 |
| Andy O’Rourke |
By its very definition struggle is not easy. It is an onerous decision on anyone’s behalf to engage with the republican struggle wherein death, imprisonment and financial destitution are the regular fruits harvested for those who are not diverted from its core objectives.
When you add debilitating illness into the mix the weight of struggle increases tenfold. It is a particularly difficult and personal burden because at its heart is an unwanted restriction on a republican’s ability to prosecute the struggle to their utmost ability.
I didn’t know Andy outside of his illness; but his illness didn’t define him to me in my first impressions, as I was unaware of it. He had an odd but patient manner which took getting used to, but it would prove highly effective on the particular journey we both undertook together.
Republicanism was in chaos, a comprehensive British victory. What was fundamental in addressing this crisis was a core position, or event, around which Irish republicans could coalesce to at least in part get republicans to recognise how dire our position was.
This wasn’t an easy task as the republican propensity to shout ‘sell out’ as a panacea to culpable gullibility gave short thrift to reasoned debate. This is where Andy’s patience, a lot of it, came into its own.
The centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising was fast approaching. The Good Friday Agreement was nearing its second decade anniversary. The obvious clash between the goals of Easter Week and the terms of that settlement were ripe for exploration. But any hopes for a receptive audience to the republican analysis was dependent on rational discourse and not green sloganizing.
This potential was not lost on the State who developed the so-called Decade of Centenaries in a bid to dilute the revolutionary objectives and achievements of that time. It was a group hug for political and historical revisionists.
And so began an intellectual journey to discover and formulate new republican ideas set against the historical ideas who made republicans like Andy who they are, body and mind.
Meetings after meetings we delved into the soul of Irish republicanism, a very curious journey. The physicality of it was a definite strain on Andy but the intellectual stimulus he derived from it was the challenge he needed to overcome the increasing limitations of his illness. He stopped driving, a relief to many!
Out of this paradox emerged what we believed Irish republicanism needed, not an answer, but a challenge. We met together on numerous occasions, outside of the formal meetings throughout the country, to digest what we had heard and ascertain what, if any, common ground could be had.
We settled on two salient points. Firstly, the vast majority of Irish republicans were not in republican groups and secondly, the vast majority of republican groups had grave difficulties in explaining the basic premise of their very existence. And as Andy remarked, in his own unique and attention provoking way, ‘it’s not for us to explain it for them’.
Organising for the centenary of 1916 gave a lot of republicans a much-needed focus for their activism. What was considered a no-brainer, a one day in a hundred years show of republican unity and strength, was actually a very frustrating process.
A lot of groups saw it as an opportunity to promote themselves, to go it alone as some form of badge of distinction little realising, or caring, that the common bond amongst the groups was one of failure. It proved to be an eye-opener for Andy and others and demonstrated in real time the scale of the problems we faced.
And so the centenary was marked with thousands of republicans taking to the streets of our capital in the largest non-state commemoration held on that Easter Monday 2016. It was loud, bright and colourful but completely devoid of any semblance of solution or message to make Irish republicanism relevant in its current environment. The following day, and in all the days hence, the two salient points alluded to earlier continue to prevail.
Our paths drifted somewhat afterwards. When Covid arrived Andy’s illness made him particularly susceptible to its ravages which imposed an almost solitary confinement regime on him. But with his usual fortitude and resilience he came through it, yet his illness relentlessly pursued him.
A couple of days before his passing, when his family were summoned to his side, he continued with his wit and humour. Some say it was the morphine but those who knew him recognised that it was his true self, an optimistic character positive to the end.
Andy was a true Fenian; what he did publicly for Ireland the entire world can see, what he did in the shadows for Ireland the British establishment felt.
As he was carried on his final journey his coffin was flanked by his comrades and draped in the very tricolour behind which thousands marched in 2016. As is fitting for his family Irish republicans presented them with an Irish tricolour in appreciation of his service to his country.
And as is fitting for his legacy the National Flag, flown on that memorable day, will continue to do so. For every time we march behind it, we know that our friend and comrade Andy is marching with us, relentlessly reminding us that the mantle of Irish republicanism can only be inherited by those who have ideas to advance it.
⏩ The Fenian Way was a full time activist during the IRA's war against the British.
No comments