Did Sinn Fein councillor support the closure of the Andersonstown Library?

The Northern Ireland Library Authority approved the closure of a number of libraries in Northern Ireland at Lisburn City Library, 23 Linenhall Street, Lisburn, on Tuesday, 18 May 2010. including Andersonstown library.
Cllr Anne Brolly of Sinn Fein was at that meeting. Did she approve the closure of Andersonstown Library?. This particular library was very dear to me as it introduced me to a love of literature, along with countless many other working class families. No where in the minutes does it record her voting against the closure.

I took part in subsequent protests in a bid to save the library, which failed. These protests were primarily organised by Sinn Fein.

It sounds like Sinn Fein's budget strategy, They voted for the cuts and then took part in trade union marches against the cuts.

No alternative

No alternative

I hesitated before deciding to stand in the Assembly election. The corrupt and reactionary nature of the institution is self-evident. As time goes on I see that there really is no alternative.

One factor influencing me was the ‘IRA’ statement at Easter announcing a return to war.

I don't agree for a moment with the hypocrisy of Sinn Fein's condemnations, but the completely negative elements of a physical force strategy are self-evident.

Republicans seem determined to support Sinn Fein and the current corrupt settlement by agreeing with them that the only alternative is another 30 years of bloodshed.

Hidden in the ‘IRA’ statement are some core republican beliefs.

One belief is that the British really want to leave Ireland and that an extension of the military campaign will exhaust their will. Recent history indicates the opposite. It was the republican resistance that became exhausted, while the British dedicated substantial military, economic and political resources to imposing a settlement in their interest.

Another belief is that a military struggle will unite the nation against the British. What actually happened was that Irish capital united with the British to reject any democratic solution, shore up partition and reinforce a new 26 county nationalism.

In fact all the recent history of republicanism has been permeated with a narrow legalism. By claiming to be the IRA the new group is claiming to be the legitimate army of Ireland, entitled to wage war. This claim is in turn based on the democratic mandate of the first Dial, a vote negated by the British decision to partition the island.

In the minds of republican militarists the votes of the dead trump those of the living. That's not the case. Politics is about relations between people, not about empty legal formulae. You don't win votes once. You have to win them over and over again.

Many workers believe that the current settlement will eventually lead to a peaceful and just society. Others feel that there is no alternative.

I believe all the old colonial, sectarian and class mechanisms are being re-established, but I can only make this case if I organise with others and if I use the opportunities available to put forward an alternative. That's what I am doing by standing in the election and what I will continue to do when the election has come and gone.

Poster war

The last few days have been taken up with putting up posters on the Andersonstown-Falls Road, right down to Castle Street. Finding a vacant space on overcrowded lamp posts has been a real challenge. But that is nothing compared to the huge challenge facing all the groups opposed to the £4bn cuts offensive and the sectarian set-up at Stormont. Where do we go after May 5 is the question facing all of these parties and individuals? I am ready for that debate. We have to have it if we want to build an effective opposition to Stormont rule.

Corporation tax cut – a gamble working people can’t afford

One of the features of this election campaign has been the degree of unanimity across the parties on economic issues.  This was summed up by Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, who in a speech to business leaders could make the claim that the “next big battle is around the economy” and that he and the DUP leader “on the same side”.  But what are they battling for – Higher wages? No.  Better working conditions? No.  An expansion of public services? No.  What McGuinness and Robinson, and all the other political leaders, are battling for is a cut in corporation tax.  They believe that only a cut in corporation tax can provide the uplift that the economy requires.    

The most common argument used by those in favour of a cut is to point to the “success” of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger economy, which had at its heart a corporation tax rate of 12.5 per cent.  Of course they conveniently ignore the complete collapse of the Republic’s economy over the last three years and the role that a low tax rate played in creating a credit fuelled boom that turned to bust.  They also ignore the fact that while the Republic had a pursued a low corporation tax policy from the late fifties onwards the period of rapid growth had come only in the mid 90’s.  This suggests that tax was not the main factor but rather developments in the global economy such as the growth of mobile capital and the establishment of a single European market.  

However, it is not just a question of whether a lower tax rate will produce growth.  Pursuing such a policy will also have an impact on society.  The evidence is that lowering taxes on capital, while certainly benefitting the owners of capital, impoverishes broader society.  We need only look to the south during the recent period of rapid growth - class inequalities increased as the benefits of that growth were disproportionally focused on the rich, public services stagnated and infrastructure such as transport, communications and water remained underdeveloped.

The transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest in society is even more obvious in the north as a cut in corporation tax would be accompanied by a cut in the block grant from the British Treasury.  It is estimated that a reduction in corporation tax to 12.5 percent would mean a reduction in the block grant of £300 million.  That’s the equivalent of the annual budget of NI Water.  The reality is that a cut in corporation tax would result in the introduction of charges and/or the cutting of public services.  The claims made by parties in this election campaign that they can maintain public services, avoid water charges or stop a rise in student fees while at the same time reducing corporation tax are simply not true.  

A reduction in corporation tax would be a huge gamble for working people in the north.  It is unlikely to work even in the terms set by its supporters, and even it did would create greater inequality and hardship for the majority of the population.  It is a real indictment of the parties at Stormont that they are attached to such reactionary nonsense. 

manifesto launch

OUT OF THE TRACKS

The £4bn cut in Northern Ireland's budget was back on the agenda as independent socialist Brian Pelan launched his manifesto today.

Speaking at a meeting of supporters, Brian Pelan, who is fighting for an Assembly seat in West Belfast, pledged to help build a genuine socialist opposition to the sectarian set-up at Stormont.

Mr Pelan said: "The main parties are all promising a variety of things in their manifestos, but ignoring the fact that they are in a government which has decided to penalise working people with a massive cuts offensive."

"My manifesto is the first step in a campaign to build working class opposition to the cuts. On May 5, you have an opportunity to register your opposition to this assault and work towards creating a 32-county socialist alternative."

What a whopper!

Sinn Fein/DUP at the launch of their election manifestos yesterday did not mention their decision to slash £4bn of the public budget, which will result in thousands of jobs being lost and a huge deterioration  in our health service. As omissions go, that must be the worst I've ever seen.

Monday, April 18

Received this letter this morning




Brian,

I’m a student living in South Belfast and won’t be able to vote
for you.  Last year I JOINED Sinn Fein and I am technically still a
member but I won’t be voting for them because of the cuts, because I
see myself as a socialist and because of the sectarian setup which I
feel they are happy with.
What advice have you got? Who do I vote for?


Yours
Dee



Unfortunately, I'm not standing in South Belfast, but my advice would be to vote for anti-cuts candidates

Saturday, April 16

Handed out more than 500 leaflets this afternoon in Castle Street, Belfaast, today. Got a good response from people who took them. They seem to enjoy reading about a candidate who opposes the Assembly cuts and who stands for a United Socialist Ireland

Thursday, April 14

Just read Jim Gibney's column today in the Irish News. Big inaccuracy when he claims that UUP "supported the £4bn cuts to the Executive". Their Minister actually voted against the budget. But rather more surprising in this article in his massive omission about Sinn Fein voting for the £4bn cuts package. Why the hesitancy to talk about his party's support for the budget? I intend to push my message of total opposition to this Tory offensive on the working class which could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs

Thursday, April 14

Interesting little Twitter exchange last night after I replied to a tweet from @gerardwyer.


@gerardwyer wrote "Martin Ferris knows people who were pauperised as a result of the minimum wage being cut"


I replied: "I know people who will be pauperised as a result of the SF/DUP cuts offensive in the North."


@gerardwyer replied: "Make sure that you don't put your back out whilst carrying that Agenda around with you."


I replied: "And what would the agenda be? Care to spell it out"


No reply from @gerardwyer.


After looking at his Twitter profile, I asked him about his belief in a 'fairer Ireland'


I tweeted: "Sticking with my 'agenda', what exactly does "Working for a fairer Ireland" mean?


Still waiting from a reply from @gerardwyer.

Wednesday, April 13

Looking forward to the launch meeting tonight in the Glenowen Inn, Glen Road, at 7pm, when I will have the first opportunity to publicly outline why I'm standing as an independent Socialist in West Belfast for the Assembly elections on May 5. I hope all those who have interest in building an opposition to the Stormont Government will come along.

On other matters, I must strongly disagree with the column by Brian Feeney in today's Irish News when he argues that "neither the Assembly, nor all-Ireland bodies nor sharing power is an issue in this election".

As far as I'm concerned, the issue of the undemocratic Assembly with the lack of an opposition is a central part of my campaign.

Feeney also writes that Northern Ireland is "an ethno-political problem, which means it has to be resolved with mechanisms like Belguim's or Switzerland or Lebanon's".

The inclusion of Lebanon is not exactly a place to hold up as a solution for Northern Ireland. Lebanon had a civil war from 1975 to 1990 and has been subjected to numerous attacks and occupations from Israel.

But perhaps the two states, set up respectively by the British and French, are perfect examples of how imperialism can ruin a country with its systems of divide and rule.

The two faces of Sinn Fein

The recent success of Sinn Fein in the Republic’s general election owed much to the party’s opposition to the EU/IMF bailout and the associated austerity programme.  In the immediate aftermath of the election Gerry Adams boasted that his party would put   “backbone into the Dail” and lead the opposition to the expected Fine Gael/Labour "coalition of cuts".

However, less than a week later Sinn Fein endorsed a budget for the north that reduces public spending by £1.5 billion by 2015. That represents a cumulative cut of £4bn over a four-year period.  While not on the scale of the austerity seen in the south the measures contained in the Executive’s budget will certainly mean a deterioration of public services, particularly in health and education, and potentially tens of thousands of public sector job losses.   The north will also be hit hard by proposed changes in the benefits system.   So the claim by the deputy First minister Martin McGuinness that the parties in Executive  “have done the opposite" to the programme being pursued in the south is a spurious one.

When the contradiction between Sinn Fein north and south was raised during the election campaign, the response of the party was to say that the two situations were not comparable.  Their argument was that the north’s political institutions did not have “fiscal autonomy” while in the Republic there was a “sovereign” government.   But again this is a rather spurious argument.  The sovereignty of the Irish state was always very limited, evidenced most clearly by the fact that it has never exercised control over all of Ireland’s national territory.  It is even more the case today with the functioning of the state dependent on finance from the EU and IMF.  This is not so different from the relationship that exists between the north and the British Treasury.

Sinn Fein has also sought to deflect attention by blaming cutbacks in the north on the Tories.   So during the UK general election last year they had a platform of opposing cuts, and in the post election period they said they were going to confront the UK government over cuts.  There was even speculation that Sinn Fein ministers would refuse to come forward with future spending plans.  However, this rhetoric did not amount to anything, and agreement was reached between Sinn Fein and the DUP on a draft budget that incorporated the spending cuts.  The only concession made by the UK government was to provide an extra £200m for policing and justice – a clear indication of where their priorities lie.

Sinn Fein justifies the cuts on the basis that opposing them would risk bringing down the political institutions.  That this is the overriding priority for the party shows the degree to which it has retreated from any kind of radicalism.  The self-proclaimed Irish republicans are now in a position where they won’t oppose cuts for fear of creating a crisis within the British constitution!   Rather than being a force for change in Ireland Sinn Fein are one of the key components of stability and the continuation of the status quo.  They have proven this in the north, and given the opportunity would prove it in the south. 

Reading the morning paper - more scandal in the Health Service

Today’s  ‘Irish News’ has another article exposing the poor management of Belfast’s health services with reports that the old Belvoir Park hospital, which was closed five years ago, has been abandoned without being decommissioned properly.  This has meant that patient files have been taken from it and have appeared for sale on the internet.  Despite this, management in the Belfast Trust has claimed that there was no need to inform the Information Commissioner that there was potentially a breach of data protection legislation.

This is the latest in a long line of articles in the paper taking shots at the management of the health service and the Belfast Trust.  Not all the criticism has been warranted and sometimes the big things have been mixed with minor issues.  Often however the criticism has been well deserved and I thought I would write about it today because it raises some interesting questions that will no doubt go unasked never mind answered during this election.

Like – what is the solution to all this and if the health service is such a good thing, which most people seem to agree, how come it seems to screw up so often?

Let’s take the second question first.  The health service is popular because if you’re sick you really, really need it.  This might seem obvious and so it is, but it means that a certain amount of its popularity is because for most people it’s all we have to save us from illness or much worse.  If something else existed it might be quite popular as well.  What makes it unpopular is when it fails to do what we need – waiting too long to get seen and sometimes poor services when we do get seen.  There was a report recently in Britain that the care given to elderly people is very often appalling and lack of adequate funding is only part of the problem.

Generally we all agree that it’s not the fault of staff so what is the problem?

The ‘Irish News’ columnist Patrick Murphy says at least part of the blame lies in the fact that senior managers sit on the Board of Directors along with non-Executive Directors and will therefore give each other an easy time.  This is what prevented questioning to ensure the issues at Belvoir Park were not flagged up and solved.  He proposes a Board consisting of only non-Executive Directors to bring the senior mangers to account.

The question is however – why didn’t they do it in this case?  There were plenty of these non-Execs on the Board already.  It looks to me that they failed just as much as the senior managers everyone loves to criticise.  These non-Execs are the great and the good of our society and include politicians from all the main parties.  Will we be hearing which of the candidates in the election sat on the Board of the Belfast Trust and also failed to deal with this matter?  Don’t think so. (Google it yourself if you want to find out)

The truth is that these non-Execs are political appointments and often know nothing about the services delivered by the state bodies they are supposed to supervise.  The senior mangers do know about the services but will make mistakes like anyone and there is obviously a question about making them accountable.

There is of course an obvious solution.  Who knows most about the services provided by the NHS?  Well, two groups spring to mind.  The first are the workers who work in it and the second are patients who use it.  Why isn’t the health service run by the workers with patients organised to review and inspect their work and report on any failures?  Why don’t we have a Board composed of workers elected by all the staff and subject to instant recall if they don’t perform?  This would provide real expert management.  Management could be replaced by a democratic vote whenever the majority of workers thought that it wasn’t working as well as it should.  This would provide full transparency and accountability.

So why don’t we have a democratic health service?  Well, the answer is obvious.  If workers were allowed to run the health service they might demonstrate how good it is to have a democratic workplace and encourage other workers to look for the right to do the same.  We couldn’t have that because that is what is called socialism.

The sort of socialism I’m standing for in this election.

Don't Waste This Chance!

Last Wednesday I joined students at Queens University in protest at the education cuts that they and their lecturers face.  With my supporters I gave out the following leaflet which is advertising my organising meeting.  Come and join us!

DON’T WASTE

THIS CHANCE!!

Are you opposed to the cuts in education and in health?  Are you opposed to increased fees, reduction of services and plans to do away with the EMA?  Do you want to stop the cuts?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions this time should be a golden opportunity to fight back.  On May 5 there will be an election – a great chance to register your protest and organize against the cuts.

But there is a problem.  All the parties in the Executive are in favour of cuts and with £4 billion worth of them their little squabbles over where exactly they will cut will be irrelevant.

Yet these parties still expect to get our votes!!  Why are they so arrogant?  They are arrogant because there is no opposition.  They are all in the government.  And they are arrogant because of sectarianism – they expect us to vote for “our side” without us worrying about their actual policies

ALTERNATIVE

But now you have a chance to vote for an alternative and campaign against the cuts and against sectarianism.  A socialist candidate, Brian Pelan, is standing in West Belfast and he is opening up his campaign to all those opposed to the cuts.  He is calling on potential supporters to join him in an open meeting to organize his campaign for the Assembly elections and build a movement that will continue when the elections have come and gone. 

Brian is not only opposing the cuts and putting forward an alternative.  He is not only opposing bigotry and the sectarian rules by which the Stormont Assembly works.  He is opposing the whole sectarian system that has taken 20 years to create and in few short years has united all the parties in cuts in corporation tax for big business and cuts in living standards and services for everyone else.

Brian, a supporter of the socialist group Socialist Democracy, is opposing the blackmail that we cannot afford an opposition,  that we cannot defend our livelihoods and we cannot fight for our rights and freedom because we must support this sectarian state. Join with Brian:

FIGHT THE CUTS

OPPOSE SECTARIANISM and

FIGHT FOR A SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE

Join him at the inaugural meeting to organize his campaign at the Glenowen  Inn , Glen Road Belfast, at 7pm on Wednesday, April 13.

www.socialistdemocracy.org

bpelansocialist@gmail.com

Who and Why?

So who exactly am I and why am I standing as a candidate in the West Belfast Assembly elections?

Well, I am 54 years of age, married with three sons. I was born in Andersonstown and have lived in the area for a large part of my life.

I am an active trade unionist, being a member of the Belfast Branch of the National Union of Journalists and a former deputy father of chapel of the Belfast Telegraph branch of the NUJ. I am not standing in any official union capacity in this election and only in a personal capacity but I think it is important that everyone knows that for a long time I have been active in advancing the cause of working people.

During the 1980s, I was involved in the Relatives' Action Committees supporting political status for republican prisoners and was actively involved as part of the Hunger Strike campaign. I was also a member of Peoples Democracy and as a member of it was election agent for PD member John McAnulty when he was an elected councillor in West Belfast.  Now I am a supporter of its successor Socialist Democracy.

I have campaigned on many issues, including opposition to the Iraq war and latterly against cutbacks in Northern Ireland and the Republic.  I totally oppose sectarian politics and believe in a Socialist Republic, which will serve the interests of the Irish working class and this is the reason why I am standing.

All the main parties in the Assembly Executive are united in support of £4,000,000,000 worth of cuts which cannot but have a devastating effect on many public services.  Already these parties are taking part in petty squabbles trying to deflect from their own responsibility for implementing these cuts.  So Martin McGuinness has blamed Michael McGimpsey for failure to give the go-ahead to new cancer services in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry for sectarian reasons.  In turn McGimpsey has no difficulty batting away this accusation.  What unites them is agreement that cuts are necessary. If we vote for either of these parties that’s exactly what we will get.

I am standing to give people an opportunity to vote against the cuts and to actually organise against them.  I am opening my campaign up to all those opposing the cuts so that after the election not only will I not be going away but neither will the campaign that has supported me.

But I am not just opposing the cuts.  I am offering an analysis of why it has been so hard, so far, to fight the cuts and why opposing sectarianism is central to what I have to say.  Further, I am offering a wider socialist alternative that can give a positive message of hope that there is a real alternative to the capitalist market.  Over the next few weeks of this campaign you will be able to read on my blog just what I mean by all this.  You will also be able to read how my campaign is going and what we have been up to.

Most importantly I want this blog to be a forum where everyone with even the slightest interest in the issues I am addressing can ask me questions, offer criticism and join in the debate.  Through this blog we can demonstrate that healthy debate is not an alternative to campaigning but an essential part of it.  This blog and my campaign is open to everyone who wants to fight the cuts, fight for socialism and has energy and ideas to take us forward

Join in!!

election broadcasts

Have just seen the election broadcasts of Sinn Fein and DUP. The huge elephant in the room of the massive cutbacks programme they have endorsed is barely mentioned. Just another reason for me to raise the issue of socialism in this election

Why I'm standing in West Belfast for the Assembly elections

Brian Pelan
WEST BELFAST
ASSEMBLY ELECTION

Welcome to my blog on why I am contesting the Assembly elections as a socialist candidate. The main thing that spurred me into action was the decision of the Assembly to approve the budget of cutbacks. Whilst the SDLP may have abstained and the Ulster Unionists voted against the package, these two parties did not leave the government. So in effect they and SF, the DUP and the Alliance Party have approved a series of austerity measures which will impact on thousands of workers in Northern Ireland. Families already struggling to make ends meet will be further hurt as these cuts start to bite. I am in no doubt that this election will be an uphill struggle for those choosing to raise the issue of 32-county socialism in a society dominated by sectarianism in the North and workers in the Republic suffering under the IMF/EU assault. But it's time to start to a real debate on what passes for politics in the north of Ireland and the Republic