A New Beginning

[Cael Dubh]

I share your concerns as well. I wish it could have been otherwise. But I guess the movement as a whole felt it couldn't move forward while it was "tainted" by allegations of criminality. That's just my take on it, could be wrong of course.

The ironic thing is that dicomissioning has nothing to do with an end to criminality. There was worse PIRA criminality with knives and crow bars after they had surrendered their guns. There is no reason to believe that the INLA will be ending the kind of activity that Duffy was leading.

[Cloghogue Rogue]

Some are at a loss over the Sectology of the OIRA now ORM and IRSM..Think there is great information to be gleaned from the following:

The Left Archive: Teoiric, Theoretical Journal of the Republican Movement, Official Sinn Féin, c.1975 http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/201...n-fein-c-1975/

[Jim Monaghan] was told that Smullen had an extra axe to grind with Costello. Costello had an appointment with an arms dealer he could not make, Smullen took it on and was arrested. On agents.. there are enough fools around who do it for free. In spite of the anme calling there are many stupid people around. - Jim Monaghan

Myth-making: Political imagery, posters from the Troubles and the contradictions of armed struggle by socialists http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/200...by-socialists/

[KillinSnakes]

So then the IRSP should stop claiming to be Marxists, as land nationalisation is basic to the teachings of Marx. And if your going to base your policy on the views of 99% of the population, then you better sign up your support to the PSNI and gardaí, and start calling on Irish citizens to pass information to them.

I don't base my political views on the majority of the population. You're twisting my words. I was pointing out that something isn't possible if 99% of the population are opposed to it. I'm interested in what is actually attainable, and how to get from here to our goal of socialism.

[Cael Dubh]

I don't base my political views on the majority of the population. You're twisting my words. I was pointing out that something isn't possible if 99% of the population are opposed to it. I'm interested in what is actually attainable, and how to get from here to our goal of socialism.

How do you know that 99% of people are opposed to land nationalisation? And, even if they were, is it not the job of Marxists to educate the Working Class - not pander to their ignorance.

[Cael Dubh]

Some are at a loss over the Sectology of the OIRA now ORM and IRSM..Think there is great information to be gleaned from the following:

The Left Archive: Teoiric, Theoretical Journal of the Republican Movement, Official Sinn Féin, c.1975 http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/201...n-fein-c-1975/

Myth-making: Political imagery, posters from the Troubles and the contradictions of armed struggle by socialists http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/200...by-socialists/

Well, the RSM are good at making posters. Those are excellent.

[KillinSnakes]

How do you know that 99% of people are opposed to land nationalisation?

Just did a survey.

[Cael Dubh]

Just did a survey.

Good man.

[irsp74]

A chairde, a Dublin Comrade asked me to post this.



A New Beginning




“As a socialist party, our ultimate political objective is the creation of a unified 32 county Democratic Socialist Republic within which the Irish working class will control the wealth and resources of the nation.”



With the latest move from the INLA, being centre stage in political news around Ireland and indeed in some parts of the world. The usual crowd of reactionary nationalists have decided to lambast Republican Socialists for taking steps to disarm. This action was not taken lightly; it followed on from intense debate, consultation and analysis of the political developments over the past 12 years. Our movement fought a war against the British state and make no apology for it.

Online and in press ‘statements’ these nationalist groups have proclaimed we are going down the Provo path of supporting British rule, when we are not. Unlike themselves we do not come from the tradition of Provo reactionary politics. We have a firm Marxist analysis and make no apology for it; these people are incapable of anything more than getting excited over hooded gun men.

We in the IRSM are entering the arena of politics full time, we are organising and building. We will be delivering our message and our politics the length and breadth of Ireland. We will not settle for anything less than a socialist republic, we will not be administering British/Free State rule, nor will we be supporting it.

Seamus Costello said it best: “We don't see parliament as an institution that is likely to produce the results which we want from a long-term point of view. We don't see it in a reformist way. We see both parliamentary institutions in Ireland as institutions that have to be abolished if we are to make progress towards establishing a Socialist Republic.”

It’s the duty of any Republican Socialist to be a realist, we must know our limits at any time and we must do everything in our power to overcome obstacles put in our path. Rhetoric will not wash with us; rhetoric will not build a republic. Activism is what is needed, we will be out in our communities, we will be round the doors and we will be agitating. We will be engaging in militant socialist politics and mobilising our class. I’m sure as we do this; the reactionaries will be sitting in their arm chairs or behind keyboards pontificating about the armies move.

I for one am glad we are not stuck in the narrow nationalist round about, let the Taliban lookalikes release all the begrudging statements they want. We will be building the republic, while they’re stuck in the never ending year of 1986.

Venceremos Comrades.

You are wished success in the struggle to build an Irish workers' republic, comrade, but heed Costello's words well. The political struggle is in no way synonymous with parliamentary campaigns or parliamentary activity. The important work for any revolutionary socialist organisation is undertaking any and all efforts to build class consciousness among the workers, because it is not parties, but classes who make social revolutions and it must be the working class of Ireland that rise to bring down the system of capitalism and set about organising a workers' republic.

The IRSP would seriously err in devoting undue time and effort to contesting parliamentary campaigns. Moreover, recent experience suggests they would most likely not fare particularly well in such polls and the capitalist media would without a doubt seize upon this to argue that the party lacks legitimacy. But, political legitimacy for any revolutionary socialist organisation rests not in their percentage of the vote for capitalist state offices, but their ability to articulate the aspirations of the most advanced consciousness of the working class and the consistency of their efforts to build clas consciousness and empower workers to struggle for their own interests as a class.

It has long been understood that there is no parliamentary road to socialism, just as there is no military road. Socialism will be won through working people taking back control over their own lives and the society they collectively reside in, including the means by which they produce all the wealth of society. Political action should be conceived of less as parliamentary campaigns and more as working class communities being led to claim control over their day to day lives. That means, control by rank-and-file of their unions and control by those unions of the workplace; it means the establishment of systems for maintaining community justice with a restorative basis rather than relying on criminalisation of a segment of the community; it means resisting efforts to privatise and charge for water; it means efforts to replace the dole with meaningful, socially relevant jobs being created for decent wages under workers administration; and it means challenging both statelets in Ireland being able to use the territory and resources of the Irish nation in service of international imperialist war drives and multi-national corporate exploitation.