Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
International film awards are by no means a good film guide. And this applies to The Banshees of Inisherin as much as to the rest of them. The story is set in 1923 on an island off the west coast of Ireland (“Inisherin”—Inis Éireann), filmed in fact on Achill island […]
On January 28th 2023 concerned about a rise in anti-refugee protests across the country, long-standing community and political activists in Dublin gathered at Leinster House under the banner of ‘Dublin Communities Against Racism’ to condemn the policies of the present and previous governments that have brought about conflict and division […]
On Saturday 21 January comrades from around Ireland gathered in Dublin to analyse their involvement in trade unions. The day was an enjoyable one, with a well-arranged programme of events and stimulating talks. Some people ask, “What have the unions done for me?” It is important to list briefly what […]
In the first week of January 2023, Mount Jerome crematorium was packed to capacity as activists from around Ireland gathered to pay their respects on the passing of Robert Navan. Our country and progressive causes have lost a principled and committed anti-imperialist activist in Robert. Robert began his political engagement […]
As we enter 2023, working people are still affected by long-standing problems: shortage of housing, crumbling health service, low wages, precarious work, spiralling rents, and growing inequality. Many of these conditions plague people in the Six Counties, with the added complication caused by British-imposed partition: sectarianism, a built-in unstable political […]
The new year begins with no let-up in the assault on the working class. The cost of food, clothes, heat, rent and mortgages continues to rise. Homelessness is increasing. The election of Leo Varadkar as taoiseach will probably result in an intensification of this assault, in the interests of native […]
“Buggins’s turn” is a disparaging term meaning appointment to positions by rotation rather than by merit. No Brownie points for identifying Leo “the-classified-file-sharer” Varadkar as the Dáil’s current Mr Buggins. Even the chronically right-wing Fine Gael-supporting Sunday Independent was unable to get excited about him swapping chairs with Micheál Martin. […]
The health of any nation can be measured in many ways. Life expectancy, infant mortality and mental health statistics are just some of the main measures. All those statistics are in turn linked to the levels of inequality and exploitation in any society. The level of poverty, as a consequence, […]
On 21 December 2022 the Irish News in Belfast published a front-page report that a senior Irish government official was actively spying for the British government. The report was based on an interview with a former member of the British army ’s “Force Research Unit,” which operated both side of […]
In November’s Socialist Voice I wrote an article on the High-Level Report on Collective Bargaining, entitled “An opportunity, not a panacea.” In it I suggested: “For this opportunity will only be of value if the movement invests significant time, resources and energy in the organisation, structurally, of workers in their […]
Getting off the bus in O’Connell Street, considered the main street in Dublin, can be a shock for tourists and people new to the city alike. In between the new hotels and shopping centres, the decay in the older buildings is clearly visible, which is sad for such an otherwise […]
The weekend before Christmas the European Union reached a deal on their “fit for 55” plans, a policy that aims to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide in the EU by at least 55 per cent in 2030 relative to 2005. To accomplish this, the EU has set up a […]
There is no doubt that apathy has been a major problem among the working class for decades. Trade unions are far less active than they used to be, and the number of working days lost to strike action has collapsed since the early 1990s. The Industrial Relations Act (1990) in […]
Since the rise of early capitalism, the working people’s quest for liberation and equality for all—including the right to a life in peace—not only for the evolving bourgeois class, has been on the agenda and frequently been framed in religious terms. Translations of the Bible from Latin into the vernacular […]
Alaa Abdelfatah is a revolutionary hero and a symbol of the struggle against oppression and injustice in Egypt. He played a crucial role in the revolution of 25 January, which led to the removal of the capitalistic government and the establishment of a more democratic and egalitarian society. Born and […]
105 years of the Balfour Declaration Despite Britain’s current state of political turmoil, with three very different Conservative prime ministers in the same year, there seems to be one constant: they all give unwavering support to Israel in its attempts to crush the Palestinian people. But that should be no […]