In the wake of the local and EU elections it was reported in the Irish Times (10 June) that up to 70,000 households could be charged for wasting water from next year. Charges could be as much as €500 for a household.
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Housing for all!
Vulture funds have become passé. The latest fad taking hold in the property market is the cuckoo fund—aptly named, as they push the individual or family buyer out of their potential nest.
Out of the chambers and into the communities!
All elections are but a snapshot of the degree of political or class consciousness of the mass of the people, in particular of working people. It is clear from the turnout in the recent elections, both north and south, that large numbers of people (more than half) decided not to […]
Uaigh na mairtíreach
I gceantar Bhaile na Lochlannach, ar bhruach thuaidh na Life, tá cnoc íseal a raibh coill bheag air tráth agus plásóg nó plásán ina lár. Thug na Sasanaigh “the Arbour” ar an bplásóg agus ansin Arbour Hill ar an gcnoc. Timpeall na bliana 1840 bhunaigh arm Shasana reilig ar an […]
The dead hand of electoralism
With the local election results just in, why is the left seen as a marginal and ignored voice among a majority of people? It seems that politics in Ireland is personality-based, and this has led to the situation where support for such politicians as Paul Murphy, Richard Boyd Barrett, Luke […]
The EU tightens its grip
Over the course of the many referendums fought on the various EU treaties, the Irish establishment always sold the idea that neutrality and foreign-policy decisions would remain with the Irish state. But, as time progressed, those forces that strongly opposed these treaties and argued that there was only one direction […]
Raise the roof!
Last month we saw the largest housing demonstration in Dublin so far, under the banner of Raise the Roof, as more than 20,000 citizens took to the streets. This campaign, launched by the ICTU, is going from strength to strength as the trade union movement takes the lead, uniting with […]
The face of monopoly capitalism
Amazon is Europe’s largest internet retailer, with a turnover twice that of its twenty largest competitors. In 2017 its chief executive earned $2.16 million per hour, while Amazon workers receive the statutory minimum wage, which in the EU varies between €1.42 and €11.27 per hour. In 2018 the company generated […]
An unhelpful contribution
Seamus Mallon’s recently published book A Shared Home Place is not merely an unhelpful contribution in a difficult situation but is positively dangerous. Thanks to his profile as a former leading member of the SDLP and former deputy first minister, he is gaining publicity for an ill-conceived and poorly thought-out […]
The robbery of Irish resources continues
On 28 May the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment granted consent for an exploratory oil and gas well off the Kerry coast under the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act (1960). The department received an application last November from CNOOC Petroleum Europe (a subsidiary of the Chinese […]
Lessons from the Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution did not begin as a socialist revolution; in fact the original Cuban communist party, the PSP (People’s Socialist Party), denounced the attack on the Moncado Barracks in 1953 as a “putsch,” and, while engaging with the rebels during the guerilla campaign, it did not fully align with […]
American peace movement defends the Venezuelan embassy
Last November a very impressive peace conference was held in Dublin: the First International Conference against US and NATO Bases. The main impetus for this conference came from the peace movement in the United States. Many of the participants showed their seriousness and determination in organising the Embassy Protection Collective […]