Mobilising the Irish Working Class- Agitate, Educate Organise!

[A Socialist Republic]

The question on the lips of many people who have attended the recent anti- austerity protests in Ireland is ‘where are the masses?’ Some who have taken to the streets have been disappointed by the numbers turning out, comparing Irish protests to those in Greece or Turkey and have begun to ask ‘why aren’t the Irish people fighting back?’

Others including some supposedly seasoned left wing activists, disillusioned by the perceived lack of working class militancy, have begun to spread the false idea that the people ‘deserve what they get’ for their lack of revolutionary action. This is a wrong idea that can have dangerous consequences on the morale of revolutionaries.

The mass boycott of the Household Charge throughout 2012, although spontaneous in nature, shows the revolutionary potential of the popular masses once organised. That boycott should serve as an inspiration to any activist who has become disillusioned it shows that the revolutionary potential of the working class, although yet unharnessed is ripening in Ireland.

When we look at the current situation from a Marxist- Leninist perspective there is clear answer as to why the Irish working class have not yet mobilised. It’s simple, the Irish working class have not mobilised because they are not organised. Without the effective mass organisation of the working class at workplace and community level, its power cannot be successfully utilised.

The ruling elite in the twenty six counties has spent a considerable amount of its time, energy and resources ensuring the Irish working class remain unorganised. Through its championing of so-called ‘social partnerships’ the state has bought off the leaderships of our trade unions, the very people who are meant to represent the interests of workers. Over 20 years of social partnership has dramatically strengthened the hand of the ruling elite and lulled the working class into a dormant and unorganised state.
Political parties from Labour to Sinn Féin have repeatedly sold out the working class leading to general political apathy in working class communities. The various factions of Trotskyite groups are the latest opportunists in Ireland whose only aim is to climb to power on the backs of the working class only to continue with the system as before.

Successive austerity budgets combined with attacks on wages, working conditions, social welfare and public services have generated anger, but when combined with the factors outlined above have given rise to an unfortunate idea amongst the working class that ‘nothing can be done’ ‘they are all the same’ or ‘we can’t do anything to change things’. This is a very dangerous idea, one that lets our exploiters get away with their oppression. A key task for socialist republicans is to target such apathy and raise the level of class consciousness in communities across Ireland.
As anyone who has even looked casually at the teachings of Marxism- Leninism or revolutionary theory knows, change is a constant, everything is in flux. While it might seem sometimes that nothing can be changed, a revolutionary knows that change is the only thing that can be guaranteed. This is a strong argument for confronting apathy amongst the masses and must become one of our key weapons in the struggle to mobilise the power of the Irish working class.

But how can this be achieved?
The great socialist republican leader, James Connolly had a fool proof three step programme for mobilising the masses, which can be summed up in his well-known phrase ‘AGITATE, EDUCATE, ORGANISE!’. To build genuine links with the masses and to be in the position to mobilise them as a political and revolutionary force, socialist republicans must Connolly’s strategy into practice.

Agitate
To win the support of the popular masses of this country, socialist republicans must become the engine driving the fight in the everyday struggles of the people. Genuine socialist republicans have no interest aside from the freedom of the working class and this is their guiding and motivating force. Socialist republicans are the most advanced section of the working class in Ireland and have the revolutionary tradition and experience necessary to lead the struggle for national liberation.

In our community or the workplace socialist republicans must be constantly agitating around the issues that are affecting the working class from wages and conditions to housing healthcare, education the defence of public services and the fight against austerity. At all times socialist republicans must link the local every day struggles of their class to the struggle for national liberation and socialism. Through linking the local struggles to the national and constant agitation we can highlight the contradictions and limits of the current system to the masses.

By constant daily agitation on the issues that concern the working class, we can win the support of the masses to our vision of a free independent socialist republic in Ireland. Through agitation we can show the masses that ‘through socialism alone can the salvation of Ireland come’.

Educate

Mass education is an important tool in the arsenal of the socialist republican. Through education we can show the working class who really holds the power in this world, teach them their true strength, confront political apathy and aim to make the masses aware of their historical role in the coming revolution.
It is the duty of every socialist republican to carry out daily efforts at mass education and revolutionary propaganda. Such propaganda should highlight the failings of the joint systems of capitalism and imperialism and explain the merits of socialism to the lives of the masses.

Leaflets, posters, newspapers the internet and social media can all become revolutionary tools in the hands of socialist republicans. Door to door work, explaining the republican position in working class communities is of the utmost importance. A key task for socialist republicans is to put the words of the great republican Thomas Davis into practice- ‘educate that you may be free’.

Organise

The class conscience of the masses can be raised through a combination of constant agitation and education. Now it is important to get the working class organised. The fight for a socialist republic will have to be organised on every road in every community in Ireland. It is only through the popular involvement and active support of a broad section of the masses that the struggle for national liberation can be successful in Ireland. Socialist republicans must position themselves to be able to organise the popular masses into a mass movement for socialism in Ireland. Such a movement will involve residents and community groups, cultural organisations, political parties, revolutionary trade unions, unemployment and campaign groups all under the democratic leadership of a vanguard socialist republican party.

Through such a revolutionary movement, with the active support of working class communities, British imperialism and domestic capitalism can be successfully challenged and the long struggle for national liberation and socialism in Ireland can be victorious.

Seamus Costello proved in modern times that Connolly’s three step approach to mobilising the working class can be utilised with awesome success. By putting the ‘Agitate, Educate, Organise’ strategy into practice, Costello built a strong republican base in county Wicklow and won a relatively significant amount people to the socialist republican vision.

So what steps might socialist republicans take to implement the ‘Agitate Educate Organise Strategy’ today?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->First and foremost socialist republicans need to organise themselves into a vanguard party. The vanguard is the most advanced section of the working class, the section that understands its historic task and the force that must guide the revolution to victory. Socialist Republicans are the natural vanguard in Ireland and already have genuine organic links with the masses.



Of the parties in existence today, éirígí would seem to be the most likely to become a revolutionary vanguard. éirígí carries out good, constant, almost daily work attempting to implement the ‘Agitate, Educate, Organise’ strategy although they are a young party and have yet to gain a foothold across much of the country. For éirígí to become the vanguard needed by the Irish working class their will need to be a realignment of socialist republican and progressive forces behind the party, and although in its early stages there is evidence to suggest this is a distinct possibility. éirígí represents the most important development in the hope to build a genuine revolutionary movement in this generation.



As Connolly and Costello showed us, Socialist Republicans must set about organising strong bases for the revolutionary movement. Their task is to win the support of the masses to the socialist republic through championing the everyday struggles of the people in the community and the workplace. Daily agitation and educational work must be carried out by socialist republican cadres across Ireland.



Socialist republicans must become involved in the mass organisations of the people. Where the trade unions have been corrupted beyond repair new revolutionary and militant trade unions must be formed. Taking account of the conditions in Ireland these trade unions must be active in both the workplace and in communities. Community trade unionism will be a key factor in mobilising the power of the Irish Working class.



Socialist republicans must also be active in other mass organisations such as single issue campaign groups and cultural organisations, constantly putting forward the republican message and being the most militant fighters in the everyday struggles of the people.



Alternative socialist republican media highlighting the struggles of the people and explaining the republican analysis must be given a priority. Such work is of the utmost importance to combat the strangle hold the corporate media currently has on the Irish working class. Newspapers, blogs, websites and social media must all be utilised to take the republican message directly to the masses.



The most important step that socialist republicans can take is to begin daily agtitation, educational and organisational work in the workplace and the community. Through such work we can combat political apathy and show the masses that change is not just a genuine possibility but an inevitability. As the most militant and best organised fighters for social change, socialist republicans can win the support, trust and active involvement of the working class. It is only through consistent organisational work at a local and national level, building a mass movement for socialism up from the ground that the Irish working class can be genuinely mobilised.



Implementation of the above five steps would greatly strengthen the revolutionary movement in Ireland. Only through the genuine combination of the class and national struggle can the cause of national liberation and socialism in Ireland be successful.

More Info on the link in my signature!

[Socialist Republican]

A very good anaylisis of the problems facing communists in Ireland today.
The struggle for national liberation remains the key task for Irish Revolutionaries.
This article sets out some good steps for the movement at home.

[Die Neue Zeit]

That's the wrong author of the phrase, and that's the wrong ordering of it.

[Socialist Republican]

That's the wrong author of the phrase, and that's the wrong ordering of it.

I think you will find you are wrong. That phrase has been around for a very long. time and in Ireland has long been associated with Connolly in that order.

[Q]

I think you will find you are wrong. That phrase has been around for a very long. time and in Ireland has long been associated with Connolly in that order.
The phrase originates from German Marxist Social-Democracy in the order: Educate, Agitate, Organise. It is interesting to see that Connolly was using a modified version. I'm wondering what the reason for that was.

[Socialist Republican]

The phrase originates from German Marxist Social-Democracy in the order: Educate, Agitate, Organise. It is interesting to see that Connolly was using a modified version. I'm wondering what the reason for that was.

There could be many reasons from translation to not having a source to check from. Either way the core message of the phrase is the same.

[D-A-C]

A very interesting, informative and theoretically correct post, although I have a few thoughts I'd like to share.

Firstly, you seem to have forgotten about the North based on the ideas your submitting here. What do I mean by that?

Well, firstly you reference 'The ruling elite in the 26 counties', when Ireland contains 32. That you are not referencing the North is made even clearer when suggest that the Party éirígí be at the forefront of Vanguard activity and with the use of the word 'republican'.

Now, some of these problems I'm raising might on the surface seem quite insignificant (especially to those not from Ireland) yet they are at the root of the failure of Left Wing politics in Ireland in my opinion.

Socialism, isn't nationalism. For far too long all Left Wing Struggles have taken on a Nationalist/Unionist and Catholic/Protestant dimension that has effectively sapped the effectiveness of contemporary socialist struggles, particularly here in the North.

Any Party that has a name in the Irish language and uses the words republic or republican immediately cuts off the Protestant working class in the north of Ireland as potential comrades and voters and that is around 48% of the population of the North.

I was raised a Catholic, which as any comrade from Ireland knows, in the North of the country at least, has a whole host of political connotations. Yet I honestly couldn't care less about Christianity except as a potential place for political struggle and alliances, as unfortunately, a significant number of people North and South of Ireland still feel attached to the denominational institutions of Catholicism and Protestantism.

In short, it is my fundamental belief that the North of Ireland is as alien to the South of Ireland as the South is to the North. I have zero conception of the struggles that the South faces because it is organized differently than the North and I would say the same holds true for Southern comrade’s knowledge of the struggles we face in the North.

I do not propose, but instead know, that the North of Ireland must create its own truly Socialist Party to deal exclusively with the 6 Counties of the North.

We must Educate, Agitate and Organize within Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry and Tyrone.

I can honestly tell you, that I would not want freedom from the British Imperialist Capitalists in the North only to be subjugated to the Irish Capitalists in the South.

Even such simple things as the words used to Educate, Agitate and Organize Socialism in the North have to be carefully thought out to deal with the specific cultural sensitivities of our region. Just to reiterate, an Irish named Party that advocates any kind of republic or republican struggle immediately loses the attention of 48% of the population. Do you understand how important a point that is?

I know that the Catholic and the Protestant working classes can and should unite against Capitalism, but for 100's of years they have been played against one and other and so cannot see how the struggles each group faces everyday overlap and affect one and other.

I personally couldn't care less whether a person is a Catholic, a Protestant, a Muslim etc as long as they are Left Wing in their politics.

What is needed (for the North at least) is a Communist (or Socialist) Party of Northern Ireland to be founded and gather together the few hundred or thousand vanguard members that would ever properly understand the theoretical complexities of Marxism. Then once such a base of active vanguard members has been established:

1. It can set up educational and media structures that will inform and educate the masses on their everyday struggles and how Marxism provides the only long-term solution to those problems.

2. It must have a practical political presence in every single Trade Union in the North and actively seek the establishment of new Union organizations amongst workers wherever possible.

3. It must actively bridge the centuries of political violence caused by Nationalist/Unionist and Catholic/Protestant divides and encourage cross community organizational structures that show how both sets of working class communities have goals in common.

4. Crucially, it must struggle for an Independent Northern Ireland. That means independent of British Imperialist Capitalism in the North and Republican Capitalism in the South.

5. Once strong in its organization, it must seek to establish a 'Union of Left' in order to achieve an actual working vote for elections.

There are of course plenty of other organizational necessities and political platforms of such a party, but this isn't the place to list them all.



A final thought. Anyone who believes that in our lifetimes, control of Northern Ireland will be handed to the government of the Republic of Ireland, is not only dreaming, but has an actively detrimental attitude that will contaminate and cause to fail all Left Wing struggles in the North of this country.

I can tell you, for a fact, that I, under no circumstances want to be freed from British Imperialism only to 'bend the knee' to Capitalist cronies of Dublin. And I can bet, a hell of a lot of people here in the North feel the same. That might anger some people, but that is just how I see things.

The ideal, for me at least, would be that someday Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales Unite in a Union of Socialist Republics. Each would govern their own domestic affairs, but all the economies would be united along centrally planned socialist conditions and foreign relations would be conducted together as well.

Until then, and in my lifetime, I intend to struggle for Socialism to be realised North AND South of Ireland. But in order to achieve this aim, organizationally different tactics are needed on both of the different political landscapes North and South of the border.

Comrades, North and South can always of course share knowledge and aid one and other, but a Socialist struggle in my home 6 counties can never begin in Dublin. It instead, must have its roots here in the North.

[TheEmancipator]

I do not get the association that the left has with Sinn Féin though. I am of Ulster (Republican) origin and yet a British passport holder, but let me make one thing clear : sectarianism and the actions of the Provvies during the troubles helped nothing in regards to the working class, and Sinn Féin (which means "we ourselves" - a slogan I only see on the far right) are nationalist party.

They collaborated with the RUC during the Troubles, and they currently collaborate with the DUP.

It just goes to show that we should treat all religious sectarianism equally : with contempt.

[Lenin1986]

I do not get the association that the left has with Sinn Féin though. I am of Ulster (Republican) origin and yet a British passport holder, but let me make one thing clear : sectarianism and the actions of the Provvies during the troubles helped nothing in regards to the working class, and Sinn Féin (which means "we ourselves" - a slogan I only see on the far right) are nationalist party.

They collaborated with the RUC during the Troubles, and they currently collaborate with the DUP.

It just goes to show that we should treat all religious sectarianism equally : with contempt.

As much as I hate Sinn Fein I will say they didn't collaborate with the RUC during "the Troubles". All though individuals involved with Sinn Fein did. Sinn Fein now collaborate with the RUC, DUP and Imperialists.The Provos helped protect the catholic working class people from Loyalist death squads and from the British army.I agree that Sinn Fein are a right wing nationalist party. But they werent always right wing in the late 70's to the late 80's they were left wing. But since then they have got into power in the north and have betrayed the working class. But in the south they would be seen as beginning left wing. In reality they are not left wing, they just put across left wing slogans so they can get into power in the south.

[D-A-C]

I do not get the association that the left has with Sinn Féin though. I am of Ulster (Republican) origin and yet a British passport holder, but let me make one thing clear : sectarianism and the actions of the Provvies during the troubles helped nothing in regards to the working class, and Sinn Féin (which means "we ourselves" - a slogan I only see on the far right) are nationalist party.

They collaborated with the RUC during the Troubles, and they currently collaborate with the DUP.

It just goes to show that we should treat all religious sectarianism equally : with contempt.

The whole situation in the North is a gigantic mess because of sectarianism.

The policy of bombings during the Troubles was ... shall we say ... problematic, but I'm also loathe to condemn wholesale militant action as sometimes it is entirely necessary depending on the circumstances of a particular conjuncture.

I'm with Trotsky that individual assassination is largely useless as the system of Capital depends on no single individual, and in fact, Structural Marxism clearly outlines how the whole system of the Reproduction of the Relations of Production takes place outside of individual human agency.

Kill a President, the Vice-President steps in, kill the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House steps in, etc etc.

Besides as satisfying as it would have been if Thatcher had been blown to hell much earlier, we'd have to hear and see about the b*tch all the time because she'd become a hero and a martyr.

I'm not sure about Sinn Fein's collaboration with the RUC and without concrete evidence I'd be incredibly careful about making such broad statements.

For me, Sinn Fein#s relationship with the DUP just shows that they have largely sold out and become a mainstream bourgeois Party assured that they will be able to get a lion's share of the Catholic vote because none will ever contemplate voting DUP or UUP so their only real competitor for votes is the SDLP.

However, I think the organization as a whole contains a number of Left Wing elements, particularly at the grass roots level, but the Left Wing elements are tinged with so much nationalism its hard to pick apart what is what with the Party as a whole.

For years Catholics were oppressed, abused and denied basic rights such as the vote and so that accounts for why most, if not all, Left Wing struggles in the country are wrapped in nationalism and sectarian struggle.

However the Protestant's have a Working Class as well, and for years they have been kept in check by having a small minority of Unionist and Protestant leaders play on their 'fears' of the supposed Catholic and Nationalist ascendency in the 6 Counties.

Like I said, the whole situation here is a mess, but I think things have settled down just enough that a non-denominational, third way between Nationalism and Unionism, Socialist Party could become active. There are Left Wing elements throughout the entirety of the 6 counties, you can tell that just by having conversations with people.

As of yet though, for me at least, there is no adequate Revolutionary Socialist Party that is neither Catholic nor Protestant and neither Nationalist nor Unionist and that is what is a needed.

As someone born into a post-Troubles Northern Ireland I feel like a Socialist Party needs to be formed that will represent and challenge for the votes of working class Catholics AND working class Protestants.