Features
In the wake of protests in East Wall against asylum seekers who have been accommodated in an old ESB building there, Stewart Smyth lays out the case that problem is not with refugees, but with government policies that have created a housing crisis. To start, this article is not about
Features
Recent headlines have celebrated Stormont’s plan to shake up housing. Housing expert Stewart Smyth analyses the announcement and argues that worryingly, privatisation looms large. There was a lot of fanfare recently when Minister for Communities, Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin), announced what she called the “most radical shake-up
Features
KPMG have been at the heart of the Debenhams dispute in their role as liquidators. But their abhorrent actions in that case is only the tip of the iceberg, as Stewart Smyth explains. KPMG have been in the news a lot in recent months and not just due to their
Features
Ahead of a national protest in support of the Debenhams workers, Stewart Smyth argues that the blame lies squarely with failed management and dodgy accounting. And importantly, that with enough support from grassroots union members and the wider community, the workers can win. For over a hundred days now workers
Features
With the recent ruling in the Apple tax case being spun as a “win for Ireland”, Stewart Smyth takes apart the propanganda, arguing that this is another example of tax-haven Ireland at work. Readers of this website won’t be surprised that the common sense view of a particular
Features
Housing expert Stewart Smyth argues that the current NI Housing Bill represents a re-privatisation of housing associations, with less control and regulation but the same amount of public money. Devolution was supposed to allow local decision-making to fit local circumstances. Housing is one of those devolved responsibilities that
Covid-19
The Coronavirus is already causing great economic difficulties, and the situation is expected to get worse. Jobs will be a central question of any recovery, and as Stewart Smyth argues, in order to protect workers, we will need a 4-day week. While we are all trying to comprehend the
Features
Stewart Smyth looks at the future for the housing movement in Ireland – after an election result which was fuelled by the housing crisis. One of the main drivers behind last month’s historic general election result, was concerns over housing. The RTE exit poll found housing and homelessness as the
68' Legacies
52 years ago the Memphis sanitation workers began to strike and Martin Luther King’s support for their action would later see him assassinated. Here, Stewart Smyth reflects on recent events in Memphis surrounding MLK Day. The third Monday in January, a federal public holiday, marks the memory of civil
Features
Stewart Smyth reports as 50,000 US autoworkers continue to take a stand for better pay and conditions, solidarity builds across the sector, and Trump keeps shtum. On September 16, nearly 50,000 United Auto Workers’ union (UAW) workers at General Motors (GM) plants across the US went on strike,
Features
In the wake of a spate of mass shootings in the US, Stewart Smyth looks at the politics behind these massacres, and the double-standards of a racist American system when it comes to “domestic terrorism”. In the space a week, three were shot dead at a food festival in
Features
One year on from the demise of Carillion, Stewart Smyth analyses the root causes, the winners and the losers of liquidation, and the impact on communities of the collapse of a company heavily plied with government funding. Twelve months ago on 15th January, construction and facilities management firm Carillion collapsed.