Campaign Against Cuts
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Residents of Priory Hall staged protest outside the Dail on Nov 29 - and will be back again to protest against the budget on Dec 6. They are calling for action to ensure their apartments are refurbished promptly; and to ensure that they don't have to pay both the mortgages on the apartments and the cost of emergency accommodation. The High Court recently ruled that Dublin City Council should cover the costs of accommodation, but the Council has challenged that ruling in the Supreme Court. So the residents are stuck – not knowing when they will get their homes back or who will pay for emergency accommodation.
This is yet another example of the problems arising from the building boom. Developers got away with putting up sub-standard buildings due to inadequate regulation and insufficient numbers of building inspectors – a toxic combination of cowboys and government de-regulation. Home-owners and residents are now carrying the can for this.
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A colourful and lively Spectacle of Defiance and Hope carnival protest took place today with youth and community groups from across the city from Ballyfermot to O'Devaney Gardens and Ballymun represented.
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STOP TEARING THE HEART OUT OF OUR COMMUNITIES
Organised by a range of Community & Youth Organisations and supported by IMPACT, SIPTU and UNITE Please support! Defend Child Benefit Patricia Keogan is so incensed at the prospect of cuts to Child Benefit, and Eamonn Gilmore's refusal to rule out a cut, that she came to protest outside the Dáil. “You promised not to touch Child Benefit, Mr. Gilmore. So please keep your promise and do not cut Child Benefit in the proposed Budget, as it is essential for most people for shoes and clothes. It might be loose change for TD's, but for most people it provides things their children need to go to school.” Patricia is urging people to go to the Spectacle of Defiance and Hope next Saturday: assemble in Castle St (beside Dublin Castle) at 1.30pm. |
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At a press conference today TDs from the United Left Alliance, Independents and Sinn Féin joined trade unionists calling for support for a pre-budget anti-austerity march this Saturday in Dublin. The march called by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, and supported by ICTU, SIPTU, Unite, Mandate, the United Left Alliance, Sinn Féin, Independent TDs and a wide range of community and campaign groups, will assemble at 12pm, this Saturday November 26th in Parnell Square Dublin. The recently established Alliance Against Austerity, who hosted the press conference, will also hold a mass public assembly directly following Saturday’s march, following the example of similar assemblies taking place as part of the Global Occupy movement and the mass protest movements in Egypt, Greece and Spain. The new Alliance believes that austerity policies being implemented in Europe, the US and elsewhere in response to the Global economic and financial crisis are grossly unfair and are deepening the current economic crisis, and may lead to a further world-wide economic slump. The Alliance and participants in the press conference are calling on the Irish government to abandon austerity policies aimed at low and middle income workers, and vulnerable sectors of society, and instead place the burden of the current economic crisis on the private financial sector and the wealthy in society. The alliance is also calling for major direct state investment in job creation and the protection of the welfare state and public services. This march will not be once-off event but will be a step towards a sustained campaign of popular mobilisation – demanding policies which put jobs creation, public services and the protection of the vulnerable ahead the profits of bank and financial elites. |
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In case you missed it, holders of Anglo bonds will make a big profit from the €711 million that Fine Gael and Labour are paying out today. Three months ago Anglo bonds were being traded for as low as 52 cent, with large volumes trading at around 60 cent. So a financial speculator who bought a million Anglo bonds for €600k during the summer is getting €1 million from the Irish government today – a 66% profit. In order to pay these un-named speculators, the Irish state has borrowed from the ECB and IMF – and is imposing cuts on public services to repay borrowings and interest. The same priorities are revealed in the explanation by Harry Crosbie of how NAMA is a bail-out for developers. The banks made loans to developers, who could not pay back. NAMA bought those loans at a 58% discount. NAMA then provided money to developers to complete their projects and get back some of the money it paid the banks. But the developer only pays NAMA what NAMA paid for the loans – and gets a 58% discount on the original bank loan. So that's where your money is going: the €711 million (out of a total of €29.5 billion) that Irish governments have paid Anglo bondholders are giving some wealthy speculators a 66% profit today. The €72 billion that has gone into the NAMA process is being used to bail out wealthy developers – who only pay 42% of their debts – thanks to state support. There is ample willingness by FG and Labor to continue to borrow, placing the debt on the shoulders of ordinary working people and cutting public services, so as to pay the profits of speculators and the debts of developers. The politics of the mainstream parties – in defence of the interests of the wealthy elite at cost to working people – have rarely been more clearly revealed. |
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Today, Wed 2nd November, two years since his sacking by Dublin Bus over an unofficial Strike, Eugene McDonagh finally gets a hearing at the Employment Appeals Tribunal hearing into his unfair dismissal.  Above: Eugene arriving at the Tribunal this morning
Around 30 people gathered to protest in solidarity with Eugene took place outside the tribunal St Stephens Green House Earlsfort Terrace.  Above: Bus workers, family, friends and supporters gather outside Tribunal
 Above: Supporters gathered outside Tribunal
 Above: Cllr Brid Smith & Cllr Gino Kenny, People Before Profit show their support
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On Saturday, 22nd October, over 2,000 people took to the streets as part of the Occupy Dame Street demonstration.
The march which went from Parnell Square to Dame Street ended with music from Billy Bragg and an open assembly.
Speaking to the crowd, Billy Bragg stressed the importance of the organised labour movement, playing "There is Power in a Union" & international solidarity finishing his set with the "Internationale".
Billy Bragg plays for the crowd at Dame Street
John Molyneux, People Before Profit speaking at the open assembly
The Irish Anti Movement on the march
The Enough Campaign on the march
More on Occupy Dame Street here: http://www.occupydamestreet.org/ |
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