The Socialist June 2023

Tax haven Ireland – government facilitates mega-profit making Jonathan

Protesting too much

i t is common k nowledge that ireland is a tax haven i t has been described as such by numerous economists, organisations, and studies around the world, and is backed up by reams of evidence of big corporations tak ing advantage of this status i t would seem no one could deny it – except perhaps the government on at least six occasions over the past six years, leo Varadk ar has told the Dáil that, “ireland is not a tax haven We do not want to be perceived as a tax haven.”

Sweet deal with Apple

Meanwhile, at the end of May 2023, lawyers in the employ of the irish government stepped into a top eu cour t to argue that apple should not be forced to pay €13.5 billion owed in taxes – a result of a sweethear t deal with the irish government that saw apple paying 0 005% tax in 2014 in the same week, it was repor ted that the state would go to bat to defend Meta from being hit with a €1 2 billion fine by irish data protection watchdogs

Dec ades in the making

ireland has been described as a tax haven in mainstream commentar y since 1981 the irish government

joined other tax havens such as Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines in opposing oecD plans for a global minimum corporation tax at the already paltr y rate of 15% the government eventually reversed its position but not before extracting several compromises on behalf of large corporations

Top of list

ireland is listed as a tax haven in the ten most cited academic papers on tax havens, eight of which were categorised by the european commission as the ‘most impor tant research on tax havens’ in 2017 in 2015, irish tax laws helped more taxation to be avoided by large companies than ever y caribbean island put together!

12.5% tax rate... on paper

on paper ireland has a 12 5% corporate tax rate – the average in the eu and globally is over 20% –but in practice, through loopholes and deals with the government, the effective rate is far lower one 2018 study found the effective rate to be 4% companies such as Deloitte, Matheson and Grant thornton have all marketed themselves as companies that pay an effective 2 5% tax rate in this state in 2017, tech giants apple, Google, facebook and oracle paid less than 1%

Cooking the books

in the 2010s, the state developed a new method of tax avoidance

economist Brian o’Boyle, co-author of Tax Haven Ireland, described it as a system where corporations can invoice impossible -to-value intellectual property items such as “software, logos or a part of their brand”, essentially making up a price for them and deducting the amount from their taxes he explained: “ they can say they have a €320 billion asset and any profits that come up to €320 billion can be written off against that investment” – one they essentially made up Defenders of this tax regime may argue that a big portion of ireland’s tax revenue comes from offering its low corporation tax ignoring for a moment that this additional revenue is a result of ripping off the people of other countries, including many much poorer countries, the government is reliant on a form of taxation that is highly vulnerable to economic change as one economist

Diebold

recently said: “ireland can not rely on corporation tax receipts into the future, because most of it is coming from large uS companies and is at the mercy of uS political change the uS tax system is almost more important in ireland than the irish tax system itself ”

Helping the corporate world make a killing

in 2021, the tax Justice network ranked ireland 11th in its list of enablers of global corporate tax abuse they estimate that ireland facilitates $16 billion (€14 8bn) in taxes lost each year by other countries By 2010, ireland was repor tedly shielding $100 billion annually in uS multinational foreign profits alone, helping these corporations get rich at the expense of other state’s coffers

irish economy: corporate tax windfalls and chronic inequality

By Donal Devlin

At t h e end of Apr il, two stor ies emerged about the Ir ish economy, specifically about who is making a killing and who is str ug gling to make ends meet

A report carried out by the ESRI found that real wages for workers fell by 3 3% in 2022, because of record levels of inflation, averaging at 8 4% per month

This is driven in no small part by the price-gouging and profiteering of energ y companies and big businesses generally On top of this, there is of course the ongoing housing crisis and the dearth of affordable places to rent or buy In the wake of the eviction ban, the numbers living in emergency accommodation continues to skyrocket At the time of writing it now stands at 12,200

Inequality as a model

All of this comes at a time when record profits are being made by big business, resulting in record cor porate tax re venue It is estimated that between 2023 and 2026 the state will have an eye-watering surplus of €65 billion This is despite the extremel y low rate of cor poration tax, and all the loopholes available to businesses to evade it This demonstrates that enormous profits are being made within the Irish economy while workers, in both the public and

pr ivate sectors, str uggle with cuts to their incomes and living standards

The mantra of Ireland ’ s capitalist establishment – the media, main political parties and top civil ser vants – is that the attraction of foreign direct investment, via a low tax regime, from multinational companies is essential for the development of the economy Implied in this is that such development will invar iabl y lead to an increase in living standards for working-c lass people However, reality has a habit of undermining this argument, which in any case misses the point

L ow wages, high rents, lac k of affordable housing and childcare, overcrowded hospitals and under funded schools are what the majority of us experience for a reason: the capitalist system was designed that way It ’ s why the top 1% of the population in Ireland owns 27% of the wealth (€232 billion) while the bottom 50% owns just 1% Even now the government has made it c lear that it has no intention of spending the windfall it has received to tac kle the chronic problems we face, e g no plans are in place to transition to a zero carbon economy Instead, we witnessed the spectac le of the end of May when three junior F ine Gael Ministers penned an op-ed in the Irish Independent c alling for tax cuts for those on the highest incomes

Break with capitalism

Instead of giving major subsidies to big businesses, corporate landlords and developers, we need policies that will prioritise the urgent problems we face We need to substantially increase taxes on the super-r ich and big businesses to fund measures such as a major programme of building public homes on public land; the creation of a one-tier public health ser vice; free and massively expanded public transport; and a free,

quality public childcare ser vice

The reason the government won’t do any of this is because it is ideologically committed to prioritising the interests of big business and the super-rich, as well as being conscious that despite the extra tax receipts its system is actually in deep cr isis For example, many of the companies contr ibuting to the windfall of corporate taxes are based in big tech, which is shedding thousands of jobs globally, inc luding here in Ireland

As the global capitalist system sinks deeper into its morass of multiple crises – war, c limate change, pandemics – the urgenc y of building an alternative increases by the hour This socialist alternative begins with taking the key monopolies that dominate the economy – from industr y to retail to banking – into democratic public ownership, under working-c lass control, as part of a plan to transform the economy to meet our economic, social and environmental needs

solidarity with Tathony house residents

Reinstate the eviction ban!

By finn McKenna

On 2 June, the e viction notice that was ser ved in October to the residents of tathony house (Kilmainham) will be brought into effect t he owners of tathony holdings

Limited, Ronan and Brendan McDonnell, expect the remaining residents to vacate their homes

The c allousness of these land lords cannot be understated – they are happy to evict a cancer patient, a retail worker, a communit y worker, and an elected councillor To be c lear, no one deser ves to be coerced into homelessness, but that is precisely what the profiteering O’Donnells are hellbent on doing, along with many other land lords and vulture funds

The Tathony House residents have engaged in many tactics to highlight their struggle This inc ludes press conferences, media inter vie ws, engaging with the RTB, protests at D ublin City Council, and protests outside Tathony House itself The self-organisation of the Tathony House tenants deser ves to be commended, and much of what they ’ ve done and what they ’ ve pledged to do offers a good example for tenants facing similar situations Thousands of tenants the length and breadth of the countr y are facing a deluge of evictions now eviction ban has been lifted by this land lord-loving government

Overholding is crucial

The Tathony House residents have indicated that they intend to overhold In short, overholding means that tenants

who have been ser ved eviction notices refuse to adhere to the eviction order

O verholding in its ear liest stages is not a criminal matter, but a civil one The tactic of overholding is one that needs to be seriously considered by all those who face homelessness thanks to the greed of their land lords If you are facing e viction onto the streets bec ause your land lord is tur fing you out, you c an and should refuse to vac ate You can and should stay put

D ublin City Council has stated that it has contacted Tathony Holdings

Limited five times but has not heard back from the proprietors There is an urgenc y for popular pressure to be mounted on local authorities for them to compulsorily purchase properties in the interests of tenants

At press conferences and protests, the tenants of Tathony House have examined the Ty rrelstown amendment The tenants have stated that the Tyrrelstown amendment, a recent law introduced in 2017, should protect tenants from mass eviction However, they also say the problem is that it has no teeth Under the amendment, a landlord cannot terminate ten or more tenancies or units within a single development over six months in order to sell the property But loopholes that favour landlords; e g if the landlord can prove the market value of the property would be lowered by 20% if the tenants remained in situ, or if the application of the agreement would cause hardship to the land lord The Ty rrelstown amendment is a potential avenue for-

Mortgage rates rise compounds cost of living crisis

ward, yet it c an onl y imaginabl y be pushed through in this particular case if mass pressure from below forces the state to put it into effect

Community support essential

By linking up with the local branch of CATU, the Tathony House residents have built up support in their community for their struggle to remain in their homes This, combined with the overholding approach, is perhaps the most important course of action for tenants facing homelessness to take at this juncture If tenants campaign in their area, establish connections with their neighbours and organise an active, emergency response ahead of any landlord-organised eviction attempt, they are in with a far greater chance to resist the eviction

skyrocketing prices means food crisis for working families

By Marie -claire Jennequin

In t h e past three months alone, food inflation has roc keted by a stag ger ing 16 6% – the highest e ver recorded Many ever yday staples such as milk, eg gs and butter have increased even more exponentially. t his means an extra €1,000 on average in year ly food costs for most families

S tr uggling families are being increasingly put to the pin of their collar tr y ing to sur vive W ith more than a quar ter of working-c lass families unable to consistently provide proper and regular meals for their children, too many are living on the bread line –many without the bread In fact this is a global problem: in 2022 at least 258 million people in 58 countr ies faced “acute food insecur it y ” , which is defined as hunger so severe that it poses an immediate threat to people’s livelihoods and lives

Capitalist profiteering

An O xfam report published earlier this year found that 60-80% of food price increases in Ireland and other European countr ies were a direct result of profiteering Many large supermarket chains (unacceptably) refuse to publish

their Irish profits There are a couple of exceptions to this The most recent figures published by Aldi found that its Irish profits were 71% higher than its Br itish profits Ir ish company Musgraves raked in more than €110 million in profits last year Clear ly price-gouging is a major factor here, which is abominable

Under c apitalism f ood like e ver ything else is commodified – produced not to be eaten, but f or profit This process of taking more from nature and human labour than it gives bac k makes capitalist production wholly unsustainable Currentl y, most of Ireland ’ s agr icultur al land is used f or pasture (80%), with only 8% allocated

to cereals, fruit and vegetables This is because dair y farming is far more lucr ative than other f ood production, which can be ver y labour intensive As long as profit is the driving force behind agricultural production the earth wil l continue to degr ade and people will go hungr y

Government inaction

The government ’ s tokenistic measures over the last few months are simply not enough to aver t this cr isis Miniscule wage increases for workers fall abysmally short of what is required to even meet the rising cost of inflation –while big business profits, real wages fell by 3 3% in 2022

We need action now to deal with this crisis Under the Consumer Protection Act, the government has the power to introduce price controls This should be implemented immediately –especially for essential goods and staples Furthermore, need a windfall tax on the major profits being made by the big supermarket chains

But to end their profiteering at our expense these companies should be taken into public ownership, with food production being planned to meet the needs of society and the environment

By conor Burke

The cosT of mortgage payments is shooting up. This comes as a huge cost to many workingclass people, but the banks that were bailed out over a decade ago are raking it in. In March, Bank of Ireland reported an operating profit of €1.1 billion! Meanwhile, mor tgage holders are having to fork out anywhere from €300 to €700 extra per month on average, this equates to approximately €1,400 per month or more depending on the rate of repayment over an average 30-year mor tgage effectively, the banks are passing on interest rate increases that are being imposed by the ecB (european central Bank) in an effor t to deal with inflation this is par ticularly hitting the 250,000 people on tracker mor tgages, whose rates are directly linked with those set by the ecB

We pay again the capitalist institutions of the eu are placing the burden of inflation onto the shoulders of the working class at the same time, we have seen massive price -gouging taking place by energy companies, food retailers, and of course landlords the political establishment insists that these kinds of measures are necessar y to curb inflation, as if the source of inflation was high wages being paid out to workers! this is obviously not the case, as wage increases – where they have occurred – have been well below the rate of inflation, which effectively amounts to wage cuts when it comes to the actual cost of living the real source of inflation has been sharp increases in a wide range of commodities, such as food, fuel, alcohol, energy and rents – essentially massive profiteering by big businesses But rather than cutting across this profiteering, the logic of capitalism is to hammer workers and consumers by reducing their ability to purchase necessities and to reduce their standards of living. these measures must be rejected the banks should be nationalised under democratic public ownership, and mor tgage rates and mor tgage payments should be slashed to reflect the real value of people’s homes, not the exorbitant rates they were pur-

Those on lowest incomes are always hit hardest by inflation

S olidarit y protest on 2 June at Tathony House, K ilmainham, the day the evic tion notice came into effec t

government policies a boon to the repulsive & dangerous agenda of the far right

By James Mccabe

nO f ew eR than 125 antirefugee protests have occur red in D ublin alone this year Asy lum seekers in C lare have been subject to organised intimidation, while a proposed refugee centre in Donegal was set on fire far-right groups are ratcheting up tensions in communities with racist tropes about supposed l y “ unvetted males” posing a danger to women and children

Although small in numbers, Ir ish far-right activists have had some success in spreading their toxic, racist and transphobic narratives through online activit y and the organisation of small protests Their xenophobic c ampaign took a dangerous turn when they torched a refugee c amp in S andwith Street, D ublin, on the back of a small anti-migrant protest that included local residents Nobody was injured on the day of this disgusting event, but as Socialist Par t y T D Mic k Barr y pointed out in the Dáil, “ it is only a matter of time before the far-right c laims its first killing ”

Govt’s actions fueling the fire

The government can't absolve itself of its own responsibility for the protests

The state is copper-fastening institutional racism in the here and now The government announced back in Januar y that it would no longer provide shelter for non-U krainian refugees

seeking international protection This has led to a surge in on-street homelessness with 500 asylum seekers having no access to state accommodation Unlike other refugees, U kr ainian migrants are being given the same access to healthcare, education and social welfare ser vices as Ir ish citiz ens, although most are living in the same awful conditions as the 12,000+ people living in emergenc y accommodation By discr iminating against migr ants from other parts of the wor ld, the state is fostering the idea of deser ving vs undeser ving refugees, as they literally tell mainly black and brown people seek-

ing shelter that the y must f end f or themselves

Oppose “divide & rule” narrative

Working-c lass and poor people are at the shar p edge of the housing cr isis

Most people have internalised the narrative pushed by the media and the state for years that there is a scarcity of resources in Ir ish societ y We should make short shrift of any arguments that frame the situation as a competition between working-c lass and poor people, Irish or non-Irish, settled or Traveller etc

The mainstream narrative is of an

inevitable competition between all people, which conveniently papers over the obscene amount of wealth being hoarded by Ireland ’ s super rich and big business Well over €1 billion of public money will be deposited into the bank accounts of landlords and hoteliers this year An Irish Times report found that major hotel groups have parent companies in Malta, Luxembourg and the Isle of Mann (for the purposes of tax evasion), and they are not required to publish financial reports that disc lose their profit margins

To add insult to injur y, many of these large hoteliers are ending their con-

new cold War: irish military neutrality in the crosshairs

By Mar tina Stafford

SI n C e P u t I n ’S br utal invasion of u kraine in febr uar y 2022, the m a i n s t re a m m e d i a i n Ire l a n d h a s been flooded with ar tic les about the need to “reevaluate Ireland's neutrali t y ” . t h e c a p i t a l i s t e s t a b l i s h m e n t h e re h a s i t s s i g h t s s e t o n e n t e r i n g m i l i t a r y a l l i a n c e s a n d i n c re a s i n g militar isation

The government is doing its best to avoid any democratic accountability It voted down a bill to have a referendum on the issue and instead of forming a citizen’s assembly, as on many other issues, it has opted for a panel of “experts” in security policy, academics, and members of the public to take par t in the forum designed to “ build public understanding ”

Part of wider conflict

In other words, they want to railroad their agenda of further weakening the state’s (albeit relative) militar y neutralit y Unfor tunatel y, S inn Féin also recently dropped its long/term pledge to withdraw from the EU common defense arrangement known as PESCO and the NATO-aligned Partnership of Peace

This is part of a wider militarisation drive throughout Europe which reflects the shifting sands of global inter-impe-

r ialist power str uggles There are two dominant blocs forming around the major r ival imper ialist powers of the US and China, who are constantly tr ying to shore up as much economic and politic al power as possible to protect their interests

Democracy & freedom for who?

L eo Varadkar has stated that “ we ’ re not politic al l y neutr al We ’ ve al way s been on the side of the West, on the side of democrac y and on the side of freedom” It's true that the Irish state has ne ver been genuinel y neutr al However, it has not been on the side of ‘freedom or democr ac y ’ but of the Western imperialist powers, especially the US This reflects the fact that the c apitalist establishment in Ireland is deepl y tied to and subser vient to US c apitalism, as shown by the domination of US multinationals o ver the economy

An estimated 2 5 million US troops have passed through Shannon Airport on the way to Iraq and Afghanistan to viciously pursue its wars for oil, power and profit F ianna Fáil, F ine Gael, the Greens and Labour are all complicit in the crimes committed in these wars

Now the Ir ish state is moving towards fur ther militar y collaboration with the EU as European powers recognise they will have differing inter-

ests to US and British imperialism and therefore want to develop capabilities more independent of NATO They have committed to being par t of a 5,000-strong EU “ R apid Reaction

tracts with the state this month in preparation for the tourist season taking off, resulting in what amounts to 1,300 evictions of poor people

Strategy to defeat far right

The far-r ight is on the same side as property developers and hoteliers They actuall y suppor ted the lif ting of the eviction ban They have also harassed librar y workers in Cork and D ublin for providing LGBTQ-friend ly books

We need an active, multi-racial movement in schools, colleges, workplaces and communities to fight the far right's campaigns of harassment, bigotr y and lies There are half a million trade union members in Ireland The union movement must mobilise its power to demand the building of public homes for all and to combat all vestiges of racism

Tens of thousands took to the streets in Febr uar y for the #IrelandForAll anti-racist protest in response to the activity of the far right More recently, socialist and anti-racist activists in Cork distr ibuted thousands of leaflets in working-c lass communities that inc luded quotes from vaccination centre workers and librar y workers denouncing the far right The leaflets also put for ward demands for public housing, and dispelled racist and transphobic myths

O ur slogan in the fight against the right must be “ an injur y to one is an injur y to all!”

which requires approval of the government, the Dáil and the UN, before more than 12 militar y personnel can be deployed abroad

Opposing imperialist wars

In 1918, a massive general str ike was organised in Ireland in opposition to militar y conscr iption to the Br itish army to fight in Wor ld War 1 This fed into a radic al wave of str uggle on a scale never before witnessed on this island Instead of socialist change, howe ver, we saw a counter re volutionar y offensive, partition, and the formation of two sectarian capitalist states, north and south

Force” under the condition the name is changed to ‘something less militaristic ’

As well as this, F ianna Fáil and F ine Gael want to free themselves up by getting rid of the ‘triple lock’ mechanism,

To d ay, t h e s o u t h e r n s t a t e ’ s s h o re s a n d r a w m a t e r i a l s c on t i n u e t o b e p l ac e d i n t o t h e h a n d s o f t h e h i g h e s t bidder with protection from the state’s growing militar y apparatus in collabor ation with wider imper ialist interests Working-c lass people in Ireland h a ve a n ac t i ve i n t e re s t i n o p p o s i n g t h e s e i m p e r i a l i s t a n d c a p i t a l i s t w a r s , cold or other wise, and the moves tow a rd s m i l i t a r i s a t i on T h i s s t r u g g l e must be an international one, linking u p w i t h wo rk i n g - c l a s s p e o p l e throughout Europe and the wor ld, to oppose the dr ive to militar y destr uction and to fight a democratic socialist wo r l d b a s e d on p e ac e, s o l i d a r i t y a n d cooperation

Af termath of the horrific attack on Sandwith Street where a refugee camp was burnt down

Varadk ar wants to increase militarisation and suppor t for US & European imperialism

northern local elections:

By amy ferguson

th e eLe C t I O n S were a continuation of what we have seen before: S inn féin and the D uP strengthening their positions and suppor t increasing for Alliance t hese elections took place in the midst of the cost of living cr isis, and threatened cutbacks in the Stor mont budget. w hile the main par ties in the elections offered no way for ward for working-c lass people, the str ike action and c ampaig ns to save ser vices that have taken place o ver the past few weeks give a glimpse of the potential of real change

The biggest stor y coming out of the L ocal Elections is Sinn Féín becoming the largest party In the electoral sphere politic al nationalism is becoming increasingly homogenous, with Sinn Féin growing at the expense of the SDLP S inn Féin’s vote increase also reflects the anger amongst many working-class Catholics at the DUP boycott of Stormont Both bec ause of the impact it has on public ser vices, and because it is pre venting the first nationalist F irst Minister from taking office

By Paddy Meehan

th e PASt 18 months have seen

str ike af ter str ike with workers from the postal ser vice to nurses taking to the picket line across nor ther n Ireland and Br itain Many of these disputes have won sig nificant pay increases while most have won important concessions from the bosses

Identifying the weak points

However, workers are still being made to suffer the burden of inflation and many companies in tech and finance are announcing significant redundancies in the face of further economic crisis S o the question has to be asked: what kind of trade union movement will workers need to deal with existing and future attacks on our living standards?

It ’ s clear bold and determined action will be required but to date the primar y strateg y being employed by the trade union leaders has been the ‘ long dispute ’ This strateg y, employed in the rail, communications and health strikes, has been one of intermittent strike action and lobby ing for talks to br ing pressure to bear on employers to ‘do the right thing’ This is a misunderstanding of the main goal of the employers which is to preser ve and maximise profit at the detriment of workers

Instead, a programme of struggle is needed with significant and sustained strike action to defeat the bosses, not convince them Strikes that have won have generally been shorter and sharper

Splintered Unionist vote

Unionist parties' vote share was splintered in many areas between the DUP and the T UV in par ticular, who saw their vote and seat number increase However, this was the first local government election since 2005 that the DUP has not lost a seat It came out of the election with an endorsement of its approach on the Northern Ireland Protocol This reflects the anxiet y felt in many working-c lass Protestant areas that the protocol undermines their identit y and position in the United Kingdom Turnout also shows fe wer people voted in Protestant areas in comparison to Catholic areas This is in par t bec ause of the r ight-wing and of ten e vangelic al presentation of unionist parties that cuts across young people’s enthusiasm and willingness to turn out to vote for these parties

The Alliance Party also made significant gains Many see them as the only anti-sectarian option on the table But unfor tunatel y the Alliance Par t y, despite presenting themselves as wishing to build a “ Progressive Nor thern Ireland ” , offers little for working-c lass

people Alliance have consistently and openl y suppor ted policies which are detrimental to working-c lass communities – water charges, increasing tuition fees, welfare ‘reform’, and opposing trade union rights

Establishment parties offer no alternative

The polar isation around S inn Féin, D UP and to a lesser extent Alliance, was a factor in the squeeze on smaller, lef t wing, independent candidates inc luding the Greens and People Before Profit W hile the main parties present themselves as the ‘champions’ of their respective communities – they are the opposite W hile in Stormont together they united to attac k working-c lass people They implemented welfare reform and attacked public ser vices, creating the crisis our NHS and education system faces today The last time they could, they offered NHS workers a 3% pay rise!

If there isn’t a challenge from working-c lass people the cost of living crisis and cutbac ks are onl y set to worsen The Socialist Party stood in this election raising the urgent need to chal-

lenge the sectarian, anti-worker politics of the establishment par ties We pointed toward the actions of workers and young people on picket lines and

campaigns as being the force that can achie ve change Building that fight back will require conscious and urgent action in workplaces and communities

Workers need to democratically control their own strikes

with a specific target and a good knowledge of what will hurt the bosses – knowing the weak points that c an stall production, effective pic keting, identify ing and pressur ising key investors

Workers’ control is crucial

To do this real engagement and input is needed for workers themselves Secret negotiations and a lack of communic ation from union tops about disputes have pushed workers out of

any real control of their own strikes Instead workers themselves have the best knowledge about how their disputes could be r un Weekl y or dail y mass strike meetings where workers can debate and discuss the disputes and how to make them more effective would transform many of the disputes ongoing at the minute

Trade unions are an organised example of the need for the working c lass to protect itself from the constant push by the bosses to lower costs through wage

suppression, productivity demands and throwing workers on the scrapheap when they ’ re deemed sur plus to requirements R ather than a lobby ing body or arbitrator, unions are made up, r un by and accountable to their own members

However, it doesn't always work out this way with many union leaderships and bureaucracies playing the role of a referee rather than active fighters for

their members against the bosses In reality this stems from a simple political conc lusion that is generally unspoken – the sy stem of c apitalism may give concessions but there is no alternative and workers must just make do Socialists don’t have this problem as we can see how workers themselves, who produce all the goods and ser vices in society, could easily do this for themselves rather than enriching a tiny elite

Why a socialist, anti-sectarian alternative is urgently needed lessons of the strike wave: What kind of union movement do we need?

The S ocialist Par t y stood candidiates in Omagh and B elfast

O N T H E eve of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia and Interphobia, writes OLLIE BELL, a 14 year- old gay student was attacked in Navan by a group of students who filmed the attack and later posted it on social media. The vic tim was sent to hospital and suffered severe facial injuries.

wh I Le t h e Gardaí did ar rest five boys who were connected to the attack, this was only af ter the incident gained national attention It was al leged that the attac k was repor ted the same day it happened but the Gardaí init ial l y said the y had “ more impor tant matters to attend to” According to one of the victim’s family members, he had been har r assed f or being gay since first year and bullying was an ongoing issue

A daily reality of fear

This attack is just a glimpse of the daily har assment LGBTQ+ people face in Ireland 2022 was repor ted to be the most violent year for LGBTQ+ in Europe in over a decade W hile Ireland has seen progress with both the Marr iage Equalit y ref erendum and the Gender Recognition Act passing in 2015, it's c lear that the fight for LGBTQ+ equalit y and liberation hasn’t ended

There was a 29% increase in the number of hate crimes and hate related incidents repor ted in Ireland in 2022, compared to the previous year 2022 was also the second year in a row in which the LGBTQ+ communit y was the second most targeted group in Ireland, the first being racial minorities

W hen it comes to LGBTQ+ students' day-to-day lives, 76% report feeling unsaf e in sc hools, according to BeL onGTo’s ‘2022 S c hool Climate

S ur ve y ’ 69% of LGBTQ+ students heard homophobic remarks from other students and 53% have heard transphobic remarks

Far-right hate

This comes at a time when the far right

has been on the rise with much of their r hetor ic targeting LGBTQ+ inc lusive sex educ ation in schools and the trans community particular ly They have been playing into parent ’ s fears and misinformation surrounding what is being proposed f or the ne w RSE (Relationship

S exualit y Educ ation) curr iculum The media has had a hand in stroking this fire For example The Irish Independent has published ar tic les with misleading head lines suc h as “ Do not consent to propaganda disguised as sex education” and “Pornography to be studied in c lass under Junior Cert revamp ”

The rise of transphobic rhetoric being spewed by the far right and mainstream media is not only having a detrimental effect on the LGBTQ+ community, it is also being used to attack librarians and school teachers There have been multiple incidents where far-r ight groups have ver ball y harassed librar y staff for stocking LGBTQ+ positive literature

One suc h incident happened at Swords Librar y where far-right activists were actually escorted into the librar y by Gardaí where they proceeded to target libr ar y staff with homophobic abuse F ingal Council subsequentl y passed a motion put f or ward by S ocialist Par t y councillor John Burtchaell condemning this incident and its handling by Gardaí

Legislation not enough

W hen it comes to hate crimes and hate speech directed towards the LGBTQ+ communit y, it is positive that this is receiving more recognition, but of course legislation alone won’t end antiLGBTQ+ hate crimes Only 8% of the trans communit y have high trust of the Gardaí compared to 43% of the general

population, meaning tr ans people in par ticular wil l be less likel y to repor t transphobic hate crimes

W hether it ’ s letting far-r ight agitators set fire to refugees’ tents, escorting them into libraries to abuse staff or ignor ing o ver 10,000 domestic violence calls during Covid-19, the Gardaí have shown time and time again that their concerns do not lie with protecting the most vulnerable in our societ y They are far more concerned about protecting the interests and pr ivate proper t y of the powerful and wealthy elite Hate Crime laws may be helpful to have slightl y more accur ate statistics on LGBTQ+phobic violence, but it's obvious that the vast majorit y would still go unreported

Make Pride a month of protest

This is why we need to fight for more than just legislative change but for fundamental social c hange f or the saf et y and liber ation of LGBTQ+ people

We ’ re seeing a global bac klash against the communit y with the r ise of T ERF ism and the far right The attack of a young gay student in Navan c an’t be looked at in isolation, but rather as a result of the lac k of LGBTQ+ inc lusive sex educ ation, as well as the proliferation of backward ideas and macho figures like Andre w Tate r adic alising young boys to be hateful

This Pride season can’t be like previous years, it can’t be a day where cor porations and government parties pay lip ser vice to the LGBTQ+ communit y while tur ning their bac ks on us once June is over This Pride season needs to be a r adic al protest again; where we fight to end all forms of LGBTQ+phobic violence, demand inf or med, consent-based, GP-led tr ans healthc are, and push back against the rise of the far right

Tr ans & Intersex Pr ide D ublin is calling for ever yone to march on S aturday, 8 Jul y and make this year ’ s march the biggest yet! O ur liber ation is not f ought f or by lobby ing politicians f or the bare minimum but by building a global socialist movement for trans and queer liberation, one that frees humanit y of this oppressive capitalist system

lGBtQphob in ireland t

need to step up the fight for equali and liberation

Warning from the Us – new w

By Steph lacey

W h I l e M a ny countries have recently moved to decriminalise samesex unions and improve rights for lGBTQ+ people, other countries, including ones in which queer people have enjoyed more liberated lives, are in the process of implementing restrictions and bans on queerness. one of the most str ik ing and hor r if y i n g e x a m p l e s i s t h e t i ra d e o f a n t iq u e e r l aws b e i n g p u s h e d by right-wing republicans in the uS over the past year a record number of bills – i n t h e h u n d re d s – h ave b e e n p roposed or implemented, all of which are an attack on lGBtQ+ rights, especially t ra n s yo u t h i t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g n o r a coincidence that these bills are being implemented alongside the attacks on a b o r t i o n r i g h t s fo l l ow i n g t h e o u t rag e o u s ove r t u r n i n g o f r o e V Wa d e by the Supreme cour t the bills that are being introduced all over the uS include the banning of any discussion around sexual orientation or gender identit y in schools; banning trans youth from playing sports or using public bathrooms; enforcing a definition of ‘woman’ and ‘man’ to exclude trans people; banning children from attending any show in which a drag queen is per forming; forcing schools to out children to their parents; and most chilling and fatal of all, banning vital and lifesaving gender-affirming health care for trans youth

Pernicious politicians

Some examples of the bills and the figures behind them include Governor of alabama, Kay ivey, who signed such legislation into law stating: “i believe ver y strongly that if the Good lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl ” ivey also believes doctors who per form abor tions should be given 99-year prison sentences another is louisiana representative Mike Johnson, who proposed the ‘Stop the Sexualisation of children act’, which would prohibit funded institutions, including schools and libraries, from mentioning gender identity he proposed a bill to protect people who discriminate against same sex married couples, and he vocally suppor ted trump’s 2017 executive order prohibiting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries the ohio bill to ban the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identit y was introduced by Jean S chmidt Schmidt also opposes abor tion even in the cases of rape or incest, and has refused to rule out banning married couples from being allowed to use bir th control tennessee state senator Jack Johnson, who filed one of the drag-ban bills, is also anti- choice and believes public funding of abor tion and abor tion-suppor ting organisations should be prohibited But he defended keeping the bust of the confederate General and first Ku Klux Klan ‘Grand Wizard’ nathan Bedford forrest displayed on the sec-

We

Protest in Dublin following the brutal murder in England of young trans person in Brianna Ghey

bia today: p ty

By conor Payne

as alWays, this Pride Month we will see major companies putting out Pride -themed advertising, changing their social media profiles and putting out anodyne statements about inclusivity on one level, this is a fairly simple attempt to cash in on Pride, a tradition whose real roots are in the struggle of the lGBTQ+ community for equality at the same time, it also reflects a deeper trend – sometimes called ‘rainbow capitalism’ –whereby lGBTQ+ rights are used to try to launder the reputation of an increasingly discredited system.

wave of backward bills attack lGBTQ rights

nearly ever y Pride event will be packed with mega corporations and establishment politicians, many of whom only became ‘allies’ of the queer community after our movements had already succeeded in winning increased legal rights and public acceptance of course, the ‘freedom’ offered by rainbow capitalism doesn’t mean much for trans people who can’t access healthcare; for lGBtQ+ young people who can’t escape unsafe family situations due to the housing crisis; or to refugees who face depor tation to countries where they will be persecuted for who they are

Right-wing backlash

lie: Why

on the basis of equality, including gender equality, and sexual freedom the development of class society and a proper tied elite brought with it the systemic oppression of women and enforced heterosexual family structures as a means of securing a line of inheritance for accumulated wealth With the development of capitalism, the idealised nuclear family was the sphere where women would do the unpaid domestic labour necessar y for the reproduction of the system including child rearing, cooking and care work – while in the capitalist workplace women could be exploited as a low paid section of the workforce this is not just history – capitalism still relies on the oppression of women today While the traditional nuclear family has been weakened in certain ways, capitalism still relies on the idea that care and domestic labour are private responsibilities rather than the concern of the whole community the value of women’s unpaid labour is estimated at nearly $11 trillion a year globally

ond floor of the tennessee General assembly building in nashville

Resistance needed these bills, the proponents behind them, and the ideology they are pushing are deeply back ward under the guise of “protecting children”, what they really want to do is erase queerness i t isn’t a coincidence that the same people wanting to ban discussion around queerness in schools also oppose samesex marriage i t isn’t a coincidence that the people who want to deny bodily autonomy to trans people also want to deny it to cis women and girls i t isn’t a coincidence that the people who want to ban drag shows also want to ban Muslims there isn’t a more effec tive

way to dehumanise and villainise an entire demographic of people than to push the narrative that not only should children not be around them, but children also shouldn’t k now they exist these people don’t even want gay adults to be allowed to marry, and they find the trans community so undesirable that they literally want to make their lifesaving medical care a crime this weaponisation of public policy has been driven by extremist groups that have a long histor y of work ing to oppress the existence and rights of the queer community But it is happening in the context of a more generalised pushback against gains that have been made in recent years, and it is finding an echo even among some of the supposedly more re-

spectable or liberal sections of the political and media establishment

We need a new movement to fight back against this wave of attacks; one that returns to the radical traditions of the early lGBtQ movement this means one from below based on queer people, young people and working-class people, with no reliance on the establishment, liberal or otherwise, which has never seriously fought for or defended our rights. this is urgent, and it ’s a global issue if we don’t fight against it right now, as it is happening, it will mean the nex t generation will have to fight the same battles we did, but more crucially, these bills will have a chain reaction that will result in the loss of life for countless queer youth

the difference now is that under this system we are not seeing steady progress for lGBtQ+ people but the opposite – a growing right-wing backlash which targets us all, and in particular the trans community the capitalist media, politicians and an emboldened far right are pushing a moral panic based on fear and misinformation about trans people, drag queens and the ‘indoctrination’ of children this is part of a broader right-wing backlash which also targets migrants, the global feminist movement and the left it's a strategy not just to reverse the achievements of movements of oppressed people, but to stabilise an increasingly crisis-ridden capitalism around an authoritarian programme in this context, we will see more and more the shallowness of the commitment of capitalism to lGBtQ+ rights, e g target, a major retailer in the uS, which has removed Pride merchandise from its shops in response to an right-wing campaign of pressure its not just that capitalism isn’t a route to real liberation – there are reasons why this system continually gives rise to homophobia and transphobia they are in its Dna history of gender oppression early human societies were organised

it ’s not possible to maintain a setup like this without an ideology of rigid gender norms, or without the social control of gender and sexuality. Queer people are targeted because they exist outside these idealised conceptions of masculinity and femininity and the nuclear family structure capitalist societies have, in general, subjected lGBtQ+ people to criminalisation, pathologisation and stigmatisation Backward ideas about gender and sexuality have been transmitted in capitalist society by some of its key institutions, including religion, the media, the education system and the state

socialist struggle for liberation in recent decades, the struggles of lGBtQ+ people themselves have won significant progressive changes, and also had a huge effect on the attitudes of ordinar y working-class people, although of course homophobia and transphobia remain par t of daily life even in the most ‘progressive’ capitalist countries however, capitalism itself has not been altered fundamentally and this system in crisis is now dredging up ever y prejudice in order to tie working-class people into its continued rule

it ’s no surprise that many lGBtQ+ young people are convinced that to really achieve liberation we need to end this system and fight for an alternative. that alternative is a socialist society based on equality and solidarity, where wealth is taken from the hands of the capitalist elite and controlled democratically for the needs of all

The ‘rainbow capitalism’

LGBTQphobia is part of the system

the nakba – how the israeli state was founded on dispossession and oppression

LASt MOn t h marked the 75th anniversar y of t he nakba – from the Ar abic word f or ‘ c atast rophe' –the beg inning of the ethnic c leansing of Palest inians from their histor ic homeland and the foundation of the State of Israel Less than two decades later, the remainder of histor ic Palest ine, namel y Gaz a, west Bank and east Jer usalem were seized and occupied by Israel in June 1967

In the months before and af ter the foundation of the Israeli S tate, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes, villages and cities This was part of a wave of terror and pogroms c arr ied out by Z ionist militias who would later go on to form Israel’s army, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)

Villages destroyed

The small village of Deir Yassin, outside of Jerusalem, on 9 April 1948 became one of many horrific examples of what The Nakba meant in pr actice

Here, Z ionist militias massacred 107 Palestinians and forced the remainder of its population of 600 to flee O ver 500 Palestinian Ar ab vil lages were razed to the ground in the period from 1947 to 1949

Isr aeli propaganda would later dec lare that those refugees were victims of unintended consequences of the Arab-Israeli war that broke out following the f ounding of the Isr aeli S tate However, the events surrounding Deir

Yassin prove other wise; Israel’s future leaders engaged in a premeditated plan to c ar ve out a Je wish state at the expense of Palestinians

Those Palestinians became stateless refugees in the surrounding Ar ab states Today their descendants number eight million and live in what are now permanent refugee camps

The roots of this crime

Two f ac t o r s i n t h e fi r s t h a l f o f t h e

20th centur y were to spur the Z ionist movement and the establishment of a J e w i s h s t a t e i n t h e M i d d l e E a s t

F irstl y, the imper ialist powers of Europe, namel y France and Br itain, had s e t t h e i r s i g h t s on d om i n a t i n g t h e M i d d l e E a s t a n d e x p l o i t i n g i t s res o u rc e s , e s p e c i a l l y i t s o i l re s e r ve s I n

1917, in the infamous Balfour Dec laration, Br itain dec lared its suppor t for the creation of a Je wish homeland in Palestine

This was done to facilitate its colonial str anglehold o ver the region by creating a c lient regime, or state that would be pliant with its r ule It also hoped to stir up division bet ween its Arab and Jewish peoples, as part of its

tried and tested method of divide and rule – a polic y it uses in other parts of its empire Today, the Isr aeli S tate is seen by US imperialism as its strategic asset in the Midd le East – a highl y militar ised state, ar med with nuc lear weapons that it can rely on to ser ve its interests in the region

Another factor that fuelled support f or the Z ionist mo vement was the crimes of European capitalism A period of capitalist crisis resulted in the Nazis coming to power in Ger many, and the subsequent persecution and murder of six million European Jews

climate crisis: out of the frying pan into the fire – el niño is on its way

By Keishia taylor

a neW report warns that the fast-approaching el niño will bring unprecedented scorching temperatures globally The next five years will almost cer tainly be the warmest five -year period ever recorded, according to the Un World Meteorological organization ( WMo) The el niño southern oscillation (enso) is a natural phenomenon that cycles between warmer el niño and cooler la niña phases, changing global weather patterns and causing heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and flooding In a capitalist system that disregards human life, this spells disastrous consequences for food and water security, health and the environment.

During el n iño, the equatorial Pacific ocean becomes up to 3°c warmer, adding up to 0 2°c to the average temperature of the ear th Since the planet is already 1 2°c above preindustrial times, this ex tra heating phenomenon could (even temporarily) tip us over the 1 5°c target set in the 2015 Paris agreement within the next year

What can we expect?

Despite the cooling effec ts of an unu s u a l l y - l o n g l a n i ñ a ove r t h e l a s t

W hile Britain and later the US would suppor t the Z ionist project, its r acist and anti-semitic migr ation laws c losed off Je ws from fleeing Nazi persecution

Revolutionary socialist change

At the time, Zionism had onl y minori t y s u p p o r t a m on g s t J e w i s h wo rk e r s , b u t t h e H o l o c a u s t l e d t o i n c re a s e d s u p p o r t f o r t h e c re a t i on o f a J e w i s h state to act as a supposed saf e haven f rom o p p re s s i on a n d ge n o c i d e H owe ve r, t h i s i d e a w a s a n i l l u s i on –a n d n o p e ac e o r s e c u r i t y c o u l d e ve r have come at the expense of another g ro u p o f p e o p l e I n re a l i t y, I s r ae l ’ s r u l i n g c l a s s h a s on l y g i ve n i t s populace unending war, inequality and racism

Three-quarters of a centur y on from

The Nakba the situation for Palestinians is only worsening, as the dispossession of their homeland continues This year alone 150 Palestinians have been kil led by the I DF in the West Bank, while Israel's colonial settlements continue to expand

A just and democr atic solution, whic h ends the oppression of the Palestinian people and guarantees the national r ights of Isr aeli Je ws, wil l never exist as long as Israel’s capitalist regime, along with other oppressive regimes and imperialism dominate this region Their rule must end, through a mass str uggle from below for re volutionar y socialist change

three years, we have seen an increase in the frequenc y and intensit y of ext re m e we a t h e r e ve n t s fo r e x a m p l e, dramatic wildfires have ravaged huge regions of the amazon, australia, cali fo r n i a , S p a i n , G re e ce, S i b e r i a , le b a n o n , c h i l e, ta n z a n i a , a l g e r i a the list goes on

But as this natural climate event collides with the worsening climate effects caused by human activity, we can expec t cataclysmic results australia, for example, is facing a dramatic swing from a rainy three -year la niña period to one of the hottest, driest el niño periods ever seen, heightening the risk of severe heat waves, droughts and fires climate exper ts claim that with the onset of el niño, “the extreme weather that has rampaged across our planet in 2021 and 2022 will pale into insignificance ”

a typical el niño causes drought in i ndonesia, australia, southern africa, and india, intense hurricane seasons in the Pacific, colder winters in nor thern europe, and widespread heat waves, causing deaths and mass displacement and sharpening pover t y and food insecurity for millions of people. But as the planet ’s warming due to greenhouse gas emissions continues unabated, those conditions could soon be the long-term norm, even in the cooler phases of the enSo

The roots of the problem the climate crisis is quick ly reaching devastating tipping points from which there will be no return Despite hundreds of countries and large companies mak ing net zero pledges, which in themselves are nowhere near enough and there are almost no rules

to enforce them, they are failing to meet their targets the WMo has repor ted that the concentration of all three greenhouse gases hit unprecedented levels in 2021 recent years have seen a multitude of mass protests, youth climate strikes, the global feminist wave, and the upsurge of the labour movement in

many counties therein lies our hope a united work ing class movement that can end the rule of the capitalist class that is laying waste to our planet i t is clearer than ever before that we need urgent action on climate change and a democratic socialist society built for human and environmental wellbeing, not profit

An estimated 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their historic homeland during The Nak ba

Climate catastrophe is being fueled by capitalist drive for profit

industrial action works!

By conor tormey

wI t h P u B LI C sector pay negotiations happening in the coming months workers are considering what should be fought for and what constitutes real pay increases. t he Ir ish Cong ress of trade union (ICt u) leadership, a leadership steeped in the methods of social par tnership, has unfor tunatel y shown time af ter time that it is unwilling to enter tain a ser ious str ug gle for real pay increases for workers.

The public sector deal implemented last year was a meagre 3 5% for 2023, with inflation sitting at 8% this meant an effective 4 5% pay cut for Ir ish workers At the same time a Eurostat repor t showed that the major it y of price increases in Ireland have been due to profiteer ing by big businesses Workers need a leadership that will do something about this, using all of the resources of the trade union movement to fight for inflation-busting pay rises

at a minimum

W ith this in mind, Unite the Union’s regional secretar y for Ireland and Socialist Party member Susan Fitzgerald ’ s recent inter view on RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne on 10 May (available to listen back on the RTE player) was a breath of fresh air As she said in the inter vie w, “ if workers are prepared to fight, Unite is prepared to back them”, which is exactly the approach we need

from trade union leaders, but one that is all too rare in Ireland

When you fight you can win

As S usan said, workers in the S outh only need to look towards the North to see what is possible when workers take robust industr ial action Unite members in MM Bangor recentl y won a 13% pay increase af ter a militant sixday strike, and in March Unite members in Hovis won a 13 5% pay increase af ter an all-out str ike forced the employer to give an improved offer Unite has won 80% of all disputes since August 2021, putting £200 million bac k into the pockets of its members

A recent Fórsa sur vey found that over 99% of the 20,000 members that responded said it was " ver y important" that wage increases match inflation in pay negotiations The onl y way that this will happen is with a proper strateg y utilising the collective power of workers when organised

Union militancy needed

On top of pay not keeping up with inflation, Ir ish workers also have to deal with numerous social cr ises, inc luding the housing cr isis and linked to that the understaffing of ke y public ser vices like healthc are and educ ation, especiall y in D ublin where house pr ices and rents are extor tionate The ICT U, j u s t a s w i t h p ay i n c re a s e s , u n f o r t unatel y refuses to take up these issues

i n a ny s e r i o u s w ay T h e I C T U - l e d ‘ R a i s e t h e R o o f ’ h o u s i n g c a m p a i g n has said it won't hold another protest on t h e h o u s i n g c r i s i s u n t i l a f t e r t h e b u d ge t i n O c t o b e r t o s e e i f t h e go ve r n m e n t ’ s h o u s i n g p l a n d e l i ve r s , o f w h i c h t h e re i s a b s o l u t e l y n o prospect!

The trade union rank and file must learn lessons from the recent str ike

waves of Britain and the North If we unite and fight we can win It ’ s not easy, but if we don’t fight we ’ ve already lost Pressure must be put on the union leaderships to either act on pay and other issues facing their members and the working class more broadly, including waging a struggle to smash the pernicious forces of the far right, or get out of the way

Murphy 4 continues fight against victimisation

By Matt Waine

It I S now nine months since four m e c h a n i c a l wo r k e r s wo r k i n g f o r M u r ph y G ro u p i n Au g h i n i s h A l umina were sac ked for taking par t in a t r ad e u n i o n m e e t i n g o n s i t e S i n c e that time, near l y 100 protest actions have taken place, org anised by unite t h e u n i o n , t o f o rc e t h e c o m p a ny t o bac k do wn to date Mur phy Group h a s re f u s e d t o e n g a ge a n d n o w u n i t e i s l o ok i n g a t e s c a l a t i n g t h e pressure

The message from Unite is c lear: if you go af ter our shop stewards be prepared to face the consequences The union has a long track record of fighting against blac k-listing, trade union victimisation and the targeting of shop stewards and reps

A campaign to win

On 2 May, Unite General S ecretar y S haron Graham addressed a meeting of over 80 union reps from the South where she outlined her strateg y for inflation-busting pay increases, building union density, and how the union defends its members and reps Pr ior to that meeting she met with construction reps, inc luding the Mur phy Four, where she outlined her ‘zero-tolerance’

approach to union busting and the targeting of shop stewards Af ter hear ing the testimony of the f o u r s ac k e d wo rk e r s , s h e s t a t e d t h a t she was esc alating the c ampaign to a f u l l l e ve r a ge s t r a t e g y T h i s m e a n s high-le vel pressure being brought to b e a r on M u r phy G ro u p c l i e n t s a n d creditors, as well as affecting the certaint y around future contract tenders

The need to be strike ready Unite has ne ver lost a le verage c ampaign Murphy Group needs to realise that they are now in the crosshairs of a serious strateg y that will see it suffer if it does not accede to the simple demand to reinstate these workers Unite should be congratulated for its determination to protect its reps and shop stewards But this is just one step in a wider c ampaign by employers to

decapitate the trade union movement in advance of a more generalised movement by workers to resist growing inequality and the cost of living crisis

The key task for workers is to grow union membership and density on the shop floor Not only does this offer the best protection for activists and shop ste wards, it also means workers are ‘strike ready ’ when it comes to demanding a cost of living increase for all

By Michael o’Brien

Th e Wo R k P l ac e Relations commission ( WRc ) made its decision in a test case taken by former Debenhams henr y street branch shop steward Jane crowe.

Disgracefully, the decision was leaked to the media before the former Debenhams workers even had sight of it the leak said the decision was largely favourable to the workers and ultimately should result in around €2 million plus being paid out in total to them

The complaints and the award the complaints heard at the Wrc revolved around the company and the liquidator not meeting cer tain legal obligations in terms of consultation and information in collective redundanc y situations

the adjudicator upheld the complaints under both sec tions of the Protec tion of employment ac t, 1977 he found that the process of consultation ought to have commenced immediately once the decision was made by the company on 9 april 2020 to make all staff redundant i nstead it was only af ter the appointment of the liquidator on 17 april that what transpired to be a sham process unfolded the adjudicator likewise found that not all relevant information was provided at the request of the workers and the union

the maximum four weeks’ pay for breaches of each of the two sections of the ac t was awarded to Jane crowe and all the workers, eight weeks’ pay in total however the liquidator / company has appealed the outcome to the labour cour t, which will likey add at least another year and a half to the process

lessons

the former Debenhams workers deser ve ever y cent that can be obtained and more besides for the struggle they have waged favourable results can be obtained for workers individually and collectively at the Wrc when adjudicators are presented with strong evidence and testimony

however, it takes so long to get a hearing, then to be fully heard, and then for decisions to be issued, even without an appeal which adds more time, that this is clearly less satisfactor y than what can be won in the immediac y of a strike or struggle employers look ing at this ruling might c ynically conclude that in similar circumstances they would put up with a future loss of eight weeks’ pay per employee on foot of a sham consultation process rather than concede in the midst of a struggle on questions such as saving jobs or honouring enhanced redundanc y pack ages again, this underlines the importance of throwing ever ything into the struggle, a lesson the workers’ got, but which needs to be heeded by the trade union movement as a whole

WRC Debenhams decision explained and what next

profits are up while real wages are down.. trade union leaders, listen up –

Murphy 4 case highlights need to ac tively fight union busting

Unite Regional S ecretar y Susan Fitzgerald said: “if workers are prepared to fight, Unite is prepared to back them ”

Review: pray for our sinners directed by

Socialism 101 series #13

reviewed by aislinn o’ Keeffe

‘GOD’, fOR the better par t of the 20th centur y, was omnipresent in Ireland Claimed to be manifest in the institution of the Catholic C hurch, its noxious tendr ils twined around the home, school, hospitals, the Gardaí, workplaces and institutions. t he Church, and its teachings, were as allencompassing as oxygen t hese are some of the many astute obser vations that permeate Sinead O’ Shea’s powerful documentar y Pray for Our Sinners.

O’ Shea pulls no punches in describing the theocr ac y that was ‘Catholic Ireland ’ and the my r iad horrors and abuses meted out to the most vulnerable by the infamous church / state alliance The documentar y presents a microcosm centred around a smal l communit y in Navan It makes shor t shrif t of the recent rhetoric by establishment politicians who claim that the people of Ireland are equally culpable for the atrocities of this theocrac y, and exposes the culture of fear that permeated the populace Despite the farreac hing power of the Churc h, howe ver, voices of resistance spr ung forth inc luding in Navan

The catalyst for the Navan resistance was the presentation of local children at

the clinic of couple Dr Mar y and Paddy Randles with injuries they sustained at the hands of their teachers in the local primar y school run by a religious order This led the Rand les into a campaign to outlaw the practice of corporal punishment in Irish schools Brave locals such as Norman Murray and his mother spoke out also, leading to the effective dismissal of nine-year-old Norman from the local school The Randles were subjected to a campaign of intimidation in the community

In addition to speaking out on this issue, the Randles came to the aid of at least two young women who had become pregnant outside of marriage In both cases, they were able to prevent the adoption of their babies, against their mothers’ will and reunite the women with their newborns

Mar y Rand les also spoke of how women who didn’t want to have more children had to seek the permission of local parish priest Fr Andrew Farrell, and doctors who didn’t agree with the use of contraception refused to prescribe it

This has many echoes of the current situation regarding abortion in Ireland where doctors and pharmacists can legally make a ‘conscientious objection’ to providing abortion pills, meaning

Mar xist journal of the Socialist Par ty :

S ocialist Alternative no.17

includes ar ticles on:

l one year of War in uk raine

l capitalist crisis Deepens, fascist threat rises

l extended review : Marx in the Anthropocene by Kohei Saito

l the Good friday agreement 25 years on

l Big tech in turmoil

l the General Strike today

l the toxic ideology of the Manosphere

l reviews of Marx’s Literar y Style, The Book of Desire, Rotten Prod and It ’s Okay To Be Angr y About Capitalism

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that many of those in need may find access to this healthcare difficult

One participant churns out the wellworn phrase ‘those were different times’ However, P ray for Our Sinners makes it ver y c lear that the tendrils of the Catholic Church still have our education and healthcare systems in a chokehold today with a whopping 91% of our primar y schools under Catholic patronage Readers won’t forget that the current government attempted to seal the testimonies of victims of Mother and Baby Homes in 2021, a move which could only have ser ved to cover up the injustices inflicted on these victims

The inc lusion of the phenomenal movement for abortion rights is a cogent reminder that many acts of resistance have led to the great strides in progress that Ireland has seen in a few short decades This progress has been met with fierce opposition from the dual powers of Church and state at ever y step of the way Despite this, organised mass movements have emerged victorious, a fact that we cannot lose sight of as we see new attacks on women ’ s rights, trans rights, and on our living standards n Ireland and around the world The compelling closing message of O’ Shea’s work is this – resistance is always possible

S C CIAALLIST

By eddie Mccabe

you don’t have to be a revolutionary to know there’s something profoundly wrong with the world we live in, and to want to try to change it ever y day millions of people around the world engage in protests, campaigns or activism of some sort, whether on single issues or for broader social change This activity is important, and when successful makes a real difference to people’s lives

But at some point a vital realisation should come to those seriously engaged in consistent activism; i e that no problem in society exists in isolation, and therefore, while it can be alleviated it can’t be solved by a focus on that problem alone Whether it's homelessness, disease, racism, climate change, war, or anything else; these problems are all connected in one way or another, and in fact are all symptoms of the economic and social system we live under: capitalism And without changing that system, any reforms we do win will be either insufficient or shor t-lived

No doubt it would be a lot easier if we could just reform capitalism, but revolutionaries argue for its over throw not because we’re more radical for the sake of it but because of an understanding of how capitalism actually works

Capitalism is a system based on the private ownership of the economy – the wealth, resources, and all the human labour and machiner y needed to turn them into all the things we use and consume – by a class of people (capitalists) whose privileged position is literally defined by its exploitation of another class of people (workers) This is why you simply cannot have capitalism –any form of capitalism – without inequality and injustice. And from systemic inequality and injustice comes all the rest of the crap –racism, LGBTQphobia and oppression generally

So anyone who accepts the right of a class of people to own the economy and exploit ever yone else is accepting capitalism Now, this can be because they think all is well and this is the way it should be, which would make them a ‘reactionar y ’ – a suppor ter of the status quo Or it could be that they just don’t think things could be any

other way, and the best we can do is curb the power of the capitalist class with state regulations that benefit workers and the poor and make things more equal, which would make them a reformist.

Either way, by accepting capitalism they are also accepting that pover ty, oppression and environmental destruction will always be with us, because the elementar y logic of capitalism says that profit-making for capitalists must come before all else, and as long as profits are being made ever ything else will be fine But that’s patently false; hence the state of the world today

Reformism – curbing the system's excesses – is unfortunately bound to fail because it’s an attempt to resolve the contradictions of capitalism on the basis of capitalism. No matter how radically you regulate the economy or society you cannot get capitalism to work in the interests of both workers and capitalists, because the interests of workers and capitalists are opposites, e g higher wages means lower profits and vice versa. As soon as you advance the interests of one you undermine the other

This has been the experience of every left-reformist government that’s tried Even with the best of intentions and with huge popular support for their policies, eventually they will be faced with either a violent clash with the capitalist state, or a major economic crisis This might be the result of an investment strike – whether by capitalists engaged in vindictive retaliation, or just capitalists whose profits are really being squeezed by pro-worker policies

Either way unemployment will rise and all the revenue the government relies on will dry up, so it won’t be able to fund the new reforms it has enacted, never mind public services more generally. It will be forced to revert to austerity and attack workers’ wages and conditions to try to restore profitability and get the capitalists to invest again Such is the logic of the system

That’s why we have no choice but to break with that logic, and why the change we need – to save humanity from extinction – can only be achieved through socialist revolution; to bring capitalism to an end

sinéad o’shea can’t we just reform capitalism?

nicola gallagher bravely exposes intimate partner abuse and the gaa’s failings

By harper cleves

On 9 May, nicola Gallagher took to facebook to speak out against her long-time abuser: her former husband, and then-manager of the Derr y GAA team, Ror y Gallgher. t he abuse that she outlined was vicious and spanned years, inc luding throughout her three preg nancies nicola’s or ig inal post was liked b y o ver 21,000 people, was shared b y o ver 4,000 and contains o ver 3,000 comments – the vast major it y of which commended her phenomenal braver y W hile Ror y Gal lagher f or mal l y stepped bac k from his manager position with Derr y GAA on Fr iday, 12 May, it was not until Tuesday, 16 May, that the GAA confir med this was a more permanent decision This statement was released in the wake of the ne ws that the GAA was more than likel y aware of the abuse faced by Nicola yet ‘did nothing ’ Nicola’s father, Gerr y Rooney, sent five emails to Derr y GAA last year bet ween the months of April and July outlining the abuse his daughter had exper ienced The inter nal audit of the GAA has stated the email address that remained on their public website up until this month had been deactivated weeks

pr ior to Roone y sending the first of those five emails

Misogyny in sport

Notwithstanding the fault y email address, it's highly implausible that neither Derr y nor Fermanagh GAA knew of the violence Nicola was experiencing at the hands of Ror y Gal lagher

Nicola and her family c laim it was an open secret within the organisation, one which prides itself on the positive role it plays in communities across the island S he has said in recent interviews that the count y boards were told and that several instances of abuse took place at GAA e vents where others bore witness

This is the latest of innumerable examples of how institutions systematic al l y fail women and al l sur vivors of abuse and harassment Mere days af ter

Ror y Gallagher ’ s abusive histor y was made public, another infamous veteran of U lster spor ts made head lines –

Paddy Jackson had won an award with his L ondon Rugby team

F i ve ye a r s a go Pad d y J ac k s on a n d other U lster R ugby players faced tr ial for the rape of a young woman They we re f o u n d n o t g u i l t y i n c o u r t , b u t v i l e, m i s o g y n i s t i c t e x t m e s s a ge s s e n t a b o u t t h e c om p l a i n a n t t h e m o r n i n g af ter the assault were made public and

h u ge d e m on s t r a t i on s i n D u b l i n a n d Belfast dec lared bold ly : “I believe her!”

O rd i n a r y wom e n a n d LG BTQ I A + people stepped up where the institutions had failed and U lster R ugby was forced to remove Jackson from its roster The fact that his c areer has continued with other teams demonstrates t h e m i s o g y ny e m b e d d e d i n t h e s e institutions

A socialist feminist movement

The gains of the f eminist mo vement have faced backlash in the current context of capitalist crisis, with people like Andre w Tate and other far-r ight figures dr umming up hatred towards women, queer people, and people of colour W hen the artic le about Paddy Jac kson’s recent ac hie vements circulated on social media half of the comments lamented that he was forced off the Irish team, while the other half recalled the anger and indignation at the heart of the #IBelieveHer demonstrations five years ago The confidence to voice open support for Paddy Jackson demonstrates the tangible effect of this backlash

This only ser ves to emphasise how essential it is that build an active socialist f eminist mo vement on the streets, in our workplaces, schools and colleges to push back As well as taking

aim at misog yny and the propagating of the backward gender binar y at ever y tur n, let ’ s deepen and broaden our struggle against all forms of gender violence and abuse by linking it to a mo vement f or public housing, free

childcare, LGBTQ positive sex education in secular public sc hools f or al l, and for a socialist challenge to the system of capitalism that reproduces oppression and has inequalit y as its lifeblood

What is a ‘trad wife’ and why are they all over your newsfeed?

By eva Mar tin

AS I S the c ase for many young women today, my social media ne ws feeds are increasingl y flooded with videos of other women, mostly in their ear ly 20s, in floaty 50s aesthetic dresses, with per fectly done makeup and hair whilst they bake, cook, or c ar r y out domestic chores t hese videos are nor mall y captioned ‘ a day in the life of a stay-at-home girlfriend’ or ‘ my life as a trad wife ’

Sexism and transphbia

W hether its a ‘day in the life’ video, influencers extolling ‘perks’ and ‘freedoms’ of giving up working and opting instead for financial dependence on a par tner, or discussing the liberating qualities to fulfilling a woman ’ s ‘natural gender roles’ – trad wife content has taken T ikTok by storm

But what is a Trad wife? In the words of a self-proc laimed high profile trad wife, they are ‘ a woman who chooses to live a more “traditional” life with ultra-orthodox gender roles The man goes outside the house, works, and provides for the famil y The woman stays home and is the homemaker, she also takes care of the children – if there are any

Trad wives also belie ve that they should “submit ” to their husbands and ser ve their husbands, and famil y ’ W hilst the content of a lot of these videos appears seemingly mundane, the ideolog y behind the trad wife movement is sinister The Tradwife narrative

plays into the idea that women are the property of their husbands, wholly and completel y subser vient to them Trad wife culture is dominated by anti-abortion, anti-bir th control, transphobic and anti-sex views

Growing backlash

The ‘tradwife’ has arisen alongside and is part of a growing sexist, reactionar y backlash against the gains of the feminist movement over the last dec ade, with attacks on abortion, trans rights, and the misog y nistic vilific ation of

women who speak out against gender violence and harassment – inc luding figures like Amber Heard and Meghan Markle There are also links between Tradwife rhetoric and ultra-reactionar y ideolog y like evangelical white nationalism in America, and the views of Andrew Tate

It ’ s unsur pr ising and easy to empathise with the longing felt by so many for an alternative, literally any alternative, to the exploitation and discr imination on offer by c apitalism

There is a longing for stability, care and

security But the fantasy being sold by

‘ Trad wives’ of this idealised past where midd le-c lass women lived the ‘suburban dream’ is exactly that – a fantasy

Co-option of feminist language

The co-option of feminist language by the Trad wife movement, framing the decision to become a Trad wife as a liberating ‘ individual choice’ to opt out of the labour market and be entirel y financiall y dependent on your par tner obscures realit y Bec ause for the vast major it y of women and families, the

‘choice’ to opt out of working has never been a choice

The dire lac k of childc are suppor t, particularly in places like the UK where capitalism has eroded the welfare state away to the bone, means working-c lass women are of ten forced out of their jobs in order to take on caring duties for children and elder ly relatives And what of the families who c annot stay afloat without the extra income? O r single parents? They have no choice but to return to work in a cr uell y shor t amount of time af ter giving birth, and then find themsel ves stuc k in the vicious cyc le of working to pay for extortionate childcare costs to stay afloat

Overhaul society

F inancial dependenc y or ‘submission’ t o a p a r t n e r d o e s n o t c om e w i t h o u t r i s k e i t h e r F i n a n c i a l a n d e c on om i c control is a key aspect of coercive control, and this abuse seldom happens in isolation Being wholl y or completel y reliant on a par tner to live opens the door for fur ther abuse Socialist feminists fight to build the widest possible movement and uprising of the working c lass and all oppressed groups for socialist change We fight for real control and autonomy over our lives and bodies Members of ROSA and the S ocialist Par t y fight not onl y for bodil y autonomy, against sexism and oppression but for the building of an international, active and organised str uggle of women, the young, the working c lass and the poor that c an overhaul society

Bizarre Trad wife trend is dominated by sexist and transphobic views

D err y manager Ror y G allagher was protec ted by GAA for years

TheSocialist MAke prid e 2023 A protes t! Q ueer L i ves und er A ttAck

“ The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go.”

James Connolly was right The immense social, political and economic crises that dominate life in the 21st centur y all testify to this truth, but the climate emergenc y gives added urgenc y to its meaning That’s why the Socialist Par ty stands for revolutionar y socialist change, and why we are organising to bring it about. We suppor t ever y right and reform that can improve life for working- class people, while fighting for what’s needed We say: if capitalism can’t afford to provide for our needs then we can’t afford capitalism.

Workplace

• All workers need double -digit wage rises

For a €17 an hour minimum wage

• End precarity and bogus self-employment For guaranteed hours with permanent contracts for all workers

• A four-day work week with no loss of pay

Reduce the pension age to 60 A guaranteed decent pension for all

No layoffs Open up the books and take large job shedding companies into public ownership under democratic workers’ control and management, with compensation paid only on the basis of proven need

• Repeal the Industrial Relations Act For the

right to organise and effective action

For a fighting trade union movement that organises the unorganised and mobilises the power of its membership All officials should be elected, subject to recall and live on the wages of the workers they represent

Housing

Reduce and freeze rents at affordable levels Reinstate the eviction ban

For a major programme to build public homes Take the big construction companies into public ownership Seize vacant proper ties and unused land being hoarded for profit

• Provide culturally appropriate accommodation for Travellers

Nationalise the banks and repudiate the odious debt Reduce mor tgage payments to affordable levels

Public services

• End church control of schools and hospitals – full separation of church and state

For a major public works programme to build public schools, hospitals and childcare facilities

• For a one -tier, national health ser vice free at the point of use Bring all private hospitals, nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies into public ownership

• Free publicly-run childcare scheme for

ever y community Extend fully-paid parental leave to two years and provide high quality early-years education

For 24-hour free counselling ser vices and education programmes to begin to tackle the mental health crisis

• Free education and training for all Abolish the Leaving Cer t system and provide a Third-level place for all who want one, with a living grant for all students Build affordable, accessible student accommodation

Environment

• For substantial investment in an expanded, reliable and free public transpor t system

• End the reliance on fossil fuels keep them in the ground For extensive state investment in renewable energy, retrofitting homes and public buildings, and green jobs

For a just transition to a zero carbon economy, with no job losses or regressive carbon taxes

Take the fossil fuel companies, big agribusinesses and corporations into democratic public ownership to stop the destruction of our planet for profit

Equal rights for all

• Oppose all forms of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia

• For LGBTQ-inclusive, consent-based sex education in schools Fully fund trans healthcare

Reduce the voting age to 16

• Defend the right to asylum End Direct

Provision Abolish all racist immigration laws

• Black lives matter! Oppose far-right division

• Fight to end gender-based violence, abuse and harassment in all its forms

• For a socialist feminist movement that unites the whole working class in the struggle against oppression

For workers’ unity in Ireland

• For the unity of the working class, Protestant and Catholic, Nor th and South, in opposition to all forms of sectarianism, paramilitarism and state repression

• For a socialist Ireland, with no coercion and the rights of minorities guaranteed, as par t of a free, equal and voluntar y socialist federation of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as par t of a socialist Europe

End the rule of the billionaires

• Take the wealth off the 1% For real progressive taxation on incomes assets and profits to fund public ser vices

• Stop tax avoidance and evasion by the wealthy

• Double corporation tax End corporate welfare policies

• No to all forms of privatisation in health, education transpor t housing energy sanitation, water and broadband provision

For socialist change

• Capitalism produces inequality, environmental destruction and war We need an international struggle against this system Solidarity with the struggles of workers and oppressed peoples internationally

Oppose all imperialist powers, wars and occupations No to NATO and EU militarisation US militar y out of Shannon

• No to corporate “free trade” agreements No to the bosses’ EU and “For tress Europe”

Build a new mass par ty that organises workers and young people in struggle against all injustices and for a socialist alternative For a working-class movement to bring about a left, socialist government that breaks with capitalism

• Take the key sectors of the economy – the monopolies in banking, industr y, ser vices, agriculture and big tech – into public ownership under the democratic control of the working class

Replace the capitalist market with a democratic socialist plan of the economy based on the interests of the over whelming majority of people and the environment

What the socialist party stands for: