The dysfunctionality and
incompetence of the Stormont administration is well documented. Responsibility
for this is most often attributed to local political parties. And whilst this
is true it would be wrong to think that politicians are solely to blame. In nearly every scandal that has erupted in
Stormont over the period of devolution, civil servants have been deeply
complicit. (read more)
The issue of child welfare has
raised its head once again in the Dáil.
Once around the scandals besetting Sinn Féin and once more around the
state and its child protection agency’s abrogation of its responsibilities
towards children. Neither the state,
Sinn Féin or the Left came out of it very well. (read more)
In
the aftermath of the British Labour Party conference there was a fair degree of
convergence on the Left. The Socialist Workers Party warned correctly that the
Starmer policy of austerity offers a way forward towards a far-right government
at the next election. On the positive
side it noted the many issues that have sprung up (read more)
As the Dublin coalition moves
towards a general election, Sinn Féin are embroiled in a slow-motion car crash
around internal investigation and disciplinary procedures. In the North a former Sinn Féin press
officer who was accused (and later convicted of) various sexual offences,
including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity received
two references from other party staff members that led to his employment by the
British Heart Foundation (BHF). (read more)
The recent announcement by the
British government that it would not be providing any additional funding for
the redevelopment of the Casement Park GAA stadium in west Belfast is a major
blow for the Stormont Executive and for Sinn Fein in particular.
The expectation was that the building of a
high-grade multi-sports stadium at Casement Park would allow Belfast to be one
of the host cities for the finals of the Euro 2028 soccer tournament. (read more)
The TUC’s general secretary, Paul
Nowak, has made great claims for the new Workers’ Rights Bill being introduced
this week. The deal is linked to a public sector pay deal which was the minimum
that would get through a union vote and has not been accepted in many areas,
especially in the NHS. According to Nowak, the Bill will turn the
tables on the Conservatives’ “low rights low pay economy” and will “make work
pay again”. (read more)
The 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April 2023 was met with jubilation and celebration in Belfast. Past and present taoisigh (Irish government leaders), British prime ministers, US presidents and a raft of academics were brought together by the local universities and media in an extended celebration.Yet all is not well. If the decay of the agreement is of concern, the universal failure of academia, of the press, the trade unions and political parties to acknowledge such decay is astounding. John McAnulty provides that missing critique and suggests how Ireland will move beyond this historic inflection to fulfill the revolutionary implications of its initial struggle for freedom.
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10 April 2023
25 Years On: in the debris of the Good Friday Agreement
The 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement is being
marked by assemblies of the great and the good. Joe Biden rushes through the
North, avoiding attention to the barren political landscape. On RTE television
the ghost of Bertie Ahern dominates, while the high point will be the upcoming visit
of Bill and Hilary Clinton and Tony Blair to a celebration at Queens
University.
No-one will remark on the unsavoury character of
these saints of peace. Even less will anyone notice that the fine mansion that
they built is now in ruins. (read more)
Defend a woman’s right to tell
the truth - 20/10/21
People before Profit student
society calls for ‘no-platforming’ of feminists and LGB rights activists -
25/03/21
Puberty Blockers: An
unregulated live experiment on children - 17/04/21
Vulnerable children being seen
at Gender Clinics - 06/03/21
On the Reactionary Roots of
Queer Theory - 28/02/21
A new front in human
liberation, or a medical scandal in the making? - 09/01/21
Amnesty International Ireland opposes the right to free speech -
06/11/20
Gender Identity Ideology, the Trans Rights
Movement, and
homophobia - 27/09/20
Socialism, Feminism and transgender politics -
07/09/20
All COVERAGE
Socialist Democracy Statement on Coronavirus pandemic - 28/03/20
The promise and reality of vaccination -28/03/21
Herd immunity - myth and reality - 30/11/20
Coronavirus pandemic - a deepening health and economic crisis - 28/07/20
Protest, class conflict and Covid 19 - 06/05/20
Unionism’s silent shift on the pandemic
- 16/05/20
Ideology and Science - 05/05/20
Big Pharma in Ireland - 24/04/20
Europe and the pandemic - 09/04/20
All COVERAGE
Rayner O’Connor Lysaght Presente!
Tributes from
International
Viewpoint
Irish
Labour History Society
Socialist
Voice
Sráid
Marx
Emancipation,
Liberation & Self-determination
Workers
Liberty
Irish
Republican Marxist History Project
The
Pensive Quill
Irish
Left Archive
Obituray from the Irish Independent
A selection of writings by Rayner can be found online at:
Socialist Democracy
Arguments for a Workers' Republic
The Encyclopedia of Trotskyism
Red Mole Rising
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