CRISIS Labour after the Easter Rising

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The myth that atter the Easter Rising the leadership of the Irish working class, essentially Thomas Johnson, William O 'Brien, David Campbell, Cathal O'Shannon and Thomas Foran, turned one.

It is a myth which has been spread nonetheless for obvious reasons-by the rabidly anti-proletariat leadership of Sinn Fein.

It has also been fostered for more obscurantist reasons or simply through ignorance by some of those decking themselves out in Marxist garb.

Easy target

An easy target for them to aim at was the labour leaders' attitude to the Rising itself.

At the first meeting of the Executive of the Irish TUC following , the executions On June 10, a resolution "regretting the loss" of Connolly and O'Carroll was passed, while the first post-rising meeting of the Dublin Trades Council in July failed to condemn the executions that had taken place.

Political development When a full gathering of Congress delegates convened in Sligo in August, it was impossible to avoid taking some position on the rebellion.

The chairman Thomas Johnson in his address declared:

"This is not the place to enter into a discussion on the rights and wrongs, the wisdom or the folly of the revolt. As a trade union movement we are of varied minds on matters of historical and political development." Connolly very likely would have insisted on a position and against such neutrality.

But it cannot be claimed that Johnson was doing any more than drawing the conclusion that flowed from Connolly's conception of the proletarian party as a gathering of "varied minds" rather than a homogeneous movement formed by programmatic unity.

The 1916 Congress agreed to form a political party that was independent of Congress-breaking from the present situation where it had been synonymous with it.

"Splitting workers"

But no practical steps were taken-partly because most of the union activists gave their time over to building up the union membership, and fear of "splitting the workers" prevented a formed position being taken on the burning issue of the day.

Instead a few militants revived Connolly's old party, WELL James Larkin the SPI, the as advanced guard of the projected Congress party.

The labour leaders were approached by the leader of Sinn Fein, Arthur Griffith, with a proposal that labour join in the formation of a new party with the nationalists against both the unionists as well as the old Parliamentary Party.

Labour declined, but the leadership nullified this declaration of independence by not only failing to stand candidates in elections at that time, but actually assisting the nationalists.

By-election O'Brien and Foran worked for the victory of Plunkett in North Roscommon and McGuiness in South Longford while O'Brien was involved in the nomination of de Valera for East Clare in the July 1917 by-election.

it could hardly be said that the labour leaders ignored the national question whatever was missing in their formal pronouncements.

Instead, while failing to build their own party, they laid the first foundations in the building up of Sinn Fein.

When these petty bourgeois nationalists began to reveal themselves openly as the irreconcilable enemies of the working class that they always were, labour leaders like Johnson and O'Brien and act independently at some future date.

"In the event of victory." he had told them, "hold on to your rifles as those with whom we are fighting may stop before our goal is reached."

But as Labour did not lead and did not aspire to lead the struggle against Britain, those members of the Citizen Army who wanted not only to hold onto their rifles but to actually use them were pulled towards the IRA.

In the 1918 election, which tested the popular attitude to separation from Britain, Labour divided on the question of standing candidates.

First time Two thirds of the electorate were voting for the first time. Labour's final decision not to stand embedded itself very strongly into the popular consciousness.

Not to be contesting power at such an election made Labour as a political force difficult to take seriously. Sinn Fein was enormously concerned at the consequences for itself if Labour candidates had stood.

At first Labour candidates were considered, but on every issue Congress found itself trying to take no position that would divide its supporters in Belfast from workers in the rest of the country.

Self determination

So while it supported self-determination in general, Congress avoided a public position on its application to It dodged calling tor self-determination and freedom for Ireland by adopting a position that "Labour yielded Connolly drilling the Irish Ci to none in determination 1 win for Ireland freedom which sounded the same bi in fact wasn't.

Again Sinn Fein, by ne recognising Britain's right 1 rule Ireland, declared that i candidates elected 1918 election would not E Westminster but wou attend their own nation assembly instead.

They asked Labour to tal the same position, which only partly felt able to do.

Once more to placa unionist sentiment Labo based its abstention fro Westminster on recent Briti measures, imprisonme without trial, deportatio and threat of conscripti and not on England's right rule.

Shamefaced

Also it abstained support for the Irish Asse bly, Dail Eireann. In this u it got the worst of br worlds.

To the unionist work the policy appeared not j nationalist but shamefa‹ nationalism, while to ! workers in the rest of country this lack of an in pendent line made Sinn F appear as the only pa willing and capable of ej ting the English administ tion. Eventually labour's o supporters inclined to 1 view that a half-hearted pa should stand aside for m. determined spirits.

A Menshevik concept: of the relationship betwi politics and economics i lent a certain complacency the labour leadership.

This was illuminated wl O'Brien rejected Captain J White as a possible lab candidate.

White had drilled trained the Citizens Ar and had recently been ar ted by the British authori for trying to bring miners out in protest aga the executions of the !!

leaders.

Non-participation His labour nomina/ could not be conside however, as O'Brien told t since he was not a membe a trade union!

Eventually at the Lat Conference in Noven Thomas Johnson on behal the Executive urged nonticipation:

"A call comes from parts of Ireland for unit] this question such as was nessed on the conscrip issue. Your Executive beli that the workers of Ire join earnestly in this di that they would willingly rifice for a brief period 1 aspirations towards poli power if thereby the fort tha nation

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ET SUCTALIST FREDD, Wednesday ZI December, 1977 Third International as well,

----- pull-quotes -----

away from the national quesțion is a stubborn