…it’s no life at all. We just live by the day… We are grateful for the food, for the accommodation, most for our children going to school… but people are wasting in the name of the asylum process…” (Anonymous Resident Mosney camp, Seaview documentary)
Enveloped in a global recession and the consequences of the disastrous economic [...]

Global Auction of Public Assets: Public sector alternatives to the infrastructure market and Public Private Partnerships by Dexter Whitfield. Spokesman Books 380 pp

Dexter Whitfield’s book is a resource that can help a myriad of groups, organisations and even states if they so wish, to understand the impact, dynamics and inequalities of the privatisation of public [...]

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) welcomes the Cabinet decision to increase the use of Community Service Orders. This follows recommendations made by the Probation Service to greatly extend the number of community service places; it also answers consistent calls from IPRT for a greater use of community sanctions in dealing with less serious offences.
Against [...]

4,132 IN PRISON CUSTODY IN IRELAND
The number of prisoners in custody in Irish prisons was 4,132 on Monday 1st Feb, 2010. This is an increase of 11% on the numbers of custody the same week in 2009. (These figures do not include those out on temporary release.) This acceleration in prison population growth, in an [...]

Poverty is set to increase in 2010 according to Social Justice Ireland (SJI). The anti-poverty group has this week published a detailed briefing paper saying that the numbers of children and ‘working-poor’ living in poverty will rise as a direct consequence of Budget 2010.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that in 2008, 615,000 [...]

In this time when businesses are failing and people are losing their jobs and in some cases their homes, it may seem crazy to criticise economic growth. But sufficiency, sustainability and security are key needs of people and living systems all over the world, as we move into the rest of this century. We also [...]

Socialist Register 2010 - Morbid Symptoms: Health Under Capitalism (Merlin Press) Ed: Leo Panitch & Colin Leys.
There’s been some excellent work published on the many faults of the Irish health service by campaigning journalists like Sara Burke and Maev-Ann Wren. For those who want to put the debates about Irish healthcare in an international context, [...]

My early years are replete with memories of the wisdom contained within the Irish seanfhocal. My mother, a fluent Irish speaker, enjoyed nothing more than a good natter as Gaeilge with a seanfhocal at her fingertips for every eventuality. A particular favourite, whenever a cold or any other ailment made its appearance, was ‘Is fearr [...]

The latest Socialist Register, which was published in October 2009, is called Morbid Symptoms: Health Under Capitialism. As one of the editors, Colin Leys says, the aim was to show that health is a subject that currently isn’t but needs to be considered as part of Political Economy and should be something that is an [...]

New report aims to inform best practice in the detention of children in conflict with the law
The Irish Penal Reform Trust has today launched a new report: Detention of Children in Ireland: International Standards and Best Practice,  outlining the legal framework, policies and practices regarding the use of custodial measures for children in Ireland and [...]