Gavin Mendel-Gleason – Blog
Light rail for Cork an election stunt says Coffey
Catherine Coffey, Workers’ Party candidate for Cork City North West said that there was no faith in the present government’s ability to deliver a light rail service to Cork city when it cannot provide adequate numbers of modern vehicles for the existing bus service. Photoshopping a Dublin Luas tram into Washington Street does not make light rail a reality (Photo via Irish Examiner) Ms. Coffey pointed out that the idea of a light-rail system for Cork had been floating around since the 1980s and had been a firm proposal since the review of the Land Use and Transportation Survey in [...]
Message of support from Turkish Communist Party
The Workers' Party has received the following message of support from the Communist Party of Turkey Dear comrades, On behalf of the Communist Party of Turkey, we would like to address our support to the Workers' Party of Ireland in the EU Parliament Elections that will take place on May 26th. As one of the member parties of the European Communist Initiative, the Workers' Party of Ireland has decided to carry on the socialist struggle in the electoral field, stressing that the alternative of a different Europe for peoples emerges only and only out of workers' struggle. It is only [...]
Solidarity with Cuba on US attempts to implement Title III of the Helms Burton Act
The Workers Party of Ireland condemns the recent declaration by the US government announcing severe economic sanctions against Cuba. After the Cuban Revolution the US National Security Council (NSC) considered means to overthrow the Revolution and to reverse its gains, including terrorism against Cuba and its citizens and economic, commercial, and financial restrictions on the country. The US blockade against Cuba, first introduced in 1962, already constitutes the longest economic sanctions against any country in history. It has been reinforced by several amendments and together with a host of other severe legislative measures it has been designed to expand the [...]
Solidarity message to the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE FROM THE WORKERS PARTY OF IRELAND TO THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE WORKERS OF SPAIN FOR THE SPANISH GENERAL ELECTION Dear comrades, The Workers Party of Ireland sends warm comradely greetings and solidarity to the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) and wishes the PCTE success in the general election taking place in Spain on 28th April 2019. The PCTE, a sister party of the Workers' Party of Ireland in the European Communist Initiative, is participating in this election on a clear class basis under the slogan “For one country for the working class”. The PCTE [...]
Bodenstown Oration 1973
The following oration was given by Sinn Féin (Official) Ard Comhairle member Billy McMillen at the Party's Wolfe Tone commemoration in June 1973, in the early stages of the party's transition from Sinn Féin to the Workers' Party. Bodenstown Oration 1973 A Chomrádaithe, “It is well to remember that nations which submit to conquest or races which abandon their language in favour of that of an oppressor do so, not because of altruistic motives, or because of a love of brotherhood of man, but from a slavish and cringing spirit, from a spirit which cannot exist side by side with the revolutionary idea.” Dúirt an Conghaileach na focla seo 70 blian ó shoin nuair [...]
Belfast Easter Oration 2019
The following speech was delivered by Chris Bailie at the Workers' Party Easter Commemoration in Milltown Cemetery, Belfast. Comrades, Friends, We assemble here, as we do each year, to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising and to commemorate our many comrades whose sacrifices allowed us to build the Workers Party. On Easter Monday 1916, the Proclamation, which we have heard today, was read from the steps of the General Post Office. This document, while not a socialist manifesto, contained many progressive demands. It also proclaimed the Irish Republic as a sovereign independent state. Colour Party in Milltown Cemetery This year marks [...]
Workers’ Party solidarity message to CP of Sri Lanka
The Workers' Party of Ireland has sent the following message of solidarity to the Communist Party and people of Sri Lanka following Sunday's horrific bombing. To: Central Committee, Communist Party of Sri-Lanka Dear comrades, The Workers Party of Ireland extends its solidarity to the Communist Party and the people of Sri-Lanka and condemns the vicious and murderous attacks in which at least 290 people have been killed and 500 injured. These barbaric attacks by criminal elements may have been designed to incite communal and religious differences in a country which has already suffered greatly from the devastation of war. We [...]
The Workers’ Party Easter Oration 2019
The Workers’ Party Easter Oration, Sunday 21st April 2019 The following speech was delivered at Workers’ Party commemorations in Dublin, Cork and Waterford. Comrades and friends, For generations now republicans and socialists have gathered on the anniversary of the Easter Rising to remember Ireland’s blow for freedom and independence. We proudly continue that tradition today to defend and celebrate the sacrifice and vision of the men and women who fought in that famous week in 1916 against the army of the British Empire. We recognise the importance of the progressive and democratic ideals of Pearse and Connolly and of the [...]
Too many questions left unanswered by Bessborough report
The Workers’ Party have said that too many questions have been left unanswered in the report into infant deaths at the former Mother and Baby Home at Bessborough and that only a thorough and no-holds-barred investigation would bring closure to the survivors and all affected by the revelations. Cllr. Ted Tynan with Catherine Coffey Cork Workers’ Party councillor, Ted Tynan, said that the report of the commission into Mother & Baby Homes had only skimmed the surface of a very murky episode in this country’s very recent history. If it shows anything it shows that much more must be found [...]
One in Six live in poverty, yet Victorian attitudes prevail
The revelation that 760,000 people, one sixth of the Republic of Ireland’s population, are living in poverty will surprise only those who have never experienced poverty, according to the Workers’ Party Catherine Coffey Cork City North West Workers’ Party candidate Catherine Coffey said that the latest statistics laid bare by Social Justice Ireland only show the tip of an iceberg that is never seen by those in government or those responsible for social policy. Ms. Coffey said: “The two tier system that prevails in our health service and in education permeates right through Irish society. It is consciously maintained by [...]
Solidarity message to CPI(M) on occasion of India’s general election
The Workers Party of Ireland sends warm comradely greetings to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and extends its best wishes and solidarity to the CPIM for the 2019 Indian general election for the 17th Lok Sabha. This is a crucial election at a time of increasing threat to the secular state and growing communal division. The restraints on the functioning of Parliament, interference in the judiciary, attacks on freedom of expression, curtailment of the rights of the working class and poor farmers, attacks on secularism including the communalisation of education and extreme violence against citizens and progressive forces, including [...]
EU-Trump trade talks a victory for business over environment, says Workers’ Party Euro candidate
Workers’ Party candidate in the Dublin European elections, Cllr. Éilis Ryan, has condemned the Irish government’s vote in favour of opening trade negotiations with Donald Trump and the US government, at a meeting of the European Council this morning (Monday). Cllr. Ryan said: “These trade talks show that the European Commission and the Irish government are willing to bow down to - and indeed, are quite content with - the United States’ anti-environment, anti-worker agenda. “We saw massive public mobilisations against the TTIP rounds of EU-US trade negotiations - but once again, our own government and the EU prove [...]
Assange arrest demonstrates need for European protections for whistleblowers, says MEP candidate
European election candidate Cllr. Éilis Ryan (Workers' Party), has condemned the arrest of Julian Assange this morning in the UK, and called for stronger European protections for whistleblowers. Cllr. Ryan said: "Assange's arrest was, according the UK policy, carried out 'on behalf of the US government,' and in relation to charges which the US has refused to reveal. This is an astonishing breach of every democratic and legal norm." "With the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning, and today's arrest, the United States has demonstrated it will go to unimaginable lengths to silence anybody who blows the whistle on its military aggression [...]
Update from the Sudanese Communist Party on the situation in Sudan.
Hundreds of thousands march in the capital and major cities in Sudan demanding the end of the dictatorial regime. 7 April 2019 Hundreds of thousands marched yesterday in the capital Khartoum and other major cities and towns all over Sudan, demanding the end of the regime. The 6th of April will be written with letters of fire and blood as it enters the annals of revolutionary history for the second time marking the triumph of our people over dictatorship. Under the unified leadership of the opposition, the Forces for Freedom and Change, the Sudanese people are occupying the centres of cities. [...]
HSE recruitment freeze is a sign of times to come with downturn on the horizon
The HSE’s recruitment freeze is a sign of further austerity on the horizon from Fine Gael, as the global economy stalls. That’s according to Workers’ Party city councillor and Euro candidate Éilis Ryan. Ryan said: “There is an obvious hypocrisy in Fine Gael committing to solving understaffing on the one hand, and imposing a recruitment freeze to cut costs on the other end. “In true neoliberal fashion, Fine Gael appears to blame understaffing not on lack of staff, but on there being too many sick people.” She continued: “But the return of recruitment freezes to political speak is a sign [...]
New rent regulations leave plenty loopholes for landlords to exploit
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 [...]
NO TO WAR! NO TO NATO!
Statement by the Workers Party on 70 years of NATO Today 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. NATO was established seventy years ago, in 1949, in order to block the growing [...]
Dublin councillor accuses city officials of hypocrisy for hosting Vienna housing exhibition
Workers’ Party Dublin City Councillor Éilis Ryan has condemned what she says is the hypocrisy of Dublin City officials opening housing exhibition on Vienna’s housing model, today (Tuesday, 2ndApril) while refusing to contemplate similar public housing schemes in Dublin. Cllr. Ryan said: “In 2016, I secured support from Dublin City Council for the ‘Vienna Model of Housing’ to be trialled at O’Devaney Gardens. Within a month, the proposal had been torn to shreds by Brendan Kenny and all the major parties on the council, who today tell the media it is the future of Dublin. “It is hypocritical in the extreme for [...]
SOLIDARITY WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY
From: Workers Party of Ireland To: The Central Committee, Communist Party of Turkey 30th March 2019 Dear Comrades, The Workers Party of Ireland sends comradely greetings to the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and extends its best wishes and solidarity to the TKP for the local elections taking place on Sunday, 31st March 2019. The TKP is the only revolutionary force in these elections and is standing unequivocally on a clear and principled platform of class struggle under the slogans “Against the reign of capital, the people have the TKP” and “We are not in the same boat”. [...]
Discovery of heroin kits raises concern in Cork
Cork City North West Workers’ Party candidate Catherine Coffey has expressed concern after the discovery of a number of both opened and unopend heroin treatment kits across the Northside of the city. Heroin injection kit found on Cork footpath Catherine Coffey said that she had found an unopened heroin treatment in her own area while used kits, including needles, has been found elsewhere in the city. This was a matter of major concern as these kits could easily have been picked up by young children unaware of the dangers they could potentially pose. Each kit consists of a small syringe, [...]
John Delaney must remove himself completely from the FAI, says Workers’ Party representative
Workers’ Party representative in Palmerstown-Fonthill, David Gardiner, has called on John Delaney to remove himself complete from the FAI, following his resignation as CEO yesterday (Saturday). Gardiner said: “As an lifelong supporter of St. Patrick’s Athletic, I have seen how John Delaney for too long stood in the way of the democratic development of the people’s game in Ireland. An organisation that should be most focussed on developing the game at community level and at the level of our own domestic league is instead in thrall to the likes of Denis O’Brien. “There is no place for the likes of [...]
Coveney comments on mayoral salary expose his elitism
90% of Irish workers earn less than €60,000 - half what directly-elected Mayor will get Euro candidate Cllr. Éilis Ryan (Workers’ Party) has slammed the Taoiseach and Tánaiste’s defence of a proposal to pay directly-elected mayors €130,000, saying their comments expose just how removed they are from working people. Cllr. Ryan said: “For the right-wing in Ireland, holding political office is seen as a smart move on the career ladder. We saw this starkly when Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes announced he was leaving politics to move directly into lobbying for the banking industry. “Given this is how they [...]
Facebook, Twitter and Youtube must tackle Gemma O’Doherty in wake of New Zealand comments
The Workers' Party has condemned yesterday (Friday)'s attack on a mosque in New Zealand, and has called for social media corporations to take actions to tackle those suggesting the attack was a 'false flag' operation. Cllr. Éilis Ryan, a candidate in the upcoming European Parliament elections, said: "49 people are dead in New Zealand, murdered by individual(s) driven by a hatred against Muslims which has been allowed to fester and indeed was used as a justification for wars against people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. "The Workers' Party offers its full solidarity both to the families of those affected [...]
Damage at Bessboro disgraceful says Catherine Coffey
Catherine Coffey, Cork Workers’ Party activist and survivor of a Mother & Baby home today visited the site of the former Bessboro Mother & Baby Home at Blackrock in Cork to view the damage done to the building known as the Bessboro Folly and the surrounding site. Accompanied by two other survivors, Ms. Coffey found herself locked inside the site as the entrance gate was padlocked behind them. What's left of Bessboro Folly Catherine Coffey said she was utterly shocked by the damage which she described as blatant and disgraceful. She said: "It is hard to put words to how [...]
Workers’ Party calls for prosecution of senior army figures in relation to Bloody Sunday
The Workers’ Party have called for the full investigation and prosecution of senior army figures who were in control of the Bloody Sunday massacre. The call comes following the announcement this morning (Thursday) that one British paratrooper is to be prosecuted for his role on Bloody Sunday. Marian Donnelly, former Workers’ Party President, was a founding member of NICRA, and present at the march at which the massacre occurred. Donnelly said: “First of all, today’s announcement is a vindication of the campaign which has been run for several decades by the families of those killed on Bloody Sunday. Their [...]
Workers Party demand Bessboro be treated as crime scene
The Workers’ Party has called on the government to immediately take over the burial grounds of the former Bessboro Mother & Baby home in Blackrock on the Southside of Cork city. Workers’ Party Cork Councillor Ted Tynan said that following the partial demolition of the old building known as Bessboro folly over last weekend on the instructions of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary the order had lost the trust of the general public and he called for the gardaí to take over that part of the site and treat it as a crime scene in [...]
Catherine Coffey (Workers’ Party) to contest Cork City Northwest in May local elections
The Workers' Party have selected Catherine Coffey to contest the Cork City Northwest ward in the upcoming local elections this May. Announcing her candidacy, Coffey said: "My candidacy is not something I ever expected to happen. When I was a child, I looked from the outside in. Little did I know, where my path would bring me. But this month, I begin going house to house with my flyer, as a candidate for the Workers' Party. "The area is huge and so are the needs of the people in those areas, I'm under no illusions. But just looking at this flyer, gives [...]
Workers’ Party call on Zappone and Rabbitte to put pressure on South Dublin County Council to provide proper accommodation for traveller families
David Gardiner, Workers' Party Public Representative in the North Clondalkin area, has called on the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone and the recently appointed Chairperson of TUSLA, Pat Rabbitte, to pressurise South Dublin County Council into providing proper accommodation for the traveller families living in inhuman conditions on the Scoil Oscar site in Balgaddy. Gardiner said: ‘’Both Zappone, who represents the South County Dublin area in Dáil Éireann and Rabbitte, who previously did, are the two most senior people tasked with responsibility for the welfare needs of children. They are both obliged to insist on the Council [...]
Workers’ Party Euro candidate calls for mandatory MMR scheme, as mumps cases reach six times previous years
Workers’ Party Dublin Euro candidate Cllr. Éilis Ryan has renewed her calls for the state to roll-out a mandatory MMR vaccination scheme for school-going children. The call comes as the HSE revealed today (Wednesday) that mumps cases this year have reached six times as many as the same period last year. Cllr. Ryan said: “There has been a clear spike in mumps amongst teenagers born in the period when bogus research linking MMR to autism was published. It is essential that the state launch an immediate programme to ensure all school-going children have received the MMR vaccination. “This is a [...]
Glanmire recycling fire: Tynan calls for stricter regulation
The Workers’ Party in Cork have expressed serious concern at last night’s (Friday) major fire at a recycling centre near Glanmire which was attended by 11 units of Cork city and county fire brigade. Blazing roof of Greenstar recycling facility, Glanmire. Pic: Cork County Fire Service Councillor Ted Tynan said that there was a very real concern about the safety of recycling centres and accused the Environmental Protection Agency and local authorities of not doing enough to ensure that such units were made safe. Cllr. Tynan said: “Hardly a week goes by without a recycling centre fire in some part [...]
Message from the Sudanese Communist Party
Comrade Fathi Alfadl, member of the Political Bureau of the Sudanese Communist Party and its official spokesman, was released on 14th February 2019 after spending 5 weeks in detention following his arrest by the security forces of the dictatorial regime. He has sent the following message from Khartoum, to all fraternal parties and friendly organizations and figures, expressing his gratitude for the international solidarity campaign, and calling for its intensification until all the political detainees, including members of the party’s Central Committee and cadres, are released from the dungeons of the regime. Dear Comrades, As the revolutionary mass movement of [...]
Owen Keegan to face motion for resignation from city councillors
Dublin City Council CEO, Owen Keegan, is to face a motion calling for his resignation at the upcoming Dublin City Council meeting, according to Workers' Party's city councillor Éilis Ryan. Cllr. Ryan said: "I and a number of others have called for the resignation of Owen Keegan in recent weeks, and I have now submitted an emergency motion to Dublin City Council's upcoming meeting to put those calls on a formal basis. "Keegan's claim that Dublin's homeless services are 'attracting' people into homelessness has shored up unfounded rumours that homeless families are lazy, greedy or both. It ignores entirely the well-proven [...]
Owen Keegan must resign, says Workers’ Party Councillor
Cllr. Éilis Ryan has called for the resignation of Dublin City Council chief Owen Keegan, saying: “Astonishingly, Owen Keegan has been paid over a million euro of taxpayer’s money since his appointment in 2013. Today in 2019, the number of people homeless in Dublin is five times greater than it was in 2014 - it has grown from 911 in July 2014 to 4635 in November 2018. “Shouldn’t an individual to whom the state has paid over a million euro be held accountable for his performance?” The councillor continued: “Mr. Keegan talks about homelessness as if it is a problem [...]
Workers’ Party solidarity with the Communist Party of Poland
Letter of solidarity with the Communist Party of Poland Dear comrades, Congratulations on your recent victory when the regional court in Dąbrowa Górnicza acquitted the members of the editorial board of the Communist Party of Poland magazine “Brzask” and the website of the Communist Party of Poland of charges of “promoting a totalitarian system”. As we have previously stated, this persecution was part of an anti-communist campaign launched by the state authorities and aimed to proscribe the Communist Party of Poland. This is a deliberate and calculated offensive designed to outlaw the Communist Party and obliterate the gains and [...]
Workers Party welcome rejection of Cork waste facility
Cork Northwest Workers’ Party representative Catherine Coffey has welcomed the decision of Bórd Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a new waste facility at Churchfield. Ms. Coffey said that the rejection of planning at the site was a clear recognition that the site was not suitable for a waste facility and she felt that if the site was unsuitable for a waste facility it was also unsuitable for the existing recycling centre at the adjacent site which had been the source of very many complaints over the years. Catherine Coffey said: “The Workers’ Party greatly welcomes this decision. It is [...]
Clare Daly TD endorses Cllr Éilis Ryan for European elections in Dublin in May
Workers’ Party to run on a platform of opposing elite attacks on public services and workers’ rights, and radical action against war and climate change Euro Parliament backing for Trump’s Venezuela ‘coup’ shows need for more anti-war MEPs Cllr Éilis Ryan this morning (Wednesday) launched her Dublin MEP bid on behalf of the Workers’ Party, at a launch which was addressed by Clare Daly (Independent Socialist TD) and prominent anti-war campaigner Edward Horgan. Addressing the launch of her campaign at an event in Buswells Hotel in Dublin, Cllr Ryan said: “Ten years ago, this month, 120,000 people marched against austerity [...]
Coveney has put “Trump coup” in Venezuela ahead of Irish neutrality
The Workers’ Party have accused Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney of prioritising Donald Trump’s foreign policy ahead of Irish neutrality. Cllr. Éilis Ryan, the Workers’ Party candidate in May’s European Parliament elections, said: “Simon Coveney has, for the first time in our history, given formal backing to United States overseas aggression. Successive governments under Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Green Party have facilitated US overseas aggression by allowing the use of Shannon Airport, but this move marks a new departure, leaving behind even the facade of neutrality. “It flies in the face of the values of anti-colonialism and sovereignty [...]
FG support for Guiadó is “Blueshirt Foreign Policy” and a clear breach of Irish neutrality
The Workers' Party have condemned a decision by Ireland to back EU support for the Trump-backed pretender to the US presidency, Juan Guiadó. The statement comes in response to Department of Foreign Affairs confirmation that it intends to support an EU motion backing Guiadó. Cllr. Éilis Ryan, the Workers' Party candidate for the European Parliament elections in Dublin, said: "What we are seeing now is the culmination of nearly a decade of Fine Gael governments moving Ireland further and further from even a semblance of 'neutrality,' the principle which drives foreign policy according to our constitution. "Of course, issues such as [...]
HSE must eliminate abortion data rats – Workers’ Party
The Workers' Party will hold a protest today at the Department of Health, calling for action against "the infestation of rats" inside the HSE. The protest comes in the wake of multiple alleged leaks of confidential information relating to abortion patients. Cathie Shiels, candidate for the Workers' Party in Ballymun-Finglas, said: "It is becoming increasingly clear that there are rats in the HSE undermining women's healthcare. The purpose of our masked 'rats' protest here today is to represent the scale of the data breaches, the deception, and the covert behaviour that has infected the HSE. Until it is rooted out, [...]
Euro Candidate Ryan condemns European Parliament backing for Trump’s Venezuela coup
A candidate for the forthcoming European Parliament elections, Cllr. Éilis Ryan of the Workers' Party, has condemned a vote by the European Parliament to back the attempted overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Cllr. Ryan, a city councillor contesting the Dublin election in May's European elections, said: "Like every other US intervention - from Cuba to Iraq to Chile and Argentina in the 1980s - the attempt to overthrow Nicolás Maduro has nothing to do with human rights and everything to do with oil, and asserting US power around the globe. "A vote, initiated by Fine Gael's right wing allies [...]
