Issue 070, Saoirse : Irish Freedom (February, 1993)

              irish freedom juimh 70 feabhra february 1993 40p britain 45p usa 24 per year devaluation - its not over yet costly maastricht 398,420 unemployed at the start of 1993 the total out of work in the 32 counties jumped by about 8,000 to 398,420 in the six counties it rose by 720 to 105,420 while another 7,000 joined the dole queues in the 26 counties the effects of the currency crisis and high interest rates will worsen the situation failure a lot of crows have come home to roost following on the currency crisis since last september and the 10 per cent devaluation of the punt while staying in the erm announced on saturday january 30 the price is being paid now for official over-reliance on foreign multi national companies for full ec membership the single market and maas tricht to take just the latter the things we were warned would happen if the no vote was successful last june have actually taken place although the yes vote triumphed one billion pounds has been added to the politician's debt in the 26 counties costing an extra 85 million annually in interest payments alone a very tough budget will be another result in the coming weeks • jacques delors said in brussels to be brilliant during good times but in bad times deeply suspect at the ec council meeting on february he admitted that the ec was in turmoil since june last ". per cent increase with another three per cent threatened the undermining of business and markets due to lack of linking the widely-differing economics of the twelve into a single currency has been compared to the yoking together of a racehorse a camel a mule and a donkey and compelling them all to travel at the speed of the fastest just what damage will be done to the slower animals . . . the 10 per cent devaluation is not the end of the story either as interest rates remain high and an increase in mortgage rates is likely because the currency markets still see the administration in the 26 counties putting their faith in the political goal of an ec monetary and economic union thus the whole saga will continue the alternative of course is let the market rather than political factors determine the exchange rate and float the punt outside the erm just as britain italy sweden norway and finland have done already and france and denmark may very well do in the near future blind zeal for the past five months since the sterling devaluation the establishment's blind zeal for maastricht and a strong currency has resulted in the dublin central bank squandering 4 billion propping up the punt this is equal to half the 8 billion promised over seven years from brussels according to albert reynolds it has further resulted in largescale redundancies see the jobs toll for jan uary 1993 alone on page 3 new foreign debts mortgage payers suffering a three . , saol nu a e real wwwsk • saolnua the real alternative competitiveness especially in the british market and with british firms in inter national markets predicted saoirse predicted this as far back as march 1992 when we warned that maas tricht would mean unemployment resulting from the burden of an overvalued currency in a monetary union with more developed countries leading to less jobs emigration and an increasing drain of capital the 26-county state switched subser vience to sterling for subservience to the german mark when joining the erm in 1979 a fact pointed out at the time by sinn fein president ruairi o bradaigh this dependency mentality is so ingrained in the policy makers of the 26 counties that they have been putting being seen in brussels to be good europeans ahead of the national self-interest of the people and the economy and in return during the currency crisis the overvalued punt got only verbal support from the bundesbank while the french franc was backed up in a cosy arrangement with the german mark to continue in the erm was described on february 3 by commentator peter jay on rte television as meaning perman ently depressed areas in ireland italy spain portugal and probably britain the alternative is to have the confidence and belief in an independent ireland that can creatively exercise its own sovereignty and maximise employment and opport unities for our own people unprecedented rather than dealing with the currency crisis over the past five months the leinster house people have spent an unprecedented period engaged in tribun als and scandals which then resulted in an unnecessary general election this was followed by a further six weeks of politicking to form a new administration those trade union leaders whose comm itment to maastricht for the past eight months and more has seen them supp orting monetarist policies sacrificing jobs and doing nothing for the unemployed have badly let down the workers of ireland surely it is time to consider a complete change of economic direction repub lican sinn fein has adopted such a policy in saol nua - a new way of life which is based on republican democratic socialist self-reliance and ecological principles copies available - see page 5 this is the real alternative to the maas tricht model which will destroy the whole social and economic basis of ireland north and south british backed death squads in mid-ulster page 7