The Socialist, November 2018 by Socialist Party

thesocialist

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 118

Housing: Challenge the profit system!

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2018

INSIDE

Landlord & big business government must go

Civil Rights Movement: 50 years on

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Brazil: Socialist left needed to defeat Bolsanaro threat

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NEWS THE SOCIALIST

The Dragon Spectacle and the Presidency Farce Presidency – a capitalist institution

Shameful racism

As the dust settles on that absolute circus of a presidential race, a sordid and memorable chapter is coming to an end: the Dragons’ Election. The presidency is a cushy number designed for an “elder statesman” whom the establishment politicians know they can trust. So it’s perfect for Michael D. Higgins, who has been a hardened political insider for decades now.

Wannabe-Trumps emerge This year a whole heap of quixotic right-wing cranks saw the presidency as a windmill to joust with. A dozen wannabe-Trumps thought they saw an opening, and crammed themselves in. Why they thought an archaic, elitist system designed to benefit political insiders would prove to be their moment to shine is anyone’s guess.

Going on an ego trip But finally the cast was whittled down to Higgins, a Sinn Féin MEP, an anti-choicer and the entire cast of Dragon’s Den. These dragons were always very fond of themselves. For season after season they sat on the panel with no-nonsense faces, frowning ponderously over trivial niche-market business ideas, humiliating some competitors,

The Presidential campaign debates were a

showering wealth on others. What an ego trip! It’s a wonder they didn’t all run for president sooner.

Mythical dragons It was always funny when these fumblers-in-a-greasy-till referred to themselves as “Dragons.” A basement-dwelling teenager who calls himself a mage or a paladin gets laughed at, but a penny-pinching older man who compares himself to a soaring, majestic and terrible mythical creature is considered presidential material. But when they decided to run for election, we were the ones behind the table frowning and folding our arms, and they were the ones sweating in the spotlight

national embarrassment

So Peter Casey decided to go full Trump with an all-out attack on travellers. “They are not paying their fair share of taxes in society,” grumbled the dragon, sprawling in all his majestic vastness on a pile of gold and jewels. Travellers, he continued, his scales glistening in the spasmodic bursts of flame from his nostrils, are “basically people that are camping on someone else’s land.” Travellers were having none of it. Organisations and individuals condemned Casey’s lies and racism. Despite tapping into an anti-Traveller sentiment that may exist within society, he failed to garner support.

By Manus Lenihan

Multi-millionaire tax dodger In what must be a first for Ireland’s greasy till-fumblers, Casey came under so much pressure he even considered pulling out of the race – but with predictable arrogance, he decided to continue. In his defence, he insisted: “I did not know about the ethnic status… It’s only in the last year that I have been back in Ireland full time.” Then how can he justify running for president?! He’s a multi-millionaire who’s hardly set foot in Ireland for forty years, and certainly hasn’t paid his share of taxes here. He can’t say a word against Travellers or anyone else.

making their pitch. Predictably, they had nothing to say beyond the usual presidential waffle - “highlighting” this, “promoting” that; vague plans to “tap into the Irish diaspora”.

Rejecting right populism In 2011 Seán Gallagher benefited from his “tough businessman” argument. But the “Michael O’Leary should run this country” zeitgeist has been and gone. Water charges, the housing crisis, marriage equality and repeal have changed the face of this country. No candidate reflects that, least of all the “Dragons.”

Peter Casey will be remembered for his

ignorance and prejudice, and nothing

else

Corruption, rural broadband & the disaster of privatisation By Dave Murphy

minister should know that having dinner with a businessman involved in bidding for a state-contract can seriously shorten their ministerial careers. Denis Naughten, on the other hand, apparently didn't see the harm in having numerous meetings and dinners with David McCourt, a billionaire American businessman, who was the last remaining bidder in the state's failing National Broadband Plan. In fact, aside from having dinner in New York and a meeting in the businessman's home in which the broadband deal was discussed, he even arranged a dinner and drinks in the Dail bar for the McCourt family! Business & politics- the rotten link These revelations came just months after news broke that Naughten, in a meeting with a representative for Independent News & Media (INM), let-slip commercially sensitive information around a potential merger the company was involved in. What the Naughten case shows once again is the intricate links between big business and politics. If you are rich and powerful, access to

vate debts. For example, a consortium led by Tony O’Reilly bought it for €3 billion. They went on to sell off its mobile arm. Another sold off the phone masts. Even the company headquarters was sold off. One of the last sales of the company saw it bought for just €39 million – it was valued at €3.94 billion, but had debts of €3.87 billion.

Ministers and top politicians is just a phone call away – indeed when McCourt wanted to meet Naughten he simply picked up the phone to Fine Gael TD Pat Breen who facilitated the first meeting. Or as the INM example shows, if you’re Denis O Brien a minister’s ‘slip of the tongue’ can be worth a fortune to you. Privatisation disaster While Fine Gael have been quick to replace Naughten in an attempt to hold together a functioning government, for people in rural Ireland this is another setback in getting high speed internet connectivity – which they have been promised since 2002. Access to broadband is now a necessity for most people, the ability to supply it is a basic infrastructure. But in Ireland, 542,000 homes, schools and small businesses cannot access it. This represents 40% of the population, and means it is not available in over 90% of the geographical area of the country. The root of this situation lies in the decision of the Fianna Fail government to privatise Telecom Eireann in 1999. At the time, Telecom Eireann were moving towards being at the forefront of the digital revolution, with much investment in moving from analogue to digital.

Naughten scandal shows close connections between big business and politicians

Asset stripped & debt ridden The political establishment said that privatisation would result in more investment and better services – the opposite is the truth. When Telecom Eireann was first floated on the Stock Exchange it was valued at €8.4

billion, since then it has been bought and sold numerous times. All the private consortiums which bought it did so to maximise profits – they asset stripped the company, withdrew profits for themselves and loaded the company with their pri-

Public ownership To develop strategic infrastructure like broadband, the privatisation of Telecom Eireann must be reversed. Despite the asset stripping, Eir (the current brand name for Telecom Eireann) now has a mobile network, broadband, and television packages but most importantly it owns cables and infrastructure across the country. The company should be nationalised and taken back into public ownership. The government should refuse to pay the debts of vulture funds and billionaires who have loaded their debts on it. Instead, they should invest in the company to develop broadband infrastructure across the country. It would allow, in a relatively short space of time, to develop a communications and technology company that could drive forward the economy and create well-paid jobs for workers.

HOUSING

THE SOCIALIST

Enough is enough:

Mass movement needed to win housing for all many more having come from the repeal movement. Those actions need to be emulated across the country. But this work needs to be broadened still further. The Socialsit Party is calling on the students’ unions across the state to call a national day of action; staging occupations, demonsrations and walkouts in all third level institutions.

By Matthew Waine

“t

he LAnd development Agency is a Government intervention that is 50 years overdue and which, in time, i believe will be seen to be as significant as the decision to establish the esB, Aer Lingus or the idA.” These are the words of Leo Varadkar announcing the launch of the Land Development Agency. It is a fitting epitaph, given that all the main semi-state agencies were fattened up and sold off to private interests. That is the essence of what the LDA is – handing up to 70% of state-owned land over to private interests. But it is also a call to action for all those who are shocked and disgusted at the ever-growing humanitarian disaster of the housing crisis. Explosion of anger The government is not reckoning with the emergence of the social movement around Take Back the City and Raise the Roof. The occupations across Dublin City, the mass ‘Raise the Roof’ demonstration on 3 October, with thousands of students leaving college and workers leaving

Recent months have shown the massive potential for the housing movement to develop

their workplaces to join the rally, all demonstrate a huge potential to build a movement. Ireland has always had a housing crisis, but it has been the scale of this most recent crisis that re-emerged five years ago that has fuelled the growing anger in this moment. Virtually every family in Ireland has been affected in some way. What is

Traveller accommodation starved of investment

Austerity polices These problems were not created but exasperated by government cuts in the last decade. As always it is the most vulnerable who are hit first by austerity. The budget for Traveller accommodation fell by 80% in 10 years, from 2008-2018, from €40 million per annum to €9 million. These figures are made worse when considered that local councils, flat out refuse to spend the allocated amount, refusing to pay €4.8 million last year alone. The fault of these condition lies

Young people Repeal was a movement whose time had come. The result showed the scale of sweeping change in social opinions. But it was a result that had

to be fought for inch by inch with a political establishment resistent to progress. If we want to tackle the housing crisis, we need a similarly determined and active campaign to force real change. The Socialist Party supports the occupation movement and salutes the activists that have taken part, many involved in their first campaign, and

Student homes, not student loans! By Andrew Butler

By Frank McDonagh THERE ARE many myths surrounding Travellers accommodation perpetuated by the likes of Peter Casey. Claims of marble palaces accompanied by gas-guzzling jeeps are just some of the claims by so-called ‘well informed’ people who ‘know someone who knows someone’. The reality of the situation is very different. The vast majority of Travellers are amongst the poorest people in Ireland. Many are forced to live in half-built or run-down houses in the cheapest parts of town. 56% of Travellers live in overcrowded conditions with frequent reports of sewerage invasions, pest infestations, mould and difficulties with lighting, heating and cooking. This often leads to lethal safety issues such as those that tragically caused the deaths of people in Carrickmines halting site in October 2015.

more, it is a microcosm of the socalled recovery – a bonanza for the elites and a precarious existence for hundreds of thousands.

Role of trade unions Similarly the trade unions, with their 750,000 members need to be mobilised. Not just naming the day for a national demonstration, but actively going into the workplaces and mobilising their members. The unions should also seek to organise the unorganised, the tens of thousands of young people scraping a living in precarious jobs with no prospect of a future. If they seriously tried to unionise these workers and link their struggle to the struggle for a state-led solution to the housing crisis, they would get an electric response. As we go to press, discussions of a major demonstration on 1 December are advancing. Everyone should get behind this demo and as a step to building a mass movement of resistance to this government of landlords and developers.

solely on the Irish government as Travellers lived contentedly and peacefully as nomads on the Irish land until the Irish state began its policy of forced assimilation. The 1963 policy of forced “assimilation” of Travellers to the general Irish population without regard for the cultural nature of their nomadism. This forced assimilation was assisted by racist laws like the roads Acts of 1993 which forced Travellers out of their traditional and preferred living circumstances and into ghettos. Travellers should not be expected to surrender their well-established way of life by the government, there needs to be investment in culturally appropriate accommodation to be meet their needs.

ithin the wide, dehumanizing margins of the ongoing housing crisis sits the problem of student accomodation. skyrocketing rents in the private sector and rising costs of on-campus living are compounded by a shortage of affordable purpose-built accommodation (PBsA). Universities and private developers alike are playing their part in maintaining this disastrous situation. Ireland now has the second highest fees in Europe, combine this with the low wages and slashed grants and you start to get a clear picture of why 9,000 students joined with trade unions and housing groups at the beginning of October.

Locked out generation Many who are currently attending higher education have likely been faced with the choice of entering the out-of-control rental market or moving back in with their parents. On top of that there were 429 homeless students on the night Census 2016 was taken. We are the locked out generation. “The price of accommodation is making me think about dropping out of college. I’m already working two jobs to try cover it.” The above quote is from a survey published by Maynooth Students Union (MSU) which aimed to find out more about the effects of the housing crisis on the livelihood, well-

Student Unions should call a one day strike of colleges to protest against housing crisis

being, and academic prospects of Maynooth students. 61% of respondents are dissatisfied with their accommodation search to date. Meanwhile the university is planning to build new luxury student complexes, the likes of which recently opened on Sheriff Street in North inner city Dublin, who are charging between €220 to €360 per week. No reliance on private sector Student housing is not a luxury, it should be provided at affordable rates to students. This is not some-

thing that can be left to the private sector. The private sector is only interested in separating housing from its social function, investing in housing as an asset not a necessity. We demand affordable purposebuilt student accommodation, built through the proper channels of the state, local councils, and the university. All properly regulated to be decent quality and affordable. Students in Maynooth, UCD and Trinity will be taking action to show our opposition to large developers coming into our local areas and pricing the average student out of house and home.

ANALYSIS THE SOCIALIST

Landlord & big business Government must go the continuation of the rule of capitalism can resolve the multiple crises facing working class people.

By Paul Murphy TD

ith denis naughten forced to resign as a minister as a result of multiple undeclared meetings with big businessman david mcCourt, the government appears to be on its last legs. Even with Fianna Fáil abstaining, the government is now effectively reliant on the votes of Michael Lowry TD to continue. Depending on a convicted corrupt politician to survive, after a scandal involving Ministers’ accessibility to big business and reliance on a venture capitalist to provide rural broadband, is a fitting end for the government! Confidence and supply Talks about a review and possible extension of the “confidence and supply” agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have commenced. If it was simply a matter of policy, they could reach agreement tomorrow, given they agree on all the essentials of the neo-liberal tax haven model of Irish capitalism. However, given that this is largely about preparation for an upcoming general election, the talks are likely to involve rhetorical positioning by both parties. Fianna Fáil in particular is anxious to try to portray itself as a party championing the need for action on the housing crisis. The gross hypocrisy of this was revealed in the last month, where on 4 October, they supported a motion on housing calling for a relatively modest increase in the budget for hous-

Housing crisis This is most evident on the issue of housing. The crisis worsens on a daily basis, yet the government’s policy was exposed once again when it came to the budget. This was a landlords’ budget delivered by a landlords’ government, based on funnelling money to landlords through Housing Assistance Payments and tax breaks, instead of investing to deliver public housing. Instead of a landlords’ and big business’ government, a government that serves the needs of working class people is needed. Such a government would end the failed reliance on the free market to deliver housing.

Weak Fine Gael government propped up by Fianna Fáil is on its last legs

ing. Five days later, they agreed to allow the government’s budget to pass, despite it allocating effectively no new funds for the building of public housing! Posturing The other area of posturing is around who is more responsible for the interests of Irish capitalism on the issue of Brexit. Fianna Fáil’s Micheal Martin has indicated that,

regardless of the outcome of the talks with Fine Gael, he will not bring the government down before a Brexit deal is done. Meanwhile, Varadkar ridiculed that suggestion, seeking to leave himself room for manoeuvre to call an election when it suits him. What the outcome of these talks will be is not clear. An extension of the agreement is possible. However, given the precarious nature of the

government’s position and the prospect of an end to the current stage of the Brexit process in the coming months, the odds of a general election in the first half of next year are shortening. The abortion legislation should be fast-tracked and the government must go. The latest scandal only served to underline the reality of how it serves the interests of big business. No government which is based on

A left socialist government Similarly, the crises of cost of living and the unsustainable model of the Irish economy cannot be resolved on the basis of the capitalist market and big business interests. Democratic public ownership under workers’ control of the key sections of the economy is needed in order to allow economic planning to meet the needs of ordinary people and protect the environment. To make a government that serves the needs of working class people possible, a mass socialist party is needed. This would place on the agenda a left government committed to breaking with capitalism and implementing socialist policies.

Maurice McCabe and the rot inside the state media in Ireland. In the mid-1970s, Amnesty International demanded an independent inquiry into sections of the Gardaí due to the regular use of beatings and torture methods by members of the force to extract confessions from suspects. In recent years, we’ve seen a litany of Garda scandals, from the spying on water protestors through Operation Mizen, the bugging of GSOC, the secret taping of phone calls between arrested persons and their solicitors and of course the Jobstown frame-up. Apart from the scandals and corruption, the establishment would have us believe that the Gardaí and other state institutions, despite their defects, generally exist and act to serve the best interests of the public and “stand above” politics.

By James McCabe WHISTLEBLOWER MAURICE McCabe’s efforts to expose corruption in the local Garda force in Cavan was met with vicious reprisals from the national leadership of An Garda Síochána. Misconduct and corruption are nothing new for the police force of this state, but even so, many were shocked to discover that the top echelons of the Gardaí conducted a widespread smear campaign of false accusations of child sexual abuse against McCabe. The findings of the Disclosures Tribunal, released in October, vindicated McCabe and heavily criticised the former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan. Wall of silence Evidence was presented that Callinan had told at least four people, including RTE’s Philip Boucher-Hayes, that McCabe was a sex-abuser. The tribunal was met with a wall of silence from the ranks of the Gardaí, however. The tribunal sent letters to 430 individuals of different ranks to gather evidence and received only two replies. Many pundits in the media have spoken about how justice has been served by this Tribunal and that it will work to “restore faith in the Gardaí”. There’s a constant rewriting of history by the corporate and state sponsored

Maurice McCabe and former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan

Role of Gardaí The mask of political and class neutrality slipped in Frederick Street, Dublin back in September. Here we witnessed masked Gardaí protecting balaclava-wearing private security guards as they forcibly removed peaceful protestors occupying a vacant apartment which was owned by a major landlord who owns over forty commercial properties. The police watched on as the injured housing activists were dragged out of the property by the private security, who left in a van which had

been illegally parked and had no tax or insurance certs displayed on it. This example highlights the reality that in the last analysis, the Gardaí, the courts, the judges and the unaccountable, highlypaid top civil servants of this state all represent the interests of the capitalist system. Political policing To much fanfare, the media have trumpeted the Disclosures Tribunal’s view that former Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, apparently had nothing to do with the smear campaign against McCabe. O’Sullivan has been absolved on this issue, but her tenure as Garda Commissioner was anything but a model of political and economic impartiality. O’Sullivan is alleged to have asked an interviewee for the position of Deputy Commissioner in 2015 as to their opinion on “leftwing political extremism in Ireland.” The major problem with the Gardaí isn’t confined to a bad ‘management culture’ or certain immoral individuals in the leadership. In many ways these problems stem from the fact that the Gardaí are a force that exist to defend the super-rich and corporations. To transform the role of policing, we must fight for the creation of a communitycontrolled policing organisation that is genuinely run, controlled and accountable to working-class communities.

WOMEN / LGBTQ+

THE SOCIALIST

Bring #MeToo into the workplace and made demands to that end, calling for structural changes in the reporting process and the creation of committees that included restaurant workers to address these problems. The mobilisation of worker power proved effective. In the end McDonald’s responded, agreeing to work with ‘Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) and the legal-compliance firm Seyfarth Shaw at Work’ in order to address worker demands.

By Harper Cleves

he #metoo movement has gained traction globally since October 2017 following the allegations made by prominent hollywood actors against media mogul harvey Weinstein. in the wake of these accusations, actor Alyssa milano posted a tweet calling on fellow survivors to post ‘me too’ in solidarity. Within 12 hours she had half a million replies. Furthermore, by the end of the year, a report released by Facebook revealed that 45% of users in the United States had a friend who posted using the me too hashtag. Seemingly overnight, what started as a conversation between elites had trickled down into the lives of ordinary people, revealing the prevalence of the problem. “McStrikes” in the US The McDonald’s strike in the United States this past September illuminates the ways in which the consciousness generated by #Metoo has affected workers across different sectors. This strike marked the first

McDonalds workers in the US took historic strike action against sexual harassment

ever action aimed specifically at highlighting sexual assault in the workplace, and it was led primarily by working class women of colour.

McDonald’s workers staged lunchtime walk-outs in ten major US cities. They highlighted systemic issues

Religion in schools: Government buckle to church lobbying

The need to organise In Ireland similar approaches must be taken by trade unions in order to address workplace sexual assault. Irish women and LGBTQ people are done accepting abuse. This was made evident following both the repeal referendum and the spontaneous #IBelieveHer demonstrations of support that arose just following the Belfast rugby rape trial. Workplace sexual harassment is no exception. Sexism permeates workplaces not only through management structures, but also through the power it affords customers in social relation. Sexual harassment under these con-

ditions stems from the same profitdriven inhumanity that favours zerohour contracts and unlivable wages. It is vital that the trade union movement take up this issue. Growing potential The interest and human potential for such strike action is there. 32% of women in the Republic are union members. Furthermore, membership on the island is generally high, with density hovering between 29 and 35% depending on the source. The repeal and water charges campaigns proved to young people and workers that concentrated and organised pressure placed on the establishment can lead to systemic gains. This can be seen recently in Belfast, where the staff at a pizza parlour called “Pizza Punks" all handed in their resignations effective immediately if an abusive manager was not removed. This was after attempting to report through official structures. The management caved. Trade union leadership must follow suit, uniting workers in actions against all forms of sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Scotland

By Megan Oglesby

he reCent referendum on the abolition on blasphemy was used by the government to promote its progress and secular pretentions. however, this have proven to be mere window dressing as they have been thoroughly unwilling to challenge church control of health and education. In February of this year it was announced that multi-denominational schools were being given the opportunity to make religion an optional subject rather than a mandatory one, and that students could choose another subject to replace religion. This would have given students, especially students from different cultural or non-religious background the option of learning a subject that isn’t dominated by Catholic ethos. A mandatory subject However, due to frantic persistent lobbying by religious organisations, Richard Bruton, former Minister for education, has recently taken a Uturn on this progressive move, and has unsurprisingly buckled under the pressure of the Church’s campaign to keep religion as a mandatory subject. The Religion Teachers’ association of Ireland lobbied Bruton, arguing that religious education is not “religious instruction”. In other words, that religion as a subject serves to teach students about world religions, and different outlooks rather than just instruct students about Christianity. However, though there are differ-

Government have blocked the Solidarity Sex Ed Bill in the Dáil

ent sections within both Junior and Senior cycles that include world religions, in each subsection of the curriculum mentions it teaches something with particular emphasis on Christianity. There is no doubt that even though other religions are taught in the curriculum, that it has been written from the perspective of Christian teachings and bias. This can have a very exclusionary and alienating effect on children and young adults from non-religious or multi-denominational backgrounds. Promoting Catholic morality Additionally, there are sections that include religious morality, which are particularly problematic when it comes to sex education. Sex education in Ireland is dominated by Catholic moralistic teachings about sex that focus on marriage, abstinence, reproduction and have no real points to make on LGBTQ relationships or sexuality, consent or contraception. Usually it is run by groups like Accord which is tightly

connected to the Catholic Church, and teaches a non-fact based, and harmful version of sex education. The Catholic Church is well aware of the dwindling numbers of people who have religious faith or faith in the church itself. Therefore, it hangs on to its power over the education and healthcare systems in order to keep the power of its institution alive. However, it is not the responsibility or role of the education system to support the parasitical, power-hungry entity of the church. It is the role of the education system, as a state entity, to give young people an open and factual educational experience, not to indoctrinate them into one particular ideological way of seeing and behaving. Ultimately, the church should not be in control of any state institutions, nor should the state have any political relationship with the church. It is necessary to separate church and state to achieve an education system that properly functions to educate young people.

Historic strike for equal pay AT THE end of October 8,000 women workers in Glasgow staged a historic 48-hour strike demanding equal pay. This was the first strike of its kind since the heroic struggle by workers in Ford Dagenham broad about the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

6 SPECIAL FEATURE

THE SOC

October ‘68: Mass revolt against sectarianism &

Civil Rights Moveme 50 Years On

n a few brief months in late 1968, a mass movement in the north challenged the Unionist government at Stormont and briefly posed the possibility of a revolutionary transformation of society, writes CIaran MUlholland. Young people, in particular, rejected not just the misrule of the Unionist Party but also the deadening conservatism of the equally sectarian nationalist Party. hey tUrned to the ideas of socialism, seeking a way forward in the struggle for civil rights, and a life free from poverty and unemployment. Unfortunately, this opportunity was squandered by the leadership of the trade unions, the northern ireland Labour Party (niLP), and other left forces. Working class unity emerges During the sixties, sectarian division had diminished significantly in the North. There was more mixing of Catholics and Protestants in workplaces and more integration of housing. This helped to open up a space for socialist ideas – that is, for ideas which united working people as they increasingly came to realise that they had much in common with each other. Relatively high levels of employment and associated high levels of trade union membership were key drivers for change. Trade unionists became more confident, sensing that offensive action would gain results. Industrial militancy increased. This process was also seen in the Republic, where there was a huge upsurge in workers’ struggles, creating the basis for unity in struggle between North and South. The increase in the numbers and militancy of trade union activists was reflected politically by the growth of the NILP and other left parties. Whilst the NILP had profound weaknesses, it did influence many of the best working-class activists and provided a vehicle for their aspirations. Electoral success was also achieved by candidates standing under a variety of other labour banners and, in an historic step, these labour formations came together with the Irish Labour Party, then growing and moving to the left, in an all-Ireland “Council of Labour”. Challenging Unionist misrule The march in Derry on 5 October, was to transform the situation entirely and turn the struggle around the broad banner of civil rights into a mass

Civil rights protest in Belfast City centre called by Peoples' Democracy in October 1968

movement. The decision to go for a demonstration was, in the main, taken by the young activists organised around the Derry Housing Action Committee. Among the most prominent of the organisers was Eamonn McCann, a leading spokesman of the leftwardmoving Derry Labour Party. When the organisers approached John Hume and James Doherty, a prominent Nationalist councillor and businessman, and asked them to sign the notification to the police of the march route, both refused. On the day, 400 turned out in Duke Street. When they tried to march towards the Craigavon Bridge the police blocked their path. The marchers sat down singing ‘We shall overcome’ and the RUC closed in ruthlessly, beating everyone in their way. A TV camera was on hand to capture the images of police brutality and an explosive mood gripped Catholic areas, but also gained the sympathy of large numbers of Protestants, particularly the young. If the anger of the working class, Catholic and Protestant, had been harnessed in a united movement, Unionism and Nationalism could both have been swept aside in the succeeding months. What was required, first and foremost, was the putting forward of a working class programme which could unite workers in action against sectarianism, state repression and poverty. A fighting, socialist leadership, drawn from and representing both the communities and the mass workers’ organisations,

1968: A year of revolutionary upheaval By Eleanor Malone 1968 was a year of revolt and revolution globally. Such revolts took place in countries as diverse as the US, France, Pakistan and Czechoslovakia against the capitalist and Stalinist ruling elites. Young people involved in the civil rights movement in the North drew inspiration from these international developments. Like young people elsewhere they rejected the political, economic and social status quo that capitalism was providing. Earthquakes in the US The black civil rights movement inspired the movement in Northern Ireland. It began amid repressive Jim Crow laws in the southern United States, enforcing racial segregation of public services and spaces. States upheld literacy tests, property thresholds and fees designed to disproportionately bar black people from voting, but which also affected poor and working class whites. In 1963 the March on Washington erupted, led by Martin Luther King, with 300,000 protesting outside the White House against racial discrimination and demanding adequate jobs and housing, full voting rights and integrated education. As the 1960s progressed, radical lead-

ers and groups emerged who recognised the vital link between racism and capitalism and explicitly linked the struggle against oppression to the fight for socialism. In 1965 the radical civil rights leader Malcolm X characterised the world situation not as a struggle of black against white, but as “a global rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter.” The Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 and the outset its militant and anti-capitalist stance against racism and oppression inspired Black youth throughout the US. Fred Hampton - a leader of the Panthers who called for solidarity between poor and working class people, black and white - was assassinated by the FBI in 1969 in a bid to snuff out this revolutionary spark. War in Vietnam The brutality of US imperialism’s war in Vietnam, and the heroic resistance if faced from Vietnamese workers and peasants, radicalised swathes of young people in the US and globally. Peaceful anti-war protesters experienced brutal and indiscriminate police repression. A large protest outside the 1968 Democratic Party Convention led to the most widely-publicised onslaught of police violence. The realisation that the Democratic government would use mil-

itaristic force not only in foreign wars, but also to defend itself from the US masses, led many young people to question the state and in whose interests it ruled. Upheaval in Europe The events of May ’68 in France saw a revolutionary challenge to capitalism and the repressive regime of Charles De Gaulle that rocked the country and Europe. It began with student strikes in Paris demanding the removal of police from campus. When the government attempted to crush the strike, students occupied the university and declared it an autonomous “people’s university”. Workers subsequently occupied their workplaces and an indefinite general strike was declared, and by at its highpoint 10 million workers were on strike. De Gaulle himself fled the country and socialist revolution looked like a real possibility. While the rank-and-file of workers took militant action, the trade union and Communist Party leaders were willing to compromise with the government to restore the status quo playing a rotten counter-revolutionary role. Lessons for today Today, economic crisis has thrown the capitalist class into disarray and has again sharpened tensions in society.

SPECIAL FEATURE 7

CIALIST

& poverty

ent:

the trade unions and left parties could have come to the fore. Labour leadership found wanting The days immediately after 5 October saw opportunities for such a leadership to seize the initiative. A call was issued for another march on the following Saturday, and for a one-hour stoppage of work throughout Derry on 11th October. If the Labour and trade union leaders had taken up this strike call, they would easily have succeeded in paralysing the city. Instead, they urged restraint, calling for a 30day cooling-off period during which there would be no demonstrations. A vacuum opened at the top of the unfolding mass movement. This was quickly filled by a group of middleclass politicians in the making – John Hume and his allies. The first decision of this group was to revoke the call for another demonstration in favour of a sit-down protest outside the Guildhall. Signifying the dramatically changed mood, 5,000 participated in this protest. Protest was now spreading. A few days after Duke Street, 3,000 students marched from Queen’s University to Belfast City Hall. Finding their way blocked by police, they held a sitdown protest before holding a meeting which decided to establish a new organisation called People’s Democracy (PD). Over the next weeks, the PD organised pickets, occupations and marches. It tapped the angry mood among students, both Catholic and Protestant. While mainly studentbased, it attracted a small section of working-class youth. With momentum growing behind the protests Unionist Prime Minster Terence O’Neill retreated and announced a package of reforms on 22 November. This however was too little, too late. What previously might

have been acceptable was now not enough. Nevertheless, the first phase of the struggle had ended. Opportunity squandered In the months that followed, the forces of sectarianism came to the fore. Tragically, many of the generation of Catholic youth who had rallied behind the civil rights movement were in time to join republican paramilitary groups. Most believed they were fighting for a socialist, united Ireland and were motivated by the conditions they lived in, of endemic poverty and chronic unemployment. The path they took was the wrong one, their struggle was never going to succeed in its stated aims, and would only increase sectarian division. There was an alternative, however, and when new, united mass movements of working-class people emerge in the months and years ahead, it is vital that we learn from the revolutionary events of 1968. Ensuring that such movements are armed with socialist ideas – the importance of class unity, and conscious anti-sectarianism – is vital if these movements are to challenge the sectarian parties and transform society forever.

Common History, Common Struggle Lessons from the 1960s – workers’ unity & socialism challenged unionis & nationalism

By Peter hadden order your copy at: socialistparty.ie

£10 / €12

Common History Common Struggle

Lessons from the 1960s – when worker socialism challen s’ unity & ged unionism & nationalism

PETER HADD

Revolutionary movement of workers and young people shook French capitalism to its core in May 1968

There are new struggles: for black lives and for women’s and LGBTQ+ equality, precarious workers are beginning to organise and left politics are re-emerging. In Northern Ireland, nationalist and

unionist politicians seek increasingly to divide workers and youth along sectarian lines. While the movements of the 60s left an enduring mark, opportunities which opened up to transform soci-

ety on a socialist basis ultimately were not realised. We must organise now to lead a united struggle of Catholic and Protestant workers and all the oppressed to victory and socialism.

World War One: Industrialised killing for power & profit

By Oisin Kelly

he eLeventh of november 2018 marks the hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War. this was an imperial war that killed approximately 19 million people, including 50,000 from ireland. it was a horrific event which sacrificed a generation of youth in a war for profit between rival capitalist powers for control over the world market and its resources. today, the ruling classes of europe continue where their predecessors left off, with modern imperialist and militaristic policies. A generation maimed & slaughtered It was a war that saw industrialised killing, including battles such as the Battle of the Somme which resulted in over a million casualties. New methods of destruction were developed by the booming arms industry. The war saw the slaughter of a generation of young men; in Germany 35% of men aged 19-22 in 1914 were dead by the end of 1918; in France half of all men aged 20-32 in 1914 were dead by the end of the conflict. The war exposed the true nature of imperialism and the depths to which capitalism can go to further the search of markets and influence around the globe. The experience of the war has been seared into the collective memory of working class people ever since. So much so, that from an early stage the capitalist class had to wrest control of commemorations to direct them away from being of an anti-war and anti-imperialist character. On 11 November 2018 we will see the political descendants of those who started the war place themselves at the centre of the commemorations, despite having what are pro-war pro-imperial political positions.

Irish capitalism and war This will be the case in Ireland too. In 1914 the Irish capitalist class were supportive of the war. They dressed it up with various justifications from the rights of small nations to the defence of Ulster’s link with Britain. The war years were highly profitable for Ireland’s manufacturing and agriculture industries which saw

booming profits. Political leaders such as Nationalist John Redmond and Unionist Edward Carson were pro-capitalist and supportive of this imperial war, which resulted in the deaths of 50,000 young men from Ireland. The likes of the Irish Parliamentary Party were roundly rejected for their pro-war stance in the 1918 general election; however we now see the establishment today rehabilitating them. The reason for this revision is their political positions today. The Irish ruling class are increasingly in favour of taking part in EU military activities. Last year Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted for involvement in the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) which will mean participation in military co-operation with other EU states in ‘stabilisation’ missions and training. The EU’s most powerful states have played a disgraceful role in the Syrian war and in Africa over the past number of years. The arms industry in Europe is making massive profits from conflict in the Middle East and around the globe. War and revolution On the anniversary, the ruling classes of Europe will be eager to popularise a narrative on how the war ended. The reality is that the war ended due to working class action across Europe. In Russia the October revolution in 1917 ended the war on the Eastern front; in France there was widespread mutiny in the military by the rank-and-file. In Germany there were revolutionary events and determined action by many working class people in the military that ultimately brought the war to end. Here in Ireland we had a magnificently successful general strike against conscription which saw an explosion in the trade unions and workplace militancy. None of these historical facts will be brought to the fore as it leaves working class people and young people with the natural conclusion that working class action can end war and imperial conflict. On the onehundredth anniversary the best way to commemorate those who died in the war is to redouble efforts to oppose imperialism and militarism today and build a socialist alternative.

INTERNATIONAL THE SOCIALIST

Brazil: Socialist left needed to defeat Bolsonaro threat Valerie O'Leary

s We go to press the outcome of the second round of the Brazilian presidential election campaign has yet to be decided. it is widely tipped that the far-right wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro will win. such a development is a worrying and dangerous prospect. The polarisation of the Brazilian politics is happening in the context of massive inequalities. Currently, around 13 million people are unemployed in Brazil and extreme poverty rose from 5.2 million people in 2014 to 11.9 million in 2017. Brazil’s colonial heritage and the legacy of slavery also led to extreme and ingrained inequality, which persists today. Failure of PT The PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores or The Worker ‘s Party) has been in government from 2003 to 2016, and has failed to meet the demands of the working class and poor. While they were able to implement some limited social reforms in the early 2000’s aimed at reducing poverty, many of these were rolled back later with the implementation of severe austerity measures. Numerous corruption allegations made against the PT and Lula (former PT President)

have further served to lessen the PT’s credibility amongst its workingclass base. Nevertheless, Lula’s recent imprisonment by the traditional right, and similarly the 2016 impeachment of Dilma Roussef (PT President after Lula) represents a serious attack on democratic rights and more specifically, an attack on the left. With the lack of a left alternative, the far right was cynically able to tap into the rising anti-establishment sentiment in the form of Bolsonaro. Trump of the tropics As an ex-military captain and an MP for the last 28 years, Bolsonaro has been vocal about his support of the 1963 military dictatorship, which tortured, imprisoned and killed political opponents. Brazil is one of the four countries in the world that has the highest rate of murdered left activists. Bolsonaro’s hateful views are also inciting violence towards women, LGBTQ people and people of colour. At the rate of one person every 19 hours, Brazil is the country that kills the most LGBQT people. Furthermore, every two hours a woman dies from violence and there are 10 reported cases of gang rape every single day. It is crucial to oppose all forms of sexism, racism and homophobia, which are being normalised by Bolsonaro. Already 50 attacks by

the far right. These were the largest protests organised by women in Brazil’s history. These developments demonstrate that the potential that exists. Even if Bolsanaro is elected, his agenda can be frustrated by mobilisations of working class people from below.

Massive protests have taken place against Bolsonaro and his far right politics

Bolsonaro supporters were recorded in the last month. Neo-liberal candidate Bolsonaro is also calling for vicious attacks on workers rights and cuts in health and education, a massive privatisation programme of state property and institutions and support for the hugely unpopular 20-year freeze in social spending introduced by the

Yemen: Saudi regime creates horrific famine

current Temer government. While recent polls indicate a support of 59% for Bolsonaro, a majority of women, people of colour and the poor overwhelmingly voted against him. The weekend before the first round was marked by mass mobilisations under the slogan #EleNão (Not Him) where 500,000 people gathered in many cities across the country to voice their opposition to

Need for anti-capitalist left Liberdade, Socialismo e Revolução/ Freedom, Socialism and Revolution (LSR), our sister party in Brazil, is playing a role within the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade/The Socialist and Liberty Party (PSOL) as well as with other groups such as the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto/Movement of Homeless Workers (MTST) and thousands of other activists in building a movement to take on Bolsonaro and build a genuine and principled left alternative as an alternative to the failed PT. PSOL and LSR are putting forward demands for massive investment in education and health, for abortion rights, the demilitarisation of the police, the ending of privatisation, the introduction of taxes on the super rich and measures to defend the environment. LSR have played a role within PSOL for the need for this programme to make a clear link between those demands and the need to break with capitalism and fight for socialist change.

Spain: School student strike against sexism

By Colm McCarthy

emen is undergoing a major humanitarian catastrophe. Already the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula prior to civil war, it is now experiencing famine. the Un estimates that 18 million of yemen’s 27 million people are food insecure. 1.8 million children are malnourished and the threat of cholera is widespread. A massive devaluation in the yemeni currency (the rial) in september accelerated the crisis. The Yemeni Civil War began with a Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) led attempt to reinstall the short-lived presidency of Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in March 2015. Hadi had been removed by an alliance of supporters of his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Shia Houthi movement. War on Yemen This alliance has poured around $100 billion (and counting) into its objective to wrest control of the capital Sana’a and the densely populated majority Shia areas from the Houthis. Its blockade has failed to assist in meeting any of its military objectives and instead has caused famine. The outbreak of cholera, too,

Imperialist backed war by Saudi Arabia has brought misery to Yemeni people

is a direct result of the Saudi targeting of water supplies. That it has done so with the material and logistical help of several Western powers should come as no surprise. The House of Saud rose to prominence as an instrument of British Imperialism and then was inherited as a de facto colony of the United States as Britain declined. Imperialist backed regime The Saudi army is dominated by American advisors, largely because the leaders of the ruling House of Saud don’t trust other members of the House not to plot against them. The UK sold at least (but probably more) £45 million worth of arms to Saudi Arabia last year. This is a drop in the bucket compared to $110 billion arms deal the US agreed to with the Saudis last year.

The attempt to sell Muhammed Bin Salman (the Saudi Crown prince) as a dynamic reformer who would change the face of the region and usher in a new era of progress may have been lucrative for media companies and establishment think tanks, but it doesn’t have much basis in fact. The brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khassoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul is just the latest and most publicised of a series of erratic maneuvers linked to the 33 year-old Crown Prince. Yemen has been brought to the brink of starvation by the Saudi led coalition. This exposes everything that is rotten about the oppressive and corrupt capitalist regimes that dominate this region. It also poses the necessity for a revolutionary socialist challenge to Saudi rule by the working class and poor.

By Carah Daniel ON THE 14 November a student strike has been called in the Spanish state. The strike will be against sexism in the education system. The main demands include real sex education that can help counter increased levels of sexual harassment, sexism, homophobia and a pervasive rape culture.. The strike is also in opposition to public money being given to the Catholic Church to teach their reactionary views in schools. This strike is in the wake of another hugely successful strike on International Women's Day against women's oppression that the Socialist Party's sister section Izquierda Revolucionaria (Left Revolution) and socialist feminist organisation Libres y Combativas (Liberated and Combative) played an important role in. Since then there has been a new Spanish government who declare themselves as feminists. This strike can expose them and put a socialist feminist movement on the agenda.

ANALYSIS

THE SOCIALIST

Privatisation and the cervical cancer scandal that the cervical check scandal has caused will have negative consequences for women’s health for years to come. Screening programmes like the cervical check scheme are vital, however the government’s response is to continue to rely on the very laboratories at the heart of the controversy. Two of the three private labs who carry out screenings on behalf of the state have failed to renew their contracts in the face of potential shared liability for future settlements. Rather than taking this as an indication for the urgent need for investment in order for the screenings to take place in properly funded laboratories, Fine Gael instead have indicated that unless the current contracts are renewed then the future of the programme is in threat.

By Fiona Ryan

he CerviCAL check scandal was brought centre stage once again after the tragic passing of emma mhic mhathúna on 7 October. in 2010 and 2013, emma received the all clear on her previous smear tests, confirming that no abnormalities were detected. Her smear tests were misread and she became one of 221 women identified thus far whose cancer screening failed. The state subsequently admitted liability surrounding the decision taken to not disclose the failures once information came to light, denying her and others the time lost in seeking treatment. Privatisation agenda The US laboratory at the heart of the scandal, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, was later found to have up to 30% higher failure rate for screenings compared to labs within St. James Hospital in Dublin. Emma Mhic Mhathúna represents only one of the many victims of the privatisation agenda of our health care services, and the rotten political establishment who have facilitated a race to the bottom across all public services. The Scally report, commissioned to investigate the scandal, released on the 16 October, argued for a tribunal to be set up that would deal primarily with liability issues and settlements to the victims. 221+ CervicalCheck Patient Support Group, an organisation which

The cervical cancer scandal has evoked widespread public outrage

includes Vicky Phelan who initially exposed the scandal after being mercilessly pursued and silenced by the HSE through the courts expressed disappointment at the verdict. This was because the tribunal did not recommend a completely non-adversarial process. Loss of confidence This is telling in the context of the State’s initial response to the Cervical Check Scandal coming to light. Both the HSE and the private company involved attempted to actively prevent the women affected from being contacted to advise them of the error. The loss of confidence

Emma Mhic Mathuna courageously spoke out against cervical cancer scandal

National Health Service Grassroots campaigns have emerged and rallied throughout the country after the death of Emma Mhic Mahtúna, organised under the banner “Womens Lives Matter”, with groups in Dublin, Limerick and Cork demanding advanced screening in conjunction with HPV testing and no more outsourcing. As revelations continue to emerge, what has become clear is the urgent need for a proper public health care system and builds the case for a National Health Service on the basis of proper funding and investment. We need to break with the trajectory towards privatisation that the government continues to defend and remain wedded to.

Devastating IPCC report on climate change: Capitalism must be challenged! By Gary McDonald

he deBAte on the reality of human-caused climate change is over, now is the time to act. the recent report issued by the iPCC (intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) showed that dramatic change is required before 2030 to prevent a catastrophic climate scenario. Worse than thought The study outlined the extremely dangerous consequences for the Earth’s climate and ecosystem unless drastic measures are taken to prevent the global temperature exceeding the 1.5°C increase threshold, with the study stating that the planet “is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it [emission output] continues to increase at the current rate“. Recent findings by climate scientists, including those outlined in the IPCC report, have shown that if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to halt the temperature rise at 1.5°C rather than the previously thought 2°C threshold which was the target agreed at the Paris Climate Summit. The IPCC report actually met with criticism from some climate scientists claiming the projections were

too conservative! (Because it failed to fully realise how far along the planet is in this heating process). Nevertheless there is clear agreement by all on the urgency of action required to prevent this impending global disaster. The pollution effects We have seen a shocking increase in the intensity and occurence of hurricanes, droughts, wildfires and flash floods across the world. In the US, the 2017 hurricane season was the most expensive on record, with more than 200 billion dollars worth of damage from 17 named storms, including Hurricane Maria which devastated Puerto Rico with winds exceeding 155mph. The changes that are occuring in our environment are already causing the complete destruction of ecosystems across the planet and leading to rampant species extinction. The spillage and dumping of toxic chemicals as a result of fracking, oil drilling and other such endeavours, and the colossal amount of plastic dumping in our oceans (which have literally formed plastic islands) are all causing untold damage to life on Earth. Biologists now believe we are living in the sixth mass extinction event of this planet’s 4.5 billion year life cycle, and the cause is not a matter

Wildfires in countries like Portugal over the Summer are examples of the horrific impact of climate change

of debate – it is the capitalist system, which puts profits for businesses ahead of all other concerns, including the environment. System change now! But we can change this course, if we act decisively. The fact that 90 companies have caused two-thirds of all human-made emissions, and currently only 150 companies are re-

sponsible for 70% of CO2 emissions, demonstrates who is responsible for this crisis. The IPCC report is clear that fundamental aspects of our society need to change to achieve the 1.5°C target. These fundamental changes can only be achieved through wholesale system change. Capitalism has to go. Only by ripping the power of the economy away from the oil barons,

vulture funds, arms dealers etc. can we transition away from a carbonbased economy to a green renewable economy. This can only be achieved through the building of a mass environmental movement with socialism at its heart and by bringing these polluting companies into public ownership as part of a democratically planned economy.

WORKPLACE

THE SOCIALIST

Project fear and Brexit: How should trade unions react? that workers fought for these rights. For example, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ford workers’ strike in Dagenham, which was central to forcing the then British government to concede equal pay. In Britain, some trade union leaders have attempted to align the TUC with the idea of a “peoples’ vote”. A principled approach from the trade unions would instead be to demand and organise mass mobilisation for a general election – in order to take down the Tories and elect a Corbyn led-government.

Trade union movement in Britain and Ireland must co-ordinate action to oppose bosses race to the bottom in context of Brexit

By Kevin Henry

he trAde union movement, which claims 800,000 members north and south have a responsibility to oppose any aspect of a Brexit deal which is not in the interests of their members. For example, the Central Bank has warned of potential of 20,000 job losses in the south.

In the North, various figures point toward a serious recession. Big business is preparing to use a Tory Brexit to implement “shock and awe” style attacks on workers’ rights, particularly on sectors such as Agri-business that are reliant on exports to Britain. The nature of the EU Trade unionists should have no trust in any capitalist politicians at the ne-

gotiating table, whether from the North, South, Britain or the EU. Unfortunately, the approach of many trade union leaders is to perpetuate the myth that important workers’ rights were handed down by a benevolent EU. This turns reality on its head. The European Union has been central to waging a war on workers, particularly given its role in Troika austerity programmes. The truth is

Make the bosses pay In Ireland, trade unions should now put the bosses on warning that they will resist attacks on their members. A starting point would be to organise a conference of workers’ representatives from Britain and Ireland to discuss what coordinated action can be taken and built for against attacks on pay and conditions or shedding of jobs flowing from Brexit. If someone has to take a hit- it, should be the profits of the capitalists. The movement must also be clear in taking up the other central issues linked with Brexit. That means a clear stand of defending immigrants. Trade unions as force that unites workers in Northern Ireland has a role to play in resisting any hardening of the border or any border on the Irish Sea. It also has a key role to play in opposing those political forces who will use Brexit in order to push their sectarian agenda.

North: Organising to fight precarity By Neil Moore, UNITE Belfast (personal capacity)

here WAs standing room only in Belfast at a recent public meeting of Unite the Union's hospitality campaign. it’s clear that young workers, often dismissed as unorganisable by union leaders and academics, are taking inspiration from an international upsurge of struggles by precarious workers. This came after historic coordinated strike action in Britain of workers at TGI Friday's, McDonald's, Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Wetherspoons. The workers were fighting for a living wage and ending age-restricted rates of pay. This action has further developed the confidence of workers wanting to call time on low pay and poor conditions and has demonstrated the power that the working class wields if we strike together. Action wins results McStrikers forced McDonald's to give them a significant pay rise after they first took action, and our action in TGI Friday’s has forced a Tory

Belfast: Meeting in October of young workers in hospitality sector to discuss organising in the workplace

government to attack employers for stealing tips. The Unite campaign in the North took on Boojum - a chain of burrito bars across Ireland on the theft of workers’ tips, unpaid hours and on a disciplinary culture that had an extreme effect on mental health and won on these issues both North and South. Proof once again that by tak-

ing a genuine organising approach through the unions that workers can win. The focus of campaigning has now turned to fighting for a citywide living wage, making the use of zero hours toxic and to challenging a culture of sexual harassment where nine out of ten women in the industry experience it from both

staff or customers on a near daily basis. Unite Hospitality hopes to take #metoo into the workplace. Hospitality in Ireland is a €3 billion industry, the money is clearly there for a living wage not poverty wages for the tens of thousands working in the sector if we organise and fight.

New public sector pay deal: Two-tier remains in place The Socialist spoke to INTO activist and Socialist Party member KATE RELIHAN about the deal reached between the public service union leaders and the government ostensibly bringing an end to two-tier pay. This is being balloted on as we go to press. “The agreement is being endorsed by my union leadership as being a resolution to the two-tier pay system that was introduced in the course of the crisis and has been the source of major discontent of new entrants over the last seven years. “The reality however is different. Firstly, there are the legacy losses running up to tens of thousands for those who entered immediately after the two-tier pay was introduced, there is no backdating being proposed here. Likewise, the allowance for the HDip is not being restored which by itself constitutes two-tier pay. Betrayal of new entrants “Worst of all the deal provide for lower entry points for future entrants. This is the worst betrayal of them all, essentially repeating what was done in 2011. It is not lost on many of the existing members on the lower tier that they themselves are being asked to sell out future colleagues in the same manner they were sold out back then. “The rank and file groups in the teacher unions are campaigning for a No vote. The full-time officials are frantically trying to shore up a Yes vote promising that the sky will fall in. If this passes it will be in large measure due to these demoralising tactics of the union leadership who lead members to believe that they cannot struggle successfully for something better. Ballot for action “The nurses unions have already rejected this offer and are planning to ballot for action. There is a recruitment and retention crisis in both nursing and teaching. A real opportunity exists for a co-ordinated campaign of all public servants to fight to end two-tier pay and undo all the impositions placed on us during the crisis but it may be squandered by the leaderships in favour of a rotten sell out. “The ballot comes at the same time as a contest to succeed outgoing General Secretary Sheila Nunan. Unfortunately, none of the three candidates represent a break with the old approach. The task of building a fighting alternative within the INTO, like other unions remains in front of us. If this passes those in the future lower tier won’t take it lying down”

ANALYSIS & REVIEW

THE SOCIALIST

Socialism made easy:

Housing and the rigged system third of the cabinet themselves are landlords and historically the political establishment in Ireland has had close connections with big developers.

By Cillian Gillespie

he deArth of affordable homes has become a decisive question in radicalising and activating an important section of young and workingclass people in the last number of months. At the heart of this crisis is the fact that a basic human necessity, the right to a home, is starkly coming into conflict with the ruthless drive for private profit. Defenders of capitalism tell us that it is “the hidden hand of the market”, that this system is supposedly based on, which delivers the goods. According to this logic, the demand for housing will be met with a supply of housing. Tell that to the 10,000 people who are homeless, the almost 500,000 young people being forced to live at home with their parents or workers in Dublin who on average have to spend 55% of their pay on the monthly rent. The rule of profit If this crisis is to be resolved we need to challenge the vested interests that are profiteering from it, namely landlords and property developers. They are benefiting from the fact that rents are skyrocketing, the price of land and houses is shooting up and little to no social or affordable homes are being built by the state. There are a number of key policies that need to be implemented to tackle this crisis. We need real rent

hopelessly reliant on the capitalist market to provide homes. This flows from two things. They themselves have an immediate material interest in maintaining this status quo – one

Defending the status quo Secondly, it is ideological. They are committed to the neo-liberal model of capitalism that ensures that there is no public investment in housing, and public services generally are starved of resources. This is about maintaining Ireland as a low-tax haven for big business, which has resulted in Apple being able to avoid paying a €19 billion tax bill it owes to the state. Such money could be used to build over 110,000 public homes. The housing crisis is a microcosm of the type of society we live in. Capitalism in Ireland ensures that we have a two-tier health service rather than a free, public funded national health service; exorbitant costs for childcare; and growing precariousness and exploitation in the workplace. In the last ten years Ireland has seen an economic crisis followed by a recovery rigged in the interests of big business, the super-rich and banks. If our needs are to be met, we need a struggle by working class and young people to end the private ownership of the resources of society. Meeting our needs and them maximising profits are mutually exclusive. This is why building a socialist alternative has such urgency now.

This was part of a conscious policy on the part of the British ruling class to depopulate the land in order to make way for pastural farming, as opposed to subsistence farming that existed in much of Ireland at the time. Black 47 effectively shows how both Imperial oppression and capi-

talist, neo-liberal laissez faire exploitation dramatically reduced a population through starvation and mass emigration. The film is the first of its kind to be made in showing the realities of this man made criminal disaster that blighted Irish history.

Housing crisis brings out starkly the reality of capitalist profiteering

controls and for rents to be reduced to their pre-bubble level; a ban on economic evictions; vacant property to be seized; and for public homes to be built on public land. It also means

taking the construction industry into democratic public ownership so that homes can be built at cost price. Such policies are an anathema to the present government. They are

Film review: Black ’47 directed by Lance Daly By Myriam Poizat

n One level Black ‘47 could not be more dipped in 19th Century romanticism, with its infinite shots of foggy Connemara landscapes. however, this stunning depiction of rural ireland does not romanticise the picture of poor irish peasants starving as a result of the profiteering of landlords and suffering from the oppression of the British state. A state that is racist to the core. The brutality of the British ruling class is made clear from the very beginning in the film. You see the tracking down of people whose only mistake was to be born poor, and whose petty crimes were to try and steal some food or money to survive. Rebels are sent to be hanged, and the quick appearance of a Young Irelander in the first five minutes of the movie reminds us how rapidly the repressive British government took care of ending any possible menace to its rule. Black 47 depicts all the horrendous aspects of the famine in Ireland. One scene shows the cynical and sectarian attempts of proselytising poor starving Catholics through the giving of soup and bread.

We also witness the “economic conscription” of Irish people into the British army in order to defend the Empire. Overall you get a real sense of the exploitative and oppressive aspects of 19th century Ireland. A scene depicting the sentencing of a man to prison, not only for stealing food to feed his family, but also for not speaking English and therefore not answering the judge’s questions at his trial, showed a judicial system representing a corrupt elite taking advantage of an oppressed population. The socio-economic conditions of the poor peasantry were never taken into account when judged for breaking the law, even as that law was oppressing and killing them. Society today still sees mothers entering prisons for having stolen food for their starving children, often ending up homeless when released. The film brings out the fundamental injustice of the famine and sickening reality of “free market” capitalism as shown by families being evicted from Lords’ properties or starving peasants at the gate of the ruling class’ homes. This is despite the fact that stables were full of harvests that were exported abroad. We can see the logic of this system today in 2018 Ireland, whose streets and hubs are occupied by 10,000 homeless, while

profiteering landlords make more money than they ever have before. In another scene in the film, Lord Kilmichael announces that he is evicting peasants because he did not need them or want them – especially not since the government installed a tax on every occupant on his land.

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PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 118

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2018

The choice we have to make:

CAPITALISM OR THE CLIMATE? system change Not Climate change!

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