Red Network New Years Statement 2026

The world is in turmoil. For many working class people the current state of the world seems incomprehensible. From the continuing slaughter in Gaza to the escalating drive to war from the heads of the EU and NATO. Trump now looks set to attack Venezuela.

At home, from the pressures of the cost of living crisis to the housing crisis, working class people feel angry, frustrated and often feel powerless. A section of the establishment, from Trump in the US to Fianna Fail here at home, are using anti-immigrant rhetoric to further confuse and divide our class - all to divert attention from the neoliberal capitalist system and their own failures.

There was a period after the bank bailout of 2008 when it seemed as though change was coming. We had a massive fightback against the water charges here in Ireland, workers in Greece had 32 general strikes, mass movements in Spain fought against austerity and there were popular uprisings across the Arab world.

Unfortunately these struggles were unable to break through - often because they were led by those who wanted to merely propel themselves to power within the capitalist system - like the Greek radical left party Syriza did. In other cases, as with the Indignados or Occupy, these protest movements suffered from a lack of any political strategy at all and lost effectiveness as movements from below fell back.

The capitalist system is capable of adapting, more than many socialists had predicted. Some on the socialist left argue that capitalism is in “decay”, but it’s more accurate to say it’s on life support. It is a chaotic and crisis prone system but one look at the military might the US state can muster should put paid to any idea the overthrow of this system will be an easy matter. Their ruthless state machines intervene to save their system, as they did after the banks crashed, and capitalism will survive as long as workers are willing to accept reduced living standards, exploitation and the growing horror of further wars.

Neoliberalism has been hollowing out public services for decades, there are housing crises in all Western countries, most acute in big cities. The cost of living is continuing to increase for workers. But the capitalist state has unimaginable resources they can mobilise to prop up the capitalist class. This state machine has also proven its ability to co-opt or crush opposition movements in equal measure. Only a working class revolution can actually break it.

The capitalist system is driven by corporations’ constant need for expanding markets, to increase their falling profit margins, this means that imperialism is part and parcel of the system. War is no accident - it is economic competition spilling over into miltary conflict. The imperialist West has facilitated the slaughter of Palestinians by their watchdog Israel.

Though under serious pressure from popular protests across the globe they have continued to support the Israeli state as their most important ally in the Middle East. No matter what deal has been done Apartheid Israel will continue land theft, expulsion and expansion and the idea of the two state solution merely offers them cover to continue.

In recent weeks US President Donald Trump has ordered attacks on Venezuelan ships and killed over a hundred people by blowing up boats. Both Democrats and Republicans have voted through a near $1 trillion US military budget. The EU is spending €800 billion on arms and military equipment. The new head of MI6 Blaise Metreweli recently said that Britain is in a “space between war and peace.”

A French army chief said that France must be prepared to “lose children” in war. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte made a speech warning that “conflict is at our door” and that “we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured.” No wonder working class people are feeling overwhelmed, just as they did in the approach to the First World War.

At home, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are ramping up war propaganda to undermine Irish neutrality. From the alleged drone attack during Zelensky’s visit, to claims of Ireland needing French warships for defence for the 2026 EU summit, there is a consistent drip feed pro-war message to instill fear in working people. This is exactly what the Swedish government did before joining NATO, undermining the long tradition of support for neutrality in the Swedish working class.

Socialists must fight to defend Irish neutrality, exposing government propaganda and lies while being aware the world is sliding down the path to military conflicts at an escalating pace. We have to point out the systemic reason for war - it is corporate competition spilling over from economic competition to military conflict and we have to never tire of repeating that the main enemy of workers in Ireland is at home - in the Dáil.

Because of all the turmoil in the world, objectively it should be a good time for the revolutionary left to grow. But many workers are confused. There have been electoral swings back towards the centre left in some countries but because of the nature of reformism this can just as quickly swing back again to the right.

Just look at Britain where Keir Starmer’s Labour won a landslide election in 2024 only to implement authoritarian policies, betray working class voters and open the door to former Tory Nigel Farage and his nasty Reform party. There has recently been spectacular interest in the new left wing “Your Party” led by Jeremy Corbyn. But arguments within the reformist leadership are already disrupting this party before it’s even got off the ground.

We’ve been through this movie before. We saw Syriza rise on a wave of hope for change and on a similar left reformist platform. They argued for the whole left to join them and many did as factions. In the end not one of these factions was able to prevent the betrayal once Syriza formed a government and the result was the complete demoralisation of the Greek working class and the return of the Greek version of Fianna Fáil.

The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York Mayor is another example of a swing to the centre left. But because of the politics of the Democratic Party, which is not even a left reformist party but a party of the US capitalist class, this will lead to the incorporation of this movement into the mechanisms of the US state.

Demoralisation of these movements is of course not inevitable but is likely as long as there is no revolutionary socialist organisation that can lead workers in common struggle and through political education tied to that struggle, clarify the true nature of the system. It’s clear that many people are looking for change and in some countries are looking to the left again, which means that there is an opportunity out there.

But if revolutionaries can’t win the working class to a more radical socialist perspective that opportunity will always be lost. This is a costly lesson learned repeatedly over the last 120 years.

Here in Ireland the election of Catherine Connolly as President was a blow to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Both parties are floundering in the polls, with Fianna Fáil damaged by their Jim Gavin fiasco and Fine Gael losing experienced members like Paschal Donohue. Not surprisingly they have already started to take a harder line on immigration in an attempt to win back conservative voters who are being influenced by the far right.

While the Connolly vote and the spoiled votes combined point towards massive dissatisfaction and an opportunity to weaken Fianna Fail and Fine Gael’s stranglehold on Irish politics, it’s important to understand the specifics of the presidential election (for a longer analysis of the presidential election see our statement on this website).

Instead of simply cheerleading a future Sinn Féin led government, socialists must find ways of engaging with the sentiment of hope, the growing desire for an alternative to FF/FG while also clearly pointing out how such a government won’t be able to deliver for the working class. Any government made up of Sinn Féin, Labour, the Greens and Social Democrats will compromise with the system. That’s obvious.

We must put it up to the likes of Sinn Féin that the potential of the Connolly vote has to be put to use through a real mass movement on housing. We in the Red Network understand that a Sinn Féin government that fails to deliver for workers will lead to massive demoralisation, the return of the establishment parties and a rising far right. Instead of simply waiting for this to happen we want to build an organisation of workers that is prepared to build a revolutionary fightback.

We are strongly for the united front model that mobilised tens of thousands during the water charges. This kind of left unity empowers workers and puts pressure on the likes of Sinn Féin. At the same time the conflation of unity for struggle and political unity is damaging for the socialist left. They are not the same thing.

Political unity is always on the basis that the larger parties agree to the political framework, it has to be on their terms, and therefore socialists end up canvassing for support for this reformist dominated project. The working class has had enough false promises over the years and any hint of dishonesty from socialists will see them punished even if it leads to temporary support. We will fight alongside anyone on the left who advances the interests of the working class but we will do that while maintaining our open advocacy for a working class rebellion.

In terms of struggle we are witnessing a historic low in terms of strikes and industrial disputes in Ireland. One of the exceptions in 2025 was the fantastic school secretaries and caretakers strike in August. They put up a massive fight against the government and proved that without their work schools would not be able to remain open. Special Needs Assistants bravely broke the 1990 Industrial Relations Act by joining pickets and shutting down schools across the country.

Unfortunately, the union leaders of FÓRSA entered negotiations in which the government had no interest in conceding to any of the demands of the workers. This dispute is not resolved and the workers might be back on the picket lines in 2026. We will stand with them and with any workers that fight back against greedy bosses or the bosses’ government. We will make every strike by workers our number one priority.

In terms of street protests the Palestine movement has continued to bring significant numbers onto the streets. The movement hasn’t been able to stop the Israeli war machine and the question has to arise, as it should in every movement, how do we build a lever that can actually take down imperialism?

The only role we can play in that here in Ireland is to build a movement to take down the establishment here. That means getting rooted in workplaces and working class estates. This slow detailed work may seem like a distraction from the immediacy of what’s happening in Palestine but how else do we build a lever that can actually take on the system? You need to connect city centre protests against Israeli Apartheid with work in the estates on rent hikes. We need roots.

There have been very small protests on housing with ICTU continuing to hold back the Raise the Roof campaign. In Dublin there have been the beginnings of campaigns against council rent increases and around BusConnects, which our Red members have played a key role in, working through the tenant union CATU. We want a major protest by council estate tenants and those on HAP against unjust rent hikes accompanied by serious organising in every estate.

It may seem like a big leap to go from this local organising to the grand scale of the world crises developing around us but we have to remember: we have to do the slow careful work of building up the working class movement if we want to have a lever that can provide any kind of real intervention in the crises to come. Slow detailed background work will deliver more than performative actions that get more applause today.

Every socialist needs to be organic to a campaign, to a community fight or to a workplace organisation. Without that we cannot deal with the world to come. We have to connect the detailed work of today with the grand ambitions of tomorrow. Reformist strategies involve doing local work but connecting it to a reformist political framework, there’s no bridge to the future.

Ultra-lefts talk about revolution from the sidelines but have no connection to the working class, they’re external to the workplaces and estates. We Reds want to resist both these dead ends in 2026 and in the years to follow. It’s very hard work but necessary. We workers aren’t afraid of hard work.

The Red Network may be a small organisation but we play a big role. Some of our members have been key to initiating the CATU campaign against rent hikes in Dublin City Council. We have been part of organising meetings and protests for better bus services in working class areas. We have stood in solidarity with striking workers. We also understand the need for strong, honest socialist politics that always put the working class at the centre.

We Reds will use any means to leverage a platform from which to articulate our revolutionary politics - we will be at the heart of every protest and strike, we will stand in future elections with an openly revolutionary platform - something no other group does. We Reds will keep fighting until we can unite all the actual working class revolutionaries in Ireland into one strong working class organisation.

We will continue to fight back against the system, the bosses and their government in 2026 and we hope that you will join us in the fight! If you agree then fill in the join form on this website!