Irish Marxist Review Editor: John Molyneux Deputy Editor: Dave O’Farrell Website Editor: Memet Uludag Editorial Board: Marnie Holborow, Sinéad Kennedy, Tina MacVeigh, Paul O’Brien, Peadar O’Grady Cover Design: Daryl Southern Published: November 2016 SWP PO.Box 1648 Dublin 8 Phone: John Molyneux 085 735 6424 Email: [email protected] Website: www.irishmarxistreview.net Irish Marxist Review is published in association with the Socialist Workers Party (Ireland), but articles express the opinions of individual authors unless otherwise stated. We welcome proposals for articles and reviews for IMR. If you have a suggestion please phone or email as above. i Irish Marxist Review 16 Contents Editorial 1 Equality, Democracy, Solidarity: The Politics of Abortion Melisa Halpin and Peadar O’Grady 3 Into the limelight: tax haven Ireland Kieran Allen 14 Can the European Union be reformed? Marnie Holborow 28 Secularism, Islamophobia and the politics of religion John Molyneux 41 A Socialist in Stormont An interview with Gerry Carroll MLA 52 Fianna Fáil: Past and Present Alan Byrne 57 The socialist tradition in the disability movement: Lessons for contemporary activists Ivanka Antova 65 Science, Politics and Public Policy Dave O’Farrell 70 The Starry Plough – a historical note Damian Lawlor 76 Review: Kieran Allen, The Politics of James Connolly Shaun Doherty 78 Review: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, From #Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation Conor Kennelly 80 ii Editorial: Interesting Times ‘May you live in interesting times’ is a lishment’s talk of recovery has given rise, well known Chinese curse. These are cer- not surprisingly, to workers demanding their tainly interesting times in Ireland at the mo- share. The LUAS workers led the way, fol- ment. But for socialists not completely ad- lowed by the bus workers and now, at the dicted to the quiet life these are also times time of writing, ASTI teachers. Even the with a lot to recommend them. Gardai are getting in on the act. Yes it is true that with accelerating cli- The autumn has also seen major demon- mate change and general ecological devas- strations. On September 15 about 30,000 tation, plus war, refugees and racism along took to the streets again over the water with Trump and Clinton and looming global charges, on the strong demand for abolition recession, the world shows every sign of go- not suspension, which showed that the net- ing to hell in a handcart. works built in the movement had not gone It is also true that the by now very famil- away. A week later another mass movement iar dysfunctional features of Irish society are hit the streets with the magnificent March if anything getting worse. The massive eco- for Choice heralding a huge battle to repeal nomic inequality with the rich getting ever the 8th Amendment and for a woman’s right richer just keeps on growing. The housing to choose and proving once again how much crisis intensifies, the numbers of homeless Ireland has changed. On October 19 there increase, and the Government’s attempts was a very large and militant student demo to address the issue merely shovel money over fees. There is an obvious cross-over be- into the pockets of developers and landlords. tween the student movement and the move- The hospital waiting times and waiting lists ment for choice and if this conjuncture leads lengthen. The stink of corruption and mal- to an increased engagement of students with practice in high places ranging from NAMA radical politics this will be very positive in- to An Garda Síochána grows stronger. All deed. this we know. The substantially increased parliamen- At the same time there is much that is tary representation of the radical left is an- very positive. In the Republic the minor- other big step forward. It gives serious so- ity Fine Gael government, dependent as it cialists a voice in the national political de- is on support from the Independent Alliance bate in a way that is currently exceptional and Fianna Fáil, is clearly very weak. This by international standards and so far our is seen repeatedly in their tendency to back elected representatives have done an excel- down (as over waste collection charges) or lent job of rising to this challenge. Particu- kick for touch, as over water charges and the larly important in this context has been the 8th Amendment. And their weakness is po- election of Gerry Carroll and Eamonn Mc- tentially the Left’s strength. For the govern- Cann as People Before Profit MLAs in Stor- ment’s weakness is not just a matter of seats mont. This gives visible expression to the in the Dáil and parliamentary arithmetic – idea of a socialist challenge to the two reac- it reflects an underlying political shift to the tionary states, north and south. left in Irish society, which has been devel- Another major positive is the absence oping over years. Ideologically Enda Kenny in Ireland of any significant fascist or racist and co are on the defensive. And, in a some- right organisation, any equivalent of Golden what different way, this is also the case in the Dawn, Jobbyk, Front National or UKIP. North where a new generation has emerged This does not, however, mean there is not fed up with Sinn Féin- DUP austerity, as the a serious problem with vicious state racism spectacular rise of People Before Profit has on many fronts e.g. against refugees and shown. asylum seekers and, of course, against Trav- Most importantly we see a revival in ellers. And inevitably this is reflected in a the industrial struggle as all of the estab- good deal of ‘popular’ racism at street level 1 though again it is not as yet comparable to tax-haven Ireland showing how this is not a the situation in many European countries in- series of ‘special cases’ but the essential eco- cluding England. In this context the emer- nomic strategy of the Irish ruling class and gence of United Against Racism as an active also how it is set to unravel, turning Ireland anti-racist united front with its campaign to into the weak link of European capitalism. end the cruel Direct Provision system is very Marnie Holborow examines the notion important. that the EU can be reformed by a process One symptom of this general radicalisa- of ‘critical engagement’ and finds it want- tion has been the growth of People Before ing. Alan Byrne sets Fianna Fáil’s current Profit on the ground, again north and south. attempts at a comeback as the A-team of A recent registration drive showed that it Irish capitalism in their historical context. now has over 1100 members nationwide – Our interview with Gerry Carroll MLA pro- a significant number in a country of only 6 vides a picture of how this modest young million – and over 45 branches. What PBP man has come to play such a significant role is uniquely placed to do is to ‘join the dots in the politics of the North. between the different issues and campaigns On different fronts John Molyneux looks and translate them into an all-Ireland chal- at how the concept of secularism has given lenge to the system. There is, naturally, no rise to much confusion on the international room for complacency here. This is not a left; Dave O’Farrell analyses the relation- given but an opportunity that needs to be ship between Marxism and science; Ivanka seized. Avotna revisits the issue of socialism and This issue of Irish Marxist Review ad- the politics of disability; Damian Lawlor dresses a number of these features of the offers a snapshot of the history of Con- Irish political scene. In ‘The Politics noly’s Starry Plough; Shaun Doherty re- of Abortion’ Melisa Halpin and Peadar views Kieran Allen’s recently reprinted The O’Grady offer a detailed critique of the pol- Politics of James Connolly and Conor Ken- itics of restricting abortion rights and a ro- nelly welcomes Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s bust statement of the case for a ‘Woman’s From #Black Lives Matter to Black Libera- right to choose’. On foot of the Apple fiasco tion. Kieran Allen provides a forensic dissection of - John Molyneux 2 Equality, Democracy, Solidarity: The Politics of Abor- tion Melisa Halpin and Peadar O’Grady The protests in Ireland and Poland, ing the Dublin march, a National ‘Women’s along with international solidarity protests, strike’ in Poland across more than a hun- against restricted access to abortion ser- dred towns and cities involving hundreds vices, have revitalised the campaign for re- of thousands of protesters resulted in the productive rights and women’s rights and shock, landslide defeat of the proposed to- sent a challenge to conservative politicians tal ban on abortion there, which had already that a new movement for women’s rights is comfortably passed the first stage in Parlia- on the political agenda. More than 30,000 ment. On October 6th the Polish Parlia- marched in Dublin on September 24th 2016 ment voted 352 to 58 against the bill includ- for the 5th annual ‘Rise and Repeal March ing 186 of the 227 right-wing, governing Law for Choice’ organised by the Abortion Rights and Justice party, who had all solidly sup- Campaign with solidarity protests in more ported the bill before the protests. Abortion than 20 cities around the world. This more has been heavily restricted in Poland since than tripled the numbers from the year be- the 1993 law restricted access for 99% of the fore, which itself had at least double the women who wanted an abortion, with more numbers from the year before that.