Irish Republican Socialism

100 years on from the Easter Rising, it brings great sadness to my heart to see the sacrifice Connolly gave, the greatest sacrifice a man can give, his life, was in vain.

The occupied six counties, like Scotland, demand independence and independence only. Yet independence without socialism can bring no liberty to the working man, and instead, the suffering, the destitution, and the poverty would long reign over the Irish proletariat

Unlike Scotland, the Irish people have a legitimate right to call for independence. They have been a colony of the British for 800 years, and the bloodshed resisting their colonial occupiers could fill the ocean a hundred times over.  I will always maintain that no country suffered more at the hands of the British Empire than the Irish. Yet as I have mentioned in previous work, we have not seen a more courageous and revolutionary group than those on this island.

However, parallels with Scotland are plentiful, and I would advise Comrades to read my short essay ‘Scotland and the National Question’ before moving onto this.

Sinn Fein may well bring unification to Ireland, but unification will not bring to an end the suffering of the Irish people. Sinn Fein is a capitalist party who whether in a divided or a unified Ireland will maintain a Capitalist agenda.

“If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs.”

-       Shan Van Vocht (socialist newspaper) January, 1897. Reprinted in P. Beresford Ellis (ed.), "James Connolly - Selected Writings", p. 124

James Connolly was a Socialist. The Irish Citizen army fought on Marxist principles and despite the best efforts of counter revolutionaries and revisionists to whitewash history, the Easter Rising was a Socialist rebellion. It was a rejection of colonialism from the British, a rejection of imperialism of the First World War, and an acceptance of Connolly’s life ambition, a Socialist Republic free of foreign influence.

Fast forward to the modern day, and Ireland still lacks unity. Yet she also lacks a movement worthy of continuing the fight for freedom asides the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). By going into parliament with the Unionists, by accepting the Good Friday agreement of 1998, Sinn Fein accepted partition, and they accepted British rule. This is a perfidious act to commit, and one that will not be forgiven or forgotten. No parliament is ever so valuable that one should throw away his ideals to take a seat in it. There are parallels between the sell-outs in the British Labour Party, and those in Sinn Fein, despite ideological contrasts.

The only worthy group continuing Connolly’s fight are IRSP. The political wing of the Marxist-Leninist militia INLA, they are the party of the people, not of the corporate bosses like Sinn Fein in Stormont.

The following quote comes from “This is Republican Socialism”   direct tfrom he official party.

“The struggle for national liberation cannot be separated from the class struggle. Any attempt to isolate one from the other will result in failure. It is meaningless to speak of a free nation, if the overwhelming majority remain oppressed, and national sovereignty is lost through multinational corporate control of the economy just as much as by partition. At the same time, someone who refuses to challenge British imperialism in Ireland cannot claim to be fighting for socialism and the continuation of partition props up the divisions in the working class of Ireland that hold us back from our own liberation. We have no choice in whether or not we wish to consider the interconnection of the national and class questions; reality forces us to do so.

We define the national liberation struggle as that struggle which seeks to force a British military withdrawal from the occupied six counties. The destruction of the pro-British loyalist armed forces. The withdrawal of British political influence from all parts of Ireland. The ending the partition of the island of Ireland and the overturning of both the partionist governments presently administering political affairs of Ireland. The gaining of collective economic control of the nation's resources by the nation as a whole and the eradication of any control or influence exercised by foreign capitalists over any aspect of the Irish economy. The recognition of a separate Irish cultural identity and the establishment of revolutionary 32- county socialist republic.

We aim to build a strong alliance in Irish society of our class in towns and cities, agricultural workers in the country-side, unemployed workers, working class refugees, linked as a movement internationally with other like-minded liberation struggles.

We firmly stand-by the struggle for a republic. On that we are inflexible, but our struggle for the republic is a means to an end. For us, the national liberation struggle is but an aspect of the struggle for socialism.”

There are many, in Sinn Fein who protest that they are Socialist. To them I ask the following:

What Socialist would agree to maintain British influence in Ireland?

What Socialist would meet with representatives of the apartheid Israeli government?

What Socialist would support the neoliberal and imperialist E.U?

To end this analysis, I again use material from the IRSP.

Sinn Fein is a petty bourgeois nationalist organisation concerned with the political freedom of Ireland.

The IRSP is a republican Marxist organisation dedicated to a political, economic, social and cultural revolution that will rid Ireland of all of Imperialism and Capitalism.

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Sinn Fein (ourselves alone) rarely co-operate with others and do so only when they consider it politically advantageous (example during the hunger strike).

The IRSP's central policy has been the Broad Front, a pre-condition for revolution in Ireland.

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Sinn Fein is an abstentionist party.

The IRSP would take parliamentary seats in certain limited circumstances.

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Sinn Fein regards the "peoples" support as necessary for the success of their struggle.

The IRSP regard the working class as central to any struggle. The class struggle is the struggle.

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The IRSP seeks international support from socialists, working class organisations and genuine anti-imperialists.

Sinn Fein also seek the above support and that of reactionary organisations such as Noraid.

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The IRSP has never publicly attacked specific actions of the Irish Republican Army.

Leaders of Sinn Fein have joined the witch hunt against actions of the Irish National Liberation Army.

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According to Gerry Adams: "There are no Marxists in Sinn Fein."

The IRSP welcomes Marxists in its ranks.

This is a well-organised design pamphlet, which explains the ideological differences between the two.

My next piece will be applying the Ta Power document in a modern day light.

I thank the Irish Republican Socialist Party for these resources allowing me to produce this short piece.