Davy Carlin on the ARN and SWP in Belfast

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Tuesday November 16, 2004 11:27 by Davy Carlin - Ind Socialist carlindavid at hotmail dot com

Dear Friends,

Attached is the final article written in large part as an activist within the SWP. It details, for the record my leaving the Belfast SWP as well as Part two of the ARN - now a Movement..

Dear Friends,

Attached is the final article written in large part as an activist within the SWP. It details, for the record my leaving the Belfast SWP as well as Part two of the ARN - now a Movement.

I have heard many points raised as to my leaving the SWP and as to my position now, therefore this article goes into that and cuts through the circulating myths. It also deals with the ARN - now a Movement -that has played the lead role in not only bringing the issue of racism and the brutal racist attacks to the worlds media but also as acknowledged has played a vital and that leading role in attempting to push the wave of racism and racist attacks back.

Again I have found that there are still those certain organisations on the left that solely trawl through press releases to attempt to find something to concentrate their memberships minds on in relation to what they think we have did wrong. This rather than playing an active role in attempting to end such attacks, while raising and debating such issues in the course of collective struggle. Such is the mindset.

Yet although there are organisations that have differing tactics as I had debated recently on Indymedia I nevertheless respect them as activists for attempting to deal with this increasing tide of racism and racist attacks sweeping society.

For oneself as with others we learn from experiences, and so a year back had thought as to what tactic would be best as so that down the line we would be best placed to mobilise mass rallies as well as mobilising within communities to counter these attacks, if needed. Of course the ARN was not, and is not, a revoultionary organisation, as is the case when one initiates a united front of this sort.

But over time once the groundwork had been built, and due to that groundwork, it is now the organisation that can ask the hardest questions, and expects a reply, and can mobilse on massee as well as in the communites, this now from the vital lead position through initiating and now creating a masse Movement against Racism.

The article also deals with lessons learnt and more especially how one cannot be dogmatic and in effect purist when it comes to tactics. Finally I say that I hold great respect for many individual SWP members in which in Belfast for example we have worked over the years and have achieved so much together. Therefore our parting was fraternal and we shall of course continue to work together.

Finally much of my activity shall be accounted for in a book I am presently working on including my experiences with others on the left, as well as my childhood growing up in West Belfast.

All the Best, D