Ten years ago the National 1916 Commemoration Committee marked the centenary of the Easter Rising. It was an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate to both this state and the British establishment, that the Proclamation issued by those dissident insurgents remains unfinished business.
It was also an onerous opportunity for Irish republicans to demonstrate strategic leadership, by taking that Proclamation out of the hands of revisionist and career orientated politicians, and place it firmly on a modern road towards national sovereignty for the Irish people.
On that Easter Monday 2016, in glorious sunshine, thousands of republicans marched to this hallowed place, giving rise to an expectation that republicans had grasped the nettle of pragmatism and realism and were prepared to take on the mantle of Irish republicanism and drive forward this struggle in such a way that when it comes to celebrating the bi-centenary of 1916 our national sovereignty would have long been secured.
Ten years on that objective is by no means guaranteed. The obsession of Irish republicans to be associated with the past has come at the price of being irrelevant to the present. The last phase of armed struggle has been over for longer than it was prosecuted, and ended in a political and constitutional settlement it wasn’t remotely fighting for.
What this means is that the current generation of our people, who are best placed to effect change for their country, have little empirical empathy with that struggle despite its immense cost and sacrifice. This is the reality which Irish republicans must face into.
As republicans we struggle for their right to disagree with us. And the fact that they do disagree with us, largely through apathy and distraction, is proof positive that the articulation of the core republican message has flatlined, and not just in its content, but also in its presentation.
Our people are entitled to more than historical and ideological slogans; such an approach merely demonstrates a bankruptcy of political acumen. And even standing here, in this most revered place in republican history, we cannot be blind to the fact, that once we leave through those gates, a collective deafness greets what we have said here today.
So in the first instance it is up to every individual here assembled to show individual leadership and open their minds to new ideas and make themselves available in helping to develop such ideas. Such a process can only commence once a logical and pragmatic foundation is set in place to ensure republican efforts do not once again drift into the rhetoric of the past.
From the outset we make it clear that the objective of Irish republicanism is the restoration of Irish national sovereignty and the ending of the British violation of that sovereignty. We equally make it clear that any and all calls for the restoration of our national sovereignty are by default a decisive call for the establishment of a national democracy for the people of the 32 Counties of Ireland. Our call is not for an abstraction but for a functioning and living republic.
A comprehensive blueprint of how that republic should and can function must become the graphic embodiment and presentation of the core republican message. The republic must be visual, its central structure must be stress tested against similar republics throughout history and the world. But above all it must make sense because common sense speaks louder and reaches farther than any eloquently spun idealism.
Our right to a sovereign democracy has been clearly articulated throughout the generations. That right has been carried forward as the bedrock of revolutionary ideas and acts prosecuted by those generations. But it is only the right which is necessarily carried forward, each generation is entitled to adopt its own tactics relevant to the political circumstances of their time. Our efforts must be focussed on what we can do rather than on what others have previously done.
Partition, and the institutions established to administer it, have evolved beyond the circumstances of their birth. This is particularly the case in this jurisdiction. British withdrawal from Ireland will not come about independent of the wishes of this state. The argument of illegitimacy is strategically redundant. Entering the primary institutions of this State has not served Irish republicanism nor has staying outside of them as some act of purifying defiance. A third path must be found which can exert an influence on this state on the matter of constitutional change.
The Republican Movement cannot secure its primary objective on its own. It can never be the function of Irish republicanism to simply exist, nor is it the purview of any group or set of individuals to claim that they are the Republican Movement. We must make strategic alliances with those who equally seek national change albeit for different priorities that are relevant to them. A sovereign democracy belongs to all, politically active or not, and it is incumbent on the Republican Movement to engage with these resources and to convince them that the republic we envisage encompasses the solutions for the issues and rights most concerning to them.
An analysis of what led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement within republicanism is now largely academic. Playing the blame game or shouting treason is nothing more than impotent moon howling. What we must analyse however is the strategic benefits accrued by both the British and Irish establishments from that accord. Because it is within those benefits that their political motivations will expose their political intentions going forward.
For this state the benefits are immense. There is now no legal, political or constitutional obligation on them to pursue a national democracy for Ireland. Leinster House, regardless of who sits in government, does not want an end to partition. An end to partition disrupts the lucrative political dominance they have established for themselves. George Bernard Shaw observed that all great truths begin as blasphemies and it is equally true that there are no careers in revolutionary politics. The notion of Irish unity is reduced to lip service, empty rhetoric and group hug sentiments.
For the British the Good Friday Agreement offers the perfect camouflage for their deeply deceptive claim of having no selfish strategic or economic reasons for remaining in Ireland. That the question of sovereignty was not on any talks agenda, other than an absolute recognition that sovereign authority over the Six Counties remained firmly in Westminster, determines that the future of the Six Counties will serve British interests first and foremost.
These are the political and constitutional realities that we must face if we are to have any realistic prospects of moving forward. We need to seek out common threads so that the myriad of political and community groups fighting for fundamental change and social justice can have a more focussed and amplified voice. Those that are divided, whether on legitimate political concerns or personal animosities, can never begin to coalesce around a complex proposition.
There is an inherent dynamic in simplicity; a dynamic whose basic logic transcends those divisions and animosities and demands a positive engagement with it. Our national flag, the Irish Tricolour, presents Irish republicans with such an opportunity.
The recent upsurge in the flying of our national flag in predominantly working class areas is more to be understood, not by the perceived intentions of those hoisting them, but by the shallow and deflective political reaction to it. Because of itself the flying of the national flag like this is a reaction to a shambolic combination of government policies, most notably on health, immigration and housing, but also exposes a servile post colonial mindset in successive-governments.
Let us clearly define what our national flag represents: it is the pinnacle symbol of the sovereignty of the Irish people over the 32 counties of Ireland. The colours of our flag are also a deliberate expression of national sovereignty in that they clearly state that any internal divisions within the Irish people can only be resolved by the Irish people themselves without any outside interference, most notably from the Westminster Parliament.
And it is this very sovereignty that the political establishment of this state has surrendered time and time again. They surrendered it to the British by sanitising a British imposed border in our country. They surrendered it to the banks and property speculators when they bailed out their gambling debts. They surrendered it to Brussels when our democratic decisions via referenda were deemed unacceptable and were forced to re-run them. They surrendered it to the IMF despite a pair of Fianna Fáil muppets looking bemused at the suggestion on the Six O'Clock News. And they are continuing to surrender our sovereignty with the relentless assault on our neutrality from outside vested interests and also on the issue of immigration, control over which is clearly beyond our sovereign remit.
The Irish flag should be hoisted in every community as a definitive act of sovereignty. An act of sovereignty which demands an end to British Parliamentary activity in our country. A demand for a public housing programme to once and for all end homelessness. A demand for a robust policy of active neutrality. A demand for a coherent and realistic policy on immigration that is not driven by exploitative financial interests or emotional and denigrating rhetoric. And a demand for a parliamentary system of governance which is based on merit and true representative democracy. Our national flag is a product of true republican ideals and flying our flag should be a daily reminder of those ideals and a censure on those who are failing to uphold them.
And this is our message to republicans throughout Ireland; go into your communities and hoist our flag. Go into your communities and educate them on the true provenance and meaning of our flag. Maintain those flags and if the state attempts to remove those flags replace them twice over. Everything begins with an idea, let our flag, once again, fulfil that beginning.
The Palestinian people are suffering a genocide as a result of a resurgent colonialism as the US-Zionist axis seeks complete dominance in the Middle East region. There is a long association between the Irish and Palestinian people’s struggle for sovereignty and independence. When the Black and Tans were removed from Ireland Palestine was their next destination; their primary function being the enforcement of the Balfour Declaration, a most shameful episode in world history. And as in Ireland the parallel trend of recruiting local quislings to administer colonial affairs found a willing participant in the Palestinian Authority, the Middle East’s own Free State.
The men and women of 1916 were not indifferent to the worlds politics and events around them. On the contrary they looked to those events as a means to amplify their core republican demands and expose British colonial hypocrisy.
As world politics drifts under the insidious influence of Zionist and US imperialism Britain’s strategic interest in Ireland will adapt itself to the military needs that this geo-political direction will demand. And it is a foregone conclusion that this State will offer no resistance to the path the British will demand of them. Unless our national sovereignty is restored it will be a British hand steering the constitutional and political direction for the people of this island. The fate of both our peoples, Irish and Palestinian, resides in the issue of our respective national sovereignty being fully restored.
Sovereignty is not a singular issue nor is it one dimensional; it is the bedrock of national existence and the ultimate authority for the Irish people to determine freely national policies such as government structure, social justice, economic self sufficiency, neutrality and defence, cultural expression and international affairs.
And for Irish republicans to credibly assert that our core position is the defence and pursuit of Irish national sovereignty we must equally assert how that sovereignty is fundamental to the welfare of the Irish people as it affects their daily lives. People do not live in an idealistic bubble. Our communities daily face the hardships and tribulations of life and it is for Irish republicans to provide credible solutions for them.
Every generation of Irish republicans brought their ideas to the table. Now it is our turn. The mantle of Irish republicanism can only be inherited by those who have ideas to advance it.
Beri Bua!
It was also an onerous opportunity for Irish republicans to demonstrate strategic leadership, by taking that Proclamation out of the hands of revisionist and career orientated politicians, and place it firmly on a modern road towards national sovereignty for the Irish people.
On that Easter Monday 2016, in glorious sunshine, thousands of republicans marched to this hallowed place, giving rise to an expectation that republicans had grasped the nettle of pragmatism and realism and were prepared to take on the mantle of Irish republicanism and drive forward this struggle in such a way that when it comes to celebrating the bi-centenary of 1916 our national sovereignty would have long been secured.
Ten years on that objective is by no means guaranteed. The obsession of Irish republicans to be associated with the past has come at the price of being irrelevant to the present. The last phase of armed struggle has been over for longer than it was prosecuted, and ended in a political and constitutional settlement it wasn’t remotely fighting for.
What this means is that the current generation of our people, who are best placed to effect change for their country, have little empirical empathy with that struggle despite its immense cost and sacrifice. This is the reality which Irish republicans must face into.
As republicans we struggle for their right to disagree with us. And the fact that they do disagree with us, largely through apathy and distraction, is proof positive that the articulation of the core republican message has flatlined, and not just in its content, but also in its presentation.
Our people are entitled to more than historical and ideological slogans; such an approach merely demonstrates a bankruptcy of political acumen. And even standing here, in this most revered place in republican history, we cannot be blind to the fact, that once we leave through those gates, a collective deafness greets what we have said here today.
So in the first instance it is up to every individual here assembled to show individual leadership and open their minds to new ideas and make themselves available in helping to develop such ideas. Such a process can only commence once a logical and pragmatic foundation is set in place to ensure republican efforts do not once again drift into the rhetoric of the past.
From the outset we make it clear that the objective of Irish republicanism is the restoration of Irish national sovereignty and the ending of the British violation of that sovereignty. We equally make it clear that any and all calls for the restoration of our national sovereignty are by default a decisive call for the establishment of a national democracy for the people of the 32 Counties of Ireland. Our call is not for an abstraction but for a functioning and living republic.
A comprehensive blueprint of how that republic should and can function must become the graphic embodiment and presentation of the core republican message. The republic must be visual, its central structure must be stress tested against similar republics throughout history and the world. But above all it must make sense because common sense speaks louder and reaches farther than any eloquently spun idealism.
Our right to a sovereign democracy has been clearly articulated throughout the generations. That right has been carried forward as the bedrock of revolutionary ideas and acts prosecuted by those generations. But it is only the right which is necessarily carried forward, each generation is entitled to adopt its own tactics relevant to the political circumstances of their time. Our efforts must be focussed on what we can do rather than on what others have previously done.
Partition, and the institutions established to administer it, have evolved beyond the circumstances of their birth. This is particularly the case in this jurisdiction. British withdrawal from Ireland will not come about independent of the wishes of this state. The argument of illegitimacy is strategically redundant. Entering the primary institutions of this State has not served Irish republicanism nor has staying outside of them as some act of purifying defiance. A third path must be found which can exert an influence on this state on the matter of constitutional change.
The Republican Movement cannot secure its primary objective on its own. It can never be the function of Irish republicanism to simply exist, nor is it the purview of any group or set of individuals to claim that they are the Republican Movement. We must make strategic alliances with those who equally seek national change albeit for different priorities that are relevant to them. A sovereign democracy belongs to all, politically active or not, and it is incumbent on the Republican Movement to engage with these resources and to convince them that the republic we envisage encompasses the solutions for the issues and rights most concerning to them.
An analysis of what led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement within republicanism is now largely academic. Playing the blame game or shouting treason is nothing more than impotent moon howling. What we must analyse however is the strategic benefits accrued by both the British and Irish establishments from that accord. Because it is within those benefits that their political motivations will expose their political intentions going forward.
For this state the benefits are immense. There is now no legal, political or constitutional obligation on them to pursue a national democracy for Ireland. Leinster House, regardless of who sits in government, does not want an end to partition. An end to partition disrupts the lucrative political dominance they have established for themselves. George Bernard Shaw observed that all great truths begin as blasphemies and it is equally true that there are no careers in revolutionary politics. The notion of Irish unity is reduced to lip service, empty rhetoric and group hug sentiments.
For the British the Good Friday Agreement offers the perfect camouflage for their deeply deceptive claim of having no selfish strategic or economic reasons for remaining in Ireland. That the question of sovereignty was not on any talks agenda, other than an absolute recognition that sovereign authority over the Six Counties remained firmly in Westminster, determines that the future of the Six Counties will serve British interests first and foremost.
These are the political and constitutional realities that we must face if we are to have any realistic prospects of moving forward. We need to seek out common threads so that the myriad of political and community groups fighting for fundamental change and social justice can have a more focussed and amplified voice. Those that are divided, whether on legitimate political concerns or personal animosities, can never begin to coalesce around a complex proposition.
There is an inherent dynamic in simplicity; a dynamic whose basic logic transcends those divisions and animosities and demands a positive engagement with it. Our national flag, the Irish Tricolour, presents Irish republicans with such an opportunity.
The recent upsurge in the flying of our national flag in predominantly working class areas is more to be understood, not by the perceived intentions of those hoisting them, but by the shallow and deflective political reaction to it. Because of itself the flying of the national flag like this is a reaction to a shambolic combination of government policies, most notably on health, immigration and housing, but also exposes a servile post colonial mindset in successive-governments.
Let us clearly define what our national flag represents: it is the pinnacle symbol of the sovereignty of the Irish people over the 32 counties of Ireland. The colours of our flag are also a deliberate expression of national sovereignty in that they clearly state that any internal divisions within the Irish people can only be resolved by the Irish people themselves without any outside interference, most notably from the Westminster Parliament.
And it is this very sovereignty that the political establishment of this state has surrendered time and time again. They surrendered it to the British by sanitising a British imposed border in our country. They surrendered it to the banks and property speculators when they bailed out their gambling debts. They surrendered it to Brussels when our democratic decisions via referenda were deemed unacceptable and were forced to re-run them. They surrendered it to the IMF despite a pair of Fianna Fáil muppets looking bemused at the suggestion on the Six O'Clock News. And they are continuing to surrender our sovereignty with the relentless assault on our neutrality from outside vested interests and also on the issue of immigration, control over which is clearly beyond our sovereign remit.
The Irish flag should be hoisted in every community as a definitive act of sovereignty. An act of sovereignty which demands an end to British Parliamentary activity in our country. A demand for a public housing programme to once and for all end homelessness. A demand for a robust policy of active neutrality. A demand for a coherent and realistic policy on immigration that is not driven by exploitative financial interests or emotional and denigrating rhetoric. And a demand for a parliamentary system of governance which is based on merit and true representative democracy. Our national flag is a product of true republican ideals and flying our flag should be a daily reminder of those ideals and a censure on those who are failing to uphold them.
And this is our message to republicans throughout Ireland; go into your communities and hoist our flag. Go into your communities and educate them on the true provenance and meaning of our flag. Maintain those flags and if the state attempts to remove those flags replace them twice over. Everything begins with an idea, let our flag, once again, fulfil that beginning.
The Palestinian people are suffering a genocide as a result of a resurgent colonialism as the US-Zionist axis seeks complete dominance in the Middle East region. There is a long association between the Irish and Palestinian people’s struggle for sovereignty and independence. When the Black and Tans were removed from Ireland Palestine was their next destination; their primary function being the enforcement of the Balfour Declaration, a most shameful episode in world history. And as in Ireland the parallel trend of recruiting local quislings to administer colonial affairs found a willing participant in the Palestinian Authority, the Middle East’s own Free State.
The men and women of 1916 were not indifferent to the worlds politics and events around them. On the contrary they looked to those events as a means to amplify their core republican demands and expose British colonial hypocrisy.
As world politics drifts under the insidious influence of Zionist and US imperialism Britain’s strategic interest in Ireland will adapt itself to the military needs that this geo-political direction will demand. And it is a foregone conclusion that this State will offer no resistance to the path the British will demand of them. Unless our national sovereignty is restored it will be a British hand steering the constitutional and political direction for the people of this island. The fate of both our peoples, Irish and Palestinian, resides in the issue of our respective national sovereignty being fully restored.
Sovereignty is not a singular issue nor is it one dimensional; it is the bedrock of national existence and the ultimate authority for the Irish people to determine freely national policies such as government structure, social justice, economic self sufficiency, neutrality and defence, cultural expression and international affairs.
And for Irish republicans to credibly assert that our core position is the defence and pursuit of Irish national sovereignty we must equally assert how that sovereignty is fundamental to the welfare of the Irish people as it affects their daily lives. People do not live in an idealistic bubble. Our communities daily face the hardships and tribulations of life and it is for Irish republicans to provide credible solutions for them.
Every generation of Irish republicans brought their ideas to the table. Now it is our turn. The mantle of Irish republicanism can only be inherited by those who have ideas to advance it.
Beri Bua!
