Partisan • Patriotic • Internationalist
The issue of Irish neutrality has begun to gain political traction. In August the Communist Party of Ireland organised a public meeting on neutrality in Belfast, took part in a protest against the pro-NATO theme of the MacGill Summer School in Co. Donegal, and held a demonstration outside the Department […]
The threat to completely abandon what remains of Irish neutrality is a continuing and increasing one. The recent intervention of President Higgins may have slowed down Micheál Martin’s march to NATO, but the threat remains. Rather than applying for NATO membership immediately, the ruling class have set their sights as […]
Over the past few months the public, or at least a section of it, has been watching with interest the trials and tribulations of two high-profile political demagogues. We refer, of course, to the arraignment of Donald Trump and the British House of Commons voting to censure Boris Johnson. Yet […]
During May a small but nevertheless significant gathering of peace groups took place in Brussels. The forum was hosted by MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, drawing activists from eleven countries. Both these MEPs have been the most outspoken against the war in Ukraine, both in condemning Russia’s invasion and […]
Sinn Féin, in a historical victory in the northern assembly, becoming the largest party with 27 seats compared with the DUP’s 25 seats, has crossed a threshold that looks likely to be repeated in the South in the near future. Countless articles have been written on the metrics and projections, […]
Neutrality and Irish republicanism have been connected throughout history. They go hand in hand and cannot be separated from one another but despite this, the so-called Republicans of Sinn Féin have seen it necessary to go to the British king’s coronation as if any Irish Republican should recognise such a […]
It is a truism that all wars must end. They can end either in a victory for one side, in a stalemate or sometimes with a political change if one of the protagonist countries pulls them out of the war, as happened in Russia following the October Revolution. In the […]
The NATO proxy war against Russia grinds on with the capitalist “news” media full of stories and analysis of the expected Ukrainian offensive. Absent from all imperialist commentary are proposals for ending the war other than by the military, economic and political defeat of Russia. The peace proposals put forward […]
With the defeat of socialism in Eastern Europe, the United States enjoyed a unilateral ability to shape the world in its own image. Countries which had struggled for national liberation in Africa, South America and Asia were forced to submit to the institutions of imperialism which had been created after […]
The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA), signed a quarter of a century ago in April 1998, was promoted then and is being celebrated now, as a peace agreement to end the 30-year armed conflict between Irish republicans and the British state assisted by its local militia allies within unionism. Prepare to […]
When it comes to money and power, real power, like imperial power, not Micky Mouse or parish-pump “power”, there’s always a deal to be had. Since the partition of Ireland the number of “agreements” that have been engineered and given important sounding names, would fill a thousand large skips with […]
War is a slaughter, a living hell, visited first and foremost against the working class. As Lenin noted, “a bayonet is a weapon with a worker at both ends”. War too is invariably orchestrated by members of the ruling class, who are spared the peril of death or physical danger […]
I was 16 years old, sitting in an A-level politics class in a college in the middle of London when suddenly my teacher asked the class, “Why did we go to war with Iraq?” Her question filled me with fury and I abruptly answered, “It isn’t a war, it’s an […]
In April, the 25th anniversary of what was called the “Good Friday Agreement” will be marked. The name “Good Friday” was no doubt the invention of the best media and advertising gurus, who were asked to come up with a catchy title for it, and they did. The agreement has […]
More than a century has passed since the end of the First World War. In that interval Ireland has known some bitter conflicts; but, tragic as these have been, they were confined to this country. With the exception of the Belfast Blitz during the Second World War and the North […]
There is a saying that generals always fight the last war. They plan for future wars based on the tactics of the previous wars. Only when war commences and changes in technology etc. become evident are tactics adjusted to take account of the new situation. That saying came to mind […]