“Shock, austerity, Sinn Féin and the United Left Alliance” – A view from Ireland…

…thanks to Jim Monaghan for sending the link to this post in the International Journal of Socialist Renewal Links, based as far as I can see in Australia. Written by Des Derwin there’s a lot of food for thought in it, particularly a very useful analysis of the ULA.

Here’s a quote to give a sense of it, and also a sense of the potential of the ULA as a centripetal force on the Irish left able to attract those from a wide variety of backgrounds…

The potential of the ULA was shown by a public meeting of the Dublin Central branch on April 24, days before the conference. Among those who joined that day were two activists of the highest calibre, one a long-time trade union activist in the construction industry and with the Workers Party, the last left party (leaving Sinn Féin aside) with a base of support comparable to the aspirations of the ULA. The other was a leading activist in one of the teachers’ unions and in the recent, partially successful DEIS campaign against cuts in disadvantaged schools. But the ULA’s problem is maintaining the involvement of such activists through a vibrant organisation and relevant activity.