The continuing struggle over Catalan independence raises many questions for socialists and the left, especially those in countries, such as Ireland, where the national question still has a prime place in politics. Events in Catalunya show that independence movements are not, as idealists would think, concerned only with such issues […]
Author: Graham Harrington
Small ripples make big waves
The search for Frank Conroy’s birthplace and family On 13 December 1936 Frank Conroy, a member of the Republican Congress and the Communist Party of Ireland, sailed on the Holyhead ferry, alongside Frank Ryan, determined to defend the Spanish Republic against the fascist rebellion. This Spanish Civil War hero died […]
CPI national congress: Building workers’ power
In late November the Communist Party of Ireland held it 25th National Congress in Belfast, the highest political authority of the CPI. The congress brought together delegates from all over the country. It was the culmination of a long process of discussion in the branches on a number of motions, […]
Ten truths about Cuba’s general elections
Letter from Cuba Cuba’s elections are organised and conducted in two stages, on a no-party basis, as opposed to—as often suggested—a one-party basis. The Communist Party of Cuba is not a political party in the sense in which this term is generally understood. No candidates for the Communist Party (or […]
“When the table came”
Gabriel Rosenstock introduces and translates another poem from the Indian sub-continent, originally written in Konkani, the indigenous language of Goa. We seem to accept “technological progress” and the McDonaldisation of the world as inevitable. Who wants to be called a Luddite? Yet on reading “When the Table Came” one is […]
A future worth fighting for
Earlier this month the Trade Union Left Forum issued its “Workers’ Charter: A Future Worth Fighting for.” The charter calls for a range of legislative reforms to improve both workers’ and union rights in the south and north of Ireland. Each progressive change itself is important for workers, but, if […]
Sinn Féin edging towards social democracy
The announcement of his retirement by Sinn Féin’s long-serving president, Gerry Adams, was deemed by the media to be the most noteworthy happening at the party’s recent ard-fheis. After thirty-four often turbulent years at the helm of a movement ridiculed and lauded in almost equal parts, it could hardly have […]
The road to Damascus
In 2007 General Wesley Clarke revealed the Pentagon’s post-9/11 plan to overthrow “seven countries in five years: Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” In the 7 October edition of the Tory Spectator, J. R. Bradley outlined the now failed plot against Syria: “our cynical […]
Where would we be without political satire?
Gabriel Rosenstock introduces and translates another poem from the Indian subcontinent Where would we be without political satire? Writing in Rajasthani, which has a literature stretching back 1,500 years or more, the author Rangrelo Bithu flourished in the sixteenth century. He enjoyed making fun of his king, Rawal Har of […]
The art of revolution
With the Russian Revolution of 1917 the dispossessed took control over their destiny, for the first time in history. How did artists respond to this liberation? Artists from all artistic movements worked with the Soviet power. The revolution offered the state and the arts a real opportunity to merge their […]
Ten days that shaped the twentieth century
This November, tens of millions of working people around the world will celebrate the centenary of the Russian Revolution, which took place on 7 November 1917 (or 25 October according to the Julian calendar, then used in Russia). To understand how the revolution happened we need to place it in […]
Political statement
National Executive Committee, Communist Party of Ireland 21 October 2017 At the National Executive Committee meeting of the Communist Party of Ireland there was a discussion of the growing housing crisis in the north and south of the country. In particular, the Irish government has failed to address in any […]
Unity is strength
Artificial barriers of religion and politics have been used down through the years to divide our people. In the North in 1932 there was a time when there was total unity of the working class. This was during the outdoor relief (social assistance) strike, when Catholic and Protestant workers united […]
The battle for Venezuela goes on
Venezuela held regional elections on 15 October, electing governors in the twenty-three states. What was reported in the corporate media was that the opposition denounced the results as fraudulent, as did the governments of the United States, France, and Canada. The opposition has cried “fraud” every time it has lost […]
Reduced VAT rate is a subsidy for hotels
Sometimes things that don’t appear in the budget are more important than those that do. One of these was the retention of the VAT rate of 9 per cent for hotels and catering. This policy, introduced in 2011 to help the catering and hotel industries, costs about €500 million a […]
Sign the Workers’ Charter
I pledge to support, promote and encourage the following principles within my work-place, my union, the trade union movement, and society more generally. I am a trade union activist in favour of— (1) A Trade Union Bill, in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, to provide for union […]