Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
By Peter McColl The name ‘Belfast’ is an anglicised form of Béal Feirste, which means ‘the crossing of the River Farset’. The river after which the city is named isn’t one that many people have seen. It’s buried under the High Street, in a culvert,. And that’s appropriate, because much of what Belfast is about […]
By Belfast based artist and designer, Sara O’Neill Our home has been beamed around the world this week. And as so often when the global spotlight falls upon us, it’s for a scundering reason. Racist scumbags rioting, burning homes & wrecking their own communities (Not the brightest. Obviously.) For most of this year I’ve been […]
By Amy McIntyre We know our history. The Irish were blamed for problems they didn’t cause. They fled “famine”, occupation, persecution & poverty, only to face signs reading: “No Blacks. No Dogs. No Irish.” Don’t repeat that. The ruling class always need a scapegoat. Yesterday it was the Irish, Catholics, Mods, Pakistanis, single mothers, “benefit […]
By Neil Scott Watching Kneecap’s eloquent, beautiful short film, Irish Goodbye felt less like watching a music video and more like delving into my own grief and facing the void left by a parent’s death. Therapy, in a way. Seeing someone else’s grief, and understanding we aren’t alone. As someone who grew up surrounded by […]
The words of Seamus Culleton, a man from County Kilkenny held for five months in an American detention centre, should ring like a funeral bell across the Atlantic. Culleton has described his experience in the El Paso facility as being held in a modern-day concentration camp. He speaks of seventy-two people crammed into a single […]
By Jock Mulligan The tragic news of another man shot dead in the streets of Minneapolis by the ICE raiders of the department brings a cold blast of memory to anyone who knows the hard history of a people under the boot. It is the old tale of strangers sent in to police a folk […]
Manufacturing emotion and stealing stability. The Digital Factory of Despair – How They Farm Your Outrage By Gael There is a particular kind of cruelty in the way the modern world tries to steal your soul. We used to talk about the factory floor and the picket line; today, the factory is in your pocket, […]
By Jock Mulligan Ah, sure, another big-shot book, another philosopher spinning webs finer than a North Monaghan spider in a bog-hole. Popper – A grand, severe German name, like a shovel hitting stone. And what does he tell us, this man who saw the great world go mad in the 20th century, like a pub […]
By Neil Scott (Some Spoilers). Trespasses is a powerful Channel 4 series that transcends the typical Troubles drama by focusing on the secrecy, coded interactions, and cross-community experiences that defined daily life in Northern Ireland. While some plot points feel slightly contrived, the series captures the deep emotional and social truth of the era—the pervasive […]
By Jock Mulligan How can the rigorous moral architecture of the ancient Celts relate to today’s politics? Well, we can learn from folk history; much of it is a blueprint for a disciplined, ethical politics of its time- and let me suggest, the Left, especially in places like Scotland and Ireland, where the ghosts of […]