Social Items

TPQ
Gowain McKenna ✍ It is the second of week of April 2026 and we are well into the mass fuel protests taking place across Ireland. 

By and large protestors represent the back-bone of Irish society, hard working farmers and other workers whose very survival depends on reasonable fuel and energy costs. 

Yet, there are also many supporters and other participants who are involved by mere fact of moral responsibility to the Irish people and way of life. For it is these very people who are the lifeblood and soul of the Nation, and that keep the country running while the cabal in Leinster house plot and scheme to the detriment of the Irish working class.

The reality is these fuel protests did not just happen off the cuff, but rather are the result of a growing mass discontent and disillusionment that by now has been simmering for months or even years. For make no mistake these protests are not just about fuel prices, but are also a response to many disastrous decisions on behalf of a government embedded firmly in neoliberalism and corporatism. 

It is therefore fitting that by preventing access to major fuel depots and ports the protestors are now hitting the government exactly where it hurts. Perhaps now the FF/FG coalition will understand the hardship of the Irish working class who in many instances are living hand to mouth and from paycheck to paycheck amidst one poorly managed crisis after another. There has to be a tipping point somewhere along the line and perhaps this is it. 

The government is also quick to play the used and worn Far Right card in a feeble attempt to divide and discredit. But let us call it what it is, a workers led revolt that brings with it clear potential for revolutionary change. And whether or not those involved lean to the Left or Right is totally irrelevant because economic turmoil and genuine hardship impacts us all.

By now the FF/FG cabal in Leinster house are so out of touch with the typical Irish citizen it is frankly disturbing. Indeed, on the second day of unrest Taoiseach Martin was publicly scathing of protesters while showing zero understanding into why Irish citizens were taking such measures. Instead he made it abundantly clear that his sympathies align solely with big business, the elites and corporate interests who God forbid might be short of footfall.

The Irish government could attempt to deal and alleviate this in another way, perhaps by acknowledging the strike with a view to negotiation on strike demands, or by taking simple steps to further reduce or halt tax revenue per litre of fuel or heating oil. Yet the reality is such steps are an anathema to those only invested in self-interest and pursuits for personal gain.

It is an unfortunate side effect that such protests will bring about temporary fuel shortages for the people at local filling stations and forecourt's, but on the whole it is a short term sacrifice in the pursuit of holding the government accountable, and to send a message to invoke much needed change of government policy and direction.

Alarmingly, like something from the fascist playbook of Pinochet, Franco or Mussolini, the Irish government has now began to mobilize the Irish Army to quell and put a stop to the 'blockades' of motorways and key fuel depots across the country. 

If this measure is to go ahead it would be a grave mistake on behalf of the State. It would set a most dangerous precedent and be a clear indicator that there are two very distinct societal constructs living side by side in Ireland: the oppressed and the oppressors. Or to put it another way, those who defend Irish people and interests, and those who do not. Finally, the last word should be left to Liam Mellows when he said:

It is a fallacy to believe that a Republic of any kind can be won through the shackled Free State. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The Free State is British created and serves British Imperialist interests. It is the buffer erected between British Capitalism and the Irish Republic - Liam Mellows

⏩ Gowain McKenna is a Belfast born engineer and musician. He has an M.Phil, MS.c and B.Eng in Aerospace Engineering, but has somehow found himself working in the marine industry in Co. Donegal Ireland, the place from which he now calls home. Visit his website.

Irish Fuel Protests 🪶 Not Just About The Fuel!

The Journal ★ Written by Stephen McDermott.

Our FactCheck editor details the internet trends seen by a thirty-something-year-old man.


It Started With an image posted to a far-right Facebook page.

I spotted it while I was scrolling early on Saturday afternoon: a map of Ireland with six red dots in a ring outside Dublin, and a caption in block capitals that read “National fuel protest assembly points Tuesday 7am”.

Soon I saw others share the same map, or AI slop pictures of trucks with the same details about assembly points for Tuesday morning, almost exclusively on pages that usually share far-right and anti-immigrant content.

Plans for a protest had, of course, been building in the days beforehand, but the images were my first glimpse into this online callout for people to go to Dublin.

They appeared in my feed because of the types of pages I monitor for work, but their reach extended far beyond those spaces over the course of the weekend.

It’s never easy to tell how big these things will be from early on, though it quickly became clear from my social media feeds that the protest was underway virtually – even though roads and motorways were clear.

Continue @ The Journal.

The Internet's Bad Actors Quickly Distorted The Fuel Protests Into A Narrative Divorced From Reality

Friendly Atheist ★ Two Minnesota cases expose how clergy power dynamics—and victim-blaming tactics—are colliding with secular law.

Last year, a Catholic priest from the St. Cloud Diocese in Minnesota was charged with “sexually abusing, physically assaulting and threatening a woman to whom he had given spiritual guidance.” A woman said Father Joseph Herzing had counseled her over a period of several years beginning in 2018, and that relationship soon turned sexual… and violent.

Setting aside the horrific details of the allegations, Herzing was a priest. He was supposed to be celibate. He was in a position of power over a woman he was guiding. Even if everything had been consensual—and the allegations said they were not—it would have been unethical and potentially criminal.

Last year, a different Catholic priest from the St. Cloud Diocese in Minnesota was also charged with sexually abusing a woman. A woman accused Father Aaron Kuhn of assaulting her repeatedly over the course of three years when he was providing her with spiritual advice.

According to the complaint, the victim told police that Kuhn used his role as a spiritual advisor to manipulate her and pressure her into sex. 

Continue @ Friendly Atheist.

Catholic Priests Say Charging Them With Sexual Abuse Violates Their Religious Freedom

Right Wing Watch 👀Written by Kyle Mantyla.

Recently, self-proclaimed Christian nationalist and unabashed Trump cultist Lance Wallnau spoke at a church where he gushed that, thanks to the Trump administration, Christian ministries and non-profit organizations are being flooded with government grants to carry out charitable and social welfare work, which Wallnau said they can use to "disciple people up to the point where they're receptive to the gospel of salvation."

"There's billions [of dollars] right now that are on the table for a transfer of wealth into the Kingdom of God, if we can hold on to the government to be able to access it," Wallnau declared.

As such, Wallnau added, it is imperative for churches to mobilize their congregations to vote in the midterm elections to ensure that Democrats don't turn off the spigot.

"Donald Trump only has two more years he could be in office, and in November, he could have his whole momentum blocked because most Christians don't even know that there's a midterm thing," Wallnau warned. "What happens in midterms—in the middle of your term— is the other party can organize better than you and take away all your power."

Continue @ RWW.

Lance Wallnau Hails Trump As 'An Actual Old Testament Prophet King'

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Thirty Nine

 

Pastords @ 39

 

A Morning Thought @ 3114

John Ware ✍ rejects both the form and content of a recent faux characterisation of his journalistic standards. 

I don't know Niall Meehan, but I read that he is the former "Head of the Journalism and Media Faculty" at a private college in Dublin.

So he will know that scepticism, curiosity, and an open mind are key to fair minded, ethical journalism for which I dare say he sees himself as one of Ireland's custodians.

Unfortunately, these qualities were absent in a series of ad hominem attacks he recently posted about me.

First, by buying incuriously into a classic example of moral confusion in The Phoenix with the inference that I was a Very Bad person for giving evidence in court recently against Gerry Adams who spent two days in the witness box denying he'd ever been in the IRA.

I have no difficulty justifying breaking my off-the-record undertaking of 43 years ago to his right-hand man, Danny Morrison. While, of course, I maintained it for the purposes of my programme about Adams and Morrison in 1983, it was rather more conscience-testing in the face of Adams' latest chutzpah attempt to rewrite history on oath. Since I was in possession of a relevant piece of evidence contradicting his outlandish denial of IRA membership (so insulting to IRA victims), when I was asked to provide it, I took the view that there was a much greater obligation to the victims, the general public and the historical record, than to Danny Boy. The war has, after all, been over for almost three decades! Furthermore, all political parties including Sinn Fein always insist that legacy victims are the priority when this is so obviously untrue. Finally, let's remember that collusion by silence cuts both ways - whether covering up awful crimes by the State or by the IRA, although not, it seems, to Messrs Meehan and The Phoenix.

Second, my reported comments to Ian "Butch" Studdard in 1983 have been taken right out of context. Studdard was in thrall to Adams, and didn't mind who knew it. If I said what he says I said, it will have been a deliberately provocative satirical riposte to his face for his fawning over Adams. I certainly recall being told that Studdard had warned Adams in advance that I was investigating his claims never to have been a member of the IRA which was a grossly unprofessional and uncollegiate thing to do.

Third, Meehan references a 39 year old article which I wrote as a contribution to an investigation by the much respected Ireland correspondent of The Independent David McKittrick in which we suggested Colin Wallace - an army press officer and part time UDR solider who alleged there was an intelligence services smear campaign against certain MPs - was also something of a Walter Mitty. And, that one way of testing his credibility was to examine the derring-do claims he made about his exploits as a display parachutist at public events with two army teams called The Phantoms - whom he said he commanded - and the Black Knights. 

Wallace complained to the Press Council who ticked me off for preferring the evidence which suggested Wallace had bragged about his parachuting achievements, whilst simultaneously accepting there was "clearly room for rival versions...".  It was a bizzare verdict but in any case, readers can judge for themselves which version they prefer based on the research that I conducted.

In raising the Wallace business, The Phoenix makes the smeary suggestion that I was part and parcel of an establishment attempt to discredit evidence that "state forces (had) promoted illegal (sic) loyalist violence." This was a silly thing to do because a couple of google clicks would have demonstrated the opposite. My work for the BBC on collusion between agents working for military intelligence and special branch led to the Stevens 2 and Stevens 3 inquiries, as recognised by Sir John Stevens himself and by the Irish government at the time. Also, in the government commissioned report that found extensive State collusion in the assassination of Patrick Finucane, the late Sir Desmond de Silva QC said:

I should also record that retired senior intelligence officers, and the former BBC journalist John Ware, also engaged extensively with the work of my Review and provided me with important evidence and insights. Their assistance was provided voluntarily and was extremely valuable in enabling me to produce this Report.

I mention this only to demonstrate the puerility of The Phoenix's journalism and Meehan's apparent respect for it. Incidentally, if it's ethical values they're in search of, they will find an exploration of them over 18 chapters in my book (Neither Conform Nor Deny) due to be published next month. It's a forensic analysis of the moral maze into which the British State ventured by always prioritising the protection of agents over the criminal justice system and sometimes over life itself during the NI conflict.

Finally, Meehan draws attention to claims made about me and the BBC by an Al Jazeera journalist called Richard Sanders and a barrister, Martin Forde KC.

As with his other posts, Niall Meehan's incuriosity prevented him from seeking my side for each of the stories he cites. But he's in good company with Messrs Sanders and Forde whose allegation that I and my Panorama colleagues misleadingly edited an email in a programme about Jeremy Corbyn, is completely untrue and objectively so. The real mischief is in the way Al Jazeera reported the edit. Both Sanders and Forde ignored a courteous letter drafted by the BBC legal department to Forde which he refused to discuss followed by repeated attempts by me to patiently demonstrate how he and Al Jazeera had got the detail round their necks - not to put too fine a point on it. It may come as no surprise that a journalist failed to grapple with the detail wherein lies the devil, but one expects better from a KC. KCs are not infallible, after all. In my opinion, and in the opinion of the BBC, Forde and Sanders' conduct over this was intolerably high-handed.
 
For those still interested, the detail is laid out here - with some unsettling reflections on Messrs Sanders and Forde's approach to reasoned, evidence-based argument . . .  and the ethical standards of Al Jazeera's journalism, at least in this case here.

John Ware, a veteran investigative journalist, is author of
the upcoming book Neither Confirm Nor Deny.

Incurious Journey

You've been had, writes Carrie Twomey 

Want to know what American interference in Irish politics looks like? How an American attack on Irish democracy operates? 

Last year at St Patrick's day in Washington DC, President Trump invited Conor McGregor to the White House, where he was introduced to senior members of his cabinet such as Elon Musk, and met Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon. Musk maintains a fondness for Irish far right accounts on his social media platform, often boosting their posts to his millions of followers. 

McGregor was even given time at the White House press podium, something no Irish Taoiseach has ever been afforded, where he outlined his vision for Ireland. The official meeting with Ireland's actual, democratically elected leader was brief and far less sensational. 

Many viewed the McGregor invitation as a calculated insult. It was a blatant indication of the direction the Trump administration would prefer to see Irish politics go in. It was also thought at the time that the Trump administration was preparing to support McGregor as a candidate for the Irish presidency. The invitation to the White House and facilitation of high level introductions was a powerful endorsement of McGregor and his views. 

Upon return to Ireland in April, McGregor was being interviewed by Tucker Carlson at the Freemason's hall. Carlson was also feted at McGregor's pub. 

By the end of the year, Steve Bannon was openly declaring that Ireland was going to have an Irish Trump, and that an Irish MAGA movement was being created. 

These markers are the fins of the shark surfacing as it hunts. 

The American influence on and connections with the Irish far right has been evident for years, mainly having come in via religious support on anti-abortion. 

Since Trump first came to office in 2016, that influence has intensified, being visible in the language and tactics used by anti-vaxxers during Covid, anti-immigration rhetoric, protests, and increased racism and racist attacks. 

The predatory, profiteering nature of social media data capitalism has enabled the spread of toxic propaganda, turning local Facebook and WhatsApps group into vectors of disinformation. 

One of the first official acts the new Trump appointed, MAGA supporting US Ambassador did upon arriving in Dublin in January was attend a far right conference featuring the likes of Malachy Steenson, Una McGurk, Jana Lunden, and Eddie Hobbs, who has been a guest on Steve Bannon's internet show. Ambassador Walsh showed up to this conference a couple weeks after Bannon's 'Irish Trump' comments. 

Who arranged his attendance? 

In March of this year, the US State Department issued a directive to all US Embassies and consulates to "recruit local influencers, academics and community leaders abroad to carry counter-propaganda messaging, an approach designed to make American-funded narratives feel locally organic rather than centrally directed". 

In other words, to launch MAGA internationally, as Bannon had signposted previously. 

It would be foolish to look at the April fuel blockade and not question what part the malign influence of the US government is playing in the protests. 

The rhetoric and accompanying propaganda is heavily Americanised, even down to ridiculous attempts to compare the Gardai and Irish Army to ICE. The tactics employed are the same was what was done in the 2022 Canadian "Freedom Convoy", which was referred to then as "Maple MAGA" and heavily funded from American donations. 

It is obvious by even a causal check on social media sites that massive amounts of bots are posting support of the blockade - click on the profiles and they reveal themselves with follower lists in the double digits and multiple name changes. Who is paying for this online campaign? 

Most telling, in terms of analysing the amount of American influence in this protest, is where the protesters are focusing their ire, and where they are deliberately not. They are not protesting the war which has caused the rise in fuel prices. They are not blocking the US Embassy or Shannon airport, or US companies that are connected to the war, and they are nowhere near Trump's golf course in Doonbeg. 

Instead they are driving handmade gallows on trailers up and down O'Connell Street calling for the deaths of the Taoiseach and Tanaiste. For as many things that you can complain about the Irish government for, starting a war in Iran that halted global supply of oil is not in their gift. 

They openly declare they want to bring the Irish government down - to be replaced with what? To what end? 

The Americans would benefit from a weakened Ireland and an Irish government in chaos. 

Ireland is geographically strategically important. It is economically important with its tech and pharma multinationals. It punches above its weight diplomatically, acting as an important bridge. It is a trusted and respected partner in the EU. 

Ireland is also one of the most vocal and visible supporters of Palestinians. This support has long drawn the attention of Israel, who used to send Nazi hunters to Ireland in the 1970s. Ireland's presence in Lebanon as UN peacekeepers has also been a longstanding annoyance to Israel. 

Ireland is also a strong supporter of Ukraine. This has continually irritated the Russians, who currently probe the seabeds around Ireland looking for data cables and sail their shadow fleet tankers near Irish waters. 

Both Russia and Israel play key parts in the American MAGA movement, and in the global far right network the Irish far right is part of. Russia and Israel also share antipathy towards the EU. 

Ireland has powerful, fascist enemies. The United States, Israel, and Russia need a weakened Ireland to achieve their goals. 

A strong Ireland helps the international resistance to fascism. It pushes the EU to stand up against Israel in its genocidal activity in Gaza and its push into Lebanon. It helps keep the EU united against Russia's aggression and imperialist desires. It has the ability to regulate and enforce legislation against American technologies. It can and will advocate against supporting the US's war on Iran. 

That is the Ireland the blockade protesters want to topple. That is the Irish government the manufactured protest is targeting. 

It wasn't the Irish government that caused the rising fuel cost. It was Israel, and the United States, with their war on Iran. As pressure on fuel resources increases, Russia also stands to benefit, which will help its war expansion. 

These protests are vampires sucking up the very real fear, anxiety, anger, and concerns Irish people have about rising costs, economic pressure, housing, healthcare - all the same issues working people are suffering from around the world because of the excesses of capitalism. 

The protests are diverting the energy of the Irish people away from focusing on actions that would bring tangible changes and deflecting the blame from the warmongers causing the problems. 

Don't fall for it. Blockade Doonbeg. Boycott and protest the Irish Open. Expose the grifters who are profiting from attacking the country. These people will walk Ireland into a fascist state if you let them. 

If you feel like this blockade protest is an attack on the nation, you're not wrong.

⏩Carrie Twomey hates Illinois Nazis (just like the Blues Brothers)

Duped Again

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Thousand Nine Hundred And Thirty Eight

 

A Morning Thought @ 3113

Pádraig Drummond ✊ April 3rd marked the second anniversary of the tragic killing of Josip Štrok, a young man whose life was stolen in a racist attack here in Dublin.

Josip Štrok

We remember Josip with sorrow, and we stand in solidarity with his family, friends, and all who loved him. No words can ease the pain of such a loss, but we send our deepest condolences and our unwavering support.

What happened to Josip was not an isolated incident; it was the consequence of hatred, of words turned into violence, of a climate where racism is tolerated, excused, or even encouraged. The abuse shouted during the attack, telling people they do not belong, that they are “not at home”, is a chilling reminder of how dangerous this rhetoric is.

Racism has no place in our society, not in our streets, not in our politics, not in our communities. Dublin is a city of diversity, resilience, and shared humanity, and we must defend those values every single day.

Those who spread fear, division, and hatred must accept responsibility. When public figures and candidates fuel hostility toward immigrants and minorities, they are not bystanders; they are part of the problem. As has been said, they have blood on their hands.

We must reject the false narratives that try to redefine Irish identity as something rooted in exclusion and xenophobia. That is not who we are. True community is built on respect, compassion, and solidarity, not hate.

Let us honour Josip Štrok not only with remembrance, but with action. Speak out against racism. Challenge hate when you hear it. Stand with those who are targeted.

Because silence allows hatred to grow, and we cannot allow that to happen again.

Josip Štrok R.I.E.P

⏩Pádraig Drummond is an anti-racism activist.

Remembering Josip Štrok

Labour Heartlands ☭  Written by Paul Knaggs.

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” - George Orwell,

How the British Left Traded Solidarity For Virtue Signalling, 
And Why the Working Class Is No Longer Listening

There is a speech circulating in left-wing circles in Dublin that ought to unsettle every socialist in Britain. Not the kind of unsettling that produces a conference resolution or a letter to the Guardian. The kind that keeps you awake at three in the morning. The kind that names a thing you have been half-knowing for years but have lacked the honesty, or the courage, to say aloud.

The speech was delivered by László Molnárfi, former President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, at an event organised by the Socialist Workers Network. It is, in the truest sense of the word, a reckoning. Molnárfi names what many on the left have known for years but have been too comfortable, or too afraid, to say: the socialist left has lost the working class. Not because the working class has turned fascist. But because the left abandoned it first.

He describes a scene from April 2025. An anti-immigration march of ten thousand people down O’Connell Street. A counter-protest of two hundred left-wing activists. The class disparity was unmistakable. On one side stood working-class people, expressing a deep and complex dissatisfaction that no serious observer could reduce to simple racism. On the other stood leftists, primarily students and self-styled thought activists, shouting “Nazi scum” at the very people they claimed to represent.

“The Socialist left rushes to defend the system, but this defends neither asylum seekers nor the working class. In fact, it defends the government.” — László Molnárfi, TCD Students’ Union

He was speaking about Ireland. He might just as well have been speaking about Britain.

Today, as this article is published, the Together Alliance is marching through London from Park Lane to Whitehall. The organisers announced from the stage that half a million people had gathered. The Metropolitan Police put the figure closer to fifty thousand. The gap between those two numbers tells you something about a movement’s relationship with reality that no opinion poll could. A left that cannot accurately count itself is a left that has prioritised how it feels over what it is actually doing.

But here is the deeper point. The people who have walked farthest from the left are not in London today. They are in Scunthorpe, where only this week Reform UK took the Brumby ward by-election from Labour on a turnout of seventeen per cent. The Greens polled one hundred and thirty-three votes. The march in London will not speak to a single one of the four thousand five hundred people in Brumby who did not vote at all. And it is those four thousand five hundred, the silent and the exhausted, whose absence should terrify the left far more than the eight hundred who voted for Reform.

Can The Left March For Victory While Losing The Working Class?

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)