Category: News & Analysis
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Death by a thousand cuts: the budget and the economic storm
Talking to the Dáil, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe began his Budget 2026 speech by asking rhetorically: “The certainties that have underpinned our transformation as a country are now being called into question. Uncertainty is the defining feature of the economy of the world this year… [How do] we respond to this more difficult international…
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Spying, Lying, and political policing: the rotten core of the PSNI
The release of the 200-page McCullough Report has exposed the depth of politically motivated policing that exists in the PSNI. Spying, lying and methods illegal even by the standards of capitalist law are described as “widespread or systemic” in this rotten police force. The report found 21 instances of illegal use of journalists’ communications data…
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Zohran Mamdani wins: what’s next in the fight against the billionaires?
Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City is one of the highest-profile victories for a socialist candidate in American history. In the “capital of capitalism”—the largest city in the most powerful imperialist country on earth—over one million people voted for a self-described democratic socialist, in what The New York Times correctly described as…
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Citywest riots: the real enemy is in Leinster House
The Citywest Hotel in Saggart became the scene of violent clashes in October as part of a pattern which is becoming all too familiar. Resentment towards the establishment in working-class areas is at boiling point. Meanwhile, hardline racist thugs are becoming increasingly emboldened by exploiting genuine anger and diverting it towards reactionary channels. These riots…
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Presidential election: a thundering rejection of the establishment
Left-wing independent Catherine Connolly was elected the tenth president of Ireland with a thumping majority of 63 percent of the valid votes cast – the highest share of first preferences a presidential candidate has ever received. The votes were at least as much a means of giving the government a kicking as they were votes…
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Soldier F absolved – no justice under British Imperialism!
53 years on from the Bloody Sunday massacre on defenceless marchers in Derry in 1972, the British state has shamelessly absolved itself of any guilt for the slaughter. Soldier F – who pulled the trigger against 5 on Bloody Sunday – has been acquitted by the Belfast Crown Court on Thursday last week. Despite the…
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‘Smear the bejaysus out of her’ – the establishment vs Catherine Connolly
It’s been just eleven days since Fianna Fáil’s presidential hopeful Jim Gavin scurried from the race after revelations he had scandalously pocketed a tenant’s rent overpayment 15 years ago. Since, the Irish ruling class has unleashed a relentless smear campaign against Catherine Connolly – a campaign driven by their palpable fear of her becoming president.…
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Will Donald J Trump ever be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
“When the leaders speak of peace, the common people know that war is coming.” (Berthold Brecht) This morning, the man in the White House must have choked over his plate of corn flakes when he saw the headlines in the newspapers: María Corina Machado, the most prominent leader of the Venezuelan opposition, had just won…
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The meaning of the ceasefire in Gaza
Celebrations have erupted in Gaza and Israel at the announcement by Trump on Truth Social that a peace agreement has been reached between Israeli and Hamas negotiators in Egypt. That there is celebration is understandable, especially for Gazans who until this point faced a future of certain death by bombardment or starvation. However, we must…
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Two years into the Gaza genocide: will Trump bring “eternal peace”?
Last week, US President Donald Trump stepped in to impose his 20-point peace plan to end the genocide in Gaza. He is now proposing that Gaza be handed over to an American-led transitional authority, chaired by himself, with the assistance of the destroyer of Iraq, Tony Blair. All the western and collaborationist Arab leaders are…