Message from Joe Higgins,

TD (Member of Irish Parliament) and the CWI

To the Socialist Party Ontario Conference

May 28, 2011

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I send you warm socialist greetings to the Socialist Party Ontario Conference from the Socialist Party in
Ireland and the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI).

I am very pleased to have been invited to address your conference and I wish you every success.

You are meeting at a time of extraordinary world events. This year began with the heroic revolutionary wave that
swept Tunisia and Egypt and which continues to shake corrupt and repressive dictators across Middle East and North
Africa. Workers across the world have been inspired to struggle by these events, including in Wisconsin in the USA.
The mass youth revolt taking place in Spain, against unemployment and social cuts carried out by a supposedly
„socialist‟ government, were directly inspired by „Tahrir Square‟. Similar youth protests are spreading to France, Italy,
Greece and other European countries, where youth face mass joblessness
and no future under capitalism. “One thing is for sure, working
people and youth will oppose cuts
These events show that every country in the world is tied together in a policies, on the streets, in
capitalist economic system that staggers from crisis to crisis. Since 2007, workplaces, communities and
when the US banking system collapse threatened global economic campuses. But the lesson from
meltdown, a massive bail-out of the bankers has been accompanied by an Ireland is that to be successful,
even sharper attack on the living standards of workers and the poor. working people need democratic
control of their movement,
But working people and youth are fighting back! Greece and Portugal have accountable and bold leadership
seen several general strikes against draconian austerity policies; half a that is prepared to resist all cuts,
million people demonstrated against cuts in London on March 26 and over and a socialist alternative to the
the last few days shipyard workers in Italy took action against mass firings. bosses’ mantra of the “need” for
cuts.”
Election shocks

The great discontent and frustration of working people has resulted in election shocks, including in Ireland following
years of economic crises and brutal austerity cuts by the former Fianna Fail government. Working class anger at
having to pay for the bankers‟ crisis, led to the heavy defeat of Fianna Fail, the „traditional‟ party of the Establishment,
during the February 2011 general election.

Important gains were made for the Irish Left. Along with Clare Daly, I was privileged to be re-elected by working
people to the Dail (Irish Parliament) for the Socialist Party. Along with three other TDs (MPs), we make up the new
United Left Alliance (ULA) parliamentary group. The Socialist Party also has a Member of the European Parliament,
Paul Murphy, representing Dublin.

We followed with great interest the recent federal elections in Canada - the dramatic collapse in support for the
Liberals and Bloc Québécois and the spectacular gains for the NDP.

The election outcomes in Ireland and Canada showed voter opposition to neo-liberalism and a search by millions for
an alternative to the pro-market status quo. Yet Stephen Harper will want to press ahead with his right-wing, pro-
market policies in Canada. In Ireland, the new Fine Gael/ Labour Party coalition government is intent on continuing
austerity cuts that wreck working class lives. The Labour Party, in particular, kneels before the ditaks of the EU/IMF
and arrogantly lectures working class people on the need to accept cuts.
 One thing is for sure, working people and youth will oppose cuts policies, on the streets, in workplaces, communities
and campuses. But the lesson from Ireland is that to be successful, working people need democratic control of their
movement, accountable and bold leadership that is prepared to resist all cuts, and a socialist alternative to the bosses‟
mantra of the “need” for cuts.

Under the last Fianna Fail government in Ireland, large demonstrations of workers and students took place against
cuts. Working people were clearly ready to fight to stop all cuts. But the union leaders and opposition Labour Party –
which for decades were in pro-market „social partnership‟ pacts with the bosses - refused to develop the mass struggle,
allowing the government to the carry out the worst cuts in the Republic‟s history.

Building a Left alternative

This is the background to the establishment of the United Left Alliance (ULA) in Ireland. As well as the impact of five
ULA TDs in the Dail (Irish parliament), to develop a strong left alternative the ULA needs a clear campaigning and
fighting profile outside the Dail, on the key issues of unemployment and jobs, the attacks on pay and the housing and
mortgage crisis etc. As mass opposition grows against the Fine Gael/Labour coalition government‟s cuts policies, in
particularly against the „sell-out‟ of Labour, the ground can be prepared for the launching of a new broader party
representing working people and youth.

There is, of course, discussion and debate inside the ULA on its programme and policies. There is general agreement
on taxing the rich and rejecting the capitalist market. But to build a new party that will attract the most fighting and
politically aware workers and young people, the ULA needs to show that it represents a real alternative. The Socialist
Party emphasises the need for the ULA to call for a big hike in corporation tax and for the democratic public
ownership, control and management, of the key wealth and resources in society, for the benefit of all.

I look forward to hearing your conference discussion and deliberations on the SPO‟s policies and programme, as the
working class throughout Canada move to resist Tory attacks and to defend their hard won social gains. I understand
that although the NDP made big electoral gains, on key issues, such as supporting NATO attacks on Libya,
environmental issues, the economy, „law and order‟, there is little difference between the NDP and the main parties.
This, I believe, underlines the vital importance of building a clear socialist alternative.

While in Ireland we expect that a future party for working people will mainly be made up of workers and youth
entering activity for the first time, we also think that disillusioned voters and members of the Irish Labour Party can be
attracted to a principled, strong socialist alternative. As well as providing an alternative for the large numbers of poor,
working people and students who have never supported any party, we believe that a growing socialist opposition can
become a pole of attraction to many NDP voters and members, who will be disappointed at the NDP leaders‟
continuing rightward path. I understand that an important part of the SPO is already made up of former NDP
members. In Ireland, the ULA discusses and debates how best to approach, work with and try to win over rank and
file Labour members who oppose their leadership‟s cuts policies. The Socialist Party is prepared to collaborate in
broad work with Labour Party members and indeed anyone who is against cuts – all cuts – while of course
maintaining our socialist banner and our right to make criticisms of Labour‟s policies. No doubt, the SPO will discuss
similar questions concerning NDP members who oppose cuts, taking into account what I understand are some
differences in the character of the NDP in various Canadian provinces.

Although the process of creating a strong socialist alternative is not straightforward, as we have
learned over years in Ireland, I believe it is inevitable that working class people and youth, forced to
resist the cuts agenda of the main parties, will start to search for an alternative that represents their
class interests. Instead of parties that represent the interests of the big corporations, the bankers, the
IMF and World Bank, the poor, the youth and the disadvantaged need their own party, based on an
independent political programme for socialist change.

The Socialist Party (Ireland) and Socialist Alternative (Canada), are both part of the Committee for a Workers'
International (CWI) - a campaigning international socialist organisation, based in over forty countries. We have members in
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, including Russia, and Latin and North America.

The CWI participates in workers' and youth struggles, as well as campaigning against imperialism, oppression and injustice.
We call for fighting and democratic trade unions and new mass parties of the working class, as part of the fight for a new
society based on the needs of ordinary people instead of capitalist profit.

Find out more about the Committee for a Workers' International

web: www.socialistworld.net email: cwicanada@gmail.com ph: 416-597-2740