Left Archive: The Irish Republican Congress, Irish Communist Organisation, No 3, c. 1966

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As pamphlet No. 3 this date from early in the ICO’s existence. The document is structured in sections: Fianna Fáil in Power; The Blueshirt Opposition; The Republicans; The Athlone Manifesto; The Labour Party Congress; The Republican Congress and Conclusion. The section on the Congress goes into some detail with quotations and observations about that event. 

The Introduction argues that:

In this pamphlet an attempt is made to give an idea .of the poli­tical events in the Free State, or 26 County nee-colony of Bri­tish imperialism, in the year 1934, end to do this as far as possible by using extracts from newspapers published in that year. The main political organisations were Fianna Fail, the fascist Blueshirts, the Irish Republican Army, the Republican Congress which originated in a split in the IRA in March 1934, the Labour Party which did not represent ·the interests either of Irish labour or the Irish nation, and the Communist Party of Ireland, founded in 1933, which was active in the inte­rest of both the working class and the ration and which participated in the Republican Congress meeting in Dublin in September 1934. 

The Conclusion argues:

We hope to issue a pamphlet in the near future dealing with the fortunes of the Republican Congress after this meeting. But it is important first of all to understand what was at issue at the meeting in September 1934. What was not at issue was the fact that it was virtually impossible for a capitalist ruled Ireland to exist side by side with an imperialist Britain and be independent of it. That was not at issue. Nor was the fact, that only the working class could lead the Irish nation to independence at issue. Both sides wanted Ireland independent and socialist. The difference lay in the question of the method of struggle needed to achieve these ends. Both sides agreed about what they wanted to get. They disagreed about how to get it. 

The Majority group thought it was possible for socialist revolution to occur in the 6 cos and the 26 Cos within the imperialist framework and that the struggle against imperialism would begin after the socialist revolutions. The Minority group held that socialism could only come after the imperialism had been overthrown, and that the immediate task was therefore to unite all the anti-imperialist forces in a struggle for the Republic.