Crisis needs radical action

by Ben Dadre Sun Feb 15, 2009 14:37

Contrast Kerrigan's piece with Eoghan Harris.
Harris was appointed to the Senate by Bertie 'dig-out' Ahern. Harris has had his snout in the public trough all his life. For months now he has been attacking workers in the public sector.

Today he is calling for repression to deal with the rising anger of the people. Ahern and Cowen are leaders of the Fianna Fail golden gombeen circle of bankers and developers who have caused the economic crisis. Harris has been the main cheerleader for this corrupt, incompetent oligarchy. Which is why he was appointed to the Senate. The authoritarian resort to repression shows that this government of chancers and boobs has no longer any support or legitimacy.

The gombeen crony capitalism of Fianna Fail is the main cause of the current crisis: it can't be part of the solution. It must be got rid of. The pension levy protests must be broadened to demand the ouster of Fianna Fail and the destruction of the gombeen circle which has now become a threat to the survival of the Irish state.

by rianorr - none Sun Feb 15, 2009 17:26

What is this dark road that no one wants to traverse.

The road necessary to get rid of a corrupt political class and its numerous backers and hackers.

by Tara Ross Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:58

It seems that the great Irish people have finally awoken from a deep sleep. Why did it just take pay cuts to wake people up. I really spent when it comes to giving the present Government a lashing, there’s enough people doing that already. I would like to draw attention to the proletariat, that great mass of Irish people who have been silent for the last ten years while the economy was sucked dry, and the cultural heart of Ireland was ripped out leaving the priceless centre of our world status heritage site under layers of concrete and tarmac. Having been involved in the fight to save Tara, I had great hopes at the beginning that the masses would not allow the Gombeen men to have their way. I foolishly believed that the great Irish people would stop the rape of Tara. I was disappointed to see that the great Irish people did not really give a fiddlers F..k about Tara. There was lots of talk alright but no action. The protests marches and demonstrations in defence of Tara where pitiful when you seen the numbers in attendance. One can argue till the cows come home about why the save Tara protests campaigns failed. I don’t blame the people who where involved in the campaigns for the failure, some individuals gave it their all, you can only do so much as small protests groups. The problem was that the protest was not popular. No one really gave a rats arse about Tara.

The same can be said about the great gas giveaway up in Rossport. Billions of Euro worth of our natural resources are given away while the country goes into bankruptcy. I don’t blame the greedy politicians alone for that one. We all know that politicians are like pigs at a trough, they never have their fill. Their greed know no bounds, that type of behaviour is expected from politicians. My problem is this, Why did the great Irish people stand by while the Government assisted Shell in trampling all over the rights of people in Mayo ?It actually cost the Irish tax payer money in the form of security, to give away our natural recourses.

Having always stood on the side of Irish workers and down trodden, I feel that on this occasion I wont be marching with them. As the debates heat up I have to go against my own natural instincts which would be to support the masses in the current climate of anti Government protests .

I despise the Gombeen men who had a free run for so long, but the free run that they enjoyed was only made possible by the lack of any real mass challenge by the Irish people. The great Irish people had the power to stop the ransacking of this country but chose instead to sit back and do nothing. I talked to people from all walks of life over the last number of years and quizzed them on their attitude of the way the country was being run/ransacked. The mood that I read was one of anger and frustration. No one seemed happy, everyone was on tender hooks as they cursed the FF Government from a height.
I though that this mood would be reflected in the result of the last general election, I thought the FF wasters would be sent packing, but no, the great Irish people elected them yet again for another term of ransacking. Before the last general election, I though we where on the eve of a great change as the Green Party stepped into the picture. I knew where they stood on Tara, mayo, Shannon, bad planning and so on. As it turned out The Greens where no different from FF, they where my last hope at salvaging this cursed island. I should have known better than have faith in any political party on this island. Corruption rules the day, it seems to contaminate any party that enters the doss house that is Dail Eireann. This country is a closed shop. Its run by generations of the same families for decades. The same can be said for the clique that is RTE, as they are part of the problem. They will defend and protect the Gombeen men/women and let them off the hook time and time again. All of the problems that we find ourselves in at present are our own fault for sitting back and doing nothing. The famous adage, ‘evil triumphs while good men stand by’ comes to mind here. The same can be said for corruption, corruption triumphs while people stand by. The great Irish people should share in the blame we find ourselves in at present. A people deserve a bad Government if it was them who elected them.

by D_D Mon Feb 16, 2009 15:12

A minority respond to issues like Tara. The great majority are too preoccupied with routine and material cares. Or are insufficiently educated to be sensitive to issues like Tara or even Rossport.

However many DID support both these struggles, as you know from the large marches that were held. Lack of interest in 'less immediate' issues is not eternal and will change as more people get involved in wider struggles. The point Marxists - and some anarchists, incidentally - make is that radical change in society coincides with the material interests of working people, and that workers will be mobilised in defence or advance of those material interests. This by no means means that political issues are secondary, but that even from a weak political and ideological base 'ordinary people' can quickly awaken when their already unpampered lives are made even more difficult.

You are seeing this at the minute. Support for Tara, and a lot else could grow over the near future. Isolation is bitter, but don't get bitter. Your lonely stand will untimately be appreciated and remembered.

by peter Tue Mar 03, 2009 16:27

In other words class will come to the fore, at the end of the day its the class that each party supports that counts. The greens have shown themselves to be no more than a progressive wing of the bourgeois, their consience if you will. When it come to actual material issues (including builing roads for the 'national bourgeois interest', )their alliances are obvious. Only by supporting working class parties will you see real serious opposition.