The Irish People

The following is a lecture delivered to Workers' Party TCD by the Max Rodermund of Internationale Forschungsstelle DDR; a research centre dedicated to investigating the history of the German Democratic Republic.The talk explores the key sector of the DDR’s socialist system and provide a critical appraisal of its history, to offer a deeper perspective on the possibilities and difficulties that arise when constructing alternative political models.

This episode of The Irish People podcast takes the form of a virtual walking tour around Dublin to mark International Women’s Day 2025. You can follow the route, which takes us from Parnell Square, down to Parnell Street, onto Abbey Street and finally across the Liffey to Fleet Street, as you listen by clicking the following link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1LdZZK31uIUOCDj5wEUBzFY2Cwp43_PE&ll=0%2C0&z=16

Following on from the launch of the Workers’ Party nuclear energy policy https://workersparty.ie/nuclear-power-policy/ this week we discuss the state of current climate and energy policy in Ireland, and debate the best way forward for Ireland.This episode is chaired by Èilis Ryan, Workers’ Pary Ard Comhairle and former Dublin City councillor who speaks to Garrett Greene, Lecturer in Statistics at UCD, Workers’ Party Ard Comhairle and representative for Cabra-Glasnevin, Hannah Daly, Professor in Sustainable Energy at University College Cork and columnist for the Irish Times, Adrian Kane, SIPTU Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Divisional Organiser and author of Trade Unions, Síreacht: Longings for Another Ireland (https://www.corkuniversitypress.com/9781782055846/trade-unions/) and Lorna Bogue, Cork City Councillor for Green Left. 

In this episode of The Irish People podcast, we’re publishing a talk entitled The National Question in the Era of Imperial Decline by Alexander McKay of the Marx Engels Lenin Institute. The talk was recorded at a recent event organised by the Workers’ Party in Trinity College Dublin. You can find the Marx Engels Lenin Institute on YouTube, Twitter, Telegram and their website, marxengelsinstitute.org.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarxengelsleninstalinmaoTwitter: https://twitter.com/MarxEngelsLninTelegram: https://t.me/armc1870

The Irish People podcast hosted a public meeting entitled "The EU Directive on Minimum Wage: Opportunity or Threat?" on Tuesday, 5th December in Wynn's Hotel, Dublin.Jack O’Connor, former General Secretary of SIPTU, Adrian Kane, SIPTU Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Divisional Organiser and Daryl D'Art, Lecturer in Labour Law and Employee Relations, all took part in a panel discussion.A new pamphlet, entitled "The EU Directive on Minimum Wage: Opportunity or Trap?" is also available. 

Over the past two weeks we have witnessed what can only be described as the ethnics cleansing of Palestinians in real time. Thousands murdered including children, women and medics, houses flattened and hospitals bombed, food, water and electricity cut off, while thousands more have been displaced. This situation did not begin on 7th October when Hamas attacked Israel. The oppression and occupation of Palestinians and Palestine has been taking place for decades and to its shame the International community of the EU, United States have remained silent and complicit in Israeli war crimes. In our millions across the world we have protested against this latest genocide against the people of Palestine and we must continue to do so. Today we speak to Fouad Baker from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Clare Daly MEP and political activist and commentator Phil Kelly. 

In July 1936 Spanish workers across the country took up arms in response to a right-wing coup led by General Francisco Franco. The Civil War pitted the working class against the Spanish capitalists, backed by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Thousands came to defend the Republic from across the world, forming the International Brigades including many from Ireland, some of whom formed the Connolly Column. Western countries including Britain and France placed a blockade on Spain which meant no aid or weapons could reach the anti-fascists while Germany and Italy ignored the blockage and ensured the supply of weapons and oil to the fascists. Sadly after three years of bitter bloody war, and despite the courage and valour shown by those fighting in defence of the Republic against the evil of fascism, the nationalists with their superior weaponry and equipment, were victorious.We are delighted to welcome Aaron Kelly to the show today to discuss Ireland's involvement in the Spanish Civil war. Aaron is the coordinator of the Irish Chapter of the Network in Defence of Humanity, a member of La Plataforma de la Clase Obrera Antiimperialista and the CPI. He is an author and academic and his forthcoming publications include the edited collections Revolutionary Cuba Culture: A Reader and Cuban Revolutionary Thought: A Reader and a monograph of James Connolly. 

“Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned, and written down by Robert Tressell”So read the original title page, drawn by Tressell. For this episode we speak to Scarlett and Sophie Rickard, known professionally as the Rickard sisters. They have created several graphic novels one of which is the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and we are delighted to welcome them to the Irish People podcast. https://rickardsisters.com/

Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly by Dr Peter Cole tells the story of one of the greatest heroes of the American working class.A brilliant union organiser and a humorous orator, Benjamin Fletcher was a tremendously important and well-loved African American member of the IWW during its heyday. Fletcher helped found and lead Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union, unquestionably the most powerful interracial union of its era, taking a principled stand against all forms of xenophobia and exclusion.The Irish people podcast spoke to Dr Peter Cole, professor of history at Western Illinois University in the United States and a Research Associate in the Society, Work and Development Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is the author of Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area, winner of the Philip Taft Labor History Book Prize, and Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia. He co-edited Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW, and edited Ben Fletcher: The Life & Times of a Black Wobbly. He holds degrees from Georgetown University and Columbia University. He tweets from @ProfPeterCole

In the second episode of our two-part special, Eoghan Gardiner asks our guests just what exactly is leading to this situation on a national basis, and what our guests believe the solutions are in order to change it.