Gilmore for Taoiseach!

Last week I created a group called "Gilmore for Taoiseach" on Facebook.

Already, over 200 people have signed up. But we want this to grow to tens of thousands so we can change the script - it's not just a choice between FF and FG. Here's the blurb for the group, which you'll find here.

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People in Ireland want change. We are fed up - not just of a Government who have dropped us into a spiralling recession, but of conservative politics and right-wing economics. Enda Kenny and his Fine Gael party offer little different to the status quo.

The real alternative is Labour. The Labour Party has the ideas, the values and the policies to get Ireland back working.

Eamon Gilmore TD, Labour's leader, has the highest approval rating of any Irish political leader and is leading the charge for a third option in Irish politics.

That third option rejects neoliberal economics and the greed of the speculators, developers and bankers who have caused the unprecedented hardship we are now in.

That third option proposes positive solutions to get our economy back going - an economic stimulus package which will put tens of thousands back to work and a taxation system which closes off the developer loopholes and avoidance scams.

That third option stands for better public services - health, education, transport and housing. And it stands for a politics of fairness and equality above all else.

That third option is Labour. Eamon Gilmore can break Civil War politics by becoming the first ever left-wing Taoiseach in Ireland. Get active with Labour at www.labour.ie/join - and play your part in creating that history.

Press Release - Recent Youth Unemployment Trends Most Worrying of All - Looney

Dermot Looney, the Labour Party candidate for this year’s local election in Tallaght Central, has blamed government inaction for spiralling unemployment figures, calling for measures targeting young workers and young unemployed people to be implemented immediately. His comments came as national live register figures showed 327,861 people signing on in January 2009, with local figures just as worrying.

Looney, who is based in Greenhills and works in Tallaght, noted that at the Tallaght Social Welfare Office, the signing on centre for people from Dublin 24, an unprecedented 7,261 signed on for jobseekers allowance and benefit in January. This was 745 higher than in December, yet again marking the biggest monthly increase in unemployment in Tallaght this decade. Extraordinarily, there has been an increase in the Tallaght office alone of over 3,000 in the last year.

Looney highlighted the increasing youth unemployment rate as a cause for particular concern. There were 1,767 under 25’s signing on in Tallaght in January – an increase of 171 in just a month.

Looney also noted the increase at the Bishop’s Square Welfare Office, used by people in the Dublin 12 and 6w parts of the ward, which saw the number of those signing on increase from 5,652 in December to 6,342 in January – a jump of 690. The figures for this office are almost 3,000 up from January 2008.

“The current employment crisis is threatening any social gains made across this area in recent years,” noted Looney, “and will hit working-class communities the hardest. I have talked to countless young people and their families who are most at risk, hearing heartbreaking stories of despair. Even emigration is not an option for many young workers given the global jobs crisis. ”

“Nobody needs reminding that during the 1980’s more than one in four young people were on the dole, that many had to emigrate, and that this part of Dublin became an economic blackspot. Now that those days have returned it’s time for urgent policies which stem the flow. Labour’s proposals for an economic stimulus package would put thousands of construction workers back to work on vital national projects such as a nationwide school buildings programme and environmental retrofitting schemes.”

"We should use the €14 billion in the European Social Fund for youth retraining, education and increasing mobility between sectors and access to the labour market for young people. Here at home, we need to implement new welfare to work initiatives and active labour market programmes as a matter of urgency, supported by decent provision of childcare and education places."

"For more established and older workers, the INOU's call for an early warning system for redundancies will provide the time to attract other investment or retrain workers before they lose their jobs. Community Employment schemes, particularly for the long-term unemployed, must be maintained and developed, and talk of prioritising the high-tech sector can’t be allowed to exacerbate social exclusion in working class communities - meaning that no further cutbacks at any level of education are acceptable."

Victory for Greenhills and Greenpark!

I am delighted to post that the appeal to An Bord Pleanála regarding the landgrab at St Mel's and Glendoo Close has been rejected tonight.

You can read my blog posts about it from last year here and here . I have worked with local residents in both estates to ensure this was warded off along with my colleagues Pat Rabbitte and Eamonn Walsh.

Tonight's victory did not seem possible a year ago but the work by residents, particularly in terms of research into the legalities around ownership, as well as their submissions opposing the development, has truly paid off. See my press release below for more info.

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Looney Welcomes "Huge Victory" for Greenhills and Greenpark Residents

Dermot Looney, Labour's Greenhills-based candidate in June's local elections, has congratulated local residents on a hard-fought victory with the rejection by An Bord Pleanála of a speculative development between St Mel's Avenue in Greenhills and Glendoo Close in Greenpark. Looney, along with local Labour colleagues Cllr Eamonn Walsh and Pat Rabbitte TD, had campaigned to ensure the site was retained as green space for local residents.

The application by Lansdowne Francs Properties to build six houses on the green space, which involved a controversial deal with South Dublin County Council to pay a reputed €250,000 to the Parks Department in return for the land, had originally been made in December 2007. The Council decided in May 2008 to seek additional information but, on foot of massive local objections and a series of legal and ownership matters, rejected the application in June 2008. The developer lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, which itself was delayed on two occasions due to a backlog of work in the appeals board, but was finally decided on February 3rd.

"I am absolutely delighted for the residents who worked hard in the face of enormous odds to oppose and campaign against this land grab," said Looney. "Simpy put, this is a huge victory for Greenhills, Greenpark and ourselves in Labour who campaigned vigorously against this speculative development. An Bord Pleanála's decision is the correct one and I sincerely hope that this is the end of the matter."

"Greenhills and Greenpark have been the subject of similar speculative developments before. An attempt to grab land between St Peter's Road and St James' Road was met by a phenomenal campaign by local people who have now built an inspirational community garden at the site. A further attempt last summer by a separate developer on Keadeen Avenue in Greenpark to build on land beside the Greenhills Road was warded off by a campaign I organised with local residents. This latest successful effort by residents to protect their green space should be the nail and coffin for any further speculators seeking a quick buck in our area."

Press Release - Looney Expresses Support for Students, Opposes Fees

Dermot Looney, Labour's candidate in June's local elections in Tallaght Central, has joined with local students and their families in opposing the re-introduction of third-level fees. He was speaking as about 15,000 students marched on the Dáil to demand the retention of the free fees initative. Looney, 26, began his political career as a student activist in UCD and played a part in the campaign which defeated proposals to reintroduce fees in 2003.

Looney has written to the officers of IT Tallaght Students' Union and the Union of Students in Ireland expressing his solidarity and has pledged to do all he can, if elected to the Council, to support students. The Greenhills-based candidate, who works as a primary school teacher in Tallaght, noted that the County Council retains control over student maintenance grants, while Councillors are also involved at VEC level and as members of governing bodies in higher institutions.

"I agree with USI when they point out that education is the only way out of this economic downturn for our young people - be they at primary, secondary or third level - or beyond," said Looney. "The Labour Party opposes the reintroduction of fees and wants to see investment at all levels of education be the fundamental basis for economic recovery."

"Labour was correct to bring in free fees in 1996. It enabled me and thousands of others from working class backgrounds the chance to go to college. As a socialist, I believe in free education across the levels because it is a basic human right and because it is the most liberating tool we as a society have."

"It is entirely dishonest to portray the reintroduction of fees as the rich paying and all others retaining a waiver of some sort. Instead, the very rich will continue their advantage while everyone else will be hit with costs running into tens of thousands of euro, the likelihood of crippling debt and the reality that many will simply not be able to afford it.

ENDS

This February, Build the Alternative By Joining Labour

The verdict is in. People are fed up. Not just of the government, but of politics in general. Politics as usual.

It needn't be this way. The Labour Party offer a real alternative. We have the values, the philosophy and, increasingly, the people. More and more people are turning to Labour as the recession hits hard and the same old politics and economics fail us. But building a Labour Party capable of leading the country takes more than words.

We need an organisation capable of attracting the votes needed to build a leading force in Irish politics.

And to make that organisation happen, we need more members - more members to campaign on the issues that matter, to drive policy in the party, to knock on doors and to ensure a broad democratic base for the Labour Party of the future.

This February, Labour is launching an historic recruitment drive. Here in the new Tallaght Central Ward, I am making sure as many local people as possible are given the chance to join Labour and get active. Nationally, our party website at www.labour.ie allows you to join in less than 60 seconds. Locally, you can contact me through this blog or by emailing dermot.looney@gmail.com .

Joining the Labour Party was the best decision I've ever made. Make it yours.

Dermot