The Socialist by Socialist Party

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 92

Young people, women & working class communities deliver:

Historic

JUNE 2015

INSIDE

Billionaire muzzels the media

Victory for

Equality

Water battle creates potential for new Left

After the Yes vote – time to repeal the 8th

p10

l Repeal the 8th l Separate Church & State l Abolish all homophobic laws l End austerity & the rule of the billionaires socialistpartyireland

Join the Socialist Party Text ‘Join’ to 087 3141986

WWW.SOCIALISTPARTY.IE

June 2015

news

THE SOCIALIST

€64 billion later... Banking Inquiry investigates the crash ProPertY crAsh In numBers €512,461

– the average price of a second-hand house in Dublin in 2006

€104,431

– the average price of a second-hand in Dublin in 1996

€34 billion

– lending to the top 29 property developers

50%

– the percentage of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael tDs that owned investment properties in 2007

€4.8 million

– pay of David Drumm, ceo of Anglo, in 2008

€37 billion

– the cost of servicing the national debt from 2009-2014

– the number of staff at regulating Anglo & Bank of Ireland

By Diana O’Dwyer One Of the most annoying things about the Banking Inquiry has been watching witness after witness blame the system but not themselves for the crash. On one level, this is correct as it takes a whole capitalist system to cause a banking crisis. On another, it conveniently hides the fact that it is bankers, regulators, politicians and their media cheerleaders who are that system and who profit handsomely from it.

Joe higgins challenges Governor of the central Bank Joe hIGGIns tD: “Is it the case that the property bubble was blown to extremes by this scramble for super-profits by banks, developers and bondholders, that this is what the capitalist financial markets are all about, that this ideology is shared by Government, the majority of the Legislature in this state and by much of the media, and also that the regulatory authorities, most of whom came through that system, share that and that the prevailing spirit is, “Don’t separate the lion from its prey. that is what they do. Let them at it”?”

Myths of the crisis One of the central myths about the night of the bank guarantee is that nobody in the banks, the government or the Central Bank dreamed the banks were insolvent. We are still supposed to believe – €64bn later – that everyone involved thought the banks were only facing a temporary liquidity problem caused by the global credit crunch. This has zero credibility as the evidence mounts that key people in the banks, the regulator, the Department of Finance and the government had known for months that they were perched on top of a gigantic property bubble about to burst. Another myth is that mortgage borrowing caused the crisis. This myth persists even though ordinary mortgage holders have been pursued for every penny, while the developers, who caused the crash and ran up €74bn in debts transferred to NAMA, have benefited from massive write-downs. One of the most galling facts to emerge has been that ‘less than five’ developers have repaid their loans in full – despite the government’s

PAtrIck honohAn, Governor of the central Bank: “that is right.” prevailing at the time, and of course they sincerely regret any mistakes. “nobody saw it Jean-Claude Trichet from the European Central Bank also coming” made a cameo appearSo far, a procession of ance to pat us on “...the right-wing econothe head for bailauthorities operated mists, media, ing out the under the assumption that bankers and senior European banks financial markets generally civil servants have and bondholdwere efficient and self-regulating; trooped before ers he reprethis was generally considered as the Inquiry, to prosents. Still to the modern and reasonable claim in unison come are the approach both in Ireland and that nobody could developers, the abroad.’’ – Author of a govhave seen this comDepartment of ernment report on the ing, that they were all Finance and banking crash just doing their job Anglo’s Seanie within the circumstances FitzPatrick and Michael

repeated assurances that NAMA would not bail them out.

Fingleton of INBS. Among the last to appear will be Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, who Fine Gael-Labour hope will hammer the final nails into Fianna Fáil’s coffin before the election. Despite the cynicism of the witnesses and the hypocrisy of the establishment party politicians on the Inquiry – posing everyday as judges of the class they represent – Socialist Party TD, Joe Higgins, has participated in it to give voice to the working people still paying the price for the banking collapse and shed light on the structures of class exploitation that caused it.

Housing market: Prices, profits & repossessions rise When the banks were questioned on this policy in the Dáil Finance Committee by Paul Murphy TD, they all answered that it was their policy to evict tenants as soon as possible after repossessing a property. This includes the banks that are state owned and in receipt of massive bailouts from the tax payer. Banks are clearly profiteering on the increasing property prices and moving to repossess properties while prices are up.

By Finghín Kelly

he realiTies of “recovery” ireland is in sharp contrast to the official propaganda we are daily fed. Nowhere is this more obvious than when we look at the housing crisis. Last month the Courts Service revealed that 586 repossession orders were granted by the courts in the first three months of this year. This represents a 600% increase in just one year! The vast majority of the repossession orders relate to owner occupied homes. Approximately 20% are for buy-to-let mortgages, the form of mortgage preferred by private landlords. The number of buy-to-let mortgages in arrears is at a crisis level. This is seeing people in rented housing being faced with banks taking their homes from their landlords and then moving to evict in order to sell the property or to jack-up the rent.

Bankers’ profit while homelessness rises

Repossessions have risen by 600% in one year alone

Anyone walking the streets of any town in the country will be able to testify to the reality of the housing crisis; homelessness. In March there were 411 families, including 911 children in emergency accommodation in Dublin, up 220 in the last year! Housing charity, Focus Ireland, reported that 71 families became homeless in Dublin City in April, a new record!

The government have made much of their €3.8bn plan to tackle the housing crisis. In reality this is no more than a sticking plaster over a gaping wound. They promise just 35,000 new houses, this is despite over 90,000 families on council waiting lists; up 227% since 1996. There is very little actual house building envisaged as part of the plan. Most of the housing promised will come from relying on private landlords. This will just see more wealth being transferred to landlords and result in the displacing of other people in the private rented sector. To really tackle the housing crisis we need fundamental change. The policy of gearing housing policy to enrich the private landlords, the banks and the speculators must end. We need rent controls and more rights to tenants but we also need a massive plan of public investment to build homes in order to provide affordable housing for all.

June 2015

3 THE SOCIALIST

Supporting apartheid, union busting & corruption…

Seamus Parcéir to discuss the Dunne family trust tax assessment. The assessment was revised downward under Mr Parcéir’s supervision from 39 million pounds to 16 million pounds. Ben Dunne was an equal opportunities donator to Ireland’s big business parties. As well as making donations to Fianna Fáil’s Haughey he also gave money to Fine Gael’s Michael Lowry. The rise of the Dunne family is sometimes retailed by supporters

By Mick Barry

he DuNNe family own and control €1.78 billion making them one of the richest families in ireland. Frank Dunne is the 19th richest person in Ireland with €445 million. Margaret Heffernan is the 25th richest person with €389 million. Exploitation of workers at home and abroad, union busting and political corruption have all played a part in the rise of the Dunne family empire. It took a three year strike by Mandate shopworkers in the mid 1980s to force the company to take goods produced by slave labour in apartheid South Africa off their shelves. To this day Dunnes continue to stock Israeli goods produced in colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Workers’ rights – a shameful record Closer to home Dunnes are leading the way with low hour contracts and anti-worker rosters - policies they refuse to even discuss with representatives of their workforce. The company does not negotiate with trade unions and doesn’t usually show up at Labour Court or Labour Relations Commission hearings. In 2005 they sacked a worker, Joanne Delaney, for the crime of wearing a union badge. Mandate’s Assistant General Secretary Gerry Light said recent-

no-sell off to IAG! Re-nationalise Aer Lingus “In ApRIL 2006, when fianna fáil sold 75% of Aer Lingus, Deputy pat Rabbitte jumped up and down during Leaders' Questions and said: "The progressive Democrats has pushed fianna fáil so far to the right – it would have been unthinkable even a decade ago that fianna fáil would have sold off the national airline in a country that has the strategic requirements of an island nation." now, the Labour party has been pushed so far to the right that it is going along with this proposal. Although we are hearing many fake assurances about jobs and conditions, according to IMPACT, one in four people in Aer Lingus could lose his or her job under the deal if IAG follows the traditional path it has followed so far. The same assurances were given in 1997 when TEAM Aer Lingus, the maintenance company Aer Lingus used to own, was sold to another multinational giant, SR Technics. By February 2009, the company had been closed completely, with the loss of 1,300 jobs, and the business moved to Zurich and the Middle East.” – Ruth Coppinger TD Anti Austerity Alliance / Socialist party, Dáil speech

of capitalism as a rags to riches story, the story of Ben Dunne Sr who started a little shop in Cork in the 1940s to sell food and clothes to working class people and who built it up into an empire with stores in Ireland North and South, England, Scotland and Spain. But the facts are in plain view and cannot be hidden. If the rise of the Dunnes is symbolic of the Irish capitalist class as a whole, it’s symbolic of a class that is rotten and doesn’t deserve to rule.

Margaret Heffernan: anti- union head of Dunnes family dynasty

ly of Dunnes boss Margaret Heffernan and her dictatorial style: “She’s not so much anti-union as anti-opposition.” The refusal by Dunnes to entertain grievances is reflected in the fact that the company has been named as defendant in 448 cases in the High Court in the last 5 years.

“Thanks, big fella” When Ben Dunne Jr was arrested in a Florida hotel in 1992 not only did it open up a window on his lifestyle, which included cocaine and buying sex, but kick-started a battle with his siblings for control of the Dunnes empire which spilled secrets on political corruption and resulted in a tribunal of

investigation. This tribunal revealed that Ben Dunne had made more than 1.3 million pounds in secret payments to soon-to-be disgraced Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

Cash for favours What is remembered by the whole country is the exchange between Dunne and Haughey about a payment made on top of the 1.3 million pounds which later was recounted at the tribunal: “Here’s something for yourself” (Dunne), “Thanks, big fella” (Haughey). What’s less well remembered is the fact that Haughey arranged meetings for Dunne and his tax advisor with the then Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners

Unlike the owners, the workers of Dunnes Stores have a proud history. The above plaque was unveiled last month on Henry Street, Dublin, for Dunnes Stores workers who went on strike for almost three years (1984-1987) for refusing to handle produce from Apartheid South Africa.

New report shows global race to the bottom By Stephen Brady

he receNT industrial dispute in Dunne’s stores has highlighted some of the conditions faced by young workers on zero-hour contracts. a recent report from the international labour Organisation (ilO) shows this is part of a wider global trend towards casualised labour.

Casualisation The report exposes how fewer than 40% of waged and salaried workers are employed on a full-time permanent basis internationally, with this number likely to decrease if current trends continue. Over half the jobs being created in Almost Europe are part-time jobs 1 in 4 workers many without fixed hours, in Ireland are in Dunnes Stores what were once well-paid Dunnes Stores workers strike: trade union movement must fight casualisation in part-time secure jobs have been employment replaced by casual necessities; casual demand at $3.7 trillion as a result competitiveness and increasing contracts. labour provides few of unemployment, lagging labour corporate bank balances These contacts tend to be lowopportunities for house- incomes and their effects on conThe industrial action by Dunnes paid with no benefits or job security, holds to invest in developing sumption, investment and govern- Stores workers over zero-hour conwith many only getting 15-20 hours education and skills further feeding ment revenue. tracts and the public support it a week. Numerous stories have into the cycle of poverty While Austerity economics has received has shown there is potencome out of management in Dunnes had great success in boosting the tial for a movement of young people using hours to punish and control $3.7 trillion lost in profits of big business, it is com- and workers’ to resist this attack on workers, taking advantage of the pletely incapable of dealing with the workers rights. The march to income vulnerable position workers are global demand slump. The increas- Dunnes’ headquarters on the 6 June purposely put in. In Ireland, almost The global drive to a more “flexi- ing prevalence of insecure, casual should be the first action in an escaone in four workers are in part-time ble” workforce, in an effort to and part-time work will only con- lation of the fight against zero-hour employment driving many into increase the profitability of labour tribute to this demand shortage. A contracts. The trade union movepoverty. This is causing untold men- also has worrying long-term eco- recovery for the rich means casual ment needs to fight to secure a right tal anguish for thousands who nomic consequences. The report low paid employment for the aver- to stable employment and a living despite working can’t afford basic estimates the loss in global age worker, all under the guise of wage for all workers.

news

The Dunnes family dossier

June 2015

water charges

THE SOCIALIST

JOE HIGGINS the

column

“the impression is being given that Irish Water can simply reach into the pockets of workers... take the money from those who continue to boycott and demand the abolition of the charge. this cannot be done under present legislation” ures two months after the first bills were sent.

…Irish water is not Revenue “HOuSeHOLDeRS WHO refuse to pay water bills will have charges deducted from wages or dole”, screamed the Irish Independent in early May in response, no doubt, to a behind the scenes briefing from Government officials. We are getting used to these types of headlines. In March, the Irish Times told us: “Irish Water may deduct unpaid bills from wages and welfare” in the headline followed by a claim that, “The introduction of attachment orders in order to increase compliance with water charges marks a step change in the Coalition’s approach to those who do not pay their water bills.”

nothing to fear…

It is by now a familiar ploy by the government to place stories such as these in the media in an attempt to frighten and isolate the huge cohort of people who are refusing to pay the water charges. They hope to make people feel nervous so that they rush out and pay. The May headlines were prompted by the realisation that huge numbers were boycotting the water charge. The first bills went out from early April, and by mid-May Irish Water hoped that the massive opposition, visible on the streets at the end of last year and earlier this year, might have dissipated and that this new austerity tax would come rolling in. They have been disappointed as evidenced by the fact that they adamantly refuse to reveal payment and non-payment fig-

These media stories are predicated on a lie. The impression is being given that Irish Water can simply reach into the pockets of workers and welfare recipients and take the money from those who continue to boycott and demand the abolition of the charge. This cannot be done under present legislation. Irish Water is not like the Revenue Commissioners with their draconian powers. It is like Electric Ireland or other service providers. There is no question therefore of a simple repeat of the Property Tax situation where the threat by Revenue had, unfortunately, a big impact on defeating that boycott.

Courts will be clogged up Irish Water has no way around a cumbersome court procedure

Billionaire muzzles the media discussions on the general election coverage with RTÉ said: “On air time, we get 56% of it and the Socialist Party will get 1% of it. We will fucking insist on it. It will be a battle, and we will win.”

O'Brien has ensured that his dealings with IBRC are kept from the public

By Emma Quinn

OT cONTeNT with controlling the bulk of the country’s media outlets ireland’s richest man Denis O’Brien has opportunely enforced a media blackout in order to prevent reports of his financial affairs being publicised. Billionaire businessman O’Brien successfully attained a court injunction blocking an rTÉ news item reporting alleged favourable loan arrangements from iBrc (formerly anglo irish Bank). With an empire that includes Independent News & Media; 22 national and regional papers and the majority of popular radio stations, this latest display of media dominance is a major attack on the freedom of the press. The battle for the airwaves takes place against the backdrop of the battle against the water charges, one of the most signifi-

cant mass struggles in decades resulting in the establishment parties scrambling hysterically to ensure it’s their pro-austerity propaganda that dominates our screens.

relating to debt collection if it wishes to take that road. Householders would have to be brought to court for a judge to give an order that they should pay. Most would then go away and continue not to pay. After many more months Irish Water could bring them back again. On a third appearance they might get ‘an attachment order’ which says that the bill would be paid in instalments from their wages and welfare. This procedure would take months and indeed up to a year or more. How on earth could the Courts Service deal with away over half a million households being dragged to court. The whole system would be clogged up. In in previous water battles they tried the same tactic – it did not break the boycott campaign and the charges were defeated. Each court case invigorated the campaign and became points of protest and solidarity action, resulting in the court system being blocked up and the charges being defeated. The government’s big stick isn’t so

big. Disgracefully the government is also targeting people who rent their accommodation. They are threatening to bring in legislation to force landlords to legally deduct unpaid water charges from the deposits of the tenants. This course is fraught with danger for the government. It would cause huge anger but its administration would also be a nightmare. No wonder landlords are loudly objecting. Any course of action to try to make it easier to force water charges from people’s pockets would have to see new legislation brought to the Dáil which would be bitterly fought. The campaign would have to meet such a situation with a strengthening of the boycott and the reigniting of the mass mobilisations that shocked the political establishment over the last nine months.

Joe Higgins is a Socialist Party TD for Dublin West

Irish Water say payment figures are not in the “public interest”!

“on air time, we get 56% of it and the socialist Party will get 1% of it. We will fucking insist on it. It will be a battle, and we will win.”

– senior Government source

(quoted in sunday Business Post)

Attack from political establishment

RTÉ supporting austerity

RTÉ haven’t only been put under pressure by Denis O’Brien but has received complaints from Fianna Fail, Labour and Fine Gael in regards to the level of coverage they receive. According to the Sunday Business Post (SBP), RTÉ’s coverage of anti-water charges protests is a sharp point of contempt for the Fine Gael/Labour coalition. It reported a senior figure in the government commenting how “politically RTÉ is more important than all the other media put together”. The government source was adamant that they could hold the power balance with the state broadcaster and pre-empting the

The idea that the broadcaster has given favourable coverage to the anti-water charges movement is of course laughable as the week following the protest in Jobstown in November showed where various presenters failed to hide their pro-government bias and contempt for the movement. The media is an important weapon used by the capitalist establishment to enforce austerity. The idea that Socialist Party and AAA TDs who are representatives of a working class movement would receive 1% of air time while fighting to represent the 99% optimises the real class divide that saturates the political system.

As mass boycott becomes reality government is hiding payment figures

WATeR CHARGeS bills have been arriving to households en masse. Over a million bills have been issued and almost 800,000 are currently due for payment. And even now, weeks after enda Kenny told paul Murphy to “toddle along” to an Irish Water briefing, and a freedom Of Information request submitted, they continue to refuse to divulge how many people have paid citing “commercial sensitivity and public interest” as their reasons for doing so. What’s more probable is that it’s not the “public interest”

they are concerned about but their own and are refusing to release the figures knowing a low level of payment would give confidence to others not to pay. With hundreds of thousands of bills now overdue, the battle against the water charges is at a crucial stage. The fact the government and Irish Water aren’t singing the payment levels from the rooftops strongly suggests that the figures are on our side. Mass non-payment will sink Irish Water and deliver a serious blow to the Fine Gael/Labour government.

June 2015

5 THE SOCIALIST

It is essential that a new political movement is deeply democratic. A precondition for achieving real unity is space for debate, discussion and an ability to democratically take decisions. A new movement could start with in-depth discussions of anti-water charges movements in different local areas about this initiative. They could come together at a major national conference with delegates elected from different campaigns around the country. Such a conference could democratically decide on a programme and strategic approach. Different political, community and trade union groups that take part could retain their own identity as part of this broader project, and their right to put forward their own ideas and programme publicly and within the movement.

By Paul Murphy TD

s well as holding the potential of dealing a decisive and confidence building blow to austerity, the anti-water charges movement has dramatically widened the space to build a new political force of the left. The protest movement has accelerated the radicalisation in irish society under the impact of austerity, which has seen the traditional parties of Fianna Fáil, Fine gael and labour reduced to less than 50% in many opinion polls.

Shift to the left Of the respondents to a survey conducted by Dr. Rory Hearne (‘The Irish water war, austerity and the ‘Risen people’) 31.7% said they would vote for the AntiAusterity Alliance or the People Before Profit Alliance, while 27.5% would vote for ‘Left Independents’ and 23.9% for Sinn Féin. This confirms that where an active movement takes place, it is the forces of the active campaigning left which come to the fore amongst those who are active, whereas Sinn Féin, with its relatively passive approach, falls back. In order to maximise the potential for a new political movement emerging from the struggle against

Anti-water charges has radicalised many after years of austerity

water charges, it must be rooted in this day-to-day struggle. This means, at this crucial stage with bills dropping, openly calling for and actively organising for nonpayment. This is necessary to maximise our chance of victory against the water charges, which will in turn open the political opportunities wider.

The necessity of struggle It is also necessary as an illustra-

tion of what type of new political movement is being created. It should break with the traditional ‘electoralism’ of old social democratic parties, which is also the practice of Sinn Féin, where instead of empowering people, they are reduced to voting fodder. This approach would also chime with the majority surveyed in Dr. Hearne’s report, with 77.6% of the opinion that the most effective way of achieving change is through protesting, versus 52.3% seeing elections as most important.

no coalition with establishment parties A new movement must also clearly point towards an alternative to the austerity status quo. This means avoiding the mistaken logic of coalitionism. Going into coalition with traditional establishment parties has always resulted in demoralisation and disappointment for working class people and setbacks for the Left. The history of the Irish Labour Party demonstrates this clearly, as do examples from around the world, perhaps most

graphically when Rifondazione Communista joined the second Prodi government in 2006, which led to betrayal of its principles and the effective collapse of what had been a party of 100,000 members. A bottom line therefore must be a clear ruling out of going into government with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Labour.

Break with logic of austerity Linked to that, is a need for a clear programme to break with austerity. That means a definite commitment to a strategy of repudiation of the bankers’ debts, to major public investment to create decent jobs, to reverse austerity measures through taxation of the corporations, wealthy and high earners. It also means putting forward a vision of breaking with the rule of profit and building a fundamentally different model of economic growth – a sustainable one built on public ownership and democratic control of the key sectors of the economy. A Left movement based on this anti-capitalist and socialist approach, combined with the energy of the anti-water charges movement and a democratic structure to allow mass participation, could inspire thousands to get involved and quickly become a powerful weapon for fundamental change.

What kind of Left challenge is needed? By Kevin McLoughlin

rDiNary wOrkiNg class people made the demonstration of 11 October last year a historic event. They mobilised themselves and changed the political situation in the whole country and in so doing they propelled right2water to a prestigious position of being a key convenor for this new movement. Incredibly within months in another historic mobilisation, the working class has again dramatically put its imprint on events by being the inspiring leading force in the decisive Yes vote for marriage equality alongside women and young people.

A desire for radical change This willingness to struggle and the support for radical change should be music to the ears of the unions who are the de facto decision makers in Right2Water as they seek to organise a new political alliance to challenge in the next general election. With their authoritative position, all the indications are that if Right2Water reflected the fighting and radical position of ordinary people they could bring together a movement that would have a huge immediate effect. It could defeat

this government on water charges within months. It could now create and channel such pressure that could force change on key issues of oppression like repeal of the Eight Amendment. Such an approach would make it likely that twenty or thirty new working class and left TDs could get elected in the coming election.

The need for non-payment Unfortunately, while being at the head of the new movement, Right2Water hasn’t really sought to give full expression to the new movement, nor reflect its radical position. Water bills are dropping but unfortunately Right2Water still hasn’t come out and organised mass non-payment. Given the radicalisation that is unfolding in working class communities, if Right2Water had opened up its conference on building a political challenge, scheduled for 13 June, to the working class it could be a huge and significant event. It could be a platform for consolidating a new movement in each area that could fight on the key issues and be the basis for a political challenge that could have involved thousands of working class people.

Open conference Unfortunately it seems that the

New left must be based on struggle and support non-payment

unions at the centre of Right2Water are focused too much on facilitating existing political forces, mainly Sinn Féin, and are prepared to limit the activity and policy positions of the movement to what is acceptable to them, rather than politically embracing and organising the working class itself. According to Right2Water, the conference on 13 June will roughly have the same numbers attending, two hundred, as the initial event on 1 May. There doesn’t seem to be any facility for active community groups to select and send in dele-

gations so that the event could be predominantly made up of the new working class movement. Arguments that the venue doesn’t have enough space have been made. However, such technical points are not really serious or credible, particularly when compared to the need to maximise the potential of any new movement or political alliance.

A real left alternative Any new political alliance, claiming the mantle of the anti-water

charges and anti-austerity movement couldn’t be in a government with any of the establishment parties, Fine Gael, Labour or Fianna Fáil and all groups that are part of the alliance should be asked to give a commitment on this. We need a government that says no more austerity measures under any circumstances, and that actually follows through on the popular sentiment that people must come before profit. That can only be done if the wealth and resources of the country are taken out of the control of the 1%.

water charges

Water charges battle creates potential for new Left

June 2015

special feature

THE SO

THe STrUggle for

Why the Yes vote triumphed

he Yes vote the marriage equality referendum represented a huge vote in support of equality for LGBtQ people and in support of progress and social change, writes conor PAYne.

he scale and breadth of the yes vote was impressive, demonstrating decisively the change in attitudes which has taken place in irish society over the past decades. This is a country where homosexuality was criminalised until 1993! Yes defeated No 62.1%-37.9% with a turnout of 60.5%, the highest turnout for a referendum since the Divorce referendum in 1995. Whereas in the past referendums on issues such as divorce and abortion had close run results, with a major divide between Dublin and the rest of the country, only one constiuency voted No, with even rural constituencies which would be viewed as traditionally conservative delivering often strong Yes votes. The vote was strongest among young people, women and in working class areas. This could not have been achieved without the development of a politicisation and a movement among all these groups, with young people in

particular mobilising to achieve a huge Yes vote in a new social movement – the second major movement to sweep Ireland in the past year, along with the water charges struggle.

Highest Yes vote amongst working class The highest Yes votes in the country were recorded in the most deprived and neglected working class areas. In Dublin, Coolock voted 88% Yes, Jobstown 87%, th Liberties 88%, Cherry Orchard 90%. In Limerick, Moyross voted 70% Yes and South Hill 72%. The very people mobilised and politicised by the anti-water charge movement went on to register a powerful statement in support of LGBT friends, family and neighbours and for equality and social change. The introduction of marriage equality will bring real benefit to same-sex couples in Ireland who want to marry. But the vote was

An active grassroots movement played a key role in mobilising the Yes vote

about more than that. Despite some rhetoric from the ‘Yes’ campaigners about marriage being the ‘foundation of a stable society’, the vote was first and foremost an affirmation of

the equality of LGBTQ people. It also represented a rejection of the bigotry and backward vision of society of the No side. The vote showed a huge aspiration for an equal, pro-

gressive and secular society.

Homophobic laws still remain

Why Pride is a protest T

he OrigiNs of Pride can be traced back to the stonewall riots in June 1969 that led to the birth of a new movement. stonewall consisted of several days of rioting after a police raid on the stonewall inn in New york city. it was a popular underground gay bar frequented by society’s outcasts such as gay, lesbian, hispanic, black people and transvestites. at the time, homosexuality was viewed as a sickness and those who rioted were regarded as perverted or mentally ill. gay bars were often raided by police and lgBT people were frequently harassed. It was a turning point in history because instead of LGBT members putting up with this victimisation, they fought back. It gave birth to a new radical movement for sexual liberation inspired by the civil rights movement and antiwar mood at the time. This had a massive impact internationally and new organisations fighting for LGBT liberation arose. The following year in commemoration of the Stonewall riots, the first gay Pride protest

marched from Christopher Street, the same street as the Stonewall Inn.

Solidarity against oppression Throughout history there have been countless examples of oppressed groups showing solidarity and these gives a sense of the kind of united movement that can be built today. Following the Stonewall riots the Gay Liberation Front was initiated. They wanted to be part of a struggle that challenged the capitalist system, “we identify ourselves with all the oppressed; the Vietnamese struggle, the third world, the blacks, the workers, all those oppressed by this rotten, dirty, vile fucked up capitalist conspiracy”. In Britain, during the miners’ strike the Asian and LGBT community expressed massive solidarity with the miners and raised money because they knew what it was like to be victimised and to face a 'common enemy'. At recent water charges protests in Ireland, the Radical Yes Campaign for Marriage Equality held stalls on the upcoming referendum and on LGBTQ discrimination. They

received phenomenal solidarity and support from water charges protestors. Today LGBTQ oppression still exists and we need to build a movement for transformative change to challenge the economic and social status quo for full sexual liberation.

Commercialisation of pride On the eve of the marriage referendum in Ireland, flowers and Yes Equality badges were placed in Fairview Park in remembrance of Declan Flynn, a gay man murdered 33 years ago because of his sexuality. The murderers were handed down a suspended sentences for manslaughter. This led to the first march protesting against the harassment and brutalisation of gay men and women in 1982. In June the following year, the first Pride march took place and decades of struggle ensued to fight for full LGBTQ rights. Since then, Pride transformed from a political demonstration to a festival that celebrates LGBTQ identities. It’s no longer a militant demonstration that commemorates early struggles but a corporate spon-

Pride protest celebrate the heroic Stonewall riots

sored event. The ‘pink euro’ has created the impression that you can buy your way into LGBTQ liberation.

Already the establishment parties and businesses have mentioned tapping into market of ‘pink money’

June 2015

OCIALIST

We now have in Ireland an incredibly contradictory situation where a LGBT teacher working in a church run school, can get married but would then face the threat of losing their jobs for violating the church’s ‘ethos’. There is a still a discriminatory ban in place against gay and bisexual men donating blood. The government is pursuing a Gender Recognition Bill which is highly flawed and is ignoring the concerns of the transgender community. We are not simply on a smooth path to ever increasing progress and tolerance. Those who oppose change maintain huge power in society. The Catholic Church, despite its teachings on ‘moral issues’ being increasingly rejected, maintains much power through its control of most primary and secondary schools in the state as well as public hospitals and can use this position to block social change.

A backward capitalist establishment The fact that all the parties called for a Yes vote could be taken the indicate that the establishment has changed and is now accepting or even driving progress on social issues. The reality of the situation was exposed by the crisis in Fianna Fail, that has been shown up as having significant opposition to marriage equality within their ranks. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Fein have all voted against even extremely limited abortion rights in the last year. All parties remain opposed to abortion rights, advocating at best the right to an abortion in extremely limited cir-

cumstances such as fatal foetal abnormalities and in cases of rape and incest. The question of equality was key to this camaign but we still live in a society which is deeply unequal in many ways, socially and eocnomically. From the continued discrimination in law against LGBT people and women, to the scandal of direct provision, to the rise in wealth inequality in Ireland and internationally. In all of this, capitalism in Ireland is deeply implicated.

fight all inequality Capitalism bases itself on inequality, and fosters divisions between people in order to justify and maintain its rule. In Ireland, the weak capitalist establishment which is incapable of taking society forward has used and become linked to the ideology of the catholic church to justify its rule. Homophobia remains powerfully ingrained in society, not just in the laws or the churches but in the reality of homophobic attitudes and assumptions as experienced by LGBT people every day. This cannot be challenged by a capitalist system wedded to inequality and conservatism. We need a movement which challenges all oppression and inequality, and bases itself on solidarity of working class people, women, LGBTQ people and migrants. We need a socialist society based on equality and solidarity where wealth and power is removed from the hands of a privileged few and where the basis for bigotry and oppression is fundamentally uprooted.

wealthy while also commercialising sexual identity. Radical struggle has been replaced by the idea that lifestyle and consumer choice is a means of political resistance. This is problematic because it leads to individualistic notion of overcoming oppression that ultimately fail to challenge the systematic inequalities that LGBTQ people face.

fighting inequality

after the marriage referendum. Portraying a false image that all LGBTQ people are middle class and

The overwhelming support for the marriage referendum shows a wider acceptance in society of same sex couples but also the potential for a new radical movement to challenge inequality among all oppressed groups. Pride needs to be reclaimed as a political protest without corporations. A struggle for LGBTQ liberation should be linked with a struggle to repeal the 8th Amendment, for full access to abortion rights and to separate church and state. Linking up with wider workers' struggle against austerity is necessary to challenge capitalism that reinforces these repressive structures and ideologies; to fight for a socialist alternative for full LGBTQ liberation.

The roots of homophobia and how it can be challenged By Helen Redwood A ReALLY astonishing aspect of the debates in the run-up to the Marriage equality referendum is the amount of airtime the no side consumed when all that their argument boiled down to was the simplistic assertion that the traditional heterosexual family forms the basis of civilisation. Any dilution, by admitting same-sex couples to the club, would damage society, its children and, as the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal pietro parolin, declared, even humanity itself. Yet this idea of homosexuality as the “enemy within”, a threat to the traditional family and children, is time worn and universal – witness the Ugandan government’s statement defending its 2014 law which criminalises homosexuality with sentences up to life imprisonment: “The bill aims at strengthening the nation’s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the traditional heterosexual family”. It is both ironic and revealing that a common theme of the anti-gay propaganda across Africa is that homosexuality is an import of Western imperialism, a white man’s disease: ironic because what was actually imported by Western imperialism was its Victorian anti-gay laws which were imposed across Africa during the 19th and early 20th century; revealing because these laws were part and parcel of measures aimed at repression and control.

Stoked by religion Universally too, homophobia is invoked in the name of a God, whether Christian, Muslim or Jewish. While bigoted attitudes are absorbed into society as a whole, it is clearly the religious who foment and perpetuate intolerance most prominently. Relying on ignorance, religious leaders play on backward social attitudes in order to maintain and build a base of support for themselves and their conservative political agendas. Religion therefore lends itself as a staunch ally to the elite in society who wish to adopt the same strategy. It is no accident that homophobia is at its most vicious in countries which have repressive regimes. These are weak governments who collaborate with religion to create a “moral panic” around which they can group support for the imagined enemy. Elevation of the traditional heterosexual family is intrinsic to anti-gay prejudice as epitomised by the No campaign. “Homosexual” as type arose with development of capitalism.

nurtured by capitalism The increased separation of family and economic life as people moved from countryside to city for work, gave rise to ideas of a “personal life” and “individual freedom”. Alongside this came an increasing idea of the right to express sexuality as a person might wish. However, the disruption of working class family life led to the diminishment of parental power and a weakening of the strict definitions of family responsibilities, not least as women were brought more into the workforce and began organising for equal rights. Fearing social breakdown and revolution, the ruling classes began a campaign to re-assert the importance of the heterosexual nuclear family as a foundation stone of society. Repressive attitudes to sexuality were cranked up and linked to fears of anarchy and revolution. But it was not just a question of same-sex relations, a spotlight was thrown on the “unchastity” of factory girls; over-crowded slum dwellings were portrayed as hotbeds of lust. The family was promoted as the best way of satisfying personal life, including sex life. Unmarried mothers were stripped of dignity and often condemned to workhouses or, in the case of Ireland, the slave-labour Magdalene laundries. Homosexuality was deemed “deviant”, “depraved” and, as Oscar Wilde discovered, punishable by imprisonment and hard labour.

Posters of the No side were offensive to LGBTQ people

So the nuclear family plays both a key economic and ideological role for capitalism. It provides a means of socialising people into hierarchical and patriarchal society. It also provides free childcare, free care of the sick and disabled and historically, an excuse for lower wages for women workers since patriarchal society has designated the man to be the main breadwinner. Nevertheless, the increased confidence of LGBTQ people to be visible, to participate in mass protests and demonstrations coupled with militant campaigning and lobbying by LGBTQ activists has forced the law to formally outlaw antigay discrimination (except for religious run institutions!) and now to legislate for marriage equality.

prejudice is not inevitable In less repressive societies people’s relationships have been able to diversify and backward traditional values have dwindled as they become increasingly at odds with people’s lives. Nevertheless, attitudes can be manipulated by those in power. Inequality is intrinsic to capitalism, it cannot exist without it. Civil rights are only afforded so long as the elite feel confident of maintaining power and can be taken away when they feel threatened by social upheaval. It is in these circumstances that old prejudices can be played on and encouraged in order to foment division and diversion. Fundamental change in the structure of society is needed if we are to free society from prejudice on a permanent basis. So there is every reason for working-class LGBTQ people to ally their struggle against homophobia with the struggle to transform society along socialist lines. Socialism offers a form of society in which commerce and industry are put to the service of society as a whole and not to feed the greed of privileged individuals. As such it has to encourage unity, human solidarity and cooperation. Bigotry has no place in such a society and would only act to undermine it. Such a society would create, for the first time in human history, the possibility of people being free to choose their sexual and family relationship without fear.

special feature

r lgBTQ liBerATion

June 2015

international

THE SOCIALIST

Baltimore: Microcosm of racist, capitalist America and predominantly black Upton/Druid Heights, but there's also a 20 year difference in life expectancy. A black man in Baltimore can expect to live until the age of 63, in contrast to 83 in the white population.

By Sami El-Sayed

reDDie gray, Michael Brown, Tamir rice, eric garner, the list goes on. Victims of unwarranted extra-judicial executions by the police. Other than the fact that they're black, what do these people have in common? each target for police violence is part of a working class, underdeveloped community, communities forgotten by the system, fallen into an economic black hole with no prospects for the future. After Freddie Gray was murdered by police there was a full week of non-violent, peaceful protest, all of which went under the radar in the mainstream media. Only when protests turned violent did the world pay attention to the plight of Baltimore. While riots are not a constructive form of resistance, it is important to note that such outbursts of violence are produced by the capitalist system itself and the alienation it imposes on working class people within the system.

Racist poverty in statistics The

economic

situation

A city in decline

Many took to streets of Baltimore to protest the murder of Freddie Gray

Baltimore is much dire than any of the 1%'s media lets on, let's look at the statistics: Baltimore city's unemployment rate is some 8.2%, 3% higher than the state's average. The median household income is $42,266, this contrasts with the state-wide average of $72,483. In Freddie Gray's neighbourhood of Sandtown, the

situation dramatically deteriorates, unemployment is currently at 24% and the median household income is some $25,000. Among black young people aged between 20 and 24 unemployment shots up even further to 37%. There's a 5 mile difference between the predominantly white neighbourhood of Roland Parks

It is in this economic context that communities in parts of Baltimore, communities like Ferguson, cities like Detroit and others all across America, that the black population faces severe police oppression. Not only are you stuck in poverty, like the 28% of the black population stuck below the Federal poverty line in Baltimore, but you're not allowed to step out of line to protest at that fact. And here, we see the face of a system who's interests is not in building the best society for the majority, the working class, but for sucking up the wealth in society into the hands of a tiny minority. Baltimore wasn't always like this. It used to be a thriving and more prosperous community with industrial employment. Competition between capitalists means that profit will always come before people. When operating in Baltimore became less profitable than the alternative – shifting your production overseas to one of the

Fortress Europe leads to... Criminal deaths in the Mediterranean By Eleni Vetsika

OrTress eurOPe, a phrase first coined during wwii to refer to the parts of europe occupied by the Nazis is now used widely to describe the european union and its policies towards immigrants and refugees fleeing the world’s bloodiest conflicts. The increasingly restrictive measures and tightening of eu immigration laws have rendered the necessity of fleeing to europe into an even more dangerous passage. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has estimated that between 2000 and 2014 more than 22,000 have lost their lives trying to get to Europe. Yet, in 2015 alone there are over 1,800 deaths reported already, and the IOM fears that it could even reach up to 30,000 people by the end of the year as poverty, wars, persecution and environmental destruction are forcing unprecedented numbers of people to seek safety and refuge in Europe. Refugees arriving on the coasts of Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Greece is a daily occurrence. The rich northern EU states have made sure by signing and implementing the Dublin Regulation III which determines that asylum seekers should remain in the country they initially arrived to until their case is processed - to insulate themselves. As a result, this dispro-

Capitalism – a criminal system We can see the true crimes of capitalism in the US. A system which not only can't solve these problems due to the absolute reliance on profit motive and the market system, but also created this problem in this first place! The working class in the US has begun to wake up to this reality once again. This is reflected in the election of Kshama Sawant, Socialist Alternative member, to Seattle City Council, the development of the Black Lives Matter movement, a mass movement of working class people in a revival of the Civil Rights struggle, and the 15 Now! Movement. If these struggles can be brought together they can be a powerful mass working class movement which can pose a political challenge to the corporate Democratic and Republican parties. A new movement based on democratic socialist ideas can be built that can challenge the power of the racist ruling class in the US.

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.

portionate method of dealing with the issue has heavily impacted on coast and border policing and southern European states are under constant pressure to keep the number of refugees received to a minimum. Furthermore, the EU has signed agreements with various countries allowing them to commission the patrolling of non-European coast, for example Libya, to hunt down migrant activity or the increased policing of borders, e.g. between 2010-2012 €67 million was spent to guard River Evros (natural border between north Greece and Turkey).

Check out the website of the CWi, socialistworld.net, for more analysis on these stories and many others. Here are some of the articles on the situation in europe:

The apparatus of repression Seeking safety has forced millions of people to trust their lives in the hands of human traffickers who won’t hesitate to overload rusty and rickety boats to ‘help’ them sail across Europe after having been paid handsomely (reportedly the crossing from Turkey to Greece costs $1,500-2,000 per person). For those who arrive in Europe though, the nightmare doesn’t stop there. Overcrowded detention camps and years of waiting to be processed without basic rights of movement and work, being effectively treated like prisoners and in appalling, inhumane conditions. Finally, those who manage to avoid detention camps, being undocumented, they end up exploited by employers, living and

up and coming developing states – all the jobs disappeared in what seemed to be an overnight shift. This same phenomenon occurred in Detroit and many other cities throughout the US.

Spain: is Podemos in crisis? Tens of thousands make perilous journey to flee war & persecution

working in precarious conditions, often victims of racism and forced to spend their lives on the run.

Defend the right to asylum It is now estimated that the bloody conflicts in Afganistan, Syria, Somalia and elsewhere will force another 7 million people to seek refuge elsewhere and that humandriven climate change will cause the greatest population displacement in the future. Yet, this is not just a temporary crisis. It will continue as it is a direct effect of capi-

talist foreign policy, imperialist interventions, fundamentalism, national oligarchies and irreversible destruction of the environment. Those fleeing persecution, poverty and war have to a right to asylum and seek refuge from the horrors listed above. The immense wealth and resources of Europe could be utilised to accommodate them and ensure that migrant and non-migrant can live in a continent where a decent standard of living can be provided for all. Such a Europe is a socialist one that we must struggle for.

www.socialistworld.net/doc/7213

Greece: Subordination to Troika or rupture with austerity? www.socialistworld.net/doc/7210

June 2015

9 THE SOCIALIST

By Manus Lenihan

he FiFTy biggest companies in the united states are sitting on piles of money adding up to $1.1 trillion. apple, Microsoft, google, Pfizer and cisco alone have $439 billion between them (Financial Times). Like dragons sprawled watchfully dozing over heaps of gold, these gigantic corporations would fly into a rage over any plans to nationalise or raise taxes on their wealth even though, with capital investment set to fall again, they don’t plan to spend most of it anytime soon.

Myths vs realities If this fact boils your blood, consider that on top of that $1.1 trillion, between $20 and 30 trillion sits in offshore bank accounts. Facts like this demolish, in one go, so many of the myths about the system we live under. With hoarding on this scale going on, where is the wealth “trickling down”? If the

Big business sitting on uninvested profits shows rotten nature of capitalism

“free market” is really “the best way to match up supply and demand”, then why are eleven thousand billion dollars sitting idle under fifty companies, while we hear every day how underfunded our schools, hospitals and water services are? How can anyone say that capitalism is “efficient” when

there’s such a criminal waste of wealth going on, all the time? The “profit motive”, i.e. greed, means that the rich only invest when and where they can get more out of us than they put in. That means hoarding, gambling, playing-it-safe, or huge sums of money being pumped into useless or

downright harmful areas.

Vast inequality That wealth should be making its way around your neighbourhood, creating secure, well-paid jobs and providing free, quality services. Instead it’s being set aside by oli-

garchs who claim to know better than everyone else what to do with it. At any point during the ongoing recession and stagnation, the planned investment of billions into housing, infrastructure, services and clean energy would have turned the economy around. Yet our pro-capitalist politicians insisted on massive cutbacks, new tax burdens, and privatisation. Does this mean we should hope for “nicer” capitalists or “wiser” politicians who will redistribute wealth? The Socialist Party wouldn’t say no to bigger taxes on these cash-hoards, but the problem is bigger than that. We need these companies and their wealth to be owned and managed democratically, and run for human need, not for private profit. Then we could create a much more efficient, productive and fair economy, while also making a start at tackling some major problems. For example, the cost of clean drinking water globally is estimated in the tens of billions – loose change compared to what these extreme hoarders have in the bank.

Burton’s shameful attack on lone parents By Fiona O’Loughlin

rOM July 30,000 lone parents will no longer qualify for One Parent Family allowance with many losing up to €80 per week as they are switched to Jobseeker's allowance.

Stigmatising lone parents Burton and Co. are spinning this cut as some kind of charitable feminist gesture to encourage women back into the workforce .The implication being that women don’t really want to work and would much prefer to sit at home all day cleaning or watching Judge Judy on their flat screen TV’s while chatting to their equally lazy friends on their smart phone! The question women are asking Joan is 'where are the jobs that will pay enough to cover my childcare costs or have the

flexibility to allow me care for my children after school and for the 12 weeks school holidays?'

The high costs of childcare The much heralded Swedish model of childcare promised by Minister Burton has failed to materialise, instead the handful of community crèches have had their budgets slashed, breakfast clubs in DEIS schools have been cut as have after school community based homework clubs in socially disadvantaged areas. The lack of affordable childcare combined with low wages is the main reason why women have to stay at home rather than 'laziness' or an instinctive love of cleaning! According to the OECD Ireland still has the highest costs for childcare in the EU, across the EU the cost of childcare is 12% of family income in Ireland it is 35%. What is

needed is a state-run affordable childcare system with proper pay and conditions for the workers. This would give women access to the workforce, education and training.

A Thatcherite measure This is nothing but a Thatcherite attack on one of the most vulnerable sections of society. One in four families with children is headed by a lone parent. Women make up 87% of lone parents nationally and 98% of claimants for One Parent Family Allowance. 70,000 children live in consistent poverty and children in a family headed by lone parent or a disabled parent are at greatest risk. Lone parent families have already borne the brunt of austerity with cuts to the Back to School Clothing Allowance, Child Benefit and Rent Allowance and the

30,000 Lone parents will be hit by axe to One Parent Family Allowance

increase in the cut-off for part time workers, to name a few. The spin from the Labour Party that they have protected core payments is meaningless when you have less in

your purse at the end of every week. This cut must be immediately reversed with a plan to have a proper affordable childcare system in place.

Allied Irish Bank (AIB): No tax for next 20 years! DuRInG HIS appearance at the Oireachtas finance Committee David Duffy, CeO of AIB, under questioning from paul Murphy TD admitted that AIB is unlikely to pay any corporation tax for over 20 years. The reason for this is that the losses made by the banks are counted as deferred tax assets, against which any future profits can be written off. According to the bank's Annual Financial Report 2014,

“it will take in excess of 20 years for the deferred tax asset (€3.24 billion) to be utilised.” Michael Noonan has consciously facilitated this for the banks. He changed the rules in Budget 2014 – widening the tax loophole for the bankers by removing the restriction on the use of these losses to 50% of profits. This means that they can pay zero tax on profits for decades to come. The same applies to Bank of

Ireland, which is largely in private hands, and which has ‘deferred tax assets’ of over €1 billion – and therefore will not pay corporation tax for many years to come. It is obscene that banks like AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB benefited from massive taxpayer bailouts to make up for their losses and now are scandalously able to use those losses to ensure they don’t pay corporation tax for years.

news

Top 50 US companies hoard $1 trillion in cash

June 2015

LGBTQ

THE SOCIALIST

The “T” will not be silent

End transphobia now By Oisín Gargan

his year huge focus has been placed on the marriage equality referendum but little to no attention has been brought to the gender recognition bill; an important piece of legislation that will allow transgender individuals to access amended birth certificates to reflect their true selves. an amended birth certificate is vital as having an incorrect birth certificate “outs” transgender individuals leaving them exposed to discrimination and possible violence. Over the course of the marriage equality campaign the “silent T” of the LGBT community was largely left out of the conversation. Many transgender individuals and their families had a huge amount riding on the referendum passing. The gender recognition bill contained a forced divorce clause which meant that a married transgender individual would have to legally dissolve their relationship before gaining access to an amended

They are many shortcomings in proposed Gender Recognition Bill

birth certificate. This clause is now moot with the passing of the referendum but the gender recognition bill remains far from perfect. It still contains stigmatising medical criteria and a lack of viable legal recognition for individuals under 18.

Reluctantly giving transgender rights The Irish government have introduced the bill with great reluctance. The famous Dr Lydia Foy case was the catalyst for bringing in the legislation. In 2007 the High

Court found the State to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in failing to provide Dr Foy with a new birth certificate. The State appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court but this was withdrew in 2010 and the Gender

Recognition Bill was eventually published in December 2014. Transgender individuals are extremely marginalised in society with research indicating high levels of suicidal ideation and selfharm in addition to a reluctance to access mental-health services due to transphobic treatment. There is a severe lack of adequate transgender health care. The transgender population also suffers from a high rate of harassment, discrimination and violence. Legal recognition from the State is an important step in addressing the disempowerment of the transgender population. The big establishment parties backed the marriage equality referendum as they saw huge political gain in doing so. With only a few thousand transgender individuals in the country there is not enough of a political gain for the establishment parties to advocate for transgender rights. Under capitalism and austerity the “silent T” of the LGBT community will remain one of the most marginalised and disenfranchised minority groups in the country.

Make schools a Homophobic laws must be abolished homophobia free zone By Monika Janas By Carah Daniel On MAY 22 we scrolled down #hometovote, on 23 May we waited with bated breath for the results and on the 24 May we nursed our hangovers in a more equal Ireland. The mind-blowing result of the same-sex marriage referendum represents not only a magnificent victory of progress, illustrating a huge shift in people’s opinions, but is also an indication of a potential for a movement for real equality. This vote showed that discrimination is no longer tolerated in our society. We mustn’t stop here. We have to build on this triumph to defeat other homophobic laws.

Homophobic blood ban One of them is the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. The real way of fighting HIV and AIDS is through sex education that is inclusive of LGBTQ students and not focused on abstinence, free access to STD prevention tools, such as condoms and dental dams, more funding going into research on these diseases and their prevention, as well as provision of unbiased information. Banning a certain group of people from donating blood is absolutely not the answer. Another discriminatory law is the religious exemption from equality laws. This allows religious, educational or medical institutions run by religious bodies to discriminate against anyone that does not comply with their ethos, which includes

All discrimination against LGBTQ community must be fought

LGBTQ people. Socialist Party TDs have introduced a Bill to the Dáil to end this discrimination.

Separate Church & State This is extremely problematic given that 90% of primary and over a half of post-primary schools are run by the Catholic Church, as well as many hospitals, including two biggest ones in Dublin, the Mater and St. Vincent’s hospitals. This creates a sad reality in which teachers or doctors may be legally fired if they are found out to be gay. This makes it impossible for them to feel safe and accepted in their work environment, which can have a detrimental impact on their mental health, amongst other things. It

is already the case than gay people in Ireland are seven times more likely to attempt suicide. It is not the Catholic Church that needs protecting but ordinary workers who are the building blocks of our society. What is crucial is the separation of Church and State so that we can keep moving forward. Unfortunately, the government is, and will continue to be, completely unwilling to undermine the power that the Catholic Church has in Ireland. The only way in which homophobia, transphobia and discriminatory laws can be fought, is through a movement of working people in solidarity with each other. This referendum has showed us what we’re capable of, let us not forget it.

isTOry was made in ireland for the lgBTQ+ community when we legalised same sex marriage, showing that young and working class people are willing to stand up for the rights of what was a discriminated minority. This is a huge step towards ending discrimination and gaining real equality for the lgBTQ community, but unfortunately the results of this referendum will not see the full end to homophobia and homophobic attitudes. Spectrum is a group set up by school students aimed at ending homophobic bullying in schools and creating a more accepting and healthy environment for young LGBTQ students to feel safe in, which is unfortunately very far from the truth at the current time. A study done by Supporting LGBT Lives shows that 58% of LGBTQ students have experienced homophobic bullying, 25% have been physically threatened and 20% have skipped school out of fear of harassment.

Church control of schools Another study done by PRIDE evaluation in Northern Ireland revealed that 60% of students have heard homophobic terms being used in school, which has been something normalised a lot in recent times. 96% of schools in Ireland are of a Christian ethos which means that they don’t have to teach about LGBTQ people and can preach the homophobic viewpoint of the Catholic Church, which unfortunately still has a huge grip on the education system in Ireland. During the campaign for a Yes vote for marriage equality we saw huge numbers of young people being radicalised, urging others to use their vote to make the change that was going to affect our lives and our future. Some of the things they were involved in included leafletting schools and train stations, doing stalls, making videos and putting up posters. There's huge opportunities for young people to get involved in campaigning for an end to homophobia which can be done in schools and through Spectrum.

June 2015

11 THE SOCIALIST

Resounding Yes to LGBTQ Rights

not only what we can and must build in order to ensure our right to a referendum, but also the potential to build a Yes campaign that can win. While the ‘hard cases’ and the reality that women’s lives and health are endangered by the 8th will undoubtedly play a crucial role in securing a ‘Yes’ vote in any future referendum, the abortion rights movement cannot limit the debate to the ‘hard cases’ and has to raise the reality that women travel for abortions and get illegal abortions in Ireland every single day, and that these women must not be ignored and cast aside any longer.

By Laura Fitzgerald

s well as a blow to homophobia and a hugely positive recognition of lgBTQ lives, the inspiring and decisive marriage equality referendum victory is a robust boost to the fight for a referendum to repeal the 8th amendment as a mobilised and politically engaged section of lgBTQ people, women, the working class and young people that were a central impetus behind the resounding yes victory, seek to continue the fight for equality and progress.

end all oppression

Labour party hypocrisy Speaking on 25 May, Ruth Coppinger, Socialist Party and AAA TD branded Labour’s attempt to cash in on the referendum result by promising a repeal the 8th referendum if they happen to be part of a new government next year as “hollow, insulting and manipulative”. She continued: “There were massive demonstrations for abortion rights following the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar – the opportune time to propose an amendment – but Labour supported the disastrous Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act and a 14-year jail sentence for women! Labour trooped in to vote down a Bill on Fatal Foetal Abnormalies only two months ago and a Repeal the 8th Bill moved by the Socialist Party only two weeks ago. How can they be taken seriously? If Labour

ROSA campaigning for the repeal of the 8th amendment

really mean it, they can insist that a referendum is held in the Autumn for deletion of the 8th Amendment to give women real equality and control of our own bodies.” Notwithstanding this hypocrisy, and the hopelessly limited legislation (fatal foetal abnormalities) that Sinn Féin and Labour advocate linked to repeal, the fact that both of these parties have been pressurised to pass motions at confer-

ences committed to a referendum is significant and it’s clear that the 8th will feature prominently in a general election. Campaigners must be vigilant to guard against any proposal to replace or alter, as opposed to delete, the 8th Amendment.

potential illustrated The marriage equality referendum represented a new social move-

ment; 66,000 registered in the run up to 22 May, 50,000 came home to vote, ‘Yes Equality’ badges were ubiquitous, there was a groundswell of spreading the ‘Vote Yes’ message through social media and talking to friends and family, and hundreds of people across the country who never did anything of the sort in their lives before joined a door-to-door canvass. This social movement shows,

There has been a huge radicalisation on social attitudes, with the young and the working class at the forefront. There has not, however, as Varadkar has claimed, been a ‘social revolution’. We need one though and on 22 May we saw the potential that exists for a movement to truly break with the oppression of the past, and to fully separate Church and State. The Catholic Church is fundamentally undermined and even in crisis after the referendum result, but the solid reality remains that the Catholic Church still controls the majority of public schools and hospitals. The fight for repeal could ultimately be a huge impetus to building a social movement and a left political force that can, in unison with the anti-water charges, anti-austerity struggle, build the basis for a Left government that would consciously and fully break the Church-State link in all its guises.

North: Yes victory spurs fight against LGBTQ discrimination politicians are not immune from pressure. Another blow to homophobic prejudice was delivered when LGBTQ groups won their legal case against Asher’s Bakery. It had refused to bake a cake that said “support gay marriage”. These victories should give people confidence that they can mobilise to win marriage equality,

oppose the backward politicians in Stormont and demand an end to all forms of homophobic and transphobic discrimination. The trade unions, LGBTQ groups and Amnesty International have organised a March for March- this should be opening shot in a campaign to defeat the backward politicians in Stormont.

fight4equality launched fighting all backward ideas & discrimination

Backward sectarian establishment have perpetuated LGBTQ discrimination

By Kevin Henry

he Marriage equality referendum was followed keenly by those in the North who are sick of the backward political establishment in stormont and want to see an end to lgBTQ oppression. The referendum result means Northern ireland is the only region in the uk and ireland to continue to discriminate against lgBTQ couples.

Polls shows that the majority of people in the North support marriage equality, yet at the end of April the Assembly rejected its introduction. The fundamentalists in the DUP are the most openly homophobic, but politicians from across the spectrum are opposed to LGBTQ equality. Gay men face a religiously motivated ban on donating blood and some politicians are attempting to enshrine the right to discriminate into law through the socalled ‘conscience clause’.

Nothing is being done to challenge homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools and workplaces. The victory in the South shows that we can win change but we cannot wait for change to come voluntarily from the Stormont politicians. Instead, we need to build an active movement to demand progress. The fact that Health Minister Jim Wells was forced to resign resulting from the public disgust at his homophobic comments illustrates the real shift in attitudes and that Stormont

By Áine Twomey fight4equality is a new campaign initiated by Socialist Youth for everyone who wants to unite against sexism, homophobia and sectarianism. Young people in northern ireland have had enough of the backwardness of our society. We have seen this from the support for marriage equality and the outrage against the homophobic discrimination of Asher's Bakey where many took to social media and spoke their minds against it. fight4equality also fights against the discrimination of women as shown by the fact that all the main Stormont parties oppose a woman’s right to choose.

WOMEN & LGBTQ

Time to repeal the 8

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 92

JUNE 2015

l Denis O'Brien gets sweetheart deal with IBRC l We get €31 billion in austerity l Bury the water tax!

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