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By Séamus Loughlin
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Tuesday, 24 August 2010 |
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Nothern Ireland: There
are storm clouds on the horizon for the economy in the North. While the
recession took longer to bite than in the South this only reflects the
weakness of capitalism and the predominance of public sector
employment. There are now as many people who are economically inactive
(26%) than work in “private industry.” But the crisis has now caught up
with a vengeance and it is only going to get worse.
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By Séamus Loughlin (Fightback - Ireland)
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Tuesday, 03 August 2010 |
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IRELAND: Recently we
reported on the vote of the public sector unions to back the Croke Park
Deal. We argued that despite the apparent victory of the ideas of
“Social Partnership” as espoused by Peter McLoone and David Begg; under
the present conditions it would be extremely difficult for any deal to
be brokered that was worth the paper it was written on.
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By Séamus Loughlin
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 |
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IRELAND: There’s
been a steady procession of attacks on the public sector over the last
couple of years. Wage cuts, levies and a deluge of propaganda. We’ve
made the point elsewhere that the FF and the Greens are in a cul de
sac, they are most likely going to be slaughtered in the next general
election. So by all accounts they have nothing to lose. They have
launched a one sided civil war against the working class at the behest
of the bourgeois, the home grown variety of course, but also the multi
nationals based in London and New York.
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By Tony Healy
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 |
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IRELAND: A
ban on trade union donations to the Labour Party will not benefit
anyone other than the enemies of the working class and the organised
working class in particular.
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By Séamus Loughlin (Fightback Ireland)
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Monday, 05 July 2010 |
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The results of the SIPTU and IMPACT ballots recently
that the Croke Park deal was eventually pushed through by the ICTU
leaders, aided and abetted by the whole of the bought and paid for press
and with the full support of the bourgeois. After all, the whole of
official bourgeois society was united around one thing, the Irish
working class, if not to blame directly for the crisis are going to have
to foot the bill.
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By Fightback (Ireland)
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Tuesday, 29 June 2010 |
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Some 38 years after the horrific events in Derry
on Sunday 30th January 1972 the publication of the Saville Report has
been welcomed by the bereaved families whose 14 relatives were killed by
British Paratroops at a Civil Rights March on what became known as
Bloody Sunday.
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By Séamus Loughlin
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Monday, 21 June 2010 |
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Brian Cowen survived a confidence vote
in the Dail on Wednesday by 5 votes and the day after it was
announced that Enda Kenny had won a confidence vote sparked by
dissatisfaction on the FG front bench by a similar (supposedly secret)
margin. But why is it that the leaders of the two long established
bourgeois parties in the state have reached such an impasse at the same
time? The answer is clear the economy is in crisis and Labour has
overtaken FG in the polls.
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By Séamus Loughlin
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Friday, 11 June 2010 |
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IRELAND: The
outcome of the ballots among the ICTU affiliated unions over the Croke
Park deal will be finally clear by next week when the SIPTU and IMPACT
ballot results are counted. A huge amount of pro deal propaganda has
been brought to bear on the membership of the public sector unions,
backed up by the trade union leadership who have been desperate to
present the deal as the saviour of the Irish working class.
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By Fran P. Bowman (Fightback)
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Sunday, 23 May 2010 |
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Under
heavy Gardaí surveillance, including a helicopter, a crowd of over 1500
filled up Molesworth St, opposite the Dáil's gates on the 18th
May. It was the second protest, after the 11th of May, organised by the
Right to Work Campaign (RWC) sponsored by the union UNITE and the
support of all the left groups with presence in Dublin, including SF.
There were also two banners of the Labour party, although this party is
not officially supporting the protest.
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By Chris Donnelly and Eoin Gilligan
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Monday, 17 May 2010 |
 We continue our analysis of the 2010 General Election with a look at the issues raised by the results in Northern Ireland.
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By Fightback (Ireland)
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Wednesday, 12 May 2010 |
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BELFAST: The
Draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill which is ostensibly
designed to create a framework for resolving the question of
controversial parades and demonstrations, especially during the
marching season is generating opposition from workers in the North
because of its implications for Trade union and political
demonstrations organised by the Trade Union Movement and protests
against the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as community protests
such as anti racist demonstrations like those that took place last year
on the Lisburn Road after the racist attacks in Belgravia Avenue and Wellesley Avenue.
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By Séamus Loughlin (Fightback - Ireland)
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Thursday, 29 April 2010 |
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The next few weeks will be very
important for the trade union movement in Ireland; either the Public
Service Agreement will be rejected and the trade union leaders will be
forced into organising action, or the government will get away with yet
another attack on living standards and working conditions.
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By Editorial statement of The Red Plough
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Friday, 16 April 2010 |
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It is clear as daylight that the Fianna Fail/Green Coalition in the 26
counties is a business Government dancing to the tune of the bankers and
moneymen worldwide.
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By Séamus Loughlin
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Monday, 12 April 2010 |
 The ICTU leaders recently consulted
their members over the “Public Service agreement”. Most of the public service unions have been rejecting the deal, which reveals that the
workers are prepared to fight. But are the leaders up to the task?
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