In the wake of his recent humanitarian visit to Cuba, RICHARD BURGON points to the now urgent need to defend the island’s political sovereignty and its right to self-determination
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The revolutionary countess that made a difference
PETER FROST celebrates the centenary of not just the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons but also the values she stood and fought for
L to R Thomas D O'Connor, secretary of the Irish Republican delegation, Countess Markiewicz and Miss Kathleen Barry, sister of Kevin Barry, who was the last of the Irish Martyrs to be hanged by the English
Thousands of jobs are at risk across higher education, yet government funding appears only when universities can be linked to military objectives, says JO GRADY, in the run-up to the Stop the War International Conference this Saturday
The Wye, Usk, Arrow and Lugg were once treasured for their clean waters – today, pollution and corporate excess are fuelling demands for a return to public ownership, says MARK SEDDON
The new Employment Rights Act is a step forward, but restoring collective bargaining and union power remains essential to tackling insecurity, outsourcing and low pay, says PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Rising support for Farage’s party reflects Labour’s failure to defend working-class living standards or offer a credible alternative to neoliberal decline, says JOSEPH MILLS
Trade unionists are mobilising to support Cuban workers and public services, amid escalating US pressure on the socialist island. RONAN OGILVY explains
CONSTANCE MARKIEVICZ was an English aristocrat who played a momentous part in Irish working-class history. In December of 1918 she stood for a seat in the British House of Commons despite the fact she was already in prison for what the British Establishment said were actions against the crown.
She won the seat in Dublin South for Sinn Fein — 72 other republicans were also elected, but Markievicz and her fellow republicans would not pledge allegiance to the king and never took their seats.
This week, the Morning Star reported that Ireland’s Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald reaffirmed that abstentionist policy in a speech made to commemorate the Markievicz centenary.
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A new group within the NEU is preparing the labour movement for a conversation on Irish unity by arguing that true liberation must be rooted in working-class solidarity and anti-sectarianism, writes ROBERT POOLE
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Why not pay a visit to Feile an Phobail, a people’s festival of community arts with roots in the days of internment without trial, and where the spirit of solidarity remains undimmed, says LYNDA WALKER