RTÉ and the Irish press report fairly
regularly about the workings of the Troika and the discussions Enda
Kenny (leader of Fine Gael) and Michael Noonan (Minister of Finance)
hold with European Union and the IMF, although the edited highlights and
the “communiqués” don’t mention the small print. As many people behind
on the mortgage will have found out to their cost over the last few
years, the devil is in the detail.
The flurry of articles in the Irish press over the last few days
attacking the Croke Park Deal should not come as any surprise. However,
it is noteworthy that these ladies and gentlemen chose the days after
the referendum vote to start putting the boot in.
The Irish Times reports that as soon as the result of the referendum
on the treaty appeared to be in the bag, Enda Kenny was on the phone to
Angel Merckel presumably for a pat on the head as he reported on the
completion of his mission.
This year as every year there will be
marches and commemorations attended by the various strands of Irish
socialism and republicanism to mark the anniversary of the Easter
Rising. There will be a remembrance of those who fell in the struggle
for national liberation and socialism in 1916, during the War of
Independence and since then. Attention is already being given to the
possible events to mark the centenary of the rising in 2016
At Easter every year in every parish
in Ireland and in many places around the world Irish Republicans gather
to pay homage to those men and women who died in the struggle for
independence. This year, 2012, will be no different. However, whereas 50
years ago there was only one Republican Movement, today there are at
least seven different republican traditions that have emerged out of the
northern struggle.
Last Saturday’s rally in Ireland organised by the Campaign against Household and Water
Taxes (CAHWT) demonstrated clearly that the opposition to the Household
Taxes is likely to be a major thorn in the side of Fine Gael and Labour
over the next period. The immediate problem for the Department of the
Environment, Community and Local Government however is not the 3,000
people who attended the rally at the National Stadium and those who
attended the other rallies. It’s the fact that only 328,201 households
have registered for the Household tax, from a total of more or less 1.6
million.
IRELAND: The nineteenth century was
proving to be another age of poverty, oppression and starvation for the
mostly Catholic tenant farmers. They were still at the mercy of the
landlords who charged increasingly exorbitant rents and would not
hesitate to evict any family who could not pay. Keeping his tenancy was a
matter of life or death to the farmer and his family.
William of Orange allied himself to
two popes: Pope Innocent XI (1676/89) and Pope Alexander VIII (1689/91).
These two Popes were more than happy to support William III in his
fight against the Catholic James II, and he was equally happy to support
them in their war against France’s Louis XIV.
When the Irish Catholic priest Fr. Hugh O’Donnell decided it was time to
build a Catholic church in Belfast he had a problem: it costs a lot of
money to build a church. The Catholic population of Belfast was too
small and too poor to provide enough money, so if he had to rely on the
Catholics alone it would take forever. He had to seek help elsewhere. So
he asked the Protestants of Belfast to help him out. As you do.
There are many ways to judge the health of a society. The speculators
in the European Bond Markets judge the health of nations by the state
of their public finances; socialists and trade unionists point to the
way that old people and children are treated and especially the position
of women in society. Economists look at the volume of imports and
exports and at the rate of economic growth. One measure looks at the
scale of inequality within society.
While between 2 and 3 million struck in Britain, in the North of Ireland about
200,000 people took part in the Public Sector strike action on 30th
November. Schools and civil service offices were shut, as were job
centres and council services. Rail and bus services were non-existent.
Union members held marches, pickets, and rallies throughout the country
over the issue of pensions. The main rally took place in Belfast city
centre, where around 15,000 gathered and several thousands spread
over Craigavon, Omagh, Armagh, Ballymena, Derry and other towns.
Workers have not only been balloting for action in Britain but also in Northern Ireland, where the Tory-led Coalition’s attacks on pensions will also apply if carried out. Fightback – the voice of Marxism in Ireland – reports on the ballot results in the North.