Ciaran Cunningham ✍ Twenty-five years ago, in May 1998, myself and young Darren Mullholland walked the Holylands district of Belfast, leafleting Nationalist students in a call to reject the Good Friday Agreement in the following day’s referendum.

Initially people thought we were the DUP, when they realised that we were Republicans their reception was no warmer. The GFA deal had been done. The ‘Yes’ campaign was in full swing, funded as it was by the still anonymous pro-business lobby group ‘The Portland Trust’.

In the minds of nationalist youth - and in line with the message of the nationalist parties - the GFA was peace itself. Our people were tired of war, prisons and poverty. In the shadows, Billy Wrights active and murderous sectarian counter gang the LVF were providing the stick that complimented the GFA’s promised carrot that was, jobs, the release of prisoners and an end to armed conflict.

For our part we were just militant minded students; me dipping my toe into Republican Marxism wherever I could find it, and Darren (an exceptionally intelligent theoretical physics student) a passionate advocate of the Irish sovereignty position as had been espoused within Sinn Féin until approximately that point.

Probably numbed to normality somewhat, having grown up on steady diet of shocking headlines, I am not proud to say that the word ‘peace’ meant nothing to me in 1998. It was a British state propaganda term pure and simple; churned out by numerous London politicians who as policy reserved any condemnation for armed republicans while openly supporting the crown forces and their right to forcibly occupy our country.

The position set out in our leaflets was adamant and straightforward. The GFA - if accepted by the Republican base - would be an unmitigated disaster for the revolutionary position in Ireland.

Every word, objective and aspiration contained within its pages ran contrary to the objective of a ‘32 County, sovereign, socialist republic’, an aspiration that was sacrosanct for us both; and which until then, was still the mainstream republican demand, cited even by Sinn Féin.

In the decades before demographic shifts, Catholic majorities and the chaos of Brexit, the absence of any prospect even of basic Irish Unity made the GFA not only counter revolutionary in our minds, but downright idiotic. At that age we weren’t waiting twenty-five years for anything.

Life would become noticeably more hostile for us both from that day on, but for Darren much more so than me. He would receive a 22-year prison sentence at the Old Bailey having been arrested with others for republican activity in London that July. It was a gargantuan sacrifice for his political position, in comparison to the tea break of a sentence that I myself would go onto receive some years later. Appallingly, I have only spoken to Darren a few times since then, if he reads this, I hope he is well.

A lot has happened to Irish republicanism since then. Several immeasurable tragedies of various descriptions, the superficial normalisation of the British security apparatus in the north, constant Internment by remand, the twist and turns of decades long political manoeuvrings and the aging and deaths of many relevant political figures; making space for a new generation of young activists for whom I wouldn’t even attempt to speak now.

Everything that mainstream leaders assured the grass roots would not happen has happened. So much so, that ‘Irish Republicanism’ arguably means something else in the public mind today than it did in the twentieth century.

In 1998 the EU was spoke of with utter disdain by mainstream Irish Republicanism. Denounced regularly as a pro colonial, counter revolutionary capitalist meat market, whose ethos was at complete odds with the Irish Republican goal. Today it has taken on the roll of a political life raft that constitutional nationalism would have us all cling on to in a bid to secure a ‘Yes’ vote in a border poll. A clever strategy? most certainly. A revolutionary one? most certainly not.

Writing in this series of TPQ, Martin Galvin indicated that (love it or hate it) the GFA is what we’re left with and that all republicans should try to make the most of opportunities that now arise within its dynamic. Dissatisfaction at Brexit and opportunities for Irish Unity being the obvious example.

Martin has every right to say this. Like us, he warned of the dangers of the GFA back in 1998 and for some years afterwards. Indeed, he worked on the ground to try and explore and assist viable political alternatives to it all, when, no doubt, he had the opportunity to become a transatlantic hero of the peace process had he only been willing to shut his eyes to the glaring anomalies that were screaming from the pages of the ’98 agreement.

For my own part, I have accepted that there is probably going to be a unity referendum of some sort in the future. If it comes, I will be walking the streets urging working class people to Vote ‘Yes for Unity’.

I am tired of London rule in Ireland, direct or otherwise. Tired of losing friendships to opposing political arguments that I couldn’t be bothered taking part in but which I feel that I must. I’m tired of partition generally and the perpetual madness that follows it. Who wouldn’t vote to end that?

Most of all, I’m tired of seeing salt of the earth political friends and comrades living under the spectre of a police force and prison system that hates them, and which would gladly gaol them for their mere perspectives and political aspirations, even in the dying hours of a failed northern state.

Is my support for a referendum a contradiction of the leaflets that me and Darren handed out in 1998? It probably is yes! But do I still stand by what we said about the GFA back then? Absolutely yes and without hesitation.

The GFA was indeed an unmitigated disaster for the revolutionary republican position in Ireland. One glance at the forces now taking a major sudden interest in Irish Unity, and the manoeuvres being pulled to make it appear palatable to the forces of reaction, tells us that when and if a United Ireland comes from a GFA style border poll; the type of country that emerges will probably be as far away from the ‘32 County Sovereign Socialist Republic’ as middle-class Ireland, America and the European Union can possibly drag it.

Which is precisely why those of us who remain loyal to the revolutionary goal cannot afford to absent ourselves from the process. The aspiration and demand for ‘32 county sovereign socialist republic’ must survive and thrive in modern Ireland and not become a relic of the past; to be sang of by the new property class, the rich, the powerful, before being forgotten about and scoffed at when all have sobered up and settled for less.

If the aspiration is to survive, those of us who carry it cannot afford to be accused of having played no part in the unification of our country. Which will be the chief argument and propaganda of those who plan to retire by putting old wine in new bottles. We must be there; we must be seen to be there and our successors must be able to say we were there.

This is the hand we have been dealt. It is a bad hand but the trick now is to play it cleverly.

⏩ Ciarán Cunningham is a West Belfast republican

Opposing The GFA ✑ May 1998

Ciaran Cunningham ✍ Twenty-five years ago, in May 1998, myself and young Darren Mullholland walked the Holylands district of Belfast, leafleting Nationalist students in a call to reject the Good Friday Agreement in the following day’s referendum.

Initially people thought we were the DUP, when they realised that we were Republicans their reception was no warmer. The GFA deal had been done. The ‘Yes’ campaign was in full swing, funded as it was by the still anonymous pro-business lobby group ‘The Portland Trust’.

In the minds of nationalist youth - and in line with the message of the nationalist parties - the GFA was peace itself. Our people were tired of war, prisons and poverty. In the shadows, Billy Wrights active and murderous sectarian counter gang the LVF were providing the stick that complimented the GFA’s promised carrot that was, jobs, the release of prisoners and an end to armed conflict.

For our part we were just militant minded students; me dipping my toe into Republican Marxism wherever I could find it, and Darren (an exceptionally intelligent theoretical physics student) a passionate advocate of the Irish sovereignty position as had been espoused within Sinn Féin until approximately that point.

Probably numbed to normality somewhat, having grown up on steady diet of shocking headlines, I am not proud to say that the word ‘peace’ meant nothing to me in 1998. It was a British state propaganda term pure and simple; churned out by numerous London politicians who as policy reserved any condemnation for armed republicans while openly supporting the crown forces and their right to forcibly occupy our country.

The position set out in our leaflets was adamant and straightforward. The GFA - if accepted by the Republican base - would be an unmitigated disaster for the revolutionary position in Ireland.

Every word, objective and aspiration contained within its pages ran contrary to the objective of a ‘32 County, sovereign, socialist republic’, an aspiration that was sacrosanct for us both; and which until then, was still the mainstream republican demand, cited even by Sinn Féin.

In the decades before demographic shifts, Catholic majorities and the chaos of Brexit, the absence of any prospect even of basic Irish Unity made the GFA not only counter revolutionary in our minds, but downright idiotic. At that age we weren’t waiting twenty-five years for anything.

Life would become noticeably more hostile for us both from that day on, but for Darren much more so than me. He would receive a 22-year prison sentence at the Old Bailey having been arrested with others for republican activity in London that July. It was a gargantuan sacrifice for his political position, in comparison to the tea break of a sentence that I myself would go onto receive some years later. Appallingly, I have only spoken to Darren a few times since then, if he reads this, I hope he is well.

A lot has happened to Irish republicanism since then. Several immeasurable tragedies of various descriptions, the superficial normalisation of the British security apparatus in the north, constant Internment by remand, the twist and turns of decades long political manoeuvrings and the aging and deaths of many relevant political figures; making space for a new generation of young activists for whom I wouldn’t even attempt to speak now.

Everything that mainstream leaders assured the grass roots would not happen has happened. So much so, that ‘Irish Republicanism’ arguably means something else in the public mind today than it did in the twentieth century.

In 1998 the EU was spoke of with utter disdain by mainstream Irish Republicanism. Denounced regularly as a pro colonial, counter revolutionary capitalist meat market, whose ethos was at complete odds with the Irish Republican goal. Today it has taken on the roll of a political life raft that constitutional nationalism would have us all cling on to in a bid to secure a ‘Yes’ vote in a border poll. A clever strategy? most certainly. A revolutionary one? most certainly not.

Writing in this series of TPQ, Martin Galvin indicated that (love it or hate it) the GFA is what we’re left with and that all republicans should try to make the most of opportunities that now arise within its dynamic. Dissatisfaction at Brexit and opportunities for Irish Unity being the obvious example.

Martin has every right to say this. Like us, he warned of the dangers of the GFA back in 1998 and for some years afterwards. Indeed, he worked on the ground to try and explore and assist viable political alternatives to it all, when, no doubt, he had the opportunity to become a transatlantic hero of the peace process had he only been willing to shut his eyes to the glaring anomalies that were screaming from the pages of the ’98 agreement.

For my own part, I have accepted that there is probably going to be a unity referendum of some sort in the future. If it comes, I will be walking the streets urging working class people to Vote ‘Yes for Unity’.

I am tired of London rule in Ireland, direct or otherwise. Tired of losing friendships to opposing political arguments that I couldn’t be bothered taking part in but which I feel that I must. I’m tired of partition generally and the perpetual madness that follows it. Who wouldn’t vote to end that?

Most of all, I’m tired of seeing salt of the earth political friends and comrades living under the spectre of a police force and prison system that hates them, and which would gladly gaol them for their mere perspectives and political aspirations, even in the dying hours of a failed northern state.

Is my support for a referendum a contradiction of the leaflets that me and Darren handed out in 1998? It probably is yes! But do I still stand by what we said about the GFA back then? Absolutely yes and without hesitation.

The GFA was indeed an unmitigated disaster for the revolutionary republican position in Ireland. One glance at the forces now taking a major sudden interest in Irish Unity, and the manoeuvres being pulled to make it appear palatable to the forces of reaction, tells us that when and if a United Ireland comes from a GFA style border poll; the type of country that emerges will probably be as far away from the ‘32 County Sovereign Socialist Republic’ as middle-class Ireland, America and the European Union can possibly drag it.

Which is precisely why those of us who remain loyal to the revolutionary goal cannot afford to absent ourselves from the process. The aspiration and demand for ‘32 county sovereign socialist republic’ must survive and thrive in modern Ireland and not become a relic of the past; to be sang of by the new property class, the rich, the powerful, before being forgotten about and scoffed at when all have sobered up and settled for less.

If the aspiration is to survive, those of us who carry it cannot afford to be accused of having played no part in the unification of our country. Which will be the chief argument and propaganda of those who plan to retire by putting old wine in new bottles. We must be there; we must be seen to be there and our successors must be able to say we were there.

This is the hand we have been dealt. It is a bad hand but the trick now is to play it cleverly.

⏩ Ciarán Cunningham is a West Belfast republican

2 comments:

  1. Authentic experiences are what they are, just as the fight for freedom is where it is. Good read. He's right we can only play the ball forward, regardless of the score.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "The GFA was indeed an unmitigated disaster for the revolutionary republican position in Ireland. " This may or may not be true, but the militarist opponents have solidified support for it in their own way, offering nothing of an alternative.Loyalty to the goal has to find a political strategy.

    ReplyDelete