Socialist groups and parties in Ireland and UK

[DragonStyleKF]

Im new to all this but i want to get active in any Socialist groups and parties in Ireland and UK so i can learn more and meet likeminded people :D.

so anyone from Ireland and UK that wants to chat or give me some advice please reply back.

Thanks.

[Janus]

Check out the groups in this thread and look for those that share similar beliefs with you.

Political contacts (http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=31615)

[Forward Union]

Originally posted by [email protected] 05, 2007 09:06 pm
Im new to all this but i want to get active in any Socialist groups and parties in Ireland and UK so i can learn more and meet likeminded people :D.

so anyone from Ireland and UK that wants to chat or give me some advice please reply back.

Thanks.
Nice to hear that you're interested in getting active!

There are quite a few memebrs from ireland here who will probaby pop into this thread at some point.

Follow the link that Janus posted and e-mail any of the Irish groups that take your fancy!

[redflag32]

Pmed you....

[DragonStyleKF]

Thankyou all for the helpful replies.

[Aurora]

Im a member of The Socialist Party (http://www.socialistparty.net/) we are the Irish section of the CWI.Good group of people,largest Marxist party in Ireland also. :)

If you want to get in contact with some members in your area we have an office in Dublin and Belfast so give them a call:
02890232962 - Belfast
016772592 - Dublin

The Socialist Party of England and Wales (http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/) is our section across the water.Contact numbers are on the site i think.

If you want more information you can PM me too ;)

[PRC-UTE]

There's the Irish Republican Socialist Party, we have offices in Derry and Belfast
392 Falls Road, Belfast

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Join the IRSP.

[DragonStyleKF]

Okay thanks ill have a look at the IRSP and the socialist party websites.

[Coggeh]

Join SP ! :)

[guydebordisdead]

Anarchist Youth
Youth based anarchist organisation.

Communist Party of Ireland
Marxist-Leninist party.

éirígí
Socialist republican campaigns group.

Irish Republican Socialist Movement
Republican organisation advocating the removel of British rule from all Ireland with the creation of a workers republic.

Organise!
Irish Anarchist syndicalist organisation.

Socialist Party
Trotskyist party which is the Irish section of the Committee For A Workers' International.

Socialist Workers Party
Trotskyist party affiliated to the International Socialists.

Workers Solidarity Movement
Anarchist Syndicalist organisation and Irish member of the International Workers Association

Depends what your politics are really. If you're into republicanism I'd suggest joining Eirigi as they have a more realistic apprach, the SP are the better of the trotskyist organisations and WSM are a welcoming and solid anarchist organisation.

[PRC-UTE]

Originally posted by [email protected] 10, 2007 03:32 pm

Anarchist Youth
Youth based anarchist organisation.

Communist Party of Ireland
Marxist-Leninist party.

éirígí
Socialist republican campaigns group.

Irish Republican Socialist Movement
Republican organisation advocating the removel of British rule from all Ireland with the creation of a workers republic.

Organise!
Irish Anarchist syndicalist organisation.

Socialist Party
Trotskyist party which is the Irish section of the Committee For A Workers' International.

Socialist Workers Party
Trotskyist party affiliated to the International Socialists.

Workers Solidarity Movement
Anarchist Syndicalist organisation and Irish member of the International Workers Association

Depends what your politics are really. If you're into republicanism I'd suggest joining Eirigi as they have a more realistic apprach, the SP are the better of the trotskyist organisations and WSM are a welcoming and solid anarchist organisation.
Comrade, good job laying out all the parties like that so our friend can examine all of them on his own- I respect that.

A few things though: isn't the WSM more of a Platformist organisation than syndicalist? I got a copy of the Platformist pamphlet off em once.

Also, éirígi has yet to prove they're a serious group, let alone build a support base anywhere in Ireland. They claim to be a 'republican socialist campaigns' group, but so far what they mostly seem to do is hand out copies of the Proclomation. I contacted them about a campaign, and they never even replied to me - not even so much as 'we'll look into it and let you know'.
_________

Good luck on your search, a chara. Remember to take your time with it and find a group that will afford you the most opportunities to develop your education and skills as a revolutionary!

[Aurora]

Ya good job posting those up :)

But isnt Anarchist Youth the youth section of WSM?

[The Grey Blur]

[email protected]

Add me if you wanna chat. I'm in Socialist Youth, which is a broad based socialist youth group. So long as you're active you're a comrade to me anyway.

[gilhyle]

My advice to you is no matter how attractive it seems, join no party until you have worked in a few campaigns or at least taken six or nine months to get a feel for the different groups. If you live in an isolated place and cant compare groups, thats a good reason not to join at all and instead always to take each issue as it comes.

If you are in the South, use the election to get in touch with some of those playing a part. But be careful, be aware that the most organised groups are well used to roping you in. The Socialist Party and the SWP, in particular, live by churning through the energy and enthusiasm of young comrades, burnng them up in ineffectual activity.

Im not saying its all bad. You can make friends you will keep for life. You can (if the times are right) participate in events that you can be proud of. You will have great opportunities to learn. But its also a hard experience to be on the left in a country like Ireland where the political culture is weak, where even the best 'leaders' are poor in quality and where the fora for action are few.

So get involved with caution as well as courage. Volunteer to work, hesitate to join. Be direct - ask every question that comes to your mind. Remember, that many of those who aspire to teach you have not read the works they quote and sometimes dont even understand the terms they use. There is a lot of low key emotional blackmail - just let it wash over you.

So never defer to the knowledge of others. Everyone in revolutionary politics is always struggling to understand - noone (and I mean noone) has it worked out.

Never forget why you got involved - and when you cant remember, you know something is going wrong. And use this site - bounce the ideas you get given off the rich variety of opinion you will find here. This site can be a real aide to young revolutionaries struggling to make sense of their political environment.

[DragonStyleKF]

Thanks everyone i wasnt actually expecting there to be so many helpful replies lol its great and this is a great site! If anyone has yahoo or msn and wants to chat send me a PM and ill add you

cheers :P

[BOZG]

If you are in the South, use the election to get in touch with some of those playing a part. But be careful, be aware that the most organised groups are well used to roping you in. The Socialist Party and the SWP, in particular, live by churning through the energy and enthusiasm of young comrades, burnng them up in ineffectual activity.

We live in a period where class struggle is at a low. Unfortunately, that means you have to do a lot of activity just in order to win one or two people over to socialist ideas. It's an unfortunate necessity and can sometimes result in people becoming disillusioned at times but what would you suggest? We sit around and wait for things to pick up, unfurl the banner and be ready to lead? Anyone at all serious about working class politics can see that it's hard work, a lot of the work is "ineffectual", a lot of the work is unrewarding but it's absolutely necessary to win workers over and gain their confidence.



Also, éirígi has yet to prove they're a serious group, let alone build a support base anywhere in Ireland. They claim to be a 'republican socialist campaigns' group, but so far what they mostly seem to do is hand out copies of the Proclomation. I contacted them about a campaign, and they never even replied to me - not even so much as 'we'll look into it and let you know'.

Not often I find myself agreeing with PRC. I think it's far too early to say whether Éirígí are a serious group having never been involved in serious struggle or campaigns yet. That's not to say that they won't ever be but like PRC said, they seem to be putting in a huge amount of energy ito just distributing proclomations.

[Tommy-K]

http://socialistparty.org.uk/

[Tower of Bebel]

Good to see there's so many of the CWI here :) .
I emediatly joined the CWI in Belgium. This didn't mean that I directly believed everything the party members said. I did believe in the basics of marxism, but I wasn't sure about Trotskyism. I heard some good things from left-communism and anarchism, but eventually I stayed a marxist and I think socialism is necessairy, and I support alternatives against fascism instead of violence against the fascists. Which meaned only council communism (left comm.) and Trotskyism were left over. I read some threads lately and I guess the CWI is my 'home' form now ;) . But I still have some doubts, as I'm only a member since october 2006.

[RedLenin]

Seeing as it has yet to be mentioned in this thread, you can also check out Socialist Appeal (http://www.socialist.net). Socialist Appeal is the UK section of the International Marxist Tendency (http://www.marxist.com). The IMT was founded by Ted Grant, one of the leaders of the Militant back when it was active in the trade unions and the labour party in the UK. Socialist Appeal is devoted to continuing where the Militant left off, by working inside the British labour movement. Socialist Appeal is active both in the trade unions and the Labour Party, and does outside work as well. The IMT feels that marxists need to be active within the labor movement to reach the rest of the class. Socialist Appeal tries to do this in the UK.

[gilhyle]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12, 2007 08:35 am
We live in a period where class struggle is at a low. Unfortunately, that means you have to do a lot of activity just in order to win one or two people over to socialist ideas. It's an unfortunate necessity and can sometimes result in people becoming disillusioned at times but what would you suggest? We sit around and wait for things to pick up, unfurl the banner and be ready to lead? Anyone at all serious about working class politics can see that it's hard work, a lot of the work is "ineffectual", a lot of the work is unrewarding but it's absolutely necessary to win workers over and gain their confidence.


I agree.

There is no substitute for being active, learning by doing.
I am, however, conscious that many of the groups active on the left dont know the difference between working a comrade hard to develop him/her and working the comrade hard in a way which is exploitative.

The exploitative approach is closer in political character to those groups who actually prefer to ease up on the work to keep people in the group.

This point has a lot to do with the issue of inner party democracy.

I mention it here because it is difficult conscientiously to recommend to anyone to get involved without also drawing their attention to the sect-like practices that some - maybe most - groups fall into. Building the party is a corrupting moral guideline.

I don't for a minute suggest this is a reason not to get involved - but its a reason to be smart about your involvement, treat leadership comrades' opinions with a healthy dose of scepticism.

[lithium]

Roughly where are you based, DragonStyleKF?

I haven't joined or followed suit of any of the Socialist groups mentioned so far; I'm more one to just take each issue and event as it comes and decide for myself. One of the things I'm interested in (and I intend on fighting against if it happens) is the issue of water charges in the Republic. I also campaign for workers' rights, fair trade, some environmental issues, etc...

Feel free to pm me if you want.

[BOZG]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12, 2007 04:04 pm
The IMT feels that marxists need to be active within the labor movement to reach the rest of the class. Socialist Appeal tries to do this in the UK.
Correct that to the IMT working within the Labour Party, not labour movement. Plenty of other organisations work within the labour movement and the LP is not the labour movement.