Despite massive change in the last century, the need for a party of workers is as great today as ever — As another of its leaders leaves the stage of Irish history, the Labour Party faces another period of deep introspection. The shock leadership change a few weeks ago has focused minds not only on the next leader, but on the party’s purpose, identity, and future. …

The party’s recovery depends on confronting its past, not ignoring it — It’s sometimes easy to forget how far the Labour Party has fallen in the last ten years. 2011 was Labour’s best election in its history. So high were hopes that one party election slogan read ‘Gilmore for Taoiseach’. It seemed at the time that Labour — the historical standard bearer…

Worker Control and the renewal of Democratic Socialism — As a delayed reaction to the fallout from the Great Recession, recent years have seen a renewal of left-wing politics globally. Figures like Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn and organisations like Podemos and Syriza captured a desire among many for a decisive break with neoliberalism and the ‘Third Way’ approach…

In the wake of the John Hume’s death last August, many politicians and commentators rightly hailed his legacy as the redefinition of what Irish nationalism stood for. Hume was able to bring Irish nationalism away from a ‘territorial’ mindset to one which focused on the unity of people. “The real…

There can be no dignity in Labour until Labour knows no master — James Connolly International Workers’ Day is the day we celebrate and remember all that was accomplished by the international labour movement. This includes things like the Eight-Hour-Day, the Five Day Working Week, and huge changes across the…

Intellectuals, activists, and politicians of the left often ground the moral case for their politics on the principle of equality, and for good reason. But the desire for freedom also has an instinctive appeal to most people. On top of this, the right-wing has become very skilful in monopolising language…

Eurosceptic arguments need to be taken seriously if the EU s to reform and survive — There may never have been a more pertinent time to discuss the topic of Euroscepticism than the period we are living in. Before 2016, no European Union member state had ever unilaterally chosen to leave. Brexit, although carried by a slim margin, expressed a clear repudiation of the EU and…

Rather than just criticise Sinn Féin’s approach to unification, other parties should present their own proposals — Since the Brexit vote in June 2016, the future of the United Kingdom has been called into question. With Scotland and Northern Ireland voting to remain in the EU and England and Wales voting to leave, many Scottish and Northern Irish people have questioned the continuance of the union, some…

I recently had the opportunity to read George Orwell’s The Lion and the Unicorn. Written in 1941, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Orwell believed that the ongoing World War could only be won on the basis of socialist transformation. …