acting in defence of the rule of the 1% in our society.
Medicinal cannabis – make it legal! By Eleni Vetsika
M
ediCinal CannaBiS could assist thousands of people in ireland if legalised, however, the government are taking their time with the relevant legislation that has been proposed by Solidarity-PBP, despite being urged to take into account how urgent the issue is. The use of medicinal cannabis has proven to be beneficial for sufferers of an array of debilitating conditions: multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, anxiety, sleep disorders, Parkinson’s, chronic pain, nausea resulting from chemotherapy and many more.
Vera Twomey One of the starkest cases that could be drastically assisted by the legalisation of medicinal cannabis is that of 6-year-old Ava from Co Cork, who suffers from Dravet syndrome - a rare form of epilepsy - and has often experienced 15 to 20 seizures a day. Her mother, Vera Twomey, in an effort to raise awareness for the need to legalise medicinal cannabis has launched a series of campaigning actions, including a 260km trek from Cork to Dublin.
Very Twomey with supporters outside the Dáil
Despite multiple efforts and meeting with Minister for Health, Simon Harris, Ava’s case has not progressed and her health is captive of vague legislation, where the minister can grant permission for access to cannabis when an application is endorsed by the patient’s consultant. However Ava’s consultant is hesitant to do so, as there is no expertise in this coun-
try of overseeing such cases. Change in health system On the other hand, Harris seems to be hiding behind advice of his chief medical officer that it would be “neither appropriate nor ethical” for the Minister to interfere in a doctor-patient relationship. The sad truth remains that Ava and many thousands of others that
could seriously benefit from medicinal cannabis have to wait in uncertainty and pain. This is a clear example of the need for drastic change in our health system; we need medicine to suit the patients’ needs, not the pharmaceutical industry. Medicine is changing, and the legalisation of medicinal cannabis needs to be addressed urgently.
ON 3 April, news emerged of the continuing deterioration of ibrahim Halawa's health. One of over 40,000 political prisoners in Egypt, ibrahim has been held for over three years without trial by the el-Sisi dictatorship, with his trial delayed for the 20th time in March of this year. Halawa - an Irish citizen - has been on hunger strike in protest at his inhumane treatment. The damage this has done to his body is potentially irreparable, and Irish doctors sent by the embassy in Cairo to assess Halawa's health, have recommended his immediate release to Ireland on humanitarian grounds. Despite this, the Egyptian government continues to deny that Ibrahim is on hunger strike and continues to maintain that he is in fine health. On the contrary, Halawa is suffering from severe dehydration and low blood sugar levels. His imminent death is a serious possibility. Kenny echoing el-Sisi lies This situation is the culmination of years of inaction by the government. While Enda Kenny has written a letter to President el-Sisi, asking for Halawa's release, it should be remembered that to bring the government even this far has required years of campaigning by Halawa's family and his supporters. While sending the letter, Enda Kenny qualified his appeal, acknowledging the alleged reality that el-Sisi's hands are tied and that it is not within his constitutional power to secure Ibrahim's release. Ignoring that Egypt is going through a period of dictatorship under President el-Sisi, making the ‘separation of powers’ a farce, this is simply factually incorrect information. Under Law 140, the Egyptian President has the right to intervene and transfer defendants to their home countries even well in advance of trial. Should Ibrahim die prior to his release, two things will be abundantly clear. Firstly, that this would be the deliberate torturing and killing of an Irish citizen by the Egyptian government, and secondly that the Irish state would be complicit in this act, having failed to take every step necessary to secure Ibrahim Halawa's release.
April 2017
11
THE SOCIALIST
After Northern elections
o
By Kevin Henry
nly a year ago political commentators told us that the peace process had entered a new phase, one of “normal politics.” the truth is that we have entered a new phase of the peace process but one which will be marked by more protracted crises, and increased sectarian division unless a left wing alternative is built. The election held on 2 March should be seen as a warning to those serious about challenging sectarian politics. It was the most polarised election in living memory and saw both the Sinn Féin and DUP increase the numbers voting for them, consolidating their position as dominant parties with their respective communities and further entrenching sectarianism. Sinn Féin will find it hard to return to power with DUP without “putting manners on them.” Despite having lost seats the DUP will not wish to be seen to “role over.” Where next? At the time of writing it is impossible to be definitive about what the short term future holds. There still could be another deal, which would, like previous agreements,
Sectarian election is a warning to the labour movement
be an agreement to disagree, failing to resolve the fundamental issues and would prepare the ground for a further crisis. If there is no deal in the short term it likely that we will move in the direction of some form of direct rule or at some point another election which would like be a more intense election including the possibility of sectarian pacts as is already been talked about between the unionist parties. At the heart of the issue is the
inability of the sectarian parties and the respective government to resolve the contentious issues. Even an issue like the RHI Scandal which at its core is a class issue of corruption is transformed into sectarian battle ground with the DUP seeking to protect Arlene Foster as the leader of “strong unionism.” Tensions have also been raised in relation to Irish Language Act. Sinn Féin may use this issue now but their minister had no problem cutting Irish language services.
The Socialist Party favour legal protection for the Irish language and all minority languages but this cannot be done by political forces who wish to use the issue as a political game in negotiations. “legacy” issues The issue of the “Legacy” of the troubles will also be key point in talks. No side in these negotiations are free of the responsibility for the troubles and the reality is that the sectarian parties seek to exam-
analysis
Sectarian polarisation & crisis grows
ine the past through the prism of today, in order to reinforce their positions. They have no interest in exposing their own records to scrutiny. This of course is also true of the British government who have refused to hand over information to victims’ families on the basis of “national security.” Many workers will be concerned at the prospect of no agreed budget which will have implication for jobs, particularly if Tory ministers take control. At the same time the austerity cuts agreed as part of the previous fresh start agreement are continuing to be implemented. This includes the hated welfare cuts which the DUP and Sinn Féin gave the Tories in Westminster the power to implement. It therefore a serious mistake to view one or the other side as being the “progressive side.” The politics of the main parties are based on the maintaining of sectarian division. There can’t be anything progressive about that and nor can they offer a genuine way forward. The only genuine progressive politics is that which seeks to unite working class people across the sectarian divide and seeking to resolve the complicated issues which divide us in the spirit of mutual respect and solidarity. A real socialist alternative is needed to make this a reality.
Scotland: SNP call second independence referendum By Philip Stott
t
he SCottiSh parliament has voted by 69 votes to 59 for a second independence referendum. the exact timing of the vote, however, is not clear. nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish national Party (SnP) First Minister, has said that a new “indyref” (independence referendum) should take place either in the autumn of 2018 or spring 2019. However, a legally binding referendum cannot take place without an agreement from Westminster. Tory Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will refuse to even discuss a referendum until after the conclusion of the Brexit talks. The nuclear option for the Tory leadership would be to refuse a second referendum altogether. This would massively inflame national tensions and would drive up support for independence, introducing a new explosive element of instability into an already volatile political situation. Why now? The SNP delayed calling a referendum following the Brexit vote of June 2016, in large part this is because of the static polling that, even now, still has support for staying in the union ahead by 52%
to 48%. This is despite the fact that Scotland voted 62% to 38% to stay in the EU, although an estimated 400,000 people who backed independence in 2014 voted to leave the EU. Strenuous efforts have been made by the SNP leaders to seek a compromise with Teresa May over Brexit. In essence, the Scottish Government have agreed to Scotland being outside the EU as along as it, or the UK as a whole, continues to have access to the single market. In part, the calling of a new referendum is a continuation of the SNP’s strategy designed to win concessions from Theresa May over access to the single market and a so-called “soft Brexit”. This is very much in line with the overall interests of British capitalism, which ironically, Sturgeon is reflecting more consistently on this issue than the Tories, the traditional party of British big business. Will the referendum take place? At present it is most likely that the SNP leadership intend to press ahead with demands for a second indyref. However, Sturgeon did make the following comment in a recent speech: “Even at this late stage, I am not turning my back on further discussions should the UK
Scotland is preparing for a second independence referendum
government change its mind and decide it is willing to agree to our compromise proposals.” In other words if there was the emergence of a Brexit deal that kept Scotland or the UK in the single market it is possible the referendum would not take place. A socialist approach Socialist Party Scotland will give critical support for a vote in favour of independence, as we did in the 2014 referendum. Our criticisms are squarely aimed at the SNP leadership who promote and defend big business interests while imple-
menting austerity across Scotland. Their vision of an independent Scotland is one that would do nothing to tackle the horrific levels of low pay, inequality and poverty that are rooted in the profit system. In contrast to a Scotland for the 1%, we stand for an independent socialist Scotland. This is a Scotland where this a living wage of £10 an-hour without exemptions and a massive programme of investment in public services to reverse the impact of austerity. There needs to be democratic public ownership of the key sectors of the economy and
to end the rule of the bankers and billionaires. Moreover, an independent socialist Scotland would seek to forge the closest of relationships with a socialist England, Wales and Ireland as a step to a socialist Europe. Such a socialist confederation would of course have to be voluntary and democratic, without a hint of compulsion. A socialist campaign in favour of independence can gain significant support. It should involve trade unions, groups of trade unionists and socialist organisations and others to forge that alternative.
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