http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-29896555.html
Just saw this, we had a great night in the mansion house,best of luck to him.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-29896555.html
Just saw this, we had a great night in the mansion house,best of luck to him.
Croly to join Labour and Looney to Rovers?
Christy Fagan - He scores big goals
Wonder if this is because he's genuinely angry with the direction of the Goverment junior partner or if its a last desperate attempt to get elected 6 months out? Who knows. You'd miss the oul football on a Friday night all the same.
If you know Dermot you know it's a genuine move. Can see how some have a jaundiced view of people who leave struggling parties but he's as genuine a person as I've met
His views here
http://thelooneyleft.blogspot.com/20...ot-looney.html
"We've seen you come, we'll see you go"
Very nice and genuine man, wish him all the best
Thanks everyone. Resigned from Labour. It was a long time coming. Will see out my term as Mayor (just over 4 months left). Standing as an independent in the elections in May. Won't be joining Rovers.
No doubt a large element is the impending election, but Looney has been pretty outspoken about the disassociation the grass roots of Labour are feeling with the ones in Govt so his decision is no doubt based upon his own beliefs.
Unfortunately thats politics, some would have had Labour sit on the sidelines and shout about what was wrong instead of going into govt and effecting what they can.
If labour were in opposition they would have got nothing through- as it is, despite alot of unplatable decisions (they are the Junior Party), they have managed to effect alot of decisions and policies and from a labour voter they are in alot better place than if Labour had opted out and stayed on the sidelines.
Anyway, best of luck to Dermot, I'm not a fan of his politics, but definitly a man of integrity and well worth a vote for those on that side of the fence!
While avoiding the wrath of the anti-Labour sentiment obviously helped, that's some performance Dermot - skated home. Well done.
http://elections.independent.ie/2014...e-south-dublin
We are at war with Eurasia. We've always been at war with Eurasia.
Shame he didn't run in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh.
Could sort us out with a nice new stadium..........
Congrats again Dermot!
Well done Dermot,you were totally right about not going into coalition with FG to fix the mess there mates made. Its a pity the leadership of the Labour party had not got more principles.
I would argue that Labour have managed to implement more policies in Govt than they ever would have on the sidelines.
They only had 20% of a mandate so its inevitable they needed give and take. Dermot knows politics, and yes, he is disenchanted with the direction labour has taken- but right now anyone who left labour (and managed to hold their seat as an ind) will still manage to effect govt policy about as much as Ronald McDonald.
In order to change policy you need to make tough choices and be in govt. the big problem was they made rediculous pledges prior to going in (way beyond the normal level of lying) - I would like to think most people understood the grandstanding but then again you look at the Sinn Fein results...
I think you're missing the point. Labour has lost many members precisely because of the policies it has implemented. I know party activists who saw the writing on the wall before the last GE when the party refused to look left, instead throwing its weight behind the 'there is no alternative' brigade and going out of its way to dismiss SF, ULA and left independents as fantasists. The only question is why party members were then so surprised by Labour's craven submission to neoliberalism.
Excellent analysis here from Socialis Voice:
The bankruptcy of social democracy
The Labour Party is on the way to electoral oblivion, and rightly so. A vote for the Labour Party, either at the local level or for the EU Parliament, was a vote for current government policies and EU-imposed austerity. It was a vote to confirm that there is no other way out of the crisis.
The strategy of the Labour Party over the decades, of propping up right-wing governments, has contributed to the belief by many people that no alternative is possible. The Labour Party has been essential for depoliticising the debate about economics, and has actively promoted the belief that economics and the economy are a neutral space, creating a situation where people end up voting for those who they think can manage the system best at a particular time. And workers keep on waiting.
Austerity and the savage attacks on workers’ rights—not just here in Ireland but throughout Europe—have been sustainable only because of the active collaboration of social democracy and social-democratic parties. They have used their links and influence within the trade union and workers’ movement to blunt and deaden opposition and to actively draw workers into accepting the belief that there is no alternative. The Irish and British Labour Parties and the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek “Socialist Parties” have been allocated the main role in subduing workers and managing their expectations.
But the historical era of social-democratic policies has ended. The system can no longer afford the social-democratic compromise of the last half of the twentieth century. It is now an imperative that all areas of economic and social activity must be privatised, to allow private capital to expand into what was once public economic space, as investment opportunities are increasingly difficult to secure other than in financial speculation.
Yet while the objective conditions for social-democratic reformism may have come to their historical end, social-democratic views and illusions are still strong and are attractive to a large section of the working class.
The Labour Party—particularly its leadership—and social democracy in general are part of the problem and cannot be part of the solution. Workers and their trade unions cannot allow themselves to be locked in to the view that if the Labour Party is electorally defeated and disintegrates, this would be a disaster.
So what do you believe these groups have achieved for the working people of Ireland by staying out of Government?
The media organ of a party whose two candidates between them garnered a total of 215 first preference votes in the recent local elections.
We are at war with Eurasia. We've always been at war with Eurasia.
I think SF have made a hugely positive contribution to public discourse, not least because they have excellent parliamentarians in Doherty, O'Caolain and Adams who regularly wipe the floor with their government counterparts. And since GFA they've moved significantly to the left at a time when there has been a real revival in progressive republicanism (of which they are only a part). And I think that was reflected in local and euro polls, despite the wishful thinking of right wing elements that it was a protest vote. That says two things to me personally. 1) ordinary people recognise the role they've played in opposition, and 2) there's a genuine appetite for radical change. Unfortunately the labour movement in Ireland is at a historicallqy weak as a result of social partnership and a "leadership" more concerned with the fortunes of their friends in the Labour Party than furthering the interests of working people. This ultimately means the type of overhaul many people might want is not on the cards for the foreseeable future. Either way, I think at this moment in time, SF represent the best bet for working class communities to resist what's being thrown at them.
As for the ULA, I was a member of the SWP for a few years . As a general rule I'd be wary of any group that claims to be socialist and represent the interests of workers but doesn't like to publicly utter the qord 'socialist' or 'worker' for fear of upsetting INM.
Last edited by oleguer presas i renom; 3rd June 2014 at 10:16 PM.
In my defence that first question was as much rhetorical as anything (yeah, I know I quoted oleguer) - my first preference vote in the last election went to an Independent (Catherine Murphy) who is the chief whip of the Technical Group. Exactly what good she and they have achieved is questionable and if I vote for her again at the next election it'll probably be more of case of not wanting to be associated with FF/SF/FG/Lab (in that order) than an endorsement of her performance in the Dáil.
We are at war with Eurasia. We've always been at war with Eurasia.