Irish Time

Friday, May 31, 2013

IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWS ; MARIAN IS HOME Martin Corey





MARIAN IS HOME

The release of Irish prisoner of conscience Marian Price is being
celebrated as a significant victory for justice campaigners and a key
step in securing the freedom of other prisoners currently interned in
the north of Ireland.

A former political prisoner and republican activist, Marian had been in
custody since May 2011 when her 'release licence' was revoked by then
British Direct Ruler Owen Paterson. A royal pardon which would have
guaranteed her freedom was described as 'missing' from British archives.

Suffering from deteriorating mental and physical health, Marian was
moved from prison to a Belfast hospital on medical advice last June. Her
family described her continued detention as "administrative internment".

She was finally released from hospital yesterday where she was being
treated for depression, arthritis and lung problems.

Her legal team had gone before parole commissioners seeking to have her
freed on licence, with SDLP Assembly member Pat Ramsay and Sinn Fein
politicians speaking on her behalf. During the hearing members of the
British military were closely questioned by Marian's legal team.







Following two months of evidence, the commission yesterday took the
decision that she should be released. It said it had agreed to release
the veteran republican "given her current circumstances". But it refused
to reveal the 'closed material' -- secret allegations -- which have been
presented as evidence to maintain her imprisonment.

Last night Marian Price's husband Jerry McGlinchey said: "I feel a great
sense of elation getting her home but it's a disgrace that closed
material was used to keep her in.

"Although she is now at home she is still very ill and we would ask that
the media respects our privacy at this time."

Arrested and jailed along with her sister Dolours for her part in the
Provisional IRA campaign in 1973, Marian then undertook a hunger-strike
which lasted over 200 days. Prison warders at Belmarsh jail brutally
force-fed both sisters to prevent their deaths. Still haunted by that
experience, Dolours died at her home late last year.

In October, a United Nations medical report found that Marian was be too
ill to follow any evidence presented at court, making her detention all
the more vindictive.

Her lawyer Peter Corrigan welcomed the decision to finally release his
client.

"We are pleased she has been released to return to her family," he said.
"And we are delighted with the decision that she is not a risk to the
public in being released.

"The British secretary of state should not have revoked her licence in
the first place and should not have been relying on closed evidence to
justify that."

REACTION

The decision was also welcomed by the Dublin government. Taoiseach Enda
Kenny, who said he raised the issue during meetings with British Prime
Minister David Cameron, said: "I am pleased to learn of today's news and
I hope that Ms Price will now be able to spend time with her family and
friends."

The SDLP's Pat Ramsey said the case was about human rights and said he
hoped Marian could return to her family and recuperate.

Sinn Fein junior minister Jennifer McCann described the decision to
detain her as "an affront to the justice system. She should never have
been imprisoned in the first place."

Pauline Mellon of the Justice for Marian campaign said her detention had
been "politically motivated, vindictive and in breach of the Human
Rights Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and Common Law".

'END INTERNMENT'

Both Sinn Fein and the various campaign groups, including the Dublin
Justice for Marian Price Committee, the Prison Crisis Group, and others,
pointed to the continued detention of 63-year-old Martin Corey.  After
more than three years, Mr Corey is still interned without charge or
trial on the basis of 'closed material', and there is a renewed belief
that he can also be freed.

Ms Mellon said a number of victims of 'administrative internment'
remained behind bars.

"We would ask that people oppose this terrible injustice meted out
against people because of their beliefs," she said.

“The logic of today’s release is that Martin Corey should also be
freed," Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said in a statement.

The Prison Crisis Group said there was more work to do "fighting for
Martin Corey and in solidarity with interned prisoners across the water.

"We will be putting particular emphasis on the case of John Downey. But
we can take time off today to celebrate.

“Everybody should learn the most important lesson to come out of all
this – that grass-roots campaigning can make all the difference.”

Martin Corey Poem


Poem for Martin Corey




Got this from the release Martin Corey Facebook page, dont know who the author is but it is an amazing poem. Those of you that dont follow my blog, Martin Corey has been interned by the British despite court ruling for three years now, simply for being an unrepentant Irish Republican. This poem expresses the spirt of the man, still unbroken and unapologetic for wanting his country to be free.
 Written by  Tarlach MacDhomnaill
I’ll shed no tears for who I am,
It’s no mans to betray
so you wont hear remorse or woe
from my prison cell today,
And for this stance I served my woe
back in another time
in another prison’s yard I walked
with hopes and dreams of mine
… Should I repent for what was done
when what was done was right ?
when we fought wrong and suffered long
as day rolls in to night
Apologise or feel regret
for rising of our knees?
and giving all our youths in faith
so others may run free?
I tried to live as man should live,
beyond the walls of Gaol,
but I roared back -of course I did
when I heard injustice wail,
but did no wrong to any man
nor broke no british law
and yet the British came for me
and oul comrades never saw?
3 years i’ve walked this Prison’s yard
its nothing new no more,
I walked another prisons yard
with the same belief before,
It wasn’t walked for Stormont,
Civil rights was not the goal
It was walked for the Republic
not a viceroys border poll,
Interned I am by licence,
an example made of me
to keep manners on old rebels
who don’t want to walk with me
indefinate detention for being who I am,
ex-combatant, ex long kesh and current unbowed Irish man
so instead of feigned repentance
lets refuse to wear their shame
and proudly work to see me free -
Martin Corey is my name

MARTIN COREY SELECTIVE POLITICAL INTERNMENT




































Martin Corey a Case of Selective Political Internment









The unelected British Viceroyal, in over-ruling a court’s direction to release an innocent, old, Irish republican Martin Corey, clearly demonstrates the lawless warlike repression of British Occupied Ireland, in a post peace process context,
Martin Corey was again arrested just hours after a court directed that he should be released unconditionally and immediately. Martin Corey had already been imprisoned for over two years without any charge ever being made against him, now another year later he has been interned without trial or charge for 3 years.


His initial arrest in 2010 was ordered by the British Viceroyal from England to his English Chief Constable based on paid intelligence obviously concocted by the the Engllsh secret services or UK SS. A local community elder Breandan Mac Cionnaith said at the time, “The usurping by Owen Paterson of the court’s ruling that Martin Corey should be immediately released, is clear confirmation that a British government policy of selective internment without trial is operating within British Occupied in contravention of terms of the Irish peace process.


Speaking recently in Belfast, Gerry Adams accused the Tory government since coming to power, of defaulting on a number of past agreements, including commitments in the Peace Process to legislate for a bill of rights and an Irish language bill for the North. Breandan Mac Cionnaith elaborated further when he said “The British Viceroyal's’s unprecedented intervention, and his ordering of Martin’s re-arrest, is evidence that the so-called policing and justice reforms endorsed by the constitutional nationalist parties at Stormont, are nothing more than a piece of political deception of the worst kind with the British government remaining the real power and that the role of local politicians is confined only to providing a facade of cosmetic cover to the political reality.


To acquaint readers with the real Martin Corey a friend Jim McIlmurray explains it best in the following: "I am in a better position than most to know if he was ever involved in any activity that could be deemed illegal or “a threat to National Security”, a phrase often utilized by faceless, nameless individuals in the courts. I can say without fear of contradiction that Martin is an innocent man. Everyone should make their voice be heard and call upon the Secretary of State to either bring charges against him or release him immediately.


Martin Corey is an old man who served 19 years of his life in Long Kesh as a republican prisoner for an offence 40 years ago. He was released in 1992 and began rebuilding his life. He is a popular figure from a well respected, hard-working family in the town.
It was a proud day for Martin when he was granted a loan to purchase his own mechanical digger. After a time, he gained the contract as the parish grave digger, covering several cemeteries in the greater Lurgan area. Many people, myself included, will recall his compassionate approach and professionalism during the time of families' bereavement.
In all the time I have known Martin, I have only known his interests to be his family, his friends and his love of coarse fishing.

On Friday, April 16th, 2010, the police arrived at his O’Neill’s Terrace home and told him they had a warrant for his arrest. Martin was brought to Lurgan PSNI station and later that day transferred to Maghaberry prison. It was stated he broke the terms of his Life Licence release. When his solicitor requested to know what Martin was alleged to have done, he was told it a matter of National Security and the subject of closed file information.
For the past three years, his solicitor and barristers have challenged his unlawful detention on numerous occasions in the High Court. On Monday, the 9th of July, 2012, a High Court judge, Justice Seamus Tracy, who has a background in the European Human Rights Courts, ordered Martin’s immediate release, stating that his Human Rights had been breached under sections 4 and 5 of the European Human Rights act and that there were no charges for which he should answer. I waited for 4 hours outside Maghaberry with Martin’s family that day, only to be told at 4:15pm that the then current Secretary of State, Owen Patterson, had overruled the High Court judge and blocked Martin's release. I was 25 yards away from Martin when I received that call. I watched him step out of the prison van at the reception centre and watched him walk back to the van to be returned to his cell. As he got into the van, he paused and starred at me and that will always be one of the hardest and cruelest moments I have ever witnessed in my life.


Martin has a legal entitlement to an annual Parole Board review every twelve calendar months to reevaluate the reasons for his continued detention. I have been accepted to speak on Martin’s behalf; however, every date set for a hearing for Martin last year was followed by a cancellation by the Parole Board, citing numerous excuses. Martin hasn’t received a parole review in 18 months, an action deemed illegal by the Court of Human Rights in Strasburg. We are currently awaiting a date to take this case to the High Court for a judicial review.


Martin has been subjected to a number of incidents during his time in Maghaberry Prison. These incidents include waiting over three weeks for an emergency dental appointment; of note, a veterinarian would have a legal obligation to report a pet owner for cruelty if he found an animal to be suffering for that period. Also, Martin's request for compassionate leave to attend the funeral of his brother was denied by both the Prison Service and the Courts without any reasons given. He was only granted leave to attend 1 hour before the service started after a request was made to the Justice Minister on humanitarian grounds. I had to make three requests to the Prison Ombudsman to intervene in cases concerning material submitted by myself for Martin for use in his cell crafts. The prison staff either confiscated the printed image materials or refused to provide them to Martin. The Prison Ombudsman upheld all three decisions in Martin’s favour, ruling against the Northern Ireland Prison Service and determining that the material must be provided to Martin.
Martin’s case has been in the High Court in Belfast several times over the past three years, without any finding of criminal offence with which to charge him. Had Martin been charged with possession of an illegal firearm during his arrest three years previously, he would have been released six months ago. There is no other name for his illegal detention other than internment without trail.
As a close friend of Martin's, I am in a better position than most to know if he was ever involved in any activity that could be deemed illegal or “a threat to National Security”, a phrase often utilized by faceless, nameless individuals in the courts. I can say without fear of contradiction that Martin is an innocent man. Everyone should make their voice be heard and call upon the Secretary of State to either bring charges against him or release him immediately.
I speak to Martin by telephone on a daily basis and visit him regularly in Maghaberry Prison, and can assure everyone that his spirits remain high despite his total lack of confidence in the judicial system in the North of Ireland. He thanks everyone for their continued messages of support .
We are currently awaiting a date to attend the Court of Appeal in London to challenge his illegal detention. If unsuccessful there, we will take his case to the European Courts of Justice. We will continue our presence at the Belfast High Court to request the Parole Board to give an explanation as to why Martin has been denied his legal right to an annual Parole Review."
Jim McIlmurray

Friend and spokesperson for Martin Corey

Further details can be found @ http://www.releasemartincorey.com/




Lizbeth W
2:30 AM
Reply
Unjustly imprisoned. But no charges against him, which aggravates the behavior of those arbitrarily imprisoned him.
It is for this neglect that can not see light at the end of the tunnel.
Not applicable to political authorities take the law into their own hands.
God can do to reflect, to those who might be willing to release Martin Corey, a poor man, elderly, helpless, in complete ignorance of the causes that are in prison. I would ask British authorities, who make use of their faculties, and act in accordance with the Scriptures, not to have their hands stained with innocent blood, which is too heavy to bear. Please give Martin Corey, an opportunity to defend from their freedom, if necessary, otherwise, end his days as a family, as every human being deserves. Let be the place in the world for which God has given life, not prevent any innocent exercise their rights to life and justice. That way, any authority, have their hands clean of guilt, and you understand that dignity is not only about political power, but to be worthy, each inside. A place in the world, is all that Martin Corey asks, and that's why God put men on earth.
Corey Martin is a man who is presumed innocent.
Put in prison without specific charges, not the function of authority. Nor is God's desire for their children. Please read the word of God, to understand it.
Hopefully reflect.
Who can sleep soundly, knowing that Martin Corey suffers imprisonment without merit.

The Basque Country and Ireland






  • Shirefax 
    Atsegin.
     · 
  • Harry Jackson 
    Always remember,a picture paints a thousand words.
     ·  in reply to celtfin1 (Show the comment)
  • Harry Jackson 
    The serpent carved on the Picts ( Pretanni ) stones,il explain.What your looking at is the serepent is the path of the sun, the ecliptic.the line through the serpent is the equator,now the raised part of the serpent reaches the tropic of cancer and lower half reaches the tropic of capricorn.Sometimes there more of the serpent above the line or below,that means how long the summer and winter.You wont get that info from anyone else as its mine,not from any book or net...
     ·  in reply to celtfin1 (Show the comment)
  • celtfin1 
    that really is mind blowing stuff there art work is amazing they seem to use snakes alot it them and given that british isles sis'n have snakes im woundering where they got the notion from
     ·  in reply to Harry Jackson (Show the comment)
  • Harry Jackson 
    No many have heard this. There is said to be an underground chamber where the roof is lined with over a thousand Roman sheilds.They would take the young men and show them. The sheilds were from the 9th legion.
     ·  in reply to celtfin1 (Show the comment)
  • celtfin1 
    yes the 7 son of ir cruthini fair play to ya. im reading now where the cruthini dug a massive trench to make a border to mark there land from the gaels and a picture found at royal fort at armagh depicts a naked warrior on horse back a custom of the picts
     ·  in reply to Harry Jackson (Show the comment)
  • Harry Jackson 
    People confuse being a scot or irish with being a native of this land thats now called scotland.Those people would have had your head if said they were Scots ( those slaves of the Egyptian kings ).I read in my local paper that 70% and upward males in UK have the Egyptian blood. I was not surprised.People dont know who they are,they wave a stupid flag and know nothing of the alchemey used in its creation.Its also the flag of their masters not the slaves.The 7 sons of Cruthini i know the story.
     ·  in reply to celtfin1 (Show the comment)
  • celtfin1 
    my surname is one of the seven septs of co laois who came from ulida where ulster gets its name we r said to be of the cruthini race
     ·  in reply to Harry Jackson (Show the comment)
    • Joan Etorri 
      eusxcat.tk
       · 
    • Harry Jackson 
      The Pretani ( Picts ) are not and were never scots ( Egyptians ).
       · 
    • segano1 
      The name 'Picts' was just a name placed on the early people of Scotland (Caledonia) by Roman pangyric Euminius in 297AD. To refer to the fact they wore long elaborate tattoos, hence Latin 'Picti' (Painted), in modern English 'Pictured'.
       ·  in reply to Harry Jackson (Show the comment)
    • Harry Jackson 
      The earls of Scotland cast their mantels down before him. Then an aged sennachie approached,fell on his knees,and recited the pedigree of the young king in Gaelic...
      all the way back to" Iber the first Scot,son of Gaithel Glas.son of Neoilus,king of Athens,begotten of Scota,daughter of Pharaoh Chenthres,king of Egypt."
      Chenthres is Ramesses II Pharoaoh of the oppression. Ramesses II had red hair thats why they saya true scot has red hair.
       · 
    • Corey Davidson 
      The basque language is the oldest in the world.Doesnt this tell u anythin about who we are? lol
       · 

    • Corey Davidson 
      king arthur was a pict proving he was racially basque/catalan...suck it jealous bitches
       · 
    • Corey Davidson 
      etruscans were picts/basques and the etruscans taught the romans everything.
       · 
    • Corey Davidson 
      sorry i posted picts weret basques with username miamidolphins but the picts WERE the basques.
       · 
    • midnighthood 
      The red race, Hmm... Maybe you mean Ruddy,which comes from aw dam, or Adam... Look up the word ruddy...
       · 
    • mrcartoonguyful 
      It seems Britain is a sponge and absorbs new culture and has been multi cultural for ages. Despite racism we have adopted much from Saxons, Celts, Rome etc. I read somewhere; Skye I think, that we are of Middle eastern origins going back to an ancient ice age migration. I think all came out of africa and the Levant or Eden supported life and the start of IndoEuropean paganism which branched into other areas of faith.
       · 
    • itsinmynamechap 
      In fairness the basques region is where some constituents of the European population were hanging out during the ice age.
       ·  in reply to MiamiDolphinsClyde10 (Show the comment)
    • Ann Marsden 
      it seems the whole of british DNa has not changed much including all inhabitants of these isles  we are basque
       · 
    • MiamiDolphinsClyde10 
      Shepherd Kings is the history book which ties together and corroborates the ancient histories of ancient Egypt, the Greeks, the Romans, the Irish in the light of modern DNA discoveries and other scientific studies showing the Basques along with the Spartans and Trojans to be an ancient branch of the tribe of Judah.
       ·  in reply to Ann Marsden (Show the comment)
    • Gerard Byrne 
      the irish and scots seen themselves as the same people before catholicism and protestantism fucked us all up and divided us genetically the scots and irish are the same people
    Ireland and the Basque Country: Massive Flight (Emigration) or General Strike?
    By James Petras 
    May 31, 2013 "Information Clearing House" - Many billions of Euros are being extracted from Europe’s vassal-debtor nations – Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland –and transferred to the creditor banks, financial speculators and swindlers located in the City of London, Wall Street, Geneva and Frankfort.  Under what has been termed ‘austerity’ programs vast tributary payments are amassed by ruling Conservative and Social Democratic regimes via unprecedented savage budget cuts in salaries, public investment, social programs and employment.  The result has been a catastrophic growth in unemployment, under-employment and casual labor reaching over 50% among young workers under 25 and between 15% and 32% of the total labor force.   Wages, salaries and pensions have been slashed between 25% and 40%.  The age of retirement has been postponed from 3 to 5 years.  Labor contracts (dubbed ‘reforms’) concentrate power exclusively in the hands of the bosses and labor contractors who now impose work conditions reminiscent of the early 19th century.
    To learn first-hand about the capitalist crisis and the workers’ responses, I spent the better part of May in Ireland and the Basque country meeting with labor leaders, rank and file militants, unemployed workers, political activists, academics and journalists.  Numerous interviews, observations, publications, visits to job sites and households - in cities and villages -provide the basis for this essay. 
    Ireland and the Basque Country:  Common Crises and Divergence Responses
    The Irish and Spanish states, societies and economies (which includes the Basque country pending a referendum) – have been victims of a prolonged, deep capitalist depression devastating the living standards of millions.  Unemployment and underemployment in Ireland reaches 35% and in the Basque country exceeds 40%, with youth unemployment reaching 50%. Both economies have contracted over 20% and show no signs of recovery.   The governing parties have slashed public spending from 15% to 30% in a range of social services.  By bailing out banks, paying overseas creditors and complying with the dictates of the autocratic ‘troika’ (International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission) the capitalist ruling class in Ireland and the Basque region have undermined any possible investments for recovery.  The so-called ‘austerity’ program is imposed only on the workers, employees and small businesspeople, never on the elite.  The Brussels-based ‘troika’ and its local collaborators have lowered or eliminated corporate taxes and provide subsidies and other monetary incentives to attract multi-national corporations and foreign finance capital.
    The incumbent bourgeois political parties, in power at the beginning of the crash, have been replaced by new regimes which are signing additional agreements with the ‘troika’ and bankers.  These agreements impose even deeper and more savage cuts in public employment and further weakened workers’ rights and protection.  The employers now have arbitrary power is to hire and fire workers at a moment’s notice, without severance pay or worse.  Some contracts in Ireland allow employers to demand partial repayment of wages if workers are forced to leave their jobs before the end of their contract because of employer abuse.  The Spanish economy – including the Basque country-- is subject to a modern form of ‘tributary payments’ dictated by the ruling imperial oligarchy in Brussels.  This oligarchy is not elected and does not represent the people they tax and exploit.  They are only accountable to the international bankers.  In other words, the European Unions has become a de facto empire – ruled by and for the bankers based in the City of London, Geneva, Frankfort and Wall Street.  Ireland and the Basque country are ruled by collaborator vassal regimes which implement the economic pillage of their electorate and enforce the dictates of the EU oligarchy – including the criminalization of mass political protests. 
    The similarities in socio-economic conditions between Ireland and the Basque country in the face of crisis, austerity and imperial domination, however, contrast with the sharply divergent responses among the workers in the two regions due to profoundly different political, social and economic structures, histories and practices.
    Facing the Crisis:  Basque Fight, Irish Flight
    In the face of the long-term, large-scale crisis, Ireland has become the ‘model’ vassal state for the creditor imperial states.  The leading Irish trade union confederation and the dominant political parties – including the Labor Party currently in the coalition with the ruling Fine Gael Party – have signed off on a series of agreements with the Brussels oligarchs to slash public employment and spending.  In contrast, the militant pro-independence Basque Workers Commission, or LAB, has led seven successful general strikes with over 60% worker participation in the Basque country – including the latest  on May 30, 2013.
    The class collaborationist policies of the Irish trade unions have led to a sharp generational break – with the older workers signing deals with the bosses to ‘preserve’ their jobs at the expense of job security for younger workers.  Left without any organized means for mass struggle, young Irish workers have been leaving the country on a scale not seen since the Great Famine of the mid-19th century:  Over 300,000 have emigrated in the past 4 years, with another 75,000 expected to leave in 2013, out of a working population of 2.16 million.  In the face of this 21st century catastrophe, the bitterness and ‘generational break’ of the emigrating workers is expressed in the very low level of remittances sent back ‘home’.  One reason Irish unemployment rate remains at 14% instead of 20-25% is because of the astounding overseas flight of young workers.
    In contrast there is no such mass emigration of young workers from the Basque country.  Instead of flight, the class fight has intensified.  The struggle for national liberation has gained support among the middle class and small business owners faced with the complete failure of the right-wing regime in Madrid (ruled by the self-styled ‘Popular Party’ ) to stem the downward spiral.  The fusion of class and national struggle in the Basque country has militated against any sell-out agreements signed by the ‘moderate’ trade unions, Workers Commissions (CCOO) and the General Union of Workers (UGT).  LAB, the militant Basque Workers Commission, has vastly more influence than their number of formally affiliated unionized workers would suggest.  LAB’s capacity to mobilize is rooted in their influence among factory delegates who are elected in all workplaces which far exceeds all trade union membership.  Through the delegates meeting in assemblies, workers discuss and vote on the general strike – frequently bypassing orders from central headquarters in Madrid.  Direct democracy and grass roots militancy frees the militant Basque workers of the centralized bureaucratic trade union structure which, in Ireland, has imposed retrograde ‘give backs’ to the multi-national corporations.
    In the Basque country, there is a powerful tradition of co-operatives, especially the Mondragon industrial complex, which has created worker solidarity in the urban-rural communities absent among Irish workers.  The leading Irish politicians and economic advisers have groveled before the multi-national corporations, offering them the lowest tax rates, biggest and longest-term tax exemptions and most submissive labor regulations of any country in the European Union.
    In the Basque country, the nationalist-socialist EH Bildu- Sortu political party, the daily newspaper Gara and the LAB provide mutual political and ideological support during strikes, electoral contests  and mass mobilizations based on class struggle.  Together they confront the ‘austerity’ programs as a united force.
    In Ireland, the Labor Party, supposedly linked to be trade unions, has joined the current governing coalition.  They have agreed to a new wave of cuts in social spending, layoffs of public employees, and wage and salary reductions of 20%.  The trade union leadership may be divided on these draconian cuts yet most still support the Labor Party.  The more militant retail workers union rejects the cuts but has no political alternative.  Apart from support from the republican-nationalist Sein Fein and smaller leftist parties – the political class offer no clear progressive political program or strategy.  The Sein Fein has made the ‘transition’ from armed to electoral struggle. According to the latest (May 2013) polls it has doubled its voter approval rating from under 10% to 20% due to the crisis.  However, Sein Fein is internally divided: the ‘left’ pro-socialist wing looks to intensifying the ‘anti-austerity’ struggle while the ‘republican’ parliamentary leaders focus on unification and downplay class struggle.  As a result of its collaboration with the ‘troika’ and the new regressive tax laws, the Labor Party is losing support and the traditional right-wing party, Fianne Fail, which presided over the massive swindles, speculative boom and corporate giveaways, is making an electoral comeback – and may even return to power!  This helps to explain why Irish workers have lost hope in any positive political change and are fleeing in droves from the perpetual job insecurity imposed by their elite:  ‘Better a plane ticket to Australia than a lifetime of debt peonage, regressive bankruptcy laws and boss-dictated contracts approved by trade union chiefs who draw six digit salaries’.
    The Basque country’s revolt against centralized rule from Madrid is partly based on the fact that it is one of Spain’s most productive, technologically advanced and socially progressive regions.  Basque unemployment is less then that of the rest of Spain.  Higher levels of education, a comprehensive regional health system, especially in rural areas and a widespread network of local elected assembles, combined with the unique linguistic and cultural heritages has advanced the Basque Nation toward greater political autonomy.  For many this marks the Basques as a political ‘vanguard’ in the struggle to break with the neo-liberal dictates of the EU and the decrepit regime in Madrid.
    Conclusion:  Political Perspectives
    If current austerity policies and emigration trends continue, Ireland will become a ‘hollowed out country’ of historical monuments, tourist-filled bars and ancient churches, devoid of its most ambitious, best trained and innovative workers:  a de-industrialized tax-haven, the Cayman Island of the North Atlantic.  No country of its size and dimensions can remain a viable state faced with the current and continuing levels of out-migration of its young workers.  Ireland will be remembered for its postcards and tax holidays.  Yet there is hope as the left republicans of the Sein Fein, socialists, communists and anti-imperialist activists, join the unemployed and underpaid workers in forming new grassroots networks.  At some point the revolving doors of Irish politicos in and out of office may finally come to a halt.  Unemployed educated angry young people may decide to stay home, stand their ground and turn their energies toward a popular rebellion.  One consequential socialist leader summed it up: “Deep pessimism and the influence of bankrupt social democracy and imperialist ideology within the labor movement are very strong.  As you know we can’t start a journey other than from where we are”.  The determination and conviction of Irish trade union militants is indeed a reason to hope and believe that current flight will turn into a future fight.
    In the case of the Basque country the rising class and national mass struggle, linked to the legacy of powerful co-operatives and solidarity based worker assemblies, provides hope that the current reactionary regime in Madrid can be defeated.  The ruling neo-fascist junta (the ruling party still honors the Franco dictatorship and military) is increasingly discredited and has to resort to greater repression.  With regard to the militant Basque movements, the regime has taken violent provocative measures:  criminalizing legal mass protests, arresting independence fighters on trumped up charges and forcefully banning the public display of the photos of political prisoners (called ‘terrorists’ by Madrid).  It is clear the government is increasingly worried by the strength of the general strikes, the rising electoral power of the pro-independence left – and has been trying to provoke a ‘violent response’ as a pretext to ban the press,  party and program of the EH Bildu Sortu and LAB.
    My sense is that Madrid will not succeed.  Spain as a centralized state is disintegrating: the neo-liberal policies have destroyed the economic links, shattered the social bond and opened the door for the advance of mass social movements. The bi-party system is crumbling and the class-collaborationist policies of the traditional trade union confederations are being challenged by a new generation of autonomous movements
    James Petras has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973-76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo. He received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

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