This short interview from the Socialist Party of the National Ambulance Service Representative Assocation branch secretary is about the background to the ambulance strike and what the issues are about and gives the Union a chance to present their case.
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These local elections on Fri 24th May are more important than ever. The reason is that up and down the country Fine Gael with help from Fianna Fail have allowed corporate vulture funds through various government breaks to them to buy up valuable tracts of land and to buy up thousands and thousands of apartments and homes. And the result is they are screwing people for rent. read full story / add a comment

The European elections are this Friday on May 24th and there are good reasons to consider your vote very carefully because it does make a difference because practically every bit of law passed in the EU has to be adopted by Ireland at some point. It is a great way for politicans here to say the "EU forced us to..."
They said that one about the attempt to privatise water during that campaign.

It can be safely assumed that most people are for internet freedom, protection of the environment and in particular to live in places with unpolluted water, clean air and safe from exposure to toxic chemicals. These are all no brainers. In the area of military we have seen how years of bringing democracy to the Middle East by bombing them has resulted in devastation and huge waves of human refugees and immigration and time and time again the nefarious activities of the intellegence agencies of the big powers like USA, UK, France and NATO show them to be heavily linked to the various terrorist groups, via training, funding and weapons supply through third party countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar in order to disrupt and overthrown regimes they don't like. So do people really want Ireland to drop it's neutrality and get aboard these very costly military adventures and volunteer it's soldiers for basically ordained mass murder? At a guess, the answer is probably no. read full story / add a comment

It’s that time of year again, when politicians come knocking on doors looking for your vote. This May there will be European and Local elections in Ireland north and south. While domestic issues are, as always, likely to dominate the discussions, we believe it is vitally important that the issue of Palestine is kept firmly in the minds and mouths of all our politicians. The very essence of the Palestine solidarity movement is to ‘think globally, act locally’ – and we have seen impressive local support for Palestinian freedom by many local councils over the past decade. We need to make sure that Palestine is and remains an election issue! read full story / add a comment

Raise the Roof coalition is organising a National Rally on Sat 18th May 2019 at 1.00pm in Parnell Square, Dublin 1. read full story / add a comment

People Before Profit launched their candidates for the upcoming European Elections at a press conference in Dublin today.

The candidates who have been selected by People Before Profit are Gillian Brien- Dublin (www.gillianbrien.ie), Adrienne Wallace- Ireland South (www.adriennewallace.ie) and Cyril Brennan- Midlands-North West (www.cyrilbrennan.ie). read full story / add a comment

Earlier this week, the two Veterans for Peace activists Tarak Kauff and Ken Mayers unfurled their banner on the carriageway approaching Shannon Airport. read full story / add a comment

UN to consider the Armenian Genocide read full story / add a comment

The olive harvest time in Palestine is a wonderful time for a visit. The trees are full of ripe olives and in solidarity with the Palestinian land owners we will be part of this traditional experience. You can either climb a tree or work down on the ground. We collect the olives on the tarps and then in buckets and bags. We will have traditional Palestinian lunch on the fields and we will visit an olive press. Besides volunteering on the land you will have the chance to discover Palestine and travel around with your guide Baha, to understand the reality of the geo-political situation. There are excursions to Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Lifta, Hebron and the South Hebron hills, Ramallah (the Arafat Museum) and Nabi Saleh. read full story / add a comment

The WSWS website carries an interesting report on the atrocity in Sri Lanka providing background and relevant context unlikely to appear in the corporate and state media. For starters they say:

Despite an intelligence alert 10 days before, both the government and police failed to warn the public and took little or no action to prevent the terrible bombings. read full story / add a comment

Research published in the journal Science of the Total Environment has discovered that Ireland’s water supplies contain hazardous levels of pesticides. Irish Water has also acknowledged the danger. read full story / add a comment

Tomorrow the European Parliament will vote on a 13 billion military research and development fund, the so called European Defence Fund. One thousand researchers, scientists and academics from twenty-five European countries call on the Parliament to vote against the Fund. They argue that the EU should tackle the root causes of conflict instead of funding military research.

On Thursday the European Parliament votes on a ‘compromise text’ on the European Defence Fund. This would be a significant break with past European policies, as military funding has until now been excluded from the EU budget.

The 1000 researchers warn of the consequences of an R&D programme for new arms technology. "The establishment of an EU military research programme points towards an unprecedented acceleration in the militarisation of the EU," says Dr Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility. "Investing EU funds in military research will not only divert resources from more peaceful areas, but is also likely to
fuel arms races, undermining security in Europe and elsewhere". read full story / add a comment

Venue: Ireland Institute 27 Pearse Street, Dublin 2
When: Tuesday 16th April 2019
Time: 7.30pm read full story / add a comment

Julian Assange who helped setup Wikileaks and in one of the first set of leaks revealed the murderous campaign of the US military against innocent civilians in Iraq amongst many other leaks showing the systematic criminality and inhumanity of the US government was betrayed this morning by the right wing corrupt president Lenin Moreno of Ecuador. Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa – whose government granted Assange asylum in 2012 – branded his more pro-US successor Lenin Moreno the “greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history” for rescinding the asylum claim and allowing British officers to enter his country’s embassy.

At the moment in a damage limitation exercise to try and shutdown support for Assange the corporate press is saying if charged, he could face up to 5 years in prison. This is to make it not so bad, but we can be 100% sure if deported to the USA, they will have a long list of dubious charges and most likely will give him a prison sentence that will more than easily cover the rest of his lifespan for that is the way of such regimes. read full story / add a comment

What do Fine Gael politicians do when they retire? Join the corporate elite naturally.

The Dublin, MEP, Brian Hayes has become a well-paid lobbyist for bankers. Now their former leader, Enda Kenny is joining the global advisory council for a vulture fund. read full story / add a comment

This year we mark the centenary of the First Dáil. The Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress played a significant role in shaping the ‘Democratic Programme’ of the Dáil meeting in January 1919. Yet, much of what was contained in that document was subsequently forgotten or dismissed. The ITUC as forerunner of the ICTU played a constructive role in helping to steer Ireland towards a coherent social vision for the entire island of Ireland. The challenge remains. Following a bruising economic crisis after 2008, the lessons of economic and policy development have not been learned or applied by Government. read full story / add a comment

RTE have given coverage to a housing demonstration in Galway this evening that aimed to highlight a common problem around the country which is the shortage of housing. The protest is demanding that the government start building public housing instead of relying on the private sector which are preying on people.

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Today (4th Apr) is the seventieth anniversary of the foundation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On 3rd and 4th April foreign ministers from NATO countries are meeting in Washington D.C.

This is no cause for celebration. NATO is an aggressive imperialist war machine that expresses and serves the interests and profitability of capital and the monopolies. NATO is the enemy of peace and social progress. It exists in the interests of preserving the current social system. read full story / add a comment

Workers’ Party councillor and Euro candidate Éilis Ryan has said the government’s new rent regulations leave plenty loopholes for landlords to exploit.

Commenting following Minister Eoghan Murphy’s announcement of the new regulations this evening, Cllr. Ryan said:

“Landlords will breathe a sigh of relief that Minister Murphy continues to allow plenty loopholes for a landlord who wishes to get rid of a tenant. They can still use the excuse of giving a property to a relative, of selling up, or of refurbishing, and be confident that, by the time they could be found out, the tenant will have had to move on to new accommodation read full story / add a comment

The Legacy of Peadar O’Donnell
Speaker: Dónal Donnelly. Also the launch of a new edition of There Will Be Another Day: The Inside Story of the 1920s Land Struggle (1963) by Peadar O’Donnell read full story / add a comment