What We Stand For

at

90387014

Social Democrats, from left: Stephen Donnelly Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shorthall this morning at Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices, Wood Quay,

This morning.

The three founders of Social Democrats shared their plans and ambitions for the new party.

Some highlights:

We have to move towards a much more open approach to decision making.  In that context we favour the abolition of the Official Secrets Act and its replacement with a modern approach underpinned by a general presumption that, wherever possible, openness is the key to good governance.

We need to make the Cabinet accountable to the Dail and we need to make the Dail relevant to people again.

People are paying attention to the detail of politics in a way I have never seen before we can no longer tolerate a situation where Ministers avoid answering questions or rely on spin to confuse people.

If we truly believe in democracy we have to allow our democratic systems  to evolve with us, to ensure the institutions that make up a healthy democracy are valued and prioritised. The establishment of an Electoral Commission, with very wide remit is a must. Not only can it be a powerful watchdog on politics; it can act as an agent for the ongoing renewal that is needed.

Our legal and political systems are supposed to be separate.  If we truly have a separation of powers we must end the political appointment of judges.

Catherine Murphy TD

Lots can be done in the short term. Things like resolving the mortgage crisis. Better supporting Irish businesses. And providing high quality and affordable childcare.  And while we’re doing these things, we need to start working on the longer term. We need coherent planning – in areas like healthcare, infrastructure, housing and pensions. We need a modern approach to implementation – starting with clear objectives, tracking progress, improving, and refining what we do.
And we need to start asking big, ambitious questions. How do we get a top 5 education system in the next 10 years? How do we replicate the foreign direct investment success for Irish businesses? How do we create a modern, community-based healthcare system? How do we ensure everyone has sufficient income in retirement? How do we increase living standards and our global competitiveness at the same time?

Stephen Donnelly TD

We came to the conclusion that we shared a lot of the same goals – Progress, Equality, Democracy, Sustainability and a commitment to the Nordic model of social democracy. We worked well together and decided to set about starting this new political party.
Political reform must be underpinned by a strong commitment to Social Justice and Equality. We know, for example, that the first 5 years in a child’s life are the most important, yet these years receive the least political attention and the least investment.

A major priority for the Social Democrats will be to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life. We also commit to breaking the cycle of deprivation where one in eight children in our country lives in poverty.

Dealing with disadvantage will ensure the right of every child to reach their potential and that, of course, also benefits society as a whole. We want to promote an enterprise culture that encourages innovation and commercial success.  A strong SME sector offers the best prospect of long-term sustainable jobs.

And we want to ensure decent standards of employment so that what happened to workers in Clerys and in Dunnes’ Stores, and indeed, what happened to pensioners in Aer Lingus and Waterford Crystal, cannot happen again.

Roisin Shorthall TD

FIGHT!

Earlier: ‘We Are The @SocDems’


(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

Sponsored Link

33 thoughts on “What We Stand For

  1. Willie Banjo

    Progress, Equality, Democracy, Sustainability, motherhood, apple pie. Why are these new parties so wishy washy. I guess we live in the age of personality, the X factor and mass marketing. Everythings a fluffy product and we’re all potential customers.

    1. scottser

      no harm having aspirations to make the state more accountable. only problem is our legislation is a lesson in ‘a covered @rse is a happy @rse’ , which serves the rights of property and vested interest over the citizen. best of luck to them though – they’re good, honest, hard-working public representatives.

    2. Medium Sized C

      I like how you read half a sentence and then criticised half of the sentence instead of the whole of the sentence.

      It both allowed you to be dismissive and critical, while not having to know what the sentence was about.

      I mean you look like a fool for doing it, but you might never know.
      You could be a minister….. you should join Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

  2. Just Joe

    I am against progress, democracy, for inequality and instability so who do I vote for? Every party seems so be a progress, equality, democracy and sustainability party now. They’re all P.E.D.S

    1. Medium Sized C

      Renua.

      Load of people who left FG because it was too progressive and was leaning dangerously towards equality.

  3. JollyRoger

    Hopefully they will be able to make a difference, it seems like the only party that is in anyway different right now

  4. Yorick

    These TDs have performed well as independents. I wish them the best of luck, and hope their good intentions don’t fall foul of the party system. Social democratic policies would certainly appeal to me, particularly a sustainable Nordic-style model. I’m naturally skeptical of political parties, so I’ll adopt a wait-and-see approach. Looking forward to seeing their policies.

    1. Medium Sized C

      Is that a question?

      Or do you actually think Stephen Donnelly is economically centre-right?
      If so, what do you take economically centre-right to mean?

      1. scottser

        C has is obviously taking a break from correcting leaving cert papers but still has his red biro out.

    2. octo

      Absolutely. I heard him giving out about civil servants one day on the radio and their “generous” pensions. The man didn’t understand the difference between pre- and post- 1995 PRSI rates but that didn’t stop him ranting about it.
      He’s all mouth.

      1. ivan

        I think most in the private sector would say that civil service pensions *are* generous. Let’s take two lads, Tom and Jerry…Tom’s in the civil service and Jerry is in the private sector and they both earn €40,000. when they both retire, one of them is going to have a decent pension whilst the other would basically have had to live on the thick end of fupp all in order to pay into a private scheme that would give him the same.

        I’m not having a go at civil servants. My auld fella worked in the Land Commission but the nature of the pension – not just what it pays on retirement but also what it *would* cost to fund during ones working life is, actually, rather generous.

        1. scottser

          first off, paying into a public sector pension is mandatory, you don’t have a choice. since the pension levy was introduced they now pay twice for the privilege of a supposedly ‘secure’ pension. secondly, 10 years ago private pensions contributions were tax-free. they were used by massive earners to avoid paying dirt and other taxes.

          1. classter

            Even with the pension levy, the private sector pensions are generous. I’ve taken a look at my mother’s public sector pension arrangements.

            There are arguments to be made for this & one might argue that for some fields the base salary paid to public sector workers is lower than for private sector workers and that the pension helps redress the balance.

            But please let’s accept the facts, public sector salaries are generous & damn near impossible to achieve if you are a private sector worker.

      2. classter

        There is a difference between advocating for public services and public servants.

        Almost no political entity in Ireland does the former unfortunately.

  5. phil

    They want to make changes in the Education sector!
    Wow, well then, thats the end of that Political party …

  6. redzer

    They’re the Labour Party (two of them actually represented Labour in elections), but without the baggage of coalition government and zero achievement.

    Let’s see what people think of them after a stint in coalition with a conservative political party…because given the conservative preferences of Irish voters, that is the only way they will ever actually achieve anything in Government….kinda like the Labour Party…

  7. David

    “so that what happened to workers in Clerys and in Dunnes’ Stores, and indeed, what happened to pensioners in Aer Lingus and Waterford Crystal, cannot happen again”

    CANNOT happen again? Bullpoo.

  8. Jake38

    Here’s a few suggestions for a new party………1) No jobs for life in the public service. That should fix about 92% of the disastrous incompetence that characterises public administration in this country.

  9. classter

    ‘Nordic model of social democracy’

    And a Nordic model of domestic water charges? Since, every Nordic country has them?

    1. Delacaravanio

      Right, but do they have an incompetent bureaucracy implementing it, along with a system where the cost of collection is far greater than the money recouped than the water tax, and secret deals with a tax exile who has previously been found to have paid a bribe to a government official in order to obtain a government contact?

      Because if they did I don’t think they’d be paying their water tax either.

  10. veritas

    Social Democratic Labour Pains,where have I seen those initials before.Birth of a new party?

  11. auldlass

    You cannot shortcut your way to Scandinavia.
    Nordic society is constructed differently.
    Culturally protestant folk who say what they mean and mean what they say.
    In favour of repaying loans in full, turning up on time.
    People who obey rules, and put community fairness before personal gain.
    Not us, in other words.

    1. DubLoony

      Forget which nordic country it was but they had a minister who resigned because she forget to pay her TV licence. That’s the kind of integrity they expect of themselves. We still have Lowery in place.

      It’s easy to talk in opposition, very different when faced with the responsibility of offices and consequences. As Greece is finding out tonight.

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie