Liam Mellows, “The People’s Republic� (1922)

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http://www.eirigi.org/pdfs/education/giants/Mellows_PeoplesRepublic.pdf

[Jolly Red Giant]

It is a little ironic that eirigi are promoting this (and I have a lot of time for Mellows) without also acknowledging that the anti-Treaty forces that Mellows was part of, used violence to suppress numerous strikes and workers occupations of workers who were members of the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress.

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The Republican movement was made up of people from different classes and different political beliefs. A tinny minority were socialists, Liam Mellows, Peadar O'Donnell, etc. The one thing they all had in common was that they wanted to defeat British imperialism in Ireland.The bourgeois nationalist within the Republican movement were behind suppression of strikes and things like that during the Tan war. But Iv never read anything that said anti-treaty forces did things like that, I'm not saying they didn't I'm saying Iv never read or heard that before. Could you send me a link if you know of any.

[Jolly Red Giant]

The Republican movement was made up of people from different classes and different political beliefs. A tinny minority were socialists, Liam Mellows, Peadar O'Donnell, etc. The one thing they all had in common was that they wanted to defeat British imperialism in Ireland.The bourgeois nationalist within the Republican movement were behind suppression of strikes and things like that during the Tan war. But Iv never read anything that said anti-treaty forces did things like that, I'm not saying they didn't I'm saying Iv never read or heard that before. Could you send me a link if you know of any.
I cannot link to any particular online material as it is based on my own research.

Specific incidents -
1. At the time of the IRA split Liam lynch led a detachment of anti-treaty IRA that suppressed a strike at Mallow Sawmill. The owners of the sawmills paid Lynch £50 for helping with their 'labour troubles' (newspaper reports).
2. In July 1922 Frank Ryan (one of the most prominent 'left' IRA men who later fought in the Spanish Civil War) led a detachment of anti-treaty IRA to suppress the Knocklong Soviet with Ryan himself climbing onto the roof of the Knocklong creamery to remove the red flag flying there. Ryan said he later regretted it but was following orders from Lynch. (Frank Ryan's autobiography).
3. The anti-Treaty IRA made several attempts to suppress the Tipperary Soviet in July and early August (the Tipperary Soviet lasted more than three months). In one instance the striking workers 'arrested' the manager of the local creamery because he was telling local shopkeepers not to stock supplies from the local soviet creamery - the anti-IRA opened fire on the striking workers when they refused to release their prisoner only for the attack to be repulsed. There were several stand-offs in the town between armed anti-Treaty IRA elements and armed workers during the soviet. The sovet was eventually suppressed by the Free State forces on 10 August 1922 (numerous newspaper reports)
4. Anti-treaty forces also attempted to suppress the soviet in Carrick-on Suir but failed - again it was suppressed by Free State forces (newspaper reports).
5. Anti-Treaty forces made numerous attempts to suppress strikes by hundreds of farm labourers in Waterford - in particular Dan Breen played a prominent role in attempting to break these strikes. The impact of the strike which lasted for months was demonstrated two of the strike leaders were elected in the general election of July 1922 defeating Dan Breen. The strike was finally suppressed by the newly formed fascist unit of the new Free State police - the Special Infantry Corps - comprising of 600 fascists who were drafted into Waterford to break the strike and who engaged in shootings, torture, ransacking labourers homes, robbing strikers, beating up pickets on picket lines etc. to break the strike over an extended period (several different sources).

These are the incidents that I am aware of as my research is incomplete - but there were in excess of 120 towns and villages in Munster under workers control between April-August 1922 as well as a large number of other strikes (primarily involving farm workers) and given the fact that even with the limited research I have completed I have found five incidents of the suppression or attempted suppression of soviets/strikes by the anti-Treaty IRA - it is likely that there were many more incidents. Remember the anti-treaty IRA were reliant on farmers for the basis of their support in rural Munster and the majority of the industrial unrest / class warfare was in the agricultural sector.

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Thank you Jolly Red Giant for that bit of information I never heard of any of them incidents before. Republicans would be to ashamed and so they should to talk of suppressing soviets and strikes.