Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Donnacha Ó Laoghaire TD (SF, Cork South-Central)’ Category

Alumina made in Aughinish, Limerick, is exported to smelters that sell aluminium to a trader supplying Russian arms manufacturers – Results of a Major Irish Times Investigation, March 24 2026 “Aughinish exposes a general trend in State attitude to Ukraine, Palestine, human rights …”

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Evidence of Limerick-produced alumina entering Russian military supply chain ‘horrific and shocking’, says Labour party leader Ivana Bacik

Aughinish Alumina contributes to Russian war against Ukraine – Ivana Bacik, the Labour party leader, raised the issue in Dáil Éireann :

Link :
Inside the Supply Chain Funneling Irish Alumina to Russian Rockets – OCCRP

Yesterday Conor Gallagher in The Irish Times, working with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, revealed shocking details about the supply chain linked to the Aughinish Alumina plant in Limerick.

His report outlined how significant quantities of alumina from this facility are being exported to Russia, where they are being used to make aluminium, which is then sold to a trading company supplying over 100 Russian weapons manufacturers. It is deeply alarming to see that shipments of Irish alumina to Russia have increased significantly since Putin’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It is horrific to see this. It is unconscionable that a plant operating in Ireland could be contributing to materials used in the destruction of so many communities and so much civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and can be used to kill children in Ukraine. This is appalling to see and I do welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to review this report, but the question is clear: what urgent action will the Taoiseach take to ensure that no Irish-based industry or business is complicit in supporting Russia’s war machine?


Ivana Bacik; Aughinish Alumina plant aids brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ivana Bacik is right to insist that the Irish government must take “urgent action” on this issue – words and good intentions are not good enough.

In the letters page of the Irish Times (Friday May 27) Conor O’Neill – Head of Policy, Christian Aid Ireland; Chair, Irish Coalition for Business & Human Rights points out :

Aughinish exposes a general trend in State attitude to Ukraine, Palestine, human rights …

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Scumbags in Dublin who stop immigrants getting shelter – the Dublin government is “punching down” says a group of 30 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s)

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Street Photographer Chris Reid reports :

Barriers replace tents on Mount Street and along the Grand Canal. Barriers now extend along the Grand Canal from Mount Street to South Richmond Street. Good luck to the people in the tents getting through this mess.


Well done Chris. There is no political and moral difference between the actions of the arsonists and racist protesting scum who try to prevent asylum seekers getting shelter in hostels or hotels – and the actions of government ministers and functionaries – like Harris the Taoiseach and Harris the Garda boss. Double-standard “opposition” politicians who dog-whistle to the racists saying “No Open Borders” – E.g. the Sinn Féin Justice spokesperson Donnacha Ó Laoghaire – also share the blame. Genuine anti-racists can and will do much better.

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Ireland’s Open(ish) Border – Sinn Féin on the Warpath

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Ireland’s Open(ish) Border – Sinn Féin on the Warpath

Sinn Féin’s is warning Irish voters about “Open Borders”.

The party is promoting relentless propaganda in the run-up to the June 7 2024 European and local elections in Ireland.

This leaflet from Balbrigggan (Dublin) is a local version of statewide propaganda.

Let’s ask ourselves a question : What’s wrong with Open Borders?

Andrew Flood calls the border in Ireland Open(ish) – and he is spot on. Here is why :

I say Open(ish) because for two decades black or brown people crossing that border have been stopped and told to produce ‘papers’ by the Garda (claiming to be doing random checks). Maybe they want such checks stepped up, if not what is the demand here?

The border between the EU and the rest of the world is so closed that 3,000 people died trying to sneak across it last year. Over 20 times the number of people killed crossing the Berlin Wall in the 28 years it existed. The border with the 6 counties is Open(ish) – is it that?

OK we all know this is a response to the far right working with FFFGGP to blame Sinn Féin on the government’s failure to plan & communicate for large number of Ukrainian refugees. But this shite is just going to underline that Sinn Féin are no more principled that the rest.

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