Pat has unnervingly attacked the complicity of all the parties in the Assembly Executive for carrying out cuts to the health service. In particular, Pat has repeatedly challenged Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley who sits on the board of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust which has carried major cuts to health services. Pat is currently the West Belfast organiser of the Stop the Cuts Campaign.
Pat told socialistpartyni.net “The people of the Lower Falls and West Belfast have been betrayed by those promising change. We were told by the parties in the Assembly that they would deliver jobs and investment, but they have done the opposite. Since 2006, the numbers of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in West Belfast has risen by 60%. The only jobs which have been created seem to be for political hacks and cronies. Instead of fighting cuts, all the parties in the Assembly are making them – we need a socialist alternative which is capable of uniting all working class communities, Catholic & Protestant – against the cuts.”
Pat is standing for Belfast City Council in the Lower Falls ward
Pat is also standing for the Assembly in West Belfast
If you would like to assist in Paddy’s election campaign contact 07810522111
Working class needs its own party
BT has offered workers a 2% pay rise with two one-off payments of £250 – one of which will be at the managers discretion. This pathetic offer is nothing in comparison to BT’s profits which were up 11% in the third quarter of 2009. BT rejected the CWU’s claim of 5% despite the fact that this would only equate to just 1.1% of the companies £5.7 billion projected annual profit. Meanwhile, BT’s profits look set to go up. The recent volcanic ash cloud and its lingering problems for air travel will mean a surge in conference calling – a definite unexpected increase in BT’s profits. 
In the past 12 months over half a million workers have been sacked across Northern Ireland and Britain. In the North, over 102,000 people are unable to find work - more than double the official unemployment statistics.