Month: April 2012
ULA: We must win people to the struggle for a new party
"Get a life" is Minister Shatter's message to those fighting the household tax. Labour has also tried to put the boot in but clearly they are nervous that this movement can decisively damage its base in working class areas up and down the country.
Return of internment: End state repression
In the recent period, there has been an escalation in state repression in Northern Ireland. For example, the use of “supergrass” evidence in the trial of loyalists. A particularly worrying development is the return of internment.
Abortion Bill – a first step towards a womans’ right to choose
On 18 – 19 April the Dail will discuss the Medical Treatment (Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman) Bill 2012. This is the first time that a positive proposal to legalise abortion in Ireland has been initiated and in that sense it is a truly historic step forward. Of course it is long overdue and we fully recognise that it is merely a very tiny first step, but it is important nonetheless.
Relentless attack on new entrants
Why have the leaderships of the teachers unions accepted Minister Ruari Quinn and the governments’ decision to suspended all allowances for new entrants pending a review of allowances for all teachers?
Review: The Hunger Games
The depiction of a deranged dystopian realm is not an un familiar one to cinema goers. Last year there was the chilling Never Let Me Go with Kiera Knightly and Carey Mulligan, and the re-discovery of V for Vendetta (2006) by the “Indignados” and “Occupy” protesters. The Hunger Games, a film adaption of the first novel of a bestselling teenage trilogy by Suzanne Collins, in that sense is not groundbreaking or exceptional. However, with the captivating appeal of its feisty heroine, Katniss Everdeen, played with subtlety and intelligence by Jennifer Lawrence, and its portrayal of themes such as extreme inequality, lack of democracy, dictatorship, the depravity of the tabloid media and reality television that echo many of the themes of the ‘Occupy’ movement, mean that ‘Hunger Games’ packs quite a punch.
Household Tax: start of revolt against all austerity
“Opposition to the tax is raising questions about Dublin’s ability to implement a further €9 billion in promised austerity measures over the next four years” - Financial Times, 2 April 2012.
Britain: Galloway victory stuns establishment
After just three weeks of campaigning, the stunning victory of George Galloway in the Bradford West by-election shows that rapid developments can take us all by surprise. Labour politicians have been quick to downplay the significance of Galloway's return to Parliament - along with the disintegration of their 10,000 vote majority. In reality this was no "one-off" but a precursor to the inevitable effects of the decades of neglect and cuts agenda overseen by the mainstream parties.
GAME over? No way!
On Monday 26 March GAME workers begun their sit-in protest, after they were told to close stores early and go home, as there was no longer a job for them. The staff were told they would have to apply to the state for redundancy and that they were not getting wages due to them.
Home tax payment collapses since govt deadline
Registration for, and payment of, the Household Tax has collapsed since the Government deadline on March 31.
Census backs up 1.8m registration target
The 2011 Census and an analysis by a Maynooth academic clearly show that more than 1.8 million households must register for the Household Tax and not 1.6 million as the government is spinning.
