The following is an article about the ousting of Barry McElduff, Sinn Fein MP for West Tyrone, after his notorious tweet. This article first appeared in Socialist Democracy (Ireland). THE OUSTING OF BARRY McELDUFF A sustained campaign of outrage has led to the ousting of the Sinn Fein MP for West Tyrone. The campaign arose from the posting…
Review: Struggle or Starve: Working Class Unity in Belfast’s Outdoor Relief Riots
Tommy McKearney reviews Struggle or Starve: Working Class Unity in Belfast’s Outdoor Relief Riots by Sean Mitchell. STRUGGLE OR STARVE: WORKING CLASS UNITY IN BELFAST’S OUTDOOR RELIEF RIOTS Struggle or Starve by Séan Mitchell is an important book that deserves the widest readership among those interested in promoting progressive politics in the North of Ireland. The author…
AN IRISH LANGUAGE ACT IS FOR EVERYONE
One of the bones in contention between Sinn Fein and the DUP over the suspended Stormont is the Unionists’ refusal to pass a law recognising the Irish language. The Unionists have used their veto within the post-Good Friday Agreement set-up to ensure that British law does not extend to Stormont. Provision was made by Westminster…
NORTHERN IRELAND UPDATE – THE CONTINUING IMPACT OF REACTIONARY UNIONISM
Northern Ireland is one part of the UK state where the reactionary unionism which has come to dominate politics since the Brexit referendum has a much longer history. The coalescence of the reactionary unionism which underpins the Tory Party and that of the DUP has now taken the shape of a governmental alliance, headed by Teresa May and…
A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
Socialists are now confronted with the unexpected rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the re-emergence of British Left social democracy. This first part of this article by Allan Armstrong will examine the significance of this and make a critical appraisal of their future prospects in the face of the current global multi-faceted political, economic, social, cultural…
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE REALITY OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Throughout the life of this blog, we have been posting material about Ireland/Northern Ireland. The British ruling class has always taken a keen interest in developments there. However, such is the nature of the unionist state, that British governments have been successful for most of the time, in getting people in England, Scotland and Wales to view…
TWO REVOLUTIONS?
Steve Freeman reports on the politics displayed at the Left Unity Party’s conference held on June 24th in London. This was first published as a letter in Weekly Worker (http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1162/letters/) TWO REVOLUTIONS? On June 24, Left Unity members met in conference to consider the way ahead in the next period. Members are aware of…
ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th
Allan Armstrong was delegated at the RISE National Forum held in Edinburgh on 8th April to be its representative at the LUP conference on May 20th. Due to the General Election this was postponed to June 24th. Attached is the full version of the talk he prepared for the conference held in London. In the…
VARADKAR ELECTION AS FINE GAEL LEADER SIGNALS FURTHER RIGHT SHIFT
Recently, in France we have see the election of Macron as President, with his new La Republique En Marche party winning a big majority in the French parliamentary elections. This represents one attempt by the neoliberal Right to regain the initiative in the face of Left and populist Right challenges. In Ireland, the election of…
PADDY BORT – 1954-2017
Allan Armstrong writes about the contribution made by Paddy Bort, who died on February 17th, to our understanding of Scottish and Irish cultural and political links. PADDY BORT – 1954-2017 Eberhard Bort, Germano-Scot and Germano-Irish by choice, “in essence the ultimate European”, and known to most acquaintances in Scotland and Ireland as Paddy, died unexpectedly on…