The parliament is in Strasbourg this week for the plenary session.
Below are two speeches I made on Monday. The first one is on the sectarian rioting which has, unfortunately, flared up again in Belfast over recent weeks. The Peace Process has failed to end sectarianism, in fact there are more ‘peace walls’ now than there were during the troubles. The Socialist Party has produced an article on this which can be viewed here. Instead of eradicating division the Northern Ireland Assembly has in fact institutionalised divisions. The main parties cannot eradicate the poison of sectarianism – they rely on sectarian division to maintain their power.
One thing that unites the Assembly parties is their support for austerity. The sectarian parties are embarking on a vicious campaign of cuts to public services which are already leading to rising unemployment and poverty – conditions which provide a breeding ground for the growth of sectarianism.
There is an urgent need for the building of a new mass working class party, based on the trade union movement, genuine community groups and young people, to unite working class people against sectarian division, against the right-wing policies of the Assembly Executive and for socialist change.
The second speech is against the use of rendition and secret detention centres throughout Europe by the U.S. Shannon airport continues to be used by the U.S military with thousands of troops passing trough it on their way to the Middle East. The airport is also used for rendition flights. The Labour Party were opposed to this in opposition, yet, have done nothing to stop it since entering into government.
Article source: http://www.paulmurphymep.eu/video-speaking-on-the-belfast-riots-and-use-of-shannon-by-u-s-troops
