Policy papers // Imperialism - Ireland and Britain

What Sort of Ireland Do We Want?

What do we mean by a revolution?
How to get to a revolution?
What do we want after the revolution?

Comrades,

Firstly, I would like to say that, on behalf of éirígí, I am very glad to have the opportunity to be here today to contribute to this session.  I want to thank the organisers for extending us this invitation. 

By way of addressing the substantive themes of today’s engagement - that of the question both as to the type of Ireland/World we want, and the nature and form of revolution - I would like to give an overview of what éirígí is, and of the rationale for its existence.
 
éirígí is a Socialist Republican organisation.  We are therefore for the liberation of Ireland, and for the liberation of all of the people in Ireland.  For this we make no apologies.  A central element of our political philosophy is that there can be no just political system in Ireland that has as any part of its theory or practice an acceptance of the right of an imperial power, through its armed forces and political administration and institutions, to interfere with and negatively influence the development of the economic, social, cultural and political life of this island.

That said, we reject absolutely and utterly the narrow nationalist notion that the interests of the people of Ireland are somehow to be served by the mere substitution of Irish masters for that of British ones.  We are only too aware of the fact that masters are masters; it is only this which is of importance to us - the fact of their nationality is not. 

In this regard it is very instructive that we remind ourselves of the incisive words of James Connolly when he said that:

“Ireland as distinct from her people, is nothing to me: and the man who is bubbling over with love and enthusiasm for Ireland, and can yet pass unmoved through our streets and witness all the wrong and the suffering, the shame and the degradation brought upon the people of Ireland – aye, brought by Irishmen upon Irishmen and women, without burning to end it, is in my opinion, a fraud and a liar in his heart, no matter how he loves that combination of chemical elements he is pleased to call Ireland.”

We therefore reject absolutely the notion that somehow there can be any commonality of interest between the capitalist and working classes of Ireland, or indeed between the capitalist and working classes of any country.  There is, and can only be, antipathy and conflict between both - as the interests of the former are served by the enslavement of the latter. And enslavement it is, no matter what reforms are introduced to lessen the weight and burden of the alienating, if metaphorical, manacles that the worker continues to wear.  

One need only take a cursory glance at the world today to see the extent of the slavery that exists.  The polarisation of the world into those who do and do not have access to the resources necessary for survival and an economic & social standard of living befitting membership of the human race is as marked today as it has ever been in the history of mankind.  The processes that underlie this fact have directly given rise to a scenario whereby humanity as a whole finds itself poised precariously in the balance.

The human condition at the beginning of the 21st century very clearly illustrates the nature of social reality as experienced on earth today.  While the range of human needs can in no way be reduced to material need alone, it is a fact nonetheless that the quest for wealth at the expense of others that  underpins capitalist ideology is the primary source of the very real misery and poverty faced by the majority of people throughout the world.

It is true that the reality of a highly impoverished existence as experienced by a majority of people in other parts of the world is not directly comparable to that experienced by people in Ireland and the so-called ‘developed world’ generally.  However, given that Ireland is very much enmeshed in and part of the global economic system, it is an undeniable fact that Irish society is governed by the same economic and social principles at the heart of the capitalist system that dominates human economic and social relations throughout the world.  It is therefore to be expected that the same cause and effect relationship witnessed elsewhere between the accumulation of wealth by small numbers of people and the relative economic and social impoverishment of a majority will be evidenced in Ireland.    

It is an undeniable fact to say that, relatively speaking, 21st century Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet, what does this economic fact mean for the people of Ireland in terms of quality of life and access to the resources necessary for a happy and fulfilling existence?

Despite unprecedented economic growth, Ireland is blighted by profound social inequalities that threaten the wellbeing and, indeed, the very fabric of society.    
One may therefore legitimately ask how and why a country can be extremely wealthy and yet, at the same time, experience such levels of poverty, social exclusion and general dysfunction and malaise etc.? How can it be that as a society we are producing more, working harder and overall, that the people who create the wealth are getting an increasingly smaller share of that very wealth? 

The answer is to be found in the contradiction at the very heart of the economic system known as “free-market capitalism”; the underlying problem in Ireland, as in the rest of the world, is “the problem of capitalism”. 

 We are very much of the belief that the liberation of Ireland, in its fullest sense, is integral to the liberation of all peoples and to the advancement towards the establishment of a socialist dispensation in Ireland and throughout the wider world. 

Indeed, in explaining exactly why the British system must stay in Ireland and defeat those who would resist its presence and influence, the British Conservative MP John Biggs-Davidson very much acknowledged this when, in the 1980’s he stated that: “If we lose in Belfast, we may have to fight in Brixton and Birmingham”.  It is exactly this proposition and potential that has always exercised and animated Socialist Republicans in their struggle against the British occupation of a part of Ireland.

The struggle against this injustice cannot be dissevered from the struggle against all other injustices.  Either we are against all injustice or we are against none. 

I am an Irish Socialist Republican by accident of geography only.  I am a Socialist Republican because I am, and always have been, against injustice.  I see the people of Belfast, Brixton and Birmingham not as my enemy but as my brothers and sisters. 

The more defeats that are inflicted on the notion of Empire, the nearer we approach the creation of its antithesis – that of a state whereby society and the individuals that comprise it are truly free.         

Our fundamental position then is that poverty, exclusion and conflict both in Ireland and internationally, are caused primarily by the joint system of capitalism and imperialism.  This system, which is based upon the exploitation and expropriation of the majority by a minority, will never allow the bulk of humanity to fulfil its potential.  It is only by replacing this system with one based upon co-operation rather than exploitation that true human freedom can be achieved.  To our mind, a Democratic Socialist Republic would be such a system.

éirígí’s position vis-à-vis social change is that the realisation of the objective of a Democratic Socialist Republic in Ireland requires change of a revolutionary nature.  What is required is a reversal of the ‘top down’ approach to politics and the administration of power, to one that is broad based and ‘bottom up’, reflecting as it must the active participation and control by people of the resources and power necessary for the fulfilment of human economic and social need. 

What is required then is that those who produce the wealth in society are in control of that wealth, to do with it as they collectively see fit.  It is our firm contention that anything short of economic control by workers over the resources that produce and are produced by their labour will always be insufficient as a means to the end of creating a society based upon real democracy & liberty.  Achieving the vision of social equality and an end to want and poverty will only ever be possible when a majority take control of their own lives and the wealth they generate, and use both in the interests of creating a society that will meet the needs of all people.

The founding document of the Irish Republic, the 1916 Proclamation, is a document that reflects socialist principles and the central idea that the people of Ireland have a right to “the ownership of Ireland”.  It states that the responsibility of government is to “pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally”.  In fact, the 1916 Proclamation views the extent to which these conditions are achieved or not as being the criteria against which the very notions of independence and democracy etc. must be measured.   
It is self-evident that 21st century Ireland is a place where these objectives have yet to be realised.  The truth is that they do not form any real part of the vision that those in power have for Irish society and a majority of people in it.  This is so because those who exercise power over the economy and the political system are merely living up to the expectations of the capitalist doctrine they subscribe to. 

With regard to the question of ‘How to get to a revolution?’, I would firstly like to say that I believe that initiatives and gestures such as this one emanating from the Libertarian community are vital if we are to have any hope for the creation of a political current of real and deep revolutionary potential in Ireland.  It is not only natural that Libertarians, Communists, Socialists and Republicans would engage in dialogue.  It is of vital importance that they do so. 

It is éirígí’s firm conviction that it is only through the construction of a social movement or coalition founded upon the collective action of local communities, organised labour, cultural organisations, campaigns groups, and political parties etc. that a society based upon the principles of human co-operation, solidarity and true social justice can be established and sustained.

We are very much of the opinion that an empowered people with control over the resources necessary for the betterment of society will be far more capable than any political class ever could be of addressing those things that are necessary for an existence that is fulfilling and contented.

With this in mind let me state then that we believe that electoral and parliamentary politics alone cannot deliver the type of change required in Irish society. The lessons of history indicate that the sustained transformation from a capitalist to a socialist system cannot be achieved without the active support and participation of the mass of the people.  The task of building the forces necessary for social revolution requires that the forces and momentum for change be built from the ground up.  As a reflection of this we see radical campaigning as having the potential to empower, politicise and mobilise the people, who alone can provide the dynamic for such a transformation. Through campaigning on political, social, economic and cultural issues, éirígí is trying in earnest to contribute to that dynamic.

The construction of this movement or coalition cannot be restricted to the island of Ireland. The fight against capitalism and imperialism is by necessity a global one. The emergent global justice movement represents a real and growing bulwark to oppression and exploitation throughout the world. We in éirígí believe that it is from within this movement that a new and truly progressive era of international co-operation and solidarity will emerge.

With regard to working to achieve the objectives we have set ourselves as revolutionary political activists, we in éirígí are deadly serious.  We are deadly serious about resisting those who would enslave and limit the horizons of humanity to the level to which they have been reduced and restricted.  We are deadly serious about the fact that the global capitalist system must be destroyed and replaced by one that is becoming of the potential inherent in humankind.        

In conclusion, may we echo the words of the Russian revolutionary Peter Kropotkin:
"Yes: death--or renewal! Either the state forever, crushing individual and local life, taking over in all fields of human activity, bringing with it its wars and its domestic struggles for power, its palace revolutions which only replace one tyrant by another, and inevitably at the end of this development there is...death! Or, (alternatively), the destruction of the state and new life starting again in thousands of centres on the principle of the lively initiative of the individual and groups and that of the free agreement. The choice lies with you!"

The choice lies with all of us here.  It lies with us whether we set our hearts, our minds, our bodies to the collective task of, as James Connolly declared, the creation of a “free federation of free peoples”, of which a 32-county Democratic Socialist Republic is an indispensable part. 

Go raibh maith agaibh.