Irish, EU & international politics & economics
By Séamas Mac Annaidh. This is a book review of Labouring Beside Lough Erne, a Study of the Fermanagh Labour Movement 1826-1932, by Jim Quinn. This is the first part of a projected three-part history of the labour movement in County Fermanagh from the early 19th century to the 1930s. […]
By Lisbeth Latham. The central driver of the capitalist system is the drive for capitalists to constantly increase profits – failure to do so can be a trigger for a crisis within the capitalist system. Since the end of the long boom in the early 1970s, capitalism, particularly in the […]
By Cian McMahon. After December’s Westminster general election, which returned a majority of nationalist MPs in the North for the first time ever, it’s clear that the entire Brexit debacle has dealt a potentially fatal blow to political unionism. As DUP MLA Edwin Poots commented, reflecting on the historic and […]
By IBL team. A new podcast series aims to provide an overall view of the historical development of the capitalist system – a ‘people’s history’ of the world. Trademark Belfast is the anti-sectarian unit of the Irish labour movement, which has carried out political education for trade unionists and workers […]
By Conor McCabe. This is the fourth and final article in a series adapted from the Unite union’s policy document, Hope or Austerity: A Road Map for a Better, Fairer Ireland After the Pandemic, written by Conor McCabe. The current crisis is an interplay between Covid-19 and the deep-rooted inequalities and structural […]
By Michael Taft. “It is the supreme paradox of democracy that every man is a servant of the matters of which he possess the most intimate knowledge, and for which he shows the most expert proficiency; namely, the professional craft to which he devotes his working hours; and he is […]
By Marie Sherlock. Looking from the outside in, the Irish economy is performing really well at the moment – on course to have the second-highest GDP growth across the European Union (EU) this year. Malta and Ireland have alternated positions at the top of the EU28 scoreboard for GDP growth […]
By David Gibney. Ireland has a very serious low pay problem, and a corresponding problem with poverty. We have the highest prevalence of low-paid jobs in the EU. Only a matter of weeks ago St Vincent de Paul stated that almost 800,000 people live in poverty, including 230,000 children. Finding […]