Working Class Action Bulletin - February/March 2003

Lets protect our Community.....

After the recent spate of house robberies in the area, we felt it was time to remind people to be extra vigilant and ensure their houses are well secured. In particular, the old folks in our community should be wary of the possible dangers nowadays.

There are a couple of obvious measures we can all take:
The best way to protect our community, especially our senior citizens, is for us all to look out for each other.

Remember, it costs nothing to be a good neighbour

Security in the Home
To further secure an elderly person’s home, the following security devices can be supplied by the "Security of the Elderly" charity, subject to availability.

The current grant covers 90% of the cost of the device and its installation. Anybody on a pension is entitled to apply for a grant. There is usually a waiting period - so apply as soon as possible.
Product Cost You Pay
Security Lights 120 12.00
Window Lock 15 1.50
Door Lock 80 8.00
Door Chain 15 1.50
Smoke Alarm 15 1.50
Door Viewer 15 1.50
Pendant Alarm 330 33.00

For more information or Grant Application Forms contact:

Security of the Elderly,
6 St Mary’s Lane,
Off Little Green St.,
Dublin 7
Phone: 8783833 or 8783834

LABOUR BETRAYS LOCALS - 30% Increase in Bin Tax

The Labour Party, yet again, cast the deciding vote for the Bin Tax. The last time, three of their councillors voted for the Bin Charges and this time the Labour Lord Mayor, Dermot Lacey, ensured that the 30% increase in this tax went through. A special mention must also go to local Fine Gael councillor Chris Giblin, who broke party ranks to vote for the Bin Tax.

The shabby deal cobbled together by Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to impose this double tax on the people of Dublin is only to be expected, none of these parties care about people in working class areas. The suggestion to remove the waiver for the elderly and those who can’t afford to pay is an indication of what lies ahead. This is the lead up to privatisation. If they succeed with the Bin Charges, further taxes will follow. They are already talking about Water Charges.

We now see that local government in Ireland exists only with the permission of central government. Any opposition will lead to the abolition of the democratically elected Council involved. In other words, your vote counts for nothing!

Remember, the majority of people continue to refuse to pay this double tax. We want the big polluters to pay, not ordinary people. Don’t be panicked by threatening letters. Contact your local campaign or Working Class Action for further information.

Don’t Panic…Don’t Pay!


CRIME - Action is needed NOW!

As local people who live and work within our communities, Working Class Action members are only too aware of the problems caused by crime. In an attempt to highlight some of the current inadequacies - and to promote some measured responses to the issue of crime and policing as it affects our community - last December Working Class Action submitted a series of proposals to the National Crime Council. Here we outline some of the most important ones.

WCA accept that everybody has a responsibility to themselves, their family and ultimately to their community, but for a variety of reasons some people are drawn to crime and therefore inflict major hardship on their neighbours. The vast majority of people in our communities are law abiding and deserve all the resources the state can provide to protect them from this hardship.

• We want to see greater use of the existing numbers of Gardai. We see the presence of Gardai on the beat as a very important preventative measure, as well as a reassuring sight to local people. Too many Gardai are wasted in directing traffic, protecting politicians and filling in forms when they should be involved in crime prevention.

• We want to see a follow up system for victims of crime whereby they receive regular updates on the progress of the investigation.

• Community Police Forums can only succeed if they are truly representative and accountable to the community and not just comprised of "the chosen few".

• The problem of those in positions of power, who are both geographically and financially poles apart from the communities they should serve, must be overcome. We mus address problem of judges who fail to implement mandatory sentences for drug dealing, because they themselves are not affected, or senior gardai who refuse to tackle local crime issues because they don’t see them as a priority. All officials must be accountable to the communities they serve.

• Criminal activity is in no way limited to the working class. Recent tribunals have exposed some of the crimes of the wealthy, but unless these individuals are convicted, we will continue to have little faith in an equal justice system.

• Drug dealers must be recognised for what they are. Murdering scum. Every effort must be made to eradicate drug dealing from our communities. We demand the imposition of the mandatory 10 year sentence for drug dealers. Gardai should not be allowed do deals with informers who continue to poison our kids. Most importantly, no area of this city should be allowed remain a drugs market. The message must be sent out…do the crime - do the time.

• One of the most horrendous crimes is rape and all the more evil when perpetrated on the young. In order to protect ourselves from these sexual deviants, locals must be informed of their presence within our communities. Child abusers (paedophiles) must receive long sentences to protect their victims and save other children from their repeatable crimes.

Tackling Crime in Communities

Any attempt to tackle crime must accept that poverty, poor education and poor parental control plays a major part.

Working class areas must be given proper resources to divert young people away from crime. These long-term resources must be managed by the communities and not just used to create mini industries around all our social problems.

We need to achieve positive results to prevent another generation of children at risk from falling into the criminal justice system and creating havoc within their local areas.


10 Year Mandatory Sentence for Drugs

Introduced in 1999, this law states that there should be a ten year mandatory sentence for possessing drugs worth over €13,000. Incredibly, judges are refusing to use this law. Out of a total of 130 applicable cases only 5 have received this sentence.

Drugs are destroying our communities yet the judges don’t care enough to use this law to seriously impact on the drug dealers. The judges and the solicitors are not from our areas and are not affected by the drugs crisis. A perfect example is the case of the drug dealer who was caught with euro 15,800 worth of heroin, a gun, 19 canisters of CS gas and 2 pepper sprays. All this and he was only jailed for 18 months!!

There is now a lobby of solicitors and politicians who are arguing for this law to be done away with. These people are more concerned with their own power and the rights of the drug pushers, than the damage these scumbags are doing to our children.


Child Molesters

A perfect example of the soft treatment given to child molesters and perverts was the case of Tim Allen. Even though he had over 1,000 pictures of abused children in his possession the judge thought it more important that his barrister was wearing his legal wig. Luckily for Allen he was rich enough to pay off the judicial system. This lowlife will not spend one day in jail, instead he got a suspended sentence. The Irish justice system comes cheap these days, euro 40,000 and you can do what you like.

Working Class Action has highlighted the case of the pervert priest Ivan Payne. This paedophile was found guilty of sexually abusing altar boys and sick children. He was jailed for six years for sexual abuse against nine young boys. He refused to undergo treatment for his crimes but was still released early. The Church then housed him in a luxury apartment facing a crèche and children’s playground. Both the Church and Police were aware of the whereabouts of Payne but obviously nobody in authority thought it necessary to inform the local community about the paedophile in their area. Apparently, when the state wants to dump their filth somewhere, working class areas fit the bill perfectly.


WCA Local Representatives in your area:

Ballybough & Drumcondra – Alec Robertson
Cabra & Dunard – Cieran Perry
Stoneybatter – Colm Walsh
North Inner City – Eoin Candon
East Wall & Docklands – Joe Mooney
North Wall & Docklands – Sonia Murphy

Contact: 087- 9620940 or 086 - 3309485



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