Sovereignty is not a Right-Wing Aspiration

[RyanSouthDerry]

3 May 2003
The Restoration of National Sovereignty is not a Right-Wing Aspiration
32CSM Responds to Fourthwrite Article

Andy Martin, Assistant Secretary, 32 County Sovereignty Movement

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, to counter the allegations that we are in someway a right-wing organisation. In a recent edition of the Fourthwrite magazine Gerry Ruddy of the IRSP claims that the RIRA-32CSM are essentially right wing. Firstly, the 32CSM have no organisational links to the RIRA so it is a mistake to label their politics in the same breath. While the 32CSM respect the right of Irish people to bear arms in defence of Irish sovereignty, it is wrong to assume that the RIRA have any input into our movement and vice versa.
Secondly, the 32CSM exist primarily to defend Irish sovereignty, that is the right of the Irish people as a unit to determine their own future.

We recognise that the Good Friday Agreement is a step away from sovereignty built as it is on continued partition and the unionist veto. The restoration of Irish sovereignty would require the ending of imperialist rule in Ireland, surely there are few rightwing anti-imperialist movements in existence. Our movement is not only opposed to British interference in Irish affairs but also U.S. interference. We realise that the GFA is the preferred solution of the British, American and 26 counties' administrations and consequently these administrations are hostile to the demand for national sovereignty. We are equally hostile to their administrations because their interest in Ireland is an interest in markets as opposed to what is beneficial to the Irish people as a whole.

There is a belief in some quarters that the 32CSM somehow consider themselves to be the Real Sinn Féin, nothing could be further from the truth.

It is true that a 32 County Sovereignty Committee was formed within Sinn Féin prior to the signing of the Belfast Agreement. This committee found its members being harassed and expelled for refusing to compromise on the sovereignty issue. Those who were expelled or resigned went on to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement together with former members of Republican Sinn Féin, IRSP, SWP, ex-prisoners, ex-volunteers and others.

The movement does not claim to be a government in waiting nor does it claim to be the legitimate heirs of anything. We believe that the last legitimate government in Ireland was voted for by the people in 1918, this does not mean that it is still the legitimate government, it simply recognises the fact that any future legitimacy must come from the Irish people expressing their wishes as a single unit without any external interference.

The 32CSM is not a political party, there is no party line that its members have to follow. Debate is welcomed within the movement, as it is our belief that a lack of debate has weakened the republican movement in the past. We also welcome debate with all shades of republicanism and socialism. We are not elitist and will work with anyone who is progressive and who understands the republican and anti-imperialist argument. Indeed our original constitution stated that the first aim of the movement was to "seek to achieve broad unity amongst the republican family on the single issue of Irish sovereignty". The constitution was amended slightly at the 2002 AGM moving from the single-issue position to the point where the movement would "promote the revolutionary ideals of republicanism and to this end involve itself in resisting all forms of colonialism and imperialism".

When speaking of sovereignty we should bear in mind the words of Padraig Pearse:

"The nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the nation, but to all its material possessions; the nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and the wealth producing processes within the nation".

Anyone who agrees with the above already agrees with the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, anyone who doesn't should re-examine what they do believe.

[Carlos McJackle]

like many of gerry ruddys statements I find his position baffling and incoherent

I also find it dishonest and ideed dishonourable . He labels our movement right wing with no attempt at any political analaysis as to why other than former membership of sinn fein as regards some of our members . He then uses this as justification to call for 32 csms effective exclusion from a progressive social forum , a concept that is central to our own strategy and one we have been actively engaging upon within republican and left wing circles . Mr Ruddy seems to have a problem with this .
. I dont know what gives Mr Ruddy the right to think its acceptable to demand our exclusion or to label us right wing , which is a blatant lie . His misrepresentation of our position and attempts to exclude 32 CSM from putting forward an analaysis within such a forum lead me to the conclusion he has a lot more in common with sinn fein than we ever will .

[Vox Populi]

The 32CSM is, without a doubt, one of the most progressive organisations out there today policy wise. I think it should be noted however that Gerry Ruddy speaks for himself on issues such as this.

I think what Gerry Ruddy may have been referring to was individual members but I will admit that I haven't read the orginal article so will refrain from commenting. The 32CSM is a product and a reflection of the aspirations of a certain section of society - the IRSP is too. There are people in both organisations that hold reactionary viewpoints.

[Carlos McJackle]

Im sorry to say Mr Ruddy was referring to us as a whole and not to individual members .

The dissidents who emerged from the Provisionals, both RSF/CIRA and 32SM/RIRA, have no serious political or military alternative other than more of the same from the past 30 years. Their politics are essentially right wing and there is nothing in what they say or do that would lead one to believe they would be any different from the Provisionals if they had the same level of support.

this statement is patently untrue and deeply insulting in my opinion . To add political insult to injury he then goes on to argue for the republican left , from which he firmly excludes us on the basis of being right wing , to follow our actual 32 csm strategy , which he claims , falsely , we dont possess as an alternative. Gerry Ruddy is well aware as to what our strategy is . This is deliberate misrepresentation on his part unfortunately and a position thats in total contradiction to the feelings of many IRSP supporters and members .


What does the Republican Left opposition consist of? There is the IRSP, The Blanket, Fourthwrite, the ORM (Official Republican Movement who support the GFA) and various small groupings around the country usually associated with prominent individuals with a Republican past. There may also be people within the Provisional Movement who still retain a belief in the Socialist Republic and argue internally (tho' this writer doubts that). None of the above groups separately is as yet capable of making a meaningful electoral intervention to challenge the existing status quo or to challenge the class basis of Irish society.

frankly im insulted that the drug dealing pro Stormont militia of the ORM are considered advocates of republican socialism while myself and my comrades are regarded as right wing reactionaries with no political strategy .


Republican Socialists should take a leaf from the Social Forum and seriously sit down with each other in a Republican Left Social Forum with a view to create the basis for a unifying and serious struggle for and with the working class.

Gerry Ruddy is taking the **** with this comment in my opinion . He knows full well that this is the strategy we have laid out and approached the IRSP with along with others .


the full article is carried here

http://www.fourthwrite.ie/issue13alt10.html

Mr Ruddys dishinesty and misrepresentaion of our position in this article does republicanism and socialism in Ireland no favours at all . Personally I regard it as deeply disappointing , particularly in light of the good relationships enjoyed on the ground between 32 csm and IRSP members .

[Joseph Pariah]

Personally I have a lot of time for the 32 CSM. There are many able people involved in the movement and the arguments it puts forward are always water-tight and very progressive in nature. Gerry's comments certainly aren't helping anyone, but he's entitled to his opinion.

[Carlos McJackle]

In gerry ruddys defence Ive just found out that statement is from a few years back and may not accurately reflect his current position . I sincerely hope that may be the case .

[KillinSnakes]

I would agree that the 32's are a progressive movement, and are not reactionary.

[Craobh Gal Gréine]

the ORM (Official Republican Movement who support the GFA)

The ORM are not a Republican or Nationalist Movement. They are part of the failed Goulding strategy that allowed itself to be used by the English for the killing of Irish soldiers. The entire ORM has held the sovereignty of Ireland in contempt since the 1970's. They are identical to the Loyalist death squads that set out to murder Irish people.

[Craobh Gal Gréine]

3 May 2003
The Restoration of National Sovereignty is not a Right-Wing Aspiration
32CSM Responds to Fourthwrite Article

Andy Martin, Assistant Secretary, 32 County Sovereignty Movement

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, to counter the allegations that we are in someway a right-wing organisation. In a recent edition of the Fourthwrite magazine Gerry Ruddy of the IRSP claims that the RIRA-32CSM are essentially right wing. Firstly, the 32CSM have no organisational links to the RIRA so it is a mistake to label their politics in the same breath. While the 32CSM respect the right of Irish people to bear arms in defence of Irish sovereignty, it is wrong to assume that the RIRA have any input into our movement and vice versa.
Secondly, the 32CSM exist primarily to defend Irish sovereignty, that is the right of the Irish people as a unit to determine their own future.

We recognise that the Good Friday Agreement is a step away from sovereignty built as it is on continued partition and the unionist veto. The restoration of Irish sovereignty would require the ending of imperialist rule in Ireland, surely there are few rightwing anti-imperialist movements in existence. Our movement is not only opposed to British interference in Irish affairs but also U.S. interference. We realise that the GFA is the preferred solution of the British, American and 26 counties' administrations and consequently these administrations are hostile to the demand for national sovereignty. We are equally hostile to their administrations because their interest in Ireland is an interest in markets as opposed to what is beneficial to the Irish people as a whole.

There is a belief in some quarters that the 32CSM somehow consider themselves to be the Real Sinn Féin, nothing could be further from the truth.

It is true that a 32 County Sovereignty Committee was formed within Sinn Féin prior to the signing of the Belfast Agreement. This committee found its members being harassed and expelled for refusing to compromise on the sovereignty issue. Those who were expelled or resigned went on to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement together with former members of Republican Sinn Féin, IRSP, SWP, ex-prisoners, ex-volunteers and others.

The movement does not claim to be a government in waiting nor does it claim to be the legitimate heirs of anything. We believe that the last legitimate government in Ireland was voted for by the people in 1918, this does not mean that it is still the legitimate government, it simply recognises the fact that any future legitimacy must come from the Irish people expressing their wishes as a single unit without any external interference.

The 32CSM is not a political party, there is no party line that its members have to follow. Debate is welcomed within the movement, as it is our belief that a lack of debate has weakened the republican movement in the past. We also welcome debate with all shades of republicanism and socialism. We are not elitist and will work with anyone who is progressive and who understands the republican and anti-imperialist argument. Indeed our original constitution stated that the first aim of the movement was to "seek to achieve broad unity amongst the republican family on the single issue of Irish sovereignty". The constitution was amended slightly at the 2002 AGM moving from the single-issue position to the point where the movement would "promote the revolutionary ideals of republicanism and to this end involve itself in resisting all forms of colonialism and imperialism".

When speaking of sovereignty we should bear in mind the words of Padraig Pearse:

"The nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the nation, but to all its material possessions; the nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and the wealth producing processes within the nation".

Anyone who agrees with the above already agrees with the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, anyone who doesn't should re-examine what they do believe.


32 CSM are probably the only ones at present that are strong enought to push the nationalist struggle forward. RSF are unfortunately stuck in a rut. If they can revive the Eire Nua document and make it more viable and popular then ideally the two groups should work together in the interests of the Irish nation.

[Takeshi]

I've never understood the idea that in order to support the liberation struggle, you have to be left wing. The campaign to end british rule in the six counties should be totally above the normal political bickering. We should be bringing people together from all parts of the political spectrum.

It pretty ironic for anyone from the IRSP to be complaining about another Republican group. I grew up in Armagh, and I remember the bunch of criminals that made up the INLA there.

[Its Time]

I agree, we limit ourselves and come off as elitist to think that one brand of ideology should hold exclusive sway over the liberation struggle

[KillinSnakes]

The ORM are not a Republican or Nationalist Movement. They are part of the failed Goulding strategy that allowed itself to be used by the English for the killing of Irish soldiers. The entire ORM has held the sovereignty of Ireland in contempt since the 1970's. They are identical to the Loyalist death squads that set out to murder Irish people.

They weren't used by the English. Really if they were used by anyone, it was Moscow.

[KillinSnakes]

I've never understood the idea that in order to support the liberation struggle, you have to be left wing. The campaign to end british rule in the six counties should be totally above the normal political bickering. We should be bringing people together from all parts of the political spectrum.

Do you think people from different classes will support national liberation equally?

Will reach people who are economically tied to Britain support national liberation and genuine self-determination?

the film the wind that shakes the barley addressed these issues well.

[Calv]

I've never understood the idea that in order to support the liberation struggle, you have to be left wing. The campaign to end british rule in the six counties should be totally above the normal political bickering. We should be bringing people together from all parts of the political spectrum.

It pretty ironic for anyone from the IRSP to be complaining about another Republican group. I grew up in Armagh, and I remember the bunch of criminals that made up the INLA there.

Well in my opinion the struggle for freedom is about trying to acheive a 32 County Democratic Socialist Republic based on equality. As the Proclomation states -

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Since right-wing politics work in favour of the ruling classes, I fail to see how one can claim to be a Republican and right-wing.

[KillinSnakes]

Well in my opinion the struggle for freedom is about trying to acheive a 32 County Democratic Socialist Republic based on equality. As the Proclomation states -

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Since right-wing politics work in favour of the ruling classes, I fail to see how one can claim to be a Republican and right-wing.

Well said.

[BunyipDude]

I've never understood the idea that in order to support the liberation struggle, you have to be left wing. The campaign to end british rule in the six counties should be totally above the normal political bickering. We should be bringing people together from all parts of the political spectrum.

I sure as hell do NOT want anyone serving in my country's military to be involved in the Irish Republican movement. My tax dollars are paying for you to fight terrorism (especially terrorists who have ties to Libya, the PLO, and the ETA, among others), not to support it. You do that and you're betraying the oath you swore to defend me, and my country.

[Puddies]

I sure as hell do NOT want anyone serving in my country's military to be involved in the Irish Republican movement. My tax dollars are paying for you to fight terrorism (especially terrorists who have ties to Libya, the PLO, and the ETA, among others), not to support it. You do that and you're betraying the oath you swore to defend me, and my country.Well the core goal of Republicanism in Ireland is to unite Catholic, Protestant, Dissenter etc. for the common good so of course the US military isn't going to be involved in that. Individuals within the military are imperialist pawns, selling their bodies and abilities to fire and take bullets in exchange for a promise of a better life after they serve their time. "Terrorists" as you call them are fighting out of their own free will against what they at least perceive as injustice. Considering that the Republican military campaign from 1969-98 was a reaction to political apartheid you might want to rethink your semantics for future reference.

Sure Alexander Hamilton and Ben Franklin had some good ideas, so long as they weren't heard by anyone who wasn't a rich white male.

Andrew Jackson discovered gold somewhere and decided that getting his hands on that justified outright genocide against the native population.

Who was it who illegally invaded Mexico again?

Abe Lincoln himself said that he only cared about preserving the union, ending slavery was just a means to an end. Plenty of dead Indians can be attributed to him as well.

Custer had it coming. :)

Let's see was that in the Philippines around 1898 or so when the US military shelled entire villages and people into the ground, what was the death toll on that?

Wasn't the US involved in some kind of imperial invasion of China in 1905 to put down a popular uprising?

Then I guess would come World War One, another pointless mass slaughter.

Not too sure about WWII, Hitler had it coming but Hiroshima and Nagasaki sure didn't.

What was Korea for? Vietnam? Nicaragua? Haiti? Iraq? Whats the body count?

Your tax dollars are funding a mercenary imperialist army which occupies people against the will and interests of both the occupied and occupying peoples. Lucky for us there are going to be one, two, many Vietnams, Venezuelas, Cubas, Afghanistans, Iraqs, Irans.

People know that the system is corrupt and always has been, its just going to take a spark to overcome the apathy. Bodies coming home in boxes and the simple fact that the "American Dream" lifestyle is unsustainable will help push history along.

"Almost all urban specialists agree: all signs point to a grim summer of riots in the nation's cities... They note: (1) cuts and restrictions in federal programs for the jobless; (2) a hardening of white-black antipathies; (3) a growing police emphasis on repression and weaponry. Some of their conclusions: "nothing can stop it" ... the nation is "building toward organized insurrection within the next few years."

Newsweek, February 19, 1968

"The invasion of Cambodia and the senseless shooting of four students at Kent State University in Ohio have consolidated the academic community against the war, against business and against government. This is a dangerous situation. It threatens the whole economic and social structure of the nation."

Business Week, May 16, 1970

:hmmm:

So pledge allegiance against the flag and the cause for which it stands :eusa_dance:

[BunyipDude]

Your tax dollars are funding a mercenary imperialist army which occupies people against the will and interests of both the occupied and occupying peoples.

Well, that's an excellent use of my taxes, then. And Takeshi here needs to stop supporting the IRA, get back to work (which means, patrolling Iraq with an M4 in hand) and do what my taxes are paying him to do - keep my oil safe.

[Puddies]

Well, that's an excellent use of my taxes, then. And Takeshi here needs to stop supporting the IRA, get back to work (which means, patrolling Iraq with an M4 in hand) and do what my taxes are paying him to do - keep my oil safe.

:icon_lol: :eusa_clap:

What he really needs to do is put a bullet through his general's head!

[KillinSnakes]

:icon_lol: :eusa_clap:

What he really needs to do is put a bullet through his general's head!

hear hear

[Carlos McJackle]

frag the muther****er

[tom42191]

I did the math yesterday and with the current cost of the Iraq war (1.2 trillion dollars) we could give each America $5,000 instead of dropping bombs on women,children and the occasinal camel. I personaly would take the $5,000 and let the people of Iraq be.