Comrade Gearóid Ó Machail, SIPTU NIDC Workplace Representative and National Executive Committee member of the Communist Party of Ireland, succeeded in having the below resolution passed at the recent NIC-ICTU Biennial Delegates Conference in the Guildhall, Derry. MOTION: This motion calls on ICTU to lead an active campaign to highlight […]
Previous Articles
Review: Lost Gaels by Peadar Thompson, and Blood & Thunder – Rugby and Irish Life: A History by Liam O’Callaghan
In the past few months, two important contributions to Irish sports history hit the shelves of bookshops around the country. Labelling these books as Irish sports history is potentially reductive, as both authors make it very clear that the history they write is a shadow of what we would call […]
Nobel Prize for Literature: Han Kang
On 10th December 2024, Han Kang will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making her the second South Korean and the first Asian woman to receive this honour. Known for her focus on South Korea’s complex history of violence, oppression, and resistance, Kang’s win resonates powerfully with progressives, as […]
On the centenary of Puccini’s death
Europe in the mid-19th century experienced widespread political upheaval. The Revolutions of 1848, which swept across France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy, demanded political reform and national self-determination. While most of these revolts failed in the short term, they exposed tensions between conservative monarchies and the bourgeoisie, who pushed for […]
Profiting from Old Age
The 26 counties has a rapidly ageing population. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the amount of the population aged 65 or over grew 40% between 2013-2023, from 569,000 to 806,000. By 2051, the number will double to 1.6 million. As with everything in this country, the lack of […]
The importance of language in revolutionary struggle
The terms left and right originated following the French Revolution. In the French national assembly, the right comprised aristocrats and the rich. The left comprised the poor and working class who demanded democracy and wanted more tax on the rich. Throughout history, the concept of left and right has changed, […]
General election results in the 26 Counties
The results of the General Election are now in, with the two major establishment parties – Fianna Fáil (48 seats) and Fine Gael (38) just falling two short of securing an overall majority with 86 TDs combined. Elsewhere, Sinn Féin won 39 seats, the Labour Party won 11, the Social […]
Are Street Demonstrations Working?
Despite more than 12 months of demonstrations, millions marching, and other actions, we are not seriously rupturing the hegemony of the prosecutors of any imperialist wars or of those complicit in the present Palestinian genocide. The liberal approaches inherent in too many demonstrations have failed and were always destined to […]
The Caring Rebrand: Women on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis
Our island floats on the backs of unpaid women. Ireland has the third highest amount of unpaid work in the EU, consisting primarily of care work. The state has continued to support a gendered distribution of this work, rather than attempt any dual caregiving model, like those of Scandinavian countries […]
Construction Workers Union, CMFEU, Suffer Unprecedented Take Over by Labour Party Government
One of Australia’s biggest and most radical construction workers’ unions is on the defensive after being taken under state administration by the ruling Australian Labour Party (ALP). 270 elected leaders of the CMFEU (Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union) have been removed under this administration, barring union leaders from undertaking […]
Trump World
The election last month of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America has received extensive media coverage. Much of the reporting has, understandably, focused on the individual and his idiosyncratic, even eccentric behaviour. How did such an unconventional character manage to persuade a majority of Americans to […]
Statement on General Election
The forthcoming General Election takes place in the context of multiple crises, such as rising prices, rising rents, and homelessness. The health system is operating beyond all capacity, with excessive waiting times for GP appointments, in A&E departments, over-crowded hospitals, and people waiting years to be referred to a specialist. […]
Poetry by Gabriel Rosenstock
Fortune Teller Out of sheer desperationI went to the fortune tellerand begged her to tell me when the war would end.Her lips curled.What did that mean?I felt my own lips beginning to curl as well, unwittingly.She looked me straight in the eye.Maybe she doesn’t know, I said to myself.Can she […]
Language Activism in Struggle
Ar dtús, caithfidh mé mo leithscéal a ghabháil as labhairt anseo i dteanga ár namhad. Nach greannmhar go bhfuil muid ag plé an ábhair seo i dteanga a níonn scrios ar ár gcultúr agus ar mheon na saoirse sa tír seo agus ar fud an domhain, lá i ndiaidh lae. […]
Mental health and alienation under capitalism
The discourse around mental health has long been dominated by the psy disciplines, particularly psychiatry which has been influential in determining our understanding of “mental illness”. To do so it relies on the DSM – The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM is used to diagnose and […]
BRICS and Imperialism
Since at least the final stages of World War II, the United States has sought to achieve global hegemony through the unrestrained use of its economic and military might. Constrained for several decades by the presence of socialist states, the demise of the Soviet Union appeared to give the American […]