Ireland

The seismic February 8 general election result, which saw Sinn Féin become the most popular political party in the 26-county Irish Republic for the first time, has shaken the Irish political system to its core and sent shockwaves across Europe, writes Duroyan Fertl.

"For many of us, defining ourselves as ecosocialists is a way of distinguishing our socialism from such environmental blindness. We are not saying that Marx and Engels were infallible or that they offer all the answers we need today — we are saying that they offered insights and analysis that must be relearned by the left in the 21st century.

"Ecosocialists recognise the global environmental crisis as the most important problem that humanity faces in the 21st century. If socialists don’t recognise its centrality, our politics will be irrelevant," says Ian Angus, ecosocialist activist and editor of Climate and Capitalism.

The single-most deadly terror attack on Irish soil took place on May 17, 1973. Four car bombs placed across the cities of Dublin and Monaghan and over the border into the Irish Free State exploded, killing 34 and injuring hundreds more. This attack, and many more like it, supposedly flew under the radar of British “Security Forces” sent to the north of Ireland to deal with paramilitarism. However, it flew under the radar, not by chance, but by design.

Beer

Thanks to a five-year-long campaign by unions, including Mandate union, workers in Ireland won an important victory this year when legislation was adopted that bans zero-hour contracts and guarantees minimum wage payments for trainees.

Following the victory in the campaign to repeal Ireland’s anti abortion laws, Ireland has entered a new historic moment ripe with possibilities for profound change, writes Amy Ward.

While the political establishment in Ireland is determined to downplay the need for an Irish unity referendum, it is plainly obvious that the appetite for such a poll is growing by the day.

The 1998 Good Friday peace agreement to end the conflict in Northern Ireland could become unsalvageable, Irish republican party Sinn Fein has said, as Brexit and other unresolved issues continue to shutter the institutions set up under the agreement, Irish Republican News

Britain’s departure from the European Union without a deal would make a united Ireland and the break-up of Britain more likely, British Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs ahead of a January 15 vote on her government’s Withdrawal Agreement that it has negotiated with the European Union. May dramatically lost the vote by 432-202.

It is the first time May has admitted British rule in Ireland and Scotland could be jeopardised by Brexit.

In Northern Ireland, made up of the six Irish counties still claimed by Britain, a majority voted to remain in the European Union in Britain’s 2016 referendum. But “Brexit” is threatening to take it out of the EU regardless — threatening progress in a statelet historically wracked by discrimination, inequality and violence.

Brexit is a threat to Northern Ireland in several ways. Key aspects of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which formally ended decades of armed conflict, underpinned by European law and funds.

As the 2018 World Cup frenzy starts to take over the news cycle, it is crucial to highlight examples of how the sport has brought people together. Michael Blosser writes that one example is the case of Celtic FC and Palestine, with the Glasgow-based club showing consistent solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. 

As the results of the Irish abortion referendum were announced on May 26, registering a big win for repealing a constitutional ban on abortion, scenes of celebration were shared around the world, writes Kamala Emanuel.

Ireland's historic abortion vote has fuelled calls for reform in the island's North, with Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald saying it was time for the six counties to adopt the same legislation. The six counties that make up the Northern Ireland statelet are still controlled by Britain, although British laws governing abortion does not apply and abortion remains illegal.