Workers Solidarity Movement

Articles on 1916, the War of Independence and related issues published by the WSM as well as material by other anarchists and documents from the period.

Image: Money issued by the 1919 Limerick Soviet

September 10th saw the launch in Dublin of a new history of the Offical IRA and the Workers Party called ‘The Lost Revolution’ by Brian Hanley and Scott Miller. Over 250 people including many ex and current members of the Workers Party as well as members of just about every other left and republican group crammed into the hall for the launch. This is an audio recording of the introduction to the book given by Diarmaid Ferriter followed by each of the authors speaking about the book.

Lost Revolution - History of the Workers Party - launch in Dublin by Andrew Flood on Mixcloud

Unlike most literature on the ‘conflict’ in the North, this book assesses the impact and effectiveness of the armed struggle. It devotes significant attention towards the motivations of men and women who joined the IRA and the rigid hierarchal structures which underpinned the organisation to explaining the eventual outcome and ineffectiveness of the armed struggle.

A conversation with WSM member Davy Carlin, from his early childhood growing up in the Ballymurphy housing estate in the midst of an ‘Irish War’ to community politics. Davy also reflects on his involvement in struggles to date from anti-racism, workplace organising and organisations from the Socialist Workers Party to Organise! Finally, we touch upon the politics of anarchism and his hope for the future.

On the 5th March 1867, the eve of the Fenian rising in Ireland, this proclamation was delivered to 'The Times' newspaper in London. The rising itself was fairly insignificant, put down by the police, with some sort of action in Co Cork at Knockadown and Ballyknockane, Drogheda, Drumcliffe churchyard in Co Sligo, Ballyhurst in Co Tipperary and Co Limerick at Ardagh and Kilmallock. The largest Fenian turnout was in Tallaght, Co Dublin where a small force of constables dispersed a body of a few hundred Fenians after a brief gun battle. The proclamation is interesting for the elements it contains which were dropped in 1916 including the separation of Church and state, the implied redistribution of land and the anti-capitalist promise to 'secure to all the intrinsic value of their labour'.

For decades they sold the concept of ‘freedom’ and talked about a ‘socialist republic’ but now, with Martin McGuinness chuckling around the world with Ian Paisley, it’s clear that Sinn Fein’s concept of ‘freedom’ and their supposed vision of a ‘32-County Socialist Republic’ was at best an illusion.

Ciaran Murphy is a political singer songwriter based in Belfast who wrote the bulk of his material while a "dissident republican" prisoner between 2003 - 06. Last month an English music label pulled out of an agreed distribution deal with him due to unease at the political slant of his songs and the perceived sympathies of his small fan base. He describes himself as an 'Irish separatist' with libertarian socialist principles. Here Sean Matthews of the WSM puts questions to him on music, gigging and his political outlook. Ciaran is speaking in a personal capacity.

The Limerick General Strike of 1918 called the Limerick Soviet (workers' council) into being. This was the first incident to draw general attention to the new spirit developing amongst Irish workers. The Limerick General Strike was however a strike against the imposition of British military permits and though it was regarded with distrust in some Nationalist quarters, it was supported by numbers of Limerick employers and shopkeepers. That the Limerick Soviet was used by workers to bring down prices and force up wages was a fact overshadowed by the military permit question.

In 1907 Belfast saw the first big battle between the working and employing classes in Ireland. The dockers' and carters' strike was the spark which lit a fire of working class militancy. Workers were flexing their muscle, Catholic and Protestant were uniting, 'Larkinism' was giving the bosses nightmares. Even the police got caught up in the new mood and mutinied.

A collection of Irish anarchist articles on the rebellion of 1798 and the 1916 insurrection brought together in a single 40 page PDF pamphlet which you can download.