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AMID A CLIMATE of intense industrial unrest nationally, Tesco employees at 16 stores have joined the ranks of the discontented and announced “indefinite” strikes, to begin today, 14 February.
Eight stores are to strike initially, with another eight due to hit the pickets on Friday. Nine of those 16 stores are in Dublin, while two in Wicklow and one each in Kerry, Longford, Meath, Offaly, and Monaghan are also set to strike.
The reason for the strike is that workers who have been employed since prior to 1996 are to be moved to inferior contracts and have their pay greatly reduced, according to unions. Tesco categorically denies this.
This particular issue has been at play for over 12 months now, with plans to move those long-term workers to new ‘modern’ contracts first revealed in January 2016.
Prior to the announcement of strike action two weeks ago, the ongoing situation at Tesco was raised in Dáil Éireann by Independents4Change TD Joan Collins.
Under Dáil privilege, she brought up the existence of Project Black, which Tesco was allegedly using as a means to shed employees.
Hitherto, details of Project Black have been scarce. That has now changed, with the existence of the initiative being officially acknowledged by Tesco management in a leaflet recently distributed to stores.
The company claims that the ominous-sounding title actually refers to “keeping Tesco Ireland in the black”, ie financially sustainable. The company further says that the project refers to “changes to the pre-1996 terms and conditions, no more, no less”.
Unions say it is a “sophisticated and calculated” attempt at union busting, that is, a move designed to render Tesco’s workforce “fully compliant”, the first step of which was the encouragement of longer-term employees to take voluntary redundancy. 700 of those pre-1996 workers have taken such redundancy in the last 12 months (Mandate argues that the figure is much higher). Roughly 250 remain.
A Mandate to strike
Only about 40% of Ireland’s 50 Tesco stores are due to strike this week. Votes by Mandate members in favour of action have been taken in solidarity with the 250 workers still on the payroll who are working on contracts agreed pre-1996.
Those remaining say they are facing pay cuts of at least 15% together with the restructuring of their terms and conditions. Tesco says it is merely applying a recommendation of the Labour Court from April last year and has at all times obeyed all industrial rules.
The company has repeatedly called for Mandate to call off its strike and accept that Labour Court recommendation. Last week, it declared itself “shocked” at the suggestion that Mandate was encouraging its members to “shop with their conscience” in other stores.
TheJournal.ie spoke to two Tesco employees (one of whom has 21 years with the company, the other 27, both wished to remain anonymous for fear of jeopardising the coming strike action) who are currently on pre-1996 contracts. They give an impression of a culture of fear and hostility that has sprung up in the past year.
“We were always a closed shop with full union membership, always achieved via collective bargaining. That all changed last January when we were told that all contracts would be changed,” says one.
They said we were going onto new contracts with less favourable rates and full flexibility. It was either take that or take redundancy.
The two claim that Tesco approached them directly, rather than the union. “They targeted us personally. As the year went on they talked to the union but they were quite standoffish. Just not forthcoming, they were there so they were obeying rules, but they weren’t engaging.”
Both workers describe life at work now as “dreadful, hostile”.
Our lives have been made very difficult. In the run up to the strike vote recently the people on other contracts were brought up and asked ‘how could you go on strike with people like this?’. People who’ve been getting €105,000 in redundancy. Well we were never offered that money I can tell you.
“We’ve been told that we’re selfish, unreasonable, immoral. We’ve been told that if we’re heard talking about this at work ‘it’ll be stamped out’. People who cross the pickets have been told they will lose all benefits (Tesco denies this saying “it is standard that if someone doesn’t come into work then they don’t get paid”). These are people we used to work fine with before this all started.”
The two say that “looking back, you can see the approach being phased in”. “Like when our health committee was phased out three years ago. It was all gradual.”
They are convinced that a Project Purple also exists, and that it is the next phase for Tesco once Project Black, assumed to be the elimination of long-term contracts, is completed.
“They have to get rid of the pre-96ers in order to move to Project Purple. And it’s all working towards having a ‘fully compliant’ workforce’,” one worker says.
But there are people post-96 who have similar set hours and contracts to us. The same manager said to us “we’ll deal with them later”.
The crux of the matter, according to these employees, is: ‘if the company won’t honour these contracts, who’s to say they’ll honour others going forward’.
Right now it’s us being victimised. But if we give in, who’ll be next?
What is Project Black?
Roughly two years ago, Tesco engaged the services of law firm Eversheds (now Eversheds Sutherland in Ireland) to advise on the company’s industrial relations, according to Collins. Regarding Eversheds, Tesco says: “Eversheds have never given Tesco Ireland advice on changes to pre-1996 terms and conditions.” The company has also categorically stated that Project Black is not the result of Eversheds’ consultancy.
Unions meanwhile say the end goal of that consultancy is to “probably deunionise” the company’s Irish workforce.
“The advice started two years ago and has been ramped up significantly in the last 12 months,” a source told TheJournal.ie.
We’ve never come across this kind of sophisticated derecognition of trade unions. We are being consistently undermined, and weakened by the company’s approach.
Union sources say that Tesco sees the approach taken by Dunnes Stores (where unions are not recognised, and the media is ignored completely) as the way forward, and that what is happening is consistent with the approach taken by the company in the UK in the past five years.
“So now they’re still sitting down with us, but not faithfully, there’s no effort to engage,” our source says.
The template is not a new one: “It’s all behaviour we’ve seen, and that’s been documented by our sister unions, abroad, particularly in the UK.”
This is the strategy advised by these professional consultants. If they’re brought in to get rid of 1,200 from the workforce, and 900 are already gone, then it becomes about what Tesco says is flexibility – so out of every 100 workers one will need to be flexible regarding hours. But it’s never been about that, it’s about undermining contracts, and what happens is a lot of people end up on precarious part-time contracts.
Keeping something along these lines a secret is naturally quite difficult to do.
The existence of Project Black was for a long time ignored by Tesco, and first came to the unions’ notice via an employee who was tipped off by a friendly manager.
“Tesco were aware that we knew about it. And let’s put it this way, they weren’t denying it,” says our source. Project Black is now (relatively) out in the open. Recently, the following flyer has been posted in staffrooms across the country, finally acknowledging the controversial project. And denying the existence of Project Purple, saying it is a concoction on the part of the unions.
Click here to view a larger image
Mandate see it as being more likely the next step in the company’s new industrial approach to its staff.
“This is a very sophisticated, calculated approach to staff relations. You can take something totally inferior to what you already have, or you can take redundancy. And if you don’t you can take your union with you. Our members are feeling very isolated right now,” our source says.
Union busters
It may not be a household name, but Eversheds, first established in 1988, itself is one of the largest legal firms in the UK, and was one of the 50 largest in the world in 2009.
It employs more than 4,000 people across the globe.
The firm has been through countless corporate tie-ups in the last 30 years, the most recent involving its Irish affiliate in the opening weeks of 2017 – the company’s new name here is Evershed Sutherland following a merger made with US firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan.
A corporate consulting behemoth, Eversheds is not a firm to be taken lightly. It operates offices in at least 55 countries, including one each in Dublin and Belfast.
Its so-called ‘union busting’ strategy for clients can be traced back 17 years to when the UK government reintroduced compulsory procedures for union recognition for the first time since the 1980s, though ‘union busting’ itself is possibly an unfair description – the strategy put in place could be more accurately referred to as union-resistance.
“UK employers should view a union organisational effort as an economic heart attack,” Alan Lips of US firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister warned at the time.
Eversheds itself seems to have been particularly well-prepared for the then new legislation – it embarked on a nationwide ‘trade union roadshow’ at the time to sell its new union resistance practice.
Its clients have included Mercedes, upmarket grocery chain Sainsbury’s, and, interestingly, Ryanair.
In 2007, the firm, contracted by Michael O’Leary’s budget carrier, was instrumental in arguing successfully in front of a European court that the only employment law that should apply in the case of aircraft employees is that of an airline’s home country – in Ryanair’s case, Ireland.
That decision saw the case of three Belgium-based cabin crew who were dismissed by the airline five years previously overturned after a Belgian labour court ruled that they had been unfairly dismissed.
Eversheds Sutherland did not respond to a request for comment from TheJournal.ie.
When asked to confirm that Eversheds had been retained by Tesco to assist in its approach to industrial relations, the company’s response was:
“Eversheds have never given Tesco Ireland advice on changes to pre-1996 terms and conditions.”
Tesco’s side of things
The company has, for its part, rejected all the Irish unions’ claims in the last two weeks.
Since the announcement of the impending strike action, Tesco has repeatedly released statements calling for Mandate, which represents over 10,000 of the company’s 14,000 Irish workforce, to accept last year’s Labour Court recommendation and to call off its proposed industrial action.
Its approach has been to consistently call for Mandate to call off the strike, most recently on Sunday when the union suggested it would cancel the pickets if the company agreed to not change any pre-96 contracts without prior agreement.
“All Tesco stores will be open today, Tuesday 14 February for business as usual,” the company said in a statement.
Tesco calls on Mandate to accept the Labour Court recommendation which affect 250 of the 14,500 colleagues in Tesco. It remains as the means to resolving the dispute which affects only a small number of staff and the indefinite strike is disproportionate action for Mandate’s other members in the company.
The company likewise underlines that “in the stores that have been balloted less than half of colleagues working in those stores actually voted in favour of strike action”.
Regarding Project Black itself:
“Project Black is the internal working name for changes to the pre-1996 terms and conditions, no more no less,” the company told TheJournal.ie.
1,000 people were in scope at the start of this process and 700 colleagues have opted to take voluntary redundancy with the average payout of €105,000.
Tesco says categorically that Project Black is not the result of Eversheds’ consultancy, and that “there is no such project” as Project Purple.
The company added that a recent pay increase granted to employees, which had been delayed for 10 months, is the fourth successive annual 2% pay increase it has made.
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Considering your party lost more than half their seats in this election clearly shows the people of Ireland don’t want the PBP in government Paul. Your party even lost its Dail speaking rights.
@Ger Whelan: with SF/SocDem/Labour on 60 or more seats, it’s very doable that they can drum up support of another 20 odd seats to get a majority number at the next election.
@Ger Whelan: This plonker, he doesn’t even know what gender his baby is! Woke breeder.
@F1rYnpWc: and then you woke up.
@F1rYnpWc: 20 odd seats. The need 88 to get the smallest majority possible. Bear in mind FF/FG have 86. It’s not very doable in reality
@F1rYnpWc: only if social dems and labour stay out of government this time round. Let those ex ffg so-called independents go in with them.
@Colette Byrne: Labour ready to go into government,they can’t wait to get back to making the big money.
AK dying to be a minister again .
Labour are no more left than FF
@Ger Whelan: we need a steady and experienced hand with Trump in power given how much of our tax comes from US companies.
@FG’s Rental Trap:
Problem for the kids In pbp is the other “left” parties and Sinn Fein are not hard left enough for them.
We have seen recently in the Euro elections we’re a retiring from politics Pbp TD put themselfs up againced left wing national embarrassment Claire Daly which sucked away votes from her. I wonder was it to settle an old score.
@sean weir:
People vote for candidate’s to run the country.
Not sit on the opposition benches windbagging.
@F1rYnpWc: No thanks the people of Ireland don’t want those nonsense partys
@F1rYnpWc: how would u think that would work out Give your head a wabble
Correct Paul.
How many parties have you been a member of in the last ten years?
It’s people like you who are the problem.
@Alan OConnor: You may be conflating some left-wing alliances as party changes over that period. I can’t remember the exact details, but the last three elections have seen some attempt to create a limited left wing umbrella platform.
@Alan OConnor: Exactly, in order to unite you need to be able to compromise.
That is something that the left has always had a lot of trouble with. As Brendan Behan said, the first item on the agenda is the split.
@Alan OConnor: wake up man ffs
@Alan OConnor: The Dublin electorate have an awful lot to answer for vote in these absolute Muppets. The only thing they can engender is anger and resentment.
@Alan OConnor: Not my choice of TD but fair dues Paul got elected despite losing a lot of his voters in the voter boundary chanchangeable with him or not he believes in what he does and says. Better than some of the same old same old FF/FG TD’s there since the year dot !! The left will get there in the end because FF, FG vote is actually dropping from 20 years ago – others like SF are increasing every year !!
From someone who’s swerved Govt at every opportunity and zero intention of ever going in to have his populist positions exposed.
A classic hurler on the ditch
His greatest contribution to politics was leading a mob which trapped and terrorised two women in a car for half a day
‘Will we let them go?’ He asks the mob from his loudspeaker
@James Gorman: That was shameful on his behalf,and not an iota of regret on his behalf,God forbid it was someone belonging to him was treated in that manner,I bet he would of seen it differently.
@James Gorman: When there were people outside his house, he wasn’t too happy, a hypocrite.
@James Gorman: Yep. Organising wasters to harass and intimidate workers installing meters. Screaming ‘peaceful protest’ an inch from someone’s face is not a peaceful protest.
Remember’Je suis Derek’? He was part of that too. These oiks thought they were the same as the people murdered by terrorists in Charlie Hebdo!
Murphy is delusional and an attention seeker. Politics is just his medium.
How this cabbage got reelected I do not know.
@Matt D: apparently he is a very hard working TD for the people he represents
@sean weir: this may be true but a member of the dail should be equally or more concerned about the effect on the whole country as governments are there to try to balance the best by everyone which is often in conflict with local issues. Quite a few Independents also get elected and many are one or local issue candidates which may be the best locally but not nationally. Remember when large party politics involved fixing the pothole and we had very few small parties and independents. Times have changed but it is true that the small parties and independents need to get together to challenge the bigger ones but I think the last independent alliance fell apart while in government. Maybe the people just want the overall status quo to remain.
@sean weir: Is he the same tool who wanted sex education for children?
@Niall O’Cofaigh: blame the game not the player. In order to be elected in a representative democracy you have to deliver locally. If you want a different system that’s fine, I think we’d probably agree, but you cannot expect TDs to do anything different in the current system.
@sean weir: not all. I’m in his constituency. I have not seen him once in person in the 10 years I’ve lived here. Not once. His posters are everywhere but unlike the majority of the others, he didn’t canvas our area. Maybe he considers us not his demographic but still.
@Matt D: He is smarter than you are. But then, everyone is.
@sean weir: no doesnt do anything that people are entitled too like all them
@sean weir: They must love cabbage
Paul, Firstly, I don’t understand how you have been re-elected after watching your performance during the last Dail.
Secondly, open your eyes to what’s going on in Ireland, homelessness, health, justice, and illegal immigration. The world you live in is not the world that most irish citizens live in.
The so called Left are not the solution. Too many egos fighting for power.
@Dog Tired: It really bothers the newly infatuated batch of Marxists that we have an amazing 100 years of onward development. Students infatuation with Marxism is understandable fantasy but the real world solves not exploits real needs
@thomas molloy: These Marxists believe housing should be a human right, for the sole reason that they want a free house built off of someone else’s labour.
Lad cant even figure out if his kid is a boy or a girl but wants to lead a government eh no thanks weirdo.
@Trump24: Indeed. A hilarious consequence of going all in, on a ridiculous ideology. Poor kid.
@FlipBip: why is he allowed near a child. This is very worrying.
Irish people prefer right wing parties clearly, none of this left wing socialism madness for the Irish
@Peter Byrne: I agree. We deserve 15,000 homeless people. We deserve a crumbling health service. We deserve to underpay our teachers, our nurses, our soldiers, our firefighters. We deserve everything we get. Because it’s what we vote for. Irish farmers on the radio complaining about the Mercasur deal? Suck it up. You vote FFG, then expect their neoliberal policies.
@Peter Byrne: but they are happy enough when they get free water thanks to same left wing parties. We would be paying thousands a year in charges if ffg had their way.
@Anthony Curran: only right about one thing and thats under paid soldiers, check the facts
@Anthony Curran: 15000 living in free accommodation supported by an industry of 20+ free loading charities, high paid CEO,s and millions circulating in various fiddles all at the taxpayers expense.
@Anthony Curran: What is the option? Vote for worse. The situation in Northern Ireland is worse. A lower cost of living maybe – thanks to Westminster and definitely not SF.
@Anthony Curran: I think you should leave SF, your ideology is more aligned with PBP & Communism. Ironically, as one of the many SF bots on here, the people that were floating voters & looking for an alternative in the Election, were only turned off SF by the likes of yourself & FG’s Rental Trap posts. I was going to vote SF, but the Referendums, Hate Speech & Immigration flip flops were the turning point. The Referendums were an eye opener, flip flopped & backed the wrong horse, Mary Lou doubles down on the fk up by saying she would re run it, then she was reined in by Matt Carthy, who obviously was instructed by HQ in Beal Feiriste. SF or PBP, whichever don’t offer us any hope or alternative to the mess we have.
@Allo Allo: checked the facts. you’re wrong.
@Anthony Curran:
You seem to be a victim of lefty propaganda.
We are one of the top countries in the world to live in.
@Anthony Curran: Telling farmers to suck it up, but then complaining about not getting paid enough. How about you work a bit harder and get your money up. If you can’t build your own shelter, then go buy one off of someone who can. The catch is you will have to give them something in return for their materials and labour. (That something is called money).
@H Woo: Ha ha, and then you look at the facts. Housing is driving companies away from the Republic, turns out right wing propaganda is wrong.
@Colette Byrne: so, who is paying for it?
Remember Paul it’s the People Who decides who they want to Govern Not You
Dry your eyes, Paul.
Nobody wants your communism.
I dont get how this communist won his seat back (barely).ffg are not right wing either which he always says..they have been center left if anything but he wants us to go extreme left.no thanks.
For me, the main problem with the article is its very questionable assumption that SF is left-wing..
@Brendan O’Brien: Chameleon Parties are playing the gullible members of the public but have been caught out.
Paul you lost the house with your delimit the rights to private property bill
Your “party” got 2% of the vote… you are irrelevant, no one cares what you stand for
@barry fay: that 2% is people with no brain who fully believe that they should be given the human right to housing of if someone else’s labour and materials.
I saw what the left does, and I can tell you that when they ally, they never hold for long and each one wants cake.
@Dominic Leleu: Ty hey got together to stop RN in France, and called it a huge victory although there are now more RN TDs than before, then although having the majority, could not even decide if a first minister.
don’t make me even start on what they stand for… ridiculous
@Dominic Leleu: blah blah blah
@Richard Ryan: great reply numb nuts. The left wing alliance even had to get The Communist party of France into their coalition to get power. As we all know, throughout human history, left wing policies sound amazing to someone with no brain. Free house, free food, free healthcare, free everything. In reality it obviously never works because why would a construction worker work when they can just get everything for free. So they all wait around for the ‘human right to housing’ that they have been ‘given’ by the lefties, but with nobody to actually build the houses, or work in the healthcare, or grow the food.
Strange, Murphy identifying as a left winger. Is he for real? They are the nearest thing to Commies that you’ll get. Look at the disrespect they afforded Zelensky on his visit to the Dail.
It’s only yourself you are fooling!!
It’s about time you got a new job as you are finished in politics the people voted for who they wanted and clearly it’s not you .
@Richard Ryan: growing cabbages might be a good career change for him
Poor Pop up Paul.
The only real communist in the village
How about instead of writing this you take down all your posters considering the election was a week ago. Sick of looking at them every day. All others have taken down theirs in the area.
Hey paul, good of you to let your child choose HIS gender, anyone calling their son Juniper needs a kick in the nads to reassert any confusion over gender.
@Freda Peeple:
Wonder does Pop up Paul
have private health insurance.
Wonder has pop up Paul got his/ she /it’s name down for the local private fee paying school.
I think it’s been shown that left unity is virtually impossible with their multiple factions. I’ve friends in that circle and they couldn’t agree on the colour of sh**e. One is labeled as a Trot or Marxist if they vary slightly in their opinions to the other. The same can be said for the fragmented right wing parties and I still maintain that followers of extremes on either side are two cheeks of the same arse.
@Longlin: I’d rather be the cheek than the @rsh0l3
Democracy.
@paulmurphy : Do you not see the irony in calling for left-wing unity in the headline and then only making it to the third paragraph of your piece before attacking Sinn Fein for a lack of ambition? This article is indicative of the exact problem on the left, if you want to be brave and ambitious consider joining Sinn Fein and bringing as many leftists as you can with you.
@Miles Kennedy: why would left wing TDs join Sinn Fein? The party might purport to be of the left, but their rabid ultra-nationalism shows them to be a right wing party.
The Far Left wouldn’t last a week together & Murphy would be the first to bring it down. He can’t agree with anything or anyone, has to shout down everybody & impose his ideologies on everybody. His day is gone, people don’t listen to him anymore, working class Dublin saw through him, he has more time for those arriving weekly in record numbers, than he does in the plight of Irish people in working class communities. Happy to stay shouting on the sidelines while taking a TD’s salary & expenses, waste of a vote & the Far Left coming together will never happen, too many egotistical leaders who are from backgrounds a million miles from those they purport to represent.
Getting the popcorn out for the comments to come here!!
The people don’t want your woke nonesense. Healy Rae was right about you, even if he his a god following air head.
1 thing I am happy about. The greens have been wiped out. Thank you Ireland.
The like of Murphy have to step back for the left to unite. He is toxic.
Any
parliamentary steps that can break up and cut down FFFG one hundred years of control of government in our country I welcome…..
He the guy that held Joan Burton captive
This the man who says his daughter is something other than female and his uncle can tell your future lol
Paul, the well paid “marxist”, who would take us back to the 1950.s.
@Ed Brennan: In terms of housing, no, I ghink you’ll find that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have already down thst, with a worse public health service the ’50′s.
A broad electoral strategy of FF/FG is to take a left party into the tent just so that the left fails to unite for that election cycle.
Plenty of us on the left don’t want to go that “far left”. We’re liberal and want realistic policies that will work.
What does Left mean these days because Sinn Fein are not a party on the left they are whatever you want them to be as people who vote for them vote brand SInn Fein.
@Tim Brennan: Ha ha, policies make a party left wing. Ignore that aspect though as it seems to insult you.
He is not a real socialist
Socialists are for property taxes and water charges broaden the tax base and make it more sustainable
@padraig godley: I think you’ll find that they believe that the biggest poolluters should pay water charges, not the ordinary person. Ironic as it is tye water infrastructure that is wasting water. Property tax, I think you’ll find that the Socialist belief set does not encompass a property tax, it actually believes that the state should pay for housing with the pccupany paying rent, a scheme actually used throughout Europe while countries aren’t Socialist. You seem to be making up Socialist beliefs as you go along, tends to happen when conservatives speak for Socialists. You buy a house and then the state says ‘You don’t own that land, you still have to pay us a property tax’ so tyerefore you never really own it, at least Socialists are honest in their beliefs, unlike conservatives.
Proletarians of all nations – unite! (Karl Marx)
Why is the Journal giving this clown any sort of attention? He is the most embarrassing and most clueless member of the entire Dáil and that’s saying something with the current crop that we have in there.
@Frank O’Hara: For the clicks of course! Lunatics & headbangers like Paul Murphy drive traffic allowing the Journal to show brightly coloured charts from Google Analytics to their advertisers & charge them more – capitalism at its finest!
I think it’s great so many Na Zis are here doing their performative jeering. It means less out burning down IP centres and threatening librarians.
@Franno: I wouldn’t burn down an IP centre, and I love our local librarian. You do illustrate what turns most people off of headbangers like Murphy, though. The instant extreme accusations are a little silly.
I will, however, continue to laugh at Murphy.
@honey badger:
You have pontificated on a few extreme positions yourself, your support for Israel for instance.
@P. J.: Supporting the world’s only Jewish state isn’t an extreme position, PJ. I would, however, be interested in some evidence of “a few extreme positions” I’ve pontificated on…
@honey badger: Supporting the perpetrators of genocide and war crimes is the definition of extreme. You refused even to condemn sickening settler violence towards Palestinian children. Will you finally rid yourself of this odious position and condemn Israeli atrocities? Go on… Prove you’re not an extremist. It’s easy!
@Darth O’Leary: Of course he won’t. Israel could wipe out the entire Palestinian people and he still wouldn’t condemn its actions.
If a red line hasn’t been crossed already, it doesn’t exist.
@Darth O’Leary: Throw up your evidence of this “refusal” there, Darth! You headbangers, like the op, are heavy on accusations but vanish when asked to support them.
@Brendan O’Brien: More hysterical hyperbole! Is “Israel could blow up the universe” your next hot take? Ffs
@honey badger: Seriously, what would be a red line that, if crossed, would prompt you to condemn Israel’s actions?
Bernie Sanders wrote in October: Israel ‘did not have the right to wage an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people. It did not have the right to kill 42,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were children, women and the elderly, or injure over 100,000 people in Gaza. It did not have the right to destroy Gaza’s infrastructure and housing and healthcare systems. It did not have the right to bomb every one of Gaza’s 12 universities. It did not have the right to block humanitarian aid, causing massive malnutrition in children and, in fact, starvation.’
Clearly none of those actions has affected your unconditional support for Israel. What would?
@honey badger: There was an article ages ago about settler violence. You brought me around and around in circles but refused to condemn any settlers’ actions. Do you condemn Israeli settlers’ attacks on Palestinian civilians? A simple yes would clear everything up
@Darth O’Leary: Link please!
@Brendan O’Brien: I’m sorry, Brendan, you’re a joke. You’ve said moments ago that I’d support the annihilation of all Palestinians. This is hyperbolic evidence-free nonsense. I’ve answered these questions several times on the few relevant articles where comments are allowed. Yourself (and darth) don’t like those answers and persist in repeating yourselves. It’s really boring.
@honey badger: You need a link to remember if you condemn settler violence towards Palestinian civilians? Most people would just outright condemn that but not you. If I’m wrong you won’t have a problem condemning it now, will you? So on you go…!
@Darth O’Leary: No. I’d like you to produce the evidence of your claim, that’s all. Like all the other times you said this and vanished. We both know I’ve already answered this, you didn’t like the reply, so persist with this drivel. Show your evidence, please.
@honey badger: Why not answer the question(s) here? It would have taken no more time than the reply you just wrote refusing to answer.
Clearly as far as you’re concerned Israel is right by definition and therefore can do no wrong. Human rights, human lives, human dignity mean nothing to you if the humans in question happen to be Palestinian. Yet you are coy about explicitly stating this. You want to have it both ways: to appear to be a relatively reasonable person while tacitly endorsing extreme breaches of human rights and international law, right up to the level of genocide.
Don’t expect not to be called out on this.
@Brendan O’Brien: Again. Hyperbole, projection, and bluster. I’ve answered all these questions several times. That you didn’t like those answers is not my concern. I want peace, two states, and prosperity for all. It’s that simple.
@honey badger: My evidence is right here in this thread. You were given many opportunities to condemn extremist violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in this thread, today! You consistently refused. Why not just condemn the violence? Oh yeah, because you have no problems with extremist views that you happen to share but you have the audacity to call Paul Murphy an extremist. Your hypocrisy is glaring
@Darth O’Leary: I’ve only asked you to produce evidence, Darth. I’ve already answered these questions several times – you didn’t like those answers. If you want to read/hear things you like, grab a book or a parrot. I’ll take it that you can’t produce a link. Again. PFO now.
@honey badger: No hyperbole, no projection, no bluster. Just facts that you don’t like.
I hope you won’t be pretending that your support for Ukraine is based on any kind of attachment to human rights. Clearly it isn’t.
@honey badger: What would be a red line that, if crossed, would prompt you to condemn Israel’s actions?
A sentence or two will suffice.
@honey badger: you have never once answered these questions. You are a liar as well as a hypocrite and an extremist bigot. Nice combo. Getting profane now as well!! I(or someone else) will always be here to remind you of your lowly moral standing in this regard. That’s how consequences work little man
@honey badger: Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, the organization said in a landmark new report published today.
The report, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how, during its military offensive launched in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel has unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity.
“Amnesty International’s report demonstrates that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now.”
@Darth O’Leary:
Genacide going on in Syria for a while now.
But that’s OK, it’s not the Jew doing it.
@H Woo: Absolute rubbish from you as usual. My objection to Israeli war crimes has nothing to do with religion. What genocide in Syria? Do you mean the Christian enclaves in Syria being attacked by Western backed malitias and defended by Syrian government troops? As usual your Israeli propaganda falls flat.
@honey badger: Your still not answering the Question
@Darth O’Leary:
Genocide denier.
(Always wanted to say that)
@Sheila McNulty: He won’t
@Darth O’Leary: No genocide. Just a small string democracy defending its people and country from savages.
What we need is to keep the likes of this lefty looney out of government
@frank dowling:
No, he is usefull in sucking votes away from the shinner
I’m not a Sinn Féin supporter, but it’s ironic that the far-right attacked a left-wing party that wasn’t in government and helped hand the keys back to Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil for another 5 years. Turkeys.
@Jacintha Dumbrell:
Sinn Fein left wing????
@H Woo: yep. Commies.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: please explain ‘left wing’.
Very difficult to envision this when the left itself is so splintered and diverse.
Punch and Judy politics. Left and Right are redundant terms, there is just an oppressive establishment that there’s no getting away from. Ireland needs to dump the wokism, reduce taxes and build houses. Otherwise nobody with any sense will stay there.
@Carl Valderrama: Wow, what a politically naive statement.
A joke if a man. A joke of a party. And as for the Left Alliance I would give Monty Pythons People’s Party a way better chance of Governing Ireland! Good Luck!!!
The Lefty liberals like yourself are a dyeing breed. Europe is tending to the center or center right parties due to left wing policies that are destroying Ireland.
Did P B P GET ANY TDs elected
Not a bad idea to have someone challenge the ffgs alright
We are a centrist country.
Imagine champayne socialists like this lad and boyd barret with any kind of power!?.That is scary.
FFFG are golidlocks party..not too hot..not too cold.
That is who we are.
Tax us all you want ,give us 150 free esb??
We are happy!
Strong leftover lot
Definitely love see government that didn’t have a fg or fg td in it
@martin finnegan: not in your lifetime
have your say