Campaign Against the Austerity Treaty
On May 31st citizens of Ireland will be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment to endorse the Fiscal Compact treaty. This treaty, more appropriately called the Austerity Treaty, will lock Ireland and other European countries into decades of severe austerity. The economic policies of cuts and unfair taxes have had terrible consequences for working people, the unemployed, pensioners and young people.
Austerity is wreaking havoc on vital educational and healthcare services. It is destroying jobs and preventing growth. It is also putting more and more of our wealth, resources and infrastructure into the hands of a wealthy elite. In Ireland and across Europe the rich continue to get richer, while ordinary people are expected to bear the punishment for a crisis caused by billionaires. This treaty must be opposed.
A wide range of groups and individuals including the ULA, Worker’s Party and Sinn Féin have come together to form the Campaign Against the Austerity Treaty. CAAT is echoing the ULA’s call for a No vote on May 31st. If you would like to get involved in the campaign in Galway email GalwayCAAT@gmail.com or get in touch with the ULA. Check out the Austerity Treaty Section of this website for more information.
Campaign Against the Household Charge
Over one million householders have refused to pay the household charge. Allowing for two people per household, this means that the best part of two million, and perhaps more, people have engaged int he biggest mass act of civil disobedience since the Land War of the 18th Century.
The United Left Alliance has been involved in the campaign against this tax since the outset and the ULA TDs have led the call on homeowners to refuse to pay. Around the country ULA members and supporters have been key in building the campaign, getting the arguments across and giving people the confidence necessary to take on the Government.
The campaign is now entering its most critical phase. Solidarity amongst those refusing to pay is key to success. The Government have initiated a massive disinfprmation campaign in an attempt to downplay the scale of the resistance to this tax. The ULA is committed to maintaining the pressure and the boycott. The Household Charge is not about funding local services, it is about making ordinary people pay more money, which will go straight into the bank accounts of billionaire gamblers. Keep up to date with the campaign website and ULAGalway.org
SPARK Campaign
Single Parents Acting for the Rights of Our Kids is a diverse group of single parents living in Ireland who have united together to protect our children from the radical policy changes introduced in Budget 2012. We are here to raise awareness of the many challenges one-parent families currently face and to identify the essential supports needed to allow us equal participation in society.
We assert the rights of our children to be treated equally and demand acknowledgement and recognition of our family status. We actively challenge stereotyping of our familes. We oppose any economic, social, legal or political policies that have a detrimental effect on our children or on us as single parents. We seek equality for children regardless of their family circumstances.
If you are a single parent and wish to get involved in the campaign, or if you wish to support SPARK get in touch by email to info@sparkcampaign.com
Free Education for Everyone
Free Education for Everyone (FEE) is a grassroots group of students and college staff, set up to fight the re-introduction of fees while campaigning for genuinely free education for all. FEE activists have organised protests, occupations and blockades across the country since 2008. FEE also sees the defense of our colleges as places of learning as opposed to corporate graduate factories as being a central concern.
Free Education for Everyone is organised in universities and ITs throughout Ireland and is open to everyone who agrees with its stated positions, which include scrapping the registration fee and fees for part-time, postgrad and non-EU students; extending and increasing the grants system; funding education through central progressive taxation; fighting for democratic control of colleges by students and staff; and extending solidarity to education sector staff in their campaigns against cutbacks.
FEE Galway is active and open to all who wish to participate int he campaign. Get in touch by email to FEEGalway@gmail.com
ULA Galway 