Articles by Lorcan Mullen
Thoughts from the austerity frontline – Something we can do
Posted on March 18, 2012 | 1 Comment
For the past week, I’ve been reading Paul Mason’s ‘Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere’, which I thoroughly recommend. I’ve been reading it mostly while travelling between appointments and workplace visits in my job as a school workers organiser for UNISON. All week, I’ve been stepping off buses fired with the restless energy of a febrile [...]
Call in the army? Remember Northern Ireland…
Posted on August 9, 2011 | 4 Comments
At the time of writing, it’s difficult to comprehend the scale of the trouble in London, not to mention Birmingham, Leeds or Liverpool. One thing is for sure though: the notable impotence of the Metropolitan police in tackling a roving, leaderless wave of theft, intimidation, assault and petty vandalism. With much of the grand expanse [...]
Labour, loveable institutions, elections and the real big picture: a scattershot attempt to start a painful discussion
Posted on July 30, 2011 | 1 Comment
02:59 in a bedroom in Belfast is the wrong time and place to get deeply restless and fired up for a new, robust, proud and striving social democracy. And, as you’re about to see, it probably does little for coherence. Strangely, this restlessness was inspired by James Purnell’s Newsnight film on welfare, listless staring at [...]
Letter from Northern Ireland: our non-movement and what it means
Posted on May 31, 2011 | 5 Comments
Lorcan is Deputy President of NUS USI (Northern Ireland) When I was approached to write for Bright Green, I was asked to write about the Northern Ireland student movement. I’m going to explain why it doesn’t exist, and why acknowledging that fact and associated troubling truths is important if we truly seek to build movements [...]