No Society? No Room Bookings? No Problem: Controversy, Communism, and Campus Politics at Maynooth University

On Wednesday, 11th March 2026, I sat down for an interview with Luca Gleeson and Aoibhinn Raethorne, representatives of the Kildare branch of the Revolutionary Communists of Ireland. Whilst this group is not affiliated with Maynooth University in any official capacity, their presence across campus is unavoidable, whether it be stickers displaying their name and symbols on everything from desks in lecture halls to bathroom stall doors, or even a stand positioned right outside the library’s front entrance. 

There is an air of mysticism surrounding the group, as though there isn’t an actual Marxist society in Maynooth (more on that later); many students can recall encounters with the “Campus Communists”. So, I arranged an interview to finally find out who the Kildare Revolutionary Communists (KRC) are, and what they stand for. 

Without wasting any time, I asked both Gleeson and Raethorne what inspired them to join the KRC in the first place. In a world where your digital footprint can affect all walks of life, they surely had strong to associate themselves with an ideology that calls for the end of certain institutional systems as we know it. Responding with a shared desire to combat the “repercussions of the capitalist system” using examples ranging from the genocide against Palestinians, to how the housing crisis is fundamentally linked to rising domestic abuse rates, as a lack of alternative accommodation prevents victims from leaving abusive households.  

Raethorne stated that at their branch meetings, “they [KRC members] were talking about identity politics and how to end women's oppression and understanding that the oppression of women has its basis in class and labour division.” With this focus on addressing societal issues fundamentally inspiring her to join the group, Gleeson added that the KRC’s enthusiasm to educate on issues he felt were being ignored by local councils played a key role on his decision to become a member of the branch. 

The aforementioned mysticism surrounding the groups’ activity on campus largely due to an absence of any official communist society, was the primary reasoning for my interest in conducting the interview. I asked how they felt about the lack of a society supporting their ideology on campus. Gleeson gave an insight that I wasn’t expecting. There actually has been an attempt to establish a Marxist society since the beginning of the 2025 academic year. 

“So there is like conversations going on between the Clubs and Societies Office and students to establish a communist society. The last we heard was that we submitted to the C+S Office. Everything seemed in order, and we haven't heard back since. If they don’t give us a society, we might appeal it.” 

He added further, clarifying the timeline of events “We got about 30 [signatures in support] for a Marxist society. I think it was a bit more than 30, actually. The reason we only made the submission right before December was misorganisation within the branch. We have had the basis to do it since October.” 

Not wanting to leave any question to go unanswered, I bluntly brought up the fact that the KRC has held meetings on campus, as recently as the 3rd of March at the time of this writing, and asked how they managed this. Usually, one must be a committee member of a registered society to be able to request any rooms across campus for an event, with approval required from the Clubs and Societies office before a booking is confirmed. Gleeson answered as candidly as I had asked, replying “We do a lot of sneaking around. We have to find a centre, right? And generally, [we] go into a room, do a meeting, walk out. But we’re not booked [in the room.]” 

Finishing the discussion centred around whether a communist group really exists on Maynooth's campus, I asked whether they felt the lack of response from the Clubs and Societies Office, despite meeting the signature quota, was an attempt to silence the group, with both delegates agreeing on that whilst other universities such as DCU and TCD have outright denied communist societies from forming on their respective campuses, an official rejection from Maynooth University hasn’t been received.

“We don’t know yet if they [the Clubs and Societies Office] come out and they say “No”, you know, then I think there’s an appeal to be made for bureaucratic sanction, just blocking completely undemocratically. But we haven’t seen it yet, so [we] don’t want to make any claims”.  

A point of contention for the branch is that even the name “Revolutionary Communists” evokes a negative perception with the general public, who often think the group is following in the footsteps of dictators such as Joseph Stalin or Mao Zedong and support the numerous horrific atrocities associated with their regimes. 

I asked the pair how they differentiate themselves from the historical connotations of communism itself and about the meaning of “revolutionary” in the context of the KRC. Raethorne discussed the periodic crises in capitalism, such as the previously mentioned housing crisis, and the need for a revolutionary system to address the current systems inherent flaws, with a strong emphasis on the need to prioritise workers' rights. Adding “I think people are actually, a lot more open to the word revolutionary than you might think. It tends to be the word communist that gets the people questioning us.” 

She continued “Nearly every single stall we will have someone come up to us and say “Oh, what about Russia?” But it is really important that we do explain to these people that we do not stand for what happened in Russia, basically, after the year 1924” 

I can personally see how people get confused as the KRC use all the typical Soviet troupes in their branding and on their social media accounts, even referring to each other as “comrade”. 

Gleeson comments on the optics of this, “To not call ourselves communists would be outright lying to people; we are communists. We read the ideas of people who called themselves communists, what makes us any different? It is precisely to reclaim the word communism, the hammer and sickle and all that from the Stalinist bastards who wrestled it out of the hands of the workers in the first place. Listen, we don’t stand for practicing Stalinism. Instead, here’s what genuine communism is, genuine Marxism.” 

Responding to the idea of reclaiming these terms and symbols, I asked why not just adopt a new term or a new image? Gleeson states “I think it would be very dishonest for me to sit here and be like, you know, I read Lenin and Trotsky but I’m not a communist, I’m an “XYZ”. And I think that sometimes in can create more problems than it’s worth as well.” 

He went further, to comment on the disconnect between the meaning of the word communist and its public reputation: 

“I’ve talked to people in like People Before Profit, and that, like there’s a layer of youth there that are very, very radical in that who would call themselves communists.” 

Using the phrase “No to the bosses, no to the landlords” as an example, Gleeson suggested that “Good slogans, good ideas and good messages can put forward the role of showing what we actually stand for and win back the word “communism” in general.” 

The interview revealed to me, despite controversy and misconceptions, that the Kildare Revolutionary Communists see themselves as educators and liberators rather than radicals. Whether they come to be welcomed or opposed, their growing visibility ensures that their message around communism, workers' rights and social transformation will continue to be heard across Maynooth University's campus. 

At the end of what would be a 57-minute-long interview, I asked both Aoibhinn and Luca to summarise the KRCs' end goal in one word. Their answers were identical: Revolution.