Commemorating victims of state terrorism, Dublin event on Wednesday, January 31

RNUer on the need for unity of republican-socialists

Frustratingly, articles on the site of the Republican Network for Unity don’t have dates on them, so I’m not sure when this first appeared.  I assume, from where it is positioned in the list of articles, and from its reference to “election results” – presumably the British general election of June 8, 2017 – that it was some time in the past six or seven months.  It addresses an issue very close to my heart: the need for socialist-republicans to unite, instead of being divided into half a dozen small competing groups which, individually, simply can’t pose an alternative to the Shinners.

The writer is the PRO of Republican Network for Unity, a small socialist-republican current formed originally by former POWs who had come together to express opposition to the Sinn Fein leadership’s support of the policing boards in the north.

by Nathan Stuart

The election results pose many questions and challenges for those who continue to hold out for separation between Ireland and England. Any Irish republican who believes the current situation that anti-agreement republicanism finds itself in is in any way desirable isn’t examining the situation with honestly.

Sinn Féin are undoubtedly the winners of the election. Their results represents a seismic protest vote against DUP corruption and sectarian rhetoric. Sinn Féin, admirably, are portraying this result as an expression of separatism, without examining the reasons behind the electoral mobilisation or admitting the severe limitations of the Belfast Agreement in delivering for those with aspirations for Irish unity.

The Stormont project has been a failure from its inception. All it has to offer is a

Does Britain have a strategic interest in Ireland?

The Provos have unquestioningly accepted the British state claim that they do not.  The article below, which appears on the site of the Republican Network for Unity, suggests the British state continues to have a strategic, material interest in Ireland and keeping it partititoned.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by Paul Maguire

The question of whether Britain has or has not a strategic interest in Ireland is not an academic question or one that is best left to political spin-doctors: it is far too important for that. The peace process has witnessed Sinn Féin accept British declarations of strategic neutrality with respect to Ireland. Thus, having abandoned the orthodox republican analysis, which holds that British interference in Irish affairs remains the primary obstacle to the attainment of national liberation and that the unionist veto is nothing more than an anti-democratic subterfuge through which Britain justifies its interference in Irish affairs, Sinn Féin now believes that unionism – and not the British state – is the major impediment to unity. But are such British declarations of strategic neutrality genuine? Is the British state is engaging in political duplicity? Is it in fact concealing a strategic interest in Ireland? And does this strategic interest outweigh the political whims of unionism? And what are the implications of any ongoing British state interest for Sinn Féin’s analysis and its vision of a constitutional path towards Irish unity?

The unity of this article resides in the belief that Britain has a strategic interest in Ireland. Evidence will be highlighted to support this analysis and – at the same time – undermine the current Sinn Féin analysis of British state policy in Ireland. However, at the outset, it is necessary to chronicle the vital importance which the debate surrounding Britain’s strategic interest in Ireland assumed during the formative stages of the Irish peace process.

The Sinn Féin narrative would have us believe that 1990 was the year in which. . .

read full article here: http://republicannetwork.org/britain-strategic-interest-ireland/

 

Excellent article on Liam Lynch

Readers of this blog will be aware that I have no time for Liam Lynch, the walking disaster that ran the anti-Treaty IRA during the Civil War and led it to defeat when the anti-Treaty forces actually had the clear advantage in early 1922.

This is an excellent piece by Daniel Murray that examines Lynch’s performance in Limerick city; the performance was typical Lynch: start with the advantage, prevaricate and prevaricate and waste the advantage, then lose it, then retreat.

I have talked in the past about writing about Lynch and the problems with him, but I don’t think I need to now.  Daniel Murray has done a fine job in his series on Lynch (follow the links).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by Daniel Murray

Limerick Lost

The ten-day battle for Limerick reached its weary climax before midnight on the 19^th July 1922 when the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army (IRA) decided that enough was enough. Following the orders of their Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch, the men evacuated their positions under the cover of darkness and left the city in a line of motorcars, passing northwards through the Ballinacurra road, the only route still open to them.

They did not depart quietly.

A rear-guard kept up covering volleys of machine gun and rifle-fire. At 12:30 am, two or three explosions ripped through the gate of the New Barracks, courtesy of a detonated mine. So strong was the blast that stones and debris were hurled into nearby streets, tearing the roofs of houses.

Two hours later, huge columns of smoke were seen billowing out from two separate places, the New and Ordnance Barracks, the flames beneath lighting up the night sky and granting the milling crowds a view of the latest drama in their city as it was played out. Soon, a similar sight could be observed over the Castle Barracks. The Anti-Treatyites had set their posts ablaze before retreating. . .

full at: https://erinascendantwordpress.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/the-self-deceit-of-honour-liam-lynch-and-the-civil-war-1922-part-iv/

 

1916 Cmdt-General Sean McLoughlin on the social programme anti-Treaty forces needed to win the civil war

On the Friday evening, as the 1916 Easter Rising which had begun on the Monday morning was drawing to a close, 21-year-old Sean McLoughlin had so impressed James Connolly and other leaders that he was appointed overall military commander.  This was done due to the incapacitation of the badly-wounded Connolly, the original commandant-general of all the insurrectionary forces.  McLoughlin then led the break-out from the GPO and into Moore Street.

Below is an article that Sean McLoughlin wrote shortly after the civil war broke out in June 1922.  Along with Roddy Connolly and others, he had set up the shortlived very first Communist Party of Ireland and the article was published in the August 19th issue of their paper, The Workers Republic (named after James Connolly’s pre-1916 paper).

In the original, the second section (“Free State Methods”) was one huge paragraph.  I have broken this up into several; this is the only editing – I decided, for instance, not to change his use and non-use of commas and the bold, upper case subheads are as in the original.

This is the first of several of his articles which I will be getting up here, although I am also busy typing up more articles from the 1840s by Fintan Lalor, a project which got stalled for some time unfortunately.

The text here is taken from Charlie McGuire’s excellent bio of Sean McLoughlin – I thoroughly recommend this to all republicans, especially socialist-republicans.  Buy it!  Read it!  If you can’t afford it, get your library to buy a copy.

Social Programme for Republicans

by Sean McLoughlin

AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY

Since the beginning of the present struggle against the forces of the Free State the Irish Republican Army in the field has been able to withstand all the attacks of its enemies, and at the present moment occupies a favourable position from a military point of view.  The positions held are being strengthened, supplies are good, and most important of all, the morale of the Army is splendid.  Yet these things while being fine achievements do not necessarily spell victory for the Republican forces.

In order to carry the war to a successful issue, it is essential that the Republican authorities seize every opportunity of any nature, that will

The Shinners, Fianna Fail and the state of southern Irish politics – a conversation

The other day I was talking to one of my long-time best mates in Ireland about stuff and thought chunks of the conversation – it was on messenger – would make interesting material for this blog.  My mate is a longtime (southern) republican and OKed the following.  We’ll call him ‘Eamon’.

The conversation actually began with other subjects, like the problem of (religious) sectarianism among some Shinners.  Then it moved onto a mixture of discussion about Sinn Fein and southern politics, interspersed with various personal recollections and comments, which aren’t appropriate here.

Eamon: A Shinner asked me today to delete my latest post on my facebook page!

Me: Typical.  Hey what did McElduff say?  I think FF and DUP love stuff like this, as it enables them to take the moral high ground, covering over their own sins.

SF has basically chosen in the north to be a catholic/nationalist party instead of a republican, let alone socialist-republican, party.  So McElduff is just doing what a bunch of Shinners (and some of their support base) is thinking.  The leadership will be fucked off because he is doing in public what they are thinking.

E: True. Hey, it looks like Mary Lou will get to be leader unopposed.

They knew what they were doing when Michelle O Neill was appointed leader in the North…..With McDonald being the president of Sinn Fein there would be no opposition from Belfast about the president been from Dublin with O Neill in the North…..Very clever move….

Me: Adams is nothing if not crafty.  A worthy heir to De Valera in that (horrible manipulative) sense.  O’Neill and McDonald are also lightweights, so Adams will be able to string pull after he retires.  SF have been reshaped entirely as an Adamsite party.  His creation.  Quite sickening really.

E: SF folk seem to think with Adams and Martin gone that they will fly it now in the South……That the IRA monkey is off their back……But they are wrong…..After all Adams topped the poll in Louth and brought in another SFer on his surplus.

The Irish electorate have long forgotten about Sinn Fein’s past……  Still, I would bet anybody a thousand euro that SF will not get more than 15% next election down south.

And 15% will not get them into government, even in a coalition.

The careerists in SF will not stay there forever in opposition….. I predict some will walk after the next election…

Me: Adams was contradictory in terms of popularity.  He was the Shinners’ biggest asset (gunman turned statesman, although he apparently never did fire a shot), but he was also their biggest liability.  Fine in Louth – and he would have been very popular in Monaghan and Donegal if he had’ve stood there – but of less use electorally in Dublin or Cork.

I think there is a reasonably big space for SF’s politics – the gap left by Labour and FF since they are discredited by imposing austerity.  But the closer the Shinners get to a whiff of “power”, ie Leinster House government, the more

Book launch of Mick Ryan’s ‘My Life in the IRA’

Video on the book launch; the book I think concentrates on the years of the Border Campaign (Operation Harvest):

 

Éirígí New Year Statement – 2018

As 2018 begins, Éirígí acknowledges and commends the significant political activism of our members and supporters during 2017. Your work, alongside the work of other progressive forces, offers hope to the Irish people in a time of global turmoil and widespread despair. For this you should be immensely proud.

In the coming year Éirígí will continue to work within our communities to fan the flames of hope and to provide a credible, coherent alternative to the failed politics of the past.

2018 will mark the centenary of the seminal 1918 General Election, the last occasion where the people of Ireland collectively voted as one Nation.

The subsequent formation of the First Dáil Éireann and adoption of the Declaration of Independence and Democratic Programme of the First Dáil on January 21st, 1919, represented the high point of the 1913-1923 revolutionary period.

The divided, unequal Ireland of 2018 bears little resemblance to the Republic envisioned by that First Dáil a century ago.

On January 20th, 2018, Éirígí will publicly launch ‘A Democratic Programme For The New Republic’, a major new policy document which will map out our vision for a future new all-Ireland Republic. Below we publish, for the first time, the opening section of that document.

The public launch of A Democratic Programme for the New Republic will take place at 4pm, Saturday, January 20th, Wynns Hotel, Abbey Street, Dublin. It’s free of charge and open to all. Bígí linn.

___________________________________________________

“To the people of Ireland,

In the words of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, Éirígí declares the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be sovereign and indefeasible.

We assert that partition, the domination of private capital and the interference of foreign powers are collectively preventing the social, cultural, political and economic advancement of the Irish Nation.

The failings of the Six and Twenty-Six County states can be measured in the emigration of millions of citizens, in the escalating exploitation of workers, in the deepening levels of inequality, in the crippling levels of national and personal debt, in the destruction of our natural environment, in the collapse of gaelteacht communities, in the slavish obedience to the diktats of foreign governments and in the endemic corruption of the gombeen ruling class.

We reject these two failed states and commit ourselves to building a

1995 PhD thesis (USA) on the IRA’s WW2 “England Campaign”

I got this from a friend in Belfast; it’s the list of details of a PhD thesis on the IRA’s bombing campaign in England during WW2 (S-Plan).

It can be difficult pdfing stuff, with letters running together. Thus, in the table of contents, number II currently reads “To blow and bum England from her moorings” – this would suggest a rather different kind of IRA and rather different set of campaign activities! It should actually read “To blow and burn England from her moorings”!

“TO BLOW AND BURN ENGLAND FROM HER MOORINGS”: THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY AND TH ENGLISH BOMBING CAMPAIGN OF 1939

DISSERTATION
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky

By Jane C. Woods
Lexington, Kentucky
Director: Thomas Cogswell, Professor of History
Lexington, Kentucky
1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents…………………………….. iii
Table of Charts………………………………… v
Table of Illustrations…………………………. vi
Notes on Sources……………………………….. 1
Introduction …………………………………. 7

I. “Direct Action”: 16 January – 28 February . . . . 32
Chapter 1. “Zero Hour” …………………… 34
Chapter 2. Minimal Force …………………. 51
Chapter 3. The Legalities…………………. 93

II. “To Blow and B u m England from her moorings”: 1 March – 28 Jul y ……124
Chapter 4. The Second Phase………………. 128
i. “The I.R.A. meant business” ………. 128
ii. “We have them on the run ” ………….. 168
Chapter 5. A Throughly Unpleasant Duty . . . . 191
i. Diligence Without Assistance ……… 191
ii. Situation Critical ……………….. 204
Chapter 6. “The Courts are making a hash of things”….. 226

III. “Drastic Demands” ………………………. 268
Chapter 7. The Government1s Solution……….. 268
i. The Committee for Home Affairs………. 274
ii. First and Second Readings – Commons . . 292
iii. “No more than half a policy”………… 307
iv. Committee of the Whole House and Third Reading….310
v. The Lords …………………………. 321
vi. The Commons – Final Reading and Passage…………..327

IV. “Each Irishman knows how to die”: 29 July – 1 December…..339
Chapter 8. “Hitler will finish the job you’ve started”……………………..339
i. “I never thought . . . that I would be going back like this”…………. 339\
ii. “We have the bombs and we know where to plant them” ………..359
iii.”There was a loud boom ” ……………..371
iv. “Masters in our own house”………….. 387
v. “The great December cartridge hunt” . . 408
Chapter 9. “A dangerous game we are in” . . . . 418
i. “It is your job to find out ” ………… 418
ii. “Something of importance was going to happen”: The Trial of the Coventry Conspirators ..429

Conclusion……………………………………. 464
Epilogue……………………………………… 473
Bibliography ……………………………….. 480
Vita …………………………………………. 488

The New Republic we need – public meeting, Dublin, 4pm, Saturday, January 20

 

Public launch of a major new Éirígí policy document – ‘A Democratic Programme For The New Republic’ – 4pm, January 20th, 2018, Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin. Main speaker: Cathaoirleach Éirígí, Brian Leeson. Coinciding with the 99th anniversary of the adoption of the ‘The Democratic Programme of the First Dáil Éireann’, this event will also include a talk on that historic document by the renowned historian Dr Ruan O’Donnell.

The Ireland of 2018 is a pale