“Far-right are enemies of progress” says Bacik at Labour election launch

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that “misery persists in Irish society” and that the politics of far-right parties are “poisonous.”

Speaking at the launch of Labour’s local and European candidates, Bacik said that the far-right are “enemies of progress.”

She criticised Fine Gael’s European parliament grouping, the European People’s Party, for supporting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their ongoing war in Gaza.

She pointed to Fine Gael’s counterparts not signing a pledge that would rule out working with the far-right and disavow violence against political activists.

Discussing June’s set of elections, say said “we cannot return to the bad days of tenement living and soaring inequality,” and vowed that Labour “will make sure of that.”

“We need the radical change envisioned by Connolly now more than ever,” she said, stating that Labour are needed in “every council chamber, in the Dáil and Seanad, and in the European Parliament.”

With housing a major issue at both a local and Dáil level, she criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s neoliberal approach to housing.

“The neoliberal economic model to which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have subscribed and governed by since the foundation of our State is one that necessitates an endless pursuit of growth for growth’s sake,” she said.

She said the model “has not brought about the end of inequality, it has concentrated wealth even further.”

“It has not redistributed resources, nor has it created a sustainable future for our children or for our environment.”

The Dublin Bay South TD noted that on paper, Ireland has a strong economy but it doesn’t work for the majority of people.

“Too many are struggling, and many have been left behind,” she said.

“Numbers on a balance sheet mean little to the family in emergency accommodation, the pensioner who cannot afford the healthcare they need or the minimum-wage worker who cannot keep up with childcare costs.”

“What use is that high GDP when Deliveroo drivers face violence at work to earn just a pittance?” she asked.

Invoking recent debates surrounding immigration and nationalism, Bacik said that James Connolly was a republican “in the true sense of the word.”

“He knew that it (republicanism) was more than flag waving; that it wasn’t nativism.

“To love your country is to believe that it can be better – for everyone. This year, it is more important than ever to expose those who pretend to love this country,” she said.

Out of the 108 candidates, Labour are running across Ireland, 30 of them are running for seats in Dublin.

In 2019, the party ran 37 candidates across the various Dublin local authorities.