Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘26 County State (Ireland)’ Category

Irish General Election November 29 2024 – Independent Candidates on the Left and Right : Stop the Far Right : Vote Left, Transfer Left

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The electoral action proposed here is :

How To Vote on November 29? Oppose Any Coalition with FFFGGG – Stop the Far Right : Vote Left, Transfer Left

FFFGGG Equals ; Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens, Gombeens.

The 2020-2024 coalition government was composed of three parties : FF, FG, and the Greens – and was regularly supported by Right-to-Racist Gombeens (Independents) in the last Dáil.

In this context it is important to know the identity of left-wing and right-wing independent candidates.

A Cedar Lounge Blog writer has done a great job identifying credible candidates on the left who are often categorised as independent. Link :
Possible Left Independents in the next Dáil


Here is the excellent article :

As noted in comments here a number of left Independents of one stripe or another are running, either to hold their seats or to return to the Dáil. Irish Election Literature has material from a huge number of candidates here on a special page on the 2024 election and it’s an essential read to get a sense of matters. One thing that was perhaps under considered in 2020 was the winnowing of left Independents (or those who were with small groups). It really took the wind out of the left side of the Independent equation with barely a handful left and some who barely were left at all (who left for Europe at the last election).

Here’s a selection of possible Left Independents. What of others who are potential, possible or likely to arrive in the Dáil?

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Written by tomasoflatharta

Nov 27, 2024 at 4:57 pm

Posted in 26 County State (Ireland), Bríd Smith TD, Cabra For All, Catherine Connolly TD, Clare Daly TD, Councillor John Lyons, Councillor Tania Doyle, Diarmuid Mac Dubhghlais, Direct Provision - Irish Gombeen State Racism, Dublin 7 for All, FFFGGG Coalition, General Election February 25 2016, Gombeens, Poltroons, Hazel De Nórtúin, Independent Left (Ireland), Ireland, Irish General Election February 8 2020, Irish General Election November 29 2024, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Joan Collins TD, Labour Party (Ireland), Left Wing Organisations, Natalie Treacy, Paul Murphy TD Dublin South-West, People Before Profit, Racism, RISE, ruth-coppinger, Séamus Healy TD, Thomas Pringle TD

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Ireland’s November 29 2024 General Election : Racist Warning Signs

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Irish General Election to 34th Dáil; Racist Danger

The June 2024 Euro/ Local results in Ireland produced some alarming results – the racist far-right came from the margins and increased its electoral support. This could be a predictor of the coming General Election result.

Warning signs to anti-racists exist in various opinion surveys. See, for example, these numbers from a recent RedC General Election Opinion Survey) :

Aontú, a right-wing split from Sinn Féin set up by an anti-choice TD from Meath, Peadar Tóibín, is beginning to hoover up right-wing racist votes which were scattered among various mini-Hitlers in the June 2024 European and Local Elections. We can say the same for the Irish Independence party (II). When we note that a majority of independent candidates are part of the racist far-right, a disturbing picture emerges. The numbers are worse in other parts of the Irish state.

Here is the data from an Irish Times Opinion Poll :

Irish General Election November 29 2024 Irish Times Survey Results 15/11/24
First preference voting intentions

DublinRest of LeinsterMunsterConnacht/Ulster
Fianna Fáil16.00%19.00%27.00%13.00%
Fine Gael22.00%29.00%22.00%29.00%
Labour9.00%3.00%2.00%3.00%
Green Party6.00%2.00%1.00%2.00%
Sinn Fein21.00%16.00%19.00%21.00%
People Before Profit/Solidarity4.00%1.00%2.00%1.00%
Social Democrats5.00%5.00%2.00%2.00%
Aontú​2.00%4.00%3.00%2.00%
Independent candidate15.00%21.00%21.00%25.00%


Temptation exists : bending to “understandable” fears. For example an election canvasser from a party with one foot in the left put it to me that some voters are “uncomfortable” because their neighbours come from outside Ireland.

Let’s be clear, harsh, and unambiguous : messages like this pander to the racist view that immigrants are criminals and rapists. There is no evidence backing up claims that people born outside Ireland are any worse than Irish natives. It gives oxygen to the far right shite being whispered around communities.

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Written by tomasoflatharta

Nov 16, 2024 at 12:57 pm

Posted in 26 County State (Ireland), Councillor John Lyons, Dún Laoghaire Welcomes All, Direct Provision - Irish Gombeen State Racism, Dublin 7 for All, Dublin Communities Against Racism (DCAR), Dublin Governments, Dublin’s racist mobs hit the city centre, 23.11.23, Emigration and Immigration, FFFGGG Coalition, Gombeens, Poltroons, Green Party, Gregor Kerr, Hope and Courage Collective, Human Rights, Independent Ireland Party (IIP), Independent Left (Ireland), International Political Analysis, Ireland, Ireland - Emigration and Immigration, Irish General Election February 8 2020, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Labour Party (Ireland), Left Unity, Mary Lou McDonald TD, Migration in Europe, Niamh McDonald, Opinion Polls, Paul Murphy TD Dublin South-West, People Before Profit, Police Forces in Ireland, Racism, Racket Hall Roscrea Racism January 2024, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), RISE, Show Racism the Red Card, Sinn Féin, Social Democrats (Ireland), The Irish Times, Wendy Lyon

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9000 Days of Putin’s Régime in the Russian Federation, 1000 Days of War – Protest, The Spire, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1, Sunday November 17 3-5pm

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Free Russians Ireland has organised a protest in Dublin :

Link :


Free Russians Ireland – 9000 Days of Putin’s Régime in Russia

Sunday November 17, 15:00 – 17:00

1,000 Days of War, 9,000 Days of Putin’s Regime 

Location: The Spire, O’Connell Street, Dublin

Hello everyone! 

You’ve probably seen the call to join the big rally in Berlin on November 17. 

November 20 will mark 1,000 days since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, cities have been bombed, and over a million civilians have been killed or injured, according to “The Wall Street Journal”. 

Our message in Dublin is the same as in London and other cities around the world holding actions: stop the war in Ukraine, withdraw the troops, provide reparations, and free political prisoners!

There are currently around 5,000 political prisoners in Russia, according to OVD-Info, including minors, people with health issues, and those facing ethnic and religious persecution. In the past year alone, over five people have reportedly been killed in prison.

We are taking to the streets this November for an important reason — cold weather is setting in for Ukraine, and its infrastructure has been severely damaged. Together with the London-based Russian Democracy Society, we are raising funds for generators and informing the Irish public about what is happening in Ukraine and Russia and why we demand an end to the war.

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Housing Crisis, Ireland, November 12 2024 : Left-wing election candidates respond to RTÉ Upfront True Stories

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Councillor John Lyons, Dublin Bay North Candidate

Councillor John Lyons, Candidate, Dublin Bay North

Good to see opposition politicians cutting through the bleedin’ heart nonsense from FF & FG regarding the housing crisis on

@RTEUpfront

: if they really cared, we wouldn’t have 3,388 homeless children in Dublin tonight. #HousingCrisis

https://x.com/CllrJohnLyons/status/1856112498291753276

Councillor Ruth Coppinger, Candidate, Dublin West

A young woman in the audience just punctured the guff on

@RTEUpfront. In a homeless hub with a child with a life limiting condition. What shame for a government that has had a record budget surplus. Cheek of minister saying ‘I have a family too’ on his salary.

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Taoiseach Simon Harris Announces Irish General Election on November 29 – Heading to Phoenix Park HQ of President Michael D Higgins to dissolve current Dáil – Support Credible Radical Left Candidates

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https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/1108/1479774-end-33-dail-general-election/

Simon Harris confirmed that he’ll travel to Áras an Uachtaráin shortly to ask President Higgins to dissolve the Dáil.

The election is set for Friday 29 November 2024.

A number of radical left candidates against any coalition deal with FFFFGGG have a realistic chance of winning a Dáil seat. [FFFGGG = Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens, Gombeens].

One of them is Councillor John Lyons in Dublin Bay North.

Councillor John Lyons (Second left) supports Irish Left With Ukraine (Seen Here Picketing the Dublin Russian Embassy of Vladimir Putin

Rejecting any coalition deals with FFFGGG and a policy that All refugees Are Welcome should be top priorities for radical left candidates in this general election.

People Before Profit (PBP) candidates also endorse the above policy.

Link :


No Coalition with FF or FG – PBP Conor Reddy

John Meehan, November 7 2024

Written by tomasoflatharta

Nov 8, 2024 at 2:22 pm

Posted in 26 County State (Ireland), Anti War Movements, Boris Kagarlitsky, Councillor John Lyons, Direct Provision - Irish Gombeen State Racism, Dublin 7 for All, Dublin Communities Against Racism (DCAR), Dublin Governments, Dublin’s racist mobs hit the city centre, 23.11.23, Elected Left for Ukraine, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Free Russians Ireland, Green Party, History of Ireland, Holly Cairns TD (Cork South West), Hope and Courage Collective, Independent Left (Ireland), International Political Analysis, Ireland, Irish Left With Ukraine, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Labour Party (Ireland), Left Unity, Mary Lou McDonald TD, Micheál Martin TD, Niamh McDonald, Paul Murphy TD Dublin South-West, People Before Profit, Political Prisoners in Russia, President Michael D Higgins, Racism, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), RISE, Roderick O'Gorman TD, Russia, Show Racism the Red Card, Simon Harris TD, Sinn Féin, Social Democrats (Ireland), Ukraine

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Campaigners ask President Higgins to keep Dáil in situ – Israel’s Illegal Settlements and an Occupied Territories Bill

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https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1108/1479764-higgins-dail-campaigners/

It is hard to know if President Higgins has the power to force the Dáil to continue to meet against the wishes of taoiseach Simon Harris – but this request is certainly justified morally.

President Michael D Higgins has been asked not to dissolve the Dail later today, by campaigners who want the Occupied Territories Bill to be passed by the Oireachtas.

The bill would ban trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It is expected that Taoiseach Simon Harris will make the request for a dissolution this afternoon.

However, in a letter sent to Áras an Uachtaráin by the Mothers Against Genocide group, President Higgins has been asked to use his presidential powers to keep the Dáil in situ.

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Who are ‘the Irish’? History shows we’ve been a mixed bunch for centuries – Maurice J Casey

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Who are ‘the Irish’? History shows we’ve been a mixed bunch for centuries

Introduction :

From the 1800’s to the early 1990’s Ireland was a world champion in one cruel activity – export of its own people. During the Great Hunger [An Gorta Mór in Irish] (Famine) of 1845-49 official figures state the population crashed from 8 million to 6 million : 1 million died and 1 million emigrated. In almost every following decade, the population continued to fall – from 8.2 million in 1841 to 4.2 million in 1961.

People of Irish extraction – the diaspora – are estimated to number 70 million. In 1921 the British imperialist government partitioned Ireland into two states – the republic and the north. The revolution heralded by the 1916 Easter Rising was betrayed.

Today Just over 5 million live in the republic, 2 million reside in the north, and 1.5 million Irish passport holders reside outside Ireland and Britain.

Up to the 1990’s immigration to Ireland existed – in relatively small numbers. The trend then altered significantly.

In the 2020’s the population of Ireland rose to 7 million. This remains below the 1841 figure of 8.2 million – so much for racist claims that Ireland is “full”.

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English Soccer Manager, an Irish citizen, won’t sing “God Save the King” – Daily Mail leads racist tabloid mob – English FA should sack Lee Carsley!

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Lee Carsley solidarity campaign starts now!

The former Irish international might accept an offer to co-manage Ireland with the Icelander Heimir Hallgrímsson.

Has far-right racist poison infected English sporting journalism again?

That’s like asking if the Pope is a Catholic.

From the Irish Times, September 7 2024

Irish Citizen Lee Carsley Will Not Sing “God Save the King”

Lee Carsley might have thought that an inquiry about anthem-singing at his pre-match press conference on Friday was harmless enough. “I fully respect both anthems and understand how much they mean to both countries,” he said. But he has never joined in on the crooning either as a player for Ireland or as manager of the England under-21s because he is “in a zone at that point”, he wants to focus on the match ahead, being “wary” of his mind “wandering off”.

Grand. Moving along … ooooooh, hold it.

Never mind asking God to save the King, it’s Carsley who needs saving from that section of the English press that lost its tiny mind on hearing his comments. It was the lead story – the lead! – on the front page – the front! – of the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, there was a deluge of incandescent opinion pieces, it featured on the news on BBC Radio and LBC and … you get the drift.

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“Cork city’s Lord Mayor defends Naked Bike Ride photo” – far right desperados open a new culture war in Ireland

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A key idea needs endless repetition.

The far-right is on the warpath, highlighting a number of seemingly obscure cultural and political issues. These bigots are 21st century spiritual descendants of the sinister religious orders who created magdalene laundry prisons and torture chambers locking up generations of Irish women and children after the 26 county bit of Ireland became a state in 1922.

We can say with confidence – first they came for the transgender community, then they went after the naked bike-riders. Cork’s 21st century spiritual descendant of the notorious Laois anti-semite bigot Oliver J Flanagan TD (Fine Gael) is Kenneth O’Flynn on the Irish Independence party.

An editorial from the current Belfast Media publication offers a very useful guide to these issues :

A settled and utterly uncontroversial matter until it was identified in far-right focus grouping

‘The Trans question was a settled & utterly uncontroversial matter until it was identified in far-right focus-grouping as a potential goldmine for those who profit from fear & division.’

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