The Cedar Lounge Revolution

Left Archive: An Phoblacht, Volume 1, Number 2, March, 1970, Provisional Sinn Féin. February 29, 2016

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Many thanks to Spaílpín for donating this issue of An Phoblacht to the Archive. It offers a very useful insight into the period during the split in the Republican Movement in 1969/1970. Furthermore with an article on the meaning of 1916 it provides a good starting point for the materials being posted to the Archive over the next five weeks which will be comprised of publications referencing or being focused entirely on the events of 100 years ago.

This edition of An Phoblacht from Provisional Sinn Féin is notable for how it engages directly with the split in the Republican Movement earlier that year. An Open Letter from Ruairí O Brádaigh, in his role as Chairman of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Féin outlines as much:

I fully intend to retain membership of Sinn Féin as I have done for the past 20 years. I deny your right and the right of your alleged Ard-Chomhairle to deprive me of membership. All of you who voted for resolution no.54 on the agenda of the recent Ard-Fheis giving ‘support and allegiance to the IRA’ as represented at the Ard-Fheis by an alleged Army council which is publicly committed to going into Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House, forfeited membership of the Sinn Féin organisation.

The Sinn Féin Constitution and Rules as re-affirmed by the Ard-Fheis specifically forbids entry to these parliaments and all of you who gave ‘support and allegiance’ to a leadership which intends doing so are in breach of the Sinn Féin Constitution and Rules and stand suspended from membership.

He notes the rules of the Constitution and then:

The Caretaker Executive appointed by the delegates who withdrew from the Intercontinental Hotel and resumed the Ard-Fheis in Parnell Square uphold the Constitution and Rules of Sinn Féin and pending the re-convening by it of an Ard-Fheis are the lawful governing body of the organisation.

Other news highlighted is the formation of a North West Regional Executive with the Secretary of that body being Daithí O Conaill. There is a reprint of an editorial from the Leinster Express, Port Laoise which speaks of a Sinn Féin Revival. This speaks of the walk out at the Ard-Fheis and how evidence of ‘infiltration by Communist elements was well documented in the statement [issued by the group which walked out]’.

Cumann na hUaimhe, Sinn Féin is reported as recognising the Provisional Army Council as the lawful leadership of the Republican Movement and stating:

We do not serve Queen, Kremlin or Free State, but will strive for a 32-County Republic based on the Proclamation of Easter Week and Christian principles.

Elsewhere it is reported that the South Galway Comhairle Ceantair held an AGM at which Ruairí O Brádaigh read a comprehensive statement from the Caretake Executive of SF giving five major reasons for the walk-out from the Ard-Fheis.

1) Recognition fo Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House.
2) Extreme Socialism leading to dictatorship.
3) Internal methods being used in the Movement.
4) Failure to give maximum possible defence in Belfast and other Northern centres last August.
5) Campaigning to retain Stormont instead of seeking its abolition.

An outline on the last page offers ‘Our Aims and Methods’ and includes the ambition of:

…[an] end to foreign rule in Ireland, to establish a 32-County Democratic Socialist Republic based on the Proclamation of 1916, to restore the Irishh language and culture to a position of strength, and to promote a social order badged on justice and Christian principles which will give everyone a just share of the nation’s wealth. These are objectives which have always had the support of the majority of our people, thought at times they may not have been expressed in precisely the same terms.

The piece continues by offering a history since partition, and includes a somewhat sympathetic overview of the Civil Rights struggle.

As noted above the contents includes an interesting article on ‘What the 1916 Rising Meant’ and a most interesting article regarding Comhar na gComharsan (Neighbours Cooperation), a manifesto on economic and social thinking.

Left Archive: Republican News, Vol. 2, Number 100, 25th August, 1973, Sinn Féin July 20, 2015

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Many thanks to the person who donated this to the Archive.

This edition of Republican News was printed in August 1973. It provides a good sense of Provisional Sinn Féin during this period and the avowed orientation of the publication as ‘The Voice of Republican Ulster’. It is well put together and has a strong focus on prisoners in Long Kesh, what is termed the Curragh Concentration Camp, Armagh, Crumlin Road and Mountjoy. The main article looks at the situation of PIRA prisoners in English jails. The other front page article draws attention to the fact of eleven ‘Irish women now interned’.

Other pieces on the newspaper include a cartoon on the LittleJohn Affair, Troops Out rallies in the UK and Germany, an analysis on ‘Whither SDLP?’ and a long piece on ‘The Irish Working Class and the IRA’.

This latter argues that the:

…success of the IRA lies with the Irish working class people, particularly in the North of Country. Despite the repression used against them, despite the psychological and physical forces which have been tried on them, despite the military occupation of their ghettoes and despite the final weapon of murder (much favoured by Brit. and Loyalist Extremist alike) they continue to resist all and to support their Army in its endeavours towards freedom.

It continues that while the I.R.A. is a Republican Army…

…[it] is also a socialist Army and their socialism is the distinguishing feature from other so called Nationalist or ‘Anti-Unionist’ bodies.

And it argues that:

It is realised that James Connolly’s belief than an Irish Republic with a Capitalist Economy would be but an extension of England’s Economy and thus under English rule, is as true to-day as it was in 1913. Thus the war cannot be said to be won until the Éire Nua or the New Ireland is achieved.

The piece also includes an appeal from 1923 ‘To the Free State Soldiers’ which asks the same Army in 1973 to study it carefully.

Left Archive: Sinn Féin Policy Document, c.1994 February 9, 2015

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This document from Sinn Féin which undated appears to have been produced around 1994 – given that it mentions both the 1992 abortion referendum and calls for the introduction ‘of divorce in the 26 counties’. 25 pages long it outlines SF policy across all areas including Women, Economy,Prisoners – Political Hostages, the European Community and so on.

It notes in the introduction that:

The prerequisite for a lasting peace in Ireland is the existence of democracy. Without democracy there can be no settlement, no economic stability, no end to injustice or part ion. The denial of national democracy creates the donations for conflict, perpetuates injustice and division and deprives the Irish people, North and South, of a free and open society in which economic prosperity and social equality can be achieved.

It argues that:

The primary task facing the Irish people today is the resolution to he national question and the establishment of an Irish democracy in which the Irish people as awhile can decide their future.

And that:

SF’s pursuit of peace through dialogue, discussion and debate, in private and in public, with a range of groups and individuals across the political and religious spectrum have borne fruit in the current national and international concentration on the issue of peace in Ireland. Most significant of all has been the dialogue between our president Gerry Adams and the SDLP leader John Hume.

In April 1992, as a result of their discussions, they issued a joint statement which accepted that the most pressing issue facing the people of Ireland and Britain today is the question of lasting peace and how it can best be achieved. The statement accepted that ‘an internal settlement is not a solution’ and that ‘the Irish people as a whole have a right to national self-determination’.

Given its publication at a pivotal time in relation to political developments on the island of Ireland this is provides a clear insight into developments in the thinking of that party.

Left Archive: Republican News, No.2, 27th June 1973, Provisional Sinn Féin. January 12, 2015

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Many thanks to ‘Spailpín’ for allowing us to scan materials from his collection including this.

This document from Provisional Sinn Féin in 1973 is the first issue of Republican News to be added to the Archive. Four pages long and in tabloid format it contains a range of articles. The lead article argues ’Stormont Must Not be Re-Built’ quoting Malachy Foots, spokesman for the Sinn Féin Ulster Executive who stated that:

…he was more convinced than ever that we are now on the eve of the rebuilding of the old Stormont, with its Unionist majority assisted by the SDLP, NILP, Republican Clubs, etc, to give it the guise of a democratic body’.

Another piece has the IRA condemning sectarian murders, those being the murder of Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews.

We have repeatedly disclaimed and condemned sectarian killings and we deplore the foul murders of last night.

In the same piece:

The Belfast Brigade denied any involvement in the murder of the young protestant whose body was found in the Lower Falls area. They say that it is likely that he was the victim of the local fascist murder squad who were responsible for two murders of Catholic Boys in the Giants Ring area.

It notes under ‘Quislings publicly thanked’ that SF ‘wishes to express its contempt for the Quislings in the so-called National Coalition Government of the 26 Counties. Cosgrave and his ministers are attempting to assist Britain to finally achieve its long attempted aim of the final conquest of the Irish people’.

There’s is also a message from PIRA internees and detainees in Long Kesh.

Elsewhere Sinn Féin ‘calls for spoilt votes’ as well as a Ten Point Summary which concludes…

So defeat Whitelaw politically by spoiling your vote in a positive way. In place of 1,2,3 write in the letters EIRE NUA, the slogan of a free socialist 32-county Republic. Your intelligently spoiled vote will bring this goal nearer. You have won the military victory, now win the political one!

Left Archive: Peace in Ireland, Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin, c. 1976 November 3, 2014

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This document, ten pages long, is subtitled ‘A Broad Analysis of the Present Situation’, and notably it notes that it is by Gerry Adams, Long Kesh. Under the introductory heading ‘The Long War’ it notes:

The present war in Ireland has stretched into its seventh year, and the death toll continues to rise. Any student of Irish history could have penned my opining sentence at any time, or period of time, this century or, indeed, many centuries before this.

It notes;

This short essay does not intend to trace the history of the conflict. It is the writer’s view that violence in Ireland finds its roots, regardless of which groups are involved, within the conquest by Britain of Ireland. This conquest has lasted through several stages for many centuries and, whether economic, political, territorial or cultural, it has used violence, coercion, sectarianism and terrorism as its methods, and power as its objective.

It continues:

Violence in Ireland is the result of British Imperialism; of the British connection and the British presence.

And he notes:

It is the writer’s view that only an Irish Republic, free from England and from imperialist influences, controlled by the Irish people on structures decided by themselves and based on socialist principles can solve the many problems besetting Ireland.

He concludes this section by noting that:

This essay will attempt to explain the nature of violence in Ireland and of the possibilities of peace. This is not done from a ‘know-all position’ but simply in an attempt to deepen any understanding the reader may have of the present war situation.

The remainder of the pamphlet addresses various topics, including The Peace Campaign, Fascist Terrorism in the North, Ballymurphy, Orangeism, The Twenty-Six Counties – State Violence and England – It’s Responsibility.

The postscript makes a direct appeal to ‘the English people’ suggesting that:

[They] have a responsibility for Ireland’s British problem. They have the power to persuade their Government to withdraw and freedom-loving people throughout the world have the power to persuade their Governments and their politicians to pressures the British government into dismantling the British system in Ireland.

It also offers a list of books on the conflict, including titles from Jack Bennet, C.D. Greaves, Michael Farrell, Dorothy MacArdle and James Connolly amongst others.

Left Archive: One Ireland, One People, National Manifesto for the EEC Elections 1984, Sinn Féin August 11, 2014

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This interesting document printed for the EEC elections of 1984 is ten pages long. On the front cover it has the old SF logo with the initials SF superimposed on the map of Ireland. Inside it notes that:

SF is contesting the EEC elections in all five constituencies in the 32 counties, putting before the people a real alternative. We are the only all-Ireland party with an unapologetic stand in support of national re-unification and in defence of the right of the Irish people to resist British occupation.

It notes that SF has ‘consistently opposed membership of the EEC’. And it suggests that the EEC has failed ‘to pro due the economic miracle promised on entry’. It also argues that ‘EEC membership has subjugated national sovereignty to the interests of the bigger and richer EEC states, only shifting the balance of colonial neo-colonial dependency on Britain to dependency on Brussels’ and that it has ‘re-emphasised partition’.

Under various headings, Unemployment, Policy Control, Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Issues and Cultúr it critiques the EEC and it concludes by arguing:

SF advocates withdrawal from the EEC and the negotiation of trading agreements with it, but also advocates the implementation of a radical socialist economic programme in a united Ireland.

Left Archive: Peace With Justice, Provisional Sinn Féin, 1972 and 1975 July 7, 2014

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This short document from Provisional Sinn Féin was first printed in 1972 and then reprinted in 1975. It calls for ‘A British Withdrawal’, ‘A New Ireland negotiated by the Irish People themselves’ and ‘A general amnesty for all political prisoners’.

Its contents essentially reiterates Eire Nua (see here for the copy in the ILA). And it reprints elements of the ‘New Constitution’, the ‘Draft Charter of Rights’ and aspects of the structure of the proposed new government.

It concludes:

The above programme is an outline of the New Ireland envisaged by the Republican Movement. Its adoption will ensure that the sacrifices of generations will not have been in vain. Peace, prosperity and security can be secured for all our people and foreign rule and dissension shall be buried for ever.

Clearly the basic function was to ensure that the key points of Eire Nua were conveyed more widely than the original readership of that document.

Left Archive: Yesterday and Today, Provisional Sinn Féin, 1971 June 2, 2014

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This is a fascinating document from 1971, a simple double sided leaflet, folded in DL panels. It seeks to present itself as:

…the same organisation as was founded in 1905 and has the same objectives as it set itself in 1918. Its most recent successes were in 1955-1958 when it had two candidates elected in the occupied North and found in the South.

It argues that:

The SF programme in the political sphere is aimed at contesting local and parliamentary elections north and south of the Border and re-establishing a 32-County Dáil which would seek to enforce its legislation over all Ireland. The social and economic policy is radical and aims at nationalisation of the currency, banks and key industries; state development of the natural resources on a large scale and the spread of co-operatives throughout agriculture, industry and trade.

Interestingly it doesn’t mention armed struggle as such though it does suggest that it may be on the brink of a ‘major breakthrough’ due to ‘the spirit of resurgence which has been generated in the Six Counties since the Civil Rights movement began to make progress in 1968’.

It also goes into some detail on ‘the SF attitude to the Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House Parliaments’.