A recent article in the Belfast Telegraph informed its readers that 400,000 people in the 6-counties – that is, 26.5% of the area’s population – were using antidepressants.[1] In other words, does this mean that three out of every four residents of that dysfunctional political entity are able to get through the […]
Politics
Crisis and the Continuity of Capitalism
I’ve been trying to get this question straight in my own head for a while now. It surfaced in the last piece on housing, and in many ways draws on arguments I’ve been working through more fully in Breaking Dependency: Ireland’s Struggle for Class Power and Sovereignty, but here I want […]
Communist Party of Ireland Statement on the Latest US Threats to Cuba
The Communist Party of Ireland condemns the escalating US attacks on the sovereign Republic of Cuba and, in particular, the illegal “indictment” of the revolutionary leader and former President of the Republic, Raúl Castro Ruz. The US has long been a rogue state which ignores international law and the UN […]
The Irish Left Attempts to Mimic Zohran Mamdani’s Media Game
The upcoming by-election candidates are up to all sorts of wacky adventures, and they’re hoping you’ll join them. Helen Ogbu is handing out packets of Hunky Dorys on a commuter train, while Ruth O’Dea has taken up urbex (the activity of urban exploring abandoned buildings). Daniel Ennis is getting on […]
James Connolly Festival 2026
The annual festival to commemorate the execution of James Connolly on 12th May 1916 will this year feature readings of a short story and a play which have been attributed to the revolutionary socialist and writer and were only discovered in recent years. The short story entitled ‘The Agitator’s Wife’ […]
The Permanent War Economy and the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony
The escalating conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran is often presented as another regional crisis in the long history of Middle Eastern wars. In reality it reflects something far larger: the growing instability of the global order that has been dominated by the United States since the end […]
The Necessity of a Revolutionary Party
At a recent excellent Connolly Conversations meeting on Iran, discussion developed about the growing left feelings and movement in the world. The fact that the movements in support of Palestine and Iran, and against Zionism, Trump and imperialism, is firing people into action and thought. This leads to discussion about […]
Revolutionary Defeatism and Ireland in 2026
As multiple war zones on the world map trace the urgent imperialist demand for escalation and violent intervention in economic and geopolitical arenas, the Left in the part of the world often labelled as the Global North finds itself in search of a principled position with respect to war, governments […]
Mass Psychology of Fascism
As Communists, we should not be surprised by the rise of right-wing and neo-fascist groups in an orchestrated fashion all over the world, because fascism raises its head when capitalism is in decay. When the ruling class is no longer able to rule by persuasion, it uses coercion to maintain capitalist accumulation. […]
Micheál Martin’s visit to US: A managed car crash
May I beg to differ with the carefully created mainstream media consensus surrounding Micheál Martin’s meeting last month with US president Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance? Ireland’s establishment media took the view that the Taoiseach had very skilfully handled an incredibly challenging situation and had, thankfully, exited the […]
The Future: socialism or barbarism
Are we are now seeing a different side of Donald Trump? Is this to be the no-nonsense bringer of peace to Eastern Europe. The man who will end the NATO-led proxy war against Russia. There can be little doubt that the US president has dramatically altered the situation vis-a-vis Ukraine […]
Our pro-empire establishment is not new
Politicians and media once again are nauseatingly pumping out pro-war materials, under the guise of defence and security, attacking our long-held position of neutrality and the more recent mechanism of securing it under the triple-lock. This mechanism, a compromise won by the people’s rejection of Nice 1, aligns to the […]
Aftermath of the German elections
The 2025 German Bundestag elections, which took place last month, saw a dramatic collapse among the incumbent parties: the SPD, the Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP). These failures were not a freak result; they were the direct result of years of neoliberal governance, poor decision-making, and a crisis of […]
Trump Election: A triumph for corporate USA
In spite of the extensive coverage of Trump’s storming arrival in the Oval Office, there remains a certain complacency in Ireland and elsewhere about what this presidency means. With the balance of power in the world changing away from the USA’s total control, there is now a question as to […]
On the crisis of historicity as root of ideological decadence
For the purpose of this contribution, decadence is primarily demonstrated in class self-indulgence. Media discourse, synchronised with election cycles, demonstrates this well, as the capitalist class and its state clientele put focus on issues divorced from those of the working class. At those few points of convergence, we see the […]
January’s Socialist Voice issued an editorial accompanying an article about trangender rights[1] that rightly calls for respect in debates on this topic. Surely, the more obvious issue here is why we have this debate at all. From the point of view of scientific socialism, the matter is entirely irrelevant. As […]
