Joe Higgins Wins European Seat
Joe Higgins, the Socialist Party candidate in Ireland, has rocked the political establishment in Ireland by being elected to the Dublin Constituency for the European Parliament.
Joe, who is a member of the sister party of the International Socialists, got 82,366 votes, with 50,510 first preference votes. In winning the seat Joe defeated sitting MEP’s of Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail. Joe said: “European countries are dominated by right-wing governments which are trotting out the same capitalist policies as here in Ireland and making working people pay for their mistakes.”
Joe Higgins restated that he would work to unite workers in Ireland and across the EU and would only take the average industrial wage of his salary and his legitimate expenses would be published. Mrs Ellen Higgins, who visited her son regularly in Mountjoy Prison in 2003, said: “I’m proud of him. I think he’s very good.”
Over the last few days, Joe Higgins was widely predicted in the Irish press to be best placed to take the third of three European Parliament seats in Dublin.
The Irish Times online and RTÉ News led with reports of his victory this morning. He told the Irish TV network that he would “serve the needs of ordinary people in the EU”, and that his appointment was bad news for corporate Europe and the big business culture of the European parliament. He said his election was a very positive result for working class people in Europe.
The Irish Socialist Party reports: Joe Higgins is a long time activist in the labour and trade union movement. Elected to Dublin County Council in 1991, he was a leading fighter against corrupt land rezoning in Dublin and for planning in the interests of communities rather than for speculators and major developers.
Joe Higgins was the Chair of the Federation of Dublin Anti Water Charges Campaign which won massive support and forced the Fine Gael/Labour Government to abolish water charges in December 1996. Minister for Social Welfare, Mary Hanafin, said last year that had abolition not happened, each household in Dublin would be currently paying €700 per year in water charges.
Joe Higgins was elected to the Dail in 1997 and for the next ten years was a leading opponent of the right wing policies of the Fianna Fail/Progressive Democrat Government. He frequently challenged the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on a wide range of issues including land speculation and profiteering in the housing market, Government support for the invasion and occupation of Iraq and in defence of workers’ rights.
In 2003 Joe Higgins was sent to Mountjoy Jail for a month over his opposition to Bin Tax, a new stealth tax on Dublin householders.
In 2005, with the Socialist Party, he exposed the horrific abuse of migrant workers by Gama Construction and struck a major blow against the ‘race to the bottom’ when that company was forced to pay unpaid wages of around €30million to its workers. (See Documentary “The GAMA Strike” here)
Joe Higgins was a key Leader of the opposition to the Lisbon Treaty last year because it would facilitate further privatisation of crucial services like Health, push the militarisation of the EU, increase arms spending and institutionalise the right of bad employers to attack agreed wages and conditions for entire industries.
Excerpt from the Irish Times, 8 June 2009
“Mr Higgins, who once spent a month in jail over a campaign against bin taxes, beat Mr Ryan by almost 7,000 votes for the final seat in the constituency, as dawn was breaking today.
“He declared elected at 5.15am after 400 counting staff had worked through the night at the RDS count centre. Mr Higgins picked up a massive 22,000 transfers from Ms McDonald to push him past Mr Ryan.
“Mr Mitchell was elected before midnight while Mr de Rossa reached the 101,658 quota shortly before 4am.
“Flanked by his elderly mother and dozens of young supporters, Mr Higgins said: “European countries are dominated by right-wing governments which are trotting out the same capitalist policies as here in Ireland and making working people pay for their mistakes.”
“He pledged to unite workers in Ireland and across the EU. When asked about how he would cope with the gruelling travel to parliamentary business in Brussels and Strasbourg, he said: “I’ve travelled far and wide in the interests of socialism and so I’m sure we’ll manage.”
“He said he would take the average industrial wage of his salary and his legitimate expenses would be published. Mrs Ellen Higgins, who visited her son regularly in Mountjoy Prison in 2003, said: “I’m proud of him. I think he’s very good.”
“A native of Co Kerry, Mr Higgins, aged 60, once studied for the priesthood but later became an atheist. His incisive contributions in the Dail made him a thorn in the side of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern from 1997-2007.”
“His election campaign was funded on a shoestring budget and his black and white posters claimed he was: ‘The Best Fighter Money Can’t Buy’.”
