In this episode we talk to Eugene McCartan. Originally from Co. Down, Eugene has been an activist with the Communist Party of Ireland since joining in Dublin in 1974. He served as the party’s Chairperson from 1989 to 2001 and then General Secretary until his retirement from that role in 2023.

We discuss Eugene’s background and joining the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI); the short-lived Left Alliance between the CPI, Workers’ Party and Liaison Committee of the Labour Left around that time; the history of the Communist Party of Ireland and its development since the 1920s – through key periods of the conflict in the North, the tensions in organising North and South, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and subsequent organising; the CPI’s positions on Imperialism and Republicanism; and the contemporary international conflict and political position.