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| Communist Party of Ireland and Connolly Youth Movement march against water privatization |
Graham Harrington
The Irish working-class, previously believed to be cowed
into submission by the ruling class, has finally stood up. We have unified
under the cause of one word: NO!
No to water charges! No to austerity! No to corruption!
Since the property bubble exploded in 2008/2009 austerity
has become our reality. The “Celtic Tiger” years are but now a memory.
Neo-liberalism has destroyed us. The bankers gambled our money until the system
popped. The bankers debt, in the hundreds of billions, was socialized by the
Irish state, the money for paying off their debts was taken from the Irish
taxpayer. Cuts in healthcare, education and in public services destroyed
families and threw huge amounts of people into poverty, homelessness, and an
epoch of darkness. In response, the Communist party called for the complete
repudiation of this debt. It was not sovereign debt. It was not borrowed to pay
for schools, hospitals or to develop infrastructure. It was taken out to cover
the losses of the bankers and financial speculators.
