Category: Ireland
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‘Programme for Government’ – Greens enable an establishment stitch-up
This year has been an extraordinary one in Irish politics. The dominant political parties – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – were dealt a terrible blow in February’s election, so much so that the parties which could once command 80 percent in the polls have been reduced to a combined first-preference vote of 43 percent.
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Coronavirus and crisis in Ireland: interview with Paul Murphy, TD
MTV held an interview with Paul Murphy, TD (MP) for Dublin South West in the Irish Dáil (parliament), in which we discussed the coronavirus and the political crisis unfolding in Ireland. If you missed it, you can catch the recording here on marxist.com!
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Elections: a shattering blow to the establishment
In the past, liberal commentators superficially asserted that Ireland had escaped the political turbulence that has rocked the rest of Europe. But no longer. With the results of the 2020 general election, Ireland had caught up with a bang.
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‘Common History, Common Struggle’ – from an error of emphasis to opportunism
Peter Hadden was still working on the finishing touches of his book, Common History, Common Struggle, when he sadly passed away in 2010. In it he analysed the events surrounding the beginning of the Troubles in Ireland. What began as a mass uprising of working-class, Catholic neighbourhoods eventually descended into a reactionary spiral of violence.
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Jobstown Not Guilty: The Irish Establishment in the dock
Shortly after midday on 29th June, an eleven-person jury delivered 6 unanimous verdicts of “not guilty” to spontaneous cheers in the courtroom at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The verdict brings to its conclusion a trial by means of which the Irish ruling class sought to bring an end to the fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest. …
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Tory-DUP deal exposes Establishment crisis
After a thin Queen’s Speech and long negotiations, Theresa May and DUP leader Arlene Foster finally appeared outside Downing Street earlier this week to shake hands on the deal that will keep May in power – for now. According to the conditions of the deal, Northern Ireland will be given £1.5 billion for extra spending,…
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What lies behind the collapse of Stormont?
The power-sharing deal in the North of Ireland, established with the Good Friday Agreement, has broken down. The old system of rule no longer works, an indication of the pressures that flow from the economic crisis. Gerry Ruddy looks at why and how this has come about. The partition of Ireland leading to the establishment…
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Bus Éireann dispute: explosive anger a harbinger of the class struggle to come
After Bus Éireann, a subsidiary of Ireland’s state-owned public transport operator (CIÉ) responsible for bus travel outside of Dublin, announced a swathe of attacks against workers and bus services, the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) declared an all-out strike effective from midnight on 23rd March. The bus drivers have reacted to these attacks with…
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Martin McGuinness 1950-2017
In the traditional Irish rural community of yesteryear there was a saying, “never speak ill of the dead”. Martin McGuinness’s body was scarcely cold before the keyboard “warriors” were launching attacks on his reputation.
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Scandals, Brexit and spiraling crisis
On 9th January, Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minister of the Stormont Assembly in Belfast, resigned in protest against the ongoing Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal. As the Assembly was unable to elect a new Deputy, new elections have been triggered, as required under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, which are now scheduled for…