Workers Solidarity Movement

The Stormont administration is at a critical juncture, with the Executive not having met in several months. It seems an eternity since Paisley and McGuinness chuckled their way through meetings and joint events.

Despite its retention of a heavy arsenal of lethal weapons including Tasers, and a litany of repressive anti-terror legislation including Diplock Courts, Hugh Orde, current Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland often refers to the force as the ‘most democratic, accountable police service in the world’. This from the same Chief Constable who has recently unsuccessfully attempted to block the release of vital documents to the Pearse Jordon Inquest. Pearse, an unarmed IRA volunteer, was gunned down by the RUC on the Falls Road in 1992.

What a farce! As the economy officially goes into recession, as electricity bills go up by 17.5%, as food bills are officially 6.4% higher than this time last year, the leaders of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions negotiate through the night and emerge bleary-eyed from the ‘social partnership’ talks with 1) a pay pause and 2) pay increases, when we eventually get them, lower than the rate of inflation. And then they have the cheek to tell us that this is “the best deal available in the current economic climate” (1). Lucky for them they’re not on performance-related pay if that’s the best they can do for their members.

What we were witnessing was a clear demonstration of people power in action. The government was in a panic and was drastically hurtling to reverse the medical card decision. And when this meeting was followed up 24 hours later with a demonstration of 15,000 organised by the Senior Citizens Parliament and another 15,000-strong student demonstration against the re-introduction of 3^rd level fees it was obvious that politics in Ireland had changed drastically.

Last weekend saw the 12th Grassroots Gathering held in Cork. The event was pretty successful I'd guess there were at least 80 there on the Saturday. It's good that after its two year interruption the Gatherings seem to be getting back on their feet.

Revolutionary organisational principles, both internal and external as theorised by various tendencies.

The victory of Obama in the US presidential elections, echoed all over the world through the mass media, tried to convince us that the single most relevant event in 2 millions of years of human existence had just happened.

Despite the collaboration between the British Government and the DUP preventing the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to the north the struggle for women's right to choose continues…..

Leading up to the Westminster vote, the Alliance for Choice campaign was active across the north organising public meetings, street stalls, a pub quiz and symbolic events such as the '40 women a week' protest outside Belfast city hall with an aim to highlight the fact that politicians here are exporting the 'problem' as over 40 women every week are forced to travel to other parts of the UK to carry out an abortion.

WSM member Gregor Kerr took part in the Grassroots Mobilisation in Ireland: Opportunities and Challenges panel at Bloom’s First Activist Forum Saturday 8th November in the Teachers Club in Dublin. This is a recording of the session.

AS we continue to bear the brunt of the recession and our politicians stabilise the interests of the rich and fat cats, the 1960s provides us with an example in the necessity for struggle and social revolution. Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, pillars of the establishment continue to squabble over the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement they all share one thing in common when it comes to defending the status-quo and attacks on workers rights and conditions.