Month: May 2009
Sri Lanka – Brutal war has solved nothing
WITH THEIR dramatic surge into the predominantly Tamil north and east of the country since the beginning of the year, it appears the Sri Lankan army has inflicted a decisive military defeat on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This does not mean, however, an end to the struggle for self-determination of the Tamil minority, nor the poverty and suffering facing the poor masses of the island.
Killinochchi, one of the key administrative centres of the Tamil Tigers’ de facto independent state in the north of Sri Lanka, fell swiftly to the army in late January. This made it clear that a decisive turn was being taken in this decades-long civil war. As we go to press, the Sri Lankan army is now in almost full control of all of the urban centres in former LTTE-territory, although guerrilla conflict is still raging.
Fight back – We want you to join the Socialist Party
AS THE advert says, “Do you remember the Celtic Tiger?” – well it’s long gone and working class people are being hammered by the Celtic recession.
Now is the time to get organised to fight back. The trade union leaders have again, been found wanting. They allowed the imposition of the pensions levy, the income levies and massive attacks on our public services. As a direct result of these attacks thousands of workers are being made redundant in the public sector. The average family has lost thousands of euro and the trade unions have done nothing. They have sat on their hands while tens of thousands of workers have been thrown onto the dole.
Environment: Planning green growth
A socialist contribution to the debate on environmental sustainability
Joe Higgins: Why I’m Standing for Euro Election
THE REASON I am standing in the Euro Elections in Dublin is to give the people of the capital city the possibility of a clear socialist alternative to all the establishment political parties.
There is no doubt that the current economic catastrophe will be foremost in the minds of people as they vote on 5 June in both the Local and Euro elections. They will want to punish Fianna Fail for its’ pro-speculation policies that engineered the huge property bubble that has inevitably burst with horrific consequences. They will also want to hit back at both Fianna Fail and the Green Party for their current policies of making working people pay for this crisis while bailing out the banks and the speculators.
Vote Socialist Party on June 5th
IRELAND IS experiencing the worst recession of any industrialised country since the 1930s. This is the legacy of Fianna Fail’s 12 years in power.
Fianna Fail and the Greens have introduced two draconian budgets that have cost working class people thousands in extra levies, taxes, and lost allowances. 500,000 will be unemployed by Christmas.
SR Technics – Workers should occupy and demand re nationalisation
Statement from Joe Higgins
As venture capitalists seal their plan to smash 1,150 jobs at SR Technics by selling off the Landing Gear and Auxiliary Power Unit, the Irish Government and trade union leadership are in a state of pathetic paralysis. They simply stand by and allow the dictatorship of the market to lay waste to an invaluable industry and source of jobs. SR Technics workers should immediately occupy the plant at Dublin Airport, prevent the sale of machinery and demand renationalisation of what was a publicly owned enterprise until Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats privatised it.
Call for government to be punished
Socialist Party launch election campaign
Socialist Party Pledge to resist Fianna Fail/Green Party Cuts Which Will Wreck Local Services. Call for FiannaFail/Greens To Be Punished For Policy Of mak
ing Ordinary People Pay For Crisis. The savage programme of cuts in public expenditure by the FiannaFail/Green Party government will have a devastating effect on local services.
Joe Higgins: “Fine Gael’s new Health Policy a Charter for Privatisation”
Fine Gael recently launched its new Health policy called FairCare. The party claims its proposals ‘represent the most fundamental reform of the health system since the formation of the State.’ The new policy involves a massive surge in privatisation and ‘marketisation’ of health care. It essentially hands the running of our Health Service to private insurance companies.
Littlepace says ‘No’ to N3 noise
Littlepace.
