There were demonstrations across France yesterday, Thursday, in memory of young anti-fascist Clément Méric. Clément died in hospital earlier that day following a violent attack on Wednesday night that left him braindead.

The tragedy shocked activists.

Goulven, an activist from the New Anticapitalist Party in St Denis near Paris told Socialist Worker, “We got a text on Wednesday night calling for people to go to the hospital where a comrade was injured.

“More than 200 people turned up, people who'd been close to Clément as well as many activists.

We have long seen the private bankers, speculators and the governments failing the people of this country and causing long and painful austerity, cuts and unemployment.

Last night, thousands of parents who face all sorts of wage cuts, increased working hours, job insecurities and huge mortgage debts went to bed with worries and depressing thoughts in their minds about their little children who spend hours in private childcare.

A concerted attempt is underway by the government, the media and the ICTU leaders to bully workers into reversing their vote on Croke Park 2.
We should stand firm and say NO. We should go further and get rid of union leaders whose primary loyalty is to the Labour Party. They are undermining the very basis of trade unionism.

From Caesar to Napoleon the attempt to ‘divide and conquer’ has been a favoured tactic of elites everywhere. Imperialists from the British in India to the Belgians in Rwanda instinctively understood the need to set up spurious divisions amongst their opponents.

In response the maxim of the oppressed must surely be ‘united we stand, divided we fall’.

This is why the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is intuitively appealing. The idea of organising a multitude of unions into a collective structure should surely work to the advantage of workers.

40 protesters from the local Campaign against the property and water tax greeted Minister Phil Hogan with an angry cacophony of sound as he arrived to formally open a branch library in Ferrybank Waterford.

From 8.30am chants and megaphone sirens could be heard throughout Ferrybank cries of “Phil Hogan we know you – cuts, job losses, money for the bosses” “Can’t pay won’t pay, property charges no way” “They say cut back – we say fight back” and “Bail out people not banks” were warmly received by locals and passing motorists who honked their horns in support.

Since its establishment in 1985, Ryanair has always sought to undercut its rival in Aer Lingus. The company, founded by Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan and Tony Ryan, aimed to give people a cheaper alternative from Waterford and Dublin to London. Although passenger numbers increased, the company ran at a loss until 1991, when a 30 year old Michael O’Leary was given the task of making the airline profitable.

About 80 people turned out at short notice to greet Phil Hogan last night at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel near the Red Cow in Dublin.

The Ballyfermot Campaign against the Household and Water Charges had called the protest and the main body of protesters from the area were joined by others who came from the Wicklow campaign and even a few who travelled from Ballyhea in Cork!

Cllr Brid Smith of People Before Profit kept the chants lively as we waiting for the minister to arrive.

The Local Social Welfare offices have begun to host ‘Momentum Information Events’ around the country. It has 6000 placements nationwide.

At a recent “Information Event” in Bray the Department of Social Welfare informed the large crowd gathered in the Royal Hotel ballroom that Bray would receive 120 places with four different training companies. All training is broken down into three stages -Training, Work Experience and Employment.

Ireland's largest student union, University College Dublin Students' Union, is facing a referendum on affiliation to the Union of Students in Ireland. The call for disaffiliation is becoming extremely popular and increasingly hard to challenge. The old mantra of 'united we stand divided we fall' seems to fall on deaf ears as people do not see or believe in the USI tagline "together we're stonger".