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Sat, 22 Jun 2002 22:05:59 -0700
From: Danielle Ni Dhighe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Peoples War] IRSP: Bodenstown Speech 2002 23 June 2002 Irish Republican Socialist Party http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html Bodenstown Speech 2002 By John Martin, IRSP Political Secretary In June every year, the founding father of Irish Republicanism, Wolfe Tone, is honoured by various brands of Republicanism marching to this grave at Bodenstown and delivering a range of speeches from the rousing to the bland. The IRSP, Provisional Sinn Fein, Republican Sinn Fein, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, the Official Republican Movement, Fianna Fail, the Workers Party, and God knows how many more, gather here to pay homage. There is a Republican tradition and all of the above groups are part of that tradition. However it is important to stress here at the grave of the founding father of Irish Republicanism that none of the above groups can solely claim the mantle and be known as "The Republican Movement". Many use the phrase loosely and inaccurately. Journalists, political analysts and academics use it to refer to that branch of the Republican tradition known as the Provisionals. When the split emerged in the then Republican Movement in the late 60s between the Officials and the Provisionals, what was then the Republican Movement came to an end. Each of the differing traditions that pay homage to Wolfe Tone represent some version of Republicanism. We in the IRSP are part of the Republican Socialist Movement, representing the radical authentic voice of the working class within the Republican tradition. We are a class-based party believing that the only united Ireland that can meet the aspirations of the working class within Ireland is a Socialist Republic. Other Republicans can define themselves as they wish. We recognise that they are sincere in their beliefs. We recognise that they are Republicans. But we refuse to recognise any other group as "The Republican Movement". When Seamus Costello led his followers out of the Officials to set up the IRSP, it was in response to the mechanistic, static, and anti- democratic practices of the then Official leadership and its retreat from core Republican values. Nor had Seamus been fooled by the revolutionary pretensions of the Provisionals when they split away in 1969. He saw clearly that their economic bombing campaign coupled with their verbal revolutionary posturing would only hinder the rise of a class-conscious revolutionary movement and the task of winning militant Northern Protestant workers to the side of progress. But he also saw the growing reformist tendencies of the Goulding/Garland leadership of the Officials. He was opposed to their campaign for the democratisation of Stormont. The anti-democratic tendencies of the Officials forced Seamus and his fellow revolutionaries out to form the IRSP/INLA. Whatever of our own mistakes, and we acknowledge there have been many - in the main caused by the removal of our best leaderships through murder, is it not now ironic that the fire and brimstone Provisionals of '69 who wreaked havoc in the North in order to bring down Stormont are now the strongest advocates of the new Stormont? It is wonderful how the handshake of Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Popes can squeeze the revolutionary blood out of some. And how free tickets and hospitality for an Eagles concert at Stormont can compromise even the purest of the pure. Surely the rank and file supporters of the Provisional Sinn Fein movement can see clearly now there are no free lunches. A cost is always paid and it will be paid. It is now a matter of not if but when Sinn Fein takes its place on the Police Authority in the North. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which we said institutionalises sectarianism, virulent naked sectarian hatred has rampaged through the body politic. As Republican Socialists we take no pleasure in watching working class communities at each others' throats while the Gin & Tonic set tut-tut in their golf clubs of North Down at the antics of the lower classes!!!! Unlike the middle classes, our comrades and members live in these interface areas and are active on the ground in defending working class homes from sectarian attack. The INLA have assured us that they will use any means necessary to defend working class homes from attack. But as a movement we also put forward political proposals to help defuse tensions. The Non-Aggression Pact is one such proposal. The Non-Aggression Pact is about encouraging working class dialogue, co-operation, and breaking down barriers. It is about neighbours reaching agreement between themselves without the fear of manipulation by armed groups. It is a bottom up approach within the control of the people at grass roots level. It is the beginning of working class communities taking control of their lives and the ending of their manipulation by thugs, bullyboys, and political opportunists. We appeal to community workers, activists, and trade unionists, particularly within Unionist areas, but also within Nationalist areas, to shake off the grip of those manipulators who would deny you the right to control your lives. The Good Friday Agreement has failed and it will collapse. No Republican worthy of the name should try to justify the results of the Good Friday Agreement. It has utterly failed working class communities. The collapse of the current power sharing Executive would be in the interests of the working class. Would it not be better for Sinn Fein to pull the plug now, walk out of the Executive, and build a united Republican and Socialist opposition to the stabilisation of a Northern state that benefits only the middle class? What ever they do is their choice. But we say that both North and South they are going down the path laid out by the Workers Party, the path of reformism and acceptance of the status quo. That is their privilege and right to do so, and they have been electorally successful in doing so. That is their road. It is not ours. Other Republicans believe that the continuation of armed struggle will bring about a Republic. That by clinging to absolutes they can by the purity of their principles convince the "people" to back them. They are wrong. Thirty years of armed struggle did not succeed. Instead it led to a severe defeat of the Republican struggle. It is time to say that. The good guys lost the war. Going back to methods that have failed is not the answer. Let me quote James Connolly, speaking about honouring Tone at Bodenstown: "It is only right at the grave of Wolfe Tone for Republicans to pay homage but it also our duty to put our ideas, policies, and beliefs under the microscope and re-examine what we stand for and see if we are doing things the correct way." That quote from Ireland's greatest Socialist sums up the approach of the Republican Socialist Movement to the politics of modern day Ireland. That is what both the IRSP and the INLA have been doing over the past six years - re-evaluating, re-examining, and renewing in the light of current realities our policies and principles. Self- criticism is the life blood of any movement and friends and comrades from this platform I can assure you that we will not have in this movement any "omerta", any stifling of healthy dissent, or suppression of other than leadership views. Any of our initiatives will not be leadership driven against the wishes of the membership. A healthy democratic, radical, and Socialist movement is the best vehicle for the liberation of the working class. It is now time to build a working class movement in Ireland that is class-conscious, Socialist Republican, and prepared to take on all the vested interests of capitalism. There is revolutionary potential stirring within the working class in Ireland. The day of the Celtic Tiger is fading and we will soon be back to unemployment, poverty, poor housing, and a cap in hand attitude to the imperialist power of the USA. The anti-globalisation movement is an anti-capitalist movement. There are stirrings of dissent in many parts of the world. We welcome that and stand with all the anti-imperialists and Socialists against oppression whether from US imperialism or religious fundamentalism. But our fight, our struggle, our battlefield is here in Ireland. Our comrades, our members, our fighters are every day involved in the struggles of the Irish working class. They are there in defence of Nationalist working class areas in Belfast from Loyalist sectarianism. They are there in the fight against the drug barons of Dublin and elsewhere, and are marching with the inner city communities against the ravages of hopelessness, deprivation, and poverty. They are there in the trade unions fighting against the alliance of capitalists and trade union bureaucrats that tries to stifle and contain working class militancy. They are involved in the struggle against the privatisation of public amenities and against water charges. They are there in the struggle for political prisoners and supporting the release of our comrade Dessie O'Hare. In short, wherever there is struggle that is where the class- conscious, militant, and the members of this movement will be. For comrades - like Larkin, like Connolly, like Costello - we preach the divine gospel of discontent. Regardless of what others who also come here to Bodenstown do, the Republican Socialist Movement will continue to stand by the Republic of Connolly, Mellows, and Costello. On to the Republic, comrades!!! Victory to the Irish working class!!! _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Katsauksia suomeksi: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Free $5 Love Reading Risk Free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/3PCXaC/PfREAA/Ey.GAA/VL0olB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Peruuta ryhmän tilaus lähettämällä sähköpostia osoitteeseen: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! 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