Rally call for political unity towards a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael

‘Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families . . . The trade union movement needs to get back to activism: to organising, to campaigning, to recruiting, to agitating for the rights of workers, including unemployed workers, the poor and demonstrating across all employment sectors’

IT IS TIME for everyone who believes that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland to work together, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD says in his main address to a centenary rally in The Rotunda in Dublin, where the Irish Volunteers were founded in November 1913.

Ireland today “needs a realignment of politics which reflects the radical spirit of 1913 and of the years that followed”, the republican leader says in a speech that accuses the trade union movement of a failure of leadership and putting too much faith in the Irish Labour Party.

“Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families,” Gerry Adams says.

“Our task must be to oppose it at every opportunity – North and South.

“That means building alliances on social and economic matters with others in Ireland and abroad, who share our opposition to austerity.

“It means working to secure real change - including a realignment of Irish politics.”

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The Sinn Féin leader says:

“We need to deal properly with the legacy of the past and tackle the scourge of sectarianism.

“This requires nationalists and unionists and republicans working together.

“It requires republicans continuing to show leadership and self-confidence as Belfast Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir did last Monday.

“It requires political, civic and community effort.

“It requires the Irish Government acting as a co-equal guarantor with the British and not as a junior partner.”

The Sinn Féin President reiterated his call for a Border Poll:

“The Good Friday Agreement provides for a Border poll and a simple majority vote, to determine the constitutional status of the North.

“Such a poll could provide a unique opportunity for a historic debate on the future of this island.”

The Irish Government, he said, “needs to encourage that debate instead of trying to close it down”.

The former MP for west Belfast reiterated that the political geography of the North is also changing.

“It is no longer an Orange state.

“Politics across on the island is in flux. A new Ireland can be what we make it.

“Ireland today needs a realignment of politics which reflects the radical spirit of 1913 and of the years that followed.

“Last month, the Fine Gael/Labour Government again targeted the most vulnerable in our society by attacking the elderly, the young and the sick. The British Government has cut the block grant.

“Austerity works for the wealthy and the elites – the financiers, the bankers and developers. Austerity is not working for working families.

“Our task must be to oppose it at every opportunity – North and south.

“That means building alliances on social and economic matters with others, in Ireland and abroad, who share our opposition to austerity.

“It means working to secure real change – including a realignment of Irish politics.

“At a time of great challenge for Irish workers who are facing relentless austerity and attacks on basic social protections, there has been a failure of leadership in the labour movement.

“Some of this is also because some trade union leaders place too much trust in the Labour Party leadership.

“The trade union movement needs to get back to activism: to organising, to campaigning, to recruiting, to agitating for the rights of workers, including unemployed workers, the poor and demonstrating across all employment sectors.

“The vast majority of Irish people want a society that is based on values of social justice, fairness, equality and decency.

“I firmly believe that this can be achieved if we work together.

“This means trade union activists, community activists, individuals, and political parties like Sinn Féin and Independents of like mind joining together in common cause against austerity.

“It means developing viable alternative policies to meet the economic and political challenges of today and tomorrow.

“It also means raising issues relating to the Good Friday Agreement: equality issues, social and economic matters, as well as pushing anti-sectarian strategies and working with disadvantaged communities across this island, including loyalist communities.

“It is also time for all those who believe that a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael can deliver a better Ireland to work together.”