éirigí Ard Fheis 2009

by Éamann Mac Mánais - éirigí Thu May 14, 2009 13:55 macmanais at gmail dot com

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson has called on republicans and socialists from
across the country to make their way to Dublin on Saturday [May 16] for the
party’s annual James Connolly Commemoration.

Breandán MacCionnaith will be the main speaker at the Arbour Hill event, which
will be held after the opening session of éirígí’s Ard Fheis.
Leeson said: “The time is undoubtedly right to set out a radical agenda for
changing Irish society and there is no more appropriate place for doing this
than at the grave of James Connolly and the other leaders of 1916.

“James Connolly devoted his life to the emancipation of the Irish people; to an
independent, socialist Ireland.

“éirígí stand proudly in this tradition and will be rededicating ourselves to
the achievement of an Irish socialist republic at Arbour Hill on Saturday.”

Brian continued: “The last year has seen massive upheaval in Ireland. The
economy has been driven to the point of collapse by the greed-fuelled actions
of the business class, while the British occupation in the Six Counties has
resorted to increasingly repressive tactics to solidify its rule.

“Tens of thousands of people have been forced on the dole, housing and hospital
waiting lists continue to grow, poverty is on the increase and, all the while,
the establishment, north and south, wrings it hands and promotes the interests
of the wealthy.

“Republicans and socialists must challenge this intolerable situation on every
occasion possible. The alternative to the unequal, undemocratic Ireland of
today is the promotion of national independence and socialism.

“éirígí is appealing for all republicans and socialists to gather at Arbour Hill
on Saturday to take stock, remember and recommit themselves to the struggle. The
legacy of James Connolly and his comrades demands nothing less.”

éirígí’s annual James Connolly Commemoration will assemble at Arbour Hill
Cemetery, Dublin at 3.30pm on Saturday [May 16].

For further information contact Pádraig Mackel on [0044] 07513830605 or Eamann
MacManais on [0044] 07780639349

éirígí is an Ireland-wide, socialist republican political party,
formed in 2006 to provide a vehicle for the national, social, economic
liberation of the people of Ireland.

by Jim Fri May 15, 2009 10:31

1. The majority of the electorate in Northern Ireland vote for the unionist and loyalist parties and consider themselves ethnically and culturally British and politically UK citizens and subject of Queen Elizabeth II. They have been historically resistant to Irish unification and remain so.
At present there is no realistic prospect especially after three decades of sustained sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland that the unionist/loyalist majority will agree to participate in a united Ireland. Among the working class Protestant there is no indication whatsoever that socialism enjoys any significant popularity or interest.

How does eirigi plan to persuade the unionist/loyalist majority to break with the link with British rule and join an Irish socialist republic?

2. The Good Friday Agreement enjoyed and continues to enjoy the overwhelming support of the majority of the population of the island of Ireland, North and South of the border. The majority of the Catholic Irish working class vote for Sinn Fein and SDLP in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland vote for a spectrum of centrist political parties - Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, The Green Party and independents and Sinn Fein which is positioning itself as a centrist populist party in direct competition with the major parties. Historically there has been insignificant support for socialist republicanism and this fact is likely to continue due to its historical association with terrorism and the moral revulsion of Southern voters to political violence since both the end of the Civil War in the 1920's and the end of the Troubles in the late 1990's.
There is no significant support for a renegotiation of the Good Friday Agreement or for Irish unification in the South.

How does eirigi plan to break the hold of the centrist political parties which enjoy the backing of the majority of the Southern voting electorate?

3. The Northern Ireland state is supported by billions in sterling from the British exchequer while the budget for policing the province is exorbitant.
If Irish unification were to occur with or without the consent of the loyalist and unionist majority it would be an almost certainty that a hardcore of loyalist paramilitaries would launch a low intensity campaign of violence against the Irish Army and Gardai who would take on the same role of the British security forces who were the target of a similar violent campaign by Irish republicans during the Troubles.
Southerners would be unlikely to want to send their sons and daughters to the North to police a hostile population or become the target of terrorist attacks just as the British mainland became the target for Irish republican separatists.
The massive expenditure in both supporting the 6 counties economically and policing it effectively would be a serious drain on the economic resources of the Southern government who would take over the reins of power from the British government in the event of unification.

How does eirigi plan to persuade a largely cyncial Southern population who are interested in the utilitarian practicalities of the unification rather than the ideals of fulfilling Irish political destiny?

4. How does eirigi hope to be successful in establishing a socialist society when class and property are woven into the fabric of the Irish society.
The obssession with owning their own homes was a major factor in the property boom that fueled the Celtic Tiger and contributed to the current economic disaster. This obssession was of course influenced by the long tradition of Irish people seeking to own their own land when they were ruled by landlords in the past.
It is unlikely that the Irish people are going to be sympathetic to socialism which at its very core is based on a society based on common ownership and the removal of class divisions.
Any radical plan to impose socialism would arouse considerable opposition and violence from both the upper class in whose interests the economic system is designed and from the working class who are interested in consumer lifestyles and climbing the ladder to bourgeoise respectability.

How does eirigi hope to radically alter Irish attitudes and mindsets?

by Socialism or Barbarism Fri May 15, 2009 11:58 socialismorb at gmail dot com

Where are Republican Dissidents Going Part 2

On a turnout of 56%, the Good Friday Agreement was endorsed by 94% of the population of the Republic of Ireland. Turnout in Northern Ireland was higher at 81% but only 71% agreed with the text (the overwhelming majority of ‘No’ voters in the north were Unionists). Overall, across Ireland there was a turnout of 63% of whom 85% voted for the Agreement. Of all voters registered in Ireland, 54% turned out to vote ‘Yes’.

This was a seminal moment in modern Irish history. Sinn Féin have never expressed it in those terms as it reflects a truth that they retain ideological difficulties in recognising this as a free expression of the will of the Irish people. But it is simply undeniable that the new constitutional arrangements received a massive level of popular endorsement by the people of Ireland as a whole.

full at:
http://revolutionaryireland.blogspot.com/2009/04/where-....html

by Curious Fri May 15, 2009 14:46

As a matter of interest - who are "Socialism or Barbarism"? I know about the French group who originally had that name - but who are the Irish group? I've never come across any of their members. Are they a formal organisation? Where would we find them? What are they up to, apart from the blog linked to above?

by Vladimir Lenihan Fri May 15, 2009 21:55

When did éirígí reject the notion of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'?? When did they ever discuss it?? You need to get out of your bedroom more me thinks. I am a Marxist, believe in the DOP, and an a member of éirígí.

by ronan gallagher Sat May 16, 2009 12:59

Judging by their line , 'socialism or barbarism ' seems to be either Workers Power or a split off from that group. It seems odd to me that a group that espouses the dictatorship of the proletariat so passionately should show such enthusiasm for the two nationist good friday referendums.