Demonstration at the Green Party Conference
national |
worker & community struggles and protests |
news report 
Saturday October 10, 2009 16:05
by PBPA - People Before Profit Alliance
info at peoplebeforeprofit dot ie
United Alliance Against Cuts
The United Alliance Against Cuts, a new alliance of community groups, left and independent parties, trade unionists and workers today held a demonstration of around 100 people to lobby Green party members today.
The People Before Profit Alliance, Coca Cola workers currently on strike, the SIPTU-Community Sector, Shell to Sea activists, Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Youth and many others were present.
The protest called on the Green Party to oppose the NAMA bank bailout and the proposed cuts and to end it's participation in government.
Parent James McDonagh was thrown out of Green Party conference for trying to raise the issue of resources for special educational needs for his daughter, spoke at the protest.
Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance said "No matter what spin the government may put to it, if billions are poured into bailing out the bankers and developers, whose greed crashed the Irish economy, workers and the most vulnerable in our society will pay for it. If the NAMA plan goes ahead, tens of billions of public money will be transferred to bankers and away from vital public services desperately needed by our young people, senior citizens, the sick, the poor, and low paid workers".
This madness has to be stopped.
Rita Fagan, St. Michael's Estate and Canal Communities in a statement said "It's not fair that the poor are being asked to pay in terms of cuts to our community projects and cuts being planned for people at the bottom. It's an attack on the poor and most vulnerable communities. The poor can't pay and the poor won't pay".
The Alliance called on the Greens to reject NAMA and any plans to cuts in education, health, social welfare, vital community and public services or pay cuts for low-paid workers.
The Alliance called on the Greens to pull out of this discredited and bankrupt government and give the people of the country a chance to vote and decide what sort of government they want and what priorities it should have in dealing with the crisis.
Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8take a look at this. nice take on green party
A small demonstration which had zero effect.
The Tipperary workers and Unemployed Group have agreed to affiliate to PBP at a meeting to take place this month. This is a huge step forward. PBP will move from six to thirteen to fourteen Cllrs.
What next for the sp?
Prior to the recent local elections the Socialist Party put forward a reasonable proposal for an alliance of genuine left candidates that could have contained at least 30 candidates on it. The conditions for such an alliance were that candidates would have a credible record and would refuse to make deals with any right wing parties on councils or vote in favour of estimates that would attack the rights and conditions of working class people. This was unfortunately rejected by the PPBA and the Tipperary Workers and Unemployment Action Group.
The reasons for the rejection of this proposal was that it was "too limited". It would appear however that PPBA are not willing to make the issue of voting against anti-working class estimates a principle for a future alliance of the left. Ironically
in the same month that they rejected our proposal Cllr Catheine Connolly voted in favour of estimates that contained over €1.8 million worth of cutbacks. Despite this Connolly was invited to the launch of the PPBA local election campaign at a public meeting in Dublin. As well this the PPBA had a joint press conference with her during the campaign where no mention was made of voting against estimates. At a public meeting of the PPBA after the local election one of their leading representatives said that the alliance would be broadened out to contain other left groups and individuals which included Connolly.
This approach shows that PPBA's idea of "unity at any price" seems to go beyond its unwillingness to put forward a socialist alternative to the present capitalist crisis. For the record the Socialist Party is in favour of slate of left candidates in the upcoming elections and the creation of a mass party of the working class. We believe however that the workers movement needs to be rebuilt on a principled basis.
The Socialist party sticks to its guns, the ''People before profit alliance''/Socialist Workers Party will do ANYTHING to get a vote, no matter what the consequences of the people or the image of the party.
I think voting is a waste of time in general (which leader would you like?) but, risking sounding like a total hypocrite here, I voted for the SP in the local and European elections (well done Joe). But I would N E V E R vote the the PBPA/SWP, or anyone else for that matter.
Who next? ''we at the PBPA believe the Labour party has the revolutionary interests of the people at heart and we propose a voting pact with them''
Long live the Revolution??
---organise at home, in your community & in your workplace---
Best wishes to all. The SP will still be arguing when the reveolution comes. Well done to the Tipp Workers and PB4P-they now are bigger than the Green Party in terms of Cllrs. Conrats
I don't think elections are the be all and end all but I think it will be quite significant if after the next elections there are 5 PBP/SP T.D.s in the Dail.
These are likely to be:
Joe Higgins
Clare Daly
Richard Boyd Barrett
Joan Collins/ Brid Smith
Seamus Healy
In the context of there been something along the lines of up to 40 Labour T.D.s, Sinn Fein losing a couple more seats and the Greens been almost obliterated and Labour been in government PBP/SP will be in a strong position to lead the left opposition.
It is highly likely that the SP/ PBP combined will be the biggest opposition force in the Dail except for FF. It will be changed times indeed and if people put aside sectarian sniping there could be a big opportunity to build the left.
You've counted a lot of chickens in that post, Jim, and we're still a long way from them hatching.
It would be a very good day for the left in electoral terms if all five of those seats were won. There are only six seats where the left has any kind of chance of winning, and only two where a win would be overwhelmingly likely. And that's if an election was called now. There might not be one for a couple of years and an awful lot can happen in that time.
I think that your assumption that SF will lose seats is probably wrong. Again if an election was called now, I think that they'd be favoured to finish with at least two more seats than they started with, with potential gains in Donegal and Dublin. O'Snodaigh's seat could be in trouble, but there's a fair chance that the PB4P Alliance could squander that chance by running two candidates - can you see either the SWP (Smith) or Collins stepping aside and working for the other? Last time out, O'Snodaigh got almost as many of Smith's transfers as Collins.
As for "sectarian sniping", well there's certainly enough of it about. This discussion was started by a poster who seemed to think that the most important thing about two left groups merging was that it provided the opportunity to have a dig at a third left organisation! But there's an important distinction to be drawn between "sectarian sniping" and political disagreement. The PB4P Alliance and the SP are following very different strategies based on different understandings of the situation we are in. There would be no benefit to anybody in just pretending to agree with each other and hiding disagreements.
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