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The Socialist Society in Queen’s University held a protest demanding free education on 22 February, as part of a national day of action by the Campaign to Defeat Fees. Protests led by Socialist Students, our sister organisation, were held across England and Wales, with thousands taking part. [read more]

Bush and Blair’s adventure in Iraq has been costly but they are not the ones who are paying the real price. The cost so far of the war is footed by the US and British taxpayer and has spiralled to $400 billion. The death count continues to rise - to over 3,000 foreign troops and well over 665,000 Iraqis killed. 15% of the population of Iraq have been displaced. Sunni and Shia militias are responsible for escalating sectarian attacks. Every week it is estimated that 3,500 more Iraqis are killed. [read more]

8 March is an important date in the calendar of the international working class movement. It commemorates the struggles of women workers worldwide against low pay and exploitation. To celebrate these struggles and to commemorate 90 years of the February revolution in Russia, started by the women workers of Petrograd, we are carrying on our site a number of different articles written by women members of its groups and parties in different countries. [read more]

"We come here today to speak out against this war, an imperialist war, a war for profit, not for people, a war for death, not for people, a war against the working class not for justice". These are the words of Jonathan Hutto, from a group representing a 1,000 active duty US soldiers who have come out in opposition to the war in Iraq. He was speaking at a 500,000 strong anti-war demonstration in Washington DC on 27 January. This shows the growing opposition to the Iraq war in the US and particularly Bush’s new "surge". [read more]

On 27 August Socialist Youth debated with Labour Youth and Ogra Shinn Fein as part of the SY Summer Festival. The debate was titled "What is socialism and how can we achieve it?" All present agreed that young people must fight back against the rule of profit which leads to war, exploitation and environmental destruction. We also agreed that young people need to discuss and build an alternative to capitalism, and that this alternative was socialism. [read more]

Student top-up fees are one of the great scandals of this so-called Labour government. Considering that that this government has also implemented school closures, privatisation of public services and water-charges - not to mention the war on Iraq - that really is saying something. £1,000 a year, now £3,000 a year in tuition fees - there is growing pressure on the government from the universities themselves for the cap on fees to be put up to £10,000. [read more]

On 2 November, nine members of Socialist Youth occupied the lobby of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Our aim was to show our opposition to the present situation in Rossport, Co. Mayo. We wanted to emphasize strongly that we want an end to Garda brutality in Mayo, experienced first hand by some of our members, and a complete removal of the Garda presence of around 170 daily at the Ballinaboy site. [read more]

ASDA announced on 4 October that they were increasing their younger workers’ wages to the same level as the older workers. This token gesture shows that ASDA have been forced to admit that young people do the same work as workers over 21 and should therefore be paid the same wage. The question is: is it okay to pay younger workers less than older workers for the same amount of work? No way. [read more]

Around 50 young people from all over Ireland attended the fourth annual Socialist Youth festival in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow. Over the course of the three night event, a range of political topics were discussed – from sex trafficking to drugs and from the environment to the need for a school students’ union. Faustine, a CWI member from France brought to life the huge struggles of school and college students in France against the CPE with her speech on Saturday evening. [read more]

On 27 August Socialist Youth debated with Labour Youth and Ogra Shinn Fein as part of the SY Summer Festival. The debate was titled "What is socialism and how can we achieve it?" All present agreed that young people must fight back against the rule of profit which leads to war, exploitation and environmental destruction. We also agreed that young people need to discuss and build an alternative to capitalism, and that this alternative was socialism. [read more]

The 2006-07 college year will see the Socialist Party organised in more third level colleges in the South than ever before. Throughout the year we will be organising public meetings on topics such as "War on Iraq, Iran and Lebanon" and "Warning: McDowell is Tanaiste … How much more of his right-wing bigoted agenda will he impose?" with guest speakers such as Joe Higgins TD. [read more]

With the new university year looming, students are one again faced with a myriad of financial burdens. This is the result of a concerted attack by today’s government on our education system, which has seen the introduction of top-up fees, low pay for lecturers and privatisation of canteens and other services. Instead of those in education being encouraged to maximise their potential, many have sought to simply turn the whole system into another profit-making machine. [read more]

Updated: The Summer Festival will be a weekend of lively debate and discussion on issues affecting young people here in Ireland and internationally such as young workers’ rights, opposition to war for profit, fighting deportations and racism and much more. The weekend will be a chance to enjoy yourself and relax before the end of the Summer with football, music and socials. [read more]

Recently a number of young workers from a record shop in Dublin approached the Organise! campaign in order to get help in unionising their shop due to how they are treated by their employer. Graham Lee, one of the workers spoke to The Socialist about their experiences. [read more]

On 17 June, Socialist Youth held a protest outside Aldergrove International Airport. The aim of the protest was to bring attention to the fact that the CIA has been using Belfast and Derry as stop-off points for its torture flights. [read more]

KFC is a company which regularly gets reported to our campaign. KFC is owned by Yum Brands, a company that owns both Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in the US. Across the world, they have over 34,000 restaurants. Paddy Meehan spoke to a young worker in KFC about their own experience and how young workers can fight for their rights. [read more]

Immortal Technique was born in Peru, South America. His family fled from Peru as civil war broke out in the early 1980s and moved to the streets of Harlem. Yet far from believing this was an escape, Immortal Technique instead exposes the ghettos are the United States’ own third world, a theme that towers over the various journeys and inroads his lyrics explore on a social level. [read more]

With the 2006 World Cup well underway, we are publishing a collection of recent articles by comrades from various sections of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) dealing with some of the less attractive aspects of the Beautiful Game. We hope to add more if and when they are available so check back in the coming weeks. [read more]

Immediate action is needed to remove the criminalisation of young people engaging in consensual sex in the South. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006, passed by the Dail in response to the crisis provoked by the Supreme Court decision that declared the 1935 Act unconstitutional, means that - for example - 16 year olds are committing a criminal act by engaging in consensual sex. This new law does not recognise the reality of young people’s lives in the 21st century. [read more]

The bosses have recruitment agencies to do their dirty work and facilitate low paid jobs. For the last six months I have worked for a recruitment agency called Kingsley Recruitment in the Flextronix factory in Cork and before that for TRIL recruitment in the Apple Computers factory. In that time I have watched how these agencies work. [read more]

When Socialist Youth heard of the 41 Afghanis on hunger strike in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we moved immediately to launch School Students Against Deportations, to assist the school friends of the hunger strikers in fighting against the deportation of the Afghans. We leafletted the schools that the Afghans attended and organised a number of protests opposing the threatened deportation of the Afghanis and highlighting the case of the seven school students. [read more]

Education workers are again in a battle to defend the interests of children. The government through their local representatives, the Education and Library Boards, is targeting special needs children and local schools in their attempts to meet government financial targets. With typical New Labour spin, the government is disguising its cuts policy as an attack on red tape, excessive administration and incompetence. But the reality has always been that the government wishes to see this public service slashed to the bone. [read more]

A cursory glance at current events in Iraq shows for all Bush and Blair’s empty rhetoric about "winning the war", the reality is a tinderbox of ethnic violence, a puppet stooge pro-imperialist government and a hated foreign occupation. Areas once considered "peaceful" are being drawn into the maelstrom such as Basra (where British troops maintain "security"). Here a month long state of emergency has been declared to try and crush insurgents. [read more]