Corrib gas: Labour and trade unions challenged

THE FG leader’s recent attack on the Shell to Sea campaign has implications for the trade union movement and future coalition governments.

Firstly, was it the silence of the leadership of the Labour Party and the trade union movement on this issue that spurred Enda Kenny to launch his outburst at a trade union conference? Labour party and union members have supported the campaign — but were they speaking in an individual capacity? Surely we are entitled to demand that Labour and the ICTU issue clear statements demanding an end to the gas project and asserting that our national resources must be in public ownership?

Secondly, there is the question of coalition.