Anarchism and Ireland

Text of talk delivered at the Loophole Community Centre at a discussion organised by the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group

I first became influenced by anarchist-communist ideas in my teenage years after a political background in Irish Republicanism. The key difference being anarchism strives for real self-determination in the sense of workers and community control. Real liberation, not merely an exchange in masters or bosses, or one set of state bureocrates with another.
The North still remains quite abnormal in the sense of entrenched sectarian divisions, and a puppet administration at Stormont which basically administrates Westminster rule. Britain still maintains sovereignty over the north-eastern part of Ireland, and thus there are still those who continue to take up arms. All be it, in a more limited capacity with limited support. Unfortunately, they are tapping into increasing disillusionment within nationalist working-class communities who are failing to reap the rewards from the so-called peace process. Its up to anarchists to expose any illusions in nationalism and unionism, by providing an alternative which is grounded in the day to day realities faced by the class.
With the global recession there has been an upsurge in class struggle such as strikes and workers occupations in the UK and across the world. These are mostly defensive but crucial if we are to build confidence and go on the offensive and finally bury this rotton capitalist system.

So What do anarchists want?

Before we begin anarchism has nothing to do with your dresscode, whether you are vegetarian or not. Its time we move get out of the liberal ghetto which is like a cancerous plague on sections of our movement. I thought it would be good to clear this up before we begin…
To put it briefly, we want to get rid of capitalism and the state and replace it with a society organised to serve the needs of the many, we want to make real the old call of “from each according to ability, to each according to need”. This will be a socialism where everyone affected by a decision can take part in making that decision, and where the liberties of the individual are respected.

So how do we get there?
Firstly organisation is essential in explaining and building support for anarchism. We recognise that the society we want can only be built by a politically conscious movement of the working class, using its industrial power. This basically means getting active in day to day struggles in your workplace and communities. There is no other way round it and history proves this.

As we see it, a successful revolutionary transformation is dependent on two things:

Firstly, we need widespread revolutionary consciousness. By this we mean a rejection of both the exploitation and authoritarianism of capitalism, and a desire to reorganise society in a new and better way around our own needs and interests.

Crucial is the recognition that only the working class itself can make and secure the revolutionary transformation we want and that following from that only the democratic councils created in our workplaces and communities will represent any authority in the new society. These will be federated nationally and internationally to combine efficiency with direct democracy. No other centres of power will be tolerated.

And secondly, we need industrial organisation and solidarity to be sufficiently developed so that physical control over the means of production and distribution can be achieved and all remnants of minority rule abolished. It is eseential that we build solidarity and support within the workplace, breaking down barriers between the unorganized, organized. Within and outside the yellow unions.

Our ideas about how to organise and what to do flow from this understanding.Irish anarchism

Irish anarchism has no historical tradition, as a movement it is only coming into existence. We do not yet enjoy the popular understanding of and respect for anarchist ideas that can be found among thousands of militants in countries like Sweden, Spain, France, Italy or Korea. But that is not to say that we have no history at all. We are beginning to uncover forgotten events...

*The first mention of an Irish connection I have found is the Boston based Irish nationalist WGH Smart who wrote articles for a magazine called 'The Anarchist' in 1880/81. [source:'The Raven' no.6]

*Later on we hear of John Creaghe, an Irish doctor who was joint founder with Fred Charles, of 'The Sheffield Anarchist'. He took part in the "no rent" agitation before leaving leaving Sheffield in 1891. He went on to become the founding editor in Argentina of the anarchist paper, 'El Oprimido', which was one of the first to support the 'organisers' current (as opposed to refusal to organise large scale organisations).

*In this century the best know personality has been Captain Jack White, who became influenced after fighting in the Spanish revolution.
*In the late 1960s, as the civil rights campaign took off Peoples Democracy, before it became a small Trotskyist group, included some self-described anarchists such as John McGuffin and Jackie Crawford (who was one of the group who had sold 'Freedom' in Belfast's Castle Street in the late 1960s).

*In the early 1970s some ex-members of the Official IRA became interested in anarchism and developed contact with 'Black Flag' magazine in London. Among names used were Dublin Anarchist Group and 'New Earth'. Their existence was brief and not widely known, a number of jailings for 'armed actions' saw the group disappear. Two members, Noel & Marie Murray, were later sentenced to death for the killing of an off-duty Garda during a bank raid. Reprieved after an international protest campaign, they were released a few years ago.

These were mere footnotes, isolated individuals and small groups who left little in their wake. The first steps towards building a movement came in the late-1970s when a number of young Irish people who had been living & working in Britain returned home, bringing their new found anarchist politics with them. Local groups were set up in Belfast, Dublin, Limerick and Dundalk. Over the next decade anarchist papers appeared, some for just one or two editions, others with a much longer life. Titles included Outta Control [Belfast], Anarchist Worker [Dublin], Antrim Alternative [Ballymena], Black Star [Ballymena], Resistance [Dublin] and Organise! [Ballymena]. Bookshops were opened in Belfast [Just Books in Winetavern Street and which has just been re-established] and Dublin [ABC in Marlborough Street]. Just Books in Belfast which still continues to this day provided the pole for opposing internment, opposing the criminalization of political prisoners and providing books to prisoners.

All of these groups attracted people who identified themselves as anarchists. Beyond that they had little in the way of agreed politics or activities, and no organised discussions or education about anarchism. Because of this there were limits to what they could achieve, even to their continued existence. But a start had been made.

In 1978, ex-members of the Belfast Anarchist Collective and the Dublin Anarchist Group decided that a more politically united, class based and public organisation was necessary. Their discussions led to the Anarchist Workers Alliance, which was around from 1978-81. It only really existed in Dublin and then only just. Never really took off, as they knew what they didn't like but had not worked out a concrete strategy for making anarchism relevant to the issues and campaigns of the day. Nevertheless, this was the first time that such matters had been openly raised and the resulting debate introduced a more serious note into the embryonic anarchist movement.

Today anarchists in Ireland are mainly organised in

*Organise!- my previous anarchist group are centred mainly in Belfast and produce a bi-monthy paper The Leveller. [Centred on Belfast, with a few supporters in other towns - almost all within the six counties]

*and then there is the Workers Solidarity Movement founded in 1984 which is the larger of the two, which has branches, Cork, Dublin and individuals across the country. on the basis of what we call theoretical and tactically unity. This can be summed up in four points:

No.1, Theoretical Unity

Theory is what guides us along a particular path towards an agreed goal. Such theory should be common to all members of an organisation. That is, that we agree about what we want and how we can achieve it.

No.2, Tactical Unity

It is not enough to have a group of individuals meeting together, if they are not united in ideas or in action. This undermines the entire meaning of organisation, which is to maximise the strength of the individuals through co-operation with others. Where there is little agreement, there can be little co-operation. This absence of co-operation only becomes obvious when the group is forced to take a position on a particular issue, a particular event in the wider world. Not a lot of point in that. Instead we discuss, debate and then agree what tactic in a given struggle is best for that struggle and for anarchism. Having reached a decision we implement it, we use our strength and numbers as an organisation to give added effect to our activity.

No.3, Collective Responsibility

This doesn't mean we have to be continually running off to some committee for permission to show a bit of initiative. It does mean that there should be no room for the self-indulgent egoists who treat politics as more of a hobby than a commitment. Our goal, our tradition and our means are profoundly collective (as opposed to the agressive individualist ethos fostered by capitalism).

Each member should be be responsible to the organisation for their political activity and, in turn, the organisation must be responsible to each member. There must be no division between leaders and led.

No.4 Federalism

The free agreement to work together in a spirit of free debate for agreed goals; afterall there is no point in making decisions if members are not going to carry them out.

The WSM was founded by people who had been through earlier groups and were making the first steps in founding an Irish anarchist tradition. Over the last few years we have built a stable organisation and developed a reputation among activists for being serious and committed. Apart from supporting workers in struggle, some other key struggles have included the shell to sea campaign and anti-militarism.

We are also different from the other anarchist groups in Ireland. Principally this is because we place a high emphasis on the battle of ideas, we spend a lot of our time working out exactly what the bosses are up to and how to oppose them, what sort of society we want and how we can achieve it. We are determined to avoid the situation where we are divided into leaders and led. Anarchism is a developing set of ideas, not a dogma carved in stone.

. Anarchism is still a very minor influence in Irish politics, but we do believe that our approach is working. Of course the real test is can we make anarchism the dominant political idea in the working class, and we have barely started that journey.

Going back to the question of efficiency and size, organisations in the 'Platform' tradition agree that size is important and they all seek to grow so that they are in a position of importance in society. However, they emphasise that all the positive attributes of belonging to a larger organisation, the increased work that can be undertaken, the increased human potential that can be drawn on, are undermined if such an organisation is directionless. The key point is that it is not a case of choosing between size or coherency, rather we should aim for both.

Anarchism is about ideas as well as action, in fact the two are interlinked. As well as our activity demonstrating the practicality of anarchist methods of struggle we also believe it is important to publicise anarchist history and theory. Small meetings such as these are one such forum, another is the publication of papers and bulletins.

Thanking for allowing me to share some ideas and experiences and thanks everyone for coming.

Personal capacity- Sean Matthews