By Frank Connolly

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April 2013Vol. 12 No.3

President Higgins on workers rightsPage 8 Page 26

Gaza: a terrible beauty

Launch of Young WorkersNetworkPage 9

ISSN 0791-458X

Row looms on public service pay

CLARE DALY INTERVIEWPage 10-11

KNOW YOURRIGHTS: HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENTPage 23

The Government will face a co-ordinatedindustrial response across the entiretrade union movement if it legislates forpay cuts in the public service, SIPTUGeneral President, Jack O’Connor haswarned.

In order to avoid ‘an unnecessary and mutu-ally destructive confrontation’ the Governmentshould instead negotiate fresh arrangements onpay and reform with public service unions thatwould retain the protections of the Croke ParkAgreement against compulsory redundancy, in-discriminate redeployment and outsourcing oftheir work, he argued.

He said that the rejection of the Labour Re-lations Commission proposals on public servicereform in mid-April “reflected a deeper resent-ment among workers generally and public ser-vants, in particular, towards the way in whichthey have been forced to carry the lion’s shareof the burden of adjustment while the wealthyhave contributed very little.”

“It also reflected fatigue with the troika im-posed one sided austerity strategy of the lastfive years, which transparently doesn’t work,”Jack O’Connor said.

He said that the recent deal on the Anglo-Irish bank promissory notes allows the Govern-ment some room for manoeuvre this yearwhich could be used to ease the scale of cuts inthe October budget. An investment stimuluspackage and higher taxes on the rich wouldlessen the requirement for the proposed €1 bil-

How the Countess saved our lives...page 21

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LIBERTYCROSSWORD-WIN a hotel breakfor two...Page 31

Membership Information & Support Centre (MISC)

8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday - Friday

LibertyNOVEMBER 2012

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Gilroy the Irish Grillo?Page 17

Water is a public resourcePage 5

Medtronic workplacecommittee interviewPage 7

Liberty ViewPage 15

Austerity over by OctoberPage 12

Justice for Colombia director Mariela KohoninterviewPage 27

Remembering 1913Page 21

Liberty is dedicated to providing a platform for progressive news and views.

If you have any ideas for articles or comments please contact: communcationsdepartment@siptu.ie

Liberty is published by the Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1

SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor • Vice President, Patricia King •General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn

Production: SIPTU Communications Department, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, Tel: 01 8588217 • Email: communicationsdepartment@siptu.ie

SIPTU Head of Communications, Frank Connolly • Journalist: Scott Millar • Design: Sonia Slevin (SIPTU) & Joe Mitchell (Brazier Media) • Publications Assistant, Deirdre Price • Administrative Assistant, Karen Hackett

Produced, designed, edited and printed by trade union labourPrinted and distributed by The Irish Times, City West, Dublin.

In this month’s Liberty

LibertyView

Advertise in LibertyTo advertise in Liberty, contact the Communications Department on 01 858 6372 or email communicationsdepart-ment@siptu.ie • Liberty offers very competitive rates for advertisements which reach SIPTU members countrywide

Mario Francis, the mine worker killedin an underground rockfall in theLisheen Mine, Co. Tipperary, wasburied in his native Philippines onWednesday, 16th April. A large crowd attended the funeral of

the SIPTU member in the CatholicChurch in Balamban on the island ofCebu. Mario (49) died on the 4th Apriland before his body was repatriated alarge number of his work colleagues at-tended a Commemoration Mass in theChurch of the Assumption, Urlingford. SIPTU members at the Lisheen Mine

have expressed their sympathy toMario’s wife My-Ann, their sons Jomar(9) and Jolrem (5), and his children froma previous marriage in the Philippines,Julemar (22) and Mario Jnr (15).

The Dublin Council of TradeUnions will be holding itsannual May Day demonstra-tion on Wednesday, 1st May. The event will start in Parnell

Square at 7.00 p.m., marching to Lib-erty Hall for a public meeting at

Beresford Place. Speakers will in-clude young trade unionists, as wellas representatives from the NationalWomen’s Council Ireland and theCoalition to Protect the Lowest-Paid.The theme of this year’s event is

'1913/2013: Unfinished Business'.The ‘unfinished business’ includes

legislation to ensure recognition oftrade unions in all employments andnegotiating rights for all members.The demonstration will be followedby a social event in Liberty Hall.There will be music and stalls deal-ing with various aspects of the1913 Lockout.

May Day in Dublin: 1913-2013 Unfinished Business

Mine worker buried

Trade unionists outside Leinster House on Monday, 22ndApril. They handed in a statement for Taoiseach Enda Kenny,calling for legislation on the ‘X case’. Pictured (L to R) atfront: SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Organiser, Ethel Buck-ley from SIPTU, Chair of the ICTU Women’s Committee,Máire Mulcahy, UNITE Regional Equalities Organiser, TarynTrainor. Photo: Photocall Ireland

lion cut in the public service payand pensions bill over the nextthree years.

“There is some room for ma-noeuvre as a result of the promis-sory note deal which will affordbreathing space of €1bn in 2014and €1.025bn in 2015. Proper useof this accompanied by the launchof a significant off balance sheetstimulus programme as well as abelated tax contribution from therich would lessen the requirementfor a €1bn cut in public servicepay and pensions.

He said that capping publiclyfunded pensions to a maximum of€100,000 per annum and impos-ing a greater tax on high incomeswould help to maintain social co-

hesion and introduce a degree ofequity into the adjustment pro-gramme.

“The Government should takesteps to redress the inequity inthe adjustment process to date. Agood start could be made by de-claring its intention to cap pub-licly funded pensions to amaximum of €100,000 perannum, even to the extent of pro-moting a constitutional referen-dum to do it if necessary.

“The Fine Gael party shouldgive some ground on the taxationof wealth and of those on high in-comes. Their insistence on pro-tecting this tiny minority at thetop is detrimental to maintainingthe social cohesion that is neces-

sary for economic recovery. “Such an approach would cre-

ate the context for negotiation ofa settlement in two phases entail-ing interim terms to apply to theend of this year and better termsfor 2014 and 2015.

“An unnecessary and mutuallydestructive confrontation wouldbe avoided. A degree of equalitywould be introduced into the ad-justment process and public serv-ice workers would retain theprotections of the Croke ParkAgreement against compulsory re-dundancy, indiscriminate rede-ployment and outsourcing of theirwork,” he said.

LibertyAPRIL 2013

2

Continued from page 1 - Row looms on public service pay

LibertyAPRIL 2013

3News

The Killarney Golf Club hasengaged four different sets ofauditors and consultants in re-cent months costing €396,000in fees, company accountsshow. The consultants werehired to assist the Golf Clubin it’s “restructuring.”In late April the club was ordered

to pay a bar worker redundancy

terms agreed with her last summer. Margaret Doyle worked in the

bar of the club since 1989 andwas offered voluntary redun-dancy last year. Following talks,she accepted over €62,000 in alump sum payment. However,the money was never paid. Doyle entered into legal pro-

ceedings and the Master of theHigh Court on Thursday, 18thApril, ordered the club to pay the

monies owed together with in-terest. Denis Hynes said: “While

there have been no problems forthe company in paying out largesums in consultancy fees therehas been a marked unwilling-ness shown by it to honourworking conditions and redun-dancy terms agreed with itsworkers, many of whom haveover 20 years service.”

Nearly €400,000 paid in consultancy fees

Workers at Killarney GolfClub will begin strike actionon Tuesday, 7th May, follow-ing a management refusal toengage constructively withthe Labour Court in relationto proposed redundancies.SIPTU members voted over-

whelmingly on Thursday, 18thApril, in favour of strike action atthe golf club. The management served notice

of redundancy on 21 of the41 staff on 10th April, eventhough a Labour Courthearing had been set forMonday, 29th April, to dis-cuss ways of minimisingjob losses at the prestigiousgolf venue.SIPTU Organiser, Denis

Hynes said: “Unfortunatelythe workers feel they havebeen left with no optionbut to vote for industrial ac-tion. The management ofKillarney Golf Club has acted in acallous manner in trying to imposejob losses without negotiation.“The workers believe the aggres-

sive behaviour of management inseeking to impose unnecessary re-dundancies and massive wage cutsis due to the influence of an out-

side consultant, who in the pastwas contraversially involved in amajor dispute in Irish Ferries. “Workers are particularly

angered that this consultant’s approach is being adopted by abusiness of which State agency,Fáilte Ireland, owns 77%. In viewof this state involvement in thebusiness the workers are request-ing that Minister for Jobs, Enter-prise and Innovation, RichardBruton, directly intervenes and ensures that the company

complies with a Labour Court recommendation to attend furtherhearings in order to reach anagreed resolution to this dispute.”Senior SIPTU Shop Steward, Dan

Morris, who has worked at the clubfor 29 years, said: “The workers arevery disappointed by the manner

in which they have been treated bythe management of a club whichthey have served well for manyyears. The attempt to sack the majority of the workforce withoutnegotiation has devastated theworkers and the local area. This isclearly an attempt to remove work-ers so they can be replaced by staffon greatly reduced wages and conditions of employment.”Last year, the union referred the

dispute at the Killarney Golf Clubto the Labour Relations Commis-

sion (LRC). This year thematter was referred tothe Labour Court. As partof the LRC process theunion engaged an inde-pendent assessor to eval-uate the club’s financialposition.Denis Hynes said: “The

assessor’s report indi-cated that managementhad greatly exaggeratedthe financial difficulties

of the club. The report concludedthat a degree of restructuring andsome job losses were necessary toensure the profitability of the busi-ness rather than the 35% pay cutand enforced redundancy of themajority of staff which is beingsought by management.”

Killarney Golf Club workers to strike in May

Back Row L to R ; Willie Quigley, Eugene Finnegan, Leo Sheridan Matts Petterson, Jon Mostrom,Mike Lowther, Jack Gordan, Christy Blake. Middle Row L to R; Brendan Ecclestone, PaudricBoyle, Ian Mc Donnell, John Regan, Pat Conlon, Frankie Farrelly. Front Row L to R; Mick Flynn,

Golf club workers,Photo L to R: SusanBowler, Dan Morris,SIPTU Organisers Paula O’Loughlin and Dennis Hynes Front Row: PatrickFleming, Sean Moynihan

Agreement at Tara Mines SIPTU members at Tara Mines, Co. Meath, have voted to accept pro-posals aimed at bringing to a conclusion the long running dispute atthe company. Among the key clauses contained in the proposed agree-ment is a commitment by the owners of Tara Mines, multinationalBoliden, to provide future capital investment of €110 million whichis needed to maintain the mine’s operation to 2018 and beyond.

SIPTU school visits MISC representatives regularly visit schools around the country to ex-plain how trade unions work to students. Pictured is MISC Sector Or-ganiser, Chris Rowland, with Leaving cert. Applied Programme pupilsof the Presentation Secondary School, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. Row-land said: “Young people are very interested in fairness and equalityin workplaces. Unions need to develop connections and listen to theconcerns of the next generation of employees.”For more information on school visits contact crowland@siptu.ie

Youth Workers ProtestSIPTU members and supporters staged a rally against further cuts toyouth work budgets outside Dáil Eireann on Friday, 19th April.SIPTU Organiser, Paul Hansard, said: “Over the past two weeks, youthprojects working in the most disadvantaged areas in Dublin have re-ceived their budget allocation for 2013, with most facing a 10% cut.These projects are funded by the Department of Children via the Cityof Dublin Youth Services Board.”

Dublin Port advanced shop stewardsOn Thursday, 11th April, shop stewards in Dublin Port received theirHETAC certificates. Photo left to right. Front row: Ken Murphy, JohnBirmingham, Brian Dalton. Back row: James Kennedy, Margaret deCourcey (SIPTU tutor), Ethel Buckley (SIPTU Equality and CampaignsOrganiser), Pat Paisley and Maurice O Beirne.

Workers to take strike action Photos: Sean Kelly

LibertyAPRIL 2013

4 News

THE Pharmaceutical Chemi-cal and Medical Devices Sec-tor has concluded acollaboration agreementwith the Jim Kemmy Schoolof Business, University ofLimerick.The agreement will see co-opera-

tion on areas of common interestbetween SIPTU and the Jim KemmySchool including human resourcesresearch and the promotion of fur-ther education in the field of collec-tive bargaining and workplacenegotiation theory. Sector Organiser, Alan O’Leary,

told Liberty: “This collaborationagreement arose out of a visit to thecollege by the Sector Committee in2010 and talks with the staff of theDepartment of Personnel and Em-ployee Relations regarding commonareas of interest. “Our agreement provides a very

solid foundation for the sector to

SIPTU representatives havebegun talks with manage-ment at Diageo Ltd in a bidto minimise job loses afterthe company’s announce-ment on 11th April that itintends to cease operationsat its brewery in Waterford.SIPTU Organiser, Terry Bryan, told

Liberty: “SIPTU members under-stand that the company intends toconsolidate its operations at its St.James Gate Brewery in Dublin. “This is a short-sighted strategy,

particularly when it is taken into ac-count that a refurbishment of theWaterford plant, costing €40 mil-lion, was only completed in 2004.”He added: “The union’s negotia-

tions with the company will be fo-cused on minimising job losses andsecuring fair and reasonable redun-dancy packages for any of our mem-bers who are made redundant.”SIPTU represents 16 direct em-

ployees at the Waterford Breweryand a further six support staff.

Talks begin over threat to Waterfordbrewery jobs

provide part-time and full-time de-gree and masters students with apositive and an alternative view oftrade unions. “We have held a number of lec-

tures in the Kemmy School to out-line our sector’s strategy on 2% perannum stability and pay agreementsand students have responded verypositively.”

SIPTU agreement with Universityof Limerick on research

James Plunkett’s epic novelset during the 1913 Lockout,Strumpet City, has been cho-sen as this year’s ‘Dublin:One City One Book’ byDublin City Council.The book recounts the effects

of the Lockout on a cast of char-acters from all walks of Dublinlife. A series of events are beingheld during April to mark the se-lection of Strumpet City by theCity Council as the book allDubliners should read.The events included a

lunchtime songs and story ses-sion in the The Church Café &Bar in Dublin on Friday, 12thApril. Over 150 people attendedthis event to hear labour histo-rian Francis Devine give a briefoutline of the history of theLockout and the rendition ofcontemporary songs by FergusWhelan and friends.Commenting on Strumpet

City at its unveiling as theDublin: One City One Book,SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor,said he was struck by the parallels between the Dublin of2013 and that of 100 years ago.

He reflected that Plunkett’sseminal book provided a graphicdepiction of a major event in aflawed society, which was ulti-mately a conflict between twosets of values – “the values ofthe slum, interdependence andcollective solidarity versus thevalues of the quick buck.”The special edition of the

book published by Gill &Macmillan can be borrowedfrom all branches of Dublin CityLibraries or bought in bookshops.See page 21 for 1913 events.

Dubliners encouraged to read Strumpet City

1913 Tapestry pupilsreceive certificatesMORE than 50 pupils fromthree Dublin schools re-ceived certificates for theirwork on the 1913 LockoutCommemoration Tapestryat a ceremony in the Na-tional College of Art andDesign (NCAD) on Tuesday,9th April.The pupils from Larkin Com-

munity College (Dublin 1), StLouis High School (Rathmines)and Mater Dei Primary School(Dublin 8) have helped embroidersome of the 30 multi-media tex-tile panels which combine to tellthe story of the 1913 Lockout.Presenting their certificates of

achievement to the pupils SIPTUCampaigns and Equality Organ-

iser, Ethel Buckley said: “The tap-estry will probably be the mostenduring cultural artefact pro-duced out of this year’s commem-orations of the Lockout. “It tells the story of heroism of

ordinary working people, menand women, who refused to bebullied by employers into surren-dering their rights to belong tothe union of their choice and tolook for better pay and condi-tions.”Pupils attending the event said

that the project helped them con-nect with the events of their greatgrand-parents’ time, whichhelped to shape modern Ireland.The tapestry is scheduled for

completion later this year.

Students from St. Louis High SchoolPhotos: Tony Murphy, NCAD

Larkin Community College students

Mater Dei Primary School students

From left: Jack O’Connor, Professor PaddyGunnigle (UL), Jemma Mackey and AlanO’Leary (SIPTU), Tom Turner (UL)

LibertyAPRIL 2013

5News

ORE than 1,354,990people have signeda EU-wide petitioncalling for water

services to remain in publicownership. The petition calls on the European

Commission to “propose legislationimplementing the human right towater and sanitation as recognisedby the United Nations, and promot-ing the provision of water and sani-tation as essential public services forall.”It also calls for the supply and

management of water resources notto be subject to EU ‘internal marketrules’ and their exclusion from so-

called ‘market liberalisation’.‘The Water and Sanitation are a

Human Right!’ petition received thevocal backing of more than 100SIPTU members in the local author-ity water services who rallied out-side Leinster House on 21st March. The rally was part of a EU-wide

campaign by the European Federa-tion of Public Service Unions, whichrepresents eight million public serv-ice workers, focused on highlightingits concern at the liberalisation of EUlaws governing the ownership ofwater resources.Following the protest, workers

and SIPTU representatives held ameeting in the Dáil with TDs andsenators from all political parties.

SIPTU Local Authority Chairper-son, Matt Henry, told Liberty: “Withthe decision of the Irish Governmentto establish Irish Water and transferwater assets out of local democraticownership we have every reason tobe concerned. “The concern in relation to who

owns and controls water is the sameacross Europe and internationally.Major international companies arelining up to pressurise politicians toopen up publicly-owned water forprivate ownership.”

To sign the petition and learn more about the threat to publicownership of water resources, visit www.right2water.eu

SIPTU members in the local authority water services who rallied outside Leinster House on 21st March. Photo: Mark Moloney

M1.35m sign water petition

Suspended Cork council staff in return to workFOLLOWING discussions withmanagement on Tuesday, 2nd April,three Cork County Council workerssuspended in March for carryingout urgent road maintenance inbreach of council safety procedureswere given the go-ahead to return

to work.SIPTU Organiser, Con Casey,

said: “Following discussions withmanagement the matter was definitively concluded in accor-dance with the grievance and disciplinary procedures of Cork

County Council to the satisfac-tion of all the parties involved.”The incident had caused a

degree of media controversy witha number of local public figures calling for the men to bereinstated.

Chomsky meets Vita Cortex workers

Noam Chomsky (centre) with Vita Cortex workers Photo: Joe Kelleher

Trade union organsier,writer and political activistJames Connolly was for-mally nominated on Friday,19th April, to be commemo-rated in the title of a newtransport bridge over theLiffey.The SIPTU supported James

Connolly Bridge campaign pre-sented Dublin City Council offi-cials with application papersoutlining why the inspirationaltrade union leader is the figurebest suited to be commemoratedin the new bridge’s name.Actor Brian Murray, whose fa-

mous roles include Fitz in theRTE production of Strumpet City,said: “During the early years ofthe last century James Connollygave voice to the aspirations andhopes of ordinary men andwomen in Dublin. He envisioneda city free of tenement slums, acity welcoming to immigrantsand one run efficiently for the

benefit of its people.“His activities during these

years speak of the aspirationsand desires of working people.His writings on many topics in-cluding Irish history, workersrights and economics mark himas one of the nation’s leadingthinkers. His vocal support of thewomen’s movement have seenhim accredited as one of Ireland’sfirst feminist writers.”The other leading cultural fig-

ures backing the campaign in-clude singers Imelda May, ChristyMoore, Andy Irvine, Mary Blackand Frances Black; actors BryanMurray, Gabriel Byrne and JerO’Leary; author Irvine Welsh; co-medians Brendan Grace andBrendan O’Carroll; poets TheoDorgan and Paula Meehan, aswell as artist Robert Ballagh andDublin GAA star Alan Brogan.To sign the petition supporting

the James Connolly Bridge cam-paign visit: www.siptu.ie

James ConnollyBridge Campaign

Renowned human rights ac-tivist and writer, Noam Chom-sky discussed their 161 daysit-in with the former VitaCortex workers in Cork onThursday (4th April).During the ninety minute

meeting at the Riverside Hotelthe workers including SIPTUshop stewards, Sean Kelleher andJim Power, and other unionmembers discussed the back-ground to the dispute over re-

dundancy payments, the lengthyoccupation of the foam manufac-turing plant on the Kinsale Roadin Cork and the massive solidar-ity they received from otherworkers, trade unions and com-munities in Cork and across thecountry. A film of the dispute,‘161 Days’ will be shown at theJim Connell festival in Kells,county Meath, on Saturday, 4thMay.

LibertyAPRIL 2013

6 News

Sinn Féin supports right to collective bargainingSinn Féin has backed the tradeunion movement’s call for theGovernment to enact legislationenshrining the right of workersto collective bargaining andtrade union recognition.

Delegates at the party’s annualArd Fheis in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, onSaturday,13th April, voted over-whelming to support a motion call-ing on the Government to “ensurethat the centenary of the 1913 Lock-out is marked by enshrining theright to collective bargaining andtrade union recognition in law.

Speaking in support of the motionKilkenny county councillor andSIPTU organiser, Kathleen Funchion,said: “Employers have IBEC, ISMEand a whole host of organisations torepresent them. Let us give workersthe same basic fundamental right.Good and fair employers and busi-ness owners should support this asit shows respect for those who arethe cornerstone of the enterprise."

Speaking in support of the motion,Kilkenny county councillor and SIPTUorganiser Kathleen Funchion.

CS shake-up ‘must considercommunities and workers’THE West Cork DevelopmentPartnership met with localLabour TD Michael McCarthyon Friday, 5th April, to express its concerns overplans by Minister for Envi-ronment, Community andLocal Government Phil Hoganto radically alter existingfunding and managementstructures for communityservices.

The West Cork Development Part-nership currently delivers a widerange of essential community,tourism, agri-support, eldercare andemployment projects across thewest Cork region.

The Government’s local govern-ment reform document Putting Peo-ple First sets out an “alignment”between local authorities and LDCsthat will have major impact for bothworkers and local community serv-ices. This alignment is due to becompleted in the coming months.

More than 50 Local DevelopmentCompanies based throughout everycounty in the State currently delivera range of quality community-basedservices with regard to enterprise,education and training in areas ofdisadvantage. Under the Minister’splans, close to half of these compa-nies will close.

SIPTU claims proposals to “align”these services within local govern-ment structures also put millions ofeuro of European funding at risk.

Speaking after the meeting SIPTUOrganiser, Trevor Quinn, told Lib-erty: “Michael McCarthy expressedsupport for our view that thereshould be a worker representative

West Cork Development Partnership’s Pat Welsh, Joe Cronin and, far right, Fergal Conlon voiced theirconcerns about funding changes to Labour TD Michael McCarthy, second from right

added to the ImplementationGroup charged with overseeingthis ‘alignment’.

“Michael is chair of the JointOireachtas Committee for Envi-ronment Culture and Gaeltacht,and so his voice should carry some

weight. We welcome his supportfor SIPTU’s position on the Min-ister’s plans.”

He added: “If Minister Hogan isintent on making such big deci-sions about our jobs and our localservices the least we would ex-pect is a process of consultationwith our union about these plansand their implications for bothemployees and the communitiesthey work with.

“The bottom-up approach ofindependent Local DevelopmentCompanies has been internation-ally recognised as a best practicemodel.

“The independent nature ofthese companies is also a stipula-tion for continued receipt of mil-lions of euro in European ruraldevelopment funding.

“Any change must consider theinterests of communities andworkers.”

Changes:Phil Hogan

By Paul Gavan

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Galway Trades Unions 1913 - 2013Thursday 2nd May at 7.00 p.m. SIPTU OfficesSIPTU’s Galway District Committee is marking the occasion of the Centenary of the 1913 Lockout and celebrating May Day on Thursday 2nd May 2013 at 7.00 p.m. in the Sean Meade Room at the SIPTU offices on Forster Court.

Members of all trade unions are welcome and there is no charge, but for catering purposes, please let us know if you are attending. Tell us your name and your union by Friday 26th April by any of the following means:-

E-mail aoreilly@siptu.ie

of the C y of the 1913 Lockout and celebrating May CentenarSIPTU’s Galway District Committee is marking the occasion Galway District C

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1913 - 2013Galway Trades Unions

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Galway Trades Unions

E-mail aoreilly@siptu.ie aoreilly@siptu.ie

riday 2 26th April by any of the following means:-Fyou are attending. Tell us your name and your union by e attending. T

ge , but for catering purposes, please let us know if charMembe ers of all trade unions are welcome and there is no

Meade Room at the SIPTU offices on FDay on Thursday 2nd May 2013 at 7.00 p.m. in the Sean Thursday 2nd May 2013 at 7.00 p.m. in the Sean

E-mail aoreilly@siptu.ie

riday 26th April by any of the following means:-ell us your name and your union by

ge, but for catering purposes, please let us know if Members of all trade unions are welcome and there is no

orster Court.Meade Room at the SIPTU offices on FDay on Thursday 2nd May 2013 at 7.00 p.m. in the Sean

ell us your name and your union by ge, but for catering purposes, please let us know if

Members of all trade unions are welcome and there is no

Day on Thursday 2nd May 2013 at 7.00 p.m. in the Sean

SIPTU organiser Kathleen Funchion

LibertyAPRIL 2013

7Workplace Committee

‘Some people come tome asking what does the union do. They don’tunderstand they ARE theunion...’

ITH 1,400 SIPTUmembers, theMedtronic med-ical device manu-

facturing plant in Ballybrit,county Galway, has one ofthe largest organised work-forces in the country. The plant, which manufactures

stents, catheters and other medicalitems, has a history which stretchesback to the 1970s.It had two previous owners, be-

fore US multinational Medtronictook the business over in 1999. SIPTU Senior Shop Steward, Pat

Daly, has worked at the plant for 37years. He told Liberty: “The unionhas been organised in the plantsince day one. Initially, it was theFederated Workers Union of Irelandthen its successor SIPTU. “I joined the committee after

about nine or 10 years working inthe plant. I have been on and off thecommittee ever since. The main rea-son I got involved was to get betterpay and conditions for me and mycolleagues.”The workplace committee has 11

elected members with representa-tives drawn from four of the fivebuildings, which make up theMedtronic complex. Day, evening and nightshift work-

forces are all represented. All com-mittee members are from theassociate assembler grade ofMedtronic employees with 800other workers in the plant, includingtechnicians and administrative staff,not organised into a union. The workplace committee meets

By Scott Millar

twice a month to discuss issues ofconcern to members. Workplacecommittee members meet localmanagement once a month, and sen-ior management every two months,after which the outcome of thesediscussions is relayed to the mem-bership.Agreements on workers’ pay and

conditions are concluded on a three-yearly basis with negotiations involving the workplace committee,SIPTU representatives and manage-ment. The system has generally worked

well with Pat recalling only one inci-dent going to the Labour RelationsCommission during his time work-ing at the plant and there is generalsatisfaction in the workforce overthe pay and conditions secured by

the union in successive agreements.However, encouraging greater in-

volvement of the entire membershipin union activity is a concern of com-mittee member, Liz Dolan. She said: “Some people come to

me asking what does the union do.They don’t understand they are theunion. Because we have already secured good conditions it can behard to explain to them that theseconditions are only there because ofthe union. “They seem to just assume the

company has given these things tothe workforce.”A lack of understanding of the

union’s achievements is also of con-cern to Colette McCafferty. She hasworked in the plant for 11 years andserved on the workplace committee

for three. “I joined the committee to speak

up for the workers,” Colette told Lib-erty, “I meet people on a daily basisand anybody that has a query raisesit with me and I bring that to thecommittee. “Unfortunately, some people don’t

understand what the union is about.A lot of people think the union isjust something you go to when youget into a bit of bother.” Mary Talbot, who became in-

volved in the workplace committeefour years ago as she “wanted tohave an input” in the lead up to anew pay agreement, is also con-cerned with ensuring the SIPTUmessage reaches the increasingly di-verse and young workforce. She said: “The majority of workers

would be in their 20s or early 30swhile some have only recentlymoved to Ireland. Many do notgrasp the importance of organisa-tion in protecting and improvingtheir pay and conditions.“I joined a union in a previous

job unbeknown to my employer, Iknow the value of union organisa-tion. I have always felt you are bet-ter in a union than not. “What we need to do as a com-

mittee and a union is provide moreinformation about what the uniondoes, what it has achieved for work-ers.”Liz added:“We really need to

modernise and appeal to youngerpeople. We need to make the unionmore attractive. “There is often a lot of informa-

tion about where the union startedbut many people aren’t as con-cerned with the history as what theunion is doing now and will do inthe future.”One young worker who has got

the message is Fiona Duane, whoonly joined the committee in re-cent weeks and is also active in theworkplace canteen committee. She said: “I was nominated by

some of the work colleagues to takethe position. I have an interest inrepresenting people and ensuringthings work as well as they can. I’mjust learning the ropes at the mo-ment but it’s interesting.”The SIPTU Medtronic Workplace

Committee and SIPTU Communica-tions Department will be producinga newsletter for members in thecompany for distribution nextmonth.

W

Medtronic workplace committee members: from left Pat Daly, Marion Walsh, Mary Talbot,Colette McCafferty, Fiona Duane, Una Kilroy, Liz Dolan and Albert O’Loughlin

President: workers’ rights must be at the centre of a rebuilt economy

RESIDENT Michael DHiggins has called onIrish trade unionists toplay their part in “the

transition from an economicmodel that has failed human-ity to one that has yet to befully realised.” Speaking at the official opening of

the recently-reburbished Communi-cations Workers Union offices onthe North Circular Road in Dublin,President Higgins also said that thepersonal, social and cultural rights ofevery worker must be at the centreof a re-built economy. Referring to the commemoration

of the 1913 Lockout, he said that weowe “an enormous debt of gratitude,not only to James Larkin, but to allthe workers who stood bravely be-side him during that long and diffi-cult fight.”He said: “As the heirs and benefi-

ciaries of that difficult and bitterstruggle one hundred years ago, wemust, as we currently face our owndifficult times demonstrate thatsame determination and resource-fulness to bring about positivechanges and to help create a societythat we can be proud of – an inclu-sive society based on the importantvalues of participation, respect for alland fairness.“It is a challenge in which all

unions, including the Communica-tions Workers’ Union, will be calledupon to play their part as Irelandmakes the transition from an eco-nomic model that has failed human-ity to one that has yet to be fullyrealised.”

In making that transition, Presi-dent Higgins said: “We must refocusand reaffirm the values of active cit-izenship and a caring community”and reject the view that the individ-ual is “no more than a consumer ofgoods and services”. He continued: “We must ensure

that the personal, social and culturalrights of each citizen, indeed everyworker, are placed firmly at the cen-tre of a re-built economy as we de-liver our view of a newly-imaginedIreland – an Ireland where all citi-zens can participate equally.“Tá gluaiseacht na gceardchu-

mann tar éis a bheith lárnach i bh-forbairt phobal le níos mó ná céadbliain anuas agus creidim go nglac-faidh an ghluaiseacht sin, nó gurcheart go nglacfadh, gluaiseacht inabhfuil sibh go léir chomh gníomhachsin, ról lárnach in atógáil ár sochaí abhfuil an oiread sin dochair déantadó.”[The trade union movement has

been central to the development ofcommunity for over a century and Ibelieve that the trade union move-ment, of which you all form such anactive part, will or should I say must,play a pivotal role in rebuilding ourdamaged society].”The new offices are named after

William Norton, a was former gen-eral secretary of the Post OfficeWorkers Union (previously the DualWorkers union formed in 1900 andnow the CWU) and leader of theLabour Party from 1932 to 1960.

P

President Michael D Higgins and CWU General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick at the official opening of the refurbished CWU offices on North Circular Road. Photo: Gerry Maxwell.

LibertyAPRIL 2013

8 News

3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th May 2013 in Kells and Crosakiel, Co. Meath

FRIDAY: Official opening by Councillor Sarah Reilly, Cathorlaigh Kells Town Council and Paul Anderson M.P.

SATURDAY: Annual Summer School in Kells Recource Centre, Pig roasting event and Irish night in Jacks Porterhouse venue

SUNDAY: Annual commemoration at monument in Crosakiel, followed by entertainment in McCabes lounge.

SATURDAY LUNCH: “161 Days” Film of the Vita Cortex dispute must be seen by everyone.

Prior to the weekend, the Kells Art Club in association with Jim Connell Society are showing Strumpet City, story of the Dublin City Lockout, main organiser, Eileen Morgan, each Thursday night, commencing 21st March.

MAIN SPEAKERS:Bob Crow, General Secretary, RMTSteve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary, CWUPaul Anderson MP for BlaydonJack O’Connor, General President, SIPTUDr. John Callow, London UniversityDavid Hopper, General Secretary, Durham miners

And more still not confirmed

MAIN SPONSORS:Sponsored by The Gathering, Meath Tourism & Local Authorities and the British and Irish trade union movement.

Contact: Tommy Grimes 087-9806688 Brian Collins 087-6829205

LibertyAPRIL 2013

9News

New law to criminalise modern-day slavery in Ireland

The Migrant Rights Centre Ire-land (MRCI) has welcomed thepublication of the Criminal Law(Human Trafficking) (Amend-ment) Bill 2013. The Bill will crim-inalise forced labour (modern-dayslavery) in Ireland and protect vic-tims who have been forced tocommit begging and other crimi-nal activities.Gráinne O’Toole of MRCI stated,

“Over the past 6 years, MRCI hasseen over 180 cases of forcedlabour in Ireland. Forced labour ison the increase and without sucha law victims of forced labour arenot protected. Our experience isthat victims will not come forwardif there are not clear protections,rights and supports in place.We have seen cases where vic-

tims have been forced to commitcriminal activity – such as workingin cannabis farms – and are thencharged with the offence while thereal perpetrator, their employer,walks free. When this Bill is en-acted, forced labour will at longlast be illegal in Ireland and the au-thorities will be able to target thereal criminals.”Fauziah Shaari, who was a

victim of forced labour in a privatehome in Ireland, said “I wastreated as a slave. I still have notfound justice. The change in thelaw will help other victims to comeforward and will make sure em-ployers involved in forced labourwill be punished.”SIPTU Services Division Organ-

iser, John King, called for the swiftenactment of the Bill.He said: “An early enactment of

this Bill is now essential to ensurethat victims of forced labour areprotected by robust legislation.This will allow them to have cer-tainty that this form of modernday slavery is regarded as a crimi-nal act by the State, and that theperpetrators will be prosecuted.“The enactment of this legisla-

tion would put in place anothermeasure along the way to ensuringthat all those who work in Irelandwill have their minimum rightsprotected by the State and canenjoy a threshold of decency whilethey work.”

Youth unemploymentcrisis must top agendaNEW figures from Eurostatwhich show that unemploy-ment in the 15 to 24 agegroup in Ireland stands atjust under 31%, must pushthis crisis to the top of thepolitical agenda, accordingto SIPTU policy analyst Lo-raine Mulligan.Statistics released in April re-

vealed the Irish rate reached 30.8%in February 2013. The previous highfor youth unemployment in Irelandwas 30.5% in the fourth quarter of

2011 compared to the Euro area av-erage of 21.4%. Loraine Mulligan told Liberty:

“The effect of emigration almostcertainly conceals the full extent ofthe problem. The picture across Eu-rope is also worrying, particularly inSpain and Greece, with youth un-employment rates of almost 50%. “Action is urgently required to

provide vulnerable young peoplewith opportunities to enhance theirprospects for work and progres-sion.” See page 22.

SIPTU will launch its newinitiative the Young Workers’ Network on MayDay, Wednesday, 1 May at5.00 p.m. in the ConnollyRoom, Liberty Hall Auditorium.

The event will feature the premiereof a new short film on the realitiesof being a young precarious workerin Ireland. The workers who ap-pear in the film –who responded toa call-out on twitter- will be thereto talk about their situation. Thewill be a participative discussionon precarious work and how we can organise to combat insecure,exploitative forms of work.

The event will also launch the findings of a new survey of youngworkers’ opinions on work, lifeand the future, as well as the issues on which young workersthink the Network should take action.

Join us on May Day to find outmore about the Young Workers Net-work and to take the opportunityto meet like-minded young peoplewho want to have a say in theirworking lives and in their unions.

Who: Young workers (under 35), working full-time, part-time, casual or unemployed who are interested in takingaction for better jobs & strong unions

What: Launch of the Young Workers’ Network

Where: Connolly Hall, Liberty Hall Theatre

When: Wednesday, 1st May at 5.00 p.m. (Network memberswill join the youth bloc on the May Day march, Garden of Remembrance @ 7.00 p.m.)

Why: Because young workers need jobs, living wages and unions that will fight their corner

Find us on facebook(http://fb.me/youngworker-snetwork), twitter (@siptuy-outh) and on our newwebsite www.youngworker-snetwork.ie (launching onMay Day).

Building a future that works

Launch of theYoung Workers’Network

My future

My voice

My union

Saturday 4th May2.00 p.m. in the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork City

Free to all Trade Union members and those with an interest in the early days of our struggle and the struggle for Irish Independence.

Tadhg Barry DocumentaryPremier

EW TDs have had asan eventful two yearsas Clare Daly. Thenorth Dublin TD has

won admirers, her firebrandstyle of campaigning poli-tics bringing her to the forein debates concerning re-productive rights, austerityand allegations of Gardacorruption.However, she has also fallen

out with former comrades alongthe way, most notably with herresignation from the SocialistParty last August.

“I’m still a socialist TD” shetells Liberty, “as far as I’m con-cerned my politics have notchanged but I don’t believe theSocialist Party will be a vehicle ofmajor change. “You have to build a bridge to peo-

ple, that doesn’t mean you haveto dilute your programme but Idon’t believe that the SocialistParty explains it well enough.” This is Daly’s take on the

break she believes was brewinglong before her election to theDáil. The resignation ended a stage

of Daly’s life as a political activistthat had brought her from stu-

dent politics in NIHE, nowDublin City University,through involvement in theLabour Party and the anti-water and bin charges cam-paigns of the 1990s to theDáil. It is her second break with

a political party. Daly wasamong the 12 persons ex-pelled from the Labour Partyin 1989 for alleged associa-tion with the Trotskyite Mili-tant Tendency, a move thatmirrored similar action againstMilitant activists in the BritishLabour Party.Her view is that the current jun-

ior partner in a “vicious austeritygovernment” and the organisa-tion she was a member of all

those years ago, are poles apart.“In the 1980s the Labour Party

was something different. Therewas a very strong left in the partythat favoured the nationalisationof the commanding heights of theeconomy, that fully supportedstate industry, that fully sup-

ported free education, freehealthcare, a decent society forall, was absolute in its defence ofthe welfare state and implacablein its opposition to the marketsystem.”The political culture in Leinster

House is one factor she believes

is crucial in what she believes isthe dimming of the political ide-alism of her former colleagues. “I think many TDs spend such

a long time seeking to get electedthat for many of them that be-comes the goal. Any idealism andthe policies they had to change

things are side-lined; it’s justplough the line of least resistanceand do not offend. “Probably many of them start

off well but that’s where they endup being enclosed in here [DáilEireann].”Escaping what she believes is a

corrosive culture, Daly is pleasedthat her Dáil office, along withmost independent TDs and SinnFéin deputies, is not in LeinsterHouse but the adjacent Depart-ment of Agriculture complex.“I’m very happy to be away

from it. It means we have a bit of

a longer run if a vote is called butI think we are much better off, be-cause we’re not caught up in thewhole pomp and ceremony of Le-inster House, I think that is agood thing.”Finance is another factor, ac-

cording to Daly, in the divergence

between TDs and working peo-ple.“I’m on the same income as I

was when I was in Aer Lingus,roughly around the average in-dustrial wage, because if you startliving an inflated lifestyle oryou’re earning more than you

were, you lose track of thepeople who put you inhere. “It’s not a pie in the sky

thing, it is an actual ne-cessity to keep peoplegrounded.”The money saved by

Daly from her TD’s wageis used to hire an extra as-sistant. Daly, who still officially

maintains her position asa SIPTU shop stewardwith Aer Lingus, also hasstrong views on the direc-tion of the trade unionmovement. A SIPTU activist since

LibertyAPRIL 2013

10 Interview

By Scott Millar

FI want to give

the people’sstruggle a

voice

INTERVIEW: CLARE DALY

“You have to build a bridge to people, that doesn’t mean you have to diluteyour programme but I don’t believe that the Socialist Party explains it well enough.”

The money saved byDaly from her TD’swage is used to hirean extra assistant.

“I always viewed the council as I view theDáil – as a platform to organise from. Itgives you a bit of scope to articulate is-sues, and the media ignores you less.”

LibertyAPRIL 2013

11Interview

starting work in Aer Lingus cater-ing in the 1990s, she is outspokenin her criticism of social partner-ship. “I think a huge amount of the

problems that exist, then and par-ticularly now, is a legacy of partner-ship because it completelydemobilised an activist layer. It ledto an utter lack of participation inthe union, a lack of a democraticcheck over the officials.” She adds: “Everything was sort

of set at national level and thatmeant union officials began to seethemselves as referees, fightingthe worst excesses of a manage-ment proposal rather than actuallyengaging in combat on behalf ofmembers in terms of taking theirconditions forward proactively. “It became very much defensive.

I think what happened was part-nership led the trade unions intobuying into the idea of acceptingthe market system and acceptingthat you can only go so far. Thatthinking just put a lid on what waspossible to achieve at the time.”A belief in the need for a con-

frontational approach towards the

Irish establishment is evidentthroughout Clare’s political career.Elected to Fingal County Council

in 1999, she spent much energyconfronting “politically connectedproperty developers in northDublin, “in” a struggle she ruefullyaccepts was lost. “I always viewedthe council as I view the Dáil – as aplatform to organise from. It givesyou a bit of scope to articulate is-sues, and the media ignores youless. “It was never a case of vote for

me and I will sort it out, it is aboutempowering people to fight forthemselves and if people are will-ing to do that I will give the peo-ple’s struggle a voice”Daly was elected to the Dáil

under the banner of the UnitedLeft Alliance, a loose electoral al-liance bringing together the Social-ist Party, People Before ProfitAlliance and the Workers and Un-employed Action Group (WUAG)of Tipperary TD Seamus Healy. With the departure in recent

months of the Socialist Party and

WUAG, Daly admits the groupinghas been a “disappointment.”

“There was little coming to-gether and the component groupslargely used the ULA as a recruiting

ground.”But Daly be-

lieves some newformation on theLeft is a neces-sity. “You have to

look at the opin-ion polls whichare continuallyputting inde-pendents veryhigh. Look at theMeath East by-election. WhileSinn Féin willget votes, it isques t ionab lehow far it will go

because some people will not voteSinn Féin. There is clearly a spaceon the left for a real left alterna-tive.“Critically, it will come from

people who are not currently polit-ically organised, those fightingagainst cuts to home helps, theproperty tax, all the people thatthe economic crisis has forced intopolitical activity, they need to finda new way of organising and a newvoice.”One component in this new

grouping may be the United Left,a name which Daly and fellow ULATD Joan Collins is seeking to regis-ter as a political party to use incoming elections. The search for broad political al-

liances have also brought contro-versy for Daly, most notably in herpolitical alliances on issues such asreproductive rights and Garda cor-ruption with Independent TDsMick Wallace and Ming Flanagan. She also makes no apologies for

sharing platforms with others be-yond the Left, including Direct

Democracy Ireland’s Ben Gilroy. “It is about basic democratic de-

mands, because people knowthere is no such thing as democ-racy in Ireland, the right to recall

and people’s referenda are impor-tant issues. “The Left must be open to new

and novel approaches which candeliver the agenda we have beenfighting on all the time. “Another key democratic deficit

for Daly is the Irish media, whichshe describes as “monolithic, tiedto the establishment”.However, it is on the issue of

Garda accountability that Daly iscurrently concentrating her cam-paign for democratic rights. Earlier this year, Daly along with

Wallace, Flanagan and Collins usedthe Dáil to highlight the removal oftraffic penalty points by gardaífrom thousands of motorists, in-cluding judges and politicians. Daly believes that her outspoken

criticism of this practice led di-rectly to her arrest by the Garda onsuspicion of drink driving in Janu-ary, a charge of which she was

cleared.“I’m not going to be intimidated

by such tactics. Since we high-lighted the issue of Garda malprac-tice, I have been absolutely

inundated with messages fromguards, retired guards and mem-bers of the public who have fallenfoul of the gardaí and have hadtheir lives ruined. “The issue is lack of accountabil-

ity, particularly of the higher ranks.“The gardaí investigating them-

selves is completely inadequate.It’s like Bertie Ahern climbing upevery tree in north Dublin lookingfor evidence of corruption in thepolitical process. He didn’t findany. “It’s like when the HSE investi-

gated Dr Neary’s activities inDrogheda, the first report foundthat women should have beenhappy they had such a great doc-tor.”It’s clear from Daly’s passion for

the issue that she intends tobreach what the Morris Tribunalinto Garda corruption described as“a blue wall of silence”.

One component inthis new groupingmay be the UnitedLeft, a name whichDaly and fellow ULATD Joan Collins isseeking to registeras a political party to use in comingelections.

‘It’s about democratic demands...the Left must be open to new and novel approaches which can deliver the agenda we havebeen fighting on all the time’

Clare Daly Photo: Photocall Ireland

Clare Daly Photo: Photocall Ireland

IVE years of perma-cri-sis have sapped the op-timism of many aneconomist, in Ireland

and beyond. Some of thesedismal scientists have pros-pered in one sense, however,by making a cottage industryout of doom and gloom.

Some of the more thoughtful haveoffered some humility, realising thatthe pre-crisis conventional wisdomwas, at best, incomplete and, atworst, false.

For normal people, the age of aus-terity feels like it’s lasting an eter-nity. With unemployment still highand incomes stagnant, making endsmeet is a constant struggle.

Emigration is the path of choicefor too many of our young people:enough people to fill Croke Park areleaving every year.

The huge household and privatesector debt burden means a large co-hort of people can’t participate fullyin our economy and in society.

Unfortunately, none of this isgoing to change dramatically in thenear term.

There is light at the end of thetunnel – and there is reason to be-lieve that it isn’t the headlamp of anoncoming train.

The recession is over. The econ-omy is growing, however slowly. Em-ployment is rising, howevergradually. Ireland is back in the bondmarket, however tentatively.

It is now almost within the graspof government to make austerity his-tory.

After seven straight hairshirtbudgets since 2008, many have come

to dread that day in December whenthe Minister for Finance piles on thepain.

Everyone has taken a hit. Taxhikes and spending cuts have takentheir toll. Austerity fatigue is perva-sive.

The debate on how quickly thedeficit should be reduced and howthe burden is shared is important,

but is becoming increasingly aca-demic… now that we are where weare.

One may not agree with the prem-ise of austerity, but it is an unfortu-nate fact of life given Ireland’sdependence on the ‘kindness ofstrangers’.

Doomsday is being brought for-ward to October this year. We can ex-pect more of the same: publicgovernment wrangling and a grubbycompromise that leaves nobody sat-isfied.

The government has given com-mitments to the Troika – who arepaying many of our bills at the mo-ment – to reduce the deficit by a fur-ther €3.1bn in 2014 and €2bn in2015, or €5.1bn in total.

Two developments in early 2013may have changed the arithmetic forthe better, however.

The Fiscal Advisory Council (FAC)has estimated that the combinationof the promissory notes deal and theupwards revision in 2012 GDP has

lessened the eventual austerity bur-den by €1.6bn, reducing the total re-quired to get our deficit below 3% ofGDP by 2015 from €5.1bn to€3.5bn.

The full benefit of this €1.6bn re-lief should be passed on to citizensto bring a quicker end to austerity.

There may now be an argumentfor pulling the plaster off quickly: ifthe government increased deficit re-duction measures marginally in Oc-tober’s budget from what is alreadyplanned, by €400m from €3.1bn to€3.5bn, Ireland would have met itsbudget target a year ahead of sched-ule. Austerity would be over.

Of course, some of the measureswould not kick in fully until 2015 –e.g. some tax changes and other pre-announced measures – but all thekey decisions would have beentaken.

In theory, economic growth coulddo the rest of the heavy lifting tobring the deficit below 3% of GDP byend-2015. If growth falls short, fur-

ther austerity should be avoided, inline with the IMF’s own thinking onthe matter. The economy shouldthen be allowed the time it needs toheal.

For the price of marginally moreausterity in 2014, we would seemuch stronger growth in 2015 withausterity then off the table.

This isn’t an argument for moreausterity, but for less and for gettingit over with as quickly as possible.

Most importantly, Irish firms andfamilies would have a degree of cer-tainty and could start to make plansfor the future. Finally, we couldchange the record, having enduredausterity on constant loop for sevenyears.

Provided the economy grows aspredicted – and this is a very big if –we could look forward to not having

to take out the calculator on budgetday.

We could concentrate on every-thing else in our economy and soci-ety that needs fixing. We could beginworking towards the longer-termaims of free GP care for all and uni-versal childcare.

Technically, the recession may beover… but it won’t feel like it’s overuntil the age of austerity is at an end,hastening the return of strong jobgrowth and rising living standards.The sooner the better!

LibertyAPRIL 2013

12 Economy

Could austerity be over by October?

F

SOLIDARITYROBERT BALLAGH

Glasnevin Museum is honoured to host this exhibition of works

by the renowned artist Robert Ballagh. The collection is made up

of prints and posters, which will be available to purchase. Ballagh

has donated this substantial collection of his work, and all

monies raised from it, to the Pat Finucane Centre.

Glasnevin Museum,Glasnevin Cemetery,

Finglas Road, Dublin 11

Exhibition26th April - 8th May 201326th April - 8th

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Thinking of holidayingin Ireland?

www.fairhotels.ie

A list of participating hotels is available at:

Make the right choice for you and your family - make the Union choice of a Fair Hotel

The full benefit ofthis €1.6bn reliefshould be passedon to citizens tobring a quickerend to austerity.

Emigration is thepath of choice fortoo many of ouryoung people:enough people tofill Croke Park areleaving every year.

By

Vic Duggan

Enough people to fill Croke Park areleaving every year Photo courtesy MSA

LibertyAPRIL 2013

13Economy

ITH experienceover four decadesof bailing out advanced and

developing countries, the IMFhas acquired a very controver-sial reputation and has beenrightly demonised for pursuingappalling economic experi-ments on the citizens of SouthEast Asia and Latin America.But in recent years, official

thinking has evolved somewhatand so it came as no huge surprisethat, in recent weeks, former IMFmission chief Ashoka Mody admit-ted that that the Troika had got itwrong in terms of the bailout dealfor Ireland. “Clearly the experi-ence, if experience was needed,has demonstrated that reliance onausterity is counter-productive”,he said, adding that the failure toundertake a managed default ofbank related sovereign debt was amistake.Of course, the official IMF re-

view of Ireland published at thestart of April of course was not asblunt. Crafted as a wake up call toits EU and ECB partners in thetroika of lenders to Ireland, it waswritten with the intention of jolt-ing EU leaders into action. The re-port was a stark reminder of justhow fragile the Irish economy re-mains, that recent signs of stabili-sation are no guarantee of growthand that unless the triple chal-lenges of banking debt, privatedebt and unemployment are con-fronted the country is effectivelyfacing into a lost decade. It goes onto call on Government to review itsbudgetary strategy for 2014 and2015 to ensure targets are achievedin a “growth friendly” manner.Yet in that same report, it stops

short of attributing any blame forweak economic recovery to the de-flationary policies that it is forcingthe Government to push through.In effect, the report was a tight bal-ancing act in openly challengingthe policies that the ECB and EUCommission appear hell bent onimposing, while at the same timealso sending a shot across theirbows.

Cyprus: the game changerLast June, the commitment by

EU leaders to consider a retrospec-tive bank deal for Ireland and tobring about deeper banking union

in place, Cyprus is now out of thecommon currency area in all butname. Lifting these controls in aneconomy with a broken bankingsystem will be near impossible inthe near future as to do so in theabsence of major reassurancesfrom the ECB would almost cer-tainly cause a bank run.Some may have breathed a sigh

of relief in Ireland that we had alucky escape and managed to averta full scale panic among depositorsand avoid grounding the countryto a halt. But lest anyone forget,the Irish Government had the Na-tional Pension Reserve Fund(NPRF) to fall back on to fund a

major portion of the bailout ofIrish banks. It is doesn’t appearthat any such sovereign wealthfund was at the disposal of theCypriots or the Greeks and the keypoint here is that while Irish de-positors were protected over theshort term, over the longer term itis the Irish citizens that havefooted the bill, as we are all onlytoo aware.NTMA figuresAccording to the most recent Na-

was hailed as a turning point intackling the eurozone crisis. Tenmonths on, Cyprus has become thenew economic experiment andthrough shameful mishandling, EUleaders has now significantlyraised the probability of a euro-zone breakup.Due to the capital controls now

tional Treasury ManagementAgency (NTMA) figures for endMarch 2013, the Irish State has inexcess of €33bn in cash reserves inplace to meet funding needs forend 2013 and 2014 and it has be-come increasingly certain that theIrish State will exit the bail out atthe end of this year. However themore important question iswhether we will be able to stayout.Some relief on EU loans, but

only a small part of the debt serv-icing storyThe extension in mid April, of

the loan maturities due to the EU’sbailout funds, the EFSF and EFSM,provides some welcome relief overthe medium term. The precise de-tails have yet to emerge but itwould appear that the €33.5bndue in repayments by Ireland tothe two EU bailout funds between2015 and 2020 will now be reducedby as much as a third over this pe-riod. However, this accounts foronly a small share of the total refi-nancing requirement the Statefaces over the second half of thisdecade.During that period, the State has

to roll over in excess of 56% of itstotal national debt, some €99.6bn.In the context of anaemic growthprospects of less than 2% per year,unemployment levels at or above10% and numerous householdsweighed down by heavy debt burdens, meeting this refinancingschedule is a major challenge in itself.Add in the ever increasing

prospect that the Irish banks willrequire fresh injections of capitalfrom the State when it “crys-tallises” or writes down the mas-sive loan losses sitting on its booksand it is clear why the IMF saysthat EU leaders must stand by theirJune 2012 commitments. It arguesthat retrospective recapitalisationof the Irish banks is “a critical com-ponent of a comprehensive strat-egy for Ireland’s durable exit.”Some 24% of all loans in Irishbanks are currently “non perform-ing” and within that, 143,851mortgages were in some form ofarrears of 30 days or more or havehad the mortgage restructured bythe end of December 2012.

Banking deal less l ikelyJust as we said that the promis-

sory note deal, while welcome,only accounted for a quarter of theState’s bank bailout burden, simi-larly any progress in getting the EUto recapitalise the Irish banks

Getting out of the bailout is onething, staying out is another...

W

‘Austerity is counterproductive’: former IMF Ireland MissionChief Ashoka Mody (left) with IMF colleague Ajai Chopraduring a visit to Dublin in 2010 Photo: Photocall Ireland

Pic:

CGT

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a

would not in itself fully sever thebank-sovereign link. At best, itwould only recover a small fractionof the original €20.7bn injectionof equity from the NPRF and itwouldn’t even touch the contin-gent liabilities of the State arisingfrom NAMA and the eligible liabil-ities guarantee scheme, currentlyworth some €45bn.Events in Cyprus most likely rule

out any prospect of a banking dealfor Ireland and the lesson fromthat debacle is best summed up byNobel Prize winner and Cyprioteconomist, Christopher Pissarideswriting in the Financial Times onMarch 27th when he commentedthat “far from the currency blocacting as a partnership of equals, itis a disjointed group of countrieswhere the national interests of thebig nations stand higher than theinterests of the whole”. At themeeting of EU finance ministers inDublin in mid April, there weresome guarded but positive reassur-ances that the legacy bank debtissue was not yet off the table.Whether this message was in-tended to soothe the Irish hosts orwas a statement of real intent re-mains to be seen. Before that canbe even properly considered,achievement of an agreement onthe single banking supervisorymechanism (SSM) for the EU 27 re-

mains a formidable hurdle.For Ireland, the lesson must be

this; our economic prospects areindelibly linked to the fortunes ofthe euro and in the absence of anyreal power within the EU, we needto seriously step up our efforts toensure we can grow out of thisbanking and fiscal mess. The alter-native of a long term trend of lowanaemic growth is too depressingto contemplate.

“Austerity is counter-productive”

Events in Cyprusmost likely ruleout any prospectof a banking dealfor Ireland

Cyprus has becomethe new economicexperiment andthrough shamefulmishandling, EUleaders have now significantly raisedthe probability of aeurozone breakup.

Some 24% of allloans in Irishbanks are currently“non performing”and within that,143,851 mortgageswere in some formof arrears of 30 days

By

Marie Sherlock

LibertyAPRIL 2013

14 Economy

We need to avoid low growthN ITS latest commentaryon the Irish economy, theNevin Economic Re-search Institute (NERI)

has pointed towards a periodof continued stagnation withsluggish growth and on-goinghigh levels of unemploymentover the next three years.Given current policies, the trade

union supported think-tank’s spring2013 Quarterly Economic Observerreported that economic growth islikely to be low this year, at around1% of GDP, and increase marginallyto 1.2% in 2014 and 2% in 2015. Such sluggish growth is likely to

carry significant implications for thelabour market and government fi-nances. On employment, the NERI proj-

ects a further shrinking of the num-bers employed in 2013, by 0.6%,with employment levels remainingstatic in 2014 and 2015. Meanwhile, the growing labour

force will mean unemployment willmove towards 15% of the workforcein 2014 with reductions being prin-cipally driven by outward migrationamong young people.Lower growth, static employment

and an on-going unemployment cri-sis carries sizeable implications forthe public finances. Without growth,Government’s borrowing targetslook ambitious and this calls intoquestion the feasibility of the adjust-ment path currently being pursued. While there are signs of some sta-

bilisation in domestic demand, theamount being spent by households,companies and the Governmentwithin the Irish economy remainsdepressed. The lack of any ‘pick-up’ in do-

mestic activities remains one of twokey problems for the Irish economy.As this is the job-intensive sector ofthe economy, recovery is dependenton things getting moving on theground around the country.Yet, this contrasts with the Gov-

ernment’s current approach whichhas been to cut public expenditureand increase taxes and simultane-ously hope that people will spendmore and do more. Of course, they have not – a point

highlighted in the NERI report andalso by recent comments from theIMF economist Ashoda Mody, one ofthe architects of the Irish bailoutprogramme. Looking at the performance of the

Troika programme for Ireland, Modynoted that expectations for eco-nomic growth continued to be re-

ANOTHER recent report onthe Irish economy came fromthe Fiscal Advisory Counciland it is of note that theCouncil’s recommendationsfor the economy havechanged. Last year, they argued for faster

and deeper adjustments conclud-ing that these would be in the bestinterest of the economy. Fortu-nately, their advice for an extra €2billion of adjustments was noted,but not implemented, by the Gov-ernment in Budget 2013.This year they have recom-

mended that the Governmentstick to its current adjustment

plans; abandoning the do-more-faster message.

While the Council offers no ex-planation for the contrasts in itseconomic policy prescriptions, ithas highlighted the precarious nature of the Irish economy. In their view, there remains a

one-in-three chance that low

growth will impede the economyfrom achieving the Troika borrow-ing targets by 2015. That messageis similar to the concerns ex-pressed by the IMF in its recentcommentary on the Irish econ-omy. The IMF and Fiscal Council dif-

fer from the NERI, as the latter’s

modelling of the economy sug-gests lower growth and likely dif-ficulties for the Governmentmeeting these targets. The IMF and others remain

more optimistic of domestic andinternational recovery next year.The Council’s latest report also

notes the big impact on the do-mestic economy of reductions incapital investment. Cutting capitalinvestment has been a major focusof the public expenditure cutsover recent years. Of course, given this finding,

the reverse also holds – with in-creases in capital investment offer-ing the potential for a sizeabledomestic focused stimulus.

vised downwards driven by the scaleof the domestic-focused austeritymeasures prescribed and adopted. His thesis is simple – if you ‘ad-

just’ too much, you cut off thechances of any domestic recoveryand you prolong, if not increase, theeconomic challenges the countryfaces. A familiar sentiment to those of

us making this point over and overagain in recent years. The other key problem for the

Irish economy is the lack of eco-

nomic stability and growth amongour key trading partners. Late 2012saw both the German and UKeconomies shrink, with discussionin the latter now turning from thefear of a ‘double-dip’ recession to theprospect of a ‘triple dip’. While this is completely outside

the scope of the Irish Government,the reality remains that the lack ofany benefit from external growthmakes the challenges facing the Irisheconomy harder and has caused theTroika and Government to prescribe

‘The lack of any ‘pick-up’ in domestic activities

remains one of the twokey problems for the

Irish economy’

more and more domestic adjust-ments. This, of course, further depresses

the domestic economy.The NERI report highlighted a

need for Government to adopt a se-ries of alternative policies whichwould assist in avoiding the lowgrowth, high unemployment path-

I

‘While the Council offers no explanationfor the contrasts in its economic policyprescriptions, it has highlighted the precarious nature of the Irish economy’

Fiscal Advisory Council has a rethink

way. Following the deal on the Anglo

Irish promissory notes, the Gov-ernment has saved approximately€1 billion this year and this savingwill be added to, given the recentdeal to restructure the payment pe-riods for Irish debt. The report recommended using

these funds and other resources tofund a domestic stimulus pro-gramme which would be focusedon areas such as broadband, waterinfrastructure, early childhood ed-ucation, retrofitting and green en-ergy. Such a programme would lift do-

mestic activity, employment andtax revenues while providing long-term beneficial assets to the econ-omy. It would also give theeconomy breathing space to re-cover as we await a wider interna-tional economic recovery.

Dr Micheál Collins is Senior ResearchOfficer at the NERI. The latest report isavailable at www.NERInstitute.net

By

Dr Micheál Collins

LibertyAPRIL 2013

15Liberty View

By JACK O’CONNORSIPTU General President

LibertyView

SIPTU members, together with their fellow trade unionists across the publicservice, have decisively rejected theproposals for a revised Croke ParkAgreement. The result reflected adeeper resentment among workers gen-erally and public servants, in particular,towards the way in which they havebeen forced to carry the lion’s share ofthe burden of adjustment while thewealthy have contributed very little. Italso reflected fatigue with the troikaimposed one sided austerity strategy ofthe last five years, which transparentlydoesn’t work. (Even Professor AshokaMody, the former IMF mission chiefwho was prominently involved in im-posing it in the first place, recently de-scribed it as a mistake).

The proposal is now comprehensively defeated.Unfortunately, the problem hasn’t gone away.The troika agreement requires us to reduce thegap between tax revenue and spending, (whichwas the highest in the Eurozone until thisyear), to 3% of GDP by the end of 2015. Thisentails further savings amounting to €5.1bn (ifgrowth holds up). In accordance with the prin-ciples of the Programme for Government be-tween Fine Gael and Labour the distribution isabout 40% tax and 60% cuts. This means thatabout €3bn is to be achieved through cuts.Public service pay and pensions amount to 35%of spending – hence the proposal to cut themby €1bn.

Apart from the troika programme, getting tothe 3% deficit is also key to exiting the socalled “bailout” and remaining free of its stric-tures. Some say this is all irrelevant to thelives of working people and their families.Nothing could be further from the truth. Un-less we can get back to borrowing for ourselvesthe architects of the next bailout, (if we getone), will decide how fast we reduce our 122%Debt/GDP ratio. They will dictate how we dis-mantle what remains of our public services and

how we increase taxation to do it. The first ca-sualties would be working people and publicservice workers, in particular, as well as thosewho depend most on the services they provide.

The next move is up to the Government. If itchooses to legislate for pay cuts it will be facedwith a co-ordinated industrial response acrossthe entire trade union movement in the publicservice on a scale which has not been seensince 1913. No-one can be certain of the out-come but it would be enormously destructiveon all sides.

There is some room for manoeuvre as a result

of the promissory note deal which will affordbreathing space of €1bn in 2014 and €1.025bnin 2015. Proper use of this accompanied by thelaunch of a significant off balance sheet stimu-lus programme as well as a belated tax contri-bution from the rich would lessen therequirement for a €1bn cut in public servicepay and pensions.

The Government has more flexibility to con-cede ground in respect of the cuts projected for2014 and 2015. The €300m from this year ismore difficult because it is already in Budget2013.

It still has the capacity to retrieve the situationin respect of 2014 and 2015. It should takesteps to redress the inequity in the adjustmentprocess to date. A good start could be made bydeclaring its intention to cap publicly funded

pensions at a maximum of €100,000 perannum, even to the extent of promoting a con-stitutional referendum to do it, if necessary. (Anumber of referenda are already scheduled forthe autumn on other matters).

In parallel with this, the Fine Gael party shouldgive some ground on the taxation of wealthand of those on high incomes. Their insistenceon protecting this tiny minority at the top isdetrimental to maintaining the social cohesionthat is necessary for economic recovery.

Simultaneously, the Government should signalits intention to use the space afforded by thepromissory note deal, along with a major offbalance sheet stimulus to:

- Fund Job Creation- Alleviate hardship for working families

and- Protect public services

Such an approach would create the contextfor negotiation of a settlement in two phasesentailing:

- Interim terms to apply to the end of this year

- Better terms for 2014 and 2015

An unnecessary and mutually destructive con-frontation would be avoided. A degree ofequality would be introduced into the adjust-ment process and public service workers wouldretain the protections of the Croke Park Agree-ment against compulsory redundancy, indis-criminate redeployment and outsourcing oftheir work.

Equality needed in adjustment programme

The next move is up to the Government. If it chooses tolegislate for pay cuts it will befaced with a co-ordinated industrial response across the entire trade union movement in the public service on a scalewhich has not been seen since1913.

Their insistence on protectingthis tiny minority at the top isdetrimental to maintaining thesocial cohesion that is neces-sary for economic recovery.

LibertyAPRIL 2013

16 Comment

ECENT work, partic-ipative democracy,and sustainable de-velopment could

usefully be established assome of the universal goals todrive global development. These were among the issues de-

bated at the Claiming Our Futureevent on Setting Goals for a BetterIreland in a Just World on Saturday(20th April). The event was organ-ised jointly with Dochas and theWheel.

It is a strange time to be talkingabout ambitious universal develop-ment goals in the middle of an eco-nomic crisis that drives us towardsgreater inequality and poverty. However, it is timely, as the UN,

the EU and the Irish Presidency ofthe EU are deciding, debating andconsulting on what happens afterthe expiry of the Millennium Devel-opment Goals of the United Nations.The Millennium Development

Goals are credited with reductions inextreme poverty and child mortality,increased access to safe drinkingwater and primary school enrol-ment, improved gender equality andgreater levels of overseas develop-ment aid. However, they were never seen as

relevant to the Irish context. Whilethey enabled progress, they also co-existed too comfortably with grow-ing inequality within poor countriesand between poor countries andwealthier countries. They failed to address the eco-

nomic dimension to developmentand the transformations needed fordevelopment with social justice.The current thinking in official cir-

cles is that whatever comes nextshould be relevant to all countries –rich and poor. The idea of ‘universalgoals’ holds potential for, and rele-vance to, Ireland. However, civil society will need to

have some real influence on the de-bate if such universal goals are tostimulate and support a break with

our current model of development.New goals must have an economic

focus. The International Labour Or-ganisation (ILO) has usefully devel-oped a ‘decent work’ agenda. Decent work is defined as involv-

ing opportunities for work that isproductive and delivers a fair in-come, security in the workplace andsocial protection for families, betterprospects for personal developmentand social integration, freedom forpeople to express their concerns, or-ganise and participate in the deci-sions that affect their lives, andequality of opportunity and treat-ment for all women and men. The ILO agenda has been devel-

oped around four objectives of creat-ing jobs, guaranteeing employmentrights, extending social protection,and promoting social dialogue. Decent work should be establishedas one universal goal.New goals must give people a say

in how their society and communitydevelops. The limits of a democracy that re-

lies solely on representation havebeen exposed. An exclusive politicalelite emerges. Accountability is com-promised, as it is limited to fiveyearly ballots. Corruption becomes areality. A political unresponsivenessto popular demands grows in timesof crisis.Universal goals should support

the growth and development of anactive and challenging civil society.

They should ensure the establish-ment of deliberative opportunitieswhere citizens can have a say aboutissues and decisions that impact onthem.New goals must ensure that devel-

opment happens within the limitsof the planet’s capacity. This is anissue that has eluded agreementwithin the international community. A good starting point would be a

universal goal to reduce consump-tion of goods by those who arewealthy. It is astonishing that the richest

20th percentile consumes 80% ofglobal output and that they consume60 times more than the poorest 20thpercentile.The Universal Declarationof Rights should be the startingpoint for this debate. Everyoneagrees with the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights, so why notimplement it? It includes important rights for

the protection of various freedoms.Most importantly for this debate, itincludes rights to work, education,and an adequate standard of livingfor health and well-being. A commitment to a universal goal

of rights-based development,founded on fulfilling the rights setout in the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights should now be ourshared minimum standard.

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Putting development at theservice of universal rights...

D

LibertyAPRIL 2013

17International

THE leader of the M5M inItaly, Beppe Grillo, is thelatest politician to an-nounce that his plans to ex-port his revolution acrossEurope and the world.From Greece, the neo-fascist

Golden Dawn party has alreadyset its sights on the huge Greekdiaspora stretching from the USto Australia (see page 17). Now Grillo, whose populist

policies helped garner 25% ofthe vote in the Italian electionsearlier this year, has promised topromote his brand of anti-estab-lishment politics across Europein what he has described as a"revolution without the guillo-tine – for now"."This is the greatest revolution

in history. This is a revolutionwithout the guillotine – fornow," he said while campaigningin local elections on on 18thApril in northeast Italy."In Europe, we are getting or-

ganised. They are getting organ-ised. There are movements in

Spain that are taking inspirationfrom us," said the 64-year-old formercomedian, whose movement nowhas 163 deputies and senators inparliament."This has gone beyond the In-

dignados and Occupy WallStreet," he said. Despite hjs apparent endorse-

ment of the Spanish and US progres-sive movements, his supportersinclude many with more ortho-dox, even right-wing and fascisttendencies. Grillo has called forthe elimination trade unionsand has demanded that one so-lution to the current economiccrisis is to lay off tens of thou-sands of public employees. Casa-leggio, a former financial backerof the far-right Northern League,has used his web-marketingskills to attract support fromItalian neo-fascist groups suchas Casa Pound and Forza Nuova.Grillo has also been forced to

defend himself against accusa-tions by Italian news weekly L'E-spresso that he had offshore

investments in Costa Rica, say-ing the article was "revenge" forhis proposal to cut subsidies fornewspaper publishers.Grillo, who is a millionaire,

said the money belonged to hiswife and his brother-in-law,adding: "In any case, I can haveall the companies in the world.It's not public money. I earnedit."Asked about his plans to hold

a referendum on euro member-ship, Grillo said he was person-ally undecided whether to keepthe currency or not.

"The euro is not Europe. Nowit's all based on financial specu-lation, on banks, on bondspreads. We want a Plan B forsurvival," he said.Grillo has also rejected criti-

cism of his stance against sup-porting the main centre-leftcoalition which narrowly wonelections, saying: "They justwanted our votes. They didn'ttalk about collaboration.""There are these dinosaurs

who have been here for 30 years.The country is in ruins. They arethe ones who ruined it. Theywere inside the system. They de-stroyed this great country andnow they tell us to save it," headded. Grillo has been resisting calls

from within his own ranks andacross the Italian left to form agovernment with the centre-leftDemocratic Party, which took29% of the vote and prevent a re-turn to power by former primeminister, the right-wing andscandal-ridden Silvio Berlusconi.

‘This is a revolution without theguillotine– for now’

By Frank Connolly

Italy’s populist maverick in threat to export ‘revolution’

Former comic Beppe Grillo scooped aquarter of the vote in Italy’s last election

Be careful what you wish for.The voters of Meath East re-warded Direct Democracy Ire-land (DDI) candidate, BenGilroy, with a surprising 6.5%of the vote pushing Labourinto fourth place and upset-ting Sinn Fein’s plans for abigger slice of the cake. Butdid they know for whom theywere voting when they optedfor the former electrical con-tractor? Many voters in Italy,particularly those on the Left,are only now discovering thatthe 5StarMovement (5SM)led by multi-millionairesBeppe Grillo and GianrobertoCasaleggio contains a signifi-cant number of fascist sym-pathisers.Back at home, the people around

Gilroy and DDI founders, Ray-mond Whitehead and ClareLeonard, have discovered thattheir populist views include anempathy with UKIP leader NickFarage, the anti-abortion Christian

Solidarity Movement and the ex-treme right wing Freeman move-ment. Earlier this year, members ofthe latter group invaded the frontof the anti-austerity demonstra-tion organised by the Irish Con-gress of Trade Unions in Dublininsisting that the organisers turn itinto a rally against the proposedproperty tax. The Freeman of the

Land movement has its origins inan obscure conspiracy theorywhich propounds that a birth cer-tificate creates a legal entity whichis separate from a person’s body.Thus Gilroy is “Ben of the ancientclan Giolla Rua (Sovereign)” in-stead of just plain old Ben Gilroy…

for constitutional purposes.Gilroy was present when a group

promoting the Freeman view ofthe world delayed the eviction of aman from his home near Moun-trath, county Laois in early 2012.According to one witness, Gilroysubjected the deputy sheriff to “alecture in law which would soundsuspect to the ears of any first yearlaw student, let alone a practicinglawyer.” Gilroys argument appearsto be based on the view that allstate law is invalid and so does notdeserve respect.The campaigner has also been

prominent in demonstrations inCavan supporting billionaire busi-nessman Sean Quinn.His well-funded by-election cam-

paign saw hundreds of Gilroy “Returning Power to You” postersaround east Meath although therewas little mention in his public ut-terances of his admiration ofFarage (who is also president ofthe far-right Europe of Freedomand Democracy group), or his appearances with the Quinn fam-ily or the Freeman movement.

During the 2011general electionWhitehead, a for-mer antique dealer,night club andrestaurant ownertook 120 votes inDublin South forDDI while the liter-ature of anothercandidate in theconstituency, JaneMurphy of theChristian SolidaryParty, detailed linksto DDI.The message of

the DDI is thatIrish democracywould be betterserved with Swisstype recall refer-enda which, it ar-gues, would makethe political sys-tem more accountable. It will beinteresting to note what the goodfolk of Meath East, and otherplaces where DDI hopes to stand,make of this heady mix of consti-

tutional confusion, economic or-thodoxy and flirtation with the ex-treme right in Europe when theycome to marking their ballot pa-pers next time around.

By Frank Connolly

Thus Gilroyis ‘Ben ofthe ancientclan GiollaRua’

Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI) candidate Ben Gilroy, Picture: Photocall

Gilroy - the Irish Grillo?

LibertyAPRIL 2013

18 International

Spectre of Far Right haunts thecradle of European civilisation

Weimar in the 1920s, Athens in the 2010s... horrifying rise of Golden Dawn

‘Unfortunatelythe Greek statedoes not seemto realise theurgency of thesituation’

Golden Dawnpromotes itselfas the onlyforce willing totake on ‘rottenestablishment’

MBOLDENED by itsmeteoric rise inGreece, the far-rightGolden Dawn party is

spreading its tentaclesabroad, amid fears it is actingon its pledge to "create cellsin every corner of the world". The extremist group, which forged

links with British neo-Nazis when itwas founded in the 1980s, has begunopening offices in Germany, Aus-tralia, Canada and the US.The international push follows

successive polls that show GoldenDawn entrenching its position asGreece's third, and fastest growing,political force. First catapulted into parliament

with 18 MPs last year, the ultra-na-tionalists captured 11.5% support ina recent survey conducted by pollingcompany Public Issue.The group – whose logo resembles

the swastika and whose membersare prone to give Nazi salutes – hasgone from strength to strength, pro-moting itself as the only force will-ing to take on the "rottenestablishment". Amid rumours of backing from

wealthy shipowners, it has suc-ceeded in opening party officesacross Greece.It is also concentrating on spread-

ing internationally, with news lastmonth that it had opened an officein Germany and planned to set upbranches in Australia. The party's spokesman, Ilias Ka-

sidiaris, said it had decided to estab-lish cells "wherever there areGreeks"."People have understood that

Chrysi Avgi [Golden Dawn] tells thetruth," he told a Greek-languagepaper in Melbourne. "In our immediate sights and aims

is the creation of an office and localorganisation in Melbourne. In fact,very soon a visit of MPs to Australiais planned."But the campaign has met with

Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, centre, has said the partywill spread 'wherever there are Greeks' Picture: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

Anti-racist activists stage anti-GoldenDawn protest Picture: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty

disgust and derision by many promi-nent members of the Greek diasporawho represent communities in boththe northern and southern hemi-spheres."We don't see any gold in Golden

Dawn," said Father Alex Karloutsos,one of America's leading Greek com-munity figures, in Southampton,New York. “Nationalism, fascism,xenophobia are not part of our spir-

the colonels who oversaw sevenyears of brutal anti-leftist dictator-ship until the collapse of militaryrule in 1974."Like-minded groups in Europe

and Russia have given the party ide-ological, and sometimes financial,support to print books and maga-zines. After years of importingnazism, it now wants to exportnazism," added Psarras.

By infiltrating communitiesabroad, the far-rightists were at-tempting not only to shore up theircredibility but also to find extrafunding and perhaps even potentialvotes if Greeks abroad ever won theright to cast ballots in elections."[Golden Dawn] not only wants to

become the central pole of a pan-Eu-ropean alliance of neo-Nazis, even ifin public it will hotly deny that,"claimed Psarras, who said partymembers regularly meet with neo-Nazis from Germany, Italy and Ro-mania. It wants to spread its

influence worldwide."With its 300,000-strong commu-

nity, Melbourne has pride of place inthe constellation of Greek-populatedmetropolises that dot a diaspora of-ficially estimated at around sevenmillion.

As part of its international push,Golden Dawn has also focused onthe US, a magnet for migrants forgenerations, and Canada, which at-

tracted tens of thousands of Greeksafter Greece's devastating 1946-49civil war."It's a well-studied campaign," said

Anastasios Tamis, Australia's pre-em-inent ethnic Greek historian. "There is a large stock of very con-

servative people here – former roy-alists, former loyalists to the junta,that sort of thing – who are very dis-appointed at what has been happen-ing in Greece and are trying to finda means to express it. “They are nationalists who feel be-

trayed by Greece over issues like

Macedonia, Cyprus and [the Greekminority] in Voreio Epirus [southernAlbania], who cannot see the fascis-tic part of this party. Golden Dawn istrying to exploit them."In Greece, where Golden Dawn

has begun to recruit in schools, thereare fears of complacency. Drawing parallels with the 1930s

Weimar period and the rise ofHitler's National Socialist GermanWorkers' party, the historian MarkMazower recently warned againstunderestimating the threat posed bya party whose use of violence was sodisturbing. "Unfortunately, the Greek state

does not seem to realise the urgencyof the situation," he told an audiencein Athens.After spending almost 30 years

following Golden Dawn, Psarrasagrees. Only weeks ago, he claimed,Michaloliakos held talks in theGreek parliament with two Germanneo-Nazis posing as journalists.Golden Dawn rejected the claim as"old mud"."It is an extremely dangerous phe-

nomenon and do I think it will getworse? Yes, I do," Psarras said,lamenting that, with living stan-dards plummeting, the organisationwas opening offices."Ten years ago, if you had said

Golden Dawn would become thethird biggest force in Greece, you'dbe called crazy," said Psarras. "Nowlook where it is."This report first appeared in The Guardiannewspaper

itual or cultural heritage."But Golden Dawn is hoping to tap

into the deep well of disappoint-ment and fury felt by Greeks livingabroad, in the three years since thedebt-stricken nation was plungedinto crisis."Golden Dawn is not like other

parties in Greece. From its begin-nings, in the early 80s, it always hadone eye abroad," said Dimitris Psar-ras, whose book, Golden Dawn'sBlack Bible, chronicles the organisa-tion since its creation by NikosMichaloliakos, an overt supporter of

E

LibertyAPRIL 2013

19News

Dozens of Irish addresseshave been linked to accountsheld in offshore secrecy jurisdic-tions, allowing their holders toavoid paying their fair share oftax. The revelation that up to €25 tril-

lion could be held in various off-shore locations across the globeled to its discussion at the meetingof Ecofin (EU finance) ministers inDublin in mid-April. It has also fedcontroversies in several EU andother countries including Francewhere the budget minister, JeromeCahuzac, was forced to resign afterit emerged that he had hiddenlarge sums in Switzerland andother offshore locations to avoidtax. A succession of Socialist Partyministers were then forced to re-veal their assets as President Fran-cois Hollande sought to defuse a

growing crisis over offshore taxhavens.The controversy was also raised

by German chancellor, AngelaMerkel with her British counter-part David Cameron after itemerged that the British Virgin Is-lands (BVI) was a key location forup to 100,000 secret offshoretrusts.A worldwide investigation by the

International Consortium of Inves-tigative Journalists (ICIJ) releasedon Thursday (4th April) has foundbetween 50 and 60 addresses inIreland in documents which in-clude the identities of thousandsof wealthy account holders whohold their wealth in offshore taxhavens. It is believed that morethan 30,000 Irish firms have direc-tors registered in offshore jurisdic-tions. None of the names linked

to Irish addresses have yet been re-leased by the ICIJ or the Guardianand other media organisationswhich co-operated in the extensivesearch of offshore holdings.It is estimated globally that

wealthy individuals have €16 to€25 trillion hidden offshore.SIPTU Economist, Marie Sher-

lock, said: “That such vast sums ofmoney have been removed fromthe global tax net means funding isbeing withheld for services and in-vestment aimed at ensuring a bet-ter standard of living for themajority of people.”All the Irish addresses may not

be directly linked to individuals orbusinesses who own the secretfunds and could be registered to fi-nancial intermediaries, includingdirectors, shareholders, secretariesand nominees holding addresses

within the State.Complex offshore structures

have been used to own mansions,yachts and other assets while giv-ing account holders the benefits ofanonymity and tax advantages.Sherlock added: “There is the

concern that, in a time of reces-sion, the wealthy may be slippinginto the practices of the past.“During the 1980s, vast amounts

of private wealth was illegally heldoffshore by swathes of the Irishelite, a situation which deepenedthe impact of economic recessionfor the Irish people. These issuesshould be of concern to the Gov-ernment and require a swift re-sponse.”An early release of some of the

findings of the investigation by theGuardian last November tracedBritish Virgin Island entities used

in Russia by bankrupt property de-veloper, Sean Quinn.The former billionaire was also

linked to a number of properties inRussia and Ukraine. The now liqui-dated International Bank Resolu-tion Corporation had sought torecover as much as $500 million(€385) million in assets fromQuinn’s investments in both coun-tries.The documents analysed in the

investigation were passed to ICIJdirector, Gerard Ryle, on a harddrive containing more than 260 gi-gabytes of data with over two mil-lion emails.The ICIJ along with dozens of

journalists from a network of in-ternational media outlets, includ-ing the Guardian, BBC and theWashington Post, worked onanalysing the files for 15 months.

Ireland linked to global web of tax avoidanceBy Frank Connolly

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LibertyAPRIL 2013

20 NEC Profiles

A great honour to be elected to the NEC SIPTU National

Trustee Anton McCabehas been a trade unionactivist ever since hestarted work in NavanCarpets in 1974. He thenwent on to work in TaraMines where he contin-ued his activity with thetrade union movement. A member of the Meath

Branch of the ITGWU foryears and then SIPTU, he heldmany positions in the branchincluding trustee, Vice Presi-dent and eventually the posi-tion of President.He also held a position on

the Regional Executive Com-mittee, where he gained a lotof experience and confidencefrom Jack O’ Connor, MikeJennings, and Christy McQuillan former regional secre-taries.

He told Liberty that his in-volvement with the tradeunion movement allowed himto be a voice and advocate forthe membership, and thecommunity of his home townNavan and beyond.Anton got involved in a

number of community cam-paigns in his area such as SaveNavan Hospital, was electedto Navan Town Council in2009, and held the position ofMayor of Navan in 2011/2012.Anton played a major role

in highlighting the blatant ex-ploitation of economic mi-grants who came to ourcountry in the late 90s. Hetold Liberty that the abuse ofthese workers by indigenousemployers has left a scar ofshame on our country. Irelandis no longer an attractive des-tination for economic mi-grants because of this.When asked about his elec-

tion as a National Trustee hecommented that it is a greathonour to be elected to theNEC, the highest office opento an activist within SIPTU. “I want to thank the Construc-tion & Utilities Division forputting their trust in me”, hesaid.Anton added that the trade

union movement over theyears has met many chal-lenges and overcame them,but is in a new place now.“The challenges facing ourmembers and the threats totheir livelihoods are deep andsevere. “We now have to take on

the Troika as well as employ-ers and government. SIPTU asan organisation has to con-tinue to show strong, coher-ent, leadership, to protect theinterests of our members,”Anton said.

NEC PROFILE — Anton McCabe

SIPTU National TrusteeAnton McCabe

NEC Notes

Appointment of a Social Media AdministratorThe General Secretary advised the NEC thatthere is a gap in our communications strat-egy that needs to be filled in order to im-prove the union’s connection with a youngeraudience, in particular, through social media.

The NEC agreed unanimously to proceed to appoint a Social Media Administrator with aview to improving and developing this area ofmedia communications.

Establishment of District CouncilsThe General President advised that the General Officers had discussions relating tothe District Committee structure.

He advised that the Officers were proposingto promote a rule change to address theissue of the establishment of District Councilsthroughout the island of Ireland.

It would also be the intention that each District Council would be entitled to nominatetwo delegates to attend the Biennial Delegate Conference.

Following a discussion on the various loca-tions for the District Councils, the propositionwas agreed in principle.

A union activist for over 30 yearsTim Daly is a member of

the NEC serving as one ofthe unions trustees andhas worked in the Securityindustry for G4S (formallySecuricor) as a Cash inTransit (CIT) employee forthe last 37 years. G4S is a multinational com-

pany which employs over700,000 employees in over 115countries around the world. Thecompany and SIPTU have a longstanding recognition and collec-tive bargaining agreement. As amember of the then SecuricorEuropean Works Council forthree years, Tim had the oppor-tunity of meeting fellow workersand trade unionists from aroundthe world. Tim told Liberty, “It struck me

very clearly early on that in theparts of Europe where the work-force was organised they hadmuch better conditions of em-

ployment. The trade union divi-dend was very apparent to me.As shop steward for the Cork CITbranch and chairperson of theNational Negotiating Committee,I take this responsibility very se-riously and never lose touchwith the reality of dealing withmember’s livelihoods especiallyin these precarious times. Work-ers’ pay and conditions are con-stantly under threat byemployers in order to staywithin the competitiveness ofthe CIT market. In light of thecurrent recession it is imperativethat jobs are maintained. In myown company, workers havecomplied with many changes intheir conditions and work prac-tices down through the years andmore recently have had to acceptfurther changes in agreementwith a Company Survival Deal.”A union activist for over 30

years, Tim has served as Presi-dent of the Cork No. 5 branchwith now retired official, John

Pearson, who still remains hisadviser and good friend and alsoserved as President on the SouthWest Regional Executive Com-mittee for five years.In 2010, he was elected as

trustee on the NEC and he is cur-rently involved in the NEC re-structuring committee. “My role as a trustee on the

NEC has given me an insight intothe enormous task and responsi-bility of running an organisationsuch as SIPTU, of which I amvery proud to be a member. Myposition on the NEC has facili-tated me in being a representa-tive voice on behalf of thesecurity officers and contractcleaners in my sector. As a cur-rent member and past Chairmanof the Contract Cleaning and Se-curity Sector, I have played a rolein calling for REAs across our sec-tor and am very much aware ofthe need to have an REA in placeparticularly now for the CIT asthis is a key mechanism to take

wages out of competition and tohelp further regulate the indus-try. My aim as a trade union ac-tivist is to make the CIT industry100% unionised. I believe this ispossible because it is a uniquesection of the security industryand pay and work conditions arebetter in unionised companies.” Tim also believes that the Pri-

vate Security Authority (PSA) hasan important role to play withinthe CIT industry. This year, inMay, for the first time the CIT industry will be licensed. Therole of the PSA will be enhancedand there is an expectation thatpolicing and monitoring of theindustry will level the playingpitch.

NEC PROFILE — Tim Daly

SIPTU National TrusteeTim Daly

morrow – a nurse and a doctor. Tellyour mother that. Tomorrow morn-ing early. Now come with me."In a short time he found himself

running alongside a tall man with abag of coal over his shoulder andpockets stuffed with bags.

He himselfhad his food par-cel again and hisdocket safe inhis pocket. Theywent up thestairs, banistersand steps miss-ing, alreadyburnt, and theman paused out-side the door oftheir room."You go in

first, son," hesaid. "And tellyour Da that iswith Madam'scomp l iment sand she'll callherself when

things are a little easier."And then he lit the fire, made tea,

and they'd bread and jam to go withit. And the man crumbled bread ina cup with warm milk for the littlegirl, and the baby was brought to thefire wrapped in a warm shawl and arug provided for the girls’ bed. And that night, as the man always

said, warmth, food, and hope hadbeen given – it was Heaven!And next morning a woman doc-

tor and a nurse arrived and dealtwith the health problems. His mother had a breast infection

and couldn't feed the baby who wasfading away and the little girl hadlost the will to live.It was Countess Markievicz he

had met that day in Liberty Hall andhe reckoned she was the personwho'd ensured his family's survivaland the fact that he was now agrandfather was due to what she didfor a family who had nothing – nopossibility of survival and he'd will-ingly give up his life for her.The man's friends would clap him

on the back, and say, "Times weresurely bad then" and offer him a cig-arette and comfort him.’May O'Brien is a retired SIPTU offi-

cial and worked in the old LibertyHall. She was only the second womanto be appointed as a full-time BranchSecretary and in 1982 was appointedWomen's Affairs officer, the first suchappointment in the trade unionmovement in Ireland.

‘I WORKED as a 15-year-oldgirl in the Clothing Branch ofthe ITGWU in 1947 in the oldLiberty Hall which was on thesame site as the current build-ing. I worked till 6.00 p.m. each day.

One of mytasks was totend the twofires whichkept thedampness atbay and to en-sure they wereq u e n c h e dwhen I left. A few men

would sit inthe officewaiting for alater meetingand if I couldI'd make a cupof tea for thembefore puttingthe fire out. One man

told this story several times to usand became emotional about it. Idon't know his name – they all hadnicknames – but I'm quite sure thestory is true.He was 10 in the closing months

of the Lockout. He lived in a tene-ment room with his family near Do-minick Street. His Dad told him he must go to

Liberty Hall for the food parcel andthe docket was so valuable it waspinned to his pocket. He went barefoot since he'd out-

grown his boots and the city was de-serted. His docket inspected, hejoined the queue and after hisdocket was inspected again got hisfood allocation. Turning at a run for the door he

collided with a woman carrying atray of stuff and everything landedon the floor, including his ownfood. The women around turned on

him and thumped him and calledhim the stupidest of boys. He was conscious he'd lost the

food for the family and possibly thedocket would be taken from himand that would be the end for all ofthem.Then a hand behind his back

pushed him into another room. Atall, thin woman faced him lookingvery stern. He thought she'd take the docket

and the tears ran down his cheeks.He was sure she'd send him away

empty-handed.The woman spoke. "Why were

you so intent on running away fromus?" she asked.Her accent was British and hard to

understand but the question had tobe answered. He tried so hard to ex-

plain but wasn't sure he could."Well," he said, "Me Ma is crying,

and me Da is crying too, but the

baby doesn't cry any more. And metwo sisters, well, they have to stayin bed all the time – their clothes,well... and the little one doesn't talkany more."The woman indicated he should

sit down at a table and she sat op-posite."Can you light a fire?" she asked.He thought for a moment. Every-

thing around his home that could bewas burned – there was nothingleft. He nodded his head.The woman looked at him for a

moment in silence. "Yes," she said,"You need heat – a hot meal. We cangive you that – and replace whatwent on the floor. “But you need medical help too –

we can do that but it'll be early to-

LibertyAPRIL 2013

21Tradition

How the Countess saved our lives...REMEMBERING 1913 May O’Brien

And that night,as the man always said,warmth, foodand hope hadbeen given – itwas Heaven!

Picture: Informatique (CC BY-SA 2)

Countess Markievicz’s gravein Glasnevin Cemetery

1913 Events Calendar23rd April – 18th May

1913 commemoration events– for a much more extensivefull listing of daily eventsvisit www.1913committee.ie

TUESDAY, 23RD APRILDramatic readings from StrumpetCityFergus Cronin & historian PaulRouse evoke the atmosphere of thetime and provide historical contextthrough reading, recorded musicand imagery.Drumcondra Library, Millmount Avenue, Drumcondra, at 6.30 p.m.Admission free. Booking essential.Email:drumcondralibrary@dublincity.ieTel: 01 837 7206

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24THStrumpet City – the TV seriesBryan Murray (Fitz), John Kelleher(executive producer) and Tony Barry(producer) tell the story of the making of the iconic TV series.National Library of Ireland, KildareStreet, at 6.30 p.m.

Tenement TourTour of former tenement houseNo. 14 Henrietta Street. Wednesday 24th from 12.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. Booking essential. Email: heritage@dublincity.ie Tel: 01 222 3824

THURSDAY, APRIL 25TH: An Evening with Rashers Tierney –readings and songs from James Plunkett’s Strumpet CityThe classic novel of Dublin city life inthe early 1900’s through the words ofthe irrepressible Rashers Tierney.Waterways Ireland Visitors Centre,Grand Canal Quay, at 6.30 p.m. Booking advisable. Email: visitor-centre@waterwaysireland.org Tel: 01677 7510

FRIDAY, 26TH APRIL Dublin City Bike Tours: ExploreJames Plunkett’s Strumpet CityMeet outside Isaac’s Hostel, Frenchman’s Lane, off Lower Gardiner Street. Each Friday in April at 10.00 a.m.,duration 2.5 hours. Fee €24. Booking www.dublincity-biketours.com Tel: 087 134 1866

SATURDAY, APRIL 27THStrumpet City: A People’s History of the 1913 Lockout Screening of thedocumentary James Plunkett Con-science of a City; talks on StrumpetCity. History Ireland Hedge SchoolDebate: ‘Strumpet City: Was it ReallyLike that?’ Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, at 11.00 a.m.to 4.30 p.m. Admission free. Booking essential. Email: cityofliterature@dublincity.ie Tel: 01 674 4862SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL 28TH

Glasnevin Cemetery tour of workers’leaders graves Among the graves visited are thoseof Countess Markievicz, Helena Maloney, founding member of theIrish Women Workers Union, SeanConnolly, the first casualty of theEaster Rising, and CharlotteDespard, sister of Lord French, andrevolutionary socialist agitator. Thetour culminates at the grave ofJames Larkin where actor JerO’Leary will perform Larkin’s famous speech.Glasnevin Cemetery, Sunday, 28th April at 1.00 p.m. Tickets €12/€8 concession. Bookingadvised. Email: booking@glasnevin-trust.ie Tel: 01 882 6550

MAYTHURSDAY, 2ND MAYGalway Trade Unions 1913-2013Speakers Mary Clancy and JohnCunningham. Sean Meade Room, SIPTU offices,Forster Court, Galway, at 7.00 p.m.Organised by SIPTU Galway DistrictCommittee. Contactaoreilly@siptu.ie, text 087 677 6819or phone 01 858 8285

THURSDAY TO SATURDAY, 9TH – 11TH MAY Bratacha 2013 – a Festival of Flagsand Emblems (including Union Banners) in Dun Laoghaire. For details go to www.bratacha.com

SATURDAY, MAY 18TH:Women and Poverty: Then and Now,Living Conditions: 1913-2013: MovingForward, Achieving Equality forWomen? Countess Markievicz School.Keynote Speaker: Dr Pauline Conroy.Other Speakers: Mary Murphy, NUIM,Oliver Williams (Modern Day SoupKitchen), Clare Daly TD, CaitrionaCrowe, National Archives, GrahamUsher, Priory Hall residents, RitaFagan, Community Activist, EthelBuckley SIPTU and Justine McCarthy, Sunday Times. Liberty Hall, Dublin, beings at 10.00 a.m.Contact www.countess-markieviczschool.ie

EXHIBITIONS‘Infernos of Degradation’: Dublin1913. Images of Dublin in 1913 – theslums, tenements, and rookeries ofthe cityThis exhibition highlights the every-day privations and hardships en-dured by Dublin’s poor in the‘Strumpet City’.Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144Pearse Street, Mon-Thurs: 10.00 a.m.- 8.00 p.m. Fri & Sat: 10.00 a.m. -5.00p.m., until 30th April

LibertyAPRIL 2013

22 News

LIMERICK MECHANICS INSTITUTESUMMER SCHOOL

The day commences with a wreath laying ceremony at Old Mt St Lawrence cemetery Limerick at 10.30 a.m. we assemble at the old church in the grave yard

11.15 a.m. launch of the Special Edition of the Bottom Dog in the Mechanic's Institute

Exhibition of Historical Items Opened

11.30 a.m. A lecture and question and answer session on the Limerick Soviet 1919 - Frank Prendergast

12.15 p.m. A lecture and question and answer session on the book Jim Kemmy the Trade unionist by Brian Callanan

1.00 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. Break for Lunch

2.00 p.m. Lecture - Austerity, who bene�ts? by Conor McCabeFollowed by viewing of the exhibition

Events conclude at 4.30 p.m. SAT MAY 4TH 2013

MECHANICS INSTITUTE

HARTSTONGE ST, LIMERICK

Young people’sworkplacerights must be respected

‘Young workersmust not betrapped in asuccession of unpaid or nominally paidtraineeships...’

T IS imperative to en-sure young workersare not exploited as amere source of cheap

labour for unscrupulous em-ployers who wish to covertlyreduce the terms and condi-tions of those already in theworkplace.

Young workers must benefit fromapplicable collective agreements.Young workers must be able to ac-cess the sectoral rates of pay cover-ing activities such as contractcleaning, hotels, restaurants, agricul-tural work and security.

It is not acceptable that certainemployers are seeking to weakenthis system. Likewise, national min-imum wage provisions must be re-spected. In addition, young workersmust have access to suitable socialsecurity entitlements.

The Government has a key role toplay in preventing the exploitationof young workers by having appro-priate regulation and enforcementmeasures.

Young workers are vulnerable todepending on unsatisfactory precar-ious work arrangements, for exam-ple, zero hour contracts, ad-hoctemporary contracts and/or low-paidagency work.

The National Employment RightsAuthority (NERA) must be suffi-ciently resourced to prevent and ad-dress abuses. Crucially, permanentcontracts must remain the norm, in-cluding for young workers.

The use of traineeships must not

REPRESENTATIVES from national trade union confederations, employer groups and governmentsdebated jobs, growth and social justice at a specialconference in Oslo at the ILO’s ninth regional meeting earlier this month. Youth unemploymentwas a principal theme of the discussions. SIPTU researcher LORAINE MULLIGAN spoke as an ICTUworker delegate highlighting the issues facing youngpeople in the Irish labour market.

be allowed to facilitate job displace-ment and to act as an uncheckedsupply of free labour.

Good quality traineeships, whichoffer worthwhile work experience,must meet appropriate standards inrelation to pay and conditions, dura-tion, mentoring, skills developmentand recognition. In addition, ade-quate monitoring systems are re-quired.

Young workers must not betrapped in a succession of unpaid ornominally paid traineeships/intern-ships which do not assist work/pro-fessional progression.

If EU level employers’ organisa-tions prove unwilling to negotiate aframework of adequate protections,the European Commission mustcome forward with a proposal with-out delay.

Scope for misusing the state-lednational internship scheme, ‘Job-Bridge’, should be minimisedthrough reinforced rules and compli-ance procedures.”

“ IProtecting Quality Jobs in IrelandPromoting Quality Irish Products

SUPPORTINGQUALITY

Have You Made The Difference?

or on our Facebook page

If every household spends an extra €4 on goods manufacturedin Ireland each week, it can create up to 6,000 new jobs in Ireland!

Support the workers of the Supporting Quality Campaign!More brands continue to join the campaign so please keep updated on

www.supportingquality.ie

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ANY queries onholiday entitle-ment invariablycome into the

Membership Informationand Support Centre (MISC)at this time of year. The statutory entitlement with

regard to the taking of holidays isnot as benevolent as might be as-sumed. Employments with more effective

trade union structures have holidayarrangements and entitlements formembers which inevitably surpassthose without effective union repre-sentation. This article deals with the base-

line entitlements under the Organi-sation of Working Time Act.

How much paid leave is an employee entitled to?• Four working weeks for any

leave year in which he/she works atleast 1,365 hours;• One-third of a working week for

each month in the leave year inwhich he/she works at least 117hours; or• Eight per cent of the hours that

he/she works in a year subject to amaximum of four working weeks.In a situation where more than

one of these options applies, theemployee is entitled to whichever ofthese periods of leave is greater. If the employee has worked more

than the eight months in a year,then he/she is entitled to an unbro-ken period of two weeks, subject tothe provisions of any collectiveagreement, ERO or REA in place atthe time.

M

Holiday entitlement...reading the small print

How much is an employeepaid and how is this holidaypay sum calculated where pay does not vary from week to week? The normal weekly sum (including

any regular bonus or allowance theamount of which does not vary in re-lation to the work done by the em-ployee but excluding any pay forovertime) is paid in respect of the nor-mal weekly hours last worked by theemployee before the annual leave.

What’s the calculation wherepay varies from week toweek? The average weekly pay (excluding

any pay for overtime) of the em-ployee which is calculated over 13weeks immediately prior to the tak-ing of the leave.

The leave year commences onApril 1st but can an employeecarry over any untaken leave?The employee is supposed to take

all leave within the leave year. If acase arises where the employeecould not take the leave within theleave year for a business reason, e.g.where no cover was provided due tothe illness of another employee,then the employer can allow the em-ployee, with the consent of the em-ployee, to carry over the leave for itto be taken within six months of thefollowing leave year. If, on the other hand, the em-

ployee had ample opportunity totake annual leave, but chose not to,then there is no entitlement to carryover surplus days. In some employments, either

through custom and practice or col-lective agreement, there may be anopportunity to carry over leave butthere is usually only a narrow win-

dow allowed for taking such leave inthe following leave year.

When can leave be taken? The employer determines when

leave has to be taken but he/shemust bear in mind a number oflisted concerns i.e. the need for theemployees to reconcile work andany family responsibilities and theopportunities for rest and recreationavailable to the employee. The employer is also obliged to

consult with the trade union, or theemployee, at least four weeks beforethe leave is due to be taken.

Where can an employee gowith a complaint?Firstly, the matter should be dealt

with at local level with the assistanceof the union representative. In the ab-sence of a union representative, themember should seek direct advicefrom the union.

If the matter remains unresolvedafter using the internal grievance pro-cedure, then the employee may con-sider taking a case to the RightsCommissioner. There is a six-month limit from the

time of the breach, usually from theend of the leave year, but there can becircumstances where a breach may beearlier. Further advice should besought on this. An award by a Rights Commis-

sioner may not merely be confined tocompensation for the loss, as is thenorm with most other segments ofemployment legislation, but an awardcan also include a sum which may beclassed as a deterrent against futuretransgressions by the employer.

This article is not intended to be a legalguide to the annual leave provisions underthe Organisation of Working Time Act.SIPTU members should contact their localrepresentative or SIPTU MISC at 1800747881.

LibertyAPRIL 2013

23Know Your Rights

By Tom O’Driscoll

Education & Development Support SchemeMembers in Further EducationThe scheme will offer up to ten awards each year.

Second-Level Awards for Members and for Members’ ChildrenUp to thirty awards will be made each year to second-level students to cover the senior cycle (the two years up to the Leaving Certificate).

Gaeltacht Awards for Members’ ChildrenUp to twenty-five awards will be made each year for the children of members to cover the cost of their participation (accommodation and tuition fees) in a Gaeltacht course under the scheme operated jointly by SIPTU and Gael Linn.

A member, applying on his/her own behalf or on behalf of his/her child/children, must have at least one year’s membership of the Union and be in benefit when both the application and the payments are made.

Application forms and further information available from your Sector Organiser

Closing date for receipt of completed applications 30th September, 2013 (for awards 2013/2014)

DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT5K EVENT

4 a.m. Saturday morning 11th May 2013Join us for this symbolic event

20 venues nationwide

See dil.pieta.ie for more details or phoneDublin 01 6282111

or Limerick 061 484444

LibertyAPRIL 2013

24 Health & Safety

Work-related diseases that kill 2m a yearBy Sylvester Cronin

WORK-RELATED diseases oroccupational diseases causean immense amount of suf-fering and premature deathin workplaces in Ireland andacross the world. There may be some coverage

about the issue on Workers’ Memo-rial Day – 28th April each year – butit is virtually ignored, particularly bythose who could make a significantcontribution towards resolving anderadicating the causes of work-re-lated disease, for the rest of the year.I am referring specifically to politi-cians and employers.The nature of work-related dis-

eases in today’s workplaces is chang-ing fast with new dangers coming tothe fore. That old killer, work-related dis-

ease, pneumoconiosis, is still wide-spread though there have been somepositive developments such as withthe banning of asbestos. However, because of the sweeping

use of asbestos in the past and thelong latency period, people are stilldying from exposure to it and thedeath toll has not yet reached its

The Government has reduced the budgetfor the Health and Safety Authority (HSA)for the sixth year in a row

verse. Materials, processes, prod-ucts, etc. should be proven safe tohumans before use or proper protec-tive procedures are established.The International Labour Organi-

sation (ILO) is an esteemed interna-tional tripartite body. Its structuregives an equal voice to workers, em-ployers and governments to ensurethat the views of the social partnersare closely reflected in labour stan-dards and in shaping policies andprogrammes. The ILO recently published a re-

port entitled The Prevention of Oc-cupational Diseases. In this report, it is clearly outlined

that work-related deaths due to ill-nesses and diseases are far higherthan those deaths caused by acci-dents at work. It is estimated that 2.43 million

workers die each year worldwideand, of these, 2.02 million die from

a range of work-related diseases,which clearly indicates that theproblem of work-related health is-sues is far greater than that of acci-dents. Yet in Ireland there is a statutory

requirement to report accidents thatcause more than three-days absencefrom normal work duties and no cor-responding requirement to reportmore than three-days absence fromwork as a result of work-related ill-ness or disease.Governments, past and present,

have stubbornly refused to make re-porting of work-related illnesses anddiseases mandatory. Good data is absolutely essential to know whatproblems are present in Irish work-places, before we can even begin todesign and implement preventionstrategies. Simply put, as it states in the ILO

report: “Where we know the risks,

we can act”. All of the OccupationalSafety and Health (OSH) failures endup costing workers, employers andtaxpayers enormous amounts ofmoney. It was estimated by Indecon in a

2006 report that poor OSH costs Ire-land €3.3 billion (somewhere be-tween 2%-4% of national income). There is ample evidence, by way

of research nationally and interna-tionally, that good OSH saves moneyand is good for business. The Government has reduced the

budget for the Health and Safety Au-thority (HSA) for the sixth year in arow and this will limit its ability tocarry out preventative work, includ-ing inspections, thus increasing thelikelihood of more work-related ac-cidents, illnesses, diseases anddeaths. Reduced budgets for HSA means,

in simple terms, reductions in thenumbers of inspectors and inspec-tions. Note: I would encourage as many

workers as possible to attend theWorkers’ Memorial event on Sun-day, 28th April at 11:30 a.m. – 1.00p.m. in the Glasnevin CemeteryMuseum, Dublin.

peak. Even with improvements theolder/existing occupational diseasescontinue to take an unacceptablyheavy toll on workers’ health.There are many new work-related

hazards being created and/or on thehorizon such as musculoskeletal dis-orders (MSDs), which are causingsome life-lasting conditions, some-times resulting in untimely retire-ments. There are always new and emerg-

ing risks but, unfortunately, withoutadequate preventative, protectiveand control measures also being de-veloped. We seem to operate in a system

that basically requires a substance orproduct to be proven dangerous be-fore prevention is taken seriously. This will be catastrophic if there is

a long latency period (i.e. time lagbetween exposure and ill-effect). The system should operate in re-

LibertyAPRIL 2013

25Health

‘In the early stages, people withParkinson’s are often thought tobe depressed because their facebecomes expressionless’

Pict

ure:

Hor

ia V

arla

n

YOURHEALTH

MIND

By ILLONA DUFFY

Illona Duffy is a GP and member of the Irish Medical Organisation

The tell-tale tremorPARKINSON’S DISEASE

ARKINSON’S diseaseis a neurological disor-der that mainly occursin those over 60 years

of age. It affects about 15 per100,000 of those in theirfifties and this incidence in-creases to 90 per 100,000 inthose in their eighties.The disease has been highlighted

by two high-profile people who suf-fer from it. Mohammad Ali andMichael J Fox both suffer from thedisease and have tried to increaseawareness and research into itstreatment and prevention.We still do not fully understand

what causes it. However, it is morecommon in men and the elderly.Having a relative with Parkinson’sincreases your own risk of develop-ing it.

What causes it?Messages are passed within the

brain by chemicals called neuro-transmitters. In Parkinson’s diseaseone of these chemicals, dopamine,is reduced in a part of the braincalled the ‘substantia nigra’. This affects the messages being sent thebody’s muscles.

What are the symptoms?Although there are many symp-

toms associated with this diseasethe main three are; stiffness, slow-ness and tremor.Stiffness: Patients will notice that

their movements are stiffer and maycomplain of difficulty in turning inthe bed or rising from a seated posi-tion. As time goes on the stiffness be-

comes more widespread causing dif-ficulty with walking and simpleactivities such as writing and closingbuttons.Slowness: All body movement

tends to slow down. This means thatmobility is obviously affected. Thisadds to the difficulty in walking andrising from a seated position.

Other muscles also slow down in-cluding those in the bowel leadingto constipation.Tremor: The typical tremor or

shake involves the hands and is de-scribed as ‘pill rolling’ due the factthat it looks like the patient isrolling something between their fin-gers and thumb. However, patients may also com-

plain of a generalised tremor. Inter-estingly, the shake is worse whenresting but actually improves whenthe patient uses their hands to dosomething.

Diagnosis:In general, investigations are done

more to exclude other causes of theinitial symptoms than to make an ac-tual diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.There is a new scan that measuresdopamine levels in the brain but itis not routinely used before startingtreatment.To make a diagnosis of Parkinson’s

disease the patient must have defi-nite signs of slowing down (bradyki-

nesia). As mentioned above, this willcommonly present as a change ingait. The patient will develop a shuf-fling walk with difficulty gettingstarted. They may actually bend for-ward to get started but then alsohave difficulty stopping. Another feature is that while walk-

ing they will no longer naturallyswing their arms and have difficultyturning. This all leads to an in-creased risk of falling.

Most patients will have a tremorso this also helps make the diagno-sis. Again this is a resting tremor andwill become worse when the patientis stressed or tired.The stiffness that patients develop

is one-sided in the early stages of thedisease. When the doctor is checkingfor this, he/she will test the armmovements and look especially forrigid elbow movements called cog-wheel rigidity because it feels exactlylike a cogwheel.In the early stages people with

Parkinson’s are often thought to bedepressed because their face be-comes expressionless. Their voice may also become

weaker and lower in pitch. Theirswallow may also be affected andthey may have increased drooling.Other unexplained symptoms that

many patients will notice are:• reduced smell,• restless sleep, and• increased nightmares.

Treatment:It is advised that all patients with

suspected Parkinson’s disease be re-ferred to a neurologist or a consult-ant specialising in medicine of theelderly. It is best that no treatmentbe commenced until then. The medicines used increase the

levels of the neurotransmitter,dopamine. Management of the Parkinson’s

patient involves more than just med-icine. Physiotherapy has been shownto improve mobility, improve bal-ance and reduce falls.Speech and Language therapy can

improve speech and swallowing. Oc-cupational therapists can offer prac-tical aids to improve walking andsimple things such as sitting inhigher chairs and using Velcro in-stead of buttons on clothing.The Parkinson’s Association of Ire-

land offers support and advice to suf-ferers and their families and allpatients should join it.Although Parkinson’s disease is a

progressive disorder, medication canhalt the process for many years. Despite this, depression and de-

mentia are common illnesses thatpatients may develop. For this reason, it is important that

patients are part of a specialist teamwhich can monitor and treat allthese problems.Research is on-going and future

treatments may include stem celltherapy whereby cells are insertedinto the affected part of the brain re-placing the damaged cells.

P

Tremor in the hands can be anearly symptom of the condition

LibertyAPRIL 2013

26 International

HEN I visited theWest Bank ofPalestine and Is-rael as part of the

2007 Congress delegation, Iwas so appalled at the con-stant violation of the humanrights of the Palestinian peo-ple that I vowed to do whatlittle I could to highlighttheir cause. After my failed attempt on the MV

Saoirse in 2011, I finally got to Gazain January 2013, travelling across theSinai Desert and entering fromEgypt through the Raffa Crossing. Gazan Palestinians have major

problems obtaining permission tovisit families in the West Bank, or attend hospitals, and students can-not attend universities as the bordercrossings can close for days on end,and most are denied permits. In effect there is a wedge between

the two parts of Palestine and thewhole population of Gaza is collec-tively punished by the Israeli denialof the right to free passage and toimport many essential goods.Of course I was prepared for a

landscape scarred by war, but what Isaw was so much more than that.It’s only when you travel to troubledareas that you realise that life goeson apace, and Gaza is full of colourand life, despite the many hardshipsvisited on it by the Israeli siege. Our hotel was near a sandy beach,

and it was easy to imagine a healthytourist industry if only there waspeace. The land is also fertile, and if there

was trade, there would be a thrivingeconomy, instead of one supportedlargely by relief agencies. While there, we visited a gem of a

Greek Orthodox Church, a stunningmuseum, and a bustling, thoughrun-down, market, a reminder that

Palestine was a prosperous and di-verse society before the 1917 BritishOccupation and its aftermath.The purpose of our visit was to

meet civil society groups and at-tempt to link them with similar onesin Ireland. I had a particular interest in visit-

ing hospitals and speaking to para-medics, and was aided in doing so byDr Mohammed Maqua of UNRWAwho spoke at the 2012 SIPTU HealthDivision Conference. It was immedi-ately apparent that one of the prob-

lems facing hospitals was power out-ages. Due to a shortage of electricity

there can be many power cuts everyday. Medics had to ensure that pa-tients on dialysis, life support andother essential machines were pro-tected, and vital equipment wasoften destroyed due to the outages. A major problem, apart from the

obvious financial one, is getting re-placements because of the siege.Equipment is often unusable formonths on end. On my visit to Al

Quds hospital, I was told that it wasbombed in the 2009 Israeli incur-sion, and intensive care patients hadto be trundled on beds up the streetto safety. It took the intervention of the

French government to persuade Is-rael to allow in the necessary mate-rials to rebuild the hospital.

Bashar Ahmed Murad, Director ofEmergency Medical Services for theRed Crescent Society, told us thatlives could have been saved during“Operation Cast Lead” [2008-2009attack on Gaza] if they had beengiven medical care by the Israelis,and that the IDF would not allowPalestinian medical services in.He said: "When they were finally

allowed to enter on January 7, Israeliforces only gave them a three-hour‘lull’ to work and prohibited ambu-lances into the area. They forcedthem to leave ambulances two kilo-meters away and enter the area onfoot.” Paramedics had to pile the

wounded on donkey carts and med-ical workers pulled the carts to helpthe most people possible in theshort time they were given.I asked him about post-traumatic

stress for paramedics and he told methat understandably it was an issue,but that it was also common for thepopulation of Gaza, who lived withthe constant threat of shelling andincursions. I met some wonderful people in

Gaza, not least the paramedics,medics and relief workers, I wasstruck by the samoud or steadfast-ness of the people but was incredi-bly sad leaving there, seeing aterribly beautiful but damaged re-gion, needlessly scarred, and a pop-ulation denied the most basic ofhuman rights, to live in peace.Congress supports the Boycott, Di-

vestment and Sanction of Israel,until it ends its apartheid treatmentof the people of Palestine. Pleasejoin in spreading the word to ensurethat it is sucessful.

W

“Samoud” - the resilience of the people of Gaza despite being denied their basic human rights – Mags O’Brien reports on a recent visit

Gaza: aterriblebeauty

Land of contrasts: Mags was impressedby the life and colour of the Gaza Strip

LibertyAPRIL 2013

27International

Colombia is a real example of what happenswhen you put economic model above people

INTERVIEW

RESIDENT MiguelMorantes of the Colom-bian trade union bodythe CTC and Adolfo

Devia vice-president of theCali municipal workers unionwere targeted in an at-tempted assassination lastmonth.The British TUC expressed its out-

rage at the news to the Colombianambassador in London, urging Bo-gota to keep to its commitments onproviding safer conditions for tradeunionists.Colombia remains the most dan-

gerous place to be a trade unionist.But the latest act of violence

against a member of civil society inColombia is an all-too-familiar storyfor award-winning human rightscampaigner Mariela Kohon – the di-rector of Justice For Colombia (JFC).Based in London, the JFC cam-

paign is an NGO which has been ac-tively campaigning to support tradeunions and other civil society organ-isations in Colombia in their strug-gle for human rights, democracy,peace and social justice since 2002.From humble beginnings, the

campaign now boasts support fromevery major trade union in Britain,and progressive lawyers associationsand has become somewhat of athorn in the side of the governmentin Bogota.For many, getting the wrong side

of a state that has been criticised re-peatedly by Amnesty internationalover its human rights record andfaced accusations of violent repres-sion, might deter you from speakingout.Not Mariela.As we sit down to coffee, the Latin

UK Award winner for human rightscampaigner of the year, explains thather interest in Latin America startedin the family home before becomingmore focused at university followinga trip to the region.“I ran the Colombian society at my

university. My parents are both LatinAmerican, one Colombian and oneArgentinian.”“Colombia is a real example of

what happens when you put theeconomic model above people.”The country is the third most un-

equal country in the Americas interms of income inequality withwomen, indigenous people andrural communities mainly affected.It is estimated that around six mil-

By John Millington member, meeting with Santos inColombia, came out saying, ‘we sup-port the government in the negotia-tions’.“Now in any other peace process,

if the EU Parliament came out sup-porting one side, how is that in anyway supporting civil society or theprocess of building peace?“MEPs tell me that they have

never been lobbied as a hard as theyhave by the Colombian Embassy inBrussels.“So far it has been a victory for the

PR machine and the so-called liberalmedia in this country has not doneenough to reflect what is really goingon in Colombia.”But with so much interest in Latin

America, particularly the closescrutiny of left-leaning governmentsin Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Bo-livia, why has Colombia not been inthe media spotlight?“Colombia has been very effective

at presenting itself as a democracy,”Mariela.“There are not military uniforms

at the top table. There are elections.”

P

lion hectares of land have beenabandoned by people fleeing thecivil war between FARC guerrillas,the government and right-wing para-militaries which has raged in thecountry for more than 40 years.Popular mantra places Colombia’s

problems squarely at the feet of theFARC and drug trafficking.But for Mariela, solving the under-

lying structural inequality in thecountry remains key to securinglong term peace.She said: “The drugs issue is

obviously a large problem. But thatonly really started in the 70’s.“The conflict as we know it started

in 1948 but there was conflict beforethat and that is more about land.“The origin of the FARC is a group

of peasant farmers attempting to set

up a co-operative and then attacked.“Obviously, the situation has de-

veloped and become more compli-cated but there is a lot of mediapropaganda surrounding the con-flict.”That media propaganda and hard

government lobbying has meant thelarge body of work being carried outby Mariela and the JFC team is beingignored in the mainstream press,namely support for Colombian civilgroups such as Colombians for Peacewhich is brokering a long-lastingpeace settlement in the country.With the help of Cuba and Nor-

way, peace activists in Colombia areattempting to bring together FARCand government representatives ina bid to stop the violence.Despite current Colombian Presi-

JFC DirectorMariela Kohon

Mariela Kohon

dent Santos’ official endorsement ofthe peace talks, death threats fromright-wing paramilitaries levelled atcongressmen involved in the discus-sions continue.

And Mariela is critical of the gov-ernment for not taking enough pub-lic action to guarantee their safetyand of the EU for not applyingenough pressure to Bogota.She said: “Last month, the presi-

dent of the European parliamentMartin Shultz – a social democrat

‘It has been avictory for the[Colombian government’s] PRmachine - the liberal media hasnot done enoughto reflect what is really going on’

LibertyAPRIL 2013

28 Reviews

Snapshots of aturbulent yearTHIS new publication, editedby labour historian FrancisDevine, is a series of 16 es-says – some by establishedwriters and historians andmore by emerging talents –which complement and rein-force other studies such asPadraig Yeates’ seminal Lock-out.It focuses on the lives of ordinary

workers and their fami-lies during that epicstruggle and it is they,who, in the words of thebook’s back page blurb,“…shine through thepages of this volume”. The editor’s introduc-

tion, Who dared to wearthe Red Hand badge? isan excellent andthoughtful overviewwhich sets the scene aswell as the timeline forthe conflict. Lydia Carroll and David Durnin,

cover the essential aspects of hous-ing, public health and healthcare inthe city while historian and writer,Ann Mathews (whose play Lockoutrecently premiered) analyses the im-pact of the struggle from the stand-point of children and the provisionof food aid (including that providedby the Liberty Hall food kitchen). Keele University’s Karen Hunt also

covers the role of children andwomen, this time from the aspect of

the “Save the Kiddies” scheme.In a photographic chapter, Infer-

nos of degradation, Enda Leaneyanalyses tenement life in all itswretchedness while other essayscover support from Britain and theinternational labour movement aswell as Labour politics and the Lock-out. A number of essays deal with var-

ious (and little discussed) cultural is-sues and, finally, there is an

intriguing contributionby Patrick Coughlan(with Francis Devine) onthe search for his 1913“roots”.There are excellent il-

lustrations, including aphotograph of the rare“Shillito Medal” awardedto the officers and crewof the food ships sent asaid from British tradeunions. Each chapter/essay is

accessible and at, on average, 20pages or so, can be dipped into andeasily read on a stand-alone basis. This is a veritable “tool-box” to aid

the study of Lockout and the city,and an extremely valuable contribu-tion which is testament to the com-mitment and scholarship of allinvolved, including the editors, con-tributors and the Dublin City Libraryand Archive – a truly civic endeav-our.

By Michael Halpenny

A Capital in Conflict: Dublin City and the 1913 LockoutEdited by Francis Devine. Series Editors Mary Clark and Maire Kennedy (Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Atha Cliath Dublin City Council) €23

Free tickets available for allCity Hall events from theBelfast Welcome Centre.

Phone 028 9024 6609 or call intothe Welcome Centre at 47 DonegallPlace, Belfast.

We are currently remembering a decade ofkey historical moments that shaped the history of Northern Ireland and Ireland a century ago. The period from 1912-1922 witnessed some dramatic changes. Now, one hundred years on, we are taking time to explore some of the significant events inmore detail.

This season we’ll look at the rise of thelabour movement and the role of the tradeunions. In developing this programme wehave worked in partnership with the tradeunion movement in Belfast. If you wouldlike to attend any of these events and have additional requirements please contact us in advance.

• City Hall events please contact Marie on 028 9027 0663

• Ulster hall events please contact Cathrynon 028 9033 4471

SATURDAY 4TH MAY 2013Join the May Day Rally!

CITY HALL EVENTSTuesday 7th May 2013, 7.15 p.m.Programme launch and The 1913 Lockout - words and music by Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden

Wednesday 15th May 2013, 7.15 p.m.Therese Moriarty

Tuesday 21st May 2013, at 7.15 pm.John Gray; Supping at the “bitter gourd”: struggles of the Belfast Labour movement 1906 - 1932

Thursday 30th May 2013, at 12.30 p.m.Padraig Yeates; The Dublin Lockout of 1913 - A Very British Conflict

Thursday 6th June 2013, 7.15 p.m.Stephen Royle and Agnieszka Martynowicz;Migration and the making of a city

ULSTER HALL EVENTSWednesday 15th May 2013 at 1.00 p.m.Special Literary Lunchtime - Words for the Workers

Saturday 18th May 2013 at 11 a.m. and Thursday 13th June at 6.30 p.m.PLACE presents The Workers’ City: Urban Walk

Thursday 23rd May, 10.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m.PLACE presents Architecture in 3 Minutes: Transport House Short Film Workshop

Sunday 2nd June 2013 at 10.30 a.m.(Breakfast from 10.00 a.m.)Special Breakfast Club Screening of Made in Dagenham

Friday 21st June 2013 at 10.30 a.m.The McPeakes present Songs from the Mills and Factories

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 at 7.30 p.m.Screening of ‘Milk’ (In association with Belfast Pride Festival 2013)

Thursday 4th July 2013 at 2.00 p.m.Women and Labour in an Era of Patriarchy (1900 - 1930s) Dr Cathy Higgins

LibertyAPRIL 2013

29Obituaries

OBITUARY Gladys Sheehan

SHE was buried with all thepomp and ceremony of amonarch at the cost to theBritish tax payer of a re-ported £10 million, a "privi-lege" not accorded to aBritish Prime minister sinceWinston Churchill. However,the ceremony , in all its detail,was not one bestowed on herby a grateful populace. Self-regarding to the end, it wasMargaret Thatcher herselfwho "negotiated" her own fu-neral arrangements with theformer Labour governmentof George Brown. An expen-sive spectacle for the estab-lishment and yet anotherburden for the working tax-payer. Little could have beenmore telling to mark herlegacy.Thatcher, who served as British

prime minister from 1979 to 1990,provoked almost as much divisionin her death as she did over hermany years as the most influentialConservative Party leader indecades. In Ireland, it brought backmemories of her role in exacerbat-ing the conflict in the North fol-lowing her disastrous, andinhumane, response to the repub-

lican hunger strikes in 1980 and’81, the shoot to kill policies byBritish security forces that fol-lowed and her refusal to counte-nance, at leastinitially, any role forthe Irish governmentin the administrationof Northern Ireland.Unionists recalledtheir opposition toher endorsement ofthe Anglo-IrishAgreement in themid-1980’s whilepraising her forcefulreaction to the occu-pation of the Malv-inas Islands by theArgentine militaryduring the same pe-riod.In Britain, her

death also provokedmixed reaction withlavish tributes paidto the former leaderby her own party andthe establishmentgenerally and scornand vitriol poured onher by many in theworking class, mining and othercommunities that suffered underher policies. Her imposition of thepoll tax backed up by brutal policeenforcement, her war crime role inthe sinking of the Belgrano duringthe Malvinas conflict and her

slashing of health, education andunemployment budgets during herthree terms as prime minister alsounleashed widespread criticism. In

the House of Commons, formeractor and MP, Glenda Jackson,spoke eloquently (link below) ofher callous social policies whileFrances O’Grady ,General secretaryof the TUC in Briatain,wrote of theultimate failure of her neo-liberal

economic vision which led to asharp deterioration in living stan-dards for many working familiesand the unemployed acrossBritain.“Thatcher was suspicious of

democracy. She preferred mar-kets, and a strong but minimalcentral state that backed theirrule. She abolished city-widelocal government, capped spend-ing and expected the poll tax tofurther undermine alternativevoices,” O’Grady said.“State assets and a huge in-

come stream from North sea oilwere used to fund a populist pro-gramme of tax cuts, privatisationand council house sales. The fam-ily silver was squandered on brib-ing voters rather thanmodernising the economy.“The 70s was Britain's most

equal decade. The jobs that wentduring the 80s tended to be good,skilled jobs, delivering decent in-comes and some security. Shefailed to replace those jobs withwell-paid equivalents. Demonis-ing unions and stripping thegreat mass of private-sector work-ers of a voice and power in the

workplace is still the root of thegreat living standards crisis thatsaw the share of wealth going towages slide long before LehmanBrothers failed.“Even the nasty politics of "wel-

fare reform" is driven by the high

cost of subsidising low paythrough in-work benefits, and in-difference to the plight of joblesscommunities who have never re-covered from de-industrialisation.In particular ,the TUC General

Secretary pointed out “The finan-cial crash of 2008 was a direct re-sult of the policies Thatcherchampioned. The dominance of fi-nance in the economy and the fail-ure of bank regulation flowed fromher belief that markets should al-ways be left to themselves. Thecredit boom – both here and in theUSA – may have gone against herGrantham roots but was an equallyinevitable result of deregulationand the temptation of easy loansfor people hungry to improve liv-ing standards,” .To borrow the words of Michelle

Obama , it is moments like thisthat reveal who we are. Thus, else-where in the media, the right wing" Economist" in its leader column,hailed Thatcher as a "FreedomFighter" and said "What the worldneeds now is more Thatcherism!"On the other hand , at the more ra-tional end of the spectrum, the leftof centre economist , Will Huttonasked the killer question on herlegacy. Writing in the British news-paper , the "Observer" ,he asked "Ifher (Thatcher's ) revolution hadtruly saved us, why is Britain insuch a mess today?" Why indeed?

THE death has occurred oflifelong Equity memberGladys Sheehan (née Carr) ofBray, county Wicklow.Gladys, who passed awaypeacefully on 29th March,juggled family and career formore than four decades andleft a strong legacy. She ran a drama school for chil-

dren from a small studio at theback of her house and believedthat it was this hands-on contactwith younger generations that kepther going over the years andbuoyed her up in times of tragedy. And despite her energetic, bub-

bly character Gladys has had manytragedies in her life.Three of her children were born

with disabilities as a result ofblood transfusions. Two are dead

now but her youngest son, Dara,who is profoundly deaf, was still athome with her. Gladys was one of the first cam-

paigners for the National Associa-tion for the Deaf. She fought a hard campaign to

get “car fanatic” Dara a haulage li-cence allowing him to live a fulllife as a truck driver as a result. Gladys' eldest son, Fintan, a cam-

eraman with the BBC, died tragi-cally on assignment at a young ageonly months after the death of herhusband, Paddy. Gladys picked herself up after

this double blow, which mighthave brought many to despair. Apart from raising her family

and running a drama school,Gladys also had her other life as aglamorous actress. Starring in 120films, she was a regular at Ardmore

Studios in the heyday of film mak-ing. She often brought people back

down memory lane to the stu-dios – a stone’s throw from herhouse in Bray – to tell stories ofher meetings with Sean Connery,Robert Mitchum and GabrielByrne. In 2005, Gladys was honoured

with Person of the Year by BrayChamber of Commerce. Her indomitable spirit is an in-

spiration to anyone of us strivingto cope with family, career and per-sonal difficulties. To meet Gladys Sheehan was to

sip the tonic of one genuine Lead-ing Lady. Padraig Murray, chair ofthe Irish Equity Group, expressedsadness at the passing of Gladysand on behalf of the Irish EquityGroup offered sincere condolences

to her family. He said: “When I was a young lad

wanting to become an actor,Gladys gave me a tremendousfoundation to start out with, likeshe did with so many other aspir-ing young people who went on tobecome professional actors and itwas great to see so many of thempaying their respects at her fu-neral. “Gladys was a woman of great

spirit and commitment. “A staunch member of Equity,

she would take a front row seatevery year at the AGM always thewilling participant to support thedevelopment of the craft she lovedso much. “She will be missed by many.” Gladys, beloved wife of the late

Patrick, and mother of the late Fin-tan, Aideen and Stella, will be re-

membered with love by her daugh-ter Valerie, son Darragh, grandsonsDavid and Paul, extended familyand friends.

Thatcher leaves trail of destruction behind

Her indomitable spirit was inspiring

LibertyAPRIL 2013

30 Sport

By Brendan O’Brien

E’RE now comingtowards the con-clusion of thefirst round of

matches in the Airtricityleague and things are shapingup very interestingly indeed.Sligo have exceeded everyone’s

expectations with a perfect eightleague wins in a row to rocket to thetop of the table. Manager, Ian Barraclough, has un-

covered a new star in striker An-thony Elding who has been interrific goal-scoring form. Derry City have also got off to a

great start winning six and drawingone to place them five points behindSligo Rovers. Declan Devine’s men are defi-

nitely continuing the strong formshown late last season and will nodoubt be there or thereabouts at thebusiness end of the season.St Patrick’s Athletic have started

GEORGE Holden, chair of theunion’s South Dublin CountyCouncil Section Committee isseeking assistance in collecting300 old mobile phones towardspurchasing a defibrillator for the

Scoil Bhrid martial arts club in Kill, county Kildare. Ifyou’d like to help with thisvery worthy cause, pleasecontact George at 087 9910948.

similarly to the Candystripes andwill be expecting at least to bag a Eu-ropean spot this year, while they arestill well in the title race as well.Shamrock Rovers, in the mean-

time, have become the draw special-ists with six ties to go with their twowins to date. While the fans are reasonably

happy with progress to date, theywant more points on the board togive Sligo the title challenge they ex-pect this season. Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk side are

vying with Rovers and challengingfor a European spot.At the other end of the table, the

surprise slow starters have beenShelbourne and UCD, who’ve racked

up just one point each in their open-ing eight games. Unless both canquickly start catching up with therest, we’ll be set for perhaps the ear-liest ever commencement of the rel-egation battle in the Division.Meanwhile, we’re into the semi-

final stage of the Setanta Sports Cupwhere Sligo Rovers, DroghedaUnited, Cork City and ShamrockRovers are all competing for Irish do-mestic soccer’s ‘All Ireland’ crown.After the first legs, Drogheda

travel to Sligo with a two-goal lead,while Cork City host the Hoops atTurners Cross with a slim lead byvirtue of the away goals rule after se-curing a 1-1 draw at Tallaght Sta-dium.

MOBILES APPEAL TO FUND DEFIBRILLATOR

Shamrock Rovers’ Karl Sheppard onthe ball during the Setanta Cup semifinal first leg against Cork City

Pictures: GMK Photography

Shamrock Rovers midfielderRonan Finn in action against BrayWanderers at Tallaght Stadium

Pictures: GMK Photography

Stunning Sligo rockets to topwhile Shamrocks draw breath

W

LibertyAPRIL 2013

31Liberty Crossword

Save Ireland's Forests A Walk in the Woods Avondale House & Forest Park, Rathdrum. Meet Sunday 28 April 1.00pm at Car Park

With songs, poems and readings by: Paddy Casey, Sinead Cusack, Jeremy Irons,

Dave Lordan, Christy Moore, Brid Ní Neachtain, Ouroboros Theatre Co & others

Organised by Natural Resources Protection Alliance & The Woodland League naturalresourcesconference@gmail.com www.woodlandleague.org

facebook ‘Walk in the Woods’ eventtwitter @ProtectResource

Liberty Crossword

*Correctly fill in the crossword to reveal the hidden word, contained by reading the letters in the shaded squares from top to bottom. Email the hidden word to communicationsdepartment@siptu.ie or post to Communications Dept., Liberty Hall, Dublin1 along with your name and address and you will to be entered into a prize draw to win two nights for two people in one of Ireland’s Fair Hotels.

The winner of the crossword quiz will be published in the next issue of Liberty. *Terms and conditions apply.

March crossword winner was: Seán O’Shea, Killorglin, Co. Kerry

Prize draw to win two nights for two people in one

of Ireland’s Fair Hotels.1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12 13

14

15 16

17

18 19 20

21 22

1 2

7

9

1211

3 4 5

8

10

13

6

15

18

21

14

16

17

19

22

20

ACROSS7 Indian city (6)8 Member of audience

interrupts (6)9 Wish receiver (4)10 Protected, in a

way (8)11 Token (7)13 Kind of duty (5)15 Small songbirds

(5)16 Baked Italian dish

(7)18 Caribbean island

(8)19 Middle Eastern

country (4)21 Waylay (6)22 Historical records

(6)

DOWN1 Family member

(4)2 Breed of beef

cattle (8,5)3 A disagreement

(7)4 Immunisations (5)5 Norwegians,

Swedes, Finns andDanes (13)

6 North Africannationality (8)

12 Found in the ear(8)

14 Found in a toolbox (7)

17 US State (5)20 Fully fit (4)