Category: North of Ireland
-
The ghosts of Drumcree
On the morning of Sunday 27 September, it seemed the North stood on the brink of the abyss. As the Orange Order was gearing up for a march down the Garvaghy Road, loyalists gathered in Portadown city centre to welcome them. Thousands of residents from the mainly nationalist area, meanwhile, linked arms to blockade the…
-
Donald Trump’s contribution to the discussion on a United Ireland summed up
Donald Trump has some choice words on Irish unification when he took a detour from his golf trip last week to visit the Taoiseach. At their meeting he unexpectedly announced: “They’re Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I’d love to see it unified,” adding later that it would be “a very cool thing”.…
-
Donaldson’s fall and the DUP’s crisis
The unprecedented scandal surrounding former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who has been convicted of 18 counts of sexual abuse against children – including one count of rape – has shaken the DUP to its very core. For the first time in five years, the latest opinion polls have failed to place the DUP as the…
-
Opinion polls, ballot boxes and Sinn Féin
The latest LucidTalk poll has sent shockwaves through the political establishment in the North. The three parties that came out on top in the last Stormont elections are now all but bleeding support. Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction for child rape and abuse has plunged the DUP into crisis. Alliance is now polling at its lowest in…
-
NHS: pay rises for the bosses, austerity for us!
The bigwigs lording over the NHS in the North of Ireland have put it upon themselves to increase their salaries by 50 percent in the past three years. The result? The top brass in Stormont’s Department of Health now commands more than a staggering £2 million in annual salaries! At the best of times, this…
-
The case of Pat Finucane and the role of the British State
The newly established public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane is set to shine further light onto the bloody role of the British state in Ireland. The murder stands as one of the most notorious killings of the Troubles – not because it was unique, but because of the level of state collusion involved.…
-
Donaldson: guilty on all counts
Knight of the Realm, Right Honourable member of the Privy Council, leader (until his arrest) of the largest Unionist party in the North, MP for three decades, UK trade envoy, former Assistant Grand Master of the Orange Order, and – lest we forget! – devout Presbyterian on a ‘mission from God’ – Sir Jeffery Donaldson…
-
The never-ending crisis of Stormont’s finances
Stormont is trapped in a permanent financial crisis. In the last year alone, it overspent by more than £450 million, and on current projections this could rise to £1 billion within the next financial cycle. On paper, the explanation given by the mouthpieces of British imperialism on this island is simple. Stormont doesn’t raise enough…
-
Reform, Restore, and the riots – Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind
In light of this week’s pogroms in Belfast, we republish the following article by the British section of the Revolutionary Communist International. Here the role of reactionary demagogues such as Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe is discussed in stoking such explosions as we have seen in recent days. Nigel Farage called for “pure, cold rage”…
-
Pogroms in the North: socialism or barbarism
Homes torched. Cars set ablaze. Racist roadblocks. Bricks crashing through windows. Wheelie bins hurled onto the streets in flames. Gangs of masked men roaming neighbourhoods. Families fleeing their homes in police vans. On Tuesday night, Belfast was gripped by what has been described as the worst night of violence the city has seen in over…