This page covers articles from the Gama struggles to the Hutton Inquiry

Updated, 29th Oct. 2006

• Abortion to Building Workers
  
• Campaigns to Democratic Socialist Movement
  
• Economy to France
  
• IAWM to Jobs/Unemployment
  
• Kashmir to Rosa Luxemburg
  
• May Day to Oil
  
• Pakistan to Reviews
  
• Science to Trade Union news
  
• UCD to Vietnam
  
• War in Iraq
  
• Water charges to Youth against the War
  

Gama - see also Migrant workers and Racism
GAMA pamphlet & DVD in the Socialist, July-August 2006
GAMA saga continues in the Socialist, June 2006
Gama get new contract - From the Sept. 2005 edition of the Socialist
GAMA workers win major concessions From the May 05 edition of Socialist Voice - by Kevin McLoughlin

Joe Higgins on the Gama workers From the May 05 edition of Socialist Voice

GAMA From the April 05 edition of Socialist Voice

GAMA - slave labour outrage. Published in Socialist View, Spring 2005. By Kevin McLoughlin

Garda
An Garda Siochana - Corrupt and out of control in the Socialist Sept. 2006
Corruption: Put the system on trial! Kevin McLaughlin; Socialist Voice, Nov. 2002

Gay Politics
Iranian Government executes gay teenagers
The newly elected president of Iran, the religious conservative and former revolutionary guard Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was elected on the 24 June tried to play down fears of Iranian workers during the election campaign that he would reverse the "liberalization" of recent years. Read the rest of this article here.
Marc Vallée Socialist Party England and Wales, 29/7/5

HIV/Aids inequality
HIV, the virus that causes Aids, continues to spread. Over the last 30 years, attention has shifted from the gay scene in the US, where the disease first appeared, to the neo-colonial countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, Aids is causing havoc to whole peoples and already fragile economies. It is beginning to break into the general populations of China, India and Russia. MANNY THAIN reports on this global catastrophe in Socialism Today, March 2005, No. 90

The Stonewall Riots - 1969
By Lionel Wright in Socialism Today Issue 40 July 1999
The Stonewall Riots were a turning point in the struggle for homosexual equality. Yet last year's brutal murder of 21-year-old US student Matthew Shepard, and the British government's unwillingness to implement promised reform, indicate how far there is to go. Lionel Wright assesses the role Stonewall played in shaping the modern lesbian, gay and bisexual movements.

No to racism and Homophobia Article in the October 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
OVER THE last couple of years there has been an increase in racist and homophobic attacks in Northern Ireland. Many of these can be linked to far-right groups such as the W.N.P. Such attacks do not express the view of the majority of people in Northern Ireland, but merely the simplistic views of bigots. By Aideen McMullen

Socialist Youth Text of leaflet handed out at Gay Pride march Belfast 7th August 2004
Stop the Homophobic Attacks - UNITY IS STRENGTH

General Strike
1926 Gen. Strike in the Socialist, April 2006

Germany
Germany: Berlin election, carried in The Socialist, No. 20, October 2006
Mass protests against Schroder's cuts Article in the October 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
In the last two months Germany has been rocked by weekly Montags-demonstrationen (Monday demonstrations) Chris Loughlin

Germany 350,000 protest
THE LAST number of months has seen a significant increase in the opposition to the Schroeder led governments vicious attacks on working class people. Following on from the 100,000-strong national demonstration against the so called 'Agenda 2010' austerity package - protests, work stoppages and strike action has become the tactics of working people in opposing these measures.
Socialist Voice, January 2004: Read more...
East Germany 1953: When the workers rose up against Stalinism
FIFTY years ago this month one million East German workers rose up against that country's Stalinist dictatorship. ROGER SHRIVES looks back on how Berlin's working class attempted a political revolution.

Government
Government of Crisis Kevin McLaughlin Socialist Voice, Nov. 2002
Build a Workers' Alternative to This Government of Liars and Cheats by Stephen Boyd Socialist Voice, Oct. 2002
Government 'badly exposed' by US support – report of March 1st 2003 demo at Shannon, Speeches by Joe Higgins and Ashling Golding.

Greece
Greece: Uni occupations in the Socialist, July-August 2006

Green Politics - see the Environment articles
Nuclear power no solution in the Socialist, May 2006
Global Dimming. Published in Socialist View, Spring 2005. By Daniel Waldron

Guerrillaism
What They're Not telling US About GMOs: - What You Don't Know Can Hurt You and the Environment. By Jessica Moore
Justice, paper of the CWI in America, Issue# 37 November 2003 - January 2004
Genetic engineering has become a topic of intense controversy, and with good reason. Genetic engineering involves taking genes from one species and inserting them into other, even completely unrelated, species to transfer a desired trait or character.

Read more here from the US cdes paper, Justice...

Factory Farms - The Bloody Truth About Our Meat
By Erika Blechinger and Ben Arenburg CWI-America Justice Sept-Oct 03:

Planning Green Growth. Written by Pete Dickenson, reviewed by Manny Thain (March/03)

Guerrilla warfare - no alternative to mass struggle
Peter Hadden in Militant Irish Monthly, No. 116, Nov. 1983
With huge areas of the world poised on the brink of revolution, the workers' movement internationally is forced again and again to the question - how can we best fight the system? Many have turned to the methods of guerillaism and individual terrorism. Marxists, on the other hand, believe that these methods pose grave dangers.

Haiti

200th anniversary of the Haitian revolution

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Haitian revolution, when the black masses abolished slavery and won national independence. Their deeds were an inspiration to the masses of the Caribbean and the working people of Europe. Niall Mulholland, CWI, 26 July 2004
Aristide flees country as US sends troops - an article by Niall Mulholland, cwi, London
The president of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide, the former “radical slum priest”, fled the country on 29 February, under pressure from the Bush administration and the threat of armed rebels.
For weeks, Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has been wracked by a violent rebellion and looting. There are now widespread fears that former army officers and death squad leaders will seek to extract bloody revenge on Aristide’s supporters. Read more here...

Harland & Wolff
The DUP and UUP in the Assembly managed to preside over the de-industrialisation of much of East Belfast. The Shipyard has been reduced to a shell, the days of building ships no more than a memory, the skills built up over a century will now probably be lost for ever. Read more from the November ’03 issue, Socialist Voice….
Shipyard land sold for a song Socialist Voice, July 2003
Harland & Wolff: End of an Era Carol Barnet Socialist Voice, Oct. 2002

H-Block protests- Hunger strikes
An early statement of our position on the H Block protests, 1979
Militant Irish Monthly, May 1980, No. 83 - Editorial: H-Block
The inhuman conditions being inflicted on prisoners in the H-Blocks and in Armagh prison must be opposed by the Labour movement.

Ireland and H-Blocks - from the Bulletin, March 1981, of the British cdes. This was a discussion in late 1980 between one of the local branchs and the Executive on how to raise the demands in Britian on prison conditions here. Read more here

H-Block crisis – Tories to blame - Peter Hadden, Militant Irish Monthly July-August 1981

Health Service(see also NHS)
Monaghan hosp cutbacks , carried in The Socialist, No. 20, October 2006
Organ retention scandal in the Socialist Sept. 2006
Kick out NHS profiteers in the Socialist, July-August 2006
Stop cuts in health service in the Socialist, June 2006
Wealth for public health in the Socialist, April 2006
Harney's Health Plans From the Socialist, August 2005.

Patients die on trolleys - Big business milks the system Public-Private rip off From the May 05 edition of Socialist Voice
This article is the front page piece from the Southern edition, it is carried here for all our readers.

Accident & Emergency crisis - Token protests not enough From the May 05 edition of Socialist Voice - by Ger Hughes

Health Crisis From the April 05 edition of Socialist Voice

Health Service in crisis - HARNEY HAS NO ANSWERS
JOE DUFFY, presenter of RTE Radio One's Liveline dedicated a programme to trying to find beds in Dublin for 157 patients who were on hospital trolleys. This ridiculous scenario sums up this government and its neglect of our health service. in the Nov. 2004 edition of Socialist, the new paper of the SP.

Health crisis "There will always be waiting lists"
The health service is in a mess because of 30 years of neglect. Neither Fianna Fail, the PDs or any of the other major political parties are going to do anything to fundamentally solve the health crisis. From the May 2004 edition, Socialist Voice.
Blanchardstown hospital: A&E lies idle
The greater Blanchardstown area, stretching from the Liffey to the borders of Meath near Clonee, has a rapidly increasing population. Yet over the last year, James Connolly Memorial Hospital has suffered savage cuts.

By Susan Fitzgerald. Read this article from Socialist Voice, March 2004.

Crumlin Hospital: Our sick children can't wait. The Pollock Report commissioned by the New Children's Hospital Group and compiled by Dr. Ronnie Pollock has stated that the Crumlin Children's Hospital falls well below internationally acceptable standards. Read more here from the Feb. 04 Socialist Voice...
Health crisis: Bed closures and broken promises By Michael Murphy Socialist Voice June 2003
The Coal Face of the Health Service by a Dublin nurse May 2003 Socialist Voice

Higgins
"The United States' military, as we speak, is battering the daylights out of the city of Falluja with all its monstrous arsenal of armaments and its victims include hospital workers, medical personnel, women and little children."
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party TD (Member of the Irish Parliament) speaking to it on the war in Iraq, Nov. 10th.
Can we be clear on this matter? Is the [Irish] Government saying that it shares with the United States Government a belief that it has the right to launch an imperialist conquest of another country, to ruthlessly use its position as the most wealthy and powerful country on the planet to invade Iraq, corral its oil resources and establish military control over the Middle East?

Socialist Party MP “sticks the boot in” against airline privatization

The following two items deal with the Fianna Fail-led coalition government’s plans to privatise Aer Lingus, the state airline in Ireland. Following plans for its privatisation, the Aer Lingus management (who are publicly appointed officials running a state-owned company) announced that they wanted to compete for a management buy-out and had implemented new working practices in advance of selling the company off.
The idea that public appointees should make a huge financial killing – on the backs of further attacks on workers’ conditions which would undoubtedly flow from privatisation – sickened the majority of people in Ireland. However, by the beginning of last week, the Fianna Fail leadership had realised the danger of allowing a management buy-out because of the anger that exists on this issue. This comes on top of falling support for the government and its very bad showing in the local elections, in June, this year.
The Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, was questioned in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) on Tuesday 5 October by Fine Gail and Labour (the two main opposition parties). They were, however, quite weak in their criticism of the Prime Minister and the government. During this debate, Ahern still argued that the management buy-out was an option.
On Wednesday morning, during question time for the Prime Minister, Joe Higgins, the Socialist Party TD (MP) gave voice to the anger of hundreds of thousands of Irish workers and young people on this issue. During the heated clash with Joe Higgins, Ahern was finally forced to admit that the government was no longer considering the buy-out option.
In the aftermath of the Dáil debate, the government has made it clear that they are shelving privatisation plans for Aer Lingus in the life of this government. There are also rumours that they are planning to do the same for privatisation of public transport.

Here is an article from the ‘Irish Independent’ newspaper explaining Joe’s role, and also a transcript of the Dáil debate between Joe Higgins and the Prime Minister.

Bush Visit - We need to make a clear statement to the world
By Joe Higgins, Socialist Party TD. An article in the Irish Times, 23rd June, just before the trip to Ireland by Bush. Read more here
Joe Higgins condemns the planned Bush visit to Ireland in June '04
When the Taoiseach leaves Dublin airport next week to visit the United States, unfortunately I cannot be on the tarmac to wave him off. Therefore, I must ask him now, if it is his intention to confirm the invitation to President Bush to visit Ireland at the end of June and, if so, on whose behalf will he extend that invitation? Does he presume to do so on behalf of the Irish people, a large majority of whom opposed his criminal invasion of Iraq on a basis that was obviously fraudulent and has been proved now? As he is President of the EU, does the Taoiseach delude himself that he is doing it on behalf of a majority of the citizens of the EU who also massively opposed his bloody invasion? We know the Taoiseach has been a willing tool for US imperial ambitions. Read more here...

Bush and Blair seek Peace Process alibi to cover their responsibility for slaughter in Iraq. Joe Higgins- Peter Hadden Press Statement 7th April 2003
Garda assault on peaceful protest Extract from the Dail records, Thursday 3rd April 2003 Garda assault on peaceful protest
Report of Joe Higgins opposition to American armed forces using Shannon facilities.
Recent press statements by Joe Higgins, Socialist Party TD The Socialist Party denounces the ‘gutless, spineless government’.
Criminality of Shock and Awe
Government condemned for complicity
US and UK governments must carry responsibility for market massacre
Criminal war to pillage Iraq: no US troops should use Shannon
Government 'badly exposed' by US support – report of March 1st 2003 demo in Shannon, Speeches by Joe Higgins and Ashling Golding. Irish Times, March 2003
Waste: Cullen’s plan for incineration and more household charges – a cover-up for pathetic failure to implement radical and effective policy. Press Statement – 12th August 2002
Ansbacher Debate Dáil Eireann debate, 11th July 2002:
Nice treaty referendum II: claim that second “no” vote would lead to economic meltdown is designed to panic workers. 6th AUGUST 2002
Ardagh Glass Closure Joe Higgins and Clare Daly:Press Statement – 1st May 2002

Joe Higgins Column
Joe Higgins Column, carried in The Socialist, No. 20, October 2006
Progressive Democrats in the Socialist Sept. 2006
Joe Higgins Column in the Socialist, July-August 2006
Joe Higgins Column in the Socialist, June 2006
Joe Higgins Column in the Socialist, May 2006
Joe Higgins Column - Racism, National Question. From the Nov-Dec 05 issue of the Socialist.
Joe Higgins on the Gama workers From the May 05 edition of Socialist Voice

Joe Higgins Column - N Ireland. This article was in the Feb. 2005 edition of the Socialist.
Berties 'socialism' Article from the Jan. 2005 edition, the Socialist

THE LEADERS of the European Union recently signed off on the proposed new EU Constitution. This Constitution has to be put to the Irish people in a referendum for their approval or rejection in the Nov. 2004 edition of Socialist, the new paper of the SP. This piece also deals with the War in Iraq.

Joe Higgins Column - abolish the Irish Presidency! Article in the October 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
EVENTS AROUND the appointment of a President for the next seven years have degenerated into farce.

Joe Higgins Column
This article is from the Sept. 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
He attended the Australian SP conference in mid August
Joe Higgins Column July 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
In the Euro Election Campaign the Fianna Fail party, with 29.5% of the first preference votes, recorded its lowest result in any national election since the 1930s.
Bin Charges campaign – persecuted for costs
Regular readers of Socialist Voice will remember well how on 19 September last, a High Court judge not only sent us to jail but awarded the Council costs against us. Read more here from the April ‘04 Socialist Voice.
Dublin Monaghan Bombings: The slaughter of 33 innocent people by loyalist bombs in Dublin and Monaghan in 1974 was one of the biggest atrocities of the "Troubles" in Ireland in the last 30 years. Read more here from the Feb. 04 Socialist Voice...
Socialist Voice, January 2004 - European Union
The fact that the Irish Government will have the presidency of the European Union for the next six months and the European elections means that more public attention than usual will be focused on important issues relating to the EU.
Read more...
Arrogant Government Will Faces Challenges Sept. 2003 issue fo Socialist Voice. JH Column July - Aug issue 2003
Iraq and Bins campaign Socialist Voice, July 2003
Joe Higgins Column - Bin Tax battle approaches Socialist Voice June 2003
Brave Fight Defeats Oil Company JH Column May 2003 Socialist Voice
A Government of Cynicism and the Terrorism Bill Socialist Voice, Feb. 2003
Irish Government Hypocrisy Socialist Voice, Jan. 2003
Labour Party leadership. Socialist Voice, Nov. 2002

Hip Hop
The politics of hip hop - Nicki Jonas, Socialist Party, Australia It took me a long time to prepare this - The Politics of Hip Hop- because it’s such a massive subject. I mean, where do you start? Everyone that I spoke to about it had a different angle or point of view about what this should be about. Every aspect of hip hop is political in one way or another. So in the short time that we’ve got I’m going to try and cover as much as I can. For those with a lot of knowledge on the subject bear with me for a while cos for now I guess the best place to start is the beginning. from this speech..

History
1984 -85 The Miners' Strike - An epic Struggle
Twenty years ago this month the great miners' strike began. For a year 140,000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) were engaged in a titanic battle with Margaret Thatcher's Tory government and the full force of the state. Ultimately, they went down to defeat but it was an honourable defeat. It was a dispute that would have been won were it not for the betrayal of the right wing trade union and labour leadership.

By Ciaran Mulholland. Read this article from Socialist Voice, March 2004.

Lenin: The original dictator? Lenin died 80 years ago, on 21 January 1924, but had by then been seriously ill and away from political work since the end of 1922. Since his death, however, the ruling classes globally have made no attempt at canonisation. Their fear of the Russian revolution, ‘ten days that shook the world’, led them to continue with ‘the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander’. An article by Per Åke Westerlund

American Civil Rights Movement:- This article was published as a five part series in the Panther newspaper, the publication of an organization in Britain called Panther that was affiliated with the Committee for a Workers' International. Written by Colin De Freitas, it explains the principal events, processes and lessons of the huge Black rebellion that swept the U.S. over a period spanning 25 years.
Read more...
1973 papers - Civil war fears revealed THIRTY YEARS ago, on 1 January 1974, a power-sharing government was established in Northern Ireland. Within months it had been brought down by a Loyalist stoppage and it would be 25 years before another power sharing government was established, similar to the 1973-1974 model.
Read more from the January 2004 edition, Socialist Voice...
History: 11th September 1973 - Coup in Chile - By Chris Loughlin in the Sept. ’03 edition of Socialist Voice
Coleraine Residents defend historic site from developers Socialist Voice, July 2003
East Germany 1953: When the workers rose up against Stalinism
FIFTY years ago this month one million East German workers rose up against that country's Stalinist dictatorship. ROGER SHRIVES looks back on how Berlin's working class attempted a political revolution.
COINTELPRO: The FBI's Secret War on the Civil Rights Movement
By Felicia Mello in Justice, paper of Socialist Alternative (US-CWI), Issue No. 33 February-March 2003
Stalin’s shadow Last month was the 50th anniversary of Stalin’s death in March 1953. MANNY THAIN, Socialism Today, April 2003.
1972 Cabinet Papers: Repartition - Still a Threat Ciaran Mulholland Socialist Voice, Jan. 2003
The Power of Protest: Lessons From the Anti-Vietnam War Movement By Tony Wilsdon and Philip Locker Justice, Issue 31, paper of the Socialist Alternative, US-CWI September-October 2002
The Human Story: Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years By Jared Diamond, Verso 1998, £8.99.
Reviewed by Mike Watkinson in Socialism Today Sept. 1998, No.31
AT THE GRAVESIDE commemoration of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels said that he had "discovered the law of development of human history; the simple fact... that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion". Read more here...
Britain and the Nazis: The Chamberlain-Hitler collusion, by Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz The Merlin Press Ltd., 1998.
Reviewed by Paul Ursell in Socialism Today No. 37, April 1999. CONVENTIONAL HISTORY teaches us that Britain can be proud of its role in World War Two: the entire nation stood up as one to defend democracy and the rights of smaller nations, and to defeat the tyranny of fascism. If you hold this view, reading The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion will shock. You will find out that the British ruling class found nothing abhorrent in the Nazis. Read more here...
October 1932: When the Falls and the Shankill United By Ciaran Crossey Socialist Voice, Oct. 2002
James Connolly voted onto 100 'Greatest' people Niall Mulholland writes on the August 2002 BBC online poll:
The Fight for Bread and Roses: 90th Anniversary of the 1912 Lawrence Strike By Greg Beiter Justice, paper of Socialist Alternative, US-CWI, Issue No. 30 June-August 2002
Black History: Sitting In and Standing Up for Civil Rights 1960-61: Student sit-ins challenge Jim Crow By Eve Goodman in Justice, paper of Socialist Alternative, US-CWI, Jan-Feb 2002, No 28.
100 Years of the American Socialist Party 1901 - 2001 Justice, paper of Socialist Alternative, USA – CWI Issue No. 25 July-August 2001 By Greg Beiter
Ireland: 1798 - Myth Verus Reality by Tom Crean (1998)
The growing anti-war movement has sparked a new interest in the struggles of the 1960s, including the mass civil rights movement of that era. One individual who bridged the 1960s anti-war and black liberation movements was the world champion boxer, Muhammad Ali. Following the Hollywood biopic of this key period in Ali’s life, HUGO PIERRE looks back at Ali & the black struggles of the 1960s.

Holland
Netherlands: Racist attacks increase Article from the Jan. 2005 edition, the Socialist

Strike shuts down world's biggest port Article in the October 2004 edition, Socialist Voice
A 24 hour strike shut down Rotterdam, the world's biggest port, in late September

Housing
National housing issues , carried in The Socialist, No. 20, October 2006
Council bloc vote retains management company in the Socialist Sept. 2006
Management companies – a developers’ dream in the Socialist Sept. 2006
Housing emergency in the Socialist, June 2006
Est. Management fees in the Socialist, May 2006
Housing crisis worsens in the Socialist, May 2006
Est. Management scam in the Socialist, April 2006
Housing crisis - A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD
The right to a home, one of the most basic human rights, remains a pipe dream for many people, despite lip-service from government about their commitments to social and affordable housing.
By Councillor Clare Daly. Read this article from Socialist Voice, March 2004.

Hutton Inquiry [see also War]
Hutton Report: War crimes and whitewashes
"AS ANY inept DIY bodger could tell you, whitewash, applied carefully and thinly will last years. Too thick and it will flake off in no time." (Letter to The Guardian, 29 January) Editorial from The Socialist, paper of the SP in England/Wales.
The long awaited report by 'Lord' Hutton on the 'Kelly affair' was so blatantly and crudely one sided that it has produced a massive public backlash against the 'exonerated' Tony Blair and his crony Alistair Campbell. Read more here...

Hutton Enquiry: Blair Lied About WMD by Ciaran Crossey, Sept. 2003 S Voice
Iraq, Kelly death, Hutton inquiry... Blair's web of deceit continues to unravel taken from CWI site