Labour delegates to debate call to nationalise all banks

A call to bring all Irish banks under State control will be debated at Labour’s national conference, which begins tonight.

A call to bring all Irish banks under State control will be debated at Labour’s national conference, which begins tonight.

More than 1,000 delegates will gather in Mullingar for the three-day event which will focus on the economy and the banking crisis under the theme: A New Deal for Ireland.

Labour’s local and European Parliament candidates will be introduced to the conference ahead of leader Eamon Gilmore’s televised keynote address tomorrow evening.

A motion from the Dublin South Central branch to be discussed and voted on by delegates demands “the nationalisation of all Irish banks in order to fund economic development on a different basis.”

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“Nationalisations cannot just serve to rescue bankers, developers and other speculators, by acquiring billions of euro in bad debts,” it added.

Another motion from Dublin North West delegates opposes the nationalisation and recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank.

Labour will be under pressure at the 64th national conference to reveal party proposals for the forthcoming emergency Budget or a general economic strategy.

Yesterday, Fine Gael unveiled an €11 billion stimulus plan aimed at creating 100,000 jobs over four years through the creation of a new national infrastructure agency.

In other motions to the conference, activists from Kildare North criticised the Government for ‘sleep-walking’ the economy into a recession and wasting the boom.

Other motions call for a referendum on children’s rights and a reversal of the Government’s decision to postpone a cervical cancer vaccine scheme for teenage girls Delegates will also be discussing Labour’s 21st Century Commission report which contains proposals for the modernisation of the party’s structure.

Voters will also elect 15 members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) ruling body.

PA