“The people of East Belfast are entitled to know why Cllr Rodgers has remained silent on the threat to close our libraries. These facilities not only provide the public with books but also internet access and meeting rooms for the community. The Socialist Party is challenging Cllr Rodgers as a member of the board of NI Library Authority to publicly justify the closure of local libraries.”
Mr. Black added “The so-called consultation carried out by the Library Authority is nothing but a sham exercise. There will be no genuine consultation with local communities. For instance, the Library Authority has told Socialist Party members that there will be no meeting for local residents in Ballyhackamore because it is an “un-neutral” location!”
“There is major opposition to any closure of libraries. A campaign based in the communities can fight to save all library services. People power can stop the closures.”
‘It’s only €2 per week.’ Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, was speaking on RTE’s Six One News on Tuesday about the new Household Tax which the Fine Gael/Labour Party Government had agreed at Cabinet earlier in the day. Then in that interview of a few minutes he repeated four more times, ‘It’s only €2 a week.’ Had Hamlet been listening, he might have declared, ‘The Minister doth protest too much.’
Only united working class action can prevent further attacks
The following is a quote from an article in The Sunday Business Post (February 14, 2010): "Dublin based Glas Securities said that any decision by an Irish bank to default on subordinated debt would, depending on the documentation and specific characteristics of individual bonds, result in breaches of so called ‘cross default’ provisions attached to the bank’s senior unsecured paper. ‘This would be quite clearly a ‘no-go area’ for Irish banks’", according to Jim Ryan, Managing Director of Glas.