As Brexit negotiations grind to a halt, big business is entering panic mode. A no deal, “train-crash” Brexit – the one scenario that capitalism wants to avoid at all costs – looms large. And caught on the tracks is Ireland, the only country that shares a land border with the UK. Ben Curry looks at the the chaotic perspective facing Ireland, in the North and the South, as a result of Brexit and the global capitalist crisis.
Shortly after midday on 29th June, an eleven person jury delivered 6 unanimous verdicts of “not guilty” to spontaneous cheers in the courtroom at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The verdict brings to its conclusion a trial by means of which the Irish ruling class sought to bring an end to the fundamental democratic right to peaceful protest.
110 years ago, in 1907, a strike in Belfast over wages by dockworkers, coal labourers and others united both catholics and protestants against the ruthless bosses. Although ultimately defeated, the strike remains an important historical demonstration of the power of the working class when united.
The power-sharing deal in the North of Ireland, established with the Good Friday Agreement, has broken down. The old system of rule no longer works, an indication of the pressures that flow from the economic crisis. Gerry Ruddy looks at why and how this has come about.
Bus drivers in Ireland have reacted to attacks by the bosses with fierce militancy. Their struggle is a clear indication of the anger building up across Ireland. As cracks open up in the Fine Gael-led coalition government over everything from water charges to police corruption, it is evident that this weak and divided government can be brought down.
Gerry Ruddy looks back at the life of Martin McGuinness, the former Provisional IRA leader, head of Sinn Féin in the North of Ireland, and Deputy First Minister in the Stormont Assembly, who passed away last week. McGuinness’ death comes at a turbulent time for the North of Ireland, as all the old divisions threaten to re-emerge in the wake of Brexit.
The elections on 2nd March to the Northern Ireland Assembly have shattered all of the old certainties enshrined in the sectarian monolith established by the Good Friday Agreement. The elections have done nothing to shift the political deadlock, but have instead brought to the surface all of the contradictions in the North.
On 9th January, Martin McGuinness, Deputy First Minister of the Stormont Assembly in Belfast, resigned in protest against the ongoing “cash for ash” scandal. As the Assembly was unable to elect a new Deputy, new elections have been triggered, as required under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, adding yet more fuel to the fire for the political establishment in Westminster and Belfast.
Irish voters have decisively voted in favour of marriage equality, making Ireland the first country to do so through the ballot box. This was a victory of the future against the past, of the young against the old, of reason against ignorance, of the forward-looking urban areas against the old backward rural Ireland.
News that the IMF might consider allowing the Irish government to pay off a large chunk of the bailout debt will no doubt be heralded as a great victory for the Coalition in Ireland. Séamus Loughlin from Fightback Ireland explains the reality: that the impact of this deal will only be felt as a ripple on the balance sheet.
Sinn Féin made a big surge in the Euro and Council elections. What are the reasons behind this development? What programme does Sinn Féin propose? And what does the growth of SF mean for workers across the Island?
Eamon Gilmore, former leader of the Labour Party in Ireland, has resigned as party leader after Labour was hammered in the local council and the European polls. The Labour Party’s right wing programme and the record of its ministers in office have massively discredited its local representatives. Ireland’s elections illustrate that there are no short cuts. The working class must find a way out of the chains of capitalism.