ISN local election candidate John O’Neill calls for politicians to feel the pinch

dublin | politics / elections | press release

Wednesday April 29, 2009 11:00

by Irish Socialist Network

Finglas / ballymun election candidate John O’Neill urged people not to be taken in by gimmicks from the Fianna Fáil-led government: If politicians really had to share the pain of the recession, they might not be so keen to put the boot into working-class people.

“We are supposed to be impressed because Brian Cowen has got rid of five junior Ministers from his government,” said O’Neill. “It just shows how out of touch our politicians are. Who cares if a few nobodies lose their job titles? We all know the country would get by fine if all the junior Ministers took a one-way trip into outer space. In fact, judging by the state of the economy, we might better off if the whole government cleared out – at least then they couldn’t make an even bigger mess of things.”

O’Neill contrasted the soft landing for junior Ministers with the experience of working-class people losing their jobs in the real world.

“The basic salary for a TD is over €100,000,” noted O’Neill. “That’s what the sacked ministers will be taking home. Thousands of people are losing their jobs every month, but they don’t have a fat salary to fall back on. The government is sharpening its knives to start cutting social welfare payments – they’ve already taken away the Christmas bonus, and that’ll just be the start of the cuts.”

The Socialist candidate demanded radical reform of the Irish political system.

“As long as our politicians live in a bubble and have no idea what it’s like to have to get by on a typical working-class salary, they will continue serving the interests of the rich minority,” warned O’Neill. “If they had to live on the average worker’s wage they might sing a different tune. You get what you pay for in life, and what we’ve got are a bunch of self-serving careerists who have no interest in serving the people. We need to slash all the perks and bring our politicians down to the same income level as everyone else – they are meant to be representing us, that means they should be living like us too.”

John O’Neill is running in the local elections as the candidate of the Irish Socialist Network

You can contact John at 087 6367175 or votejohnoneill@yahoo.ie

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Comments (4 of 4)

I will vote for John and Libertas because ye stood up against Lisbon

by ordinary worker

Wed Apr 29, 2009 18:55

I will vote for John and Libertas because ye stood up against Lisbon 1 and ye didnt cop out by calling for 'renegociation' or drawing up a silly list of things to include in Lisbon 2! unlike some of the other 'no to lisbon' parties.

Fair Pay

by Gusto

Fri May 01, 2009 09:33

You make a good point there. I won't receive a pay rise at all this year and as I'm already struggling living on a minimum wage it’s going to be more difficult to survive. I think it's time our politicians see how difficult it is to get by on this.

You can count on my vote.

Libertas?

by Cian - Socialist Party

Fri May 01, 2009 17:01

While I completely agree that Lisbon must be opposed, and that calling for "renegotiation" was sowing illusions, i must say i'd encourage people to think twice before giving a vote to Libertas. When you peel away their rhetoric, they have the same, pro-big business, privatisation and neoliberalism attitudes that the PDs had!

Instead, i'd encourage people in the Euro elections to vote against lisbon AND against workers being made pay for the crisis caused by big business, that is vote for Joe Higgins. Joe not only fought Lisbon, which was a neo-liberal charter. He has also fought against FF etc for over 30 years, including in the Dail from 1997 to 2007.

Anyway, check the link below for more info.

PS: good luck john

Don't trust Ganley

by Ed - ISN

Mon May 04, 2009 14:29

Have to agree with Cian about Libertas and Declan Ganley - he's not to be trusted. When he registered Libertas, the papers he filed said that one of its functions would be to provide financial support for businesses affected by strike action - so if workers go on strike over the next few months against pay cuts and job cuts, Ganley could be there writing cheques to help break the strike. He may be against the Lisbon Treaty, but he's no friend of workers.

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ISN local election candidate John O’Neill calls for politicians to feel the pinch

Comments (4 of 4)