Deirdre McCartin, 1944 – 2009

The RCN only got to know of Deidre during one of her several phases of political and cultural activity. We met Deidre and her partner, Charlie Rees in the early days of the SSA and SSP, when they moved from Allihies in County Kerry to Dunure in Ayrshire. Here they joined the Ayrshire SSP branch. They were…

Sinn Fein’s ‘Michael Collins Moment’

John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) assesses the political impact of the return of physical force republicanism, after the killings in Antrim and Craigavon’. There has been a united response by all the Irish and British political parties to the killing of British soldiers in Antrim and the later killing of a policeman in Craigavon.…

Normality? By Whose Standards?

The second, from the eirigi website (eirigi) (19.12.08), contrasts the current role of the armed forces in the Six Counties and in Scotland. However, if there is ever to be a serious move towards the exercise of Scottish self-determination, we too could experience such British ‘normality’. As of January 2009, the British army in the…

Challenging Normalisation On The Streets Of Belfast

A month has now passed since the controversial British military ‘homecoming parade’ in Belfast. While there was considerable media hype in the run-up to the November 2nd military display, there was a noticeable lack of any in-depth analysis as to why the parade was organised in the first place. Instead, the corporate media ran endless…

Dublin mobilisation – Lions led by donkeys

On Sunday, February 21st, 120,000 workers answered the call of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and took to the streets of Dublin. John McAnulty, of Socialist Democracy (Ireland), makes his assessment of both the potential and the political limitations of this massive demonstration. It has become unfashionable to speak of working class power. Asserting…

Well, the Crisis of Capitalism has arrived – So, what do we do now?!

Not just a ‘Credit Crunch’ – but a ‘Crisis of Capitalism’ This year’s SSP Conference takes place against the background of an unprecedented crisis for capitalism. Every day it becomes clearer that the problems in the economy are not just confined to the over-inflated world of finance, but are having a major impact on the…