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.
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.
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.