Aontacht Media

A Brief History of the Irish Student Anti-Austerity Movement Since The 2010s

László Molnárfi: “My piece ‘A Brief History of the Irish Student Anti-Austerity Movement Since The 2010s’ in which I trace the history of the student movement day-by-day in Ireland’s 32 counties from November 3rd 2010 until March 8th 2021.

I’ve catalogued 237 events (student actions, government decisions and political changes) relying on 280 sources, interviewed student radicals and then traced the ideological development of the student movement. There are graphs, pictures and a comparative analysis with the UK’s movement too!”

The Roots Party: A Grassroots Revolution for Rural and Working-Class Ireland

László Molnárfi

Thursday 27 February 2025

Founded three years ago, the Roots Party is an emerging political movement that aims to address the systemic neglect of rural and working-class communities in Ireland. Born out of grassroots frustration, it has steadily grown into a dynamic force advocating agrarian syndicalism, workers’ rights, and economic equality. In a recent interview, party representative April Maria Sheehan Corkery shared insights into its origins, core ideologies, and aspirations, painting a picture of a party committed to fostering change from the ground up.

Totalising Politicisation: Voluntary Associationism in Student Unions for Progressive Ends

Totalising Politicisation: Voluntary Associationism in Student Unions for Progressive Ends

By László Molnárfi 

Sunday 27 October 2024

The closed-shop student union model has paradoxically led to an all-encompassing, yet strikingly unrepresentative model of democracy.  It is a mirage of liberal philosophy, presupposing a magical, homogenous and apolitical unity between students. It does the bidding of university managers and the state to ensure that student unions are devoid of radical politics and to turn them into organisations invisibly occupied by the liberal mainstream. In this article, I will make the case from a left-wing perspective to abolish mandatory membership and replace it with voluntary association.

Iran and Israel, A relationship of contradictions.

This piece will address an increasingly problematic narrative I have been seeing in news media and discussions in apparent “left-wing” outlets in the West, there is also a huge conglomerate of leftist content creators who promote these same narratives some examples to keep an eye out for are Richard Medhurst, ”SaveSheikhjarrahnow”, Max Blumenthal. They all share the following views that I write about in the following sentences. I am referring to the common misrepresentation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a bulwark against imperialism and Western hegemony.

TCDSU is the most democratic it has ever been, via grassroots participation

It is with bewilderment that students read the Trinity News editorial dated 21st of March 2024 accusing the Students’ Union of authoritarian tendencies. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, this year has seen student participation in the union skyrocket and power decentralized, due to the grassroots structures that we created.

Maynooth’s New Strategic Plan Faces Protests By Postgraduate Workers

On Tuesday this week members of the Postgraduate Worker’s Organisation (The largest Postgraduate union in Ireland boasting well over 1000 members) protested the launch of Maynooth’s New Strategic Plan by the university’s president. This is part of recent escalations nationwide by the union, which has balloted across universities in support of Collective Action across various universities. It has proven itself a militant union in its actions, rapidly growing since the merger between PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU) and the Postgraduate Workers Alliance Ireland (PGWAI).