In September 2009, I resigned my council seat and left Sinn Féin to join the Socialist Party in protest at what I described as their ‘overseeing the long-term administration of senior civil servants and their right-wing agenda’.
At the time I said that:
“Change can only come about if working, unemployed and young people themselves organise to challenge the status quo. We have seen the power of effective local campaigns in fighting against health cutbacks and against the imposition of water charges. The sad truth is if we are waiting for change to come at the hands of any of the mainstream parties, then we will wait a long time indeed. Working people must organise themselves against cuts and to defend jobs.”
I remain convinced of that as much today as I did then. We must build cross-community campaigns to defeat the cuts and have no illusions about any of the parties. This council election is important in building an effective opposition to the cuts tsunami. History teaches us that the extent and depth of the cuts imposed will be determined by the strength of our campaigns against them.
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| Defending Public Services |
All of the mainstream parties are keen that people do not find out the just how bad the cuts will be before the election so that they can implement them all the more effectively in the four years before the next elections - but people can see through that.
If I am elected I will be 100% committed to supporting grassroots campaigns and working with the local Trades Council, community and voluntary groups to fight the cuts affecting our communities, public sector workers; to reverse the cuts to benefits, the imposition of stealth taxes such as water rates; and demanding a much-needed public works programme for the county that would create jobs for the unemployed and yield improvements to our social, economic and environmental infrastructure.
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