Fragments of Victory: The Contemporary Irish Left

There is much to learn from modern left-wing activism in Ireland. A rich tapestry of movements, including republicans, social democrats, trade unions, Trotskyists, and anarchists, they have been battling neoliberalism and austerity with vigor, frustration, success, and failure.

Fragments of Victory charts these political currents, from the difficult early years of anti-austerity campaigning to the successful mass campaign to end water charges and prevent water privatization and the seismic victory that was ’Repeal’ - the campaign for women’s reproductive rights. Looking to the present, the campaign around the brutal housing crisis is also addressed.

Each chapter covers a different campaign or group, written by leading activists who provide insider perspectives on how history was made and share valuable insights that can be applied to international movements everywhere.

Oisín Gilmore has been involved in political activism in Ireland, the UK and Europe since 2001, and is currently researching labour organisation and economic development at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He has been published in a number of journals as well as in left-wing publications including Jacobin, Lookleft, Rabble and The Commune.
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David Landy is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in Trinity College Dublin and Director of the MPhil in Race, Ethnicity, Conflict. He has written for Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Social Movement Studies on the water charges movement, Irish anti-racism and Palestinian solidarity. He is the author of Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights, and co-editor of Enforcing Silence: Academic Freedom and Criticism of Israel.