6 THE An Camchéachta October/November 2002 October/November 2002 THE STARRY PLOUGH An Camchéachta 7

This is R e p u b l i c a n SPECIAL 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION S o c i a l i s m ! The Irish Republican Socialist ideology of loyalism. Loyalism is Party is an organisation created a reactionary, sectarian and pro- by and for working class people, imperialist ideology, with which to aid working class liberation in we can make no compromise. and internationally with We recognise that nationalism in others who share that common the context of the Irish struggle is goal. The IRSP stands in the tra- progressive, but we also recog- dition of , seek- nise that nationalism can play a ing an end to all forms of reactionary role. The national exploitation and the creation of a chauvinism of the Tories, The legacy of 32 county socialist republic, with National Front, etc. is counter- the working class collectively revolutionary and anathema to owning the means of production, socialists. The nationalism of an distribution, and exchange, as oppressed country is vastly dif- well as democratically adminis- ferent from such reactionary jin- tering society. goism. We support all struggles against imperialism throughout the world. The socialism we embrace is the kind that liberates, not enslaves. Class mobilisation We strive towards a society that Only by mobilising our class functions to meet human needs, north and south - Protestant, not the need for profit. Our Catholic and Dissenter - can the socialism is a means of liberat- goal of national liberation and ing our class from all forms of socialism be achieved. Workers oppression, whether economic, have distinct interests as a class, political, religious, cultural or ultimately opposed to any other social. It is a socialism that envi- class, we must join together as a sions our class controlling their class to win control of society. own destinies and that of the nation as a whole. For a fighting union Republican Socialists commemo- militant stance. It was mainly due to the pressure of Costello in Ireland, and would have a programme of political action (Selected Works, p.45) In early 1976, the Army Council of a party to the construction of the Broad Front, and was willing to As republican socialists, we take rate this year the 25th anniver- and his supporters that the Official IRA adopted a more based on this understanding. Costello and his supporters were "National Liberation Army" issued its first statement. "The submerge its particular political outlook in a Broad Front (see National Liberation lesson from battles that have sary of the assassination of aggressive policy in 1971. But under the pressure of reformist at first busy laying the foundation and structures of their party. National Liberation Army was recently formed with the aim of for instance the experience of the Irish Front in Derry in 1977- The struggle for national libera- gone before us, in the communi- Seamus Costello. If he is unsur- elements, the Official IRA called a ceasefire in 1972. The strat- In April 1975 was the first national conference, the same year ending British imperialist rule in Ireland and creating a 32 coun- 78). Costello called for the Broad Front without clear indica- tion cannot be separated from ty and in the workplace. We the class struggle. Any attempt prisingly remembered as the egy of the Officials in the North was seeking to unite Catholic the party paper "The Starry Plough" was established and party ty Democratic Socialist Republic. As revolutionaries, we recog- tions of the dangers of popular frontism. The result is that the must reclaim our unions and to isolate one from the other will organise the unorganised. We founder of the IRSP and the and Protestant workers under the Civil Rights banner, reform premises were purchased in . But the party had to fight nise the paramount necessity for the existence of an armed party was unable to develop a clear ideology nor define its pol- result in failure. It is meaning- remain committed to the revolu- INLA, he should also be com- Stormont and demand a Westminster Bill of Rights. The for its very survival before even thinking of developing. The anti-imperialist organisation which will play an effective role in itics beyond the slogan "For National Liberation and Socialism" less to speak of a free nation, if tionary industrial unionism of memorated as one of the main Official leadership argued that military activity alienated the party was faced with very serious objective and subjective the current struggle. (.) After five years of struggle against and a vague call for the "Broad Front". However, this failure is the overwhelming majority Larkin and Connolly. As republi- architects of the left turn taken by loyalist working class and endangered electoral prospects in problems that crippled its development and growth. imperialism, the Irish people have victory within their grasp. not unique: from the 1930s to the remain oppressed, and national can socialists we see the cre- the then unified Republican the 26 counties. The Official leadership was totally out of step We see it as our task, as revolutionaries, that they are not League of Communist Republicans in the 1980s, no group sovereignty is lost through multi- ation of a fighting 'rank and file' national corporate control of the trade union movement as some- Movement during the 1960s. In with the mass struggle that was going on. They stated that the First, the Officials attempted to wipe out Costello's organisation deprived of victory through the acceptance of any compromise really solved the problem of the relation between the strategy economy just as much as by par- thing that still holds potential and contrast to Connolly, whose back- abolition of Stormont was a regressive measure ! They were before it got off the ground, beating, pistol whipping and solution negotiated without reference to the long term interests of party building and the constitution of the united popular front. tition. At the same time, some- we support the building of a rev- ground was the workers move- still stuck at the Civil Rights stage when the struggle against kneecapping its members, and on 20 February shooting dead of the Irish working class." The statement ended with a list of one who refuses to challenge olutionary shop stewards' move- ment, Costello came from the British rule was the main issue. No wonder that the Officials Hugh Ferguson. Until a ceasefire between the two organisa- 15 operations carried out since May 1975 ("New Army Added to objective (attacks on the movement) and subjective British imperialism in Ireland ment. conspiratorial politics of the lost a lot of political credibility with the Nationalist working tions was brokered in May, three comrades lay dead and over Announced", The Starry Plough n.10, January 1976, p.4) Due (resignations, political hesitations), the assassination of cannot claim to be fighting for socialism and the continuation of "secret army", understood their class. This political line was opposed by Costello and his sup- forty injured. But the Officials never lifted their directive to exe- to the lack of weapons and ammunitions, it was not easy for Seamus Costello in October 1977 by the Official IRA was a Equality partition props up the divisions in Our class faces daily, relentless limits, and developed a strategy porters. Strategically, Costello argued that there was too much cute Costello, and assassinated him in 1977. Those who had Costello's army to make an impact. In May 1977, the Starry decisive blow against the IRSP. To all intents and purposes, he the working class of Ireland that assaults inflicted on us from to reconstruct them on a left- emphasis on appeasing loyalists rather than defending refused to use their weapons against the armed forces of Plough stated for example: "There is little known about the was the party. He was the main political and organisational hold us back from our own liber- many quarters and a constant wing basis . Born in 1939, Nationalists, that the principal contradiction was partition and British occupation had not qualms about turning them against National Liberation Army (NLA) who have remained relatively brains behind the movement. It left the party in confusion and ation. We have no choice in onslaught of attempts to divide Seamus Costello applied to join not the reform of Stormont. Tactically, he criticised the absence fellow Republicans ! If the fighting with the Officials had been quiet since December 1975." ("National Liberation Army on the without direction. Today, the organisational strategy of the whether or not we wish to con- us. The IRSP oppose and fight sider the interconnection of the the IRA aged 16, and became of armed struggle and the over-emphasis upon electoralism in mostly concentrated in Belfast, it nevertheless had a debilitat- Offensive", The Starry Plough n.21, May 1977, p.6) The 1978 Republican Socialist Movement would differ significantly from against all forms of inequality national and class questions, and oppression, including that of the commander of an ASU in the 26 counties. One of the lessons of this period, is the neces- ing effect on the movement in the country as a whole. British Army document "Future Terrorist Trends" barely men- that of Costello in at least one important aspect: the stress on reality forces us to do so. women, travellers, lesbians, South Derry during the border sity for Republican Socialists of never being out of step with the Costello's supporters had also to cope with hostility of some tions Costello's organisation. The name of the group itself was collective leadership. Collective leadership would have helped gays, or other sexual minorities, campaign. He was arrested in mass struggle. Any struggle out of step with mass struggle is Provisionals. A number of people left the Provisional IRA (then not even clear. It is only in March 1978 that the armed group avoid many of the problems that rose within the movement We define the national liberation refugees, Africans, Asians, and 1957, and was interned in the condemned to fail. It is also important to understand what the on ceasefire) to join Costello's organisation. To dissuade fur- adopted the INLA name, and by that time Costello was already after the death of Costello. Twenty five years after the assas- struggle as that struggle which any other oppressed sector of seeks to force a British military the working class. We oppose Curragh. Like others, he reflect- main contradiction is, and how the principal aspect of that con- ther defections, the IRA assassinated one of its members that dead. Even if he was undeniably left-leaning, Costello sination of Seamus Costello, those are just some of the most withdrawal from the occupied six ed on the reasons for the failure tradiction manifests itself. The Officials failed to see what the had joined the IRSP, and blamed the killing on the Officials. In remained true to the physical force Republican tradition, and important issues of Costello's legacy that Republican racism, Zionism, sexism, homo- counties. The destruction of the phobia, national chauvinism, and of the 1956 - 1962 campaign, principal contradiction was and embarked on the road to such a climate, the immediate threat to the movement was not for him the army was the privileged vehicle for revolutionary Socialists should reflect on. pro-British loyalist armed forces. anything else which divides our and came to realise that there nowhere. even the state or the loyalists, but former comrades. struggle. This gave rise to a debate leading to a split (or resig- The withdrawal of British political class. We support reproductive was an objective need to move nations) in the IRSP in 1975. A faction led by Bernadette Liam O Ruairc influence from all parts of rights and unhindered access to away from a purely military con- At first, Costello tried to reform the Official Republican On top of that, state repression attempted to crush the IRSP, in Devlin-McAliskey argued that the army should be subordinat- Ireland. The ending the partition contraception, including a of the island of Ireland and the ception of struggle. The IRA had sepa- Movement from within. In 1972, in an attempt to open up a dis- the 26 counties in particular. This was no ordinary Garda ed to the party on the basis of democratic centralism. woman's right to choose abor- overturning of both the partionist tion. We are opposed to religious rated itself from the people. Costello cussion on political and military strategy, Costello (who was harassment. In June 1975, they lay the blame on the IRSP for Otherwise, "Group B" would just be a smaller version of the governments presently adminis- sectarianism and seek the com- thought that the Republican movement still OIRA Director of Operations) and Sean Garland jointly for- a UDA attempt to blow up a train carrying Officials to IRA with left-leanings. The split significantly weakened the Seamus Costello tering political affairs of Ireland. plete separation of church and should be organically linked to the masses develop a solid mulated a policy document called "A Brief Examination of the Bodenstown. On 31 March 1976 at Sallins, the Cork-Dublin movement, as it lost experienced political cadres. The gaining of collective eco- state and a secular society. political programme to give political leadership and if neces- Republican Position: An Attempt to Formulate the Correct train was robbed. Although the Provisionals later admitted 25th Anniversary nomic control of the nation's resources by the nation as a sary complement mass struggle by military action. Through Demands and Methods of Struggle". Their position was critical responsibility for the robbery, the Free State government used Whether with the party or the army, Costello was committed to Our Earth Commemoration whole and the eradication of any The increasing destruction of our the efforts of Costello and others, the Republican of the then leadership's gradual downgrading of the national it as an excuse to launch a vicious political attack on the IRSP. the Connolly position on the relation between the national control or influence exercised by environment is due to misman- Movement adopted a socialist stance by 1966/1967. question. The document was adopted at the October 1972 IRA About 40 IRSP members were arrested, and most reported question and the class struggle. The Officials concentrated on foreign capitalists over any agement of industrialisation and This part of Costello's political life has much relevance convention and the subsequent Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, but never that they were tortured, deprived of sleep and food, brutally the class question while ignoring the national one, and the aspect of the Irish economy. the inevitable product of a sys- in 2002. Forty years after the end of the border cam- implemented. The Goulding- MacGiolla faction attempted to kicked and beaten. Doctors and human rights observers later Provisional Republican movement concentrated on the nation- The recognition of a separate tem, which puts profit before all Irish cultural identity and the else, that is, capitalism. The paign, Republicans have still to understand the defeat reverse the decision and tried to isolate and undermine confirmed their injuries. Three IRSP members were eventually al question while ignoring class issues. In contrast, the establishment of revolutionary of the 1990s. While some Republicans join the sta- Costello by perverting methods of internal democracy. In 1973, sentenced to long term prison imprisonment by the Dublin Republican Socialist movement would concretely link the two. IRSP is committed to sustain- 32-county socialist republic. able and renewable energy tus quo and other "pan nationalist fronts", the Offical Sinn Fein and Army Council adopted new organisa- Special Criminal Court in December 1978. All three had been Unfortunately, since Costello's death, the idea of "For National sources, preservation of the Republican Socialists will find inspiration in tional principles as part of a strategy of isolating the opposition framed, and after intense efforts by organisations such as Liberation and Socialism" merely remained a slogan and was We aim to build a strong alliance ecology and biodiversity of our Costello's 1960s strategy. What is required of without creating a split. Costello was weakened when Garland Amnesty International to prove their innocence, two were not developed into a concrete programme. This partly related in Irish society of our class in planet, with protection of all towns and cities, agricultural species and the promotion of a Republicans is to be organically linked to the strug- changed sides. Things came to a head when Seamus Costello released in 1980. The last, Nicky Kelly, had to wait 1992 before to the fact that the IRSP put too much emphasis upon the strat- workers in the country-side, gles of the working class and give political leader- was court martialled and dismissed from the Official IRA in July being officially cleared ! Costello always maintained that there egy of the Broad Front. For its time, the proposal to form a unit- healthy environment for all peo- unemployed workers, working ple and animal life. ship. 1974. At the 1974 Offical Sinn Fein Ard Fheis, Costello was had been a state conspiracy to smash the IRSP. What is cer- ed front was very advanced -it broke with exclusivism and elit- class refugees, linked as a also dismissed from the party. Costello supporters had been so tain is that round 1976, the Free State took a particularly ism latent within Republican politics to this day. Costello recog- movement internationally with With the outbreak of the thoroughly purged from both the party and the army, that there repressive stance against left-wing groups. For example, Noel nised that armed struggle on its own could not succeed, it Assemble 2pm,Sunday 20th October other like-minded liberation Revolution not Reform struggles. The IRSP believe that the pres- struggle in the North and were only 15 votes against the motion. Costello was certainly and Marie Murray, two Anarchists accused of killing a Garda needed to be grounded on a mass movement and collaborate Town Hall, Bray ent class system cannot be the split in the no "splitist". He tried to work within the Officials until he was during a robbery, where threatened with death penalty. But the with other progressive organisations. One must also note that for March and Rally We firmly stand-by the struggle reformed out of existence. There Republican expelled, and when the conflict later erupted between the IRSP particularly suffered. Ta Power estimated that the IRSM the Broad Front envisaged by Costello had little to do with the for a republic. On that we are exists no parliamentary road to Official IRA and his movement, he did everything in his power had by late 1975 about 800 members. Up to 15% of them had so-called "pan-nationalist front" of today, as it would be limited to Little Bray Churchyard, Bray inflexible, but our struggle for the socialism and the liberation of to resolve matters peacefully. He was probably correct not to been injured -or even killed- in arrests or by the Officials. That to progressive social forces. The problem was that Costello republic is a means to an end. our class. We need to build an leave earlier, as he ultimately would have ended up isolated. means that for the first two years, due to these difficult objec- elevated the tactic of the Broad Front to the level of a strategy. For us, the national liberation organised working class move- Main speaker struggle is but an aspect of the ment with the politics capable of tive circumstances, the movement had little breathing space As a tactic, it is very valid for the IRSP to engage in joint Bernadette Devlin McAliskey struggle for socialism. leading the fight against capital- Costello and his supporters had little choice but form a new and simply struggled for survival. actions, in a united front with other political organisations on ism. Our class are entitled to Movement, political movement. On 8 December 1974, Costello and eighty specific issues and specific goals. However, the Broad Front is Organised by the Loyalism & Nationalism control over all the wealth of Costello of his supporters set up the Irish Republican Socialist Party. At the same time, Costello was busy building an armed organ- not the decisive catalyst for struggle. The development of the I.R.S.P. Seamus Costello Commemeration Committee. We distinguish between loyalism society and to obtain it through remained with the The same day, they discussed also discussed the formation of isation organically distinct from the party. The resumption of Broad Front should be subordinated to the necessity of build- and Protestantism. We recog- any means necessary. For more details regarding the Commemeration contact: nise the right of everyone to their Officials. He was on a new armed group that would continue the struggle the armed struggle was one of the decisive reasons for leaving the ing the revolutionary vanguard party based on scientific social- own religious beliefs, provided If you agree with us, then we the left wing of the Official IRA had abandoned. They recognised the need for a Officials. As Connolly wrote, "agitation to attain a political or ism as the decisive vehicle to bring about national liberation Dublin IRSP on 01-873562 or email: [email protected] Bray IRSP contact details ring Stephen on 086-359004. they do not use these beliefs to urge you to join the Irish Officials, pressing the rest revolutionary socialist party who would understand the rela- economic end must rest upon an implied willingness and abili- and socialism. There was a problem of priorities because in Republican Socialist Party and Belfast contact details ring Fra on 028-90321024. oppress others. We have no of the leadership to adopt a more tionship between the national question and the class struggle ty to use force. Without that, it is mere wind and attitudinising" effect, the IRSP tended to subordinate the development of the quarrel with Protestant workers help build a movement that can and welcome them to join us in accomplish these aims and struggle. However, we stand objectives. Be part of the Irish totally opposed to the political revolution!