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…
FROM THE GPO TO THE WINTER PALACE
Rayner O’Connor Lysaght (Socialist Democracy-Ireland) has written a pamphlet entitled From the GPO to the Winter Palace, outlining the period between the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the 1917 October Revolution in Petrograd. As part of our 1916 Rising centenary postings, Rayner’s talk given to the Irish Labour History Conference in Dublin on Saturday, October…
BREXIT – VIEWS FROM IRELAND
We are posting two pieces from Ireland in the aftermath of the UK Brexit vote. The first is by D.R. O’Connor Lysaght, a member of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) written soon after the result was announced. The second is a collective statement from Socialist Democracy (Ireland). 1. BREXIT – THE HANGOVER The good news is that…
THE MINT WITH A HOLE – A review of ‘A Nation not a Rabble – The Irish Revolution 1913-23’
D.R.O’Connor Lysaght of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) reviews Diarmid Ferriter’s A Nation and not a Rabble, The Irish Revolution 1913-1923. This was first posted at:- http://socialistdemocracy.org/RecentArticles/RecentReviewDiarmaidFerriterANationAndNotARabble.html THE MINT WITH A HOLE Diarmaid Ferriter’s new book is good on two counts; it is well written and very well researched. The author has trawled very thoroughly the primary sources recently…
BOB PURDIE, 1940-2014
D.R.O’Connor Lysaght of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) has written the following obituary to Bob Purdie. Bob was onetime member of the International Marxist Group and influential in establishing their position in the Irish struggle for Irish self-determination in the 1970’s. Later a member of the SNP, he recently wrote Hugh MacDairmid: Black, Green, Red and Tartan. Obituary: Bob…
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…
Suffering is no substitute for programme
D. Rayner O’Connor Lysaght, (Socialist Democracy, Dublin) argues that although the Jacobite Rising drew on social discontents it was incapable of resolving them postively. Reading Dave Douglass’ passionate defence of the Jacobite Rising of ‘45, it became clear how much more relevant it is today than he seems to realise. In the Middle East, hundreds…
Strengthening the Anti-Capitalist analysis
D. Rayner O’Connor Lysaght (Socialist Democracy, Dublin) welcomes the Declaration, but also highlights some of its weaknesses. On 10-11 November 2003, the European Anti-Capitalist Left in the European Social Forum produced a Resolution challenging the various reformist parties’ hegemony over the working class and left wing forces of the ‘subcontinent’. In itself, it is a…