Joe Higgins, Socialist Party MEP, speaking speaking at the rally said "We are 24 days away from the most significant general election since the foundation of this state. At the end of these four weeks, politics in Ireland can have taken a big step towards being transformed, with a death blow struck against Fianna Fail and the Greens, and a historic break through for the genuine left with the election of a whole layer of socialist and left TDs. Out of the United Left Alliance can very quickly develop a strong, new mass party for workers and the unemployed. "
Limerick City United Left Alliance candidate, Cian Prendiville, commented "I think in the last week the need for a real alternative in this election has been underlined. Fianna Fail had a leadership contest where no one disagreed with the failed policies of the last years, they just wanted a better spin doctor to front the war on working class people. Fine Gael & Labour showed their true colours by assisting the passage of the Finance Bill which brings into effect the brutal budget they claimed to oppose. Sinn Fein still haven't made their mind up whether they're opposed to cutbacks like they are saying in the south, or whether they would be 'pragmatic' and implement them like they are in Stormount. Now more than ever we need the principled opposition to the cuts and bail outs offered by the Socialist Party and the United Left Alliance. And the evidence from polls and feedback is that the ULA can do very well in this election, winning up to as much as 6 or 7 seats."
Cian Prendiville,s campaign received a big boost yesterday when former independent socialist Limerick City Councillor and Mayor, Joe Harrington, announced that he will join the campaign and encourage people to vote for Cian. In a statement he said "Labour, after its astonishing complicity in getting the Finance Bill through, must not further betray socialist principals by joining Fine Gael in a new government to push through austerity programmes. That would be a further disaster for working class people. A vote for Cian, Joe Higgins and the other ULA candidates around the country will provide a strong alternative to this disastrous approach."
Cian Prendiville welcomed the support saying "this endorsement just goes to show that our election campaign is picking up steam, and can really shake the political establishment in Limerick. Joe Harrington was a strong community campaigner, and was central to the non-payment campaign that defeated water charges in Limerick. The United Left Alliance and the Socialist Party will now seek to carry that banner, and give a voice to working class people of this city."
Full Statement by Joe Harrington
I will be supporting and campaigning with Cian Prendiville in the forthcoming election. Cian is a candidate for the United Left Alliance, a group putting forward a real alternative option for working class people.
Unfortunately, the Labour Party has dropped any sort of a socialist banner it may have been carrying and now offer no fight back against the attacks by the rich and powerful on workers rights and jobs in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe. Labour, after its astonishing complicity in getting the Finance Bill through, must not further betray socialist principals by joining Fine Gael in a new government to push through austerity programmes. That would be a further disaster for working class people. A vote for Cian, Joe Higgins and the other ULA candidates around the country will provide a strong alternative to this disastrous approach.
The ULA is part of the development of movements and organisations across Europe and internationally which fight the attacks on workers, the unemployed and the poor and to fight for a new vision for society. Since the days of the Limerick Soviet, Limerick workers have a proud history of independent action on their own behalf. It would be a shame to now lie down under the worst attacks on our living standards and rights. I believe working people should now vote for Cian Prendiville and set about building the movement to take back what is ours.
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