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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link The 60 Minutes I Spent Trying to Persuade a BBC Presenter That Lucy Connolly is a Political Prisoner Sun Apr 20, 2025 07:00 | Laurie Wastell
The Daily Sceptic's Laurie Wastell was astounded to be invited onto the BBC to put his case that Lucy Connolly is a political prisoner ? and even more astounded to find he was given a fair hearing.
The post The 60 Minutes I Spent Trying to Persuade a BBC Presenter That Lucy Connolly is a Political Prisoner appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sun Apr 20, 2025 00:02 | Will Jones
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Rapists Can No Longer Claim to be Women Sat Apr 19, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones
Rapists will no longer be able to identify as women following?the landmark Supreme Court transgender ruling, with police forces now expected to begin recording criminals' biological sex rather than preferred gender.
The post Rapists Can No Longer Claim to be Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Persecution of Nigeria?s Christians by Muslims is Medieval in its Horror Sat Apr 19, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
The persecution of Nigeria's Christians by Islamising Muslims is medieval in its horror, says Tom Goodenough. "Villages are surrounded in the dead of night by bandits who rape and kill the inhabitants. No one is spared."
The post The Persecution of Nigeria’s Christians by Muslims is Medieval in its Horror appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Britain?s Biggest Bank Pledges ?Solidarity? With Trans Staff Sat Apr 19, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Britain?s biggest bank, Lloyds, has pledged "solidarity" with transgender staff after the?Supreme Court ruled that trans women are not legally women under discrimination law.
The post Britain’s Biggest Bank Pledges “Solidarity” With Trans Staff appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Ireland: The Devastating Social Impact of Economic Austerity Measures

category national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis author Sunday December 09, 2012 20:26author by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáinauthor email caoimhghin at yahoo dot com Report this post to the editors

Targeting young families, the elderly and the sick, as the government slashes child benefits, triples prescription charges and rubber-stamps controversial property tax.

Another political party is selflessly sacrificing itself to the ‘preying’ mantis of the Irish establishment. We are seeing the Labour Party (in coalition with the conservative Fine Gael) being slowly ingested before our eyes as they struggle to justify their support for the recent right wing austerity budget to an increasingly angry populace.

Even the usually calm and collected silver tongues of the party are starting to get nervous. The last political victim of the establishment Mantis was the Green Party [1] who were coaxed into a coalition by the establishment’s Fianna Fáil [2] party in 2007. The angry public had its revenge in the 2011 election when the Greens lost all their seats in the Dáil (Parliament) and Fianna Fáil itself succumbed to exhaustion and had its own meltdown after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy.

There were demonstrations and scuffles [3] with Gardaí during the budget debate (5/12/2012) and more recently (7/12/2012) a group of about 250 carers and their families [4] protested outside Leinster House against the cut of €325 to the annual €1,700 respite care grant announced in Wednesday’s Budget.

According to author and campaigner Paddy Doyle:

“There’s no question or doubt about it that any vulnerable group, be they elderly, be they carers – the few I’ve met here are exhausted. You can see it in their faces that they’re just worn out. They’re saving the State a fortune,” he added.

The campaign group Social Justice Ireland [5] director, Fr Seán Healy, said that for the second year in a row the Government had perpetrated a transfer of wealth from the poor to the prosperous. He noted that:

“Budget 2012 saw 40 per cent of the population on lowest incomes take a far higher proportionate ‘hit’ than the richest 10 per cent. Budget 2013 continues this process.”

And it looks like some people won’t be just reading Dickens this Christmas but will be experiencing a Dickensian one as well. According to the president of St Vincent de Paul [6], Geoff Meagher, there are families that “are choosing to go without heating their homes as they struggle to afford the basics.” He also said that:

“It’s not just this budget, it’s the result of a cumulative effect of tough budgets that have happened in the past few years. They are pushed into poverty when they cannot afford the basics such as food, heating and education, with fuel being the first thing to go as it is usually most expensive.”

Anger is growing at a budget [7] which is targeting young families, the elderly and the sick, as the government slashes child benefits, triples prescription charges and rubber-stamps the hugely-controversial property tax. What is galling [8] many people in Ireland is that this is all being facilitated by a Labour Party which according to one of the tenets of its Principles [9] states: “Equality implies reorganising society with the specific object of creating a more equal distribution of wealth and power, and not just opportunities for individuals to become powerful or wealthy.” Under another Principle it is stated that “the spirit of Community places Labour on the side of the oppressed.” However, it is beginning to look like if these austerity measures continue much longer, the community is going to place Labour on the side of the unemployed.

[1] http://www.independent.ie/national-news/elections/green....html

[2] http://www.independent.ie/national-news/elections/lates....html

[3] http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget/news/vid....html

[4] http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1207/....html

[5] http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1207/1...a=rel

[6] http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1207/1...a=rel

[7] http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget/news/vid....html

[8] http://politico.ie/social-issues/8831-budget-2013-defla....html

[9] http://www.labour.ie/principles/

Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin is a prominent Irish artist who has exhibited widely around Ireland. His work consists of paintings based on cityscapes of Dublin, Irish history and geopolitical themes (http://gaelart.net/). His blog of critical writing based on cinema, art and politics along with research on a database of Realist and Social Realist art from around the world can be viewed country by country at http://gaelart.blogspot.ie/.

Related Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/ireland-the-devastating-social-impact-of-economic-austerity-measures/5314745

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   Unfortunately FF may get back in     T    Tue Dec 11, 2012 23:08 
   robbing the poor to pay the rich..politics not of the people     we the people    Tue Dec 11, 2012 23:19 
   More austerity for everyone in Europe on the way -Merkel's Xmas message     T    Sun Dec 23, 2012 23:19 


 
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