The Ideals of Irish Republicanism

In this piece I will write about how Republicanism is made up of various ideologies. Both outsiders and new members may be confused on what Republicanism is and what exactly it is Republicans stand for. Before I begin I’ll just debunk the common myth that Republicans are sectarian. This couldn’t be any further from the truth as the first Republicans were by majority Protestants and Presbyterian. Republicans also believe that religion is a personal matter and that it should have no place in the state. The key ideologies that make up Republicanism are Nationalism, Socialism, Internationalism, and Feminism. We believe that a Republican must be all of the above.

Nationalism

The belief that Ireland and the Irish people consist a nation is the main underlying principle of Irish Republicanism. We believe that Ireland is only one nation and that partition has caused an artificial divide in this country. Therefore, reunification of this country is the aim of Republicans. It should also be pointed out that Republicans believe that Ireland should be completely separate from Britain and that control of the nation should be restored to the Irish people as a whole. Wolfe Tone clearly pointed out that the British establishment was the main problem in Ireland and this is what he said, “To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the independence of my country—these were my objects.” Unifying the country should also be about uniting all the people under the new 32 county Ireland despite their religion. British colonialism in the 6 counties has divided people based on religion this is still evident with large walls that divide communities into Catholics and Protestants.,

Tone in the later part of his quote points out that those of all faiths must unite in order to free Ireland, this is what he says “To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissentions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman in the place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter—these were my means.” Other Irish revolutionaries including Rodger Casement, Thomas Davis and Padraig Pearse have pointed out that the nation is diverse and that they are various ethnicities within it. We must first establish that any sort of nationalism that is based on ethnicity is toxic and divisive. Racism like sectarianism divides the people of the nation and makes them focus on inter-communal tensions rather than focusing on the main obstacle which is colonialism/imperialism. Fascists and racists have been claiming immigration is destroying Irish culture when in reality it is Anglo-American culture which has been adopted by many Irish right-wing governments. Many on the far right in Ireland are listening to ex UKIP, ex British army, and others from far-right movements in Britain. How are the biggest opposition to Irish independence going to free Ireland? Irish Republicans are fully aware of the imperialist Ideas of divide and conquer.

Thomas Davis once said, “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish Nation.” We Republicans stay true to that belief. Irish culture must be restored especially the Irish language which is one of the oldest languages in Europe. We also feel it’s important to promote Irish sports and Music as a way of regaining our Celtic traditions. We must promote the language, the GAA, music etc amongst all the people despite ethnicity or religion.,

Socialism 

For the Irish people to truly have control of their own country, they must control all economic aspects of the nation. It’s often thought that James Connolly and James Larkin are the ones who added socialist thought to Republicanism, I disagree with this statement. I would prefer to think they added the Ideas of trade unionism and furthered socialist thought within Republicanism. But Wolfe Tone knew his support would come from what he identified the men of no property. Thomas Davis and Fintan Lalor also witnessed how the Irish people were robbed of their common property and how landlords would profit while peasants starved. In every generation of Republicanism, it was those of no property that kept alive the patriotic flame. The 1916 proclamation and the democratic programme were two guiding forces for Republicanism. They reflected the ideals of a new progressive Ireland.,

Connolly and Liam Mellows pointed out how Ireland would be ruled if it didn’t become a socialist republic. Both pointed out that capitalist interests would rule Ireland. It was clear that after the treaty native capitalists sided with the Free State and allowed both British and Irish business interests flourish while most of the poor faced the same degradation under the new state. Imperialism was merely altered and became known as neo-colonialism. If we were to reunite this country foreign capitalism would still be dominant and therefore the Irish people wouldn’t have control of the country’s economy. We must also recognise that the national struggle and the social struggle are one. I hear some Republicans saying they are “Republican socialists” but I think we must not use this phrase as socialism is inherently part of Republicanism. By using this phrase, it gives right wing parties a justification to call themselves Republicans despite ignoring the fundamental principles of Republicanism.,

Primitive-socialism has already existed in ancient Celtic times when farming and hunting was done for the whole clan. As Republicans we must build an economy where the workers control their own industries. Universal healthcare must be provided for all citizens, a free education system that promotes the wellbeing of the citizens (taking inspiration from Padraig Pearse’s murder machine) and a public housing scheme that will eliminate homelessness. Today we must recognise capitalism has privatised vital services for profit and nothing else, we must recognise it has destroyed communities, we must recognise that the objective of imperialism is economic exploitation, and we must recognise that capitalism is destroying the environment and that only a socialist economic system will put an end to the injustices that is destroying nature. Our aim is a 32-county democratic socialist republic.

Internationalism

Ireland is a nation among nations, it can be viewed as a community among communities. Irish Republicanism has always had an international dimension since 1798, but it was furthered when the IRB had developed links with the first international. Irish Republicans in the 1860s recognised that it was important to support other oppressed people in the world to establish solidarity with those nations. In the time of the revolutionary period of the 1920s once again republicans found themselves in contact with national liberation movements and socialist organizations all over the world. Ho Chi Minh was very impressed by the Irish struggle in this period, he went on to lead an anti-colonial struggle in Vietnam and had said of the Irish people that “A nation that has such citizens will never surrender”.

In the 1930s many Republicans and leftists had left to fight for the Spanish Republic against the rise of fascism. But it was during the troubles that Republicans made links that have continued to this day. Today Republicans stand with our international comrades whether it be the Celtic nations, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Cuba, or Palestine etc. All struggles that seek national self-determination and implement progressive socialist policies for its people get our uncritical support. It would be hypocritical for us to talk about the effects of imperialism on Ireland and then turn a blind eye to it elsewhere in the world. If we see an injustice in the world we must support those who have faced that injustice. The international support against the apartheid regime had brought it down in the 1990s, and Republicans and the Irish people had a part to play in that.,

Internationalism has many important aspects to it, creating new ideals, tactically supporting other nations/movements, and solidarity. From reading about other progressive movements and nations we can develop political campaigns that would further our aims. We could also learn from countries such as Cuba on how to develop a socialist economy that caters for all our people. We could learn how to build culture from the Basque Country or learn how to build popular support for a referendum like the Scottish and Catalans. From a tactical point of view, we must acknowledge imperialism and capitalism is international and requires cooperation of progressive movements/governments to challenge it to create an opposition to any attempt to undermine progress. The final reason is solidarity and solidarity arise from the belief that all the communities of people in the world must strive for equality and freedom in that world.

Feminism

Women have always played an important role in the struggle for Irish freedom, from the very beginning Irish women such as Anne Devlin and Mary Anne McCracken played their roles in the early development of Republicanism. But its most important development was in the early 20th century when women got involved in the suffragette movement and various language movements. By 1914 Cumman na mban was set up and it became part of the Republican struggle. Many women like Winifred Carney were involved with the trade union movement and organised women workers to help promote a worker’s republic. The Irish Citizens Army viewed women as equals and allowed them to join the ranks of that organization. When it came to 1916 women like Margaret Skinnider, Nora Connolly and Constance Markievicz played a huge in part in the rebellion of 1916. It was the 1916 proclamation that would become the first document in the world to mention women as equal citizens. Markievicz would then become the first female voted to parliament for Sinn Féin in 1918.,

After the counter revolution that followed the 1921 treaty women’s liberation had to give way to a new conservative government. The Free State became a cold house to women. From 1923 onwards, the government began to assign women’s roles to the home. It was 1937 that it became complete, a new constitution put women as second-class citizens by various means. The laundries became a place of horrors for “fallen” women, they were expected to work for free, eat non-luxurious food, and face physical and psychological abuse from those who ran the institutions. But some women remained determined to change society, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, Margaret Buckley, and those in Cumman Na mBan would still challenge the state. In the 1970s many women joined Sinn Féin and the IRA to challenge not only British rule but the patriarchy that imperialism created.,

Today men and women alike must challenge patriarchy just as they did in the past. As Hanna Sheehy Skeffington said, “Until the women of Ireland are free, the men will not achieve emancipation.” Sexism is noticeable in all aspects of Irish society, whether it be a toxic rape culture, misogynistic comments, or the gender pay gap. One of the reasons there is a gender pay gap is due to the fact men and women are more likely to go into different industries. This is a legacy of a state that promoted various gender roles in work, so it must be up to Republicans to promote more diversity in the workplace. We must also push for female participation in politics. Often many young women look to wealthy females as idols, but working-class women will still be left to struggle to get by, so we hold the stance in order to end women’s oppression we must also end the oppression of Labour and the oppression of the nation. As Connolly said, “The worker is the slave of capitalist society, the female worker is the slave of that slave.” It is often forgotten that in ancient Celtic times that women were given equal rights through the Brehon laws. We should learn from these ancient customs and mix the culture of them with modern feminism.,

Conclusion

We have looked at all the ideals and we must view them as the one philosophy of Republicanism. The struggle for an Irish Republic must include every single one of these principles, if they are not included then it would be doomed to fail. We must be involved in political activism and education of the people around if we want to succeed in these goals. Let us organise and agitate for a 32-county socialist republic.

le Adrian Gallagher

Originally written JUNE 2019