For the Citizen Army – 107th Anniversary of the ICA
107 years ago the Irish Citizen Army made their first public appearance, as we remember them and their commitment to the cause of labour, what lessons can we learn from their example?
107 years ago the Irish Citizen Army made their first public appearance, as we remember them and their commitment to the cause of labour, what lessons can we learn from their example?
The results of the Bolivian election hold key lessons for the Left. The Bolivian situation warns of the dangers faced by social movements of right-wing violence but are also an optimistic sign of what can be achieved when popular mobilisation against imperialist intervention occurs.
The current narrative of the dominant imperial powers seeks to pit “Western values” against Islamic extremism in a cultural struggle of civilisations – the geopolitical factors driving imperialist intervention in the Middle East and the backlash run much deeper and according to the lines of material self-interest. of the capitalist class .
Across Europe the fires of revolution burned bright. From the battlefields of the Russian Civil War to the streets of Berlin, from Italian factories to the Irish countryside, civil disorder and outright rebellion were the order of the day. The Monaghan Soviet was one of the major acts of resistance in Ireland that would set the tone of aspiration and solidarity for the Irish left into the future.
With the considerable amount of leisure time resulting from a universal eight-hour day (an anomaly for the era), a passion for mass activity, excellent facilities available at no cost, public transport and free access to services, in 6 of the 8 Summer Olympics they competed in, the Soviet Union was at the top of the medal count.
Without a shred of irony, Leo Varadkar informed RTÉ’s Clare Byrne that ‘poverty is one of the biggest killers, you know. Unemployment, poverty, mental health…’
The Irish government is tied at the hip to the interests of the rich making an effective people-oriented attack on the virus impossible.
Ultras groups have been reviled and castigated in the media, but they are part of an unyielding tradition of class solidarity that refuses to reconstruct itself in the face of pressure from neoliberalism.
Earlier this week, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill met with the Prince of Wales, as part of his ongoing trip to the 6 counties, this raises the question of when, if ever, Irish republicans should meet with representatives of an occupying regime.
All of society is suffering from the pandemic, but the troika is ensuring that some people suffer more than others. The unemployed and those in Direct Provision are forced to face the brunt of a system that wants to minimise aid, not maximise it.