Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland 13 July 2018 The Communist Party of Ireland welcomes the passing by the Seanad of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, introduced by the independent senator Frances Black. The vote of 25 in favour and 20 against is an important and […]
Previous Articles
The Israeli “nation-state law” is a fascist step towards apartheid
Statement by the Communist Party of Israel The need today is to strengthen the unity of the Palestinian citizens’ struggle and, forming the widest Jewish-Arab front to fight Fascism. The Communist Party of Israel considers the “Basic Law: Israel – the Nation State of the Jewish People”, a serious […]
We have reached the end of history
We have reached the end of history: at least as far as the junior certificate cycle is concerned. Following the revamp of the Junior Cert model history will no longer be a compulsory subject with only English, Irish and Mathematics remaining mandatory. Though this has been sold as “giving the […]
Psychology’s punitive history
“The peoples of the world do not want a repetition of the scourge of war.” Psychology has a complicated relationship with the world at large, often seen as something to be a bit wary of. Like nuclear engineering it has the ring of something easily corrupted and dangerous about […]
Trump is just the vulgar face of an increasingly violent neoliberalism
Let’s hear it for the Donald. A round of applause for the great educator. In the face of criticism, ridicule and condemnation, the US president crossed the Atlantic and delivered a virtuoso performance. No other occupant of the Oval Office has visited Europe and provided such a clear and unambiguous […]
Armed Response Unit breaks up political protest in Cork
Cork Branch, Connolly Youth Movement Members of the Connolly Youth Movement (CYM) had inhabited two buildings, dubbed Kent House and Mellows House, to highlight the ongoing housing crisis. The six residents had been living there for over two months. However, on July 24, a worker of the maintenance group […]
Retirement age: The new stealth tax
A bill is at present going through Dáil Éireann that would allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to increase the retirement age for public servants to 70 years of age. The bill will allow a future minister the option of increasing the compulsory retirement age to 75. This […]
WORKERS IN STRUGGLE
Paddy Power workers awarded €750-€1,000 each for denial of rest breaks Fourteen Mandate members employed by Paddy Power Betfair Plc have been awarded between €750 and €1000 each by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for the denial of rest breaks. The workers, through their Union, successfully took the cases under […]
Bus Connect = Bus Bisect
There is no doubt that, with our ever-expanding capital city, public transport needs to be continually expanded and improved to meet the ever changing requirements of a modern city. Typical of our gombeen political class instead of improving and expanding the bus service continuously, the system is neglected, under funded […]
Response to the minister for housing
Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland 24 July 2018 The Communist Party of Ireland notes with interest the comments made by the minister for housing, Eoghan Murphy, when addressing the media. He admitted that the rent of a two-bedroom apartment in the proposed “cost-rental” development at St Michael’s Estate, […]
The wrong act? Thinking about the Industrial Relations Act (1990)
A recent article in Socialist Voice made a powerful case for addressing the inequities of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. As the article identifies, the Act is an anti-union measure. Indeed, it might be said that Bertie Ahern achieved in one act what it took Thatcher and Major to do […]
Radical or redundant
The chief executive officer of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has been declared the richest person in modern history, with a personal fortune of €152 billion. This massive accumulation of wealth did not just appear in his bank account or property portfolio: it was created by the labour of others, coupled with […]
The wrong people are in the boats
The crisis of the capitalist economic system continues to grow, and the imposition of limited tariffs on steel imports etc. by the United States is just another symptom of this deepening crisis. The reaction of the liberal establishment in the European Union shows clearly its weakness in relation to the […]
Who will fight fascism?
Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko was credited with killing 309 fascist invaders With the Trump government in the United States turning an already opaque and Kafkaesque machinery of violence against the marginalised into a more overt American fascism, and the rise of the far right throughout Europe, mechanisms of resistance have […]
Fórsa’s first strike
Fórsa, the biggest public-sector union, is in existence since January 2018, but already workers’ rights are under attack. The CEO of Roscommon County Council launched the attack on the issue of flex time. This is not a simple local issue but a challenge to trade unions and workers’ rights in […]
Trade unions must make no excuses
Industrial relations law often works on the assumption that both sides of a dispute are reasonable entities: employers won’t exploit or take advantage of their workers, and in return the workers won’t ask for “too much”; and, just in case, we have trade unions to try to keep the playing-pitch […]