Current Affairs

Current Affairs Ireland Political Economy

More of the same

“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. […]

Current Affairs Imperialism

Ruling by fooling

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 […]

Current Affairs

Trouble for tech capitalism

Last month the social media giants Twitter and Meta (Facebook) announced widespread layoffs. They join Coinbase, which fired 18 per cent of its staff in June, part of a trend of technology companies freezing the hiring or sacking of employees.      The technology industry is in dire straits. However, these […]

Current Affairs

The “democracy” fairytale

In October the British prime minister, Liz Truss, resigned. The capitalist media informed us that her economic policies did not find favour with the financial markets, and as a result she had to go. Once Truss had been removed, the Tories selected a new prime minister, and the media moved […]

Campaigns Current Affairs Socialism

Left unity

The Cost of Living Coalition had many people taking to the streets during the protest march on the 24th of September. The coalition was a broad range of left-wing organisations, such as People Before Profit, the CPI, the Connolly Youth Movement and other grass-roots movements, such as activists from mica […]

Current Affairs

Cost of living or cost of survival?

Sashi Tharoor, the Indian politician who wrote a book on British colonial plunder, An Era of Darkness (2016), once made a satirical remark: “They say the sun never sets on the British empire; that’s because even the god did not trust the British in the dark.” The Queen’s death and mourning have […]

Current Affairs

Three-card trick

The Government is attempting to push the state pension age to 70 by the back door. It is proposing to do this by adding 24 per cent to the pension rate if people forgo their pension and work on till they are 70. By working to 70 you give up […]

Current Affairs

A budget to reinforce inequality

The coalition government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party has announced its 2023 budget. This is taking place in a period of growing inflation, rising energy costs, and falling consumer confidence and spending. The increase in social welfare payments comes nowhere near meeting the rate of inflation. […]