Election night report of the count in Dun Laoghaire.
Ireland
Gerry Adams launches Sinn Fein's general election campaign.
February 7, 2011 -- Irish Republican News -- Sinn Fein opened its election campaign on February 6 with a strong attack by party president Gerry Adams on corruption in the political system in the 26 Counties. Adams pointed to deep-seated anger among voters about the outgoing government and the other establishment parties, who he said were part of a deeply corrupt ruling elite.“The economy is in crisis because of political choices being made by a deeply corrupt political elite operating within a flawed political system. And the political choices that they made were bad political choices”, Adams said. “There is deep distress out there. The people know the system doesn’t serve them, and that makes it a corrupt system.”
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Statement from Ireland’s Socialist Democracy on the February 25 general election.
The future of the left in Irish politics
January 20, 2011 -- RTE, Today with Pat Kenny -- A new political alliance was born in Ireland just before Christmas. It is the United Left Alliance. It’s an umbrella group of left-wing parties and individuals who have joined forces to fight the March 11, 2011, general election.
The grouping consists of three existing political parties: the Socialist Party, the People Before Profit Alliance and the Workers and Unemployed Action Group. However the Labour Party and Sinn Fein are not members.
Protest against austerity outside Irish government buildings in Dublin.
By Eric Toussaint, translated by Christine Pagnoulle in collaboration with Judith Harris
January 3, 2011 -- CADTM -- For a decade, Ireland was heralded by the most ardent partisans of neoliberal capitalism as a model to be imitated. The "Celtic Tiger" had a higher growth rate than the European average. Tax rates on companies had been reduced to 12.5% |1| and the rate actually paid by the transnational corporations that had set up business there was between 3 and 4% -- a CEO’s dream!
Photo by Christina Finn/Politico.
November 23, 2010 -- Irish Republican News -- The public finances of the 26-county state [Ireland] will, for the next three years at least, be subject to “regular reviews” by external monitors working on behalf of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the British and Swedish governments.
On November 21, the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Brian Cowen and minister for finance Brian Lenihan, after a week of shocking lies and deceit, said they were accepting the IMF/EU bailout. It later emerged that the G7, comprising the seven most powerful countries in the world, had met to give its approval to the deal.