Letter from Sinn Féin member in Drogheda Independent this week...

A chara,

I was shocked to read that the Chairman of Louth County Council, Fianna Fail's Cllr. Jimmy Mulroy proclaimed that migrant workers should not be entitled to the same rates of pay for their work as Irish workers at a meeting of the council. Cllr. Mulroy made the ridiculous claim that wages should reflect the lower cost of living in their home countries and while Irish people "need €12.50 an hour, people from Lithuania are doing very well on €8.50 an hour". While Sinn Fein's Cllr. Kevin Meenan quite rightly pointed out that migrant workers "do not fly home at night", I would like to ask Cllr. Mulroy to explain exactly what he was thinking when he made such a derisory and ill-informed remark that was borderline xenophobic.

Furthermore, I would also like Cllr. Mulroy to declare whether he will be reminding the members of the eastern European communities who he believes "are very happy to earn €10 an hour" (less than their Irish counterparts) of his appalling views on migrant workers rights when he is canvassing them for their votes in the 2009 Local Elections. I am sure that they will be very interested to hear that he believes they should be compelled to take lower wages by virtue of their nationality.

Cllr. Mulroy's shameful comments are a reflection of the general Fianna Fail attitude to workers and migrant workers alike – a tacit approval of the state as a haven for exploitation. If decent standards of living are to be attained for all, migrant workers must be included.
Is mise,

Emmet Mac Stibhin

Drogheda Sinn Féin
Magdalene Street,
Drogheda.

Sinn Féin Councillor hits out at Fine Gael Hypocrisy

Sinn Féin Councillor Imelda Munster reacting to the decision of FineGael Councillor Micheal O'Dowd to lodge objections to the Northern Environsplan said;

"Cllr Micheal O¹Dowd gave the Northern Environs the go ahead and is now lodging objections to a plan he voted for and gave his full support. The reality is no amount of objections lodged or challenges to An Bord Pleannala now by councillors will change anything. There was one chance to get this right and that one opportunity was given to councillors to nail down the vital infrastructure before they voted to give it the green light. They refused to listen.

Describing the background to the plan Cllr Munster said;

"In case people in Drogheda are unaware of the sheer scale of the NorthernEnvirons plan that will cater for a population of 20,000 people with 7,100houses to be built stretching from the Crosslanes/Twenties right down to theTermonfeckin Road. Not only does the plan have insufficient sites reservedfor schools, no commitment has been given for the aspiration train station,no extra hospital facilities, not to mention extra Gardaí resources orindeed the 5,000 jobs that will be needed to make this plan sustainable.Very little of the vital infrastructure has been nailed down yet the grandcoalition of Fine Gael, FF and Labour councillors voted this plan throughfor our town. On the day this plan was to be voted on Sinn Féin were deniedour rights as public representatives to voice our opposition to the plan. Wewithdrew from the meeting stating the plan was a sham from the start andshould be rejected. They got their way and passed the plan now in theirpanic they are lodging objections to it as a cheap PR stunt to hoodwink thepeople of Drogheda. The irony of this is that this bad planning happens allthe time and our local councillors get away with it time and time again.

Sinn Fein letter to the Drogheda Independent

Printed- Wednesday 20th Feb

A chara,

It is very telling that the Labour Party - who purport to be "committed to making Ireland a fair place to work and live through the development and enforcement of decent labour standards and working conditions for all" - are in fact in favour of the Treaty of Lisbon. Considering the Lisbon Treaty will allow the European Commission to liberalise all public services and the bad deal that this will be for workers, it is difficult to fathom the logic behind their endorsement of the Treaty. It is well known the damage liberalising services and privatisation can do to workers and services. The Lisbon Treaty will change current EU law to ensure that new "economic and financial conditions" will be placed on the Services of General Economic Interest (Article 16B) allowing for healthcare and education to become subject to the rules of competition, something which it appears the Labour Party have forgotten the potential of. Social justice and equality should not be sacrificed in the name of competition. They cannot demand accessible public services on one hand and support a Treaty which is inherently opposed to such provisions.


Furthermore, the Protocol on the Internal Market & Competition instructs the EU to ensure that "competition is not distorted". The "distortions" refferred to here include state funding, state 'monopolies', and workers rights legislation. This procedure will not only undermine the Social European Model and the welfare state, it will also serve to accelerate the "race to the bottom" for wages and workers rights and a widening of the gap between the haves and the have-nots. GAMA and Irish Ferries style situations will subsequently become more and more frequent as a result.

The democratic reform of the EU that Treaty defenders such as the Labour Party tell us this will bring is a myth. There will be no ability to democratically reject laws which are not in our best interest. There will be no recourse to parliamentary debate or national referenda on decisions the EU will make for us. The General Secretary of ICTU David Begg has even acknowledged the direction of the EU proclaiming that this EU Commission is the "most neo-liberal we have ever had". It is now pertinent to ask why then in light of all this has the Labour Party, the self-proclaimed "party of the working man" chosen to completely disregard this?

Is mise le meas,

Stephanie Lord

Sinn Fein Droichead Atha.

Arthur Morgan TD on workers' rights

Sinn Féin Louth TD, Arthur Morgan is featured in this week's An Phoblacht speaking on Agency Workers and the joint motion put forward with Labour in Leinster House. The Sinn Féin spokesperson on workers’ rights explains that the purpose of the motion is to stem the rising tide of exploitation that is resulting from the failure to legislate for the principle of equal treatment for agency workers – something very relevant considering events in Louth County Council recently!

Fianna Fáil reveal true attitude to migrant labour...

The Fianna Fáil Chairman of Louth County Council is rapidly backtracking from his previous remarks that migrant workers should be paid less. In the Dundalk Democrat Cllr. Jimmy Mulroy said that "If any other interpretation was construed from my comments, I am deeply sorry”, despite the fact that it would be pretty hard to construe anything different from the comments that migrant workers "are very happy with €10 an hour" and "it can be equivalent to a month's wage in their home country" and then that they would be “less employable” should they wish to get the same wages as their Irish counterparts. Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Meenan said of his remarks, who said, "I was very shocked by what he said. I couldn't believe he was saying that."These people don't fly home at night. They stay here and live in a country that has a high a cost of living."

Cllr's fury over refusal to discuss education

Cllr. Imelda Munster discusses the shameful attitude of the Dept. of Education and their refusal to address the education needs in Drogheda.

Drogheda Sinn Féin councillor points out dangers to children...

Cllr. Dom Wilton is featured in the Drogheda Independent speaking about the danger to children in an estate in Drogheda. (published Wednesday 13/02/08).