Solidarity Limerick

When sports-washing a genocide no ground is neutral!

'Stop the Games' public meeting. Join us on Thursday 25th June at 7pm in the Absolute Hotel to find out how we can fight back and stop the Ireland/Israel games from going ahead. Speakers to be announced soon.

The Israel-USA alliance have spent almost three years committing the most heinous crimes against humanity in Palestine. Despite this, the USA are hosting the World Cup while Israel will play teams from across the globe, including Ireland during the tournament.

Ireland are slated to play the team representing the genocidal state of Israel on at least two occasions despite the express wishes of the vast majority of Irish people. The FAI have moved the games to a 'neutral venue' in an attempt to undercut the ability of ordinary people to protest the playing of these games. This move represents the pressure the FAI have been put under by the Free Palestine movement. It's not enough however.

Playing on neutral ground still represents complicity on the part of the FAI & by extension the Irish players in sportswashing genocide & in attempting to lend any credibility to Israel. Israel has already been facilitated by multiple institutions across cultural disciplines including music and visual art as seen in their participation in events such as Eurovision & the international contemporary art exhibition, the Venice Biennale.

Meanwhile, conspicuously absent from the tournament is the Palestinian team who haven't qualified. And how could they possibly when Israel, the USA & their allies have murdered 565 football players, many of whom are children, since 2023. How could they qualify when 80% of sports facilities have been decimated by these same forces. Meanwhile, the world is expected to forget all this in the name of football lest a genocide puts a dint in the profits of those who stand to gain the most.

There can be no quarter given to genociders including on our football pitches. We cannot accept or normalise this. We must build a strong campaign to prevent these games from going ahead. Join us on 25th June & let's build that campaign collectively.

Solidarity members in Limerick joined the ambulance workers picket this morning and spoke to them about their concerns. Here is some of what they had to say.

There are currently just under 2,000 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) in Ireland. Scotland, which has a similar population has 4,000. Just 300 of the 2,000 are trained advanced paramedics who are able to administer over 50 different medications, do emergency procedures at the scene, and even call the time of death if needed. Training for these positions has effectively stopped.

Workers report that young trainees joining the service are completely burnt out within 5 years!In order to make end's meet, workers are taking on overtime with some working 80-90 hour weeks; one worker reported having been hospitalised twice throughout her career due to severe stress and burnout. Having the ability to be sharp, think on their feet, and face the unknown is key to their work, and the fact that they are so undervalued means stress and burnout makes their jobs needlessly more difficult.

Workers who have been trained to "bring the hospital to the home" report feeling that their good will as healthcare workers is taken advantage of. Their vocational dedication to serving people on "the worst day of their lives" is used to keep them from demanding more. The fact that they've had to go on strike for a mere payrise when there are so many quality of life issues that are affecting them exposes that reality. Because they care about the job, they often arrive early and leave their shifts late to make sure that the vehicles are fully stocked and prepped for a handover to the next shift so there are no gaps in service; they are not paid for this work.

Workers know that because of the emergency nature of their jobs, they're not necessarily in the public eye as much as other more regular public services are; that invisibility means the their jobs aren't really understood and that the immense stress they are under isn't really in the public consciousness. They felt that invisibility is part of why they're able to be so underpaid.

Young women are increasingly seeking out work in the Ambulance Service tipping a once largely masculinised workforce towards gender balance. The service has not caught up to this however, with one worker reporting that young women are fearful about reporting their pregnancies as they're immediately taken off of work and are left in the financial lurch. While other public servants have peri/menopause resources, these are not available to ambulance workers. Additionally, the stressful working conditions often make it so that workers have burnt out and quit before reaching this life stage! Workers also reported just 1 bathroom shared between 30 women - & it doesn't even have a lock!

The sentiment on the picket was that the workers did not want to strike, but they were forced by management who have ignored them at every juncture.

The workers received enthusiastic support from the morning rush drivers with lots of beeps and cheers from passing cars. Huge solidarity was also evident from University Hospital Limerick (UHL) workers who showed their support for their highly esteemed colleagues. When asked what people could do to support, workers mentioned petitioning to representatives and putting pressure on the government to give them the basic payrise they're asking for -- to help amplify their strike and help make their demands impossible to ignore!

We need a campaign of industrial action across the health sector and public servicesto win inflation-busting pay rises. The fuel protests revealed the potential power we have when we organise and use our power to shut things down.The trade union movement has the power to put massive pressure on this weak government.If the trade unions, with over 600,000members, adopted a similar approach,they could transform the situation and set the tone for addressing the multiple problems and crises in our health system.

Solidarity stands for a one-tier public health service funded by taxing the super-rich and big business, that is free at the point of use, and in which the skills and talents of its workforce are truly valued with decent wages and conditions.We want to see a fighting trade union movement in the tradition of James Connolly and Jim Larkin come into existence.We stand for a socialist alternative to the chaos of the capitalist market that prioritises greed and profiteering over our needs.

Solidarity has hit back at the Limerick Chamber of Commerce after its Chief Economist, Sean Golden, was quoted in The Irish Examiner (link in comments) warning that Limerick Council’s invocation of Section 139 emergency legislation risked setting a precedent.

Responding to Limerick Chamber’s stance, a spokesperson for Solidarity stated:

“Sean Golden’s concern over precedent is misplaced. He should be focused on the Mayor rather than the use of a rarely used legislative tool that has always being available to councillors. There should be no cause for worry going forward if the Mayor is willing to respect working-class communities. It is the Mayor’s refusal to meaningfully engage which forced the Janesboro community into a corner and lobby councillors to pursue a Section 139 intervention. Will the Mayor finally start listening, or is he intent on bullying communities into submission? If it’s the latter, then Mr. Golden should be worried.”

Solidarity clarified that opposition to building on Boro Park was never about a rejection of housing, but about the preservation of essential green space.

“The Janesboro community said that modular homes on the only green space for thousands of households was not appropriate. He tried to ignore them, but the community’s solidarity was too strong. This is a welcome demonstration of local democracy in action.”

The Mayor declared a housing emergency on the eve of the council vote to save Boro Park which served to conflate the two issues. The Solidarity spokesperson said:

“Working-class people don’t need a lecture on the housing crisis as they are disproportionately affected by the housing shortage, unable to leave home or forced into substandard accommodation. Solidarity argued that housing should have been the centrepiece of the Opera development, but we were ignored. Instead, the argument that building office space would stimulate private investment in housing prevailed.”

Sean Golden was an economist with the Land Development Agency (LDA) when John Moran was its chair and the plans for ‘Colbert Quarter’ were first outlined. Solidarity noted:

“Rather than fixating on pursuing a pet project conceived of in 2019, the Mayor should follow his own advice and take immediate steps to secure the funding and labour required to build public housing on public land. The fact is that both of these men are the architects of the LDA’s so-called ‘Colbert Quarter’ needs to be acknowledged when reporting on their contributions. Staring in the rearview mirror won’t get us where we need to go.”

Solidarity concluded by challenging Limerick Chamber’s framing of the issue against the backdrop of falling construction rates:

“It isn’t surprising that Limerick Chamber has sided with a proposal that would enrich private investors at the expense of a vital community park. However, to frame it as undermining housing delivery without acknowledging that housing delivery has actually declined since the Mayor’s term began is disingenuous. Limerick Council was one of only eight local authorities to see a decline in housing construction during 2025, the Mayor’s first full year in office.”

Limerick Solidarity activists out leafleting this evening’s Treaty United game against UCD.

Ireland V Israel match in October should be cancelled.

The many crimes of the Israeli State include: the bombing of Iran (alongside US) resulting in over 3,000 dead, the displacement of over one million people in Lebanon and not to mention the continued genocide in Gaza.

This game should not be allowed go ahead.

The majority of attendees at the match agreed with us, including one Treaty supporter who is so disgusted she was considering cancelling her season tickets as a result.

Successful worker action and protests against the apartheid Springbox in 1970 showed us the way.

To get active with the us or find out more message us here.

Keep an eye out for Solidarity activists before the Treaty United match versus UCD in the Markets Field tonight, who will be leafleting in support of the campaign. If UEFA, FIFA, and FAI refuse to do the right thing, we need to organise to shut down the Ireland v Israel game on 4th October. Solidarity welcomes the fan-led campaign ‘Irish Fans Against Israel’ which we know involves Treaty United fans. Stop by, grab a flyer, and let’s chat. Let’s see how we can build a mass campaign to end the sportswashing of genocide.

Double Olympic boxing champion Kellie Harrington reached out to congratulate the Janesboro community, noting that her own inner-city Dublin community is currently campaigning to save their local pitch – which demonstrates the scale and impact of the grassroots effort to defend Boro Park.

Janesboro has demonstrated the power of a united working-class community. By standing firm, Janesboro has shown that working-class people can roll back pro-market policies and protect the essential amenities that make a city liveable.

Read more:

'Up the Boro!' – Victory for Limerick community campaign to save park Janesboro and neighbouring communities are celebrating a historic victory after Limerick City and County Council voted unanimously to block Mayor John Moran’s attempts to build temporary modular housing on the community’s only park. A capacity crowd in the Council gallery erupted in cheers as th...

Janesboro and neighbouring communities are celebrating a historic victory after Limerick City and County Council voted unanimously to block Mayor John Moran’s attempts to build temporary modular housing on the community’s only park.

A capacity crowd in the council gallery erupted in cheers as the decision was announced, while hundreds more watched the proceedings online. Double Olympic boxing champion Kellie Harrington reached out to congratulate the community, noting that her own inner-city Dublin community is currently campaigning to save their local pitch – all of which demonstrates the scale and impact of the grassroots effort to defend Boro Park.

The Mayor’s Plan

Mayor Moran had attempted portray his plan as him following through on already existing commitments made by the council. However, the council’s housing director confirmed during the meeting on Monday that Boro Park had not originally been proposed by the council’s housing department as a potential site for ‘SMART’ modular housing.

Moran, in his role as chair of the Land Development Agency (LDA), had initiated the Colbert Quarter Plan which included the development of public-owned sites along the then disused (now to be reopened) Limerick-Foynes railway line. This is where the plans for developing on Boro Park originated from. When speaking to the community at a public meeting in March, Moran had claimed that there were no designs or formal planning for the site. However, in the days running up to the council meeting, he produced LDA drawings which had massive developments planned for what was then a field.

That field always used by the community, especially by dog walkers, but in 2021 the council invested considerable resources to transform it into a proper green space. These changes were clearly something that the Mayor struggled to accept, given his insistence – despite residents repeatedly correcting him – on referring to the park as the “Boro Field”. This combative and dismissive approach by the Mayor only made the community more determined to resist.

A Controversial Record

Indeed, Moran has played an inauspicious role in housing in Ireland. As head of the Department of Finance, Moran helped orchestrate the entry of vulture and cuckoo funds into the Irish housing market. This move has directly contributed to the current housing shortage facing buyers and renters today. His proposal for Boro Park followed this pattern where he was open about seeking private investment for temporary for-profit housing. Residents argued that this would do nothing to reduce the social housing waiting list while permanently destroying their shared green space.

On the morning of the council vote, the Mayor published two blog posts implying that a vote for the Janesboro community was a vote against housing. However, working-class communities don’t need a lecture on the housing crisis from a millionaire landlord as they are the ones who have to live it. The solution is not to stack modular housing on an area’s only community park, but to implement a public housing scheme that removes profit from the equation and builds quality, truly affordable homes for all.

Community Opposition

The Janesboro community established a ‘Save Our Park’ campaign which successfully lobbied councillors and organised community events to maintain pressure. A public meeting with the Mayor at Our Lady Queen of Peace National School was so well-attended that people had to be turned away at the door. Despite this so-called “listening exercise” which demonstrated the overwhelming opposition to his plan, the Mayor went ahead and hired a team at a cost of €16,575 (excluding VAT) to design the modular units he proposed to put in the park.

In response, councillors took the extraordinary step of using a Section 139 motion under the Local Government Act 2001. This rarely used tool allows councillors to pass a binding resolution directing that specific proposed works or projects by the local authority executive shall not proceed. This marked the first time the measure was ever used in Limerick.

Lessons Learned

Notice of this council meeting was the cue for a quite extraordinary campaign on the part of ordinary people. Activists in the community pulled together the contact details of all the councillors and there was a live tracker of who was voting with the community and who was still on the fence which was updated daily. Those who were still to be convinced were followed up assiduously.

Councillors remarked how civil and respectful the correspondence of residents and supporters were. The community was determined, but it was also disciplined. The Mayor’s attempt to portray the community as having been “misled” by politicians backfired. He had evidently hoped to leverage people’s suspicion of the establishment parties. However, people had analysed the plans for themselves, and councillors were therefore responding to the demands put on them by the community not the other way around.

Janesboro has demonstrated the power of a united working-class community. Support for housing in the area was expressed at every event and conversation around the campaign, the community simply argued that the planning mistakes of the past be learned and that working-class areas needed both housing and amenities.

There are already too few parks and public spaces in Limerick city. Those we have should be defended. Every community should be encouraged by this campaign to do the same and fight for high quality public housing with green spaces and community resources. By standing firm, Janesboro has shown that working-class people can roll back pro-market policies and protect the essential amenities that make a city liveable.

Limerick deserves better than a Mayor who treats the city like a private playground. 🚩

Mayor John Moran, a multi-millionaire landlord, is now asking for “donations” to fund his political agenda.

But the facts are:

• Funded by you: His office has already received approx. €25 million in public funding.

• High Salary: He earns over €160,000 a year yet claims he needs more to support delivery of his “mayoral programme”.

From trying to demolish Janesboro Park to seeking private subsidies for his “reforms” the Mayor is proving exactly why Solidarity campaigned against the creation of this office. We argued that an elected mayor would likely end up taking more powers away from democratically elected councillors than he or she would from an unelected Council chief executive. This has been borne out by the spectacle of the Mayor, Councillors, and CEO clashing for control of the dysfunctional Limerick experiment.

Mayor Moran claims he needs private cash to fight “large parties, lobbyists and vested interests” but this rings hollow, because who do we think is actually going to donate? While we agree that conservative parties dominate local politics, opening the door for private donors to fund the Mayor directly is a massive red flag. It won’t be the working class struggling with the cost of living who will be donating, it will be the same wealthy business interests he and the larger parties already serve.

Mayor Moran must shut down this fund and return any money already donated. Public office is for public service, not for private and vested interests.



Accessibility text: the photo contains the slogan 'The Monopoly Mayor Must be Stopped' in white text in a red box with a white border. On top of the sky blue background is a depiction of a cartoon character resembling the Monopoly game man holding a bag of money with John Moran's face superimposed. Green paper money swirls around while the bottom of the image contains a view of the Limerick skyline in green duotone. On the bottom left is the Solidarity logo in white depicting a sheaf of corn & a rose contained within a white flag.

Welcome intervention by the Unite trade union: "Mobilising organised workers is the only way of ensuring that workers are protected from the impacts of this crisis, and that is the focus of discussion within Unite."

Energy costs: Workers will not pick up tab for another crisis

👉Trade union action needed to force Government to address spiralling cost-of-living crisis
👉Unite member consultation to assess energy cost impact

Unite said today that public support for the fuel protests reflects anger at the government’s pitiful response to spiralling energy prices, and demanded that the ongoing cost-of-living crisis facing workers be front and centre of any new package of measures developed by the government.

Last month, Unite released the results of a survey of public sector workers showing that 80 per cent of respondents had to cut back on essential spending over the past year, with a third forced to borrow to meet household costs. The survey was largely undertaken before the current crisis began.

Unite’s Irish Executive Committee is clear that backing our members at this time of crisis is a priority, and the union is currently engaged in direct consultation with members across all sectors of the economy to identify the impact of the latest energy price rises.
Click through to read full statement issued today: https://tinyurl.com/yc76axpp

All of these protests across the Midwest today are connected:

🔸 The blockade at Junction 29 on the M7 is part of a national protest movement against rising fuel prices.

🔸 Since October 2023 there has been a nearly weekly protest on Bedford Row against the genocide in Gaza and the bloodthirsty Israeli state's campaign of atrocities throughout West Asia.

🔸 An activist took direct action this morning against a US warplane in Shannon Airport, climbing aboard the aircraft and damaging it with a hatchet, in protest against the Irish state's complicity with US imperialism's war making.

At root all are caused by the capitalist system that dictates every aspect of our lives. Previously, people could perhaps afford to ignore that fact but increasingly that is no longer an option for many.

Trump's illegal war against Iran has sparked a surge in crude oil prices, which will create a knock-on inflationary impact on global economies.

​Solidarity activists visited the M7-J29 protest to speak with those affected. Some were tradesmen ​who reported that previous hikes in raw material costs had already thinned their margins, so these new fuel prices threaten to erase them entirely. Others were employees who feared if the companies they worked for shuttered due to the crisis, that they would be tossed into the teeth of the housing crisis without a safety net. The rumoured fuel support scheme the government might be proposing would not be of assistance to these people. Hauliers, farmers and contractors should reject this proposed fuel package and fight in solidarity with ordinary people for measures that will alleviate the cost-of-living burden for all working people.

This fuel price hike is likely just the start of an extended economic shock, and a forerunner of what is to come if we do not adequately prepare in time for a transition away from fossil fuels. Therefore government threats to use military force against protesters set a dangerous precedent and should be viewed as a threat against everyone and be firmly opposed.

The far-right is actively trying to control the narrative by injecting anti-migrant sentiment. Fuel protesters should reject this effort to deflect from the root causes of this crisis.

The Irish state is responsible not only through it's fuel tax policy, but also through it's facilitation of the US war machine which has triggered this latest crisis. The demand to end US military use of Shannon Airport is entirely justified.

Likewise, solidarity with those affected by Trump and Netanyahu's brutal wars is essential, as we see that we are no longer immune to the consequences of these actions. After all, the same capitalist logic that drives fuel dependency and militarism also arms and defends Israel's genocide.

Read more about what Solidarity have to say: https://www.solidarity.ie/2026/04/fuel-protests-threatened-with-army-no-repression-against-the-right-to-protest/