Ireland is an ancient land with an ancient spirit of resistance and revolution. For 800 years the Saxon English have been on our land, oppressing our people and making rules of their own to control the people, the land and our natural resources. In these 800 years of occupation and oppression the English have been resisted and revolted against a large number of times, not for 800 years straight but every couple of generations have produced a small minority of Irish people who had not been subjected and rose up to rid the English from our land. These soldiers, tho their insurrections failed to rid the English from Ireland, aroused a lot of the people who had been subjected and they then renewed the fight for national freedom, self-determination and sovereignty. Yes they still failed, even when they had the a lot, or even the majorities on their side, but they failed due to our own faults, lack of belief, loyalty, continuity and discipline. The English did not defeat them, they were defeated by men and women they called comrades who either turned Queens Evidence or sold out the cause just as it had nearly triumphed. Irish Republicanism was born in Ireland in the year 1798 by a group of united Irishmen; Catholic, protestant and dissenter. These gallant and chivalrous men, women and youngsters of 98 wanted to break the link once and for all with the old Saxon enemy and establish a fair and equal governmental system that all the people of Ireland could participate in and control themselves without British or any other foreign elite interference. Yes the first Irish Republican rising was a failure but that was so due to informants who stitched up their comrades and passed information on coming actions and hideouts which led to the arrest and executions of nearly all the leadership. Then in 1803, the bold Robert Emmett from Dublin and a couple of on-the-run warriors of 98 again proclaimed to the people of Ireland and to the world a free Irish Republic. Their was roughly 70 rebels involved with Emmetts band but when the fighting actually started numbers dropped to roughly 15-20 solid Republican soldiers. The rest were either adventurers, drunks and time wasters. The rising was bound to fail but the small band of Irish soldiers still went a head with it. Again this rising, after the execution of its leaders, aroused the conscience of the subjected people and they started to organize. Then we have the Young Ireland Movement of the 1840s, another Republican rising in 1848 and another in 1867 by a chivalrous, wise and secret revolutionary organization called the Irish Republican Brotherhood/IRB. Without getting into too much detail about their rising we can say it was a failure in the sense that it did not rid the English from Ireland. A success in the sense that it aroused the people and led to the first rising of the 1900s known as the 1916 Rising. In 1905 a Republican political organization was established called SF/We Alone. Then in 1909 the Brotherhood/IRB founded a movement to cater for Republican Youth Called Na Fianna Eireann. This militant group of young boys inspired the IRB to then establish an official Army for the Irish Republic in 1914, this Army is known as the Irish Volunteers/Oglaigh na hEireann. In the same year another section of the Republican Movement was established to cater for militant Republican women, this organization is known as Cumann na mBan. These 3 new militant organizations including the Brotherhood where the bedrock of the rising of 1916. To say the least the rising was another failure but again when the leadership of the rising began to be executed the majorities woke up and rallied to the cause. This led to the establishment of a national Irish and Republican government in 1919 and the unity of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizens Army under the same leadership; the establishment of the legitimate army of Ireland - the Irish Republican Army/IRA. The Volunteers, on foundings, aim was freedom and the Republic whilst the Citizens Army protected the Citizens and were more of a Marxist/Socialist organization but the 1916 Rising led to their unity and agreement on the fight for the Republic and national freedom before anything else. Recognizing their could be no socialism without freedom and the Republic. In 1919 the Army of the Irish Republic waged another campaign to finally remove the British from our land so as the government could operate sufficiently. This rising went on until a truce was called in 1921 and Dail Eireann sent representatives to London to negotiate a British withdrawal. This did not happen. Instead there was no negotiations on a British withdrawal but negotiations on the Dail itself and Ulster. Although the Dail representatives knew that the Dail was inalienable and non- negotiable, they still went ahead and negotiated it and then signed a treaty that divided the people of Ireland and left Ulster to remain within the English Empire and the other state to remain under the influence of the Empire but with a deceiving form of freedom and self-governance/independence. The revolutionary Dail split but was re-elected and re-established although a Freestate Army was formed to suppress it. Note: At this stage the IRB was under compromising leadership and sided with the treaty. The Army of the Irish Republic rejected the treaty and once again swore allegiance to the second(All-Ireland) Dail Eireann. After trying and failing to encourage the Freestaters to come around and back on the side of the Republic, they then waged war on the counter-revolutionary army and continued to uphold the Republic, setting up HQ in Dublins Four Courts. The war soon came to an end that year. From 1921 - 1950s a number of small IRA campaigns took place in England, Ulster and even in the Freestate. In 1938 the Dail, almost suppressed by the British and treacherous Freestaters, delegated their powers in trust to the Army of the Irish Republic to rid England from Ireland and her corrupt states here also and to re-establish the true Dail Eireann. In 1956 the IRA again rose up against the oppressor but they decided to just wage war in Occupied Ulster and the enemies home turf England and not on the Freestate government or army. Even tho they strongly rejected them. That rising known as the Border Campaign took off to a flying start but started to lose interest and support in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The rising eventually came to an end in 1962. The IRA leadership publicly stated that it was standing down for now but that the fight will be renewed in the future. This campaign led to a serious increase of new recruits but. In 1969 the Army of the Republic and SF split due to counter-revolutionaries within the movement who gave up the fight for the Republic and entered the anti-Republican statelets of Leinster House and Stormont. The IRA and SF re-organized. A long war was to come known as the troubles. Although it is confused as a sectarian war the truth and fact is the IRA waged war on the British government and their forces in defence of the Republic, and they protected the nationalist people of Ulster who were being attacked and murdered by sectarian loyalists, like any other revolutionary and national army would do. During that campaign the IRA made Stormont ungovernable and the British government called for a number of talks with the IRA leadership about a withdrawal. To cut a long story about a long war short, in the early 1980s Provisional SF dropped their revolutionary policy known as Eire Nua due a reformist and counter-revolutionary influence within the Movement. The president and vice president of Provisional SF stood down from their positions after this, two men who created this revolutionary policy. Then in 1986 the Provisionals proposed to give up on the Republic and enter Leinster House, Stormont and even West Minister. The leadership of both the Provisional IRA and Prov. SF split, the majorities siding with the reformist move, the minority siding with the Republic. The Republican SF reorganized and the Continuity Council of the IRA was established to continue to struggle for the Republic. Just like the Freestaters and Devs FF, the Provisionals labeled those who sided with the Republic as dissidents and continue to tarnish them to this day and say they have no right to do what they are doing. Unlike the Official Movement of 1969, who in some cases and one or two senior figures within the movement who were genuine about the move and had no hidden agendas, the Provisionals where actually doing the work for the British government and continue to do so today, administrating British rule in Ireland and recognizing the Freestate army as the official army of Ireland even tho it only uphold a state the covers a section within the whole of the nation. So now it comes down to this. Is resistance and revolution still legitimate and just in todays Ireland? Of course it is. Resistance and revolution is a moral and natural law. And when living under an invading oppressor or even a legit but corrupt government, your right is to resist that invading oppressor or government and to revolt and get rid of them or it. Ireland today is still under the might of the British Empire and their allies in Brussels; the Freestate phoney Republic of Ireland government is in fact illegitimate and it is also corrupt and will continue to be until it is disbanded and a national peoples Republican government is established when we get rid of the British from Ulster. Yes, you need the majority of the people of your country on your side to achieve a Republican revolution, but you do not need a majority to resist foreign oppression and occupation or to start a revolution. The risings of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867, 1916, 1922, 1956 are fine examples. The movement had no support before they rose up but after they did the people sided with the Republic and not the enemies of the people. The English government never had a right in Ireland and today they still do not have a right here. Those who swayed away from and sold out the Republic; Freestaters, FF, Official SF and Provisional SF, have no right to talk about those who continue the struggle for the Republic unless they are supporting them. Resistance and revolution is a right and legit, but dont let us in RSF tell you whether it is or is not and certainly do not let the British, Freestate government or their lackeys tell you that it is not. Look around you at the state this nation as a whole is in and then ask yourself and you will get the right answer. The fight for the Republic will continue, no matter what or how long it takes. Continuity not compromise.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 15:06:36 +0000