| COMMUNISTS IN IRELAND: Stop austerity and bullying by voting No! |
 |
 |
|
At the regular meeting of its National Executive Committee the Communist Party of Ireland once again called on working people to resist the bullying and ideological terror now being unleashed by the Government to force the people to support the Austerity Treaty and to come out and vote No.
POLITICAL STATEMENT
26 May 2012
At the regular meeting of its National Executive Committee the Communist Party
of Ireland once again called on working people to resist the bullying and
ideological terror now being unleashed by the Government to force the people to
support the Austerity Treaty and to come out and vote No.
There is nothing in this treaty for working people, but rather it is a road that
we must resist being bullied and pushed down. It is a road that will lead to
greater control by monopoly corporations, in particular by finance capital, to
the further erosion of democracy and the further marginalising of the people.
These treaties are for limiting the options of the people: no matter who they
vote for, they will be unable to effect change.
The two new treaties are nothing more than an unbreakable debt trap, and the
bait to lure the people in is the possibility of another loan if the state needs
it. Our people cannot afford the price of the first loan from the EU-ECB-IMF,
never mind a second one on top.
The policy of austerity, both north and south, implemented by the Irish state
and imposed on the people of the North by the British government, is the
equivalent of a hurricane cutting through large swathes of the public services,
leaving a trail of broken dreams and shattered lives.
The recent report by the trade union Mandate laid bare the real cost to workers
in the intensification of exploitation and the marked transfer of wealth from
workers to bosses, with 39 per cent of its members taking a drop in pay through
cuts, taxes, and levies of €109 per week.
We welcome the fact that at least four trade unions have came out to campaign
for a No vote, while leading elements within the ICTU leadership prostrate
themselves at the feet of the EU and its puppet Irish government, unable to
summon up the political courage to defend the interests of the Irish working
class. They have lost any claim they ever had to be the heirs of the legacy of
Connolly and Larkin.
Once again the Labour Party has sided with the forces of imperialism and are
willing hired guns for big business to rob the people of the services they have
contributed taxes and struggled long and hard to have established.
Regardless of the result of the referendum, the struggle and resistance of the
people must continue to be built. What is increasingly clear is that the
European Union and the forces of monopoly capitalism cannot produce policies
that will be in the interests of working people.
Slowly but surely, the penny is beginning to drop, and a small but nevertheless
growing section of the Irish working class understands that the EU and the
economic and social system that it was set up to protect is part of the problem,
not part of the solution.
The choice is clear. If we are to provide work for the mass of unemployed,
decent living standards, a proper education system for our country’s children,
to provide comfort and security for our pensioners, and a hospital bed or doctor
for those who need them, then we have a clear choice to make. Decisions must be
made that are in the interests of the Irish people and not in the interests of
the European Union. These interests are not compatible. |
CP 2013 National Speaking Programme meetings
'Capitalist Crisis - Socialist Solution'
Subscribe to the Daily Worker/Morning Star historic archive
2013 CALENDAR
OF CP AND LABOUR MOVEMENT EVENTS
OUT NOW FOR PURCHASE
THE BIOGRAPHY OF PHIL PIRATIN, COMMUNIST MP
Britain's Road To Socialism
.png)
Marxism - an introduction
|
Revolting Europe is a political blog with an internationalist flavour. Edited by radical left writer Tom Gill, it is great source of information about events in the political cauldron currently called 'European Union' The Left, Labour and Social Movements on Europe blog
|
21st Century Manifesto is a daily blog of politics - home and abroad, economics and culture. It regularly features in the top 150 political blogs in Britain. Manifesto has a worldwide following and speaks with authority on international issues. |
Country Standard newspaper was launched by the Communist Party in 1935. It has long championed the rights and welfare of workers in the food and farming sector. Today the journal is run by an editorial collective of CP and Labour members, environmentalists and trade unionists. It is available in print and online. |
Marxism inspires millions to struggle for a better world. The Communist Manifesto is the starting point in understanding working class politics. It was written in 1847 and published the following year. The CP reprinted the Manifesto in 2005 as part of it's Classics of Communism series, read it 
