PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY ISSUE 89 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015

INSIDE

Joe Higgins onLucinda Creighton &Shane Ross

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Historic elections inGreece

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Horrific terror attacksin Paris

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Join theSocialistPartyText ‘Join’ to087 3141986

WWW.SOCIALISTPARTY.IEsocialistpartyireland

Stick together, build non-payment and...

BURY WATER CHARGES

n penalties don’tcome into effectuntil June 2016

n they can’t take itfrom your income

n they can’t turndown your water

n get active in yourcommunity andspread the word

THE SOCIALIST2

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Billions more for theBillionaires

The richest 400 peo-ple in the worldnow sit on top ofa vast fortuneworth $4.1 tril-lion, anincrease of$92 billion in2014 aloneaccording tothe BloombergBillionaires Index.Of course, they allworked very hard toget this wealth, mainlythrough rising share prices onthe stock market.

Bill Gates (below) remainsthe world’s richest personwith a fortune of $87.6 billion,

up $9.1 billion on the previousyear while Warren Buffetreclaimed second spot from

Mexican telecommunica-tions boss Carlos Slim

after he added$13.7 billion to

his personalwealth.

71% inIrelandstruggle to

make endsmeet

Despite the so-called ‘recov-ery’, and the government’slatest budget which accordingto their propaganda ‘peoplewould feel in their pocket’, an

eu survey onliving conditionshas found that71.4% of peo-ple have diffi-culty makingends meetat theendof

each month. This is adirect result of austerity,in some of the otherbailout countries therate is even higher. InGreece, an incredible90.7% of people are inthis position because ofthe destructionwrought by austerity. Inportugal the rate is75.7% and in Spain63.1%.

Taking the rooffrom over yourhead

The rise in propertyprices has made theoption of repossessing homesfrom people struggling withtheir mortgages much moreattractive to banks. In the first11 months of 2014, 6,400families were brought beforethe courts for the reposses-

sion of their homes bybanks. extra sittings

of the courtshave been

organised todeal withthe caseload.There are49,000more fami-lies in seri-

ous mort-

gage arrears who will facethe same fate in 2015.There needs to be animmediate ban oneconomic evic-tions and a writedown on mort-gages.

No countryfor theunemployed

It’s been obvious for anumber of years that akey part of the government’ssolution to mass unemploy-ment has been to force peo-

ple to emigrate.Between cutting thedole for young peo-ple to €100 a week,and introducing freelabour schemesJobBridge andGateway, Ireland isno country for theunemployed. In thelatest figures for2014, 81,900 peoplehad left the country.This was a drop fromthe 89,000 forced toleave the previousyear. at times duringthe crisis someonewas emigratingevery six minutes!But just in case peo-ple hadn’t got themessage and need-ed a friendly

reminder, JoanBurton’s

departmentsent 13,000letters tounem-ployedpeopleadvisingthem of

job oppor-tunities

abroad. Thiswas an increase

of 225% comparedto the previous year!

By Dave MurphyThe real face of The recovery

Global super-rich 400 have

$4.1 trillion in wealth

49,000 families are in serious mortgage

arrears

225% increase in

letters advisingunemployed

about jobs abroad

By Eddie McCabe

MalColM X, the revolutionary civil rights

leader, was killed 50years ago in February. a

brilliant speaker whocould explain the essence

of complex problems succinctly, he once

famously said, "you can'thave capitalism without

racism".He was undeniably

correct, as the reality ofthe ever-present racismin the US – even under

obama – has shownclearly. Capitalist society

is based on inequality,between the rich eliteand the poor majority,

and it maintains itself byfostering division, hatred,

violence and wars.But it's just as true

that today, you can'thave capitalismwith austerity,homelessness,health crises,

corruption and thelist goes on. The

system that pursuesprofits above all else, isin fact the cause of the

problems we all face ona daily basis. The

hypocrisy of our politicalestablishment is exposed

on all issues by theirpromotion of capitalism.

Socialism is an alternative based on real

democracy and the public ownership of society's wealth and

resources to meet theneeds of all.

By Michael O’Brien

Back in august i wasgiven a glimpse of the

developing crisis situation inBeaumont Hospital when atthe invitation of a member ofstaff i was taken on a tourpointing out the variousstresses the system wasbeing put under.

The bad situation in A&E goeswithout saying but on that particu-lar day the main issue brought tomy attention was a situation whereincreasingly, older people who aredue for procedures are forced tospend longer than is necessary inhospital day wards as a result ofthe succession of cuts to homehelps and social care packages.

The consequences ofthe cuts

ThEy ArE simply not in a positionto go anywhere, particularly if theyhave no family in a position to lookafter them. It is estimated thatsome 800 bed spaces in our entirehospital system are taken up in thismanner. however in someinstances there are not even bedsavailabl. As was pointed out to meon my visit some were left in chairsfor days.

The word 'acopia' is being usednow to describe the situation thatolder people are finding them-selves in. Acopia was described tome as the vulnerable mental andphysical state older people can bein after an injury or illness or med-ical procedure that appears like astate of confusion but can bewrongly looked on as the first signsof dementia, when in reality a bit of

care and support has them back ontheir feet. however, the absence ofsuch care means that the peopleconcerned may not recover theirindependence.

The knock on consequences forBeaumont and potentially otherhospitals is increased waitingtimes for people awaiting proce-dures because the bed spaces aretaken up indefinitely by peoplewho do not need to be there. The2,000 beds taken out of the hospitalsystem across the state is anotherroot cause. When I heard about thecrisis point reached in Beaumontover the Christmas period whenthey could not receive anybody intoA&E it came as no surprise.Besides A&E the Sunday BusinessPost also recently revealed thatBeaumont was also now refusing to

even put public patients on theirwaiting lists such are the waitingtimes.

So the work to rule announcedby members of the INMO for the27 January as well as the recentlunch time protest are entirelyjustified initial steps to begin toput management and the govern-ment under pressure. It hasalready been demonstrated inrecent months that organisedprotest and struggle can forceresults and we desperately needto mount a struggle on this issue.Such a struggle can be linked withthe demand for a reversal of allthe cuts that been imposed in thelast six years and the creation of atop quality public health servicethat is funded by taxing the super-rich.

The deadly legacy of health cuts FIGHT THISROTTEN SYSTEM

JOIN THE SOCIALISTS TODAYTEXT “JOIN” TO 087 3141986

Full support to nurses’ industrial action

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST

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a GEnERal Election looms. Itcannot be delayed beyondapril of next year. However,with mass mobilisations againstwater charges and austerity,the Fine Gael/labour Coalitiongovernment was shown to haveclumsy feet of clay and there isno certainty that it will surviveuntil next year especially ifthere is a renewed upsurge ofanger in society.

This is the background to theconstant speculation in the capi-talist media about new politicalformations being launched byvarious politicians and politicalfactions based in the Dáil. Formore than a year nowIndependent Newspapers espe-cially, have been desperatelyattempting to push former Fine

Gael Minister of State, LucindaCreighton, into launching apolitical party. As she appearedto drag her feet, they moved totalk up Dublin South TD, ShaneRoss, as launching a new net-work of independent Dáildeputies and councillors andmore recently bolstered the cre-dentials of Michael Fitzmauricerecently returned in theRoscommon By election as aman to lead a new rural group ofdeputies in the next Dáil.

Collapse in support forestablishment parties

There has been a massive shift inthe attitudes of ordinary peopleaway from the establishmentpolitical parties. Six years of aus-

terity and the cynical breaking ofpromises by the current govern-ment parties have massivelyundermined the credibility ofFianna Fail, Fine Gael and theLabour Party. The huge move-ment against the water chargesin the closing months of last yearhas further sharpened thisprocess. Opinion polls show theresults, a catastrophic fall in sup-port for the government partiesand a significant increase in sup-port for Sinn Fein, forIndependents and for the small-er anti-establishment parties ofthe Left as seen in the remark-able by-election wins by theSocialist Party and the Anti-Austerity Alliance.

This new political reality is terri-fying the capitalist establishmentin this State which is fearful it maynot have a reliable majority in theDail to protect its interests andprofits. This explains the manoeu-vrings of Independent News andMedia. They are desperately try-ing to create a political safety netto halt a mass of voters goingover to Sinn Fein and to the Leftby encouraging these newalliances. While they understand

that Sinn Fein is introducing Toryausterity in the North, it is posi-tioning itself in the South as ananti-austerity party and the estab-lishment fears that Sinn Fein ingovernment could come underheavy pressure from workingclass voters to oppose furtherausterity thus complicating thecontinued implementation of theneo liberal agenda.

The politics of rightwing populism

The various alliances being pro-moted are for the purpose offashioning a few pillars on whichthe weakened capitalist partiesmight be able to rely to form agovernment after the election.Make no mistake such a govern-ment would be firmly on theRight in its economic policy.Shane Ross is quite skilled atstriking anti political establish-ment notes and regularly attacksthe ‘insiders’ in the banks, inbusiness generally and in estab-lishment politics. But behind thepopulist rhetoric, he is totallycommitted to the capitalist mar-ket and indeed was a big admir-

er of Anglo Irish Bank as it inflat-ed the property bubble in thelead up to the crash in 2008.Whether supporting a govern-ment from inside or out hisalliance would underpin the eco-nomic status quo.

There is often a tendencyamong many populist politiciansto attempt to say they are neitherRight nor Left. The Green Partytries the same tack. But, in gov-ernment, that posture quicklyevaporates in front of thedemands of the capitalist estab-lishment as seen when theGreens treacherously joinedFianna Fail to impose savage aus-terity after the 2007 election.That is why working class peopleneed an independent party tofight in their interest and cam-paign for a Left government toreplace capitalism with the funda-mental socialist transformationthat is needed to resolve the cru-cial problems caused by the crisisand consequent austerity.

the JOE HIGGINS

column

“he [Shane Ross] is totally committed to the capitalist market and indeed was a big admirer of Anglo Irish Bank

as it inflated the property bubble”

Joe Higgins is aSocialist Party TD for Dublin West

By Ciaran McKenna

EddiE HoBBs has been tothe forefront of Lucinda

creighton’s new right-wingparty. The presence of Hobbsin this outfit is a warningsign to all workers of justwhat policies and positionswe can expect.

hobbs has a long history ofattacking public sector workers,for instance. he opposes pay risesfor this group of workers. he isalso opposed to decent pensionsfor public sector workers.however, he doesn’t argue for good

pensions for all workers but cyni-cally uses the issue of pensions topit workers in the private sectoragainst the public sector.

he was an enthusiastic andunapologetic propagandist for prop-erty speculation prior to 2008. heclaimed that buying property wasan ‘investment’ for ordinary people.But today tens of thousands whotook advice like his, face reposses-sion and financial ruin.

hobbs, however, has moved on,and recently made a financialkilling from property speculationin the US city of Detroit. A citybankrupted by neo-liberalism and

where a full scale class struggle istaking place over access to water.

The tens of thousands of foreclo-sures in Detroit provided hobbswith a chance to turn a quick buck,which he didn’t hesitate to take. Wecan have no doubt that he wouldattempt the same in Ireland whenthe tidal wave of threatened repos-sessions takes place.

Working class people shouldmake no mistake and rememberthat behind hobbs’ genial, careful-ly constructed, media image lies astaunch capitalist who will activelystrive to worsen living and workingconditions for all workers.

By Manus Lenihan

So lET’S get this straight:Creighton, Hobbs and anobscure councillor showedup a year after the hyped“monster meeting” in theRDS to tell us they’re finallylaunching a party. They haveno distinct ideas or policies.They do not represent asignificant force, inside oroutside the Dáil. In spite ofall this, they got front-pageheadlines and pages uponpages of analysis in everymajor newspaper.

It’s embarrassing to watchLucinda Creighton and EddieHobbs hamming up their“radical” act. With thehashtag “#rebootireland”(which will have to do while

they think of a party name)they’re trying to look all tech-savvy and 21st-century.Hopefully Fidelma Healy-Eames won’t ruin the act bymaking another speech about“sexting” and “fraping”.

It’s “repackage”, not“reboot.” These shysters aretrying to sell us the same oldIrish capitalism whosetraditional political peddlers,Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael andLabour, so many of us have sofirmly rejected. They hopewe’ll be stupid enough toelect 10 or 15 of these“radicals”, so that they canprop up the old parties in acoalition. If they still fail, inspite of all this barefacedplugging, it will be all themore humiliating.

By Emma Quinn

“iam here because ibelieve irish people

deserve a genuine choice atthe next election, it is myintention to provide thatchoice” - what a galling state-ment from Lucinda creightonwho resigned from Fine Gaelafter refusing to support theextremely limited Protectionof Life during Pregnancy actin July 2013.

Lucinda is apparently all forchoice, until it involves pregnantwomen; and in the case of suicidalpregnant women Lucinda funda-mentally doesn’t even supporttheir choice to live.

Another choice Lucinda has“reservations” about is the right tochoose who you marry. She hasstated on numerous occasionsthat she does not support gaymarriage, and although has morerecently “rebooted” her positionon this to say she will “probably”vote in favour of marriage equalityin this year’s referendum, herwarning cries of the danger of

“commodifying children” inregards to adoption by the LGBTQcommunity expose her backwardviews.

Not only out of touch with work-ing class people on these basicsocial rights, her economic poli-cies could have been scripted byMargaret Thatcher herself.Creighton is in favour of the hatedwater charges and property tax,

that will impoverish ordinary peo-ple and believes “the majority ofIrish people recognise that it is agood idea to link their tax bill withhow much water they use”.

After years of diligently imple-menting Fine Gael and Labour aus-terity, Lucinda’s “business friend-ly” programme is the last thingwomen or working class peopleshould choose.

Lucinda Creighton – Anti-choice, anti-equality, “business friendly”

Eddie Hobbs – Cheerleader for profiteering & speculation

Media fanfare &#rebootireland launch

Hobbs made a financial killing from property speculation in Detroit

Creighton’s economic policies could have been scripted by Thatcher

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST4

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By David Vallely

WiTH THE new Year uponus, a new phase in the

water charges struggle hasbegun. it is clear that theGovernment intends to waitout the anger and hopes thatmomentum will drip from themovement now that the legis-lation has been passed intolaw.

Non-payment is essential

We are only four bills away – atmost – from a General Election,before which there are no sanc-tions if you do not pay. Thereforeit’s clear that a key tactic in thisphase of the struggle is organisedmass non-payment.

It is not simply one of manyequal tactics, it is the singularmost direct and effective form ofprotest we have. Irish Water wantour money, we must refuse to giveit to them. Any level of compliancewhen the bills drop will be seizedupon by the capitalist establish-ment to declare the campaignover. The momentum of the cam-paign would stall and the

Government would hope that itwill give them space to recoverthe ground they lost over the pastyear.

We cannot take anything forgranted. Opinion polls indicate thatthere is a momentum behind theidea of non-payment but that it isstill all to play for. According to theMillward Brown poll from 21stDecember, 37 percent of respon-dents say they will pay, 14 percentsay “it depends” if they will pay ornot and 10 percent say they “don’tknow”. What does it depend on?The question of whether watercharges can be defeated and whatare the consequences of standingup to Irish Water.

An active campaigncan answer doubts

Active campaigns on the groundare capable of answering thesedoubts people have and bringingthem into the non-payment camp.Lots of people have gotten involvedin building anti-water chargesgroups in their local communitiesthrough anti-meter protests, oftengetting active for the very firsttime. Many more have beenmobilised by the mass demonstra-

tions we have seen around thecountry. This is the strength of thecampaign – a mass movement inevery sense of the word.

The level of non-payment will bedecisive to the outcome of thisstruggle. The Government knowthis too. There will undoubtedly bea barrage of propaganda and intim-idation from the billionaire-ownedmedia whose interests are notserved by an ongoing mass, activemovement against austerity incommunities.

Those lies will have to beanswered, but by whom? Unlesscampaigns exist locally, the offen-sive by the establishment couldprove successful in diminishingthe levels of non-payment andtherefore the campaign. Non-pay-ment has to be actively advocatedand defended, and that can’t justbe done through occasionalprotests or calls over social media.

We can defeat thisGovernment

It cannot be a case of talking to thealready converted, but identifyingpeople who are more unsure orinclined to pay and consciously

seeking them out with the intentionof turning them over to our side.however, that will only be possibleby having a campaign in the areasthat answer the arguments of theGovernment and give people confi-dence.

Understandably, most peoplewho are active now have neverbeen involved in anything like this

before and are faced with concreteorganisational questions thathaven’t come up so far. If the col-lective experience of everyoneinvolved is tapped into we canovercome that hurdle and achievea truly historic victory over thisGovernment and the whole old rot-ten establishment.

By Rita Harrold

Inform yourself on the facts: l The cap is only temporary,the bills will skyrocket after2019.l There will be no sanctionsagainst non-payers until afterthe Government have gone.l Revenue aren't involved, thecharges can't be deductedfrom your wages or SocialWelfare.l Irish Water can't reduce yourwater pressure even if youdon't pay.

Promote non-payment todayLike, join and share We Won’tPay the Water Charges onFacebook and get your friendsto do the same

Get We Won’t Pay newsletterGet the information, argumentsand leaflets to be able to con-

vince your friends and neigh-bours, sign up for our weeklynewsletters at wontpay.ie ortext "newsletter" and youremail address to 0863676089.

Get active in your local non-payment groupIf no group already exists inyour area we can help establisha local We Won’t Pay group.

organise activities to get theword out Two or three people at a smalltable with information leafletfrom wontpay.ie, windowposters and a petition outsidea shopping centre or otherbusy area can make a realimpact. You should ask peopleto donate to the campaign tohelp finance the printing ofmaterial, booking of rooms andother cost involved with thecampaign.

By Sean Malone

in 1987 Margret Thatcherhad wielded the axe of aus-

terity for almost a decade bydrastically cutting socialexpenditure and privatisingpublic services. Militant,forerunner to the socialistParty, recognised that thepoll tax was a generalisedattack on working class andpoor that could act like alightning rod for unitedstruggle against Thatcher’s-pro rich polices and thatmass non-payment coulddefeat this tax.

Different tactics were put for-ward during the anti-poll tax cam-paign. Some put forward tokenopposition through the slogan “Canpay, Won’t pay” where a privileged1,000 who could afford to paywould refuse to do so on principle.Others, like those in the LabourParty leadership said they wouldbe “responsible” and “wouldn’tbreak the law”. Like Sinn Feintoday, their main focus was onbuilding a parliamentary opposi-tion to the tax and waiting for thenext election.

Building non-paymentin every community

Militant recognised the centralityof an organised campaign of non-payment and building local Anti-Poll Tax Unions (APTU) in everycommunity that were linked withthe All-Britain Anti-Poll TaxFederation so that non-paymentcould be coordinated. The Fed, as itbecame known, also organised a

mass demonstration in centralLondon on March 31st 1990 with200,000 participating in it.

Despite the hard work of thecampaign by the time of the firstdeadline there was still significantpayment of the tax because of fearand confusion. however the cam-paign wasn’t discouraged and con-tinued organising weekly stalls,public meetings, and door knock-ing. This armed people with thearguments and the confidence tojoin the growing army of peoplerefusing to pay.

The Thatcher government useddifferent repression measures tobreak non-payment. Threating let-ters were sent and fines wereissued to scare people. Bailiffswere sent to people’s home to robnon-payers’ personal possessionsand many had to make courtappearances resulting in someoccasions in imprisonment, includ-ing 34 members of Militant.

At each step the APTUs reliedupon the mobilisation and self-organisation of working class peo-

ple to make these measuresunworkable. Communities were sowell organised that despite manyattempts by bailiffs not a singlestolen possession was ever sold torecuperate the cost of the tax.Courts faced massive demonstra-tions outside and even occupationswhich brought the court system toa standstill.

18 million refuse topay

As time went by the campaigngrew and grew. Each new repres-sive measure failed and the cam-paign steeled the determination ofnon-payers and gave confidence topeople who had paid to join non-payment. The importance of theleadership provided by Militantallowed non-payment to become areality. By the time the poll tax wasabolished in 1991 Thatcher hadbeen forced to resign and 18 mil-lion people were refusing to pay.

It was an inspiring victory withmany lessons for activists today.

Mass non-payment is key to victory

Anti-Poll Tax Campaign: An inspiringvictory that buried Thatcher

Steps to building non-payment in your area

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST

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THis is the first chancethe dail has had to dis-

cuss the horrific case of theclinically dead pregnantwoman kept 'alive' for 23days in december againsther family’s wishes.

I'd like to convey the sympathiesof the Anti Austerity Alłiance to herfamily, who had to endure the trag-

ic loss of their young daughter andthen had to watch the indignitiesheaped upon her; and who wereforced into the courts to be allowedbury her over Christmas.

All this solely due to fears ofdoctors of the 8th Amendment.

Taoiseach, you've said this is a'personal case', 'highly sensitive'etc as if we should somehow keepout if it.

But it's the state that is prevent-ing people making personal deci-sions on sensitive matters, not theother way around.

Dr Peter Boylan (former masterof holles Street maternity hospital)has called what was done to thistragic woman "grotesque" and"experimental". And let's be clear -it was fear of the 8th Amendmentwhich led doctors to do it.

No 15 week foetus has success-fully been brought to delivery any-where on the planet, but doctorstold the family the attempt was "forconstitutional reasons".

The details are highly disturb-ing, but people need to hear thereality of having this law and themacabre ordeal the family wereput through.

This woman had a ventilatorinserted, a tracheotomy tubethrough her neck, six syringe

pumps for drugs to fight infectionsand make-up applied for visits byher children to try make her looklike how she used to be.

It's all the more incredible thatdoctors felt they had to take thiscourse in the context of a develop-ing A&E and bed crisis. And weend up with legal representation

having to be given by the state tothe unborn and deceased woman -all due to the 8th Amendment.

Taoiseach, this is the third highprofile abuse of women under the8th Amendment under your watch.

This weekend, you marchedthrough the boulevards of Parisagainst religious fundamentalism.

Are you willing to allow the Irishpeople their chance to remove alaw that is the envy of religiousfundamentalists everywhere?

Or were you just strutting andposing for liberty in Paris whilecontinuing a situation wherewomen are vessels and incubatorsat home – alive or dead?

By Diana O’Dwyer

aLiTTLE noted feature ofthe so-called ‘recovery’

from the banking and proper-ty crash is the sell-off of resi-dential and commercial prop-erty to international capital-ist investors. Typicallyenough, the impact on the for-mer property-owners and -occupiers has varied enor-mously, in accordance withtheir power and wealth andinfluence over governmentpolicy.

There was never any bailout formortgage-holders in arrears, whoalong with tenants of bankrupt buy-to-let landlords are being thrownout on the street. Under orders fromthe Central Bank, 50,000 reposses-sion orders have been issued by thebanks. Meanwhile, the cossetedcoterie of property developers whocrashed the economy and had theirloans taken over by NAMA arebeing paid €11m a year to help selloff their own bad investments.

NAMA paying over the odds forbad commercial property loanswas part of the first phase of thegovernment’s strategy to ‘fix’ thebanks, which also involved wasting€64 billion on ‘recapitalising’ them.The second phase is to pressurethe banks to plug the remaining€30bn hole in their balance sheetsfrom the amounts outstanding onmortgages in arrears.Simultaneously, NAMA is to flog offits remaining property portfolio,preferably fast enough so that itcan claim to have made a ‘profit’before the next election.

Profiteering fromhomes repossessions

Initially, the banks responded byselling off whole mortgage loanbooks to foreign vulture funds atknock-down prices. These thenswoop in to repossess people’shomes and sell them off. Often thenew owners represent yet anotherform of rentier capitalism, knownas real Estate Investment Trusts(rEITs).

These invest money in realestate and then sell shares in theiroverall portfolio to smallerinvestors. In keeping with its gen-eral ‘development strategy’ ofmarketing Ireland as a tax havenfor foreign capital, the governmenthas attracted rEITs here with atwo-year tax exemption. They havesince become the largest landlordsin the state and are likely to be atleast at predatory as the home-grown variety, given their only

interest is the highest possiblereturn on their investment throughthe highest possible rent.

With property prices risingagain, in part due to competitionamong all these internationalinvestors, the banks and NAMAare now selling off properties indi-vidually again. In many cases, theycan now make a profit becausemore mortgages are back in posi-tive equity. Along with firesales byvulture funds and rackrenting byrEITs, this has increased evictionsand repossessions and helped

swell the housing list to nearly100,000 households.

We can begin challenging theright of foreign or domestic capitalto endlessly profit from the immis-eration of mortgage holders andtenants, by demanding an immedi-ate freeze on rents, combined withpenal taxation of rental profits. Theproperty must be brought intodemocratic public ownership asshould the mortgages portfoliosthey have equired so that the pay-ments can be reduced to affordablelevels.

After Another horrific caseof a woman her family

abused horrendously byIreland's Medieval eighthAmendment, the constitutionalabortion ban, Socialist Party tDruth CoPPInger questionedthe taoiseach in her first Leader’sQuestions speech, printedbelow. the Socialist Party sup-ports roSA's campaign for a ref-erendum in May alongside otherplanned referenda. to getinvolved with roSA's "repealthe 8th in May 2015" campaign,contact rosa.ie / facebook.com/roSAwomen2014/ 0876418519

Vultures make a killing on NAMA property

Eighth Amendment:

“the envy of religious fundamentalists everywhere”

IRElanD IS in the middle ofthe worst homelessness crisisin a generation. In little over amonth, two homeless menhave died on the streets. Thefirst, Jonathan Corrie, was thecentre of a few days of mediaand government handwring-ing, mainly because he diedonly metres from the Dáil.

By contrast, the death of aLithuanian man in Temple Baron 9th January caused barely aripple. Apparently, the govern-ment is so short-sighted thateven a kilometre away is out ofmind. Yet these tragic deathsand the growing numbers ofvisibly homeless people on thestreets represent only a fractionof the crisis.

More than a family a day arelosing their homes and all thecouncils are offering in responseare tiny, overcrowded hotelrooms. The immediate triggershave been Joan Burton’s savagecuts to Rent Supplement; rack-renting by landlords; and spi-ralling home repossessions,now house prices are risingagain and the banks can make aquick profit.

But the root cause is that pri-vate landlords own 30% ofhomes, while another 35% areoccupied by mortgage-holdersand effectively owned by thebanks. Until this radicallychanges, the profit motive willtake precedence over thehomelessness crisis.

Worst homelessness crisis ina generation

Ruth Coppinger TD and the Abortion Pill Train, October 2014

January / February 20156THE SOCIALIST

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How do you think Syrizawill act in government?

In some ways, Syriza’s leadershipwould prefer to win without an over-all majority so that it can blamerelying on the votes of others forhaving to pursue less radical poli-cies.

This would be an excuse. TheSyriza leadership has been movingclearly to the right since the elec-tions of 2012. In the rest of Europe,Syriza is presented as a very left,radical, even far-left party. But inGreece, there is great suspicion andlack of enthusiasm in the massesbecause they see that the leadershipof Syriza is doing everything possi-ble to come to an understandingwith the forces of the market - theTroika, the EU, and the nationalestablishment.

It’s not ruled out that Syriza couldmove further to the right to staywithin the Eurozone once in power.But things will not be black andwhite in the next period in Greece,because we shall also have theinterventions of the mass move-ments. The problems in society areso major, millions of people are inan absolutely desperate situation.They will have to fight, and they willfight, pushing a Syriza governmentto the left. So, despite the fact thatthe Syriza leadership is moving tothe right and looking for a compro-mise with the forces of the marketsinternationally, it is possible thatthey will be pushed to the left underthe pressure of the mass movement.

How does Xekinima thinkthe campaign of fear aboutthe Euro etc. should beanswered?

We think that it’s impossible to havea pro-working class programme - toabandon the memoranda, to get outof the present crisis of the economyby using the public sector as asteam engine for the economy togrow and in general to say no to theneoliberal policies of the EU - and atthe same time to stay within theEurozone as it is today.

There are only two possibilities.One is that there will be a mass,internationalist appeal by radi-calised forces of the working classand the government of the left inGreece to the working classes ofEurope and to the developing leftforces of Europe to fight for majorchanges in a socialist directionacross the continent. If this does nottake place (being put in check bythe SyrIZA leadership) or doesn’thave sufficient time to develop, thenthe country will be outside of theEurozone.

A return to a national currency,however would not necessarily be adisaster – if it is accompanied bysocialist policies in Greece by a gov-ernment of the left. Under a left gov-ernment using a national currencyand applying socialist policies,based on nationalisations, the plan-ning of the economy and workers’control and management, the econo-my could quickly take off. In theseconditions the internationalistappeal would have to continue, aim-ing at bringing forward major social-ist change across Europe. We

believe that this approach has to beput openly to the Greek workingclass to prepare it for the battlesthat are looming ahead.

Unfortunately the leadership ofSyriza is not doing either of the twoand it just creates an artificial opti-mism – “don’t worry, nothing willhappen, we guarantee that the coun-try will stay in the Eurozone”. Thisis a major mistake.

How should the struggle beorganised under a Syrizagovernment?

There has to be a very consciousattempt at coordinating the strug-gles because no isolated strugglecan win in the present context.These struggles must try to linkwith the left rank and file of Syrizato push the party to the left. Theyhave to attempt to create democrat-ic structures within society andwithin the movements so that therank and file has the decisive say.

To get rid of the Troika and thepresent government, these strugglesshould be in the hands of the wholeof the left, a united left.Unfortunately the left is split. Part ofthe blame for this is that the leader-ship of Syriza does not try to gen-uinely build a united front. But socie-ty and the working class will move inthe great masses to vote for Syriza.

Xekinima is part of this move-ment. As part of the “Initiative of1,000” we’re calling for a vote forSyriza.

The final factor is that the strug-gles must aim for a socialist pro-gramme - nationalise the banks,nationalise the commanding heightsof the economy, plan the economy.All of this has to be under democrat-ic control and management by theworkers, otherwise we shall havethe corruption that we had in thestate sector in the past. On thisbasis struggles can be victoriousand can provide huge inspiration tothe working masses in the rest ofEurope.

For more reports and socalistanalysis from Greece visit:

www.socialistworld.net

By Linda Schuetz

PoDEMoS (Spanish for “wecan”) is a new left part that is cur-rently leading in opinion pollswith 28.7 %. This meansPodemos is ahead of the govern-ing PP with 19.2% and also 5%ahead of PSoE, marking an endof the two-party system that hasexisted since the end of Franco’sdictatorship.

This is the second political earth-quake caused by the party since itsrecent foundation in January 2014:Podemos won 8%, or 5 deputies,inthe election to the European par-liament only 5 month later.

Crisis radicalises newgeneration

Podemos’ development is also sig-nificant because the party came

out of the 2011 mass movementfrom below, the Indignados (theoutraged)

Since the property bubble burst7 years ago, the working class hasshouldered the burden of econom-ic crisis with drastic cuts in publicservices and the welfare system,affecting the unemployed andpeople on low income most. Thatand mass unemployment, rampantamong the under 30s, politicised alayer of young people, who startedinitiatives from below such as occu-pations of squares that developedinto a vivid movement - inspiringsimilar if smaller movements inother countries.

As a result of Podemos emerg-ing from struggle, there is an orien-tation towards mass action anddemand for the party to be openand democratic. In realityPodemos is centred around one

figure, Pablo Iglesias and properdemocratic discussions need to beestablished that give the member-ship a say in its programme andstrategy.

Elections are in autumn and theelection of a Podemos led govern-ment would give people confi-dence to struggle and to gener-alise the resistance that is currentlylocalised and blocked by the tradeunion leadership.

Similarly repercussions will befelt all over Europe, dependingalso on the result in Greece in theupcoming snap elections.

Media scare campaign

A media campaign can be expect-ed to warn of chaos in the casePodemos wins the elections anddanger to "national unity".

By replacing Mariano Rajoy as

head of government, AngelaMerkel & co. would lose a loyal fol-lower of their austerity policies.

In addition, leaders of bothestablished parties have beenfound out to be corrupt, prompt-ing the PSOE to present a newleadership, which failed to foolpeople. The right-wing PP are try-ing to sit the scandals out, alienat-ing a layer of former voters.

The rapid development ofPodemos shows people’s thirst forradical answers and alternatives tothe neoliberal austerity policies ofthe past.

There is the risk that thesedemands will not be fulfilled byPodemos as there are some weak-nesses in their programme;demands include for example the“limitation of privatisation“ or“more public control in privatecompanies“

The rise of Podemos has had apositive effect on discussions onthe left in Spain, strengthening theleft inside Izquierda Unida (UnitedLeft party initiated by the SpanishCommunist Party) against abureaucratic right-wing leadershipthat orientates towards agreementwith the leadership of the big tradeunions and participation in futuregovernments, instead of orientat-ing towards struggles and the rad-icalised layers.

Socialismo Revolucionario, thesister organisation of the Socialistparty argues in both parties for aprogramme that includes demandssuch as rejection of participation ingovernments with austerity parties,the non-payment of the debt, thenationalisation of the banks undercontrol of the working class andthe right of self-determination ofminorities.

Spain: Massive surge in support for anti-austerity Podemos

In this extract from aninterview with androsPayiatsos, Xekinima (CWI

in Greece, sister section ofthe Socialist Party) from 6January 2015, androspredicts a Syriza victory inthe 25 January Greekelections. Syriza, or“coalition of the radicalleft”, was formed as ananti-austerity political forcein the context of theunbearable butchering ofliving standards andimmiseration of themajority of the populationthat the EU/IMF andsuccessive GreekGovernments have metedout to the working andpoor masses of Greece inrecent years.

Xekinima is campaigningfor votes for Syriza in theelection and is si -multaneously pressurisingSyriza to stick to its anti-austerity commitments andto pursue a radical leftposition. Central to this isthe need to repudiate thedebt in defiance of theEU/IMF. a left governmentin Greece that pursued aclear pro-worker, pro-poormasses agenda would comeinto conflict with theEU/IMF and Greek capitalistinterests, but would also bea beacon of light toworking class people acrossEurope, including in Ireland,and a spur to the spreadingof the anti-austeritymovement and left politicalalternative.

BuIlDInG a neW lefT In auSTerITy eurOpeafter election in Greece – how can the Troika bechallenged?

Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza

Bold socialist policies are needed to challenge the rule of the Troika in Greece

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST7

special feature

How do you think Syrizawill act in government?

In some ways, Syriza’s leadershipwould prefer to win without an over-all majority so that it can blamerelying on the votes of others forhaving to pursue less radical poli-cies.

This would be an excuse. TheSyriza leadership has been movingclearly to the right since the elec-tions of 2012. In the rest of Europe,Syriza is presented as a very left,radical, even far-left party. But inGreece, there is great suspicion andlack of enthusiasm in the massesbecause they see that the leadershipof Syriza is doing everything possi-ble to come to an understandingwith the forces of the market - theTroika, the EU, and the nationalestablishment.

It’s not ruled out that Syriza couldmove further to the right to staywithin the Eurozone once in power.But things will not be black andwhite in the next period in Greece,because we shall also have theinterventions of the mass move-ments. The problems in society areso major, millions of people are inan absolutely desperate situation.They will have to fight, and they willfight, pushing a Syriza governmentto the left. So, despite the fact thatthe Syriza leadership is moving tothe right and looking for a compro-mise with the forces of the marketsinternationally, it is possible thatthey will be pushed to the left underthe pressure of the mass movement.

How does Xekinima thinkthe campaign of fear aboutthe Euro etc. should beanswered?

We think that it’s impossible to havea pro-working class programme - toabandon the memoranda, to get outof the present crisis of the economyby using the public sector as asteam engine for the economy togrow and in general to say no to theneoliberal policies of the EU - and atthe same time to stay within theEurozone as it is today.

There are only two possibilities.One is that there will be a mass,internationalist appeal by radi-calised forces of the working classand the government of the left inGreece to the working classes ofEurope and to the developing leftforces of Europe to fight for majorchanges in a socialist directionacross the continent. If this does nottake place (being put in check bythe SyrIZA leadership) or doesn’thave sufficient time to develop, thenthe country will be outside of theEurozone.

A return to a national currency,however would not necessarily be adisaster – if it is accompanied bysocialist policies in Greece by a gov-ernment of the left. Under a left gov-ernment using a national currencyand applying socialist policies,based on nationalisations, the plan-ning of the economy and workers’control and management, the econo-my could quickly take off. In theseconditions the internationalistappeal would have to continue, aim-ing at bringing forward major social-ist change across Europe. We

believe that this approach has to beput openly to the Greek workingclass to prepare it for the battlesthat are looming ahead.

Unfortunately the leadership ofSyriza is not doing either of the twoand it just creates an artificial opti-mism – “don’t worry, nothing willhappen, we guarantee that the coun-try will stay in the Eurozone”. Thisis a major mistake.

How should the struggle beorganised under a Syrizagovernment?

There has to be a very consciousattempt at coordinating the strug-gles because no isolated strugglecan win in the present context.These struggles must try to linkwith the left rank and file of Syrizato push the party to the left. Theyhave to attempt to create democrat-ic structures within society andwithin the movements so that therank and file has the decisive say.

To get rid of the Troika and thepresent government, these strugglesshould be in the hands of the wholeof the left, a united left.Unfortunately the left is split. Part ofthe blame for this is that the leader-ship of Syriza does not try to gen-uinely build a united front. But socie-ty and the working class will move inthe great masses to vote for Syriza.

Xekinima is part of this move-ment. As part of the “Initiative of1,000” we’re calling for a vote forSyriza.

The final factor is that the strug-gles must aim for a socialist pro-gramme - nationalise the banks,nationalise the commanding heightsof the economy, plan the economy.All of this has to be under democrat-ic control and management by theworkers, otherwise we shall havethe corruption that we had in thestate sector in the past. On thisbasis struggles can be victoriousand can provide huge inspiration tothe working masses in the rest ofEurope.

For more reports and socalistanalysis from Greece visit:

www.socialistworld.net

By Kevin McLoughlin

irELand is not run as ademocratic country, it;s run

as a business. Those who ownwealth have huge power andthey use it to exert massivepressure to keep the keep thesystem sweet for them.

So when the legislation regardingthe water charges was put in front ofPresident Michael D. higgins, therewas never any doubt that he wouldsign it. Labour buckled under thepressure of the establishment manyyears ago.

The absence of a mass party ableto resist the pressure from theestablishment and committed tofighting for working class people isa key reason why the capitalistestablishment were able to get awaywith imposing vicious austerity formore than six years. Our two handswere tied behind our backs, particu-larly when it became clear that thetrade union leaders had no intentionof fighting back.

Fight the austeritypropaganda

Even a party with minority supportand say a dozen TDs, once it wasserious, could have answered thebarrage of demoralising austeritypropaganda and lies and exposedthat austerity is simply robberysolely aimed at making the richricher.

Such a party could also havegiven working class people confi-dence and an understanding thatthey have the power to changethings and acted as a catalyst tomobilise a mass of people and makeit very difficult for them to imposeausterity.

But tired of waiting any longer,the explosion of activity and strug-gle against the water charges initi-ated by ordinary people themselveshas started the necessary change.This new movement needs to goright to the end against the watercharges but crucially it could alsorepresent the birth of the new massparty that is desperately needed tochallenge the system itself.

Build non-payment ofwater charges

While the government have beenknocked back, the mass demonstra-tions have not been enough to stopwater charges. The movement nowneeds to become more consciouslyorganised in order to ensure there ismass non-payment of watercharges, as that is now the only waythey can be defeated.

The vast majority are opposed tothe charges, but a very significantsection of people are fearful of theconsequences of not paying and inthe next weeks the propagandamachines and the media will bewheeled out to try to barrage peopleinto paying.

Those who are convinced not topay need to convince the rest. Weneed active campaigns in every

community to leaflet and talk topeople in every household. If thathappens, it is possible a majoritycould refuse to pay the first waterbill in April/May. That would consti-tute the death of the water charges;all that would remain would be tobury it, and the Property Tax.

There have been three massmobilisations and currently thereare more than three hundred andfifty anti water charges groups andFacebook pages around the country.The capability exists not only toundermine the charge, but to chal-lenge the parties that have imposedthem and the rest of the austerity inthe next general election.

New movement shouldstand in election

In each area if those who are organ-ising non-payment came togetherand decided to stand a candidate, orto support a candidate who had areal record of fighting water chargesand austerity, we could ensure notonly that the next general electionwould result in the abolition ofwater charges, but also that a wholebatch of new fighting working classTDs could be elected. That would bea huge step forward in building anew mass party for working classpeople, but would also be a platformfrom which you could challenge the

system itself.All the indications are that the

shift away from the establishmentparties of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael andLabour will continue. Sinn Fein willdo very well in the next election, buteven a government that has a SinnFein majority will not satisfy theneeds of ordinary people, as justlike Labour, they are already bend-ing to the pressure from the estab-lishment. We can have no confi-dence that Sinn Fein will in any seri-ous way challenge the capitalistpolicies and approach which aredestroying the lives of millions.

In the next months, as activistsand groups are coming together toorganise mass non-payment, thereshould also be a democratic discus-sion about the idea of the movementstanding candidates in all 43 con-stituencies.

We can’t hope or rely on the likesof Labour or Sinn Fein, nor the hostof Independents who play to thegallery, but who actually support thestatus quo. Working class peoplestarted their own fight back on thewater charges, and we must see itthrough to conclusion. But when wedefeat the water charges, the estab-lishment will come back with moreand more. So too we must build ourown party - a new mass left party –to actually fight to change the wholesystem.

Challenge austerity & the system…We need a new Left party in Ireland

BuIlDInG a neW lefT In auSTerITy eurOpe

Podemos leader, Pablo Iglesias (furthest right)

DEC 10TH PROTEST: Paul Murphy TD called for electoral challenge from anti-water charges movement

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST8

spec

ial fe

ature

By Paddy Delaney

WiTH THE deaths ofunarmed black men

Eric Garner and MichaelBrown at the hands of whiteus police officers in 2014,‘#blacklivesmatter’ becamethe slogan of a powerfulmovement of the thousandswho have taken to the streetsdemanding an end to statesponsored police brutalityand racist oppression.

“I can’t breathe”

43 year old Eric Garner died inStaten Island in July 2014 afterbeing held in a ‘chokehold’ by aWhite police officer. his harrowinglast words – “I can’t breathe” –reverberated around the world. hisdeath drew thousands of peopleonto the streets, with 2,500 partici-pating in one protest march alonein Staten Island in August.

With the shooting dead of 18 yearold Michael Brown by a White policeofficer in Ferguson, Missouri, in

August, there was a further erup-

tion of anger, with young people ofcolour pouring onto the streets. Thesubsequent militarisation of thepolice force in Ferguson only servedto illustrate the true nature of therepressive capitalist state andembolden the protesters.

Thousands take to thestreets

Despite the best efforts of theestablishment to ‘tame’ the move-ment, it continues to grow in scale.In November and December, the

Grand Jury failed to indict policeofficers for the killing of MichaelBrown and Eric Garner, leading toa new wave of protest. Thousandstook to the streets in 170 citiesacross the US in November, with2,000 marching in Boston, over1,000 in New york and 1,000 inOakland and Seattle on BlackFriday. On 13th December thou-sands protested across the USagain, with 30,000 people on thestreets in New york. On 20thDecember 3,000 protesters occu-pied the Mall of America inMinneapolis.

The economic realities for peo-ple of colour which underlie theprotests cannot be ignored. 27% ofblack people in the US live inpoverty. Black people are twice aslikely to be out of work as whitepeople. This movement couldbecome a new black freedommovement and in so doing shouldtake up the economic issues and challenge the rule of capital-ism to put an end to a system thatbreeds racism and inequality

By Eljeer Hawkins Socialist Alternative NYC

THis FEBruarY 21marks the 50th anniver-sary of the assassina-

tion of Malcolm X. in theshadow of the nationwiderevolt against endemic policeviolence, economic exploita-tion and social alienation, theembryo of a new movementled by youth of color is uponus under the banner#BlackLivesMatter.

Gone for 50 years, Malcolmremains a towering figure in thepantheon of the 20th century revo-lutionaries that sought to end sys-tems of oppression and degrada-tion. This generation is engaged ina struggle to define and preservetheir humanity in the face of cold

blooded indifference to their suffer-ing under capitalism and racism.Let’s examine the final 11 monthsof Malcolm’s life and legacy.

The evolution of a revolutionary

On 8 March, 1964 following his“chickens come home to roost”statement following the death ofJohn F. Kennedy in November 1963,Malcolm X decided to make anannouncement that he was break-ing with the Nation of Islam (NOI)to fully engage in the struggle forcivil rights at home and abroad.NOI, that preached that black peo-ple are the “chosen people” to bedelivered from the evil of whitesupremacy and Jim Crow, had anon-engagement policy concerningthe most important social move-ment of the time, the civil rightsmovement.

Malcolm formed Muslim MosqueInc. to continue to practice blackAmerican based Islam and alsoestablished a political entity toallow him to fully participate in thecivil rights movement, TheOrganization of Afro-AmericanUnity.

In April 1964 Malcolm began twointernational trips to Africa, MiddleEast and Europe, that had politicaland religious objectives. he said,“Our success in America willinvolve two circles, black national-ism and Islam… And Islam willlink us spiritually to Africa, Arabiaand Asia,”. Politically, Malcolmaimed to bring the case of the 22million Afro-Americans who faceda Jim Crow USA of poverty, policeviolence and political disenfran-chisement, to a world stage.

The anti-colonial revolutions ofthe period, the emergence of theUnited States as the pre-eminentcapitalist super power, and thestrengthening of Stalinism provided

the back drop to Malcom’s evolvingideas over the span of 11 months. Athome, the black freedom movementunder the phase of the civil rightsmovement beginning in 1955 follow-ing the brutal murder of Emmitt Tilland rosa Park’s defiant refusal toget up from a Montgomery bus seat,ignited a powerful social movementagainst racist discrimination; JimCrow. Due to militant social strug-gle by the movement, Lyndon B.Johnson’s administration wasforced to implement key social pro-grams and laws, such as the Civilrights Act 1964 and Voting rights1965.

In Malcolm’s vision was seekingto re-tie the threads of the strugglein the US for civil rights to an inter-nationalist framework, anti-capi-talist, anti-imperialist, uniting themost oppressed in the colonialworld and US, and total liberationfrom the power structure of dailyoppression and exploitation. Theinternational ruling elite, U.S. gov-ernmental forces and NOI mem-bers wanted Malcolm deadbecause of his potential to organ-

ize, inspire and provide an alterna-tive to racism and capitalism.

The meaning ofMalcolm X today

At the end of his life Malcolm drawa deeper analysis of capitalism andwhite supremacy providing a blue-print for black power activist organ-izations for generations to follow.Malcolm matters because the con-ditions that produced Malcolm stillexist. The abject poverty, racism,

high rates of unemployment, massprison incarceration, police vio-lence, layoffs and massive budgetcuts, are a byproduct of a sick cap-italist system based on deliveringsuper profits for a small global rul-ing elite. These conditions are pro-ducing a new generation of revolu-tionaries, such as the youth inFerguson, who continue the struggleof Malcolm X. Such young peoplecan be key to building a movementfor a democratic socialist change sodesperately needed in the US.

The revolutionarylegacy of Malcolm X

#Blacklivesmatter: Revolt against racist oppression

“You can’t have capitalism without racism”

Cold hardfacts showdeep racism

By Monika Janas

l Institutionalised racism isapparent in the statisticsregarding the Stop and Friskpractices of the new YorkPolice Department. Whilemaking up only 1.9% of thecity’s population, black mencomprise 25.6% of thosestopped.

l Huge disparity is also clearin the american prison sys-tem where 65% of non-vio-lent offenders serving lifewithout parole are black.16% are white people.

l one in three black mencan expect to go to prison intheir lifetime, and further on,black offenders often receivesentences that are 10%longer than white offendersfor the same crimes withinthe federal system.

l This inequality starts veryearly on. Black and Hispanicchildren are three timesmore likely to live in povertythan whites, which can putlimits on their ability to suc-cessfully engage with theschool environment.

l White young people arealso twice as likely to gradu-ate college as blacks andHispanics.

l There is a direct connec-tion between these statisticsand the never ending circleof oppression and poverty.

l 84% of black school chil-dren cannot read or domaths at grade level, andthis continues through adult-hood; the black unemploy-ment rate was 2.1 times thewhite unemployment rate in2012.

Malcolm X speaking at mass rally in Harlem, New York

Thousands have taken to the streets in cities across the US in wake ofracist police killings

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST9

intern

ational

By Cillian Gillespie

THE FirsT week ofJanuary witnessed hor-ror on the streets of

Paris with the horrific killingof twelve people in the officesof the satirical magazinecharlie Hebdo, a police offi-cer and four Jewish people ina kosher shop two days later.

These inexcusable criminalattacks must be unreservedly con-demned. They have shocked andhorrified working class people,non-Muslim and Muslim alike, inFrance and further afield. Theyonce again illustrate the reac-tionary nature of right wing Islamicfundamentalist terror groups suchas Al-Qaeda who have claimedresponsibility for the attack. Aswell as resulting in the shockingtragic loss of life as occurred inParis, they provide an excuse forcapitalist governments to intro-duce repressive legislation andcreate a climate whereIslamophobic and racist prejudicescan be fostered and whipped up.

A major contributing factor tothe growth of such groups like Al-Qaeda has been the interventionsby imperialism in the Middle Eastand North Africa. More recentlyFrance and other major powersarmed and supported groups likeISIS in Syria and many youngMuslims have been radicalised bywars such as those in Iraq and theoppression of the Palestinians thusleading them to join these groups.

Workers unity againstracist division

4 million took to the streetsthroughout France the Sunday fol-lowing the killings. As well asseeking to register their outrage atthe events of the previous week,many ordinary working and young

people consciously sought to usethe mass demonstrations asopportunity to show their opposi-tion to potential divisions beingopened up between Muslims, Jews,Christians and atheists.

Gauche revolutionaire, theFrench sister organisation of theSocialist Party, participated in theseprotests and highlighted the needfor the unity of working class peopleto oppose Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and all forms of racism.The importance of such unity hasbeen highlighted by the fact thatover 50 anti-Muslims incidents,including arson attacks and shoot-ings, were reported in the week fol-lowing the killings alone.

Disgusting hypocrisy ofcapitalist leaders

The enormous display of solidarityand unity shown on the demonstra-tion of January 11th was marred bythe carefully choreographed andhypocritical “participation” (seephoto above) by leaders of variouscapitalist and imperialist countries.Many of these individuals havebeen more than willing to brutallyrepress freedom of speech anddeploy terror against civilians on ascale far greater than those whobrought bloody carnage to Paris atthe beginning of January.

One example of this hypocrisywas that that of Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu,whose government slaughtered2,200 people in its one sided waron Gaza last summer, including 17journalists. It is also noteworthythat during this war the Frenchstate banned demonstrations inopposition to it. It is very importantthat a movement seeking to buildsolidarity amongst ordinary peopleremains independent of capitalistpoliticians in France and war crim-inals such as Netanyahu.

Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Since the attack on Charlie hebdothere has been much debate aboutthe nature of the cartoons that itpublished. On a number of occa-sions, it provocatively publishedcrude cartoons of the ProphetMohammed, something the editori-al staff had to know would causeoffence to much of France’sMuslim community.

This is a community that is amarginalised and discriminatedagainst minority within France andthis has only been added to by therise of Islamophobia in France andEurope in the last decade and ahalf, consciously fostered by theruling classes as illustrated by thebanning of the hijab (headscarfworn by Muslim women) in Francein 2004. Unfortunately this is

something the broader French leftfailed to oppose and indeed insome cases enthusiastically sup-ported.

It is also important to note thatthe vast majority of the Muslim pop-ulation are of Algerian origin.Algeria was a colony of Frenchimperialism for over 130 years and1.5 million Algerians were killed intheir country’s struggle for nationalliberation between 1954 and 1962.

The Socialist Party defends theright to free speech, and weoppose all blasphemy laws, how-ever we believe this right shouldbe exercised responsibly and notused to insensitively offend peo-ples’ religious beliefs, particularlywhen they are those of anoppressed minority. Satire can beprogressive tool when it is aimedat those in power, not those whoare powerless.

Understanding the above con-

text is very important. The publica-tion of the cartoons of the ProphetMohammed in Charlie hebdo willunderstandably add to a real senseamongst Muslims that they aresecond class citizens in France.Therefore they should not havebeen published. Needless to say,this is no way excuses the heinousattack on the magazine.

Working class people and all sec-tions of the oppressed, regardlessof their religion and ethnicity have acommon enemy- the system of cap-italism that breeds imperialist war,racism and austerity. The poison ofracist division must be fought by aunited working class movement inFrance that can also give a vision ofa democratic and socialist societybased on human solidarity whereeveryone regardless of their race orreligion can develop to their fullpotential and not face discrimina-tion and poverty.

By Katia Hancke

RESISTanCE aGaInST austeri-ty has grown explosively inBelgium in the last few months,culminating in a massive gener-al strike on 15 December last.after electoral success for pop-ulist right wing parties in theelections last May, they put for-ward an aggressive pro-gramme of government aimedat weakening the trade unionsand fundamentally changingthe balance of forces betweenthe Belgian capitalist class andthe workers’ movement.

In practice, this means a dietof Thatcherism on speed: wagerestraint to the tune of €20,000over the course of a career, theprospect of having to work tothe age of 67 or older, severe cutbacks in all public services, dis-mantling of the health service,two half days of unpaid forcedlabour for the unemployed, thirdlevel fees to be doubled – young

or old, working or not, public orprivate sector, the proposalsfrom government would hiteveryone hard.

Preparing for action

In response, the two trade unionfederations developed a plan ofaction to build mass resistance toausterity and to get this govern-ment out of office. Starting withdemonstrations, they built up toone of the biggest nationalprotests in recent Belgian historylast October. Building on this suc-cess, they called a series ofregional strike days. Shop stew-ards and union activists went intotheir workplaces armed with thearguments as to why a deter-mined fight back against thisgovernment was needed, andthe response has been impres-sive.

All regional strikes were welladhered to and gave workersthe confidence that a national

strike was possible and neces-sary to rock the government. On15 December, all major work-places were shut, towns andcities came to a standstill andmass pickets were well attended

all over the country.

Young people showtheir solidarity

The solidarity between workers

and young people has been oneof the striking aspects of thisnew movement. On the day ofthe general strike, school stu-dents in Gent cycled from picketline to picket line to expresstheir support for the strikingworkers. The prospect of thirdlevel education being priced outof reach of working class youthhas become the catalyst for anew youth movement across thecountry, fighting not just cuts ineducation but linkingthis to thewider struggle.

This movement has mass sup-port, with the government nowbeing the most unpopular in thehistory of the state, with less than20% approval ratings. The taskposed now is to bring this advan-tage home with a further plan ofaction, building for furtherregional days of action to culmi-nate in another general strike,this time of 48 hours, to do awaywith this government and its aus-terity agenda once and for all

Horrific terror attacksin Paris

Belgian workers resist “Thatcherism on speed”

Above & Below: Two angles of carefully choreographed photo stunt of hypocritical world leaders in Paris

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST10

new

s

By James Hallinan

aFTEr BEinG forced toflee their country, asylum

seekers end up being mar-ginalized here and becomeone of the most vulnerablesections of society. They endup being stripped of some oftheir rights. They can’t workor get proper education, areplaced in cramped accom-modation, and have limitedcontrol over when or whatthey eat.

Direct provision is akin to theghettoisation of a community andcan have adverse effects on thehealth, both physical and mental,of the asylum seekers forced intothese centers. Already this yeartwo examples of how asylum

seekers suffer under this systemhave thrown the issue to the fore.

One was the case of MohamedSleyum Ali a Somalia national.Mohamed was sent to CloverhillPrison while waiting to be deport-ed. This limits the ability to inter-act with lawyers and bodies suchas the Irish refugee Council. hoursafter being deported to Tanzania,Mohamed was attacked and wouldlater die from his injuries.

The other involved a flight in2010. The flight had 36 deporteesincluding children. After the flighthad to return to Dublin, the Irishrefugee Council received informa-tion that some people were hand-cuffed and at times stopped fromusing the toilets. This ended upwith one child wetting himself andtwo others being made to urinate

into bottles.

Defend the right toasylum

Often the capitalist establishmentuses asylum seekers as scape-goats, saying they are a drain onsociety, they take our jobs andlower the wages of workers. It isthey who attack workers' wagesand jobs are lost when companiesmove in their search to increasetheir already bloated wealth.

We must demand the right ofasylum for those who come here toflee persecution and oppression.We must demand jobs, homes andservices for Irish and migrantsalike and not allow ourselves to bedivided by our common enemy.

By Kevin Henry

THE aTTEMPT by the duPto amend northern

ireland’s equality laws toallow religious businessowners to refuse services toLGBT customers if it is “facil-itating” an act against theirreligion is an attempt toenshrine a right to discrimi-nate into law. This attempt todrive society backwardswould make it perfectlyacceptable under the law fora B&B owner to refuse tocater for a gay couple.

The DUP – who have a longrecord of opposing gay rights –have tried to say this is about“rebalancing” rights, with Peterrobinson claiming that “[m]oreand more, the balance is tippedagainst people of faith.” LGBTpeople in Northern Ireland are still

denied the right to adopt, the rightto marry and even the right to giveblood!

The Socialist Party is completelyopposed to religious discrimina-tion, such as the comments byPeter robinson several months agothat he wouldn’t trust a Muslim.This “conscience” clause, however,is not about defending real reli-gious freedom but giving a smallgroup of business owners the rightto deny others their rights.

There is huge opposition to thisbill. Over 10,000 have alreadysigned an online petition against itand protests are planned acrossthe North in the lead up to the billbeing discussed. reflecting this,other parties have been forced tosay they will block the bill.

Even if this attack on LGBTrights is defeated, we still need astruggle for real equality. Thismeans a fight for equal rights,

including in access to marriageand adoption, and a struggleagainst homophobia in ourschools, workplaces and commu-nities. But it’s not just the DUPwho are influenced by hardlinereligious forces. Leading figures inthe SDLP, UUP and Alliance haveall opposed gay marriage rightsand all parties are united in oppos-ing a woman’s right to choose.What is needed is a new politicalmovement of workers and youngpeople to fight for real equality, andagainst sectarianism and austerity.

By Kevin Henry

In RESPonSE to theThatcherite budget agreed bythe Stormont parties, unionshave come together toannounce a campaign of actionagainst the cuts. This willinclude a one day strike onMarch 13- involving all publicsector workers and a layer ofprivate sector workers includ-ing importantly in public trans-port.

If union members vote foraction, the strike will potentiallybe the greatest display of tradeunion power since the strikeagainst Thatcher, which shutdown Northern Ireland in April1980. It will be an example ofwhat can be achieved when theworking class unites and makesa stand. A solid strike will putdown a marker and will send aclear message to the Executive.

But a one-day strike alone willnot be enough to defeatStormont’s austerity. SocialistParty members in the unions arecampaigning for a strategy ofsustained, co-ordinated andescalating industrial action,including a second day of strikebefore the general election.

This is vital as workers knowthat one day is not enough andneed to be convinced that therewill be serious campaign and norepeat of the sell out after theNovember 30 public sectorstrike where after the significantshow of strength by workers inBritain and the North againstattack on pension- union leaderssold their members out forcrumbs of the table. Alongsidethis ,we need to link up withworkers and campaigners inEngland, Wales and Scotland- ina powerful movement to defeatausterity.

By Daniel Waldron

JusT BEForE christmas,negotiations between the

main parties in the northalong with the British andirish governments resultedin the signing of yet anothersupposedly “historic” mile-stone in the peace process.The stormont Houseagreement, according to usdiplomat Megan o’sullivan,would usher in a “new era”for northern ireland. in reali-ty, this agreement – like theGood Friday agreement itselfand all the subsequent deals– is just an agreement to dis-agree.

The talks were meant to focuson finding some framework to dealwith the divisive and contentiousissues of parades, flags, emblemsand the past. The “solution”agreed was – as always – to findsome mechanism to kick the candown the road. Commissions will

be established to examine issuesof “culture and identity”, reporting– conveniently for the main parties– after May’s general election. Asthe Socialist Party has consistent-ly argued, no real solution to theseissues can ever be achieved by

politicians who rely upon and havea vested interest in maintainingsectarian division.

On one issue, however, a gen-uine consensus was reached – onimplementing sharper and deepercuts across the public sector. The

agreement will see a massiveredundancy scheme rolled outwith up to 20,000 jobs, including10% of teaching positions, wipedout. Most public sector workerswill face a further five-year payfreeze, a cut in real terms. Publicservices already in crisis will bestretched to breaking point. youthunemployment – already at almost25% – will be exacerbated. NIWater is threatened with all-outprivatisation, inevitably leading towater charges. While Sinn Feinpose as an anti-austerity party inthe South, Martin McGuinness hassaid that anyone opposed to thisbudget needs “a good shake” andis living “in fantasy land”.

As part of the agreement, theBritish government has now intro-duced legislation to allow theAssembly Executive to cut corpo-ration tax, something championedby all the main parties. Everypenny handed to big business willbe mirrored in further cuts to pub-lic services. We are told we must

destroy public sector jobs in thehope that they may be replaced bymostly low-paid and precariousjobs in the private sector. The real-ity of austerity’s impact on theeconomy as a whole is plain tosee: rather than green shoots ofrecovery, the Northern economyhas slipped back into negativegrowth and wages continue to fall.

While the Stormont politiciansbicker and whip up conflict aroundsectarian issues for their own cyn-ical reasons, they are unitedaround a neo-liberal consensus ofcuts, privatisation and hand-outsto big business. The Socialist Partystand for the building of a unitedfightback against this agenda andthe building of a new politicalmovement which unites Catholicand Protestant workers and youngpeople against the Green andOrange Tories at Stormont.

Stormont House Agreement– Agreeing to disagree

End state racism against asylum seekers

March 13: striking against Stormont cuts “Conscience” Clause enshrineshomophobia into law

“”

"Martin McGuinnesshas said that anyone

opposed to this budg-et needs ‘a good

shake’ and is living ‘in fantasy land’."

Sectarian parties agree a programme of cuts

Treatment of asylum seekers by state is a disgrace

January / February 2015

THE SOCIALIST

new

s & review

11

By Conor Payne

THE MosT recent opinionpoll shows an enormous

76% support for the upcom-ing referendum on marriageequality. While this shouldnot lead activists to be com-placent – there will be amajor campaign by thecatholic right to sow confu-sion and play on backwardideas – it does show a seachange in attitudes to LGBTpeople in irish society and ahuge aspiration for equality.

But what would a ‘yes Vote’mean? Marriage equality is oftenpresented as ‘the final hurdle’ toending discrimination againstLGBT people in society. Labour TDJohn Lyons said in a recent state-ment: “Civil marriage is one of thelast institutions in Ireland whereinequality still exists.”

This may suit attempts to pres-ent this Government as sociallyprogressive, but it is important toregister that marriage equalitywould represent an important stepforward for LGBT people inIreland, but not an end to the fight

for a society free of homophobia. The reality is that homophobia

remains widespread in Ireland,and this is reflected in manyaspects of the law.

Ireland is the only country in theEU that does not provide for gen-der recognition for transgenderand intersex people. The govern-ment’s bill to deal with this issuerequires ‘medical evaluations’ ofapplicants which the TransgenderEquality Network Ireland calls‘restrictive and unnecessary’. Thebill also requires the forceddivorce of any married transgen-der person seeking recognition oftheir gender.

The religious exemption toequality legislation means thatemployers can still legally discrim-inate against LGBT people workingin workplaces run by religiousorganisations. This includes mostschools and hospitals, and forcesthousands of workers to stay in thecloset or risk their jobs. There isstill also a discriminatory ban ongay men donating blood.

There needs to be a fight forlegal equality in relation to allthese issues. But it is not just a

question of legal equality.homophobic attitudes in societycontinue to have a corrosive effecton the lives of LGBT people.research into the lives of LGBTyoung people by the Anti-BullyingCentre in Trinity found that 15%had attempted suicide and 21%had self-harmed. This is the prod-uct of a society where LGBT still

routinely encounter homophobicattitudes, and in some cases abuseand violence.

Despite major changes in theattitudes of ordinary people, Irishcapitalist society remains deeplybackward; a society where theCatholic church retains hugepower over the provision of publicservices and where calling those

who campaign against equality forLGBT ‘homophobic’ constitutesslander. To challenge this meanschallenging all forms of oppressionof LGBT people and everybody elseand linking this to a struggle forfundamental social and economicchange, a struggle for a democraticsocialist society.

By Fiona O’Loughlin

THE docuMEnTarY filmVessel, screened by rosa

in december, is an inspiringaccount of the development ofWomen on Waves and Womenon Web. it charts how a groupof women led by dr. rebeccaGomperts, endeavoured toprovide abortions to womenwho lived in states thatbanned or restricted abor-tions. They wished to create aspace where the only permis-sion a woman needed to con-tinue with her pregnancy washer own. The audacity, pas-sion and bravery of thewomen stand out as theyovercome one barrier afteranother to pursue this goal.

Initially, they offered early abor-tion in International waters on aship converted into a clinic. As theship was registered in theNetherlands, when inInternational waters,it came under Dutchabortion law.

Vessel highlightsthe discovery bywomen themselves ofthe abortion pillwhich was actuallydeveloped originallyfor gastric ulcers.Women on Waves /Women on Web makeuse of cartoonsinstructing women onhow to access andsafely use abortionpills.

They travelled theworld getting thisinformation out viatheir helpline andvarious direct actionsincluding hanging ahuge banner from theenormous statue ofthe Virgin Mary inQuito, Equador.

The women were harassed byaggressive, violent protesters inevery country, the overwhelming ofmajority of whom were men.

Throughout the film, emails fromwomen in desperate situations areshown, many from Ireland. Someare victims of rape, some arewomen who cannot afford anotherbaby, some who say they are justtoo young to be a mother. The com-mon thread of the emails is fearand desperation. The Women onWeb doctors are helpful and sup-portive.

For me the most poignant partof the film was when a young Irishwoman says “I cannot go on withthis pregnancy but I am not amonster.”

Vessel finishes by depicting thetransition to Women on Web whichposts safe abortion pills to womenaround the world after an onlineconsultation with a doctor onwomenonweb.org.

By Cian Prendiville

PRoBaBlY ConnollY'S mostfamous pamphlet, this shortcollection of articles is one thatshould be read by everyactivist and opponent ofoppression. Dealing with top-ics such as the need for strong,fighting trade unions, a politi-cal voice for workers and realdemocracy - many passagescould have been written yes-terday. It also answers many ofthe anti-socialist slanders thatstill feature in the scripts ofEnda and co, such as the claimsocialists are impractical or vio-lent.

Being “practical”means selling out

The first article in this collectionis laced with sarcasm and wit asConnolly rips up these myths.For instance, he explains howthose who call for “practical”policies and who work within thesystem are precisely the onesincapable of making any realchange, whilst it has alwaysbeen radical movements thatactually secured improvements.Connolly ridicules those “practi-cal” politicians as sharply andcomically as Russell Brand at hisbest, pointing out how for them:"a party too indifferent to thesorrow and sufferings of human-ity to raise its voice in protest, isa moderate, practical party".

Building a fightingworkers’ movement

The second section of the pam-phlet has a more sombre tone,but is equally as sharp. Here he

lays bare the weaknesses of theworkers movement at the time,how in a series of struggles theyhad been beaten by the bosses.However, far from acceptdefeat, he asks what lessonsmust be learnt. He argues work-ers must get more organisedand more militant.

Almost as if he was talkingabout the recent bus and railstrikes in Ireland, he explainshow we cannot allow bosses topick on workers one section at atime, and use one group to pickup the slack when the otherstrikes. Instead he argues forbuilding the strongest, broadestmovement, and striking togeth-er to force the boss to give in.Connolly is not content forworkers to only be organised intheir workplaces and act togeth-er industrially, he also arguesthat we must organise politicallyto take on the bosses in thatarena too.

The case for socialistchange

Finally, the pamphlet is a strongargument for socialism, which hediscribes in this pamphlet as the“great anti-theft movement” –taking back from the 1% thewealth they have stolen fromworkers. Foreshadowing the slo-gan of the Spanish Indignadosthat “there is no democracywhen the markets rule”, heargues for democratic, publicownserhip of the key sectors ofthe economy to allow "the appli-cation to industry, or to theSocial life of the nation, of thefundamental principles ofdemocracy".

All in all, this is a fantasticshort pamphlet, a must read.

Read it online at:http://www.marxist.net/

ireland/connolly/socialism/

Review: Vessel Review of a classic: Socialism Made Easy by James Connolly

Vote Yes and fight allhomophobic laws

Workshop Talks

SOCIALISM

Made Easy

Tens of thousands have protested for marriage equality in recent years

JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY! Text ‘Join’ to 087 3141986 www.socialistparty.ie

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY ISSUE 89 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015

Strike two blows against right-wing, backward Ireland in May:

SPEAKING TOUR:Wednesday 18 February:5PM NUI Maynooth8PMWynn's Hotel, Abbey St., D1

Thursday 19 February:8PM, Isaac's Hotel, MacCurtain St.

Friday 20 February:7PM Best Western Pery's Hotel,Glentworth St., Limerick

Saturday 21 February:2PM Holiday Inn BelfastDerry – Details tbc

50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF MALCOLM X – his revolutionary life, & the#BlackLivesMatter struggle in USA today

ELJEER HAWKINS, community and anti-war activist,born and raised in Harlem, New York is a writer on race,criminal justice & the -black freedom movement. Eljeeris a member of Socialist Alternative, sister organisation

of the Socialist Party in the US

Vote Yes to marriage equality

Repealthe 8th

Amendment

& demand a referendum to...