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By Harry Whittaker
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Monday, 30 January 2012 |
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When the Irish Catholic priest Fr. Hugh O’Donnell decided it was time to
build a Catholic church in Belfast he had a problem: it costs a lot of
money to build a church. The Catholic population of Belfast was too
small and too poor to provide enough money, so if he had to rely on the
Catholics alone it would take forever. He had to seek help elsewhere. So
he asked the Protestants of Belfast to help him out. As you do.
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By Tony Healy (Fightback Ireland)
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Sunday, 08 January 2012 |
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There are many ways to judge the health of a society. The speculators
in the European Bond Markets judge the health of nations by the state
of their public finances; socialists and trade unionists point to the
way that old people and children are treated and especially the position
of women in society. Economists look at the volume of imports and
exports and at the rate of economic growth. One measure looks at the
scale of inequality within society.
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By Martin Sweeney (Fightback Belfas
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Monday, 05 December 2011 |
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While between 2 and 3 million struck in Britain, in the North of Ireland about
200,000 people took part in the Public Sector strike action on 30th
November. Schools and civil service offices were shut, as were job
centres and council services. Rail and bus services were non-existent.
Union members held marches, pickets, and rallies throughout the country
over the issue of pensions. The main rally took place in Belfast city
centre, where around 15,000 gathered and several thousands spread
over Craigavon, Omagh, Armagh, Ballymena, Derry and other towns.
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By Fighback - Ireland
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Friday, 11 November 2011 |
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Workers have not only been balloting for action in Britain but also in Northern Ireland, where the Tory-led Coalition's attacks on pensions will also apply if carried out. Fightback - the voice of Marxism in Ireland - reports on the ballot results in the North.
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By Fightback (Ireland)
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Friday, 04 November 2011 |
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Last Thursday’s by election in Dublin
West came down to a three horse race between Councillor Patrick Nulty of
Labour who won and Councillor Ruth Coppinger of the Socialist Party who
came third, while Fianna Fáil (FF) squeezed into second place after a
tie for second and third place – on the basis that they had more first
preference votes.
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By Tony Healy (Fightback Ireland)
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Thursday, 13 October 2011 |
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The decision of the Secretary Of
State to revoke Marian Price’s release from prison has been met with
widespread opposition from the Republican movement. The justification
given was that the threat that she poses has “significantly increased”
and that she had been encouraging support for an illegal organisation
based on her involvement in an Easter comm
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By Fightback - Ireland
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 |
 The 24 hour strike by UNISON members to defend Health and
Education Services in Northern Ireland is an indication of the scale of the
crisis in the public sector. But its also the most significant trade
union struggle to hit the North since the onset of the current economic
crisis.
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By Socialist Appeal
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Friday, 30 September 2011 |
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Back at the start of this year, Socialist Appeal (Issue 193) published a
little item in its 'Left and Right' about the so-called Ghost Estates
of Ireland
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By Tony Healy (www.ireland.marxist.com)
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Monday, 12 September 2011 |
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According to press reports the Fine Gael and Labour
parliamentary “think ins” this week were upbeat and confident. Although
the Irish Times reports that both parties were warned “to brace
themselves for the bumpy ride ahead”. There has been talk
about Enda’s “honeymoon period” over the last few months. Although in
large measure the new coalition is benefitting from not being Fianna Fáil or the Green Party, while Enda Kenny is doing well in the polls for being neither Brian Cowen nor Brian Lenihan.
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By Fightback Editorial Board
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Tuesday, 19 July 2011 |
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Last weekend in Ireland, a Labour minister used the Sunday press to launch an attack on unemployed youth. Readers here will recognise the same arguements she makes as those which have been made over the years by assorted Tories and Blairites in our own movement. They must be opposed. Fightback, the Irish Marxist voice, reports on this disgraceful attack.
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By Séamus Loughlin (2nd July)
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Sunday, 03 July 2011 |
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PSNI sources as saying that
there was no “paramilitary” involvement in Friday night's rioting in
Belfast's Castlereagh Street and Albertbridge Road, but it’s
clear also that events a couple of weeks ago in the Short Strand have
contributed to what looks like an explosive situation moving into the
marching season, no matter whether the loyalists were there or not.
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By Tony Healy (Fightback - Ireland)
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Friday, 24 June 2011 |
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Ireland: There have been a number of reports in today’s media that the
Irish economy has grown by 1.3%. Although this is no bad thing, as it
will help to rebuild the confidence of working people, the real picture
is somewhat more complicated than the headlines might indicate on the
first examination. Certainly any economic perspective that doesn’t make a
sober assessment taking into account everything that is happening in
Europe and particularly Greece just now will not stand up to much
challenge.
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By Seamus Loughlin
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Wednesday, 22 June 2011 |
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The UVF
attacks on the Short Strand area of Belfast over the last days and the
clashes between Catholic and Protestant youth demonstrate that despite
the claims of the various ministers at Stormont, the underlying tensions
and conflicts in the North have neither been resolved nor overcom
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By Tony Healy (Fightback - Ireland)
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Thursday, 16 June 2011 |
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IRELAND: The scenes broadcast from
Athens will have sent a shiver down the spine of An Taoiseach, An
Tánaiste and their counterparts throughout Europe. The reaction of the
Greek workers to the meltdown in the Greek economy will be of particular
concern in Leinster House. Ireland is not so far behind Greece and
sooner or later Ireland will become the tail ender in the bond markets
again, that is unless the Greek Government defaults and then all bets
are off.
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Milions of workers came out on strike in defence of their pensions. This was the biggest such action for decades. The fight goes on!
