Report on radical politics of late 60s/early 70s meeting

A brief report on the meeting and a bunch of photos, plus video coverage are up on the Irish Republican Marxist History Project site: http://irishrepublicanmarxisthistoryproject.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/cobblestone-meeting-photographs/

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Irish Night at the Canterbury WEA (Christchurch, New Zealand)

Tonight’s Irish Night is the second part of a talk on “Constance Markievicz: countess and revolutionary”.  It marks the end of this term’s advertised Irish Nights.

Next term, Irish Night at the WEA will be continuing on a fortnightly basis, starting on Thursday, October 17.  Each session will run from 7.30-9pm, with an initial focus on women and the struggle for Irish freedom.

October 17: Bernadette Devlin: we’ll be showing a 1969 US television documentary on Bernadette Devlin, made shortly after she was elected to the British parliament.

October 31: Off Our Knees screening; this is a documentary about the civil rights movement in the north of Ireland in the 1960s and events there up to 1988, written and presented by Bernadette (Devlin) McAliskey.

November 14: Mna na IRA: Rose Dugdale: this is an episode of a series of Irish TV documentaries on women who were involved in the armed conflict against the British military presence in Ireland; this episode is on Rose Dugdale, an iconic revolutionary figure whose background was in the English upper class.

Each showing will be accompanied by a short introductory talk.

November 28: The Troops Out Movement in Britain: a talk on the campaign in Britain for the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland

December 12: Political prisoners in Ireland today

a gold coin donation is appreciated to help cover costs

Commemorating 1913 Lockout and founding of Irish Citizen Army

On Saturday, September 7, 2013 éirígí held a number of successful commemorative events to mark the centenaries of the Great Lockout of 1913 and the formation of the Irish Citizen Army.

The day’s events began at 3pm with a ‘Lockout Walking Tour’ of Dublin city centre. Such was the demand for places on the tour that it was booked out for weeks in advance. Led by tour guide Donal Fallon, the forty or so participants were taken on a crash course of the history of Dublin in the early part of the twentieth century.

Everyone who was on the tour, some of whom had traveled from as far afield as Wexford and Antrim, agreed that

Songs of Freedom tour, Cork, Oct 2

Videos of talks from September 14 Dublin meeting against the new internment in the north

Below are the speeches given at the successful Dublin meeting on the new internment in the north.  Although the videos say the meeting was on September 16, it was actually on Saturday afternoon, September 14:

Dee Fennell, independent republican activist and chair of the new Belfast-based Anti-Internment League, on the new internment and campaigning against it:

Pauline Mellon, independent Derry activist, campaigner for Marian Price, on the Good Friday Agreement and the new internment:

Clare Daly, independent socialist TD in the southern parliament, on the Marian Price case, the new internment and campaigning against it:

John McCusker of éirígí on the internment of party activist Stephen Murney:

New blog re Rebel Cork’s Fighting Story

Below is a note from some Cork comrades about their new blog.  I’m also adding it to the blogroll.  Can readers please spread the word about it?

A chairde,

A new historical/political/social blog site has been set up to promote our history and our revolutionary struggle. We hope to shed light on some of the lesser known figures who helped shape and define Republicanism in Cork.

It will feature the rare and the random, tales of Ambushes and Martyrdom, songs, stories and in some cases hopefully the men and women who made history themselves will tell their own stories.

Our History must be told!

Beir bua!

John McGrath agus Labhrás Ó Tuama

http://rebelcorksfightingstory.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebel-Corks-Fighting-Story/439817179464571

 

 

Dublin anti-internment meeting, Saturday, Sept 14

Come here to me

I’ve also added Come Here to Me to the blogroll.  Although it’s not strictly a republican blog – it’s about Dublin city and life – it does have quite a lot of material about republican Dublin and there are some very interesting exchanges in its comments section about left-republican people and activities of the past.  It’s at: http://comeheretome.com/

Also, the folks behind it have brought out what looks like a very interesting book, Come Here To Me: Dublin’s other history.  It’s advertised on their blog’s home page.

Reading and listening – September

Just bought Damien Dempsey’s Shots and Dick Gaughan’s Gaughan Live! at the Trades Club.  Spent a lot of time listening to them when they arrived on Wednesday, interspersed with Chase and Status’ No More Idols and Seth Lakeman’s Hearts and Minds.

God, I wish I had a voice like Damien Dempsey; that guy’s voice could shoot helicopter gunships out of the sky.  And I wish I could play guitar like Dick Gaughan.  And I wish I could do anything musical a fraction as good as Seth Lakeman.

I’ve got Gaughan on at present, great version of “Tom Paine’s Bones” and “Whatever Happened?”, which is about renegacy on the left and is just mesmerising.  I first came across Gaughan several decades ago as his version of ‘Galtee Mountain Boy’ (my favourite version of that beautiful song) was on a cassette brought out by the Sinn Fein POW Dept as a fund-raiser during the 1981 hunger strikes.  I’ve never come across his version anywhere else, even on youtube.

I think my next CD purchase will be something by Gary Og, probably something that has ‘Back Home in Derry’ on it.  I love his live versions of it on youtube.  Then probably some more Damien Dempsey.

Reading wise, I’m re-reading Bolshevik economist I.I. Rubin’s Essays on Marx’s Theory of Value (political reading), re-reading some early 1960s David Storey novels (for relaxation reading) and Richard Davenport-Hines’ brand new An English Affair: sex, class and power in the age of Profumo (work-related reading).

Saor Eire and radical politics of the late 1960s-70s