New issue of Resistance now out

by update Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:36

Incidentally, Solidarity are a US leftist organisation.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_(US)

by possible punter Sat Dec 20, 2008 18:30

Whadaya mean by the "usual outlets"? Where can I get it in Dublin for instance? Can the ISN identify the outlets perchance? My powers of telepathy are fairly limited.

by Wurzel Sun Dec 21, 2008 00:02

Books Upstairs has a discreet alcove with such publications. Connolly Books near the Project Arts center stocks some fringe publications, though they can be sniffy about anything remotely resembling Trot-Lit. Some suburban and city center pubs are visited on Friday or Saturday evenings by assorted publication sellers, including The War Cry of the old Sally Ann, which ain't political.

by someone who's not you - none Sun Dec 21, 2008 21:07

I picked it up in Books Upstairs, across from Trinity today, so that's obviously one of the mysterious 'usual outlets'. Good read for a leftie publication.

by Séamus Fri Feb 06, 2009 13:12

Why does "independent left activist" Fintan Lane seem to be the main contributor to this ISN publication?

by Lao-Tse Sat Feb 07, 2009 23:40

You can pick up copies of "Resistance" and "Workers' Solidarity" in the Quay Co-op. As for other left-wing papers,
sometimes the Socialist Party gives out the "Socialist" on the street. Barracka Books used to sell left-wing papers as well,but
it closed last year.

The Cork City Library's Reference section used to keep copies of the "Irish Democrat",WS, and "Socialist Worker",but bizarrely, now only seems to carry the "Socialist Standard"-the mag of the tiny SPGB,which has no Irish connections at all!

by leftie Sun Feb 08, 2009 01:33

Fintan Lane used to be a member of the ISN but left them last year. He was always an independent activist so he's obviously reverted to that status. Why he has written most of this issue of the ISN paper is obviously a question for the ISN. Bit odd alright.

by Simon McAllen Sun Feb 08, 2009 02:21

Resistance is alright but Indymedia is where its at for all the gos.

by fear ciuin Sun Feb 08, 2009 02:53

I've sometimes wondered about these fringe magazines I see people hogging around the pubs or at demonstrations. Can anyone give a checklist of current titles in circulation at the moment, and their political tendencies? What sort of circulation do some of them have? Can many be found online?

by Lao-Tse Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:34

Here is a list of periodicals stocked by "Books Upstairs",including many from the Irish left:

http://www.booksupstairs.com/searchresult.aspx?%20Cat=A...&id=2

Also one from "Housmans," the UK Left-wing bookshop, which lists several Irish publications, such as the "Irish Democrat" and
"Red Banner":

http://www.housmans.com/periodicals.php

by leftie Sun Feb 08, 2009 13:03

Off the top of my head, there's:

The Socialist (Socialist Party)

Socialist Worker (SWP)

Resistance (ISN)

Workers Solidarity (WSM)

Red Banner (non-aligned)

Are there others? The Socialist and Socialist Worker are transpositions of British Trotskyist papers. Both tabloid size and very predictable in terms of their content. Resistance and Workers Solidarity are both A3 fold-over jobs, on high-quality paper. There's less in them than the two Trot papers. WS is Ireland's only anarchist paper; Resistance is libertarian socialist (i.e. Marxist but not Leninist or Trotskyist). Red Banner calls itself a magazine but is a very shoddily produced A5 pamphlety thing. Content is probably libertarian socialist but it doesn't seem to have any particular political direction.

Don't think the Stalinists (Workers Party and Communist Party) produce a regular paper at all this days. The WP have a tatty looking irregular publication that is distributed mostly in places they hope to get councillors elected, which they never will.

My apologies to anybody I've inadvertently left out (git it?).

by Lao-Tse Sun Feb 08, 2009 13:16

Connolly Books sells "Unity" and some other newsletter which are published by the CPI. They'd also be "An Phoblacht" and "IRIS" for
Shinners, and I think the IRSP's "Starry Plough" is still going.

Socialist Democracy don't produce a print mag, but they do publish some interesting pamphlets sold in "Books Upstairs". I think there's
also "The Rag", which is produced by a group of Irish feminists.

by leftie Sun Feb 08, 2009 13:41

I deliberately didn't include Sinn Fein for the same reason I didn't mention the Labour Party. They're both establishment parties and only vaguely on the left. Sure. the Shinners are in government up north! Didn't include Republican Sinn Fein either because they're just a nationalist party. I thought the query was about publications produced by the radical left?

I think the CPI's Unity is only a newsheet these days and very irregularly produced. If the IRSP's Starry Plough is still out there, I gotta say it's keeping a low profile.

People sometimes talk about a plethora of left publications at demos but really they're aren't all that many. The four that you'll usually see at demos are Socialist Worker, The Socialist, Workers Solidarity and Resistance. Most of the annoyance caused at demos is by leaflets, truckloads of which seem to be given out anytime I attend a protest march, and most of which are irritating junk leaflets telling us stuff we already know or trying to impress some minor doctrinal point into our collective subconscious. There's too many leaflets given out by the left these days. Has it always been thus?

by fear ciuin Sun Feb 08, 2009 16:39

Lao-Tze, I never knew Books Upstairs had a website, so thanks for that. I remember their first shop was in a street near Mercers Hospital and you had to climb a stairs to get in. Actually you have to climb a small interior stairs/steps in today's shop opposite Trinity to reach Irish literary publications and some imported political-philosophical-cultural titles. I've glanced at the limited number of Irish political periodicals displayed in a cluttered corner near the bargain table of literary books. Not much really.
Leftie's short list is fine. Other posters might list some of the magazines he doesn't mention.

Alternative music, art and comix magazines have appeared and disappeared in the past. I remember some time back a feminist title called Wicca and two environmental periodicals called An Caorthann and The Contaminated Crow. Caorthann (rowan tree) seemed to have the blessing of people now prominent in the Green Party. Actually it had a neat appearance even though produced on cheap paper. The Crow was an inky stapled job obviously run off an ageing duplicator. Nowadays computer applications can help groups to give their publications a more convincing appearance.

Somebody should post an article on fringe magazines in Ireland and supply a list of current titles - the whole gamut from holistic health and indie music to middling left and far left. Some lifestyle alternative titles used to be displayed in an organic cafe in Temple Bar. Belfast, Cork or Limerick must have magazine outlets too?

by Andrew Sun Feb 08, 2009 17:45

There are PDF's of a few of the early Irish anarchist publications in the archive section of the WSM site at http://www.wsm.ie/public_newswire?type_id=28
These include Resistance, Contaminated Crow, Anarchist Workers and the issue of Anarchy (London) from 1970 that had articles from People's Democracy members.

by Kevin Murphy - 32 csm Mon Feb 09, 2009 04:16

an archive of current and past editons of 32 csms Sovereign Nation and a number of locally produced Beir Bua leaflets are available at this link

http://32csm.info/sovnat.html

by Lao-Tse Wed Feb 11, 2009 21:51

Does anyone remember the shop in Temple Bar that used sell left-wing (mainly anarchist) books? It's gone now.

I didn't mention the controversial Athol Books magazines either, partly because I strongly disagree with their opinions, but mainly because
they don't seem to be on the "radical left" anymore. The January Irish Political Review had articles praising Declan Ganley (no
mention of Ganley's links to the US Military) and Michael O'Leary as well a long defence of Charlie Haughey. I don't think you
could describe any of these people as on "the radical left" ;) .

by me Thu Feb 12, 2009 19:40

Athol Books and the Aubane Historical Society are concoctions of what used to called the British and Irish Communist Organisation. Fierce defenders of Ulster unionism, their defining principle was two-nationism and support for partition. Now they are cheerleaders for the republican wing of Fianna Fail. Weird bunch.

by Lao-Tse Thu Feb 12, 2009 20:30

I remember Anti-Fascist Action having a paper called "No Quarter",that would certain fall into the category of
"radical left". Is that still going?

This thread reminds me of the scene in Futurama where Fry walks round his old neighbourhood:

Fry: 'And on this corner, a guy with a big bushy beard used to hand out a socialist newsletter'.

Bender: 'Was it poorly xeroxed?'

Fry: 'You bet!' ;) .

by fear ciuin Fri Feb 13, 2009 02:02

That anecdote about badly xeroxed (gestetnered too?) left newspapers and mags highlights an important point. Too many left publications are shoddily produced. The publishers and streetsellers seem to be under the illusion that the 'strong truth' or 'scientific analysis' of magazine content is enough to carry the targeted readers. With respect, I say that more is needed than strongly worded articles to grab and keep the attention of readers. Let's face it, left publications have come and gone. As a simple test try to list ten left publications that circulated in the early 1980s in Ireland, then list how many of them are still circulating. Why are left newspapers and magazines so ephemeral? I suggest that their general joylessness is one factor, and their scrappy appearance another. Artistic presentation can be powerful, but many left publishers lack artistic sense. Look for art and joy in the quest for social change.

by Lao-Tse Sun Feb 15, 2009 15:18

A few years ago, the Irish pacifist movement (linked to Pax Christi) used to produce an interesting magazine called "Dawn".
It had a companion magazine "Dawn Train". But it collapsed a few years ago and I don't know of any Irish pacifist magazines
nowadays.

Oddly, I once bought a copy of the UK "Peace News" in a Cork newsagent.

by early bird Mon Feb 16, 2009 07:42

That magazine ended as you say but soon after was succeeded by a monthly newsletter called Nonviolent News. It has a website version, apparently maintained in Belfast, and keeps archives on past issues. Other pacifist stuff can also be dug out of the archives. I think Pax Christi is a separate organisation that has friendly links, but I don't know if they produced a magazine.
Try this: http://www.innatenonviolence.org/news/index.shtml

And whatever happened to Irish CND? I know that a few key supporters in Cork like Adi Roche (also active in the anti-nuclear issue with Cork Friends of the Earth) formed the Children of Chernobyl relief organisation after the disastrous reactor meltdown in the Ukraine.
Here's info about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Roche

by Lao-Tse Tue Mar 03, 2009 23:34

I'm not sure if it's a left magazine, but "Carn", the magazine of the Celtic League, sometimes turns up in Cork.

There used to be an interesting magazine called "Island" out a few years ago-I think by the folk who did the
book on the Rossport Five-but I suspect it's gone under now.

by earlybird Wed Mar 04, 2009 13:25

I sometimes picked up a cyclostyled paperback-format quarterly called Aisling in health food shops. Produced from the Aran Islands, it carried articles on 'celtic spirituality', environment and pacifist antiwar actions. Some back issued may be archived here: http://www.aislingmagazine.com/