Mick Murphy (Irish Socialist politician)

Mick Murphy is a Socialist Party political activist who sits as a Tallaght Central representative on South Dublin County Council. It was Murphy who discovered the GAMA construction scandal, which was subsequently raised in Dáil Éireann and led to nationwide strikes.[1][2][3][4]

Cllr

Mick Murphy
South Dublin County Councillor
Assumed office
June 2004
ConstituencyTallaght Central
Personal details
Political partyAnti-Austerity Alliance
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Party

Political career

Murphy contested his first general election, for the Dublin South-West constituency, in 1997, finishing in ninth position.[5] He was a candidate for the same constituency at the 2002, 2007 and 2011 general elections, finishing in seventh position.[6][7][8] He spent three weeks in Mountjoy Prison in 2003 for his role in the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign.[9]

It was Murphy who, upon travelling to Lucan to support three BATU workers in October 2004, discovered the GAMA construction scandal where Turkish workers were paid €2 an hour on publicly funded projects.[10] After contacting the local council, GAMA and trade union officials and remaining unenlightened, Murphy wrote a leaflet in English, had it translated into Turkish "mainly to say that we had no problem with them being here, and saying what GAMA had said", then threw it over the hoarding surrounding the site where the men were living as well as working.[11] When the truth emerged, Murphy "knew immediately we had a major scandal", he later said.[12] Murphy brought it to the attention of his party colleague Joe Higgins, who was then a TD for Dublin West, and Higgins raised the matter in Dáil Éireann on 8 February 2005, bringing public awareness to the workers' plight.[13]

During the 2010s, Murphy was to the fore in the Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes. On 9 February 2015, while travelling to work from his Whitechurch, Rathfarnham home, Gardaí arrested him in relation to his part in the Jobstown protest the previous November—during which Tánaiste Joan Burton was reluctant to leave her car for two hours—and took him into custody along with three other anti-austerity activists.[14] He was released without charge later that afternoon and told RTÉ's Liveline radio show that while in custody he was shown garda vehicle and helicopter surveillance videos of the incident.[15] The arrests led to accusations of "political policing".[16][17]

As Tallaght Central representative he opposed the Tallaght Town Centre Development. He is also involved in the Tallaght Hospital Action Group.[9]

Bibliography
  • McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-03780-6.
  • Socialist Party Politicians: Joe Higgins, Mick Murphy, Clare Daly, Ruth Coppinger, Mick Barry. LLC. 2010. ISBN 978-1-159-33100-9.
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References
  1. McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-03780-6.
  2. Wescott, Gareth (5 April 2005). "Hundreds of foreign workers take to streets over low pay". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 April 2005.
  3. "Five-hour protest by Gama staff in Galway". RTÉ News. 5 April 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2005.
  4. McDonald, Brian (6 April 2005). "Martin takes action as Gama sends workers back to Turkey". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2005.
  5. "General election 1997". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  6. "General election 2002". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  7. "General election 2007". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  8. "General election 2011". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  9. "Mick Murphy". Socialist. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015.
  10. McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. p. 120.
  11. McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. pp. 120–121.
  12. McDonald, Frank; Sheridan, Kathy (2009). The Builders. p. 121.
  13. Ibid.
  14. Minihan, Mary (9 February 2015). "Arrest of Paul Murphy and others described as 'way over the top': Ruth Coppinger believes 'over the top' action by gardaí will 'rebound completely'". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015.
  15. "Anti Austerity Alliance Councillor for Tallaght Central Mick Murphy was one of the four arrested this morning in connection with the Jobstown protest". Irish Independent. 9 February 2015.
  16. "'Political policing': Arrest of Irish anti-austerity activists sparks London solidarity protest". RT. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015.
  17. Clifford, Michael (10 February 2015). "Anti-water tax activist raid: Were the dawn swoops really necessary?". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015.
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