MARY LOU McDONALD, Sinn Féin Vice-President, and her Dáil colleagues met with EU Commissioner Olli Rehn this morning to rule out signing up to the Government/Fine Gael/Labour "cosy budgetary consensus of cuts that target the low-paid, unemployed and frontline services such as education and health".

Speaking after the meeting, Mary Lou said:

The message Sinn Féin delivered to Olli... Free article

SPEAKING this morning after meeting with EU Commissioner Ollie Rehn, Sinn Féin Dáil Leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said he had told the Commissioner that Sinn Féin will not be part of a consensus to cut €6billion from the economy next year.

Deputy Ó Caoláin told Commissioner Rehn that the 2014 target for cutting the Budget deficit to 3% of GDP is completely unrealistic and that he... Free article

EAMON GILMORE and the Labour Party have been challenged by Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin to say if Labour will go along with the plan by Fine Gael in government to slash the number of workers in the public service by 30,000.

The Sinn Féin Dáil leader described the Fine Gael policy as “a plan to lengthen the dole queues”. He said:

There is room for huge... Free article

GREEN PARTY Minister Mary White has been challenged by Sinn Féin to state clearly that she will vote against the Budget if it cuts the pensions she says she supports.

Sinn Féin Social Protection spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said:

Minister White’s statement ruling out pension cuts can’t be trusted without a commitment to vote against the Budget if pension cuts are included... Free article

BY EOIN Ó BROIN

AS WE collectively brace ourselves for four years of austerity, it is worth remembering that Ireland is not a poor country.

Yes, we have high levels of unemployment and poverty. Yes, we have high levels of private and public debt. But the money that flowed into the country at the height of the boom has not all disappeared.

In June of this year, Merrill Lynch,... Free article

A GOVERNMENT which uses emigration as a cornerstone of its economic policy is one which is "little short of committing treason by sacrificing children’s futures and betraying the nation", according to the UNITE trade union.

UNITE Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly said at the weekend:

The current Government budget policy is based on hoping and planning for mass emigration unseen... Free article

SENATOR Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin has said the Fianna Fáil candidate in the Donegal South-West by-election cannot detach himself from Government failures and attacks on people's living standards – even if he is a nice guy.

Pearse Doherty said:

Brian Ó Domhnaill is a nice fella but he simply cannot remove himself from this government which did everything in its power to prevent... Free article

SUNDAY TIMES Ireland Editor Frank Fitzgibbon has more media resources than most when it comes to putting his point of view or developing his own agendas. In the paper he has his own weekly half-page of space to tell us of the world according to Frank.

It is usually lightweight stuff, occasionally humorous where he focuses on some aspect of the week's news, rightly often poking... Free article

http://www.progressive-economy.ie

At least one party gets it

Michael Taft of progressive think tank TASC looks at Sinn Féin's pre-Budget submission

WITH the political consensus obsessed with a €15 billion deflationary juggernaut, it’s a relief that one party gets it. Sinn Féin’s pre-budget submission argues for a major stimulus programme combined with a growth-friendly... Free article