The EU has enforced a humiliating surrender on Greece. The Syriza government that was elected to end austerity has been forced to implement it. The meaning of Wolfgang Schauble, the German Finance Minister’s infamous phrase ‘we can’t possibly allow an election to change anything’ is now clear.

The scale of the brutality is astounding. To take just one example: there will be a ‘significantly scaled up privatisation programme’ to generate a fund of €50 billion. This fund will then be effectively controlled by the EU to ensure that bank debt and bondholders are paid off. Up to now €7 billion worth of privatisation has been pushed through by other governments in Greece.

The Irish government helped humiliate the Greeks. The former Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has stated that Ireland – along with Spain and Portugal – were among his ‘energetic enemies’. read full story / add a comment

The negotiations on the proposed Transatlantic and Investment Partnership were begun in July 2013, and nine rounds of negotiations have taken place since. The tenth round is due to take place in Brussels on 13 -17 July. The People’s Movement will be holding a demonstration against TTIP at 1 p.m. on Wednesday 15 July outside the EU Parliament offices in Dublin to mark the tenth round of negotiations. All are welcome. Please put it in your diary. read full story / add a comment

The European Parliament is about to make another attempt to pass a resolution on the EU-US trade deal TTIP this Wednesday. Ahead of this critical vote, an alliance of over 480 organisations from across Europe is calling on MEPs to take the strong resistance from citizens seriously. 2.3 million Europeans have signed a self-organised European Citizens' Initiative that calls for an end of the TTIP negotiations. All MEPs today received the following letter in their native language, signed by the Stop TTIP organisations in their respective country: read full story / add a comment

This Saturday, 4th of July, we are gathering to express our Solidarity with the Greek people. The march will start at 12pm at the Central Bank.

Please join in the march!
Event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/372093629667333/

We are also tweeting with the hashtags:
#OXI
#IrelandStandsWithGreece read full story / add a comment

The drip feed of questionable deals carried out by NAMA is well under way. Regularly now, we see information reaching the public domain whereby NAMA have sold stressed assets at less than their real value and the purchasers are turning them over within 2 years, at profit ranging from 30% to 40%/ The purchasers are mostly foreign investment funds – ‘vulture funds ‘ – who have picked on the carcass of the stressed Irish property market. Many of them have retained the assets, and become serious players in the residential rental market in Ireland, especially Dublin, and have developed a controlling influence, managing to drive up rents astronomically in our capital city. This all doesn’t make them evil people – they just do what they do, it’s called unfettered Capitalism - our problem as Irish citizens is that our Government have allowed a situation to develop whereby the vulture funds win and the Irish tax payer loses. And our present Neo Liberal Government think that this is all fine. I believe otherwise. Here’s my Leader’s Questions with Taoiseach Enda Kenny this week, who knows that all is not well. - read full story / add a comment

LuxLeaks: Guided tour through the IFSC
Saturday, June 27 at 12:00pm
Meet at: James Connolly statue in Beresford Place, opposite Liberty Hall read full story / add a comment

Apple must be forced to repay taxes lost through dodgy deals with government, say tax campaigners

Tax justice campaigns group Debt & Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI) today welcomed the fact-finding mission to Ireland of the European Parliament Special Tax Committee on Thursday 28th May.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/taxe/home.html read full story / add a comment

The EU's negotiating team for pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) met with civil society organisations inside the Commission on Wednesday (27 May) to defend the inclusion of the health sector in the trade deal.

In Europe, universal healthcare is a source of national pride, as well as a constant subject of debate. So, the inclusion of a healthcare chapter in TTIP has triggered heated reactions from health NGOs and trade unions, who are wary of an American-style liberalisation of a heavily regulated sector. read full story / add a comment

The United Nations, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and finance ministries are meeting in New York to finalize an agreement for the Financing for Development Conference (FfD) to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July. read full story / add a comment

The current focus on low pay and precarious work practices has set the scene for the work of the recently formed Low Pay Commission in the Republic of Ireland. One aspect of their work will be to look at the number of individuals trapped in low pay, many of whom are dependent on the social protection system to underpin their ability to make ends meet read full story / add a comment

The World Bank announces $650 million in new concessional loans and grants for Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia at the start of the Spring IMF and World Bank meetings. read full story / add a comment

The IMF issued a report today showing that debt and human crisis are driving inequality and financial instability. Jubilee USA Network calls for the establishment of structures to stabilize the global financial system and to protect low-income communities. The Ebola epidemic clearly demonstrates the need for these structures. read full story / add a comment

Grenada Could Influence Global Debt Negotiations read full story / add a comment