Matt Collins is the People Before Profit Councillor for Black Mountain, West Belfast
Pic: Trimble and Hume celebrate Good Friday Agreement Below: Cllr Matt Collins As the North approaches the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement—the multilateral agreement that signalled the end of decades of violence during what is euphemistically termed ‘the troubles’ – we can expect a great deal of media gushing over […]
The PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton has been the focus of some media attention recently over allegations that alongside others in the top brass of the PSNI, he has been involved in corruption and a cover up, relating to an investigation in 2014 about bribery and misconduct. The Police ombudsman is leading an inquiry into the matter.
Gerry Carroll says The PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton has been the focus of some media attention recently over allegations that alongside others in the top brass of the PSNI, he has been involved in corruption and a cover up, relating to an investigation in 2014 about bribery and misconduct. The Police ombudsman is leading […]
The struggle for Catalan independence which has been raging all this autumn has proved controversial on the left.
By John Molyneux There have been those like the present writer, and People Before Profit , who have given full support to this struggle. There have been others who have said socialists and the left should be wary of supporting any form of nationalism. It has also been argued that the left should not support […]
Matt Collins is a People Before Profit Councilor on Belfast City Council. Here he sets out some the complexities of dealing with the issues of bonfires in the City.
Cllr. Matt Collins (People Before Profit, Belfast City Council) This summer the issue of bonfires was at the centre of politics in the North, with tension increasing after it emerged that Belfast City Council effectively colluded in the storing of large amount of material for loyalist bonfires, and then some weeks later when sporadic violence […]
Bob Dylan wrote his legendary song ‘It’s a Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall!’ in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war.
pic: Hurricane Irma By John Molyneux It was a prophetic song in which Dylan evoked in the most powerful poetic metaphors a world during or after a nuclear holocaust. By the skin of our teeth we avoided that fate in 1962 but now 55 years on we have another missile crisis over Korea and Dylan’s […]
The Jobstown case has once again shone light on the corruption in the Irish state and among powerful elements within the Gardaí. We are told that there was no conspiracy in this case. Instead, the prosecutor’s independence was robust enough to withstand any potential pressure that may come from the political establishment. Yet the evidence […]
It is over a month now since Seanie FitzPatrick was acquitted on all charges and, as far as the media is concerned its all forgottern . It should not be. When Seanie FitzPatrick walked free from the high court it expressed all that is rotten in Irish society, writes Brid Smith.
The fact that the dismissal of his case coincided with the ongoing determined attempt by the State to criminalise and jail the Water Charges protestors of Jobstown reinforced the point and rubbed salt in the wound. Let’s start with the official story. The official story was that the Judge ordered the jury to acquit FitzPatrick […]
The new exhibition at the National Gallery, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting, which runs till 17 September, is well worth a visit. This is both for the art in itself – Vermeer is a wonderful painter and many of the other artists featured are also very good – and for what it tells […]
How they speak to us The 1% who run this society, the capitalist ruling class, speak to the rest of us i.e. the general public, a majority of whom are working class, mainly through the media, that is via a series of intermediaries – politicians, TV producers and presenters, news readers, newspaper editors, […]
The establishment politicians are raging about it and so are many of the commentators and pundits in the media, but they can’t do anything about it. The fact is that on water charges the people have won.
The establishment politicians are raging about it and so are many of the commentators and pundits in the media, but they can’t do anything about it. The fact is that on water charges the people have won. Remember ‘Big’ Phil Hogan, the Fine Gael bully. He was going to charge us all five or six […]