Post by Harry on Apr 10, 2007 14:02:23 GMT
1916 – 2016 Vision and Revision
A Loyalist Appraisal of 20th Century Republicanism
Billy Mitchell
According to Martin Mansergh, "The 1916 Proclamation and Rising have remained the central locus of Irish republicanism". This Proclamation, according to Padraig Pearce, was rooted in the vision and ideals of the United Irishmen. A body of men and women to whom Mitchel Mc Laughlin traces the vision and ideals of the modern Republican Movement.
Both the United Irishmen and the framers of the 1916 Proclamation envisaged a Republic in which there would be full civil and religious liberty for all and in which "all the children of the nation" would be cherished without distinction of class, creed or political opinion. Again, according to Martin Mansergh, the 1916 Proclamation "did not express an ethos of majoritarian rule in religious terms".
That was the vision. But what is the reality?
De Valera’s Revision
The Irish Republic, under Fianna Fail committed itself to the development of a society that was rooted in Catholic Nationalism rather than in the secular pluralism envisaged by both the United Irishmen and James Connolly.
As early as 1931 Eamon de Valera, revered by republicans in both political jurisdictions as the father of modern republicanism, claimed that "There was an Irish solution that had no reference to any other country; a solution that came from our traditional attitude to life that was Irish and Catholic. That was the solution they were going to stand for so long as they were Catholic”. The terms "Irish" and "Catholic" under Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein were to become synonymous with republicanism.
Four years later, in his St. Patrick's Day address to the nation, de Valera made it quite clear that Ireland was a Catholic nation - "Since the coming of St Patrick 1500 years ago Ireland has been a Christian and a Catholic nation" and, he concluded, "she will remain a Catholic nation". Such a declaration, made by the acknowledged leader of Irish Republicanism in an address to "all the children of the nation" on the Republic's national Saints Day, is hardly in keeping with the principles of either the United Irishmen or the 1916 Proclamation.
De Valera, whose special relationship with Archbishop John Charles Mc Quaide led to the drafting of a Catholic Constitution for a Catholic Nation, had no qualms in spelling out the implications of this for Protestants - "If I had a vote on a local body, and if there were two qualified people who had to deal with a Catholic community, and if one was a Catholic and the other was a Protestant, I would unhesitatingly vote for the Catholic".
When Mayo County Council refused to appoint a graduate of Trinity College Dublin to a post in the county library, de Valera supported the decision on the grounds that the candidate was a Protestant and that the Catholic community, which had a 98% majority in the county, had a right to insist on a Catholic being appointed. Was this not religious majoritarianism in practice?
Connolly's Vision
Where did Irish socialism stand in all this? Was Connolly's vision for a secular socialist republic embraced by the Irish labour and trade union movement? Connolly gave his life for a Proclamation, and a Republic, that was to be wholly inclusive, socialist and non-sectarian. Yet, by 1924, Sinn Fein was proclaiming that “We will oppose any and every proposal which is for the interest of a class instead of the nation”.
Sinn Fein’s position, which was based on de Valera’s “Labour can wait” policy, heralded a decline in socialist and trade union influence within republicanism. In the six years between 1924 and 1930 trade union membership dropped by over 55,000 from 126,522 members to 70,000 members.
Labour’s Revision
By 1936 the Irish Trade Union Congress was looking to papal encyclicals rather than to the writings of Connolly or Larkin for inspiration. In his address to the annual Congress in 1936, the President of the ITUC made it clear that the people of Ireland "must with confidence seek solutions on the lines adumbrated by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI in the encyclicals dealing with social issues”.
Within twenty years of Connolly's execution Irish Labour had surrendered to the social policies of the Catholic Church. Indeed his old union, the ITGWU, collaborated with both Fianna Fail and the Catholic Standard in their witch hunt of socialists during the 1930’s.
At the 1937 Labour Party Conference, Gerard Mc Gown TD, announced that "we are Catholics first and politicians afterwards". Thus giving succour and moral support to those ‘labour’ members who refused to challenge the Irish Catholic hierarchy’s support for Franco’s war against democracy in Spain.
Even the Executive of the left wing Workers Union of Ireland displayed its preference for Catholic majoritarianism when it banned its members from speaking on anti-fascist platforms during the Spanish Civil War. Republicanism was okay in Ireland where it had wedded itself to Catholic Nationalism, but not in Spain where it sought to be democratic, secular and pluralist.
The Irish Labour Party officially nailed its Catholic colours to the mast when William Norton announced that the party had severed its links with the Second International and rejected the principle of international working class solidarity.
Peadar O'Donnell, former activist with both the ITGWU and the IRA, complained that Connolly's chair was left vacant and that the place which he had purchased for the Labour movement in the leadership of the new republic was denied to them. "Connolly's works, teaching, martyrdom, left no imprint on the policy of the Irish working class", declared O'Donnell.
The fact that Jacqueline Dana could write a thesis entitled "Connolly Ain't Nothing but a Train Station in Dublin" speaks volumes. Ms Dana's paper should be read by all who want an insight into how the legacy of James Connolly was hi-jacked by republicans who cared nothing for his vision.
IRA’s Revision
And what of the IRA? How did they view their Protestant fellow citizens?. When several busloads of Protestants from Belfast who had aligned themselves with the Republican Congress established by Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore attended the annual Bodenstown commemorations in 1934 they were met by units of the IRA and ordered to go back home.
The right wing of the IRA Army Council, led by Sean MacBride and Moss Twomey, had no room for organised groups of Protestant socialists who might actually demand that all the children of the nation be cherished with equality and that Catholic majoritarianism might be brought to an end. George Gilmore later remarked that it would be a long time before "Come on the Shankill" would be heard again at Bodenstown.
Gilmore’s comments were prophetic. Protestants and Dissenters have never since believed that 20th century republicanism has the spirit to accommodate non-Catholics. Clearly the clause, "Cherishing all the children of the nation equally", had been deleted from the IRA's copy of the 1916 Proclamation.
Mac Bride Principles
Things had changed little by their fifties. The refusal of former IRA leader Sean Mac Bride, when in government, to stand up to the power of the Catholic Church confirms the comments of J. Bowyer Bell that "In power republicans were as subservient to Rome as they were rebellious in opposition". Mac Bride's willingness to uphold the Catholic nature of modern republicanism was well documented during the infamous "Mother & Child" controversy in 1951.
Rather than support his colleague Dr Noel Browne, who was the then Minister for Health, Mac Bride opted to back the bishops. The 1951 version of the “Mac Bride Principles” insisted that secular republicanism must take second place to the teaching of the bishops. Religious majoritarianism at work again!
Sinn Fein’s Revision
It is my belief that the current Sinn Fein party has embraced the Catholic Nationalism of de Valera. As far back as 1989 Gerry Adams stated that “socialism was not on the agenda” and, in his “Politics of Irish Freedom”, Adams was clear that the “Republican struggle should not at this stage of development style itself socialist republican”.
Whereas the vision of Wolfe Tone was to replace the terms Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter with the common name of Irish-person, Sinn Fein’s revision is to replace the terms Catholic, Nationalist and Republican with the common name of Irish-person. Something quite different to the original vision.
Sinn Fein spokespersons repeatedly refer to their community indiscriminately as "the Catholic community", "the Nationalist community" and "the Republican Community" thus reminding Protestants that even as we move into the 21st century the Republican Movement sees itself primarily as a Catholic Nationalist movement which holds the title deeds to the term “Irish”.
While Sinn Fein’s move towards non-violent constitutional politics must be welcomed and encouraged by all, I see little ideological difference between Sinn Fein, Republican Sinn Fein and 32 County Sovereignty Movement. The difference in simply one of violence and non-violence, none have the will or the desire to create a Republic that would enjoy the support of Harry Mc Cracken, Jemmy Hope or James Connolly.
2016?
Gerry Adams has predicted that the vision of the men and women of 1916 for an independent 32-county Irish Republic will be fulfilled by 2016. In the light of history we must ask, “If he is proved to be right, will it be the Vision or the Revision”?
One must also ask, “How does republicanism intend to achieve in the next sixteen years for the whole of Ireland what it has failed to achieve in the Irish Republic during the past ninety years?
The history of republicanism is a history of revision and betrayal. The non-sectarian pluralism of the United Irishmen and the secular working class ethos of Connolly and Mellows will always be marginalised in the inevitable populist swing towards Catholic Nationalism.
I am not suggesting for one moment that loyalists will find the republican socialism of Connolly and Mellows any more appealing than the Catholic Nationalism of Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein. Other than the short-lived projects of Saor Eire and Republican Congress in the nineteen-thirties, the vision of Connolly has never been attempted. Consequently there have been no practical outcomes for us to evaluate.
What is certain, there is nothing about a republic that is rooted in Catholic Nationalism that appeals to loyalists. We feel more secure within a larger multi-cultural union of 50 million people where the vision for a pluralist society is progressively being consolidated.
www.pup-ni.org.uk/party/articles.aspx
A Loyalist Appraisal of 20th Century Republicanism
Billy Mitchell
According to Martin Mansergh, "The 1916 Proclamation and Rising have remained the central locus of Irish republicanism". This Proclamation, according to Padraig Pearce, was rooted in the vision and ideals of the United Irishmen. A body of men and women to whom Mitchel Mc Laughlin traces the vision and ideals of the modern Republican Movement.
Both the United Irishmen and the framers of the 1916 Proclamation envisaged a Republic in which there would be full civil and religious liberty for all and in which "all the children of the nation" would be cherished without distinction of class, creed or political opinion. Again, according to Martin Mansergh, the 1916 Proclamation "did not express an ethos of majoritarian rule in religious terms".
That was the vision. But what is the reality?
De Valera’s Revision
The Irish Republic, under Fianna Fail committed itself to the development of a society that was rooted in Catholic Nationalism rather than in the secular pluralism envisaged by both the United Irishmen and James Connolly.
As early as 1931 Eamon de Valera, revered by republicans in both political jurisdictions as the father of modern republicanism, claimed that "There was an Irish solution that had no reference to any other country; a solution that came from our traditional attitude to life that was Irish and Catholic. That was the solution they were going to stand for so long as they were Catholic”. The terms "Irish" and "Catholic" under Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein were to become synonymous with republicanism.
Four years later, in his St. Patrick's Day address to the nation, de Valera made it quite clear that Ireland was a Catholic nation - "Since the coming of St Patrick 1500 years ago Ireland has been a Christian and a Catholic nation" and, he concluded, "she will remain a Catholic nation". Such a declaration, made by the acknowledged leader of Irish Republicanism in an address to "all the children of the nation" on the Republic's national Saints Day, is hardly in keeping with the principles of either the United Irishmen or the 1916 Proclamation.
De Valera, whose special relationship with Archbishop John Charles Mc Quaide led to the drafting of a Catholic Constitution for a Catholic Nation, had no qualms in spelling out the implications of this for Protestants - "If I had a vote on a local body, and if there were two qualified people who had to deal with a Catholic community, and if one was a Catholic and the other was a Protestant, I would unhesitatingly vote for the Catholic".
When Mayo County Council refused to appoint a graduate of Trinity College Dublin to a post in the county library, de Valera supported the decision on the grounds that the candidate was a Protestant and that the Catholic community, which had a 98% majority in the county, had a right to insist on a Catholic being appointed. Was this not religious majoritarianism in practice?
Connolly's Vision
Where did Irish socialism stand in all this? Was Connolly's vision for a secular socialist republic embraced by the Irish labour and trade union movement? Connolly gave his life for a Proclamation, and a Republic, that was to be wholly inclusive, socialist and non-sectarian. Yet, by 1924, Sinn Fein was proclaiming that “We will oppose any and every proposal which is for the interest of a class instead of the nation”.
Sinn Fein’s position, which was based on de Valera’s “Labour can wait” policy, heralded a decline in socialist and trade union influence within republicanism. In the six years between 1924 and 1930 trade union membership dropped by over 55,000 from 126,522 members to 70,000 members.
Labour’s Revision
By 1936 the Irish Trade Union Congress was looking to papal encyclicals rather than to the writings of Connolly or Larkin for inspiration. In his address to the annual Congress in 1936, the President of the ITUC made it clear that the people of Ireland "must with confidence seek solutions on the lines adumbrated by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI in the encyclicals dealing with social issues”.
Within twenty years of Connolly's execution Irish Labour had surrendered to the social policies of the Catholic Church. Indeed his old union, the ITGWU, collaborated with both Fianna Fail and the Catholic Standard in their witch hunt of socialists during the 1930’s.
At the 1937 Labour Party Conference, Gerard Mc Gown TD, announced that "we are Catholics first and politicians afterwards". Thus giving succour and moral support to those ‘labour’ members who refused to challenge the Irish Catholic hierarchy’s support for Franco’s war against democracy in Spain.
Even the Executive of the left wing Workers Union of Ireland displayed its preference for Catholic majoritarianism when it banned its members from speaking on anti-fascist platforms during the Spanish Civil War. Republicanism was okay in Ireland where it had wedded itself to Catholic Nationalism, but not in Spain where it sought to be democratic, secular and pluralist.
The Irish Labour Party officially nailed its Catholic colours to the mast when William Norton announced that the party had severed its links with the Second International and rejected the principle of international working class solidarity.
Peadar O'Donnell, former activist with both the ITGWU and the IRA, complained that Connolly's chair was left vacant and that the place which he had purchased for the Labour movement in the leadership of the new republic was denied to them. "Connolly's works, teaching, martyrdom, left no imprint on the policy of the Irish working class", declared O'Donnell.
The fact that Jacqueline Dana could write a thesis entitled "Connolly Ain't Nothing but a Train Station in Dublin" speaks volumes. Ms Dana's paper should be read by all who want an insight into how the legacy of James Connolly was hi-jacked by republicans who cared nothing for his vision.
IRA’s Revision
And what of the IRA? How did they view their Protestant fellow citizens?. When several busloads of Protestants from Belfast who had aligned themselves with the Republican Congress established by Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore attended the annual Bodenstown commemorations in 1934 they were met by units of the IRA and ordered to go back home.
The right wing of the IRA Army Council, led by Sean MacBride and Moss Twomey, had no room for organised groups of Protestant socialists who might actually demand that all the children of the nation be cherished with equality and that Catholic majoritarianism might be brought to an end. George Gilmore later remarked that it would be a long time before "Come on the Shankill" would be heard again at Bodenstown.
Gilmore’s comments were prophetic. Protestants and Dissenters have never since believed that 20th century republicanism has the spirit to accommodate non-Catholics. Clearly the clause, "Cherishing all the children of the nation equally", had been deleted from the IRA's copy of the 1916 Proclamation.
Mac Bride Principles
Things had changed little by their fifties. The refusal of former IRA leader Sean Mac Bride, when in government, to stand up to the power of the Catholic Church confirms the comments of J. Bowyer Bell that "In power republicans were as subservient to Rome as they were rebellious in opposition". Mac Bride's willingness to uphold the Catholic nature of modern republicanism was well documented during the infamous "Mother & Child" controversy in 1951.
Rather than support his colleague Dr Noel Browne, who was the then Minister for Health, Mac Bride opted to back the bishops. The 1951 version of the “Mac Bride Principles” insisted that secular republicanism must take second place to the teaching of the bishops. Religious majoritarianism at work again!
Sinn Fein’s Revision
It is my belief that the current Sinn Fein party has embraced the Catholic Nationalism of de Valera. As far back as 1989 Gerry Adams stated that “socialism was not on the agenda” and, in his “Politics of Irish Freedom”, Adams was clear that the “Republican struggle should not at this stage of development style itself socialist republican”.
Whereas the vision of Wolfe Tone was to replace the terms Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter with the common name of Irish-person, Sinn Fein’s revision is to replace the terms Catholic, Nationalist and Republican with the common name of Irish-person. Something quite different to the original vision.
Sinn Fein spokespersons repeatedly refer to their community indiscriminately as "the Catholic community", "the Nationalist community" and "the Republican Community" thus reminding Protestants that even as we move into the 21st century the Republican Movement sees itself primarily as a Catholic Nationalist movement which holds the title deeds to the term “Irish”.
While Sinn Fein’s move towards non-violent constitutional politics must be welcomed and encouraged by all, I see little ideological difference between Sinn Fein, Republican Sinn Fein and 32 County Sovereignty Movement. The difference in simply one of violence and non-violence, none have the will or the desire to create a Republic that would enjoy the support of Harry Mc Cracken, Jemmy Hope or James Connolly.
2016?
Gerry Adams has predicted that the vision of the men and women of 1916 for an independent 32-county Irish Republic will be fulfilled by 2016. In the light of history we must ask, “If he is proved to be right, will it be the Vision or the Revision”?
One must also ask, “How does republicanism intend to achieve in the next sixteen years for the whole of Ireland what it has failed to achieve in the Irish Republic during the past ninety years?
The history of republicanism is a history of revision and betrayal. The non-sectarian pluralism of the United Irishmen and the secular working class ethos of Connolly and Mellows will always be marginalised in the inevitable populist swing towards Catholic Nationalism.
I am not suggesting for one moment that loyalists will find the republican socialism of Connolly and Mellows any more appealing than the Catholic Nationalism of Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein. Other than the short-lived projects of Saor Eire and Republican Congress in the nineteen-thirties, the vision of Connolly has never been attempted. Consequently there have been no practical outcomes for us to evaluate.
What is certain, there is nothing about a republic that is rooted in Catholic Nationalism that appeals to loyalists. We feel more secure within a larger multi-cultural union of 50 million people where the vision for a pluralist society is progressively being consolidated.
www.pup-ni.org.uk/party/articles.aspx
