19th Desmond Greaves Summer School

by Great Cthulhu Sun Aug 12, 2007 23:01

Manus O'Riordan is a contributor to the Irish Political Review and a friend of the octogenarian Unionist-turned-Republican Brendan Clifford, both of whom have attacked Martin Mansergh as a “West Brit”. If Manus and Martin do bump into each other the results could be interesting….

by Peadar Donnell - non party Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:37

Ah shur it's only one of them umpteen summer talkfests that they call summer schools. (With all this rainshine where's the summer anyway?) If these three gents should meet the best thing would be for them to smile wistfully, behave like gentlemen and have a quiet chat around a table about history and horses, washed down by something exhilirating and dark. I'd love to be a fly on the bar wall when it happens.

by Great Cthulhu Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:06

Yeah, they're scheduled for different days, so they probably won't meet. And if they did they'd probably just have a mild disagreement.
That seminar on syndicalism in Ireland sounds very interesting though.

by Great Cthulhu Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:16

Actually, I meant the seminar BY the guy who wrote about syndicalism, who's actually discussing the 1930s Republican congress.
If I get a chance, I might go to Dublin and attend one of the sessions.
If people are interested in the relationship between republicanism and the left in Ireland, they often discuss such issues in depth at the
fascinating Cedar Lounge Revolution blog:

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/

by Eamon Tue Aug 14, 2007 14:27

Some of the contributors, like Emmet O'Connor, who is a serious scholar and the son of a Spanish Civil War fighter, are well worth listening to. Others, however, are not and bring the event into disrepute. In particular, I'm thinking of right-wing opportunists like Mansergh, Hartley and gilmore. What exactly has been their contribution to socialist ideas or practice over the past 20 years or so?

by Dan Harnon Tue Aug 14, 2007 17:49

Its a pity that Senator Eoghan Harris and his comrade Dr. Roy Johnston have not been invited. Back in 1966 Harris and Johnston founded the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association which grew out of their work in the Wolfe Tone Society. Senator Harris has announced that he is working with Dr. Johnston again to reintroduce the ideas of Wolfe Tone to Irish politics. These two leading political theorists need to be involved in any discussion of the relationship between republicanism and the left.

by Jonah Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:10

I've seen Johnston at the Greaves School a number of times in the past.

As to why Harris was invited, perhaps the organisers didn't feel the need for court jester?

by E.Goldstein - Airstrip Two Fri Aug 17, 2007 02:44

I can't remember a time when Roy Johnston wasn't there - and he is always a contributor and leaves his mark on the character of the school.

With all due respect: it isn't just that Harris has flip-flopped so many times - but that he maintains such high moral sanctimony while doing so - that is so morally, intellectually repellent and bankrupt.

This is the same man who shilled for Ahmed Chalabi (remember him?), the known business fraudster, who was essentially paid to lie to the American public and government, to provide aid and sustenance to the NeoCon war in the Middle East.

And by the way, it isn't just the Left, but the actual consistent conservatives in the US who recognise this war as an unnecessary national disaster - unlike Tony's string puppets in the Independent.

"The White House signed off on a raid on Ahmad Chalabi’s headquarters—the neocon favorite who turned out to be an Iranian agent..."
http://www.amconmag.com/2004_12_20/feature.html

October 24, 2005 Issue
The American Conservative
Money for Nothing
Billions of dollars have disappeared, gone to bribe Iraqis and line contractors’ pockets.
by Philip Giraldi
http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_10_24/cover.html
" Iraqi Airways carried 2,400 employees even though it had not operated for over a year and had no planes. The airline itself was sold to an unidentified buyer without any paperwork to show for how much it was sold and what assets were included. It has been alleged that the buyer might well have been Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi."

by Peadar Donnell - non party Fri Aug 17, 2007 03:53

Ah shur they might as well liven up the proceedings by inviting really lively speakers like O'Reilly and O'Learry. And shur why not invite an economics professor from Peking University to set the scene with a detailed talk entitled: Developing socialism with Chinese characteristics - the success of the Deng Xiaoping new economic model. O'Reilly and O'Leary could explain to the summer schoolers how the Deng Xiaoping Theory of the early 1980s could be or has been applied to the Irish situation. That would beat the wiggling talk of ideological whirligig Eoghan Harris for sheer depth and originality. The custard pie throwers might get a chance too. We mustn't allow this pissing awful weather to dull our minds.

by Paul Doran Tue Aug 28, 2007 17:24 pauldoran1 at gmail dot com

I was there on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed the day.