IRISH NURSES AND THE FAILURE OF SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP

We are posting two articles from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) blog addressing the nurses’ struggle for improved pay and a better health service in Ireland. The second goes into the underlying problems faced when unions embrace a partnerships with the state and employers in a time of economic crisis.    1.SQUARING THE CIRCLE Government and…

BREXIT AND WHAT IT MEANS IN IRELAND

The E&L blog  has been reporting the situation in Ireland since we started up. However, during  current Brexit negotiations , the  ‘backstop’ has pushed the issue of Northern Ireland to the fore. We are publishing two articles which share a lot in common in their analysis of Ireland, but which offer differing perspectives on the role…

ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE CONFERENCE, 10.12.18, LONDON

  Allan Armstrong, who attended the ‘Another Europe Is Possible’ conference in London, as a representative from the Campaign for European Republican Socialist Party, makes his political assessment of the event. ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE CONFERENCE, 10.12.18, LONDON   The Left in the UK has not only been hopelessly divided over Brexit, but marginal to…

REVIEW: CLASS NOT CREED, 1968

Connor Beaton reviews the pamphlet Class Not Creed, 1968 by Richie Venton both as a historic account of events in Northern Ireland and as an indication of the current politics of the Scottish Socialist Party.     Fifty years after the beginning of the civil rights movement in the north of Ireland, the whole island…

FAILING GOVERNMENTS IN IRELAND – SOUTH AND NORTH

We are posting two articles from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) website, highlighting the problems faced by  the current Fine Gael  government in  the Dail and the lack of enthusiasm for reviving Stormont in Belfast.   1. CONFIDENCE AND SUPPLY AGREEMENT EXTENDED A de facto government of national unity in Ireland weakens capitalism and poses a…

AN IRELAND UPDATE – SOUTH AND NORTH

We posting to articles from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) website on the current political situation South and North. The first looks at the recent Presidential election; the second at the collapse of Stormont. 1. IRISH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: AN ELECTION WITHOUT CANDIDATES Throughout the presidential election one could only watch open mouthed as RTE, an organisation…

RENEGING ON REPEAL: A NEW THREAT TO ABORTION RIGHTS IN IRELAND

This article, first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland) on the situation in Ireland following  the earlier successful repeal of the 8th amendment highlights the need to organise independently of the state.      RENEGING ON REPEAL: A NEW THREAT TO ABORTION RIGHTS IN IRELAND After a period of quiet relief following the repeal referendum the…

REVIEW: BALLYMURPHY PRECEDENT (Channel Four)

The following review from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) is of the film Ballymurphy Precedent made by Callum Macrae for Channel Four.     A HIDDEN HISTORY OF BRITISH MILITARY REPRESSION AGAINST CIVILIANS  The Ballymurphy massacre has the simplest of all dramatic structures. It is a narrative built around a chronology – a three-day assault by the…

FRANKIE GOES TO IRELAND

Following Pope Francis’s visit to Ireland we are posting this article by D. R. O’Connor Lysaght of Socialist Democracy (Ireland).   FRANKIE GOES TO IRELAND He came, he saw and, well, he addressed congregations considerably smaller than those prophesied, talked to representative of the many individuals assaulted by officials of his bureaucracy and went back…

EDINBURGH OCTOBER 6th – A RALLYING CALL FOR THE LEFT

Allan Armstrong puts the case for building a Scottish-wide Left contingent on the ‘All Under One Banner’ march in Edinburgh on October 6th   EDINBURGH OCTOBER 6th – A RALLYING CALL FOR THE LEFT   35,000 in Glasgow, 10,000 in Inverness, 13,000 in Dumfries and 16,000 in Dundee – ‘All Under One Banner ‘ clearly…