Editorial

Start mobilising for December 4th ‘Make a Stand - March Against Cuts’ 1:30pm, Saturday 4th December, Dublin

AS An Phoblacht goes to print, thousands will be supporting Irish Congress of Trade Unions protests in Dublin, Belfast, Derry and Galway.
On Saturday 4th December – before a Budget by Fianna Fáil predicted to punish the public to help bail out the bankers – people who want to ‘Make a Stand’ have another opportunity to have their voice heard in an all-Ireland demonstration against attacks on their livelihoods and communities by the Fianna Fáil/Green Party and Conservative/Liberal Democrat governments.
Sinn Féin is hosting a march and rally in Dublin on Saturday 4th December to:-

• Defend public services
• Protect and create jobs and stem emigration
• End the bankers’ bail-outs

Speakers will include Gerry Adams and representatives of the trade union and community sectors as well as ordinary members of the public.
Start mobilising now. Start organising buses and transport now. Start telling people now.
‘Make a Stand’ in Dublin on Saturday 4th December.

Unite against sectarianism

SECTARIAN ATTACKS on Catholic and Protestant homes in Rasharkin, County Antrim, have been condemned by Sinn Féin.
The family home of English Premier League soccer player Chris Baird was petrol-bombed in the early hours of Sunday morning, September 19th. A number of people in the house at the time escaped injury.
Later that day, a bullet was posted through the letter-box of a Protestant woman in her 50s.
Local Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay called for a united response from nationalist and unionist political leaders. He told An Phoblacht:
“There needs to be political leadership shown across the board and politicians need to ensure that their words cannot be used as political cover by those carrying out these attacks.
“We can deliver an end to these attacks but only if all parties are serious about challenging those behind them head-on and sending a unified message out that they need to stop.”
Daithí McKay’s appeal deserves a positive response from his unionist counterparts

Top marks for An Phoblacht School

THE FIRST-EVER An Phoblacht Autumn School was held in the beautiful west Cork setting of Baile Bhúirne over the last weekend in September, attracting more than 100 people from all over Ireland - from Donegal and Belfast to Monaghan, Meath and Dublin - for a weekend of discussions and events and debates on the economy, politics and the Irish language.
The centrepiece was the debate on ‘What Kind of Ireland Do We Want?’ during which guest speaker and All-Ireland Cork hurling hero Dónal Óg Cusack made one of the most powerful and insightful speeches it has been our pleasure to witness.
You can read what Dónal Óg had to say in this issue of An Phoblacht.