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The
last few weeks have seen more symptoms of the crisis
of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement with Stormont once
again being suspended. In the South, the referendum
saw the victory of the Nice Treaty, with the promise
of more problems for the Irish working class. There
is a danger that Republican Socialists end up simply
reacting to events. What is important is to have a
long term strategic vision that enables us to clearly
understand what is to be done. The fundamental task
of Republican Socialists is not so much opposing the
Good Friday Agreement or the effects of the Nice Treaty,
but to give political leadership to the different
struggles of the working class that will emerge in
the coming weeks, months and years. This cannot be
done without building the party, without forming the
vanguard.
The
working class is compelled by objective circumstances
to struggle against various problems: exploitation
on building sites, resisting the introduction of water
rates, fighting drug dealers, attacks by Loyalists
etc. If the working class will certainly engage in
those issues, spontaneous actions and reactions to
those problems are in themselves not sufficient to
transform Irish society. A long term strategy, policies,
directions to do so will not emerge spontaneously
out of those struggles. This is even more true when
one takes into account that there is an uneven level
of political consciousness among our people, and that
the working class cannot afford to be constantly in
struggle 24 hours a day seven days a week. Political
leadership can only come from a political party, whose
advanced strategic understanding of the concrete situation
enables the working class struggle to move forward.
This does not mean that it is a group of intellectuals
whose “special knowledge” makes them more
clever than other people. On the contrary, it is composed
of the section of the working class with the highest
level of political consciousness and organic link
to the real struggles of the masses that makes it
the most politically dynamic part of the working class.
This
vanguard aims to be a catalyst to the struggle of
the people, give it direction and elevate the level
of political consciousness among the masses. And it
is not enough for one party to proclaim itself “the
vanguard of the working class”. To be the genuine
vanguard, one needs to recognised as such by the people.
During the coming year, the IRSP will increase its
efforts in elevating the level of political consciousness
of its members, develop policies and strategies to
revolutionise Irish society, and build up its presence
within mass struggles. As part of this process, the
party will publish the Ta Power Document in its entirety.
This is not out of some historical curiosity, but
as an integral part of the politicisation of our party
to help it become the political catalyst and leader
of the struggles of the working class, women, immigrants
and young people.
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