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THE SOCIALIST PARTY has withdrawn from the United Left Alliance.
In a statement published on its website, the party said it was withdrawing because of the decision of other members within the group to ‘ditch’ the spirit of collaboration in which the alliance was set up two years ago.
Though the party said it was “genuine in our preparedness to work with others on the left on a respectful, democratic and principled basis”, the decision of others not to act likewise had “decisively undermined” the alliance itself.
The alliance had already been in “a weakened state as ordinary working class people had not joined it in any significant numbers”, the SP conceded.
The party said the withdrawal offered new opportunities to reorganise the working class in its opposition to Government and Troika austerity measures, and said it remained committed to building a “mass and democratic party of the working class”.
The withdrawal only means the ULA’s Dáil membership falls by one – as Joe Higgins was the only remaining Socialist Party member within the group, following the departure of Clare Daly last year.
However, with Tipperary-based Seamus Healy having already pulled his Workers and Unemployment Action Group out of the alliance last year, the party’s Dáil ranks now stand at only three.
Those are the two People Before Profit deputies, Joan Collins and Richard Boyd Barrett, and Clare Daly who remains affiliated to the ULA outside of the Socialist Party fold.
“As a result, any potential the ULA had of playing a role in building a new mass Left in Ireland is now gone,” the Socialist Party said.
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SPLITTERS !!
Amazing you don’t care Aaron. Most of your views in your columns are pretty left wing ;-)
The Socialist party might not be everybody’s cup of tea but we do need an alternative , someone to stabd up Merkel.
ULA are a circus anyway
Just like FG & FF?
Mark they’re just slightly less relevant than FG or Labour.
working class people voting for ff/fg/lab is a kin to turkey voting for xmas……..
I am from a working class background and i am amazed that people, who literally have nothing, vote for neocon parties.
it’s unbelievable.com
No matter how hard they’d try, ULA policies would make the working class worse off. Granted it wouldn’t be their intention to do so, but it’d happen.
Yeah, you’d know David as your party are continuing to rape thecincones of the middle working class…..now know as the working poor!! What ya think of the latest RedC poll?……FG sliding down AGAIN. :)
PMSL typo fail…
Correction
*the incomes**
I thought you meant to write ‘cajones’ (from Spanish)
Im intrigued.. Detail how this would be so David. Thats akin to me saying that my friend could build a nuclear plant… HOW?
To be fair this government restored the minimum wage, lowered the threshold for the USC and has not raised Income Tax.
The ULA voted against these changes and would tax the life of middle Ireland if they had the chance
“To be fair this government restored the minimum wage,…”
The gains of which has been more than cancelled out due to increases in VAT etc.
“……lowered the threshold for the USC…..”
while removing the floor for PRSI
“…..and has not raised Income Tax…..”
See both my counterpoints above, and thats not including the anglo taxes and stealth charges.
People aren’t fools david. Income tax increases are at least reasonably progressive. What your lot have done is an attack on the most vulnerable, especially women and children.
David this government reduced child benefit, increased prsi for everyone including the lower paid, reduced rest bite care and more to the point have not delivered on any of theit promises. Where is my health care for all and I don’t see any hard negotiations in Europe just another load of yes men.
wewejammin. People aren’t fools? Think you disprove that.
Tony- You should go and live in North Korea or Zimbabwe if you hate neoCon politics. Those two countries have rejected neoCon politics. I don’t how welcoming they are though. Maybe you should try to get the Irish government to reject capitalism too. Maybe taking from people who make money will work for us.
There all lunatics. Richard Boyd Barrett was praised on an Al Qaeda website…..
Love watching him on Vincent Brown, ’tis great for a laugh before bed.
Yep haha
Clowns the lot of them, each & every one of them, every TD & councillor have started to do my f’ing head in I’m sick of their bullshiite & schoolyard games. Would love to listen to one who’s head wasn’t stuck up their own arse. I have no respect for political office anymore. Overpaid overfed bullshitting clowns.
A statement released by Richard Boyd Barrett read:
‘ This government..(Blah blah)…(pretentious waffle)…(meaningless nonsense)…the ECB..’
End statement.
Stupid comment by Mr. Moran. No wonder Ireland isn’t getting a write-down on the promissory note. Too many “nice guy” politicians.
Naive comment by Mr. Dalt.
Would love to see any of the ULA ‘negotiating’ on the promissory note. Presumably the negotiation would go something like “shove it, we’re not paying”.
Great. Now…how do we keep the country running?
“Aaahmmmm….”
So called socialists aren’t slow about pocketing our money in tax free expenses every month. Pearse Doherty and Martin Ferris? €5,000+ Boyd Barrett, Higgins, Daly? c. €3,000. And that’s on top of their €92,000 a year salaries.
People’s Front of Judea/Judean People’s Front.
We need an alternative to FG/Lab but this motley crew of clowns isn’t it.
If you meant a right-wing alternative, you’re not living in the real world. More and more young Irish people are turning to the left. The older generation will nearly always vote for the neo-cons but their generation is passing.
Id actually have the band Motley Crue run the country before any of these left wing fools.
@Mark Dalt. And where are all these young people when it comes time to vote?
What Left?
Ah, the left. Be it Labour, the ULA or the Socialists- couldn’t organise themselves to save their lives and yet bizarrely expect the electorate to trust them to run the country. A little less fervour and just a modicum of discipline would go such a long way….
Bunch of turkeys!
Richard Boyd Barrett. For the people? It was the people’s money he used to pay for servicing his car …. In excess of 10k!!!! WTF? Uselessprat.com
Phil Hogan (Fine Gael) ran up €9,000 bill on a 24-hour trip to Luxembourg, didn’t he?
Phil Hogan (Fine Gael) ran up ~€10,000 bill in his Brazil trip last year, did he not?
Why aren’t you condemning the lavish expenses of the mainstream politicians? Partisan?
Mr. Dalt, perhaps the reason Boyd Barrett and the like are scorned more vehemently than so called mainstream politicians is because of their constant bleating about ‘ordinary people’.
Whatever the (huge) failings of those in power, for RBB’s railing against capitalism and ‘the rich’ crushing the poor under a Prada boot sticks in the craw more than a little when he himself is quite happy, as was Clare Daly, to suckle the state teat when it comes to salary and expenses.
It also proves that the idea of independents coming together and running the country instead of the traditional party system won’t work either.This group hasn’t lasted very long.
Glad it’s finished. It really shows how pathetic and bereft of any alternative the left really are. So they refuse to pay back are borrowings, where do we borrow from?
Boyd Barrett is a champagne socialist, happy to spend €12,000 of our money on car improvements but won’t spend €200 of his own on a suit. His slovenly appearance is a direct consequence of the disdain he holds the Dail, and therefore the people it represents (us), in.
Winston Churchill – Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed if ignorance and the gospel of envy, it’s inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery
Yeah! Access to healthcare, education and welfare is such a drag.
He sent the black and tans to Ireland, it doesn’t surprise me he’s not a Socialist.
Even the brits f**ked him out after the war to demand a decent level of living standards for the majority of the population.
Its history, read about it
Philip, good description of socialism.
I wish the FF/FG duopoly were less socialist – it might have stopped them socialising the 67bn debt of our private banking system. It would be great if they gave capitalism a go for a change instead of making Joe Public pick up the tab every time their golf buddies cock up. ICI, Aib Once, Twice, Three times, PMPA……
Marxist theory is like many plausible ideas for perpetual motion machines, it/they look like they should work, they would be a great benefit to humanity if they did work,but when they are tried in the real they are a failure.
Just like capitalism
None of them have a clue about economics, just demagoguery.
It’s not like anyone in FG/Lab/FF or the department of finance know anything about economics either.
In many countries, a government with no “qualifications” have actually done better than a “qualified” bunch of neo-cons who simply want tax cuts on the top %.
Shame. Goin by what the previous commentators has said before me, they must be happy with the present strategies of our current shower of donkeys in government
Maybe with the exception of Joe Higgins, without a doubt the biggest collection of absolutely useless fúckhounds that have ever tried to organise themselves into a failed political force in this country.
Im disappointed saw it as a true alternative. Out of the ashes rises the phoenix. We didnt succeed this time we can try again. People are committing suicide,families are breaking up and criminals running the show . This is all because of policies by FF/FG/Lab . Irish people are fickle folk and a lot only seem to care about reality tv and themselves…
Have a read of this. Nothing has changed with SP
If someone from FF/FG/Lab said that ordinary Irish people “only seemed to care about reality tv” there would be talk about callousness & demands for resignations & floggings. However when a lefty comes out with this drivel he gets a majority of green thumbs.
Truly journal.ie is a parallel universe!!
Where do you stand Justin politically? The people have voted in continously the same parties and the same thing happens over and over, we are a glutton for punishment. What do the Irish people care about? We are trying to struggle in economic hardship and when we try to do something about it we are shot down, can we not win? Perhaps it may be more constructive if you focused your attentions like a good lad to where the problem is with the establishment instead of looking at me as a ‘typical leftie’…
Richard Boyd Barret , !! Sounds more d4 than left with a name like that!
Do you have anything constructive to add to the discussion other than an ad hominem attack?
Yawn!!!
Westmeath reviewing your life so far?
Here’s my not-so shocked face.
the ula held together during a historic election but was doomed after that
I couldn’t care less even if I tried really, really, really, really hard!
The first item on the agenda of any Irish political group is the split.
Given most of the comments here (on the SP pulling out) are directed at the SWP Richard Boyd Barrett.
Perhaps the ULA achieved closer unity then first perceived.
Good riddance to them. The socialist party became the joe higgins roadshow long ago, as demonstrated by their treatment of Clare Daly. We need proper strong left leaning independents in the ULA.
I’m heart broken.
The ULA was always going to fail once the Shinners decided not to back it.
Going to create the United Negative Soviet Bunch of Tossers Alliance
@niall I take it you are a FF head?
This is what happens when you put Prophets Before People.
Yeah. Access to healthcare, welfare and education is a real drag. Those socialist haven’t a clue.
If there was a National Election (never understand why “they”call it a General Election) in the morning who would you vote for party wise?
I advocated FG/Labour & I Voted thus in the Carlow/Kilkenny Consitituency.
I have never Voted FF in my life and never will. It was inculcated in me not to by my Elders growing up. My family, my homestead were always regarded as Blueshirts. I don’t recall a FF Local or National candidate ever coming a-knocking as kid/teenager.
The Greens and PDs are out.
Workers Party, “Socialists” & Communist Party I find hard take seriously bar one or two.
Have never considered Voting for Shinners due to their’ association with the IRA/RIRACIRA etc. and no matter what I never will.
Though I understand why people might now Vote SF after the Current Govt. has run its’ course.
The difference between FF+Greens+PDs+Independents Govt. & FG-Labour Govt. is quite negligible so in their’ slipstream Shinners could quite easily make considerable gains. That’s how bad they are.
But I simply cannot countenance SF in power in a coalition (it’s difficult to see if we’ll ever have a single party govt. ever again, perhaps because Voters are wary of letting one-party rule with no other keeping them “in-check”, so the theory goes anyway) with the bomb & the bullet in one hand & the ballot box in the other. Vote us or we”ll kill you, kneecap you, tar & feather you, punishment beat you, make you disappear etc.
So, my choices are Independents as I see it because of the above issues. Call them Lefties, ULAs, Champagne Socialists etc. Of the current crop IF the Election was truly National as opposed to Constituency/Local based I would vote for Clare Daly, Flanagan RBB & Mick Wallace. I may even throw in Higgins & McGrath.
I have come to accept that my vote as a result from now on will never count when it comes to forming a Govt.
I do expect it, subject to the ridiculously limited speaking time rules that mean VinB, Prime Time, Frontline, Local & National Radio & Newspaper Appearances give them more opportunity to vent their’ spleen, to mean an Opposition that holds the Govt. to account.
+1 , too right , i should hope their relitively small existence disappears and they get with the real world
“The alliance had already been in “a weakened state as ordinary working class people had not joined it in any significant numbers””. Why do they need people to join surely they just need people to vote for them. Most ordinary people dont want to sign up with any party, they want to be free to choose the best option come election time. Stop trying to build the biggest clubhouse and just sort your policies.
The workers divided will ever be defeated!
People’s pessivism and appathyand our divisions are surely two of the best assets the exploiting classes have!
With the Socialist party leaving the U.L.A which was extremely predictable and wasn’t an instantaneous decision, taken on the support of the moment, but a well thought out one. The aftermath of the split will be felt in Donegal more than most places. As some of the older disgruntled Republicans are looking for an opportunity to reclaim their youth, a youth that they misspent in the first place. They have already had Uncle Joe Higgins up to speak there, these Socialist Party sharks will easy devour these old geriatric Republicans who they were seen shaking hands with, at the recent conference in the Red Cow.
Just like the Socialist party these disgruntled Republicans want to put up candidates in the local authority elections on the backs of the Can’t pay Won’t Pay Campaign. These old disgruntled Republicans are children in the hands of the Socialist Party, they refuse to listen to advice from those who have watched the Socialist Party over decades. How these old disgruntled Republicans can mix with the Socialist Party at this time I don’t know, bearing in mind that the Socialist Party in both Britain and Ireland are supporting the recent the flag-waving Unionists in Belfast, finding all kinds of nonsensical analysis, as to why this section of the working class are supporting fascism and how they are right to support their Britishness. The policy of the Socialist Party is to have Ireland enter a Socialist Federation of the British Islands, in other words, socialism within the Empire.
The Socialist Party will support candidates in the next local elections, they will claim to have been the main force within the Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Campaign and even their recent literature is difficult to distinguish, from the literature of that of the campaign. They are despicable unprincipled opportunists and I know that from my trade union days, when they destroyed my Trade Union. At the very beginning of the Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Campaign, I was against having anything to do with Uncle Joe Higgins and the Socialist Party, people thought I was of f the wall, but everything I’ve said it come true. Hopefully those with deaf ears that on occasion, have eyesight now and we’ll see everything I said has come through if they don’t its bad news for us all.
I have blogged on this here http://mentioningthewar.blogspot.ie/2013/01/the-poem-that-makes-me-cassandra-of.html
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