Spanner in the works of austerity


Adrienne Wallace

IT’S TIME for Change was the final note emitted from the last general election, although that seems eons ago in a time before the pandemics.

Now it hits a new note in Carlow County Council as People Before Profit councillor Adrienne Wallace is proposed as an alternative chair.

At this year’s AGM Fianna Fáil councillor John Pender will pass the baton to their coalition partners in Fine Gael but Cllr Wallace and the technical left grouping has thrown a spanner in the works.

Councillor Wallace told The Observer: “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have stopped the charade; they are likely entering into coalition in the Dáil and have been working together in the council for the last year.

“They are essentially the same party now, but with different faces.

“At the same time, we are seeing a strong opposition arising. This pandemic has shown us the vital role workers play in society.

Austerity measure

“People Before Profit will be at the fore of fighting any new austerity measures the right wing try to draft in to pay for this crisis.

“There should not be lay-offs when bosses are hoarding huge profits – very simply we are stating share the wealth to save the jobs.”

 

She added: “We are sending a message to the establishment that there is no going back, that change is coming.

“Carlow was ahead of the national trend in 2019 when people elected me as a new and radical voice in the council. In that time, we have been able to campaign for a women’s refuge, to fight to open the vacant houses and put forward progressive policy solutions.

“Now we are saying left wing voices won’t be side-lined and that there are alternatives to the failed policies of the past.”

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