Socialist Democracy

Latest Articles

Ballymena racist riots: What they are and what they are not

12/06/25

The story told of the racist riots in Ballymena is that they were fuelled by accusations of sexual violence against a young woman by Romanian youths. Yet sexual violence perpetuated by loyalist paramilitaries is nothing new. The ongoing trial of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson in relation to allegations of serious sexual crimes passes without comment.    (read more)

Education in the North of Ireland

02/06/25

When Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Education minister Paul Given and First Minister Michelle O’Neill cut sods at the site of the new Strule six-school Shared Education Campus in Omagh in mid-May, the local reaction was of a sort of amused despair, a common response to many of Stormont’s schemes.     (read more)


Irish government defends war bonds for genocide

30/05/25

On Wednesday 28th of May Sinn Féin proposed a motion in the Dáil to stop Ireland’s involvement in the sale of Israeli war bonds.  This Irish involvement is not peripheral. Bonds from non-EU countries must have their bond prospectus approved by the Central Bank of an EU member state. Israel used to work through the UK, but turned to the Central Bank here for authorisations after Brexit. It is admitted that the bonds support Israeli genocide in Gaza.     (read more)

The defence of Peadar Brown’s

29/05/25 

A famous Dublin pub, Peadar Brown’s, found itself under threat recently, with online calls from the far right to mobilise at a demonstration on Saturday May 24th and “close down the kip!”  Peadar Brown’s has a long history of support for leftism and republicanism and is bedecked in Palestinian flags. The right-wing protest, fronted by fascist member of Dublin City Council Gavin Pepper, arose because a customer made a racist comment at the bar and was immediately ejected.      (read more)

European powers try to wash away the blood of genocide

27/05/25

The EU will review its political and economic agreement with Israel. This follows a joint statement from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. The statement promises concrete action if the Israelis do not respond, but the pausing and review of agreements is all that is proposed. (read more)


Winston Irvine receives reduced sentence following weapons conviction

26/05/25

The long running court proceedings related to weapons charges brought against prominent loyalist Winston Irvine reached a conclusion last week with the sentencing of him and his co-accused.  He managed to avoid the statutory five-year sentence after judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled that Irvine’s “work for peace and his charity work in the community” constituted “exceptional circumstances” that allowed for a reduction in his sentence to thirty months.  (read more)


Bookshelf

As part of a new publishing project Socialist Democracy is digitising books, pamphlets and magazines from its back catalogue and putting them online for download.    Click on the link below to view the titles that are currently available.  

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Socialist Democracy statement on multipolarity and socialism
February 2025

T​he concept of multi-polarity has become the major theme of geopolitics in recent years.  Its basic proposition is that the global political economy is undergoing a fundamental change, moving from unipolarity (domination of the United States) to multipolarity where a number of nations and blocs contend for influence.  The decline of the US and the rise of China is seen as the central dynamic for such a change.  (read more)  

Socialist Democracy replies to statement by the Red Network
January 2025

The Red Network, a platform of socialist activists within PBP, has recently published a lengthy statement  detailing its perspectives on the current state of the Irish Left.   This is pitched as an effort to open up discussion and debate on the formation of a revolutionary left current.  We welcome this initiative and are interested in being part of that debate. As an initial contribution we have produced the following as a reply.  (read more)  

Socialist Democracy statement on neutrality

The headline rush by the Irish government into the ranks of NATO, the clumsy duplicity of the fake consultation process and the evidence of impunity in asking a conservative pro-NATO academic, a Dame of the British Empire, to oversee the process has caused outrage across Ireland.  (read more)  

Videos

Gender identity ideology

Presentation by Orla Ni Chomhrai on why socialists should oppose a dogma which undermines women's rights, gay rights, free speech, and science.

18 October 2021