The eurozone’s ‘soulless market’ and its thuggish enforcers

By Emma Clancy. In his open letter to Europeans last month, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that he feared Europe “has become a soulless market” in the eyes of its citizens. Twenty years after the introduction of the common currency, and more than a decade after the global financial crisis, […]

The Left and the EU: Steering a course of principled resistance to neoliberalism

By Andy Storey. Trawling through the website of the Irish Freedom Party (IFP) – the group calling for Irish exit (Irexit) from the European Union (EU) – is a strange experience. Amidst the xenophobia and often crude and puerile attacks on left-wingers, there are moments where those same left-wingers might […]

Brussels’ plan for bad loans is a second bailout for the banks

By Emma Clancy. Barely a word has been said in the Irish media to date about an extremely important new proposal from the European Union (EU) Commission – to develop a so-called ‘secondary market’ for non-performing loans. If implemented, this package of policies will directly cause an increase in evictions […]

Rights denied: The implications of Brexit for Irish citizens

By Niall Muprhy. On 23 June 2016, 56 per cent of people in the North voted to remain in the European Union (EU). They did so because it is in our best interests politically and economically. The reckless and irresponsible rhetoric that has conditioned the British government’s approach to effecting […]

National liberation, class and the fetishisation of armed struggle

By Alex Homits. It strikes me that Ireland has many movements which commemorate, glorify and fetishise armed struggle without truly grasping the conditions or consequences that accompany it. It is significant to note that there exists in the western world a large amount of leftists who parade their interest for […]

EU endorses corporate power grab through secret investment courts

By Emma Clancy. This week the European Parliament voted to ratify the EU-Singapore free trade agreement, and voted separately to ratify the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement. The investment agreement includes an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which is why it was voted on separately. Irish MEPs from Fine Gael were […]