Irish Trade Union leaders have called for this year’s May Day to be marked by a demand for an end to political scandals.
The Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) is organising a march through the streets of the capital this evening to protest at what it calls "the litany of scandals which this Government has stood over."
The Council is also calling for a radical overhaul of the current health system which it says is "failing to deliver primary care".
Echoing their European counterparts union leaders have also called for the introduction of anti-racist legislation and "a zero tolerance approach to anyone who incites racism".
The march will be addressed by senior trade union figures among them, ICTU’s Genreral Secretary Mr David Beggs, SIPTU President Mr Des Geraghty and DCTU’s Ms Mary Enwright. The march will also be addressed by Mr Ali A Halimeh, delegate general of Palestine Ireland.
The march will assemble at Parnell Square at 7 p.m. and proceed to Beresford Place, for a meeting outside Liberty Hall at which point music and key note speeches are scheduled.
Preceding the main march Global Resistance has organised a rally outside the GPO in protest at France’s extreme right presidential contender Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Earlier in the day Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, marked the day with a speech to supporters at the James Connolly monument opposite Liberty Hall.
Mr Quinn said: "It is entirely appropriate that we should celebrate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Labour Party by gathering here in the shadow of Lberty Hall at the monument to one of the founding fathers of the Labour Party, James Connolly."
"In those ninety years, politics has changed but values remain the same. The Labour Party today is more internationalist than the party founded in 1912. The struggle to hold capitalism accountable has moved to a broader stage. The Left, once skeptical of European cooperation has become its greatest champion," he said.
