THE WESTMINSTER Government’s VAT rise starting today from 17.5% to 20% will mean higher weekly shopping and heating bills, hurting most those who can least afford it and it is the wrong way to address the deficit, Sinn Féin Economy spokesperson Mitchel McLaughlin has said:

This VAT increase will reduce the spending power of the consumer and affect any economic recovery while... Free article

MORE THAN A MILLION people in the 26 Counties are this week being hit by new cuts to their social welfare and child benefits while Fianna Fáil and the Green Party continue to bail out the banks for their reckless behaviour, Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has said.

She said that many people have already been forced over Christmas into the arms of money-lenders, a trend... Free article

'New Political Possibilities in Ireland for All Left-Wing Parties in Partnership with Civil Society'

By Tom O'Connor of Cork Institute of Technology

A CONFERENCE entitled New Political Possibilities in Ireland for All Left-Wing Parties in Partnership with Civil Society will be held on Monday 31^st January in the Davenport Hotel, Dublin.

The conference will give TDs and public... Free article

ABOLITION of the Seanad should be part of a wider overhaul of the electoral system, former Senator Pearse Doherty has said, to include votes at 16 and for Irish citizens living abroad.

There should also be a time limit for the holding of elections, the establishment of an independent Electoral Commission, and voting should be held at weekends, the Donegal South-West Sinn Féin... Free article

ALL the negative media moaning about Bertie Ahern is a little unfair.

Far from being an economic illiterate, the man must have been a financial visionary

1. He won loads of lolly on the gee-gees in dollars, sterling and punts;
2. He didn’t succumb to the folly of having a bank account;
3. He planned very assiduously for his retirement.

How very prescient.

Just a pity he didn’t... Free article

REPUBLICANS TODAY have been urged by Martin Ferris and Maurice Quinlivan at the Seán Sabhat Commemoration in Limerick on Sunday 2nd January to “stand up for Ireland".

Pádraig Malone chaired the event which heard Limerick City Councillor Maurice Quinlivan thank local republicans for the increasing level of activity and commitment. This included support for Maurice during... Free article

THE annual Sean South & Feargal O'Hanlon Commemoration was held on New Year's Day 2011 at Altawalk, County Fermanagh.

See the video here.

CRISIS IN THE ECONOMY | THE IMF’S ‘LOYAL OPPOSITION’

Labour’s and Fine Gael’s ‘Opposition by Fooling’

BY

AENGUS

Ó SNODAIGH TD

JAMES CONNOLLY once used the phrase “Ruling by Fooling”. He would certainly have plenty to justify that in the midst of the comic opera farce that is the hallmark of the dying days of this Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government.

He would also perhaps be... Free article

From a local correspondent

IT’S HARD to believe that 20 years have passed since the cruel murder of Fergal Caraher by the British military on December 30th 1990.  But as the huge crowds gathered in Cullyhanna to commemorate the occasion the reality of that fact was brought home.

People came from near and far, as they have done all down the years, to once again honour a... Free article

DUBLIN CITY CENTRE’S bustling Ha’penny Bridge was adorned with Palestinian flags and ‘Free Gaza’ banners on new Year’s Eve to remind people of the second anniversary of the Israeli military assault on Gaza that left 1,400 people dead.

The solidarity event was was organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and captured on video by Paula Geraghty.

IPSC... Free article