NI: Regional Pay Anti-Fascist Aquinas & Michael Robinson Deserters? Private Property Manus O'Riordan Labour Comment page 14 page 16 back page IRISH POLITICAL REVIEW August 2012 Vol.27, No.8 ISSN 0790-7672 and Northern Star incorporating Workers' Weekly Vol.26 No.8 ISSN 954-5891 Euro Crisis: Politics of Recovery vs Politics of Illusion The Past Was Orange There are certain immutable economic laws that cannot be wished away by fine words So the Grand Secretary of the Orange or good intentions. If a country continues to consume more than it produces, it will Order has addressed Oireachtas (Senate. develop a dependent relationship with its creditors. To reduce its dependency it will He urged that "the burden of history" either have to produce more or consume less. should be discarded. But the human mode of existence is If the creditor is benevolent the debtor might obtain some concessions. But that is not historical. Humanity is what it has made a very dignified position for a debtor country to be in. Since 2008 Ireland has made a of itself over time in different places and decent attempt at solving her economic crisis and has been hoping for concessions on the circumstances—in history. There is no basis of what may arise elsewhere. But it appears the Euro summit agreement of 29th situation lying outside history into which June on separation of bank debt from sovereign debt is far less than it was widely taken it can remove itself. In these parts the to be. The prescription for the Spanish financial crisis is looking remarkably like the one practical meaning of discarding the burden for the Irish crisis. Ultimately the State must pay. of history is becoming British. And, quite apart from the question of whether that The Left in Ireland has never had to think about these issues. That element which has would be a good thing, there is the sound eschewed power has contented itself with railing against the real world, while the working assumption that it is not a possible element which has participated in power has had no vision other than a purely moral thing. It has been tried before. Britain imperative to keep Fianna Fáil out. failed completely to make Ireland British. All it ever produced was hangers-on. The Left in Britain was different, 40 years ago. Harold Wilson's Government understood that a country could not continue consuming more than it produced and set The Grand Secretary thanked the Fianna about implementing a socialist solution to the problem. His policies of austerity included Fail leader for inviting him to address the penal taxes on unearned income and capital, draconian restrictions on consumer credit, Senate. Micheal Martin, like former Fine and wage restraint. These policies were implemented with the support of the Trade Gael leaders before him, has sickened of Union Congress. From being a basket case economy in 1964, Britain ended up in 1970 the historical situation in which he is with a balance of payments surplus second only to Germany. All of that was squandered required to act, and he is looking for an in the subsequent decade when the Labour movement reverted to the politics of protest, escape from history. He now sees the War and opened the door to the Thatcherite alternative. of Independence, which had to be fought continued on page 2 continued on page 4 plaintiffs' cases. The cases against the The Moriarty Tribunal State and the winning consortium were initiated in 2001. In the light of this it The successful Supreme Court case Tribunal in which hundreds of millions was extremely irresponsible of the State allowing two representatives of the losing more will be at stake. Up until now, the to allow the Tribunal to continue its consortia for the 1995 Mobile Phone current Taoiseach has been placed in the investigations. Licence award sue the State is the latest invidious position of being unable to bizarre twist in this 15 year old saga. endorse the findings of the Moriarty The Irish Political Review is of the The State has spent about 300 million Tribunal lest it undermine the State's case opinion that there was no corruption euro on a Tribunal whose findings it has against the losing consortia. involved in the licence award. Not even now to defend itself against. The winners While technically the findings of the Moriarty could find any evidence of im- of the licence find that they will be in the Tribunal are inadmissible as evidence there proper influence exerted on the key same corner as the State fighting against is no doubt that its exhaustive investig- advisors: the Civil Servants' working group; the findings of an Oireachtas-appointed ations will be an invaluable guide to the or Andersen Management International. continued on page 10 see through both the Fiscal Compact and the introduction of a banking union, which will inevitably involve a great deal of C O N T E N T S bank debt resolution. Despite the cari- Page cature of her as a neoliberal, she is no such Euro Crisis: Politics of Recovery vs Politics of Illusion. Editorial 1 thing, just as she is no Keynsian. And in The Past Was Orange. Editorial 1 this her economic strategy both at home The Moriarty Tribunal. Editorial 1 and at Eurozone level is remarkably Biteback: Inviting 'Our Gallant Allies'. Jack Lane (Report) reminiscent of Harold Wilson. The idea Corry 'Terrorism' Claim Challenged. James Fitzgerald that Social Democracy and Keynesianism The Mystery Of The Dunmanway Killings. Jack Lane 3,23 (or what is called Keynesianism) are Britannia's Children. Wilson John Haire (Poem) 3 synonymous is a fallacy. In the Wilson Austerity, Aspiration And The Treaty. Eamon Dyas 5 era, when British Labour was at its height, Mitbestimmung. John Minahane 7 it was determined to impose control over Europe Subverted. Editorial 8 the economy, and that was anti-Keynesian. Sinn Fein's Political DNA. Seán McGouran reports on a meeting 9 The Government's whole orientation was A Literary Fantasy. Jack Lane 10 to protect the value of sterling and return Shorts from the Long Fellow (Sinn Fein & Fine Gael; 'Modern' And 'Historic' the economy to a balance of payments Sinn Fein; Fine Gael; The Labour Party; The Irish Economy; The Bank Guarantee surplus which it succeeded in doing with ...Again; Spanish Banking Crisis; British Benevolence; Science In Ireland) 11 the high-tax austerity policies of Roy Views Of Sinn Fein. Stephen Richards, Brendan Clifford (Letter Dispute) 12 Jenkins. Northern Ireland: Threat Of Regional Pay. Michael Robinson 14 An Irish Anti-Fascist Volunteer And Some Other Soldiers. The new French Socialist President, Manus O'Riordan (Part 2) 16 Francois Hollande, who is much quoted Items From The Irish Bulletin. 8th July 1920 (Paart 13) 22 by Irish politicians because of his espousal Cork Employment Resource Centre, 1988 to 2012. John Holford (Part 1) 23 of growth, is as firm in his support for the basic currency disciplines proposed in the Labour Comment, edited by Pat Maloney: Compact, as was the former Socialist Aquinas And Private Property Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodrí- Mondragon, Part 10 guez Zapatero. In the months preceding (back page) the historic EU Council of November Summer Floods & Water Privatisation 2011, at which the Fiscal Compact was Michael Robinson (Report, p25) launched as a Eurozone initiative follow- ing Cameron's exercise of the British Veto, the President of Poland threw his backing behind Merkel: "What Poland fears more than German power is German inaction." In 1987 Ireland implemented a social The Labour Party has been too busy For states involved in Troika "Prog- solution to the economic crisis, but this denigrating the record of the previous rammes of Financial Support"—and let had nothing to do with the Left. Indeed Government or blaming the Troika for us be realistic and assume Spain to be one Social Partnership was implemented in difficult decisions to focus on defending of these—there is no disagreement that spite of it. The far reaching reform was the social gains that were actually achiev- deficits must be reduced and consumption initiated by Charles Haughey under the ed. And the Left opposition wallows in its brought into line with production. Nor is influence of the German Social Keynesian illusions, aided by the Financial there any doubt that economies and fiscal Democratic Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Times, the mouthpiece of Finance Capital, systems need fundamental re-structuring which sees opportunities in the disabling to achieve this and lay the basis for a The weakness of Irish Social Partner- of the Euro, and hence promotes solutions healthy political economy into the future. ship was that it was led from on high. The to its crisis that would tend toward such a Against the background of the noisy street labour movement did not have to take disabling. demonstrations by the Spanish indignados, serious responsibility for weaknesses in a former advisor to previous Socialist the economy. When the economy boomed The Left demonises the Eurozone Government commented: in the 1990s, financed by German credit, Compact as a simple-minded "austerity' "This country needs really fundamental nobody thought that the party could end. strategy designed to smooth the way for a changes. We need an ample majority to In Germany, by contrast, the competetive- neo-liberal make-over of Europe under carry through the fiscal and economic ness of German industry was preserved German leadership. changes in a way that convinces the whole about ten years ago by reforms initiated country this is just and fair; it is not by Gerhard Schroeder in consultation with This is to misunderstand quite a few enough just to have an absolute majority the Trade Unions.