With the death of Pope Francis, the world loses not only a church leader but also a moral compass
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A century of sectarianism — but the end is in sight
NICK WRIGHT assesses the fortunes of the ‘British’ statelet in the North of Ireland as unionism’s descent approaches terminal velocity
BREAKDOWN: Loyalist rioting on the Shankill Road earlier this year
LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend
Keir Starmer’s £120 million to Sudan cannot cover the government’s complicity in the RSF genocide or atone for the long shadow of British colonialism and imperialism, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Join the traditional march from Clerkenwell Green, which will bring together countless international workers’ organisations in a statement against the far right
Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
TODAY is the centenary of the partition of Ireland. This brutal act was accompanied — as became routine with Britain’s slow-burn crisis of imperial rule as its colonial subjects sought national liberation — with great violence.
How Ireland became a colony of the British crown is a story of savagery and theft. The Plantation of Ulster — the most Gaelic part of the island — was carried out in the reigns of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James I (VI of Scotland), and the working out of this tragedy of avarice has reached the present crisis in the reign of the second Elizabeth.
The new settlers, who largely forced the existing occupants from their land, were mostly required to be English-speaking, Protestant and loyal to the crown. The invasion was not confined to the Northern province of Ulster but it was in this part of the Irish mainland where it was most thoroughly instituted by the occupation authorities.
More from this author
The left must avoid shouting ‘racist’ and explain that the socialist alternative would benefit all
The left must confront both far-right bigotry and the undeniable problems the exploitation of migrant workers by the ruling class creates — but there are few lessons from the global left on how to strike this balance, laments NICK WRIGHT
Xenophobic hysteria over the statistically insignificant number of small-boat crossings deliberately conceals how capitalism manipulates population flows for profit — if we can explain that, we’ll beat the right, argues NICK WRIGHT
NICK WRIGHT delicately unpicks the eloquent writings on art of an intellectual pessimist who wears his Marxism lightly
