“Any refusal or failure, without good cause, to attend this information session or to subsequently participate in Jobpath may result in your Jobseeker payment being reduced”. These are the threatening words that over 100,000 young Irish people have read, myself included. This statement is intended to frighten the recipient into a state of paralysis. Already … Read more
Scooby Doo is ultimately a materialist portrayal of the world. The protagonists, a group of travelling young people without a fixed home or source of income, are frequently confronted with ghosts and ghouls. These spectres are never the superstitious incarnations which they at first seem to represent, but are always contrived in order to hide … Read more
In January, the Turkish military launched an offensive; “Operation Olive Branch” against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which consists of mainly Kurdish militias, led by the YPG and YPJ, their women’s division. This was launched in the Afrin district and Tell-Rifaat sub-district, both controlled by the SDF. Turkey claims this imperialist manoeuvre is a means … Read more
Recent events in Tallaght during the snow storm brought out the good, the bad and the ugly in social commentary but most notably it demonstrates how a distinct sense of economic morality predominates; demonizing one end of society while avoiding discussion of white collar crime by those with systemic protection. Commentators such as Frankie Gaffney, … Read more
In our modern era, an environmentally friendly society and capitalism are inherently incompatible. In this increasingly consumerist society, the expansion of capital requires extensive exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources. We see in many countries around the world today that multinational corporations continue to devastate the natural environment and abuse the indigenous populations in a … Read more
FT, Corcaigh There is a paradigm shift being promoted in Ireland today – but by whose hand and in whose interest? Organised labour with a shared national identity and a pool of democratic heroes and martyrs to draw from to inspire their contemporary struggles is difficult to subjugate, divide or to be utilized in the … Read more
FT, Corcaigh When I was growing up in Ireland in the 2000s, the trolley crisis permeated national discourse at multiple levels. The media was saturated with horror stories of patients consigned to languish in crowded hallways in wretched conditions. Consultants were paid extortionate fees for dubious contribution. A two tier system created odious waiting lists … Read more
FT, Corcaigh Private profit-driven healthcare has been a longstanding pillar of the neo-liberal philosophy. Wherever the public health is universally guaranteed, it seeks to fundamentally undermine and alter the principles and motives by which it operates – the final goal being the continued spread of the ubiquitous creed that greed is good and the axiom … Read more
The past year has been one of growth and new energy for the Connolly Youth Movement, as events and successes set a confidently growing momentum. A new branch has come into being in Mullingar and membership has increased all over the six counties with potential new branches in Ballymena and Newcastle, showing the appeal for … Read more
“We have the right to be proud that to us fell the good fortune of beginning the building of the Soviet State and, by doing so, opening a new chapter in the history of the world” – Vladimir Lenin The foundations of the world, of Empire and of colony trembled underneath the march of the … Read more