Charles E Heasman

Born in England more years ago than I care to remember. A working man all my life, I first came to Ireland in 1979 as part of the fixtures and fittings of the trawler I was working on when it was sold from there to here, and have pretty much stayed since. Married to an Irish wife and with three - now adult - children, I feel as much of an affinity with my adopted country as my country of birth. In early life I took my political leanings from my father and was centre-right all my life. This began to change when I gave up fishing (a young man's game, so time to get out and do something else) and went to college; Dublin Institute of Technology to be precise. A first class honours in journalism was the result. During my time at DIT the realisation began to dawn that I'd personally witnessed half a decade of the fastest political and social change in history - and that change is still accelerating. Back in the day Thatcher and Reagan's neoliberal policies, even though none of us had yet heard the term, looked like the bright way forward which would save the world. I voted for her twice; but not the third. I now fervently believe that neoliberalism combined with the ever escalating growth of corporate power and acquisition of wealth poses a huge and insidious threat to society and the planet. I am now a socialist. I am an active grassroots member of People before Profit and if some care to describe me as a political activist I have no problems with it. That said, the opinions expressed in my blog are my own; I do not subscribe to groupthink, irrespective of what one's particular ideology might be; we each and every one of us have a personal duty to think for ourselves. Happily we can often agree. Oh, and the profile pic? I’ve been around long enough to recognise a venomous snake when I see one. Thank you for asking.