Towards a Rainbow Coalition ? - For Peace, Independence and Socialism - Communist Party of Ireland ...
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Printed & Published by the Communist Party of Ireland
For Peace, Independence and Socialism
15.2.20 Vol. 32 No 6 (Print Day Wednesday) Web page
Towards a Rainbow Coalition ?
TERMS like ‘seismic’ ‘historic’ By John Pinkerton No doubt Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
and even ‘revolution’ were to be will attempt to salvage their control of
heard as the size of the Sinn Fein not only did they understand the political power through some form of
vote in the Irish elections became depth of the crisis in in housing, coalition based on back room deals.
clear last weekend. Whilst the party health care, education and economic Before the election both parties had
might not have matched its land- insecurity but they could turn things ruled out sharing in government with
slide results of 1918 (the last time around. They would be prepared to Sinn Féin, because of what they saw
an election was held in Ireland on a challenge existing structures of po- as its ‘tax and splurge’ policies and its
Saturday) when it won 73 seats, litical and economic power – includ- IRA supporting past.
Sinn Fein polled more votes than ing partition. Sinn Féin has made it clear that is
any other party, winning 37 seats in The glaring exception to Sinn wants to be in government and is
the new Dail. Fein’s radical agenda continues to working to establish if the numbers
That certainly put Sinn Fein along- be the European Union. Party leader are there to achieve that without Fi-
side the big two establishment par- Mary Lou McDonald, in a clear il- anna Fáil or Fine Gael.
ties of Fianna Fail, who dropped to lustration of the New Redmonism McDonald said that people wanted
38 seats, and the outgoing govern- (‘look to imperialism to set you "different politics, new politics and
ment party of Fine Gael, who could free’), said if she was part of the better government" and "that Sinn
only manage 35 seats. They clearly next government she would be ask- Féin will be the core of that" – adding
paid the price for presiding over the ing the EU to support Irish reunifica- "I may well be the next Taoiseach".
imposed EU - Troika austerity cuts tion. The challenge for Sinn Fein is to
in health and social spending and She made no comment on how a use their new found electoral strength
the spiralling crisis in housing. radical left Irish government would to ensure just such a progressive left
A mixed bag of 19 independents avoid taking the beating that the left of centre, rainbow coalition govern-
won seats. In many cases benefiting wing Greek Syriza government got ment. So it is cause for concern that
from Sinn Fein transfers, the Greens from the EU. McDonald has now welcomed that
got 12 seats and the various left par- This new three way split at the top "Fianna Fáil have shifted their posi-
ties got 18 - the Labour Party and of the poll means that prolonged ne- tion about talking to Sinn Féin and
the Social Democrats both got 6, gotiations to establish an Irish gov- understand that this election has
Solidarity/People Before Profit got ernment can be expected. No party is changed everything".
5 and Independents 4 Change got I. near the 80 seats needed for a ma- If Sinn Fein does play a core role in
Aontu also got 1. jority government. the construction of a progressive rain-
The reversal in fortunes for Sinn In 2016, it took 70 days for a gov- bow coalition in the Dail, the question
Féin following last year’s disap- ernment to be formed, eventually on needs to be asked should it not also be
pointing local government and EU the basis of a confidence-and- looking for a way of doing that in the
election results seemed to be due to supply agreement in which Fine N I. Assembly ?
their success in making the case that Gael was propped up by Fianna Fáil.
Page 2 Unity 15.2.20
Editorial
Unity is published each week
by the Communist Party of
Ireland.
PO Box 85, Belfast BT1 1SR.
Housing problems
THE provision of housing is a perennial problem under
capitalism, mainly because of the nature of the system and those
who run it. Fermanagh People’s
In Britain the Tories under Margaret Thatcher introduced the Assembly
“right to buy” with the sale of council house stock. This was an Saturday 29 February, 10 a.m.
ideological onslaught on anything that resembled socialism, as was
the privatisation of public transport and the utilities. Speakers: Kat Healy (Anti-
Ironically for a party dedicated to the theory of market forces the Austerity Campaign)
properties were sold for knock down prices. “An Englishman's Prof. John Barry
home is his castle” became a reality for some and the fact that the (A New Democracy);
policy was dictated by capitalist ideology giving some people less of Sara Boyce (Mental Health
a chance to get decent rented accommodation didn’t matter. Campaign).
Council housing has become a thing of the past as none of the Donncarragh Hotel, Lisnaskea
stock sold was replaced fully. (Co. Fermanagh)
In Northern Ireland the Housing Executive did not build a
single house in 2017-18 whilst the private sector built over 7,000. Organised by the
Housing like most things under capitalism has become profit Peadar O’Donnell Socialist
driven. As we know we have our own problems peculiar to us, that Republican Forum
of sectarianism which has meant that people are limited in their
choice of where to live because of their religious background.
After all the Housing Executive was born out of the
discrimination that existed in the allocation of housing.
Sectarianism is still with us as we have seen in recent times, Belfast Central
people being intimidated out of their homes in east Belfast
obviously because of their religious background. In the Ballysillan Branch Meeting
area people who were due to move into Housing Association
properties were intimidated in such a fashion that they didn’t ever
Wednesday
bother to cross the doorstep. February 19th
Coupled to this we have had a spate of attacks on migrants’
homes, increasingly bringing racism into play. 5.30pm
However leave sectarianism aside and we had a recent CPI Premises
development in Lisburn whereby local residents objected to the
building of 79 social homes in their area. So much so that the
project was shelved. It seems they believe social housing would
bring down their property value which was described as a mistaken
perception.
Sectarianism is not the only problem we have, we now seem to
have a Nimby (Not in My BackYard) one. Sad isn't it.
Unity 15.2.20 Page 3
Media Review
Ode to Germany trayed itself as a global player
would pull up the drawbridge, re-
IRISH News columnist Tom On the day that his article ap- treat into a narrow provincialism
Collins told us in his piece on peared, in the eastern German and in doing so, imperil the very
state of Thuringia the Christian peace that the European vision had
5th February that on the night
Democrat Union (CDU) was as- underwritten.
the UK left the European Un- He goes on, not only has the
ion he avoided the news, went sisted by the fascist Alternative
for Germany (AfD) in ousting the UK undermined Europe as a liberal
to bed early and listened to counter-balance between red-
De Linke (the Left) Party) state
Leonard Bernstein conducting president and replacing him with necked America and the repressive
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a member of the right-wing Free regimes in Russia and China; it has
its finale being Ode to Joy the Democrats (FDP) a party that also put in jeopardy its own integ-
anthem of the European Un- only just cleared the 5 per cent rity.
ion. threshold. The least you can say about
He writes that the anthem Things have changed for the Collins is that he must have got a
celebrates our common human- better have they ? degree in how to write tripe.
ity, and our triumph over oppres- Collins then claims that he has This "liberal counter-balance”
sion. no doubt that this “momentous” has in its ranks countries that per-
He referred to the Berlin shift was one of the forces that secute Roma people, Hungary,
Wall coming down, stating “we helped mobilise the drive for Czech Republic and Slovakia, has
thought the world had been peace here in Ireland, adding, fascists in government, Estonia and
changed forever. The communist “How better can you create a Bulgaria, and where they are not in
bloc was crumbling. sense of common purpose be- government they are very active.
“Dictators were being put to tween peoples than by ripping Of course France has been in
the sword. Romanian tyrant down the borders that keep them turmoil for months due to the EU
Nicolae Ceausescu (stripped of apart.” inspired policies of Macron.
his knighthood by the Queen the Many people will think on In Slovenia the courts annulled
day before he died) was shot by that point there may be a slight the conviction and execution of
firing squad in December 1989.” exaggeration to say the least and Leon Rupnik, Germany’s war-time
The tone of his writing sug- that other major forces came into puppet ruler.
gested that such an act of murder play resulting in the Good Friday Poland and Lithuania both
was somehow justified. Agreement signed in 1998, nine passed laws making it a criminal
He added that the people were years after the Berlin Wall came offence to accuse their citizens of
in the ascendant - defying armies, down. complicity in Nazi crimes.
tanks and despots. Maybe Collins could give his To deny this is to deny night
A united Germany, at the opinion on why after 31 years of follows day and is all part of the
heart of a united Europe, was a a united Germany people in the revision of history being perpe-
sign that times had changed, and former East Germany are still trated by the dreadful reactionary
had changed for the better. paid less than their western coun- regimes that emerged from the for-
I don’t know about Ode to terparts. mer Socialist states, a revision
Joy, you would think that such a A policy, I am told by some- aided and abetted by the EU.
loving for “a united Germany at one brought up in the GDR, was This is the real European Un-
the heart of a united Europe" a condition of unity, actually en- ion, not some mythical “liberal
would see the anthem changed to shrined in law. counter-balance” that Collins
Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Of course like other pro-EU writes about.
Alles. nationalists he reserves his Collins himself received an
Collins confirms what many venom for the United Kingdom’s OBE in 2007, he now has the op-
people think, that Germany might decision to leave the EU. portunity to hand it back.
have lost the war but they have Who would have predicted, he
certainly won the peace. writes, that a nation that por-Page 4 Unity 15.2.20
Dates for your diary
New NIPSA research
publication on the wider struggle Tuesday, 18 February from
19:00 to 22:00. International
Women’s Day Launch: Rights in
THE recent industrial action by Sight. The Black Box, 18-22 Hill
health workers regarding pay and staff- Street Belfast BT1. Free.
ing levels highlighted the current crisis Friday 21 February, 12:00
in the National Health Service. noon Red Books Day Forógra na
However those who work in the gCumannach. Simultaneous public
sector and those who avail of its ser- reading of the Communist Mani-
vices know that there is nothing new festo in national languages all over
about such crises or about the nature of the world Connolly Books, 43 East
the opposition they face in fighting for Essex Street, Dublin.
the service we deserve. Saturday 7th March 11am,
In a new NIPSA Policy and Re- Writers Square, Belfast. Interna-
search publication “The NHS and the tional Women’s Day Rally, organ-
struggle for healthcare” this point is ised by Reclaim the Agenda.
emphasised and the wider, historic Tuesday 10th March, 7.30 pm
question of the fight for healthcare is Radical Female Voices in Union-
examined. ist Communities with Sophie Long
As the booklet’s author John McVey outlines “it is vital we never for- and Dawn Purvis. James Connolly
get that at its heart the principle of public health, as embodied by the state Visitors Centre, Falls Road, Belfast.
funding for a ‘free at the point of use’ NHS, is rooted in an ideological Thursday,12th March: Interna-
struggle and remains a politically contested one. tional Brigade Commemoration
“As a consequence from a campaigning point of view, this has meant Committee Annual General Meet-
that to champion free healthcare on the basis of need, as the most politi- ing 18.30pm. Following the AGM
cally advanced vanguard of the labour and trade union movement always the annual lecture will take place at
has done, is to argue for such a right in order to provide one of the build- 19.00pm. "Inspiration from the
ing blocks of a civilised society. Spanish Brigaders: Spain as tool
“The “unafordability” arguments can and should be stopped in their for political activism and educa-
tracks by re-stating that this is not about money, it is about political prior- tion." Guest speaker: Gearóid Ó
ity.” The booklet explores: the scale of the markets’ intrusion into public Machail. (Friends of the Interna-
healthcare; the major proposals for change within our health service over tional Brigade Ireland) ICTU of-
the last 20 years including the latest variant (the Bengoa report); looks at fices, Donegall Street, Belfast.
regional disparities in health outcomes in relation to the devolved admini-
strations and, whilst acknowledging the huge scale of the post-conflict
needs of our society discusses the “crisis” in healthcare as one caused by
the outworking of capitalist ideology.
The publication concludes by outlining the basis of a renewed struggle
for a healthcare - one that links the immediate needs of those who work
in/use the NHS and a linked struggle for the full industrial democracy and
economic, social/political justice within which healthcare in its fullest
sense can be provided. (* Booklet available as PDF download on NIPSA
webpage)
Reclaiming International Working Women's Day
Friday 6th March Public meeting 19.00 to 21.00
Venue: Ramada Encore Hotel-Talbot Street
Speakers: Sandra Trotter: Clara Zetkin - Our Heritage,
Jennifer McCarey: Women and Solidarity:
the Red Clydeside and Belfast 1919
Chairperson: Dr Jenny Farrell.
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