Is there a political edge to Dubliners?

Belfast had outstripped her as the great city of Ireland, and the economy was in shambles. Formerly fashionable Georgian townhouses became horrible slums, with inadequate sewage and cramped living conditions. Her ports were in decline, and chances for advancement were slim for the lower and middle classes. Power rested in the hands of a Protestant minority. Not surprisingly, Dubliners dwells heavily on the themes of poverty, politics, and stagnation. He is often deeply critical of Irish provinciality, the Catholic Church, and the Irish political climate of the time