Category: News & Analysis
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Establishment staggers as election day draws near
“It is hard to think of a greater shock in any presidential election” – so wrote the Irish Times after Fianna Fáil’s candidate Jim Gavin’s sudden withdrawal from the race for the Áras. After a cold start, a scandal from 2009 when he pocketed money from a tenant in the midst of the financial crash…
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Italian general strike: a dramatic turn in the world situation
What happened in Italy on Friday 3 October has very few precedents. Think about it. A political strike. A political general strike. A political general strike over internationalist solidarity and against imperialism. Millions participated in industrial action, two million participated in mass demonstrations and hundreds of thousands took direct action under the slogan of “let’s…
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Flotilla solidarity protest: a taste of what is possible
On Wednesday night, the Israeli armed forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla approaching Gaza, once again criminally blocking vital supplies from reaching the strip. Among others, fourteen Irish citizens have been ‘arrested’ by the IDF and are still being held in detention. We must call this for what it is – another criminal action by…
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ISRAEL HAS INTERCEPTED THE FLOTILLA: BLOCK EVERYTHING! – FOR A WORKERS’ BOYCOTT AND GENERAL STRIKE!
At around 6pm GMT on 1 October, Israeli armed forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla of over 40 vessels which had been travelling towards Gaza to break the naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid. By this morning, 2 October, the majority of the boats had been seized by Israel and their occupants, hundreds of people,…
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Sectarian attacks in Oldpark: transition has failed, we need a revolution!
Several Catholic families have been forced to flee a mixed-housing estate in the Lower Oldpark area of North Belfast after renewed intimidation, violence and threats of petrol bombs. In nearby Manor Street, a migrant family was also attacked, their windows smashed and “locals only” daubed across their garage. This outrageous episode is but the latest…
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The history of Israel-Palestine to 1993
Trotsky warned in 1940 that the attempt to solve the ‘Jewish problem’ in Europe through the dispossession of the Palestinians would be a “bloody trap”. These words ring true to this very day. But the real history of Israel-Palestine has been buried under mountains of falsification. In this article, Francesco Merli explains the shady dealings…
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“Is that homelessness?” – As Martin scoffs the housing crisis intensifies
“But if the house has been offered… those people are still on the list, still in emergency accommodation, and they’re being counted. And I question then is that homelessness?” So Micheál Martin sneered at the latest bleak milestone set under his government. Apparently – if we believe our ever-wise Taoiseach – a record-breaking 16,353 people…
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Trump at the United Nations
“He who laughs has not yet heard the bad news.” – Berthold Brecht They sat there in stunned silence, petrified, like a row of stone statues staring at their highly polished footwear. They resembled nothing less than a group of naughty children, suffering the pitiless admonishments of a sadistic headmaster in a draughty school assembly…
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Digging up the Church’s legacy: Tuam excavations begin
More than 900 of the 3,349 children held in the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam – known as ‘The Home’ – died in their ‘care’. The figures paint a horrifying picture. 80 percent were less than a year old. Across these institutions, infant mortality rates were four times higher than the national…
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Harris says: guns not butter!
The government’s new National Development Plan commits to ramping up capital spending on the military from €215 million in 2025 to €300 million in 2026, and €360 million by 2029. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael intend to pour €1.7 billion into new military infrastructure – a staggering 144 percent increase compared to the last five…