Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Health Issues’ Category

Matt Morrison would not survive in an American immigration holding cell – he boarded a one-way flight to Dublin leaving behind a life he had built in the USA

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The numbers of people leaving the USA to live in Ireland (26 county bit) are increasing. All the numbers are here. 


Ireland and USA – More people emigrating from the USA to Ireland than the other way around – Central Statistics Office Numbers

I am guessing, but I think this may be the first time since records began that more people emigrated from the USA to Ireland than the other way around. It would be interesting to view population flows between the US and the 6 county bit of Ireland. Readers may wish to discuss changing times.

Far-right crazies such as Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are destroying the lives of of ordinary people everywhere.
Matthew Morrison’s personal story offers context.

John Meehan September 2 2025


‘The walls were closing in,’ says ex-IRA man who self-deported over ICE fears

Catherine Fegan, Belfast Telegraph, September 1st, 2025


Matthew ‘Matt’ Morrison said he wouldn’t survive in an American immigration holding cell.

“I wouldn’t have my medication,” the 69-year-old told the Irish Independent this week.

“They would take my brace off my legs. They would take my stick. The fact is 12 or 13 people have died this year alone [in US immigration detention centres]. So, you understand the type of fear I had.”

Morrison, a former member of the IRA, had been living in the US for almost 40 years when he decided to “self-deport” back to Ireland over fears that he might be picked up by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Matthew Morrison, with his wife Sandra Riley Swift, in 2025. Courtesy of Morrison Family

Originally from Derry, Morrison moved to St Louis, Missouri, in 1985 after spending 10 years in prison.

In 1976, he was imprisoned over attempted murder in an IRA raid on a British army barracks.

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Racism: The socialism of Fools; Racist Cancer Spreading from Ballymena in Ireland

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Introduction :

The writer Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh offers very valuable insights into the June 2025 pogroms spreading from Ballymena in North Antrim to other towns in the 6 County bit of Ireland, notably Larne and Portadown. These vile events are related to similar sewer eruptions in the 26 county bit of Ireland and fit into a global rise of genocidal-racist powers such as Putin’s Russia, Netanyahu’s Israel, and their protectors such as Donald Trump’s USA. The latter is still a capitalist bourgeois democracy – but credible analysts now ask – for how long?

Below Fearghal’ s timely article –  which contains very useful warnings from history : relevant references are made to the Marxist scholars and activists August Bebel, Victor Serge and Ernest Mandel :

We add :

A chilling report of an interview with the DUP Westminster MP for the Upper Bann constituency, Carla Lockhart.

A stark report from the 6 County bit of Ireland headlined “Week of Violence in North “Akin to 1930s Germany”

Racist Cancer Spreading From Ballymena in Ireland, Irish Times, June 14 2025

Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh

Link :


Ballymena; Racism the Socialism of Fools; Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh

I recently discussed three interconnected issues on Raidió na Gaeltachta: reform to the South’s rent caps benefiting landlords and international funds, Trump’s authoritarian militarization of US protests, and the racist attacks in Ballymena/Larne.

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Yes, RFK Jr. (USA Health Secretary in the Trump-Vance Government) took grandkids swimming in sewage-contaminated creek on Mother’s Day 2025 – News from a reliable source, Snopes Fact-Check

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The internet is plagued with false and dubious stories. A great resource for fact-checking is Snopes. Many readers, including this one, thought the claim headlined here could not possibly be true – the facts suggest the opposite.

Yes, RFK Jr. took grandkids swimming in sewage-contaminated creek on Mother’s Day 2025

The U.S. Secretary of Health posted one photo of himself surrounded by his family as he fully immersed himself in the contaminated creek’s water.

Photo shows RFK Junior’s granddaughter splashing him with the creek’s water using her bare leg as his grandson remained perched on a rock that emerged from the water, though the colour of his trousers indicated he had waded in the water moments before

Link :
Trump’s Health Boss RFK Junior Swimming in Polluted Creek

RFK Junior has form :

MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘a lot of aborted fetus debris,’ contrary to RFK Jr.’s assertion

The claim stems from a misunderstanding of how the MMR vaccine is produced.

Link :
MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘a lot of aborted fetus debris,’ contrary to RFK Jr.’s assertion

If this Irish-American ever visits Ireland again, he should be boycotted.

John Meehan May 15 2025

Fascism in Ireland 1922 – 2025

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Compared with most wealthy capitalist countries (for example Russia, the United States of America, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands) far-right racist politics have been late taking off in the two bits of Ireland in the early part of the 21st century. The article below – Irish Politics Affected by Fascism Since Partition in 1922 – provides useful context.

In my opinion it overlooks a critical reason for the relative weakness of racist poison in the 26 county bit of Ireland : the rise of a mass women’s liberation movement in Ireland since the 1960’s; collapse of the Catholic Church’s prestige and moral authority – especially since the early 1990’s – because of its criminal opposition to abortion, divorce, contraception, equal pay – and the institution’s role in systematic torture of women and babies in “homes”.

The 6 county bit of Ireland was not, strictly speaking, fascist – but this Orange State was “A Protestant State for a Protestant People” – and extreme right unionist parties have always shared racist and imperialist politics promoted by the British far-right.

Before the November 2025 Irish General Election far-right racist candidates hoped to build on a relatively significant breakthrough in the June 2025 European and Local Elections. However, a hero of Irish women, Nikita Hand, took a legal case, alleging violent rape, against the prominent kick-boxer racist Conor McGregor in October and November 2025.

More details here :

During the election campaign a woman called Nikita Hand took a legal civil action, alleging rape, against an international celebrity, the kick-boxing superstar Conor McGregor. McGregor is closely associated with a number of mini-Hitler racists, some of whom were elected to Dublin council seats in June 2024. These included Philip Sutcliffe (Dublin South-Central) and Paddy Holohan (Dublin South-West). Most rape trials in Ireland are held behind closed doors, and the details are not widely broadcast.

Link :

Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Return of a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Coalition – Setback for the Left

John Meehan April 28 2025


Irish Politics Affected by Fascism Since Partition in 1922

The Dublin riots, which caused an estimated €20 million worth of damage in November 2023, the violence that surrounded some of the protests in July last year and the week-long rioting in Belfast following the Southport stabbings shocked the political establishment in Ireland and the wider world. For decades there has been a political myth that Ireland is one of the few countries to have escaped the influence of fascist and far-right politics. The reality is that Ireland and Irish politics have been affected by fascism since the ideology first emerged a century ago.

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“I recently got a cancer diagnosis” – Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit TD | Today with Claire Byrne – RTÉ Radio 1

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Very best wishes to Richard Boyd-Barrett TD (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit) who has publicly broadcast information about his serious cancer diagnosis. He has throat cancer and is dropping out of public life for a few months. Doctors have removed Richard’s tonsils, and he will shortly begin intensive treatment, including radio and chemo therapy. The medical verdict is that Richard has an 8 out of 10 chance of recovery. All the details are in an RTÉ Radio 1 interview broadcast on April 7 2025 – a link is below). An Irish Times newspaper report follows.

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Working for Rebel Verdicts – George Blake and Luigi Mangione

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Political trials, on occasion, are not straight black-and-white events : Guilty or Not Guilty?

In the USA a shooter killed the Chief Executive of a private medical insurance company – a tsunami of mass opposition to a healthcare system which puts greed first, and healthcare second, has erupted.

On this blog Joan McKiernan reviewed this extraordinary political development, prompting Paul Hunter to send us this article
Why Most Americans Blame Insurers for UHC CEO’s Death – Paul Hunter

Hunter sings from Joan McKiernan’s hymn-sheet.

Murder is not to be taken lightly. It should be approached with extreme reverence and care. It means violating the sanctity of life, and it has the potential to cause severe heartache and trauma to those who have been left behind. For that reason, I will affirm that it is wrong. But I will not for one second shed a tear for United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and I’m not alone.

Thompson was gunned down by a masked assassin while on his way to a shareholder meeting in Midtown Manhattan on December 4. A man matching his description, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested in Pennsylvania five days later.

There can be little doubt as to how Thompson died. The murder was caught on camera. But according to a new poll from  NORC at the University of Chicago, roughly 70% of Americans believe that healthcare coverage from insurance companies like UHC bears at least “a moderate amount” of responsibility for his death. It’s easy to see why.

The full article is below.

But what about the parallel to the case of George Blake? Two anti-war activists, Pat Pottle and Michael Randle, sprung Blake from a London jail in the 1960’s with the help of Seán Bourke, an Irish petty criminal who possessed a spark of pure genius.

Here is the connection with Luigi Mangione : Pottle and Randle stated openly they had organised the escape of George Blake and pleaded Not Guilty on the grounds that their action was justified. It remains to be seen if Luigi Mangione will mount a political and legal defence like this. It is a strategy that Luigi and his attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, should examine carefully.

John Meehan January 5 2025

Link : George Blake – Rebel Verdict

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Ireland’s Closed Border at Dublin Airport – Two disgraceful incidents as 2025 begins

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During the opening days of most new years important stories can pass us by, unnoticed. Hats off to two journalists, Conor Pope and Alexon Lacerda, who spotlighted disturbing incidents at Dublin Airport. These stories come from the Irish Times, January 3 2025. Are they isolated regrettable incidents, or are they typical examples of a “get tough” state anti-immigrant policy?

Hostile Security, Dublin Airport, January 2025 No.2
Hostile Security, Dublin Airport January 2025, No. 1

Brazilian Student Deported from Ireland over Christmas – He claims paperwork error left him “helpless”

A Brazilian student who says he was deported in error over Christmas by Irish immigration authorities has described feeling “helpless” and “abandoned” after a mini-trip away from Dublin turned into a nightmare.

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Luigi Mangione killed a Chief Executive Officer in New York – Why do so many Americans blame the private health industry?

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Young, well educated Luigi Mangione is certainly learning that corporate America does not take kindly to the killing of one of their own. When he took the life of Brian Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Healthcare, one of the largest US health insurance providers, there was an immediate shocked reaction by corporations, the media, and politicians.

They saw it as a threat to all corporate leaders, who now feared for their lives. Bullet casings found at the scene had the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” scrawled on them. These are phrases used by health insurance companies in the US to avoid paying claims. The corporate heads were shocked. On the other hand, the media was inundated by people reporting their bad experiences with health insurance companies who denied their claims for needed treatments, surgeries and procedures.

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Nightmare News, New Orleans USA – Anti-abortion Louisiana governor Jeff Landry encourages terrorism

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Louisiana’s governor Jeff Landry issued a deadly threat to the people living in the city of New Orleans :

This story – dateline November 13 2023, did not hit international headlines.

By contrast, on January 1 2025, we are in the middle of a breaking story about another mass shooter event in an American city : at least ten people are dead because an assassin opened fire into New Orleans citizens celebrating the new year.

The city of New Orleans uses the Mississippi River as drinking water. Our current governor (Louisiana’s Jeff Landry) begged the state to remove funding from the city of New Orleans to fix the pumps and the decaying sewage and water system UNTIL the District Attorney agrees to prosecute women for abortions.

Must read article by @geauxgabrielle.bsky.social.“IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.”👇🏽

Lisa Reyna Loe (@lisaloe.bsky.social) 2024-12-31T22:28:01.068Z

On January 1 2025 conflicting explanations of the mass shooter event are offered :

One correspondent notes :

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Elections (USA): Making Sense of Trump’s Victory & the Necessary Resistance – Frieda Afary

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Frieda Afary has written an excellent analysis (see below). She shows that the Democratic party candidate Kamala Harris lost 10 million votes compared with Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. Trump’s vote totals in 2020 and 2024 were almost identical.

Source :
Elections (USA): Making Sense of Trump’s Victory & the Necessary Resistance (ESSF)


This article analyzes the vote breakdown, the pundits’ views, argues that Trump is a fascist and offers perspectives for the needed anti-fascist resistance.

Donald Trump’s election as president, and the Republican victories nationwide are a catastrophe for progressive forces in the U.S. and around the world. What the November 5, 2024 election showed was that while this country is still divided, there has been a rightward shift nationwide and across all demographic and geographic groups. (Levitt, 2024)

Vote Breakdown:

Let’s take a closer look at the demographic breakdown of the votes. Approximately 72 million voted for Harris and 75 million voted for Trump. Approximately 700,000 voted for Jill Stein and 700,000 voted for Robert Kennedy. This means that Democrats received 10 million fewer votes than in 2020 when Biden received 81 million. Trump received approximately the same number of votes he received in 2020. (U.S. Election Results, 2024)

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