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, […]
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Letter: Hearts and minds
A chara, With reference to comrade Jimmy Corcoran’s comments on my article “Time for change” in last month’s Socialist Voice, there seems to be some confusion, so I’ll try to clarify. The point I was trying to make is that the battle for the hearts and minds of our people […]
Letter: A welcome debate
A chara, The letter concerning electoral politics in last month’s issue is a welcome contribution to a perennial debate among the Irish revolutionary left. For our purposes, the debate is more concerned with what is the role of parliamentary struggles in the broader transformative struggles for socialism. I would say […]
King Lear today
Just before thousands of students agonise once again over the question of Lear’s madness and other issues, Socialist Voice presents a Marxist view, based on understanding Shakespeare’s times. Shakespeare lived in early capitalist society, marked by an uninhibited pursuit of power on the one hand and a new, humanist image […]
Film Review: No stone unturned?
No Stone Unturned (2017) is a documentary film about the Loughinisland massacre, directed by Alex Gibney. For those unaware of what happened in Loughinisland or, like me, who were born after the events took place, the two-hour documentary is well worth watching; and for those who remember the events well […]
A continuation of subversion
In late March 2018 the president of the United States, Donald Trump, authorised a $20 million fund to support subversive actions against Cuba. The move, which is part of the permanent anti-Cuba policy, came after Trump himself had proposed eliminating such funds in May 2017. The money is specifically for […]
Cuba: Continuation of the revolutionary process
On 11 March last just short of 4.7 million people—or almost 86 per cent of the registered electorate here—turned out to vote in the second and final stage of Cuba’s general election. It is noteworthy that, although well organised, supervised, and encouraged, voting is by no means obligatory. This remarkably […]
Universal basic fraud
“Universal basic income” is being suggested by many on the left, as well as the right, as a solution to world inequality and poverty. It’s been doing the rounds for a number of years now as a way of creating a fairer and more equal society. It has been tested […]
Monopoly capitalism protects cheating corporations
The centralisation and concentration of both capital and power means that corporations can withstand scandals and continue to retain the support of both the state and shareholders. It takes something really massive and rare for an Arthur Andersen, Enron or Lehman Brothers to happen. Here are a few recent scandals […]
International Working Women’s Day celebrated in Dublin
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 […]
What is the “transformative strategy” the CPI talks about?
A friend asked me recently what this transformative strategy is that the CPI talks about. So I tried to answer. It is a strategy for advancing the struggle for socialism to replace capitalism. It is not a programme for alleviating the worst aspects of capitalism. It is not a ten-point […]
Positive and active neutrality versus NATO and the EU
Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland 29 March 2018 The decision by the Government to expel a Russian diplomat as part of a co-ordinated response by EU and NATO member-countries is but another example of how far the Irish establishment has aligned this state with their military strategies. The […]
Creating revolutionary mass media in a social-media world
“The purpose of our meeting today is precisely to ensure that literature and art fit well into the whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that they operate as powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people and for attacking and destroying the enemy, and that they help the people […]
Let’s produce essential drugs for all
We are awash with pharmaceutical companies in Ireland. Some of the high-end jobs are well paid, and that should be welcomed. But the global pharmaceutical industry provides one of the strongest illustrations of how the profit motive can misdirect humanity’s creativity and badly miscalculate resources, something we are all familiar […]
Capitalism knows a good thing when it sees it
Women’s pay When people talk about the pay gap they often cite the generally accepted figures of 10–14 per cent difference in pay between men and women, this gap being more noticeable in the higher echelons of business. Critics admit that the pay gap is real but explain away pay […]
Creating a bogeyman in the East
Four days before the British general election of October 1924 the Daily Mail published a letter purporting to have been written by the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, Grigory Zinoviev. The paper claimed that the correspondence revealed a Bolshevik plot to plunge Britain into civil war, and […]