The Communist Party of Ireland sends May Day greetings to the Irish working class, self-employed working people and family farmers. The harsh reality for working class people on May Day 2026 is the increasing cost of living, with the price of food, clothing, energy, heating and rent increasing, while wages – for those workers who have negotiated pay increases – are barely keeping pace with the cost of living. For workers in non-union sectors of the economy the situation is even worse.
The immediate cause of the increase in fuel prices is the US/Israeli war against Iran. While working class communities throughout Ireland, the rest of the EU and Britain endure a cost of living crisis, US exports of crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Europe and Asia have soared, with increased profits for US energy companies.
The recent protests against the price of petrol reflect the alienation, anger, frustration and hopelessness within society, in particular among the working class, family farmers and the self-employed. Unfortunately the voice of organised labour was not heard during the protests. Instead of leading the protests, the trade union movement watched from the sidelines. The protests offer lessons to the trade union movement. Direct action, which includes protests on the streets and economic disruption, is effective. This is something that the trade union movement understood and practised in the past. Workers must begin to learn old lessons of union organisation and strike action as the only effective means not only to defend what they already have, but to improve their wages and conditions.
On this May Day, we also remember the Haymarket Martyrs – executed for their role in the struggle for the eight-hour working day. Their sacrifice gave us May Day itself and stands as a reminder that every gain for workers has been won through blood, organisation and collective action. The fight for shorter working hours, decent pay and human dignity continues today.
Mass protest must also feature if we are to stop the military build-up, which will convert billions of euros into massive profits for the arms industry. The attack on Irish neutrality is part of the drive to war. Defending Irish neutrality is an integral part of the struggle for peace. We need homes and schools, not bombs and bullets. As tensions between the US and the European arm of NATO increase, some anti-neutrality voices in Ireland echo the call of the Spanish government for the creation of an EU army. An EU army is NATO with fewer letters. Even as EU governments claim that they do not support the US/Israeli war on Iran, they have allowed the US military the use of bases in Europe from which bombers, drones and ships have been fuelled, armed and launched.
As the economic situation deteriorates, working class communities on both sides of the British-imposed border will be in the firing line as both the Irish and British governments cut back on socially necessary spending and employers try to keep wages down. A militant trade union movement is our only defence at work.
The Communist Party of Ireland’s 27th Congress has adopted the fighting slogan: Peace, Independence and Socialism. We do not use these words lightly. Peace means an end to imperialist war and Irish neutrality defended. Independence means genuine national sovereignty – not for capital, but for the working class to shape its own destiny. Socialism means the democratic ownership and control of the land, banks, industry and resources of Ireland by the working people. Only under socialism will the crisis of housing, health and wages be finally overcome.
Only a society run by the working class in the interests of the working class will get rid of poverty, homelessness and war. Workers cannot put their futures in the hands of those who view them merely as a source of profit or as a vehicle to power.
The rights won by the sacrifice of the working class – including the May Day martyrs – are being ruthlessly eroded to favour the accumulation of capital.
A worker cannot be liberated unless the whole working class is liberated. This needs international solidarity for each other’s struggles. Socialism is about creating heaven on earth by ending class exploitation, and not the promise of heaven in the afterlife. That is why our great Marxist leader James Connolly said: “For our demands most moderate are, we only want the earth”.
Peace, Independence and Socialism!
