It has not gone away. If anyone thought that the issue of partition was concluded and peace made, they are mistaken. Recently two British soldiers and a PSNI officer were shot dead. Their deaths were a tragedy for their families and regrettable.
The attacks were followed by the usual security response. House raids, arrests, rioting, the demonisation of individual republicans and the use of extensive anti-terror laws to imprison and interrogate suspects. A media campaign was launched to denounce not only those organizations alleged to be involved in the attacks on the British army and police but all those republicans who desist from giving allegiance to the new institutions of the northern State. Accusations of drug dealing, criminality etc., and terms like terrorists, fanatics, traitors etc., were uttered by former republicans who in the past had the same terms used against them. The media went into overdrive denouncing the "terrorists". (See The Plough, Vol. 6-3, for the definitive position of the INLA on these matters).
All the superficial changes ushered in by the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements were and are not, enough to hide the glaring contradictions inherent in those agreements. Those agreements centre on the mistaken notions that Britain is neutral between two divided communities that the issue of sovereignty is irrelevant and that sectarianism is the central problem. They are based on the old imperial notion of "divide and conquer".
Sectarianism is not a quaint notion confined to the strange inhabitants of the north of Ireland. The passions angers and hatred in the Shankill and Ardoyne, to name but two areas, are shared across the globe. In many cases the existing divisions between tribes, races and religions became an extremely useful tool for the imperialist powers to exploit and turn neighbour against neighbour.
For centuries the subcontinent of India existed in comparative peace. Under British Imperial rule differences were emphasized and eventually, faced with the power of the Indian National Congress, the British decided to partition the subcontinent. Today sectarian violence spreads through the whole Indian subcontinent, Pakistan is a failed state in turmoil and Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. These are the bitter fruits of Imperialism. The Irish Republican Socialist Party has set its face firmly against sectarianism. Our comrades in many areas intervene, sometimes daily to dampen down sectarian feelings and incidents and prevent the spread of sectarian violence. We make a conscious effort to reach out to those within protestant working class areas to explain our ideas our views and our beliefs. Such outreach work in no way lessens either our socialism or our republicanism. We are resolutely anti-imperialists. Those activities have the unanimous support of our leaderships.
British control of the north is now as strong if not stronger than before the launch of the Provisional IRA campaign. That may be an unpalatable fact for many but it is nevertheless true. The British spend more on intelligence in the 6 Counties than is spent on Islamic terrorism. Relationships between the ruling classes of Britain and Ireland have never been stronger. Britain can continue to recruit and train British soldiers in a part of Ireland. The PSNI has increased recruitment from the catholic population. The state institutions are reasonably stable and there is certainly little appetite for a return to armed struggle.
All of this is not to say that the Northern State is stable. On the contrary it is still a failed state just like Pakistan. In every decade from its foundations there have been armed revolts against this state. People have been driven into sectarian mindsets and poverty used to divide people. Symbols such as flags and banners have been used to taunt and provoke people into rioting on a regular basis and every year precautions are taken to prevent sectarian marches provoking even greater rioting. No, "Northern Ireland" is not a stable state and no matter how many times it is said by the media , Windsor Park, home of Linfield FC is not a "national stadium".
Easter time is when Republicans march to honour the republican dead and in a sense renew their commitment to the broad ideals of republicanism. This year the multitude of republican organizations and the ritual denunciations of those who may have deviated the slightest from some form of "pure republicanism" will no doubt confuse and alienate those who republicanism should be attracting to its banner, i.e. the working class.
Irish republicanism historically has always been based on the urban and rural poor. That is its natural base. Of course there have been leaders from different classes, some of whom went on to forsake their republicanism. Others have used their republicanism to ingratiate themselves into the elite ruling classes. And as always the poor, urban or rural, have remained poor.
So it could be argued that at this critical point Irish Republicanism is at a crossroads. The recent upsurge in violence would indicate that there are those who want to maintain armed struggle as the main vehicle to attain republican ideals. History teaches us all hard lessons. Only fools refuse to learn the lessons of history. The armed struggle waged by a variety of organizations including the PIRA, the INLA and the OIRA failed to achieve their objectives.
It is no good rewriting history to pretend otherwise. It was the mass struggle of the civil rights movement that achieved limited bourgeois democratic objectives, not the PIRA campaign. It was the sound of marching feet that undermined the old unionist ruling class. It was something else that gave us first Paisley and now Robinson as first Minister administering British rule. So let's not pretend otherwise.
At the same time the IRSP works hard to unite the republican base and we have engaged in joint talks and political activities with other republicans while at the same time advocating our own views and perspectives.
The working classes are divided. The schools are separated, lives are divided, even the graveyards are segregated. In Belfast, there is a wall that separates one section of the working class from another section of the working class. No radical, no republican, no socialist, no revolutionary can be happy with this set up.
Having benefited from the Celtic tiger and the economic benefits following the ceasefires many are now for the first time enduring economic misery as unemployment soars and redundancies gather apace while the Irish government imposes massive attacks on the working class. Somehow the blame for this is allocated to world conditions or the greed of bankers and investors.
The blame rests with the system that predominates ‑ capitalism. That is the message that needs to be hammered home. No amount of tinkering or reforming will change the fundamental nature of capitalism. It is a system based on the overproduction of goods [and nothing] will change that basic fact. The IRSP have always said in the spirit of James Connolly that the class and national questions are intertwined and now is the time for republicans to lead the class struggle.
The occupation of the West Belfast site of Visteon by workers is an example of a class fightback by the workers. The Belfast factory is divided roughly fifty-fifty between those from a catholic or protestant background, but staffed 100% by working class who are leading the resistance to the shutdown. The Belfast workers set an example taken up by fellow workers in in Enfield and Basildon. If management get away with this, 600 workers at the three plants will be sacked and left on the minimum statutory redundancy pay. Statutory redundancy pay is paltry. Even workers with 30 years' service are only entitled to £9,000 and most will get far less.
So it is clear that there is a commonality of interest between workers in Ireland and England and of course worldwide. Capitalism respects no borders, loves no nationalities, destroys native cultures and imposes a consumerist culture in order to maximize its profits.
In the struggle for national independence in the early 20th century Eamon De Valera famously told the labour leaders "Labour must wait" and that bourgeois unification must come first. Well Labour is still waiting, unification is still on the long finger and the workers are still getting screwed. There are too many fake "socialists" out there trying to fool the workers in order to get and maintain power.
No more waiting. No war but the class war.
See also:
- Northern Ireland: No way out except Socialism by Socialist Appeal (March 19, 2009)
- Ireland: ten years on from the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement by Gerry Ruddy (April 30, 2008)
- Ireland - An Overview 1967-2007 by Gerry Ruddy (August 10, 2007)
- Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution by Alan Woods