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Irish Left Archive
@leftarchive.ie
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Digital collection of political material from and about the left in Ireland.

🔗 Website: https://www.leftarchive.ie
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leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay, 5th October 1968, a civil rights march in Derry was stopped by the RUC at its starting point in the Waterside and marchers were attacked with batons. The RUC assault led to rioting in the city and is often cited as the starting point of “the Troubles”.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...
1968 A Civil Rights march in Derry was attacked by the RUC On Saturday the 5th of October 1968, a civil rights march in Derry was stopped by the RUC at its starting point in the Waterside and marchers were attacked with batons. The RUC assault led to rioting in the city, and is often cited as the starting point of “the Troubles”. (Full text on linked page).
October 5, 2025 at 7:23 AM
leftarchive.ie
The 1931 ban included a number of Republican and communist organisations, as noted in this newspaper report.
Image of text, reading: The following associations have been declared by order of the Executive Council to be unlawful associations: Saor Eire. The association styling and calling itself the Irish Republican Army, sometimes known as ‘the I. R. A. or Oglaigh na hEireann. Fianna Eireann. Cumann na mBan. Friends of Soviet Russia. The Irish Labour Defence League. The Workers' Defence Corps. The Women Prisoners’ Defence League The Workers’ Revolutionary Party (Ireland). The Irish Tribute League. The Irish Working Farmers' Committee. The Workers’ Research Bureau.
September 26, 2025 at 7:30 AM
leftarchive.ie
The founding conference of Saor Éire was held #OnThisDay 26th September 1931.

The Left Republican group was banned later that year and collapsed shortly afterwards.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...
Scanned document cover, reading: Saor Éire – Draft Constitution and Rules.
September 26, 2025 at 7:30 AM
leftarchive.ie
"The Greatest Irony of the Century"

From *SuperSpi*, magazine of the Socialist Party of Ireland, published in 1978 soon after the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
A scanned magazine article, reading: The Greatest Irony of the Century The State of Israel recently celebrated er its 30th Anniversary without being able to say that its future was any more secure than at the time of its proclamation in 1948. What is unique about Israel that it is still surrounded by hostile neighbours and its existence still under question? It is the fact that the political basis of the state is founded on Zionism, a political movement founded on the principle that people of of the Jewish religion cannot be assimilated into any of the nations of the world bat must live in an exclusively Jewish state on their own. Zionism, first organised as a movement by Theodor Herzal 1897, was always a reactionary movement which found its greatest supporters in the GAL ranks of European conservatives. The ioe Jerusalem British government, the German Kaiser and the Russian Czar were greatly interested in Herzal's movement and he rec- eived support from them in his efforts to detach Jewish people from the nations of their birth and pressure them into joining this campaign for a seperate state for Jews. [Herzal] did not mind where this state would be established but, when after the First World War the British became rulers of Palestine, the land where once existed the Hebrew tribal states of ancient Israel and Judah, the Zionists fixed their sights on establishing a state on this territory. After World War II, when the Western powers at the United Nations agreed to allow the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, hundreds of thousands of Jewish people from Eastern Europe were helped by the Zionist movement to emigrate to Palestine and give the necessary muscle for establishing the State of Israel in 1948. The wishes of the Arab people of Palestine were totally ignored in all these developments and almost their entire number were forced, by terrorism and open warfare, to flee from their ancestral homeland into neighbouring Arab states. Since 1948, Zion…
August 22, 2025 at 9:11 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay, 21st of August 1984, during the miners’ strike in Britain, a group of partners and children of striking miners visited Tallaght. The week-long trip was organised by the Tallaght Committee to Support Mine Workers.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...
A circular yellow sticker reading "Dig Deep for the Miners". In smaller text, "National Union of Mineworkers" describes the circumference.
August 21, 2025 at 6:35 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay, 9th of August 1971, internment was re-introduced in the North with a large wave of arrests and imprisonments in dawn raids.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...

#Ireland #Politics #OTD
On the 9th of August 1971, internment was re-introduced in the North with a large wave of arrests and imprisonments in dawn raids. Aimed at weakening the IRA, 342 people were arrested in the initial action, all from Nationalist or Republican backgrounds. Several days of violence and protest followed immediately afterwards. The policy of interment was continued until December 1975.
August 9, 2025 at 7:30 AM
leftarchive.ie
"Long Live the Heroic Palestinian Resistance!

Down with The Fascist Aggression and Genocide of U.S.-Backed Israeli Zionism Against The Lebanese and Palestinian People!"

Published #OnThisDay, 1st August 1982, by the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist).

www.leftarchive.ie/document/378/
Scanned article, reading: Long Live the Heroic Palestinian Resistance! Down with The Fascist Aggression and Genocide of U.S.-Backed Israeli Zionism Against The Lebanese and Palestinian People! The Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) whole-heartedly condemns the vicious fascist invasion of the Israeli Zionists into the Lebanon. This act, which flouts all international law and the resolutions of the United Nations, has absolutely no justification; certainly not as “retaliation" for attacks on Israeli diplomats etc., as Begin and his fascists claim; it is simply the continuation of the constant policy of Israeli Zionism to crush the Palestinian people's just resistance -- this time by attempting Hitler's plan of a “final solution", through the calculated genocide of the Palestinian people in the refugee camps in the Lebanon. CPI(M-L) calls on all democratic and anti-imperialist people to take up the cause of the Palestinian people, and to organise to arouse the support of the entire Irish people against Israeli Zionism. For the cause of the Palestinian people in fighting for their homeland is the same just (Contd. p.6).
August 1, 2025 at 7:07 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay 19th of July 1984, a group of workers refused to handle South African goods, beginning the anti-apartheid Dunnes Stores strike.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...

#Ireland #Politics #History #Apartheid
The Fruits of Apartheid. Sketches of fruits are labelled "Whites Only", "Violence!", "Forced Removals", "Detention Without Trial" and "Poverty". The caption reads "Support the fight for justice in South Africa; do not buy South African fruit."
July 19, 2025 at 7:59 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay 18th of July 1981, a march in support of the Hunger Strikers campaign, ongoing since March of that year, ended with violent clashes outside the British Embassy after a Garda baton-charge, in which more than 200 people were hurt.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...
1981: Serious clashes between Republican demonstrators and Gardaí outside the British Embassy took place On 18th of July 1981, a march in support of the Hunger Strikers campaign, ongoing since March of that year, ended with violent clashes outside the British Embassy after a Garda baton-charge, in which more than 200 people were hurt. A document from Revolutionary Struggle after the event, ‘Organise Against State Repression’, states: On the 18th. July thousands of people from all over the country mobilised in Dublin for a march on the British Embassy in support of the Hunger Strickers [sic]. Before reaching the Embassy however, the marchers were stopped at Merrion Rd. by a wall of cops in riot gear, seceral [sic] rows deep. This strategy of confrontation and intimidation, meant to frighten people off the streets and deny them expression, was resisted by many brave comrades who tried to fight their way through. The cops held rank for fifteen minutes and then charged. Their violence and brutality as they ran riot, beating everyone in their path was pyscotic [sic].
July 18, 2025 at 7:25 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay, 26th June 1986, a referendum was held in Ireland to remove the prohibition of divorce.

The referendum was unsuccessful, with divorce remaining prohibited until 1995.

www.leftarchive.ie/subject/2225/
A poster reading: Civil divorce is a civil right / Vote Yes! / The Workers Party
June 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
leftarchive.ie
"I'm not interested in politics because I don't eat, wear clothes, breathe air or live in a house. I'm incurable and when I die I'll bury myself."

The first issue of *People's Voice*, produced by Saor Éire in Cork.

www.leftarchive.ie/document/2405/

#Ireland #Politics #SaorÉire
Front cover of People's Voice, No. 1, November 1968. A meek character is saying, "I'm not interested in politics because I don't eat, wear clothes, breathe air or live in a house. I'm incurable and when I die I'll bury myself." Underneath is written, Workers: Awaken to your power!
June 20, 2025 at 7:33 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay. 12th of June 1982, the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) voted to dissolve. Founded in 1977, the SLP sought to build a party of the Left, bringing together former Labour members and Left groups.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...

#Ireland #Politics #Socialism #SLP
The Party's Over, from Gralton, No. 3.
June 12, 2025 at 2:54 PM
leftarchive.ie
The Irish Women United charter was published in each issue of their magazine, Banshee.
IRISH WOMEN UNITED CHARTER PREAMBLE: At this time, the women of Ireland are beginning to see the need for, and are fighting for liberation. This is an inevitable step in the course of full human liberation. Although within the movement, we form diverse groups with variant ways of approaching the problem, we have joined together around these basic issues. We pledge ourselves to challenge and fight sexism in all forms and oppose all forms of exploitation of women which keep them oppressed. These demands are all part of the essential right of women to self-determination of our own lives — equality in education and work; control of our own bodies; an adequate standard of living and freedom from sexist conditioning. We present these demands as the following women’s charter. 1. THE REMOVAL OF ALL LEGAL AND BUREAUCRATIC OBSTACLES TO EQUALITY: 1. i.e. with regard to tenancies, mortgages, pension schemes, taxation, jury service, equal responsibility for children, social welfare benefits and hire purchase agreements. 2. The right to divorce. The Constitution should be reviewed with a view to examining the role of women and updated to eliminate discrimination against women. 2. FREE LEGAL CONTRACEPTION: 1. State financed birth-control clinics. 2. The right [t]o a free, legal and safe abortion. 3. THE RECOGNITION OF MOTHERHOOD AND PARENTHOOD AS A SOCIAL FUNCTION WITH SPECIAL PROVISION FOR: 1. State support for programmes implementing the socialisation of housework, i.e. community laundries, kitchens, eating places etc. 2. State provision of an adequate place to live, irrespective of sex, age, number of children and marital status. 3. The provision of local authority, free of charge, twenty-four-hour nurseries, giving every satisfaction in respect of hygiene and education; to be staffed by trained personnel and under the control of the communities in which they are located. [Truncated by Bluesky. Full transcription on our website, linked in this thread].
June 8, 2025 at 10:12 AM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay 8th of June 1975, a conference of circa 100 women constituted Irish Women United – "the only criteria for joining to be agreement on the demands of the charter".

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...
What is Irish Women United? We are a group of Women's liberationists who believe that the best perspective for struggle against women's oppression in Ireland lies in an ongoing fight around the charter of demands printed here. We came together originally in April 1975 as a few individual women interested in the idea of building a conference to discuss a charter; what its demands should be and how a campaign should be built. At this conference on June 8th, attended by approximately 100 women, we constituted ourselves as a separate group, Irish Women United -- the only criteria for joining to be agreement on the demands of the Charter. Irish Women United works on the basis of general meetings (discussions and action planning, at present every week in Dublin), join actions (e.g. pickets, public meetings, workshops, at present on women in trade unions, contraception, social welfare and political theory) and consciousness-raising groups.
June 8, 2025 at 10:12 AM
leftarchive.ie
A cartoon on the contradictions of "pro-life" positions.

From Women's View in 1983, during the eighth amendment referendum.

Women's View was produced by the National Women's Committee of the Workers' Party throughout the 1980s.
A priest stands at a lectern, which is labelled "this week's sermon – No Abortion". A sign behind him says "Next week's sermon – we need the death penalty".
June 7, 2025 at 10:43 AM
leftarchive.ie
The Irish Left Archive will be at the Dublin Radical Book Fair tomorrow, 31st May.

The book fair runs from 12-5pm at the Teachers' Club, Parnell Square, with stall from many left organisations, campaigns and publishers.

Talks and workshops will also run throughout, from 12-7pm.

#DublinEvents
Radical Book Fair, 31 May 2025, Teachers' Club, D01 T6V6
May 30, 2025 at 12:11 PM
leftarchive.ie
#OnThisDay, 28th May 1949, the Socialist Party of Ireland (SPI) was formed.

The SPI was associated with the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPBG) and World Socialist Movement. It was later succeeded by the World Socialist Party.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...

#SocialistPartyOfIreland #SPGB
The Socialist Party of Ireland was founded in 1949, associated with the Socialist Party of Great Britain and World Socialist Movement. As stated in the preface to their 1949 manifesto: On May 28th, 1949, a number of workers, representing Socialist Groups in Dublin and Belfast, met in Belfast and decided that the Groups should coalesce and form the Socialist Party of Ireland. That decision was subsequently ratified by the members of the Dublin and Belfast Groups; and so was born the first political party in Ireland to publicly and unequivocally declare its object to be the establishment of Socialism.
May 28, 2025 at 9:07 AM
leftarchive.ie
The Irish Left Archive will be at the Radical Book Fair in the Teachers' Club, Dublin, on Saturday (31st May).

Hope to see some of you there!

More info: rupture.ie/bookfair

#RadicalBookFair
Radical Book Fair, 31 May 2025, Teachers' Club, D01 T6V6
May 26, 2025 at 10:31 AM
leftarchive.ie
The Ulster Workers Council Strike began #OnThisDay, the 15th of May 1974.

It had been called in opposition to the Sunningdale power sharing agreement.

www.leftarchive.ie/calendar/on-...

#OTD #IrishHistory #IrishPolitics
The Ulster Workers Council Strike of 1974 began The Ulster Workers Council Strike began on the 15th of May 1974, having been called the day before by unionists and loyalists in opposition to the Sunningdale power sharing agreement. Continuing until the 28th of May, it resulted in the collapse of the short-lived Northern Ireland Assembly formed under that agreement. From The Ulster General Strike, by the Workers' Association [British & Irish Communist Organisation]: "The General Strike which took place in Ulster in May 1974 resulted in the fall of the devolved Government which had held office since January 1974, and the abolition of the entire Constitutional framework which had been established by the Sunningdale Agreement of December 1973 for the functioning of devolved Government in Ulster."
May 15, 2025 at 6:42 AM
leftarchive.ie
The default summary is "Commentary and PDF of X" for links to material on our site. In some cases that produces a peculiar prospect!
A screenshot of the link summary for the above post, showing the summary "Commentary and PDF of Leo Varadkar Face Mask".
April 19, 2025 at 8:10 AM
leftarchive.ie
A useful quote indicates the tensions among feminist groups in the North at that time:

(From Loughran, C., 1986. Armagh and Feminist Strategy: Campaigns around Republican Women Prisoners in Armagh Jail. Feminist Review, (23), pp.59–79. doi.org/10.2307/1394...)
Scanned text, reading: Because we regarded ourselves in opposition to the British we were labelled as republican by those women’s groups who didn’t actively oppose it [the NIWRM] at the same time because we were highly critical of the Republican Movement we were labelled as a bourgeois women’s group by that section of the movement [WAI], we couldn’t win either way. (BWC, 1980)
March 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
leftarchive.ie
Moving North, we have one copy of Women's Action, produced by the Belfast Women's Collective.

BWC emerged from the Socialist Women’s Group in 1977 which in turn had left the Northern Ireland Women’s Rights Movement (NIWRM).

www.leftarchive.ie/document/629/
Front cover of Women's Action, Vol. 2, No. 3. The masthead includes an image of a woman in chains with the text: Women's Action, Belfast Women's Collective
March 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
leftarchive.ie
Irishwomen United, founded in 1975, produced a journal called Banshee from 1975-77.

The back cover shows the group's charter. It is notable for an explicit demand for free, legal abortion and contraception (which was then available only with a prescription).

www.leftarchive.ie/publication/...
Front cover of Banshee, Vol. 1, No. 2. The masthead in red reads: Banshee, journal of Irishwomen United, with the gender symbol for female (♀) shown in black. The rest of the cover has a black and red drawing of a group of women, one of whom's raised clenched fist is encircled by the aforementioned symbol. A scan of the back cover of Banshee with the text of the Irishwomen United charter.
March 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
leftarchive.ie
On International Women's Day #IWD2025, here are some of the publications from feminist Irish groups in our collection.

First up, Fownes Street Journal, which was produced between 1972 and '74 by the Women's Liberation Movement.

www.leftarchive.ie/document/2461/
The front cover of Fownes Street Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2. It is a bright yellow page with black text reading Fownes Street Journal, Women's Liberation Movement. A logo at the centre consists of the common gender symbol for women (♀) with an equals within the circle.
March 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
leftarchive.ie
The 1981 hunger strikes began on the 1st of March, when Bobby Sands began refusing food. A total of ten people died before the strike ended.

Contemporary documents from the H-Block/Armagh Committee, People's Democracy, IRSP and others are in our collection here: www.leftarchive.ie/subject/2692/
Scanned text, reading: On Thursday 5th February seven weeks after the ending of a fifty-three day hunger-strike in the H-Blocks at Long Kesh, and a nineteen day hunger-strike by women prisoners at Armagh prison, a joint statement from both sets of prisoners was issued announcing another hunger-strike to begin on March 1st. The statement threatened that the prisoners would strike 'to death if necessary' to achieve recognition as political prisoners and a status in accord with that recognition.
March 1, 2025 at 9:02 AM