Limerick playwright to perform as left-wing party launches local branch

TOP Limerick playwright Mike Finn is among the performers as People Before Profit (PBP) launches a new local branch this Thursday.

The left wing alliance, which counts Dublin TDs Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd-Barrett among its number, is to start a new branch in the region, with former local councillors Paul Keller, Joe Harrington and Cian Prendiville supporting it.

Mr Prendiville, a City North councillor from 2014 to 2018, said: “I joined  People Before Profit recently as I believe the left needs to unite to build a voice for workers and socialist policies. PBP has been growing rapidly recently, bringing together a broad array of community, trade union and socialist activists, and I believe we can build a strong branch here in Limerick. Limerick has a strong left and socialist history, from the water charges movement right back to the Limerick Soviet a century ago.”

The party will hold an online launch event this Thursday evening at 7pm, where Mr Murphy and Siptu economist Michael Taft will also speak about the economic impacts of Covid-19.

There will also be entertainment, including a contribution by Limerick playwright Mike Finn, author of Bread Not Profits, Pigtown and The Unlucky Cabin Boy.

Solidarity, formerly the Anti-Austerity Alliance, ran alongside People Before Profit as a joint ticket at the 2020 general election.