The
invasion of Ireland by the British some eight
hundred years ago has been the catalyst behind
insurrection after insurrection to remove the
British colonial forces from these shores. The
Irish natives were subject to an imposed British
monarchy, having to forfeit their freedom and
sovereignty in the face of defeat and that has
been the way ever since. So, with failed attempt
after failed attempt, using the French, Americans,
Germans etc. as allies in their aid we find ourselves
in modern times.
The
1916 uprising was probably the most poignant of
insurrections in recent years seeing the British
answer to the Irish problem - bombardment with
heavy artillery. The leaders of the uprising,
Pearse, Connolly, Clarke etc. were killed by British
firing squad days after their surrender at Killmainham
gaol in Dublin. A few years later, circa 1920-21
we witnessed the split in the Republican movement
with the Republican left refusing to recognise
the 26 county proposed settlement of the British,
and the Republican right accepting the terms of
the British monarch and becoming Free Staters.
Republicanism was traded in return for constitutional
nationalism.
Today
we find ourselves in the mirrored position of
the Republican left of 1921. The right have yet
again sided with the investor, property and prosperity.
They have been wined and dined by the bureaucracy
of the world forgetting that they once stood in
tandem with the respectable working class of Ireland.
All connections with the proletariat have been
severed as they have accepted the embrace of the
Celtic Tiger.
Aran
jumpers and tweed jackets have been replaced by
the Armani suit. The heavily fortressed incident
centres of the seventies and eighties have been
steadily replaced with multi-million pound buildings,
fully equipped with the state of the art, cutting
edge technology. The hand-painted signs have been
replaced with impressive digital imagery canvassed
high outside the prospective buildings, a sure
indication of prosperity and wealth.
So
where does that leave us now. With the forthcoming
Water Rates in April 2007, the GFA stalemate at
Stormont, the outing of British agents burrowed
and strategically placed within the P$F and PIRA,
and the pending situation of the PSNI being accepted
and endorsed by Provisional $inn Fein the working
class Republican surely feels more and more isolated
and hard done by as the politicians get concession
after concession, carefully gift wrapped in their
fat cat salaries from the British. Prosperity
has sided with the Republican right at the detriment
of the class that voted them there, with the resounding
chants of "et tu Brute" masking the
cold steel that has repeatedly stabbed them in
the back.
Let's
look at the issue of the British agents within
the PRM. Hand picked aids of the PSF pro-agreement
leadership have seemingly been positioned there
since the eighties, enabling the British to obtain
complete control of the thinking and direction
of the Party. Was the GFA that was hailed as the
process to end the war that plagued this country
for eight hundred years with cavalcades of scores
of cars parading throughout the north a victory
for Republicans, or was it the carefully choreographed
deal of a British government intent on strengthening
their hold on the occupied six counties of Ireland?
The latter is certainly a plausible option to
give careful consideration.
Another
hardship for the proletariat is the pending water
charges. This is in addition to the 37% of the
current rate bill going to the water service for
the water pumped into houses. The British government,
have yet again opted to privatise natural resources
for profit. So what does this all mean for the
average working class family of north and west
Belfast? Well, it's quite simple.
From
April 2007 the population of the north of Ireland
will be greeted with their first water rates bill
totalling somewhere in the region of £350
- £500. Those who refuse to pay will eventually
be fined and jailed. The British have now began
to push this legislation forward through Parliament
in what seemed as an unprecedented step to shaft
the working class of the north. Is this the case,
as they say that if it is left to Stormont it
will never be implemented and the Devolved British
government residing in Stormont castle will face
a deficit of millions of pounds for their annual
budget, or is this the real reason for the stalemate
in the GFA?
All
the politicians who endorsed and signed up to
the GFA, those Members of the Legislative Authority
of the British Empire in "Northern Ireland"
have already accepted the water charges. They
have already signed up to the implementation of
these rates that charge for what in any third
world country is classed as a human right. The
problem is though that they will never be able
to convince the working class that it is in their
interests to impose yet another extortionate levy
upon an already heavy laden class.
The
DUP and P$F in particular have placed the British
government under extreme pressure to impose these
charges under Home Rule, knowing that this would
be a fatal blow to any future electoral campaigns
that will depend on the proletariat vote to sustain
their majority position. This way, both parties
will have the strengthened position of laying
blame solely at the feet of the British, claiming,
as we have already witnessed in recent days that
if it were to be left to the discretion of the
Stormont contingent then they would never impose
this upon the working people of this island.
So,
if this is to be considered as the real reason
for the hold up in Stormont, then exactly what
is the position on policing and the acceptance
of the PSNI by P$F and as Republican Socialists
what ramifications will any deal bear upon our
movement and future contact with the PRM?
This
is simple. I refer back to the definitions of
both republican and republic. As republicans Sinn
Fein should have no problem in refusing to accept
the PSNI as a legitimate police service. They
should quite easily recognise that in order for
the people to receive a fully representational
police service, one that is representational of
the needs of the proletariat and not biased against
them in favour of capitalist investment and the
neo liberal agendas of any given country, then
this must be established by the people, for the
people and from within the parameters of a 32
county Socialist Workers Republic of Ireland.
The fact that the British are trying to represent
the working class of Ireland in the PSNI by establishing
the Patten reports recommendations of 50/50 policing,
50% Catholic and 50% other falls far short of
a representational police service. This is a lie.
On
the other hand we have P$F asking the public what
alternative is there to policing? They have highlighted
the vacuum in policing, they have raised this
in debate throughout the country and they are
correct, in the absence of a fully representational
police service of all the inhabitants of this
island we are faced with a serious public order
problem.
The
people of Ireland need to be policed. They deserve
a suitable and acceptable police force. It is
their right as citizens of a democratically elected
country. So, how is this resolved? Is there any
legitimacy for Republicans of whatever tradition
in the PSNI, with the full implementation of the
Patten reports recommendations? The answer is
a simple, resounding and blunt "NO".
We
as republicans must be on our guard at all times.
The capitalist will always try to deceive us.
They will mask and cover up their true intentions
and hope to bribe us by appealing to that nature
of self that resides in every one of us. They
will speak to us with honey coated words, use
complex language in order to confuse us and parcel
up their poison to make it look like sweet smelling
fragrance. This is what is happening now. They
have taken Republicans to the point of no return.
Constitutional nationalists have masqueraded as
republicans and are trying to dupe and confuse
the grass roots with words of grandeur, assurances
of the end dream of a 32 county Socialist Republic
and blatant lies. They have chosen once again
to favour the investor, the rich, and the capitalist.
Real
republicans can recognise this betrayal of republican
beliefs, for there is one test that cannot fail.
Republicans are anti-monarchy. They desire the
complete withdrawal of the British from our island,
both economical and militarily. They demand the
abolition of partition. Nothing else can compensate
for these demands.
Stormont
is a British settlement. It has copper fastened
partition. It has strengthened the British claim
to the north of Ireland. It has heightened sectarianism
and split republicanism. It is nothing more than
a devolved legislative authority of the British
Empire. Republicans have bought into that with
their involvement in the GFA. They are trying
to sell this settlement as the ideal republican
victory, as a road to the promised republic, and
the PSNI as an acceptable police service. We must
remember, the PSNI are, and will remain to be,
the British Crown Forces and a permanent reminder
of the occupation of our land.
