News
The Irish establishment has been using Putin’s brutal war on Ukraine as an excuse to launch an assault on the idea of Irish neutrality. Richard Boyd Barrett takes on their arguments and makes the case for defending and strengthening Irish neutrality. The Irish political establishment, led by Leo Varadkar
News
The Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Green Party government’s new carbon budgets will soon be passed by the Dáil. These budgets map out how they plan to reduce carbon emissions over the coming decade. But as Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin argues, these proposals are totally lacking in ambition and will leave
Features
The Fianna Fáil party is in trouble. Some of its TDs want to get rid of Micheal Martin but they don’t know who could replace him. Red C polling places the party at 13% of the national vote. An internal report found that Fianna Fáil had become “indistinguishable” from
Ecosocialism
As rumours abound that the Irish Government will attempt to ratify CETA later this month, Tom O’Connor argues that like many trade deals, the agreement between the EU and Canada is both anti-democratic and gives undue powers to international corporations. Breaking news! The Government has announced that in
Features
James Connolly warned that Partition would lead to ‘a carnival of reaction both North and South.’ One part of that reaction was the close church-state relationship established in the south after independence, a relationship that gave the Catholic church a significant influence on legislation, and control over education, health
Covid-19
2021 has started out with Ireland, north and south, being in its worst position since the pandemic began. Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin takes both governments to task for their Covid response, arguing that it has been nothing short of neoliberal catastrophe. We have entered the year 2021 in total disaster. Ireland
Ecosocialism
As Eamon Ryan’s Climate Action Bill is due to go before the Dáil, Bríd Smith TD exposes its multiple weaknesses and argues that it will do very little to tackle the planet’s greatest crisis. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill (the Climate Bill) was supposed to
Covid-19
As a Dáil report calls for an inquiry into COVID-19 in nursing homes, why did 56% of all deaths (985 people) in the first wave came from a group that makes up just 0.65% of the population? Bríd Smith TD argues that it is the for-profit system
Features
Forty years ago, the PAYE revolts rocked Ireland. Paul O’Neill tells the story of this oft-forgotten period when Irish workers fought for a more progressive taxation system, while the establishment struggled to reign in the movement. From 1979 to 1983 Ireland witnessed a number of militant strikes, including
Covid-19
As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, Maeve McGrath takes a look at how artists have depicted plagues and epidemics in times gone past. To contextualise the COVID-19 pandemic, many commentators turn to comparisons with the 1918 “Spanish” Flu or the Black Death (1347 – 1351). While much
Features
What were they thinking? Eighty-one figures from the political, banking and judicial establishment were present at an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden in blatant breach of the public health rules. One man staying in the hotel who had spotted the dinner told RTÉ Radio that he remarked to
Features
The Special Criminal Court and the associated ‘Offences Against the State Act’ has been a long-standing tool of the government to subvert the normal rule of law. Alexandra Day argues that it should be abolished immediately. The Special Criminal Court (SCC) and the associated ‘Offences Against the State Act’