By Tony Wilsdon, Socialist Alternative (our sister organisation in the US) The threat posed by COVID-19 was not a secret. The devastating spread of the virus in China, and the fact that it could be transmitted person-to-person was world news by the middle of January. The science of virus transmission and the steps to minimize its reach was also well ...

By Robert Cosgrave The horrific Covid-19 crisis has graphically exposed the multiple inequalities and forms of oppression that lie at the heart of capitalism. Working-class people find themselves out of work and down on income. For those workers deemed essential, the same unacceptable workloads continue, with a lack of sufficient PPE provision or any increase in their wages from bosses ...

By Andrea Murray As the outbreak of Covid-19 began to take hold, experts warned of the risk of increased gender based violence and abuse of children. Intimate partner violence increased significantly during the HIV / AIDS pandemic, Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks. Research from previous pandemics and disease outbreaks align with what we’re now seeing emerging from Covid-19. Economic insecurity ...

Interview with Eljeer Hawkins, New York City surgical technician & socialist activist NYC is at the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. What are conditions like for health workers there? EH: The conditions throughout our for-profit healthcare system and for the workers has been an utter disaster with unconscionable consequences as we try to take care of our patients and the ...

By Mick Barry Today, Debenhams workers at 7 stores throughout the state staged protests at the company’s decision to go into liquidation with the loss of 2,000 plus jobs. Debenhams may go into full liquidation in just nine days time and the workers therefore left with bare minimum statutory redundancy from the state’s social insurance fund. Companies such as Debenhams, ...

Now pressure is building in many countries across the world for an ‘’exit strategy’’ from the shutdown. This pressure is not coming from working-class people.

By Gary McDonald Capitalism is yet again inflicting more shock and horror on the world that is bound to traumatise the global population, leaving scars that will be felt for generations. Just like the climate crisis, the writing has been on the wall for years for a possible pandemic with this ferocity. Considering this is the sixth major epidemic in ...

By Finghín Kelly Last week saw a major clash between eurozone finance ministers with a 16 meeting ending in a deadlock before a face-saving meeting later agreed to a package of measures worth up to €540 billion. This has been heralded with much fanfare as a breakthrough and a ‘game changer’ in terms of the EU’s response to this crisis ...

By Mick Barry TD Debenhams announced the closure of all its 11 shops in the Republic of Ireland on the Thursday evening before the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. At the same time they announced that their UK operations were being put into administration. The High Court has since appointed a liquidator for the Irish shops.  These closures mean the loss ...

By Rita Harrold You may be finding it difficult to get though to your GP in the south of Ireland right now, but abortion is still available up to nine weeks for free through GPs and up to 12 weeks in hospitals. The government has announced that the two legally required doctor consultations can now be conducted over the phone, ...