Ireland
Tariq Ali: 'Thatcherism continues'; Gerry Adams: `Thatcher did great hurt'
For more on Thatcher and Thatcherism, click HERE.
April 9, 2013 -- SinnFein.ie -- Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams commenting on the death today of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said:
Margaret Thatcher did great hurt to the Irish and British people during her time as British prime minister.
Working-class communities were devastated in Britain because of her policies.
Her role in international affairs was equally belligerent whether in support of the Chilean dictator Pinochet, her opposition to sanctions against apartheid South Africa; and her support for the Khmer Rouge.
Here in Ireland her espousal of old draconian militaristic policies prolonged the war and caused great suffering. She embraced censorship, collusion and the killing of citizens by covert operations, including the targeting of solicitors like Pat Finucane, alongside more open military operations and refused to recognise the rights of citizens to vote for parties of their choice.
To the crucible: an Irish engagement with the Greek crisis and the Greek left
Syriza poster, Synaspismos office in Athens, Helena Sheehan on the streets with Syriza in Athens.
[For more discussion of SYRIZA, click HERE.]
By Helena Sheehan
January 21, 2013 -- Irish Left Review, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal at the author's suggestion and with her permission -- A monumental drama is playing out before our eyes. It is a true Greek tragedy. The plot: A society is being pushed to its limits. The denouement is not yet determined, but survival is at stake and prospects are precarious. Greece is at the sharp end of a radical and risky experiment in how far accumulation by dispossession can go, how much expropriation can be endured, how far the state can be subordinated to the market. It is a global narrative, but the story is a few episodes ahead here.
Ireland: Shock, austerity, Sinn Féin and the United Left Alliance
Austerity in Europe: Susan George on the rise of neoliberal and undemocratic Europe
Susan George interviewed for the Transnational Insti
Occupy! More reports from the frontline: Wellington, Dublin, Canada, US cities
Nati at Occupy Wellington.
[Are you a participant in an Occupy action in your city or town? Please leave a report in the comments section below. For more activist reports on the Occupy movement, click HERE.]
Occupy Wellington
By Grant Brookes
October 20, 2011 -- UNITYblog
“Why are they protesting?” ask the baffled pundits on TV. Meanwhile, the rest of the world asks: “What took you so long?” -- Naomi Klein
With comments like this, campaigning journalist Naomi Klein has captured the essence of the mushrooming movement against corporate greed which began on Wall Street. The movement is expressing the feelings of a global majority denied a voice in the media and in the corridors of power.
It spread to Aotearoa on October 15, when occupations began in Auckland, Wellington, Christchuch, Dunedin, New Plymouth and elsewhere.
Ireland: United Left Alliance confronts big challenges
By Dick Nichols, Dublin
July 16, 2011 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/Green Left Weekly -- Ireland’s seven-month-old United Left Alliance is the “new kid on the block” of European anti-capitalist parties. Launched on November 27 last year, it emerged from the February Irish national elections—where its name didn’t even appear on the ballot paper—with five TDs (Teachta Dála, members of the Irish parliament, the Dail). To date the ULA has also won 20 positions in local councils and one seat in the European parliament.
By Brendan Young
May 20, 2011 -- Scottish Left Review via the Irish Left Review, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission -- Described as a sea change by commentators, the biggest shock of Ireland’s February 25, 2011, general election was the collapse of the vote of Fianna Fáil (FF), the state’s largest party; from 41.5 per cent in 2007 to just 17.4 per cent this time. FF has governed in Ireland for 61 out of the 79 years since it was formed in 1932 and has won 14 out of the 19 general elections. Yet it now has only one TD (member of parliament) in Dublin -- down from 13. Its first preference vote in Dublin was only 12.5 per cent, whereas the United Left Alliance (ULA), on its first outing, got 7.1 per cent. What stands out is the loss of support for FF among working-class voters -- confirming what has already been happening in local elections.
The European workers' movement: dangers and challenges
In Portugal, November 2010 general strike called by the Communist Party-led CGTP and the
[Below is the transcript of Sinn Féin president and newly elected member of parliament Gerry Adam's first speech to Ireland's parliament (video above), on March 9, 2011.]
By Gerry Adams
March 9, 2011 -- I am very proud to stand here as an Ulsterman, as an Irish republican from County Antrim. It is a great honour to represent Sinn Féin in any capacity but it is especially gratifying to receive a mandate from one’s peers.