In January 2006 the Government accepted the recommendations contained in an independent report that it had commissioned, Vision for Change (VFC), as the basis for its future mental health policy. In the four years since the report’s publication almost nothing has been done to realise its full implementation.
In Kerry, Vision into Action (VIA) that would see the roll out of the policy in the county is officially on hold because no progress is being made on establishing community mental health teams. I was told this in last January during a telephone conversation with a member of HSE staff in Kerry involved in VIA.

Members of the newly formed Kerry Public Service Workers Alliance picketed Fianna Fail TD Tom McEllistrim’s clinic twice in a row. On the first occasion he didn’t turn up and his mother instead fielded questions. McEllistrim, who is well known for never voicing an opinion if he can avoid it, was confronted by over 100 angry workers at a second meeting. Martin O’Grady of the KPSWA said afterwards that the TD was very evasive, and refused to give them support in having their wage cuts reversed.

“The wage cuts will result in a direct loss of over €25 million per annum to Kerry. Local businesses will suffer heavily and more jobs will be lost in a county with an unemployment rate that is twice the national average. Slashing the wages of those who have jobs will not create a single job for those seeking employment”.
In a new development, the Alliance said that it would consider running general election candidates if they could get no support from Kerry’s TDs.

The first meeting of the Kerry Public Service Workers’ Alliance took place at the beginning of December 2009. The meeting, which was attended by 10 people, had been called by trade union activists from the Teachers’ Union of Ireland in IT Tralee, in an effort to organise public service workers in Kerry against the swingeing wage cuts and levies that are being inflicted by the FF/GP government.

The turnout at that first meeting was disappointing, coming as it did the day after the most savage budget the country has seen to date, a budget that specifically targeted public servants and the services they deliver. Moreover, notices for the meeting had been distributed in almost every public service workplace, including the hospital, county council buildings, Institute of Technology, revenue and social welfare offices etc.

The discussion at the meeting centred on the need to open up lines of communication between local workers, mount resistance to the attacks on public services and force a moribund national trade union movement to make a stand. It was clear that there is a complete absence of leadership at the top of the trade union movement and that the only way to address this was through a grassroots movement of members.

The Kerry Public Service Workers Alliance (KPSWA) is holding a protest outside the clinic of Fianna Fail TD Tom McEllistrim, on Saturday 6th February at 11am.

Venue situated at the back of the Horan Centre, Tralee.

In the words of the local TUI, " bring as many colleagues as you can along with you. It is crucial that action of this kind begin to happen all over the country so that the appearance of quiet due to the Christmas break and the bad weather is transformed and the politicians are jolted out of any false sense of security into which they may have been lulled. It is equally important that we demonstrate to the leadership of the trade union movement that there is no way we are ever going to accept and lie down under what has been done to us".

Speakers:

• Margaret O'Shea: Kerry Network of People with Disabilities (CDP)
• Simon Quinn: Kerry Public Sector Workers Alliance
• Councillor Brid Smith: People Before Profit (Dublin)

Venue: Grand Hotel, Tralee

Date and Time: Thursday, February 11th., 8.00pm.

All Welcome!

Ph: 087-6716009 for further information.

All Welcome!

Local Public Sector Workers and supporters are meeting to organize resistance to massive pay cuts

Date: Thursday 10th December
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: Grand Hotel Tralee

Public Sector Workers – Unite Now TO Fight the Slashing of Pay and Pensions

· It’s time to counter the anti-public sector propaganda of the Government.
· Join in a united protest and a determined and organised campaign against the cuts.
· Show how there is a better alternative to solving the economic crisis – Fair Taxation.
· Show our TDs how important the public service is in Kerry
· Show how these wage cuts will decimate the local economy.
· A 7% pay cut is the equivalent in one year alone of more than 28 days of action.
· The cut will be for every year of salary and then of pension .
· There will be much more cuts to come if we remain silent.

WE SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO TAKE ACTION.

For further information contact Martin O’Grady, Branch Chair, TUI (IT Tralee). E Mail: tui@ittralee.ie

Kerry Public Sector unions including TUI, INTO, ASTI, SIPTU, IMPACT, INO, PNA, PSEU, CPSU and others must NOW rally together.

In 1980’s Britain, Margaret Thatcher famously remarked that “there is no such thing as society, only individuals”. This is the economics of rampant unchecked capitalism where any hurt inflicted on the vulnerable is seen as collateral damage in the pursuance of profits and is a philosophy the Irish Government believes in.

Pic above: Members of People Before Profit (Tralee) at recent Cuts Protest in Limerick

Another name for it is neo-liberalism. Community development projects (CDP’s) are essentially a concept, the opposite to this mind set. The first CDP’s were set up in Ireland in 1990 as a way of overcoming poverty, disadvantage, marginalisation and discrimination in both rural and inner city areas.

This meeting follows a well attended talk by Kieran Allen on "Ireland's Economic Crash", held recently.

AGENDA to include:

1. Outreach strategy: Dingle group/public meeting

2. Lisbon II campaign

3. An Bord Snip cutbacks

We have experienced favourable public reaction to our stalls on Lisbon II and An Bord Snip.

Meanwhile, the strong Labour Party vote for Tralee Town Council does not seem to indicate any willingness by the LP to fight cutbacks or service charges.

A space is open for us to campaign strongly on these issues.

Bring your ideas along on Tuesday. All welcome.

www.pbptralee.com

Listen out for a Radio Interview with People Before Profit candidate Seán Moraghan on Newstalk 106FM's "The Wide Angle with Karen Coleman",12-12.30, Sunday morning 31st May