@nother view of the North

international | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis

Friday February 11, 2005 12:41

by Dermo - WSM

D_Sreenan at yahoo dot co dot uk

An anarchist view of the current impasse in the North

A look at the never-ending story of the Peace process and its continious lurches from crisis, to hope to failure, and back again. We give this as a sample of some of the ideas and analysis that you can find in the latest issue of Workers Solidarity # 84 which is available though the usual outlets i.e. it's members!

The Peace process seems to be a never ending story with a continuous pattern of crisis, hope and failure. You could become mesmerized by it all. A flow of political talking heads on your TV espousing seemingly sincerely held beliefs and aspirations, all willing to do a deal for the betterment of the people. For most people, the most important work of the process is done, e.g. a ceasefire an end to the war, terror campaigns, troubles chose your own title. The absence of the high level of violence has been a welcome respite for people in the north and the there is a very strong desire for no return to the past. The British and Irish governments desired for a stability of sorts in the north and by and large they have that, but they would prefer if everything was bit more settled. For instance, if they could get the north’s political leaders to share what power is given to Stormont, then that problem could be shelved for the foreseeable future. The political elite themselves are anxious for their bit of the pie. The Good Friday Agreement provided for a neat little sectarian carve up. It institutionalised sectarianism to satisfy both sets of “community leaders”, both would be given a share in the power structure in return for various
concessions on their part.

The problem is that they have a great deal of difficulty in working together, trusting each other, and giving up old habits. There is much speculation over the Northern Bank robbery. The main question seems to be, was the operation sanctioned by the republican leadership closest to the Adams led project or by some out of step wing of that movement. This is all very interesting and many hours could be spent wondering about it all. This crisis is temporary however, certain dynamics remain in play. There is a clear impetus amongst the political power brokers in the north towards a sharing of power and sooner or later this will emerge as the new face of government in that state. There will be full participation by Sinn Fein ultimately in administering power there through the various departments including law enforcement. In time this will come to pass there is nowhere else for a reformist movement to go.

Importantly, however, this will make no discernible difference to the lives of the working class except that it will probably make the implementation of the neoliberal agenda easier in the state. Already Public private partnerships are becoming part of the reality of life there. The planned introduction of water charges continues apace. Raytheon goes on manufacturing arms in Derry as part of the peace dividend and northern enjoy lower wages and worse working conditions than their in the south and in Britain. Northern Ireland is not being rebuilt in the image of Britain or the Republic but as just another bit of the neoliberal capitalist structure. The march of this agenda, the direct and damaging consequences for working class people of all religions and none, is the real issue in the north and pretty much everywhere else. Much of what passes for political debate in the north revolves around Sinn Fein being left into or out of the government. Should workers celebrate if they are left in or celebrate if their kept out? Should workers really care? We wouldn’t argue for a return to a unionist government but neither would we argue for the currently proposed sectarian power sharing one, nor for the status quo of a British government appointed governor. None of these routes offer a road out of oppression and injustice. But whilst the show goes on people organise against the racists, against the water tax, defend hospitals struggle for work and wages.

It is there that the struggle for a new society is being born not in the negotiating rooms of the peace process. Government has never been good for the north, why not abolish it altogether and replace it with something new? Anarchism.

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Comments (5 of 5)

Wel Said Barry

by Genty

Tue Feb 22, 2005 15:47

Well said Barry. Couldn't have put it better myself. A noble cause which has turned rotten to the core. A party full of people born of conflct who still apply the ideology of 25 years ago to the modern world, which just doesn't fit. A party who spit out the dummy whan they don't get their way. A party who still use bully boy tactics within the very communities who vote for them to curb the opposition (look what happened to Pat Ramsey in Derry) and who are as bad as the DUP when it comes to shifting their stance to reach a compromise (like policing issues). They've now come to a fork in the road and I'm not sure the powermongers who exist within the party will allow them to take the one that leads to diplomacy, democracy and de-criminilisation. We can only hope.

eggy conundrum

by Barry

Fri Feb 11, 2005 22:04

At the top end, you have cunning opportunist politicians, who wave a tri-color while mouthing empty slogans about dead patriots, and laugh all the way to the bank.

At the bottom end, you have a collection of vicious sadists, thieves and gangsters (who recently hacked 2 young men to pieces with knives outside a Belfast bar, killing one and cutting the others throat). Like the politicians who control them, they also mouth empty slogans about dead patriots, and laugh all the way to the bank. They also help to control everyone else in republican areas, and dissuade those they can from speaking out against "the leadership".

In the middle, you largely have decent, but docile people, who actually believe in what $inn £ein claim they stand for. The sooner these people see whats been going on round them and get back on the radical separatist road the better. They deserve better than the tramps theyve been propping up and slogging their guts out for.

However the disgraceful events on the Rathenraw Housing estate last year, when an entire Sinn Fein cumann had finally had enough means its not as easy as that.

The next day literally hundreds of $£ thugs (including one who stabbed the 2 men recently) were bussed into their estate to silence and threaten them. There is NO place whatsoever for debate or dissent within an internally rotten and sick party which bears no resemblance whatsover to the traditional movement I once admired greatly and supported to the hilt. Its gone forever and a monsters in its place.

as radical as a boilde egg yes indeed

by J Swift - irish satirists.

Fri Feb 11, 2005 21:16

but opened at which end?

New $inn £ein

Fri Feb 11, 2005 21:02

Basically all they stand for today is the self advancement of its leadership. People should begin to look beyond the empty rhetoric. Whilst many of its grassroots activists actually believe in the sloganeering, in practice its a different matter when it comes to the leadership. And trust me, it doesnt matter what the grass roots think, its do what the leadership says, OR ELSE.

If you step out of line in that organisation as regards dissent YOU ARE IN HOT WATER. That is Stalinism/Facism whatever you want to call it.

In the late 80s McGuinness declared that socialism was "not on the agenda". This has been borne out by the courting of right wing corporate America (and the major funding it now recieves from that quarter), the patronage of scumbags like congressman Peter King, their adoption of the British Private Finance initiatives and their closure of rural healthcare services.

And theyre only getting started. Just wait till theyre back in the Stormont Parliament, and signing up to the RUC/PSNI. Then youll see what an establishment party is really about. None so zealous as poachers turned gamekeepers.

As regards their separatist agenda, simply more opportunistic rhetoric. This leadership clique acheived power on the backs of the H-Block hungerstrikers. They know full well what those men gave their lives for. Those hungertstrikers placed their bodies in front of the British establishments entire counter-insurgency strategy and paid dearly.

Bobby Sands on the eve of his election spelt out very clearly what was at stake. "Where now stands their Ulsterisation, their Normalisation and their Criminalisation ? Where now is their acceptable level of violence" That is a question which now should be posed to Adams / McGuinness et al.

The Sinn £ein leadership, since coming to power within that body, has spent almost every waking moment taking that body to a point were every single strand of this British strategy has succeeded.

At a political level this has meant the return of the Stormont Parliament and the recognition of British rule in Ireland as legitimate. As Francie Molloy MLA pointed out in the Irish Times , Easter 1999, "we have accepted partition, we are prepared to administer British rule for the forseeable future".

In maghaberry gaol republican prisoners today are once more criminalised, while $INN £EIN denies there are ANY political prisoners there. 2 sinn fein representatives spoke up on behalf of republican prisoners in Maghaberry who were on a prolonged "dirty-protest" throughout one of the hottest summers in living memory . Both of them, John Kelly MLA and clr Martin Cunningham were promptly expelled, for voicing support for republican prisoners fighting British criminalisation strategy.

They have abandoned the ideals of Tone and Connolly, and instead uphold the institutionalised sectarianism of Stormont.

They have utterly abandoned Irish sovereignty at the negotiating table. In return all they got was British strategy, and they will continue to uphold this strategy under the guise of supporting "the peace process".

They have no-where to go now but deeper and deeper into the ranks of the establishment, and they are nearly there as we speak.

The $inn £ein of today bear no resemblance whatsoever to the revolutionary separatist movement I grew up supporting . Instead their leadership is today committed to helping the state, north and south, actively crush any movement towards the revolutionary ideals its leadership paid lipservice to in the past.

Theyre as radical as a boiled egg.

I agree but;

by RJS

Fri Feb 11, 2005 19:37

two qudstions:

does anyone know what Sinn Fein stands for apart from ostensibly being opposed to a culture of domination?

Are they just the elite mainfestation of what was originally a grassroots movement?

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@nother view of the North

Comments (5 of 5)