Brian Greene Budget comment

Speaking at a press conference convened this morning in response to the Budget, Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said: "The draconian proposals for the attempted implementation of the new Property Tax have the stamp of a Troika dictat and verge on a financial dictatorship attacking low and middle income households. The proposal is a grotesque abuse of Revenue powers to try cow home owners but there will be massive anger, discontent and active resistance.

Many issues have come up so far in the Lisbon debate, some very relevant, some less so. The key issues the Socialist Party have been raising so far are workers rights, public services and miltarisation. Elsewhere Joe Higgins has looked at the issue of workers' rights and public services. Here, he goes into precisely how Lisbon boosts the armaments industry and is another step towards a militarised EU.

Yesterday's interview on RTE Radio One News reveals that Labour Party leader, Eamon Gilmore, believes that the most crucial issue in the forthcoming General Election is the number of seats Labour will win relative to Fine Gael and therefore whether he or Deputy Kenny will be Taoiseach. Nothing in any of the recent interviews he has given indicate that Labour offer any alternative to the cutback consensus.

“An organised group of people working fo­r a cause”. That is a dictionary definition of the word “party”. James Connolly went further when he described the socialist movement as the “great anti theft movement of the 20th century”.