Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
This summer has indeed been very different from summers of the past—and it wasn’t just the long period of hot weather. There has been a sustained period of civil disobedience by ordinary citizens, who have been marginalised by high rents and low pay as a result of the neo-liberal policies […]
We have reached the end of history: at least as far as the junior certificate cycle is concerned. Following the revamp of the Junior Cert model history will no longer be a compulsory subject with only English, Irish and Mathematics remaining mandatory. Though this has been sold as “giving the […]
Cork Branch, Connolly Youth Movement Members of the Connolly Youth Movement (CYM) had inhabited two buildings, dubbed Kent House and Mellows House, to highlight the ongoing housing crisis. The six residents had been living there for over two months. However, on July 24, a worker of the maintenance group […]
A bill is at present going through Dáil Éireann that would allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to increase the retirement age for public servants to 70 years of age. The bill will allow a future minister the option of increasing the compulsory retirement age to 75. This […]
The chief executive officer of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has been declared the richest person in modern history, with a personal fortune of €152 billion. This massive accumulation of wealth did not just appear in his bank account or property portfolio: it was created by the labour of others, coupled with […]
Fórsa, the biggest public-sector union, is in existence since January 2018, but already workers’ rights are under attack. The CEO of Roscommon County Council launched the attack on the issue of flex time. This is not a simple local issue but a challenge to trade unions and workers’ rights in […]
When global authorities, including the United Nations, insisted that it was impossible, because of dangerous conditions and sanctions, to provide aid to the people of war-torn Syria, a group of courageous people from Switzerland achieved the “impossible.” The following is an extract from a report written by Eva Heizmann and […]
With demographic change, Brexit, and a deadlocked Northern Ireland Assembly, the call for a border poll has been raised more and more often. Under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, a border poll is the only way partition can be ended. It can be allowed to happen only if the […]
Once again problems relating to women’s health and the treatment of women within the health system were exposed with the the discovery that 209 women are affected by the Cervical Check scandal that emerged in the last few weeks. Once again people’s lives, and in particular those of women, have […]
Capitalism exploits the working class, and in particular women. This is done through the devaluation of women’s labour in the home—that is, the necessary work of reproducing and maintaining workers for the capitalist machine—and the devaluation of work done by women outside the home: the pay gap.* Neither of these […]
The sleek intercity train connecting Amsterdam to Rotterdam zips between the two cities in a mere forty minutes and, with a fare of only €15.40 (£13.50), puts our fares to shame. The Dutch railways are still nationally owned, operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen, and the route between the two cities claims […]
The indomitable Raging Grannies outwitted the usual flank of steel at Shannon Airport by simply entering the terminal as travellers, complete with abundant luggage. First they sat down to enjoy a coffee, before springing into life, pulling their usual No to war, US out of Shannon placards from their suitcases, […]
On the 8th of March in the Liquor Rooms in Dublin the CYM and CPI held their first joint celebration of International Working Women’s Day, under the heading “A Different Perspective.” The night was kicked off by a brief introduction to the history of International Working Women’s Day as well […]
On 3 February a NATO submarine, part of the Dutch fleet, docked in Cork Harbour. While it was moored there, a Dutch seaman stood “guard” on the submarine, brazenly brandishing an automatic weapon. This was an exact repeat of a similar incident in 2017. The Gardaí refused to intervene, and […]
The broadband scandal highlights once again the dire need for a strong, authentic independent political voice for rural Ireland. The treacherous policy of privatising Telecom has resulted in the fact that Eir is now owned by a French billionaire and that the Government is left with just one bidder to […]
On 22 February this year the Feminist Ire blog published an open letter to the organisers of the “We Need to Talk” tour. The letter is well written, and solid in its argument, and highlights the ideological divide in modern feminism. The “We Need to Talk” tour organisers are known […]