Latest news with #RobertTressellFestival
Extra.ie
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Everyone saying the same thing as Bernie Sanders joins Michael D. Higgins at Áras
The USA and Ireland were never more united then in the comment section of President Michael D. Higgins' latest TikTok. The Irish head of state met with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in Áras an Uachtaráin this week, with their wholesome interaction going particularly viral both at home and abroad. In the brief clip, the 83-year-old signed the visitors book before he and his wife shared a sweet embrace with the Irish president. The USA and Ireland were never more united then in the comment section of President Michael D. Higgins' latest TikTok. Pic: Maxwell's After an informal chat and a photocall with Irish press, the couple sat down for a spot of tea with President Higgins, with many taking to the comments to share their delight at the dynamic duo. 'Two men who have spent their lives trying to better the world & the people around them,' one viewer lauded. 'Two of the most respectful politicians on this planet,' another penned. 'Two smart lads with kind souls,' a third shared. While many were in awe of the two political worlds colliding, many American viewers were simply left enamored by Michael D. 'Wow Ireland your president is so sweet,' one user wrote, while another echoed the sentiment, adding: 'I could not have imagined a more perfect man as the president of Ireland.' The Irish head of state met with Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in Áras an Uachtaráin this week, with their wholesome interaction going particularly viral both at home and abroad. Pic: Maxwell's Sanders was in Dublin to deliver the keynote speech at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall on Saturday. The Democratic Senator previously met with the Irish President in October of 2018 after he attended the Dalkey Book Festival. He was also joined at the time by his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders and economist David McWilliams. Sanders battled Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election. In the brief clip, the 83-year-old signed the visitors book before he and his wife shared a sweet embrace with the Irish president. Pic: Maxwell's Though he failed to beat her in the primary contest, many felt that Sanders could have beaten Donald Trump to the White House. He then ran again in the 2020 US presidential election, however he dropped out of the race after suffering a series of devastating primary losses. He ran on a campaign that championed working-class issues and national healthcare.
Irish Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Bernie Sanders urges people in Ireland to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy
Bernie Sanders has urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin. The 83-year-old Vermont senator used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy. He also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society. He denounced President Donald Trump, describing his administration as a 'government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires'. The independent senator, who lost out to Hillary Clinton in a bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, also accused the party of cutting ties with the working class people of the US. 'Why did he (President Trump) win the support of the majority of the American people? The answer is everything to do with the fact that working class people believe that the Democratic Party no longer represents them,' Mr Sanders told the event on Saturday night. 'And by the way, this is not just an American phenomenon, it is happening to social democratic parties all over the world. And these parties have to make a choice - if they think they are going to survive defending a status quo which is destroying the lives of millions of workers in America and around the world, they are dead wrong.' He added: 'All over this world is an understanding that we are at war with an oligarchy that couldn't care less about the people in Palestine, care less about the people in Ireland, or care less about the people in the United States of America. 'These oligarchs are not like the rich (of the past) - I'm not a historian, but my impression is they are not like the wealthy of past generations. 'The rich have always wanted tax breaks. The rich have always wanted to break unions, anti-unionism. (But) these guys are different. And the difference is they do not believe in the concept of government. They do not believe in democracy. 'You know, 150 years ago there was this divine (right), the kings in Europe, the tsar in Russia, they told their the constituents that they had the right to rule, the divine right to rule.' The senator said many leading billionaires of the present day subscribed to the same theory. 'They believe they are high IQ people who have developed these big technology companies, they are so smart they have created billion-dollar companies, they have the right to rule, and they don't want you or democracy or government or unions or consumer groups to get in the way,' he said. 'I will tell you that they are moving very, very rapidly, (with) this artificial intelligence and robotics. What they did to (US) federal employees (cutting jobs), and we're seeing right now, literally, what they did to federal employees is a signal to every corporation in America - 'Hey, we did it. You can do it. And if your workers stand up, you tell them, they got machinery coming in, we got AI coming in, we got robotics coming, we don't need that any more'. 'So if we do not get our act together, if we do not raise a class consciousness which understands that that technology must be used to benefit working people, not just to make the billionaires even richer, if we don't raise the consciousness to understand that in the world we live today, there is no reason why we should be experiencing the kind of poverty and economic misery that we are. 'Economic rights, as I think most people in this room know, are human rights. 'People have a right to proper health care. They have a right to decent housing. They have a right to good quality education. They have a right to decent incomes. This is not a utopian vision. We're not living in the 1850s any more. 'We have the technology to know how to create the wealth that we need to create a decent life for every man, woman and child. We can do it. But we can't do it unless we come together globally, unless the working class stands up and says 'enough is enough' to the oligarchs, they are not going to have it all. 'It is our world, and we're going to take power and create a society that works for all of us.' U.S. senator Bernie Sanders has accompanied his wife Jane to a Co Kildare town where she traces her roots for the unveiling of plaque commemorating an anti-war song. Dr Jane O'Meara Sanders, an activist and political strategist, has ancestral links to Athy. The couple were special guests at St Michael's Cemetery in the town for the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to the 19th century anti-war folk song 'Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye'. The song tells the story of a woman who, on the road to Athy, meets a former lover who has returned from war badly injured. The plaque is part of the Made Of Athy Project, a local initiative that recognises people with links to the town who have made significant contributions to world culture. Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the event during their short visit to Ireland. On Saturday evening, the 83-year-old US senator urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin. He used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy. Mr Sanders also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society.
The Journal
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Bernie and Jane Sanders attend plaque unveiling in Co Kildare
US SENATOR BERNIE Sanders has accompanied his wife Jane to a Co Kildare town where she traces her roots for the unveiling of plaque commemorating an anti-war song. Dr Jane O'Meara Sanders, an activist and political strategist, has ancestral links to Athy. The couple were special guests at St Michael's Cemetery in the town for the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to the 19th century anti-war folk song 'Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye'. The song tells the story of a woman who, on the road to Athy, meets a former lover who has returned from war badly injured. Advertisement The plaque is part of the Made Of Athy Project, a local initiative that recognises people with links to the town who have made significant contributions to world culture. Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the event during their short visit to Ireland. On Saturday evening, the 83-year-old US senator urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin. He used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy. Mr Sanders also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society.
Belfast Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Bernie and Jane Sanders attend plaque unveiling in Co Kildare
US senator Bernie Sanders has accompanied his wife Jane to a Co Kildare town where she traces her roots for the unveiling of plaque commemorating an anti-war song. Dr Jane O'Meara Sanders, an activist and political strategist, has ancestral links to Athy. The couple were special guests at St Michael's Cemetery in the town for the unveiling of the plaque dedicated to the 19th century anti-war folk song 'Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye'. The song tells the story of a woman who, on the road to Athy, meets a former lover who has returned from war badly injured. The plaque is part of the Made Of Athy Project, a local initiative that recognises people with links to the town who have made significant contributions to world culture. Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the event during their short visit to Ireland. On Saturday evening, the 83-year-old US senator urged working people in Ireland and across the world to unite to stop the rise of oligarchy as he delivered a keynote speech in Dublin. He used an address at the Robert Tressell Festival at Liberty Hall to criticise what he characterised as a new generation of billionaires who do not believe in government or democracy. Mr Sanders also expressed concern that artificial intelligence and new technology were being used against working people, to take their jobs, rather than being harnessed to benefit workers and generate wealth across society.
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Sanders defends refusal to describe Israel's actions as genocide at Dublin event
US senator Bernie Sanders again defended his refusal to describe the Israeli assault on Gaza as a genocide at an event on Saturday at Liberty Hall in Dublin. His speech largely focused on criticising Donald Trump's presidency, winning him a prolonged standing ovation, but it also highlighted the divisions over his position on how to categorise the situation in the Middle East. Two people were ejected from the closing session of the trade-union backed Robert Tressell Festival, which was attended by President Michael D Higgins, for heckling Mr Sanders over his continued refusal to describe the killing of more than 50,000 Palestinians as genocide. Mr Sanders and his wife Jane, who joined him on stage for a questions and answers session with Second Captains and Irish Times journalist Ken Early, roundly rejected the criticism. READ MORE 'What we should be focusing on is ending the destruction and changing policy,' he said. 'Let's be clear, 52,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children. Over 100,000 have been wounded with the entire infrastructure destroyed. That is horrible. That is barbaric. That is the concern we have but some people want to argue about a word which the United Nations is now working to define.' Mr Sanders went on: 'What's going on right now is horrific. I am doing my best. I'm leading the effort in the Senate, and I think we are getting bogged down arguing about a word.' [ Bernie Sanders: Senator has 'no apologies' for his position on Israel's attack on Gaza Opens in new window ] Mrs Sanders said calling the current events genocide would alienate significant allies in the US, of which, she suggested, there were already too few, and provide opponents with an opportunity to shift the focus of the debate. 'The fact we're spending billions of dollars on weapons for Israel would be just falling on deaf ears,' she said. '[Mr Sanders] wouldn't have gotten 15 votes [for a recent Bill he introduced in the Senate to curtail military support to Israel] if he could be marginalised by a word. 'I think he's very smart not to use the word, because it would make a hell of a little bit of difference and so I would ask the left to not marginalise him for a word to criticize him when he is the leading voice [on the issue in the US].' Aside from the two audience members ejected for repeatedly interrupting the Vermont senator's speech, the tone was generally respectful from what appeared to be an otherwise highly supportive crowd. There were occasions during his attempts to directly engage with those present on the issue when it was obvious many others were critical of his position and he appeared to be annoyed by the shift in tone. The wider event included many contributions on Gaza and Palestine including one from Omar Barghouti , via Zoom, from inside Israel. Mr Barghouti, a prominent activist and proponent of cultural, academic and economic boycotts of Israel, was unable to attend the event due to the refusal of Israeli authorities to renew documentation he needed to travel. He argued in his address that the current conflict is a genocide. [ Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti prevented from travelling to speak at Dublin festival Opens in new window ] Earlier, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald participated in a discussion on the potential for a future left-wing coalition government with Labour's Marie Sherlock, Sinéad Gibney of the Social Democrats and People Before Profit's Ruth Coppinger. During it, all four broadly backed increased collaboration between the parties and Ms McDonald said hers had not built the 'relationships' it should before the last general election. She said she was 'not going to make that mistake again'.
