Irish republican socialists retreat
John Bridge reports on the December 5 IRSP conference
This is a period of reaction of a special type. US-led capitalism has not just triumphed over bureaucratic socialism, resolved a string of revolutionary situations negatively and imposed a new world order. It has won in the realm of the imagination too. The idea that there is a viable non-capitalism has lost mass support. Communism is, for the moment, no longer a movement. The working class exists merely as variable capital.
Such adverse conditions can only but exert tremendous pressure on the forces of revolution. Hollow talk of the 'upturn', a 'crisis of expectations' or the 'red 90s' are part of the problem, certainly no part of the solution. Inevitably those lacking firm roots in Marxist theory, those who put the chimera of quick popularity before principle, bow to the prevailing reactionary mood.
Submission takes many forms. For dispirited individuals there is the brittle shell of domesticity, hedonism or the trinkets of careerism. With parties and groups things are somewhat more complex. They move through and themselves shape a definite political environment. In this country the complete abandonment of any notion of socialism by the Labour Party, the Democratic Left and a shoal of academic 'Marxists' has found a material echo in the right liquidationist call to forget or downgrade the reforging of a revolutionary, communist, alternative. Environmental catastrophism, Scottish and Welsh nationalism and localist activism all have their willing or unwilling leftist converts. Only a small minority have withstood the floodtide while not seeking survival in the bunker of sectarianism.
Such observations necessarily preface my report of the Irish Republican Socialist Party's conference (ard fheis) held in Dublin on December 5. Frankly, while the unity shown at the conference represented a step forward vis-à-vis the IRSP organisationally, the fact that this unity went hand in hand with ideological retreat meant that there was, at the very least, a bigger step backwards. This contradictory position was symbolised by the overwhelming vote against reaffirming the 1984 commitment to Marxism and building a Communist Party.
Apart from the movers from the Dublin cumman (branch) the motion to rebind the IRSP to "becoming communist and internationalist" found hardly any support. Indeed a number of prominent comrades were at pains to put on display their Irish republicanism and profess an ignorance or at least a distance from Marxism. Gerry Ruddy, political secretary and de facto main spokesperson, questioned the relevance of Marxism to the 21st century and in a coup de grace tellingly asked who had actually read Marx recently. Not one of the 100 or so delegates raised a hand. In effect in terms of position this leaves the IRSP as a small, but significant left nationalist formation with no aspirations to be anything higher. Ironically almost at the same time the IRA was reported to have elected the "hardline Marxist" Brian Keenan as chief-of-staff.
I attended as a representative of the CPGB. Though there were guests from Germany, Austria and Italy, no other international contacts were present. Indeed while the IRSP has support groups and articulate members in Britain and the USA, it is in many respects very insular. In a keynote speech comrade Ruddy explained that what he understood by republican socialism was a national socialism. His vision was of a 32-county state where the workers would receive back the full fruits of their labour.
Yet though the ideological level of the IRSP membership is frighteningly low and left nationalist illusions are rampant, these comrades have passed through the most testing of schools for revolutionaries - a revolutionary situation in Northern Ireland that spanned the years 1969 to 1998. No matter what the episodic problems or setbacks the heroic tradition of Seamus Costello, Ronnie Bunting, Patsy O'Hara and Ta Power can and must be positively integrated into the communism of the 21st century.
In terms of the past there is some room for optimism. We in the CPGB have had a long, sometimes close, sometimes fraught, relationship with the IRSP. In the mid-1980s the IRSP declared its perspective of becoming a Communist Party. Naturally, what was then the Leninist wing of the CPGB, enthusiastically welcomed this development. And, as was our duty, we did everything possible to encourage and deepen the orientation towards communism. Besides technical and other aid there was a joint school in Belfast, and IRSP comrades attended the Communist University in Corfu. As a direct result, after a long absence, the Starry Plough again appeared - this time with a distinct Leninist coloration and influence.
Unfortunately the project soon unravelled. There were acute tensions within the republican socialist movement. The question of who was in charge between the IRSP and the Irish National Liberation Army had never been satisfactorily resolved. There was a rash of killings and attempted killings. Instead of polemics matters were settled with the bullet. Some comrades withdrew from political activity. Others simply kept their heads down. Either way the Starry Plough fell back into accustomed silence.
According to Willie Gallagher and a number of other speakers, the IRSP freed itself from a "non-political" leadership about four years ago. Not that the "political" leadership has proved particularly political. Without a regular publication and the clarification that brings there can be neither advanced theory nor an independent revolutionary strategy. Significantly the IRSP has no programme. The conference decision to relaunch the Starry Plough is then excellent news. Let us hope that the proposed preparatory editorial board and working groups do not simply turn out to be talking shops. Putting one capable person in the driving seat under such circumstances is actually the best way of getting things done. There must be the fullest, most open debate. For communists operating on both sides of the Irish Sea the Starry Plough is urgently needed. With the Good Friday agreement conditions have radically altered. The old certainties and clear lines of demarcation have evaporated into thin air. There is a new Irish dimension to politics in the Six Counties. There is also a new United Kingdom dimension that cannot be ignored either. Sinn Féin now demands entry into Trimble's unionist government. Communists on the other hand will bring to the fore the Leninist dictum - 'one state, one party'. The IRA could soon find itself asked to maintain the peace. In answer we communists say under capitalism war and peace are two sides of the same coin. Revolutionaries must learn in other words how to operate in non-revolutionary conditions while still remaining revolutionaries. Unlike the 1969-1998 period more is required than intransigence and raw courage. The danger of slipping into bourgeois reformism is real and for 'community activists' palpable.
There was precious little argument at the 1998 conference - not a good thing. Most votes were carried by huge majorities. Usually they were unanimous. Reports and debates flashed by. Hence, although conference started over an hour late and there was a packed agenda, both the public and private session finished early. This was not due to the pinched five minutes given to proposers of motions nor the three minutes for other contributions. Neither was it the absurd standing order barring "personal criticisms and bad language". The IRSP has not sufficiently thought through the implications of the new situation to disagree. Unity is therefore fragile and superficial.
Nevertheless there were rumblings of dissatisfaction concerning the immediate past. They were more hinted at than openly stated. Many comrades did not like the fact that the IRSP leadership (ard comhairle) overrode - correctly in my opinion - last year's conference vote against a ceasefire. The leadership wanted to urge Inla to suspend the armed struggle. So apparently did representatives of the Inla prisoners in Portlaoise and Long Kesh. But, encouraged by Inla opposition, conference disagreed (Inla did declare a ceasefire on August 22 1998 "on the recommendation of the ard comhairle").
The international department submitted an implicitly critical motion stating that the ard fheis "remains the highest decision making body" and that the leadership has the "responsibility" to "implement" its will.
In communist parties congresses are the highest body. However the leadership is expected to boldly act as the congress between congresses because it is elected on the basis of who is the most advanced and most authoritative. The central committee includes all shades and coherent minorities and functions as the living whole on the principle of building top-down. It is elected to lead and that means thinking and if necessary rethinking. Rather than have a good fight, the IRSP leadership opted for a bad peace and the motion was carried unanimously. Put another way - no lesson was learnt.
Some sincere IRSP comrades appear to believe they are incorruptible. Having resisted the might of the UK state, that conviction would seem to be well grounded. Nevertheless the immediate response to the post-Good Friday situation has been worrying. Not only has Marxism been downgraded and the need for a Communist Party described as "premature", but in speech after speech and resolution after resolution the IRSP showed itself to be moving right.
Comrade Ruddy called for state measures against so-called "drugs lords". He also presented a totally economistic perspective of working class unity around day-to-day issues like employment, childcare, etc, in contrast to "abstract" constitutional notions like national "freedom". With only six abstentions conference itself approved a thoroughly reformist 'briefing paper' which condemned IRA 'punishment' beatings as having "more to do with revenge than justice". Instead the IRSP advocate a "community policing and justice service" - to be jointly financed by the British and Irish states.
The hated RUC should be replaced by a new police force drawn "equally from the different traditions and sexes". Entrants must undergo a "screening process to eliminate sectarian elements" and would have to submit to an "anti-sectarian course", so as to "ensure sensitivity to all cultures and to minorities of whatever kind". This acceptable police force would be "unarmed" except when "dealing with dangerous situations" (riots, no-go areas, paramilitaries, violent strikes and demonstrations?).
The sad fact of the matter is that the British and Irish governments are quite capable of mouthing exactly the same 'anti-sectarian' platitudes and presenting just such a programme. Having failed to crush the forces of republicanism using torture, shoot-to-kill, internment and criminalisation, the velvet glove could prove the trick.
We communists have always stressed arming the people - albeit initially as a propaganda slogan. Behind every 'community' police force the enemy's state is armed to the teeth. There should be a constitutional right for the working class to possess arms - including the most advanced and destructive weaponry. Without such a demand we in effect accept that our rulers should have a monopoly over the means of violence.
Thankfully, but very confusingly, conference passed resolutions which flatly contradicted comrade Ruddy's economism and the reformist liberalism permeating the 'briefing' on 'community policing'. "Socialism", it is rightly stated, comes from the "revolutionary transformation of society" and "class war"; moreover the "struggle for socialism in Ireland is inseparable from the struggle for national liberation" (unanimously agreed international department motion). The Downpatrick branch also successfully proposed a motion which recommended that the "issue of disarmament will not be on any future agenda of our movement" (interestingly comrade Ruddy abstained).
Scientifically the IRSP can be characterised as centrist. The pull to the right is all too evident. But so is the heroic revolutionary tradition of the past. In the last analysis there are only two roads for such politics. The first is that of pro-capitalist reformism. The other is Marxism and the goal of world revolution. For certain which road our comrades finally take will be determined by the future, not the past.
