This is the text of Rita Harrold’s leaflet for the European election campaign in Dublin that will be distributed to 250,000 homes in Dublin.
Let Us Rise!– Public Need Not Private Greed
“The water charges and repeal movements show things can change. Rita Harrold & the Socialist Party were in the front-line of those victories. The nurses have also shown the way!
The wealth and resources exist to deliver quality living standards for all, as well as a sustainable environment, but this is squandered by Governments and the EU because they put profit, not people, first.
We need a mass movement of the unions and communities on housing and pay; but this time we must go further. We must take on the main political parties and the capitalist market so that people’s needs and the planet are safeguarded.
Young people are essential to this struggle. That’s why I was proud to propose Rita Harrold as a candidate for the European Parliament” – Joe Higgins
Rita’s Record:
- Rita is 29 and a childminder from Crumlin
- A leader of ROSA’s Time4Choice Yes campaign in the Referendum, Rita organised actions with abortion pills which were commented by many as crucial in achieving of 12 weeks on request. As an MEP, Rita will continue to highlight gender based violence, the gender pay gap, and the crushing impact of austerity on working & poor women
- Rita was an organiser of the We Won’t Pay campaign that helped organise the mass non-payment of water charges
- Rita has been an activist with the Socialist Party for 10 years
Housing: Our Crisis – Their Profits
By maximising profits, bankers, developers and landlords are making people’s lives a misery. The state also abuses and discriminates against Travellers and those in Direct Provision. Mobilise for the march on Saturday 18 May organised by National Homeless & Housing Coalition.
- Ban evictions and vulture & cuckoo funds; controls to ensure affordable rents, house prices and mortgages
- Nationalise the banks and major construction companies under democratic public control
- Build 100,000 public homes on public land at affordable rates to rent or buy
International Solidarity – Not the Bosses’ EU
The EU pushes neo-liberal capitalism, continuing to force Ireland to pay billions to bailout the European banking system, starving essential public services here of much needed funds. The EU supported the Spanish state crack-down of the democratic right of Catalonia for independence and continues with the deadly and racist “Fortress Europe” policy.
In Brexit, the Tories and EU represent different business interests. None of them, nor the Irish government, represent the interests of working-class people. Rita Harrold says workers and trade unionists across Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales must link up to:
- Act together to defend the jobs, pay and conditions of all workers, migrant rights and food and environmental standards
- Oppose any hardening of borders, North/South or East/West
- No to sectarianism – for solidarity among all working people – for a socialist Ireland & a socialist Europe
End wealth inequality – Socialist Change Now
In Ireland the top 10% have more than 53% of the net wealth and own 82% of all land. Big business and the super-rich must be challenged. Rita is standing in the European Elections as a Socialist Party member, under the banner of Solidarity-People Before Profit. Just like Joe Higgins and Paul Murphy before her, Rita Harrold would be a powerful representative for the working class of Dublin and for socialism. Rita is fighting for:
- Tax big business – double the corporation tax rate
- Break with the capitalist market and rigged economy
- Democratic public ownership of the key sectors of the economy to ensure a rapid transition to environmental sustainability and that society’s wealth and resources are used to meet the needs of all, not the profits of a few
Dr. Rebecca Gomperts Director of Women On Web says:
“Rita was at the forefront of the legalization of abortion in Ireland and helped a lot of women when abortion was still illegal in Ireland. She is an amazing activist, mobilizer and educator.”
Rita is campaigning for:
- WORKERS: A €15 an hour minimum wage & a serious trade union campaign against precarious conditions
- CHILDCARE: Paid parental leave for two years & free community & workplace based childcare
- WOMEN: A trade union-led campaign to end sexual harassment at work & massive investment in education & services to challenge gender violence
- CLIMATE: A rapid, just transition to a zero carbon economy – public investment in wind, wave & renewable energy
- TRANSPORT: Scrap all fares for public transport – massive extension of trains, trams & buses
If elected, Rita will live on an average wage & donate the rest of the €105,000 salary to the struggle for change
