SÓP, Baile Átha Cliath This speech was originally given at the annual Dublin branch commemoration of James Connolly’s execution on 14 May. Dia daoibh a chairde. Thank you for being here this morning to honour the life, and remember the execution of our organisation’s namesake: James Connolly. Why Connolly? Of all the Irish republican revolutionaries why…
With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, suffragette movements across the world followed in behind empires that had beaten them for decades but not Irish Suffragettes.
107 years ago the Irish Citizen Army made their first public appearance, as we remember them and their commitment to the cause of labour, what lessons can we learn from their example?
The crisis of 2020 can be a rupture in the status-quo of capitalism as much as the First World War and the 1916 Rising was. We must look at his contributions to applying Marxism to the Irish context, and his unique ability to recognise the political moment he was living in. For Connolly, Marxism was not an abstract theoretical position to be talked about in universities, nor a dogma to be appealed to as an authority. Marxism was simply a key to be used to unlock Irish History.
We were raised on false promises of white sands and opportunity, leaving us with only ourselves to blame for our failures. Last year in the 26 counties, every day that passed, another person lost the battle with their supposed failures and ended their life. The cultural hegemony that guarantees peace, in exchange for our labour, turns our mind into a warzone when our own realities come to light.
