By Colm McCarthy For the Government, the loss of Fine Gael’s seat in Dublin Bay South to Ivana Bacik of the Labour Party was a notable defeat. Fine Gael hoped the party and government would gain a bounce in the polls because of the vaccine rollout and a potential feel-good factor arising from the ending of severe lockdown measures. This ...

One hundred years ago this month, workers downed tools and took over their workplaces and towns. What began as a hunger strike in prison grew into a general strike against British Imperialism that pointed in the direction of socialism and workers’ power. Manus Lenihan gives an account of these colossal events.  One hundred years ago revolution was sweeping across Ireland ...

By Michael O’Brien A paper with the long-winded title “A draft document between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to facilitate negotiations with other parties on a plan to recover, rebuild and renew Ireland after the COVID-19 Emergency” has been circulated by those two parties to Labour, Social Democrats and the Green Party in an effort to assemble a majority government. ...

By Colm McCarthy In the aftermath of the election that cemented their historically poor results of four years ago, Labour leader Brendan Howlin resigned, triggering a leadership race. The race will pit Alan Kelly, the most prominent figure remaining from the 2011-16 cabinet, against Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.   A force for social progress? Ó Ríordáin is a key propagator of the ...

By Tom Crean, Socialist Alternative (Our sister organisation in the United States)  For socialists who want to see the right and its agenda defeated, the victory of the reactionary Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party in last week’s general election in Britain is obviously a serious setback. The corporate media and the leadership of the Democratic Party have honed in ...

In Britain, the Brexit crisis will be a key issue in the general election. However, there will also be a clear clash of broader political visions between the right-populism of Boris Johnson and the left, anti-austerity policies of Jeremy Corbyn. Class issues like poverty, housing, workers’ rights and the future of public services can also shape the outcome. Already, funding ...

The scale of the defeat in Westminster of Theresa May’s UK/EU withdrawal deal, by 432 votes to 202, was devastating. According to the Daily Telegraph it was a “complete humiliation”. The Guardian referred to it as a “historic defeat”, while the Mirror summed it up with “No deal; no hope; no clue; no confidence”. The deal was only supported by ...

By Oisin Kelly The news that Peter Casey rose from 1% in opinion polls to receive 23% in the presidential election has shocked many. Casey used despicable anti-Traveller racism to boost his profile. The racist prejudices that exist in Irish society and that he tapped into and stirred up have been fostered and nurtured by the Irish capitalist establishment over ...

Editorial from The Socialist, paper of the Socialist Party in England and Wales.  “Those who say that the European Union is a neoliberal plot are, of course, largely right” admitted financial journalist and billionaire Simon Nixon in the Times last autumn. He went on: “Any single market that allows free movement of capital and people by its very nature pits ...

As Britain’s weak Tory government clings on – and numerous social, political and economic shocks threaten its downfall – a key factor is whether the Labour Party can provide a mass alternative to harsh austerity. This is one of the main themes in the British Perspectives document for the Socialist Party’s national congress in March, drafted by HANNAH SELL (Deputy ...