John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) highlights the significance of the recent Ulster Unionist challenge to the ‘Peace Process’. “EQUALITY OF THE TWO TRADITIONS” HITS THE ROCKS When a Sinn Fein commemoration march was barred from the small town of Castlederg in August, despite Sinn Fein’s role as junior partner in the local administration. Gerry…
G8 Summit At Enniskillen
The G8 summit was held in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, from June 17th – 18th. It is eight years since the G8 summit held at Gleneagles in July 2005. Emancipation & Liberation covered that summit quite extensively in issue no. 11 (see Emancipation & Liberation Issue 11). Little has changed. The first article by John McAnulty…
Good Friday Agreement – Thatcher’s Progressive Legacy?
John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) helps to clear up some of the confusion about Thatcher’s legacy with regard to Ireland. Some have argued that, after ditching the hard-line Ulster Unionists in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, she opened up the way to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA). John, however, highlights that, the degree to which Thatcher…
The Pat Finucane Case – Another State Cover-Up
John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy – Ireland) writes about the broader implications of the British government’s De Silva Report into the killing of the Nationalist lawyer, Pat Finucane, murdered by UDA members. DE SILVA REPORT: ANOTHER BUCKET OF WHITEWASH IN THE FINUCANE CASE There is really no excuse for confusion about the role of investigations and…
Belfast Flag Riots
John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) writes about the Loyalist rioting in Belfast over the council’s decision to restrict the number of days the Union Jack flies over the City Hall. UNIONISTS UNITE TO REJECT CONCILIATION FOR SECTARIAN DOMINANCE “They are taking everything” proclaimed a Belfast loyalist, marching back from the trashing of the city…
Sectarianism Hardwired Under The ‘Peace Process’
COVENANT MARCHES PROMISE ENDLESS SECTARIANISM The period following September’s mass Orange demonstration in Belfast commemorating the signing of the Ulster Covenant the event leading to Ireland’s Nakba, the partition of the country and generations of violence, colonial rule and sectarian division was followed by widespread expressions of relief and hope for the future. There had been no violence. The Orange Order had said they were sorry for the hurt feelings…
The Orange Frankenstein Marches Forth Again
Observers of the north of Ireland are from time to time caught by surprise when the reality of life here contradicts their belief in a steady progress towards normality. Such a moment came outside a Catholic church in Belfast. A 12th July demonstration by one band playing a hate song went viral on Facebook and…
The Political Significance Of The Merger Of Irish Physical Force Republicans
We are posting two articles on the recently agreed merger between three of the physical force Republican groups. The first is by Tommy McKearney, former IRA hunger striker, and now in the Independent Workers Union . The second is by John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland). John was a Peoples Democracy councillor on Belfast City…
Price Demonstration Shows Growing Anger At The Return Of Internment
The Belfast demonstration in support of Marian Price on the 27th of May should give pause to the British government and to local politicians. The size of the demonstration; 4000 to 5000, and the number of young people involved shows the growing levels of concern and anger at the internment of Marian and a growing…
Northern Ireland – Education Case Study Illustrates Sectarian Reality
John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) provides an example, from the Stormont administration of education, to show how the reformed set-up helps to maintain sectarianism in Northern Ireland. The journey from republicanism to administration of the Northern state rested on two main planks. One was the thesis first advanced by Michael Collins in relation to partition…