the irish question: a socialist analysis

8/6/2019 The Irish Question: A Socialist Analysis

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THE IRISH.QUESTION

. A "WERELDSOCIALISME" PAMPHLET


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INTRODUCTI ON

CAPITALISM IS THE SOCIAL SYSTEM within which the Northern I re landc r i s i s i s happening. It i s ordinary wage and sa la ry workers whoa re ge t t i ng k i l l ed and wounded, bea ten and t e r ro r i s ed over ana f f a i r which i s no concern o f t h e i r s . A supe r f i c i a l glance mightsugges t t ha t th e conf l i c t i s about r e l i g ion , about thePro te s t an t s oppress ing the Catho l ics and the C ath olic s f igh t ingback. But th i s i s no t r ea l l y so . A deeper s tudy wi l l show t h a t th i sr e l i g ious antagonism i s a r e f l ec t i on o f pa s t economic conf l i c tbetween two sec t ions o f the cap i t a l i s t c l a s s in I re land .The cap i t a l i s t system i s based on the ownership and c ~ n t r o l o f themeans of produc t ion by a sec t ion only o f so cie ty . As a r e su l tthose in the non-owning c l a s s can l ive only by se l l i ng t h e i r mentaland p h ys ic al e ne rg ie s fo r a wage o r sa la ry to those who monopol isethe f a c t o r i e s , farms, sh ipyards , of f i ces and o the r p laces o f work.Capi ta l i sm i s thus a c lass so cie ty in which two main c lassescompete over the possess ion and use of th e means of produc t ion: theowning cap i t a l i s t c lass and the non-owning work ing c l a s s . The g rea tmajority o f people are members of the working c la s s , which inc ludesnot j u s t f ac to ry workers bu t a l l who are compelled to work fo r awage o r s a l a ry . In highly i ndus t r i a l i s ed Br i t a in over 90 per cen to f the popula t ion are working c l a s s . In not qui te so i ndus t r i a l i s edNorthern I re l and the propor t ion i s a little l e s s .Capi ta l ism cannot work o ther than as a prof i t -making system in thei n t e r e s t o f those who monopolise th e means of product ion . Undercapi ta l i sm these means o f p ro du ctio n a re used, no t to se rve humanneeds , bu t to produce goods and se rv ice s to be sold on the marketwith a view to p ro f i t . The workers who produce t h i s weal th are onlypaid the equivalent of enough to keep them and t h e i r f ami l ies ase f f i c i en t produce rs . Everything they produce over and above t h e i rwages i s su rp lu s value , the source o f p ro f i t s fo r re- inves tment int h e i r exp lo i t a t i on and fo r th e consumption o f the cap i t a l i s t c l a s sand i t s Sta te machine. Since cap i t a l i sm i s based on theexp lo i t a t i on o f the working c lass it does no t se rve th e i r in te re s t .Nor can it be made to . Only the e sta blis hment o f world socia l i sm,as wi l l be expla ined in the f i na l chapter , i s in t h e i r i n t e r e s t .The h i s to r i c a l approach o f th i s pamphlet i s t ha t of the mate r i a l i s tconcept ion of h i s t o ry , pioneered by Marx, which sees produc t iveac t iv i ty as the bas i s o f human soc ie ty and soc i a l change as theoutcome o f changing methods o f p ro du ct io n b r ing ing to the fo re newc lasses to cha l lenge , po l i t i c a l l y and i deo log ica l ly , th e ru le o fthose whose power was der ived from prev ious , now out -dated methodso f p ro du ctio n.We wi l l , we hope, be excused fo r delv ing somewhat in to I r i s hh i s to ry because without some knowledge o f t h i s it i s qu i t eimposs ib le to gain a p rope r unde rs ta nd ing o f what i s happening inNorthern I re l and today - -and i t s u t t e r f u t i l i t y from a workingc l a s s po in t o f view. So we begin by examining the system o f landtenure on which the o ld "Protes tan t Ascendancy" re s ted and thenlook a t the uneven development o f cap i t a l i sm in I re lan d in the 19th


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century before going on to dea l with the cur ren t po l i t i c a l scene.Chapters 5, 6 , 0 (with some changes) and par t s o f chap te r 9or ig ina l l y appeared in the Soc i a l i s t Standard (52 Clapram Rig!.S t r e e t , London, SW4 7UN).

Adam Buick,B.P . 1578,1000 Brusse l s ,Belgium.

Apr i l 1976


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England. It d idn ' t work, mainly because th e u nd erta ke rs found it moreprof i tab le to l e t th e land to the I r i s h .Uls te r a t t h i s t ime was th e most soc ia l ly backward pa r t of I r e landbeing a s t ronghold o f the c lan system and Gaelic cu l tu re . In 1595most of the no rthe rn I r i sh c lans rose in rebe l l ion but a f t e r adevas ta t ing war which l e f t U ls te r s ta rv in g and depopula ted wereforced to su r rende r in 1603. One o f the terms of the se t t l emen t wast h a t the clan ch ie fs should become Engl i sh - s ty le landowners. Thisthey accepted fo r a while bu t a f t e r four year s , as t h e i r l andsdwindled, they gave up and l e f t fo r F rance. T his "F l igh t o f theE ar ls " r ep re se nte d the end o f Gaelic cu ltu re in Ire land , s ince withthe former clan ch ie fs went th e bards and others who had given thelanguage some pre s t i ge . It also opened the way fo r th e p lan ta t ionof Uls te r .Alre ad y toward s the end o f th e 16th cen tu ry co lon i s t s from Scot landhad se t t l ed in Eas t Uls t e r , in Antrim and Down ( those who se t t l edin th e glens o f Antrim, i nc iden ta l l y , were Gael ic -speak ingCathol ics from th e Western I s l e s , whose descendants are Cathol icsto th i s day) , so these two count ies d i dn ' t need to be p lan ted . Mostof the r e s t o f Uls te r was se t t l ed by co lon i s t s , mainly fromScot land bu t with a minor i ty from England and a l l Pro tes t an t s of onekind or ano ther . This was to be the one success fu l p lan ta t ion ofI r e land , a f a c t which was to have immense s ign i f i cance fo r thefuture economic and po l i t i c a l development of I . reland.But I r e l and ' s t roubles were not ye t over . For th e remainder of the17th century I r e land was to be a ba t t l e f i e l d fo r the r i va l fac t ionsin the Engl is h bou rg eo is revolu t ion and c iv i l war. In 1641 thedispossessed clansmen o f U ls te r rose in a b id to regain the land o ft he i r fa the rs . They were led by Cathol ic ex-landowners whoseambition was to rep lace th e new Pro tes t an t landowners as exp lo i t e rsof the I r i sh peasant ry . While the Engl ish c i v i l war raged themovement spread to the r e s t o f I re lan d and was able to make somepo l i t i c a l headway, but by 1649 Cromwell was f ree to dea l withI r e land and to t ry to preven t it once and fo r a l l from being usedas a base fo r r oya l i s t coun te r - revo lu t ion . Thousands o f o rd in aryI r i sh peasants were s l augh te red or sold in to s lav ery in the WestInd ies o r driven in to the barren west o f I re l and under th e s logan"Hell or Connaught" . The Royal is t , mainly Cathol ic , landownerswere dispossessed and t h e i r lands handed over to P ro te sta ntadven turers and former Cromwellian so ld i e r s .The Cromwellian se t t l emen t es tab l i shed the soc i a l system which wasto l a s t in I re l and till the end o f th e 19th cen tu ry : th e landbecame the p r i va t e proper ty o f an Engl i sh , Pro tes t an t , and of tenabsen tee , l andlord c l a s s who l e t it to re sid en t middlemen andagents who in t h e i r tu rn robbed th e I r i sh peasants o f everyth ingbu t enough fo r t h e i r bare subs i s tence .The Cathol ic landowners were to make one more b id to regain t h e i rlands and th e po l i t i c a l power t ha t went with it. When th e Cathol icKing James I I was expel led by the Engl ish par l i ament fo r t ry ing tousurp i t s au thor i ty he sought the help of the French king , Louis XIV,


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-5 -whose puppet in fac t he was. Once again the s t r a t eg i c importance ofI r e land came to the fore . When James, with French he lp , landed inI r e land and the Catho l i c landowners r a l l i ed to him, the Englishpar l iament sen t t he i r newly-appointed king , Will iam o f Orange, tomeet the t h r ea t . Wi11 iam de fea ted the Jacobi t e forces a t the Bat t.Leof the Boyne in 1690 on what i s now July 12. To t h i s day the Twelthof Ju ly i s a publ ic hol iday in Northern I r e land but , in view of theplace the Bat t l e of the Boyne has assumed in Orange mythology, it i scur ious to note t ha t Will iam's vic tory was c ele br ate d in Rome bypon t i f i c a l high mass! European po l i t i c s being what they then were,the Pope had made a defensive a l l i ance with Will iam of Orange(whenru le r of the Netherlands) and o th ers ag ain st Louis XIV of France.Will iam's vic tory confirmed th e Cromwellian se t t l ement and was soonfol1cwed by the enactment of "penal laws" which deprived Cathol icsof a l l c iv i l and pc l i t i c a l r igh ts and bar red them from acquir ingland. Cathol ics w e r ~ a l so sub j e c t to othe r pena l t i e s which were sos e v ~ r e t ha t they were never r ea l ly e nfo rc ed . T his , too, shaped thefu ture course of I r i s h p o li t i c s fo r it meant t ha t when a Cathol icmiddle c la s s emerged, as it d id in the course o f the 18th century ,i t s s t ruggle fo r po l i t i c a l power would take on the form of as t ruggle for removing di sc r imina t ion aga ins t the Cathol ic r e l ig ion ,so helping to i den t i fy I r i sh National ism and Cathol ic i sm.The I r i sh peasant was in a miserab le pos i t i on . Though l ega l l y atenant he was r ea l ly little more than a feudal s e r f . Typica l ly , anabsentee l and lo rd l e t h is land a t a f ixed r en t to a r es iden tmiddleman who, l iv ing on pa r t of the e s t a t e , sub - l e t the r e s t of itin very smal l hold ings to the peasan t s . In orde r to ge t money topay the ren t (and t i t h e s to the e st ab li sh e d P ro te sta n t Church o fIreland) the peasan t worked on the middleman's land , who thus ine f f ec t got h is land farmed fo r noth ing . To a l l i n t en t s and purposes ,the peasant worked fo r the middleman in re turn fo r a pota to pa tch .Nor did the peasant have any incent ive to increase th e produc t iv i tyof h is hold ing . As soon as the middleman saw t h a t the peasant wasproducing more than h is own bare subs i s t ence he increased the r en tso appropr i a t ing fo r h imsel f the f r u i t s of the p ea sa nt 's e xtrae f fo r t . There was no secur i ty of tenu re : the peasan ts could be andwere ev ic ted a t the wi l l of the lan dlo rd o r h is middleman.Evic t ions became common whenever the pro f i t s to be had from ca t t l e r a i s ing o r sheep-farming were grea t e r than the pro f i t s to be hadf r o ~ growing corn , because graz ing requi red much l e ss l abour thant i l l age . In fac t from the 17th century onwards the t endency, morerap id in some per iods than in o the r s , was away from t ~ l l a g e tograzing so giv ing I re l and the appearance of a chronic overpopula t ionproblem. But I r e land never was overpopula ted in re la t io n to theamount o f food t h a t could have been grown to feed i t s i nhab i t an t s ,only in r e l a t ion to the farming ac t i v i t i e s i t s l and lords found themost pro f i t ab l e .On h is back the I r i sh peasan t ca r r i ed not only the landlords andt he i r middlemen and agents but a lso the Church o f I r e land and i t sclergy and the whole cor rup t Sta t e admini s t ra t ion cen t r ed onDublin Cas t l e . Between him and h is exp lo i t e r s raged a cont inua l and


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v io l en t c l a s s war . The peasan t ' s only pro tec t ion was the s ec r e t soc ie tywhose members would a c t aga ins t the ev ic t ing o r r en t - r a i s i ngl andlord by harming h is ca t t l e o r burning h is bu i ld ings or even byk i l l i ng him. The l andlord and h is S ta te re pl ie d in kind, k i l l i ng ,hanging o r t r anspor t ing any peasant s they suspec ted o f being a membero f a sec re t soc ie ty . It would be no exaggera t ion to say t ha t theland of I r e land had been acqu ired for the landed ar i s toc racy byviolence and was only held fo r them by violence .In Uls te r th e p eas an ts were no t in such a bad pos i t ion ; they were thet enan t s they were supposed to be ra the r th an c omple te ly down-troddens e r f s . This was because , b ein g mo tiv ate d by the Pro t e s t an t e t h i c , theywere more independent-minded and l e ss easy to in t imida te than thedemoral ised Cathol ic ex-c lansmen. Even so , they too had t h e i r sec re tsoc i e t i e s to p ro t e s t aga ins t such mat te rs as compulsory road-bui ld ingand t i t h e s . In the course of s t rugg les in the 17th and 18th cen tu r i e sthey had managed to achieve what was l a t e r known as t enan t r i gh t .Under "Uls t e r custom", as the prac t i ces they had forced on t h e i rl andlords were ca l l ed , they had secur i ty o f tenu re , ren ts fixed for areasonab le period of t ime and the freedom to s e l l t he i r tenancyinc luding any improvements th ey th em se lv es had made to the land.Uls te r custom thus gave them an incent ive to increase t h e i rproduc t iv i ty and al lowed them to accumulate some sav ings , a veryimportant f ac to r in e xp la in in g why cap i ta l i sm developed around Bel f a s tin the 19th century in stea d o f s t agna t ing as in the r e s t of I r e land .And the Uls te r t enan t got h is money to pay the r en t , no t by workingon h is l and lo rd ' s farm but by weaving l inen on h is own handloom.During the Napoleonic War I re l and had an assured market fo r i t s cornand, though t h i s boom col lapsed in 1812, I r e l and ' s v i r t u a l monopolyin the supply o f corn to England was re s to red by the 1815 Corn Laws.So t h a t un t i l the repea l of these laws in 1846 the tendency fromt i l l age to graz ing slowed down. Peasan t unres t , however, pe r s i s t ed .During the 1820 's it was d iver ted from the land ques t ion towardsCathol ic Emancipa t ion , the somewhat grandiose name given to theproposa l to al low weal thy Cathol ics to become Members of Pa r l i ament ,magis t ra t e s and army of f i c e r s on the same terms as weal thyPro tes tan t s and which d id no th ing to l essen the exp lo i t a t ion of thepeasants . But in the 1830's a mass campaign aga ins t the payment o ft i t hes to the Pro t e s t an t Church o f I re l and grew up which ended withthe pass ing o f the 1838 Ti the Commutation Act, in the f i r s t po l i t i c a lvic tory o f th e I r i sh peasant s over t h e i r Engl ish l and lo rds .In 1841 the popu la t ion of I r e land was 8 mil l ion . Ten years l a t e r itwas 6 mi ll io n . B a sic al ly wha t h appened during the 1840 's was theco llap se o f th e o ld a bs te nte e landlord/middleman system ofexp lo i t ing the I r i s h subs is tence peasant . A number o f f ac to r s broughtt h i s about . F i r s t , the fa i lu re o f s uc ces siv e pota to c rops , thesubs is tence food of the I r i sh peasant , which r esu l ted in the G reatFamine t h a t k i l l ed about a mil l ion people . This i s sometimes, moreaccura te ly , ca l l ed the Great Starva t ion s ince while the peasants o fI r e land were dying food cont inued to be expor ted . The I r i shpeasan t needed food bu t had no money to pay fo r it so , in accordancewith the law of c ap i t a l i s t economics which still opera tes today, theywere l e f t to s ta rve and d ie . Second, the Repeal of the Corn Laws in


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c ap i t a l i s t s . The new Libera l government brought in a number o fmeasures which weakened the a r i s t o c r acy ' s pos i t ion in I re l and . In1869 the Pro te s t an t Church o f I re l and (which not even a major i ty o fI r i sh Pro t e s t an t s suppor ted) was dises tab l i shed and in 1870 a veryt en t a t i ve s t ep towards t enan t r i gh t was taken. Full tenan t r i gh t hadto wai t till 1881 when the then rag in g land war made it c l ea r to eventhe most s tup id Tory l and lo rd t h a t a gra ria n r ev olu tio n would be th eonly a l t e rna t i ve to no t grant ing t h i s reform.But the Tory la nd lo rd s tu rn ed ou t to be no t a t a l l s tup id . In 1885the then Tory government in t roduced th e f i r s t of a se r i e s o f LandPurchase Acts which al lowed th e p easan ts of I re l and to buy t h e i rholdings with government he lp . The bas ic scheme was t ha t thegovernment bought ou t the landlord giving him compensation in theform of i n t e re s t -bea r i ng bonds while the t enan t paid the governmenta f ixed annui ty to cover i n t e r e s t and repayment of the loan . TheseActs , c ulm in atin g in th e 1903 Act, were so succes s fu l t ha t by 1921I re l and was l a rge ly a country o f peasan t propr i e to r s . TheCromwellian se t t l emen t which had imposed an Engl i sh landlord c lasson the backs o f the I r i s h peasants had f i na l l y been l iqu ida ted . Theimpor tan t po l i t i c a l consequence o f t h i s was t ha t it meant theAnglo-I r i sh l and lo rds were no longer so b i t t e r l y opposed to HomeRule fo r I r e l and as they had been when it would a lmost ce r t a in lyhave spe l l ed agra r ian revo lu t ion . The l eader sh ip of the campaignaga in s t Horne Rule f e l l i n s t ead to the i ndu s t r i a l cap i t a l i s t s o fBe l fa s t who were opposed to Home Rule fo r qui te d i f f e r en t rea sons ,as wi l l be expla ined in a l a t e r chap te r .


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-10-Revolut ion, a f u l l bourgeois revolu t ion to e sta bl ish an independentRepublic in Ire land . To achieve t h i s they sought an a l l i ance with theeven small er C a th o lic middle c l a s s and found an able exponent andl eader in Theobold Wolfe Tone, th e descendant of a Pro t e s t an tCromwellian s e t t l e r . In 1791 he founded th e Socie ty of UnitedI r i shmen, a body which sought to un i t e th e Pro t e s t an t and C a t h o l ~ cmiddle c lasses to overthrow l and lo rd ru le and e s t ab l i sh p o l i t i c a ~democracy in I re l and . Tone himse l f be l ieved th a t th is aim could onlybe achieved wi.th French mi l i t a ry help bu t t h i s , due to var ious se t -backsnever came in t ime to a id th e abor t ive Un ite d I ris hmen upr is ing o f 1798The r i s i ng , which l ike a l l po l i t i c a l upse t s in Ire land took on th efea tu res o f a peasan ts ' r evo l t , was ea s i l y and bru t a l l y crushed. WolfeTone was captured and committed su ic ide during h is t r i a l , so becomingI r i sh na t iona l i sm ' s f i ~ s t Republican marty r .To r e s i s t th e pro-middle c l a s s Unite d I ri shmen a sec t ion o f thePro tes t an t l and lo rds organised in 1795 in Armagh, an Uls te r countyevenly divided between Pro t e s t an t s and Catho l ics , a body ca l l ed th eOrange Socie ty pledged to defend lithe king and h is he i r s as long as heor they may su pp ort th e Pro t e s t an t Ascendancy II (a t t h i s t ime , and so int h i s con tex t , th e term Pro t e s t an t meant a suppor t e r o f th e es tab l i shedAng lica n c hu rc h and d id no t inc lude Presby te r ians and o the r d i s sen t e r sas they were ca l l ed ) . The Orange Order was or ig ina l ly a pro- land lo rdand exclus ively Anglican body, though in th e course o f th e 19thcentury i t s charac te r was to change.Since , in view o f th e Napoleonic war, I r e l and ' s s t r a t eg i c pos i t ion hadbecome par t i cu l a r l y impor tan t the Engl i sh government decided t h a t thebes t way to p ro t e c t i t s e l f aga in s t a French invas ion v ia I re l and wasto r e- un ite I re la nd with th e r e s t o f Br i t a in . The Pro t e s t an t Ascendancywere not too happy about t h i s , which a f t e r a l l meant a s ac r i f i c e o ft h e i r po l i t i c a l power, and th e Dublin par l iament had to be br ibed i n tovot ing fo r i t s own abo l i t i on . The Act of Union which came i n to force inJanuary 1801 made I re l and an in te gra l p ar t o f a United Kingdom o fGrea t Br i t a i n and I re l and .The per iod o f Gra t t an ' s Par l i ament had been a per iod o f p ro sp er i ty fo rnascen t I r i sh manufactur ing indus t ry bu t t h i s was a lmos t complete lywiped ou t in Br i t a i n ' s f i r s t i ndu s t r i a l depress ion , t h a t of 1825. La te rI ri s h n a ti0 n a li s ts were to blame t h i s on th e Union with Br i t a in . Thisexp lana t ion , which was meant as a j u s t i f i c a t i on fo r th e Nat iona l i s t s 'pol i cy o f pro tec t ing i r i s h indus t ry by t a r i f f s , does not hold water .I r i sh manufactur ing i ndus t r y , mainly t e x t i l e s , had been based on hand~ o o m s no t power-dr iven machinery . The a pp lic at io n o f steam power to~ e x t i l e product ion would have placed I r i sh indus t ry a t a disadvantagea ~ y w a y compared with Br i t i sh indus t ry because it d id no t have readyaccess to the necessary coa l and i ron . I r i sh indus t ry would have gone~ th e wal l in th e face o f Br i t i sh compet i t ion even withou t the Union.Besides , in U ls te r th e t e x t i l e indus t ry did recover from t h i s se t -back .This was no t acc iden t a l and i s to be expla ined by the f a c t th a t inUls t e r , thanks to Uls t e r custom, th e indus t ry had been based on th et enan t s and t h e i r handlooms while in th e South it had merely been th es ide - l i ne o f a few commercial ly-minded l and lo rds . When th e c r i s i s cameth es e la nd lo rd s cu t t h e i r l o sses and in ve ste d th e cap i t a l they couldsave e lsewhere . For th e U ls te r tenan t the re was no such cho ice ; he had


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-11-to keep on weaving however low the p r i ce he go t . This low pr ice theUls te r t enan t weavers were prepared to accept was the main reasonwhy the t e x t i l e indus t ry recovered t he r e . It was an in ce ntiv e fo rcap i t a l i s t s to s e t up bus inesse s the re r a the r than in Lancashi re o rsouth-wes t Scot land where th e weavers expected highe r wages o rhighe r p r i ce s fo r t h e i r work.From then on the Be l fa s t region shared in th e genera l 19th centuryi ndus t r i a l i za t i on o f Br i t a in . In th e 1820 's machine-product ion wasin t roduced i n to the l inen indus t ry and, with the c on str uc tio n o f anew harbour , Be l fa s t began to become an i ndu s t r i a l po r t . Shipbui ld ingwas in t roduced in 1853 and around it grew up subs id ia ry i ndus t r i e ssuch as rope-making and g en er al e ng in ee rin g . By the 1890 ' s Be l fa s twas th e th ird la rg es t po r t , by t r ade , in Br i t a in and in 1911 had th eb igges t sh ipyard in the world.The easy sea route to Clydeside and Liverpool made th e Be l fa s tregion a pa r t o f Br i t a i n ' s i ndus t r i a l North. Not only had Be l fa s tbenef i t ed from th e Union; it had become an i n t eg ra l pa r t o fi ndus t r i a l Br i t a in . I t s middle c l a s s , now wel l on the way tobecoming fu l ly - f l edged i ndu s t r i a l c a p i t a l i s t s , was an i n t e g r a l pa r tof the Br i t i sh middle c lass and, l ike them, Nonconformis t , an t i landlord and, un t i l 1885, Libe r a l .In th e South i nd u st ry s ta g na te d where it d idn ' t dec l ine and th emiddle c l a s s remained a c lass o f l awyers , moneylenders , smal lcon t rac to r s and ag r i c u l t u r a l supp l i e r s . Unde rs ta nd ab ly , th ey werenot so keen on th e Union. One o f th e promises held ou t by theEngl ish government to ge t Cathol ic suppor t fo r th e Union had beenso -ca l l ed Cathol ic Eman ci pa tio n. S in ce Gra t t an ' s Par l i ament hada l ready given Cathol ics the vote on the same terms as Pro te s t an t s ,t h i s merely meant al lowing Catho l i c s to become Members o fPar l iament , army and navy o f f i c e r s , magis t r a tes and highe r c i v i lservants and Sta te o f f i c i a l s . The f a i l u r e to enac t it i rked th eCathol ic middle c lass s ince t h i s depr ived them o f a share inp o l i t i c a l power. To achieve t h i s Danie l O 'Conne ll s e t up th eCa tho li c A s so ci at io n , a mass p o l i t i c a l movement which, with th ehelp o f the p r i e s t s , channel l ed peasant d iscon ten t to fu r t he r theends o f th e Southern , and Catho l ic , middle c l a s s . In doing t h i sO'Connel l s e t th e pa t te rn fo r I r i sh Nat iona l i s t po l i t i c s in the r e s to f th e century: exp lo i t ing peasan t d iscon ten t to gain po l i t i c a lconcess ions fo r the middle c l a s s .In 1828 O'Connel l was e l ec t ed MP fo r Co. Clare bu t could not takeh is sea t in th e House o f Commons. A dea l was arranged between himand the Br i t i sh government: Cathol ic Emancipat ion in re tu rn fo r thedisenf ranch i sement o f "the 40 sh i l l i ng f r eeho lder s " , the veryC a th olic p ea sa nts who had voted fo r O'Conne l l . O'Connel l agreed andi n 1829 the Cat .hc ' 1 c middle c lass o f Southern I re l and took th e f i r s ts tep on the road wh.ch, near ly a hundred years l a t e r , led to thembecoming the ru l ing c lass of th e Southern , a g ric u lt ur al p a rt o fI re land .After h is " ~ u c c e s : 5 liVer ca tho l a c Emanc ip at io n, O 'Conne ll (whothe reby, fo r some "own reason, earned th e title o f "TheLiLera to r" , and w h ~ ~ a l so an opponent o f t rade unions and


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-12-factory l eg i s l a t i on ) ra i sed the d e m ~ n d fo r Repea l , i . e . , the r epea l o fthe 1800 Act of Union and th e r e- es ta blis hm e n t o f Horne Rule fo rI re l and . In 1780 t h i s had meant the ru le of the I r i sh Pro te s t an tl andlords ; in 1840 it would have meant the ru le o f the mainly Cathol icI r i s h middle c l a s s . But no t a l l Repealers were Cathol ic ; somePro te s t an t l and lo rds and even m idd le c l a s s people were prepared to goalong with t h i s demand. In f a c t , when a f t e r O'Connel l ' s death in 1847h is movement f e l l under the con tro l o f a group of b igo ted C ath olicswho earned themselves the nickname o f " the Pope 's Brass Band", some ofi t s members, mainly Pro t es t an t s , broke away and argued a morein te l l ec tua l ly presen tab le Nat iona l i s t case under the name o f "YoungI re land" . They even s t aged , in the revolu t ionary year of 1848, af a r c i ca l " r i s ing" which ended in them being exi led .


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THE HOME RULE CRISISTHE MODERN IRISH HOME RULE MOVEMENT was founded in 1870 by aPro t e s t an t landlord and lawyer , Isaac But t . A former Tory, he hadcome to the conclus ion t h a t the only way to save landlord ru le in~ r e l a n d was to p rev en t th e increas ingly democrat ic Engl ishpar l iament from making laws fo r I re l and . He a t t r ac t ed the suppor tof a few o ther l and lo rds but mainly of the Cathol ic middle c lass whoa f t e r h is death in 1879 were soon to e l e c t as t he i r l eader anotherPro t e s t an t landlord and businessman, Charles Stewar t Pa rne l l .Parne l l , however , was no Tory sympathiser ; he wanted I r i sh Home Ruleand would s top a t nothing ( shor t o f an agra r ian r ev o lu ti on ,th a t i s)to get it. He o rg an ise d th e disrupt ion o f th e bus iness o f theEngl ish House o f Commons; he pre tended to suppor t the Land Leagueand i t s land war ( l ike O'Connel l exp lo i t ing peasan t d iscon ten t fo rmiddle c lass ends) and in 1885 he formed an e l e c t o r a l pac t with theTories as he thought they would be more i nc l ined than the Libera l sto l e t a Home Rule par l iament s e t up t a r i f f s to p ro t ec t i n f an tI r i sh i ndus t r i e s .In a speech a t Arklow in August 1885 during the e lec t ion campaignParne l l , as repor ted in The Times o f 22 August , dec la red:

Without a Par l i ament with f u l l powers fo r I re l and we can donothing fo r her in the way o f re viv in g h er indus t r ie s (cheers) Without a f ree ly e lec ted Nat iona l Assembly, with power tocon t ro l a l l the a f f a i r s o f I re l and and with power to pro t ec ther s t rugg l ing i ndus t r i e s (ch ee rs ) , in f a c t , it i s my opinionas a prac t i ca l man, whatever t h a t opin ion may be wor th , t ha tit i s impossible to revive our nat ive i ndus t r i e s . We are metface to face with th i s f a c t - - t h a t we f in d o ur se lv es in thecommencement o f our indus t ry confron ted by th e c ompe tit io n ofEngland, with her pe r f ec t system of manuf ac tu re , w it h hert r a ined popula t ion , and her vas t p os ses sio n o f cap i t a l andweal th , and we know wel l t h a t the E nglish manufacturers andthe Engl ish t r ade rs are so unscrupulous t ha t they wi l l competeaga ins t and t rample under foot any s t ruggl ing I r i sh indus t ryin o rder t h a t they may th ere by e arn more fo r t h e i r owni ndus t r i e s (cheers ) .

To ra i se the demand fo r pro tec t ion fo r I r i sh indus t ry was a f a t e fu lpo l i t i c a l dec i s ion , though it was qu i t e in accordance with themater i a l i n t e r e s t s of the r e l a t i ve ly weak middle c lass o f the Southof I re l and . To the i ndu s t r i a l cap i t a l i s t s of Bel fas t , however ,pro tec t ion meant being cu t o f f from the r e s t o f Bri ta in behind th et a r i f f wal ls o f an indus t r ia l ly-backward I r i sh Sta te and foreshadowed s t agna t ion , decl ine and f inanc ia l ru in . And it was hardlyl i ke ly to appeal to the "unscrupulous Engl ish manufacturers" whosegoods were to be barred from I re l and and who were an ' i n f l u en t i a lsect ion o f the Libera l Par ty .Pa rne l l ' s demand fo r pro t ec t ion , toge ther with Glads tone ' s conversionto Home Rule the fol lowing year , was to t ransform I r i sh - -andBr i t i s h - - po l i t i c s . Up un t i l 1885 the Be l fa s t cap i t a l i s t s were


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-14-Libera l s . In th e 1868 e l e c t i on , th e f i r s t under th e newly extendedextended f ranch i se , the Uls t e r Libera l s broke th e Tory monopoly inUls t e r by ge t t i ng nine MP's e l ec t ed ; in th e 1874 e l ec t ion theymaintained t h i s gain bu t in 1885, due to the Pa rne l l -Tory pac t , werewiped ou t . They never won a s e a t again.The Uls te r Libera l s had always, fo r sound b us in es s r ea so ns , beenUnionis t s and Glads tone 's Home Rule Bi l l o f 1886 (even though it d idnot propose to gran t an I r i s h p ar lia m en t th e power to impose t a r i f f s )drove them i n to the arms o f th e Tor ies . Feel ing themselves in adespera te pos i t ion - - and nothing makes a cap i t a l i s t so desperate asthe p rospec t o f being cu t o f f from h is p ro fi ta ble marke ts - - theydecided to p lay what the ambi t ious Tory po l i t i c i an Lord RandolphChurchi l l (Winston Church i l l ' s fa ther ) ca l led lithe Orange card" ino rder to bu i ld up a mass p o l i t i c a l bas i s fo r opposing Home Rule andmainta in ing the Union.Play ing the Orange card meant s t i r r i ng up Pro te s t an t s ec t a r i an i sm, amove which no doubt the Uls te r Libera l cap i t a l i s t s found d i s t a s t e f u leven if ce r t a in reac t ionary Tory l and lo rds and r an ti ng P re sb y te ri anmin is te r s d id no t . The Orange Order had fa l len in d is repu te and wenti n to dec l ine a f t e r the Union and became a s t ronghold o f th e mostr eac t ionary king-and-count ry Tory backwoodsmen. But , as Catho l i c s andPro t e s t an t s moved to the towns the o ld economic antagonism over farmsand ren t s took the form o f an economic antagonism over jobs and wages.1857 saw th e f i r s t major v ic ious s ec t a r i an r i o t in B elfa s t by thenwel l on the way to becoming an i ndu s t r i a l c i ty . Orig ina l ly the OrangeOrder was an exc lus ive ly Anglican Church o f Ire lan d body, bu t in thef i r s t pa r t o f th e 19th century dissente r s too were admit ted inresponse to ca l l s fo r a l l Pro t e s t an t s to u nite a ga in st the Cathol icThrea t , the Sca r l e t Woman o f Rome, Old Red Socks and o ther suchi gnoran t phrases . In 1836 a f t e r a pa r l i amenta ry inqu i ry the Order hadbeen banned (some Royal dukes had been found p lo t t i ng to use it topreven t Vic to r i a becoming Queen) and fo r most o f the t ime a f t e r t h a ti t s noisy and provoca t ive parades had been banned.lJp un t i l 1886, in ot.he r words, the Orange mob had, apa r t from a fewr an t ing c l e r i c s , been l e ade r l e s s . Playing the Orange card meantassuming th e le ad ers hip o f t h i s mob. Which i s what , in t h e i r desperates i t ua t i on , the Be l f a s t cap i t a l i s t s dec ided to do - -wi th cons iderablesuccess as it turned ou t . This move t ransformed the Orange Order froman i n s t rument to defend the Pro te s t an t landed a r i s t oc racy o f I re l and(which by t h i s t ime , thanks to land purchase ,was a l ready on th e wayout) i n to an i n s t rument to defend the i ndu s t r i a l i n t e r e s t s o f theBe l fa s t c a p i t a l i s t s . Uls te r ' s p o l i t i c a l Pro tes tan t i sm, and i t sa t t endan t mythology, which survives to t h i s day da te s no t from 1690nor from 1795 bu t from 1886. Afte r a l l , l e s s than a hundred yea rsbefore Be l f a s t ' s Pro te s t an t middle c lass had been arden t I r i s hRepublicans, ano the r h i s to r i c a l f a c t which l i ke the Pope ce l eb ra t i ngWil l iam's v ic to ry a t the B att le o f th e Boyne Orange mythologyconvenient ly fo rge t s .As it tu rned ou t the 1886 Home Rule Bi l l never go t through the Commonsl e t alone th e Lords . A sec t ion o f th e Libera l Par ty rep resen t ing mosto f the "unscrupulous Engl i sh manufacturers" voted aga ins t the Bi l l thusbr ing ing down Glads tone 's L ibe r a l government . These Libe r a l Unionis t sas they were ca l l ed l a t e r jo ined with th e C o ns er va tiv es . The g rea t


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-16-fo r independance, d id no t make much headway un t i l th e b ~ n k r u p t c y o f theI r i sh par l iamenta ry par ty became qu i t e obvious in th e course o f th ef l r s t world war. Then suppor t fo r Sinn Fein and i t s pol icy o fabs tent ion grew. A spec ia l convention in 1917 re -a f f i rmed Gr i f f i t h ' so i g ina l 1905 programme, inc luding pro tec t ion and an I r i sh stock;1\.:-::hange, only subs t i t u t i ng the demand fo r a dual monarchy by the.enand fo r an independent I r i sh Republ ic . Gri f f i t h was succeeded as

~ e s i d e n t by Eamonn De Valera , a thorough-going Republican.l 'oth Gri f f i t h and De Valera had a t one t ime been members of the I r i sh~ e p u b l i c a n Brotherhood, s e t up in 1858 by exi le s from th e 1848 r i s i ng. ~ I r i sh immigrants in America as a sec re t soc ie ty d ed ic ated to us ing?hys ica l force to overthrow Br i t i sh ru le and e s t ab l i sh an independentRepublic in I re l and . Also known as the "Fenians" they had s taged anunsuccesfu l r i s i ng in I re l and in 1867 followed by a number o f bombingsin England as they t r i ed to r e ~ e a s e t h e i r pr i soners . Kept a l iv e inAmerica it too gained suppor t in I re l and as a r e su l t of the cor rup t

I ~ i s h par l iamenta ry par ty , once aga in mainly from i n t e l l ec tua l s .~ f t e r the 1910 General Elect ions the I r i sh Nat iona l i s t MP's once againneld the b alan ce o f power in the Br i t i sh House of Commons 0 A dea l wasa rra ng ed w it h th e Libera l s : in re tu rn fo r Home Rule the I r i sh MP'swould give gene ra l suppor t to the Libera l government. But f i r s t theHouse o f Lords had to be reformed. In 1911 i t s power to throw ou t) i l l s passed by the Commons was reduced to the power to delay themfor up to two year s . Then in 1912 a t h i rd Home Rule Bi l l wasin t roduced .The Uls te r Unioni s t s rea l i sed t ha t t h i s t ime it would become law andt ha t ne i the r the Commons nor the Lords would save them. They resolvedto implement t h e i r slogan "Uls te r wi l l f i gh t and Uls te r wi l l be r igh t" .Edward Carson, a Dublin Pro t e s t an t lawyer , was ca l l ed in to lead th eBel fas t c ap i t a l i s t s ' campaign to avoid being cu t o ff from the r e s t ofi ndus t r i a l Br i ta in and i t s cap i t a l i s t c lass of which they were anin te gra l p a r t . Cont ra s t with th e Sinn Fein pol icy on t a r i f f s the viewexpressed by the Pres iden t o f the Be l fa s t Chamber of Commerce (J . MilneBalfour) in h is evidence in July 1911 to the Committe e on I r i shFinance. He was asked about the var ious types of Home Rule:

Q. Would you fe el s tro ng ly t ha t you des i re a type which wouldno t give con t ro l of Customs to an I r i sh Par l iament?A. Yes, ce r t a in ly .Q. Do you a t t ach g rea t weight to t ha t point?A. I do. I th ink t h a t any a t tempt to se t up an independentCustoms in such a way as to enao:e the I r i sh Par l i ament tocrea te a Tar i f f between I r e land and th e United Kingdom wouldbe a very dangerous th ing . (Minutes of Evidence,Committee onI r i sh Finance , Cmnd. 6799) ."We must be p re pa re d" , d ec la re d Carson in 1911,"the morning Home Rulepasses ourse lves to become respons ib le fo r the government of thePro t e s t an t Province o f Uls te r" . And he wasn ' t b lu f f ing . In January 1913the Uls te r Unionis t Council , composed of Uls t e r ' s p rominent bu sinessmen ,po l i t i c i ans and landowners, decided to un ite the var ious groups whichhad been formed to provide bas ic m ili ta ry tr ain in g in to one Uls te rVolunteer Force and to place it under the command of prominen t ex-Army


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-17-o f f i c e r s , inc lud ing genera l s . La te r it was decided to arm the UVF andin Apr i l 1914 the town o f Larne was taken over so t h a t a wholeship load of arms could be smuggled in . The previous September theUls te r Union i s t Counci l had approved plans to s e t up a Prov is iona lGovernment in Uls te r should Home Rule come and i t s var ious membershad been chosen.There can be no doubt t ha t these wel l - l a i d plans fo r a mi l i t a ry coupto es t ab l i sh a p ro vis io na l U ls te r government would have beenimplemented had no t the t h r e a t , and then the r e a l i t y , of the f i r s tworld war overshadowed the Uls t e r c r i s i s . The Home Rule Bi l l was infac t passed, but suspended till the European war was over . But itnever d id come in to fo rce . The Be l f a s t cap i t a l i s t s had made therepo in t and, a f t e r the war, the Government of I re l and Act o f 1920provided fo r two Home Rule p arliamen ts in I re l and : one fo r the s ixcoun ties o f North Eas t Uls t e r and the o the r fo r the remaining 26count ies of I re l and .The bas ic reason fo r the Par t i t i on o f I re l and was the unevendevelopment o f cap i t a l i sm the re . Eas t Uls te r , with i t s mainlyProtes tan t popu la t ion , had shared in the genera l 19th centuryi ndus t r i a l i s a t ion o f Br i t a in and was in f a c t an i n t eg ra l pa r t o fi ndus t r i a l Br i t a in . I t depended on Br i t a in fo r i t s new cap i t a l , i t sraw mate r ia l s , i t s t rade and i t s markets . I t s main c i t y , Be l f a s t , wasa grimey i ndus t r i a l town s im i l a r to Glasgow or Manchester . The Southo f I re land , with i t s mainly Catho l ic popu la t ion , remained l a rge lyagr i cu l t u ra l and i t s towns were commercial r a the r than i ndu s t r i a lcen t r e s . I t s i ndus t r i a l development had hardly begun and was havinga hard t ime s t a r t i ng in the face o f Br i t i sh compet i t ion . Thei n t e r e s t s of f l edg l ing I r i sh cap i t a l i sm demanded an I r i shgovernment with the power to impose t a r i f f s on fore ign imports inorder to p ro tec t i t s in fa nt in d us tr ie s . This demand wasd iamet r i ca l ly opposed to the economic i n t e r e s t s o f the a l readyes tab l i shed cap i t a l i s t s o f Be l f a s t who, under pro t ec t ion , would becut o ff from the r e s t of i ndus t r i a l Bri ta in behind the t a r i f f wal lso f a mainly agr i cu l t u ra l I r i sh Sta t e . They d idn ' t want pro tec t ionfrom Br i t i sh i ndus t ry ; they were a pa r t o f it.None o f the t h ree Home Rule Bi l l s ac tua l ly planned to give the I r i shHome Rule pa r l i ament the power to impose t a r i f f s , but t h i s demandhad been ra i sed force fu l ly by Parne l l and Gr i f f i t h , and the Be l f a s tcap i t a l i s t s were shrewd enough to r ea l i se t ha t Home Rule would bethe th in edge of the p ro t e c t i on i s t wedge. But, po l i t i c a l l y , theywere in a weak pos i t i on : a majo ri ty o f the people o f Ire land andt he i r MP's suppor ted Home Rule. In order to gain a mass bas i s fromwhich to mainta in th e Union the Be l f a s t cap i t a l i s t s , in t h e i rdespera t ion , had to play the Orange card , to exp lo i t and stir upt r ad i t i ona l P r o te s ta n t a n ti -C a tho li c fea rs and pre jud ices . This theydid from 1886 onwards with such success t h a t they were excluded fromthe independent I r i s h Sta te - -wi th the power to impose t a r i f f s onBr i t i sh goods, one o f the prov is ions o f the 1921 Treaty which endedthe Anglo-I r ish War-- s e t up in 1921.This i s the reason why Protes tan t -Ca thol ic antagonism survived inUls te r whi le it died ou t in the r e s t of Br i t a i n . The two r e l i g ionshad become i den t i f i ed with the mater i a l i n t e r e s t s of two an tagon i s t i c


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- 1 8 -

s e c t i o n s o f t h e c a p i t a l i s t c l a s s i n I r e l a n d , P r o t e s t a n t i s m w i t ht h e b i g c a p i t a l i s t s o f t h e North and C a t h o l i c i s m with t h es m a l l e r c a p i t a l i s t s o f t h e South .With P a r t i t i o n , t h e p o l i t i c a l h i s t o r y o f t h e two p a r t s o f I r e l a n dd i f f e r s b u t b o t h governments , as we w i l l now s e e , d i d have onet h i n g i n common: a c o n s i s t e n t a n t i - w o r k i n g c l a s s and a n t i democra t i c c h a r a c t e r .

It


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THE IRISH CAPITALIST REPUBLICJUST BEFORE HE WAS TIED TO A CHAIR and sho t by a f i r i ng squad in May1916 the i n ju red James Connolly i s sa id to have remarked, " thesoc i a l i s t s wi l l never unders tand why I am here" . Well might he havef e l t gu i l t y , from a s o c i a l i s t and working c l a s s po in t o f view, aboutwhat he had done. For he was being executed fo r h is l eading pa r t inthe Eas te r Ris ing, an armed insur rec t ion aimed a t e s t ab l i sh ing , withaid from Imper ia l Germany, an independent , and unavoidablycap i t a l i s t , Republic in I re land .Before the war Connol ly , who was well a cq ua in te d w ith M arxist ands o c i a l i s t ideas , had been a prominent and s uc ce ss fu l t ra d e unionorganiser . At the t ime o f h is execut ion he was the sec re ta ry o f theI r i sh Transpor t and General Workers Union and "commandant" o f i t sarmed defens ive force , the I r i sh Cit izen Army. This had been formedin the course of the g rea t Dublin lock-ou t o f 1913 to p ro t ec t unionmembers from pol ice violence and i n t imida t ion , bu t Connolly tu rnedit in to a Republican body. He himse l f was almost ce r t a in lyadmit ted to th e sec re t I r i sh Republican Brotherhood,before be ingappointed commander of i t s forces in Dublin during the r i s i ng .The IRE had no soc i a l programme and was simply dedica ted to usingphys ica l force to es t ab l i sh an I r i sh Republ ic . The Declara t ion ofthe Republic which was procla imed from the s t eps of th e General Pos tO ff ice in Dublin does , it i s t r ue , express a few democrat ic andr ef or m is t s en ti m en ts , but only in the vagues t terms. I t s mainconcern was obviously "the Republ ic" . In f a c t when only a few yearsl a t e r it came to adopt ing a def in i t e soc i a l programme the IREe nd ors ed A rth ur Gr i f f i t h ' s l ong -s ta ndi ng po li c y of I r i sh cap i t a l i sm.Connolly had died not fo r i n t e rna t iona l soc ia l i sm, not even fo rt rade unionism, but fo r an I r i sh cap i t a l i s t repub l i c .The Eas t e r Ris ing, and the merc i les s ex ecu tio n o f a l l i t s l eaders ,d id have the e f f e c t o f t ransforming the I r is h p o li t i c a l scene: theNat iona l i s t par l iamentary p ar ty ra pid ly l o s t ground to Sinn Fein .Taking t h e i r queue from the Uls te r Unionis t s the Nat iona l i s t s andRepublican s too had formed an armed mi l i t i a before the war. Calledthe I r i sh N a ti on a l V o lun te er s, prominent amongst i t s l eader s weres ec r e t membres o f the IRB. On th e outbreak of the f i r s t world warthe movement s p l i t , the g rea t major i ty fo l lowing the pro-war lead ofthe Nat iona l i s t MP's. It was th e minor i ty , who re t a ined the nameI r i s h Volunteers , t h a t the IRE planned to mobi l i se fo r i t s 1916insur rec t ion but the plan misf i red and only a few of i t s un i t sac tua l ly took pa r t . Af te r the r i s ing the I r i s h Volunteers werepopular ly known as the Sinn Fein Volunteers .Sinn Fein , now r epub l ican , began to win b y - e l e c t ~ o n s a t the expenseof the Na t i ona l i s t par l iamentary pa r t y . In the 1918 Bri t i sh GeneralElec t ion Sinn Fein won a l a rge major i ty of the I r i s h s ea t s , 73compared with 6 fo r the Nat iona l i s t s and 26 fo r th e Union is t s . Inaccordance with t h e i r abs t en t i on i s t p olic y, in ste ad o f going toWestminster , they met in Dublin in January 1919, declaredthemselves to be th e p arl ia m en t (Da i l , i n I r i sh ) o f an independentI r i s h Republ ic and appoin ted a prov i s iona l government under DeValera with Gri f f i t h as M inis te r o f Horne Affa i r s . This was no id ledec la ra t ion s ince behind it stood the ,armed Sinn Fein Volunteers ,to be renamed l a t e r t h a t year th e I r i s h Republ ican Army or IRA.


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-20-~ o two years a b ru t a l war of r ep r i s a l s and coun te r - r ep r i s a l s wagedbetween the IRA and the Bri t i sh Army with i t s notor ious "black andtans" and "aux i l i a r i e s " . A t ruce was ar ranged in December 1921 andnegot i a t ions fo r a peace t r ea ty s t a r t ed . The Br i t i sh governmentof fered the 26 coun t ie s o f Southern I r e land po l i t i c a l in de pend en ce a s" the I r i sh Free Sta te " , nominal ly sub jec t to the Br i t i sh Crown, andthey threw in the power to impose t a r i f f s to pro tec t I r i sh indus t ry asan added concess ion. A m ajor ity o f the IRA and Sinn Fein governmentaccep ted t h i s ; a minor i ty i ~ c l u d i n g De Valera , regarding the Treaty asa be t r aya l of Republican i dea l s , d id not . The new Free Sta t egovernment, with Gri f f i th as Prime Mini s t e r , reso lved to crush t h i sminor i ty and eventua l ly did bu t only a f t e r a b i t t e r Civi l War whichCid not end till 1923 and which k i l l ed more people than t ~ prev ioustJar with Br i t a in . Although the IRA s topped f igh t ing , t.h ey d id no t giveup t h e i r arms. They h id them and c o n t i n u e ~ to ex i s t as an i l l e g a lunderground organisa t ion .'h e new government s e t t l ed down to governing I r" sh c ap ita lis m , in the

~ n t e r e s t s of the b igger cap i t a l i s t s and big ca t t l e ranchers whoexported to Br i t a in , and w ~ t h c a ~ l o u s i n d ~ f f e r e n c e to the problems ofthe working c l a s s . " I t i s no function of government", one Minis te rJnce sa id when c r i t i c i s ed about the l eve l of unemployment,"to providework fo r anybody". St r ikes broke out as wages f e l l ; t rade unionmembership d ec lin ed : p ov erty , i l l - h e a l t h , slums, unemployment and:migra t ion cont inued. Independence, ~ shor t , had made no di f fe rence-lhatsoever to the pos i t i on and problems ( f the working c la s s . The:,had merely exper ienced a change of masters from the cap i ta l i s tF o fBr l t a in to the cap i t a l i s t s of S 0 ~ t h e r n I r e land .C i v i ~ l i b e r t i e s began to be e r cde j as Home Rule came to take on someof the fea tu res o f "Rome Rule". In 1925 divorce was a bo lis he d. U n ti lt h a t t ime people l iv ing in I r e ~ a n d had been able to get divorced onthe same t e rms, s t r i c t as they w ~ r e , as people l i v ing in E n g l ~ n d . Thiswas s topped , and it appl ied to P ro te sta nts ~ well as Cathol ics . In:.929 a "Censorship of Publ i ca t ions Board" was se t up which proceeder 'lto ban the im port and sa le o f books the C ath olic hierarchy foundof fens ive . E9ucat ion in I r e land always ~ a been denominat ional , bu tthe new government made no a t tempt to 5e t up non-sec t a r i an Sta teE c h o o l ~ . Quite the cont ra ry . It gave the Cathc l ic C h ~ r c h a v i r t u a lf ree hand in the ed ucatio n o f those whose p a ~ e n t s were Ca tho l i c s , i . e . ,the overwhelming major i ty o f I r i sh school -ch i ld ren . The or.ly pr icethey had to pay fo r th i s was the cos t o f s u b si di si ng s ep a ra tePro t e s t an t schools fo r the smal l Pro t e s t an t minor i ty . But the moveL ~ a t was to make the South o f I r e land vi r tua l ly a Cathol ic Sta t e- - the 1937 Cons t i t u t i on - - was the work no t o f the pro-Trea ty i t es bu tof t h e i r Republican opponents .In 1926 De Valera led a group o f s up po rte rs out of Sinn Fein , the IRA'spo l i t i c a l wing, a f t e r a smal l major i ty had refused to endorse h isproposa l to use the bal lo t -box and Free Sta t e par l iament to t ry toes tab l i sh (or r e s to r e , as he put i t ) "the Republ ic" . Thus was foundedFianna Fa i l , now I r e l and ' s normal governing par ty .Fianna Fa i l i nhe r i t ed i t s economic programme from the o r i g i n a l SinnFein , promising " to encourage nat ive i ndus t r i e s t h a t r r . inis ter to theneeds o f the people, Tn p ro t e c t them by such t a r i f f s , subs id i e s and

jl


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-21 -o the r methods as may be ne ces s e rv ". T ~ e . pew pa ct v a i. so promisedpro t ec t i on fo r aq r Lcu Lt.u re and lit::' break up d e La r ue grazingranches and j : ~ s t r i b \ . L t e them amonqs t young fc..rmers ~ r . d aq r acu l t u r a ll aboure rs" . Fianna Fa i l waS ln f ac t bas i ca LLy t J . . ~ part.v o f thesmal l farmer and i t s agr i cu l t u r a l po l i cy , whi::r. .i nc.Luded inc reasedt i l l a g e in place o f r a i s ing ca t t l e f J r expor t '_ 0 Bri 1-c' r. , oppos e dt h e i r i n t e r e s t s to those o f the b ig ca t t l e farmerc; whtch the ~ l 1 . p rgovernmen t (whose po l i t i c a l de s ce ndan t s -ire Fip,,?


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- 22 -the o th er g rea t undemocrat ic fea tu re o f the Southern I r i sh Sta t e . Itsu rv ives to t h i s day.Trade unions in I re land too have had to su f fe r from more r e s t r i c t i v e lawsthan in B r i ta in . While I re land was po l i t i c a l l y a par t o f Br i t a in the lawon t r ade unions was th e same, though i ndu s t r i a l condi t ions wered i f f e r en t . I re land was l a rge ly an ag r i cu l t u r a l count ry and, ou ts ideBel fas t , its towns wer e commer cia l r a t he r than i ndus t r i a l cent res .Corresponding to t h i s lower l eve l o f i ndu s t r i a l development the leadingI r i s h t rade unions t ended to be genera l r a t he r than i ndus t ry unions , asbe s t t yp i f i ed by the I r i s h Transpor t and General Workers Union foundedby James Larkin which i s still the l a r ge s t union in I re land . In 1895most o f the t r ade unions opera t ing in I r e l and , inc lud ing tho se w ithheadquar te r s in England, s e t up an I r i s h Trade Union Congress which in1912 dec ided to f inance an I r i s h Labour Par ty . For year s t h i s was onlya t rade union pressu re group t ry ing , none too success fu l ly , to ge t afew reforms o f bene f i t to the working c l a s s and which, s ince the workerswere till recent ly a minor i ty o f th e p op ula tio n of Southern I re land ,never s e r ious ly asp i red to be an a l t e rna t i ve governing par ty fo r I r i shcap i t a l i sm . At pre sen t , however, and on two previous occas ions , in 1948and 1954, it has jo ined with the openly conservat ive Fine Gael ando thers in an an t i -F ianna Fa i l coa l i t i on government, and so has takenpa r t in running capi ta l i sm fo r the benef i t of the I r i s h (and Br i t i sh )cap i t a l i s t c l a s s .In 1941 the Fianna Fa i l government brought in a Trade Union Act whichl a rge ly an t i c i pa t ed , by t h i r t y yea r s , Br i t a in ' s i l l - f a t e d I ndus t r i a lRela t ions Act. Only t r ade unions which, in re tu rn fo r a f i nanc i a ldepos i t , had been gran ted a "nego t i a t ion l i cence" by the Sta t e were tocont inue to en joy protec t ion aga in s t claims fo r c i v i l damages a r i s i ngout o f s t r i k e s ; any o the r union which t r i ed to nego t i a t e over wages andworking c on dit io ns n ot only lo s t th i s protec t ion bu t was to be sub j ec tto cont inuing f ines till it s topped. A fu r the r sec t ion al lowed amajor i ty union in a pa r t i cu l a r i ndus t ry to claim s ole n eg o tia ti ng r i gh t sfo r t h a t i ndus t ry on appl ica t ion to a spec i a l t r i buna l and sub j ec t to ani nd iv idua l ba l l o t o f th e workers involved. This was l a t e r dec la reduncons t i t u t i ona l , bu t the r e s t o f the Act remains in fo rce .The I r i s h Republ icans , inc lud ing the Fianna Fa i l government, had onna t i ona l i s t grounds never l iked "Engl ish" t rade unions o pera tin g inI re land and th e t h i rd sec t ion o f the Act t h a t was dec la reduncons t i t u t i ona l was par t l y designed to drive Such unions out o fSouthern I re land . It d id no t work bu t fo r a while na t iona l i sm did s p l i tthe I r i s h t r ade union movement. Afte r Par t i t i on t rade un ion i s t s Northand South o f th e Border cont inued to be un ited in the I r i s h TUC, asound arrangement s ince the Border was of no re levance to the workingc lass in e i t h e r pa r t of I r e l and . But a f t e r the second world war, underna t i ona l i s t i n f luence , the ITGWU s p l i t from the I r i s h TUC and s e t up ar i va l , and exc lus ive ly Southern I r i s h , Congress of I r i s h Unions. AII-I re la nd tra de union uni ty d id no t come aga in fo r twenty year s when thetwo r i v a l c en tre s u ni te d to form the presen t I r i s h Congress of TradeUnions (ICTU) Up un t i l 1922 soc i a l bene f i t s in I re land had been th e same as in ther e s t o f Br i t a i n , b ut a fte rw ard s la gg ed b eh in d as mainly ag r i cu l t u r a lI re land could no t af fo rd to pay (o r would no t have gained much


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-23-economic advantage from paying) th e same l eve l o f bene f i t s asi ndu s t r i a l Br i t a in . Indeed, paying lower pens ions and bene f i t swas one o f the reas on s g iven fo r the 1912 Home Rule Bi l l . ThePrimrose Committee s e t up to examine the f inanc ia l im p lic at io ns o fHome Rule was par t i cu l a r l y c on ce rn ed abo ut " the ext ravagance andwaste t h a t r e su l t s from too c lose an ass imi la t ion o f the sca le o fexpendi ture in I re l and to t h a t o f Grea t Bri t a in" and spec ia l lys ing led out the newly- in t roduced Old Age Pensions as an example.Paragraph 13 of t h e i r Repor t dec la red :

It i s impossib le not to f e e l t h a t , if th e Government hadhad to cons t r uc t a scheme o f Old Age Pensions espec ia l lyfo r I r e l and , they would h ave dev i sed a much l e s s cos t lyand a much l e s s comprehensive scheme than the one now inoperat ion . But th e Act had to be framed to s u i t th econdi t ions o f the i ndu s t r i a l workers of Grea t Br i t a in , and,in consequence o f the p o l i t i c a l connec t ion , had to beextended, unc hanged a nd upadapted , to a popula t ion whosecondi t ions were widely d i s s im i l a r . I f Home Rule had beengranted to I re l and befo re the passage o f th e Old AgeP en sio ns A ct, it i s very doubt fu l indeed if an I r i shPar l i ament would have in t h a t regard fo l lowed th e exampleo f Grea t Br i t a in . So much has been a lmost in terms s t a t edin pub lic speeches by the l eading I r i sh po l i t i c i an s .(Report by the Committee o f I r i sh Finance,cmnd. 6153).

The Committee conceded t h a t cu r ren t provis ions should no t be reduced,but i n s i s t ed t ha t an I r i sh Home Rule government would have to givep r i o r i t y to cut t ing expend i tu re below the l eve l the Br i t i shgovernment had been forced to shoulder in I r e l and , adding:From what we have sa id in Paragraph 13 it wi l l be gatheredt h a t we regard Old Age Pensions as an i tem .of expend i tu reon which reduc t ion would be no t only l eg i t ima te butdes i rab le in the new cond i t ions to be es tab l i shed inI re land - - o f course in r espec t of fu tu re pens ions only .(Report , paragraph 55) .

So, from one po in t o f view, "Home Rule" and "Independence" fo rI re l and was a way o f sav ing the Br i t i sh c a p i t a l i s t c lass money onunnecessary soc i a l reforms. Socia l bene f i t s in Southern I re l and arestill l e s s extens ive than in the r e s t of Bri ta in ( inc ludingNorthern I re l and) bu t the gap has been c los ing as I re l and hasbecome more i ndus t r i a l i s ed .I f any th ing , t hen , the working c lass in I r ela nd s uffe re d - -w ith l e s sp o l i t i c a l democracy, a divided and more r e s t r i c t ed t r ade unionmovement, lower soc i a l bene f i t s - - from so -ca l l ed independence whichfo r them, as we sa i d , was bas ica l ly only a change o f maste rs . Butfo r th e nascent Southern I r i s h c a p i t a l i s t c l a s s it meant thepo l i t i c a l power to l eg i s l a t e to fu r th e r t h e i r own economic i n t e r e s t s .This t h e i r governments d id , through p ro t ec t i on , during th e per iod1932-1959. Then, as pro tec t ion became inc reas ing ly i n e f f i c i en t , theFianna Fa i l government comple te ly reversed i t s prev ious economicpo l i cy , took down the t a r i f f ba r r i e r s and i nv i t ed ou ts idecap i t a l i s t s to in v es t in Ire land . In 1965 an Anglo-I r i sh Free Trade


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-24-

Agreement, provid ing fo r fu l l f ree t rade between the two coun t r i e sa f t e r ten years , was s igned , and s ince 1973 I re land , along wi thBr i t a i n , has been a member o f the Common Market (EEC).When t h i s p rocess o f fu l l economic r e - i n t eg ra t i on with Bri ta in i scompleted I re land wi l l be back where it was before 1922 - -and thethousands o f young men wh sac r i f i ced t h e i r (and o the r peop le ' s )l i ves " for I re land" wi l l be c l ea r l y seen to have died and k i l l edmerely to have go t about t h i r t y years of protec t ion fo r I r i shcap i t a l i s t indus try to catch up with the r e s t of Bri ta in plus afew supe r f i c i a l po l i t i c a l ch an ge s whic h, where they weren ' t fo rthe worse, amounted to little more than "pa in t ing the p i l l a rboxes green" as the popular saying accura te ly puts it.


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"A PROTESTANT GOVERNMENT"THE ULSTER UNIONISTS were no t too happy about th e 1920 Government ofI re l and Act for , a l though it provided fo r Pa r t i t i on , it c lear lyintended t h a t t h i s sho uld only be temporary. F or tu na te ly fo r themthe Republ icans in the South d idn ' t th ink much o f it e i t h e r and s toodby t h e i r January 1919 Declara t ion o f Independence under which ana l l - I r e l and Republican government had purpor tedly been s e t up. The1921 Trea ty , which ended the r e su l t i ng Anglo-I r ish war, madePar t i t i on l ik e ly to be much more permanent than or ig ina l l y intendedand the Uls te r Unionis t s s e t t l e d down to govern t h e i r own s ix-countys t a t e l e t .The Be l fa s t par l iament a t Stormont was no t j u s t a g l o r i f ~ d countycounci l ; it had some r ea l po l i t i c a l power s ince it had a t i t sd isposa l armed force : the Royal Uls te r Constabulary (RUC), a para mil i ta ry pol ice force a long the l ines of the o ld Hoyal I r i shConstabulary which had been s e t up in the 19th century to he lp holddown the I r i sh peasan t ry . This was soon supplemented by a muchl a rge r force o f p ar t- tim e aux i l i a ry pol icemen, also armed and a l lProtes tan ts ( the RUC a t l e a s t had some Cathol ic members), ca l ledB Spec ia l s . These were in e f f e c t th e s uc ce ss or s of the pre-war UVF,an ant i -Republ ican Pro te s t an t mi l i t i a .The Be l fa s t par l iament also had the power to l eg i s l a t e on law andorder in the s ix count ies and one o f t h e i r f i r s t n ~ a s u r e s was to passthe C i vi l Au t ho ri ti es (Sp e ci al P o w e s ) A c ~ ~ ~ : ? : ~ . This notor iousAct, which was renewed annual ly fo r some yea rs b e ~ o r e being m a ~ ep ermanent, a llowed the government to de ta in people and in te rn themwithout t r i a l , to ban meet ings and newspapers and - - t h e clause oneSouth African Prime Minis te r sa id he 'd scrap a l l h is owr, r ep res s ivel e g i s l a t ~ o n fo r - - a r r e s t a person who does anything "ca lcu la t ed tobe pre jud i c i a l to the prese rva t ion of peace o r maintenance o f orderin Northern I re l and and no t spec i f i ca l l y provided fo r in theregu la t ions" . The immediate po l i t i c a l problem which faced the newUnionis t government was t h a t a t h i rd o f i t s SUbjects - - t heNat iona l i s t , Cathol ic minor i ty - - were opposed, sometimes v i o l e n ~ l Y Ito i t s very ex is tence and would have p re fe r r ed to be governed bythe newly-es tabl ished Southern I r i s h ru lin g c lass in Dublin . Theyhad to be subdued - -by t e r r o r and i n t imida t ion . Already in 1920the re had been a v ic ious ant i -Ca thol ic pogrom In Be l f a s t , whenCathol ic workers were dr iven out of the sh ipyards , t h e i r homesburned and t h e i r wives and ch i ld ren s en t f l ee ing South. In o therpar t s too of the abou t - to -be-es t ab l i shed "Northern I re land"Cathol ics were d riv en acro ss what was soon to be the Border . Afte rPar t i t i on the B Spec ia l s and the Spec ia l Powers Act were to be th epermanent weapons o f an t i -Na t i ona l i s t , an t i-Ca t ho li c i n tim i d at io n .But no t even t h i s was a su f f i c i en t guarantee to the B e l f a s ~cap i t a l i s t s and t h e i r po l i t i c i an s in the Unionis t par ty t ~ a t someday by some means the Northern Nat iona l i s t s might not s ~ c c e e d inr e -un i t i ng I re l and - -behind the dreaded t a r i f f wal l s . The normalru les o f po l i t i c a l democracy had to be s e t as ide . Before Par t i t i onthe Br i t i sh government had in t roduced propor t iona l r e p r e s e n ~ a t i o n inI re land , f i r s t fo r loca l and then fo r general e l ec t i ons . The Uls t e rUnionis t s never l iked t h i s fo r th e very reason that . it woi.Ld givethe Northern Nat iona l i s t s rep resen ta t ion in p ro po rt io n to t he i r


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-26-numbers. They reso lved to abol i sh it a t the f i r s t opportuni ty , and d id- - in 1923 fo r l oca l e l ec t i ons and in 1929 fo r genera l e l ec t i ons . Thispaved the way fo r the fur ther gerrymandering o f l oca l counc i lboundar ies , pa r t i cu l a r ly in areas with Nat iona l i s t major i t i e s such asthe town of Londonderry and the co un ties o f Fermanagh and Trone. D errywas the most notor ious example: here a two-th i rds Nat iona l i s t major i tyamong the e lec to ra t e was tu rned in to a two-th i rds Unionis t major i ty onthe counci l . This was no t only because Derry had an impor tan t ro le inOrange mythology, bu t a lso - -and more impor tan t ly - - because it was thecen tre o f th e Uls te r sh i r t -making indust ry which, l ike Be l f a s t heavyindus t ry , was geared to B ri ta in and i t s expor t markets . In f ac t a t thet ime o f the 1924 Boundary Commission the Derry s h i r t manufacturersspec i f i ca l ly argued aga ins t being t ransfer red to the Free Sta te on thegrounds t h a t th i s would cu t them o f f from t h e i r markets behindposs ib le I r i sh t a r i f f wal l s .From some po in t s of view Northern I re land i t s e l f was one b ig gerrymander.The Be l f a s t cap i t a l i s t s were pr imar i ly concerned with keeping the l inkbetween i ndus t r i a l i s ed Eas t Uls te r and Br i t a i n , bu t were prepared totake in othe r a reas so long as they had a Unionis t , Pro t e s t an t major i ty .The f u l l nine count ies o f U ls te r had a s l i g h t Nat iona l i s t , Cathol icmajor i ty which was obviously unacceptab le . But once Donegal, Monaghanand Cavan had been conceeded to the Free Sta te the Unionis ts had a two-t h i rds majori ty in the remaining s ix c ou ntie s, d es pi te the f ac t t h a tFermanagh and Tyrone too had Na t io n a li st ma j o ri ti es .So, r igh t from the s t a r t , Northern I re land was cor rup t from a democrat icpo in t of view. Not t h a t th e U nio nis t po l i t i c i ans who ru ledcontinuously from 1921 ever bothered to pretend otherwise un t i l a fewyears ago. Lord Craigavon, i t s f i r s t Prime Minis ter (who as JamesCraig had before the war been a l eader o f the planned Uls te rProv i s iona l Government with i t s armed UVF), openly declared in 1932,"Ours i s a Pro t e s t an t government" and in Ju ly 1934 to ld the Be l f a s tpar l i amen t , "We are a Pro te s t an t par l iament and a Pro t e s t an t S t a t e" .Such sen t iments were repeated by subsequent Northern I re land PrimeMinis ters inc luding Lord Brookeborough, the man who once boasted t h a the d id no t "have a Roman Cathol ic about my p lace ll and who remainedPrime Minis t e r up un t i l 1963.One of the reforms in t roduced in Bri ta in a f t e r the se co nd wor ld war was"one man, one vote" in l oca l counc i l e l ec t i ons . Previous ly onlyra tepayers and t h e i r wives had been able to vote while under ce r t a i nci rcumstances a businessman could have more than one vote . The Uls te rUnionis t government in Northern I re land chose no t to implement t h i sreform fo r the crude pa r t y -po l i t i c a l reason t h a t it would haveenf ranch ised more Nat iona l i s t s than Unionis t s . It was es t imated t h a tth i s l e f t a t l e a s t a qua r t e r o f adu l t men and women withou t a vote inloca l e l ec t i ons .Local counc i l s a l so had o th er o pp ortu nit ie s to discr iminate aga ins tNat iona l i s t s and Cathol ics . Cer ta in jobs and houses were reserved fo rProtes tan ts and pa r t i cu l a r ly fo r s up po rte rs o f th e Unionis t par ty .The Ca th o lic m i no ri ty gave i t s po l i t i c a l support to th e c on se rv ativ eand c le r i ca l -domina ted Nat iona l i s t Party who were of ten known as


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-27 -IIGreen Tories l l and, in Be l f a s t and one o r two o the r towns, to var iousLabour pa r t i e s - - I I I r ish Labou r" , "Republ ic an Labour" and even onoccas ions IINorthern I re land Labour l l The Nat iona l i s t Par ty l o s t muchof i t s suppor t a t th e 1969 Northern I re land genera l e l ec t i on tovar ious Civ i l Right s and Labour candidates who l a t e r formed the Soc i a lDemocratic and Labour Par ty (SDLP) , a t the moment the main po l i t i c a lpar ty suppor ted by th e Catho l ic minor i ty .The Unionis t s re ta ined the support o f th e Pro t es t an t workers and smal lfarmers by cont inuing to stir up s ec t a r i an hat reds and fea r s . It wasa measure o f th e backwardness o f po l i t i c s the re t h a t IlREMEMBER 1690","NOT AN INCHII, RNa SURRENDER II and the l ike were, and unfortunatel .ystill a re , powerful po l i t i c a l s logans . The Unionis t s succes fu l lyt r i cked the Pro t es t an t workers in to be l i ev ing t h a t t he re was somespec i a l economic advantage fo r them in Northern I re l and being pa r t o fB rita in ra th er than of I re land . The Pro te s t an t worker carne tobel ieve t h a t he was pr iv i l eged as compared with h is Catho l ic f e l l ~ wworker and t h a t any ex tens ion o f c i v i l r i gh t s to the Catho l ics w O ~ l . dbe a t h r e a t to h is supposed pr iv i l eges . This was a grea t i l l u s i o n , bu tonce which has re t a ined mass Pro te s t an t working c l a s s suppor t fo rUnionism (now s p l i t in to var ious warr ing po l i t i c a l fac t ions bu t a l lagreed on mainta in ing the union with Br i t a i n ) . The averagePro te s t an t worker has never advanced to the l imi ted-enough t rade unionand re fo rmis t consciousness represented by suppor t fo r a Labourpar ty . The Northern I re land Labour P arty , d esp ite pro t es t a t i ons ofloya l ty to the Crown and even o f s ~ p p c r t fo r th e S pec ia l Powers Act ,has always remained a sma l l minor i ty pa r ty .The Pro te s t an t worker never has been in any p ri vi le g ed po s it io n . Hehas always su f fe red from the working-class problems o f pover ty , slumsand unemployment. And indeed it was only because o f th i s t h a tUnionis t l oca l counc i l s were able to br ibe a few o f them with th eoccas iona l job o r house in prefe rence to a Catho l ic worker . One o fthe more pa the t i c Northern I re land scenes has always been to see onthe Twelth o f July the Pro t es t an t slums of Be l f a s t adorned with theun in t en t iona l ly i ron ic banner , IITHIS WE WILL MAIN':'AIN".The t rade union movement in Northern I re land i s l c rge ly an e x ~ e n s i o no f t h a t of the r e s t o f Br i t a i n and i s the OLe m a s ~ organ i sa t ion whichun i t es both Pro te s t an t s and Catho l i cs , though t he re are twoII t r anspor t and genera l workers ' unions II in the docks , one P r o t c . ~ t a n t ,the o the r Catho l i c . As in the South t rade unions have suf fe red morel ega l r e s t r i c t i on s than in Br i t a i n . The 1927 Trades Disputes Act ,passed as a pun i t ive measure a f t e r th e Br i t i sh General S t r i k e , stillapp l i es and on one occas ion th e Spec ia l Powers Act was used aga ins tt rade un ion i s t s .This s i tua t ion - -where a cor rup t Unionis t c l iq ue ru led cont inuous lyby l i e s and t h rea t s and, desp i t e having major i ty support , undemocrat icprac t i ce s - - was accepted by success ive Westminster governments ,Labour as wel l as Conservat ive , un t i l the whole system began tobreak down in 1968 and 1969.As long as the Southern I re l and government pursued a p ro t e c t i on i s tpol icy the demand fo r a Uni ted I r e l and , which most Catho l ics in theNorth suppor ted , r ea l l y was a th re a t to the bus ines s i n t e r e s t s o f th e


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-28-Bel fas t cap i t a l i s t s . Accordingly, those i n t e r e s t s demanded t ha t theUnionis t s cont inued to stir up sectar ianism as a means of re ta in ingmass suppor t fo r union with the Bri t i sh -market. But when, from about1960 onward, the Southern I re land government f ina l ly abandonedpro tec t ion and sought , and even tua l ly got , free trade with Bri tz in( inc luding Northern I r e l and) , the I r i sh National ism of the Cathol icminor i ty was not such a t h r e a t and the way was open for more f r iendlyr e l a t i ons between Bel fas t and Dublin . T his change was symbolised by ther es ig na tio n in 1959 of De Valera as Prime Minis ter and h is l a t e re lec t ion as f igure-head Pres iden t o f the I r i sh Republic and the 1963res igna t ion of Brookeborough as Prime Minis ter o f Northern I re l and .De Vale ra ' s succes sor , Lemass, began to speak of the North as"Northern I re land" i n s t ead o f , as was previous ly o blig ato ry inrepubl ican c i r c l e s , "the s ix count ies" thus conceding it a ce r ta inleg i t imacy. In the North the Nat iona l i s t MP's agreed to become "hermajes ty ' s " of f i c i a l oppos i t ion and Brookeborough's successor , O'Nei l l ,au thor i s ed f lags on o f f i c i a l b uild in gs to f ly a t ha l f -mas t on the deathof Pope John in June 1963, a s t a r t l i ng s i gh t in a c i ty l ik e Bel fas twhere the slum wal l s are daubed with the s logan "NO POPE HERE". InJanuary 1965 Lemass t r ave l l ed sec re t ly to meet O'Nei l l in Bel fas t ; thefol lowing month O 'N e il l s lip pe d o f f to Dublin. In December the AngloI r i sh Free Trade Agreement was s igned. It appeared t ha t the fu ture heldout the gradual d i sappearance o f the sec ta r ian b i t t e rness which hadbeen a fea ture of Northern I re l and p o l i t i c a l l i f e s ince the 1880 's , ahope seemingly confirmed by the fa i lu re of the 1956-62 IRA campaignaga ins t the North because o f lack o f suppor t from the Cathol ic minor i ty .But t h i s was no t to be . The Unionis t government could now withoutdanger have abandoned i t s cor rup t and undemocratic prac t ices andO'Nei l l - - t he f i r s t Northern I re l and Prime Minis ter not to claim to begoverning a Pro te s t an t State fo r a Protes tan t People -- did urge t h i s .But it was no easy ta sk for the Unionis t p o l i t i c a l machine tosuddenly turn o f f the hatreds it had so ass iduous ly cu l t i va t ed fo r theprevious eighty years . In fac t near ly every prominent f igure inNorthern I re l and l i f e - - judges and Church l eader s as wel l as po l i t i c i ans - i s on record as say ing , no t so very long ago, what the Rev. IanPais ley now d o e s ~When a Civ i l Rights movement arose to demand the end of the var iouscor rup t and undemocratic prac t ices - - t he gerrymander ing, ther e s t r i c t ed f ranchise , d isc r imina t ion o ver h ousin g and jobs , the BSpec ia l s and the Spec ia l Powers A ct-- the Union ist government r eac tedas it had done towards a l l prev ious oppos i t ion movements supported bythe Catho l ics : it saw it as a t h rea t to the e xis ten ce of the U nio nis ts t a t e l e t , as a Republican p l o t to be ru th less ly crushed. It was af a t a l mistake which within four years led to the over throw, by aBri t i sh Conservat ive government , of f i f ty years o f U nio nist ru le inNorthern I re l and . In any even t , almost the whole Civ i l Rightsprogramme - -wi th the except ion o f the repeal of the Specia l Powers Act ,but even t h i s would probably have been replaced by something l e s scomprehensive but j u s t as e f fec t i ve had not war broken out between theProv is iona l IRA and the Br i t i sh Army in February 1971-- had alreadybeen conceded.Northern I re l and too i s now back where it was before the f i r s t world war:


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-29-

ru led d i rec t l y from Br i t a in . The f if ty -y e ar s tr etc h o f Uls te r Unionis tru le over the s ix count ies o f North -Eas t Uls te r s t ands out as anepi sode in the development o f cap i t a l i sm in I re l and , as a means o fp re ve nt in g th e Be l fa s t cap i t a l i s t s from having been cu t o f f from ther e s t o f i ndu s t r i a l Bri ta in behind the t a r i f f wal ls of an ag r i c u l t u r a lI r e l and . The f ea r o f the e f f e c t t h i s would have had on p ro f i t s hasbeen the mate ria l b as is o f Be l f a s t ' s s t e ad fa s t Unionism and "Loyal ty" .The Unionis ts , as the saying goes , were bas i c a l ly more loya l to theha l f -c rown than the Crown.


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-28-Be l f a s t c a p i t a l i s t s . Accordingly, those i n t e r e s t s demanded t ha t theUnionists cont inued to stir up sectar ianism as a means of re ta in ingmass suppor t fo r union with the Br i t i sh -market. But when, from about1960 onward, the Southern I re l and government f ina l ly abandonedpro tec t ion and sought , and even tua l ly got , free trade with Bri tz in( inc luding Northern I r e l and) , the I r i sh National ism of the Cathol icminor i ty was not such a t h r e a t and the way was open fo r more f r iendlyre la t ions between Be l f a s t and Dublin. This change was symbolised by theres ignat ion in 1959 of De Valera as Prime Minis ter and h is l a t e re lec t ion as f igure-head Pres iden t o f the I r i sh Republic and the 1963res igna t ion of Brookeborough as Prime M inister o f Northern I re l and .De Vale ra ' s successor , Lemass, began to speak of the North as"Northern I re land" i n s t ead o f , as was previous ly o blig ato ry inrepubl ican c i r c l e s , "the s ix count ies" thus conceding it a ce r ta inleg i t imacy. In the North the Nat iona l i s t MP's agreed to become "hermajes ty ' s" o f f i c i a l oppos i t ion and Brookeborough's successor , O'Nei l l ,author ised f lags on o f f i c i a l bui ld ings to f ly a t ha l f -mas t on the deathof Pope John in June 1963, a s t a r t l i ng s i gh t in a c i ty l ike Bel fas twhere the slum walls are daubed with the slogan "NO POPE HERE". InJanuary 1965 Lemass t r ave l l ed secre t ly to meet O'Nei l l in Bel fas t ; thefol lowing month O 'N e ill s lip pe d o f f to Dublin. In December th e AngloI r i sh Free Trade Agreement was s igned. It appeared t ha t the fu ture heldout the g radu a l d is appe ar an ce o f th e sec ta r ian b i t t e rness which hadbeen a fea ture o f Northern I re l and po l i t i c a l l i f e s ince the 1880 's , ahope seemingly confirmed by the fa i lu re of the 1956-62 IRA campaignaga ins t the North because o f lack o f suppor t from the Cathol ic minor i ty .But th i s was no t to be. The Unionis t government could now withoutdanger have abandoned i t s cor rup t and undemocratic prac t ices andO'Nei l l - - t he f i r s t Northern I re l and Prime Minis te r not to claim to begoverning a P r ot es ta n t S ta te fo r a Pro te s t an t People -- d id urge t h i s .But it was no easy task fo r the Unionis t p o l i t i c a l machine tosuddenly tu rn o ff the ha t reds it had so ass iduous ly cu l t i va t ed fo r theprev ious eighty years . In f a c t near ly e ve ry p romin en t f igure inNorthern I re l and l i f e - - judges and Church l eader s as well as po l i t i c i an s - i s on record as say ing , no t so very long ago, what the Rev. IanPais ley now d o e s ~When a Civ i l Rights movement arose to demand the end of the var iouscorrupt and undemocratic prac t i c e s - - t he gerrymander ing, ther e s t r i c t ed f ra n chi se , d is c rim in a ti on over housing and jobs , the BSpec ia l s and th e Spec ia l Powers Act- - the Unionis t government r eac tedas it had done towards a l l previous oppos i t ion movements supported bythe Catho l ics : it saw it as a t h r e a t to the exis tence of the U nion ists t a t e l e t , as a Republican p l o t to be ru th less ly crushed. It was af a t a l mistake which within four years led to the over throw, by aBri t i sh Conservat ive government, of f i f ty years of Union is t ru le inNorthern I re l and . In any even t , almost the whole Civ i l Rightsprogramme - -wi th th e e xc ep tio n o f the repeal o f the Specia l Powers Act ,but even t h i s would probably have been replaced by something l e s scomprehensive but j u s t as e f fec t i ve had no t war broken out between theProvis ional IRA and th e Br i t i sh Army in Feb ru ary 1971-- had a l readybeen conceded.Northern I re l and too i s now back where it was before the f i r s t world war:


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-29-

ru led d i r ec t ly from Br i t a i n . The f if ty - ye a r s tr e tc h of U ls te r Union i s tru le over the s ix coun t ies o f North-Eas t Uls te r s tands ou t as anepisode in the development o f cap i t a l i sm in I re land , as a means o fprevent ing the Bel fas t cap i t a l i s t s from having been cu t o f f from ther e s t o f i ndu s t r i a l Br i t a in behind the t a r i f f walls of an agr i cu l t u ra lI re land . The fea r o f th e e ff e ct th is would have had on p ro f i t s hasbeen the mate r i a l bas i s o f Be l f a s t ' s s t e ad f a s t Unionism and "Loyal ty" .'The Union is t s , as the saying goes , were bas i c a l ly more l oya l to thehalf-crown than the Crown.


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ALL SOCIALISTS NOW?ACCORDING TO REPUBLICAN MYTHOLOGY, the Army Council o f the IRA i s theJnly l eg i t ima te government of a l l I re land , b oth North ern and Southern. r e land being i l l e g a l regimes s e t up by Br i t i sh imper ia l ism in 1920. ThEIRA claims au th or i ty to be the cons t i t u t i ona l government o f a l l I re l andon the bas i s of the Br i t i sh general e lec t ion of 1918 and the subsequentr a t i f i c a t i on by the e lec ted Sinn Fein cand ida tes , meeting on t h e i r ownin Duulin, of the Republic proclaimed a t Eas te r 1916. The IRA sees i t saim as to r e -e s t ab l i sh th i s Republic and to end the Br i t i sh mi l i t a ryoccupat ion o f a pa r t of i t s t e r r i t o ry . This fantasy would belaughable were it no t taken se r ious ly enough by IRA "volunteers" tok i l l and wound innocent working men and women to t ry to r ea l i s e t h e i rdream Republic .Up un t i l the pa s t decade the s t ra tegy o f the IRA was to use phys ica lforce to t r y to expel Br i t i sh t roops from Northern I re land . But ,fol lowing th e f a i lu re of t h e i r 1956-1962 campa ign to remove th eBorder by p hy sic al f or ce , t h e i r l eaders began to re - th ink t h e i r wholes t r ~ g e y . The end r e su l t was a dec la ra t ion in favour of "socia l ism" anda s h i f t from an exclus ive concen t ra t ion on a t t ack ing the presence o fBr i t i sh t roops in Northern I re land towards working fo r a "people ' srevolu t ion" to es t ab l i sh "a uni ted democrat ic soc i a l i s t republ ic fo rthe whole country" . The IRA, accordingly , involved i t s e l f in t enan t s 's t rugg les and s t r i k e s bu t , above a l l , in Northern I re land , in thec i v i l r i gh t s campaign. In e ff ec t m i li ta n t, bu t mainly peacefu l ,agi t a t ion replaced the gun and the bomb. When the c i v i l r i gh t scampaign ran in to i nc reas ing violence from the para -mi l i t a ry forcesof the Stormont regime t h i s perspec t ive became more and moreunpopular amongst many IRA members, e sp ec ia lly in the North.Even tua l ly , a t the end o f 1970 (and, apparen t ly , with money fromce r t a i n elements in th e I r i s h government) , th e o ld -f as hi on ed gunmenbroke away and the IRA sp l i t in to two s ec t ions , popular ly known as the"o f f i c i a l s " and the "p rov i s iona l s" (both of course claiming to be th el eg i t ima te government of a l l I r e l and) .The Prov i s iona l s are the backward- looking gunmen dedicated to endingby fo rce of arms the Br i t i sh mi l i t a ry presence in Northern I re land .The Prov i s iona l s too pay l i p - se rv i ce to socia l i sm but the bas i s oft h e i r suppor t i s crude Catho l ic sectar ian ism; they are in fac t littlemore than an unprincip led murder gang k i l l i ng innocent working men andwomen, Cathol ic as wel l as Pro te s t an t .As fo r the Off i c i a l s , t h e i r concept ion o f a "un i ted s oc i a l i s t republ ic"i s somewhat vague, envisaging a combination of Sta te and cooperat iveownership and co ntro l o f land and i ndus t ry . In o the r words, a r a t he rmild form of S ta te c ap ita lism . Needless to say , such a change wouldnot benef i t the workers of I re land as it would still leave them a t themercy of the economic fo rces o f world cap i t a l i sm. The " independentI r i sh economy" the IRA t a l k s about i s a pipe-dream. Nowadays no onecountry can i so l a t e i t s e l f from the world mark et. Cer ta in ly , it coulde r e c t pro t ec t ive t a r i f f s and it could es t ab l i sh a Sta te monopoly offore ign t r ade , bu t even so the forces of world cap i t a l i sm would stilloperate to r e s t r i c t working c la ss l iv in g s tandards . The g o v e r r ~ e n t ofthe I r i s h s ta te c ap i t a l i s t economy ( for t h a t i s what it wou ld . e)would f ind t ha t in order to purchase the imports it needed tc rJroducemanufactured goods it would have to s e l l i t s expor t s a t compet . ' l "e


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-31-p r i ce s . Cost s , inc luding wages, would have to be field downach ieve t h ~ s . The p la in fa c t i s t h a t the working c lass o f ~ l e ~ o u n t r ycannot emancipate i t s e l f on i t s own: cap i ta l i sm can only be over t .r.ownon a world sca le by th e uni t ed act. ion o f th e workers o f a l l tr""i ndus t r i a l i s ed coun t r i e s .This dream of an independent I r i s h s ta te c a p i t a l i s t economy (misnamedsoc ia l i sm) i s not held by the IRA a lone . I i s shared by Gerry F i t t ,leade r of th e SDLP, by Bernadet t e Devl in , by the Communist Par ty ofI r e land and by th e v ar io us Tro t sky i s t and Mao is t g ro up s which havesprou ted in recen t yea rs . It goes under var ious names: th e IRA, as wesaw, ca l l it a "uni ted democrat ic s o c i a l i s t repub l i c " ; the People ' sDemocracy "a t h i r ty - two county s o c i a l i s t workers ' and smal l fa rmers 'repub l i c " ; Bernadet te Devlin and the t r o ts k yis ts c a ll it a "workers 'repub l i c " ; fo r the Maoists it 's a "uni ted peop le ' s repub l i c " ; andfo r Gerry F i t t it's a United I r e l and based on "Connolly soc ia l i sm" .In a sense F i t t i s r i gh t . The or ig in o f t h i s mistaken i d e ~ d o e ~ goback to James Connol ly . Connolly i s an I r i sh Nat iona l Hero fo r havingbeen executed a f t e r th e Eas te r Rising in 1916. The f a c t ~ ~ 3 t he tookpa r t in an i n su r r ec t i on , and an e a r l i e r per iod o f mi l i t an tsynd ica l i sm, has obscured th e f a c t t h a t a t the t ime o f h is deathConnolly was a r e fo rmis t L a b o u r i ~ e and Socia l Democrat. The Soc ia lDemocrats o f the Second In t e rna t i ona l , i n so fa r as they had someidea o f Socia l i sm, saw it no t as a f ron t i e r l e s s world c o n ~ u n i t y bu tra the r as a fe de ra tio n o f independent " soc i a l i s t repub l i c s ff whichcould be es tab l i shed independent ly a t d i f f e r en t t imes in th e var iousd i f f e r en t coun t r ies of th e world . In o the r w011s, they d id not re ip c rthe concept o f " s oc ia li sm - i n -one -c oun tr y ". On th e con t ra ry , theyembraced and propagated it. Connolly ag re ed w ith t h i s e r r o rwholehear tedly . I re l and , he always argued , be ing a s ep ar ate " na tio n ",was en t i t l ed to i t s own sepa ra t e " soc i a l i s t republ ic" independent o fBr i t a i n ' s .Born in Edinburgh in 1868, he jo ined a l oca

the irish question: a socialist analysis

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