Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Next Saturday, the British state will spend £100 million of public money on a coronation for "King Charles". James Connolly was right when he described the British monarchy as "tyranny imposed by the hand of greed and treachery upon the human race". The coronation comes at a time when 4 million children in Britain are facing food poverty. The monarchy as an institution is built on racism, privilege and empire. This is a very obvious attempt to rehabilitate that institution. Some republicans are saying they will attend the coronation on the grounds of reaching out to the unionist community. We think it is perfectly possible and necessary to build a united socialist movement of working-class people from Catholic, Protestant and non-religious backgrounds, not on the basis of this sort of anachronistic and hated institution but on the basis of the interests of ordinary people and the need for a socialist Ireland and a socialist world. Even in Britain, only 29% of people think the monarchy is very important. It is an increasingly unpopular institution. However, a viewer who turns on RTÉ on Saturday will be treated to four hours of the coronation. Why on earth is our State broadcaster spending four hours on a Saturday displaying this so-called coronation?

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