Adams Addresses Irish Violunteers Centenary Rally In Dublin's Rotunda

Rally call for political unity towards a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael

Gerry Adams addresses Irish Volunteers centenary rally in Dublin’s Rotunda

‘Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families . . . The trade union movement needs to get back to activism: to organising, to campaigning, to recruiting, to agitating for the rights of workers, including unemployed workers, the poor and demonstrating across all employment sectors’

IT IS TIME for everyone who believes that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland to work together, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD says in his main address to a centenary rally in The Rotunda in Dublin, where the Irish Volunteers were founded in November 1913.

Ireland today “needs a realignment of politics which reflects the radical spirit of 1913 and of the years that followed”, the republican leader says in a speech that accuses the trade union movement of a failure of leadership and putting too much faith in the Irish Labour Party.

“Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families,” Gerry Adams says.

“Our task must be to oppose it at every opportunity – North and South.

“That means building alliances on social and economic matters with others in Ireland and abroad, who share our opposition to austerity.

“It means working to secure real change - including a realignment of Irish politics.

The Sinn Féin leader says:

“We need to deal properly with the legacy of the past and tackle the scourge of sectarianism.

“This requires nationalists and unionists and republicans working together.

“It requires republicans continuing to show leadership and self-confidence as Belfast Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir did last Monday.

“It requires political, civic and community effort.

“It requires the Irish Government acting as a co-equal guarantor with the British and not as a junior partner.”

The Sinn Féin President reiterated his call for a Border Poll:

“The Good Friday Agreement provides for a Border poll and a simple majority vote, to determine the constitutional status of the North.

“Such a poll could provide a unique opportunity for a historic debate on the future of this island.”

The Irish Government, he said, “needs to encourage that debate instead of trying to close it down”.

The former MP for west Belfast reiterated that the political geography of the North is also changing.

“It is no longer an Orange state.

“Politics across on the island is in flux. A new Ireland can be what we make it.

“Ireland today needs a realignment of politics which reflects the radical spirit of 1913 and of the years that followed.

“Last month, the Fine Gael/Labour Government again targeted the most vulnerable in our society by attacking the elderly, the young and the sick. The British Government has cut the block grant.

“Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families.

“Our task must be to oppose it at every opportunity – North and south.

“That means building alliances on social and economic matters with others, in Ireland and abroad, who share our opposition to austerity.

“It means working to secure real change – including a realignment of Irish politics.

“At a time of great challenge for Irish workers who are facing relentless austerity and attacks on basic social protections, there has been a failure of leadership in the labour movement.

“Some of this is also because some trade union leaders place too much trust in the Labour Party leadership.

“The trade union movement needs to get back to activism: to organising, to campaigning, to recruiting, to agitating for the rights of workers, including unemployed workers, the poor and demonstrating across all employment sectors.

“The vast majority of Irish people want a society that is based on values of social justice, fairness, equality and decency.

“I firmly believe that this can be achieved if we work together.

“This means trade union activists, community activists, individuals, and political parties like Sinn Féin and Independents of like mind joining together in common cause against austerity.

“It means developing viable alternative policies to meet the economic and political challenges of today and tomorrow.

“It also means raising issues relating to the Good Friday Agreement: equality issues, social and economic matters, as well as pushing anti-sectarian strategies and working with disadvantaged communities across this island, including loyalist communities.

“It is also time for all those who believe that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland to work together.”

Sinn Féin Mountmellick - Serving The Community

Has The Minister Exposed Local Government TD's & Senators, Waffle And Bluster ???

Minister tries to fob off community concerns on pylons – Carthy

14 November, 2013 - by Monaghan -- Matt Carthy

The Sinn Féin EU candidate for the Midlands North West constituency, Matt Carthy, has hit out at Minister Pat Rabbitte for trying to dismiss community concerns on pylons as “not well founded”.

Carthy made his remarks in response to a statement issued by the minister this week.

Councillor Carthy said:

“I am disappointed that Minister Pat Rabbitte has fobbed off the concerns of citizens opposed to the construction by EirGrid of high voltage overhead powerlines and associated pylons in a statement this week.  His remarks raise serious doubts on the assertions of Fine Gael and Labour representatives across the counties affected by EirGrid’s proposals that they are bringing the views of communities to the highest level in government.

“In his statement the minister suggests that the concerns expressed by communities across the proposed routes of these pylons are ‘not well founded’.  Clearly the government are hearing the people but not listening to them.  

“There are genuine concerns by residents who are expected to live along the routes of these power-lines over the impact on land values, agriculture, tourism and the potential consequences on human health.  All of these concerns have been validated by international evidence.

“For example, a significant body of research by Professor Draper of Oxford University in 2005 found that living within 200 metres of high-voltage power-lines increases a child’s chance of getting cancer by 69% and within 600 metres it was increased by an average of 20%.  Previous studies have found cancer clusters associated with high-voltage power-lines.  Those living in the vicinity have been found to have a higher chance of suffering from lung cancer and leukemia.  While there is even a chance that these risks exist it should surely be the policy of government to err on the side of caution.

“This is especially the case considering there is a viable and feasible alternative for EirGrid and the government.  

“Undergrounding the power-lines is the safest and best option and has been recognised by an International Expert Commission, employed by the government as ‘a viable option’.

“Fianna Fáil and the Green party refused to listen to the views of communities on this issue while they were in government.  I fear that Fine Gael and Labour are intent on doing the same.  I would appeal to the minister and the government to listen to the views of residents across the border, midlands, western and south east areas and not allow a situation develop where land-owners and their communities are pitted against the state.  It is clear that the resolve of people living along these routes is resolute.  Therefore, in order to save time, money and good-will the government and EirGrid should develop a policy which could see Ireland become a world leader in the development of Underground Electric technology.

“Minister Rabbitte and his government colleagues would do well to stop burying their heads in the sand and start listening to the people on this issue”.

Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community

Take A Bow Fianna Fáil/Green & Fine Gael/Labour Governments

Irish Times
14/11/2013

There are children in Dublin schools so hungry they cannot learn while some university students “don’t have decent nourishment” either, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.

It was “not exaggeration to say... the demand of people for simple wholesome food for themselves and their children is not being met” in Dublin, he said. He was “talking about large numbers of people”.

“Despite our current economic situation Ireland is still a very wealthy country and one of the temptations of the wealthy is not to see the extent of the poverty that’s there. It’s not bad will, it’s a sort of a natural mechanism that’s in people,” he said.

Archbishop Martin was speaking in Dublin’s Pro Catherdal at a Mass marking the feast of St Laurence O’Toole, where he launched his first appeal for food since becoming Archbishop of Dublin in 2004.

He appealed for non-perishable foods such as pasta, rice, fruit juice, tea,coffee, soup, sugar, powdered milk, tinned meat or fish, tinned vegetables or fruit, packaged desserts, biscuits, and hygiene products to be donated to collection points in each of the archdiocese’s 199 parishes over coming weeks. These will be collected and distributed by Crosscare every Monday and Tuesday

He also appealed to businesses “which have disposable food to join in this”.

Later a Crosscare spokeswoman told The Irish Times it received food fromTesco and Lidl, while Supervalu was “coming on board”. However they received “nothing” from Dunnes Stores, who had told them food donation “was not their policy”, she said.

This Diocesan-Crosscare Food Appeal will continue through Advent until Christmas at least. Crosscare is the social care agency of the Dublin archdiocese and supplies food directly to people in the greater Dublin area who need it, as well as through 10 charities including the Vincent de Paul.

At the Mass this morning Archbishop Martin said for the past number of months the Crosscare Food Bank “has not been able to keep up with demand for food from people in need all over Dublin. Last year, they gave out 500 tonnes of food. So far this year they have needed 750 tonnes.”

Speaking to media afterwards about children going to school hungry he said “I hear this all over the place, children up to university students. Some people would say that the level of nutrition of some children is so low that it’s effecting their ability to learn.”

He continued “we hope as we exit this period that things will change but it’s very harsh and it won’t change overnight. New burdens are on people with children. I know from the area of sick children as well. Let’s hope that this time next year it’s different but we have to respond today to this.”

About students he said “the university chaplains tell me that they have young people coming from fairly wealthy background (who) just don’t have a decent nourishment.”

Involved were “families that this time last year would not have been in this position. There’s a great precariousness there and nobody would expect to drop into that situation. That is a reality.”

On a visit to Crosscare this morning he was told “they could open two or three new centres tomorrow” and “not necessarily in expected parts of the city” but that “they just can’t do it because the food isn’t there”.

“Down there this morning the shelves are empty. There’s a large freezer room which would normally be stocked up and that’s not happening… it’s so sad when we waste so much food.”

“One of the things that is very, very dear to Pope Francis, he detests waste. I’m told for example that if he were at a table with a group and there was food left over, he’d get up and bring it to another table because he knew otherwise it would be thrown out.”

Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community

Clúid Housing Association And Longford County Council Show What Can Be Done

TheJournal.ie

14/11/2013

‘Irredeemable neighbourhood’ now an example of regeneration

Thirty-seven new homes on St Michael’s Road in Longford Town were opened today.

A MAJOR REGENERATION project in Longford has been hailed as a shining example of how housing authorities should work with not-for-profit organisations.

Housing and Planning Minister Jan O’Sullivan visited St Michael’s Road in the town this afternoon to officially open 37 new homes in the recently revamped area.

Before Longford County Council and Clúid Housing Association stepped in, 70 per cent of the properties on the road were boarded up or derelict and many older residents lived in tiny, damp houses.

Others told of sleeping in their living rooms because of dangerous stairs.

During the renovations, some units were amalgamated, turning 58 very small two-bedroom houses into 37 refurbished dwellings.

Houses are now heated using gas-fired condenser boilers and solid fuel stoves. High levels of insulation were also introduced, giving the units good energy ratings.

Illegal dumping became a major issue as litter piled up to the second floor windows outside a number of properties.

The surrounding lanes also brought problems as they became breeding grounds for anti-social behaviour and drug-dealing. Residents also became detached from surrounding communities because the only access points to neighbouring estates were these dark, unsafe alleyways.

During the works, the laneways were cleared and minimised and a new connection road was built in the heart of the area.

A neigbourhood once described as “irredeemable” has been transformed and the public-nonprofit partnership responsible praised as “an exemplar to many other housing associations and local authorities across the country”.

O’Sullivan noted that the not-for-profit Clúid Housing Association had created a sustainable community thanks to its understanding of marginalised communities and the need for a social element of regeneration.

According to the Labour TD, the community is now socially, environmentally, physically and financially secure.

The organisation is keen to work with other local authorities to “bring the irredeemable back to life”, says manager Fiona Cormican, who believes there are about 22 estates in dire need of regeneration across the country.

Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community