For a Workers Republic: July 1994

Fora Workers Republic Journal of the Irish Committee for a Marxist Programme No to Capitulation! For a Workers Republic! On the one hand the Downing Street declaration asserts a Unionist veto on the Irish Peoples right to self-determination... on the other hand it contains nositive elements. What are we to make of the convoluted and contradictory outcome of Sinn Fein's Letterkenny conference? There's a simple explanation.

It's a balancing act by the Republican leadership - balancing between the unremitting hostility of their own membership to the whole Downing Street process and the need to placate their new friends in the Dublin Government and the SDLP.

UNSUCCESSFUL

In the event the act was unsuccessful.

The most that could be squeezed past a Sinn Fein convention was far too little to satsfy the senior capitalist partners in the imaginary "Nationalist Family".

Their storm of protest led Gerry Adams and Martin Mc Guinness to make a rapid U-tum an assure their new friends that they remain cn course on the road to capitulation. It's no longer necessary to focus in on the fine details of the "Peace Process”.

The Republican leadership are consciously committed to a policy of capitulation. That's clear from the way in which Sinn Fein delegates were humiliated at Letterkenny: Delegated to vote on a document that wasn't available until they were in the conference hall. Subject to a stage-managed debate. Abstentions in voting ignored to declare in the true spirit of stalinism a "unanimous" support for the resolutions. Best of all they were able to declare support for a Hume - Adams agreement, which has been kept secret from the rank and file but freely available to the impenalists. To cap it all the reassurances to delegates are immediately negated as the |eadership move to reassure imperialism.

PROGRAMME

Those who doubt this analysis have only to ask themselves what the present program of the republican leadership really is. Whatever the answer is itis obviously not the traditional democratic program of Republicanism. Yet Brits out now and a United Ireland remain the demands of Sinn Fein activists, and the fact that they hold to it remains a serious obstacle to capitulation.

ORGANISE!

But unhappiness and individual resistance are not enough. We need conscious organisation around an altemative program and strategy. Doing that means drawing a harsh lesson. After 25 years of struggle what we are facing is not the failure of individual leaders but the failure of republicanism. The tasks of national independence remain uncompleted, but now it will not be a republican organisation that completes them but a socialist one. The alternative to either a bankrupt militanst strategy ora policy of capitulation and the "Nationalist Family" is the independent self-organisation of [msh Workers fighting both impenalism and capitalism for a Worker's Republic. That's what we in the Insh Committee for a Marxist Programme are committed to.

LESSONS OF THE

STRUGGLE

Twenty five years ago the British Army was put unto the streets of the six counties. “Acting in support of the civil power” it was to act asa force of persuasion promoting “reconciliation between the two communities” and the re-establishment of “peace”. The the legitimate grievances of the Catholic population were to be addressed and their representatives given a place in the political process. Twenty five years later the British state is singing the same song but this time with different backing singers - the Republican n.ovement. Pleading for the British to be the persuaders in a process of reconciliation and avowing that the unionists cannot be forced into a united Ireland, they have declared their goals as: “peace” and “inclusive dialogue” involving all representatives of Irish nationalism. With such an analysis and programme the struggle against imperialism waged by the Republican movement is clearly heading for a defeat. That after twenty five years the leadership of the struggle for most of that period can see a progressive role for imperialism shows that a new leadership is needed. One that understands the essential lessons of the last quarter century of struggle. Part Of The Problem The first lesson is that there is no progressive role for imperialism in resolving the Irish national question. It is part of the problem, not of the solution.

"there is mc progressive role for imperialism in resolving the Irish national question" The compromising strategy of the republican movement was born of the out of the belief that Britain does not want to be in Ireland in the first place. Thus in the nineteen seventies victory was always just around the corner. In the last decade it was declared that the long war of attrition was succeeding. Now the exhaustion of the struggle has reduced the Republican leadership to pinning its hopes on a united nationalist family, pressing the British to leave, if not now, then sometime later, maybe. This view of Britain's interests is not uncommon. In fact it is near universal. Every-one from the unionists to the Dublin government, the SDLP, Sinn Fein and even sections of the revolutionary left in Ireland such as the socialist workers movement accept the statement that Britain has “no selfish,strategic, or economic interest in Northern Ireland”. It's patently obvious that Britain does not continue to occupy part of Ireland for it’s love of “the democratic wishes of the greatest number”. This confusion about the British presence creates a whole set of tensions; the Unionists are confirmed in their fear of a sellout and ammunition is given to Dublin and the SDLP when they argue that Britain is playing a neutral role and that the only obstacle to peace is the IRA’s campaign.

WHY BRITAIN IS

STILL IN IRELAND

What has yet to be explained is why Britain continues to fight so hard.? Why has it fought for twenty five years, now subsidising the six county economy to the tune of four billion and waging a dirty war which damages its international reputation.? If any observer doubts Britain's commitment to staying they should look at the massive rebuilding of army and RUC security installations all over the six counties. Defeat in the North would not

just be a momentous defeat for the British state. but a defeat of part of the state .It would bea defeat of that state and its reactionary forces with exemplary powers. The working class in both Ireland and Britain would be much strengthened by such a blow against its enemy,.

[It would destroy the colonial and semi-colonial structure in lreland which safeguards capitalism in that country. The potential for uniting the working class of Ireland and mobilising as an independent political force would be immensely increased. In this sense the battle to defeat the democratic struggle in the North is not a side issue but a central part of the struggle against the state which is the key defence of capitalism in these isiands. The importance of this issue gives some indication of the scale of struggle needed to defeat the British occupation.

ALL-IRELAND

STRUGGLE

This leads to the second key lesson to be drawn. We can now see not only the scale but also the nature of the struggle needed to defeat imperialism. It must be one which includes the whole of Ireland and draws support from the working class of Britain. If we look at the history of the present struggle we see that in the South the periods of most intense struggle has prompted solidarity action from the working class, who remain supporters of national unity. However, not only has the Northern struggle not “spilled over” into the South to create a combined 32-county resistance but also neither has a mass solidarity movement been created. Mass action after Bloody Sunday and during the hunger strike mark the highest limits of such solidarity. Certainly no combined 32-county struggle can be created under a republican leadership that promises only a 32-county free state capitalism {nor should revolutionary socialists fight for one]. The present 2% vote for Sinn Fein ata time of crisis and electoral flux in the South shows the utter bankruptcy of their programme "a republican leadership that promises only a 32county free state capitalism" there. Even in the North republican electoral support is confined to only one-third of the nationalist vote. It has proved incapabie of rallying all the oppressed around its banner and now seeks unity around a “nationalist family” which includes a Catholic middle class happy with a relatively privileged position in the remnants of empire and a Dublin government reeking of corruption, a champion of imperialist exploitation and about to embark yet again on a massive drive for austerity and deregulation aimed at Irish workers.

As one speaker said at an [rish steel/TEAM Air Lingus rally in Dublin: “They aim to wipe out 70 years of social, economic and trade union gains - we say, over our dead bodies!” A challenge to the Northern state must, by its very nature, challenge the Southern state aiso and only revoilutionary socialists can offer such a challenge.

Creating a force to present that challenge is absolutely necessary for victory in Ireland’s democratic struggle for seifdetermination. Rather. ireiand’s socialist revolution is the only context in which self-determination can be achieved.

HOPE

If our first lesson indicated the Downing St. Declaration

NATIONALISTS SOLD OUT

ONCE AGAIN.

scale of the task and the second its nature, the third gives us hope that it can be achieved.

British rule in the North will remain unstable even if republicans end armed activity and accept the politics, if not the letter, of the Downing street declaration. This is because the greatest victory of the 25 years of struggle - the smashing of Stormont - is very far from being reversed. The British have found it necessary to build up the Catholic middle class in the North and draft in Dublin to support a partition solution. It didn’t need these props 25 years ago and the need for them today makes it harder to continue its reliance on unionism, which recognises only its own sectarianism as the basis for a solution. Creating a stable compound out of this mixture, while many nationalist workers remain unreconciled to British rule is not a recipe for stability. There is little chance of a return to the calm of the early 1960's.

In the 26 counties the working class, despite emigration and unemployment, is not totally demoralised and retains the capacity for struggle. The recent European elections, with increased votes for the Greens and the reduction of the Fianna Fail vote to 20% in the capital. demonstrated the fragility of the existing political system. The republican movement, after 25 years of struggle, is about to commit political suicide. British imperialism and Irish capitalism stand with draggers drawn above the body but they too are weakened and confused without a really credible strategy for the pacification of Ireland. The weapon to defeat them, the Lrish working class, is already in motion to defend itself. The task today is to reorganise and build the independent programme and self-organisation of that class Where will the “Peace Process” lead us? Lessons from Palestine and Africa Republican leaders have made it very easy to decide whether their “peace process” will lead to justice and freedom, and therefore whether we should support it. They have pointed to South Africa and Palestine as examples of how peace can be successfully brought about, so if we look at these countries we can see the truth.

SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa winning the vote for Black people was a great victory, but nationalists in Lreland know that being able to vote doesn't guarantee democracy. The Aprilelections inSouth Africa were clearly rigged to prevent the ANC from getting the majority required to change the constitution. The ANC supported this rigging in order to help justify their compromise with the hated Apartheid regime. The new constitution clearly prevents majority rule and enshrines a white veto over any real change.

This is the important point.

Black people supported the ANC because they wanted real change in their wretched conditions.

The compromises of the ANC have left all the levers of political and economic power in the hands of the mainly white capitalist class, ensuring that their will be no end to the massive unemployment and poverty suffered by black people.

The only group to benefit is a rising black middle class. ANC MP's earn twelve times the salary of an average black worker.

In Ireland, after 25 years of struggle, it is mainly the growing Catholic middle and business class which has gained.

The new ANC government has promised to respect the wishes of the International Monetary fund and other imperialist bodies. It has even taken the bizarre step of re-joining the commonwealth and linking itself politically to the feudal institutions of the British monar-

scale of the task and the second its nature, the third gives us hope that it can be achieved.

British rule in the North will remain unstable even if republicans end armed activity and accept the politics, if not the letter, of the Downing street declaration. This is because the greatest victory of the 25 years of struggle - the smashing of Stormont - is very far from being reversed. The British have found it necessary to build up the Catholic middle class in the North and draft in Dublin to support a partition solution. It didn’t need these props 25 years ago and the need for them today makes it harder to continue its reliance on unionism, which recognises only its own sectarianism as the basis for a solution. Creating a stable compound out of this mixture, while many nationalist workers remain unreconciled to British rule is not a recipe for stability. There is little chance of a return to the calm of the early 1960's.

In the 26 counties the working class, despite emigration and unemployment, is not totally demoralised and retains the capacity for struggle. The recent European elections, with increased votes for the Greens and the reduction of the Fianna Fail vote to 20% in the capital. demonstrated the fragility of the existing political system. The republican movement, after 25 years of struggle, is about to commit political suicide. British imperialism and Irish capitalism stand with draggers drawn above the body but they too are weakened and confused without a really credible strategy for the pacification of Ireland. The weapon to defeat them, the Lrish working class, is already in motion to defend itself. The task today is to reorganise and build the independent programme and self-organisation of that class Where will the “Peace Process” lead us? Lessons from Palestine and Africa Republican leaders have made it very easy to decide whether their “peace process” will lead to justice and freedom, and therefore whether we should support it. They have pointed to South Africa and Palestine as examples of how peace can be successfully brought about, so if we look at these countries we can see the truth.

SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa winning the vote for Black people was a great victory, but nationalists in Lreland know that being able to vote doesn't guarantee democracy. The Aprilelections inSouth Africa were clearly rigged to prevent the ANC from getting the majority required to change the constitution. The ANC supported this rigging in order to help justify their compromise with the hated Apartheid regime. The new constitution clearly prevents majority rule and enshrines a white veto over any real change.

This is the important point.

Black people supported the ANC because they wanted real change in their wretched conditions.

The compromises of the ANC have left all the levers of political and economic power in the hands of the mainly white capitalist class, ensuring that their will be no end to the massive unemployment and poverty suffered by black people.

The only group to benefit is a rising black middle class. ANC MP's earn twelve times the salary of an average black worker.

In Ireland, after 25 years of struggle, it is mainly the growing Catholic middle and business class which has gained.

The new ANC government has promised to respect the wishes of the International Monetary fund and other imperialist bodies. It has even taken the bizarre step of re-joining the commonwealth and linking itself politically to the feudal institutions of the British monar-

chy. As long as the black working class majority in South Africa is imprisoned in these imperialist structures they will see very few benefits from the right to vote.

PALESTINE

At least it can be said that the oppressed people in South Africa can vote. That's more than the Palestinian people can do under the deal made with Israel by the PLO. The deal made by Yassar Arafat is a complete and utter betrayal of the Palestinian people, yet still he is praised by Republican leaders. The Palestinian people have not recovered their land or country and the majority who are refugees in Arab countries are not allowed to return to the occupied territories. They have been offered a glorified local council in the Gaza strip, which is one big refugee camp, and another at the small town of Jericho on the West Bank. The racist and oppressive Zionist state continues to exist and effectively controis the Palestinian administration. The PLO administered territory is an economic basket case, offering no resources or economic base for its inhabitants. All that has changed is that Palestinian police, rather than Israeli, will be asked to suppress this discontent of the people. Both peace processes have failed even to halt the violence. In South Africa violence increased dramatically as the right pushed the ANC to make even greater concessions. Despite the massacre of Muslim worshippers at Hebron Zionist settlers are free to murder at will and the Israeli state to launch terror attacks into the territory of neighbouring states. If this is what is on offer to powerful movements like the ANC and PLO what can a relatively tiny force like Sinn Fein expect?

ALTERNATIVE

In both South Africa and Palestine the ordinary working class people who have ignored their leaders have shown there is an alternative. The number of strikes in South Africa has doubled this year as workers themselves claim the liberation which is rightfully theirs. In Palestine the uprising of the Palestinian people has not ended and the PLO is losing more and more support. In these countries, as in Ireland, the future lies in a new struggle which rejects the terms of surrender set by imperialism and looks forward to a victory that can only happen when working people fight for socialism.

A readers question on armed struggle fread your emergency oulic tin with great interest and agreed with a lot of it. However | didn’t think your position on violence was clear.

Surely socialists: don’t want the armed struggle to continue? The responsibility for the violence in Ireland rests squarely on the shoulders of British imperialism and its supporters who have used state and state condoned terror to deny the democratic rights of the Irish people. Socialists defend the right of the Irish people to take up arms to assert those national democratic rights. But reject the idea that the IRA or INLA or any other army can conquer those rights for the Irish people. With James Connolly we believe that only the Irish working class.

mobilised in its own independent organisations can lead the fight for lrish freedom to its conclusion. A final peace will come when the struggle for socialism ends forever the power of Irish as well as British capitalists to manipulate and terrorise Irish workers.

A FRAMEWORK

FOR RESISTANCE

Those who break from the doubletalk about a peace process face a grim reality. The leadership of the republican movement in is the process of surrendering. The movement itself is exhausted without any coherent alternative to the capitulation. The imperialists and their irish capitalist allies have made substantial gains and are aiming for the prize of a new partitionist asembly in the North and the negation of Irish self-determination underwritten in a new Irish constitution. Yet there are opportunities to remobilise the struggle. The collapse of republicanism is not automatically the collapse of the widespread anti-imperialist sentiment among Irish workers.

Despite their best opportunity since the struggle began the imperialists have failed to produce their framework for a settlement. The steady economic decay of Britain continues. The cosy nationalist populism that underwrote the stability of 26-county society is in decline - in fact the “postnationalist” offensive by the Dublin government threatens to rip out the foundation of their support in the Irish working class. An unstable coalition, propped up by the Irish labour party, is facing up for a decisive conflict with Irish workers. The Downing Street process contains nothing at all for nationalists and further y dggtl alte Dublin by asking it to prop up an unreconsrtucted unionism.

In this context the actions of individuals and small groups become important. Small beginnings will have immense importance as the remobilisation grows. What can be done? What can you do? The Irish Committee for a Marxist programme: Understands that the Irish revolution is being betrayed Recognises that the alternative to capitulation is a struggle for socialism Is organising around a draft programme - a new agenda for the self-organisation of the working class and the building of a movement for a Workers Republic.

Is opening discussion with other socialist organisations and individuals.

Calls for a conference of the oppressed to organise united action of workers and democrats Is building meetings around Ireland to expose the farce of the “peace process” and present an alternative strategy. If you agree: Understand the reality of betrayal Organise with your friends and comrades Discuss the analysis that we have presented and your own views Contact us to plan a meeting in your area.

Build for a conference of the oppressed. Ask individuals and groups in your factory, trade union and community for support and sponsorship.

Ask for more information about our draft programme from the ICMP.

or further information contact P.O. Box 40, Belfast 38 Clanawley Rd, Dublin% 109 O'Malley Park, Limerick