The stalling tactic concocted by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to evade the issue of abortion reform has backfired massively. The recommendations of the Citizens’

Seamie O’Boyle was a working class hero. His life was a testament to everything good in the human spirit. Seamie had it hard growing up. He was born an orphan in the 1950’s and spent many nights on the streets. For some people this start in life would understandably have been too much, but Seamie came to a political conclusion – life is not fair but it can be changed with courage, honesty and human decency.

The following statement, as a contribution to the debate at the conference organised by the R2W unions on June 13, has been agreed between the People Before Profit Alliance,the Anti-Austerity Alliance, and some independent left-wing activists including Cllr Brendan Young.

The Mayday Conference initiated by the Right2Water Trade Unions was designed to bring union members, community groups and political representatives into dialogue about an alternative to the political and economic establishment. We welcome the fact that these unions initiated such a meeting to build a political movement based on the anti-water charges struggle of the last eight months. Unfortunately, the meeting was a limited and invite-only event, without sufficient space for discussion.

Open up and democratise the June 13 conference

To best achieve the potential for this movement, we believe that the process needs to be opened up and democratised. Without grassroots participation, any political initiative will lack the energy and vibrancy needed to challenge the political establishment. So we think the follow up conference on June 13 should have delegates invited from all of the community groups campaigning against water charges, selected over the coming weeks at local meetings.

On June 13, the conference must also be designed to allow genuine debate and maximum inclusion. In place of structured inputs from selected speakers, the event should be bottom-up and participatory. It should be designed to allow as many contributions as possible and allow for decisions to be made by those present.

On Mayday, the five unions fighting water charges held a conference in Dublin. The aim was to bring union members, community groups and political representatives into dialogue around a progressive alternative to the current establishment. This is an exciting prospect as R2W seeks to build a political alliance that reflects the anti-austerity struggles of the last eight months. To this end, around 200 people were invited, split roughly into the three main groups.

The following statement has been agreed between the People Before Profit Alliance, the Anti-Austerity Alliance and some independent activists including Cllr Brendan Young.

The anti-water charges movement, which has seen hundreds of thousands mobilise and become active in campaigning, has transformed politics in this country. It has forced climbdowns by the government and given people confidence and hope that the austerity agenda can be defeated. It has opened a potential to build a significant Left, working class political movement.

The government and Irish Water often boast about a high registration rate for Irish water.
People before Profit has information that these registrations of names and addresses were not all registrations made by the occupier.

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On Friday March 13^th, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called protest rallies against austerity in the North. Workers will come out on a one day stoppage after huge votes for strike action occurred amongst teachers, health workers and civil servants.