SWR Interview with Ruairi O'Bradaigh (2000)
SWR Interview with Ruairi O'Bradaigh (2000) Scottish Worker's Republic Ruairi O'Bradiaigh is the President of Republican Sinn Fein. The spirit of these question and answers is in line with SWR policy of Celtic solidarity against Anglo Capitalist Imperialism and their frankenstein monster of manufactured, divide & rule, crude sectarianism. Ruairi O'Bradaigh has always understood the need for tactical and principled cooperation against a common enemy. The Scots and the Irish have more in common than they have against each other. Both share a common Gaeltacht heritage. Ireland faced 800 years of struggle against Anglicisation. Scotland has endured a thousand years of struggle and can vie with Ireland on a head count of Imperial murder, pillage and treachery. _____________________________ Question: Have you ever regretted walking out of the Sinn Féin Ard Fhéis in 1986 and resigning your Presidency to re-form the smaller Republican Sinn Féin? Answer: At the unrepresentative Sinn Féin Ard Fhéis (conference) in 1986 the Constitution of the organisation was broken by the majority. The minority - in excess of 30% - stood by the Constitution, withdrew from the hall and continued the Ard-Fhéis elsewhere. Republican Sinn Féin dates from 1917 when the organisation adopted the same objectives with the IRA - international recognition of Ireland as a sovereign, independent 32 County Republic Q: Why did you think it necessary to re-group? A: This parting of the ways was as inevitable as the four previous splits in the movement. In 1922 Cumann na nGaedheal/Fine Gael accepted England’s alternative to the objective; this was partition, a 26 County neo-colonial State and a Six County colonial Statelet still occupied by British forces. Four years later, in 1926 Fianna Fáil broke from Sinn Féin and accepted both Statelets; in 1946 Clann na Poblachta did likewise as did the Workers Party/Democratic Left in 1969-70. In each case - with the exception of Clann na Poblachta - they turned on their former comrades and physically coerced them in the interests of English rule in Ireland. Had Republican Sinn Féin in 1986 accepted the 26-County State the deterioration of the Provisionals and their gradual absorption into the British system in Ireland would have been much quicker. Further it would have marked the end of the organisational continuity of the movement since the Fenian Brotherhood was formed in 1858. Q: Where do you see yourself and Republican Sinn Féin going from here? A: We will continue to organise and mobilise the Irish people towards the achievement of our historic objectives. We seek a public declaration of a planned, phased and orderly English disengagement from Ireland, followed by an All-Ireland election to a 32 County Constituent Assembly. At this we will advocate a new federation of the four Provinces including a nine-county Ulster. The Former Unionists would have a working majority in the northern province but the nationalists would be in reach of power. Strong regional and district councils would distribute decision making according to local majority. Only Foreign Affairs, National Defence and overall financing would be reserved to the federal (central) level . In its social and economic programme SAOL NUA - a New Society- Republican Sinn Féin proposes Republican, Democratic, Socialist, Environmental and Self-Reliance Principles. Unlike the Provisionals we are opposed to the current process because it is confined by the Downing Street Declaration of 1993 and the Framework Documents of 1995. These enshrine the Unionist Veto on political progress and cannot deliver a British withdrawal from Ireland. Q: Now that ‘New Labour’ is in power do you see that making any difference to Ireland’s predicament? A: New Labour will make no difference. This has already been seen in decisions like forcing the Orange Order parade through the nationalist Garvaghy Road in a most deceitful fashion in 1996-7. The leaked document of June 20 indicates that the decision was already taken more than two weeks earlier while Mo Mowlam pretended to consult. The actual implementation of the decision by British troops and Police with massive and overwhelming force on the ground was also treacherous. Even with their massive majority in Parliament of more than 180, they have already yielded much more easily to Orange and Loyalist threats of violence than the Tory Major/Mayhew administration which depended on Unionist support to remain in power. The honeymoon with New Labour is over as far as the Irish people are concerned. Q: What ramifications do you see, if any, in New Labour’s ‘Scottish Devolution’ affecting Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales? A: Any loosening up of the “United Kingdom” is to the good. Of course there is always the danger that the alleged stepping stone to Scottish or Welsh Independence could become and end in itself for all those working for it. Certainly the fear of a break up of the United Kingdom is one of the main reasons why the English Establishment opposes disengagement from Ireland so strongly. Q: How would you like to see a future Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England develop? A: Ever since the 1976 Republican Sinn Féin’s foreign policy document proposed a Celtic League on the lines of the Nordic Council or the Arab League. This would include a Free Ireland as well as an Independent Scotland, Wales, Isle of Mann, Cornwall and Brittany. Such a linking would provide a counterweight to the power of England. The inclusion of our Celtic cousins in Brittany would help to balance it against being just anti-English. Q: Do you see any similarities in Scoto - Irish culture and politics? A: Ireland and Scotland would of course be the larger and leading members of such a league. Irish and Scots Gáedhlig are sister languages. Further there is a radical element in both countries which would assist each other in development and cooperation. Q: Who would you blame for the sectarian influences in both Scotland and Ireland? A: It has always been in the Imperial interests of England to foster sectarianism and other divisions among the peoples of Scotland and Ireland. The development of local power and decision- making in both countries and the ending of the “underclass” mentality and situation in both countries would greatly assist in ending sectarianism which is like a cancer in the body politic. Radical working class policies are essential here. Q: What would you say to the Celtic football fans in Scotland who drag down the Irish flag by their lumpen behaviour and singing of I.R.A. songs, yet vote for British Rule in Scotland? Would you accept that they are a strong factor in giving Ireland and the Irish Nationalist struggle a low image, which cannot even be wholly invented by the British? What political advice would you give to these fans if they really wanted to further the Irish cause? A: Singing rebel songs and striking Republican attitudes is totally inconsistent with voting for British Rule in Scotland. If such people really want to further the cause of Irish National Independence they should work for Scottish Independence also. To do otherwise is a contradiction. Q: How closely would you like to see a future Irish and Scottish Government ally themselves against their larger and more powerful Anglo-Imperial neighbour? A: As already outlined in the Celtic League idea close cooperation between the two countries is essential to survival and development. Q: Could you see a partnership there able to help or influence other and perhaps less fortunate nations? A: Republican Sinn Féin visualises in the words of the Scottish-born Irish socialist and martyr, James Connolly, “a free federation of free peoples” in Europe, i.e. a Europe of peoples, not of states The suppressed, small nationalities on the periphery of Europe need mutual assistance and support. They also need to work in harmony with the working class movements in their more powerful neighbours. The Non-Aligned Movement and the former ‘Group of 77’, now of even greater numbers, at the United Nations give us a basis for assisting the peoples newly-emerged from colonialism and still struggling against cultural and economic imperialism. As has been said so often, the struggle for National Independence may end in success but the work of Liberation goes on. There can be no let-up here in Scotland, Ireland or anywhere else! INTERVIEW ENDS- R. Ó B. declined to answer the editors final question which was: “Would you like to see Partick Thistle thrash Celtic and Rangers out of existence”? from the: Scottish Republican Socialist Movement: http://srsm.port5.com/srsm/