Author Archive
Dozens of British Police Confiscate Anti-Monarchy Banners in London, May 6 2023
The site “Leeds for Europe” reports :
Yesterday Suella Braverman’s new, draconian anti-protest laws were used to their full extent to surpress anti-monarchy protestors.
The rest of the world was watching, this is how the English service on France 24 reported it – “While many criticise the price tag of the Coronation as ordinary Britons struggle to put food on the table.. The police arrests of peaceful protesters are scenes you’d expect to see in Russia, not in the UK.”
‘An Historic May Day in London: New Days in Old England’ by Thomas J. O’Flaherty from the Daily Worker Saturday Supplement. Vol. 3 No. 134. June 19, 1926.
Tomás Ó Flatharta, inspiration of this blog, was a talented writer. This is an example of his work, full of interesting personal and political insights.
Source : Revolution’s NewsStand : https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/05/01/an-historic-may-day-in-london-new-days-in-old-england-by-thomas-j-oflaherty-from-the-daily-worker-saturday-supplement-vol-3-no-134-june-19-1926/
May Day in London’s Hyde Park, 1926.
T.J. O’Flaherty travels from Dublin to London to participate in the May Day celebrations during that year’s General Strike and penned this wonderful essay on the day’s events.
‘An Historic May Day in London: New Days in Old England’ by Thomas J. O’Flaherty from the Daily Worker Saturday Supplement. Vol. 3 No. 134. June 19, 1926.
I LEFT the usually turbulent but now comparatively peaceful Dublin on the evening of the 30th of April, bound for London. Dublin is not an easy place to leave—particularly for those with a thirst for the dramatic.
But May Day in London in 1926 with 1,000,000 coal miners out of the pits! And with a general strike threatened! This was something that many men and women would sacrifice years of ordinary existence to experience. So I resisted the temporary invitation of friends to spend a week shooting curlews in the heather-clad mountains of Wicklow, or discussing the futility of things in general with the cynical intelligentsia of Dublin who survived the gats of Black and Tans, Regular and Irregular Republicans and Free States.
Donald Trump deposition: New York court releases video in civil rape trial – BBC News Story
Evidence submitted to a New York City trial is described below – no comment is necessary. The accused man recently spent two days in an Irish town called Doonbeg in County Clare, where he owns a lavish hotel and golf course.
Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65504435
A video of a deposition given by former US president Donald Trump as part of his civil rape trial has been released by the court.
The roughly 48-minute video shows Mr Trump, 76, mistaking his accuser E Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photo.
It also shows him repeating his denial of Ms Carroll’s allegations by claiming she is “not my type”.
Lawyers for both sides rested their case on Thursday.
Read the rest of this entry »Leader of Britain’s anti-monarchy group Republic arrested at coronation protest
Gopal Priyamavda Observes :
From a plundered economy to a police force ready to crush protests, Britain today looks like its colonies once did. It had to happen.
https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article66450
Priyamavda published her article on the Al Jazeera website on May 5 2023; One day later her prediction concerning “a police force ready to crush protests” came true.
Meanwhile several leading Irish politicians are tugging the forelock to the British Monarch : Shame on the leaders of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill and President Michael D Higgins – their behaviour is politically unprincipled. Leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – Messrs Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin are not betraying their principles – they believe in celebrating the crimes of the British Empire.
Source : https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article66449
Republic’s Graham Smith held at protest on King Charles III’s procession route in central London
Read the rest of this entry »Against Half-Solidarity and False Pacifism – Statement of the Russian Socialist Movement on May Day
Source : https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article66416
This excellent statement diagnoses a political blight – False Pacifism – which has entered the bloodstream of significant parts of the Irish left and trade union movement. We are dealing with an international phenomenon :
May Day is not only International Workers’ Day but also a day of solidarity with the oppressed peoples and civil disobedience against war. For example, one can remember the 1971 May Day protests against US imperialist aggression in Vietnam in Washington. During that time, the antiwar movement’s stance was clear: halt the war, complete the withdrawal of American troops, and support the right of the Vietnamese people to self-determination. Nowadays the Left is also leaning toward pacifism but its present iteration is much more ambivalent. While it still highlights issues of American imperialism, the prevention of nuclear war, and condemns militarization and war as means of resolving conflicts, it faces challenges in precisely identifying the aggressor and exhibits a willingness to tolerate Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory and the continued presence of Russian troops there. Thus this version of pacifism is deprived of real solidarity with the oppressed peoples.
Read the rest of this entry »Two Contrasting May Day Celebrations in 2023 – Ghent (Belgium) V Dublin (Ireland)
Ghent, Thomas Weyts Reports
This year we also participated in the 1st May parade in Ghent with a beautiful group of Ukrainian people and solidarity Belgians.
With a clear message: Russian troops out of Ukraine, stop the bombing. Solidarity with Ukraine and its people! We will continue to take action as long as necessary.
We also continue to shake the high tree of the trade unions and the progressive movements: come out of your room, show your solidarity with Ukraine, in words but especially in deeds!
We thank the fine people of Peace for Ukraine-Ghent, the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine, Ghent4Humanity Refugee Support, SAP Anti-capitalists and all the other people who were there, but also all the participants at the parade and by the side who showed their sympathy.
https://www.facebook.com/100049340987344/videos/788647199647966/?idorvanity=1354716241617827
Dublin : John Meehan Reports :
Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), organisers of the May Day march in Ireland’s capital city, made sure that nothing politically worthwhile was said from the platform about Ukraine. Mick O’Reilly spoke about “War and Peace” – at best the speech was woffle; at worst it was a left-evasionist exercise which avoided making a clear call for the immediate withdrawal of the Russian genocidal troops from Ukraine, or demanding an end to the murderous Russian bombing of civilian targets (including hospitals and schools) in the invaded territories.
Read the rest of this entry »Bakhmut Town; a tribute to Finbar, Cooper, and Dmitry – A ballad honours Finbar Cafferkey of Achill Island Co. Mayo
In Bakhmut Town
To the tune of Roddy McCorley
Finbar Cafferkey from Achill Island County Mayo fought for the freedom of Ukraine and died in the streets of Bakhmut town.
https://soundcloud.com/user-310458959/bakhmut-town-a-tribute-to-finbar-cooper-and-dmitry
Oh come you who love freedom and a tale I’ll have you hear
Of comrades who came to Ukraine, as foreign volunteers
From Russia and America, Ireland and all around-
And side by side, they fought and died, on the streets of Bakhmut town
Finbar Cafferkey – “Achill Island Man killed fighting Russian forces in Ukraine” – Russian Embassy in Dublin Threatens Irish Government
Finbar Cafferkey’s death was front page headline news in one of the leading Irish daily newspapers, the Irish Times. The newspaper also reports :
Council of Europe says deportation of children from Ukraine is “genocide”
Vladyslav Starodubtsev, a member of the Ukrainian organisation Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) issued the following tweet :
Vladyslav Starodubtsev (@VlStarodubtsev) tweeted at 8:36 pm on Thu, Apr 27, 2023:
Irish freedom fighter, who fought for Kurdish YPG and then in Armed forces of Ukraine (ZSU) died today. Glory to such persons, who are ready to defend a just cause and die for it. Glory to heroes
(https://twitter.com/VlStarodubtsev/status/1651656479089238037?t=hg_o8jGfkv05IuMtjkP_yw&s=03)
Finbar Cafferkey served with the same unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and died in the same battle as did his comrade, fellow internationalist, anarchist and revolutionary, Dmitry Petrov from Russia.
Taras Bilous – Sotsialnyi Rukh – wrote a long thread about Dmitry’s life.
Taras Bilous (@ahatanhel) tweeted at 7:19 am on Fri, Apr 28, 2023:
Dmitry was a co-founder of the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK), which sabotaged railway infrastructure in Russia since the start of the invasion.
He send his last word to them for publication in case he died. 9/9
https://t.co/3fzN82woaO https://t.co/dZlDhMsQmr
(https://twitter.com/ahatanhel/status/1651833602705969152?t=kRxCMOkigOV2psgr7F47Yg&s=03)
Norway: The Red Party (Rødt) supports Ukraine’s fight for freedom
The Norwegian Red Party (Rødt) is a radical left organisation which has a significant electoral base. In the 2021 parliamentary election, the party achieved its best result ever, with 4.6% of the vote, securing eight seats in Parliament.
The party’s excellent policy statement on the Russian imperialist ethnic-cleansing invasion of Ukraine avoids woffle and whataboutery, offering a clear policy guide to the radical left in Ireland and foreign fields :
Without arms supplies, Ukraine would have been overrun and subjugated by a chauvinist, right-wing nationalist Russian regime that has openly declared its imperialist ambitions. Therefore, it is right to provide arms to Ukraine in its struggle for independence and peace when Ukrainians ask for them. These weapons must not be used outside Ukrainian territory. The Red Party assumes that the government has obtained an end-user declaration from the Ukrainian government to ensure that Norwegian weapons are only used by the regular Ukrainian forces within Ukrainian territory.
Many thanks to Dick Nichols, an activist with the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (European network for solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) | Європейська мережа солідарності з Україною | Réseau européen de solidarité avec l’Ukraine (RESU), who supplied the information.
First published at Rødt. Translation by LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal. https://links.org.au/norway-red-party-supports-ukraines-fight-freedom
The Red Party strongly condemns Russia’s aggressive attack on Ukraine, which is in violation of international law. It represents an act of imperialism that goes against everything the Red Party stands for. We support Ukraine’s independence and defensive struggle.
Read the rest of this entry »Confronting the Irish Far Right – Solidarity with Paul Murphy TD and Jess Spear – “this was a new low and should never happen again”
On Monday April 24 2023 a serious incident occurred outside the family home of Paul Murphy TD (People Before Profit, Dublin South-West) and his partner Jess Spear.
Family home of Paul Murphy TD targeted by protesters – “Far right protesting outside our home right now. We were literally preparing to give our newborn baby a bath”
Our friends at the Cedar Lounge Blog have highlighted the story :
Fair play to Seán Crowe TD (Sinn Féin), a constituency colleague of Paul Murphy, who issued a strong solidarity statement. All other left wing deputies, elected representatives, activists etc should endorse Crowe’s statement. That is a minimum. Paul and his partner Jess Spear must be unconditionally supported, and the left should move forward, openly organising and marginalising far-right anti-civilization thugs.
Statement Issued by Seán Crowe TD (Sinn Féin, Dublin South-West) :
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 