They Marched Us To The Top Of The Hill And They Marched Us Down Again

Article by Enda Craig

     

Unrealistic promises

When a political party arrives at a final policy position it is mostly after a huge amount of research.    The party's strategists factor into their final composition as much difficulty as possible for the opposition.   Sizing up the enemy to get the upper hand, they  gear policies to this or that target group, offer this or that incentive and possibly use unsuspecting pressure groups to further their own goals.  Understanding the market is one thing but pressurizing your foes is as important. 

However, the hatched schemes and the offer of goodies usually present some important decisions to be taken.  If a policy, agreed on as strategy,  presents an advantage to the party and to boot it generates difficulties for the opposition,  it may also make things difficult for supporters.  The result is a moral dilemma.   On the one hand it pressurises the opposite parties into offering more  but on the other hand it alienates supporters by not fulfilling  the promised policies.

Consider the following situation

1.  Let's say all along the party doesn't want to be in government, that it is not ready to take power and that it would  be best served by being the main opposition.   The party  pretends that it wants to go into government, but by making it impossible to do so electorally, the party knows that this will never happen. 

2. This opens the door to the possibility of a huge 'hoodwink' as it can promise the world, knowing that it will never have to deliver on the promises.  The policies will be popular.  They will take support away from opposite parties and  will put pressure on them to outdo the promises.   

3. The desire to gain advantage and crucify the opposition now takes over and becomes  the priority.  This is achieved by making monumental popular promises and cloaking them in flimsy and flaky  economic costings.  The details gets lost in the headline announcements and few people question them.

4. The party can now put together an 'a la carte' menu of big time promises.  This  will boost  ratings among  present supporters and  attract substantial new voters.  By extension it will achieve the high popular ground.  Most people only look at the headlines and care less  about the detailed economic or political ramifications.

5.  Opposition parties stand open mouthed at the brazen content of these promises.  They quickly find their opposite number is  gaining popularity from the public at large.  In a panic they decide to react  realising that their arguments pointing out the deficiencies  are gaining them nothing.

6. Rather than continue on the truthful road they now begin to promise the same and maybe more as the enemy.  They know it is totally disingenuous, untruthful and possibly undeliverable.  It is the same as the opposition but the spiraling race for power knows no bounds or morality.  All that matters now is the bottom line - success at the ballot box

7. But will there be a day of reckoning built into this situation, especially for the side who would slaver at the thought  of attaining power?

8. Fianna Fail's  policy promises  are now eagerly awaited by the unsuspecting multitudes.  Their Achilles heel now lies exposed.   Their spinners and magicians are already hard at work putting a gloss on a possible u-turn.  The finished product is anyone's guess.

 9. Meanwhile the initial promoters of this shameful strategy are on the moral high-ground, sticking to principles.  They are  now tooled up and lie in ambush for Michael and his merry bunch.   The time of reckoning is at hand.  The Pantomime plays on and the abuse of the people continues.


2016 Proclamation, the Irish General Election and the brood parasitism of Sinn Fein

By James Quigley

2016 Proclamation

To The People Of Ireland

On the eve of the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and what could be an historic general election in the Republic of Ireland let us appeal to all republicans, socialist, democrats, all those in the anti water charge, anti austerity movement and all who hold freedom and sovereignty dear.  Do notbe fooled once again by false promises made by charlatans and corrupt leaders.  We are not talking about the devils we know like Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Labour.  No, we are talking about Sinn Fein. 

To honour the men and women of history who fought and died for freedom, for Republicanism, for sovereignty, for self determination,  let us stop the march of this totalitarian party in its tracks and let us consign it to the dustbin of history for being the failed and corrupt entity that it has become. 

Many believe that Sinn Fein is our only hope to win the anti water, anti austerity campaigns and to build a strong socialist opposition to the right wing austerity parties. This is what we have been conditioned to believe but it is far from the truth.  Sinn Fein are not our only hope. We are our hope, not any party, especially Sinn Fein.  In fact, if elected in numbers, Sinn Fein will be a barrier, to achieving our goals for many, many years to come. They will impede Irish Socialism and progressive thinking and community empowerment for decades.  Firstly by giving false hope and secondly as it has shown through it's involvement in the Right2Water movement, if powerful enough Sinn Fein will sideline and demonise any left opposition, that stand against it's power and control.

Sinn Fein is like a cuckoo that uses the strong nests of others to lay it's eggs in. It uses, feeds of the host and then when the time comes,  discards it leaving only it's brainchild in place. All to procreate it's ever changing philosophy and to build strong and powerful party.  It has no morals or principles left, just tactics and manoeuvres to achieve it's end.  It believes that the end justifies the means and any means will do.  History has proven this.   Sinn Fein will sacrifice anybody and anything to achieve it's goal.

Sinn Fein's goal is a totalitarian party, strong, powerful and dictatorial that cocoons it's leader safe in their illusionary images, protecting them against all dissenters and ostracising any who dare question their credentials. It's raison detre, it's principles, long since jettisoned in the Good Friday Agreement and even way before that when it cold-heartedly used the 1981 hunger strike to build it's political base. The cool calculating leaders, Adams and McGuinness in Northern Ireland betrayed their comrades for the Queen's shilling and the USA dollar and threw out all republican principles, joined up with the establishment and proceeded to administer imperialist rule.

Like the cuckoo they used and then discarded, the principles of the Irish Patriots, the 1916 rebels, the 1981 hunger strikers, all those republicans who suffered greatly through Irish history. What was it all for? Certainly not what we have in Northern Ireland today, ministerial jobs and Armani suits.

And the clincher is; Martin McGuinness, castigating the DUP,  calling for sovereignty and opposing EU membership.  Sinn Fein will campaign vigorously to retain membership of the EU, an extreme right wing body which along with it's international buddies, the IMF, has inflicted everlasting austerity on nation states.  Gone totally are Sinn Fein's republican principles of sovereignty and self determination.  Gone totally are any notion of socialism.

To grow, Sinn Fein, the party must consolidate it's southern electoral base and maximise it's Dail representation.   The party is stagnating in the North and loosing control of it's base who are now seeing Sinn Fein for what it truly is. 

To build in the South, just like it has done before, it will use anybody or any group and it will do, say and promise anything.  That is why it is using the anti water charge and anti austerity movement. 

It infiltrated the Right2Water movement at the outset and has been quietly pulling the strings ever since. All with this election and the party growth in mind. The only thing that matters is the growth of the party. Water charges, property charges, doesn't matter, they are all means to an end. 

What better way to do this than to maximise the parties vote in the general election and to do this, use the growing discontent of the anti water charge, anti austerity movement.  And the nearer we get to the election and the more Sinn Fein's share in the polls is dropping, the more it knows it needs the Right2Change candidates.  Hence the call in today newspaper stating that Gerry Adams is ready to be Taoiseach and Sinn Fein together with their Right2Change fellow candidates can make this happen.

In order to get control of the Right2Water movement Sinn Fein fostered fear and disunity, impeded internal strategy and controlled individual members.  It stunted the general growth of the movement by splitting it and ousting members who criticised them. It fostered the notion that only with Sinn Fein at the helm, could the movement succeed.  It confused the movement's aims, firstly by it's leaders not being clear about paying the charges, secondly, by being unclear about Irish Water ( whether to get rid of Irish Water or not), and thirdly and probably the biggest barrier, was and still is it's stance on the water charges 'Boycott'.  Sinn Fein leaders have never backed or called a boycott.  Right2Change followed it's lead.

It is unbelievable that it took Sinn Fein until November 2015, in it's General Election Manifesto 2016, to state for the first time that they were against water charges and that it was calling for the disbandment of Irish Water.  Up until then there was confusion as to what Sinn Fein were advocating.  However, even after the launch of their election manifesto, confusion still remains because the fine print is still not clear even though we are just days away from the general election. This dithering has been further demonstrated in recent interviews where Sinn Fein spokespersons at the hurdle in trying to explain how the party was going to achieve the manifesto promises in relation to Irish Water.  A wing and a prayer.

Sinn Fein are not a socialist party and they are not a republican party. This has been been clearly demonstrated in Northern Ireland and like there, Sinn Fein will do the same here. They are no more left than the Labour Party, or the once Democratic Left and like Pat Rabbitte,  Sinn Fein will capitulate and administer an austerity economy just like it is doing in Northern Ireland.  And just like Labour it may claim some kind of socialist tendency or like Fianna Fail some type of nationalist aspiration but in the heel of the hunt will join in a coalition with anyone in order to get it's hands on power.

Let us make this centenary year, one that Pearse and Connolly and all our brave forefathers would be proud of.  Let us start afresh with our socialism, our republicanism. We might loose a fight but we will win the war. Do not vote Sinn Fein. Reclaim our pride.

The seven signatories of the Irish Proclamation (from the left): Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett & Eamonn CeanntAll of the above men were executed by the British Government for th…

The seven signatories of the Irish Proclamation (from the left): Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett & Eamonn Ceannt
All of the above men were executed by the British Government for their efforts in trying to secure a free Ireland!


DONEGAL MAN SPLASHES THE CASH TO TELL POLITICIANS HE’S ‘AD’ ENOUGH!

A Co Donegal man has taken out an advert in his local newspaper telling politicians not to call to his home during the general election.

Colm-Friel-8.jpg

Colm Friel said he is so angry at the Government that he has dug deep into his own pocket to warn them to stay away from his home at Gortnalaragh, Termon.

Colm paid the cash for the advert which will appear in the Tirconaill Tribune newspaper up until the general election on February 26th.

The half-page advert shows a picture of Colm with the headline ‘No Canvassers – No Candidates’

The article then reads “Colm Friel, Gortnalaragh, Termon, wishes to advise Election Candidates and their Agents not to visit his home for the duration of the General Election between now and polling day, Friday February, 26th, 2016.”

But despite taking out the advert, Colm has revealed he is still being plagued by canvassers.

“We’re still getting them at the door so I’m tempted to put up a sign which will really tell them how I feel and exactly where to go,” warned Colm.

Colm said he has lost complete faith in the Government after he returned from America to look after his 84 year old brother James who suffers from dementia.

Colm revealed that because he moved in to the family home to look after James, his brother lost both his living alone and fuel allowance.

Although James gets three half hour visits from home helps each week, James is almost €30 a week poorer off since Colm became his unofficial carer.

As well as losing his €7.70 a week living alone allowance, James has lost his €20 a week winter fuel allowance.

Colm added “If I had not moved in with James, he would have had to move into a nursing home and that would have cost the Government an awful lot more money. They are just not in touch with the real lives of people.”

Article Donegal Daily Feb 12, 2016

Buncrana Together

We have deliberately omitted the last couple of lines in the original article.  We do not see their relevance or appropriateness.  It is ironic and insensitive to have a politician comment on Mr Friel's plight and his frustration at the Irish political system and politicians in general.