Campaign for a new party of working people

national | miscellaneous | news report

Monday November 28, 2005 23:34

by Colm Breathnach - ISN - personal capacity

At a recent meeting a campaign to build a new party of the working class has been launched by a number of groups and individuals.

The meeting which was held on the 12th of November in the Teachers Club, Dublin, was attended by around forty people from Dublin, Tipperary, Galway and Belfast. A number of organisations including the Tipperary Workers Action Group, Community and Workers Action Group (Dublin), Irish Socialist Network and individuals linked to Red Banner magazine, have backed this initiative. The meeting was addressed briefly by Seamus Healy TD (TWAG), Des Derwin (Vice President of Dublin Council of Trade Unions - personal capacity), Cllr. Joan Collins (CWAG).

A lenthy discussion led to agreement on a number of issues:

1. That a joint campaign to build a new party of working people would be launched by all those involved.
2. That this campaign would be known as the Campaign for an Independent Left.
3. The campaign would be based on eleven points of political agreement (see below).
4. That a steering committee would organise this campaign with two representatives of each organisation involved and a number of independent representatives.
5. That a series of public meetings would be held to open out a public debate on the need for a new party of working people.
6. That this initiative was not about setting up yet another small left organisation or exclusive grouping to rival already existing bodies and that the CIL would engage in discussions with other left groups/parties/individuals to advance this project.

The first public meeting of the Campaign for an Independent Left will be held in the Teachers Club, Dublin on Tuesday 6th December. For further details see the notice in the events section of indymedia:

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=73208

'Founding resolution of the Campaign for an Independent Left:

Campaign for an Independent Left
Building a new party of working people

The individuals and groups involved in the Campaign for an Independent Left are united by the common aim of a radical transformation of Irish society. We are committed to the struggle to build a society where working people democratically control all aspects of their lives—social, economic, cultural and political—and where the gap between rich and poor is eliminated.

To help achieve this transformation, we believe it is necessary to develop a new independent all-Ireland party of working people. By independent we mean a party that we will oppose in real terms the right wing pro capital parties, north and south, and will under no circumstances enter into government with them.

This will be a grassroots campaigning party—broad, pluralist, democratic, and with no agenda other than advancing the interests of working people. We now commit ourselves to campaigning for such a party, winning over people active in the labour movement, community campaigns, and the various movements for social justice to get involved in making it a reality.

The following are the initial points of basic political agreement that have brought us together to begin this process.

· No coalition with parties of the right, under any circumstances.

· Public ownership and democratic control of the country’s resources and services, so that they can be developed in the interests of working people and our environment. An end to the privatisation or commercialisation of public services.

· A comprehensive universal public health-care system. An end to all state subsidies for private health care.

· A free, secular education system, aimed at the full and equal development of each human being from pre-school to university. An end to all state subsidies for private education

· The provision of housing as a basic right

· A public transport system based on the needs of users, not profit, and the protection of the environment.

· A progressive taxation system that will redistribute wealth, making the rich pay their fair share, and lifting the burden of stealth and double taxes from working people.

· No to so-called “social partnership”. We want trade unions run democratically by their members, and fighting for their interests. Repeal all restrictive legislation against union activity. Unite Irish and migrant workers by fighting for basic trade union rights and conditions for all workers.

· We believe in equality and solidarity between all working people—men and women, black and white, Travellers and settled people, Catholic and Protestant. We will offer 100 per cent opposition to all forms of racism, sexism and sectarianism.

· We are for an inclusive, multi-cultural society with equal rights for all; asylum seekers should have the right to work.; for an end to deportations.; full citizenship for all children born in Ireland; work permits to be issued to workers and not employers.

· A foreign policy based on opposition to imperialism, and solidarity with those fighting for democracy, justice and peace, the re establishment and maintenance of military neutrality, opposition to an EU dominated by big business and for a Europe of solidarity between working people.

We appeal to all individuals and groups who share our vision of a new party of working people to contact us and help build it in practice'.