Ireland's political and cultural magazine
As the dinosaur parties publish their joint framework coalition document the Greens should draw up their own strong agenda for the era of Covid and climate, and pull out if it’s not agreed, and implemented. By Michael Smith. In the absence of a relevant Labour Party the Greens have become by far the biggest force […]
It seems probable that applying the necessary measures, currently mandated, deaths will be contained to 500-1000 with a return to normal beginning in the middle of May. By Michael Smith. It is important to follow Government recommendations and edicts. This need not stop us trying to work out what the future probably holds if we […]
Government projections on how long a lockdown will last hijacked by pessimism not evidence, though readers will make their own minds up as to whether Ireland’s trajectory is more like those of China, Singapore or South Korea than those of Italy and Spain. By Michael Smith. It is obligatory to preface articles about Covid-19 with […]
Enda Gormley reviews Tom Creed’s affecting revival of Barry McGovern’s adaptation of Beckett’s novel ‘Watt’, at the Everyman During the latter half of World War II, Samuel Beckett found himself in a town called Roussillon d’Apt hiding from Gestapo officers. He and his partner’s involvement with the Resistance movement had led to their exile from […]
As Italy quarantines a quarter of its people and the Business Post claims 1.9 million will get it in Ireland, it’s not just the disease that is viral By David Langwallner. “There comes a time in human history when the man who says 2 plus 2 equals 4 will be sentenced to death.” – Camus, […]
Via violence to contempt to abstentionism to normalisation perhaps to government. By Dan Haverty. It is difficult to exaggerate the magnitude of Sinn Féin’s electoral performance in the Irish general election. Once the political wing of the paramilitary Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Sinn Féin took down a political establishment that had been in power […]
In 2016 (and 2011, actually) Village editorialised, “You would think from our recent history of some of the most notoriously bad governance on the planet, that we would have learnt that our political classes need to be replaced. In fact, this election time we see no new ideas”. Sadly democracy in Ireland needs an overhaul every […]
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Review: Derek Jarman at IMMA. By Noelle English. Derek Jarman was a bombshell in the 1980s. As an artist, filmmaker and gay activist, he made music videos for The Smiths, Marc Almond, The Pet Shop Boys and others. His film ‘Jubilee’’s representation of punk so outraged Vivienne Westwood, one of its progenitors, that she designed a t-shirt in […]
Change melts political loyalties so parties such as Sinn Féin can only, strategically, aim to generate temporary commonalities. By Ronan Doyle. “The old guard can have yesterday”, tweeted Sinn Féin the day before the general election. “Tomorrow is ours. Vote for change. Vote for Unity”. On that particular morrow sufficient votes were returned to push […]
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Many reproductive rights will depend on who is in power for the next few years By Neasa Candon General Election 2020 has seen almost no discussion about how to build upon last year’s Yes vote and achieve equal access to free, safe and legal abortion services for all living in Ireland. In the lifetime of […]
Sinn Féin’s exciting economic and social agenda needs to be weighed against its ambivalence on violence, its cultism and its environmental weaknesses. By Michael Smith. Village believes equality of outcome, sustainability and accountability are the most important policies. So how does, now rampant, Sinn Féin fare under these criteria? Of course Sinn Féin has been attacked for […]
Ireland’s Trotskyist left and its structured campaigning, issue by issue, until the people overthrow capitalism By Oisín Vince Coulter. On 10 March 2016 Richard Boyd Barrett was defeated by 111 votes to 9 in the election of the Taoiseach during the first sitting of the 32nd Dáil. Ruth Coppinger had nominated him with the Connolly […]
Answers, provided by a spokesperson for Fianna Fáil, to the questions posed by Village to Micheál Martin, about his relationship with developers Owen O’Callaghan and John Fleming, are evasive and misleading. By Frank Connolly. The Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, sounds more like a man under pressure than one who looks most likely to be the […]
Sinn Féin is the only party in Europe claiming left and Green credentials that opposes both a property tax and carbon tax. By Brendan Howlin. According to Irish Times’ focus-group research, undecided voters are overwhelmingly in favour of change, but they’re struggling to decide which party represents the change they want to see. However, according to […]
Ecosocialism promises more equitable social relations and less damaging, extractive technologies; a society that serves people rather than capital. by Niall Flynn Since survival of our species is at stake, all politics today, whether explicitly or otherwise, are ecological politics. Following this premise, all elections are now climate elections. This, again, was supposed to be Ireland’s […]
Even in the climate emergency the Greens are all carrot and no stick. By Michael Smith. I attended the Greens’ manifesto launch. I did it because, more than for any other party, their agenda – Green – matters. Being well-disposed I wanted to assess their fitness to deliver it. The media were there in force […]
Where they vote left, young voters tend to focus on redistribution and inequality. Only 31% of 18-24 year olds and 32% of 25-34 year olds support Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. By William Foley. Ireland is on the cusp of a general election which will see an unprecedented transformation of its political divisions. Surprisingly, it […]
Loth in their campaigns to address minority issues, the mainstream parties have left all the momentum on immigration to the intolerant right. By Stacy Wrenn. For how long can something be ‘next’ before it’s allowed to become ‘current’? Direct provision has been referred to, in some variation, as ‘our next great shame’ in the mainstream […]
