The Starry Plough (newspaper)

The Starry Plough (newspaper)

The Starry Plough is the official newspaper of the Irish Republican Socialist Party. It states on its website: "The Starry Plough is the only paper that stands firmly against British rule and the destruction of capitalism in Ireland." The paper also focuses on socialist solidarity issues around the world.

The name of the paper is taken from the flag of the same name. The decision to use the name Starry Plough was inspired by a newspaper produced by Official Sinn Féin in Derry City in the early 1970s. This was at the suggestion of Derry Members to the IRSP Ard Comhairle in early 1975. The Irish translation An Camcheachta was provided by the late Mairin Bean Ui Chionnaith, an Irish scholar and a staunch Republican. The first edition of the new Starry Plough was published in April 1975 under the editorship of Mick Ahern. Subsequent editors included Osgur Breatnach, James Daly, Mary Reid, and (again) Mick Ahern. Important contributors have included Bernadette McAliskey, Tom Hayes, Ite Ni Chionnaith, Eamonn McCann, Niall Lenoach, Redmond O'Hanlon, Gery Lawless, Siobhan Molloy, and London SWP cartoonist Phil Evans.