The Socialist by Socialist Party

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 93

TROIKA’S

ECONOMIC

TERRORISM TIME TO BREAK WITH CAPITALISM!

JULY / AUGUST 2015

INSIDE

Are Independents a viable alternative?

New water charges legislation: Toothless

Paul Murphy TD on events in Greece

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July / August 2015

news

THE SOCIALIST

Capitalist media – cheerleaders for Troika tyranny Greek media blackout of “Oxi” irish people remember the incredible media bias during the lisbon, nice and “austerity Treaty” referenda. That was nothing compared to the depths the media, in Greece and globally, sank to before the 5 July referendum. 36 people were interviewed in one a mega TV bulletin, and surprise surprise, every single one of them was going to vote yes. a bulletin on the antenna network gave the yes side 14.5 minutes, then covered the no side for only 90 seconds. mega TV gave the no side 40 seconds, and the yes side 70 minutes. shots of Tsipras were accompanied with sinister music and lurid red captions saying “shame.”

TV bulletin gave Yes side 14.5 min, No side 90 sec

Images of ATMs, none of soup kitchens When the european Central Bank cut off funds and forced the banks to close, the global media portrayed this as being somehow the result of “reckless”, “far-left policies” rather than an act of deliberate sabotage by the eCB. The international media then

“Serious”, “Responsible”, “Credible” class war

bombarded us with images of “yes” rallies. in reality, the biggest “yes” demonstration was at most 30,000-strong. On the same night there was a “no” demonstration of 200,000. One meme shared on Greek social media hit the nail on the head: “if the media, for every queue at an aTm, had shown one queue at soup kitchens and food banks, things would be different by now!”

Pollsters and media exposed as frauds

Greek polling companies were exposed as frauds when the apparently “close” vote ended up with a 61.3% no. The Greek media were shown up for how little they represented the vast majority of people and how ineffective their lies and threats were. The only exception was the state broadcaster eRT, which in contrast to ireland’s “Regime

By manus lenihan

Telefís Éireann”, gave relatively fair coverage. eRT was at the centre of a major struggle in 2013 when the previous government tried to shut it down. The whole station ended up being run democratically by striking workers.

rich people’s political views – views that tend to be rightwing, anti-worker and antipoor. When we talk about “solidarity with the people of Greece” we should make it clear that we mean workers, young people, the unemployed, pensioners and middle-class people, not the capitalist class in Greece. it is the shipping owners, the bankers, the taxdodging millionaires and the like who caused this crisis, and who are now hand-inhand with the eu and imF, insisting on more cuts.

Exposed: Greek opinion polls out by 10%!

TV station run by shipping family mega TV is Greece’s biggest private network, owned by one of the wealthiest shipping families in the country. Privatelyowned media generally boils down to a well-funded operation for promoting

austerity has completely failed in Greece; wrecking living standards and the economy. But still, in ireland and around the world, austerity policies are referred to as “necessary structural reforms” and “bailout conditions”. Junker, merkel and all those who demand even more of these completely anti-social and destructive policies are referred to as “serious,” “responsible” and “credible.” For proposing some fairly timid changes to their conditions, the Greek government are described as “aggressive,” “provocative,” “reckless” and “dangerous.”

What bailout for Greece? soon after the vote, the irish Times and RTÉ were quick to tell us that a “Third Greek bailout could cost ireland €1 Billion”. in reality, there has not been one “bailout of Greece”, let alone three. Greece, like ireland, has been a conduit for a massive bailout of european banks. This money was given to the Greek government and destined not for the people but for paying off crumbs of an unsustainable debt. This money comes with strict conditions attached: cuts, new taxes, privatisations, attacks on labour rights. These conditions amount to a looting of Greek society, not a “bailout.”

Tip: What Media calls “bailout”, is actually “looting”

The hidden losses of NAMA firesale opers NAMA has protected from going bankrupt. How much have we lost from their disastrous gambling and the political connectedness that gets them huge write-downs, while ordinary mortgage holders, and whole countries like Greece, are hounded for every last cent?

By Diana O’Dwyer

he media has rightly highlighted a corruption scandal surrounding the sale of Nama’s €5.7 billion Northern ireland property portfolio at a €4.1 billion loss. Somewhere along the way €7 million found its way into a bank account connected to four Northern politicians. But at least we know the nominal value of those loans and how much Nama sold them for.

NAMA making a profit?

Cloaked in Secrecy Normally, we have no such information as NAMA transactions are cloaked under the same ‘client confidentiality’ Denis O’Brien used to hide his preferential treatment from IBRC. This prevents the Banking Inquiry from asking obvious questions like how much did Fianna Fáil and the Greens force us to pay for the property punts of Derek Quinlan, Sean Mulryan, and the other big devel-

Louis Vuitton flagship store in London was on NAMA list

Instead of being given this basic information, we are being softened up to accept a world historic rip-off as a “profit” for the public purse. By 2018, rather than using its vast property portfolio to solve the housing crisis, NAMA plans to have sold it all off in the biggest firesale to foreign capital in Irish history. According to the government and a compliant media, this should produce a €1 billion “profit”. But this omits the €42 billion loss suffered by the state in recapitalising the banks to make up the difference between the €74 billion originally owed by the developers and

the €32 billion in government bonds NAMA gave the banks as a promise to pay for the developers’ loans.

“Developers will be 100% liable” In 2009, Fianna Fáil and the Greens swore blind that the developers would remain liable for 100% of their debts, but now it turns out that a “profit” for NAMA will mean making just €1bn out of that €42 billion back. And that roughly €20 billion raised by NAMA so far has gone straight to the banks, and from there the vast majority has gone to repay the ECB. One of German capitalism’s most outrageous demands of Greece is to transfer €50 billion in state-owned assets to a privatisation fund to be sold off to repay the country's debts. But no one seems to have noticed that the NAMA ‘offbalance sheet vehicle’ has been quietly achieving the same thing here – and still has another €12 billion to go.

July / August 2015

3 THE SOCIALIST

Demand a real recovery:

By Mick Barry

he Low Pay Commission will submit a report to the government in July with recommendations for an increase in the national minimum wage. The national minimum wage is currently set at €8.65 per hour and has remained frozen for eight years.

Former banker chairs commission! Low paid workers will not be holding their breath when they look at the makeup of the Low Pay Commission. It is chaired by a former banker Donal de Buitleir! Three of the other eight members are business executives. It is possible that the Commission will recommend a small increase in the minimum wage bringing up to around €9 an hour, falling far short of what workers need to survive. The Living Wage Technical

Group recently suggested that a living wage in Ireland today should equal €11.50 an hour or around €450 per week. The technical group is made up of representatives of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, trade union representatives and others.

Rent rises while wages stagnate

3 business executives sit on Low-Pay Commission

Many workers will feel that €11.50 an hour itself would be insufficient for a decent standard of living. For example the average cost of renting an apartment in Dublin at the end of 2014 was €1,166 per month. Proposals from the Low Pay Commission for a pitiful increase in the national minimum wage should be met by demands from workers and their unions for a real increase in minimum rates. This could perhaps take the Living Wage proposal as a starting point for an immediate

Market failure sees homelessness sky rocket

By Dave Murphy

he goverNmeNT’S failure to act on the homelessness crisis means the situation has now gotten so bad that at a recent meeting of dublin City Council it was revealed that there is an €18.5m black-hole in its emergency accommodation budget.

Rent controls now! In June alone, 65 families were made homeless in Dublin. This is due to rising rents which continue to skyrocket while wages stagnate and rent allowance cut. Dublin City Council runs the Dublin area homeless services where people present themselves to when they are made homeless. Currently they have 3,307 people in temporary emergency private accommodation. This scandalously includes 1,122 children. This private emergency accommodation is often hotels rooms which sees whole families crammed into one room with no cooking utilities or into B&Bs that they have to leave during the day with nowhere to go. Immediately, to stem the tide of homelessness

and to stop the profiteering of landlords and speculators, the government must introduce rent controls and ban economic evictions! Such has the demand for homeless services grown that there is a €18.5m gap in the homeless services budget. The government must act immediately to fill in this gap. As an immediate emergency act they should provide a blank cheque to the homeless services so that anyone who is in this situation can be accommodated.

Right to housing Banning evictions and rent controls must be part of a plan that sees housing as a right not a privilege. Currently there are over 100,000 people on housing waiting lists. The government have turned a blind eye to this crisis and are intent to leave it to the market to solve. They introduced the Housing Bill which contained no new houses and is simply intended to move people from council waiting lists to the private rental sector. They have Construction 2020 which they have launched and re-launched to the media countless times. They should invest in a state-led programme of building the necessary homes to house people.

Seattle shows determined struggle can win a living wage

minimum wage increase, to be followed by further real increases over each of the next two or three years. A strong campaign could be built around such demands and low pay could be made a major issue in the upcoming General Election.

Lessons from Seattle

Inspiration for such a campaign could be drawn from the current battle in the US for $15 an hour. Led by Socialist city councillor Kshama Sawant, campaigners against low pay recently won an $15 an hour minimum wage in the city of Seattle for workers employed by big businesses. In the next ten years workers will have $3 billion in wage increases.

This victory has sparked a national movement which on 15 April saw 60,000 workers and students in 200 cities nationwide protest and take to the streets for $15 now. It is this type of mass grassroots campaign for change which will deal strong blows to low pay rather than either the Low Pay Commission or this pro-bosses government.

Lone parents face cuts & insults

63% of lone parents are experiencing deprivation

By Katia Hancke “ThiS wAS introduced because the existing arrangements were leaving many lone parents in insecure part-time jobs” – Joan Burton to a working lone parent. So, as anyone living in the real world knows, raising kids is not easy. And raising kids on your own is definitely not easy. Seven years of austerity have made it even harder: childcare costs have gone up, wages down, taxes up, cuts in child benefit and other social welfare. Throw on top of that a housing crisis spinning out of control and the fact that the majority of new jobs out there are low paid and insecure.

Falling into poverty No wonder that lone parents are one of the most vulnerable groups in society, most likely to fall into poverty. A CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions from May 2015 states that 63 per cent of lone

parents are experiencing deprivation. Female-headed households are progressively falling further below the poverty line due to lack of income and opportunities. In Ireland, single mothers are the main group who are increasingly being affected by poverty, and the reason being is that their income is insufficient to rear children. One-parent families are twice as likely to be affected by poverty as two-parent families. Many one parent families struggle to cover the basics of food, housing and energy costs.

Out of touch & condescending This latest cut attacking lone parents shows exactly how far removed this government is from the harsh consequences of their decisions. The hypocritical, condescending and out-oftouch responses from Labour and Fine Gael TDs like Joan Burton, Catherine “I saw you

buying a bottle of wine” Byrne, Joanna “bring your kids to work” Tuffy and Emmett “I think it is a bad idea but I voted for it anyway” Stagg have added insult to injury. The answer to these attacks is not to try and tweak them into a slightly more “acceptable” cut – raising the age by a few years or making some other exemptions. More than one third of children in Ireland now live in deprivation and if we want to improve their future, we need to get rid of this government and we need to reverse the austerity measures responsible for this sorry state of affairs. In its place we need to fight for policies that truly facilitate parents to raise their children – investment in affordable community and workplace based public childcare facilities for all parents, free education, and giving parents a real choice to go to work or stay at home with their children. Our children deserve no less.

“recovery” ireland

Demand a living wage

July / August 2015

analysis

THE SOCIALIST

JOE HIGGINS the

column

AFTEr yEArS of forcing savage austerity on the people of Greece to bail out the big European banks, the leaders of the Troika and the political parties of capitalism in Europe add insult to the injury already caused. In June when the then Greek Finance Minister, yanis Varoufakis refused to accept an austerity package at a meeting of EU finance Ministers, the Executive of the Chief International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, who was in attendance, said insultingly that for real dialogue “you need adults in the room”.

Arrogant Neoliberal Establishment Along similar lines, Health Minister Leo Varadkar said

recently of Syriza, ‘It seems like the students union have taken over the Greek government. First there’s an agreement, then there isn’t, then there’s a referendum, then there isn’t.” This is typical of the arrogance of the neoliberal political establishment toward the Greek people. Even more shamefully the Irish government in the form of Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan have led a chorus of the most right wing governments in the Eurozone, dictating absolutely no relief for Greece from the mountain of debt inflicted on its people. The rank hypocrisy of Fine Gael and Labour is nauseating. They have been going on about the €300 million which they say the Greek government

“Even more shamefully the Irish government... have led a chorus of the most right-wing governments in the Eurozone, dictating absolutely no relief for Greece from the mountain of debt inflicted on its people.” owes this State for the last tranche of funding given to Greece. They neglect to say that this funding was dictated by the Troika and the funds were used to bail out German and French banks which had heavily lent to right wing Greek governments over the last fifteen years. This means that the funds went into Greece and most went straight out again to pay these banks the Greek people didn’t benefit.

Rank hypocrisy of Government The opposition of Fine Gael and Labour to writing off any debt for the Greek people contrasts very sharply with the treatment given to Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien as the controversy around his purchase of the Siteserv company has shown. Siteserv, a construction services company, borrowed €150 million from Anglo Irish Bank before the financial crash. The company defaulted on the loan and after Anglo had become the IBrC (Irish Bank resolution Corporation) it was sold for €45

million meaning €105 million was written off. This was the cost to the Irish taxpayers. Denis O’Brien became a billionaire as a result of being awarded the second mobile phone licence in this State by the 1994 -1997 Fine Gael / Labour government. A Tribunal found he had paid €50,000 to the responsible Fine Gael Minister Michael Lowry and had been helped by Lowry to get the licence. Obviously the current Fine Gael/Labour government is the gift that keeps on giving for O’Brien as the Irish people pick up the tab for his cut price company, not just in the debt write down but in the lucrative water metering contracts which Siteserv has been awarded.

Cheerleaders for the Troika It’s not difficult to guess why Fine Gael and Labour are desperate to ensure that Greece doesn’t get a write down on debt. They have slavishly implemented a savage austerity programme for the last four years as

part of the bailout of bankers and bondholders at the behest of the Troika. They refused to burn bondholders for whose gambling in Irish banks and property the Irish people carry no responsibility whatever. If, instead of bowing to the scandalous pressure and bullying by the Troika, the Syriza government had continued the fight and won a measure of debt write down as a result of the heroic struggles of the Greek working class over the last five years, it would show up the government here. This would also have been an encouragement to people in all austerity ravaged countries to fight back which would be anathema to the Irish government and their counterparts throughout the EU. Notwithstanding the betrayal of the Syriza leadership that fight needs to be organised and stepped up in Ireland and elsewhere.

Joe higgins is a socialist Party TD for Dublin West

Organised left force or disparate Independents? By Laura Fitzgerald

“i

NdePeNdeNTS / oTherS” are consistently featuring in the polls on an equivalent or stronger basis than some traditional parties of the establishment (a red C poll in late June 2015 had independents/others at 23%). This turn away from the traditional parties reflects a historic political crisis for the establishment. The ‘independent’ banner is attractive as it intimates ‘independent of the establishment’ which chimes with the widespread disgust at Fianna Fail, the Greens, Fine Gael and Labour – architects and implementers of economic crisis, bailouts for bankers and the 1%, and austerity for the 99%.

Growing disgust at establishment parties This impulse represents potential to fight for real change, but it’s not automatic that this will happen. What’s needed is the building of a clear left. At the core of the justified hatred of the parties of the establishment is that these parties represent the interests of the 1%, the interests of the profiteers and big business. That goes for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, and also for the sellout Labour Party. This is incompatible with the interests of the majority in society. It’s the right wing; those that worship at the altar of the markets, those that accept the neo-liberal orthodoxy that means the removal of all barriers to making a profit, whose policies have caused economic crisis and mean unending austerity today.

The emergence of populism Many of the most articulate Independents in the Dail are of a 'populist' character, with both left and right tinges. Populism could be described as reflecting moods that exist amongst the mass of people in society, but lacking in a clear political programme as your backbone. When this is the case, we can expect any such individual to bend to the status quo if in power. As an example of a right-wing populist, Shane Ross TD, who has received credit for stinging rebukes of the parties of the establishment, was in fact a cheerleader for Anglo Irish Bank during the boom, and is a former stockbroker himself. Ross supports a neoliberal vision of capitalism with minimal taxes on or state regulation of business. Clare Daly TD, who can make powerful criticisms of the Government on issues, typifies left populism. Tending to highlight the incompetency of the individual actors, rather than any overarching systemic criticism of the rightwing ideology and practice that's at the heart of the matter. Daly, like Joan Collins TD has shied away from clearly advocating non-payment of the water charges. There are huge lessons from what has developed with Syriza in Greece. Despite the strong antiausterity stance this left political coalition had taken, the tyrannical pressure exerted on Syriza by the Troika meant that only two Syriza MPs voted against a package of €13 billion in austerity and privatisation measures, despite the 61.5% mandate Syriza received to say 'No' in a popular referendum only days before. The programme of the Syriza leadership was inadequate, as to

We need a clear and organised left voice not politically varied independents

break with austerity in this era means being willing to take anticapitalist measures. Tsipras favoured a slower route to change and the institutions of capitalism blocked this. It will take much more than an anti-austerity rhetoric or populism, or even an individual's genuine desire for change, in order to achieve it: programme is key.

Organise for socialist change The obvious limit of being an ‘Independent’ is how can one person, or a loose connection of individuals without any cohesive programme make fundamental change? The water charges movement’s strength has been that it has actively engaged hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands in political protest and community organising. A new major political force of the left will be built by having political discussions with and amongst all

those who've been activated and politicised by this movement. There can be no Chinese Wall between the active struggle and the theory behind challenging austerity. Within that, Socialist Party

activists will raise the need for a clear left, anti-capitalist and socialist vision to guide and empower the working class and all the victims of austerity in making real change.

July / August 2015

5 THE SOCIALIST

Ignore government bluster…

here are the facts of what the new legislation means:

By Emma Quinn

wo BiLLS that affect water charges have been rammed through the dail, the Civil debts (Procedures) Bill 2015 and the environment (miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014. Both are measly attempts to intimidate non payers but neither come close to being able to break the boycott. These bully boy tactics along with the series of threats against householders from Minister Alan Kelly and the refusal of Irish Water to release the levels of payment of the water charges only expose the pressure that Fine Gael and Labour are feeling from the antiwater charges movement.

Revenue is not involved The fact is this legislation is nowhere near as powerful of what was bragged about by the mainstream media who at the behest of the government stoked up fears of a robbery of the charges directly from peoples income and social welfare in similar style to the property tax. The opposite is the case. Revenue is still not involved and these new measures only reinstate the importance of building a mass campaign of non-payment. It’s unfortunate that hysteria and scaremongering on the legislation has been drummed up not only by the government and their media henchmen but by certain layers inside the anti-water charges movement itself. There have been numerous posts by high profile figures insinuating that attachment orders now mean the charges can be directly deducted from income, social welfare, pensions etc not only is that not factual but it is potentially very damaging.

1. The new bill does NOT allow water charges to be taken from social welfare, wages or pensions without having TWO court cases first. 2. The first of those court cases CANNOT start until you owe a minimum of €500 - the timeframe for this will likely be the end of 2017 at the earliest. 3. The General Election will have to take place before April 2016, a long before anyone can be brought to court. If we can build and maintain a mass boycott in the run up to

the election the next government will be under huge pressure to abolish water charges. 4. They can’t take us all to court! Even if we haven’t won by 2017 – the reality is they can only bring a handful of non-payers to court. Like the 1990s when there were hundreds of cases, it will not break non-payment and may actually became a focal point for protest and political pressure against the government. The courts have already implied they wouldn't be capable of functioning if hundreds of thousands of nonpayers were brought to argue their cases which is required by the legislation.

Tenants & the water charge Ruth Coppinger TD fought Bill as government rammed it through the Dáil

Can my landlords deduct the water charges from tenants?

local authorities or housing associations.

Water charges will be treated as any other utility bill. If a bill is in your name, it cannot be taken from your deposit. If a bill is in the landlord’s name and there are arrears, they can deduct from your deposit. If the landlord has handed over your name, or if you have registered, the bill will be in your name, therefore they will not be able to deduct it from your deposit.

Stay with the boycott!

will the water charges be added to my rent of council tenant or housing Association (e.g. Tuath, Cluid, NABCO) tenant? No. There is no provision in the legislation to add the water charges to people’s rents by

you should not be bullied. If you don’t have a new tenancy agreement, and it isn’t currently written into your tenancy agreement, you have no obligation to your landlord to pay water charges. If it is in your tenancy agreement, explicitly or because it is a new agreement, that doesn’t mean that your landlord will try to enforce that section of your lease. your landlord may not be aware whether you are paying your water charges or not. Even if your landlord is aware that you are not paying, there are no negative consequences for them if they don’t make you pay.

We can still use weapon of non-payment to sink Irish Water

After motion victory…. ICTU must back non-payment By Stephen Boyd

CTU’s BieNNiaL conference passed a motion opposing the implementation of water charges. however, this decision was opposed by the leaderships of two of the biggest unions, SiPTU and imPaCT.

O’Connor parrots FG / LP propaganda SIPTU president and leading Labour Party member, Jack O’Connor once again showed how removed he is from the reality of the lives of his members. Rather than focus on how the trade union movement could assist working class people defeat this austerity charge – O’Connor instead took on the role of a government spokesperson asking where would the government find €500 million or €600 million that he falsely claims the water charge provides

for public services. Jack O’Connor told the conference, when he was discussing with the representatives of the 4,000 workers in the water service about the collective bargaining agreement that “protects” their jobs: “When their representatives came and asked me if water charges were abolished, can you guarantee us that the law and protection will stand, I could not and neither can any other person in this hall.” What a pitiful response from someone who leads the biggest trade union in Ireland. The law has never guaranteed workers or working class people their employment rights or provided them with job security. The power of the unions in the guise of its members threatening to take strike action is what should and can be used to stop management and the government from destroying jobs and driving down pay and conditions.

“it is a bailout tax” Motion 41 from Waterford Council of Trade Unions called on the conference to reject the imposition of water charges on the Irish people and call for a Constitutional Amendment that ensures that water remains in the ownership of the Irish people. IMPACT proposed an amendment that effectively negated the motion and instead called for higher free allowances. In other words supported the implementation of the water charges! This amendment was defeated and the Waterford motion passed. Terry Kelleher, a CPSU delegate, argued that water charges represented a first step to privatisation and “It is not about funding a service or about conservation. It is a bailout tax”. The passing of the motion opposing water charges was met with chants of “we won’t pay” from some delegates. If this motion is to have any meaning then unions who

Jack O’Connor shamefully supports the water charges

have a track record of actively campaigning against the water charges in the South and in the North, Unite, CPSU, Mandate, NIPSA and so on should demand at the next ICTU executive meeting

that the trade union movement put its full resources behind the struggle of working class people to defeat the charges and back the call for a boycott and non payment campaign.

water charges

They can’t break the boycott!

July / August 2015

special feature

THE SO

Economic terrorism – #thisisacoup – debt slavery…

ThE Troika’s war o A

RTICLE 6 of the Treaty on the European Union says: “The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law…”If anyone still believes those words, they have been asleep for the past month, writes PAUL MURPhY TD.

he eU has instead been revealed to be founded on the principles of debt slavery, dictatorship, riding roughshod over human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of profit. The dictatorial, imperialistic and big business character of the eU has been graphically exposed by the ‘negotiations’ with the greek government. The No. 1 trending hashtag while all-night negotiations were going on, #ThisIsACoup, captured it perfectly, with the addition that with this coup, the Syriza government effectively being overthrown abjectly acquiesced to it. The Greek people’s democratic choices were not just ignored, but were in fact used as a reason to impose even more brutal and humiliating austerity. Since the moment Syriza was elected, the weapons of financial and economic terrorism were sharpened.

A conspiracy of terror With the calling of the referendum,

the pressure increased. A conspiracy of terror stretching from the European Commission, the head of the European Parliament, right-wing governments across Europe to the private media in Greece and rightwing parties was initiated. One after another, leading European figures lined up to denounce the calling of the referendum and demand that it be cancelled. Failing that, they made clear that if the Greek people voted the “wrong way”, they would be forced out. The leading ‘Social Democrat’ in Europe, and the head of the only directly-elected EU institution, Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, was even more aggressive than Angela Merkel: “Without new money, salaries won’t be paid, the health system will stop functioning, the power network and public transport will break down and they won’t be able to import vital goods because nobody can pay.” This campaign was backed up by real fire-power – the financial terror of the European Central Bank, which capped the amount of emergency liquidity available to the Greek banks,

Members of Xekinima, sister organisation of the Socialist Party in Greece, were part of the social movement that rejec

which was their lifeline. We had the unprecedented situation whereby when the referendum was called, a central bank was intervening in order to deliberately provoke a bank run in a banking system that it was

formally responsible for.

Oxi triumphs… Despite it all, and with their own government vacillating and trying to

reach a deal they could recommend even while the referendum was underway, an incredible 61% voted No. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, then described the referendum as an

Why Syriza capitulated & the alternative road of “rupture” By Paul Murphy TD

he Syriza leadership has led the greek working class to a significant defeat, signing up to more vicious austerity, effective colonial status and potentially demoralising significant numbers. This defeat is rooted in their reformist strategy – their belief that without breaking from capitalism, they could break from the austerity programmes pushed by the Troika. Particularly in the framework of the Eurozone, with the power of the ECB, the European Commission and the big powers in Europe, in particular Germany, this was a fatal illusion.

Failure of “good euro” strategy As a result, they began the negotiations claiming that they were seeking an “honourable compromise” – something that was impossible, given the negotiating “partners” that they had. Their “good euro” reformist strategy meant doing whatever necessary to stay in the

euro. That meant entering onto a road of concessions and step backs, each of which simply led to further aggression, more extreme demands and yet more concessions. Effectively, the Greek government went into the final round of negotiations with their hands and legs tied behind their back by themselves – by effectively openly saying they would do anything possible to stay in the euro. The outcome of total and utter defeat was then predetermined. The other road was the road which Xekinima, the sister party of the Socialist Party in Greece, and parts of the left in Syriza and outside, advocated. This was the road of rupture – of breaking with the capitalist system and fighting for socialist change. Such a road was not without difficulties, however, the tremendous referendum result showed that it was a road that the mass of Greek society was ready for.

Socialist policies can defeat Troika A refusal to sign a new austerity

memorandum would have resulted in increased terror from the Troika, with the withdrawal of Emergency Liquidity Assistance by the ECB from the Greek banking system and the banks running out of euros. The road of confrontation therefore means printing some form of national currency instead. Euro-exit has been the main scare tactic of the establishment in Greece, with the impression given that it would automatically mean disaster. Is that the case? Not necessarily. It depends on whether it is combined with radical and socialist measures or simply done while maintaining power and control in the hands of the oligarchs and rich. In order to counteract the financial terrorism of the ECB, the full nationalisation of the banking system and a process of burning bondholders and rich depositors is necessary. The banks can be made solvent, saving workers’ savings and pensions, by a process whereby the ECB does not get a penny back and other bondholders in the Greek banks are burnt.

Don’t pay the odious debt The other decisive measure, taking advantage of the primary surplus, is imposing a moratorium on repayments on the debt. Why throw good money after bad by giving any more to the Troika? The Greek Debt Truth Committee set up by the Greek parliament after the election of Syriza has issued a preliminary report, which “came to the conclusion that Greece should not pay this debt [to the Troika] because it is illegal, illegitimate, and odious”. With a halting of all repayments, it could be allowed to finish its work, after which a process of debt repudiation could be initiated. With a renewal of investment in the economy, it could be developed and the currency, which would likely suffer an initially relatively steep decline, could stabilise. That redevelopment of the economy will simply not be driven by the private sector. With taxation of the wealthy and corporations, money could be found for major projects of public invest-

ment. It also points to the need for public ownership, under the control and management of workers, of the key sectors of the economy – ending the economic domination of the oligarchs. This would allow the creation of a plan for a redevelopment of the economy, democratically involving large sections of the population.

workers of Europe unite! The road of rupture is not without challenges, but it represents a preferable road to that of the Syriza leadership retracing the same downward spiral of austerity. Of course, it would not be possible to maintain a position of an isolated state in Europe breaking with the rules of capitalism and striving towards socialist change indefinitely. But that would not be the likely perspective. The reaction of workers and young people in Europe to the events of the last weeks demonstrate how events quickly spread from one country to another. Just as a defeat would be a

July / August 2015

OCIALIST

cted the Troika deal in the referendum on 5 July

“irrelevant circus”! Varoufakis’ head was demanded on a plate, which was duly delivered by Tsipras. The Syriza leadership then proposed a new austerity package, worth €13 billion – worse than the

austerity just overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum. Met with this abject defeat, the EU powers did not simply welcome it, they demanded more and more, in all night negotiations, described as “extensive men-

By Finghín Kelly

tal waterboarding” by one EU official. The result is an agreement, which effectively transforms Greece into a colony of European and German capitalism, with even more brutal austerity and no democratic control of people.

A COMMON European currency has been a goal of various sections of European capitalist classes for nearly 200 years. with the establishment of the EEC (European Economic Community) this process was stepped up. There have been various arrangements to fix national currencies against each other, culminating in the euro.

…But Tsipras capitulates

international capitalist competition

Along with the VAT increases, savage pension cuts and privatisations that have been agreed to, an undemocratic ‘Fiscal Council’ will be initiated, automatic spending cuts will be written into law and €50 billion worth of assets will be transferred to a supposedly ‘independent’ fund for privatisation. Previous progressive legislation that was introduced by the government will have to be reversed. The result of this further austerity is entirely predictable – further economic contraction, leading to further, now ‘automatic’, austerity, and more and more misery for people. The reformist strategy of the Syriza leadership, of ruling out rupture with the Eurozone, lies in tatters and it is Greek people who are being lumbered with the monstrous cost of it. Sinn Fein’s strategy in Ireland, which is similarly to elect them as ‘better negotiators’, without any concept of confrontation with the EU authorities, is also undermined. The only conclusion must be that the EU and eurozone rules must be broken, that the leaders of the EU are not honest negotiating partners and the “honourable” compromise which Alexis Tsipras was aiming at simply is not possible. This European Union and this Eurozone cannot be changed into instruments of working people in Europe or the 99%. That road is closed – instead, an alternative road of rupture and mobilisation of people across Europe must be taken.

Having a common currency serves many purposes for them. Of course, it is a means to facilitate international trade by eliminating the risks and complications of fluctuating currencies. The launching of the euro is also an attempt to rival other international capitalist powers, in particular the USA. It was hoped that the euro would replace the dollar as the major internation-

al reserve currency and therefore augment the global position of European capitalism. Aside from the desire to boost their prestige and power, for the neo liberal hawks the euro is also about attacking the pay and conditions of workers and eroding the public services that we depend on. Neo-liberalism and austerity is built into the DNA of the euro. Devaluation of a national currency is excluded, meaning that any country seeking to get an edge in trade against its rivals could only do so by cutting the pay and conditions of its work force.

Outlawing public investment

Tsipras underestimated resilience of neo-liberal EU establishment

setback, a rupture in Greece, at the weakest link in the chain of the European capitalism, would be a potential opportunity for the left elsewhere. An open rupture with this

system, with the mass involvement of people, would inspire once more. It would raise the possibility of similar fundamental change in other countries in the periphery, which

drive forward the process throughout Europe to building a different Europe, a socialist Europe democratically organised for the millions, not the millionaires.

From the start, the ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ banned governments from running a deficit of more than 3% of national wealth or having a debt over 60% of national wealth. These rules were tightened up with subsequent treaties such as the Fiscal Treaty. The effect of these restrictions is to prohibit governments from increasing spending to counter the effects of a recession or to provide for major plans of public investment. For example, if a Left government in Ireland wanted to end the housing crisis by building 100,000 social homes, it would more than likely be outside these rules. Since the start of the crisis there has been a myriad of new EU legislation around the euro and the setting of national budgets. Measures such as the ‘two pack’, ‘six pack’ and the European Semester have ratcheted up the sanctions against governments if they step outside

these rules which include fines, having votes removed at European Council meetings, having European grants frozen and all this overseen and pushed by an unelected European Commission.

ECB – undemocratic & austerity hooked A key institution of the euro is the European Central Bank (ECB). When taking decisions about the economy, by law they are only permitted to consider the impact that this would have on inflation. This approach to the running of central banks has been a long term dream of neo liberal strategists for decades. This is unique, as most other central banks must consider things like the impact of their decisions on employment. This approach means that the ECB is not legally permitted to consider the impact of their policies on working class people. Coupled with this, the ECB is also ‘independent’.

This does not mean independence from big business or the interests of the bankers, the ECB is populated by senior managers that come from the major banks and finance houses!

Unapologetic economic terrorists This ‘independence’ is independence from any government, parliament or any democratic check. This does not prevent the ECB from intervening in politics. In recent years the ECB has used its powerful position to be the boot boy for austerity, blackmailing governments into austerity programmes with its infamous ‘ransom notes’ to Italy and Ireland. Most recently with Greece the ECB acted as economic terrorists by threatening to collapse the country’s banks in order to turn the screws on the Greek government and to bully the ordinary Greek people during the referendum. The euro is an austerity straightjacket which ties countries into attacking the rights of working class people. It is also deeply undemocratic. It is a project of the major corporations, the banks and the neo liberal hawks. We must reject the idea of ‘the euro at any cost’. As we are seeing in Greece, any movement that wants to see an end to the barbarism of austerity will be met with harsh resistance from the institutions of the EU and euro. This is a fight we must take on and be prepared for if we are to have a continent whose economy is run in the interests of the majority and not the 1%.

special feature

on GrEEcE

The Euro – A neo-liberal straitjacket

July / August 2015

8 THE SOCIALIST

international

One year on from massacre:

End the siege of Gaza justify its onslaught of Gaza. A mass struggle of the Palestinian people could make an appeal to Palestinians and Jewish workers within Israel to join them in a struggle in a struggle to overthrow the Israeli ruling class. For many Palestinians living under occupation and siege the latter may not seem like an obvious force that can be won to its side.

By Cillian Gillespie

aST SUmmer we watched in horror and disgust as the israeli state launched yet another murderous assault on the besieged people of gaza; a population of 1.8 million living in the world’s largest open air prison.

“Mowing the lawn in Gaza” Statistics can’t give us a full sense of the scale of horror and human suffering visited upon on the people of Gaza but the picture they do give us is horrific. 54 days of unrelenting onslaught by Israeli Defence Force (IDF) resulted in the deaths of over 2,200 Gazans – 70% of whom were civilians and 556 of these were children. 18,000 homes were destroyed or were made uninhabitable leaving 100,000 homeless and $4 billion worth of damage was directly made to civilian infrastructure. This is what the Israeli government shamefully and cynically calls “mowing the lawn in Gaza”; the brutal and indiscriminate cutting down of human life, infrastructure and buildings by its army, airforce and navy. Much of Gaza is now a wasteland of rubble brought about by the destruction and scale of the assault, little reconstruction has taken place as both the Israeli government and Egyptian military dictatorship

For a democratic & socialist solution Much of Gaza has become a wasteland of rubble

refuse to allow the necessary materials into the strip.

Collective punishment of a captive people The less visible but nonetheless shocking and tragic scars of the war lie in the enormous trauma felt by the Gazan population particularly amongst its children. According to a recent report issued by charity “Save the children”, seven out of ten children suffer from regular nightmares, 75% of suffer from irregular bed wettings and 89% suffer consistent feelings of fear. The Israeli state’s propaganda that it was waging its war on Gaza as a simple act of self defence from the rocket attacks from Hamas is a lie. Israeli soldiers who served in

the war have testified to the NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) “Breaking the Silence” that they had been ordered to target Palestinians regardless if they were military combatants or not. Israel’s perennial military attacks and the siege of this small strip of land are a collective punishment of its Palestinian population for being ruled by the Hamas regime. A regime that, despite its right wing reactionary character, is unwilling to submit and do its bidding, unlike the corrupt and dictatorial Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Mass struggle needed against israeli state The Socialist Party fully supports

the right of the Palestinians in Gaza Strip and the West Bank to engage in mass struggle based on armed self defence to resist the besiegement, occupation and colonisation of their land by the Israeli state. Such a struggle could be based on the methods of the first intifada when a mass, democratically organised uprising against Israeli occupation exploded from below in December 1987 Neither Fatah or Hamas have been willing to embrace the traditions of that heroic resistance to Israeli state oppression. The latter have engaged in the futile and counter-productive methods of indiscriminately firing rockets into Israel which have been used by the Israeli government as a pretext to

Confederate Flag: racist symbol of black oppression #Blacklivesmatter movement there is a heightened consciousness within the black community in America. The murders have therefore been seen in their correct context - this attack happened in the framework of a racist society which devalues black lives.

By Aprille Scully

N The wake of the Charleston massacre, South Carolina has removed the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds where it has flown for 54 years. Killer Dylann Roof posed for a picture with the Confederate flag before he carried out the mass murder of nine Black Americans in an act of racist terror.

Challenge oppression & capitalism

From Slavery to Jim Crow These murders were borne from a white supremacist ideology deeply rooted in the history of capitalist America. The old Jim Crow of openly racist terror has been replaced with "The New Jim Crow", that is, the systemic, institutionalised state racism - poverty and unemployment in the labour market, mass incarcerations and racist police killings. The Confederate flag is a symbol of hatred and of the brutal acts of oppression carried out against black people in America. It was the battle flag of a slave-owner’s rebellion in the American Civil War, it was used by the KKK and against the Civil Rights movement. For decades after the Civil War the Confederate flag did not fly on government buildings in South Carolina. It was only in 1962, against a growing opposition to racist segregation laws that the Jim Crow establishment raised the flag

Revulsion against racist Confederate flag in aftermath of murders

again. It is a symbol used to rally reactionary forces against Civil Rights - it is therefore unsurprising that Roof was inspired by the flag.

Racist society means racist murders This is Charleston’s second high profile racially motivated attack this year. On April 4th Walter Scott,

a black man, was shot in the back by police officer Michael Slager. Barack Obama has focused on the widespread availability of guns in response to Roof’s atrocity, however this fails to explain the motivation for the attack. This killing spree cannot be passed off as a man with mental health problems and access to guns. It is because of the

The BLM movement has piled pressure on the establishment. The strength of opposition to the flag as a hate symbol forced the state to remove it. Walmart and Amazon immediately pulled all merchandise bearing its image. The removal of the flag does not represent the state’s effort to eradicate racism. Nor does the actions of massive capitalist companies indicate anything genuine; removing something they should never have stocked in the first place. What it does show is the potential for change on the strength of the solid backlash against racism amongst the American working class and young people. The president of the College of Charleston, Glenn McConnell, begrudgingly agreed the flag should be removed on the back of public protest but warned “how sad it would be to end one controversy only to trigger a thousand more.” Let this be the trigger! Let this victory inspire more battles in the struggle against black oppression and the capitalist system that breeds it.

However there are real class and social divisions within Israeli Jewish society as illustrated by the recent protests by Ethiopian Jews against the discrimination they face. Successive Israeli government have not only brought about conflict and war but massive inequality and deprivation for Israeli working class people. A just and democratic solution that equally upholds the rights of both Jews and Palestinians can never come into existence as long as Israel’s rulers remain in power and capitalism and imperialism dominates the region. This is why Socialist Struggle Movement, the sister organisation of the Socialist Party in Israel / Palestine, argues for two democratic and socialist Palestinian and Israeli states alongside each other based on free, open and commonly agreed borders with the rights of minorities guaranteed.

Committee for a Workers’ international The socialist Party is the irish section of the Committee for a Workers’ international, an international socialist organisation that organises in over 40 countries on all five continents. We fight for a socialist world free from war, poverty and oppression. Check out the website of the CWi, socialistworld.net, for more analysis on these stories and many others. here are some of the articles from around the globe:

China: Stock market crash can turn into a political crisis www.socialistworld.net/doc/7272

Tunisia: Terrorist atrocity in Sousse www.socialistworld.net/doc/7261

July / August 2015

9 THE SOCIALIST

Britain: Seething anger against Tory austerity…

come across as too supportive of welfare- in other words to move even further to the right. But the facts don’t bear out this argument. Labour ran in the election on a platform of ‘austerity lite’.

By Conor Payne

N The 7 may UK general election, the Tories took an overall majority, despite winning just 37% of the vote and the support of only 24% of eligible voters. Nonetheless, this victory has spurred a new austerity offensive by the Cameron government against trade unions and against the welfare state. george osborne’s recent budget introduced an incredible £13bn in welfare cuts. Council tenants earning in any way reasonable incomes will now be charged market rents. In-work benefits such as tax credits were slashed, cutting the incomes of the poorest 45% of working families, according to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. The right to welfare, and housing benefit was removed for young people. A pay freeze was introduced for public sector workers. The Tories are also pursuing a war on trade union rights, with plans to dramatically restrict the right to strike. Meanwhile, austerity continues to work for the people it is meant to work for, with the government cutting corporation tax from 19% to 18% and tax being cut further for the wealthiest individuals.

Young people on the streets

Labour moves (further) to the right

New generation of young people have taken to the streets

However, the Tory offensive has not gone unopposed. In fact, their surprise election has already provoked a backlash from working class and young people. On June 20, up to 250,000 people marched in a major anti-austerity demonstration organised by the People’s Assembly. The march involved workers and trade

unions, but also many young people who had never been involved in protest before but who had been moved into action by the prospect of 5 more years of a vicious Tory government. Meanwhile, the London Tube has ground to a halt as drivers take strike action against cuts, and unilateral changes to their working

conditions. The backlash against austerity is having its reflection politically as well. The majority of the Labour Party appears to be drawing entirely the wrong conclusion from its defeat in May. Its leadership candidates talk vaguely about the need to support ‘aspiration’, to not

The Tory vote was largely unchanged since the last election, while Labour lost voters to the SNP and the Greens, both of which ran on an anti-austerity platform to their left. The SNP won a landslide victory in Scotland on the basis of criticising Labour’s support for austerity. Labour also lost significant support to UKIP particularly in its working class heartlands, showing the danger of the rise of right populism where no left alternative is offered. While the direction of Labour is to the right, Jeremy Corbyn has generated significant enthusiasm running on a clear anti-austerity platform. He has also won the endorsement of Britain’s largest union, UNITE. However, the Labour Party cannot be changed from within, and in the very unlikely event of Corbyn winning the election it would simply provoke a split. The Socialist Party has argued that the strong support for an anti-austerity message indicates the need for a political alternative, a new movement and party for working class people which challenges the Tories in the streets and on the political plane.

review of a socialist classic

rosa Luxemburg’s “Junius Pamphlet” By Linda Schutz ROSA LUxEMBURG wrote this pamphlet in response to the outbreak of the First world war and the political collapse of German social democracy, secretly in prison one hundred years ago this year in April 1915. In August 1914 the leadership of the SPD (Social Democratic Party- main party of working class in Germany at the time) not only voted for war credits and suspended the class struggle including no strikes, no elections or political campaigning and auto censorship of the press. They also ideologically supported it as a defence against the attack of reactionary Tsarism, the defence of the fatherland, freedom and culture, sometimes even using Marx’s words and the right of national self-determination.

A war for profit rosa Luxemburg shows two developments that led to the First World War: the formation of capitalist nation states that led to a race of militarisation and rivalry and the emergence of imperialism. The lack of colonies and the rapid development of

German capitalism led to its challenge of British imperialism and other colonial states. This was no secret as the build-up of arms began decades before and the main objective was political power and economic expansion, for the current and especially future profits of German industry and banks. rosa Luxemburg called war “systematic mass murder” accompanied by “the delirium of nationalism” and “the intoxication of patriotism.” The pamphlet exposes the position of the SPD as a betrayal of the core ideas of Marxism, defending international solidarity of the working class against a common opponent.

loss of lives, and the huge economic costs both to be paid mainly by the working class) a German victory and following hegemony would only prepare the grounds for new tensions, a new arms race and a second world war in which British Imperialism would try to win back its predominance. rosa Luxemburg rightly pointed out that no new program was needed, but that action was missing, and the upholding of socialist principles of international solidarity and international struggle to end capitalist exploitation, private property and class rule.

workers solidarity against capitalist war

This pamphlet played an important role in the discussions on the socialist movement and the analysis of imperialist wars, it is also still relevant today as the underlying causes of World War I have not changed, in fact competition is fierce and inter-imperialist tensions are high. As the United States is losing its predominant position and different regional powers are seeing their chances to increase their power and military strength. European countries have formed a block, but the EU

Luxemburg showed that the class struggle is a result of class society and cannot be suspended, but the leadership of the German workers movement led the working class into a voluntary military dictatorship, prolonged the war and greatly endangered its own existence. She also proves that a victory of German imperialism would have been no victory for the working class because (in addition to the

Relevance today

Prison photo of Rosa Luxemburg, imprisoned for taking anti-war stance

has not overcome the differences of the ruling classes and has not led to a unified, economic, fiscal or exterior policies. Since 1945 imperialism does not use direct influence in the form of colonies but still relies on war as a method to obtain and maintain spheres of influence, to ensure access to markets and raw materials, trade routes etc. War still exists an as institution of capitalism even more so today than 100 years ago when rosa Luxemburg stood against the

slaughter that engulfed Europe at this time. Today military spending stand at an obscene $1.2 trillion per annum and in the last decade imperialist wars have brought death, destruction and chaos to Afghanistan and Iraq. We must fight for rosa’s vision of a socialist world where cooperation and democratic planning of the economy can replace the anarchy of a capitalist system that has long outlived its usefulness to humanity.

international & review

250,000 take to the streets

July / August 2015

north

THE SOCIALIST

“OXI” to a bankers & bosses’ Europe By Ciaran Mulholland

ory Prime minister david Cameron has pledged to hold an “inout” referendum on the european Union (eU) in Britain and Northern ireland by the end of 2017. his preference is to hold the referendum in 2016 if possible, depending on the outcome of negotiations with the other 27 countries in the eU. it is clear that he hopes to recommend a “yes” vote to stay in the eU.

More Attacks on workers’ Rights Cameron’s strategy is based on prising concessions, or the promise of concessions, from the EU. Whilst the Tories would love to pose as the Party which halted socalled “mass immigration” it is unlikely to achieve significant concessions in this area. Where it is likely to achieve success, in its terms, is in a diminution of workers’ rights and the introduction of further neo-liberal legislation. Thus Cameron’s success will signal further attacks on the living standards of working class people across Europe. Cameron represents the majority view of the British ruling class. It is overwhelmingly likely that when the referendum is called almost all of the establishment will line up on the “yes” side. There will be only a

scattering of no campaigners in the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. A vocal large minority in the Conservative Party will make sure that their voices are heard. They will line up alongside the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and a minority of business figures who are Euro-sceptic. Unfortunately it is almost certain that nearly all trade union leaders will line up with the establishment. They will ask workers to vote to stay in what is a political arrangement designed to act in the interests of the capitalist class. A notable exception will be the RMT (transport workers union) which has a well-established anti-EU position.

North and EU In Northern Ireland a complicated scenario will unfold when the referendum is called. The EU is seen as having playing a positive role in the “peace process” by many Catholics who see it as broadly supportive of their aspirations. Many Protestants have the opposite view. Sinn Fein historically has taken an anti-EU position but in more recent years has switched sides. The SDLP has long been pro-EU. The supposed anti-austerity stances of both parties will be further exposed as a lie in this context - the EU is a vehicle for austerity. The unionist parties have in general been against the EU and their initial instinct will be to call for a

Anti-austerity campaigners march in solidarity with Greek working class

“no” vote. Various factors may result in a more cautious approach however. For example, the UUP retains a base in rural areas such as Fermanagh where farmers have gained from Europe through various financial subventions, and would be reluctant to alienate their support. The DUP are much more likely to advocate a “no” vote but may hesitate to do so when the Tories are calling for a “yes”. The most reactionary forces in the North will line up on the “no” side, the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and UKIP vociferously so. The various shades of dissident republicanism are also likely to

take an anti-EU stance and will employ left rhetoric when doing so.

A force for progress? This scenario, in which the most backward looking elements come down on the “no” side, will reinforce the genuine view held by many that Europe is in some way “progressive”, especially when compared to the sectarian sterility of Northern politics. Europe appears to be cosmopolitan and liberal in contrast to the backwardness and insularity of Northern Ireland. Young people in particular are likely to adopt this stance. The

EU is looked to by some as a means of dragging Northern Ireland into the 21st century on issues such as LGBT rights and a woman’s right to choose. It is the duty of class conscious trade union and community activists and socialists to call for a “no” vote. To do anything else is to sow illusions in the role of the EU and to cede the anti-EU field to reactionaries. The EU is an antiworker bosses club and must be opposed. The Socialist Party will call for a “no” to the EU and pose the positive alternative of a socialist Europe for the millions not the millionaires.

Collusion: The British state’s dirty war later turned up on display in the Imperial War Museum! On the night of the attack, the killers passed through two army checkpoints unimpeded. The state also covered up the activities of their agents within the republican paramilitaries. Peter Keeley – an agent within the IrA – was involved in planning the attack which killed rUC officer Coleen McMurray. Keeley claims he provided the rUC with the details of the attack but they failed to intervene. The crime scene evidence subsequently disappeared, as it did in the case of the sectarian killing of ten Protestant workmen at Kingsmill. The sole survivor and the victims’ relatives believe that a state agent was involved in the attack.

By Daniel Waldron RECENT DOCUMENTARIES have once again thrown light upon the murky world of collusion between the British state and paramilitaries in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. According to a report by Lord Stevens, State forces ran thousands of agents within both loyalist and republican groups, some of whom became – in the words of former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan – “state-sponsored serial killers”, allowed to kill with impunity as long as they remained of use. They supplied information which allowed the state to monitor and, if necessary, disrupt the organisations’ activities. However, sometimes information and weaponry flowed in the opposite direction, as loyalists were used as a proxy force in the state’s dirty war.

infiltration of paramilitaries In 1971, the loyalist bombing of McGurk’s Bar in north Belfast killed 15 civilians and injured 17 more. years later, a member of

British state are implicated in 1974 Dublin & Monaghan bombings

the covert Military reaction Force was to admit supplying the explosives and directions, believing the bar to be a republican hotspot. Implicated in the murder of 120 people, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, MidUlster’s infamous Glennane

Gang involved active members of the army and police and was headed by state agent robin Jackson. In 1992, loyalists killed five people in a bookmakers in south Belfast. Stevens’ report concluded that one of the murder weapons was supplied by a soldier. Another murder weapon

Another tool of repression The use of agents was unregulated but knowledge and approval of the practise went right to the top. Former rUC Assistant Chief Constable raymond White says his request for guidelines on handling agents went right to

Downing Street but received no response. He took the implied message to be “carry on but don't get caught.” Infiltration and collusion were only part of the British state’s dirty war in Northern Ireland. Their tactics ranged from legal measures, such as internment without trial, to the use of brute military force against civilians, as on Bloody Sunday in Derry. The aim was to maintain a level of stability, or an “acceptable level of violence” as Tory Home Secretary reginald Maudling put it in order for the capitalist class to rule. The victims and survivors of the Troubles have the right to a full picture of what took place. However that can never come about through a process controlled by the state or by sectarian forces from either side, all of whom have a vested interest in keeping the tragedies and atrocities of that dark period shrouded in secrecy and confusion. Only a united movement based on Protestant and Catholic working class communities – who bore the brunt of the Troubles – has the potential to truly throw open the books and allow a real investigation of the conflict.

July / August 2015

11 THE SOCIALIST

Discrimination written into law:

By Oisin Kelly

oLLowiNg The strong yes vote in the marriage equality referendum all teachers can now marry their partners, but some could get disciplined or sacked for it. Under Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act workers in education and health can be fired, not hired or marginalised at work if their sexual orientation, gender identity or family status is not in line with their employer’s religious ethos. In a state where 96% of primary schools are controlled by religious organisations this has a far reaching impact on LGBTQ workers who feel driven to silence or secrecy about their personal lives. In June 2015, Anti Austerity Alliance TDs put forward an Employment Equality Bill in the Dáil to end the 'religious ethos' discrimination against workers

in education, health and other workplaces.

Marriage Equality.

Separate Church & State

Creating a “chilling effect” Section 37 is not just a dead letter on the books and not enforced. It is not uncommon for a LGBTQ teacher to be called into the principal's office for "a chat" when it is found out a teacher is gay. LGBTQ teachers have reported being discriminated against on the school discovering their sexual orientation. LGBTQ teachers in church run schools have reported not getting promotions and having responsibilities taken away. Church control of schools and Section 37 creates a “chilling effect” on LGBTQ issues. Teachers are inhibited in tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying due to the religious ethos of most schools who see LGBTQ people as 'disordered'. Schools remain a place

Teachers unions highlight discriminatory Section 37 on Pride

where homophobia and transphobia can still thrive unchallenged, having a destructive impact on LGBTQ students. The Dáil voted for the AAA Bill in June. This wasn’t because they supported the full extension of

employment equality laws to schools and hospitals. Three years ago Labour and Fine Gael voted down a far weaker Bill than the AAA Bill in the Seanad. What has changed in the meantime is the movement behind the 'Yes' vote for

The AAA Bill will now be shelved in a Dáil committee and not progressed. Feeling the pressure, the government are now moving on their own Bill on Section 37. This Bill aims to limit explicit LGBTQ discrimination, but would still maintain religious discrimination against atheists and minority faiths and allow LGBTQ discrimination through the backdoor of ‘religious grounds’. It would allow private schools freedom to continue to discriminate with no limits. This issue points to the need to separate church and state. Establishment politicians are unwilling to tackle the power of the churches in schools and hospitals. We must have a secular education system and health service; well resourced and open to all.

Unjust abortion laws must be broken By Doreen Manning

omen on web has announced plans to bring the “abortion drone” to ireland. The abortion drone carries and delivers abortion pills to countries where abortion is illegal. The successful test flight carried the pills from Frankfurt, Germany to Slubice, Poland. Two Polish women swallowed the abortion pills delivered to them by the drone. In Poland, much like Ireland, the church has huge influence with the state and therefore abortion is only permissible under very strict circumstances.

Abortion pills are safe Medications such as misoprostol and mifepristone have been used

as abortifacients for decades in other countries and are both included in the World Health Organization's 'List of Essential Medicines'. Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, of Women on Waves and Women on Web, has stressed time and time again the safety of these tablets, and the need to break with the restrictive laws that force women around the world to turn to unsafe, 'backstreet' abortions. Socialist Party activists, along with ROSA, the Anti Austerity Alliance and the broad abortion rights movement will work with Women On Web to bring the abortion drone to Ireland and challenge the unjust, hypocritical state that keeps abortion illegal. This can be can be part of keeping up the pressure to Repeal the 8th Amendment - Ireland’s constitutional abortion ban – an issue that has to be made

central in the upcoming General Election. Abortion rights activists, North and South, will fight against the case in Northern Ireland in which a woman in her 30s currently faces prison for obtaining abortion pills for her daughter.

End abortion ban Bodily autonomy is an integral human right. The huge discrepancies in access to abortion across Europe and the world shows the influence of the church in countries like Poland and Ireland. Access to free, safe and legal abortion should be universal. It is a decision that a woman should be able to come to on her own terms; without the shame, bullying and disgusting harassment of groups such as Precious Life, Youth

Woman on Waves drone will bring abortion pills into Ireland

Defence and Iona Institute, who abusively use their positions as charities and ‘support groups’ to bully women and push sexist ideas.

Women deserve to be trusted with their own bodies, with their own health and with their own lives. Repeal the 8th and separate church and state.

North: Surge in support for Marriage Equality By Sean Burns JUNE 2015 saw 20,000 people march through the streets of Belfast demanding marriage equality. One opinion poll showed support for Marriage Equality stood at 68%. The backwardness of the sectarian political establishment has continually come into conflict with the attitudes of the vast majority of workers and young people who are instantly repulsed its vile homophobia.

A backward sectarian establishment Politicians in the North continue to enforce some of the most homophobic laws in Western Europe. As well as the denial of marriage equality for same sex couples, men who have had sex

with men are banned from donating blood. religious doctrine dominates the education system. The Sinn Féin education minister has failed to take up the issue of homophobic bullying in schools and allows homophobic, anti-woman organisations such as 'Love for Life' preach to school students. A party with a history of particularly vile homophobia, DUP member and former Health Minister Jim Wells made some vicious slurs this April 2015 at an election event in Downpatrick. Wells stated that gay couples were more likely to abuse children and have an unstable marriage. He also went on to harass a lesbian couple whilst canvassing on the door. Wells was forced to resign by the sheer levels of public anger and a directed social media campaign.

inspiring victories History was made following the “yes” vote in the marriage equality referendum in the South. This did not go unnoticed in the North. The Supreme Court’s decision in the U.S to uphold marriage equality in all states came off the back of mass pressure from below. In spite of the belief that Northern Ireland simply exists in its own backward, sectarian bubble, events across the world have had a decisive impact here. There is forward momentum behind the demand for marriage equality. Many look to these examples of what can be won and the sentiment is that Northern Ireland will be next. We are the 68% and we will defeat the Stormont parties and this homophobic system.

WOMEN & LGBTQ

Section 37 must go!

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 93

JULY / AUGUST 2015

Lift abortion ban now!

NEW POLL SHOWS THAT:

l 45% support full access to abortion l 67% want abortion decriminalised

l 87% oppose 14 year prison sentence for having an abortion

l 81% would support access to abortion in circumstances that would require repealing the 8th Amendment

Repeal the th 8 JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY!

Text ‘JOIN’ to 087 3141986