Workers' Party of Ireland
by Des O'Hagan

"The first decades of the 20th Century brought great hope
and expectation to the working class that at last they were
going to be free and would share equally in the wealth they
created. They believed that the rising support and power of
Communist and Workers Governments and parties would build a
new society. The contribution of Lenin's Bolsheviks which
in 1917 after many years of struggle brought together an
alliance of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants to defeat
reaction and establish a Workers state coupled with the
awakening and organisation of workers world-wide remain
among the most significant and decisive events of world
history. The following decades seen the growth and
expansion of many Socialist states brought into being by
the advance of the Red Army in 1945. The victory of
Chairman Mao and the Communist Party of China in defeating
Japanese imperialism and the Chinese reactionary forces the
Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek, who were supported by the
United States, was the most significant revolution midway
through the 20th century. That the Chinese revolution
survived numerous disasters, hostile actions and policies
of the United States designed to isolate and strangle the
revolution is testimony to the spirit, courage,
determination and leadership of the Communist Party of
China and of the Chinese people."

"The triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution was immediately
placed under threat by civil war, the intervention by major
capitalist powers followed by famine. The success of the
Soviet Union in overcoming these threats to its' existence
was made possible because the alliance forged in the
revolution was maintained. From the day of its' victory
the Soviet Union faced a continuous blockade and sanctions
from capitalism in an effort to destroy the new beginning.
When the war against Fascism began the Soviet people and
state showed what was possible when embargoes were lifted
and they were free to develop their economy in every field
- industry, agriculture, science and technology. No one
now denies that it was the Soviet Union's contribution to
the war against Fascism which played the major role in
Fascism's defeat. After the victory the Soviet people once
again had to face a ruthless and relentless enemy which was
determined to deprive them of their victory. Decade after
decade a campaign of vilification, of slander, sabotage,
economic and industrial blockade plus the constant threat
of Nuclear war were all part of capitalism's armoury in
it's fight to destroy the Soviet state."

"The closing decade of the last century saw the decline and
defeat of many European Communist and Workers governments
and parties. Over the decades from 1917 to 1990 we seen
that it was not only necessary to win power but it was
equally necessary to wage a continuous struggle to maintain
power. The 20th century stands out as the most turbulent
and destructive century in human history. Yet it still
gives many examples of what can be achieved when workers
are organised and led by an effective leadership. Most
especially when that leadership formulated the correct
policies of winning over the majority of the population
through a combination of alliances and
struggles on reformist issues affecting the majority of the
working class."

"The pre-eminent power in world capitalism is the United
States which over the past century has demonstrated it's
contempt for the rights of man, for the independence and
freedom of dozens of nations. It is the United States which
uses it's massive economic and military power to ensure
that capitalism's control of the national and international
economy is maintained. Other capitalist powers Japan and
the European Union may attempt on occasions to compete with
the United States but at the end of the day it is the
United States which controls, dominates and manipulates the
governments and parliaments of countless countries. For
over half a century they have blocked the peaceful
re-unification of Korea, have tried to beat revolutionary
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea into submission by
force, subversion, economic blackmail all of which have
failed. Revolutionary Cuba has also felt the destructive
power of the United States. From the victory of January
1959 the reactionary elements who were defeated have been
acting with the United States in it's efforts to destroy
Socialist Cuba. Revolutionary Korea and Cuba only seek to
develop their country free from exploitation and foreign
control. This is the wish of all progressive people."

"It was the United States which began the 'Cold War' and
who for decades has supported militarily, financially and
politically some of the most corrupt, cruel and vicious
murderers in the world. The list is long but it is
worthwhile recalling some of the friends and allies of the
United States in it's drive to enslave nations and deny
freedom and justice to so many, Batista in Cuba, Syngman
Ree in South Korea, Suharto in Indonesia, Salazar n
Portugal, Franco in Spain, Pinochet in Chile, Somoza in
Nicaragua, eaucescu in Romania, The Colonels in Greece, Zia
in Pakistan, Mobuto n aire, the evil apartheid regime in
South Africa. Today the United States and it's allies or
lackeys do not need to use the mailed fist to retain power
and control. They have been able to bribe and coerce those
whom they regarded as a threat to their power. They think
they have effectively destroyed all opposition to their
policies and control. Only the Communist and Workers
Parties of the world pose any long or short term threat to
their hold on the world. "

"If we had our victories and successes in the 20th century
we must recognise and state clearly that Socialists
Governments, that Communist and Workers parties did make
mistakes, committed errors, alienated people, allowed a
stifling bureaucracy to act in their name and on occasions
restricted rights and cultivated an elite. They did not at
all times ensure that the working class were involved and
aware of the problems in the society or the nature of the
enemy. Most importantly the party and government became
remote from the mass of the people."

"No country today is immune from the damaging effects of
capitalism. Control and manipulation of the mass media
world wide has played a major role in enabling capitalism
to portray Communist and Workers parties as being
anti-working class and hostile to the interests of all the
people. When we consider capitalism's record in the last
century, two world wars, countless local and regional wars
designed to protect it's economic and political interests,
the wholesale destruction of our planet, the rain forests
decimated, the ozone layer almost irreparably damaged, the
pollution of our seas and air, millions of people
constantly under the threat of starvation, hundreds of
thousands homeless and unemployed, millions of refugees
fleeing from war, famine and repression it is clear to us
that capitalism has failed and has no concern for the
rights of people or the future of our world. Yet capitalism
still is able to portray itself as benign and the only
suitable system for humanity. It has managed over the past
25 years to strengthen it's grip and control on the world."

"What are the lessons that we must draw from the history of
the past century? First we must recognise the continuous
need to educate, to inform the people of what is being
done in their name for the benefit of a tiny capitalist
minority. Unless we can educate, inform and mobilise people
then we will not succeed. Alliances on a broad front of
many issues can be one of the most successful ways of
raising awareness and winning people to our view. Certain
examples stand out of successful alliances, the Russian
Revolution, the war against Fascism 1939-1945, the world
wide coalition against the Vietnam war and the support for
National Liberation struggles in Africa, Asia, Latin
America."

"Over the past decades capitalism has developed a coherent
and co-ordinated strategy and programme in pursuing it's
goals of world wide total economic and political control.
This control we know from experience leads not to the
emancipation of workers but to their continued role, albeit
in different forms, as suppliers of labour and which leads
to that alienation that Marx wrote about so profoundly and
so often in his lifetime. It is essential that if Communist
and Workers parties are to succeed then we too must develop
a strategy for victory which will be coherent, co-ordinated
and united. There is no other way to win. We must begin
each in our own country where we know the problems and
where we can through hard work and campaigning mobilise and
educate the working class as to what needs to be done to
expose and defeat this rotten system of exploitation which
has brought such misery to humanity."

"The need for unity of all progressive forces is an
essential requirement for success. No matter where we live
there are issues that confront all the people or sections
of the population which requires a coalition of forces.
Naturally there is a need to develop a unified strategy and
approach from the left forces in order to give the lead to
the population. There may well be issues on which at this
point in time it is not possible to have unity of left
forces but we should start with those issues on which we
do agree and move on from there. The Seattle demonstration
in late 1999 and others since against the policies of
capital being pursued through the World Trade Organisation,
the World Bank, International Monetary Fund is a clear sign
that there are vast numbers of people in every continent
who are hostile to Capitalism. At present this hostility
and activity is organised on an ad hoc basis. Communist and
Workers Parties must play the leading role in giving this
movement direction, cohesion on all the issues that are now
moving people, the environment, sweatshop labour, rape of
natural resources, the plague of drug addiction sweeping so
many countries coupled with the war against drug dealers,
the fight against corruption in all areas of life, the
reform and democratisation of the United Nations and the
European Union and so many more. "

"No other movement will take on this task or will be able
to organise the majority in such a way that capital will be
defeated. Capitalism will be able to control and live with
anarchy and chaos from its opponents. It is the conscious
disciplined organisation of the working class which it
fears and it is the Communist and Workers Movement which
can and should provide this leadership in building
alliances on all these fronts. Our history at a national
and international level gives many examples of the need for
alliances in order to ensure success. At present the
Communist and Workers parties are relatively small and at
times isolated. To breakdown this isolation and to
strengthen and expand our base we need to develop and take
the leading role in the anti-capitalist alliance."

"The existence of N.A.T.O. is a critical question for the
maintenance of world peace and freedom of small nations.
The recent actions of N.A.T.O. led as usual by the United
States, in it's aggressive military activity against
Yugoslavia, in Kosovo and daily in Iraq without any
democratic mandate from the United Nations is a clear
indication that we must redouble our efforts to stop this
madness. Our demand must be for N.A.T.O. to be disbanded
not expanded. We are all too well aware of the suffering
being levied on the people of Iraq and Yugoslavia by the
N.A.T.O. allies who daily demonstrate their contempt and
hate for those who will not surrender to them. Their
actions and policies are summed up in the comment of
Madeline Albright United States Secretary of State who when
asked if the deaths and suffering of Iraqi children caused
by sanctions was a price worth paying she replied "Yes it
was a price worth paying"."

"For many years we have all struggled to build a principled
unity of the left which would effectively challenge the
reactionary right wing forces and their social democratic
allies, (the Labour Lieutenants of Capitalism in that
wonderful phrase of the American Socialist Daniel De Leon)
which dominate and control this society. Whatever the
faults and shortcomings of many Socialist Governments over
the past decades Communist and Workers parties face a
problem in trying to overcome the very serious and
long-term damage done to the cause of Socialism by the
policies and actions of Social Democratic parties. From
Mitterand in France, Gonzalez in Spain, Soares in Portugal,
Papandreou in Greece, Blair in Britain the working class in
Europe
have been continuously betrayed by Social Democrats who
more often than not are more virulently anti-Communist than
their masters Capitalism. It is clear that Communist and
Workers parties will have to work with Social Democratic
parties in order to achieve short term gains for the
working class. But it must be equally clear that Communist
and Workers Parties demonstrate on each and every occasion
their own independent policy and position. It is essential
to maintain a principled difference and distance between
Communist and Workers parties and Social Democratic parties
to ensure that Communist and Workers parties do not get
tarred with the Social Democratic brush of cynicism,
corruption and betrayal."

"Recent actions in Greece and the Basque country point up
once again the issue of terrorism. It is our firm
conviction that terrorism serves the cause of capitalism.
The statement by the General Secretary of the Communist
Party of Greece Comrade Aleka Paprigha that it would be
best to seek the organisers and directors of the terrorist
group November 17th in Washington is very true. Time after
time it has been established that the sinister forces
behind terrorism are located in the heartland of
capitalism. We recall that in October 1975 the Irish
terrorist group Provisional I.R.A. in collusion with the
British Army launched a series of murderous attacks on
members of the Workers Party in Belfast in an attempt to
wipe out our party in that city. These attacks were
welcomed and encouraged by supporters of the Provisional
I.R.A. who in their United States newspaper 'The Irish
People' reported these attacks under the headline
"Provisional Wedge Against Communism". The terrorists
murdered 6 members and supporters of our party including
the six year old daughter of a party member and also
wounded scores of other members and supporters. That they
failed to eliminate the Workers Party is testimony to the
support and solidarity of our members and supporters who
rose in defence of the party and succeeded in inflicting
serious damage on the terror group and it's members. In
recent years we have seen the spectacle of the leaders of
the various terrorists groups in Northern Ireland being
feted and lauded from the White House to Capital Hill in
Washington. As usual the United States practices a double
standard slandering and attacking sovereign countries as
being 'terrorist states' whilst they rub shoulders and give
aid, comfort and instructions to the most vile and
reactionary elements in many countries who are the real
terrorists."

"For us of the Workers Party of Ireland our main
preoccupation over the past thirty years, in Northern
Ireland, has been to defend democratic values, the right to
life against ruthless terrorist groups from the Catholic
nationalist and the Protestant loyalist side who each
wanted to impose their reactionary and sterile ideology on
all the people. We have struggled for the past decades
under the banner of Peace, Work, Democracy and Class
Politics. To achieve such an aim we believe will lead to
the unity of the working class. Now after thirty years of
violence from sectarian Catholic Nationalist and Protestant
Loyalists terrorist organisations which was accompanied on
occasions by state terrorism the future for the people of
Northern Ireland is getting better. "

"The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 brought about an
accommodation between the two power blocs, Protestant and
Catholic, which enabled a power-sharing Executive and
Assembly to be established. After much wrangling and
prevarication the main terrorist organisations have agreed
to allow inspection of their arms dumps, have committed
their organisations to peaceful means and have stated that
their guns will remain silent and are no threat to the
peace process. With the establishment of Devolved
Democratic Government in Northern Ireland for the first
time in 28 years we believe it will soon be possible to
develop class politics and so begin to unite workers of all
religions and of none. "

"The bitter division between the two communities of
Northern Ireland where for many decades there was no
contact was no accident. It was a deliberate policy of
Britain in the last century and this policy was continued
in this century by local sectarian politicians intent on
maintaining their power base. They created separate
schools, separate housing estates, separate workplaces,
separate social and recreational centres all designed to
keep workers divided and at each other's throats, The
Workers Party has had limited success in creating alliances
with workers in both communities on issues of Civil
Rights, housing, employment but always we faced the bigots
from either side who seen their power challenged once
worker's class consciousness was raised. Our ultimate aim
of a United Secular Socialist Republic of All-Ireland will
only be achieved when we unite the working class and they
are organised in their party the Workers Party. "

"In the Republic of Ireland we have had over the past years
what is termed "The Celtic Tiger" by the capitalists who
daily gloat about the great 'progress' the country is
making under their leadership. We are told that our success
is due to the enterprising capitalist class who will give
the workers a share in the wealth being made. They forget
to mention that the Republic of Ireland has received
literally billions of dollars from the European Union in
order to bring it near to the level of most West European
countries. And yet we still have one quarter of the
population living at or below the poverty line, a growing
homeless problem because the government is not building
sufficient public housing leaving the housing industry to
it's supporters and friends unscrupulous developers. The
policies of Thatcher have been learned by the Irish ruling
class who are demanding that under E.U. rules the state
must sell it's assets, in transport land and air,
telecommunications and power. Naturally as in other
capitalist states it is the friends of the ruling class who
will get the lion's share of these valuable assets. "

"Ireland today is fast becoming a low wage service economy
modelled on the United States with low wages, no protection
for workers and generally speaking poor conditions. There
are some good paying jobs in the developed computer
industry which is dominated by multinational corporations
who as elsewhere in the world will quickly shift production
as soon as costs rise. Already we have experienced some
examples of this capitalist trait. It is our view given the
nature and development of capitalism that this "Celtic
Tiger" will also stumble like the "Asian Tiger" and bring
untold misery to many hundreds of thousands of workers.
This is inevitable. Trade union membership is in decline
and most workers have no confidence in the trade union
leadership who are allied to the main social democratic
party. Agriculture under the European Union programme is
in steady decline being replaced by tourism as the main
occupation. We have three judicial tribunals investigating
the deep and pervasive corruption that has marked the Irish
State since it won independence in 1922. Leading
politicians of all parties have been brought into the net
of corruption, former prime ministers, ministers, leading
businessmen, judges and in one case a known perjurer as a
cabinet minister. All the institutions of the state have
been riddled
with corruption for years, the Roman Catholic Church, the
judiciary, the legislature. Very few have gone to jail,
some clerics, but the people's deep feelings on all the
corruption is that no leaders or wealthy people will go to
prison. It will all be buried under the carpet. "

"For too long we, in Ireland, have been isolated from the
mainstream Communist and Workers movement in Europe. We
present the following proposals which we believe will help
all our parties to develop that strategy and co-ordination
which will help us to grow and so shape the future of
Europe and the world. We confine our proposals to Europe
and in time we would hope to have an international
character to our proposals."

1. Establish a European News Agency of Communist and
Workers Parties spelling out to the working class, to the
media and especially the progressive media the reality, the
activities and the successes of our parties today.

2. Publish a topical and readable European newspaper every
month or more frequently if possible in the most common
languages of Europe using the very latest technology in the
publishing industry.

3. Establish a Progressive European Radio Network giving
news, information and reporting on popular events with
programmes designed to appeal to youth.

4. Publish a theoretical magazine giving in-depth analysis
and comment from the Communist perspective on world-wide
current events, economic, social, cultural and political.

5. Establish a European Institute of Political Science.

6. Create a central forum for regular meetings of party
representatives to co-ordinate activity and to ensure all
parties are kept up to date with each other's activity and
plans. Priority should be given to issues of a European
character so that all parties can be engaged in a coherent
and co-ordinated strategy.

7. To create an information bank on all critical areas of
national and European economies and politics.

8. With the level of corruption in the business/political
life of Europe to establish a group to monitor the conduct
of corporations and persons engaged in all areas of
business.

9. To establish an international school for the training
and development of party cadres.

"Communist and Workers Parties need to be involved in all
areas of life, economic, political, social and cultural. It
is essential that we be in the lead on all issues that
affect workers, environment, pensions., employment,
housing, health, education, public ownership and control of
natural resources, the expansion and protection of
democratic rights and freedoms for all, nationals and
non-nationals, the war against drugs and crime, the
struggle for democracy and against terrorism. There are so
many issues that confront us we have no shortage of
struggles to wage. What is required on a European and
international level is common co-ordinated meaningful
activity and this requires that we seek allies in every
area of struggle always recognising that the allies of
today may be the enemy of tomorrow. We must start with
educating and informing people as to the true situation. To
make workers aware that capitalism is not omnipotent that
it can be defeated that there is an alternative. We need to
expose the myth that capitalism has solved or will ever
solve the very many problems confronting the people of
Europe and the world. We for our part are convinced on the
basis of Communist and Workers parties struggles of
yesterday and today that alliances must form a major part
in our strategy to develop and build the organisation
necessary for victory."

"The destruction by Reagan and his gurus in the United
States and Thatcher and her managers in Britain of the
concept of public service, of morality, of respect for
people along with their intense hatred of the working class
demands that Communist and Workers parties win back the
essential freedoms and rights that workers won over
generations of struggle. Thatcher's infamous remark "there
is no society - there is only the individual" encapsulates
the selfish, greedy and inhuman character of capitalism.
Each of us can point to similar political figures in our
own countries. The ideas enunciated and propagated by the
Hayeks and Friedmans of this world in which they gave
capitalism the necessary ideology for victory has to be
continuously fought and defeated. We need to establish
think tanks properly funded, staffed and focused to wage
the intellectual fight and with our ideas win the next
generation of students, intellectuals, workers in every
profession, artists, journalists, lawyers. We must convince
all of them that Socialism represents the best hope, indeed
the only hope, for the vast majority of people in this
world."

"We will recognise that there are immense difficulties and
problems facing Communist and Workers Parties foremost of
which is the unity of all progressives and socialists.
Especially we recognise that over the past decade there
have been many more difficulties some of which especially
touched upon our parties, the collapse of the European
Socialist Countries, the betrayal and disintegration of
many Communist and Workers parties. Despite the rampant
triumphalism of capitalism in the world over these past
years we are not downhearted or pessimistic. We are not
without strength and opportunities. We are optimistic of
victory for we are convinced as Eric Hobsbawn wrote many
years ago in his book "Politics for Rational Left"
"Rethinking the socialist analysis and the socialist
project may certainly lead to major indeed far reaching and
for some of us painful modifications of long held views but
it does not undermine the classical socialist case against
capitalism, the classical understanding of the socialist
project or the Marxist conviction that capitalism is
destined to be a passing phase in mankind's long historical
development". Let us hasten the day."

Des O'Hagan, Political Education Officer
Central Executive Committee
The Workers' Party of Ireland. Dublin.

20th June 2000.