2018 PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT CONTACT US @peopleb4profit @pb4p www.pbp.ie 087 283 9964 VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND CONTENTS 1 AN ALTERNATIVE VISION 4 A CORRUPTED REPUBLIC 5 SEPARATE CHURCH & STATE 7 END THE RULE OF THE 1% 14 ENDING TAX-HAVEN IRELAND 15 NORTHERN IRELAND IS A FAILED STATE 17 END THE SECTARIANISM OF THE NORTHERN STATE 21 END THE ECONOMIC PRIVILEGES OF THE 1% 22 INTEGRATION, RIGHTS & SERVICES 25 A SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION 25 ECONOMIC JUSTICE 27 FULL SOCIAL RIGHTS FOR ALL 31 A NEW DEAL ON SOCIAL SERVICES 33 A GREEN NEW DEAL 35 A SECULAR 32-COUNTY SOCIALIST IRELAND 36 A RACE FOR THE FUTURE PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT AN ALTERNATIVE VISION Ireland has enormous potential. North and South, the people who live here are gen- erous, dynamic and full of creativity. Our generosity is evident in the fact that, every year, nearly €1 billion is gifted to protect the world’s most vulnerable people. In ad- dition, nearly 50% of the population volunteer in sports clubs, charities and old peo- ple’s homes and in giving blood. Ireland is also blessed with tremendous creativity. This island has produced some of the world’s best known scientists and writers, with eight Nobel Laureates and count- less others making their mark in their chosen fields. Thanks to its climate and location, Ireland is also packed full of natural resources, including the wind and wave energy needed to fight the threat of global warming. If these resources were properly harnessed, Ireland could become an inspiration to millions of people currently living with the effects of climate change, warfare and deep inequality. People Before Profit want to make this vi- sion a reality. We want every person who lives here to feel welcome, secure and confident enough to pursue their own People Before Profit is a talents. Ireland should become an island 32-county organisation of equals – and not just in the economic rooted in the values of sense. international solidarity, economic equality and We want an Ireland that gives everyone personal liberty. an equal chance to reach and exceed their current potential. That version of Ireland would be richer in wealth, diversity and opportunity than anything that the cur- rent system can hope to offer. 1 VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND Above everything, we put our faith in peo- ple’s ability to move their own lives in a positive direction. Unlike other political parties, we favour direct forms of partic- ipatory democracy that bring masses of People Before Profit is a people into politics - not just the tiny mi- growing movement; we nority elected to the Dáil or Stormont. have over 2,000 members and 50 branches across the Over the last number of years, this pow- country. er has burst onto the political stage with amazing movements emerging around water, LGBTQ and women’s rights. The Right2Water campaign was truly inspira- tional. Standing against the injustice of water charges, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in a show of solidarity that shook the foundations of the political elites. People Before Profit were involved in this movement from the very outset. We be- lieved in the vision of a right to water and we helped to secure important victories that must now be repeated. The Yes Equality campaign was similarly inspirational. People Before Profit was very proud to play its part in the fight for an equal right to marriage. This validation of our LGBTQ community was amazing, but we still have much to do to establish a genuine society of equals. That’s why our Northern branches recently spearheaded a campaign for equal marriage that collected 20,000 signatures which were presented to Stormont. The dinosaurs in the DUP believe in scapegoating the LGBTQ community, but we will not rest until all forms of bigotry are eradicated. 2 PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT People Before Profit members have also spearheaded an important campaign for universal healthcare. Our activists have worked tirelessly to build a Still Waiting campaign that aims to deliver health care for everyone living on the island, paid for through progressive taxation. The fight for women’s rights is equally central to our project. Last year, the #MeToo campaign was the strongest signal yet that the lid on sexual violence and harassment is finally being lifted. North and South, People Before Profit makes women’s rights an absolute priority with all of our branches involved in the campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution and to gain full reproductive rights on both sides of the border. After 100 years of repeated failure, it is time to deliver the Ireland of Equals promised in the Proclamation. But to make this a reality, we will need to clear out the oppressive and corrupt establishment that has dominated both parts of the island for nearly a century. People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll delivering 20,000 signatures for marriage equality to Stormont. 3 VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND A CORRUPTED REPUBLIC The Republic of Ireland is a failed State. The level of corruption in the Southern State is revealed by the fact that the Gardaí are currently subject to no less than seven dif- ferent official enquiries. In addition, there are official enquires into the National Assets Management Agency, the Health Services Executive, Tusla (the Child and Family Agency) and a host of reli- gious institutions. The Mahon Tribunal found ‘corruption exited at every level of Irish planning’, and the Moriarty Tribunal found a culture of corrupt payments to politicians in the higher echelons of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This is simply not acceptable. The Republic is also characterised by deep inequality. The top 1% currently holds more wealth than the bottom 50% of the population, with the richest 300 individ- uals amassing €77 billion in post-crash Ireland. This level of economic disparity is not compatible with a modern, pro- Corruption affected every level gressive, secular society. People Before of Irish political life; those Profit roots these outcomes in two major with the power to stop it were structural problems: decades of social/ frequently implicated in it. religious control and a tax-haven econ- omy. - Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments To tackle these problems, we would sep- (Mahon Tribunal) arate the Church and State and build an economy that works for everyone. 4 PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT SEPARATE CHURCH & STATE The Catholic Church has controlled Irish people for far too long. From the 1930s until the 1970s, thousands of women were locked up in Magdalene laundries and so- called ‘Mother and Baby Homes’. Decades of deference to the bishops also allowed the widespread abuse detailed in the Ryan Report (2009). Priests and nuns routinely beat and sexually abused children, whilst the Catholic hierarchy systematically cov- ered this up in a bid to maintain their power and control. We will no longer accept this regime. Instead, we make the following demands: REPEAL THE 8TH AMENDMENT & LEGISLATE FOR FULL CHOICE The Catholic bishops have consistently opposed women’s liberation. Historical- ly, they fought against contraception, divorce and any liberalisation of Ireland’s archaic abortion laws. The United Nations has rightly condemned Ireland for its current stance on abortion. People Before Profit demands the Repeal of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution, which denies women the right to reproductive choice, and we will fight hard for free, safe and legal abortion access without restrictions. 5 VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND People Before Profit is a pro-choice party. In 2017, we brought a Bill to the Dáil to decriminalise women taking the abortion pill. Instead of a 14-year jail term, we wanted full decriminalisation, but this was deemed unconstitutional – so we proposed the penalty be reduced to a €1 fine. This would have undermined the draconian Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, but it was voted down. CREATE SECULAR & INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS We need secular schools that are inclusive of all beliefs and none. Currently, over 90% of the national schools in the Republic are either run by the Catholic Church or maintain a religious ethos even though they are largely taxpayer funded. This has allowed the Church to put up a baptism barrier that stops some children from accessing education. Equality of access means divesting the Church of its control over schools without delay. ESTABLISH SECULAR HEALTHCARE FOR ALL The recent controversy over the National Maternity Hospital shows just how far the State will go to uphold its links with the Catholic hierarchy. Catholic controlled hospitals routinely forbid the provision of modern contraceptive ser- vices, IVF, sterilisation operations and gender reassignment operations. They will also try to stop women accessing abortions, even if this becomes possible under the law. These archaic arrangements are no longer acceptable. Medical care should be based on the best scientific evidence and the individual needs of the given patient. 6 PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT END THE RULE OF THE 1% The Southern economy is a tax haven. At 12.5%, the corporation tax rate is the low- est in the OECD, but even this overstates how much corporations actually pay. Most years, they reduce their bill to around 4% thanks to an array of special deals and exemptions. The starkest example of this came in 2016, when the European Commission charged Ireland with helping Apple Inc. to minimise their global taxes. Apple are supposed to pay back €13 billion plus interest, but, incredibly, the government is spending taxpay- ers’ money to ensure they will NOT receive the back tax.