Tomás Mac Giolla Hedge School

dublin | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice Tuesday February 09, 2016 00:09 by wp - Workers Party

This Hedge School's weekend of discussion will take place on Fri 19th and Sat 20th Feb. in The West County Hotel, Old Lucan Road, Chapelizod, Dublin 20.

Topics to be covered include:- Joyce and the Liffey Valley Tomás Mac Giolla: his life and times The Relevance of Republicanism The Role of Trade Unions Austerity, the Working Class Struggle of the 21st Century

Tomas Mac Giolla (1924 - 2010) was, in every sense, a giant of a man with a tremendous passion and zest for life. He served as a President of Sinn Fein and The Workers Party (1962 - 1988), TD for Dublin West (1982 - 1992) and Lord Mayor of Dublin (1993-1994).

Born into a farming family in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, from the 1950s onwards he played a pivotal role in moving the republican movement away from nationalist armed struggle towards socialism and into what would eventually become The Workers' Party.

His political life was fired by a strong commitment to the politics of Wolfe Tone and James Connolly. A man of vision, he was a powerful voice against sectarianism. He believed the real enemy of the people of Irelad was a political and economic system north and south that gave free reign to corruption and bigotry, that destroyed communities in cities as well as the countryside and exiled the young. Without an end to economic exploitation he believed there can be no freedom. To quote from his speech to the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis of January 1970:

"Our objective is the re-conquest of Ireland from the ground landlords, the river barons, the speculators, the cartels and the monopolies and the struggle against them will now be intensified. If needs be, we must be prepared to win back our country farm by farm, river by river, mine by mine, shop by shop and factory by factory.

Later it was Mac Giolla's interventions in the Dail that initiated the process that brought some of the corruption of the political elite into the light of day. He also had a strong commitment to the environment and worked tirelessly to protect the Liffey Valley which included the back garden of his home in Chapelizod, as a vibrant natural habitat.

This Hedge School's weekend of discussion will focus on some of Tomas's key concerns.

The Tomas Mac Giolla Hedge School

Venue:
The West County Hotel
Old Lucan Road,
Chapelizod, Dublin 20.

For directions, see the attached leaflet images.

Time:
Fri 19th - 7:30pm - 9:30 pm
Sat 20th - 10:30am - 3.45pm

Contact Person: Anne Finnegan
Phone: 01-6241851