Locals first?

Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

 Locals First?

John Molyneux

Carlow county councillor Will Paton [Labour] said he has made a submission to the council “calling for affirmative action for housing locals first before any consideration is given to housing asylum seekers”.

“There are very few houses available for rent and most that are available are refusing to take rent supplement or the new housing assist payment,” Mr Paton wrote on Facebook on Monday. “When all the locals are housed then I will gladly welcome asylum seekers.

(The Irish Examiner, 13.01.16)

Locals first – it sounds so innocent and reasonable doesn’t it?. Sure, shouldn’t “we” all look after our own first?  But stop and think for a moment what it really means.

When will all the locals be housed? Actually the answer, unless we change the whole basis on which housing is provided (which would be an excellent thing), is never. This has nothing to do with Carlow or the locals or even Ireland. It’s because if housing provision is organised, as it is, as a capitalist free market i.e. is built and provided for profit, that same free market will ensure that there is always a housing shortage. At least for those who can’t pay enough.

So looking after ‘locals first’ translates into never housing asylum seekers or refugees.

And remember this logic doesn’t just apply to Carlow [where Mr.Paton is no doubt trying to win some easy votes] but to Ireland as a whole and to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Greece etc. There’s a housing problem in all these countries, because that’s how the capitalist market works.

So what ‘locals first’ actually means is keep the refugees out – let them die in the Mediterranean or freeze to death in camps in the Balkans, or be slaughtered by Assad or Da’esh (ISIS).  Just so long as they don’t come here.

Of course that’s not such a nice way of putting it, but that’s what it really means. And if refugees came to Ireland but were homeless, begging on the streets of Dublin, you could be sure the likes of Mr. Paton would be giving out about that. And who would he blame? No prizes for answering that?

And then there’s the question, what makes someone a ‘local’? Is it being an Irish citizen or being born in Ireland? Or is it being from Carlow? The town of Carlow or the county of Carlow? And if we were talking about Dublin would it be Southsiders versus Northsiders or Ballyfermot versus Tallagh? Or is it the colour of your skin or the sound of your name.

In other words this kind of thinking is a recipe for all kinds of discrimination, sectarianism, community conflict and, of course, racism.

“This has got nothing to do with racism”, I hear Mr.Paton protest, “I’m just saying put ‘locals first’.” But everybody knows that, whether it is said or not, it does have something to do with racism. Everybody knows it exists in a certain context and that context – whether we are talking about France and the National Front or Germany with Pegida  or Britain with UKIP or here – is full of racism and opportunist politicians playing ‘the race card’ [like British politicians, back in the day, used to play ‘the Orange card’ or ‘the Irish card’].

Certainly the Irish Examiner knows this because in the same article as it reports Mr.Paton they also report “a general election candidate in Cork South Central”.

“Meanwhile, a general election candidate in Cork South Central has said Ireland does not have the resources needed to accept refugees.

Independent candidate Elizabeth Hourihane insists she is not anti-immigration, but added that she believes the mass sexual assaults that took place in Germany could happen here if the country takes in more migrants and refugees.”

Here Ms Hourihane runs her own version of ‘I’m not racist but…’ ‘I’m not anti-immigration but…’.

Let’s be clear this has nothing to do with lack of resources. Ireland has loads of resources and loads of houses if the resources and the houses were shared out fairly or allocated according to need not wealth.

And if Ireland doesn’t have the resources, who does? Ms Hourihane doesn’t bother to answer that because she’s straight onto stirring up fear and prejudice.

Notice how this works. The Irish tabloids this morning were full of a story about ‘a man has been jailed for three years for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met after grooming her using a fake social media profile’. This is a ‘local’ Irish man , but no one thinks this reflects on ALL Irish people.  [Though if you were in Britain in the 70s and the IRA let off a bomb the British likes of Mr.Paton and Ms Hourihane DID think it reflected on all the Irish].

But ‘“they” are going to rape our women’ is one of the oldest and most permanent themes in racism. It was the cry that so often accompanied Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs in the Deep South – remember ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

One of the most unsavoury features of this report was the official response of the Labour Party.  “A party spokesperson said Mr Paton’s view does not reflect that of the Labour Party.” And that was all – no criticism, no alternative, just a minimal dissociation. This from a party that claims to be committed to equality and wants to be considered left-wing and progressive. Don’t say much and hope it goes away because standing up to this stuff might lose us votes. Shameful.

Everyone should understand what is going on here, Attacking immigrants, ‘foreigners’, refugees, asylum seekers, people of colour, Travellers, Jews, Irish, Muslims, Catholics, LGBT people, single parents or whatever has always been the tactic of reactionaries. Saying ‘Locals first’ doesn’t change this.

It’s just a way of playing on people’s fears, grubbing for votes and deflecting anger away from the people really responsible for the housing crisis, poverty and unemployment, namely the government, the developers and bankers, and from a system that puts profit before people whether they are Irish or Syrian, white or black, Christian, Moslem or atheist.

 

 

Towards a New Rising

Editorial: towards a new rising.

This was first published as the Editorial for Irish Marxist Review 14 - a special issue on '1916 and the Irish Revolution'.

It is one of the paradoxes of Irish history and politics that a state which is currently charging water protesters with ‘unlawful detention’ for the ‘crime’ of a sit down protest round Joan Burton’s car and politicians who never stop taunting Sinn Féin over their militarist past, will in 2016 commemorate and celebrate with full pomp and circumstance an actual armed republican insurrection.

Of course they will claim that it was ‘different’ in 1916’ because Ireland was under British rule whereas now it is an independent  ‘democracy’ and that therefore every body is obliged to play by the rules – the rules laid down by the state and its politicians. But this justification cannot hide the nauseating hypocrisy. It must be obvious to anyone with eyes to see that in 1916 the political and social types represented by Enda Kenny (the conservative middle classes) and Joan Burton (the Labour movement careerists and ‘liberal’ middle classes) did not lift a finger for the Rising. On the contrary they condemned it.

Hypocrisy aside, however, the argument that revolutionaries who fought for Irish independence were heroes whereas anyone who protests with the least vigour or militancy today is some sort of fascist and thug rests on a false premise. That premise is that the achievement of political independence [in the 26 counties] and one person one vote creates real democracy and delivers a state and government that represents the interests of ‘the people’.

But this premise is not true, neither in Ireland nor in any other capitalist society. This not just because of flaws in the electoral system or the constitution or corrupt politicians – all of which exist, of course – but because the combination of parliamentary democracy with economic plutocracy i.e. with the ownership and control of production and wealth by a tiny minority, turns parliament into a ‘democratic’ façade masking the effective dictatorship of the 1%, the capitalist class.

The contradiction between the outlook and interests of the contemporary neoliberal and reactionary ruling class and its claimed revolutionary historical origins is not confined to Ireland; it applies also to England, France and the US and in these cases it requires a rewriting of history either to minimise the revolutionary starting point or to mythologise and sanitise it. Thus, for example, the English Revolution of the seventeenth century became the English ‘Civil War’, and in 1970s and 80s right wing ‘revisionist’ historians mounted a major campaign to reclaim the period from Marxists like Christopher Hill and deny there had been any revolution at all. However, the problem for our rulers in Ireland is particularly acute because the Rising and the Revolution/War of Independence are relatively recent, almost within living memory, and because of the role in the struggle of an avowed revolutionary socialist, James Connolly, and his supporters.

At the beginning of The State and Revolution Lenin observes how:

 During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say, and to hallow their names to a certain extent for the “consolation” of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing the revolutionary theory of its substance, blunting its revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it.

That the Irish bourgeoisie, and also particularly the leaders of the Irish Labour Party, have done this to Connolly is obvious but they have clearly also done it to the 1916 Rising and the Irish Revolution as a whole.

This special issue of IMR is designed to challenge this conversion of the Rising and the Revolution ‘into harmless icons’. Our lead article by Kieran Allen systematically demolishes the key myths about 1916 and after, which have been spread to ‘blunt its revolutionary edge’: that it was ‘blood sacrifice’ by a few heroic individuals lacking wider support; that the struggle was only about national independence and had no social goals. Allen also argues that the Irish state as it exists today, and has existed since 1923, is, in both its structures and its values, not the product or heir of the Rising or the Revolution but of a counter revolution which began with the unleashing of the Civil War by the pro-Treaty forces.

Allen’s arguments are complemented by Conor Kostick’s piece which demonstrates and analyses the high level of independent working class struggle during the War of Independence and its crucial role in forcing Britain to concede at least some measure of independence.

The social revolutionary character of 1916 is confirmed by the exceptional role played in it by women. It is a feature of every real people’s revolution from the English and French Revolutions onwards that they draw women into the struggle and that in the process women challenge their own oppression and second class status. Mary Smith’s article is a powerful evocation of the women of the Irish revolution which combines individual stories with analysis of the relationship and interaction between nationalism, feminism and socialism.

Fergal McClusky and Brian Kelly focus on the northern dimension of the struggle showing how, as Connolly predicted, partition generated a ‘carnival of reaction’, They argue that ‘Imposed by brute force as a means of undermining the potential for thoroughgoing revolution during a period of remarkable upheaval across Ireland, partition consolidated a new arrangement through which capitalism would continue to dominate Ireland north and south’

Another neglected feature of the Irish Revolution is that it was part of an international  struggle, as were the rising of 1798, the Fenian rebellion, the Lockout and the explosion of the Civil Rights movement in 1968. The Lockout of 1913 was linked to a wave of industrial resistance that included ‘the great unrest’ in Britain and stretched as far as the Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World) in America. 1916 was the first in a series of revolutionary uprisings against the First World War that went on to include the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the German Revolution of 1918, which in turn developed into a revolutionary wave sweeping Europe in 1919. This international context is highlighted by Kieran Allen at the start of his article and also by Dave Sherry in his fascinating study of the relationship between Red Clydeside and the struggle in Ireland.

The central message of all these articles is that the heirs of 1916 are not at all the Enda Kennys and Joan Burtons but those who struggle for a new people’s uprising today. It would be very pleasing if the centenary of the Rising could be accompanied by a ‘rising’ at the ballot box which would see a significant advance for those who still stand for the politics of James Connolly bearing in mind, of course, (as Connolly well knew) that real change will come not through parliament but through the mass movement on the streets and in the workplaces.

 John Molyneux

Ireland's floods:part of a bigger picture

Ireland’s floods: part of a bigger picture

The terrible floods that have had such a disastrous affect on so many Irish communities over the Xmas/New Year period, with more severe problems on the way, are part of a much wider pattern. In this article I outline reports of flooding in roughly the same time period from around the world and then ask what political conclusions can be drawn from this.

Gerald Fleming of Met Éireann said, on New Years’s Day, that while the rain levels would not be excessive, the ground is already saturated after the wettest December on record. In Ireland weather in December has been both exceptionally wet and exceptionally mild.

In Britain it has been the same story: devastating floods as a consequence of extraordinary weather. The Meteorological Office stated  that long-standing weather records have been smashed by a stormy, yet warm December. Scotland, Wales and the north-west of England all had the wettest December in more than a century. A UK mean temperature of 8C (46F) broke records too and felt more like April or May.

The USA

In America things have been even more extreme. A wave of severe weather events, including heavy snow, storms, flooding and tornadoes, has claimed 43 lives across the USA over the last few days.

On Sunday 27 December, 11 people were killed as tornadoes swept through Dallas, Texas. Also on 27 December, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency after a severe snow storm hit the southeastern part of the state. Martinez said. “I cannot express how serious the situation is. The southeastern part of the state has 16 to 20 inches of snow with snow drifts of 8 to 10 feet.”

Authorities in southern Illinois said that three adults and two children drowned on 26 December when their vehicle was swept away. Over the weekend of 25 to 27 December, floods in Missouri left 8 people dead. Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon, has declared a state of emergency.

Earlier storms in the south east of the country on 23 December resulted in 19 deaths. Two were reported killed in Alabama, 10 in Mississippi, 6 in Tennessee and one in Arkansas.

Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in Missouri on 27 December 2015 as heavy rain, flooding and flash flooding continued to impact much of the state. There have been at least eight fatalities. 10 people have died in storms and floods in Mississippi since 23 December.

Meanwhile in New York at Xmas, when it is normally freezing, there was warm weather and people were out in their T-shirts.

South America

It has been very much the same story in South America where Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentine have all experienced exceptional rainfall and serious flooding in the last week of December.

In Brazil as many as 40 municipalities have been affected by flooding in Rio Grande do Sul state,. The flooding has forced almost around 9,000 people to evacuate.

Several rivers in the state have overflowed, in particular the Uruguay River in Uruguaiana municipality. According to the latest reports river levels were at 11.18 metres on 27 December, which is over 3 metres above alert levels and over 6 metres above normal levels.

In Uruguay, over 11,000 people have now been displaced according to the national emergency department. In the city of Artigas, the Cuareim River, a tributary of the Uruguay River, rose to 15.28 meters on Wednesday 23 December 2015.Safety levels are considered to be 10.20 metres.

In Paraguay’s capital of Asunción the Paraguay River reached 7.71 metres on 24 December .This is the second highest level ever recorded for the month of December.  Then the levels went even higher and over 90,000 people in the area around Asuncion have had to be evacuated and other parts of Paraguay have also been hit. And in neighbouring Argentina the overflowing Uruguay, Paraguay and Paraná rivers have forced around 25,000 from their homes.

The Philippines

In the Philippines a week of severe weather has left over 40 people dead  prompting the government to declare a “state of national calamity.”

The  authorities say Tropical Cyclone Melor, known locally as “Nona”, made landfall on 15 December 2015, causing widespread destreuction and many deaths.. Media reported that 11 people died in the cyclone, many of them from the island of Mindoro, where flood waters were as deep as 2 metres in some places.

Melor also brought flooding to several major cities, including Manila, which recorded 146.8 mm of rain fall in a 24 hour period to 16 December. Authorities  carried out the pre-emptive evacuations of almost 750,000 people in anticipation of the threat of Cyclone Melor.

Currently, according to the latest reports, a total of 37,145 families or 175,168 persons are inside 526 evacuation centres and 38,601 families or 192,098 persons are outside evacuation centres,.

The cyclone was followed swiftly by a tropical depression, known locally as Storm Onyok. The storm made landfall on 18 December 2015 in Caraga and Manay, and triggered flooding and landslides. By Saturday 19 December the tropical depression had weakened into a low pressure area bringing torrential rains to the central Visayas islands and Mindanao.

Philippines authorities say that a total of 32,914 families or 143,097 persons were affected by Onyok. Over 12,000 were staying in 87 evacuation centres set up by local disaster management authorities.

The Philippines National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported on 20 December that the Northeast Monsoon was affecting Northern and Central Luzon, bringing with it the threat of flash floods and landslides.

Malaysia, Indonesia, Norway and the Congo.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Norway all suffered serious flooding due to excessive rain in December. Norway experienced record levels of rain in 4-6 December.  Malaysia was forced to evacuate over 3000 in several states and in Aceh in Indonesia over 50,000 were affected and at least 1 person died.

Even worse affected was the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Torrential rain between 11 and 12 December 2015 caused deadly floods and landslides in eastern and western parts of the Congo. Local news reports claim that 18 people have died in eastern South Kivu and 9 in western Bas Congo provinces. Other reports suggest floods have claimed over 30 deaths in the capital of Kinshasa and other areas of the country since late November.

Southern India

All the flooding discussed so far has occurred in the last month but it is all eclipsed by what took place in the Tamil Nadu region of Southern India in October and November. According to the regional government 347 people died in a flood disaster that devastated the state capital of Chennai and other districts.

India’s central government has declared the floods a ‘calamity of severe nature’. 1.8 million people had to be rescued  and housed in 6,605 relief centres. Almost 4000 cattle were killed and economic losses are estimated at $3 billion. The gap between this figure and the $300 million insurance claims anticipated shows that the chronic  absence of insurance cover in the area and means that the large majority of the impoverished ordinary people whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed will simply be left to fend for themselves..

Some conclusions

What general conclusions can we draw from this remarkable and shocking sequence of events?

The first is that although they are all reported in the mainstream media they are given very little prominence relative to their objective importance, except in the immediate vicinity of each disaster. The obvious comparison and contrast is with the intense over reporting of anything remotely connected to ‘Muslim terrorism’ , almost anywhere in the world.

The second is that when a particular disaster is reported it is done in isolation, so that the public should not see the overall pattern  Again the contrast with the coverage of ‘Muslim extremism’ where the international pattern and ‘threat’ is always brought out, is striking. Whereas the adjective Muslim or Islamic is attached to terrorist, extremist or radical whenever popular the media almost never mentions ‘climate change’ in conjunction with these or other ‘natural’ disasters. When the great and the good gather together in Paris to spout hot air and do very little there is huge coverage. When the climate change they are NOT stopping hits ordinary people it is ‘Don’t mention the war’.

Of course, the media will make the defence that particular weather events cannot be attributed directly to climate change. This is true but – deliberately - misses the point: the point being that global warming does not cause a specific flood but systematically increases the frequency and intensity of flooding (and droughts and fires and storms etc.). In other words it creates precisely the kind of pattern of extreme weather events that we are witnessing and which media reporting obscures.

The third conclusion relates to the way we think about climate change. The general discourse around climate change (in the media, among politicians and also among many ordinary people, including people on the left who accepted the scientific argument about climate change) has been in the future tense. Climate change was discussed as something that might (or might not) ‘happen’ or get really serious in  thirty,fifty or eighty years.  The question was do ‘we’ have time to stop it? Or what will happen when/if sea levels rise?  Will we all be underwater by 2100?. What these and many other recent events make clear is that we have to use the present tense. CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW. Of course it can and will get worse but its happening right now.

This means that we on the left have to develop our arguments and demands and campaigns  not only about the absolute necessity of drastically reducing carbon emissions by switching to renewable energy sources but also about the need for immediate measures to cope with the effects of climate change e.g. floods, storms, fires, droughts. Unless we do this working people and the poor here and the world over will be made to pay the price of global warming just as they are made to pay the price of economic crisis. And the price will be horrendous.

 John Molyneux

The Assault on Corbyn

The Assault on Corbyn

The assault on Jeremy Corbyn by the establishment and their media is clearly a coordinated attempt to destroy him. It is to be hoped that people will see through it and it will backfire.

Many of the attacks will be gutter journalism at its worst and many will be easy for the left to rebut with sarcasm and humour on social media. But the ruling class are not fools; they have long experience and a killer instinct in these matters. We on the left need to understand what they are doing.

The issues of will Corbyn sing the national anthem or wear a red poppy or kiss the Queen’s hand  may seem trivial but they chime with Cameron’s tweet that Labour’s new leader is a ‘threat to national security’. What the ruling class are saying to Corbyn is ‘Are you loyal to the British State?’ And they are daring him to say he is not and demanding that he prove he is.

But if he IS loyal to British state lots of things go along with this. Not just the monarchy and innumerable ceremonies ( which are not there just for decoration but as important symbols of loyalty and subordination) but also ‘support for our boys’ in war, ‘defence of the realm’ via the armed forces – including MI5, MI6 etc, support for ‘our’ police and ‘our’ justice system, backing ‘British’ business and so on.

A number of things make this difficult for Corbyn. First, the issue will not go away. Even if the current feeding frenzy fades, it will always be there in the background to resurface in new tabloid headlines in the future. Second, he will be surrounded by Ministers, MPs, trade union leaders and ‘advisers’ telling him he HAS to go along with this stuff to be ‘electable’ and they are likely to back their advice with threats of resignation etc., because many of them really are loyal to the British state – a lot more loyal to it than they are to Corbyn or the Labour Party come to that.

Then there is the deeper problem that this is probably an issue which Jeremy Corbyn has not through himself. Certainly this is the case with the Labour Left historically and with left reformists generally (and internationally). Their whole project, their whole strategy, is based on the idea of USING the existing state to transform society. It is on this basis that they achieve their popularity, saying to working people ‘Support us and we will form a government that will run the country more in your interests’. They don’t say to working class people you should rise up, overthrow the existing state and create your own state. They say vote for us.

History shows that this is a question on which the Labour Party has repeatedly fallen down, ranging from support for the First World War, to the Attlee government’s manufacture of Britain first nuclear bombs and backing for the US side in the Cold War. Michael Foot (a lifelong member of CND) was repeatedly crucified on this issue – and I don’t mean his ‘donkey jacket’ at the Cenotaph, I mean nuclear weapons. As Labour leader he was never able to give a clear answer to the question, ‘Will a Labour government get rid of Britain’s nuclear deterrent?’ and as a consequence was reduced to incoherence.

Of course it is possible that Corbyn could come out fighting and say I reject any allegiance to the Royal Family, the Armed Forces and the State as a whole – they are instruments for holding down and oppressing the working class. But this seems unlikely. And if he does try to prove his loyalty to the British state he is likely to be trapped in an endless series of damaging concessions which will gradually eviscerate a lot of his radicalism.

I know this is a grim scenario when everyone on our side is rightly delighted with Corbyn’s stunning victory which has undoubtedly opened up a huge space for political debate and given an impetus to struggle from below. But the historical experience on which it is based is also grim. And if Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party prove me wrong it will be wonderful.