Lough Neagh, just outside Belfast, has often been described as the “eye of the bear” that is the outline shape of the island of Ireland. It is the largest fresh-water lake in Ireland or England. The lake is 20 miles long, about 10 miles wide and is about the size […]
Campaigns
On the need for a Popular Front
In March I wrote a piece suggesting it is time for a new Popular Front, given the many multifaceted and related crisis humanity faces, but one that must be both eco-socialist and anti-capitalist given ecological and military developments since the 1930s. In our 26th Congress document we have already called […]
Disability rights and capitalism
Following the success of the “No” vote on the Care Amendment it is time to speak of the next attack on people with disabilities, the Green Paper on Disability Reform. This paper was proposed in the latter half of 2023 and since has had to face down a number of […]
A Voice from Gaza
I am living these days inside a plastic tent in Rafah, beside the border of Egypt and the Sinai Desert. I am living a very strange life, as I sleep in the day, and stay awake all the night—to guard my wife, my son and my two small daughters from […]
Resisting the Slippery Slope to Water Privatisation in the North – Again!
As part of the British Tory Government’s punishment budget last Autumn, aimed at putting the squeeze on the DUP to get them back into the Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland took the opportunity to direct all Departments to launch public “consultations” on measures to support “budget sustainability” […]
They haven’t gone away, you know
Public outrage at the environmental catastrophe in Lough Neagh has led to calls for the lough to be brought back into public ownership. Lough Neagh is the largest lake in Ireland. It has a surface area of 392 square kilometres and supplies 40 per cent of the North’s drinking water. […]
CPI defends neutrality
Following a protest organised by the Communist Party of Ireland outside the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin to condemn the Government’s decision to provide weapons training to the Ukrainian armed forces, the following letter was handed in to the minister for foreign affairs, Micheál Martin. The Communist Party of […]
Queer alt pride
History The theme of this alternative pride is the radical history of pride. As many people know, modern queer pride started in 1969, when queers, including many people of colour and then called transvestites (now you would say drag queens and trans people) fought back against a raid by the […]
Notes from the hospital picket line
Striking is never an easy option – especially for health and social care workers. The longer management can draw out a strike, the harder it gets to maintain the unity of purpose and public support that has been such a feature of the on-going health and social care strikes in […]
All-Ireland Public Housing
Early in March, Leo Varadkar said, “renters need landlords, and landlords need renters. We don’t have enough landlords.” As the leader of the largest landlord party in the Dáil, it is unsurprising that this is his proposed solution to the housing crisis. It is also unsurprising that in the same […]
Commemorating an Irish anti-fascist hero
The Charlie Donnelly Winter School returns to Dungannon on Saturday 11 March and will again be hosted by the Hill of the O’Neill and Ranfurly House. The centre will play host to a series of presentations and discussions on the ideals and legacy of the Dungannon-born revolutionary socialist poet who […]
International Working Women’s Day
On the 8th of March, International Working Women’s Day is celebrated. This celebration has been watered down and stripped of its history by liberal feminists and the ruling class. Marxists understand the important role that women have played throughout the history of socialist movements. Here in Ireland, seeing the importance […]
Dublin Communities Against Racism
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 […]
How the Travelling community are treated at work
Travellers, or Mincéirí, are a minority ethnic group indigenous to Ireland who have a shared language and culture. The biggest blight on “modern” Ireland, without question, is the treatment of the Travelling community. It is a continuing shame on the state and on society more generally. Traditional Traveller occupations, such […]
Access for all
Access for All Ireland is an advocacy group that highlights the difficulties faced by anyone in Ireland with mobility issues. I sat with Brendan Mulvaney, co-founder of the group, to discuss what the organisation’s goals are, how Ireland ranks internationally, and how politics intersects with the issue of accessibility. A: […]
Crisis is brought about by the endless quest for profit
As we begin a new year we remain static in the progress of society, entrapped in the system of capitalism. 2022 ended with many people from the Cost of Living Coalition taking part in a protest outside the Dáil on the 17th of December. The protest was against Leo Varadkar […]