Disillusionment with electoral politics is at an all time high. Voter turnout in Ireland and across the OECD has been steadily declining for the past 50 years – for understandable reasons. Whether you vote for Fianna Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour or Sinn Féin the result is the same; a committee of landlords, millionaires and … Read more
Some months ago, I was approached by an old friend with a query. A work colleague of his was exploring the option of running in the local elections on a youth mental health platform and was looking for advice on how best to run the campaign. Why this person decided the best way to tackle … Read more
For their rejection and/or indifference to the repetitive whingeing of career politicians, the youth of Ireland is often subjected to the most unforgiving of criticisms by their various political representatives. While they standing for little else other than re-election, they call the masses time and time again for yet another victory in yet another popularity … Read more
Capitalists will not act in the interests of all of humanity because it would mean acting against profit. Capitalists cannot act on the benefit of the earth because it means they would lose profit, and could potentially lose power to other capitalists. In order to maintain power, Capitalists will always put the interest of the company first.
There appears to be a common theme among ‘leftwing’ parties who enter into mainstream politics; a soft approach which tends to leave its grass roots members disillusioned as the party will continue to pander to an entirely different demographic than the ones it once represented. Blatant ignorance or maybe the refusal to accept a bad … Read more
Housing has often been the arena in which class consciousness and militant action has been instilled in the hearts and minds of the Irish youth. This struggle is ever present in the North. Segregation of housing in urban centres of Derry and Belfast remains an obstacle to social cohesion and the unity of class action … Read more
The recent results of the local and European elections were a brief insight into how each political party is performing, what is the level of engagement of the working class with the electoral process and which messages are resonating from which political parties. The main conclusions to draw before dissecting the rest are as follows: … Read more
In the past, young people were able to receive a home from the local authority which led to localized construction projects. Most people in Ireland lived in homes built by their local corporation or council, the same model existed in the United Kingdom where local authorities constructed mass local housing. Seems simple, right? Today the … Read more
‘Spoiling a ballot’ is the act of defacing one’s electoral ballot so as to invalidate it, meaning that the vote is not counted. This proposes the question, why would someone spoil their ballot? Is it ever the correct action to take? The north of Ireland’s European elections had a turnout of 45.41%, and in the … Read more
One of the newly elected EU representatives for the Midlands-West of Ireland is Maria Walsh. At only 31 years old, she is notable for her youth and the fact that she is one of only a few LGBTQ+ members of the European Parliament. Her victory might be seen as a positive step for Ireland’s queer … Read more