Frank Ryan Society

Policing problems: The fault line exposed

aphexacid — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:24:37 +0000

Policing problems : The fault lines exposed

The past few months have not been good ones for the PSNI. One PR disaster after another has followed, each one decreasing public confidence in the force as either an impartial one or even a competent one. However it is no longer republicans voicing their discontent to the silence of those unaffected by the actions of the PSNI. The scale of their errors have now brought the debate about policing back into the mainstream media. This is a welcome development but it must be understood in its context by republicans if we are to capitalize on it. The debate must be framed by republicans and engaged with ideologically.

Post GFA policing remained a major problem for those pushing the normalization process. The provisional movement recognized that trust in the “reformed” service was nowhere near the levels required for it to be effective. They refused to engage with the new policing structures. PSNI, it was declared stood for “Patten Still Not Implemented”. Murals highlighted the widespread view that the PSNI were merely the RUC in new uniforms. There was a rational analysis behind this objection. Aside from the republican standpoint of refusing to be policed by an occupational force the PSNI was and is full of RUC veterans. Given that the reputation of the RUC was atrocious in every nationalist area after 30 years of harassment and state sponsored intimidation it became imperative for a rebrand.

However the Provisional movement was forced by events to speed up its long term plans. St Andrews was to be the death knell of provisional resistance to total acquiescence to British plans. The acceptance of policing was no longer a choice. Adams and co duly delivered albeit losing many activists who went on to form eirigi. Republicans had never enjoyed any honeymoon period with the rebranded RUC and from 1998 onwards had been treated in the same fashion as they had prior to the signing of the agreement. However the provisional movement had been content to label those who opposed the sell out as fringe groups, thugs and criminals. The republican political opposition was not engaged with. A problem now emerged. There were many who supported Sinn Fein but were not so keen on the PSNI. They were willing to give the benefit of the doubt but it was not clear would they hold their tongue.

This dynamic produced a twin track process. Republicans were consistently vilified personally and politically. This was then used as the justification for PSNI harassment against them. The PSNI were also held up as a totally new, shiny, equal opportunity and fun for all the family force. They even hired Catholics and some of them spoke Irish! The retreat into sectarian justification for support of policing was ultimately to backfire. However the death of Ronan Kerr highlighted the approach that Sinn Fein took to policing and politics. The furore over the execution of a police officer became imbued with a sickening sectarian slant. He was described constantly as a “Catholic officer, GAA player, nationalist” as if those terms precluded the fact that he was a serving police officer in an occupational force. In short the arguments brought forward by Sinn Fein and their supporters was that he shouldn’t have been targeted because he “was one of us”. identity politics had reached its zenith!

It is within this context that recent developments have created a major headache for Sinn Fein. The recent cycle of raiding in republicans area, the handling of rioting and the stances of the PSNI towards loyalists have caused a schism within the ranks of nationalists supporting the force. First there was the orchestrated attacks by the UVF on the short strand. The PSNI stood by and allowed loyalists to invade and attack a republican area. Their response to hundreds of masked loyalist rioters was tame and muted. The residents were by no means anti agreement hardliners. They were simply people being attacked by mobs. The condemnations of the PSNI response began to trickle out of Sinn Fein as the anger of their constituents was relayed.

The loyalists were placated and the UVF was thrown a few crumbs from the executive. In the run up to the 12th things became even more blatant. After loyalists rioted over the PSNI removing flags they had illegally erected the PSNI apologized to the loyalists. This enraged even moderate nationalists who pointed to the total disparity in response from the PSNI to loyalists and republicans. However it was not the apology that was most telling. It was the lack of arrests following the rioting. Without fail the PSNI had followed up any rioting from republicans with mass arrests and swamping republican communities with land rovers and police. There was no such response to the loyalists.
In Derry the scale of abuse of residents in the Creggan area resulted in independent community groups holding a meeting to discuss the abuse suffered at the hands of the PSNI. Over 200 residents, community groups and even an SDLP councillor attended. Yet Sinn Fein sent no representative, nor condemned any of the atrocious antics of the PSNI that prompted the meeting to be held. This was because the area was perceived by Sinn Fein to be a “dissident stronghold” . The stance was made clear. When the actions of the PSNI affected Sinn Fein supporters they would be challenged. When they affected republicans still challenging the occupation they would be brushed over.

The PSNI highlighted their biased approach even further when they invaded Ardoyne on the night of the 12th of July. After hours of attacking residents with plastic bullets and water cannons they sent in land rovers and hundreds of their baton wielding thugs. Residents were terrified as the invasion swept through the area attacking anyone suspected of defending their community. In the days following dozens of arrests were made and continue to be made. To date there have been no arrests over the rioting by loyalists in Ballyclare and elsewhere in South Antrim. Pictures were released of the rioters in Ardoyne. No pictures have been released of Loyalists.

Gerry “these dissidents are outsiders” Kelly was forced to condemn the PSNI and their shocking treatment of Ardoyne residents. The complaints were coming thick and fast about the behaviour of the police and no longer could they be brushed aside as the howls of dissenters refusing to move on. Sinn Fein were becoming increasingly exasperated with the openly sectarian displays by their police force. Rather than give the poor shinners a breathing space the PSNI promptly created a fresh headache for the party in Tyrone.

Amid massive publicity the PSNI launched a series of massive raids in Tyrone. Over 200 of their thugs tore apart family homes across the county. All of this was “intelligence led policing”. Martin MacGuinness was tripping over himself to welcome the raids as a response to the execution of Ronan Kerr. Martin really should have learned to choose his words carefully but enthused by the supposed arrest of republicans he had no problem welcoming the arrests and stated “we must support the police in their investigations”. Now unfortunately for Martin the police had arrested nobody remotely linked to militant republicanism. Worse again the local Sinn Fein councillor began condemning the raids. Francie Molloy condemned them also. Martin got the familiar feeling of having firmly shoved his foot in his mouth and started back pedalling furiously. Now the arrests were wrong. Martin didn’t even need to await the police investigation, despite having welcomed it 24 hours earlier he now demanded the release of one of the men arrested. The familiar whiff of hypocrisy emanated from Martin but this time it wasn’t republicans pointing it out. A furious row began between the PSNI and Sinn Fein. Matt Baggot and his minions don’t like being criticized. Neither does Martin or his bearded cheerleader in Leinster house! An impasse has now been reached between Sinn Fein and their police force. Having accepted, endorsed, promoted and cheer leaded them they have had a falling out.

Republicans are no doubt tempted to sit back, laugh and say well we told you so. Now is not the time for that. What these incidents really show is an ideological fault line being exposed within the provisional movement. They may have abandoned republican principles but many of their grassroots supporters have held onto the hope that progress has really been made. Two strands of this trust are the judicial system and the police. The ongoing horrific treatment of the POWs in Maghaberry and the internment of veteran republicans has raised question marks for many of them. The PSNI over the past few months have managed to undo a considerable amount of the work that the Sinn Fein leadership put into presenting them as a impartial force. Sinn Fein cannot withdraw their support for the PSNI, they hold no cards in this dispute and they know it. They are being kept on a tighter and tighter leash. Increasingly the antagonisms between their day to day actions and the aspirations of their traditional support base are being exasperated. It is up to republicans to make our case against policing firmly and more importantly publicly.

Debate and dialogue must be encouraged independently of republican groups. There is an uneasiness amongst many Sinn Fein supporters who are disillusioned with what the GFA has delivered but are wary of being left in the wilderness, rejected by those they have opposed. This is why republicans must organize meetings, debates and events to make our case against British policing. It must be made apparent that the problem with the PSNI is not how many of them carry rosary beads or can kick a decent point but the fact that they wear the uniform of the occupation. We must link the anger that many supporters of the agreement feel about their recent actions to its historical context. They are not impartial, they are not acceptable and they are not welcome in republican communities. We must spread this message and do it quickly!
Beir Bua

The war on terror is a war on truth

aphexacid — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:19 +0000

The recent attacks in Norway laid bare an ongoing political discourse that is steering bigotry into mainstream political life. As news of the atrocity emerged suspicion instantly turned towards an Islamic group being responsible. When the truth emerged that it was in fact a right wing conspiracy theorist you could almost sense a palpable disappointment in security circles. Much was made of the bizarre ideas contained in the manifesto posted by Anders Breivik. Yet his ravings reflect a anti Islamic position that is pervading political life across Europe. This position is not merely traditional anti immigrant rhetoric being revamped. Rather it stems directly from a worldview that became legitimised in the mainstream on September 12th 2001.

In the wake of 9/11 any mature reflection of events would have shown that the perpetrators were a disparate group brought together by an extremist Islamic viewpoint and grievances with the actions of US imperialism in the Middle East. Instead they were presented as being foot soldiers in a global army of jihadists dedicated to the overthrow of civilization. The bush doctrine which can be summarized as the supreme right of the USA to flout international law and sovereignty when it sees fit became standard foreign policy. The bogeyman was to be Osama Bin Laden, a man allegedly in charge of a vast nexus of terror. As Jason Bourke has shown in his excellent study of Al-Qaeda this was pure fiction. The myth of Al Qaeda as an international and well structured terror group was created to facilitate charges being brought against terror suspects in US courts. Under US law if it could be shown that the individuals were part of a conspiracy then convictions did not need substantive evidence. This presentation of Al Qaeda became standard practice.
In reality Al Qaeda was not a well structured coherent organisation. Rather it was one group amongst many vying to strike against Western Imperialism, Israel and other governments or groups that it viewed as responsible for a war on Islam. Bin Laden was certainly no mastermind of attacks. Rather as Bourke has shown his role was that of a financier. Individuals or groups planning their own attacks independently could go to him for financial or material aid. He was in essence a venture capitalist for Islamic groups. This became irrelevant as the military industrial complex saw an opportunity for a new war with no real target or end. The potential for weapons contracts and for increased budgets ensured that all intelligence agencies now had an imperative to maintain this myth of global terror.

However there was also a political and cultural dimension to this new campaign. It began to be presented in stark terms as a war between two ideals. The supposed western ideals of democracy, freedom and rights versus the Islamic fundamentalists backward ideas. This was a gross distortion of reality. It ignored for example the fact that the taliban and Bin Laden’s group were two distinct organisations both in political and cultural origins as well as membership. The taliban were primarily pashtun tribesmen with no interest in pursuing any international agenda who followed a strict local interpretation of Islam. Bin Laden and his followers were for the most part well educated Saudi and Egyptian radicals who had a very different outlook. This initial distortion of reality was used to gloss over the invasion of Afghanistan. The invasion of Iraq was supposedly justified by Saddam’s links to Al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. Hussein ran a secular country and was regarded with absolute disdain by Bin Laden and his supporters who had volunteered in 91 to act as a barrier for the Saudi government against Hussein’s expansionism. The introduction of US troops in lieu of supporting this plan led to his estrangement from the Saudi elite and ultimately he left the country.

However he now served an important function as a figurehead both for the American government and for the Islamic extremists who were gaining increasing support in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. It also ensured government’s around the world had an excuse to launch repressive action against their own internal problems. Suddenly Chechnya separatists became a branch of Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah likewise were represented by Israel as fellow travellers of Bin Laden.
Yet the truth soon became apparent. It became clear to anyone following what was developing in Iraq and Afghanistan that the resistance whilst being multi stranded was primarily local forces, or in the case of Afghanistan pashtun recruits from Pakistan. The cultural discourse in the “war on terror” however accelerated. In America the supposedly controversial “ground zero mosque” showed that stupidity and bigotry were fed by the right wing media. The fact that it was neither a mosque nor at ground zero became irrelevant. Rather this was part of a wider war of culture. Those who laughed at this “typical American response” began to look bashful as anti-Muslim legislation found favour in France, Switzerland and elsewhere. In Britain the tabloids rarely went a day without screaming headlines about the Muslim community being a fifth column aiding a terror network. Academics, security experts, journalists and many others fed this narrative. A self perpetuating industry of books, documentaries and opinion pieces all analysed the alleged cross roads for multiculturalism.

To any student of history this all seems awfully familiar. Be it the witch hunts of McCarthyism against communists or the demonising of the Irish community in England in the 1980s the process always bore the same trademarks. A community of suspects quickly becomes a community to demonise, then a community to target. The growth of the EDL and similar groups across Europe might be condemned by the politicians uncomfortable with their uncouth image, but it is the political programs and rhetoric of these same politicians that is feeding into this phenomenon.
The events of the past few days in Norway are the logical culmination of this frenzied debate about a war of cultures. For the likes of Sky news to cover the tragedy as if the perpetrator is a lunatic is to gloss over the fact that his warped ideas are not too far removed from those presented by them on a daily basis. If anything is to be taken from this tragedy it is that the challenge to Islamophobia must take a stance as militant as that presented to fascists and racists. The war on terror is a war on truth and tolerance.

Loyalty misplaced

aphexacid — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:43:55 +0000

Loyalty misplaced:

Short strand riots and the protestant working class
The disgraceful attacks on the Short Strand during the past week have highlighted the stark divide between the aspirations of the protestant working class and the ambitions of their political representatives. The attacks themselves were part of a cheap attempt by the UVF to abate the impending criminal charges against them through a display of intimidation. However the root problem goes beyond the thugs who orchestrated the sectarian orgy of violence. They stand as an example of a community without political direction, holding firm to an ideology which does not serve their class interests.

Since the signing of the GFA loyalism has been left in something of a quandary. They have no real role to play in this new political arrangement at Stormont. Unionist politicians regarded the UVF and the UDA as a useful bargaining tool during the troubles. They whipped up sectarian tension before distancing themselves from the perpetrators. This led to recriminations within loyalism and the formation of the PUP who attempted to formulate a mixture of populism and loyalism which ultimately imploded under the weight of its own contradictions. This ultimately left both the loyalist working class and the paramilitaries directionless beyond their traditional sectarian grievances. These were exploited whilst they still had use as a bargaining chip but by now have been discarded by the now “respectable” DUP. Within the paramilitaries there has been the usual round of feuding, criminality and power struggles. With each of these struggles comes the need for the new faction to promote itself. This usually means pipe bombs in Catholic schools, attacks on GAA grounds or the removal of immigrants through racist attacks.

Unlike on the Republican side these groups have no logical political explanation for rejecting the GFA. Viewed through a Unionist perspective the GFA has delivered all of the main demands of their ideology. They cannot however offer any explanation to their communities as to why they remain deprived and why they have gained nothing.
The socialist analysis which would allow class consciousness to develop is impeded by the allegiance to an imperialist and reactionary political ideology. This prevents any progressive political movement emerging from the loyalist ghettos because it can only go so far as addressing the immediate needs of the protestant working class before reverting to the bigoted discourse that loyalism has imbued itself with. It suit’s the interest of the mainstream unionist parties to maintain this. This is why we have been treated to the site of Peter Robinson meeting with the leadership of the UVF. No doubt they will have been thrown a few more scraps from the table to keep them quiet.

The reaction of the PSNI/RUC to the riots is also telling. The most revealing element of their action or inaction is that the loyalists were allowed to assemble in the first place. As anyone who has ever witnessed the handling of a republican demonstration can attest to they have no tolerance for letting groups gather outside of their immediate control. Yet over 100 armed and masked men were capable of drilling and gathering before launching their attack. This cannot be explained. If the situation had been reversed and 100 suspected “dissidents” had gathered in balaclavas with baseball bats the TSG teams would have been sent in with machine guns! Likewise the reaction to the riots was qualitatively different to that in Ardoyne. Baton rounds and water cannons were used sparingly, in Ardoyne they were used with abandon. Over 400 baton rounds were fired during the riots in Ardoyne last July. 66 were used during last week’s disturbances. Dozens of arrests were made in the wake of the riots in Ardoyne. So far the only notable arrests made have been of republicans suspected of defending the short strand!

Given the fact that the UVF have been facilitated it is no stretch of the imagination to presume that the PSNI/RUC have been instructed to deal with the loyalist rioters with kids gloves. This will be another attempt to soothe the ruffled feathers of loyalists. However they will not address the serious social problems in working class protestant communities. Neither will unionism, it is within their interests to preserve an underclass that can be used as a tool to attack the republican working class.

The approach republicans must take is to promote the analysis of Connolly at every possible occasion. Any opportunity to engage with the loyalist community must be under the auspices of highlighting the class interests of a unified working class through the removal of imperialism and capitalism in Ireland.

What is also essential to take as a lesson from these past few days is the danger of being pulled once again into a sectarian war with loyalist paramilitaries. To date no armed group has struck at the loyalist groups nor have intimated that it is a route they wish to go down. It is important that all republicans maintain this stance and discourage any activity likely to present them with an excuse for their sectarian agenda. The route to a workers republic is through showing them where their true class interests lie, not through Stormont.

Maghaberry letter

aphexacid — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:06:25 +0000

Letter from Sean Doyle of the East Coast H Block Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee which is organised by the Socialist Republican Unity Committee on current situation in Maghaberry prison.

Lillian, so sorry and appalled to read your account on Monday May 30th after the visit with your brother Harry Fitzsimons on Sunday 29th May of the unprovoked brutal attack. He was beaten and tortured by the ever present sadistic enforcers of the British in partnership devolved governance. Possibly devoid governance would be more appropriate. Devoid of human rights, of truth, of freedom of speech and honour of commitments signed in writing with POW’s. This is a human rights issue and not negotiable. It is not a fleeting discretion to be bestowed at the behest of and on those they consider fitting. As we are commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1981 H block hunger strike.

I recall the first hunger strike in 1980 led by Brendan Hughes when assurances were given then and it was called off only to be reneged on by the British and the rest is history. When we are commemorating the hunger strikers as their anniversaries occur we will be holding public meetings and I can assure you we will also inform the people of the plight of your brother Harry and the POW’s. We will endeavour to build a unified Socialist Republican campaign around this fundamental human rights catastrophe. They say silence is golden I say it is condoning. No proper civilisation can be built on a foundation of brutality and denial of basic human rights without these principles at the core to deny them and turn the other way is to debase humanity itself.

I am astonished and bitterly disappointed that so many in POWER SHARING have suffered the beatings, strip searches and degradation and our hunger strike martyrs to resolve this. That you are prepared to have this inflicted on fellow human beings because you disagree with them. I repeat it is not yours to give, it is a basic human right an automatic entitlement to all friends or considered foe. Remember power has responsibility and it can also corrupt. You have no right to tailor make a persons human rights pending on their considered level of activity be it extreme by your present perspective. Their sentence no doubt and incarceration will reflect that. Human rights and honouring agreements signed in writing are a reflection on you as a society. Denial of and brutality and inhuman degradation should not be used to exert vengeance. Denial of human rights is a crime that must be exposed. It is a rot in the root of society that will spread through denial, lies, collaboration and silence. Speak out now: you know human rights is a given for all.

Semtex or socialism: the Future for republicanism

aphexacid — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:33:05 +0000

This article reflects my own views and not necessarily those of any group or the Frank Ryan Society as a whole.

Semtex or socialism: the Future for republicanism

Irish republicanism should not be an ideology attracting debate in Ireland in 2011, its continued existence serves as a testament to the tenacity of its adherents but also as a reminder that the failures of the GFA have aided its recuperation as much as the efforts of republicans. From amidst the betrayal of the working class that the GFA was, a new resistance has emerged. There is now a plethora of groups, both militant and political contesting to challenge the status quo. I hope to examine the role that republicanism has in the future of the country as well as analysing the pitfalls of various strategies being put forward.
Constitutional nationalism secured a tremendous victory through the ideological decommissioning of the provisionals once revolutionary programme. However this was not a consequence merely of military failure on the part of the PIRA or as a result of the desire of the Adams leadership to gain power. Rather it was the logical culmination to a movement that had become wedded to a flawed political analysis. Ultimately it is irrelevant whether the PIRA decommissioned its weaponry or declared a permanent ceasefire. The PIRA had failed in its aim to act in a revolutionary capacity as early as the late eighties.

The long war strategy was blinkered in its approach; all it sought was ultimately a more favourable accommodation with the British government. Sapping the will of an imperialist power through a protracted guerrilla campaign ignored the glaring problem of a 26 county capitalist state that served the interests of its imperial neighbour. The northern leadership installed by Adams and McGuiness was reflective of the increasingly parochial nature of the armed struggle. Combined with this were the practical consequences of “ulsterization” resulting in the PIRA increasingly confined to targeting the RUC and UDR. This reduced the political impact of the armed campaign further increasing its futility.

This was mirrored politically by the altering analysis adopted by the PSF leadership. Increasingly the class struggle was confined to rhetoric whilst a pan nationalist front was sought with the middle class conservatives of the SDLP, the party that was so frequently lambasted as the tool of the imperialists. The rest as they say is history and the coalition with the right wing DUP implementing Tory cuts was the logical conclusion of this brand of provincial politics. However republicanism was not killed off by the GFA as some commentators seem to suggest. Rather it was forced to confront some of its own contradictions and failures. The results were not immediately evident. The existing republican groups post-GFA including the 32csm, RSF and IRSM were very much out in the cold. The attempts to maintain an armed resistance were well intentioned but suffered from a political climate infused with the narrow minded pursuit of normalization as well as the genuine desire of many working class communities to achieve a respite after bearing the brunt of the conflict. The tragedy of Omagh was engineered by the British government but the strategic thinking, or lack thereof that led to it was a gift to those banging the drum for “peace”.
In the hysteria whipped up by the media, militant republicanism was declared to have heard its death knell. This was short-sighted and showed an ignorance of history. The failure of PSF to accommodate its supporter’s aspirations with its own political requirements in coalition government ensured that republicans would continue to reject the new arrangement in increasing numbers. The alternative however did not present itself readily for examination. The traditional rhetoric espousing armed struggle as an end in itself represented a dwindling constituency. Traditional militants could continue to offer resistance albeit in a severely restrained fashion but to what ends?

The economic consequences of the GFA worked in the favour both of republicans and PSF. As a burgeoning catholic bourgeoisie lent its support to PSF so too did the working class communities that had traditionally sustained the PIRA reject the agreement as they were left out in the cold. Enough crumbs from the table had fallen initially to soothe the angst of many activists. As this peace money dried up too did the patience of many working class people evaporate. Rampant anti-social behaviour levels led to the severe disenchantment with the “reformed” RUC who looked and sounded awfully like the old RUC as they oppressed working class republicans.

The republican groups who opposed the agreement grew in strength. They also began to develop their own strategies and outlooks. The IRSM took the decision to reject the armed resistance favoured by other groups. Instead they sought to develop politically and to focus on building their support and rejuvenating their movement. The 32csm chose to broaden its political programme beyond the sole aim of being a watchdog of Irish sovereignty. They continued to support the armed struggle as a key component of challenging normalization. Eirigi emerged as a new republican group and then political party. RNU pushed the agenda of unity but have coalesced as an entity in their own right. RSF continue to promote Eire nua but the CIRA have suffered debilitating splits to the extent that they have now exited the stage as a serious military group. ONH have declared themselves uninterested in developing a political analysis yet RNU seem to act in some capacity as a political conduit for their strategy.
None of these groups have a definitive strategy if they are being honest. Vagueness and rhetoric is too often substituted for substantive answers. Yet this criticism can be levelled quickly and unfairly. Behind such uncertainty lies the reality that many republicans did not expect to be where we are now. For most the hope that the flame could be kept flickering seemed to be the best hope for the future. Yet this is not and cannot be the only hope for young republicans. It is essential that republicanism align itself once and for all with the working class struggle in the context of the liberation struggle.

Each of the groups existing today offer different roles within this struggle. It is also true that republicanism must seek to cooperate with genuine revolutionary socialists in different traditions than our own. The economic terrorism being carried out in the 26 counties cannot be viewed as anything other than a key issue for the republican struggle. The IMF is a more powerful opponent of the Irish working class than the British government. Their occupation of our country will enact a terrible legacy that will scar the Irish working class for generations to come. Capitalism and imperialism in Ireland are inseparable. There will be no removal of the occupation without the destruction of the capitalist institutions that enable it and give succour to its proponents. The grubby capitalists of the Free State are the eager allies of the British government. From the inception of the Free State they have protected the class interests of the powerful. Their deference to the Catholic Church was merely symptomatic of this wider problem. The reactionary policies of these pioneers of parish pump politics have been ingrained in the 26 county political system. It will not be reformed, rather it must be destroyed.

The dedication to the class struggle has not been as virulent as republicans should aspire to. Capitalism in Ireland has accommodated itself to the crisis and has provided its own safeguards to protect the interests of the financiers and politicians. However the organized left groups in Ireland to a large degree have been complicit in this situation. They have failed again and again to challenge capitalism’s grip in Ireland in a revolutionary manner. They have rejected the analysis of Marx and Connolly who understood the role that national liberation movements have to fill in colonized nations. Frantz Fanon too could point to the importance of situating national liberation in a revolutionary context as a precursor to the class struggle which must ultimately come to the forefront.

Today the left are floundering to find a role. Their electoral success owed much to the unprecedented disenchantment of the Irish working class with the political institutions in the 26 counties. They are now serving as eloquent advocates of working class interests; however they are little more than a sideshow within Leinster House. The plight of the working class will not be resolved in the plush corridors of power but in the streets as the state is confronted in all its apparatus through strikes, civil disobedience and a refusal to make the working class interests subservient to the demands of international capital. Connolly wrote about the formation of the ICA that “so since justice did not exist for us, since the law instead of protecting the rights of the workers was an open enemy and since the armed forces of the crown were unreservedly at the disposal of the enemies of labour, it was resolved to create our own army to secure our rights”.

The role of the ICA was as a militant element of the class struggle. This element is non-existent today. This is as much due to the nature of the labour movement as it is to the failures of republicanism. The process of social partnership has been a creeping cancer in our trade unions, slowly decaying their will and sapping their grassroots anger. The IRA is not a suitable replacement at the present moment. Yet the IRA has proven itself to be a revolutionary and anti-capitalist force through their actions in the past years. Their role as the vanguard of national liberation must also extend to acting in the interests always of the Irish working class.

The future for republicanism then is to wed itself intimately and completely with a revolutionary socialist movement. Those that disavow revolutionary politics are inevitably accommodated to reactionary compromises. However this process will not be a rapid one. Politically republicans can and must make the persistent case that social and national liberation must be a twin track process, encompassing all shades of republicanism and socialism in Ireland.

The other option is for republicanism to act solely as a national liberation force. This was the role the provisionals rushed to fill. Ultimately much of this cause is wrapped up with localised grievances. As such when these grievances are addressed by capitalism and imperialism then the revolutionary potential of the movement will dissipate and flounder. There are those who today would scoff at the idea that their comrades would ever abandon the cause. They must cast their minds back to days when anyone challenging Gerry Adams’s reputation as a revolutionary would be viewed as a lunatic or worse a counter-revolutionary! Ultimately any republican that contents themselves with merely changing the administrative name of the 32 counties would do better to sign up to the GFA. Merely changing the flag is not worth the life of one working class man or woman. Their sacrifice demands a greater price. It is the destruction of the economic system that enables their daily humiliation and degradation.
So we must look to the future. We do not have great numbers, resources or support. Yet we have that great aspiration that cannot be met by the political programmes of the reformists, Free Staters or the Brits. That is the liberation of our people from all forms of oppression, the destruction of capitalism and imperialism in Ireland and around the world. I will conclude with a quote from Connolly that seems most apt. “is the outlook then hopeless? No! We still have the opportunity to forge a weapon capable of winning the fight for us against political usurpation and all the military powers of earth, sea or air. That weapon is to be forged in the furnace of the struggle in the workshop, mine, factory or railroad, and its name is industrial unionism”.

No ceasefire in the class war, victory to the working class and the IRA.

Sarah.

UCD & The Spanish Civil War

aphexacid — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:08:05 +0000

In this instalment of UCD Hidden History, we look at two UCD students who fought on the anti–Fascist Republican side of the Spanish Civil War…

Read full article here: http://ucdhiddenhistory.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/ucd-the-spanish-civil-war/

Devolution of policing is no solution to a sectarian state

aphexacid — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:15:38 +0000

Darren C – UCD FRS

As devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly threatens to become a reality, Darren Cogavin looks at the real face of policing in Britain’s oldest colony. This article appears in the November issue of Workers Power

For the past two decades, most of John Brady’s life was spent in prison as a result of his involvement in republican activity. Following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), Brady joined many other veteran republicans in denouncing Sinn Fein’s de facto surrender to the British state. The deep demoralisation of former volunteers opposed to the GFA has been compounded by a systematic campaign of harassment, persecution and victimisation by security forces in the North.

Brady was on weekend release from Maghaberry Prison, where he had been incarcerated for the past six years although convicted of nothing, when he was again arrested by the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) following a domestic dispute. He was discovered dead in his cell less than 24 hours later. The PSNI claimed he took his own life even though his solicitor had informed his family that he would be released shortly – within an hour of the solicitor’s phone call, Brady was dead.

Brady’s tragic death once more shines a spotlight on the colonial and nefarious nature of policing in the North. Since Sinn Fein appointed representatives to the crown constabulary’s Policing Board in 2007, republicans have pointed to the increased instances of harassment by the PSNI. Stop and search powers are routinely used to intimidate the spouses and children of republicans. Republican opponents of the GFA continue to experience arbitrary arrest and detention without trial. These tactics, redolent of the hated Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), are clearly designed to instil fear and paranoia within nationalist communities.

Sectarian police force

The façade of cross-community policing – masking British repression and injustice – came tumbling down last July. When nationalist residents from Ardoyne organised a peaceful protest against the Orange Order bulldozing down the community in a nakedly sectarian and triumphalist fashion, the PSNI responded by corralling protestors in the face of 300 drunken loyalists singing sectarian party songs. When Ardoyne youth organised and resisted the heavy-handed tactics of the PSNI, they were attacked with baton charges, water cannon and plastic bullets. It’s little wonder then that graffiti appeared declaring “PSNI – 17% Catholic. 100% Unionist”.

The policing debate continues to reveal profound divisions within the republican movement. On the one hand there is Sinn Fein, seduced by the power, status and individual gain awarded to them by British imperialism in return for their shameful acceptance of the unionist veto, repressive police structures and neoliberal exploitation. Their slavish implementation of cutbacks and divergence from left republican rhetoric has disillusioned many of their supporters, North and South, and a number of councillors have already resigned.

On the other hand there is the nationalist working class, condemned to deepening social and economic injustice. In marginalised areas like Ardoyne, the community refuses to support the police. Instead these areas are self-policed by groups like Concerned Families against Drugs (CFAD), who perform a dual role confronting local drug pushers and highlighting the lack of jobs, youth facilities and treatment services in the area. Groups on the republican fringe – like the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), 32 County Sovereign Movement (32CSM) and others – have modest support here.

A sectarian state

The imperialist partition of Ireland into two separate entities inflamed sectarianism, maintaining the division between the Catholic and Protestant working class and making it easier to push forward the continued exploitation of all workers. The sectarian nature of the Orange statelet is underlined by a shocking statistic – some 60 per cent of applicants for social housing in Northern Ireland are Catholic and 40 per cent Protestant, yet 60 per cent of allocations go to Protestants. Some 90 per cent of social housing estates in the North are segregated, where a large number of “peace lines” (high walls and barbed wire) continue to separate workers on both sides of the divide.

The right-wing austerity measures of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are designed to placate foreign investors and impose the burden of the economic crisis on the working class. A leaked memo from Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Finance Minister, revealed that £200 million will slashed from current expenditure, as well as another £172 million to be cut from capital expenditure, including schools and hospitals.

A recent update of the ‘Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Northern Ireland’ report in September also highlighted the tangible increase in social inequality since the global recession began. It revealed that there has been a steep rise in house repossession over the last two years while the proportion of working-age adults not in paid work has risen to 34 per cent. On top of this, 52,600 (12 per cent) of children in the North are living in conditions described as “absolute poverty”.

Devolution of policing

Ten years since the GFA and Sinn Fein is still waiting for the transfer of policing powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Its DUP partners have stalled and prevaricated at every turn. In so doing they have extracted up to £1 billion from the British government to increase compensation for ex-RUC hearing losses, retention of weapons for ex-RUC and army personnel, retaining the RUC reserve with its overwhelming Protestant composition, removing restrictions on Orange parades, etc. Gerry Adams only complained about one of these – the abolition of the Parades Commission!

Sinn Fein hails every concession to Unionism as a victory. Every concession is made in the belief that the greater good is to preserve the power sharing government. Sinn Fein is trapped into accepting the Unionist veto on any change to the sectarian and privileged nature of the Orange state.

The devolution of policing is not making the police force – or the state – more democratic. Workers must look to their own strength to police their communities. We already have the tradition of the Citizen’s Defence Committees in Belfast and Derry of the 1970′s and of course James Connolly’s Irish Citizens’ Army, which developed to defend workers’ picket lines.

This is necessary, not only against sectarian attacks from Orange bigots, but against PSNI incursions too. It needs to be a mass force, drawing in and training the youth, guarding and aiding the growth of a mass movement for equal rights, immediate social and economic demands, such as jobs and decent housing for all, and crucially for a united workers republic of Ireland.

Solidarity Appeal – Protesters threatened with cautions for anti-fees occupation

aphexacid — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:48:51 +0000

FEE (Free Education for Everyone) activists in Ireland involved in an occupation of Paul Gogarty TD’s offices (Green Party Education Spokesperson) in December 2008 have now been threatened almost a year later with “adult cautions” by the Gardai. This is an appeal for solidarity emails and phone calls to remove that threat.

The occupation was a peaceful protest (pictures and story here http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90082 update here http://www.universityobserver.ie/2009/09/15/file-sent-t…ge-1/) against the threat to re-introduce full third level fees. The threat of “adult cautions” under the Public Order Act is an attempt to intimidate these students to prevent them protesting again in the future, as well as to deter others from engaging in protest.

Adult cautions are something that is usually applied within days of the offence. The fact that this is now happening almost a year late is, we think, a result of pressure from Paul Gogarty TD to ensure that some punishment is given.

We are calling for emails and phone-calls of protest from people who are outraged at this assault on the right to protest, to demand that this matter is dropped. A model email of protest is below. Emails should be sent to: lucan_DS@garda.ie , paul.gogarty@oireachtas.ie and copied to defendrighttoprotest@gmail.com . Emails should be marked “FAO: Inspector Pat O’Sullivan, Sgt. Paul Curtis & Paul Gogarty TD”.

Phone calls are much more effective than emails so we encourage people to ring these numbers (including Paul Gogarty’s mobile number!):

Lucan Garda station: +353 1 6667300
Paul Gogarty TD: +353 87 2752489

The time is short on this as the first students are meant to report to receive their cautions on Tuesday – so please do anything you can over the weekend, on Monday and on Tuesday morning.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you regarding the student occupation of Paul Gogarty’s Office in December 2008 by the FEE (Free Education for Everyone) campaign for which the students involved are now being threatened with “adult cautions”. This protest at the Green Party Education Spokesperson to try to stop the re-introduction of third level fees was an entirely peaceful protest.

The threat to caution these students is an outrageous attack on their right to protest and an attempt to intimidate others considering protest.

I demand the removal of the threat of these cautions. All of the students in question simply exercised their right to protest and should suffer no consequences for this. The matter should simply be dropped by the Gardaí.

Yours faithfully,

Colin Duffy: Victim of State Persecution

aphexacid — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:29:50 +0000

Thirty people attended a public meeting organised by the Frank Ryan Society on state repression in the six counties and in particular the case of Colin Duffy on Thursday the 22nd of October. A member of the Frank Ryan Society chaired the meeting and introduced Paul Duffy, brother of Colin and also a former republican prisoner. Paul spoke of the long term level of harassment Colin and his family has had to put up with over the years. From being a personal witness to state collusion in a sectarian murder, to being stitched up on various occasions. The harassment meted out to the Duffy family on both sides of the border was exemplified by the presence of five members of the Special Detective Unit outside the venue on the night. One of whom was provided with literature on the miscarriage of justice and stated that Colin was a ‘terrorist’. When confronted and surrounded by a number of republicans and civil liberties activists the Special Detective was not able to repeat his previous utterances in the presence of the Duffy family. In fact, he was unable to string a coherent sentence together at all.

A former republican prisoner also spoke of his own experiences of prison and the necessity for support outside of the prisons. He stressed the importance of material, financial and moral support outside of the prisons. In the case of Colin Duffy and considering the massive miscarriage of justice, it was stressed that it was imperative for anyone with a concern for civil liberties to support the Duffy family.

During questions and answers, an interesting discussion developed where the general consensus was that although republicans of different hues have different strategies and directions, causes’ such as the Friends of Colin Duffy Campaign is something that every republican, socialist and civil rights activist can unite around and pursue.

The Frank Ryan Society will continue to highlight the case of Colin Duffy in the foreseeable future and welcome any effort that is made to highlight Colin’s case.

Related link: www.friendsofcolinduffy.com

John Brady RIP

aphexacid — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:36:46 +0000