Secularism, Socialism And Religion

The issue of secularism was discussed at the RCN weekend away in Fife on 22nd February. Allan Armstrong introduced the session using the presentation he had made to Edinburgh RIC. The following discussion extended beyond the scope of the introductory talk, and brought up issues which Bob Goupillot had written about when the RCN was a platform…

Pete Seeger: A Life Of Struggle And Song

Pete Seeger was one of the most important artistic figures of popular revolt in the 20th century; Gearóid Ó Loingsigh of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) provides his own tribute. The last great troubadour of the 20th century has passed away. Pete Seeger died on January 27th after a short illness at the age of 94. He became, during his…

Eirigi Election Workers Assaulted By Garda Special Branch

Many socialists are aware of the continued repressive role of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (the old RUC) when it comes to dealing with legal Republican opposition in the ‘Six Counties’. However, this article highlights the role of the Irish police force, the garda, in its attempts to suppress legal political activity in the…

Republican Socialist Alliance In England Responds To Cameron And Osborne

Below we are posting the statement agreed by the RSA Steering Committee in London on Feb. 14th in response to Cameron and Osborne. This is followed by a statement of solidarity sent to republican socialist organisations in Scotland by Steve Freeman, member of the Republican Socialist Alliance and Left Unity Party in England. He was a…

A Review of Jim Sillars’ ‘In Place Of Fear II’ by Gerry Hassan

If much of the Left in England has become all nostalgic about Old Labour following Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ’45, then much of the Left in Scotland, both in and out of the Labour Left, look back to Scottish Labour’s ‘glory days’ in the 1970’s. Here Gerry Hassan reviews dissident SNP member, Jim Sillar’s…

The SNP And Scottish Independence

Eric Chester (RCN) outlines some of the problems that the SNP government’s White Paper Independence-Lite proposals would pose for genuine Scottish self-determination. As the referendum campaign unfolds, it becomes increasingly obvious that Alex Salmond and the SNP have no interest in a truly independent Scotland. Instead, a ‘yes’ vote is a vote to authorize Salmond to…

‘Just Say Naw’ To Galloway’s Sectarian British Unionism

Bella caledonia posted an article by Richard Cameron (RCN and Edinburgh RIC) outlining the politics behind George Galloway’s Just Say Naw Scottish road tour (see Just Say Naw – To Galloway’s Sectarian British Unionism). Given the short time to write this article a number of errors appeared, none of which affected the overall arguments presented. However, Richard…

Human Rights Are Under Threat In North Of Ireland

http://www.scotsrepublic.com/2013/09/human-rights-are-under-threat-in-north.html New York based Sandy Boyer is the co-host of “Radio Free Eireann” broadcast Saturdays at 1pm on WBAI, 99.5 FM, or wbai.org. He has helped to mobilize support for political prisoners including Marian Price, Roisin McAliskey, the Birmingham 6, Pol Brennan and Joe Doherty. Here he outlines the continued threat to human rights in Northern…

Alex Salmond And The Written Constitution

Murdo Ritchie, a new member of the RCN, writes about the political significance of the issue of a written constitution raised the SNP government’s White Paper. Although the First Minister has abandoned the SNP’s commitments to referenda on a future independent Scotland’s membership of NATO and the European Union as well as continuing the current…