The Soil of Ireland for the People of Ireland

"The 8,000 individuals who are owners of Ireland by divine right and the grant of God, confirm (by themselves) in sundry successive acts of parliament have a full view of these coming results [i.e. Ireland would become a pasture ground once gain. and its agricultural population would decay or vanish and become extinct at once] and have distinctly declared their intention of serving notice to quit on the people of Ireland…The landlords have adopted the process of depopulating the island and are pressing it forward to their own destruction, or to ours…"

These were the words of the great Irish revolutionary James Fintan Lalor in 1847. Lalor was referring to the damage that the small controlling elite of Ireland had allowed to befall the general population. With the nation crippled from the effects of famine, this controlling interest was sitting back. They were not going to risk losing profit by intervening to help the general populace. Not when it was far more profitable to allow Ireland to become depopulated through famine and forced emigration, allowing them say over a much more "civilised" country.

James Fintan Lalor

Fast forward one hundred and sixty years.

Once again young Irish people are being forced to emigrate, to turn their backs on their families and nation in order to survive. Once again Irish children go hungry. It might not be a famine, but it is preventable. Once again the controlling interest in society is closing ranks. As Fintan O' Toole pointed out quite rightly, these people made themselves non citizens during the bleek eighties to avail of tax exemptions. During the boom they were back as Irish citizens, taking full advantage of the good circumstances and extremely well preforming workforce. And now, well they've disappeared again.

All notions of a wealth tax have been knocked on the head by our new government, which included the supposedly socialist Labour party. Whats worst is that they are making little headway in reforming the crooked tax system, full of exemptions and clauses, which allowed our national top earners to pay less percentage of tax than under pressure PAYE workers during the boom.

Instead, this government, like their predecessors, have let the full burden of the unjust bank bail out fall on the heads of the general population. The banks now require a further €24 billion, pushing the cost of recapitalisation of the banks to €70 billion. That means that each working person in this State will be shouldering the burden of around €39,000 of bank debt. It means public services will be cut. It means social benefits will be cut. It means the continued imposition of the grossly unfair Universal Social Charge. It means no money for a job creation stimulus. It means another decade of misery.

20% of Irish children go to bed hungry

All of this could be avoided if the government would face up to its moral and political responsibilities. Those who benefited most from the boom must now pay back the most to get this country back on its feet, and save it from utter destruction. The faceless figures hiding behind gombeen politicians and an impotent established media must now face their burden.

Back to Lalor. In his last article for the Irish Felon “Clearing Decks,” Lalor wrote —

“Remember this—that somewhere and somehow, and by somebody, a beginning must be made. Who strikes the first blow for Ireland? Who draws first blood for Ireland? Who wins a wreath that will be green forever?”