Dail positions will be used as platform to advocate for 'people power' opposition against cuts

In a statement today the United Left Alliance (ULA) predicated that it will make a significant breakthrough in the General Election on Friday. The Alliance intends to provide a radical and a principled opposition to the Fine Gael/ Labour coalition of cuts. The Alliance will use the Dail as a platform to build the widest opposition to the cuts agenda of the new government.

Cllr. Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit / ULA candidate for Dun Laoghaire, said: “We have had a fantastic response from the public. There is no doubt that there is an appetite for real change. We are confident that we can win between six and ten seats and provide a real opposition to the agenda of cuts.  We will use the Dail as a platform to mobilise people power to stop further cuts. This is an historic election. For the first time the electorate have the chance to put a significant group of principled TDs in the Dail who will stand up against the Coalition for Cuts”.

Best way to stop Fine Gael agenda is to vote against the coalition for cuts

Labour's attack on Fine Gael as the 'party of austerity' is cynical and opportunist

A cohesive opposition to welfare and spending cuts will only come from a strong left-wing presence in the Dáil. The United Left Alliance (ULA), which represents a spectrum of political parties including the People Before Profit Alliance and Socialist Party, said the three largest parties were all signed up to an agenda of "savage" spending cuts in order to bail out the banks.

The main establishment parties are at one in the cuts agenda and any apparent disagreement between FG, Labour Party & FF is an "illusion".

Mainstream political parties are ignoring the issues of unemployment and emigration in this election campaign. The People Before Profit Alliance believes the policies of Fine Gael and Labour would lead to a further rise in unemployment.

At a photocall held outside the Passport Office on Molesworth Street in Dublin, candidates for the alliance, inlcuding Cllr Joan Collins (Dublin South Central) & Andrew Keegan (Dublin North West) criticised mainstream political parties for their refusal to offer new jobs initiatives which would stem the flow of emigration.

"Emigration and unemployment are the key issues coming up again and again among the people we're talking too on the ground, particularly among older people who are upset at seeing their grandchildren having to leave the country," said Cllr Joan Collins, the People Before Profit/ULA candidate for the Dublin South Central constituency. "It's outrageous that there's 450,000 people on the dole and a thousand a week having to emigrate to go find jobs while at the same time there's billions going into the banks".

Cllr Collins called for the State to invest in new infrastructure programmes to help kickstart the economy.
"There's another €29 billion to go into the banks, which is something supported by both Fine Gael and Labour and we're saying don't put that into the banks, invest it in jobs instead," she said.

"Following the foundation of the State the ESB was set up and 1000s of jobs were created to bring electricity into peoples homes and we believe that similar initiatives are needed now.

Education has suffered chronic underfunding. Even at the height of the boom, spending at primary level was the fourth lowest in the OECD. It is a matter of priority to increase funding at this level to compete favourably with other OECD countries.

People Before Profit Alliance see issues such as the following as key issues in Irish Education in the future:

• Class size
• School Building Programmes
• School Capitation Grants
• Special Educational Needs
• ICT funding
• Third Level Fees

Click on attachment below to read more about our Education Policy

People Before Profit, which is part of the United Left Alliance, launched its energy and natural resources policy document this morning calling for Ireland's oil and gas resources to be returned to public ownership. Highlighting the struggle to the people of Rossport, People Before Profit called on the incoming Minister of the Environment to immediately revoke Shell's license for the Corrib gas pipeline project.

People Before Profit candidates were joined by Pat "The Chief" O'Donnell (pictured above), the Shell to Sea fisherman who was jailed for his opposition to Shell’s refinery and experimental raw gas pipeline in Rossport. ‘The Chief's’ struggle against Shell was documented in the recent award-winning film, The Pipe.
Speaking at this morning’s press conference Dr. Kieran Allen, UCD Sociologist and one of the document’s researchers commented: “Ireland has astounding wealth in natural resources. It is estimated that at current market rates the total value of Irish oil and gass off the West coast could be as much as €720 billion. This potential wealth provides a means to solve Ireland’s long term economic problems, but it would require a fundamental change in policy.
“Under the current licensing system, Ireland sees little benefit from its own resources. A report sponsored by the Department of Communications, Energy and Resources, pointed out that the ‘current fiscal system…yields among the lowest government take in the world’ The argument put forward by the government that they are insuring our future energy security does not stand up because we will be forced to buy back our fuel at prevailing market prices and compete with others for supply. This is economic maddness.”

Ireland has astounding wealth in natural resources and this could be the key to its economic regeneration.

• Take all oil and gas resources back into public ownership.
• Introduce a new model of state hydrocarbon management
• Develop & fund an integrated industrial development strategy
• Use funds & infrastructure from oil & gas activities to diversify Ireland’s energy supply
• Respond to Corrib gas controversy in transparent, fair, participative manner based on real engagement with the community

Read more about our Energy & Natural Resources policy by clicking on attachment below

In a statement, Cllr. Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA) has said that proposals now being made by the establishment political parties – Fianna Fail, Fine Gael & Labour – had little credibility given their previous records.
Cllr. Boyd Barrett said that any party willing to sign up to the IMF/EU package was effectively signing away Ireland’s democracy and handing the country over to unelected bureaucrats in the EU and IMF – rendering meaningless talk of political reform.
He added that all the main parties were part of a ‘cosy club’ that had resisted any serious attempts at political reform for decades because of personal and party self-interest.