Posts Tagged ‘Racism’
“A Confederacy of Gobshites – Ireland’s Government of Contempt”- by Éamonn Sweeney
Once again, thanks to the editor of the Cedar Lounge Blog for drawing the attention of readers to very good Éamonn Sweeney left-wing analysis to the current Dublin government, which administers the 26 county bit of Ireland.
On this blog we describe the Mícheál Martin / Simon Harris government as FFFGBG – that is : a coalition of Fianna Fáil (FF), Fine Gael (FG), and Beggar-Gombeens (BG’s). The BG’s were assembled by the North Tipperary ex-FG minister Michael Lowry, who was thoroughly investigated by the Mahon Tribunal following credible allegations of financial corruption in the 1990’s. Fine Gael’s ethical standards are extremely low, but the party was obliged to expel Mr Lowry.
The BG’s got many perks for propping up the FFFG Martin-Harris duo – the biggest was the position of Dáil Ceann Comhairle (speaker) handed to the Wexford racist, and former FG member, Verona Murphy.
Some of the BG’s might be tempted to join their racist-fascist soul-brothers who lead the fuel blockade movement.
A coherent left-wing alternative is very badly needed.
Read the rest of this entry »The Blockade Is the Message
How a Fuel Price Spike Became a Fascist Audition
An effective heavy vehicle blockade campaign brought the 26 county bit of Ireland to a halt in the second week of April 2026.
Parties and individuals based on the left have offered significantly different opinions about these protests.
There is no doubt that far-right organisations are involved. This poses a big problem for all forces on the left – parties, trade unions, social movements that are pro-feminist and anti-racist, and so on.
It is essential to start with concrete analysis. Left-wing actors such as People Before Profit (PBP) say they support the blockaders :
“ There is “no question” that there are far-right people trying to intervene and be present in the protest…So some of these people (the far-right) are present and are trying to shape the protest, but one: the vast majority of people who are participating in the protest have nothing to do with the far right, whatsoever.
Paul Murphy TD, People Before Profit, Dublin South-West,
“And two: I really have a strong sense that ordinary working-class people in Dublin, people who live in Dublin South-West that I represent, have a lot of support for these protests,” Murphy said.
The left shouldn’t abandon fuel protesters, Paul Murphy says
The article below, and several other reliable sources, demonstrate that Paul Murphy’s analysis is based on wishful thinking rather than concrete analysis.
The far-right are not “trying to intervene and be present in the protest”. Far-right actors initiated this campaign.
This has serious implications for all forces on the Irish left.
Summing up: socialists have to recognise the hardships caused by high fuel prices (on top of all the other high prices). Blaming the right-wing government is fine. But – an extremely big But :
The Left must pledge : no co-operation with fuel-protester fascists and racists.
The policy of the PBP and others on the left is “support the fuel protests”.
The only way you can implement this policy is practical collaboration with the far-right on the streets and elsewhere. That means putting the lives and welfare of your own members and supporters in danger.
The left can do much better – a useful starting point for for a more progressive policy is here, written by the SIPTU researcher, Michael Taft :
Searching the Evidence – Michael Taft
This immediate problem is down to Trump’s wars in Iran, Lebanon, and other parts of the Middle East.
Vance in Budapest: Orbán as the Far Right’s Proof of Concept – the ideological logic of the Trump–Orbán alliance comes into focus
The far-right political rulers of the USA and the Russian Federation, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, are promoting the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, ahead of a general election in the Eastern European state on Sunday April 12 2026. The implications of this political development are widely understood; a selection of reactions which have appeared on Bluesky should put an end – for ever – the obviously ludicrous theory promoted by some on the left that the 2022 Russian genocidal invasion of Ukraine was a disguised USA V Russia war (a “Proxy” war).
Vance in Budapest: Orbán as the Far Right’s Proof of Concept
What Pinochet Was to Neoliberals, Orbán Is to Christian Nationalists
When US Vice-President J.D. Vance travelled to Budapest to endorse Viktor Orbán ahead of the 2026 Hungarian elections, the ideological logic of the Trump–Orbán alliance came into focus. For American nativist Christian nationalists, Orbán’s Hungary is a proof of concept: evidence that a programme combining Christian nationalism, anti-migration politics, and systematic dismantling of democratic opposition can hold power for sixteen years. Jan Bělíček dissects Vance’s Budapest speech — its Great Replacement tropes, its anti-EU demagoguery, its hollow invocations of workers’ rights, and the irony of preaching Christian civilisation to a comparatively secular Hungarian audience. The underlying agenda, Bělíček concludes, is replication: Vance and Trump want to build in the United States what Orbán has built in Hungary. [AN]
Watching yesterday’s second appearance by J.D. Vance in Budapest, I think I finally understood why the second-highest-ranking US politician has travelled to lend his support to Viktor Orbán ahead of the elections. [1] For nativist Christian nationalists like Vance, Orbán’s Hungary represents much the same thing that Augusto Pinochet represented for the neoliberal right. [2] It demonstrates that their political experiment — grounded in Christianity, aggressive nationalism, and hostility to expert knowledge and the left — can succeed and hold power for an extraordinary sixteen years.
Read the rest of this entry »April 8 2026 – Two week reprieve : USA President Trump Stops Bombing Iran; Straits of Hormuz Re-Opened
Main developments
President Donald Trump said he would “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” subject to Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s foreign minister said his country’s armed forces would halt military operations and allow safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz if the US stops its attacks.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 5 per cent, while WTI, the US benchmark, fell 9 per cent.
Pakistan had requested Trump extend his 8pm ET deadline for bombing civilian infrastructure in Iran and asked the Islamic republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had on Tuesday morning escalated his rhetoric against Iran and warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran does not strike a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline.
The US president had previously warned of major attacks on Iran’s bridges and power plants if Tehran did not agree to his deadline.
Attacks on “objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” are prohibited under international law. – Source : Financial Times
Trade Union Solidarity With Ukraine in Ireland – Activity of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) – by Sandra Corrigan, Global Development Officer (INTO)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU) held a very fruitful meeting on Tuesday 24 March 2026 in the Teachers Club (which is associated with the INTO)
Sandra Corrigan, Global Solidarity Officer of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, described international solidarity work for teachers and children, including a solidarity fund, emergency supplies, trauma support, and advocacy that helped secure teacher salary increases for 2025–2026. Ukrainian teacher union reports emphasised the prolonged conflict and an education crisis.
Kateryna Maliuta- Osaulova of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers TUEWSU Ukraine, worked with Sandra on this report.
Sandra’s extensive report is available here :
These issues will also be addressed at the next ILWU public meeting on April 21 2026 at 7.30pm in the Teachers’ Club 36 Parnell Square West.
Details are here :
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 Donoghue (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
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 »“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 »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 