Pat Lawlor said:
“Today, we delivered over 850 signatures supporting our demands to Mr. McKee. We collected that number in a matter of hours of campaigning work. That demonstrates the level of anger there is in the community against the current round of health cuts, and the threat of another £113 million being taken from the health budget this year.”
“Mr. McKee tried to wash his hands of responsibility for the cuts, saying that the budget is determined by the Assembly Executive. Of course, he is correct in this. But he and the Executive Board have rubber-stamped and managed the cuts on behalf of the Stormont government. If he is really opposed to health cuts, Mr. McKee should resign from his position and help to build a real fight-back. Of course, then he would lose his basic salary of over £125,000, not to mention his huge pension.”
“Councillor Tom Hartley, who is supposed to represent the interests of the public, was present at the meeting today but did not come out to greet us. He has still failed to respond to our demand that he justify these cuts to those who elected him.”
Build a mass movement to break the sanctions on Gaza!
A lively demo in front of Belfast City Hall reflected the anger many people feel at the proposed closure of 15 libraries in Belfast. Two young children, under 10, read short speeches saying why they wanted their libraries to stay open!
The Fianna Fáil/ Green Party Government has just about limped to the shelter of the Dáil summer recess, battered and severely frayed at the edges. Now there must be serious questions about how long more it can stagger from crisis to crisis.