Irish opposition and trade unions welcome Syriza victory

Irish opposition parties and trade unions welcomed Syriza’s

win in the Greek election.

Speaking from Athens, the Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy described the result as “a huge victory for Syriza” and a “decisive rejection by the Greek people of savage austerity and a campaign of fear run by the Greek and EU establishment”.

Sinn Féin's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty congratulated the party led by Alexis Tsipras on its "stunning" victory, saying it offered a real change for Greeks and an opportunity for "progressive change" in Europe.

“Syriza has promised to renegotiate Greece’s debt if it wins the election and to call for a European debt conference, which would be in Ireland’s interests also,” he said.

"Ireland should not be dependent on Greece to propose something which is so obviously in our interests. If Enda Kenny and his Government are not going to stand up for Irish citizens then they should remove themselves from office and allow the people to elect a new government that will."

Siptu president Jack O'Connor welcomed Syriza's victory and offered "emphatic" support for the party's call for a debt conference. "The dramatic victory of Syriza signals the beginning of the end of the nightmare of the one-sided austerity experiment which has bedevilled the peoples of Europe and threatened the future of the democratic system itself," Mr O'Connor said.

Richard Boyd Barrett, a TD for the People Before Profit Alliance, described Syriza's win as "a victory for all the victims of austerity in Europe", and said it should prompt a new campaign to repudiate the "odious" debts of banks and bondholders imposed on ordinary Irish citizens.

‘Enough is enough’

“After six years of cruel and unjust austerity, the people of Greece have led the way in Europe, saying ‘enough is enough’,” he said. Mr Boyd Barrett called on the Irish public to turn out in “massive numbers” on the streets of villages, towns and cities next Saturday to join with Syriza in demanding debt relief and “an end to austerity”.