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AN ALTERNATIVE VISION
Ireland has enormous potential. North and South, the people who live here are generous, dynamic and full of creativity. Our generosity is evident in the fact that, every year, nearly €1 billion is gifted to protect the world’s most vulnerable people. In addition, nearly 50% of the population volunteer in sports clubs, charities and old people’s homes and in giving blood. Ireland is also blessed with tremendous creativity. This island has produced some of the world’s best known scientists and writers, with eight Nobel Laureates and countless others making their mark in their chosen fields. Thanks to its climate and location, Ireland is also packed full of natural resources, including the wind and wave energy needed to fight the threat of global warming. If these resources were properly harnessed, Ireland could become an inspiration to millions of people currently living with the effects of climate change, warfare and deep inequality. People Before Profit want to make this vision a reality. We want every person who lives here to feel welcome, secure and confident enough to pursue their own talents. Ireland should become an island of equals – and not just in the economic sense. We want an Ireland that gives everyone an equal chance to reach and exceed their current potential. That version of Ireland would be richer in wealth, diversity and opportunity than anything that the current system can hope to offer.
VISION FOR A SOCIALIST IRELAND
Above everything, we put our faith in people’s ability to move their own lives in a positive direction. Unlike other political parties, we favour direct forms of participatory democracy that bring masses of people into politics - not just the tiny minority elected to the Dáil or Stormont. Over the last number of years, this power has burst onto the political stage with amazing movements emerging around water, LGBTQ and women’s rights. The Right2Water campaign was truly inspirational. Standing against the injustice of water charges, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in a show of solidarity that shook the foundations of the political elites.
People Before Profit were involved in this movement from the very outset. We believed in the vision of a right to water and we helped to secure important victories that must now be repeated. The Yes Equality campaign was similarly inspirational. People Before Profit was very proud to play its part in the fight for an equal right to marriage. This validation of our LGBTQ community was amazing, but we still have much to do to establish a genuine society of equals. That’s why our Northern branches recently spearheaded a campaign for equal marriage that collected 20,000 signatures which were presented to Stormont. The dinosaurs in the DUP believe in scapegoating the LGBTQ community, but we will not rest until all forms of bigotry are eradicated.
Three People Before Profit members have also spearheaded an important campaign for universal healthcare. Our activists have worked tirelessly to build a Still Waiting campaign that aims to deliver health care for everyone living on the island, paid for through progressive taxation. The fight for women’s rights is equally central to our project. Last year, the #MeToo campaign was the strongest signal yet that the lid on sexual violence and harassment is finally being lifted. North and South, People Before Profit makes women’s rights an absolute priority with all of our branches involved in the campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution and to gain full reproductive rights on both sides of the border. After 100 years of repeated failure, it is time to deliver the Ireland of Equals promised in the Proclamation. But to make this a reality, we will need to clear out the oppressive and corrupt establishment that has dominated both parts of the island for nearly a century.