Posts Tagged ‘history’
Why we need solidarity with Ukraine – Public Meeting, Teachers Club Parnell Square, Dublin 1 D01T6V6, Tuesday April 212026, 7.30pm
Public Meeting
Why we need solidarity with Ukraine
Speakers:
Mick Antoniw (Labour party Member of the Senedd [Welsh Assembly]; co-founder of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, England & Wales)
Anatoliy Primakov (Ukrainian Action Ireland)
Sinéad Gibney TD (Social Democrats)
Kevin Donoghoe (Campaigns Officer, FÓRSA trade union)
Chairperson :
Nóirín Greene, ex-member of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Executive
Time: 7:30pm
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
Place: Teachers Club 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 D01 T6V6
To participate via zoom link, please email: irishleftwithukraine@gmail.com by 19th April
“Stormont’s institutionalised sectarianism is beginning to look disturbingly permanent”
The Irish News columnist Patrick Murphy tells many home-truths about the Good Friday Agreement and the Stormont Assembly in Belfast.
This occurs in tandem with declining support for partition within the six-county bit of Ireland. A detonator of this trend was Brexit – the British state’s 2016 right-wing exit from the European Union.
Anti-Partition supporters of the Good Friday Agreement hope its referendum provisions will be enacted – forcing an electoral end on Ireland’s partition. These people need to address an ugly truth : an Irish unity referendum within the 6 county state can only happen with the permission of the British Secretary of State for “Northern Ireland” – an office currently held by Labour MP Hillary Benn.
Benn has categorically stated he will not authorise such a referendum. Credible opinion polls suggest that by the time of the next British general election (which must occur by 2029) the Westminster government could be controlled by the far-right ultra-Unionist Reform party led by Nigel Farage.
The best progressive way to end the partition of Ireland today can start with smashing Stormont. End institutionalised sectarianism and class collaboration – No coalition with right-wing parties such as the Democratic Unionist Party.
The way forward is :
1.Call for the formation of citizens’ assemblies which will draw up a political programme for the creation of a new 32 county Irish state
2. If the Irish state refuses to call a Citizens’ Assembly – something like the body which preceded the 2018 referendum in the 26 county bity of Ireland which repealed the anti-abortion 8th Amendment – the workers’ movement, women’s movement, trade unions, left-wing parties, and so on should take the initiative.
Read the rest of this entry »Former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of the Socialist Party has passed away aged 88 – Former Trotskyist at the centre of “a story of hope and missed opportunities”
The long life of former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who has passed away at the age of 88, gives us many useful explanations of the state of the left today, not just in France.
A useful list is here :
L’Echec de la gauche – the failure of the left
Jospin moved from the left to the right, and unsuccessfully tried to cover some of his tracks.
We reproduce two articles here from
Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
- Lionel Jospin the former Trotskyist
- Former French prime minister Lionel Jospin: a story of hope and missed opportunities
Jospin lays the ghost of long past Trotskyism – The French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, admitted in 2001 that he began his political career as a Trotskyist
Lara Marlowe, Irish Times Wednesday June 6 2001
The French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, admitted yesterday that he began his political career as a Trotskyist. Mr Jospin responded to questions in the National Assembly following press reports that he was a Trotskyist revolutionary who infiltrated the Socialist party on the instructions of his semi-clandestine organisation.
Read the rest of this entry »Brendan Hughes, Gerry Adams, and a collapsed court case in London’s Royal Courts of Justice
Newspaper readers who followed reports of a very unusual Gerry Adams London trial were not surprised by its collapse.
Procedurally. for this category of case, there is a 3 year time limit. People injured in three IRA bombings – Old Bailey 1973; Docklands and Manchester 1996 – put Gerry Adams in the dock seeking nominal damages of £1 on the grounds that the former Sinn Féin president had been an IRA leader.
Claimants were well aware of these rules, – they did not have a leg to stand on legally. The only issue was whether Judge Jonathan Swift (yes, same name as the famous Irish satirist who wrote Gulliver’s Travels!) would apply the rules. Judge Swift would have looked a bigger fool than Lemuel Gulliver if he ignored the regulations, and an appeal court later overturned his verdict. [1]
Mark Hennessy contributed this analysis in the March 19 2026 issue of the Irish Times :
Read the rest of this entry »The U.S. & Israeli War with Iran: What Should Be the Approach of a Principled Socialist Left? – Frieda Afary
Below is the revised text of a presentation by Frieda Afary to the South African organization, Zabalaza for Socialism on March 15, 2026.
Link :
These are key passages :
Globally, the Russian government has gained from this war because the price of oil has increased, and the Trump administration has lifted sanctions on Russia’s sale of oil. Russia has also gained because the anti-missile systems that Ukraine and Europe were buying from the U.S. to help defend Ukraine against Russia’s brutal imperialist invasion of that country are now going to the Middle East. Russia is also helping the Iranian government by sharing secret information about U.S. targets.
Frieda Afary, ESSF, March 15 2026
The Chinese government has also gained from this war, because the U.S. government will pay less attention to the Pacific Region and might even allow China to proceed with its plans to take over Taiwan.
IV. What Can International Progressives Do Now?
Frieda Afary, ESSF, March 15 2026
First: Do anything you can to stop this war. Educate, speak out, protest, put pressure on your government representatives and independent intellectuals. In the case of the United States, public opinion is currently 60% against this war. Most people don’t want to send their children to fight in the Middle East. Half the adult population is opposed to the Trump administration’s attacks on and detention/deportation of innocent immigrants. There is also a great deal of anger about the ways in which mostly wealthy men including Trump, other politicians and even academics have collaborated with and benefited from the late Jeffrey Epstein’s network for trafficking of women and girls for rape and sexual abuse. All of these questions need to be addressed in articulating an anti-war message.
Second: Reach out to progressives in the Middle East or Middle Eastern progressives abroad. Do not limit yourself to talking only about one struggle or one country in the Middle East.
Third: Oppose campism, take a clear stand against all global and regional capitalist-imperialist powers and defend the rights and humanity of the peoples that these powers are oppressing.
Fourth: Address key issues that are holding back our struggles: racial and ethnic discrimination, patriarchy, capitalist exploitation, and capitalist alienation.
“The brave few documenting ordinary life in Putin’s Russia” – Catriona Crowe
This excellent article appeared in the Friday March 20 2026 issue of the Irish Times :
Concerning the differences between the Ukrainian and Russian States, Catriona Crowe hits the nail on the head :
Casualties are breaking down at a ratio of 2-2.5 to 1, with Russia suffering the largest proportion, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. While the international press can report from Ukraine, although with some difficulty and considerable danger from the front lines, the Kremlin has detained at least 27 journalists since 2022, and 355 international journalists have been branded “foreign agents”.
Irish Times March 20 2026
Catriona Crowe: The brave few risking everything to unmask Putin’s Russia
The Oscar-winning documentary Mr Nobody against Putin is a record of something totally unseen in the world outside Russia
Ukraine is now in the fifth year of its war with Russia, an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state based on Vladimir Putin’s desire to reconstitute the Russian Empire. It is estimated that casualties for both sides (killed, wounded and missing) will amount to two million sometime this year.
Read the rest of this entry »Respect for the late Ayatollah Mr Ali Khamenei of Iran: Mick Wallace, Clare Daly, and the Logic of Campism
Thanks to Duncan Chapel for the post below, and to Gregor Kerr for drawing our attention to the latest reactionary political message posted by the former Irish MEP’s Mick Wallace and Clare Daly
Thanks also to Europe Solidaire Sans Frontieres for a much better assessment of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei :
Respect to the Ayatollah: Mick Wallace and the Logic of Campism
On Sunday evening, while watching Torino v Lazio, a former left MEP posted his solidarity with the Supreme Leader of a state that had just killed seven thousand of its own citizens.
This is what campism looks like when it stops pretending. Mick Wallace, until 2024 an Irish MEP from the United European Left, posted the following to Facebook on the evening of 2 March 2026, apparently from a football stadium in Turin:
“Respect to Iran. Respect to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shame on the Political Class + Media who refuse to call out the lawless Terrorism of Western Imperialism + Zionism.” The hashtag was #TorinoLazio. Let us be precise about what has been said here. Not “oppose the bombing.” Not “solidarity with the Iranian people.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Patrick’s Day 2026 in the Washington DC White House – Social Democrats Leader Holly Cairns TD Makes a Terrible Mistake – She should join the boycott
Boycotting the Trump White House’s Patrick’s Day Event in 2026 is a no-brainer for everybody on the left – but Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns TD thinks differently.
Her justification :
Speaking to reporters in Cork this morning ahead of the second day of the Social Democrat’s National Conference, Cairns said “given the height of contentious things coming from the White House at the moment it is perhaps more important than ever to use this unique platform that Ireland has”.
She said Ireland is a small country, but it can be a very influential one.
“We can be a really strong voice for peace. We think Micheál Martin should use this opportunity to use that strong voice to express the will of the Irish people,” said the SocDems leader.
Source – Journal.ie
Most political parties on the Irish left support a boycott of this nauseating event, with good reason.
In 2025, Donald Trump brutally humiliated Dublin government ministers by accepting his bowl of shamrock a few days before March 17 – which was reserved for the far-right racist, the kick-boxer Conor McGregor. See full reports here, and an excellent Dáil statement by Ruth Coppinger TD.
For many years Sinn Féin mistakenly attended White House Patrick’s Day events, but joined the boycott in 2025.
The SDLP leader Colum Eastwood issued this message in 2024
Labour Party Leader Ivana Bacik TD states :
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik has said that if US president Donald Trump continues to threaten Europe, then it would not be appropriate for the Taoiseach to visit the White House for St Patrick’s Day.
“If diplomacy this week in Davos, if diplomacy over the coming weeks doesn’t succeed in addressing the appalling threats being made by Trump, then of course Ireland must take its place in solidarity with European leaders who are now calling Trump a bully,” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“And we cannot go to Washington with shamrocks certainly in that context, and we cannot allow US planes to use Shannon and, indeed, other European countries which have US bases I am sure are having this very same conversation.
“Because it is unthinkable that a US which is militarily threatening a sovereign state in Europe could be allowed to use European countries as military bases for that.”
Bacik said the US president has “succeeded in normalising the utterly unacceptable”.
“What we’ve seen in the just a year since he took office, we’ve seen a sort of really creeping fascism taking over in the US.”
The Social Democrats need to change tack, and boycott the 2026 Patrick’s Day Trump event in the Washington DC White House.
John Meehan February 8 2026
Petition Link :
Petition – No Shamrocks for Trump – Boycott White House Patrick’s Day 2026
To: All politicians & political parties on the Island of Ireland
No Shamrocks for Trump – Boycott the White House 2026
We are asking politicians & political parties on the Island of Ireland – to boycott The White House on St. Patrick’s Day.
Why is this important?
The genocide in Gaza continues despite a supposed “ceasefire”. International journalists are still not allowed into Gaza or the West Bank because Israel does not want the world to know what it is doing as it tries to exterminate Palestinians.
While the genocide has been livestreamed to the world since October 7 2023, we still do not know how many people have died as a result. We know that at least 70,000 people have been killed by the Israeli army but have no figures for the number who have died because of lack of medicine for chronic conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions etc. Nor do we know how many have died of cancer or other curable conditions. Every step of this genocide has been funded and supported by the United States.
Now Trump has launched his Gaza “Board of Peace” and his son-in-law Jared Kushner shared slides at the launch of the “Board of Peace” showing high rise buildings and fancy hotels built on the bones of those killed in the genocide. Netanyahu, who is on this “Board of Peace” was unable to attend the launch as it was in Switzerland where he would be arrested under the International Arrest Warrant issued because of the genocide.
The reasons why Irish politicians and political parties should not pay homage to Trump have multiplied since the start of this year – the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Maduro is just one example.
We call on all political parties on the island of Ireland to listen to the people and not go to Washington on St. Patrick’s Day to shake hands soaked with the blood of Palestinians.
Protest in Dublin: Solidarity with the People of Iran Against the Ayatollah Regime – The left must not be “neutral” when imperialist powers attack smaller nations
Most left-wing forces in Ireland favour a foreign policy called Neutrality
This is inaccurate language.
Most Irish people understand Neutrality to mean opposition to military alliances such as NATO, opposition to Irish participation in imperialist adventures abroad, and opposition to general imperialist rearmament.
This policy is 100 per cent correct.
But this policy is not “Neutrality”.
Neutrality – A Clear Definition
The state of being neutral or of being unengaged in a dispute or contest between others; the taking of no part on either side; in international law, the attitude and condition of a nation or state which does not take part directly or indirectly in a war between other states, but maintains relations of amity with all the contending parties.
is the quality or state of being neutral, particularly in the context of not participating in a conflict or war between other parties. It involves maintaining an impartial stance and not favoring any side in a dispute.
Source – Wordnik
Neutrality – Wordnik Definition
A chicken comes home to roost in connection with approving a loan to Ukraine (See below).
The left must not be “neutral” when imperialist powers attack smaller nations
“Ukraine, Palestine, Occupation is a Crime”.
We should, for example be
For Palestine and Ukraine – Against USA and Russian Imperialism.
For Greenland against USA, Russian and Danish imperialism
For Iran against USA Imperialism
For Venezuela Against USA imperialism..
In all these cases using the words Irish neutrality is nonsense – and there are plenty of similar cases.
That means the left in Ireland should say it favours a policy of “Non-Alignment” – as opposed to a policy of “Neutrality”.
It is better to use honest language.In fact, it is my understanding that exactly this observation was made by a tiny band of leftists in Ireland during World War 2. It meant, in those far-off days, saying Yes to Irish Neutrality, and Yes to Anti-fascism (concretely : in favour of political asylum in Ireland for victims of the German Nazis).
We reproduce two important posts issued by UNDI – Ukrainian Diaspora of Ireland.
John Meehan February 1 2026
Protest in Dublin: Solidarity with the People of Iran Against the Ayatollah Regime
Friends, Ukrainians and Irish people!
Our Iranian friends are organizing a peaceful solidarity protest with the people of Iran, who are now bravely fighting against the inhuman regime of the ayatollahs. We call on everyone to join and show that freedom will not be left without support.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E7stavfCH/
For weeks, the regime has been shutting down the internet to hide the mass killings of peaceful protesters. Hospitals are being terrorized, and people are being shot simply for shouting: “Woman, Life, Freedom!” Over the past weeks, thousands have been killed — one of the largest crimes against a country’s own population happening in the world today.
This is our shared struggle. The ayatollahs supply Putin with thousands of Shahed drones and military technologies used in the war against Ukraine, while Russian security services help them remain in power. Every act of solidarity sends a clear message: dictators will not go unpunished, and peoples will not be left alone in fear.
Why it is important to be there:
To support people who risk their lives for freedom.
To show that Ukrainians stand with those fighting against repression and terror.
To strengthen international pressure on a regime that commits violence against its own citizens.
To demonstrate unity against tyranny: the freedom of Iran is part of the global struggle for rights and dignity — a struggle Ukraine understands deeply.
Location: O’Connell Street Upper, Dublin
Date: 1 February 2026
Time: 12:00 – 13:00
Come with flags, posters, your voice and your heart. Every person present is a force of support for those fighting for life and dignity.
Glory to Ukraine! 
Freedom for Iran! 
Sinn Féin’s Dangerous Double Standards on Ukraine
The Ukrainian community in Ireland is watching closely how political parties respond to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Activist Garrett Mullan highlighted the issue in his post: https://www.facebook.com/share/1B5EoYFpoL/. Sinn Féin published pro-Russian statements for years, and only after the full-scale invasion in 2022 did they remove thousands of old articles from their website: https://www.independent.ie/…/sinn-fein…/41443385.html.
At the time, this was clearly embarrassing for the party, but even worse would have been if the public had seen Sinn Féin’s real positions. Mary Lou McDonald tried to align the party with the consensus supporting Ukraine and appeared at a few rallies outside the Russian embassy, but most party representatives stayed on the sidelines.
Now Pearse Doherty shows what Sinn Féin really represents today. According to his statement in the Dáil: https://www.thejournal.ie/eu-loan-to-ukraine-pearse…/, he wants to cut funding to Ukraine — even as 600,000 households in Kyiv remain without electricity in -20°C temperatures. He complains that EU funds are used for military purposes — but what else should they be used for when a neighboring country is bombing homes, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure?
These are double standards, and they put Europe’s stability at risk. Supporting Ukraine is not charity — it is an investment in Europe’s security.
We thank Garret Mullan for speaking out clearly and courageously. Political parties must take a firm and consistent stance in support of Ukraine. Actions matter: financial aid, political advocacy, and countering Russian propaganda all strengthen Ukraine and defend Europe.
Silence or half-measures only help the aggressor. It’s up to all of us to stand on the side of freedom and justice. Ukraine’s fight is Europe’s fight, and every voice and action counts.
Dáil Éireann Supports Funding for Ukraine, January 27 2026
Pearse Doherty TD (Sinn Féin) is mistakenly implying that the funding is mostly for arms. The €210 billion allocation prioritizes industry integration (industry, of course, will include military production), financial stability and loan repayments.
| Category | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Industry integration | €115 billion | Expand Ukraine’s manufacturing capacity and integrate into Europe’s, with “Buy European & Ukrainian” rules limiting non-EU/EEA/Ukraine components to 35%. |
| Macro-financial assistance | €50 billion | Direct budget support to cover financing gaps and maintain state functions. |
| G7 ERA loan repayment | €45 billion | Repay prior G7 loans using immobilized Russian asset revenues. |
Read details of a Dáil Debate – .Link :
Dáil Debate, January 27 2026, Aid to Ukraine
John Meehan February 1 2026
An interesting update – thanks to Brendan Ogle :
A Ukrainian veteran living in Ireland posted in reply to Sinn Fein’s new Ukraine position. Being anti-imperialist means opposing all imperialism, not just British, American and Israeli imperialism.
…………..
I am a veteran of the Ukrainian army. I was wounded on the front line, I lost my leg, my health and the life I once had. My hometown is 15 kilometers from the war zone, people are dying every day, houses are collapsing. Russia has turned our future into ruins. So when I hear Sinn Féin talking about cutting support for Ukraine, I don’t hear “neutrality” or “peace” – I hear betrayal and a direct gift to Putin. Undermining aid to Ukraine means continuing the war, more missiles on civilians, more children killed, more soldiers losing limbs, as happened to me. Supporting Ukraine is supporting the life and security of Europe, and anyone who plays with that is on the wrong side of history.
Link : https://www.facebook.com/camilo.ogle
A new update :
Excerpt from a reliable media source “Both the Labour Party and the Social Democrats asked for assurances that Ireland’s element of the loan would be aligned with our policy of military neutrality.
Junior Minister Marian Harkin said: ‘The Government will ensure the funding provided by Ireland is aligned with our well-established policy of military neutrality as has been the case to date.’
Sinn Féin voted against the motion, as did Independent Ireland TDs and People Before Profit and Aontú. The vote was carried by 92 to 38, with the Social Democrats and Labour Party voting with the Government.
According to the European Commission’s website, Ireland contributed €3.69billion to the overall EU budget in 2023, which stood at around $248billion for all 27 member states that year. This amounts to 1.48% of the EU budget. This would mean that should Ireland have to cover its portion of the loan to Ukraine, it would pay around €1.3billion.” – Irish Daily Mail
Six County Top Cop Jon Boutcher Says IRA Volunteers who killed Black and Tans (Royal Irish Constabulary) during War of Independence were “Terrorists”
PSNI boss Jon Boutcher is interested in recent Irish history – and he wants to know more about events which occurred over 100 years ago. He heads an organisation which has an extremely bad reputation. He wants to clean up the image of the police force operating in the six county bit of Ireland – but has run into serious problems.
He recently described the killing of members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in the 1919-21 War of Independence as acts of “terrorism”.
In January 2020 Fine Gael Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan TD (Laois-Offaly) proposed a state commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), whose members included the Black and Tans. A tsunami of public protest forced Flanagan’s government to drop this plan. Flanagan desperately pretended that he was only proposing to commemorate the 1920 police force – the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) – and not the Black-and-Tan or Auxie terrorists. This distinction was ridiculed. The row seriously damaged the Fine Gael government, and was a factor in its disastrous General Election result on February 8 2020.
Readers may be interested in contemporary assessments of the RIC/Black and Tans expressed in the First Dáil.
Pride of place goes to Eoin Mac Néill TD, a government minister. Mac Néill was a grandfather of Senator Michael MacDowell, a former Minister for Justice.
Here is a summary of MacNéill’s Dáil speech, delivered on April 10 1919 :
““Now, it is the determination of the English Government at present, and it is not only their determination but their last resource, to make the police supreme in Ireland, and it is not to relieve our feelings that we have this discussion, but to defeat this infamous policy. We can, and will, and must, defeat it, and to this end we must pledge ourselves, pledge our children, pledge our friends, and pledge our country on no account to submit in any shape or form or at any future time to be police-governed by the English Government. The police in Ireland are a force of spies. The police in Ireland are a force of traitors, and the police in Ireland are a force of perjurers. I say these things, not that your feelings might be roused, but to convince you of the necessity that exists why you should take such measures as will make police government in this country by the enemy impossible.”
More details are below.
Tomás Ó Flatharta 