The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party

Author:Hanley, Brian & Millar, Scott [Hanley, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781844881208
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-09-02T23:00:00+00:00

10. A Historic Mission

‘Sinn Féin – The Workers’ Party is the historical product of the French

Revolution. In turn, the product of our party in history must be the

creation of an Irish Industrial Revolution… [This] in turn means the

emancipation of the Irish working class so that it can carry out its

historic mission – the construction of socialism in Ireland.’

Eamon Smullen, January 1977

There was no dissension among the Official Sinn Féin delegates gathered in Dublin’s Mansion House in January 1977 as they ratified the party’s rather unwieldy new name: Sinn Féin The Workers’ Party. The debate had been well choreographed, with twelve cumainn, drawn from every region, placing motions calling for the change. One delegate, speaking in front of the Ard Fheis slogan ‘Working for Peace, Planning for Progress’, attempted to capture the significance of the new name, declaring it ‘the end of the Griffith era and the beginning of the Connolly age’. For Industrial Department cadres the new title signified their ideological ascendancy; Northerners hoped it would appeal to the Protestant working class; and Garland and others saw it as a statement of the party’s place within the international struggle between labour and capital. Facing into a Southern general election, there was also a more practical reason to welcome the development: ‘The Provos were killing people and they were getting the publicity, and the [Sinn Féin] name was becoming synonymous with death and killing.’ An Irish Times editorial welcomed the ‘promising’ if ‘cumbersome’ new party title. It also noted that ‘that shadowy organisation’ the Official IRA had not delivered a public message to the Ard Fheis, but neither had it announced its disbandment.

Although media attention focused on the addition of ‘The Workers’ Party’ to the party’s name, the January 1977 Ard Fheis saw a no less important development with the publication of The Irish Industrial Revolution. At just over 150 pages, this was the fruit of Eoghan Harris’s endeavours to provide the movement with a comprehensive economic plan, backed by a historical narrative from a scientific socialist perspective. Although advertised as the sixth title in the Research Section’s series ‘Studies in Political Economy’, The Irish Industrial Revolution was more wide-reaching and had a far greater impact than any of the previous booklets. The document was distributed by Industrial Department members, but had not been submitted to the Ard Chomhairle previous to publication, a cause of disquiet among some at the Ard Fheis. Industrial Department attempts to influence the movement’s direction without reference to its decision-making structures had already contributed to Máirín de Burca’s decision not to seek re-election to the Ard Chomhairle and her resignation as general secretary. She had been increasingly disturbed by the intensity of Industrial Department cadres: ‘They examined people’s every word, every gesture almost, were they Stalinist or weren’t they; if they weren’t they did their damnedest to get them out of the party.’ Some leadership figures had seen the new booklet prior to publication. Smullen had worked closely with Harris, and Garland had also read a pre-publication copy and requested changes.

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