Category Archives: Women’s rights
On-line talk on Constance Markievicz, Wednesday, March 31, 8.30pm (Irish time)
The next in a series of on-line talks organised by Eirigi is a re-running of the talk on Constance Markievicz.
It’s being given again by myself, Philip Ferguson, a member of Eirigi and the person behind this blog.
I’ll be looking at Markievicz’s life, activities and her ideas, as she was a major socialist-republican figure during the revolutionary era.
There will be an Q & A afterwards.
The meeting will take place at 8.30pm on Wednesday the 31st of March (Irish time; check for time differences if are in the USA, Australia, NZ, continental Europe etc)
Contact eirigigeneralsecretary@gmail.com if you would like to attend.
100 years of partition – on-line talk/discussion
Online discussion hosted by Socialist Democracy
Garda and RUC officers at the Irish border 1920s
Ireland:
100 Years of Partition
Counter-revolution and reaction
Speaker: Philip Ferguson (Irish Revolution blog)
23 March 2021
19.00 London/Dublin
Zoom platform
Register
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkfu2rrDotE9b_EnzBHm4JSaET69Kf_sPn
Speaker
Philip Ferguson is a socialist activist based in New Zealand. He runs the Irish Revolution blog. A member of Sinn Fein in the 1980s and early 1990s; he is now a supporter of the socialist republican group Eirigi.
Summary
This year marks the 100 years since partition. Over that period, it has had a profound influence on Irish politics and society. It has been the foundation of imperialist rule in the north and of reaction across the whole of Ireland and has proved to be a severe impediment to the advance of the labour movement and to the development of socialist politics. The prediction of James Connolly that partition would usher in a “carnival of reaction” proved to be correct.
This discussion will examine the continuing legacy of partition and how it can be overcome. It will also consider whether there is any validity to recent claims that the decline of unionism and the dynamics of Brexit are advancing the cause of a united Ireland.
Protest Poem
Over 750,000 people are currently living in poverty in the South; the total population in the South is about 4.8 million
The poem below was read by its writer, Valerie Bryce, at the open mic night at The Cottage Bar in Letterkenny, on January 28.
PROTEST POEM
‘There but for the grace of God’, they say
‘Did you see on the news the aul woman in Dublin
Eating left over chips from a windowsill
And her living rough on the street and worse still
She’d dementia
God love her ‘tis awful, isn’t it?’.
‘It’s a national scandal’, they say
‘Having hundreds of patients waiting on trolleys
Sometimes for days
Pyjamas and drips all on public display
‘Tis inhumane’.
‘We’ve a right to the truth’ they’ll protest
When billions of public funds remain unaccounted for
And there’s no arrests
When facts about institutional abuse are withheld
To keep us in the dark and that tongues cannot tell
Of the manner in which Church and State are complicit
In protecting abusers
Making victims lives hell.
It’s a sure sign of madness, I say
To repeat the same thing again and again
Expecting a Read the rest of this entry
The Democratic Programme – as Gaeilge and in English
January 21 marks the 101st anniversary of the adoption of the Democratic Programme by the First Dail, the revolutionary Dail. The Programme was not so much a specific programme of work for the Dail, which was soon driven underground by British state repression, as an indicator of where the revolutionary government and parliament was going – working towards a more equitable society where the rights of the masses came ahead of the interests of capital.
For the background, see the following:
Republicanism and the national independence struggle, 1916-1921
The working class and the national struggle, 1916-1921
Women’s rights and the national struggle, 1916-1922
Below is the text in both Irish and English.
First meeting of the First Dail, January 21, 1919.
Dearbhuighimíd, i mbriathraibh for-fhógra Saorstáit Éireann go bhfuil sé de cheart ag muinntir na hÉireann sealbh na hÉireann do bheith aca agus cinneamhain an náisiúin do bheith fé n-a riar, agus nách féidir an ceart san do bhaint díobh; agus fébh mar dubhairt ár gceud Uachtarán Pádraig Mac Phiarais, dearbhuighimíd gur ceart go mbeadh, ní amháin fir agus mná na hÉireann, acht adhbhar maoine na hÉireann fé riaradh an náisiúin, idir talamh agus gustal na hÉireann, gach Read the rest of this entry
March with the Éirígí contingent on this Saturday’s March for Choice, Dublin
This Saturday (September 28) sees the first major right to abortion protest since abortion became legal in the south of Ireland. The march is about ensuring that, in the words of the official advertising for it, “no one gets left behind when it comes to reproductive health care.”
I urge blog readers planning to attend to march with the Éirígí contingent. Éirígí was extremely active in the referendum campaign, championing women’s right to choose. At the same time, Éirígí recognises the crucial links between women’s liberation, workers’ liberation and the national liberation of Ireland.
The Éirígí contingent will be gathering outside the Mandate Trade Union Office on Cavendish Row, next to the Garden of Remembrance, at 1.15pm. The march heads off at 2pm.
Joanne Pender not standing again in Kildare
by Mick Healy
“If we have learned anything from recent progressive changes in Irish society with the Repeal movement and the Water Charges campaigns is that it is through struggle, constructive participation and direct action that change really happens.”
– Joanne Pender, February 2019.
During the people’s resistance against injustice in the North of Ireland, it was said that ordinary people did extraordinary things. This could be said of socialist Joanne Pender, originally from the Curragh Camp but now living in Kildare Town with her husband and two children.
In February 2012, hundreds of people packed into the Hotel Keadeen in Newbridge for a meeting organised by the Anti-Household Charge Campaign. The attendance included Joanne, who had never before considered Read the rest of this entry
Long Kesh documents collection
A substantial body of material produced by prisoners in Long Kesh is now available. The blurb for the site for these states:
“All these documents were written by republican prisoners in HMP Maze / Long Kesh. All this material was confiscated by the authorities after the last escape attempt. They did not get the backup disks which were hidden in a mattress and subsequently smuggled out of the prison in a box of chocolate which was taken out on a visit. Much of this material was considered lost forever and I have decided to make it available to give an insight into prison life. Some prisoners were under the illusion that a lot of this stuff was confidential as they saved to floppy disk, once it was inserted into the computers, the prison authorities had access to it. These documents are made available for information only and the owner does not support any political groupings.”
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5zInPpmsywNZXFOZllQVVhpcEE&usp=sharing
Some thoughts on Fianna Fail after the referendum
One of the interesting post-referendum developments is the ructions in Fianna Fail. For folks not familiar with Irish politics, Fianna Fail was the dominant party in southern irish politics from 1932-2011 and was actually in power a majority of that time. Although when it was founded in the mid-1920s it was attacked by the Catholic hierarchy as ‘communistic’, its dominant figure for almost 50 years was the socially reactionary Catholic nationalist Eamon de Valera, who served many years as prime minister and many years subsequently as president. In power in the 1930s, de Valera quickly made peace with the Catholic hierarchy and opposed Catholic moral teaching through the state.
In the 1980s, FF was closely aligned with the Catholic right in support of the 8th amendment and in preventing divorce being legislated for.
In the referendum a majority of FF members of parliament and the senate opposed repeal of the 8th amendment, however the party leader, Micheal Martin, supported a Yes vote. Some Fianna Fail parliamentarians announced their intentions to try to frustrate Read the rest of this entry
Fantastic victory for women’s rights and people power
Firstly, apologies for not having got up commentary on the referendum. However I did do an interview with Cat Inglis of Eirigi on the subject here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/irelands-abortion-referendum-interview-with-eirigi-activist-cat-inglis/
Sorry I didn’t put this link up earlier.
Also, there are a number of articles from past years on this blog where I made clear my support for abortion as a woman’s right to choose.
Exit polls are currently indicating a landslide, a bigger Yes vote than even in the referendum on the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The Yes campaign has struck a massive connection with the bulk of the population who really want rid of the old conservative chains that held people down and prevented them from living their lives and making their own personal decisions instead of being dictated to by church and state. The campaign has struck a real chord with people in city, town and country and across different age groups. Particularly impressive has been the mobilisation of young people, young people saying they want a better and freer society.
The latest RTE exit poll I am aware off indicates the Yes vote could be as high as 77% in Dublin and 69% across the twenty-six counties.
A landslide for a new, freer, better society. Brilliant.
the irish revolution 