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…
PEOPLES, NATIONALITIES, NATIONS, NATION STATES, NATIONALISM AND NATIONALISTS
A young comrade after reading the UK State, Britishness and the ‘Racialised’, ‘Ethnicised’ and ‘National’ Outsiders (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2016/03/02/britishness-the-uk-state-unionism-scotland-and-the-national-outsider/) has asked Allan Armstrong to clarify the differences between Nationalities, Nations and Nation States. Here is a section of Allan’s book, Internationalism from Below, volume 1, which explores these concepts. PEOPLES, NATIONALITIES, NATIONS, NATION STATES, NATIONALISM AND NATIONALISTS…
JUNE 24th – THE FUKers’ BLACK FRIDAY OR RED FRIDAY FOR A EUROPEAN DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION?
Allan Armstrong, who first became politically active in 1968, gives his political assessment of the political situation in the aftermath of the June 23d EU referendum. Allan is on the Editorial Board of Emancipation & Liberation, a supporter of the Republican Socialist Alliance, the Radical Independence Campaign and, in the ‘Spirit of 68’, a dissident member of the…
AN OPEN LETTER TO LEXITERS
AN OPEN LETTER TO THOSE LEXITERS* OPPOSED TO A SECOND EU REFERENDUM, BUT TOO NERVOUS TO CALL A DEMO FOR A ‘FREE UK’ TO IMMEDIATELY BREAK WITH THE EU, WORRIED WHO MIGHT TURN UP! Dear comrades, June 24th hasn’t quite panned out as you Lexiters claimed it would. All those workers “justified” in supporting…
HILLSBOROUGH – THE CROWN IN THE DOCK
The inquest into the Hillsborough Disaster finally made its ruling on 26th April. It took 27 years, following a prolonged establishment and police cover up, to finally get the verdict that 96 Liverpool supporters were “unlawfully killed”. We are posting the article below by Steve Freeman and Phil Vellender of the RSA. It was first published in…
FIRST HAND REPORT OF THE 1916 DUBLIN RISING
The first reports sympathetic to the 1916 Rising appeared in the Women’s Dreadnought on Saturday 13 May 1916. Thoughts on Easter Week was written by the editor, Sylvia Pankhurst. This was followed by Scenes from the Rebellion by Patricia Lynch sent to Dublin to report on the Easter Rising. Patricia Lynch (1898 – 1972) was an Irish author…
EU AND ‘INTERNATIONALISM FROM BELOW’ – SCOTLAND REMAINS, ENGLAND ABSTAINS
The RCN, like most of the rest of the Left, is having a debate on the EU referendum. This is the second contribution by Steve Freeman of the Republican Socialist Alliance. It has been posted on the RSA blog (http://www.republicansocialists.org.uk). A modified version has also been posted on the bella caledonia blog (http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2016/04/13/scotland-remains-and-england-abstains/) EU…
ORANGE SKIRMISH HIGHLIGHTS THE ONGOING SECTARIAN FRACTURES IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND
We are posting this recent article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) about the current situation in Northern Ireland. This is a another contribution to the series of articles we have posted about the domination of reactionary unionism in Northern Ireland, and its possible knock-on effects in the rest of the UK. ORANGE SKIRMISH HIGHLIGHTS THE…
A POLITICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN THE 2012-14 SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE AND THE 2016 EU REFERENDA CAMPAIGNS
Allan Armstrong (RCN) has written a second piece on the forthcoming EU referendum. This is a contribution to the debate in the RCN and the wider Left. Allan has spoken on this issue at the RIC national conference (Feb. 20th), SSP National Council (28th Feb) and the Glasgow Assembly for Democracy (2nd April). ___________ A POLITICAL…
TOWARD A SECULAR SOCIETY
Eric Chester (RCN) takes David Cameron to task over his promotion of a Christian UK. During his recent Easter weekend address, Prime Minister David Cameron made a point of declaring that the United Kingdom was a “Christian country.” This is not the first time Cameron has used religion to advance his conservative agenda. In his…