Author Archives: lipstick socialist

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About lipstick socialist

I am an activist and writer. My interests include women, class, culture and history. From an Irish in Britain background I am a republican and socialist. All my life I have been involved in community and trade union politics and I believe it is only through grass roots politics that we will get a better society. This is reflected in my writing, in my book Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women and my involvement in the Mary Quaile Club. .If you want to contact me please use my gmail which is lipsticksocialist636

My review of “THE WOMEN WHO WOULDN’T WHEESHT. Voices from the frontline of Scotland’s battle for women’s rights.” Edited by Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn.

Posted on July 20, 2024 by lipstick socialist

Wheesht (Scots) (wi:ft): a plea or demand for silence(exclamation);to silence(a person,etc.) or to be silent (verb)   On 21 March 2015 the Mary Quaile Club (of which I was a co-founder) organised what we called a “real International Women’s Day … Continue reading →

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Joe Mullarkey; archive of an Irish working class activist

Posted on July 13, 2024 by lipstick socialist

Joe Mullarkey,  (1942-2022) co-founder of the Irish in Britain Representation Group and  trade unionist, made an important contribution to the  radical history of working- class  people in this country. Joe  was  Chair of Bolton IBRG as well as national Vice … Continue reading →

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My review of “Sisters and Sisterhood The Kenney Family, Class, and Suffrage, 1890-1965” by Lyndsey Jenkins.

Posted on June 24, 2024 by lipstick socialist

  Just up the road from where I live  there is a statue of Annie Kenney in Oldham town centre. . She stands looking out across the town with a handbell in one hand and a sheaf of papers in … Continue reading →

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“there was a belief, I could do things” .Women in the Irish in Britain Representation Group; genuine grassroots activism.

Posted on May 10, 2024 by lipstick socialist

This is the text of a talk I gave for the Women’s Grassroots Activism Conference. I am  an activist, not an academic. I am Mancunian and  second generation Irish. From 1985-2000 I was a member and a National Officer of … Continue reading →

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From Women’s Liberation to Irish Liberation: making the links.

Posted on February 24, 2024 by lipstick socialist

This is a picture of me in 1977 picketing Hull Irish Catholic MP Kevin McNamara’s surgery alongside other women and men  in the local National Abortion Campaign branch.  Later, he was as useless for the Irish community in Britain as … Continue reading →

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My review of “Children of the Revolution” by Bill Rolston

Posted on February 5, 2024 by lipstick socialist

Reading this book reminded me when I joined on a protest sometimes in the 1980s  outside the West Midlands Police HQ for the Birmingham 6. I remember the children and grandchildren of the  imprisoned men who stood alongside campaigners. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Children of the Revolution, Communism, education, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, North of Ireland | 1 Comment

Margaret Mullarkey of Bolton Irish in Britain Representation Group; her life seen through the eyes of her children.

Posted on January 17, 2024 by lipstick socialist

  In the history of the Irish in Britain Representation Group many women were active; but,  as in other organisations,  their role has been often  marginalised and underestimated. One of those women was  Margaret Mullarkey of Bolton IBRG. Sadly, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, education, human rights, Lorenza Mazzetti, novels, political women, Uncategorized, women, young people | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My review of “The Sky is Falling” by Lorenza Mazzetti

Posted on September 24, 2023 by lipstick socialist

Lorenza Mazzetti (1927-2020) was a  writer, filmmaker,  and theatre puppeteer who wrote this, her first novel,  in 1962, published as II Cielo cade. It was only published in this country in 2022. “The Sky is Falling” is a fictionalised account … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Catholicism, Communism, drama, education, films, human rights, Lorenza Mazzetti, novels, political women, Uncategorized, women, young people | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Every Badge tells a Story; Armagh Women and the Strip Search Campaign

Posted on September 10, 2023 by lipstick socialist

  The Working Class Movement Library  collects badges as part of archiving the history of the labour movement. Recently a new collection of Irish badges was donated. As a member of the Irish in Britain Representation Group whose archive (and … Continue reading →

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My review of “Rewriting the Troubles War and Propaganda Ireland and Algeria” Patrick Anderson

Posted on August 25, 2023 by lipstick socialist

The formation of the Irish in Britain Representation Group, a national grassroots-based community organisation in the 1980s, challenged the  traditional Irish organisation  – the Federation of Irish Societies  – and its toadying to the Irish Government over the relationship between … Continue reading →

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