éirígí

[frankryan]

Whats The starry plough iniative's attitude towards éirígí? I'm not a member myself, i'm an independent socialist republican but very impressed by this campaign group, they seem to be heavly involved in numerous campaigns such as 'shell to sea', water rates in the north and others. Their imperialist policy paper is an excellent read and hits the nail on the head and their 'reclaim the republic' campaign, were they distribute free proclamations to households around the country is an excellent idea. So thoughts on this group???

[RedFlag32]

id personally love to see a rep come here and get involved,anyone who is struggling for a 32county socialist republic is welcome here. My judgement on them would be a bit wary,after all they are ex-provo's.:L Time will tell i suppose,seems to be decent so far,one thing id like to see more from them is for them to get involved with other like minded organisations.No man is an island.

[dangeresque]

read that some of their members were arrested at an anti-war protest, good luck to them. Aside from that, I hadn't heard of them doing anything but handing out proclomations of the republic.

I believe they sent the IRSP an invite to their Connolly Comm., so that is good to see.

I would question why they would form a new group rather than join a republican socialist movement that already exists and has a (small) base of support, rather than have to build up a whole new movement. That's not an attack, btw, just wondering why they would sit for in SF for years only to come round to the IRSP position now.

[frankryan]

one thing id like to see more from them is for them to get involved with other like minded organisations.No man is an island.

Actually I think one of their main objectives is to work closely with all progressive groups or individuals on numerous different projects, protests, etc.

I would question why they would form a new group rather than join a republican socialist movement that already exists and has a (small) base of support, rather than have to build up a whole new movement.

Thats a good question and one i'd like to hear from a member, they seem to have the exact same ideology as the IRSM so its definitely a legitimate question.

[Papa C.]

frankryan said:

Actually I think one of their main objectives is to work closely with all progressive groups or individuals on numerous different projects, protests, etc.

I support a broad front among republicans and socialists so I certainly have an open mind when it comes to éirígí. But as some have said there are a few question marks over the organisation.

We can specualte but we've no hard facts if we don't have input from the organisation themselves. I would love to see a representative from éirígí get involved in the board at some stage.

[dangeresque]

I'll ask FTA69 from the other forums to come on over and talk to us. He's a sound guy and either an éirígí supporter or member I beleive.

[voxpopuli]

I think éirígí does some excellent work, they may share some common ground with the IRSP which is a good basis for co-operation. I can't find many fundamentals that they differ with the IRSP on but I can't but help feel that their existence is based on the necessity for them not to account for the years spent within the Provos.

[FTA69]

Alright lads.

First of all I'd like to say I'm not an Éirígí "rep", rather a fella who speaks for himself and gives only his opinions. I don't speak for the organisation at all.

My right click is also broken so I can't use the quote function too well. Our website is www.eirigi.org , on that site there's a paper called "Solid Foundations" which provides an overview of who we are and what we're about.

Right,

Many of our members (but not all) were indeed involved with the PRM before. I myself was in Sinn Féin since the age of 14, and remained with them for 5 odd years. My own reason for this was that as a left Republican I believed that that organisation was the vehicle which would lead us to the Socialist Republic. I had many misgivings about the party but I also felt that it was possible to steer it in a left-wing direction. To that effect I worked with others in advocating on what we believed was the best course of action for Sinn Féin, the problem being that SF was headed on a one-way course to the centre. It took time for myself and others to reach this conclusion, and to conclude that as an organisation it couldn't be pushed in any other direction.

Éirígí does not describe itself as a splinter-group, rather we seek to put forward our analysis and work to that end, other groups can do whatever they want. Nor did we establish ourselves as the "one-true-RM" as frankly, that analysis is flawed and outdated. Rather we are a group of Socialist Republicans seeking to bring about change and hopefully play a part in a movement made up of progressive elements.

I don't think it is fair to dismiss the group because of the past affiliations of some members, remember the IRSP were once written off as disgruntled Sticks etc. There is no particular reason why people didn't just join another organisation, to be honest I don't think the question is entirely important (although people are fully entitled to make queries). The point I think should be foccussed on is the fact that there is now a dedicated body of experienced and sound activists involved in the struggle for the Republic and that in itself should be considered very positive indeed.

I hope that sums up some things for ye.

[Papa C.]

fta69 said:

The point I think should be foccussed on is the fact that there is now a dedicated body of experienced and sound activists involved in the struggle for the Republic and that in itself should be considered very positive indeed.

Hi FTA69, welcome to the board and thanks for taking part in the discussion.

I take it Éirígí is in favour of a broad front among Republicans?

[FTA69]

Republicans as well as other progressive organisations and individuals.

[RedFlag32]

fta69 said:

Alright lads.

First of all I'd like to say I'm not an Éirígí "rep", rather a fella who speaks for himself and gives only his opinions. I don't speak for the organisation at all.

My right click is also broken so I can't use the quote function too well. Our website is www.eirigi.org , on that site there's a paper called "Solid Foundations" which provides an overview of who we are and what we're about.

Right,

Many of our members (but not all) were indeed involved with the PRM before. I myself was in Sinn Féin since the age of 14, and remained with them for 5 odd years. My own reason for this was that as a left Republican I believed that that organisation was the vehicle which would lead us to the Socialist Republic. I had many misgivings about the party but I also felt that it was possible to steer it in a left-wing direction. To that effect I worked with others in advocating on what we believed was the best course of action for Sinn Féin, the problem being that SF was headed on a one-way course to the centre. It took time for myself and others to reach this conclusion, and to conclude that as an organisation it couldn't be pushed in any other direction.

Éirígí does not describe itself as a splinter-group, rather we seek to put forward our analysis and work to that end, other groups can do whatever they want. Nor did we establish ourselves as the "one-true-RM" as frankly, that analysis is flawed and outdated. Rather we are a group of Socialist Republicans seeking to bring about change and hopefully play a part in a movement made up of progressive elements.

I don't think it is fair to dismiss the group because of the past affiliations of some members, remember the IRSP were once written off as disgruntled Sticks etc. There is no particular reason why people didn't just join another organisation, to be honest I don't think the question is entirely important (although people are fully entitled to make queries). The point I think should be foccussed on is the fact that there is now a dedicated body of experienced and sound activists involved in the struggle for the Republic and that in itself should be considered very positive indeed.

I hope that sums up some things for ye.

Failte comrade,

Great to see you here and hope you can visit us frequently. The Starry Plough is a non-aligned eductional website so i am personally glad to see a voice for Eirigi join up,do you think there coul dbe more involvement from the organisation int our discussions here,we get Republican socialists from all quarters so it may be to thier advantage to get involved in debates here?

[RedFlag32]

éirígí becomes a political party
12/05/07

As part of its process of development, éirígí has taken the decision to organise itself as a political party. The motion to this effect was put to today's Árd Fheis and ratified by the membership.

Also agreed upon this afternoon was the group's first constitution which sets out the aims and objectives of éirígí, as well as the conduct expected from members.

When éirígí was launched as a socialist-republican campaigns group in April 2006 it was stated that "a Democratic Socialist Republic can only be established and sustained through the collective action of a progressive social movement incorporating local communities, organised labour, cultural organisations, campaigns groups, political parties etc."

This remains the case. However, the development of the organisation in the intervening 12 months has opened up opportunities which were previously unavailable.

éirígí's catchment area has now expanded beyond Dublin, with a membership pool and structure that stretches across the country – in both the Six and Twenty-Six Counties.

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson expanded on the move.

"Following today's decision we now intend to set about the business of organising ourselves as a revolutionary political party."

"The growth and level of interest we have experienced over the last year has shown that there is a potential for a radical socialist-republican alternative to what passes for politics in this country – we fully intend to capitalise on that potential."

"Our belief that the needs of the people of Ireland are best served by ending the British occupation of the Six Counties, securing the reunification of the country and the establishment of a Socialist Republic is as relevant today as it ever was."

Brian continued: "However, éirígí are not becoming a political party for the sake of it. We believe that the whole notion of what a political party is needs to be re-examined. The change we seek in society is the sort that comes from the bottom up, not the other way round."

"A revolutionary political party has a crucial role to play in instigating that change but it can only do so in conjunction with the active participation of large numbers of the population. Until that happens, words like democracy are not worth the paper they are written on."

"Much has been said and written in recent times about the state of the republican struggle – a lot of it from an understandably pessimistic point of view. éirígí is ready to play its part in rejuvenating that struggle and looks forward with optimism and hope to doing so."

"In conclusion, we intend not only to radically redefine the nature of Irish society but also the struggle to achieve that change."