EASTER 1916 COMMEMORATION , MONDAY , 9 APRIL 2007, Dublin .

‘The Mother’.

Lord , thou art hard on mothers ;
we suffer in their coming and their going :
and tho’ I grudge them not , I weary , weary ,
of the long sorrow .
And yet I have my joy ; my sons were faithful , and they fought . “

- PH Pearse, written hours before his execution , May 3 , 1916 .

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (9 April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

WHICH WAY FORWARD IN THE FREE STATE ?

In the wake of Sinn Fein successs in the North , republicans are increasingly having to confront the problem of building a realistic strategy for the very different political situation that exists in the 26 Counties . In this controversial analysis , Sinn Fein ard comhairle (’National Executive’) member Paddy Bolger , argues that the Sinn Fein concept of an ‘Economic Resistance Movement’ , put forward in 1971 and expanded eight years later , is seriously over-optimistic , and that the national question remains the central revolutionary issue on which Free State workers can be mobilised in a painstaking and gradualist approach .
From ‘IRIS’ magazine , November 1983 .

The most regularly-drawn contrast in relation to Sinn Fein’s position is that between the situation that existed for the party in the North prior to 1981 and the massive increase in Sinn Fein’s influence and credibility in the North that has occurred since then .

But what about the other major contrast , as massively relevant to republican strategy as the Northern electoral interventions - the contrast between the state of the party in the North and in the Free State ? While few people would challenge the strong possibility of Sinn Fein securing majority electoral support among Northern nationalists * in the not so distant future , would anyone venture a comparable optimism about Sinn Fein’s prospects in the 26 counties ? Undoubtedly not . (’1169…’ Comment * It was actually those that left the Republican Movement in 1986 with Gerry Adams that “secured majority electoral support…” , but they done so by ‘out-stooping’ the Stoops, an ‘opportunity’ that was always available to Irish Republicans but which was only ever taken-up by those that left the Movement .)

And yet , the current social and economic situation in the South is almost identical to that projected in the Sinn Fein policy document adopted in early 1980 - ‘ Eire Nua : the Social , Economic and Political Dimensions ‘ (a revision of the 1971 Social and Economic Programme) . That document urged the immediate forging of an ‘Economic Resistance Movement’ centred on the trade unions and co-operatives and mobilising the people for national aims around issues such as unemployment , women’s rights , youth , withdrawal from the EEC etc…….
(MORE LATER).

A SEGREGATED JAIL .
Formerly Sinn Fein’s national organiser , 28-year-old Belfast republican Jim Gibney has been imprisoned on remand since last January , one of many who have been held solely on the word of an RUC informer . Most of this period on remand has been spent in Belfast’s Crumlin Road Jail.
In this article , smuggled out of Crumlin Road , Gibney outlines the daily routine in the jail , in which segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners -one of the hunger-strikers’ five demands- plays a central , if ‘officially’ unrecognised , role .
From ‘IRIS’ magazine ,November 1982 .
By Jim Gibney .

One year after the ending of the hunger-strike in the H-Blocks, the British government continues to refuse to concede some of the outstanding demands which prompted it .

Principal among these demands are the issues of segregation between republican and loyalist prisoners , and a full restoration of remission lost by prisoners during the six-year protest . Although the relationship in the North’s prisons - Long Kesh, Armagh, Magilligan and Crumlin Road, which contains remand prisoners - between prisoners and prison warders has improved , this is due more to the ending of the no-wash and blanket protests by the prisoners which in turn led to the warders ending their physical assaults and the internal body searches than to any enlightened handling of the prison situation by the self-avowed ‘liberal’ prisons’ minister , ‘Lord’ Gowrie.

More than enough time has passed since the hunger-strike ended on October 3rd 1981 for the necessary changes to be implemented if the British government was genuinely interested in preventing yet another major challenge to their prison policy , which was derailed last year when they were forced to concede the political prisoners’ right to wear their own clothes . Since then , the focus of attention has switched to the issue of segregation - one of the original five demands which the British government has said it will not implement…….
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

LABOUR AND TRADE UNION CO-ORDINATING GROUP: Formed in 1974 with the participation of members of Militant to campaign for a mass party of labour in the North of Ireland . Changed its name to Labour and Trade Union Group in 1979 .

LABOUR AND TRADE UNION GROUP: (See above) . With the participation of members of Militant, this organisation worked for a mass party of labour in the North of Ireland .
(MORE LATER).

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS…….

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the ‘REAL LIVES’ programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .
From ‘IN DUBLIN’ magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : ” What about the allegations that Sinn Fein infiltrated the anti-drugs movement? ”

GERRY ADAMS : ” That’s a nonsense . You don’t have to infiltrate anyone . If someone comes to you for advice that’s not infiltration . I mean if there were Sinn Fein people in Dolphin’s Barn or in St. Teresa’s Gardens and they give a hand that’s not infiltration . Sinn Fein couldn’t have done it on its own , it did not do it on its own - it just provided a wee bit of assistance and helped people to organise themselves . I think it was marvellous what the people did , but I will say one thing : if there was as much political will to stop the drug-dealers as there is against the IRA they could be stopped . ”

[END of ‘THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS’]
(NEXT - ‘Which Way Forward In The Free State?’ - from 1983)

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR…….
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From ‘MAGILL’ magazine, August 1983 .

Lunch was over and people trooped back in to the courtroom to listen , disbelievingly , while Raymond Gilmour continued to inform . Fifty-five more people will face his accusations when the present ‘lot’ are done with .

‘How could he do it…’ , they kept asking . How could Michael Quigley, too , have done it ? Quigley had already provided his own answer : he was not an informer , he told his cross questioner in court - he was ‘a converted terrorist’ . When had he ‘converted’ , the defence team asked him ? ” On the road to Castlereagh Prison….” , he replied , his immobile face an identikit mask.

[END of ‘THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR’]
(NEXT : ‘A Segregated Jail’ : from 1982)

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

IRISH WORKERS’ PARTY: Changed its name from the Irish Workers’ League in 1962 . The major communist organisation in the State , it achieved little except some influence in the trade union movement . It merged into the Communist Party Of Ireland in 1970 .

IRISH WORKERS’ UNION: Formed in 1960 ; some of its members came from Saor Uladh, a Republican offshoot to the left and more willing to work within State structures . After it ceased to function in about 1964 , some of the same people were involved in the Irish Communist Group.

IRISH YOUNG SOCIALISTS: Youth movement of the League for Workers’ Vanguard, later the Workers’ League.
(MORE LATER).

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS…….

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the ‘REAL LIVES’ programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .
From ‘IN DUBLIN’ magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : ” Community work is one of the ways in which you have been building up your vote in Dublin . Why did Sinn Fein choose this method ? ”

GERRY ADAMS : ” First of all , it means that the party which puts forward the candidate has to be in the area helping the people and not just at election time . Secondly , it’s easy enough to take short-cuts and to get involved in street opportunism , latching yourself onto a tenants’ association and getting your picture in the paper and it might look genuine to people outside the area , but people in the area will know it isn’t .

Hopefully it will enable us to put our views on the national question across and then on the British presence and to ‘republicanise’ the community . I think that there’s a difference between a principled involvement in working with the people and opportunistically exploiting what’s going on for electoral purposes . “
(MORE LATER).

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR…….
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From ‘MAGILL’ magazine, August 1983 .

Conversation turns from the RUC to court room procedure : the solicitors want to save cross examination until the formal trial next year . There’s no point giving Raymond Gilmour a ‘dry run’ now , they argue - ‘You’re just giving the RUC time to prepare him..’ . The RUC already know all the dirt there is to know about him , comes the counter argument - ‘ You can be sure they’ve broken him already , and remoulded him . Why give them more time . Throw stuff at him now , while he’s still vulnerable…’

But is he vulnerable , they wonder then ? This is not the Raymond Gilmour some of them knew . Is that how they brainwashed people in Korea , in Vietnam ? ” Never mind Gilmour , ” said one woman , ” … look how the solicitors are brainwashed . A lot of money , for appearing in court , and they’ll uphold any system . They should have withdrawn from the courts long ago . You wouldn’t find informers being tolerated in an English system .”

Those words fall like stones on some hearts - one woman present has a son in the dock , and a solicitor son among defence counsel . The son in the dock is not allowed to sit beside his wife , of eighteen months , also charged . She got bail because she was pregnant , the child having since been born . If her husband is convicted of the killing of which he has been accused , her child-bearing years will be over by the time he gets out . Assuming her body is not destroyed in Armagh Jail, where she will probably be sent if Gilmour is believed . The young woman’s mother keeps vigil in court , from her wheelchair…….
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

IRISH WORKERS’GROUP (Mark 1) : This group changed its name from the Irish Communist Group in 1965 . An organisation in the Trotskyist tradition , it ceased to function in 1968 following the secession of the ‘League for a Workers’ Republic’, but many of its members were already involved in the Labour Party or the Young Socialist Alliance.

IRISH WORKERS’ GROUP (Mark 2) : Formed in 1976 following a breakaway from the Socialist Workers’ Movement in the direction of a more rigorous adherence to Trotskyist doctrine . This group had close relations with the British Workers’ Power Group.

IRISH WORKERS’ LEAGUE: Formed in 1948 when the Communist Party Of Ireland had divided on a North/South basis in 1941 . It changed its name to the Irish Workers’ Party in 1962 .
(MORE LATER).

EASTER MONDAY COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN , 2007 :

” The people were tired of the RIC and their overbearing , strutting tyranny . The ‘Law’ and the ‘Force’ . Yes , and the Crowbar and the Battering Ram . The Torch and the Buckshot . The Bayonet and the Bullet and the Baton . These tools had been always associated with the ‘Law’ . The ‘Force’ was the eyes and the ears and the power behind the ‘Law’ . This is how my mother taught me the English alphabet :
A for the Army that covers the ground ,
B for the Buckshot we’re getting all round .
C for the Crowbar of cruel ill-fame ,
D for Davitt , a right glorious name…… ”

…an extract from Micheal O’Suilleabhain’s book , ‘Where Mountainy Men Have Sown’, (Anvil Books , 1965).

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (9April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

RSF Easter 2007 : New Arrangements .

Republican Sinn Fein in Dublin has re-arranged its main Dublin Commemoration , from Easter Sunday (8th April) to Easter Monday (9th April) .
Apologises to those who had already made arrangements to travel to the main RSF Easter Commemoration in Dublin - the day on which that event will be held has been changed .

An Coiste Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta (the National Commemoration Committee) has requested that the Dublin Republican Sinn Fein organisation change its main Easter Commemoration from Easter Sunday (8th April) to Easter Monday (9th April) and , after consultation , the Dublin Comhairle Ceantair (Executive) of RSF agreed to do so .

The new arrangements are as follows :

Easter Monday (9th April) - assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for the parade to the GPO .

Easter Sunday (8th April) - Assemble at the gates of Deansgrange Cemetery at 1(one)pm .

Once again , apologises to anyone inconvenienced by this change of date .

Go raibh maith agat , agus slán go fóill anois ,

1169 Crew .

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS…….

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the ‘REAL LIVES’ programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .
From ‘IN DUBLIN’ magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : ” Many commentators say that the Sinn Fein vote in Dublin is just the voice of the disillusioned and has no loyalty to your policies . Do you believe this ? ”

GERRY ADAMS : ” Not at all . I have no doubt that there is an element of that vote , but to see the Sinn Fein vote as disillusioned is to disregard the success of Christy Burke, where the vote was built up over four years . I mean if it had been a cynical note it wouldn’t have come out a second time and a third time . But it did , indicating the work that Sinn Fein were doing there . ”
(MORE LATER).

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR…….
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From ‘MAGILL’ magazine, August 1983 .

It might take weeks to persuade the British magistrate to let the Gilmour family back into the courtroom , the solicitors informed them on the roadway . The forlorn little bunch , beaten by the RUC , ignored by their son , Raymond , ignored by some prisoners and relatives and ignorant of their father’s fate , trailed off to the cars for the journey home .

The rest of the Derry people moved up the road to a portacabin, set on a concrete base , surrounded by protective fencing , pitched in the middle of a wasteland directly opposite Crumlin Road Jail. Inside the cabin , merrily decorated and spotlessly clean , and muggy with warmth , children played with toys . The cabin and its little canteen and its staff , offering voluntary service , was set up by an international children’s organisation so that people can leave their children somewhere safe while they visit relatives in jail or in the court , or simply call in for tea and sausage-rolls and soup and biscuits , while awaiting developments . The staff were wonderful , handing out the cup that cheers !

How had those relatives who did not resent the Gilmours maintain composure while the RUC assaulted the Gilmour family ? ” You think of RUC members being killed by the IRA , someday , somewhere . You keep that in your mind while you sit absolutely still , and you’re not sorry at the prospect…” , said a mild Derrywoman , sitting in a Belfast wasteland , who normally spends the summer days sitting with her family on a Donegal beach…….
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

IRISH MARXIST SOCIETY: Formed in 1976 when advocates of Eurocommunism broke away from the Communist Party Of Ireland. This organisation ceased to function after most of them joined the Labour Party in 1977 .

IRISH REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST PARTY: Formed in 1974 as a breakaway from Official Sinn Fein, advocating a more radical socialism . It has become more noted for the battles between the Irish National Liberation Army and the Official IRA, and for the assassionations of its successive leaders Seamus Costello and Miriam Daly, than for its political activities , though it has won seats on Belfast Corporation.

IRISH REVOLUTIONARY YOUTH MOVEMENT: Youth movement of the Irish Communist Movement (Marxist-Leninist).
(MORE LATER).

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS…….

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the ‘REAL LIVES’ programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .
From ‘IN DUBLIN’ magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : ” What about particular policies ? To make an inroad into Dublin you need policies to deal with the city’s problems . ”

GERRY ADAMS : ” What happens nationally cannot be divorced from what happens in a city the size of Dublin . The reason why Dublin is so big is because of the breakdown in agriculture as an industry and the whole crumbling of the rural population , the dependence along the Eastern seaboard upon Britain .

This means that some people come to Dublin for work or to live or for some sort of opportunity . Then you have all the housing estates - I mean , the Ballymun mistake was repeated in Tallaght, except on a two-storey level . No facilities , no opportunities for young people , the lack of an attempt to create employment on the basis of building infrastructure , and the dependence on borrowing . What we have been saying is that the administration of local government should include more accountability to local people and a move towards labour-intensive industries . There are cuts in education which means that there are teachers on the dole . There is a need with a young population for more schools and hospitals , for roads - all of which can be used to provide jobs as well as a service .

I think that in many of the deprived areas people are quite justified in being cynical . Probably the most telling thing about Dublin was that only forty per cent of the population actually voted : the system of clientelism quite surprised me - I mean , I’m an MP in West Belfast and I deliberately don’t send people letters saying ‘ Dear Mrs Smith , I enclose a letter from the city manager about your complaint about your gutters…’ (See ‘New Departures…’ , here) I am surprised by the extent to which it goes on here . ”
(MORE LATER).

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR…….
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From ‘MAGILL’ magazine, August 1983 .

People are informing against Raymond Gilmour and Michael Quigley now . Word went out that defence solicitors needed to know everything there was to know about the two men in order to mount a cross questioning assault , along the lines of character assassination , and information came back in abundance . The kitchen sink was thrown at the informer Michael Quigley in court : things that would not have been said publicly against any Derryman or Derrywoman a decade ago , have been dredged up and ‘touted’ aloud .

Why did you not enquire too closely into who sent those Christmas presents to your children , the defence enquired of Quigley ? Was it because you knew one of the two children was not fathered by you ? Do the names of these three women mean something to you because you had affairs with them after you married ? (‘The Irish News’ newspaper, incredibly , printed the names of the women , one of whom is herself married) Did you , who claim a moral conversion against ‘terrorism’ , consider it immoral to beat your wife ? Weren’t you in the remedial class at school ? And so it went …..

Michael Quigley’s parents and brothers and sisters , still living in Derry , have to live with this expose of their son . The Gilmours are being prepared for similar , and ‘worse’ , revelations about Raymond : information is flowing in and spilling over - private reticence abouit other people’s family life has been awesomely sundered . It is almost merciful that the Gilmours have been thrown out of court and will not be there to hear it . Except that they must try to get back in , and sit silently , as the shameful flood bursts over them , in the hope of reaching Raymond’s heart and saving the father…….
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

IRISH COMMUNIST MOVEMENT (MARXIST-LENINIST): Maoist organisation , formed in 1969 as a development of the Internationalists. This group sponsored the formation of the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist) in 1972 .

IRISH COMMUNIST ORGANISATION: Formed in 1965 as a Stalinist breakaway from the Irish Communist Group. As a result of the developing situation in the North it formulated its ‘two nations theory’ and changed its name to the British and Irish Communist Organisation in 1971 .

IRISH DEMOCRATIC YOUTH MOVEMENT: Youth movement of Official Sinn Fein, later Sinn Fein The Workers Party.
(MORE LATER).

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS…….

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the ‘REAL LIVES’ programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .
From ‘IN DUBLIN’ magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : ” Even though it (the difference between Sinn Fein election results North and South) doesn’t match the vote in the North ? “

GERRY ADAMS : ” Oh no . But we didn’t expect it to . I mean if you look back on what we said when we launched the campaign it was that we have a difficult job - we have a small organisation , we suffer from isolation - some of it self-inflicted * - and we want to use this election as a recruiting and organisational campaign . I mean we don’t expect to form a government tomorrow , we’re fairly realistic . ” (’1169…’ comment * …by which he meant the republican policy of not taking seats , if elected , in partitionist [Leinster House and Stormont] or foreign [Westminster] parliaments , a policy which led to Adams and his followers leaving the Republican Movement in 1986 .)
(MORE LATER).

THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR…….
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From ‘MAGILL’ magazine, August 1983 .

Punish Raymond Gilmour , punish the Gilmours , punish somebody for what is being done to us . There are fewer and fewer jokes around Derry about how the 62-year-old father is having the time of his life somewhere in Donegal , in the company of ‘the lads’ . Fewer jokes about how it does a man good to get away from the wife .

If Mr Gilmour is shot now , the reasoning goes , it will only stiffen Raymond Gilmour’s resolve . There’s no point shooting him after the trial , either , since the damage will have been done . There is a point , though , to shooting him dead , anyway , as a warning to other informers . Unless the Gilmour family can draw Raymond back from the brink . That family , isolated now , draw emotional sustenance from Sinn Fein , because few others will speak to them , and live in dread of what the Provisional IRA will do . This deadly scenario has become a commonplace of casual discussion in Derry .

No one has come to Raymond Gilmour’s public defence : ‘officially’ , he’s doing what the Catholic Bishop of Derry and the SDLP (…and , now , the ‘Please Stoop Furthers’, too..) have repeatedly called for - he’s giving information about killings and such - but neither the Bishop nor the SDLP have defended his stance . This has not gone unnoticed : in the absence of authoritative moral guidelines - from those who claim to know - people have wandered into a moral maze . The mental savagery of the Belfast courtroom has seeped like a virus across the land and into the streets of Derry…….
(MORE LATER).

GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983…….
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From ‘GRALTON’ magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible ‘footprint’ .)

INTERNATIONALISTS: Formed in 1965 , initially broad-based , but soon becoming openly Maoist. This group established the ‘Irish Communist Movement (Marxist-Leninist)’ around themselves in 1969 .

IRISH COMMITTEE FOR A SOCIALIST PROGRAMME: Formed in 1976 as a left-wing and anti-militarist breakaway from the Irish Republican Socialist Party, this group was replaced later-on in 1976 by the Independent Socialist Party .

IRISH COMMUNIST GROUP: Formed in 1964 mainly among emigrants , as a successor to the Irish Workers’ Union . Following the secession of the Stalinist section in 1965 to form the Irish Communist Organisation, the Trotskyist remainder changed their name to the Irish Workers’ Group.
(MORE LATER).

St Patrick , Bertie , Bush and (political) reptiles …….

Bertie ‘to be sure to be sure..’ Ahern who, yesterday (Friday 16 March 2007) speaking in Washington in relation to the ‘Irish situation’ , stated , amongst other things - “Everything along the way, every single demand, every single issue that has been put on the table has been delivered. There is only one thing left: powersharing.”
And….
- ” Mr. President, I’m glad to be able to say on this St. Patrick’s Day, 2007, that peace in Ireland is a reality…..”
What a political imbecile that man is !
The continuing demand , from Irish Republicans, for a complete British military and political withdrawal from this island has not yet “…been delivered..” on : that issue has been “…on the table..” for longer than ‘Blank Cheque Bertie’ (see ‘Cheque Mate’ , here) has been in Leinster House but , in the grand tradition of said institution , he has done nothing positive about the Six County issue . Nor will he . He will , however , as, indeed , will the rest of the political morons in that dirty toilet , continue to do everything in his power to prop-up the illegal and immoral claim over , and occupation of , those six Irish counties , thus ensuring that the issue will remain a ‘live’ problem for future generations of Irish people . And that is the ‘legacy’ which political self-serving time-wasters like Ahern will leave in their wake : the potential for future conflict . ‘Happy St. Patricks Day’ indeed…….

MEANWHILE…..

……. George Bush Junior yesterday congratulated Bertie Ahern for his “…strong leadership in resolving the issues of Northern Ireland(sic).. “ !
The only two things Ahern ever ‘resolved’ in his political life was to obtain a State pension in order that he be kept in the style to which he has become accustomed and to bury ‘The Boss’ before ‘the boss’ could bury him !
Come back , St. Patrick - there are still (political) snakes around the shores of Ireland ….