Rethinking in Ireland
Red Banner Fourthwrite REVIEW BY DAVE RILEY
The fallout from the Sinn Fein-sponsored peace process has forced been a major re-alignment among the left in Ireland. Despite the promises fostered by the "Celtic Tiger" in the 26 counties and the new age of tolerance that the North's nationalist minority was told to expect, throughout the island, frustration and demoralisation has engendered a significant rethink.
The radical wing of republicanism, in the main, has stepped back from the strategy of armed struggle and is debating what next should be done. In the 26 counties, the nationalist division which has separated socialists from each other is no longer so evidently a sticking point. The Irish left, like elsewhere, is peopled by a significant milieu of ex-members of any number of now almost defunct party-building projects undertaken over the last thirty years.
Despite this seeming disarray, recent successes by left forces in elections to the Irish parliament suggest that there is a ready hearing for socialist ideas.
In my opinion these two magazines reflect a very healthy response to the current political impasse and its possible resolution.
Red Banner admits that it does not have all the answers but seeks to act as a forum for the exchange of socialist ideas. Now at its seventh issue, this publishing project has a vibrant immediacy that reflects a considered and still very active socialist tradition.
Its ready rejection of sectarianism promises that an open debate will continue in its pages, and is sure to foster a greater confidence in the ability of socialists to work with one another despite the very different traditions they come from.
The latest edition of Red Banner carries articles on left electoral alliances, genetic engineering, the Irish trade unions' push for partnership with capital, pieces on Lenin, unpublished essays by James Connolly and its regular feature in Gaelic.
Fourthwrite has a similar openness and determination to foster debate. Whereas Red Banner is published in Dublin, Fourthwrite is very much the initiative of the Irish Republican Writers' Group in Belfast.
Describing itself as a body open to any republican thinkers who believe in the unfettered expression of republican ideas, the group employs Fourthwrite to "facilitate discussion and analysis of republican ideas. Of primary interest are those ideas which deal with strategic matters and which address the question of 'what is to be done?'"
Given the success of Sinn Fein in selling its peace strategy to the republican movement worldwide, the appearance of Fourthwrite offers a significant alternative to the politics of surrender. While outfits like the Irish Republican Socialist Party have tried to step into the breach presented by Sinn Fein's rightward march to accommodation, the history of the last thirty years of factionalism within the republican left hangs like a pall over prospects of regroupment. But the rethinking embraced by Fourthwrite and its keenness to debate is a major breakthrough in a tradition that has long been hampered by shibboleths.
I'd hope that Fourthwrite's charter goes a long way in drawing together opponents of the peace process and serves to clarify the outlook of many republicans who are presently ambivalent about the current course.
Anyone interested in Irish politics will find these journals compulsory reading.
PO Box 6587, Dublin 6, Ireland
Email <red_banner@yahoo.com>
Subscriptions A$22
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