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{{short description|Irish political party}}
{{POV|date=May 2010}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2007}}
{{Infobox political party {{Infobox political party
|country = the Republic of Ireland | country = the Republic of Ireland
|country2 = Northern Ireland | country2 = Northern Ireland
|name_english = Socialist Workers Party | name = Socialist Workers Network
| logo = Socialist Workers Network logo.png
|name_native =
|logo = ] | leader = Collective leadership (])
⚫ | foundation = {{start date|1971}}
|leader = Collective leadership (])
| ideology = {{Ubl|]|]|]}}
⚫ |foundation = {{start date|1971}}
| national = {{Ubl|]|]|] (pre-2013)}}
|headquarters = 1 Galtymore Drive, ],<br/>] 8
⚫ | international = ]
|ideology = ]
| european = {{Nowrap|]}}<br />]
|position = ] | colours = Red, black
| website = {{url|socialistworkeronline.net}}
|national = ]
⚫ | colorcode = {{party color|Socialist Workers Party (Ireland)}}
⚫ |international = ]
|european = ]
|colours = ], ], ]
|website =
⚫ |colorcode = {{Socialist Workers Party (Ireland)/meta/color}}
}} }}
{{Trotskyism}}
The '''Socialist Workers Party''' ('''SWP''') is an ] ] ].
The '''Socialist Workers Network''' ('''SWN''') is an Irish ]<ref> – Harry McGee. “ For anybody who has not been intimately involved with the Socialist Workers Party or the Socialist Party, you would need to have a PhD in semantics and rhetoric to winkle out the actual ideological difference between them. They are both Trotskyist and advocate permanent revolution and political agitation through working class mass action in capitalist societies such as Ireland.”</ref> organisation.

It was founded in 1971 as the '''Socialist Workers Movement''' ('''SWM'''), before becoming the '''Socialist Workers Party''' ('''SWP''') in 1995. The SWP was a founding member of ] and was a member of the ] and ].

In 2018, the SWP changed its name to Socialist Workers Network.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.socialistworkeronline.net/socialist-workers-take-a-new-direction/|title=SOCIALIST WORKERS TAKE A NEW DIRECTION|work=Socialist Worker {{!}} Ireland|access-date=2018-02-13|language=en-gb|archive-date=14 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210453/http://www.socialistworkeronline.net/socialist-workers-take-a-new-direction/|url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Foundation and growth== ==Foundation and growth==
The SWP was originally founded in 1971 as the '''Socialist Workers Movement''' by supporters of the ] of ] (now called the ]) living in ], who had previously been members of ], the ] and the ]. Many of the members had been active in the new ]. The SWM subsequently affiliated to the SLA, but soon left, claiming that the Alliance was organised to debate, rather than to campaign. The SWP was founded in 1971 as the '''Socialist Workers Movement''' by supporters of the ] of ] (now called the ]) living in ], who had previously been members of ], the Waterford Socialist Movement and the Young Socialists. Many of the members had been active in the new ]. The SWM subsequently affiliated to the SLA, but soon left, claiming that the Alliance was organised to debate, rather than to campaign.


Some of those who joined the SWM after its formation sympathised with a small tendency in Britain and later split away to form the Irish Workers Group,<ref name="multiple">Goodwillie, John (August/September 1983). "Glossary of the Left in Ireland". ''Gralton: an Irish Socialist Review'' 9: 17-20.</ref> which later became ]. Meanwhile, the SWM grew on a modest scale and published a paper called ''The Worker''. Some of those who joined the SWM after its formation sympathised with a small tendency in Britain and later split away to form the Irish Workers Group,<ref name="multiple">Goodwillie, John (August/September 1983). "Glossary of the Left in Ireland". ''Gralton: an Irish Socialist Review'' 9: 17-20.</ref> which later became ]. Meanwhile, the SWM grew on a modest scale and published a paper called ''The Worker''.


In 1975, the SWM narrowly rejected a proposal to merge into the ].<ref name="irsp">{{cite book|last=Hanley & Millar|first=B&S|title=The Lost Revolution: The story of the Official IRA and the Workers Party|year=2009| publisher=Penguin Ireland|location=Ireland|isbn=978-1-84488-120-8|page=286}}</ref> SWM members helped to organise and publicise public meetings which were addressed by IRSP founder ]. In 1976 prior to the establishment of the Socialist Labour Party, and the SWN affiliation to it, they were in negotiations with the ] a schism from the IRSP about a merger.<ref></ref>
⚫ When the ] was founded in 1977, SWM joined as a 'tendency' (or subgroup). The Socialist Workers Tendency was noted in the SLP for producing a bulletin more professional than that of the party. They left in 1980 to reform the Socialist Workers Movement.<ref name="multiple"/>


⚫ When the ] was founded in 1977, the SWM joined as a 'tendency' (or subgroup). The Socialist Workers Tendency was noted in the SLP for producing a bulletin more professional than that of the party. They left in 1980 to reform the Socialist Workers Movement.<ref name="multiple"/>
⚫ The SWM was long overshadowed on the Irish left by organisations such as the ], but the ] and the ] regimes post 1989 saw it grow. Unlike most other ] groups, the SWM supported the ] against what it saw as ] ]s, contending that regimes such as the ] were not socialist but a form of ], directed not by ]s but by a ] bureaucracy using the ].


⚫ The SWM was long overshadowed on the Irish left by organisations such as the ], but the ] and the ] regimes after 1989 saw it grow. Unlike some Irish ] groups, the SWM supported the ] against what it saw as state capitalist ]s, contending that regimes such as the ] were not socialist but a form of ], directed not by ]s but by a ] bureaucracy using the ].
⚫ Growing from a small agitation group of about fifty members, the SWM now began to build groups in major colleges such as ] and ]. Its traditional workplace bastion, ], has faded in strength but the SWP has developed some limited support in the ] unions and the education branch of SIPTU (]). The party campaigned vigorously in referendums for abortion choice and for divorce.


⚫ Growing from a small agitation group of about fifty members, the SWM now began to build groups in major colleges such as ] and ]. Its traditional workplace bastion, ], has faded in strength but the SWP has developed some limited support in the ] unions and the education branch of ]. The party campaigned vigorously in referendums for abortion choice and for divorce.
⚫ The SWM changed its name to the Socialist Workers Party at its conference in 1995, after delegates working at Dublin Bus argued that it should now take itself seriously on the left, as it then had a growing and active membership.

⚫ The SWM changed its name to the Socialist Workers Party at its conference in 1995, after delegates from Dublin Bus argued that it should now take itself seriously on the left, as it then had a growing and active membership.


==From movement to party== ==From movement to party==
The SWP grew from a mostly ]-based membership, where it had two branches, to today's organisation with a number of branches in Dublin as well as branches in some other Irish cities and towns, and also in some colleges and universities. At its 2004 conference it claimed to have five hundred members, although this membership figure was regarded as much exaggerated by many others on the Irish left who have estimated SWP membership at anything between seventy and two hundred. It has not made any public membership claim since 2004. The SWP grew from a mostly ]-based membership, where it had two branches, to today's organisation with a number of branches in Dublin as well as branches in some other Irish cities and towns, and also in some colleges and universities.{{vague|date=March 2015}} At its 2004 conference it claimed to have five hundred members, although this membership figure was regarded as much exaggerated by many others on the Irish left who have estimated SWP membership at anything between seventy and two hundred. It has not made any public membership claim since 2004.


Since it began to participate in elections, both general (Dáil) and local government, in 1997, it has so far failed to have any of its candidates elected under its own name. So far the party has not run any candidates for the ] or the ]. Since it began to participate in elections, both general (]) and local government, in 1997, it has so far failed to have any of its candidates elected under its own name. So far the party has not run any candidates for the ] or the ].


In the ], it improved on its previous performances by polling relatively strongly in four Dublin wards. There were ], ], ] and ], where its candidates won 792 votes (5.65%), 1,439 votes (7.94%), 1,044 votes (7.36%) and 1,094 votes (11.75%) respectively. No seats were won however. In the ], it improved on its previous performances by polling relatively strongly in four Dublin wards. These were ], ], ] and ], where its candidates won 792 votes (5.65%), 1,439 votes (7.94%), 1,044 votes (7.36%) and 1,094 votes (11.75%) respectively. No seats were won however.


The ] was the last occasion on which SWP candidates stood under the SWP banner in a general election. The ] was the last occasion on which SWP candidates stood under the SWP banner in a general election.


In the ], their candidates ran under the banner of the ]. The People Before Profit Alliance stood five candidates, four of them SWP activists. Their candidate in the ], ], was 2,000 votes short of winning a seat, scoring 8.9% of the first-preference vote.<ref></ref> In the ], their candidates ran under the banner of ]. People Before Profit stood five candidates, four of them SWP activists. Their candidate in the ], ], was 2,000 votes short of winning a seat, scoring 8.9% of the first-preference vote.<ref></ref>


In the ] ten of the thirteen People Before Profit candidates were also SWP members. In 2014 Bríd Smith of the SWP stood for the Dublin constituency in the European Parliament Elections, which was believed to have been a factor in ] MEP ] losing his seat which had been won by ] in 2009.<ref name="thejournal.ie">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/paul-murphy-brid-smith-1484987-May2014/|title = The gloves are off: Socialists slam Brid Smith for splitting Dublin vote| date=26 May 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://links.org.au/node/3875|title = Ireland: Left surge in South's local and European elections &#124; Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal}}</ref>
In the ] ten of the thirteen People Before Profit Alliance candidates were also SWP members.


Although the reasons are currently unknown the majority of the Belfast branch of the SWP broke away at the end of 2009 forming a group known as the International Socialists which is confined to Belfast. Due to disagreements between the Dublin leadership and the ] branch of the SWP on the selection of election candidates, a majority of the Belfast branch broke away at the end of 2009. They formed a group known as the International Socialists which is confined to Belfast.


==Personalities and elected representatives== ==Personalities and elected representatives==
In the 2011 General Election, SWP member and Irish Anti-War Movement chair ] was elected to the Dail Eireann on behalf of the ] as part of the ]. One of its best known members is ], a journalist from ], who was involved in the ] in ] in the 1960s. He was present at both the ] in August 1969 and ] in January 1972, and has campaigned for the families of the fourteen shot dead by the ] ]. McCann writes articles for media such as the '']'' and ''Hot Press'', and attracted 9,127 votes (1.6%) for the ] in the Northern Ireland constituency in the ]. In the 2011 general election, SWP member and ] chair ] was elected to the Dáil Éireann on behalf of ] as part of the ]. One of its best known members is ], a journalist from ], who was involved in the ] in the 1960s. He was present at both the ] in August 1969 and ] in January 1972, and has campaigned for the families of the fourteen shot dead by the ] ]. McCann writes articles for media such as the '']'' and ''Hot Press'', and attracted 9,127 votes (1.6%) for the ] in the ] in the ].


Kieran Allen is a sociologist in ], and is one of the party's main theorists, writing books on ''The Politics of ]'', the '']'' and ''Max Weber - Sociologist of Empire''. ], a ] party representative, was jailed in ]'s ] after campaigning against rubbish-bin charges in Dublin. The late ], long-time left-wing veteran and nautical historian was also an active and dedicated member. Rory Hearne, who left the party in 2008, was President of the ] Student Union and Deputy President of the ]. Other important figures are ] and ]. Kieran Allen is a sociologist in ], and is one of the party's main theorists, writing books such as ''The Politics of ]'', the '']'' and ''Max Weber - Sociologist of Empire''. ], a ] party representative, was jailed in ]'s ] after campaigning against rubbish-bin charges in Dublin. The late ], long-time left-wing veteran and nautical historian, was also an active and dedicated member. ], who left the party in 2008, was President of the ] and Deputy President of the ].


==Publications== ==Publications==
The best known SWP publication is the monthly newspaper '']''. In recent years the paper has sought to change itself from a narrow party publication to a broader, full colour, ] 'paper of the movements', occasionally including contributors from the wider Irish left. ''Socialist Worker'' was for a period the most frequently published Marxist newspaper in Ireland,{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} published fortnightly from 1995, and weekly for a brief period in 2003 following the ]. However, in 2005 it was issued only once every three weeks and in 2006 it returned to a monthly schedule. The best known SWN publication is the monthly newspaper '']''. In recent years the paper has sought to change itself from a narrow party publication to a broader, full colour, ] 'paper of the movements', occasionally including contributors from the wider Irish left. ''Socialist Worker'' was for a period the most frequently published Marxist newspaper in Ireland,{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} published fortnightly from 1995, and weekly for a brief period in 2003 following the ]. However, in 2005 it was issued only once every three weeks and in 2006 it returned to a monthly schedule.


It has occasionally attempted to launch a magazine dealing with theoretical and political issues in greater detail. One such attempt was called ''Resistance'' and lasted for eight issues. A more recently attempt entitled ''New Left Journal'', lasted for two issues. It has occasionally attempted to launch a magazine dealing with theoretical and political issues in greater detail. One such attempt was called ''Resistance'' and lasted for eight issues. A more recently attempt entitled ''New Left Journal'', lasted for two issues.

In 2012, the ''Irish Marxist Review''<ref></ref> was launched and since has had regular editions. After its recalibration in 2018, the SWN also launched a new socialist website called Rebel.<ref></ref>


==Politics== ==Politics==
The SWP argues that in ], it more unites ] and ] workers than divides them. They believe that working class unity can only be built if Protestants turn their back on ] ideas, and Catholic workers reject the idea of a "pan-] alliance".{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} The SWN argues that working class unity can only be built if Protestants turn their back on ] ideas, and Catholic workers reject the idea of a "pan-] alliance" in ].{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}


However, in earlier years they tended to take a more Republican line on ], for example arguing in 1985 that "Protestant workers can be compared to the poor whites of the Southern states of the USA. Their cheap labour goes hand in hand with their racism." (''Socialist Worker'', No. 21, December 1985). It was supportive of the turn towards socialism by ] during the late 1970s and 1980s. The SWP were active in the mass movements opposing the ] of ] prisoners in the early 1980s, and members of the SWM were active in local Anti-H Block committees (] member Phil Toale, a shop steward in the town's cigarette factory, organised a general strike in the town the day that hunger-striker ] died). The SWM took the view that it was the duty of revolutionary socialists to support those opposing ], but that this would be better done by a mass movement like the Civil Rights Movement than the one thousand or so trained volunteers of the ]. The SWM used to call for a vote for Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland up until its party conference of 1995, when it was argued that the ]/] leadership of ] were moving to an accommodation with imperialism. It opposed the subsequent ], arguing that rather than ending conflict in Northern Ireland, the Agreement was 'institutionalising sectarianism', creating two competing communities and political leaderships, both ] and ], which did little for working-class people. However, in earlier years they tended to take a more Republican line on ], for example arguing in 1985 that "Protestant workers can be compared to the poor whites of the Southern states of the US. Their cheap labour goes hand in hand with their racism." (''Socialist Worker'', No. 21, December 1985). It was supportive of the turn towards socialism by ] during the late 1970s and 1980s, and considered merging into the Irish Republican Socialist Party in 1975.<ref name="irsp"/> The SWM were active in the mass movements opposing the ] of ] prisoners in the early 1980s, and members of the SWM were active in local Anti-H Block committees (] member Phil Toale, a shop steward in the town's cigarette factory, organised a general strike in the town the day that hunger-striker ] died). The SWM took the view that it was the duty of revolutionary socialists to support those opposing ], but that this would be better done by a mass movement like the Civil Rights Movement than the one thousand or so trained volunteers of the ]. The SWM used to call for a vote for Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland up until its party conference of 1995, when it was argued that the ]/] leadership of ] were moving to an accommodation with imperialism. It opposed the subsequent ], arguing that rather than ending conflict in Northern Ireland, the Agreement was 'institutionalising sectarianism', creating two competing communities and political leaderships, both ] and ], which did little for working-class people.


Following ] on 25 February 2006 by Republicans, protesting at a planned ']' parade, the SWP issued a press release in which it expressed its full support for the actions of the rioters. According to the press release, given the wider context of (apparent) working-class alienation at the hands of the capitalist political establishment, the riots were completely justified: "socialists do not join in the condemnation of young working class people who riot against the police - especially given this wider context." Also, the SWP claimed that the 'Love Ulster' march was purposely planned by ], the ], as a provocation to republicans to riot, and thus further blacken the Republican movement, of whom the Minister is a most vocal critic. Following ] on 25 February 2006 by Republicans, protesting at a planned ']' parade, the SWP issued a press release in which it expressed its full support for the actions of the rioters. According to the press release, given the wider context of (apparent) working-class alienation at the hands of the capitalist political establishment, the riots were completely justified: "socialists do not join in the condemnation of young working class people who riot against the police - especially given this wider context." Also, the SWP claimed that the 'Love Ulster' march was purposely planned by ], the ], as a provocation to republicans to riot, and thus further blacken the Republican movement, of whom the Minister is a most vocal critic.


The SWP is organised on both sides of the border, but in Northern Ireland it works as part of the ] (SEA) in elections. The SWP is the only organised grouping within the SEA. It supports a united, socialist ], organised as a "worker's republic". The SWN is organised on both sides of the border. In Northern Ireland it initially operated as part of the ] (SEA) in elections. The SWP was the only organised grouping within the SEA. The group was dissolved in 2008 with most of it folding into ].


The SWP is part of the ] grouping. The SWN is part of the ] grouping.


== Notes == ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* *
* *
⚫ *
* A ] document
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{{Political parties in Ireland}} ]

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Latest revision as of 14:57, 27 October 2024

Irish political party

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Socialist Workers Network
LeaderCollective leadership (Central Committee)
Founded1971 (1971)
Ideology
National affiliation
European affiliationEuropean Anti-Capitalist Left
European United Left-Nordic Green Left
International affiliationInternational Socialist Tendency
ColoursRed, black
Website
socialistworkeronline.net
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The Socialist Workers Network (SWN) is an Irish Trotskyist organisation.

It was founded in 1971 as the Socialist Workers Movement (SWM), before becoming the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in 1995. The SWP was a founding member of People Before Profit and was a member of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left and International Socialist Tendency.

In 2018, the SWP changed its name to Socialist Workers Network.

Foundation and growth

The SWP was founded in 1971 as the Socialist Workers Movement by supporters of the International Socialists of Britain (now called the SWP) living in Ireland, who had previously been members of People's Democracy, the Waterford Socialist Movement and the Young Socialists. Many of the members had been active in the new Socialist Labour Alliance. The SWM subsequently affiliated to the SLA, but soon left, claiming that the Alliance was organised to debate, rather than to campaign.

Some of those who joined the SWM after its formation sympathised with a small tendency in Britain and later split away to form the Irish Workers Group, which later became Workers Power. Meanwhile, the SWM grew on a modest scale and published a paper called The Worker.

In 1975, the SWM narrowly rejected a proposal to merge into the Irish Republican Socialist Party. SWM members helped to organise and publicise public meetings which were addressed by IRSP founder Seamus Costello. In 1976 prior to the establishment of the Socialist Labour Party, and the SWN affiliation to it, they were in negotiations with the Independent Socialist Party (Ireland) a schism from the IRSP about a merger.

When the Socialist Labour Party was founded in 1977, the SWM joined as a 'tendency' (or subgroup). The Socialist Workers Tendency was noted in the SLP for producing a bulletin more professional than that of the party. They left in 1980 to reform the Socialist Workers Movement.

The SWM was long overshadowed on the Irish left by organisations such as the Workers' Party, but the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Warsaw Pact regimes after 1989 saw it grow. Unlike some Irish socialist groups, the SWM supported the revolutions of 1989 against what it saw as state capitalist dictatorships, contending that regimes such as the Soviet Union were not socialist but a form of state capitalism, directed not by corporations but by a Stalinist bureaucracy using the state.

Growing from a small agitation group of about fifty members, the SWM now began to build groups in major colleges such as Trinity College and University College Dublin. Its traditional workplace bastion, Waterford Glass, has faded in strength but the SWP has developed some limited support in the Dublin Bus unions and the education branch of SIPTU. The party campaigned vigorously in referendums for abortion choice and for divorce.

The SWM changed its name to the Socialist Workers Party at its conference in 1995, after delegates from Dublin Bus argued that it should now take itself seriously on the left, as it then had a growing and active membership.

From movement to party

The SWP grew from a mostly Dublin-based membership, where it had two branches, to today's organisation with a number of branches in Dublin as well as branches in some other Irish cities and towns, and also in some colleges and universities. At its 2004 conference it claimed to have five hundred members, although this membership figure was regarded as much exaggerated by many others on the Irish left who have estimated SWP membership at anything between seventy and two hundred. It has not made any public membership claim since 2004.

Since it began to participate in elections, both general (Dáil) and local government, in 1997, it has so far failed to have any of its candidates elected under its own name. So far the party has not run any candidates for the European Parliament or the Seanad.

In the 2004 local elections, it improved on its previous performances by polling relatively strongly in four Dublin wards. These were Artane, Dún Laoghaire, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, where its candidates won 792 votes (5.65%), 1,439 votes (7.94%), 1,044 votes (7.36%) and 1,094 votes (11.75%) respectively. No seats were won however.

The 2002 general election was the last occasion on which SWP candidates stood under the SWP banner in a general election.

In the 2007 general election, their candidates ran under the banner of People Before Profit. People Before Profit stood five candidates, four of them SWP activists. Their candidate in the Dún Laoghaire constituency, Richard Boyd Barrett, was 2,000 votes short of winning a seat, scoring 8.9% of the first-preference vote.

In the 2009 local elections ten of the thirteen People Before Profit candidates were also SWP members. In 2014 Bríd Smith of the SWP stood for the Dublin constituency in the European Parliament Elections, which was believed to have been a factor in Socialist Party (Ireland) MEP Paul Murphy losing his seat which had been won by Joe Higgins in 2009.

Due to disagreements between the Dublin leadership and the Belfast branch of the SWP on the selection of election candidates, a majority of the Belfast branch broke away at the end of 2009. They formed a group known as the International Socialists which is confined to Belfast.

Personalities and elected representatives

In the 2011 general election, SWP member and Irish Anti-War Movement chair Richard Boyd Barrett was elected to the Dáil Éireann on behalf of People Before Profit as part of the United Left Alliance. One of its best known members is Eamonn McCann, a journalist from Derry, who was involved in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He was present at both the Battle of the Bogside in August 1969 and Bloody Sunday in January 1972, and has campaigned for the families of the fourteen shot dead by the British Paratroop regiment. McCann writes articles for media such as the Belfast Telegraph and Hot Press, and attracted 9,127 votes (1.6%) for the Socialist Environmental Alliance in the Northern Ireland constituency in the 2004 European Parliament election.

Kieran Allen is a sociologist in UCD, and is one of the party's main theorists, writing books such as The Politics of James Connolly, the Celtic Tiger and Max Weber - Sociologist of Empire. Bríd Smith, a Ballyfermot party representative, was jailed in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison after campaigning against rubbish-bin charges in Dublin. The late John de Courcy Ireland, long-time left-wing veteran and nautical historian, was also an active and dedicated member. Rory Hearne, who left the party in 2008, was President of the Trinity College Dublin Students' Union and Deputy President of the Union of Students in Ireland.

Publications

The best known SWN publication is the monthly newspaper Socialist Worker. In recent years the paper has sought to change itself from a narrow party publication to a broader, full colour, anti-capitalist 'paper of the movements', occasionally including contributors from the wider Irish left. Socialist Worker was for a period the most frequently published Marxist newspaper in Ireland, published fortnightly from 1995, and weekly for a brief period in 2003 following the invasion of Iraq. However, in 2005 it was issued only once every three weeks and in 2006 it returned to a monthly schedule.

It has occasionally attempted to launch a magazine dealing with theoretical and political issues in greater detail. One such attempt was called Resistance and lasted for eight issues. A more recently attempt entitled New Left Journal, lasted for two issues.

In 2012, the Irish Marxist Review was launched and since has had regular editions. After its recalibration in 2018, the SWN also launched a new socialist website called Rebel.

Politics

The SWN argues that working class unity can only be built if Protestants turn their back on loyalist ideas, and Catholic workers reject the idea of a "pan-nationalist alliance" in Northern Ireland.

However, in earlier years they tended to take a more Republican line on The Troubles, for example arguing in 1985 that "Protestant workers can be compared to the poor whites of the Southern states of the US. Their cheap labour goes hand in hand with their racism." (Socialist Worker, No. 21, December 1985). It was supportive of the turn towards socialism by Sinn Féin during the late 1970s and 1980s, and considered merging into the Irish Republican Socialist Party in 1975. The SWM were active in the mass movements opposing the criminalisation of IRA prisoners in the early 1980s, and members of the SWM were active in local Anti-H Block committees (Dundalk member Phil Toale, a shop steward in the town's cigarette factory, organised a general strike in the town the day that hunger-striker Bobby Sands died). The SWM took the view that it was the duty of revolutionary socialists to support those opposing British imperialism, but that this would be better done by a mass movement like the Civil Rights Movement than the one thousand or so trained volunteers of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The SWM used to call for a vote for Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland up until its party conference of 1995, when it was argued that the Adams/McGuinness leadership of Sinn Féin were moving to an accommodation with imperialism. It opposed the subsequent Belfast Agreement, arguing that rather than ending conflict in Northern Ireland, the Agreement was 'institutionalising sectarianism', creating two competing communities and political leaderships, both nationalist and unionist, which did little for working-class people.

Following riots in Dublin on 25 February 2006 by Republicans, protesting at a planned 'Love Ulster' parade, the SWP issued a press release in which it expressed its full support for the actions of the rioters. According to the press release, given the wider context of (apparent) working-class alienation at the hands of the capitalist political establishment, the riots were completely justified: "socialists do not join in the condemnation of young working class people who riot against the police - especially given this wider context." Also, the SWP claimed that the 'Love Ulster' march was purposely planned by Michael McDowell, the Minister for Justice, as a provocation to republicans to riot, and thus further blacken the Republican movement, of whom the Minister is a most vocal critic.

The SWN is organised on both sides of the border. In Northern Ireland it initially operated as part of the Socialist Environmental Alliance (SEA) in elections. The SWP was the only organised grouping within the SEA. The group was dissolved in 2008 with most of it folding into People Before Profit.

The SWN is part of the International Socialist Tendency grouping.

References

  1. Irish Times – Harry McGee. “ For anybody who has not been intimately involved with the Socialist Workers Party or the Socialist Party, you would need to have a PhD in semantics and rhetoric to winkle out the actual ideological difference between them. They are both Trotskyist and advocate permanent revolution and political agitation through working class mass action in capitalist societies such as Ireland.”
  2. "SOCIALIST WORKERS TAKE A NEW DIRECTION". Socialist Worker | Ireland. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  3. ^ Goodwillie, John (August/September 1983). "Glossary of the Left in Ireland". Gralton: an Irish Socialist Review 9: 17-20.
  4. ^ Hanley & Millar, B&S (2009). The Lost Revolution: The story of the Official IRA and the Workers Party. Ireland: Penguin Ireland. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-84488-120-8.
  5. The Independent Socialist Party
  6. guthanphobail.net
  7. "The gloves are off: Socialists slam Brid Smith for splitting Dublin vote". 26 May 2014.
  8. "Ireland: Left surge in South's local and European elections | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal".
  9. Irish Marxist Review
  10. Rebel

External links

Categories: