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By Fred Weston
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
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In spite of all the main parties, big business, the media
and even most of the trade union leaders campaigning for a "yes" vote in
yesterday's referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, the "No" won the day. This was a
slap in the face for the Irish government and the European Union bosses.
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By Gerry Ruddy
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
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Ireland, after a long period of economic boom, is
now feeling the effects of the worldwide slowdown. Some have made big money,
but at the other end of the social spectrum there are many who have lost out.
Now is the time to raise the banner of genuine socialism within the Republican
movement and the working class as a whole.
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By Gerry Ruddy of the IRSP
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 |
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In looking back at
the Good Friday Agreement, Gerry Ruddy points out that it has served to
stabilise British rule in the North as Sinn Fein has been absorbed into the
establishment. In this situation he stresses the need for republican socialists
to focus on working class and socialist policies.
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By Gerry Ruddy
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Monday, 24 March 2008 |
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After the Easter 1916
uprising the actual class conditions that motivated the likes of James Connolly
and the trade unionists who set up the Irish Citizen's Army to battle capitalism
were written out of history. Radical ideas were demonised and Connolly's Marxism
was airbrushed from history.
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By Paul Little (IRSP Ard Comhairle)
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Monday, 24 March 2008 |
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For the interest of
our readers we publish a speech delivered by Paul Little (of the IRSP Ard Comhairle) on Sunday, 23rd March, at the Republican
Socialist Plot, Milltown Cemetery, Belfast.
He explains that the aim of the IRSP is “to oust imperialism, oust capitalism
in all its guises and end the occupation and exploitation of the Irish working class.”
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By The Plough
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Friday, 14 March 2008 |
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In February five members of the IRSP were brought before a
court in Dublin,
a clear case of state harassment. It is an attempt to silence any left
criticism within the Republican movement. We publish here three articles
explaining what is behind all this and we call on all our supporters to support
these comrades.
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By Ewan Gibbs
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Friday, 07 March 2008 |
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On February 23 three comrades of the International Marxist
Tendency attended the Republican Socialist Youth Movement's (RSYM) winter day
school in Belfast.
Jim Daly, Sean McGowan and Bernadette McAliskey spoke on various aspects on the
question of Republicanism and Socialism and the role of the working class.
Francesco Merli spoke on Venezuela.
There was keen interest in the ideas of Marxism and the school bodes well for
the development of the RSYM. A HOV speaker also took part in this year’s Connolly Festival on February 22 and 23, while Labour Youth organized another talk on Venezuela in Galway with a speaker from HOV on February 26.
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By Alan Woods
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Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
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The second edition of
Alan Woods' book on Ireland,
Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution, has just come out, the first
edition having sold out. It is now available again to order from Wellred Books.
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By Paul Jones (Derry Labour Party Young Socialists)
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008 |
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This article was originally
published in the Militant under the title "Northern
Ireland - For A United Workers' Defence Force" just after the British troops were sent into the North of Ireland in
1969. While most of the left capitulated and supported the sending in of troops
the Marxists explained clearly that, "The call made for the entry of British troops will turn to vinegar in
the mouths of some of the Civil Rights leaders. The troops have been sent in to
impose a solution in the interest of British and Ulster Big Business."
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By Harry Whittaker
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Monday, 10 December 2007 |
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Over 150 years ago Ireland lost a staggering 13% of
its population to death by disease and starvation. How could it be that Britain, which
was still the richest and most powerful country in the world, could not prevent
this horrific death toll? The answer is simple ‑ the British ruling-classes did
not want to minimize the death toll, on the contrary, they welcomed it!
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By Peter Black
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Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
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We are publishing
here an interesting piece on the Irish trade unions by Peter Black, an active
member of the TGWU (now fused with Amicus to form “Unite”) and the Irish
Republican Socialist Party. Trade union membership is growing in Ireland, as is
the militancy of the working class and Socialist Republicans, in the tradition
of James Connolly, can play an important role in providing the militant
leadership the Irish workers deserve.
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By P. Bowman in Dublin
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Monday, 19 November 2007 |
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Last week an important dispute flared up at the Dublin Bus company over new work schedules. Although the strike was called off today, the present article, written last week, gives an idea of the militant mood that exists among Dublin's bus workers.
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By The Plough
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Monday, 12 November 2007 |
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A Basque Marxist was
on a speaking tour of the North of Ireland at the end of October. He spoke to
audiences in Belfast, Strabane and Derry mainly composed of republican socialists, but not
only. There was keen interest in seeing how the experience of the Basque
situation could be applied to the North of Ireland, and vice versa. We make
available here a report, originally published in The Plough, the journal of the
Irish Republican Socialist Party.
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By Fred Weston
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
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Last week the Executive in the North of Ireland presented
its budget. It has been presented as a budget that will create jobs, improve
services and reduce poverty. A closer look reveals tax concessions and
incentives for the bosses and cuts in jobs and social spending and increased
taxation for the workers. They are preparing social turmoil in the future.
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By Julian Sharpe - www.socialist.net
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Monday, 10 September 2007 |
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Michael Collins was a great
Irish revolutionary and nationalist who more than any one person may be
considered to have created modern Ireland. His political tragedy, like other well-meaning nationalists in the age of
imperialism was to attempt the impossible; to try to achieve meaningful
national independence, in Ireland's case uniting both Catholics and
Protestants, without breaking free from the binds of capitalism.
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By Gerry Ruddy
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Friday, 10 August 2007 |
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A
Speech delivered in Barcelona Wednesday August 1st 2007 to a gathering of
Marxists from around the world by Gerry Ruddy, a member of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party
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By Ewan Gibbs
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Friday, 20 July 2007 |
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Some disturbing events have been taking place in the south
of Ireland, where two IRSP members have been arrested and are being held under
the notorious “section 30”. This is clearly a case of political victimisation
and should be condemned by all socialists.
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By Gerry Ruddy of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
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Tuesday, 10 July 2007 |
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As Gerry Ruddy
explains, “The issue of the national question in Ireland is at heart a class
question. The division of the country into two separate states has encouraged
sectarianism, seriously dividing the working class and allowing the continued
exploitation of all workers.” This while in the recent period the IRSP in the
South of Ireland has come under attack from political policing.
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By P. Bowman in Dublin
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Friday, 08 June 2007 |
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In spite of its
social and economic policies – and the corruption scandals - the ruling Fianna
Fáil party held its ground in the recent Irish elections. This can be
understood on the basis of the prolonged economic boom and the lack of a
credible genuine left alternative.
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By Editor of The Plough
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
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The armed struggle is over. Class struggle is the only
option. Those who ignore the class question and stand alone on their
“republican principles” stand condemned to remain in splendid isolation. We now
live in different times and the old certainties now no longer hold. We all on
the left need to forget our petty differences and become relevant to the lives
of the working classes in Ireland
while keeping alive our vision of socialism.
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By Republican Socialist Youth Movement
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Wednesday, 11 April 2007 |
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The following speech was delivered by a representative of
the Republican Socialist Youth Movement Ard Comhairle at the national Republican
Socialist Movement Easter commemoration held in Belfast on Easter Sunday, 2007.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Friday, 06 April 2007 |
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As the 1916 Easter uprising commemorations begin we
republish Ted Grant’s 1966 article Connolly and
the 1916 Easter Uprising and another article he wrote with Alan Woods in
2001, James
Connolly and the Easter Rising. More than ever it is necessary to return to
the socialist and internationalist position of this great hero of the Irish
working class.
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By the Irish Republican Socialist Party
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Monday, 12 March 2007 |
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The power-sharing
executive involving Sinn Fein, the DUP and others, that should emerge from last
week’s elections to Stormont, will be called on to apply the anti-working class
policies dictated from London. Socialist Republicans now face the task of
offering a class alternative.
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By Irish Republican Socialist Party
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Monday, 12 February 2007 |
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The replacement of the old Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
with the PSNI has received the support of Sinn Fein leaders. This has opened up
a heated debate among Republicans on whether this is acceptable or not. Here we
provide three articles written by comrades of the Irish Republican Socialist
Party, where they explain why Republican socialists cannot accept such a force.
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By Gerry Ruddy, Irish Republican Socialist Party
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Tuesday, 26 September 2006 |
Twenty five years ago British imperialism demonstrated its cold, calculating cruelty in the face of Irish Republican prisoners who felt they had no alternative but to make the ultimate sacrifice in the struggle for political rights, embarking on a hunger strike that would tragically end with their deaths. Gerry Ruddy of the Irish Republican Socialist Party has sent us an excellent and intimate analysis of those events, highlighting the need to build a revolutionary movement based on Marxism and rooted in the working class across all boundaries. Read the article on the Socialist Appeal website.
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By Terry McPartlan
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Tuesday, 04 July 2006 |
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This latest of Ken Loach’s films is well crafted and well
thought. It has been thoroughly researched and really gets under the surface of
the processes and the events that helped shape the current situation on the island of Ireland.
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By The Plough editorial board
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Tuesday, 20 June 2006 |
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“We urge all republicans to turn towards the working class
movements, get active in the unions, and raise issues that while relevant to
the immediate interests of working also form a bridge towards more radical and
revolutionary demands.” We reproduce the editorial from the latest e-mail
newsletter The Plough (Volume 3, Number 25, 14 June 2006) of the IRSP. We have
their kind permission to reproduce it.
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By Ted Grant and Alan Woods
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Friday, 14 April 2006 |
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To commemorate the 1916
Easter uprising we are republishing Ted Grant’s 1966 article
Connolly and the 1916 Easter Uprising and another article he
wrote with Alan Woods in 2001, James Connolly and the Easter
Rising. The tradition of James Connolly is claimed by many, even
those who deny the real essence of his ideas. It is our duty as
Marxists to state clearly the socialist and internationalist position
of this great hero of the Irish working class.
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Wednesday, 28 September 2005 |
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The
recent announcement that the Provisional IRA had decommissioned all its weapons
has been drowned out by the blasts of the loyalist paramilitaries using theirs.
The Good Friday Agreement is dead. Instead of peace we have a dramatic increase
in extreme sectarian violence. More than ever the call for working class unity
in the struggle for socialism is the only answer. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Monday, 05 September 2005 |
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The recent
declaration by the leadership of the Provisional IRA that the armed struggle is
over has been reported in the media as an historic turning point and a
fundamental departure in Irish politics. In spite of the rhetoric, however,
there has not been one single step in the direction of a united Ireland. At least a section of the Provisional Republican
movement will now be feeling demoralised and betrayed. They and many others, especially
the young people who have just started to become involved in politics, will
want to know - what next? |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Tuesday, 30 August 2005 |
We are publishing here a speech given by Phil Mitchinson at the recent
international Marxist school in Barcelona. Dealing with the history of
the centuries old struggle for freedom in Ireland, and the part played
in that history by republicanism and socialism, as well as the political
developments that have led to the current impasse, this should serve as
an introduction to a major article analysing the recent declaration of
the end of the armed struggle by the Provisional IRA which we will be
publishing later this week.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Thursday, 30 June 2005 |
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After reading the recent report of the visit to the Basque country by
leading members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, and the
introduction contributed to Alan Woods’ book Republicanism and Revolution
by the IRSP’s Gerry Ruddy, there is a widespread interest in finding
out more about the political ideas of the IRSP. Therefore we are
publishing the following speech, delivered by IRSP member John Murtagh
to a gathering of 200 members of the Republican Socialist Movement at
Bodenstown, the burial place of the founding father of Irish
Republicanism, Wolfe Tone.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Wednesday, 18 May 2005 |
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Ezker Marxista and El Militante
organised a speaking tour last week throughout the Basque Country, with
Gerry Rudy and Danny of the IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party)
speaking in many Basque working class neighbourhoods, drawing the
lessons of the experiences in Ireland and linking these to the struggle
for national liberation of the Basque Country. The common thread was
the need for the organised working class to take a lead in the struggle
and link it to a socialist perspective. |
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By Alan Woods
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Friday, 01 April 2005 |
 He
who does not learn from history will forever be doomed to repeat it. It
is time to take stock of the past of the Republican movement and to
draw a balance sheet. Only by such means can we extricate ourselves
from the present impasse, and build the revolutionary movement urgently
needed to prevent a further descent into sectarian chaos and achieve
instead the historic task of overthrowing capitalism and constructing
the 32-county Socialist Republic. This is the introduction to the
recently published book Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution, to be ordered from Wellred Books. (May 2005) |
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By Alan Woods
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Friday, 01 April 2005 |
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The message of this book is that the destiny of Ireland is a Workers’
Republic, a free Republic without landlords, bankers and capitalists.
It is a message of hope, of confidence in the future of Ireland, the
working class and socialism. It is non-sectarian equally addressed to
all thinking people from different backgrounds, but especially to the
cadres and the youth of the Republican movement, who have paid a very
heavy price for the last thirty years and who are now seeking
explanations. |
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Thursday, 24 March 2005 |
In April a new book by Alan Woods is being published by Wellred Books.
The title of the book is “Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution”. It
looks at the history of the Republican movement from a Marxist
viewpoint. Gerry Ruddy, Ard-Comhairle member of the Irish Republican
Socialist Party, has written a preface to the book, which we provide
here. As he says, “Hopefully, it will stimulate debate and analysis.
Serious revolutionaries, genuine Marxists, committed Republicans will
read this book with thoughtful interest.” |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Thursday, 03 March 2005 |
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In Southern Ireland the
economic miracle is well and truly over. As we have predicted and explained for
some time now, the Celtic Tiger phenomenon did not mean that capitalism had
solved any of its contradictions. Now in the context of a declining world market
the only road open to the bosses to protect their profits will be an assault on
workers living standards. |
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By Ta Power
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Friday, 17 December 2004 |
 A remarkable document written by a Republican Socialist, Ta Power, while in gaol in
Ireland in the mid-Eighties. The
significance of the conclusions drawn by this young thinker and fighter, who
made a careful study of Marxism whilst imprisoned, will not be lost on our
readers. Above all the demand that politics and ideology must play the
central role in the struggle for national liberation and socialism, in the
building of a revolutionary party of the working class, will come as a
surprise to many, especially knowing the period and the circumstances in
which this document was written. With an introduction by Gerry Ruddy. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Monday, 06 December 2004 |
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Voters in the north of Ireland have delivered their verdict on the
Stormont Assembly. As we have consistently explained the Good Friday
Agreement, and the institutions of devolution associated with it, could
never begin to solve the problems facing ordinary working people no
matter what their background. Indeed the divide between Catholics and
Protestants has never been wider. The election result itself
demonstrates a further polarisation in the shape of Paisley's DUP
becoming the main Unionist Party, while Sinn Fein overtook the SDLP as
the main Nationalist party. |
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By Francis Archer in Dublin
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Monday, 29 November 2004 |
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The ongoing conflict between the management of An Post (the Irish state
run postal services) and the Communication Worker’s Union (CWU) may end
up with 1,450 workers losing their jobs, the reduction of workers’
incomes, and the subcontracting of deliveries of mail in rural areas,
if the CWU doesn’t stand up against these attacks. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Thursday, 04 December 2003 |
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Voters in the north of Ireland have delivered their verdict on the
Stormont Assembly. As we have consistently explained the Good Friday
Agreement, and the institutions of devolution associated with it, could
never begin to solve the problems facing ordinary working people no
matter what their background. Indeed the divide between Catholics and
Protestants has never been wider. The election result itself
demonstrates a further polarisation in the shape of Paisley's DUP
becoming the main Unionist Party, while Sinn Fein overtook the SDLP as
the main Nationalist party. |
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By Alan Woods
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Wednesday, 15 October 2003 |
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The Irish Republican movement has been struggling for a united Ireland for
decades. Today it is no nearer this objective than when it was founded. Marxists
understand that a united Ireland can only be achieved on a socialist basis. So
long as capitalism dominates Ireland there will be division and strife.
Therefore it is time to take stock of the past of the Republican movement and to
draw a balance sheet. Only by such means can we build the revolutionary movement
urgently needed to prevent a further descent into sectarian chaos and achieve
instead the historic task of overthrowing capitalism and constructing the 32
county Socialist Republic. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Tuesday, 18 March 2003 |
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In Southern Ireland the
economic miracle is well and truly over. As we have predicted and explained for
some time now, the Celtic Tiger phenomenon did not mean that capitalism had
solved any of its contradictions. Now in the context of a declining world market
the only road open to the bosses to protect their profits will be an assault on
workers living standards.
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Tuesday, 18 March 2003 |
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The devolved assembly at Stormont was suspended for the fourth time six
months ago in October 2002. Now Blair, Ahern, Adams and Trimble are
attempting to raise it from its coffin once more. Democracy, or what
passes for it in Belfast, can be switched on and off like a tap it
seems. The Stormont assembly represents not an attempt to solve the
problems facing ordinary working people, but a scheme to share power
between representatives of the main sectarian parties.
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By Ted Grant
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Monday, 16 April 2001 |
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It is impossible to understand the Easter Rising without understanding the ideas of its leader, James Connolly, who considered himself a Marxist and based himself on the ideas of Internationalism and the class struggle. (Written by Ted Grant in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the uprising.)
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By Alan Woods and Ted Grant
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Saturday, 14 April 2001 |
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This Easter marks the 85th
anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin (Ireland) against
British imperialist rule. The outstanding leader of that movement
was James Connolly. There have been many attempts to portray
him simply as an Irish nationalist. But Connolly was, first and
foremost, a militant workers' leader and a Marxist. He alone in the
annals of the British and Irish Labour Movement succeeded in
developing the ideas of Marxism.
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