Can a strategy for a united Ireland within the EU be a realistic goal while maintaining the three core tenets of socialism and republicanism, namely independence, sovereignty, and democracy? Not for the first time in Socialist Voice is it argued that, far from being the saviour and moderniser of the […]
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The Peadar O’Donnell Forum in Belfast
The Peadar O’Donnell Socialist Republican Forum has held another successful weekend political school, this time in Belfast, from the 22nd to the 24th of September. The weekend opened with a public meeting on “Brexit and the Irish working class.” Brexit has split much of the left and sections of the […]
The next crisis—when, not if
We cannot ignore the recent election result in Germany. What happens in the most powerful and influential state in Europe west of Russia must interest us all, as inevitably it will have an impact in Ireland and elsewhere. Moreover, while the electoral success of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) […]
Portuguese communist festival: From strength to strength
The Avante festival is the annual festival of the Portuguese Communist Party and is held every year in the first weekend of September. It is named for the party’s newspaper, Avante! (Forward!). The festival has been running for forty-one years, mostly consecutive, except for 1987, when as a result of […]
A legacy of struggle for humanity
Käthe Kollwitz, whose work is on exhibition for the first time in the National Gallery of Ireland, was one of Germany’s greatest artists and sculptors. She stands tall among anti-war artists and champions of the dispossessed of our time.Kollwitz broke completely with bourgeois aesthetics and made the subjugated, humiliated working […]
A book for today
September 2017 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Das Kapital (Capital), the central work of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and the book that most influenced social and political thinking ever since. It has especial relevance today, describing, as it does, the labour relations of a […]
The right to a referendum on water
Fine Gael has reneged on holding a referendum on the ownership and management of our water. This has been done with the collusion of Fianna Fáil and some of the independents—despite their pontifications on how water charges were a “red line” in the deal that was done with Fine Gael […]
Brexit—who decides?
As the Brexit discussions between Britain and the European Union continue, the true nature of the EU becomes clearer by the day. The EU has been weakened, and its class character is being revealed. The subservient nature of the Irish establishment, and how little influence they have at the European […]
Repeal the Eighth! A working class perspective
Since the introduction of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution in 1983, pregnant people have been denied reproductive autonomy in Ireland. Despite sustained pressure on the state to abandon this edifice of inequality, successive governments have resisted change. Now the majority of people in Ireland, North and South, favour the […]
Some thoughts on the privatisation of Dublin bus routes
On the 10th of August the National Transport Authority announced that Dublin Bus had lost a tenth of its bus routes to a private operator. Go-Ahead, a British company, has secured the tender to take over twenty-four bus routes. The routes in question are suburban orbital, running north and south […]
Dump the bin charges!
Ever since the privatisation of bin collection, the collectors have been looking at ways to increase their profits. This is what privatisation is about: nothing to do with recycling, efficiency, or the environment; all about maximising profits. It’s called capitalism. The best way to reduce waste is to produce less […]
Standing in front of a mural of Oscar Romero
Táim im’ sheasamh os comhair múrphictiúr I’m standing in front of a mural d’Oscar Romero Of Oscar Romero Deirtear go bhfuil deich milliún duine neamhurchóideach They say America killed ten million innocents Maraithe ag na Meiriceánaigh ó dheireadh an Dara Cogadh Domhanda Since the end of World War II Caithfidh […]
Essential to break with the EU and the euro
The recent proposals by the British government regarding a possible border between the British state and the European Union expose how marginal the interests of the Irish people are in relation to the negotiations now under way. The terms of Britain’s relations with the EU will be decided between Britain […]
Encouraging signs of growing unity
A recent feature in the Financial Times might cause some surprise among Ireland’s eight thousand homeless, or the many others struggling with the spiralling cost of renting even modest accommodation. The article reported that the Republic is now enjoying one of the most remarkable economic revivals the European Union has […]
Dublin Bus up for grabs
In August, at the end of the tendering process for 10 per cent of Dublin bus routes, two bidders remained: Dublin Bus itself and the British transport corporation Go-Ahead. It’s no surprise that, despite Dublin Bus putting in a very good tender and meeting all the criteria, the private British […]
Wolfe Tone oration
Speech by John Douglas, general secretary, Mandate at the United Wolfe Tone Commemoration, Bodenstown, 20 September 2017 Comrades, brothers and sisters, Our national freedoms were defined by the United Irishmen in terms of citizenship, the responsibility of the state to its citizens and the responsibility of all citizens to the […]