“There can be no perfect Europe in which Ireland is denied even the least of its national rights.”—James Connolly  “The cause of labour is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour.”—James Connolly  “We still believe that the struggle of Ireland for freedom is a part of the worldwide upward movement of the toilers of the earth.”—James Connolly  “I must say the tasks confronting the youth . . . might be summed up in a single word: learn.”—V. I. Lenin  “Present unfortunate state is entirely owing to treachery, the rich always betray the poor.”—Jemmy Hope  “Our independence must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not support us, they must fall.”—Theobald Wolfe Tone  “Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution.”  —Marx and Engels 








A Stark Class Divide



A recent report from the Higher Education Authority reveals a stark class divide in Dublin when it comes to access to higher education. The report confirms what all socialists already knew: that teenagers from the leafy middle-class suburbs are far more likely to go on to third-level education than those from less privileged areas of the city.

Teenagers from the wealthy Dublin 6 area have the greatest opportunities, as 99 per cent progress to higher education. This is in sharp contrast with Dublin 17 and Dublin 10, where only 15 and 16 per cent,respectively, progress to third level. The situation is replicated in rural areas, as the children of big farmers, landlords and business-owners are far more likely to progress to third level than the rural poor.

The establishment like to tell us that equality of opportunity exists for all; they claim that anyone who is prepared to work hard can rise to the top of society. However, this report shows that the education system is rigged to benefit the rich. Elitist fee-paying schools, like Gonzaga College in Dublin 6, are where the elite send their children. The great majority of parents will never be able to afford to send their children to such schools; yet these fee-paying schools, outrageously, are subsidized with public money to the tune of €100 million every year.

Eoghan Murphy TD of Fine Gael (who lives in Dublin 6) is a fierce proponent of cuts to public services and wages, yet he hypocritically defends this huge subsidy to Ireland’s elite schools. Meanwhile many children in poorer areas of Dublin are barely able to read or do basic arithmetic by the time they leave primary school. Negative home environments are an important factor in causing children from lower-income areas to be left behind. If this Government were really interested in equality of opportunity for all children they would stop the subsidy of €100 million to elitist schools and instead invest that money in pre-primary and primary education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Labour Party makes a hullabaloo about the abolition of third-level fees in the 1990s. But the fact that the proportion of students from lower-income backgrounds barely increased means that the removal of fees became just another subsidy for the wealthy. The most prestigious and well-funded courses, such as medicine, remain dominated by students from wealthy backgrounds who attended fee-paying schools.

The HEA report proves that the education system is designed by the elite for the benefit of the elite. The establishment are not interested in creating equality of opportunity for all: they only want to preserve their own privilege.

[BG]








We remember Odessa! Protest in front of Ukrainian embassy


"Today 02.08.2014 we protested in front of the embassy of Ukraine in Dublin, Ireland. People of all ages and all nationalities come together to voice their support for the people of the world who protested just like us in Europe's capitals. We come together as one to let the world know that civil war in Donbass has to stop. People of Ireland come together on this rainy day in order to remember every victim of Ukrainian government. From Odessa to Slavyansk, from Lugansk to Donetsk.


At the end we launched black air balloons in memory of victims killed and burned alive in Odessa's government building on 2 of May 2014 by "Right sector" neo-nazi organization and ultras (football fans). We will always remember. We will never forget."





WFDY Statement for the 100 years since the beginning of World War I


The past 28th of July marked the 100 years anniversary since the beginning of the First World War. It was the beginning of the fist global large scale war conflict created by the antagonisms of imperialist powers. It was the terrifying revelation of the results of the monopolistic stage of capitalism. The millions of dead and the enormous disasters that involved countries from all the continents will forever be a reminder of the results of imperialist antagonisms and aggressions; it will always be a reminder that the imperialist alliances are serving the interests of the bourgeoisie of each country but not the interests of the peoples.



The assassination of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, led to the beginning of the war. But the real reasons that led to the first global imperialist war can be found the passing of capitalism to its monopolistic stage, imperialism. The fact that the development of capitalism couldn’t be limited to the borders of a single state, and that the national monopolies needed to expand their markets created tensions over the conquest of colonies and the control of trade routes. This antagonisms together with the crisis of the late 19th century, led to the creation of alliances of imperialist states and to the military build-ups.

Today we can find that history repeats itself with new imperialist alliances, groupings and continuous military build-ups. The re-arrangements of borders and alliances that take place, usually violently are creating sparks that can lead to wider international conflicts and wars. The capitalist crisis once again pushes the tensions to their limits. The need for control of the energy fields and especially the energy routes creates an intensive competition among monopolies. The effort to impose certain political environments and the speculative nature of imperialism generate developments that even their instigators cannot control. We can see this taking place now in the Middle East in Ukraine with unpredictable consequences.

We, as part of the international anti-imperialist movement, as progressive young men and women pay our tribute to the victims of the great imperialist war. Our struggle for peace and friendship among peoples, our struggle to overthrow imperialism is what brings hope for a better future for mankind, for the necessary step of progress. As the great October Revolution gave life through the ruins of the First World War, we commit to defeat imperialism to bring peace to the peoples.

Budapest 24/7/2014
The CC/HQ of WFDY



WFDY Statement of solidarity with the Ukrainian Communists


The World Federation of Democratic Youth condemns the efforts to criminalize the activity of the communists of Ukraine. In a period where the crisis in Ukraine is intensified, with USA-EU and Russia antagonize over their interests and against the interests of the people of Ukraine, the fascist government of Kiev backed by EU and USA attempts another provocation by dissolving the parliamentary group of the Communist Party of Ukraine. This measure comes as a step of implementation of the decision of the Ukrainian government to criminalize the Communist Party.

This undemocratic measure is put into effect at the same time where the violence in Ukraine is still leading its people to bloodshed. It is a measure that reveals the intentions of the government of Ukraine in which the nationalist and neo-Nazi elements play a decisive role. Even more it shows the democratic limits of EU and NATO that are restricted to the horizon of their interests.



WFDY condemns the undemocratic, fascist methods of the Ukrainian government; condemns their support by the US and EU. The attempt to criminalize the communist and anti-imperialist forces, serves the anti-popular plans and their war-loving policy.

The outrage and the resistance to these kinds of policies is becoming the duty of every progressive and democratic young man and woman around the world. We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine whose future seems even harder being in the middle of the imperialist contradictions. Mainly we express our solidarity to the Communist Youth of Ukraine, our member organization that continuous its activity under the rule of terror and persecution.

Budapest 24/7/2014
The CC/HQ of WFDY




Common Declaration of CYO’s on the new genocide of Israel against the Palestinian people


The Youth Organizations that sign the following announcement denounce firmly the military operations of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people that have already resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives.

The USA, but also the EU, who encourage the criminal activities of Israel by providing total support, equating the culprits with the victims, upgrading their political, financial and military relations with Israel with various ways, organizing common military drills with the Israeli armed forces, they have grave responsibilities for the continuing crime against the Palestinian people and its youth.



The CYO’s call upon the young men and women of the world to block with our struggle and internationalist solidarity the new genocide of Israel against the Palestinian people and youth that are in the crosshair of imperialist aggression, on the ground of the generalized imperialist plans that exist and are promoted in the region of the Middle East and of the Eastern Mediterranean.


We demand:

Organizations that sign:

1.    CY Austria - KJOe
2.    CY Bolivia - JCB
3.    YCL Brazil – UJC
4.    YCL Canada
5.    YS Croatia
6.    EDON Cyprus
7.    CYU Czech Republic – KSM
8.    CY Ecuador - JCE
9.    MJC France - MJCF
10.    CY Greece -KNE
11.    CYM Ireland
12.    YCL Israel
13.    Front of CY Italy - FGC
14.    CY Luxemburg
15.    FYC Mexico - FJC
16.    Paraguayan CY - JCP
17.    CY Peru – «Patria Roja» - JCP PR
18.    Peruvian CY – JCP
19.    Portuguese Communist Youth - JCP
20.    Revolutionary CY Russia (bolshevics) -RKSMb
21.    UCY Yugoslavia (Serbia) - SKOJ
22.     Collectives of Young Communists Spain - CJC
23.    CY Sweden – SKU
24.    Syrian CY – Khaled Bagdash Youth









CYM solidarity with anti-fascist resistance in Novorossiya


CYM took part in the protest against supporting and funding of fascist Kiev junta by institutions of the EU in front of European Union House on 19 July.  Protesters, gathered under slogans of "Stop euro-fascism", "Save Donbass People", "Kiev junta - stop killing Civilians in Donbass" and others, expressed their outrage with massacres of civilian population in East Ukraine, committed by Ukrainian Army and their support for anti-fascist resistance. CYM would like to stress that the violence in East Ukraine is a direct consequence of aggressive expansion of the European Union and NATO to the East and the result of a general crisis of capitalism. 





WFDY statement of the Israeli attack on Gaza


The World Federation of Democratic Youth denounces the continuous attack on Gaza. That resulted in dozens of martyrs, hundreds of wounded and massive destruction. The Israeli forces launched, in two days, hundreds of missiles under the approval and silence of the imperialist powers. The same ones that agreed on 66 years of occupation, and signed the death of thousands. That support the Zionist occupation, the spread of settlements, the displacement of thousands of Palestinians, and the brutality of the occupation against the Palestinian people.

However, with the brutality of occupation comes the strength of peoples. Comes unity and resistance.



As well as, the conformation on the resistance path against occupation. The World Federation of Democratic Youth stand beside the youth and peoples of Palestine, in their steadfastness and unity against the Israeli occupation and attacks. As well as, call for the end of the current attack on Gaza. We stand by the strength of resistance, from Palestine to all the anti- imperialist youth and peoples’ of the world.

Similar to the way WFDY fought, since its foundation until today, alongside its member organizations, against imperialism and its destructive nature. We will continue on the path of liberation from imperialism, besides the anti-imperialist youth of the world.

The CC/HQ of WFDY
Budapest, 10 July, 2014



CYM Statement on the European Parliament Elections


The CYM is heartened to see there are a number of leftwing candidates running in the upcoming European elections, who are prepared to challenge the disastrous policies of the European establishment, which have caused mass youth unemployment across Europe. The CYM does want to work with leftwing groups and individuals who are resisting the neo-liberal policies of the EU. We recognise the contribution Paul Murphy MEP of the Socialist Party, who has co-operated with other socialists in the Parliament, and has been an articulate voice against austerity. We wish Paul good luck in the upcoming election.



However, we do not believe that any of these candidates are fundamentally opposed to the European Union. The EU is inherently an imperialist alliance designed to serve big business, and put the interests of capital before the interests of labour. The fact that there is no significant progressive force in Ireland calling to leave the EU, or even the Euro, confirms that the left in Ireland is very naive about the inherently capitalist and imperialist nature of the EU.

Imperialism and neo-liberalism is enshrined in the EU treaties. The CYM do not see the EU as reformable. There is no possibility of a ‘Social Europe’ while the EU exists. The idea that a ‘Social Europe’ can be created by the EU is a dangerous myth perpetuated by Social Democrats. The Social Democrats want to con workers into thinking they will receive a social dividend if they pledge their support to European imperialst and capitalist project.

These elections are an opportunity for people in Ireland to consider our relationship with the European Project. The CYM calls on young people to question the nature of the Euro currency, and ask ‘In whose interest does it serve?’ The European Central Bank is a fundamentally undemocratic institution that runs European monetary policies in the interests of bankers and big business. The ECB is more concerned with keeping interest rates low than creating jobs for young people. The ECB, in collaboration with subservient Irish elites, has shackled tens of billions of private banking debt upon the Irish people. This debt is illegitimate, and we call on it to be repudiated.

The neo-liberal policies, emerging from Brussels and Frankfurt, pit the peoples of Europe into competition with each other for jobs and services. These policies divide European people and give rise to reactionary forces. The CYM wishes to see a Europe built upon co-operation between democratic, socialist and sovereign nations, where the economy is democratically planned according to people’s needs and abilities. Only an economy built around public ownership and planning can create dignified employment for all, as well as a guaranteed right to healthcare, education, housing, and access to a high level of culture and leisure.

Socialism is needed to stop our environment being destroyed for profit, and stop imperialist wars for new markets and resources. Socialism cannot be achieved within the current EU framework, and any talk of Socialism within the EU is pure folly. We hope that other groups on the left will come to realize that socialism can only succeed outside of the EU.

[statement ends]


The World Federation of democratic Youth on the First of May

On the First on May, the Workers Day. The day that resembles the righteous of the peoples in a prosperous developed world. In a world, that reaches their presence as individuals with a right to produce, a developed  society. Being the ones that benefit from their own production, taking this advantage of their qualities for a better life.


On this great day, history strikes its events, that shouldn’t be forgettable, in the necessity of overthrowing the system responsible of the misery of the workers for decades. The exploitation of the workers’ capability, so that the minority can rule, on the flesh of the majority. The attack of the workers’ trade union, to deprive the

workers from organizing their strength. The measures of the liberal economy, privatization and open market, turning the workers into slaves of the monopolies. Working in the lowest conditions, for the benefits of these monopolies.

On this great day, history also strikes with the struggle of the workers that forced their rights, and forced the resemblance of their right on this day. The struggles of the workers, that rejected the exploitation of the capitalist system, the privatization of their national wealth, the long working hours, the monopolization of the product and means of production by the capitalist system. The wars, invasions, and intervention done by their name, only benefiting the monopolies and capitalist system.

From the struggles of the workers, to the peoples, forces, and systems that supported, fought, and struggled to obtain the legitimate right of the peoples and workers through the history. Into the measures and character of imperialism depriving this right.

The World federation of Democratic Youth salutes the workers and youth of the world in the First of May. As well as, confirms its position among the workers’ struggles, against their exploitation. Besides the progressive forces fighting against imperialism, its measures and aggressions. Into a world, that insures the workers’ right.

Long live workers’ struggle!

The CC/HQ of WFDY

Budapest, May 1st 2014



Youth Resistance CYM Public Talk Video by Connolly Media Group




No to forced labour schemes, Yes to real jobs, real pay and a real future!


Ireland’s youth are in crisis. Facing prolonged unemployment, cuts to social welfare, increases in college/apprenticeship fees and the proliferation of questionable free labour schemes, some 177,000 young people have emigrated from Ireland since 2008.



They are voting with their feet, leaving in search of real jobs, real opportunities and a real future.

They leave behind the empty promises and empty rhetoric of the government parties.

They leave behind the “Youth Guarantee” which has neither the funding nor capacity to deal with the scale of the youth unemployment crisis and which perversely will see young people being forced to take up places on free labour schemes such as JobBridge and Gateway or face the threat of further cuts to their social welfare.

Our young people deserve better than a choice between forced emigration or forced poverty. Take a stand for real jobs, real pay and a real future for young people in Ireland.

CWU Youth Committee Ireland
Mandate Youth Network
ScamBridge
Trade Union Left Forum
Unite Youth - Dublin Activist Group
Unite Youth Ireland
We're Not Leaving
Connolly Youth Movement
Young Workers Network
Dublin Council of Trade Unions
SWAN
Union of Students in Ireland (USI)
Sinn Féin Ireland
Sinn Féin - Republican Youth





Common announcement of the CYO's on the developments in Ukraine

The developments in Ukraine are particularly crucial and dangerous, first of all for the people and the youth of the country, who are being transformed again into victims of the intense antagonisms between the USA-EU and Russia, for the control of markets, of natural resources and the transportation networks of the country.

The open intervention of the EU-USA-NATO, the utilization of  fascist groups and organizations which are the descendants of the SS and spread fascist and Nazi venom and anticommunism, the planned persecutions and banning of political parties primarily against the communists, and the racist laws that are being prepared against the Russian-speaking population and other minorities, all demonstrate the character of the developments, and uncover the lies about the “triumph of democracy in Ukraine”.



The youth – especially in Europe – can now see more clearly the real face of the EU: it's a union of the capitalists and of the monopolies of Europe and serves their interests; that is why the EU is reactionary in its  nature. It is a union of military interventions, wars, support of the fascist groups, of anticommunism which is its official ideology. All those  cultivating the illusions that the EU can transform into a force of peace and stability in favor of the peoples, have a great responsibility here. 

The Communist Youth Organizations that sign this announcement:

Denounce the intervention of the EU-USA-NATO in the internal affairs of Ukraine, the direct support that they are providing to the armed fascist groups, the menaces of a foreign military intervention.
Express our solidarity with the Communists of Ukraine. We denounce the persecutions and the attempts to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine.

The young people of the working class and of the popular strata must not fall in the trap of nationalist dilemmas, in choosing a side in the antagonisms over who will exploit them. On the contrary, the youth have  an interest in organizing and struggling along with the working class, to open their own way: the way of the struggle in favor of our modern needs, so that the wealth remains in the hands of those who produce it, so that we rid ourselves from the imperialist unions and their antagonisms. 

1. Communist Youth of Austria KJOe
2. Union of Communist Youth Brazil UJC
3. Communist Youth Avancando Brazil JCA
4. YCL Britain
5. Communist Youth of Bolivia JCB
6. YCL Canada
7. Colombian Communist Youth - JUCO
8. EDON Cyprus
9. Young Socialists Croatia
10. Young Communists of Denmark - Ungkommunisterne i Danmark
11. Communist Youth of Ecuador JCE
12. Movement of Young Communists France MJCF
13. Socialist German Worker Youth - SDAJ
14. YCL Georgia
15. Communist Youth of Greece KNE
16. Left Front Hungary – Baloldali Front
17. Young Communist Front of Italy FGC
18. Connolly Youth Movement Ireland
19. YCL Mexico – LJC Mexico
20. Young Communists of Norway – UngKom i Norges 
21. Paraguayan Communist Youth – JCP
22. Portuguese Communist Youth – JCP
23. RCYLb Russia – RKSMb
24. YCL Yugoslavia (Serbia) – SKOJ
25. Collectives of Young Communists, Spain – CJC
26. Union of Communist Youth of Spain – UJCE



Social Media: In whose interest does it serve?


I can’t help but wonder sometimes if the internet and all of its social media outlets like YouTube, facebook, twitter, blog sites, instagram etc have been the biggest help or the biggest hindrance in fostering unity among left political forces, engaging young people in class politics and creating new narratives to events happening around the world. There has been a definite increase and shift in how stories are breaking and in the age of digital technology and the arrival of broadband internet, there has been a transformative shift in how the public interact, receive and relay information on an almost infinite number of topics. This has enabled them to not only enter but in fact shape the traditional media discourse. Before the arrival of the digital revolution, this had been under the exclusive ownership of institutions of the media.

Read more


Statement of WFDY on the developments in Ukraine


The past months the international anti-imperialist movement is watching closely the dangerous developments that are taking place in Ukraine and the power struggle among imperialism that are leading the Ukrainian people in dangerous paths. The past few days the situation has deteriorated more openly into an international crisis.



The developments starting with the so-called Maidan demonstrations against the Yanukovych government showed clearly the elements of international interventions over the control of the country. The European Union, NATO and the US supported openly the demonstrations against the Russia-orientated government of Ukraine as a way of controlling the developments in a country that has great geopolitical interest in the power battle between Russia and NATO-EU. The gas lines connecting Russia to Europe and the effort to strengthen NATO presence around Russia are directly connected to the current situation.

In their will to promote their political, military and financial interests, the European Union openly supported neo-Nazi and far right paramilitary groups that leaded the violence during the demonstrations. Despite their efforts to present the Ukrainian demonstrations as a revolution in the name of freedom and democracy, the European Union revealed once again that imperialism, the monopolies and fascism are connected systemically. The new laws of the so-called revolutionary government which support minority discrimination and the ban of the Communist Party in Ukraine are applauded by the EU. At the same time, the Yanukovych government cannot claim its innocence in the roots of these developments as its corruption and unpopular policies supported another part o the Ukrainian bourgeoisie and created public frustration.

These are results of the capitalist reconstruction that started in the 1990’s. The promises of a prosperous future shortly lead to hunger, unemployment, chaos, and continuous economic crises. Today the people of Ukraine are facing the results of the capitalist reconstruction in their country.

In this escalating confrontation between the Ukrainian bourgeoisie and the sides that each one has chosen, whether this is the EU-NATO or Russia, the people of Ukraine have nothing to benefit by putting their country as a protectorate of any power. The accusations for interventions coming especially from the EU and NATO but also from Russia are ridiculously hypocritical. The sovereignty and dignity of the people of Ukraine can be only found in the fight of the interests of the working class
and the popular masses and not by their dominate class that puts them into adventures that can only bring war and misery.

At the same time the intense and undisguised intervention of EU-NATO in Ukraine caused the imitated response of Russia. The escalation of the crisis is rapidly internationalized, confirming the concerns of WFDY that repeatedly stated: the capitalist crisis in intensifying the international antagonisms of the monopolies and the threat of a small or wider scale international military conflict.

In the light of current development, the World Federation of Democratic Youth stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and their fight to stop the march of EU-NATO supported fascism in their country. At the same time we underline that the popular interests cannot be aligned with the interests of any imperialist as they serve only their monopolies. In the shadow of the forthcoming developments WFDY clearly states that the only ally of the youth is the struggle of the popular masses and the anti-imperialist movement.

The CC/HQ of WFDY
Budapest, 5 March, 2014



Joint Statement of Communist and Workers’ Parties on the recent developments in Ukraine (Proposed by the KKE and DKP)

Statement on the reactionary developments in Ukraine

The recent dramatic developments in Ukraine do not constitute the “victory of democracy” by the alleged “revolutionaries”, as it is being described by the mass media of the USA and the EU, but is a dangerous development, above all for the people of Ukraine themselves.

Reactionary political forces, ideological descendents of the Nazis, have risen to the political “surface” with the assistance of the EU and the USA. These are forces which apart from destroying the offices of their opponents, are planning political persecutions, and the banning of parties, above all against the communists, and even racist legislation at the expense of the Russian-speaking population, like what has been in force for the last 20 years in the countries of the “European” Baltic,  with the blatant political support of the EU.



The communist and workers’ parties that sign this Joint Statement:


  -  Express our solidarity and support with the communists of Ukraine, above all with those who in many instances went on to the streets in order to defend the monuments of Lenin and the other Soviet and ant-fascist monuments, which found themselves “targeted” by the ideological “cleansing” of history being attempted by the nationalist-fascist armed groups

 -  Denounce the USA and the EU regarding their blatant involvement in the internal affairs of Ukraine, regarding the direct support they provided and are providing to the armed fascist groups, supporting historical revanchism against the outcome of the 2nd World War, transforming anti-communism into their official policy, as well as beautifying the fascist groups, their criminal ideology and activity, promoting the division of the people of Ukraine with planned persecutions at the expense of the Russian-speaking of Ukraine.

 -  Highlight that the positions of the opportunist forces are dangerous, which spread illusions that there could exist another “better EU’, “another better association agreement of the EU with Ukraine”. The EU, like every capitalist inter-state union, is a predatory alliance which has a deeply reactionary character can not become pro-people, and acts and will continue to act against the workers’ people’s rights and the peoples.


  -  Note that the developments in Ukraine are connected to the intervention of the EU and the USA, are the results of the fierce competition of these powers with Russia for the control of markets, raw material and the country’s transport networks. However the people of Ukraine, as all the other peoples of Europe have no interests in siding with the one or the other imperialist, or the one or the other predatory alliance.



The interests of the working class and popular strata of Ukraine mean that they must prevent themselves from being “trapped” in nationalist, divisive dilemmas, on the basis of ethnic, linguistic, religious particularities and to prioritize their common class interests, to chart their path of class struggle, for their rights and socialism. Socialism remains as timely and necessary as ever. This is the perspective against every capitalist inter-state union, in order to pave the way for an economy and society that will not operate on the basis of profit, but on the basis of the needs of the workers.

ENDS.



Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?


Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?
That eighty-five people in a Roman bath
Bathe in blood while wearing a mask—
They must feel shame, or is that too much to ask?
But these are the gods for whom temples are built
And it is we left standing without a pillow to sleep.

Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?
With this Russian roulette, the chips have been set.
Our mother the player the bullet she’ll get,
Because there’s too much return with betting on black.
No room at the table for the poor voice of the masses,
That is for the oligarchs, patriarchs, and monarchs.

Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?
With coloured risings and revolutionary-speak,
A boxed image tunnelled to its peak,
While cannibalised writing takes a front seat,
Carving these intricate tales of the East,
The lens set to blur to hide the veneer.

Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?
That the demons of the past have won at last.
From the blood-soaked forests they’ve hoisted their mast,
Proud of atrocities their legacy has cast.
They’ve stepped from their murky disgusting shadow
And now line the streets with a legion to follow.

Is it just me, or has the world gone mad?
That the very same heroes whose history is buried,
The real men and women, of which there are many,
Took on and beat the world’s most fearsome army,
Now, like a cruel twist of fate, set to repeat,
To be one of the first victims, just like back in ’33.

But it’s not just me: the world has gone mad.
The insanity of it all makes it so frustrating and sad.
Doing the same thing over and over again,
Expecting to get something else instead.
So we must look to the past and always remember
Those heroes who fell and their glowing embers.

[EON]



Whose revolution?

Apparently there’s a revolution afoot in Ukraine. Just tune in to RTE, the BBC or Euronews and you could be forgiven for thinking that a wave of popular unrest is sweeping the country, on the receiving end of which is a Russian-imposed puppet government that established itself through coercion and sustains itself through autocratic terror.



      The riots are serious and sustained. Police and protesters have been killed and injured. The demonstrators’ spokespersons are being interviewed continually by the Western media—threatening “civil war” and asserting that they are in the business of overthrowing a dictatorship.

      No matter how many times this is repeated, however, the factual information stubbornly refuses to acquiesce in their story. Ukraine’s government was elected by the Ukrainian people on 28 October 2012, an election that was notable for a sharp fall in support for Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party, and the almost tripling of the vote attained by the Communist Party.

      So, is this protest movement just an attempt by Ukraine’s pro-Western opposition to heap some pressure on the government before the 2015 elections? Closer inspection of the rioting crowds reveals a much more sinister purpose.

      On 1 January this year thousands of young men wearing masks and balaclavas marched side by side with Second World War veterans—complete with their old uniforms and deactivated guns—through the capital city, Kyiv. They were involved in a commemoration that would be considered unthinkable in much of the rest of modern Europe. The march’s imagery told the story of the participants’ ideals: the black-and-red flags, the Celtic crosses, the runic of the German Schutzstaffel—the SS; and on their placards the hard-faced image of Stepan Bandera. This was the uncompromising leader of the militant terrorist branch of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists, which declared an independent Ukraine on 30 June 1941—nine days before Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

      This independent Ukrainian government’s first act was to collaborate with the Nazis, who enlisted Bandera’s men in setting up Ukrainian volunteer battalions. So began an era of incredible barbarism; for, like the Nazis, Bandera believed that “Bolshevism” and the Jewish population of Ukraine were the enemies within Ukrainian society that were to be “cleansed.” A Banderist pamphlet proclaimed to Ukrainian Jews: “We will lay your heads at Hitler’s feet.” For more than 1½ million of them, as well as hundreds of thousands of (Jewish and non-Jewish) Polish, Hungarian and Russian civilians, the mass graves of the “final solution” were to be their fate.



      The Germans had no intention of allowing Ukrainian independence of any kind within their Third Reich, and so they jailed Bandera and his government for several years, before releasing him again in 1944 when the war turned against them, setting him up with his own headquarters in Berlin and letting him and his colleagues return to train the death squads of the “Ukrainian Insurgent Army.”

      Bandera’s story didn’t end in the ruins of Berlin in 1945, however. Declassified CIA documents in 2007 revealed that Bandera worked first for British and then West German intelligence after the war. On 14 October 1959 he was discussing the expansion of his underground operations in Ukraine while dining with the top brass of a thoroughly infiltrated BND (West German intelligence). Acting on this information, the following day a KGB anti-terror unit caught up with him.

      Bandera’s legacy and that of the rest of the anti-Soviet émigré and underground OUN/Banderist movement has left an indelible mark on Ukraine’s political landscape. Always close to West German and latterly EU interests, and implacably opposed to any policy considered socialist or pro-Russian (for they regard these as essentially the same), the modern protesters of the UDAR and Svoboda (formally the “Social-Nationalists”) remain committed to their wartime idea that Ukraine is “ruled by a Muscovite-Jewish mafia” and annually commemorate Ukrainian Waffen-SS divisions and attack Victory Day celebrations.

      While the young men on the barricades in Kyiv and throughout western Ukraine are the openly fascist cadres of these groups, what makes them truly dangerous is the gamble of the larger and more moderate Fatherland party in supporting this movement, under the cover of protesting against the government’s opting for a trade deal with Russia rather than the European Union. They know they cannot control the movement on the streets, but with the brazen blessing of the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the president of the EU Council, Herman van Rompuy, they clearly feel that they will be in a position to negotiate on its behalf with the “international community” if a coup develops that can bring down the government.

      The ideas such a “revolutionary” government would be based on—presumably within the “liberal” European Union—should be reason enough to take these riots very seriously. As one commentator recently pointed out, if the BNP and EDL were to begin rioting in England while holding up images of Oswald Mosley it would be one thing; if they received support from the European Union and the United States, entirely another.  (DOC)



THE WORLD FEDERATION OF DEMOCRATIC YOUTH PROCLAMATION IN REJECTION OF THE VIOLENT ACTIONS OF VENEZUELAN FASCIST RIGHT-WING AGAINST VENEZUELAN PEOPLE


In recent hours, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has come under attack from the fascist right-wing, as a the plan of imperialism against the revolutionary process; supported by the most reactionary sectors -inside and outside- of Venezuela, whose format is similar to the coup d'état driven in 2002 against the President Hugo Chavez.



This plan has the objective not only to end the Bolivarian process, but undermining the process of regional integration in Latin America. Today, a reverse in the process in Venezuela means to deal a blow to the rest of the democratic and progressive process on the continent.

We condemn and repudiate the deaths that have resulted from the concretion of these violent acts, generating disorder, attacks on public institutions and generally promoting a violent destabilization agenda in the country. We support the call for peace, defense of the revolutionary process and unit have different youth organizations in Venezuela.

Attending to the call for international solidarity we are asking to all members and partners of the World Federation of Democratic Youth to express solidarity with youth, people, workers and the Venezuelan Government continuation of the legacy of Commander Chavez.

Long live the unity of the People!
Long live the World Peace!
Down with imperialism!

CC/HQ WFDY
Budapest, Frabraury 14th, 2014



Tacaíonn Ógra Uí Chonaíle go láidir le tionscnamh Chonradh na Gaeilge "Lá Mór na Gaeilge" a reáchtáil don Satharn seo chugainn, 15ú Feabhra. 


Eagraíodh an léirsiú i ndiaidh cinnidh an Choimisinéara Teanga, Seán Uí Chuirreáin, go mbeidh sé ag éirí as a phost ag deireadh na míosa seo, i ngeall an easpa tacaíochta rialtais ó Dheas do chearta pobal na Gaeilge, go háirithe i gceantair Gaeltachtaí.

Luaigh an tUasal Uí Chuirreáin nach bhfuil Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga in ann feidhmiú mar is ceart de bharr an laghdú in achmhainní na hOifige.
 


Laghdaíodh leithdháiltí na nGaeltachtaí i ngach Buiséad ó thús na géarchéime, trí imeallú a dhéanamh ar an dteanga sa chórás riaracháin phoiblí.

Níl rochtain cheart a thuilleadh ag muintir na nGaeltachtaí ar sheirbhísí phoiblí trí mheán na Gaeilge. Cuimsítear seribhísí bunúsacha ar nós oifigí poist agus dochtúirí. Saraíonn na polasaithe rialtais seo a gcearta teanga.

Baineann an cruachás leis an Tuaisceart chomh maith. Is í Tuaisceart na hÉireann an t-aon áit idir an dá oileán seo nach bhfuil reachtaíocht ar bith ann le cosaint a thabhairt dá teanga dhúchais.

Is furasta an rud é do na rialtais, ó dheas agus ó thuaidh, leithcheal a dhéanamh ar mhionlaigh ar nós lucht na nGaeltachtaí.

Impíonn Ógra Uí Chonaíle ar ógra na tíre a dtuairimí a chinntiú ar an gceist thábhatach seo. Is ógánaigh iad formhór lucht labhartha na teanga ar an oileán seo.

Is cuid lárnach í an Ghaeilge dár gcultúr ach fulaingeoidh sí mura léirimid dlúthphairtíocht leis an tsreachailt ar a son.

Is linn an teanga. Go mairfidh sí go brách.

ENDS.



The CYM urges all young people to support "Lá Mór na Gaeilge" and to attend the protest "Walk For Your Rights" on Saturday, February 15th.

Young people make up the majority of Irish language speakers on this island. The language will suffer unless we, the youth, make a strong statement of solidarity this Saturday to all those concerned about its future.

ENDS.




Education: A Front for Youth's Struggle


In times of economic crisis and relentless austerity such as these, it is crucial to take a  step back from the situation in which we find ourselves and examine the bigger picture.  While many of us are used to the typical news digest concerning the government's quest  for jobs and the public finances, one sector of our society is undergoing major "reforms"  that receive little critical coverage: education. The state's budget deficits over the past few  years have been used as an excuse for the ruling classes, both here and in the real centre  of power, the EU, to implement fundamental changes in the way our education systems  are funded. This unquestionably means the privatization of our academic institutions,  particularly at third-level, as well as an increased role by businesses and philanthropists  (i.e. wealthy private investors) in how they are run. The consequences of such measures  will be grave for young people and society in general if we leave our centres of learning at  the mercy of market forces and the destructive demands of profit.



Last November, the EU parliament passed a resolution establishing a programme called "Erasmus+", which will operate in all member states of the EEA (European Education  Area) for the next six years. While RTÉ dressed the initiative up as a "€14 billion fund to  help young people to study in other European countries", its scope and aims have a far  wider reach. The preamble emphasizes the importance of cooperation between higher  education institutions and businesses, and apprenticeships are advocated as a means of  bridging the gap between knowledge acquired through education and the skills needed for  work. Such policies are casualizing young people's entry into the labour market, making  them grateful for the opportunity to work for nothing. If anyone was under the illusion that  the Irish government is the only authority to have focused on internship schemes such as JobBridge, they're wrong. It's an official EU policy line, designed to provide enterprises  with a free supply of highly qualified labour. It is not about young people upskilling  themselves. What is usually referred to as “labour mobility” in the media has now been  given the seemingly innocuous title “learning mobility” by the EU Parliament.

The EU's attitude towards the cost of education for students is contemptible. In a
parliament resolution of April 2012, third-level institutions were encouraged "to expand  scholarship and funding programmes", but in a resolution of October 2013, Member States  were called on to "uphold the right of all persons, whatever their economic circumstances,  to free and universal education of high quality". The “social Europe” we hear of so often  clearly has no concrete plan regarding the provision of accessible, affordable education  services in the future.
 
The position is unambiguous however, when it comes to the more mercenary aspects of  the EU's ambitions. The Bologna Declaration states that "We must in particular look at the  objective of increasing the international competitiveness of the European system of higher  education.... We need to ensure that the European higher education system acquires a  world-wide degree of attraction". The Bologna Process aims to standardize qualifications  throughout the EEA, a move which benefits employers seeking graduates from states with  cheaper labour costs. It also gives support to "universities' independence and autonomy",  which is simply a way of inviting private interests in through the front door, instead of a  university being funded by taxes and subject to any government oversight.

To bring the issue home, consider Dick Ahlstrom's article in the Irish Times from October  28th last. State funding for our universities is fast falling towards the 50% mark, and this  article discussed the State's possible future role as a minority stakeholder in the third-level  sector. Outgoing UCD president Hugh Brady expressed his opposition to what he  perceives to be "State command and control", arguing that universities should be allowed  to pay their own way in the world. How has UCD embarked on these plans as of late? With  the help of those ever-so independent individuals, the philanthropists. Who are they? Peter  Sutherland, for one, chairman of Goldman Sachs, who part-financed a €25 million  development, the Sutherland School of Law. Denis O'Brien is another, after whom the  O'Brien Centre for Science is named, a development supported by numerous industry  partners that will cost €300 million in total. The sky's the limit for these universities once  they tap into the vast amounts of private capital at their fingertips. Companies such as Intel  and Accenture hand over the funds, and dictate the areas where the investment should go,  where the graduates should come from. These projects will serve to help UCD to "compete  internationally for the best staff and researchers and the top rated graduates and  postdoctoral researchers" according to Dr Brady. The industry partners will receive a fine  return on their investments, and with the means of international graduates at the disposal  of the universities, the question of affordable education for the Irish people will be ignored.

Those who actually provide education are suffering as well. Both Dublin and Westminster  have used the crisis as an excuse to target teachers and, particularly in the case of the  South, to break the back of the resolute teachers' unions. The Haddington Road  Agreement is simply condemning teachers and lecturers to unpaid labour. Just like their  students, they are expected to work for nothing. All Supervision & Substitution Scheme  payments have been abolished for secondary school teachers, with a minimum of 43  hours of such unpaid work to be put in every year. Third-level staff have to contribute an  extra 75 hours of work per year, and they will only receive 75% of their former rate for  marking exams. What is less known is the amount by which workers' pay in the education  sector has declined. The latest figures from the CSO show that between Q3 2009 and Q3  2013, their weekly wages were reduced by a shocking 12.8%, more than any other  employment sector in the economy. The corresponding figure is 13% in the North. A recent  strike in Belfast by lecturers' and students' unions was supported by the CYM.

CYM opposes the reforms in the education sector that have taken place during the present  crisis. We reject the EU agenda of privatizing our educational institutions, of exposing the  education system to the brutality of market forces. We oppose the continued growth of  private funding in this sector, a development that will render our third-level institutions  unaccountable and out of public hands. We express our strongest solidarity with the  struggle of teachers and lecturers that have suffered as a result of government policies in  the education sector, and with their unions who strive to defend their working conditions.
 
The quality of our education suffers as a result of the exploitation of these workers. The  government is not acting in the students' interest, because it is beholden to the interests of  its private creditors and the EU. Young people must act in their interest. The CYM supports  the constitutions of Cuba and Venezuela, which guarantee their peoples an education  system free of charge, democratic and obligatory. We call on all young people to engage in  a struggle for this objective.

(Article published in Socialist Voice, Jan. 2014)


Seven Myths about the USSR
By Stephen Gowans


The Soviet Union was dissolved 22 years ago, on December 26, 1991.

It’s widely believed outside the former republics of the USSR that Soviet citizens fervently wished for this; that Stalin was hated as a vile despot; that the USSR’s socialist economy never worked; and that the citizens of the former Soviet Union prefer the life they have today under capitalist democracy to, what, in the fevered parlance of Western journalists, politicians and historians, was the repressive, dictatorial rule of a one-party state which presided over a sclerotic, creaky and unworkable socialist economy.


None of these beliefs is true.

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Final declaration of the 18th WFDY

World Festival of Youth and Students

The 8000 of delegates of the 18th World Festival of Youth and Students who gathered from 88 countries in Quito, Ecuador, under the slogan “Youth united against imperialism, for the World of Peace, Solidarity and Social Transformation” declare the following:


We salute the people of Ecuador and its struggles; we express our solidarity in the struggle of the Ecuadorian people for popular conquests and radical social-political changes. With the support of the progressive and militant youth of Ecuador which in the past years have made important steps forward and achievements through its struggle through the process of the “Citizens Revolution” the international anti-imperialist youth movement constructed another important moment in the history of its organized struggle. We gathered in Latin America, a continent were the youth movement is steadily growing, once again for the biggest anti-imperialist youth event in the world to strengthen our common struggle towards our common goal: the overthrown of Imperialism..

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On the 46th Anniversary of the Founding of the PFLP


On this, the 46
th anniversary year of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Connolly Youth Movement wishes to send its fraternal greetings and congratulations to our comrades in Palestine fighting the Zionist occupation of their homelands.

From its founding in 1967 by George Habash, and throughout these past 46 years of its existence, the PFLP has remained steadfast in its resistance to perpetual Zionist aggression. Throughout its 46 years of struggle, the PFLP has continuously brought the plight of the people of Palestine to the attention of the whole world, and has defended those same courageous people with honour and dignity. During the massacre of innocent men, women and children in Gaza in November 2012, the PFLP, along with other groups, were to the fore in resisting Israel’s attacks, answering each bomb and missile in kind and showing the world that the Palestinian people will not simply lie down in the face of imperialist aggression, but will tenaciously defend themselves.

Further, the PFLP has always rejected the notion that there can be any settlement or ‘peace’ with the racist, apartheid state of Israel as long as it continues to occupy stolen Palestinian land, incarcerate millions of Palestinians in open-air prisons such as the Gaza strip, and refuse millions more Palestinian refugees the right to return to the lands and homes that were so brutally stolen from them upon the creation of the artificial Zionist state in 1948. The PFLP has consistently opposed the cul-de-sac of US-sponsored ‘peace talks’ with Israel, seeing them for what they are - mere distractions from the struggle for true freedom and democracy in Palestine. The fact remains that US imperialism was and is the driving force behind the Zionist state’s criminal acts in Palestine, and any so-called ‘peace’ brokered by such charlatans must be seen for the hypocritical sham it is.

Today, as we speak, the PFLP has several hundred members incarcerated by the Zionist state, among them the General Secretary of the Front, Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat. We call on the Zionist state to immediately release Comrade Sa’adat, along with all political prisoners and prisoners of war unjustly held in Zionist cages for the sole ‘crime’ of resisting the occupation of their lands.

On this, the 46th anniversary year of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, we salute the martyrs Ghassan Khanafani, George Habash, Abu Ali Mustafa, and all those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom and socialism. We wish our comrades in the PFLP the greatest success and total victory in their struggle to build a single, democratic, egalitarian society in all of historic Palestine, where people of all religions and none can live in peace, with full economic and social freedom.



The death of Nelson Mandela


Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland
5 December 2013

The Communist Party of Ireland expresses its great sadness at the death of one of the great anti-colonial leaders of the late twentieth century, Nelson Mandela.

    Mandela was a towering and inspirational figure, a leader of the oppressed of South Africa and beyond. Together with other liberation leaders he was convicted in the Rivonia Trial, concerning two charges of sabotage, one under the Suppression of Communism Act and one under the General Law Amendment Act. Their arrest and trial provoked worldwide solidarity, with money being collected in Ireland and around the world in the early 1960s to be sent to the International Defence and Aid Fund to assist Mandela and the other liberation prisoners in their legal defence.
    At this moment it is important to acknowledge the major contribution made by working people around the world to Mandela's liberation.

    Despite spending decades incarcerated in apartheid prisons, he remained unbowed and unbroken. His walk to freedom, with his wife, Winnie Mandela, beside him, was a defining image of the late twentieth century. The white apartheid regime, which for decades nestled snugly under the protective wing of western governments, did not and could not break him or the people’s resistance.

    In one of his first speeches Mandela paid tribute to the unbreakable and unselfish solidarity given to the oppressed masses of South Africa by the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc, as against the inaction and active collaboration of almost all western government with the apartheid regime that incarcerated him for twenty-seven years. Mandela also paid tribute to the heroic Cuban internationalists who defeated the invading South African army on the battlefields of Angola, which marked the beginning of the end of apartheid South Africa. No doubt those same western governments will now heap false praise on this champion of human liberation, though they did nothing to help during his long incarceration.

    With his passing we also remember the thousands of ordinary citizens, both inside and outside South Africa, who campaigned for his release and for the imposition of sanctions on the apartheid regime but whose demands fell on deaf ears for many decades.
    With the death of Nelson Mandela humanity has lost a deeply humane and committed liberation leader. We salute him and all the great leaders and fighters who struggled, and those who are still struggling, for freedom and social liberation. The long walk to freedom still has many miles to go.  Statement ends




United for Education!


Connolly Youth Movement supports the UCU, Unite and Unison university staff strike on the 3rd December and urges students to show solidarity with the strike by joining them on the picket line. University staff have seen their pay cut by 13% over the past 4 years while the cost of living has continued to rise. At the same time staff are being asked to undertake increasing workloads to the detriment of their health and teaching. Around 30% of staff are working over 50 hours a week and a large proportion of higher education institutions are using precarious zero hours contracts. At the same time over half of vice-chancellors are receiving salaries of over £242,000. The conditions imposed on university staff have a direct impact on students.



Overworked and underpaid staff's teaching ability is reduced and so the quality of education students receive mirrors the working conditions of those that teach them. This is happening at the same time as higher education tuition fees, and their associated debts, are dramatically increasing and educational grants decimated. Both students and university staff have a common struggle against austerity, the destruction of our education services, the rights of who those who work within it and young people's futures. We do not have to accept these conditions which have been thrust upon us by those who seek to profit from them. Through collective action workers and students can demand social change for a system that supports a decent standard of living for workers and an education system geared towards supporting students rather than market forces.

Strike Information
Queens University, Belfast: Rally at 1pm at QUB Student Union University of Ulster: Picketing at Campus entrances throughout the day.



Open Letter of the KKE to the Communist and Workers’ Parties on the Anti-Communist Activity of Die Linke in the EU Parliament

Dear comrades,

We denounce anti-communism, we struggle against the anti-communist positions of the EU and the anti-historical equation of the socialism’s contribution with the monstrosity of fascism at the International Meetings of Communist and Workers’ Parties, as well as at the other meetings of the CPs.



We highlight the irreplaceable contribution of the Soviet Union to the struggle of the peoples and we refer to the 20 million dead which it gave to defeat Nazism.

We expose the dangerous rationale of the “two extremes” and the relevant framework of the EU, as well as of the bourgeois governments, a framework that has led to the persecution and banning of Communist Parties.

We all understand that the struggle against anti-communism and against the distortion of the historical contribution of socialism is a very serious task and that the anti-communist stance must be decisively denounced.

Consequently, we want to inform you that recently the MEP Helmut Scholz, a cadre of the German Left party “Die Linke”, a member of the presidium of the European Left Party (ELP), organized in the European Parliament on the 12th and 13th of November a meeting with the title: “I traveled to your country as a guest – German opponents of Hitler as victims of Stalinist terror: Family histories 1933-1956”.

As the EU Parliamentary Group of the KKE denounced: “This is a wretched attempt to present German anti-Nazis as victims of the Soviet workers’ state, an even more sordid version of the official political line of the EU that equates fascism-Nazism with communism and promotes the “theory of the two extremes”. It is an insult to the thousands of German communists and other anti-fascists who resisted, paying the price with their own lives, against the Hitlerite barbarity. A blatant insult to the millions of Soviet people, communists and militants of the USSR and in all the countries of Europe, who gave their lives to crush the fascist atrocity. A vulgar slander at the expense of the first workers’ state in the history of humanity, at the expense of the unprecedented gains achieved by the workers under Socialism.”

We assess that this issue is very serious and exposes the dangerous role of opportunism as a vehicle for the promotion of the bourgeois ideology and political line, as a force that defends and disseminates the anti-communist positions of the European Union.

The communist men and women are obliged to provide a decisive response.

15.11.2013

International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE



Four pillars to build an alternative

"Now is the time that we woke up to this reality, that class warfare has been initiated against us by the imperialist powers, the capitalists and its class collaborators here in Ireland. It’s up to us, the youth of today to change the corrupt and debilitating policies of yesterday to begin building the nation of tomorrow!" (CYM new pamphlet "Permanent austerity or path to socialism").

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Had enough yet?

The plan of the Irish government is becoming increasingly obvious: They have no intention of trying to create jobs for young people, and instead want to force us into emigration.

International capitalism and their local managers in Ireland, cannot provide a prosperous, or even stable future for us.

The need to create a socialist system based on the common good, rather the profits of a few, is more necessary than ever.

Women right to choose

The Connolly Youth Movement supports a women’s right to choose as a fundamental human right to control her reproduction. We believe that women faced with a crisis pregnancy are best placed to make their own decisions that impact on their lives and those of their families. We advocate for full access to safe and free abortion on demand as a cornerstone of a truly democratic equal and secular society.

However, women's reproductive rights are only a part of the broad range of women's rights. Women are underrepresented in society in terms of both work and political participation. The consequences of the crisis of capitalism effects women in the first place and in many aspects. Not only difficult material conditions but also lack of job stability, long working hours, stress and time requirements from individual careers are real problems women face. Some of the main reasons why women decide not to have a child is an interference with work, school and the fact that they can't afford it.

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Anti-Fascist Demonstration, O'Connell Street

CYM took to O'Connell Street today, Saturday September 21st, to demonstrate their condemnation of the recent attacks by fascists in Greece, led by the extremist forces of Golden Dawn.

CYM showing red flags in solidarity with the KKE and the KNE (Sept. 21, 2013)

The demonstration was organised by Anti-Fascist Action Ireland, to mark the brutal murder of an anti-fascist rapper and trade unionist, Pavlos Fyssas, on Wednesday, September 18th.

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KKE/KNE on murder of 34 year old by Nazis

of Golden Dawn in Athens

"The KKE calls on the people and youth to denounce the murder of the 34 year old in Keratsini by the fascists of Golden Dawn in a mass and decisive way. The criminal and murderous activity of Golden Dawn has the aim of intimidating the workers and the youth. It grows bold due to the multi-facetted support provided to it by the rotten capitalist system and the interests of big business, which created it and nourish it, so that it can attack the people who are struggling, standing up for their rights, so that it can attack the labour and people’s movement.

The people and the youth have the strength to stop the murderous activity of the Nazis. The workers’ trade unions, the mass organizations in the cities and villages, the people’s committees must isolate the cowardly murderers of Golden Dawn, and protect the people from its poison and activity. The people’s alliance must be strengthened in order to put an end to the activity of the Nazis and the system that nourishes them."

Photo: KKE/KNE antifascist demonstration, Athens (Sep. 18, 2013)

CYM Solidarity with Cuban 5

CYM calls for an immediate release of Cuban heroes: Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Rene González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort. Five men are held as political prisoners by the US, after unfair trial convicted and sentenced to four life terms and one 75 years. Cuban 5 were gathering information on violent Miami exile gangs, who planned terrorist attacks on Cuban soil.

CYM expresses the full solidarity with Cuban patriots and demands the review of the case and immediate release of Cuban 5.

Photo: Vigil for Cuban 5, The Spire, Dublin (Sep. 12, 2013)

40th anniversary of the fascist coup in Chile

Made in the USA

On 11 September 2013 was the fortieth anniversary of the fascist coup in Chile, when the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup that was planned, organized and directed from Washington.

Photo: Picket at US Embassy, Ballsbridge, Dublin (Sep. 11, 2013)

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On the intentions for direct

military interventions in Syria

The World Federation of Democratic Youth highly condemns the imperialist military and political moves towards a direct military intervention to the sovereign state of Syria. WFDY re-affirms its position that we stand against any military or by other means intervention against the people of Syria.

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James Connolly

Biography of Ireland’s greatest Marxist

“Connolly was ‘dragged up,’ like most proletarian boys. Connolly, nevertheless, is well educated. His education is of that sort that comes from conflict with circumstances . . . His whole character has been coloured by these circumstances, which have been bitter, and he has a deep hatred of those institutions which have weighed so heavily on the working class.”—Murtagh Lyng

Click here for a short biography.

To read the important writings of this patriotic Irish Marxist, click here.

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Latest news

Communist Perspective blogspot

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A young voice for socialism!

The Connolly Youth Movement is a youth organisation committed to fighting for democracy, freedom and unity in this country. The CYM takes part in the struggle to build socialism in Ireland and everywhere around the globe.

We unite in our ranks the many different traditions on this island and of new people living and working here.

We work primarily with the Communist Party and the trade union movement to build an alternative youth culture, to open people’s minds to the alternatives to capitalism and slavery.

We also work with other progressive movements to develop young workers’ and students’ consciousness in their own proud history and culture.

As a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth we struggle in opposition to imperialism and for liberation around the globe of all oppressed peoples, including ourselves.

Following the early 1990s crisis in socialism the CYM declined and became defunct for many years. In 2002 it was revived. Since its revival the CYM has founded branches in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, and Galway.

Introductory leaflet

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Our programme


The Connolly Youth Movement (CYM) is an all-Ireland socialist youth organisation supportive of the Communist Party of Ireland . . .

Our constitution


“Membership shall be open to all young people between the ages of 14 to 30 who agree to this Constitution and the Programme of the CYM . . .”