PES Manifesto

PES activists Dublin has arrived ...

Published Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 09:33
by desmondotoole (822 views and 5 comments)

Immediately following the NO vote in the recent Irish referendum activists from the Irish Labour Party, French Parti Socialiste and others have set up PES activists Dublin. We were already planning such an initiative but the referendum result gave added urgency to our work. We recognise that this is potentially a defining moment in Ireland's relationship with the EU and as a consequence in the structure and dynamics of Irish politics.

The inaugural meeting of PES activists in Ireland was held on Tuesday 24th June in the Labour Parliamentary Room in Leinster House, Dublin - the home of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). We met below a mural which showed the early and more modern leaders of the Irish labour movement grouped around an image of Marianne leading the French people in the Revolution of 1830. Ireland's republicanism and our socialism owe much to the example of the French revolutions and meeting beneath this mural was our way of paying homage to that tradition.

Our aim is to build European Left politics on the ground in Dublin. Since June, more than 70 activists have joined our city group. There is enormous interest both in Dublin and across Ireland in what we are proposing. PES people are "on the move" in Ireland! Two events in particular have brought in extra members: the Labour Party's annual "Tom Johnson Summer School" in Galway and the setting up of a Facebook page (only accessible if you have a Facebook account) for PSE Activists Dublin.

We have had considerable support from Nils and Sandrine in Brussels and from our own party head office here in Dublin. Indeed our members include Donna Pierce, Chairperson of the International Affairs Sub-committee of Labour's National Executive, Michael McLoughlin, the party's International Secretary and Proinsias de Rossa, MEP for Dublin.

We are also setting up a website at www.pes-dublin.eu and are planning a series of seminars with political figures from the PES across Europe. Our first seminar takes place in September and will be addressed by Richard Yung, a PS member of the French Sénat, on the subject of civil rights to social rights. If you know of any PES member who is resident in Dublin and might be interested in getting involved, please put them in touch with me through our website.

Tags: activists, ireland, PES, political parties