The progressive political parties represented in the Dáil, Assembly and Council chambers around the country have been slow to understand the potential opened up by the Occupy movement.
During the recent Presidential election, with all the coverage it was bound to receive, none of the candidates representing progressive politics in Ireland - Higgins, McGuinness and I [...]

With the election of Michael D Higgins to the Presidency and with another TD by virtue of the Dublin West election, the Irish Labour Party has been given a lift from their slippage in recent opinion polls.
But what will they do with this extra ammunition?  Higgins has a track record of support for progressive politics, even [...]

Progressive people are delighted by the blossoming of the Occupy…phenomenon.  Many of us are not quite sure where it all came from so quickly and heaven knows where it is all going on to, but one thing is for sure, it has given some energy to the Left.
And for certain, that is what the Left need.  After [...]

It appears that progressive political parties are holding back from overt support for the Occupy protests around the world in general and Ireland in particular.
Perhaps it is because they see the occupiers lacking in political sophistication or any clear program for change. If so, this misses the point. The chips have been thrown in the [...]

With public opinion being informed by the presidential contest in seems that there is some movement in support for progressive politics.
With Fine Gael able to go it alone in government, there remains an opportunity for the Labour Party to be part of a process of contributing to a movement away from the failures of deregulated capitalism.
The decision [...]

This is the conclusion of Maybe It’s Because, Vincent’s autobiography which has yet to find a publisher. Vincent wanted to make it available online so people could read it, share and let him know what they think. The links to each section are available on facebook or you can browse his blog, as each section has [...]

I have just come back from three weeks in England, most of which spent in London.  I watched events unfold and how the media covered it all from the initial understanding of the Police shooting a man who may or may not have had a gun through to the more rabid hang ‘em and flog [...]

Remember the banking crisis?  You would have thought that was the end of the good times for those financial institutions.  Er, not really.  Its not that the banks themselves had to try hard to change what seemed inevitable.  They are laying low alright, but will play a long game. Here in Ireland, a change of [...]

I am coming to the conclusion that even the most progressive of political parties are stalling.
I know that there are very sound people working away at policy positions and that the left still manage to oppose the worst excesses of the continuing neo-liberal onslaught, but it seems to mean that the problem remains that we [...]

What if an easily accessible paper was drawn up illustrating the following:

What may have been earned for the people if the banks were nationalised when there were profitable
What effective and efficient public utilities could have delivered for us (in money terms) if kept in state control
The benefits (again, in financial as well as the obvious [...]