Words Matter, Equality Matters.

A vote will be taken next week in DCU on whether to change the Student Union's constitution.  A new constitution has been drawn up to replace the old one which stands since 2007.  The new constitution, written by the Student Union executive and a constitutional review committee, and voted upon by the class representative council, contains a number of vital flaws.  The new constitution removes the concept of equality from the workings of the Student Union.  In fact, the new constitution does not contain the word 'equality' once within its pages.

Power To The People

Today, March 9th 2011 saw the first sitting of the 31st Dail.  The make up of that new Dail had in the region of 70 new T.D's.  Amongst their number was the 5 new United Left Alliance (ULA) T.D's, Joe Higgins, Clare Daly, Richard Boyd Barrett, Joan Collins and Seamus Healy.  Before taking their seats in the Dail, all of the ULA T.D's marched to parliament from the central bank with the people who had voted them in.  I was one among their number.

We Only Want The Earth (James Connolly)

Some men, faint-hearted, ever seek Our programme to retouch, And will insist, whene’er they speak That we demand too much. ’Tis passing strange, yet I declare Such statements give me mirth, For our demands most moderate are, We only want the earth.

The Seductive Folly of Power

So as the dust settles on the 2011 Irish general election and the formation of a new government of Fine Gael and Labour has been decided, both camps are claiming victory in the content of the programme for government.  A quick read over the document reveals that it has the print of a neo-liberal agenda all over it, yet the Labour Party seem intent on claiming it as a victory for their negotiators. However the reality is that Labour will be propping up a neo-liberal government just to get a sniff of power. So what does all this mean for the ordinary punter?