Irish rent row protest in London!

by New Worker correspondent

A  Sinn Féin member of the Dublin parliament says the Irish government must urgently intervene in the escalating Knockmealdown rent dispute as protesters occupied an exclusive antiquarian bookshop in London belonging to the absentee landlord at the centre of the row. The shop was peacefully occupied during the protest with a strong presence maintained outside.
London’s Terence MacSwiney Committee, named after the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in Brixton prison during the Irish fight for freedom in 1920,  was glad to lend our support to this protest against the Duke of Devonshire to highlight the extortionate increase on Lismore farmers from £500 to £5000!
Conor D McGuinness, the Sinn Féin Deputy for Waterford, said the protest has brought fresh attention to a dispute that threatens the future of traditional hill farming in the Knockmealdowns and reflects the depth of anger among farmers and their supporters.
Speaking shortly after the protest, McGuinness said "today's occupation of the landlord's Mayfair bookshop in London has put a sharp spotlight on the disgraceful situation facing hill farmers in the Knockmealdowns. These are farming families whose people have worked these mountains for generations, and they are now being hit with a reported 900 per cent rent increase that would drive them off the land. I stand with them and with those protesting in solidarity with them.
"I am in touch with the protesters and I will continue to support the farmers as they campaign to protect their livelihoods, their communities and their future on these mountains. What is needed now is government intervention and a solution. I have raised this directly in the Dáil with the Minister for Agriculture, including the fact that farm payments are being withheld because a commonage letter from the landlord is required before payments can issue, even in respect of other lands not in dispute. That means the Minister is effectively holding these farmers over a barrel in the middle of an already outrageous dispute. That is unacceptable and it must end. It's 2026, not 1846. The government needs to act accordingly".

Irish patriot remembered in Brixton

by Theo Russell

Around sixty activists gathered at Brixton Prison in South London last Sunday to remember Terence McSwiney, the elected Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland, who died there after 74 days on hunger strike on 25th October 1920.
McSwiney, who was also an author and playwright, had been arrested by the British Government for possession of "seditious articles and documents" during the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence (the “Tan War”). After joining the hunger Cork Prison strike he was transported to Brixton gaol.
Thomas Gould, the  Sinn Féin  MP for Cork North Central, told the crowd that McSweeney was born in Knocknaheeney, Cork’s toughest working class district, and said “it’s brilliant to be here today with so many working class people, 105 years after his death”.
Gould recalled that the sisters Dolores and Marian Price were also on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, which lasted for 208 days because they were force-fed for 165 days.
He added: “What the Israelis are doing to Palestinian civilians, to women and children, it’s hard to believe that anyone could do these things to another human being. I would say this to ye, come out with your flags and your banners, come out and protest. The question now is does the Palestinian people have a right to exist?” he said adding that the solution to the Israel Palestine conflict lay in a two state solution.
Gould also welcomed the election of Catherine Connolly, who was supported by Sinn Féin and other left parties in Ireland, saying it was “a great day for Ireland”.
Frank Glynn spoke for the Terence MacSwiney Commemoration Committee about many other Irish hunger strikers, including Thomas Ashe, who died in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison in 1917, and Michael Gaughan, who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, both of whom dying as a direct result of violent force feeding.
Joe Murphy and Michael Fitzgerald, who were Terence McSwiney’s comrades and also died on hunger strike in Cork Gaol in 1920; Frank Stagg, who died in 1976 in Wakefield Prison after 62 days on hunger strike; and of course the ten hunger strikers who died in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland in 1981.
He also reminded those present that fifteen women in Armagh Women's Prison joined the 1981 hunger strike.
The singer Sean Brady and uillean piper Tom Lynch provided powerful songs and tunes.
The Terence MacSwiney Committee also organises for events at Parkhurst and Wakefield prisons to remember Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg. 

Sinn Fein: reunification “a marathon, not a sprint”

Chris Hazzard speaking

by Theo Russell

Sinn Fein MPs Pat Cullen and Chris Hazzard briefed their London supporters on the party’s future last Monday at a meeting in the House of Commons in Westminster, discussing the disappointing election results in the Irish Republic last month and prospects for ending the island’s partition.
Sinn Fein has fought four elections this year – two in the north of Ireland, a general election in the Republic, and European elections – an experience which Hazzard described as “very busy and stressful“. Sinn Fein is now the leading party in the North with Michelle O’Neill the First Minister of the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. 
On the border question Hazzard said “All the parties in the Republic say they expect to see a united Ireland in the next ten years, but Fianna Fail and Fine Gael (who have run the Republic since 1945) are in no hurry to deliver this”.
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin’s leader in the Republic, has had talks about reunification with Labour and the Social Democrats, who have 22 seats in the Dail between them.
Hazzard said Sinn Fein is “working well with the Labour Party left and other independent TDs, and we know that many Fianna Fail’s grass-roots members are unhappy with their leadership’s refusal to talk to Sinn Fein”.
Sinn Fein’s current policy on ending partition is based on discussion and dialogue to ensure that all parties, above all the Northern Unionists, feel included. Hazzard described it as “a marathon, not a sprint”.
He added that if the partition of Ireland ends “the North will automatically become part of the European Union, and there have already been some polls in the North in favour of reunification”.
In the 2020 Irish election Sinn Fein went from 23 to 37 seats – one seat below the winner, Fianna Fail – and may well have taken first place had it stood more candidates.
This was a totally unexpected success which shook the reactionary political establishment in the Republic, but in the November election Sinn Fein failed to follow through, gaining only two seats.
Hazzard put the party’s loss of 100,000 working class votes down to its policies on immigration and transgender rights. “In the working class areas of Dublin our vote didn’t desert to other parties, they just didn’t turn out for us”.
He pointed to the example of the Scottish National Party’s alienation of many of its voters because they saw the focus on transgender issues as irrelevant. “We need to understand working class views on transgender issues, and we didn’t appreciate the level of anger in working class communities over the handling of migrants”.
Since Brexit very large numbers of asylum seekers have entered the Irish Republic through the open border with the North, with an enormous impact on a country of only 5.4 million people.
Hazzard said “our government failed to put any system in place to deal with asylum seekers who were sent into poor working class areas. And people saw that they were being accommodated while nothing was done to help the many homeless Irish people in Dublin”.
“The ruling parties used the issue to create a wedge in the working class in the same way as Farage has done in England, but in the election Sinn Fein took the far right head on and they made no gains, they didn’t even come close”.
As so many times in its history, Sinn Fein is looking to move on from its setbacks in the Republic by learning the lessons and understanding the needs of working class people.

 

Northern Ireland – what next?

John Finucane speaking

by New Worker correspondent

Northern Ireland today – still divided by partition and sectarian division. There’s clearly still a job to do but there’s hope for the future. And at a meeting at the House of Commons in London on 25 April MPs on both sides of the Irish Sea joined in the discussion on the current situation following the historic 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA).
    Chaired by the Sinn Fein MP for Fermanagh & South Tyrone Michelle Guildernew, the panel included Pat Doherty, who was part of the Sinn Fein (SF) team at the negotiations, John Finucane, SF MP for North Belfast, Helen Jackson, a former Labour MP who was secretary to the late Mo Mowlam during the talks, former TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, and the actor Adrian Dunbar, star of the TV series Line of Duty.
    Pat Doherty gave a gripping account of the peace talks before 1998, including the two IRA cease-fires, describing the "huge conflicts" between the Unionist parties, and saying that those who didn't join the talks (the Democratic Unionist Party walked out and the Ulster Unionist Party didn't take part) "made a huge strategic blunder".
    Doherty also said the the Women's Coalition, led by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams, "was a breath of fresh air" during the talks.
    Adrian Dunbar reminded the meeting that Belfast still retains a segregated education system, "with millions spent every year bussing children across the city". "The GFA sadly hasn't delivered on an integrated education system".
    John Finucane said it was important "never to underestimate the success of the GFA", pointing to the economic successes in finance technology, cyber security and two Belfast film studios, but condemned the Sunak government for pushing through a new bill "which will undermine the reconciliation process".
    He said "there is still a job of work to do" with major problems with inadequate spending grants from London, in health and job creation.
    Finucane pointed out that For the first time since 1921, Sinn Fein is the largest party" but was unable to govern due to the suspension of the Assembly by the DUP. With the largest number of seats the Sinn Fein president Michelle O'Neill is now in line to be First Minister.
    He also pointed out that the Biden administration has made clear that until London resolves the North-South border situation "there will be no trade deal, and no prime ministerial or state visits" until London resolves the North-South border situation and removes any threat to the GFA.
    Looking to the future, Finucane said "a new Ireland is not about rubbing out the border on the map and saying 'job done', but about equality, parity of esteem, and resolving power sharing".

Sinn Féin MP warns of voter restrictions

John Finucane speaking

By Theo Russell

Francie Molloy, Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster, told a meeting in London last week that the problems the party experienced with registering voters in the North of Ireland for the December 2019 election “were the most difficult Sinn Féin has ever experienced”.

He said: “There are increasing restrictions on who gets onto the electoral register and who can send postal votes.

“We need to prepare for a unified electoral system in the north and south that is completely out of the hands of the British government. Every Irish citizen should be on the register and have the right to vote.

“Demography is changing in the North but it’s not reflected on the electoral register, and that could mean the unionists maintain control even when they’ve lost the popular majority.”

The keynote speaker at the meeting, A decade of opportunity: towards a United Ireland at the Westminster Parliament, was John Finucane, new Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast.

Finucane reminded the meeting that the Good Friday Agreement “is an evolving process” that “requires constant nurturing and active oversight and involvement by the Irish and British Governments”.

But his main focus was on Brexit, which he said “has exposed the failure and undemocratic nature of partition – a political problem, which requires a political solution”.

He added that: “The majority of MLAs and MPs in the North of Ireland are anti-Brexit. Neither the people, nor their political representatives here have consented to the North leaving the EU today. There is a justifiable anger about this.”

In April 2017 the European Union announced that in the event of Irish reunification, the North “would automatically re-join the EU with the rest of Ireland,” Finucane said.

He predicted that recent changes “will inevitably lead to the final break-up of the constitutional structures of the United Kingdom” and said: “It is no longer a question of if, but when the referendum on Irish unity will be held, and many of those of a British or Unionist identity are now considering the merits of reunification.”

Finucane called on the new Irish government after next month’s elections to publish a Green Paper and appoint a minister on how to prepare “a successful transition to a united Ireland”.

He added that the debate on reunification was bringing in wide sections of society in the North of Ireland.

Last year Baroness Paisley, the widow of Ian Paisley and vice-president of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said: “I just wonder why (Ireland) had to be divided... and I think it was the wrong decision,” adding that she could live in a united Ireland as long as there was freedom of religion – in contrast to her own party leader, Arlene Foster.

Also Billy Hutchinson, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, which had one seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly until 2007, told the party conference the a reunification referendum was inevitable.

On a so-called border referendum – ie to end partition – he said: “For our part, Sinn Féin believes there should be one within the next five years.

“That means the Irish Government need to begin to plan for a referendum, promote the discussion, and build a vision of a new and united Ireland.”

He called on the Irish diaspora in Britain to lobby MPs and the British government “to live up to its responsibilities under the Good Friday Agreement to announce a unity referendum”.

John Finucane is the son of lawyer Patrick Finucane, who was murdered in 1989 by Ulster Defence Association (UDA) members who were colluding with MI5, which was confirmed in parliament by David Cameron in 2012.

Finucane pointed out that in Belfast: “The absolute unionist majority has been lost in the last four elections and it is not coming back. I say this not out of triumph but as a challenge.” His seat was exclusively held by unionists until December 2019.

Amongst his predecessors was Edward Carson, who led a revolt against Irish Home Rule, paved the way for partition and established the Ulster Volunteers, who received arms shipments from Germany. Lenin famously cited Carson as an example of the British government supporting treason against against their own state.

In the discussion a speaker from the floor spoke about the ‘Magnitsky amendments’ unanimously added to two new laws by parliament, allowing the freezing of assets of “international human rights violators”. (According to the USA and UK, the US lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was murdered by the Russian Government.)

The speaker asked: “If they were so concerned about human rights, why didn’t they pass a law after the murder of Pat Finucane?”

A martyr for Irish freedom

By Theo Russell

A new committee was launched last Friday at the London Irish Centre in Camden, north London, to prepare for the centenary of the death of Terence MacSwiney, the mayor of Cork, who died after 73 days on hunger strike in Brixton prison, south London, in October 1920.

The hunger strike was launched in protest at his internment for possession of “seditious articles and documents" during the 1919–‘21 Irish War of Independence, and the fact that he was tried by a military court, and was joined by 11 other Irish Republican prisoners in Cork Jail.

MacSwiney, a playwright and author, took part in the 1916 Easter Rising in Cork. He was elected to the first Dáil Éireann as Sinn Féin TD for Mid Cork in 1918. After his friend Tomás Mac Curtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, was murdered by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary in March 1920, MacSwiney succeeded him as Lord Mayor.

The meeting was addressed by Martin Ferris, Sinn Féin member of the Irish parliament, the Dáil, since 2002, who described his own experience of being on hunger strike for 47 days in harrowing detail. Ferris was serving a 10-year sentence in Portlaoise prison, Ireland, for IRA membership.

Ferris said that MacSwiney “succeeded in criminalising the empire that tried to criminalise him” and asked: “Those who tried to criminalise us, where are they now? Maggie Thatcher is remembered now for her association with Pinochet and support for apartheid South Africa.”

Ferris also spoke about a major new book, {Ireland’s Hunger for Justice}, which for the first time brings together the stories of 22 Irish hunger strikers who gave their lives for Ireland’s liberation between 1917 and 1981, including two others who died in English prisons, Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg, in 1974 and 1976.

MacSwiney's hunger strike in 1920 gained world attention and protests in his support were held in Germany, France, Australia and South America. In India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and the revolutionary Bhagat Singh were inspired by his example and writings.

The great Vietnamese national liberation fighter Ho Chi Minh famously said of MacSwiney: “A nation which has such citizens will never surrender.”