Innumerable religious organisations, institutions and fraternal associations exist and function in the Republic of Cuba which have structures at the national, provincial and local levels. For their work they group their members, both in an evangelising function as well as a social and ethical one, in defence of peace, solidarity […]
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War and Peace
A bilingual 31-syllable tanka (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) in Irish and English, in response to a work of street art. Street Poster, Liverpool, by Guy Denning cad atá ar siúlis deacair é a thuiscintcuir in iúl dom écén cuspóir atá againnní thuigim a thuilleadh é what are we doing it is hard […]
An opportunity, not a panacea
The recent report by the High-Level Group on Collective Bargaining is an opportunity for the trade union movement, and for workers seeking to collectively organise and unionise. It will absolutely not solve the declining density and power of the movement, but if made use of it may present an additional […]
Privatising the Northern Ireland Housing Executive
—against evidence, against the working class
A major victory for the civil rights struggle in Northern Ireland was the removal of public housing from sectarian control through the creation of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The NIHE built up a reputation for building some of the best public housing in western Europe, and developing progressive engagement […]
CPI in Brussels
The Communist Party of Ireland, along with other activists from Ireland, recently received an invitation from MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to attend the EU Parliament in Brussels to participate in two events. First, a film showing of Ithaka, a documentary highlighting the ongoing persecution of journalist Julian Assange and the […]
Marxist hedge school in the Aran Islands
There were Lord of the Rings references aplenty earlier this month as participants of all shapes and persuasions—representing organisations often refusing to openly collaborate—were ferried to the postcard setting of Inis Oírr. In between ancient ruins and tourist traps, the media platform Left Bloc, with support from Trademark (Belfast) and others, held […]
Irish decolonisation
There is nothing more foreign to Ireland than capitalism. While the primitive Irish communist system was not perfect, the feudal and capitalist systems of production were brought to this country by an English bayonet. The Irish left has struggled to understand this contradiction within Irish capitalism, instead seeing the class […]
O’Casey’s dark comedy
Sean O’Casey’s dark comedy Cock-a-Doodle Dandy (1949) is set in Ireland about 1940 and is rarely performed. Witchcraft is haunting the village of Nyadnanave ever since Marthraun’s daughter by his first wife, Loreleen, arrived from London. A rooster causes commotion and embodies indomitable joie de vivre and rebelliousness. The setting in the backwoods suggests […]
Cuban residents in Ireland express their solidarity
Cubans residing in Ireland have contacted the Consular Office of the Cuban Embassy to express their solidarity in the face of the serious damage suffered in the western region of Cuba as a result of the passage of the intense hurricane “Ian.” Likewise, they have expressed their willingness to help […]
Do we live in a representative democracy?
Forty-eight TDs and twenty-nine senators are landlords, with others owning shares in companies and some owning both shares and rented property. The majority of landlords are in Fine Gael, followed by Fianna Fáil. Other parties with landlords or shares include Sinn Féin, the Green Party, and the Labour Party, while […]
Democracy and freedom: A vehicle for the proletariat?
The word “democracy” (from the Greek dēmos, meaning people, and kratos, meaning power) is certainly the most used and abused word in the world of politics—particularly bourgeois politics. It is used to mean whatever capitalist power wants it to mean. It can mean peace; it can mean war, death, and destruction; it can mean […]
Georgia Meloni
The fascist Georgia Meloni is a-speaking a lot of baloney she a-shoots from the hip when she a-opens her lip me a-thinks that Meloni’s a phoney An ceannaire nua Meloni ag scaothaireacht a bhíonn sí i gcónaí ach tá Dia lena taobh (cén fáth? canathaobh?) Is a cara mór, Silvio […]
Reproductive rights under attack
Reproductive rights are under attack around the world, and while small gains have been made in Ireland since the repeal of the 8th Amendment, the Government has continued to fail to deliver free, safe, legal, local and accessible abortion services for all who need them. As it stands, abortion in […]
Sanctions needed against the Israeli killing machine
While the world looks on at the proxy war between Russia and the United States taking place in Ukraine, in which the Russian and Ukrainian people suffer, the continuing ethnic cleansing takes place in occupied Palestine. The Ukrainian flag is ubiquitous in the West; what are the colours of the […]
For national and class unity
Under the slogan “National and Class Unity,” the Communist Party of Ireland held its 26th National Congress over the weekend of 17 and 18 September in Dublin. The congress brought together communists from around Ireland to discuss and vote upon the political resolution and a new constitution. It was the […]
Facing the cost-of-capitalism crisis
On 24 September there was a massive turn-out in Dublin to protest against the increase in the cost of living. More than 20,000 people took to the streets—and it could have been higher except for traffic hold-ups in Kildare, which resulted in delays of more than four hours for those […]