The Fight Against Austerity
Speakers:
Joe Higgins TD
Joan Collins TD
Sheila Judge (DEIS Campaign)
8 pm Tuesday 24 April
Teachers Club
36 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1.
Contact Donal 087 7552559 or Colm 087 2947100
The support for the Campaign of non-payment of the Household Tax has been magnificent. The anger expressed at meetings and protest shows people are prepared to face the government down.
The United Left Alliance (ULA) fully supports the Campaign. Our members, councillors and TDs support a boycott of the tax and stand with those resisting the charge.
The success of the campaign against cuts in Deis Primary Schools also shows that people power can effectively resist cuts.
Austerity is being imposed to pay off the gambling debts of the banks. The government wants to enshrine these policies in the Constitution by signing up to a European Treaty that will restrict the ability of states to fund public investment to create jobs. The passing of this treaty will lead to ever more cuts in health and education and more misery for the majority of people. It must be opposed.
The ULA is opposed to making ordinary people pay for a crisis that was not of their making. Ireland is not broke and austerity is not inevitable. The richest 5% have a combined wealth of €219 billion. A wealth tax on these resources and a refusal to pay bank debts could generate billions for a programme of job creation.
The growing opposition to austerity must be linked into a movement that not only opposes current government policy but also offers an alternative which puts people before profit and guarantees a decent standard of living for all. We believe there needs to be a wide debate, involving all those groups and individuals opposed to austerity, about the best way to build a wide movement of opposition which uses people power to bring about change.
The ULA also believes it is time to build a radical political alternative and stands for the creation of a new party for working people, the unemployed and the marginalised.
Come to the Public Meeting, join the debate and get involved in the fightback.