Novelists have been kind to artificial intelligence in recent times. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 book, Klara and the Sun, Klara is an AI designed to be a child’s companion and she is by far the most compassionate and self-sacrificing character in the book. In the rather darker Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan (2019), the […]

Socialists and the Syrian Revolution The Syrian revolution 2011 was a genuine people’s uprising: one that was crushed by the al-Assad regime; a corrupt neo-liberal clique backed by Russian imperialism; and Iranian clerico-military oligarchy. The intervention of the US and its Saudi and Gulf allies also undermined the revolution and bolstered reactionary fundamentalist forces. Socialists […]

The growth of fascism in 2020 was a disturbing development in Irish politics and one that needed a coherent response from the left. Fascists were able to capitalise on discontent at the COVID restrictions and insert themselves into anti-mask protests. At the same time, socialists, appreciating that anti-mask is anti-worker and insisting that the government […]

Socialists support Scottish independence because it would create better conditions for short-term working-class victories and the long-term struggle for socialism. It would also herald the end of the imperialist British state. Socialists support the right of self-determination – in this case the right of the people of Scotland –  to decide their own future democratically. […]

The challenge of obtaining secular Relationship and Sexuality Education in Irish schools has been ongoing since 1995, when the teaching of RSE was first introduced to Irish schools. The main thrust for the introduction of the programme was a sharp rise in teenage pregnancies and the AIDS epidemic. The Irish constitution recognises the role of […]