Although this is how the decision of the supreme court has
been interpreted, the actual decision is the narrower one of what the GB
Equality Act (EA) of 2010 means by ‘sex’, which it has decided means biological
and not certified sex. It has therefore
been hailed by ‘gender critical’ activists as a victory for common sense and by
certain trans activists as an attack on their human rights. (read more)
The latest horrific development in the Gaza siege is the US announcement of a privatised Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that will set up hubs to distribute food. This is cover for continued starvation. The intention is to smash up existing international agencies and to weaponise food and use it force the movement of starving people from place to place. But the central element of this initiative is that it is directed by the US and the Western allies. (read more)
Professor Heenan offers a decent critique of Sinn Féin’s constant trumpeting of an always-imminent border poll. However, her article is weakened by a serious flaw unbecoming of an academic: it lacks any balance.If we dismiss the prospect of a united Ireland, what successes can we expect from the continuation of partition?Very recently, Alex Kane—another of your columnists—pointed out that the local administration had failed, and that, after 27 years, we are still in a peace process rather than a peace settlement. (read more)
At one level the row about Kneecap is a storm in
a teacup about a band. At another level there is the more significant issue of
the relentless drive by the Zionists and their allies to silence everyone who
questions genocide.
At the highest level is
the hypocrisy of the West, wringing their hands about Kneecap's language while
remaining silent about Gaza. (read more)
There was probably no
government in the world more relieved by Donald Trump's announcement of a
partial pause in plans to impose tariffs than the Irish government. This is a reflection of Ireland’s precarious
position in an escalating global trade war.
Trump administration officials had singled out Ireland as a prime
example of everything they hate about the current international system. (read more)
Over the course of the ongoing genocide in Gaza Socialist
Democracy has distributed thousands of leaflets and newsletters commenting on
the struggle and the movement in solidarity in Ireland. The aim of that work
has been to provoke a response and to support a debate in the movement about
it’s future direction.
(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