Monthly Archives: November 2017
Dublin launch of ‘History of Irish Working Class Writing’
Dear all,
A History of Irish Working-Class Writing, published by Cambridge University Press, will be launched on Friday 24 November, at 6pm, in Griffith College, Dublin. The special launch price at the venue will be €30.
I’d be really grateful if you could circulate this to contacts who may be interested in the volume, and do drop in for a glass of wine and a chat if you’re around Dublin on Friday evening.
Best wishes,
Michael
__
Dr Michael Pierse
Lecturer in Irish Literature
Queen’s University
Belfast
BT7 1NN
Statements from prisoners in 26-county state and six-county state to Saoradh ard fheis, November 18
Statement From Portlaoise Republican Prisoners, read by Ger Devereux
We the Republican Prisoners incarcerated in E3/E4 Portlaoise Gaol send solidarity greetings to our Revolutionary comrades in attendance today, and Revolutionary Socialist activists internationally, engaged in their numerous campaigns. We particularly applaud the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament, but as the Catalonian people have now witnessed, colonial powers will never relinquish their illegal occupation voluntarily. History has thought us that it is not sufficient to affirm your independence through symbolic declarations or demonstrations- you must be prepared to defend them.
We would also like to commend our imprisoned comrades in Maghaberry Gaol for their continued resolve and discipline in the face of a sectarian aggressor. The oppressive measures being implemented against our comrades needs to be highlighted, but more worrying of late are the increased physical attacks occurring on a weekly base. As a small token of solidarity with our comrades, the Republican Prisoners in Portlaoise will embark on a 72 hour fast commencing this week, to highlight the ongoing sectarian attacks that they face.
Like all emerging Revolutionary organisations we have had our teething problems, but the party’s emphasis on principles rather than Read the rest of this entry
Blog news, Nov 2017
The most-viewed piece on this blog is Women’s Rights and the National Struggle, 1916-1922. This has now had over 10,000 views.
Hope folks have found it useful!
Again, I’ve been rather lax with the blog, due to other commitments – and, I must admit, a certain amount of inertia. . .
My priorites right now are getting up more of Fintan Lalor’s articles from the 1840s and also starting to get up articles by Sean McLoughlin, appointed Cmdt-General by Connolly towards the end of Easter Week. Sean McL later played an important role in both the original and sadly shortlived Communist Party of Ireland (founded by Roddy Connolly) and in James Connolly’s Socialist Labour Party in Scotland.
He is the subject of a fine biography by Charlie McGuire. Charlie deserves much respect for rescuing Sean McLoughlin from obscurity. Every socialist-republican should buy Charlie’s book.
I am also keen to get other people involved in the blog: book and film reviews, historical pieces, and also contemporary economic analysis are particular areas of interest. At present it’s essentially me, with some articles by my friend Mick Healy. But Mick has The Irish Republican & Marxist History Project to keep him busy as his primary on-line focus.
I also want to advertise other blogs more consistently, such as the Irish Republican & Marxist History Project and John Bull’s Workhouse (about the six-county state and economy), which Belfast socialist-republican Liam O Ruairc (an occasional contributor to this blog) and veteran Cork socialist-republican Jim Lane are involved in.
Plus I will link more to material on sites such as Eirigi and Saoradh, as well as continuing to re-blog and link to stuff by Socialist Democracy.
Liam Sutcliffe commemoration, Dublin, Sunday, Dec 3
Friends and comrades of Liam Sutcliffe have organised a commemoration to mark Liam’s passing and his contribution to Irish national liberation and socialism.
The commemoration will be starting at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 1pm on Sunday 3rd December and marching to Mount Jerome Cemetery.
This is an independent commemoration, so please no party political material, but all Republicans welcome.
The Liam Sutcliffe Commemoration Committee has set up a facebook page, here.
Repose and funeral details for Liam Sutcliffe
Liam by The Spire of Dublin, the monument which eventually replaced Nelson’s Pillar. Photo: Luke Fallon
Reposing at the Fanagan Funeral Home, Aungier Street, Dublin from 5pm until 7.30pm, Tuesday, 7th November, with family in attendance.
Requiem Mass at 11.30am on Wednesday, 8th November, in Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street (Aungier Street), Dublin.
Funeral thereafter to Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold’s Cross Road, Dublin 6W.
Liam Sutcliffe: a revolutionary life
Liam with other Saor Eire activists
by Mick Healy
Socialist-republican and former Saor Éire activist Liam Sutcliffe passed away suddenly at his home in Greenhills, Dublin on Friday 3rd November, 2017. His wife Bernadette, to whom he was married for over 60 years, died in February 2016.
Liam came from an historic Dublin working class area, The Liberties, and was recruited into the Irish Republican Army along with Tomás Mac Giolla in 1954. Within a few months he was operating as an IRA agent in Gough barracks in Armagh, passing important information to the Republican Movement.
This was part of the preparations for Read the rest of this entry
Liam Sutcliffe, 1933-2017
It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Liam Sutcliffe, a veteran of the IRA, Saor Uladh and Saor Eire.
Oh, and the blowing up of Nelson’s Pillar in 1966!
Liam died at home in Walkinstown (Dublin) on Friday.
Check out the filmed interview with him here: https://theirishrevolution.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/interview-with-liam-sutcliffe-socialist-republican-veteran/
We’ll provide funeral details as soon as these are known.
The 1932 Belfast Outdoor Relief riots and lessons for today
Seán Mitchell, Struggle or Starve: Working-Class Unity in Belfast’s 1932 Outdoor Relief Riots, Chicago, Haymarket Books, 2017
Does intense class conflict with bosses, cops and government necessarily lead workers to draw radical conclusions? To put the question another way, does struggle mean that the working class becomes conscious of what is in its own best interests?
In 1922 striking miners defending their jobs in the South African town of Witwatersand fought gun battles in the streets killing about 70 troops. The political conclusion those white workers drew from their experiences was that they needed a Nationalist-Labour Pact with the Afrikaaner Nationalist Party. This was despite the involvement of the newly founded Communist Party of South Africa in the struggle. Even intense and bloody class conflict is no guarantee that the working class will necessarily act in its own best interests.
That’s a lesson it’s worth holding in mind when reflecting on politics in the north of Ireland.
Seán Mitchell, a member of Read the rest of this entry
the irish revolution 