EASTER STATEMENT FROM THE LEADERSHIP OF THE REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST MOVEMENT APRIL 1987.

Comrades, friends of the Republican Socialist Movement, on this the 71st Anniversary of the Revolutionary Uprising of the Irish workers in alliance with other sections of the Irish people, the Easter Rising, we, the direct political descendants of James Connolly send greetings to our supporters world wide. We send greetings to our heroic comrades in Irish, British, French and American gaols and we pledge ourselves to continue that struggle initiated in 1916.

Easter Commemorations bring to mind comrades who have fallen in battle. This year is especially poignant, as we pay tribute to our recently deceased comrades, slain by fellow Irishmen claiming to be socialists. We recall John O'Reilly, Thomas (Ta) Power, Michael Kearney, Emmanuel Gargan, Barry Duffy, all volunteers in the Irish National Liberation Army and firm supporters of the political line of the Irish Republican Socialist Party. And we especially remember Mary McGlinchey, wife of our comrade Dominic McGlinchey, brutally murdered in front of her children by people carrying out Britain's foul bidding.

These past three months have been traumatic months for our movement. We stated all along we only wanted our right to exist to be recognised. That we are here today shows that we do exist, that the Republican Socialist Movement, though severely damaged is not dead, and that though comrades may be killed, the ideals and ideas that motivated them can never, never be wiped out.

Let us be frank. As befits followers of that great marxist and republican James Connolly, we freely acknowledge that grave errors and mistakes have been committed by our movement. Whilst this is not the place to air all our mistakes, we must here publicly state that in the past we have too often confused armed actions with revolutionary politics. Consequently militarism became a tendency in our movement that stultified our development.

Politics were neglected. Not, we hasten to add the politics of electioneering, of clientism, of the safe parliamentary road to socialism, but the politics of the working class.

This error, this underestimation of the revolutionary potential of the Irish working class led to elitism and thence on to factionalism. There is nothing intrinsically revolutionary about having guns, nor is there anything intrinsically revolutionary in calling yourself a socialist. James Connolly, himself heavily criticised the physical force only republicans of his day. He clearly recognised that the use of armed force was a tactic to be decided upon in the light of existing circumstances.

Hence his decision in the face of a world wide imperialist war to throw himself and his vanguard citizen army into an alliance with nationalists in rising up against imperialist Britain. That uprising was heavily condemned

by many milk and water socialists. They could not see the crucial link between class struggle and national oppression. But marxists did. Lenin the foremost revolutionary of the 20th century applauded the Easter Uprising and recognised it as a valuable contribution not only to the world anti-imperialist movement but to the world wide struggle for socialism.

We claim to be followers of Connolly. Just as Connolly tried to fuse republicanism and socialism in his day so we too try to fuse republicanism and marxism in our day to create a revolutionary ideology that is capable not merely of fighting, not merely of surviving, but of #actually winning the struggle against imperialism.

But not everyone recognises that. Some say stick to Connolly, stick to Costello, Stick to Lenin. Comrades, we respect great socialists, we honour them but do not turn them into gods. We do not turn any of their writings into dogmas, into fossilised bibles to be quoted at our political enemies. No. We learn from them, they are a guide to action; action which must be determined by using the light of prevailing conditions and in the light of the class interest of the Irish working class. Many of our imprisoned comrades used their prison experiences to analyze not merely the state of our movement and its faults, but also the overall anti-imperialist struggle. Ta Power was one of these comrades and his writings point the way forward.

Therefore we, the leadership of the Republican Socialist Movement publicly state that the main priority for all sections of our movement in the coming period will be to build the nucleus of a revolutionary Party. All other tasks will be subordinate to that great historic task. For we recognise that the ultimate victory of socialism in Ireland will be dependant not only on a favourable international balance in our favour but the creation of a disciplined centralised revolutionary party and that alone will have both the political knowledge and will to lead the majority of Irish people to their self-emancipation.

We know some of our comrades and supporters may see this as "betraying the armed struggle". That is nonsense. As revolutionaries we reject no form of struggle; we acknowledge the right of the Irish people to wage armed struggle against imperialism. For over twelve years, despite the repeated assassinations of our leaders, despite state frame-ups, despite informers and agent-provacateurs, and despite infiltration by ultra-left adventurers, our movement has stood firm on its broad principles of national liberation and socialism.

We have through the political concept of the Broad Front tried to re-forge a unity of republican and socialist forces that could develop the struggle on to a higher plane. We have consistently upheld the right of armed resistance and have refused to publicly condemn armed actions by antiimperialist groups against imperialism. We have not, although we strongly disagree with other organisations, either called on them to dissolve, nor tried to wipe them out. Nor will we do so in the future.

But here and now we do state no republican socialist worthy of the name condones petty sectarian attacks, defends gangsterism or criminality nor tolerates ill-disciplined, uncoordinated armed actions unrelated to the needs of the Republican Socialist Movement. Anyone guilty of such acts has no place in our movement.

No successful revolutionary movement has been built on ill-discipline, on cliques, on factionalism, nor on the cult of the personality. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to building the nucleus of the revolutionary Party and the forging of a collective leadership of such a nucleus.

Such a task will not be easy. Through the on-going process of the Anglo-Irish Agreement the British hope to do disarm the nationalists of the North through their agents in the S.D.L.P. and the Catholic Church that their imposed solution will be successful. Combine the Anglo-Irish Agreement with the Single European Act and we can see a clear strategy to win over the nationalists of Ireland to a pro-Nato, pro-western defense position. Therefore we have no hesitation in calling for a no vote in the forth coming referendum in the 26 county State.

In changing the constitution they, the Free State bourgeoisie will be undermining Ireland's traditional neutrality. Having over the years sold off our assets, our natural resources, and encouraged millions of us to emigrate, having presided over the decline of our customs, language and culture, and having waxed fat on the profits, the Free State capitalists are now beginning the long task of turning Ireland into... (Incomplete - Ed.)