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January / february 2017
INSIDE
Ireland’s homelessness crisis
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January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
news
Socialists in the Dáil – challenging the parties of the 1% or did he reassure, as the Taoiseach of the sixth worst tax haven in the world, not to worry as we will spend public money to make sure he does not pay us what he owes us?” – Paul Murphy tD questions enda Kenny on his meeting with apple CeO Tim Cook
Leader of the landlord party Shameful cuts to women’s refuge services “Once women do not have power equal to that of men, they will always be more likely to be victims of domestic violence. according to SaFe Ireland, one in four women are victims. Fully 25% of all violent crime involves a man assaulting his partner. We have to challenge the patriarchal culture that exists under capitalism everywhere.” – ruth coppinger tD raising violence against women and shameful government cuts to refuge services.
Election of a climate change denier “Trump's victory was cheered on by big coal, big oil and big gas. The mining equipment corporation, Caterpillar, saw its shares rise on US stock markets by 7% in one day after Trump's victory. It seems to be that the world's No. 1
capitalist politician is a climate change denier and it is becoming increasingly clear that key corporate interests at the very heart of the world of big business stand to gain from Trump's climate change denial policies.” – Mick barry tD on the election of climate-change denier Donald Trump.
Rotten Apples, rotten system “I have a simple question for the Taoiseach. When he met Tim Cook, did he tell him anything about the housing and homelessness crisis in our country? Did he tell him anything about the people who are on hospital trolleys or on hospital waiting lists? Did the Taoiseach tell him anything about the children who go to schools with bad conditions such as prefabs, etc? Did the Taoiseach tell Tim Cook how the €13 billion plus interest that he owes the people of Ireland could transform the situation for their lives? Did the Taoiseach say any of this
“According to the CSO, clear profits from rent on dwellings came to €1.6 billion in 2010 and rose to €2.7 billion by 2015, an increase of more than €1 billion. The country is crying out for a Taoiseach who will say the people's pockets are more important than rent increases for landlords and that strict and stringent rent controls will be the order of the day. The country is crying out for a Taoiseach who will bang the table, turn calmly to landlords and tell them that they have bled the people for long enough and will not increase rents by one single penny more. The Taoiseach does not look like the man for the job. He is the leader of the landlord party.”
the massive profits being accumulated by rising rents.
Evictions fuel homelessness epidemic “Last January, 500 extra people were made homeless compared to the preceding month. Many landlords wait until after the Christmas period so they do not turf children out on the street before Santa arrives. However, this does not stop them doing it when Christmas is over. In January last year, 109 extra families were made homeless compared to the usual figures, including a huge number of children.”
“Profits from rent on dwellings came to €1.6 billion in 2010 and rose to €2.7 billion by 2015”
– Mick barry tD exposing
Ireland: World’s sixth largest tax haven
– ruth coppinger tD launching the antiausterity alliance antieviction Bill
By Dave Murphy
European elite’s Marie Antoinette moment “There is a lesson here for the political establishment in the European Union. It was summed up in an article in The Financial Times by Wolfgang Münchau as the Marie Antoinette moment for Europe's elite. These people are unwilling to see the reality of what is happening and the extent of the disillusionment with Europe's political and economic system and respond with something that is akin to "let them eat cake", for which it will pay the price again and again. There is a significant left force building that can instead transform the Europe that we have and fight for a very different type of Europe, a socialist one that works in the interests of the millions.” – Paul Murphy tD on the economic and political crisis faced by the establishment across europe
eviction bill Press conference launching AAA anti-
Record demand for food parcels at Christmas in Dublin
By Linda Schutz
I
n December, Oxfam published a list of 15 countries which are the world’s worst corporate tax havens. With bermuda first and Ireland in sixth, the report lists the corporate tax havens that drive the global race to the bottom by having low corporate tax rates, offering tax incentives and by refusing to cooperate with international efforts against tax avoidance. Companies are benefitting from this on an industrial scale. According to Oxfam, 90% of the world’s biggest companies had a presence in at least one tax haven!
Deepening inequality Current taxation policies directly deepen inequality in two main ways. Governments cut taxes for big business or even offer incentives then increase mass taxes and cut public services. Measures that were designed to reduce inequality and redistribute wealth, such as welfare payments, public healthcare and education, are slashed. At the same time, tax cuts for businesses mean larger profits and pay-outs to shareholders and business owners, so the current tax policies make the poor poorer and the rich even richer.
On a global scale tax competition hits poorer countries massively, as corporate taxation makes up a larger part of their tax income. Developing countries lose around $100bn annually to tax avoidance schemes, and even pay an estimated $138 Billion in tax incentives to large businesses! Net profits of the world’s largest companies more than tripled in the last 30 years, but thanks to tax havens, taxes paid by these companies have not seen a similar increase. In Ireland, the low tax model has failed to develop the economy and to generate the promised jobs: less than 10% of the workforce are employed by the multinational sector. Democratic planning for need We cannot appeal to companies to accept their "tax responsibility", reason with neo-liberal politicians or rely on bodies such as the EU. We need to build a socialist alter-
native that argues for to end to Ireland’s pro-big business taxation policy, starting by taking the €13 billion owed by Apple, closing the loopholes immediately and significantly raising our corporate taxes. The income can then be used to build social and affordable homes, get people off trolleys in the hospitals, pay restoration and countless other, long-overdue investments in the need of the 99% - creating well paid, secure jobs in the process. But this can only be a first step and tax dodging is only part of the problem, companies are also hoarding money or speculate with it instead of investing productively because the expected profits are low. Taking control and public ownership of the key industries such as banks and construction will form the basis for a democratically planned economy, where making a profit is no longer the driving force, but the needs of people and the planet.
Long queues formed outside the Capuchin Centre in Dublin City centre as people were waiting to get their hands on a food parcel for Christmas. Almost identical images from 1923 where making the rounds on social media, reminding us that – under this system – profound crisis will return again and again.
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January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
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he inspiring occupation of Apollo House by activists in #HomeSweetHome over the Christmas period and early New Year highlighted the crisis of homelessness on our streets. Here Dublin City Councillor, Michael O’Brien, examines the roots of the crisis giving the specific example of how it has developed in the capital.
50,000 units and 14,000 of those could be built on council owned land. The solutions are obvious but the initiative is being left to private developers and builders not just to build homes on the land they own but they are also being asked to build on council owned land and take a cut for themselves! One site owned by DCC on the Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock has been earmarked for 660 units. However because the council is forbidden by the government and the Troika from raising the finance to build they instead, with the support of the establishment parties and Sinn Féin, will allow a private developer build the units and keep 70% for themselves to sell or rent!
housing
Homelessness crisis goes from bad to worse
I and other councillors on the left who object to this majority privatisation are told it is not only necessary but desirable from the point of view of achieving the ‘right social mix’. Besides being insulting towards social housing applicants the plain facts are that the vast majority of people on the list will never be housed at this rate. It is clear that the government and other establishment parties are opposed to the state building affordable homes, they are hardened in their belief that solutions will come via the private market. We need to build a left alternative that argues that the wealth of the super-rich and big business is seized to end this homelessness tsunami.
Realities of emergency accommodation: Apollo House occupation highlighted scale of homelessness crisis
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he hOmelessness crisis in Dublin began to accelerate in may 2015 with a build-up of numbers presenting to the Dublin regional homeless services far outstripping the amount of people being progressed from emergency accommodation into permanent housing from that point. The obvious factors of ‘legal’ evictions and massive rent hikes which amount to ‘constructive’ evictions are still at play driving a crisis that sees 2,212 registered homeless cases in Dublin City Council area. Overall some 6,000 affected individuals, including children, across the whole of the city and county as of January 2017.
Rent controls now The measures brought in last year ‘limiting’ rent rises to 4% per year over three years will not fundamentally address the issue. We need stringent rent controls which would have to involve enforced reductions to make them affordable. Besides landlords will seek and get money beyond the 4% limits under the counter if they think they can get away with it. The other factor contributing the rise has been a reduction since May last year of the portion of what little public housing is available that goes to priority cases, including the homeless, from half to about a quarter. So a massive backlog built up in the latter half of
last year in the emergency accommodation scene with a stable and suitable DCC approved emergency accommodation bed becoming harder to get, finally resulting in the opening up of new facilities. There are 18,000 housing applicants currently on the Dublin City Council list. The need for housing is far greater taking into account those who cannot afford to buy a home yet are ineligible to even apply for social housing because they exceed the very low income thresholds. Privatising council land At the same time there is enough land zoned for residential development in the DCC are for over
The SocialiST spoke to those living in emergency accommodation (who wished to remain anonymous) about their experiences of emergency accommodation. l “Once the hotel we’ve been staying in went completely over to emergency accommodation standards dropped through the floor. Basic hygiene went by the wayside in terms of soiled bedding and curtains going unchanged. As well mould and damp have gone completely unchecked. It’s no longer safe to keep children here.” l “Like many others in my situation my mental health has dived as the months wear on with no sign of permanent housing in sight. I’m on medication and my prescription has had to change as I sink deeper. The medical and mental health cost that comes with this crisis is never really factored in on top of the cost for the taxpayer paying for hotels and hostels for emergency accommodation.” l “Where I’ve been staying for the last 15 months was ok until around November when a few active users of heroin moved in. I don’t want my kids being around this.”
Role of vulture funds laid bare By Sami El-Syad On MOnDAy 9 January, RTÉ aired The Great Irish Sell-Off. The hour long documentary outlined broadly the activities of appropriately named vulture funds in Ireland and across many parts of the world. The documentary showed the huge value in assets that these few vulture funds hold, the massive human cost for ordinary people, the pittance in tax that these funds pay. €250 per annum in tax Ian Kehoe, the presenter, outlined how 15 Irish subsidiaries of these vulture funds owned a collective €10.3 billion in assets yet incredibly only pay an average of €250 a year each in taxation. The estimated losses to the state being in the region of €500 million as a result of lucrative tax breaks (which equal corporate welfare) given to these funds by successive right wing, neo-liberal governments under Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fáil and the Greens.
During the course of the documentary there were interviews with Ashoka Mody (former head of the IMF mission to Ireland) who stressed that the arrival of vulture funds into Ireland was the market taking its course. He argued it was inevitable peddling the tired myth that Irish (working class) people have lived beyond their means. The reality is that the speculation of bankers and developers brought Ireland into dire economic straits. These vulture funds – many of which caused the international economic crisis to begin with – are swooping in to profiteer off the back of this crisis. This comes at a great human cost as they have helped to fuel a new housing crisis in the state. “Provide a very good service” That these vulture funds can buy up huge amounts of property and then evict those living in them is no accident or oversight, it’s capitalism working as intended. The case of Tyrrelstown, where mass eviction notices were issued, is illustrative of what these funds will try to get away with if not met
Residents of Tyrellstown faced eviction from their homes by vulture funds
with resistance from ordinary people. Similarly a vulture fund in Limerick sought to evict the residents of an apartment complex, however they were unsuccessful in doing so when tenants organised to fight them. According to one of the city’s local TDs, Minister for
Finance Michael Noonan – who invited this particular fund to come in, and met them on eight different occasions – they “provide a very good service.” The activities of these vulture funds is at the centre of Ireland's homelessness and housing crises, with rents increasingly rapidly and
becoming unaffordable for working people. The property that they purchased at knock prices must be seized by the state and utilised to create social and affordable homes for all. More broadly we must end the logic of the private market which has proven incapable of providing affordable homes for all.
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January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
analysis
Showdown looms ahead of political storm A
By Kevin McLoughlin
grI-FOOD and drinks, the dominant Irish-owned exporting sector, has already been badly hit by sterling’s decline. A whopping 40% of all its exports go to britain, meaning it’s very vulnerable to brexit. The cuts planned to corporation tax in the Us, britain and other countries are also a direct challenge to Ireland’s reliance on Foreign Direct Investment. Putting down his own marker, Micheál Martin recently said; “If we take these threats together what we face today may be even bigger than the recession we have recently come through. This is not about a conventional economic shock but a direct challenge to our core economic system. We must be radical in our response or suffer the long-term damage.” A nervous establishment The editorials of the papers reflect the establishment’s concern that this government is too weak and prone to compromise. Criticising it in early November the Irish Times said: “Economic recovery is well underway but it’s localised and under threat because of Brexit. Creating an expectation that a return to Celtic Tiger living standards, along with improved servic-
es, tax cuts and higher employment are within touching distance is disingenuous and wrong. Items on a wish list cannot all be afforded at the same time. Trade-offs will be necessary. And that will require public education and straight talking.” And later, “This minority Government is incapable of taking difficult, unpopular decisions.” Not only must the demands for wage increases be faced down, they say, so too the renewed calls – as healthcare disintegrates – for investment in proper public services. In fact what the establishment wants is a further shifting of wealth from ordinary people to the rich to compensate them for these new economic challenges. That means declining conditions and worsening economic and social inequality – the direct opposite of what the majority expect and demand. To ensure their interests are safeguarded, the establishment wants Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to co-operate like never before. Some trade union leaders are as horrified as the government and bosses that militant strikes have led to important pay increases and want some new partnership agreement to hold back this new movement from below. People are fed up with the constant promises of improvements tomorrow. Discontent is bubbling
Growing crises is forcing co-operation between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
at the slow or non-existent progress on pay, on housing and homelessness, on healthcare, on abortion rights, on justice and equality. But, just as the anger is growing at the rationing of living standards and rights, the position of the capitalist establishment now facing a new crisis will be to reduce rations further. This points towards a major clash. Political polarisation Notwithstanding the compromising approach of some of the trade
union leaders, the powerful impact of the water charges movement and the militant victories on pay cannot be wiped away by government rhetoric or media propaganda. Workers and trade unionists need to get organised and prepare to fight on all the issues. The Dáil will reflect the polarisation developing among the classes. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Independent Alliance and Labour stand on one side and AntiAusterity Alliance-People Before Profit and some left independents
stand on the other; with Sinn Féin in the middle trying to be bridge an unbridgeable gap. The AAA-PBP, of which the Socialist Party is a key part, needs to not only take the fight to the establishment parties in the Dáil but also must popularise the left, socialist alternative to the crisis of capitalism. It needs to prepare the ground for the launching of a new broad-based party for workers, women and young people to fight for a socialist government and change in this country.
1917: How socialist revolution inspired Irish workers Guards” and labourers’ “Red Guards”; and the word “Bolshevik” comes up again and again in the records.
By Manus Lenihan
I
n sepTember 1921 the workers at the port of cork city went on strike. They occupied the port and bob Day, the union organiser, addressed the strikers as “Friends, comrades and bolsheviks.” Day went on to explain what he meant by the word “bolshevik”: a desire “that the bottom dog should go up and the top dog come down.” That was what had happened in Russia in 1917. The top dog, the Tsar and the bosses and landlords came down, and the workers, led by the Bolshevik Party, formerly the bottom dog, became the ruling class for the first time in history. As Day’s words reflect, this was a massive inspiration for the “bottom dog” everywhere, including Ireland. This year we mark a century since these earth-shaking events. Revolutionary wave reaches Ireland It’s not widely known today, but from 1917 to 1923 there was mass support for the Russian Revolution in Ireland. This was partly because the early Soviet Union championed the idea of self-determination. The idea that a socialist revolution was sweeping the globe appealed even more strongly to toilers in Ireland, with James Connolly a strong reference point for socialist ideas. This was before Stalinism generated a lot of confusion about what the
The relevance of the 1917 This year the Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers’ International, the global organisation we’re part of, will be commemorating the events of 1917 and their impact around the world. Today capitalism offers us a vista of inequality, hatred, war, mass
10,000 came to meeting in February 1918 to celebrate Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution and socialism actually represented. Three months after October 1917, 10,000 attended a rally in the Mansion House in Dublin to celebrate the events. The atmosphere was electric, with the crowds spilling out the doors in such numbers that two overflow meetings had to be held. The newspaper of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) gave massive coverage to early Soviet Russia from 1918 on. In spite of paper rationing, every issue had loads of material on the Revolution. Thousands of workers read the latest statements from Lenin and Trotsky, news of events in the Russian Civil War and descriptions of the revolutionary movements
sweeping across the world. These years saw the ITGWU (today SIPTU) grow from 5,000 in 1916 to 25,000 in 1917, passing the 100,000 mark in 1920. In April 1919 a general strike broke out in Limerick against British military. The name the workers gave to this strike – the Limerick Soviet – signals where they drew their inspiration from. The trades council ran the city for weeks, giving real content to the idea of a worker’s soviet. From Cork to Belfast and from Galway to Dublin, in cities, towns and villages, we find the marks of the Russian Revolution in this period. Strikes and movements were referred to by their participants as “Soviets”; battles took place between big farmers’ “White
poverty and climate change. A host of writers and commentators will try to portray the Russian Revolution in a negative light – most of them with a bitter agenda of trying to convince people that any attempt to fundamentally change society will end in failure. That’s why we’re eager to reclaim the real memory of what happened, and of how at the time it was correctly viewed by the masses in Ireland as a movement for working-class liberation.
Buy the book! Order online at www.socialistparty.ie
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January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Solidarity with #JobstownNotGuilty T
By Emma Quinn
he TrIAl of the first grouping of adult defendants, including paul murphy TD, AAA councillors Kieran mahon and mick murphy and members of the Jobstown community begins on the 24 April. Ironically, this is the same day as the trial of former Anglo Irish chief executive, David Drumm. The trial is comparable, in significance and potential impact on society, to the Arms Trial of the 1970s, which took place in a period of heightened tension around the national question. The political context of the Jobstown trials is one of increasing inequality and a growing alienation from the establishment amongst broad sections of the working class and young people. The striking class divide between Drumm and the hard pressed working-class community of Jobstown, is actually quite symbolic of the sentiment felt by many in the anti-water charges and anti-austerity movement. In fighting the water charges, ordinary people were not only showing their opposition to the charges and austerity generally, but also to the huge injustice of workingclass people being forced to pay the price of an economic crisis caused by bankers like Drumm. The stitch-up continues The judge presiding over the case of the 17 year-old charged with the “false imprisonment” of Joan Burton, duplicitously described him as having led “a blameless life” before promptly finding him
guilty. This was despite any allegations or indication of violent or aggressive behaviour being made against the student. This verdict and with it the sentence – a “conditional discharge” with no prison time – was an obvious attempt to minimise outrage and eradicate any doubt whatsoever that these trials are politically motivated. It also indicates an attempt to create a precedent for guilty verdicts for the adults charged. As well as having a huge impact on the defendants and the community of Jobstown, these trials have major implications for working-class people generally and particularly those who want an alternative to the inequality imposed by the capitalist system. Through these trials and the threat of significant jail terms, the political establishment and the state are trying to intimidate people away from protesting. This is precisely at a time when there is bubbling industrial unrest, a horrendous housing crisis and a radicalisation of young people demanding a woman’s right to choose. Attacks on right to protest Attacks on democratic rights, including toughening up antitrade union legislation and the introduction of new laws criminalising protest is an increasing international trend. In 2016 Sharan Burrow General Secretary of ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) commented that: “We are witnessing the closing of democratic space and an increase in insecurity, fear and
intimidation of working people. The speed at which attacks on rights are being forced through, even in democracies, with the Finish government’s proposals and the new trade union law in the United Kingdom, shows an alarming trend for working people and their families”. These attacks are happening after nine years of austerity and a continuation of economic stagnation. The fear of organised struggle of the working class, defending rights won in the past, is an increasing threat to the capitalist system. The establishment in Ireland and internationally are trying to weaken the potential fight back from those who want to resist growing inequality and the best way to counteract these attacks is the building and strengthening of socialist forces world wide.
news
Oppose criminalisation of protest
Get active in helping to build a strong campaign of solidarity with the Jobstown defendants that can turn this attack into a major victory and a turning point for the working class and left movement in this country. Contact us if you can become “a Friend of Jobstown” take a supporters card, deliver leaflets in your area and help us to build for:
Upcoming National Events Rally for #JobstownNotGuilty Liberty Hall, Saturday 1st April National Demo to coincide with the first week of the trial Saturday 29th April
Government try to sugar the pill of water charges water charges and Irish Water for once and for all. We should say loud and clear that no matter what sugar they put on the pill, we're not taking it, and we won't be paying the charges.
By Cian Prendiville
O
F All the deaths of 2016, there was one most people rejoiced at: the apparent death of water charges. however, now it seems Fianna Fáil & Fine gael, along with the endapendents, are conniving to try to breath new life into this Frankenstein's monster. The water charges movement must respond powerfully to ensure that this austerity tax is buried once and for all. We won’t be fooled An all-party committee has been set up by the government to discuss water charges. Their hope is that this committee can help sneak the charges in through the back door. Minister Coveney has been out in the media arguing for charges on “excessive use” of water. However, under questioning from AAA TD Mick Barry, the regulator confirmed that in fact a majority of households would face
charges from day one under the Minister’s proposals. The government will undoubtedly try to be clever and bring in special exemptions, allowances, introductory rates etc. If they think
people will be fooled, they have another thing coming. We know these will just be the thin end of the wedge, and if they get charges in, in any form, the allowances and exemptions will slowly but surely
be removed and the prices increased. In order to prevent this, the water charges movement must take to the streets again, and demand the complete abolition of
We won’t be fooled Fianna Fáil in particular should be brought under huge pressure. They pledged in the election to scrap water charges, anything less than that would be a complete betrayal of their voters. We have until the end of March, when the Dáil votes on this, to let them know they will not be let away with any fudge on this issue. The Socialist Party and the AAA will be arguing within the wider anti-water charges movement that a date needs to be set to take to the streets again in a major national demonstration, before the Dáil votes on this, and before the Jobstown trials start in April. Let's make sure that they hear us loud and clear: No way, we won't pay!
January / February 2017
THE SO
T
HE ELECTION of Donald Trump has polarised US society and shocked people around the world, writes CONOR PAYNE. The Republicans, with their hard-right element in the ascendancy, have taken control of the Presidency, both houses of Congress and most of the state governments.
special feature
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e cAn expect them to pursue an aggressive agenda against environmental protection, possibly resuming the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline at standing rock. They intend to repeal the Affordable care Act, taking health insurance from tens of millions, introduce huge cuts to corporation tax and launch major attacks on unions. The Republican congress has set its sights on cutting or privatisation the historic social programmes of Social Security and Medicare. Trump has promised mass deportations, approximately 3 million in the first months of his presidency- outstripping the numbers deported over the 8 years of Obama’s presidency. An assault against women’s rights is on the agenda, in particular the cutting of all funding to Planned Parenthood. However, Trump and the Republicans are far from invincible and can be defeated by movements of women, people of colour, LGBTQ people and the working class. Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes and has an approval rate of 37%, a historic low for an incoming president. Many of Trump’s own voters who wanted a break from the establishment will soon be disappointed as he pursues an agenda geared to the interests of the superrich and major corporations. The Republicans themselves are divided, as shown by the ructions over the role allegedly played by Russia in assisting Trump’s election. Trump can be defeated A mass sentiment of opposition to Trump already exists. A huge section of US society is actually moving to the left, as indicated by the enormous response to Sanders’ campaign, and the development of social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock and the fight for a $15 minimum wage. These forces are on a collision course with the Republicans and can win. In 2006, a bill passed to pave the way for mass deportations was
TRUMP’S PRESID
defeated by a movement of millions of undocumented immigrants, and also shifted attitudes for a time in support of immigrants’ rights. In Poland last year, the hard right government was forced to back down from a total abortion ban, after huge protests by women, including strike action, convulsed society. These are examples of the scale of struggle which will be needed. In Kentucky, the Republicans have attempted to simultaneously introduce an abortion ban and an anti-union ‘Right to Work’ law and have been met by a mass occupation of the statehouse. Socialist Alternative, our US sister organisation, have called for mass protest at Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and A Million Women’s March has also been called in the context of the attempts of the new regime to defund Planned Parenthood. Trump and the right wing can be beatenbut a serious fight will be needed. Breaks with Democrats needed The failure of the Democratic Party to defeat as unpopular a candidate as Trump was an indication of their deep weakness and crisis. They are shown up as not defending the interests of working class people and this has been seen as a major reason for their loss. The calls of a section of the Democrats to now ‘give Trump a chance’ represents the exact opposite of what is needed. The fact that the Democratic establishment is on the backfoot is a positive but also can feed the idea that the Democratic Party can be transformed in a left direction. This is the project of Bernie Sanders and candidate for the Democratic National Committee chair Keith Ellison. However, the efforts put in by the Democratic Party establishment to defeat Sanders in the primary last year how that they are not for turning and that a new party is needed for working people and youth in the US, linked to the grassroots movements that will develop against Trump.
RESISTAN Inter-imperialist rivalry Trump’s election reflects the decline of the US empire and the loss of authority of its ruling class. A hallmark of his campaign was his call for increased protectionism and an end to the era of globalised free trade. This is being mirrored by other forces on the right internationally, as the world moves away from being solely dominated by US imperialism. We are seeing increased competition between the major capitalist powers as Russia + China in particular increasingly assert themselves on the world scene. This is already reflected in conflicts around the world, including in Syria and Ukraine. This is a dangerous development for working people around the world, threatening both increased conflict and an escalation of the race to the bottom- as seen by Trump’s plan to lower US corporation tax to 15%. We need urgently to organise to fight for a socialist world which will instead be based on international co-operation in the interests of the 99%.
How the growth of the racis By Cillian Gillespie
T
he OUTcOme of the Us presidential election has brought into sharp focus the scale of the political crisis facing the capitalist establishment internationally. Trump is clearly a racist, misogynistic multi-billionaire bigot, but he is one not trusted or supported by large sections of the ruling class in the Us (including important sections of the republican party) in the recent election. such opposition flows from the economic policies that Trump has advocated. While his disgusting attacks on migrants and other minorities was a factor in helping to galvanise support for Trump, it was ultimately his opposition to policies of globalisation in the form of NAFTA (the North America Free Trade Agreement) and his promise to “Make America great again” that ensured he was able to gain support in the so-called “rustbelt” of the US. These are made up of states such as Michigan and Ohio, whose manufacturing jobs have been destroyed by globalisation and neo-liberal capitalism over the last four decades. By cynically posing as an antiestablishment candidate opposed to the economic orthodoxy that has brought misery to working class people, he was able to tap into the anger and hatred that exists towards the political establishment in the US, epitomised by Hillary Clinton. Right wing populism in Europe Trump’s election has given confidence and an impetus to the forces of racist and right wing populism here in Europe in countries such as France, Netherlands and Germany, where elections will take place this year. In December, the far-right
Trump's Presidency commences with mass protests against his rule
Le Pen, Farage, Wilders and Hofer: Th
Freedom Party in Austria was able to gain 46% of the vote in the re-run of the Presidential election. According to the commentariat of the capitalist press and media, these developments are illustrative of a shift to the right within society. This superficial analysis fails to understand the economic and political circumstances that have given rise to this right-wing populism. Like Trump, right-wing and farright populist forces such as the Marine Le Pen in France, Geert
January / February 2017
OCIALIST
Climate change crisis is deteriorating rapidly
By Aprille Scully
NCE STARTS NOw
st right can be challenged ments which have played into the hands of the far-right. Such groups have put forward a populist message of railing against the European Union and globalisation as well scapegoating refugees and migrants for the problems confronting working and middle-class people. Le Pen, who is expected to go through to second round of the French Presidential election, has gained support in areas of France that suffered de-industrialisation and which in turn face high levels of unemployment.
heir rise in support is not inevitable
Wilders in the Netherlands and the Alternative for Germany have gained from the decline or collapse in support for the so-called “political centre”. This is comprised of the traditional parties of the capitalist class in Europe such as the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, along with the former social democratic parties such as the Labour Party and PASOK in Greece. Rejection of establishment All of these parties have been in power since 2008 when the eco-
nomic crisis of capitalism came to fruition. They all uniformly accept and helped to implement the logic of neo-liberal capitalism; the driving down of wages and conditions, deindustrialisation and dismantling of the welfare state so that the profits of big business and banks can be maximised. They are keen supporters of the increasingly discredited EU project. It is also noteworthy that they have sought, through their actions and words, to stir up anti-refugee senti-
Build a socialist left There is nothing inevitable about the rise of Trump, Le Pen and their ilk and there is a massive potential to be fill the gaping political vacuum by a genuine left wing movement. In the US, the support garnered by Bernie Sanders is indicative of this. Sanders’ message of a “political revolution against the billionaire class” resonated with many of those who were to ultimately vote for Trump. While they pose a real threat to workers, young people, LGBTQ people and people of colour, the rise of the right can be met with enormous opposition in the months and years ahead. This can create the basis to build a political alternative that can ultimately defeat racism and the right. The building of a powerful of a socialist left is of urgent necessity if the growth in support for right wing and racist populist parties is to be cut across. While taking a principled position in opposition to racism, racist immigration controls and for the right of asylum it pose the necessity of seizing the wealth of the 1% and investing in decent jobs, homes and services for the 99%, migrant and non-migrant alike.
DOnALD TRuMP, the right wing, racist, sexist billionaire, epitomises corporate culture in every way. As a worshiper of the free market he wilfully denies that our planet is under threat from environmental destruction. Trump’s choice for secretary of state is multi-millionaire Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobile. The company has spent millions on propaganda denying the existence of climate change. Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorneygeneral, has been selected to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Trump. Pruitt, like Trump, deems global warming “a hoax”. Pruitt has condemned the EPA as “interfering” with the free market. Oil and gas lobbies How can individuals, who have a vested interest in the continuation of fossil fuel energy, be in such positions? Obviously it is not likely that an administration with such intimate links to the major oil, gas and coal companies are going to implement any progressive environmental policies. Trump says that climate change is just a “very, very expensive tax” that “will cost our companies”. He pledged to slash funding to clean energy research. Furthermore, Trump wants to take the US out of the Paris Climate accord. One third of Republican members of Congress flat out deny that climate change is real. They are amongst the most crude climate change deniers left in the world. In total, these climatedeniers have received $73,294,380.00 in contributions from oil, gas and coal companies over the course of their careers. Yet it is not just the energy companies who oppose taking action against climate change as it threatens their core business quite directly. Capitalism itself treats the environment as an externality, something to be exploited in order to maximise profit. If it is cheaper to mass produce goods and transport them from one side of the world to the other, with all the packaging and fuel that necessitates, rather than produce them locally, then that will be how it is produced. The negative impact to the environment is not taken into consideration. Making real concrete changes to tackle the acceleration of climate destruction puts the whole system of how production is organised into question.
Paris Climate agreement This is reflected in the Paris Climate agreement which is extremely lacklustre. One hundred and ninety six countries have agreed to a very vague promise of “net-zero” emissions by “the second-half of the century” but this “net-zero” is achieved in an accounting fix of carbon trading between nations rather than actually cutting carbon emissions! Since becoming president, Trump has backtracked from his promise to take the US out of the agreement. What this reflects actually is an attempt by the Republican Party to not completely alienate themselves as blatant liars, as even the oil and motor industries accept that climate change exists. The politics of Trump means protecting corporations and American capitalism by any means. It’s not just the Republicans who are funded by oil money. So too are the Democrats; it was the Obama administration which oversaw the largest increase in oil extraction in a generation and whose state department pushed fracking globally. The struggle at Standing Rock happened under Obama. He effectively kicked the issue to touch under pressure by the huge mobilisations against the pipeline at Standing Rock. Dakota Access Pipeline will most likely appeal the decision under a Trump administration who has expressed support for the construction. Deteriorating crisis This discussion is very timely as this month NASA has reported that the rift that has wending its way across Antarctica’s massive Larsen C ice shelf has grown by more than ten miles. That means that a block of ice bigger than New York’s Long Island will break away very soon bringing more ice into the ocean and rising sea levels. To really fight against climate change we must fight its root cause and that is activity leading to major carbon emissions. Both the Republicans and the Democrats as well as ALL capitalist governments across the world are implicated in this crisis in their inaction. The biggest polluters, the energy, agriculture and transport industries must be nationalised and run in the interest of the 99% and our planet. Global coordination to harness renewable energy – which cannot be done under capitalist competition – is necessary. Only a socialist world can offer a plan of action against climate change. It is not only preferable to capitalism’s misery but necessary for the future of humanity.
special feature
DENCY:
US: Climate change denier takes power
7
January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Free Ibrahim Halawa
international
8
A
AA TD & Socialist Party member Paul Murphy recently visited Egypt to meet Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, who has been incarcerated by the el-Sisi military dictatorship since August 2013 to highlight the injustice of his case. Below he writes a report of the visit and the brutal realities of life under el-Sisi’s rule.
“I want to go home.” That was Ibrahim Halawa's first message to the delegation of eight TDs which met with him on Tuesday in Wadi el Natrun prison. We had come to visit this 21 year old Irish citizen, on the back of a public campaign spearheaded by his tirelessly cam-
paigning sisters and a Dáil motion calling for his release. He is desperate to be home and with each court appearance (which are mass trials with 493 other defendants) which come and go with no verdict, he loses hope that he will ever be free. Horrendous conditions He is in a maximum security prison supposed to be reserved for those who have been convicted, which he hasn't been. Ten people sleep in a cell so small that their feet touch and with no space to move. They are only a few centimetres off the hard ground on very thin mattresses. There is one toilet per cell and no privacy. In a previous prison, he was beaten with an iron bar and cut with metal chains. He was also put in a tiny cell two metres long and 80 cm wide with two others as a punishment for refusing visits previously. His continued jailing is part of the counter-revolutionary process spearheaded by the military regime of el-Sisi. This has seen a crackdown on democratic rights – with trade unionists, socialists, journalists and human rights activists all rounded up together with the Muslim Brotherhood. He
Ibrahim Halawa's trial was postponed for the 18th time on 17 January
was 17 when he visited Egypt and participated in a protest along with his sisters against the removal of President Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who had replaced Mubarak. After Morsi's election, the Brotherhood attempted to come to an arrangement of co-existence with the old military ruling clique,
Spain: School student strikes defeat Rajoy government
which essentially remained in place. It had also limited democratic and human rights, alienating even many of those who voted for Morsi in the election, as an alternative to the candidate of the old regime. Realities of dictatorship The result was that when mass
the world in numbers By Carah Daniel
72
Number of bombs dropped by Obama every day in 2016
200,000 school students took to the streets of the Spanish state in October and November
By Grace Gageby
I
n OcTOber and november, the spanish state saw massive demonstrations in major towns and cities, in which over two million school students protested further cuts to education, as well as the re-introduction of revalidation exams, which would be used to remove thousands of students aged 15-17 from the education system. Revalidation exams – first introduced under the Franco dictatorship – would most affect workingclass families, who are already facing underfunded schools with classes of 40 students upwards, as well as a lack of money to pay for private classes etc. The Spanish
education sector has lost an estimated €6.4 billion in spending, and 20,000 plus teachers have been laid off since 2010. Taking decisive action In the strike – organized by Sindicato de Estudiantes (SE), the socialist-led school student union – the abolition of revalidation exams and LOMCE (a bill proposing a potential 66% tuition increase, as well as cuts to scholarship resources) was called for, as well the immediate resignation of the Education Minister. The strike called for a reversal of all austerity decrees, as well as a drastic increase in the budget in response to the right-wing government’s war on public education.
The work of students and SE activists put enormous pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government, and by 25th November 2016, the LOMCE decree was withdrawn. The action of SE and all 200,000 students who marched throughout Spain on 26 October and 24 November 2016 is an incredibly inspiring victory for young people, students and workers everywhere fighting austerity. Much like the successful Black Protest held in Poland recently, the Spanish student strikes show the potential results of organization and action when used to push back a rightwing political establishment.
demonstrations of millions took place demanding that Morsi must go, the old military regime, led by the head of the armed forces, elSisi, was positioned to replace him. Given the disenchantment with the Muslim Brotherhood, there was an initial wave of enthusiasm for elSisi, with one independent journalist I spoke to referring to 'Sisimania' at the time. In order to consolidate its rule, it unleashed murderous assaults at Muslim Brotherhood protests, killing up to 1,000 in one incident. Since then, its attacks have broadened to include all those who oppose its rule and all except government representatives agreed that the human rights situation is incredibly worse now than under Mubarak. Egypt now has the third highest number of journalists locked up, after China and Turkey. Mass pressure must be kept up to demand that the Irish government does everything possible to ensure the release of Ibrahim. Broader solidarity should be built to support all those in Egypt facing repression and for the building of a mass workers' and socialist movement to transform Egyptian society.
Barack Obama entered his presidency in 2009 pledging to end Bush’s wars but after two terms in office his legacy shows that this couldn’t be further from what actually happened. Obama did make it so there was less uS soldiers on the ground, but the number of airstrikes has increased and uS operators can be found in 138 countries around the world. In 2016 alone the US dropped 26,171 bombs, which is 72 bombs every day in countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan. These statistics expose the rotten and warmongering nature of the Democratic Party and Obama’s administration.
$237 billion The wealth gained by richest 200 in 2016
At the end of 2016, the world’s richest people had gained an extraordinary $237 billion compared to
the beginning of the year. Despite uncertainties like the Chinese economy, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, the rich are still getting richer. In the united States there are 179 billionaires controlling $1.9 trillion and in Germany 39 billionaires control $281 billion. The world’s richest person, Bill Gates, has $91.5 billion himself. The wealth of the rich is increasing all the time while ordinary people struggle to make ends meet and poverty is getting worse across the globe.
8
The number of billionaires with more wealth than the poorest half or world In a recently released report from Oxfam it has been revealed that the richest eight men own the same wealth as the poorest 50% in the world, which is 3.6 billion people. This along with the fact that the richest 1% globally own more than the other 99% combined really exposes the true nature of capitalism. The sickening gap between the rich and the poor is getting clearer and clearer. The grossly rich corporations and individuals dodge tax and hoard their wealth while the poor continue to struggle and global inequality is continues to increase.
9
January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Pope rolled out to defend abortion ban...
s
By Laura Fitzgerald
O The pope is coming to Ireland in 2018, it seems. pope Francis has been lauded in some quarters for making strong speeches in opposition to obscene global wealth inequality. This state is rife with a homelessness crisis, is still reeling from the aftermath of the biggest bank bailout per head of population in the world, and has shameful levels of child poverty. perhaps he is coming to speak out on these issues, we hear you ask? eh, no. As one might expect of the catholic church hierarchy, it stems from a continued fixation with stigmatising and repressing women's sexuality. Catholic Church: A rotten legacy From the moment the visit was announced, it was transparent beyond belief that Pope Francis's plans to visit Ireland are designed to attempt to thwart a victory for the youthful, growing and inspiring movement for abortion rights. Archbishop Martin, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, confirmed as much when he announced that the Pope would campaign against abortion while in Ireland. The legacy of the church-state nexus in Ireland is a bitterly cruel one; the slavery of poor women in the Magdalene Laundries, the butchering of women's bodies who were subjected to symphysiotomy in maternity hospitals, and the
Church will use Pope's visit to cut across growing pro-choice sentiment
unforgivable widespread physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children, especially poor and workingclass children in Church-run state institutions. In many ways, what was widespread only a generation or a few ago, (the last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996), seems like a different world. And yet, the Catholic Church is still represented on the board of the majority of public schools and hospitals. Most prized, is the enduring 8th amendment constitutional abortion ban, brought in by the campaigning of a range of Catholic groups 34 years ago – aided and abetted by a weedy political establishment, only too
happy to bend to the wish of this powerful institution. Re-branding a damaged institution The comments of Pope Francis on global wealth inequality are interesting, but fundamentally do not represent a shift in the nature of the deeply conservative Catholic Church, but rather reflect quite a concerted attempt to 're-brand' a damaged institution by tapping into positive sentiments among the global masses who are incensed by the obscene reality of capitalism today – where the richest 1% own more wealth than the other 99% of the world's population.
The Catholic Church campaigned to say 'No' to Marriage Equality and to affirm LGBT lives. It will fight even harder to prevent progress on the question of abortion. The announcement of a visit from the Pope shows the stakes. The repeal movement hits at a seminal question for all who seek to live in a progressive, secular and equal society. It's very positive that the Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment plans to organise a march on International Women's Day, 8 March 2017. It's crucial that the abortion rights movement seeks to fully activate the tens of thousands of young people, of women, of LGBT people, of workers, who are passionate about repeal and abortion rights. The stronger a movement we build, the more we can resist any attempt by the Catholic Church hierarchy to prevent progress on this issue. Organising together for a major action on International Women's Day can be a step in that direction. Furthermore, everyone who is passionate about a woman's right to choose should actively join in the quest to build a major left and socialist political challenge and force – it's only a Left government that will pursue a fundamental rift with the Catholic Church, separating church and state fully: recognising the right to religious belief as an important personal right and matter, while fully removing the Church influence on state hospitals, schools and law.
Global movement against women’s oppression
analysis
Build mass pro-choice movement
2016 witnessed women across the world take to the streets to oppose sexism, fight for abortion & oppose sexual & physical violence by men. Here are quotes from the international media of some of the participants in these protests. Argentina: demonstration in opposition male violence against women: "We are saying 'Enough'! We won't go back to being submissive and we won't tolerate any more misogyny or violence." Poland: strike against abortion ban: "We are saying 'enough is enough' over what is happening, to what the government, the Church and the so-called pro life organisations are planning for women." Iceland: strike against the pay gap: “It's just unacceptable to say we'll correct this in 50 years." Turkey: victorious demonstration against government proposal to legalise rape: "We will not shut up. We will not obey."
alt-right’s poisonous ideas must be opposed
A
T THE beginning of January controversy was provoked when the Irish Times shamefully gave a platform to Nicholas Pell to outline, and indeed sanitise, the ideas and outlook of the Alt-right. AAA councillor and Socialist Party member Matt waine outlines their repulsive views and why they must be opposed. The Alt-Right movement styles itself as a critique of the establishment and what they see as the “liberal consensus”, but in reality it is a cover for the far-right to get organised. It’s a smokescreen to bring
the far-right into the political mainstream and legitimise racism and discrimination. It poses a serious threat to women, people of colour, the LGBTQ community, Muslims and other minority groups. It is mainly an online phenomena, particularly on social media and is associated with right-wing online sites like Breitbart and includes such undesirable as Milo Yiannopolous and Steve Bannon – Trump’s chief political advisor. The Alt-Right’s connection to Trump One of the key inspirations for this movement is Richard Spencer. He celebrated Trump’s victory at a rally in Washington with the chilling slogan, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" which provoked many in the audience to rise their arms in Nazi salutes. The fact that Donald Trump has appointed Steve Bannon, a white supremacist and anti-semite, to his administration underlines the danger posed by the Alt-Right in influencing the policy of the Trump administration. But the danger is more pronounced than this. While
far-right, racist and neo-Nazi groups are still marginal at this stage, Trump’s victory has given them confidence and will be used by them to organise. In the days after Trumps election, the Ku Klux Klan organised a victory march in North Carolina. According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, there were “almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation” in the ten days after the election. Incidents of racial harassment, fire-bombing churches and countless accounts racist graffiti and letters containing violent attacks, have swamped Youtube and Facebook. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said at least 100 attacks against Muslims have been reported since the election. Threat of far-right must be resisted But the real danger of a Trump presidency will be the mobilisation of far-right groups into activity on the streets and in communities. It is vital that a new party of the 99% is built. The potential for this was shown by the millions who
Richard Spencer: Neo-Nazi leader of the "Alt-Right"
were mobilised by Bernie Sanders’ call for a political revolution. The far-right need to be confronted and minorities need to be protected, but it is also absolutely vital that
socialist policies are put front and centre, policies that challenge the rule of Wall Street and the 1% and pose real solutions to the problems facing millions of Americans
10
January / February 2017
THE SOCIALIST
Northern Assembly collapses:
north
Reject the parties of sectarianism T
By Kevin Henry
he rhI sandal will mean that while little is done to help the 42% of people in northern Ireland who live in fuel poverty, northern Ireland’s Ferrari showroom will be heated using public money for the next 20 years. In Arlene Foster’s own rural constituency of Fermanagh south Tyrone, 75% of gp surgeries face closure, but viscount brookeborough will receive £1.6 million to heat his 1,000 acre estate from this botched scheme. RHI isn’t a one-off. A series of scandals have exposed the DUP’s cosy relationships with bosses and property developers. The scandal, however, is reflective of the rightwing, neo-liberal approach of all the main parties, who go out of their way to give throw handouts at big business. They are united in supporting cutting corporation tax, which will be the equivalent of an RHI scandal every year, transferring hundreds of millions from public services to companies’ profit margins. At the same time, teachers striking against a 0% pay offer have been told there is “no more money.” Pro-big business On 8 January, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuiness resigned as deputy first minister, provoking fresh elections. He claimed that he was calling a “halt to the DUP's arrogance.” In truth, Sinn Féin where very slow to take a stand – in December they
abstained on motion in the Assembly calling for Fosters resignation and have been nervous about calling for an independent inquiry. It was only public pressure and pressure from their base that has Sinn Féin taking their current positon. The resignation has provoked a war of words between Sinn Féin and DUP. Paul Givan and Máirtín Ó Muilleoir have clashed over weather a suspension of the institutions will mean the introduction of the “Bedroom tax.” Emergency legislation will suspend the introduction of the Bedroom tax as agreed in the fresh start but only till 2020. While this year the other aspect of welfare cuts agreed by Sinn Féin and DUP will mean over 100,000 receive cuts in benefits – for some families by as much as £2000 a year. Meanwhile both parties have also engaged in various sectarian provocations in order to turn the election into a Orange versus Green headcount rather than a real discussion on the political issues at stake Fermenting sectarian division On December 23rd, Paul Givan cut the Líofa Bursary scheme for young people to attend the Gaeltacht in summer by £50,000, although he was subsequently forced into a U-turn. While Givan’s decision to cut the funding was certainly sectarian in its nature, Sinn Féin cynically use this issue when their own Ministers have overseen cuts to Irish language funding in the past. Meanwhile,
Pro-austerity sectarian parties fall out
Sinn Féin Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir has suddenly decided to remove the Union flag from his department’s buildings, an emotive issue and a move clearly aimed at whipping up sectarianism. Politicians have claimed that there will be “no return to the status quo”, but any agreement between the DUP, Sinn Féin, the other political parties and the British and Irish governments will mean just that. Neither is the
prospect of direct rule from the Tories in Westminister or the nationalist proposal of joint rule between a right-wing government from London and a right-wing government from Dublin any solution. In fact similar to the Anglo-Irish agreement, it would provide a rallying call for sectarian forces. Only by building an alternative that can unite working-class people in struggle against this rotten establishment can there be “no return to the status quo.”
What is the “Cash for Ash” scandal? In the north, the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scheme was introduced in 2012 by (now) DuP leader Arlene Foster when she was Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Investment. Modelled on a scheme introduced in England, the installation and use of more green heating equipment – largely wood pellet boilers in northern Ireland – was subsidised by public funds. Unlike in England, however, the subsidy per unit of energy was set higher than the cost of the fuel and there was no cap on payments. Therefore, the more you burned, the larger a profit could be made. So much for environmental sustainability! The ‘cash for ash’ scandal broke in early December when it emerged that this flaw would lead to a projected £490 million overspend which would have to be compensated for through cuts to public spending. The whistleblower who made this public had approached Arlene Foster in 2013 but was ignored. Foster’s Ministerial successor and DUP colleague Jonathan Bell alleged that when he moved to close applications to the scheme, he was blocked from doing so by Foster and other senior figures in the party. The scale of the financial black hole in the scheme was known at Stormont from early last year but was not brought to the public by any of the main parties.
Opposing the sectarian establishment
Building a left-wing alternative By Daniel Waldron
e
ven beFOre the ‘cash for ash’ scandal, people in the north had a correctly cynical attitude to the stormont institutions, seen as ineffective and the politicians within them aloof and self-interested. In particular, young people are turned off by the sectarian and backward politics which currently dominate in northern Ireland, with marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose denied despite the wishes of the majority in society. This disillusionment – which will only have been deepened by the latest scandal – has been reflected in consistently falling turnouts in elections but also by an increasing space for candidates from outside the Unionist and nationalist camps, including those offering a left alternative. In last year’s Assembly election, the Green Party (which, in the North, is
critical of austerity and seen as radical) boosted its vote and won its second seat while People Before Profit made a breakthrough by winning seats in the predominantly Catholic areas of West Belfast and Derry. Labour alternative The Socialist Party worked with others to launch Labour Alternative ahead of last May’s election, recognising that the rise of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the British Labour Party on an anti-austerity platform had raised the sights of an important section of workers and young people. This represented a break with the unashamedly pro-capitalist politics which have dominated the Labour Parties in both Britain and Ireland for decades. While British Labour does not allow official candidates to stand in the North, the party’s membership has increased from 400 to over 3,000 since the advent of Corbyn’s campaign, mak-
ing it probably the second largest in Northern Ireland. Historically, the labour and trade union movement has been the key force able to unite working-class people in the North to fight for their common interests and challenge sectarianism. Labour Alternative represents a step forward in building the kind of left which is needed to really change society in the North – resolutely opposed to cuts and the race to the bottom, bold in demanding LGBT and women’s rights and, crucially, based in both Protestant and Catholic communities. Last year, Labour Alternative’s three young candidates – drawn from across the sectarian divide – won the best votes for any left candidate in their constituencies in decades. Slogans like ‘Don’t vote for dinosaurs’ captured the attention of a layer of young people. In this election, Labour Alternative will again field candidates to provide a cross-commu-
Labour Alternative: seeking to build cross-community left-wing alternative
nity opposition to austerity, inequality and sectarianism. Alongside trade unionists and other activists, we will also work
to ensure that the broad labour movement presents the most credible challenge possible to the Stormont establishment.
January / February 2017
11
THE SOCIALIST
The case for a national health service l
vate ‘market’. Further reliance on private healthcare will see increased inequalities in the health service. The profits of the private companies will take more resources out the system. It will also see an even more fragmentised system that will be even less efficient and more bureaucratic.
By Finghin Kelly
AsT yeAr a record 93,621 patients were admitted on trolleys. The new year saw this crisis continue with over 600 on trolleys on one day. There is chronic understaffing and the system is being held together by extremely long hours and hard work of underpaid staff. morale is on the floor among health workers. Waiting lists in public hospitals for routine treatments are ballooning, last August the number of people awaiting treatment was calculated at 530,000, one ninth of the state’s population! The two-tier nature of the health system is getting worse and those on low incomes are suffering the most. It is clear that the health service is in an acute crisis. The government and many pro-establishment media commentators have been quick to point the blame to the staff and to ‘mismanagement’. The HSE is certainly riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies, however the government are trying to distract from the root cause of the crisis – chronic underfunding. Chronic underfunding The Irish health system suffers massively from austerity. Two thousand hospital beds have been closed and thousands of jobs cut since 2008. Despite spin about ‘black holes’, the reality is that
health
600 on trolleys, understaffing, lack of hospital beds...
A national health service would be free at the point of use
Ireland has one of the lowest health spending per person in the EU. On top of this the Irish health service has also been chronically underfunded for decades, increased spending in the ‘Celtic Tiger’ years did not make up for the butchering of the system in the 80s and underfunding since independence. Ireland has only 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people while the
OECD average is 4.0. The government’s Ireland: Ireland also has a low solution to the crisis 2.8 doctors number of doctors, has been to use the with just 2.8 per crisis to push more per 1,000 1,000 people while patients into the the OECD average is hands of the health OECD Average: nearly twice that at privateers. The 4.8 doctors 4.8. The state has National Treatment per 1,000 instead relied on reliPurchase Fund gious bodies and charity (NTPF) has been bolto fill the gaps. Something stered, which will push the state still does to this day. more public patients into the pri-
Patients need not profit There is an alternative to this chaos. Instead of running the health service for profit it could be run with people’s health needs as its core goal. A National Health Service, modelled on the NHS in Britain when it was founded in 1948, which provided well funded comprehensive public health care according to need and free at the point of use would eliminate the two-tier system, where those without private health insurance are shamefully denied access to proper healthcare. Such a system could be funded through progressive taxation, i.e. we should increase the tax on tax dodging multinationals and the super rich. A National Health Service would also ensure that there are sufficient health workers to provide quality care and for those workers to be paid decent wages and have decent conditions. It would also be able to plan and coordinate the provision of health care with health workers including doctors and nurses brought into the core of its management and planning.
Nurses give decisive support for industrial action By Melissa Kelleher
F
OllOWIng A nationwide ballot, members of the Irish nurses and midwives Organisation (InmO) have given their strong mandate for a campaign of industrial action. The aim of such action is for securing the necessary resources to address the severe lack staffing, recruitment and retention issues crippling the health service. Crisis in HSE The ballot result showed that 90% of INMO members voted to support a campaign of industrial action with a turnout of 62%. The mandate for action arising from this ballot provides for a series of one day strikes and a continuous work to rule Nurses have voted in huge numbers for industrial action which includes no the HSE. The decisive wives by failing to actively recruit redeployment, no Ireland: vote for action showed and retain nursing and midwifery working of addi2.8 beds nurses and midwives staff. tional hours and per 1,000 Years of austerity and lack of expressing great conthe introduction cern over unsafe investment by successive governof a ban on overOECD Average: staffing levels, the ments, particularly those that time. This action 4 beds consequential nega- have been in power in the last ten will prove impostive impact upon years, have resulted in the gradual sible for the govper 1,000 patient care and ulti- decimation of our health service, a ernment to ignore. mately, the total disregard service which is now at breaking The INMO’s nationshown by the HSE and the gov- point. Official figures released by wide ballot took place in the context of deepening crisis within ernment towards nurses and mid- the HSE confirm that nurse / mid-
wife staffing levels are currently 3,500 less than the numbers employed in 2008, despite demands on services increasing substantially in this time due to our growing population. Lunch time protests to highlight staffing shortages have already taken place in recent weeks, in hospitals all over the country including
Nurses vent their anger Speaking to my colleagues on the frontline regarding potential strike action, the mood was one of anger and frustration: “we’re totally overworked and understaffed, some days I don’t even get a break, the service cannot function as it is, we need to start fighting back”. Another colleague added “It's time for us nurses to stand up for ourselves and the patients we care for, the situation on the wards is scandalous, it’s gone on far too long and patient safety is at risk”.
Mayo University Hospital, Cavan General Hospital and Dungarvan Community Hospital. Invest in healthcare The INMO have given the government until the 17 January 2017 to present appropriate proposals to address the staffing crisis after which time, the INMO will “initiate the action behind their mandate without hesitation”. Healthcare Support Workers are also likely to join their nursing and midwifery colleagues on the picket lines with 25,000 SIPTU members in at least 40 hospitals across the country balloting on industrial action on the 23 January 2017. It is evident from their refusal to acknowledge and adequately address the crisis within our health service that the current Fine Gael government, backed by Fianna Fáil, is utterly fixated on budgets, figures and targets and certainly not on patients and the staff who care for them. Ultimately they are more concerned with giving major tax breaks to big business and the super-rich rather than prioritise the necessary investment in staffing, with workers in health service working with decent pay and conditions.
PaPer of the SocialiSt Party
iSSue 105
January / february 2017
8
rich people in this world have more wealth than the poorest 3.6 billion
this is capitalism it must go! JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY!
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