This article, written by John McAnulty, first appeared in the March/April issue of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) The 2011 elections in the North of Ireland marked a substantial victory for capitalism. It marked the first point where one Stormont administration morphed into another via election, without the collapse of the government. That modest success quickly became a much more substantial victory. The election was preceded by the killing of a Catholic police constable by republicans and the election was settled in advance in a wave of hysteria…
A Republican Re-alignment
A REPUBLICAN RE-ALIGNMENT John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy – Ireland) Shortly before Elizabeth Windsor’s visit to Dublin, the death of police officer Ronan Kerr led to a moral panic across Ireland, with demonstrations in support of the status quo and with the great and the good claiming all Irish society was under threat. In the Assembly elections which followed a…
Opposing the imperialist suppression of the revolution in North Africa and the Middle East
Here are 4 items relating to the current situation in Bahrain and Libya SSP Conference motion, 3 April 2011 Article by Moshe Machover – The long road of the Arab revolution Article by John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy – Ireland) the test of Libya Article by Pepe Escobar – Exposed the US-Saudi Libya deal Motion proposed…
Irish elections: Revenge, but not yet resistance
by Kevin Keating and John McAnulty, Socialist Democracy (Ireland) In the run-up to the Irish election of 25th February a number of key issues arose. The major issue was the imposition of four years of renewed austerity overseen by the intervention of the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. The second issue was the…
The new Hillsborough Agreement
John McNulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) examines the Hillsborough Agreement, the latest retreat in the ‘Peace Process’ following the earlier St. Andrews and Good Friday Agreements. The immediate response of the world’s media to the latest Irish settlement, a common response when they shy away from any analysis, was to carry out a series of…
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.…
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…
From Operation Banner to Operation Helvetica
John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy, Belfast) looks at the changing face of British rule in Ireland In their usual astounding display of chutzpah Sinn Fein have produced a T-shirt depicting the IRA expelling a Brit soldier, claiming that the ending of ‘Operation Banner’ (the deployment of troops and the armed suppression of the civil population during…
Irish Election: Downturn in Workers Struggle Means Teflon Bertie Rides Again
by John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy, Belfast) The Irish election of 24th May astounded all the political observers commenting on it. The election was called unexpectedly at a rushed early morning press conference in a transparent attempt to head off a judicial enquiry into suspect financial dealings by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. The enquiry was immediately…
Choreography of the Pratfall
by John McAnulty (Socialist Democracy, Belfast) ‘Independent’ Monitoring Commission blasts Provos – Paisley lays out agenda for ‘new’ Ireland Commentators on the various ‘historic turning points’ meant to restore life to the corpse of the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland often use the word ‘choreography’. Translated the term means that the agreement, and all its…