Impiriúlachas trí Ionadaí in Éirinn an Lae Inniu
30/11/09

(English version follows)

“Más mian linn an tír a athaontú creidim gur chóir dúinn dul isteach arís sa Chomhlathas Briotanach chun é sin a bhaint amach.”

Sin a dúirt Éamon Ó Cuív, aire ghnóthaí pobail, tuaithe agus Gaeltachta na Sé Chontae Fichead in athsheoladh an pháipéir Ghaeilge, Foinse Dé Céadaoin seo caite (18ú Samhain).

Tá sé scanrúil go dtacódh aon saoránach de stát atá in ainm is a bheith ardcheannasach go poiblí le hathiontráil isteach sna struchtúirí impireachta a rinne an méad sin damáiste dá dtír san am atá thart. Is iontas mór amach is amach é go ndéanfadh aire rialtais agus ball sinsearach de phairtí Poblachtánach mar a deirtear rud éigin mar sin.

Tá sé mar dhualgas ag Éamon Ó Cuív mar aire rialtais i ‘bPoblacht na hÉireann’ an status quo bunreachtúil inar toghadh é a chosaint agus seasamh leis. Ach, seo é, mar bhall de pháirtí Poblachtánach mar a fhógraíonn siad, ag rá go gcreideann sé gur chóir d’Éirinn san iomlán athiontráil a dhéanamh ar eagras stát lena bhfuil monarc neamhthofa mar cheannaire chun cuma aontais náisiúnta a bhaint amach.

Tá tuairim ag Ó Cuív ar an gceist seo; in 1994, mhol garmhac Éamon de Valera go ndéanfaí na Sé Chontae Fichead athnaisc leis an gComhlathas Briotánach mar bhac ar aontachtachas.

Bheadh sé doshamhlaithe d’aire rialtais seirbhíseach in aon áit eile ar domhan argóint gur chóir don stát ina bhfuil sé ag seirbheáil a bheith géiliúil do cheann eile.

Áfach, níl rud ar bith le rá ag an rialtas 26 Contae, páirtí Fhianna Fáil, ná ag na meáin faoi ráiteas gáifeach Uí Chuív.

Le haghaidh poblachtánaigh sóisialacha, tá foinsí de leithéid ráiteis soiléir. Bhí Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta, Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn agus an próiséas síothaithe a tháinig orthu, faoi normálú a dhéanamh ar bhaint an rialtais Bhriotanaigh in Éirinn. Bhí tréigean Altanna 2 & 3 ó bhunreacht na 26 Contae, ainneoin a luach reitriciúil amháin, faoin normálú seo a réiteach dóibh.

Le blianta fada, tá daoine cantalacha, frithghníomhaithe dígeanna agus roinnt aontachtaithe den chineál bunaíochta deisceartach, ag moladh bearta cosúil le hathiontráil na 26 Contae isteach sa Chomhlathas Briotanach. Thug 20 bliain de normalú fhorghabháil na Breataine cuma mheasúil do na moltaí frith-daonlathacha seo agus ligeann sé d’airí rialtais Bhaile Átha Cliath iad a chur chun cinn gan a bheith eaglach faoi fhritonn ar bith.

In agallamh in 1999, thaispeáin feachtasóir ársa poblachtánach sóisialach, Bernadette McAliskey é seo maidir leis na bunaíochtaí polaitiúla, ó thuaidh agus ó theas: “Ní bheadh ionadh orm dá aththachtaigh muid Acht an Aontais i gceann roinnt blianta agus feiceann muid an deisceart ag dul ar ais isteach sa Chomhlathas Briotánach, agus beidh siad go léir ina n-airí faoin gcoróin.”

Sna Sé Chontae, áfach, tá baint na Breataine in Éirinn chomh mínormálta agus mioscaiseach is a bhí riamh. Mar a thug éirígí tuairisc ar cheanna (PSNI Repression on the Rise), tá an PSNI ag stopadh agus ag cuardú thart ar 110 duine gach lá faoi reachtaíocht diansmachtúil, tá MI5 ag dul thar fóir agus tá ar a laghad reisimint amháin d’arm na Breataine réidh le haghaidh cogaidh. Díreach i rith na seachtaine seo, admhaíodh gur oibrigh an Special Reconnaissance Regiment go dlúth leis an PSNI in oibríocht faoi cheilt i bhFear Manach an Sathairn seo caite inar scaoil fórsaí na forghabhála urchair.

San am ina bhfuil Poblachtánaigh Éireannacha cúisithe go seasta toisc nach bhfuil malairt acu ar an status quo, tá sé do-chreidte polaiteoir sinsireach a chloisteáil ag moladh go réiteodh iarratas ceansa i slí éigin athiontráil a dhéanamh ar ‘clann náisiúin’ na Breataine fadhb ársa de chur faoi chois an stáit Bhriotánach agus bearta scar is trescair. Go réalaíoch, is coiscéim siar é beart den saghas seo do dhaonlathas agus dul chun cinn in Éirinn.

Cinnte, níl Éamon Ó Cuív ina aonar ag caitheamh i ndiaidh feisteis impireachta duine éigin eile atá imithe le fada. Ar an Déardaoin (Samhain 26), rinne ambasadóir na Breataine i mBaile Átha Cliath, Julian King, ‘Ceannfort ar impireacht na Breataine’ (CBE) de iar-ghobhornóir Bhanc na hÉireann, Laurence Crowley.

Dúirt Crowley go raibh sé ‘bródúil’ mar “seasann sé do gach rud atá go maith faoin gcaidreamh Thuaidh-Theas agus na dlúth-nascanna idir an RA agus Éire.”

An fíor rud a sheasann Crowley do ná ábaltacht i measc bunaíochta pholaitiúil, eacnamaíochta agus chultúrtha an stáit 26 Contae gan an bád a luascadh nó gan labhairt amach i gcoinne críochdheighilte, forghabháil mhíleata agus cur i bhfeidhm stáit apartheid ag rialtas na Breataine sa Tuaisceart.

Cabhraíonn leasaí aicme cómónta an stáit 26 contae agus bunaíochtaí Briotánacha le difríochtaí beaga a mbeadh acu a réiteach agus ligeaint do choincheapa ar nós dul isteach sa chomhlathas a bhunú.

Bheadh Laurence Crowley, mar shampla, áthasach le cinneadh na seachtaine seo ag Ard-Chúirt na Breataine ag ligeaint do bhancanna leanúint ar aghaidh ag amhantraigh agus ag brabúsaíocht, ag dushaothrú gnáth chustaiméirí, chun a socruithe fabhracha a fhóirdheonú dá gcliaint gnó saibhre.

Ag am ina raibh grúpa frithghníomhaithe Éireannacha eile ag iarraidh leasaí Briotánacha in Éirinn a chosaint, thug poblachtánach sóisialach Liam Mellows faoi deara gur sheas Poblacht na hÉireann do leasaí saothar agus an lucht oibre, fad is a sheasann an saorstát ar son chaipitil agus dúshaothrú.

Tá taobh roghnaithe acu siúd a bhíonn ag brionglóid faoin ‘gComhlathas’ agus faoi dhuaiseanna agus cuairteanna ríoga, caithfidh an chuid eile dúinn argóint ar son na Poblachta

Imperialism by Proxy in Modern Day Ireland
30/11/09

“Más mian linn an tír a athaontú creidim gur chóir dúinn dul isteach arís sa Chomhlathas Briotanach chun é sin a bhaint amach.” [“If we wish to reunite the country I believe we have to go into the British Commonwealth again to achieve that.”]

So said Éamon Ó Cuív, the Twenty-Six County minister for community, rural and gaeltacht affairs, in the relaunch of the Irish language newspaper Foinse last Wednesday [November 18].

That any citizen of a supposedly sovereign state would publicly advocate re-entering the structures of an empire that had done so much damage to their nation in the past is startling enough. That a government minister and senior member of the so-called Republican Party would do so is, frankly, jaw dropping.

Éamon Ó Cuív as a government minister in the ‘Republic of Ireland’ has an obligation to defend and uphold the constitutional status quo he was elected into. Yet, here he is, as a member of a self-proclaimed republican party no less, stating his belief that Ireland as a whole should re-enter an organisation of states that has an unelected monarch at its head in order to gain some semblance of national unity.

Ó Cuív has form on this issue; in 1994, the grandson of Éamon de Valera proposed that the Twenty-Six Counties rejoin the British Commonwealth as a sop to unionism.

It would be unimaginable for a serving government minister in any other part of the world to argue for the state he was elected to serve to become subservient to another.

However, neither the Twenty-Six County government, the Fianna Fáil party, nor the media has had anything to say about Ó Cuív’s sensational statement.

For socialist republicans, the origins of such statements are clear. The Good Friday Agreement, the St Andrew’s Agreement and the pacification process that led to them were about normalising the British government’s involvement in Ireland. The dropping of Articles 2 & 3 from the Twenty-Six County Constitution, despite their purely rhetorical value, was about facilitating this normalisation.

For decades, cranks, died-in-the-wool reactionaries and a smattering of southern establishment-type unionists have been proposing measures such as the Twenty-Six Counties rejoining the British Commonwealth. Two decades of normalising the British occupation has given these anti-democratic proposals a veneer of respectability and allows Dublin government ministers to promote them unafraid of any backlash.

In an interview in 1999, the veteran socialist republican and civil rights campaigner Bernadette McAliskey made this point in relation the political establishments, north and south: “I would not even be surprised if some years down the line, we re-enact the Act of Union and we see the south going back into the commonwealth, and they will all be ministers under the crown.”

In the Six Counties, however, Britain’s involvement in Ireland remains as abnormal and nasty as ever. As reported previously by éirígí (PSNI Repression on the Rise), the PSNI is stopping & searching an average of 110 people every day under repressive legislation, MI5 spooks are going into overdrive and at least one British army regiment is back on a war footing. Only this week, it was admitted that the Special Reconnaissance Regiment worked hand-in-glove with the PSNI in an undercover operation in Fermanagh last Saturday which culminated in a number of shots being fired by the occupation forces.

At a time when Irish republicans are consistently accused of having no alternative to the status quo, it is astonishing to hear a senior politician suggesting that a meek request to re-enter Britain’s ‘family of nations’ would somehow solve the centuries-old problem of British state repression and divide and conquer tactics. In reality, such a move would be a backward step for democracy and progress in Ireland.

Of course, Éamon Ó Cuív is not alone in hankering after the trappings of someone else’s long-gone empire. On Thursday [November 26], the former governor of the Bank of Ireland, Laurence Crowley, was made a ‘Commander of the British Empire’ [CBE] by the British ambassador in Dublin Julian King.

King said Crowley was ‘honoured’ because he “epitomises all that is good about North-South relations and the close links between the UK and Ireland”.

What Crowley really “epitomises” is an ability among the political, economic and cultural establishment of the Twenty-Six County state not to rock the boat or speak out in the face of partition, a military occupation and the imposition of an apartheid state by the British government in the North.

The common class interests of the Twenty-Six County and British establishments help to smooth over any small differences they may have and allow notions such as joining the Commonwealth to take root.

Laurence Crowley, for example, would have been delighted by this week’s decision by the British Supreme Court to allow banks to continue speculating and profiteering off the backs of ordinary customers in order to subsidise its preferential arrangements for wealthy and business clients.

At a time when another group of Irish reactionaries were trying to protect British interests in Ireland, the socialist republican Liam Mellows noted simply that the Irish Republic stands for the interests of labour and the working class, while the Free State stands for the protection of capital and exploitation.

Those who dream of the ‘Commonwealth’ and royal awards and visits have chosen their side, the rest of us must make the argument for the Republic.

Public Servants take to the Picket Lines
24/11/09

Around a quarter of a million workers took to picket lines across the Twenty-Six Counties today [Tuesday] as public sector staff struggle to protect their pay and conditions.

Nurses, teachers, firefighters, civil servants and other workers all joined the stoppage in protest against plans to cut €1.3 billion from the public pay bill in the state.

A decision on a second stage of industrial action is expected to be announced by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions soon, which could involve a rolling series of regional stoppages or a further, state-wide 24-hour strike.

Firefighters were the first to go on strike at midnight, while hundreds of primary school teachers marched to the Twenty-Six County Department of Education headquarters at Marlborough Street in Dublin later in the morning.

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson stated the party’s support for the massive strike.

“The public sector staff who are today on picket lines around the Twenty-Six Counties deserve the support of every other working person,” he said.

“Ordinary workers should not be expected to take pay cuts while bankers and business men and women are allowed to ring fence their extortionate profits.

“The inequalities in Irish society are growing not decreasing – the disparity in income between the rich and the rest of us has continued to rise over the last 20 years. Why is it then that those who benefited the least from the recent economic boom are those who are expected to pay for the bust?”

Leeson also hit out at the business organisations who have been attempting to sow discord between public and private sector workers in recent days.

Employers groups such as IBEC and the ISME have labeled today’s strike as “disgraceful”, “unacceptable” and “selfish”, while urging the Dublin government “not to concede an inch” to public sector workers.

Leeson said: “This strike is not only about protecting the pay and conditions of those who work in the public sector. It is about defending the public services that we all rely on. It is about getting those who are behind this economic crisis to shoulder their responsibility for it.

“It is only logical that the leaders of the business class will attempt to foster resentment among private sector workers against the public service staff taking strike action today. But, if the business class and the right-wing politicians get their way, it won’t be their families waiting in ever longer queues in public hospitals or their children getting taught in ever more dilapidated public schools – it will be the families and children of both public and private sector workers who will have to endure these conditions.

“Now is the time for solidarity among all working people – that is the only way that the attacks on our living standards can be thwarted.”

Plight of Palestine Raised in Dublin
18/11/09


More than 100 people, including a dozen éirígí activists, gathered in Dublin city centre last Saturday [November 14] to highlight the nightmare the Palestinian people are living through.

Called by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the demonstration was part of week of events that took place across the country to display solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac An Mháistír said it was important that international opinion was brought to bear on the Israeli government and its backers.

“There are many small ways in which people across Ireland can practically support the people of Palestine in their struggle for self-determination and human rights. Firstly, attending demonstration like Saturday’s is an important public display of solidarity. Another, crucial step, is for all of us to boycott Israeli goods.



“The boycott of South African goods played an important role in the defeat of apartheid. Equally, an effective boycott today could help to defeat zionist apartheid in Palestine.

“People should also write letters to newspapers pointing out the reality of life under Israeli occupation, challenge misinformation, organise public meetings and film showings in their communities and consider fundraising for aid to alleviate the siege of the Gaza Strip.”



Mac An Mháistír concluded: “The millions upon millions of people around the world who care about human rights can help the Palestinian people defeat the Israeli occupation – that is why Saturday’s demonstration was so important.”

PSNI Repression on the Rise

16/11/09


The PSNI’s increasing reliance on the tactics of repression was highlighted yesterday [Sunday] when the force put in place a massive operation to deal with a sponsored walk on Belfast’s Black Mountain.

The walk was organised by éirígí activists to raise funds for the party and included a short demonstration and speech at a British military communications post on the mountain, which is on the outskirts of west Belfast.



However, as the 30 or so éirígí members and supporters were finishing their hike they were met by no less than seven armoured PSNI jeeps, two helicopters, 30 PSNI riot personnel and a number of unmarked cars.

The thugs in uniform proceeded to search, question and film those who were on the walk, as well as many bystanders who were out enjoying the winter sunshine on what is National Trust land.

Along with the adults searched at the scene, the PSNI also felt the need to search a child’s pram. At no stage did the officers involved explain what exactly it was they were looking for.

The scale of the operation caused a stir at the near-by Lámh Dhearg GAA pitch, where spectators had gathered to watch a football game, and resulted in many residents phoning a local newsroom to report the PSNI activity.




Amazingly, when contacted by journalists, the PSNI denied they had stopped or searched anyone on the Black Mountain.

The PSNI’s over-kill came only days after it was revealed that there were more than 12,000 stop & search incidents in the Six Counties under the British government’s ‘Terrorism Act’ and ‘Justice & Security Act’ between July and September this year.

éirígí general secretary Breandán Mac Cionnaith said: “The most recent figures on PSNI stop & search operations reveal a dramatic rise. This will be very worrying for the nationalist communities who have traditionally borne the brunt of British state repression.

“The figures on stop & search between July and September are three times the number for the previous quarter – this works out at an average of 110 stop & search operations every day.



“This is the reality of policing in the Six Counties. It is one that is far removed from what was promised by the nationalist parties who took the decision to endorse the PSNI.”

Mac Cionnaith continued: “These figures clearly show that the PSNI is not a civic police service – it is a politically-motivated paramilitary force, funded and armed by the British government for the purpose of protecting the occupation of the Six Counties.

“When it comes to policing nationalist communities, the PSNI’s idea of what is acceptable constitutes harassment on a massive scale, the firing of plastic bullets, raids and the use of CS gas and Tasers.

“However, it will soon become obvious to them that any amount of harassment will not deter éirígí activists from opposing the British occupation.”

Why You Should Join a Trade Union

14/11/09

In the corporate media of late, the subject that has been pursued with great zeal is that of union bashing.

Of course, it has been the same old story for the past 30 to 40 years but, now, as recession grips the whole country, the black propaganda machine has gone into overdrive. It may be asked why the establishment has upped the ante in its open warfare against the trade union movement in what is a critical economic period for Ireland.

The answer is simple; the unions are probably the only mass movement left to protect workers’ rights in light of the fact that workers have no representatives worth talking about in either Leinster House or Britain’s Stormont administration.

Trade union membership has been in steady decline in Ireland for approximately 20 years, mainly in the private sector, due to a number of factors, not least the so-called social partnership process having a pacifying effect on union activity.

In the early ’90s, the Twenty-Six County economy started to grow at an unprecedented rate and the prospect of full employment was being declared at every opportunity. The myth was repeated over and over again that the economic good times were here to stay and wages would continue to forge ahead. Business leaders done their damnedest to convince private sector workers that unions were an unnecessary hangover from a past of social conflict. Many swallowed the lie.

A prime example of private sector workers realising the predicament they were in without union representation was the workers of Anglo-Irish Bank.

The bosses in AIB always boasted of the lack of a union presence on the floors of their beloved bank. The workers were apparently happy with their lot while the bosses were upstairs gambling away the future of their staff. When the bank collapsed, the workers flooded into the ranks of the IBOA but, it was too late, the bank had been sold down the river. If there had been a union organised on the shop floors of AIB, some of the damage done may have been prevented before it came to pass, but that will always be a what if story.

There is a constant media focus on dividing the public and private sector workers and the reason is simple. The corporate media is run by the business class – it is in their interest to divide and conquer workers lest they feel the personal pinch due to an organised workforce.

What is most damaging to workers is division and that is exactly what the governments in power in Ireland and the corporate media are trying to ferment amongst staff in the private and public sector.

There are workers in the private sector who have lost their jobs, while others have taken pay cuts, who are now being encouraged to take pot shots at public service workers who face a similar plight.

The real enemy of both private and public sector workers, of course, is the small class of super rich – 1 per cent of the population - who control 40 per cent of the wealth. There are billions upon billions of euros of profits, made during the Celtic Tiger period by working people, that remain in the coffers of this coterie of legal gangsters. Despite the corporate cries for ordinary workers to take a hit, these billions will not be shared with the nation in its time of need.

The reason the likes of Michael O’Leary fear unions is not because they slow down progress within their companies but because they are a threat to the enormous profits they makes off the backs of their workers.

Trade unions in Ireland and elsewhere are far from perfect. Many people would be correct in saying that the present leaders of the unions in Ireland are far from inspiring. One of the progressive developments Ireland is in need of is a renewed and larger trade union movement and, with that, fresh leadership. At the present moment, the political establishment pays lip service to the unions; the power, wealth and common interests of the business class and most politicians combine to ensure that. If, however, there was a strong and cohesive union movement with a passionate, politically radical leadership, the establishment would have to take note of what the majority of workers are saying throughout the country.

The problems associated with joining a union in the private sector are well documented. These include promotions being denied and prospective union members being verbally abused and intimidated by their employers. However, individuals within any company are easy pickings for employers so long as they remain just individuals. Workers organised into a union are a different matter altogether.

The law with regards employment within the European Union may appear to hold out some hope for workers but, if you find yourself at opposing ends to your employer as an individual, it is a David and Goliath battle. The employers have the best access to the best employment lawyers that money can buy, individuals do not. However, when an individual joins a union, employers would have second thoughts about walking all over employment rights.

It should always be remembered that a union is not there to make a profit. Unlike employers, it is there to protect its memberships’ employment rights and to obtain a decent day’s pay for decent day’s work.

Workers in every facet of the economy should be organised in trade unions. Employers and their political allies have, yet again, effectively declared war on working people. It is time the majority organised in defence on their own interests, as James Connolly said: “We are many, they are few”.

Thousands Attend Day of Action

10/11/09

Over 100,000 workers took to the streets across Ireland on Friday [November 6] in a mass display of discontent with the policies of the Six and Twenty-Six County administrations.

Among the marchers were many éirígí activists, who took part in the Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Enniskillen and Sligo demonstrations.




The message sent out on the day was a militant one, with speakers warning that workers would not long carry the can for the failures of the business class and the political establishment.

In Dublin’s Merrion Square, SIPTU president Jack O’Connor said the labour movement in Ireland had always been asked to have regard for the “national interest” while the Twenty-Six County government made “a dog’s dinner of it”.



“What’s actually happening is that they’ve confused the national interest with the interest of the better off and the well-to-do and that’s a tragedy,” O’Connor continued.

At Belfast City Hall, UNISON’S Patricia McKeown warned workers that the next time they gather it would be on official strike action.



Further action was also promised by many other speakers. In Limerick, Mike McNamara, the president of the Council of Trade Unions in the city, said: “People don’t have any other choice at this stage. They are faced with this challenge that most people never had to face before and, when all other tactics have been used in the past like going into partnership, going into normal dispute mechanisms, in extraordinary times we just have to resort to revolutionary procedures to get what we want off the government.”

Speaking after he attended the Dublin demonstration, éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson noted that Friday’s strong turn-out was a warning to those who wanted to implement cuts in public services, jobs and pay.



“It is clear from attendances at rallies across the country that there a lot of angry people in Ireland at the minute.

“They are angry that, as workers, they are being forced to make the sacrifices for the abject failure of the business class and the political establishment. They are angry that their jobs are on the line, their pay is under threat and their conditions are under question because a small group of wealthy people squandered the wealth that was created by working people.



“They are angry that the public services on which they and their families rely are criminally under funded and facing further financial deficits because the governments that misrule this country would rather bailout bankers and glorified gamblers.

“They are angry that northing is being done about the spiraling rates of unemployment, while multinational companies are allowed to flee the country with the financial incentives that were gifted to them by compliant government bodies.



“In the time ahead, this anger must be channeled into an organised movement for the defence of public services, jobs, pay and conditions. Out of this anger should also come an alternative vision of how the Irish economy should be run – an alternative that places the public interests ahead of private greed.”

Leeson concluded: “Union leaders have put down a marker by indicating that mass action by workers is the way forward – they must not retreat from this marker.”

Guth na Gaeltachta le cluinstin go láidir

06/11/09

(English version follows.)

Chonaic Oireachtas na Samhna i mbliana seoladh náisiúnta an fheachtais Guth na Gaeltachta in éadan mholtaí an Bhoird Snip Nua i dtaca leis an Ghaeilge agus agus ceantair Ghaeltachta na tíre.

Is é an tOireachtas an t-imeacht Gaeilge is mó sa bhliain agus, gach bliain, cruinníonn na deiche mílte daoine leis an teanga agus chultúr náisiúnta a cheiliúradh. D’ainneon an iliomad imeachtaí agus comórtas eile ag tarlú tráthnóna Dé Sathairn [31ú Deireadh Fómhair], líon cúpla céad daoine isteach i halla comhdhála san Óstán Mount Errigal ar son sheoladh an fheachtais.

Fuair an lucht féachana siamsaíocht ag an tús ón Chrann Óg, grúpa de cheoltóirí óga ó Ghaeltacht Ghaoth Dobhair, ansin labhair urlabhraí Ghuth na Gaeltachta, Éamonn Mac Niallais, labhair sé leis an lucht féachana.

Labhair Mac Niallais faoi thús an fheachtais nuair a bhí cúpla duine ag léamh tríd Thuarascáil an Ghrúpa Speisialta ar Uimhreacha na Seirbhíse Poiblí agus Cláir Chaiteachais sna Sé Chondae Fichead [tuairisc an Bhoird Snip Nua] agus ag feiceáil cé chomh holc agus a bhí na giorruithe molta.

Molann an tuairisc gearradh 9.4 faoin chéad, ar an mheán, i gcaiteachas i ngach rannóg rialtais sna Sé Chondae Fichead ach, nuair a bhí caiteachas ar an Ghaeilge, ar an Ghaeltacht agus ar na hoileáin i gceist, is é 58 faoin chéad an tsuim dhochreidte. Cuir seo i gcomparáid leis an gearradh 5.7 faoin chéad a moladh do Roinn Airgeadais na Sé Chondae Fichead, ar eisigh a haire féin an tuairisc i mí Iúil.

Le grúpaí ag teacht le chéile le cur in éadan na moltaí agus cruinnithe á n-eagrú ag mná tí i gceantair Ghaeltachta, rinneadh cinneadh grúpa a sheoladh a dhíreodh ar an teangar agus ar an Ghaeltacht.

Tháinig an grúpa aníos le cúig bhunphrionsabal a dtiocfadh le pobail Ghaeltachta troid air. Bad hiad seo:


*Roinn na Gaeltachta sna Sé Chondae Fichead a choinneáil faoi cheannas aire shinsirigh
*Cúrsaí fiontraíochta a bheith faoi chúram Údarás na Gaeltachta
*Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaícohta a chosaint
*Na scéimeanna forbartha teanga, cultúir agus ealaíona a choinneáil (agus a leasú más gá)
*Iontaobhas a sholáthar d’oibrithe caipitil, pobail agus infrastruchtúir i gceantair iargúlta ar nós na Gaeltachta

Tá dearcadh an Bhoird Snip Nua ar an Ghaeltacht le feiceáil go soiléir ina dtuairisc féin, a deir: “the Group notes that substantial resources have been invested in various incentive schemes to develop Gaeltacht areas. The Group is of the view that resources should be targeted at those most in need and that differential schemes aimed at Gaeltacht areas are not justifiable.”

Is é an scéal áfach go raibh ‘scéimeanna difreálacha’ de dhíth ar cheantair Ghaeltachta cionn is gur iad pobail Ghaeltachta a bhí, agus atá, is mó gátair. Bhí gá le bunú Údarás na Gaeltachta mar rinneadh neamart ar cheantair Ghaeltachta, mar na ceantair is iargúlta sa tír, nuair a bhí fostaíocht agus forbairt eacnamaíocht i gceist.

Go cosúil, bhí gá le bunú na Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta [COGG] de bhrí nach raibh Roinn Oideachais na Sé Chondae Fichead ag freastal ar riachtanais na bpáistí ag na scoileanna seo. Anois, molann an tuairisc COGG a dhíothú agus scoileanna le níos lú ná 100 dalta a chónascadh, rud a mbeidh éifeacht mhillteach aige i gceantair Ghaeltachta, inar scoileanna beaga iad formhór na scoileanna.

Tá borradh ag teacht faoi Guth na Gaeltachta ónar bunaíodh é i nGaoth Dobhair i mí Lúnasa. Ar 29ú Meán Fómhair, ghlac Comhairle Chondae Dhún na nGall d’aon ghuth le rún ag tacú le Guth na Gaeltachta agus a n-aidhmeanna, agus cuirfear an rún seo anois chuig achan chomhairle i stat na Sé Chondae Fichead.

Ag labhairt ag an seoladh Dé Sathairn, ghlaoigh Mac Niallais ar Ghaeilgeoirí ar fud na tire páirt a ghlacadh trí bhrú a chur ar a n-ionadaithe áitiúla tacaíocht a thabhairt don fheachtas agus stop a chur le cur i bhfeidhm na moltaí millteacha seo.

Nuair a chríochnaigh sé, labhair daoine ó gach Gaeltacht sa tír amach ag tacú leis an fheachtas agus ag éileamh aontachta in éadan an Bhoird Snip Nua. Ag an deireadh, labhair déagóir ó Dhún na nGall faoin dóigh ar throid muintir na hÉireann le 800 bliain lena dteanga agus cultúr a chaomhnú ó na Gaill, agus cé chomh náireach a bhí sé go bhfuil orainn anois troid ar a son in éadan daoine ónar dtír féin.

Is sampla é an Bord Snip Nua den chineál talamh gan rath cultúrtha a bheas fágtha má éiríonn le heacnamóirí BÁC 4.



Guth na Gaeltachta le cluinstin go láidir

This year’s Oireachtas na Samhna saw the national launch of the Guth na Gaeltachta campaign against the recommendations of the Bord Snip Nua report relating to the Irish language and to the Gaeltacht regions of the country.

The Oireachtas is the largest Irish language event of the year and, each year, tens of thousands of people congregate to celebrate the national language and culture. Despite numerous other events and competitions taking place on Saturday afternoon [October 31], several hundred people crammed into a conference hall in the Mount Errigal Hotel for the launch of the campaign.

The crowd was entertained at the beginning by An Crann Óg, a group of young musicians from the Donegal Gaeltacht, then, the spokesperson of Guth na Gaeltachta, Éamonn Mac Niallais, addressed the audience.

Mac Niallais spoke of how the campaign had started with a number of people reading through the Twenty-Six County Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes [the Bord Snip report] and realising how bad the proposed cuts were.

The report recommends, on average, a 9.4 per cent cut in spending in each governmental department in the Twenty-Six Counties but, when it came to spending on the Irish language, on the Gaeltacht areas and the islands, the proposed cuts amounted to an astounding 58 per cent. Compare this to the 5.7 per cent cut proposed for the Twenty-Six County Department of Finance, whose own minister released the report in July.

With groups coming together to oppose the recommendations and meetings being held by mná tí [housewives] in Gaeltacht areas, a decision was made to launch a group that would focus on the language and on the Gaeltacht.

The group came up with five fundamental principles that Gaeltacht communities could fight on. These were:


*To keep the Gaeltacht Department in the Twenty-Six Counties with a senior minister at its head
*For Údarás na Gaeltachta to take care of enterprise matters
*To protect Irish-medium and Gaeltacht education
*To keep the language, culture and art development schemes (and reform them if necessary)
*For a trust to be made available for capital, community and infrastructure works in remote areas like the Gaeltacht

An Bord Snip Nua’s perspective on the Gaeltacht can be seen clearly in its own report, which reads: “the Group notes that substantial resources have been invested in various incentive schemes to develop Gaeltacht areas. The Group is of the view that resources should be targeted at those most in need and that differential schemes aimed at Gaeltacht areas are not justifiable.”

The issue, though, is that Gaeltacht areas required “differential schemes” because Gaeltacht communities were, and are, most in need. Údarás na Gaeltachta had to be established because Gaeltacht areas, as the most remote areas in the country, were being ignored when it came to employment and economic development.

Similarly, An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta [the Council for Gaeltacht and Irish-medium Education, COGG] had to be set up because the Twenty-Six County Department of Education was not attending to the needs of the children at these schools. Now, the report recommends abolishing the COGG and amalgamating schools of less than 100 pupils, which will have a devastating impact in Gaeltacht areas, where most schools are small schools.

Guth na Gaeltachta has been growing in support since it was first established in Gaoth Dobhair in August. On September 29, Donegal County Council unanimously accepted a motion in support of Guth na Gaeltachta and its objectives, and this motion will now be sent to every council in the Twenty-Six County state.

Speaking at the launch on Saturday, Mac Niallais called on Irish speakers all around the country to get involved by putting pressure on their local representatives to support the campaign and to stop these devastating proposals from being enacted.

When he finished, people from every Gaeltacht in the country spoke up in support of the campaign and called for unity against An Bord Snip Nua. At the end, a teenager from Donegal spoke of how the people of Ireland had fought for 800 hundred years to preserve their culture from foreign invaders, and of the shame that now we have to fight for it against those within our own country.

An Bord Snip Nua is an example of the kind of cultural wasteland that will be left behind if the Dublin 4 economists get their way.