Republican Socialism is the belief that the struggle for an end to partition (national liberation) and the struggle for an end to capitalism (socialism) in

This was basically antagonism between the separatist and the social revolutionaries. It is the stance taken by Republican socialists that destroys this antagonism and finally brings the ideas and thoughts of James Connolly to the fore.

Republican Socialist ideology is an attempt to implement democracy into the final outcome of both of these struggles. It is the undemocratic nature of both of these issues that ensures they will never be solved unless democracy is implemented as the basic reasoning in figuring out their settlement. It is the basic ability of the human species to realise and see when an injustice has been committed that keeps these two struggles alive and they will not go away until they are resolved in a way that appeases this basic human appreciation for fairness and equality (democracy).

We can see this basic appreciation even as we watch our kids play together, from an early age they recognise what is fair and what is not. Even if they haven’t got the ability to act on it, they can see when a person or a group of people are acting in an unfair way, this is a basic appreciation of the human species and it is what has driven the struggle in Ireland for over 800 years and will continue to do so until a fair and just (democratic) solution is agreed upon.

Partition

The struggle against partition in Ireland is a struggle for democracy. We can show how the partition of Ireland is fundamentally undemocratic; we therefore say that democracy is the only solution to the question of partition in this country.

1918 – democracy was born

The election of 1918 was to mark for the first time in Ireland a democratic mandate by the people for the republican ideal.  The elites should have seen this coming in the run up to the election. For instance when, in the middle of 1918 the British tried to enforce conscription in Ireland and the people got behind and backed the united Republican, Nationalist and Labour movement to oppose such a move.

Labour called a one day general strike which was adhered to all over Ireland. Also in a number of by-elections since Easter week the people showed they were behind the Republicans and that the coming 1918 election would be a vote to show this. These by-elections were labeled “war time” elections by the British who said they “proved nothing”.

The 1918 election result was a convincing win for the Republicans who took all the seats apart from 7, 4 of these non-republican seats were in Ulster (Loyalist) and one was in England, the only seat’s not taken by republicans in the south was one in Waterford which went to John Redmond’s son to succeed his father and two new seats which the Tories took, all of the rest were Republican unbroken.

This shows the clear will of the people for the republicans. However this democratic peaceful decision by the Irish people to implement the ideals of 1916 and continue the republic that was set up was ignored by the British elite.

And here lies the cause of Ireland‘s great problem. Her democratic will has constantly been suppressed by the Capitalist class of Britain and Ireland. Everything stems from the undemocratic decisions taken by the British Capitalists in its conquest of Ireland and its from this point that we must go back to in order to solve our political problem once and for all, no amount of cease fire agreements (GFA) can disguise the basic undemocratic nature of partition in Ireland and until this is solved, until the problem is treated at source, there can be no peace here.

This is where Marxism’s tactic of treating social problems at source comes into play and a reason why Marxism has and is a core element of Irish republicanism. Marxist’s for instance believe that to solve the drug addiction problem of the world you have to treat it at source and not to try make the problem less intolerable for citizens and addicts by implementing various reforms.

The reforms are welcomed but Marxist’s understand that to change people’s attitude towards drugs you have to change the rat race they currently live in. It’s our society’s morals and ideals that are the core problem, not the drug dealers or addicts. Republican Socialists apply the same principles to partition in Ireland, unless you solve the problem at source we are just going around in a sectarian circle, and the only winners are the capitalist class who thrive off of the division of the Irish working class.

There can be no peace until the sectarian state is abolished. This is not a threat; it is a realisation that with the partitioned state comes sectarianism which serves the elite well, this sectarianism separate’s the workers from any united front against them and the elite wish to see this continue. This is why we say that unless the causes for sectarianism (partition) are dealt with democratically and at source we can’t possibly have proper peace; sectarianism will always rear its ugly head. Seen as the capitalist class of Britain and Ireland favour the division of the workforce it is up to the working class to declare their interests in a united secular workers republic and by pass those in power who use greed, competition and religious sectarianism to keep the majority of the people divided and murdering each other.

The suppression of democracy in Ireland

The Republicans who were elected in 1918 met in Dublin and constituted themselves the governing body of the republic set up in Easter week (Dail Eireann). A declaration was adopted affirming “That Ireland is a sovereign and independent nation; that a republic had been established in Easter week of which the Dail constituted itself the heir and continuation”. The Dail adopted a “democratic programme”, which showed the influence of Socialist James Connolly. The Dail was declared illegal by the British and every means at their disposal was put to practice in trying to prevent it and destroy it.

This was a blatant disregard and illegal action taken by the British towards the democratic rights of the people of Ireland who voted democratically for the Dail and still to this day it is the cause of all our problems. These problems as Connolly once put it, in describing the affects of partition are called “the carnival of reaction”.

The carnival of reaction is a reaction to the undemocratic decisions taken by the British in Ireland and the carnival of reaction will not cease until we settle the problem from its source. The carnival of reaction is Sectarianism, bigotry, national chauvinism, economic injustice, racism, violence etc. The partition of Ireland stemmed from these first undemocratic actions taken by the British.

 They made it seem as though we got a bargain at the signing of the treaty but if you remember what the will of the people was in 1918 you will understand that what we got was illegal, especially as the decision to sign the treaty was made under duress, the threat of war from the British in three days if we didn’t agree.

The fight for democracy

There then ensued a struggle between the Dail, which represented the democratic will of the Irish people and the British government. The systems of courts set up by the Dail were declared “illegal assemblies”. The loan called for by the Dail was treated as seditious, newspapers were suppressed and virtually anyone of any prominence from the republican movement lived on the run during this time and it was from this harassment that military actions sprung from the republican side. It was then an all out war between the democrats (Dail) and the reactionaries (British). Those who took up arms against the oppressor came to be known as “the army of the republic” or popularly the I.R.A. They were fighting on behalf of the democratic right of those elected in 1918. It became clear that the IRA at this time were fighting on behalf of every man woman and child, they were the army of the people. 

The thief slips away

This war came to an end in 1921 due to moral and material circumstances. The horrors of the black and tans, the auxiliaries and the pogroms in Belfast had taken its toll on the people and a truce was signed. Let’s not forget that the democratic will of the people to elect the people they voted for was still being withheld from them, the British were trying to wear the people and the IRA down and it seemed to be working.

The treaty that was signed and the one which was popularly accepted through referendum was not a democratic affair. When the Irish delegate went into that room for “negotiations” there was always only going to be one outcome, partition and the continued involvement of the British capitalists in our economic interests.

The British Capitalists had control of these negotiations and they wanted to hold onto the 6 counties because it was more industrial than the south. The south was reliant on its farming exports and the British knew they could still control Ireland as a whole if it kept direct control of the most industrial section and also “negotiated” some sort of economic alignment with the rest in return for taking British soldiers off the streets of the 26 counties.

Lets not forget the threat that was hanging over the heads of those who went to “negotiate” with the British; they were told that unless they signed the treaty they would be faced with immediate and terrible war within three days. The British army at that time were in comparison to the American army of today, they had conquered half the world and its army was a force to be reckoned with. The idea of   forcing the Irish people to endure the bloody onslaught of this army whilst also knowing the IRA were at the end of their capabilities meant that this “negotiation” was more akin to a thief holding a knife to your throat and demanding your money.

The decision to hand over your money is not a democratic decision because of the perceived threat and the duress you done it under. This is why we say democracy has not been implemented in the settlement of Britain‘s conquest of Ireland and to this day still hasn’t.

 Modern Ireland

In modern Ireland Republicans are asked “why we still harp on about something that is in the past“, “just move on” they say. But I hope we have shown exactly why republican socialists cannot move on and still see the struggle as something worth devoting their lives to. Republican Socialists come under terrible criticism from the state; they are labelled criminals, drug dealers, and scum and painted as people who are bad for society.

I find this strange as I can see a common ideal with republican socialists and with those who work in the community or charity organisations who are painted as savours and pillars of society. In fact most republicans are involved in these very same activities in their community also. They both are involved in what they do because they care about society and the people in it. They care about the state of the world, poverty, war, the destruction of our environment, the state of women’s rights in the work place etc,…They have all of this in common but republican socialists are labeled as bad people, and why?

It’s simple really, those who give up their spare time to be involved with community activities or help their old neighbours are not organised enough or politically advanced enough to shift the balance of power into the hands of the workers so that these problems can be better addressed by the people of the society and not just given second place by the rich capitalist ruling class who only have profit and greed as their moral ideals.

Republicans can not ” move on” or “get over it” because the problem has not been solved. We still have sectarianism, we still have an economic gap between rich and poor that is actually increasing and not decreasing, we still have homeless people on our streets while there are thousand of vacant homes all over the country, we still have thousands of children living in actual poverty while the Celtic tiger roars ahead and lines the pockets of the capitalist class, and property developers. The problem has not been solved at source, to give the unionist class a veto over the democratic will of the whole of Ireland was undemocratic in 1920 and still is in 2008.

If this undemocratic decision did not create the “carnival of reaction” of which James Connolly predicted, then there may be an argument for “ moving on“, but the fact is different as we have shown. The struggle for a united workers republic is a struggle for democracy proper; the 26 county state is not what the people voted for in 1918. They voted for the implementation of the “democratic programme” which called for a secular democratic state, instead we got a centre/right wing catholic controlled society that scared away our protestant neighbours even further and was responsible for some of the most awful crimes against man woman and child. A society that threw its unmarried mothers into awful places where they were abused and treated like dirty, a society that allowed the abuse of power and trust that the Catholic institution prevailed over go on for so long.

The working people of Ireland deserve better, we have been on the wrong end of a dirty capitalist stick for centuries. We were once a shining light for democracy in Europe. During the period of “Celtic communism” in Ireland our society was observed as being the most progressive in Europe and people came from far away to see it in practice.

Only when we handed over our society to what was to become the modern capitalist class did our problems begin. Why is it that we are renowned for our inspiration when it comes to writing great books, poems and Music but when it comes to inspirational thought that regards our own society we draw a blank?

Our great inspiration has been channeled away from the working class struggle and into the tourist industry and we must begin a debate to ask how and why. We are a very capable people whose minds have always thought outside of the box, it is sad to watch the creative, inspirational, rebellious and determined working class of Ireland be duped by their political masters for so long.  

Republican Socialists owe their allegiance to the working class and always will, they will never “get over it” or “move on” until a society and political system is in place that is best at tackling society’s ills, instead of the current one which puts greed up on a pedestal and compassion lying face down in the dirt. Nothing has changed since 1920, democracy is still vacant from Irish life, the democratic struggle continues.

So Mr Denis Naughten of the Fine Gael party is concerned about the “bubbling undercurrent of racism” in Irish society? Sunday Independent 3 August 2008. The Immigration and Integration spokesman for Fine Gael puts this “bubbling undercurrent of racism” down to the fact that Irish people are upset that foreign workers might be holding onto their jobs while they are being let go. His reason for this opinion has come about by talking with Irish people who are on the live register who “are walking by building sites and seeing the pole or Latvian working,yet they have been laid off“. Fair enough. But whats Mr Naughtens position for curing this social ill? How do we get rid of this “bubbling undercurrent of racism“?
 
In his own words we “re-train Irish workers so that they can compete for jobs against more highly skilled immigrants“. Does he honestly think that the reason they are the ones not being let go on the building sites is because they are “highly skilled“? How higher can the skill of a plumber/electrician really be after he/she has qualified? The reason Irish workers are being let go is because the foreign workers will work for less,or for longer hours. The Capitalist (boss) has to secure a profit to survive,its the nature of the beast. He/she does this by either lenghtening the hours of the workers or cutting there wages. The immigrant worker is the obvious choice for the Irish Capitalist. Why is Mr Naughten trying to confuse the matter and make it look like something it isn’t?
 
The fact that he attributes the brutal murder of two polish men in Drimnagh to this so called “bubbling undercurrent of racism” shows he is really clutching at straws to try and secure his opinion. It is highly absurd to say that the murder of these polish men was racially motivated,anybody who read even the smallest of details about this incident would agree. Mr Denis Naughten is the one who is creating the “bubbling undercurrent of racism” by writing these falsehoods in a national paper. Racism,sectarianism and the competition between country and city workers is the affect of the competitive free market on society. The workers are forced into a pitched battle against each other for the means of survival and security (food,housing,etc,..) Our politicians represent this capitalist class so they will continue to try and distort the truth just like Mr Naughten has. I just hope this letter gets through and is read by a worker who may have a “bubbling undercurrent of racism” and who may be directing it against the wrong person or group of people.

At the time of writing a young man, emmett shiels, is lying in a morgue with a bullet wound in his stomach because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shot at point blank range because he dared to take on a group of local youths who proclaimed to be Republican and fighting for the betterment of their neighbourhood. A tragedy of this magnitude should encourage the Marxists and Republicans in Irish society to start asking themselves how and why something like this can occur. In a part of Ireland which finds itself at the other end  of a lenghty and bloody national liberation struggle, this murder should not have happened and strikes deep and hard into the memory of the local masses.

There are two questions that need to be answered in relation to this. Firstly, why is it that a group of youths find it necessary to organise on military lines under the banner of republicanism to defend there neighbourhood? And secondly, why do these youths believe that militarism is the way to defend their neighbourhood?

Without considering the militarist aspect to the defending/organising of this group of youths lets firstly ask ourselves why they might feel the need to defend or organise at all?

These youths are between the ages of 17 and 23 so they don’t have the same memories of the struggle as older members of that community have, but yet they still seem to want to go back to what the provisional movement were doing 20 or so years ago. Why is this? It seems that the largest republican bloc (PSF) have let these youths down. The direction of PSF has not encouraged these youths to take on board their political persuasion, infact the only people seeming to go along with the direction of PSF are the older people of the community. Is this because there memories of armed resistence are different than those of the youths? The last thing these people want is a return to war, they have seen that it was a futile attempt at the time and it would be a futile attempt now. Any political strategy that wasnt fascism would be embraced by the people of the bogside just for the sake of peace. This surely isn’t the singular reason for the older generation in accepting the petty-bourgeoisie politics of the provisional movement, but it is a strong argument and one we cant ignore in relation to this tragedy.

The youth still find it nesecarry to be active in the national liberation struggle simply because that struggle has been left alone by PSF. The GFA is a defeat for PSf when it comes to the unification of Ireland, and the youth can see this. This is the failing of PSF, they have taken with them the battered and war weary of their own generation, but they have left the progressive youth behind. We can atleast take one fact from this, if the youth are still trying to organise-even in the wrong way- then the policy of PSF has failed. If there was even a possibility that the national liberation struggle could be tackled from within the framework of the GFA (good friday Aggreement) then the youth would not feel the need to organise in their communities under the banner of republicanism.

The militarist nature of this organisation on the other hand cannot be solely blamed on the provisional movement. The IRSM were also very active during the national liberation struggle so any problems we may have with the militarist nature of this group of youths has to be directed at the IRSP/INLA aswell. The national liberation struggle didnt have to be a militarist one, but the PIRA and INLA took on the idea that it had. Lets not assume it was the wrong decision or that the national liberation movement had much choice after the behaviour of the British establishment during the civil rights movement but if we can agree that it wasnt the only option available at the time it would be enough for this discussion.

Militarism has turned into a cancer in Northern Ireland society. The tactics of the Republican movement have changed little since the days of the 1916 rising. The IRA’s support would rise and fall with the particular societal circumstances it found itself in but its tactics would never change. It has always been about trying to win the support of the masses for armed resistence and not about changing the tactics of republicanism to gain the support of the masses. This had not changed up untill the provisional leadership started to move away from militancy, through socialism and into neo-liberalism. The tag of socialism was only taken on board by the provisional movement because they needed a transition of radical ideology. They couldnt see the prospect of hopping from militarism to neo-liberalism so they fooled the membership into thinking they were radical by assuming a “socialist” position during the late 70′s. This enabled them to move towards neo-liberalism because the threat of having there own guns fired on them was dealt with and also because they failed,purposely, to instil a solid socialist theory into the grass roots during there “socialist” stage.If there “socialist” stage was honest then they would have found it impossible to move the grass roots in the direction they have taken.

This transition by PSF is an embarrasment to Republicanism but it is the first time the republican movement moved away from militarism. What we understand form this is what follows.MIlitarism is not radicalism. Adams knew this so he encouraged the idea that the party had a radical theoretical position to fool his party into being confident with the direction of the party. However when this is applied to the other militarists of the national liberation struggle,the IRSM, who already consider themselves not only socialist but marxist, you realise that this supposed radical position is not there because of their un-willingness to abandon militarism. Militarism represents radicalism for the vast majority of the grass roots membership of the IRSM and it is the nervousness of this membership to abandon it which highlights the lack of any real radicalism in the party. If the IRSM was ideologically sound they would see no need to continue on in the militaristic way that they do,because militarism is so out dated in relation to the Irish struggle that it is holding the IRSM back to the point of possible collapse. What is missing from the IRSM is a real radical position and theoretical base. If it had this it would disown militarism (even for now) and it would flourish.

So how does this all tie in to the tragedy of the murder of Emmett Shiels? Look at it logically. The youth still feel a need to organise towards a united Ireland so the GFA position of PSF has failed them. The militarist history of the PIRA and the current militarist position of the INLA,CIRA and RIRA are to blame for the structure of this organisation. If you let a mess like that to fester,and openly allow this organisation  to arm itself in your community and swan around acting like its 1916 then this tragedy was bound to happen someday. Its a tragedy for republicanism aswell. Because of the failure of the republican movement to curb this cancer it could mean the rejection of the anti-GFA bloc of republicans in the city of Derry and the herding of the masses towards the politics of the neo-liberalist PSF. The politics of republicanism has let down Emmett Shiels, can that group of people now begin to put things right so it wont happen again? I look forward to hearing your opinions.