For many years there have been claims that Ireland is being steered by subversive people and by radical leftist or liberal political agendas. This thesis has some merit and although there are multiple strands we could look at in order to test this such as the role of finance capital or the impact of international agreements, there is actually one often overlooked story to be told regarding how Ireland changed so significantly and so rapidly. In fact the rise of the new-left in America during the post war period had it’s own spin off in Ireland with dramatic effects on Irish society and similarly to America, a new morality with a new secular protectorate taking up residence in the bureaucracies of the state, most influentially in academia and the media.
This essay will look at the period often described as the birth of “liberal Ireland” and the rise of militant leftist, as well as communist minded organisations and individuals to positions of influence in the media, trade unions and state sector generally having previously rubbed shoulders with armed revolutionaries beforehand. A 2010 book written by Brian Hanley and Scott Millar called “The Lost Revolution: The Story of the IRA and The Worker’s Party” offers some fascinating insights into how leftist and communist elements entered the IRA over a period of time, particularly during the 1960’s and eventually gained significant influence over Irish governments, most publicly in the 1980’s and 90’s.1
A Brief Explanation of the Shifting Politics of Sinn Féin, the IRA & Irish Republicanism
The Ira prior to the 1960’s and prior to the split which gave rise the “Provisional” and “Official” branches at the end of that decade was in many respects a Nationalist, largely Catholic, paramilitary force who’s goal was a united Ireland with an end to British occupation of the 6 counties that made up Northern Ireland. There were also elements within the republican movement who’s politics were decidedly left wing but outside of some notables such as James Connolly who was also a very religious man, this faction was decidedly small and very much derided by the majority of volunteers as having a “foreign ideology”.
Most of the communists ended up in other organisations such as The Irish Workers League. Younger volunteers began to see social problems such as emigration, poverty and housing as major obstacles that the traditional IRA was not willing to deal with. The power of the Church in Ireland and the plight of the working class generally began to become major issues for this younger generation.
In the 1930’s leftist IRA volunteers had broken off to form the Republican Congress . Members fought alongside the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. They looked to the Soviet Union and Cuba for inspiration while developing a Marxist interpretation of Irish history. This seems to be the origin point of the idea of looking at the northern political situation as part of an anti-imperialist class struggle, their wish being to unite the working class of each community against the capitalist class and take power.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party(Penguin Books, 2010) 28.))
In 1949 IRA volunteers had been ordered to join the “moribund” Sinn Féin party. The IRA army council was seen as the supreme authority and volunteers did not recognise the legitmacy of the Northern or Southern governments, following a policy known as “abstentionism”.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 3.)) Additionally, a number of volunteers found themselves in jail during the 1950’s and came to be influenced by communist ideologies, including Cathal Goulding.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 10.)) Among the new recruits during this period was Frank Ross (later Proinsias De Rossa) who would go on to become very prominent in Irish politics later on as a Labour Party Minister, leader of the Workers Party (the political wing of the Official IRA) and as leader of “Democratic Left”.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 12.))
The two people most associated with changing the direction of the IRA down a more Marxist direction with a new strategy were Anthony Coughlan and Roy Johnston who as part of The Connolly Association and later The Wolfe Tone Society advocated the idea of a civil rights movement to smash unionism in the north and push for a cross community coalition. These ideas influenced the leadership such as Cathal Goulding etc.((Henry Patterson, The Politics of Illusion: A Political History of the IRA (Serif Books, 1997) 97.))
Ed Moloney’s A Secret History of the IRA also explains the traditional IRA attitude to Communism.
“The IRA’s rule book, known as General Army Orders, specifically prohibited Volunteers from joining the Communist Party”((Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA (W. W. Norton & Company, 2002) 75.))
Referencing the Provisionals Republican News publication, Moloney provides a telling paragraph from an article after the split that describes more traditional IRA attitudes to Communists.
“Gradually into executive posts both in the IRA and Sinn Féin, the Red agents infiltrated,” the paper complained, “and soon these men became the policy makers. Young men and girls were brainwashed with the teachings and propaganda of the new policy makers and well-trained organisers were sent into different areas to spread the teachings of the Red infiltrators”2
This dislike of communism stayed with the Provisionals into the mid 1970’s, when during internment many became influenced by such ideas, including Gerry Adams and Brendan Hughes to name a few of the younger breed. As the republican movement was becoming more leftist, there was also rapid economic and social change occurring in Ireland generally at this time.
The Birth of Liberal Ireland
The birth of liberal Ireland is considered to be the result of the liberal economic policies of Seán Lemass and civil servant T.K. Whitaker which started in 1959. In 1961 RTÉ, the national broadcaster began broadcasting television. Now Ireland was to be opened up to the dominant Anglo-American media and entertainment industry and things would from here change rapidly in the country as economic liberalism went hand-in-glove with social revolution.((For a detailed discussion of the rise of liberal Ireland, see: Terence Brown, Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922 – 2002 (Harper Perennial, 2004).))
Over this decade the Official IRA and it’s political wing, heretofore referred to as Sinn Féin The Workers’ Party (SFWP) would offer it’s opposition to EEC membership, rail against foreign ownership of land, speak out in favour of Irish fishing rights and a number of social issues including housing. While attempts were being made to procure arms in the Soviet Union and Algeria, there were links being forged with nationalists in the other Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland etc. The 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising in 1966 would nurture a renewed interest in republicanism and nationalism in the Irish consciousness.
Another focus of the Officials was the nurturing of the Irish language. One interesting episode of the less violent activity of the IRA in this period was the sabotaging of a Language Freedom Movement event in 1966 which was chaired by broadcaster Gay Byrne. This movement was campaigning to have Irish made non-compulsory in schools. Byrne was one of the main promoters of Anglo-American liberal culture in the 20th century and his television career especially the Late Late Show had a massive effect on Irish society. He was however skeptical of the EU in the later years of his life.
The Republican Revisionists & the New Left
A young leftist who was beginning to make a name for himself in Republican circles at this time was Eoghan Harris. Harris has evolved considerably over the years but at this point he was claiming to be a Republican who wanted to avoid any “Catholic sectarianism” in order to win over the Protestant majority in the north to a civil rights struggle where their identities as unionists would be respected.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 60.))
Leftist Republicans such as Harris were applying Marxist ideology to the Irish situation and saw everything through a class lens. They were vicious enemies of the Catholic Church and began to see the Unionists as the victims of sectarian catholic bigotry. Seemingly the plantation of Ulster was not to be looked at through a class lens. Over the coming decades this new breed of communist Republican would find themselves in alignment more and more with the Unionists and British state security services in their hatred of the Provisional IRA who they saw as “fascist animals” and “Nazi’s”. Even John Hume and the SDLP were considered by many to be “tribal leaders”.
The artificial border in Ireland which was designed to ensure a Unionist majority in the North and which subsequently led to the development of a two-tier regime there was typically played down. Similarly to their heroes who had slaughtered tens of millions before them in the Soviet Union, these mainly self proclaimed Leninist’s and other variant of Communist, had a hatred of traditional society and it’s constituent building blocks of family and tradition. In this they were completely in line with the Anglo-American liberal establishment which they typically only rhetorically attacked. As we will see these people have had a major influence over Ireland’s development since then with many now influencing public opinion and even training the newer generation of journalists in Ireland.
This ideological shift was to contribute to the Provisional IRA split in 1969. The Official Sinn Féin name came in 1973, by this time they dominated the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. Other communists also became influential, such was the energy behind the International left wing post WWII.
American “New Left” figures such as Jerry Rubin, Stew Albert along with Bob Purdy of the International Marxist Group visited the Belfast Officials during this time.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 214.)) Other links were being made internationally with members attending conferences in Jordan and Kuwait on the Palestinian issue.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 215.)) The extant Third-Worldism taking shape was very noticeable as leftists critical of the both Soviet Unions Stalinist regime and liberal capitalism sought to build alliances.
Personnel were also building alliances and attending conferences with the Soviets and even North Korea amongst other communist regimes, a situation that carried on even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They went on to join the Soviet-aligned World Peace Council and the non-governmental Organisation of European Security and Cooperation((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 361.)) It is here that we see the beginnings of the politics of “anti-racism” that was very trendy on American college campuses at the time gaining influence in Ireland. The officials themselves attracted many students who were very receptive to this ideological viewpoint. The organisation recruited heavily through student Republican Clubs in Universities such as Trinity, UCD, Cork and Galway. Notable members of these clubs included Tony Gregory and Eamon Gilmore amongst many others. Leninism was taught at the parties “education centers” which were located in county Louth, where concepts such as “revolutionary theory” were taught based on works written by Ho Chi Minh, Machiavelli and others.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 244.))
As part of this new direction the new breed of Harris and Eoin Ó Murchú developed their own modified version of the Marxist”stages” theory, whereby revolution could only come about by defeating sectarianism, the splitting of unionism on class grounds and subsequently the uniting of the working class on the entire island both Catholic and Protestant. This would theoretically lead to a united Ireland and ultimately a socialist state once this had been achieved.((Vincent Browne, “The secret world of the SFWP Part 2,” April 30, 1982, https://magill.ie/archive/secret-world-sfwp-part-2.)) Harris frequently described himself as a Stalinist during this period and railed against “Trotskyite” influence consistently.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 254.)) Having founded the Republican Club in Trinity and serving as it’s first chairman, Ó Murchú went on to be a prominent political correspondent for RTÉ amongst other roles in the media as well as a stint in the Communist Party of Ireland.
This attempt to unite with unionists resulted in meetings and subsequent friendly relations with the UVF and UDA who the Officials saw as being non-reactionary, unlike other Unionist groups. Some of these meetings were facilitated by a young Kevin Myers, who was at this time considered left wing and anti-British although he would go on to hold very different views later in life.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 226.))
The military and intelligence branch of the organisation was referred to as Group B. As former SFWP member Paddy Woodsworth explains it;
“The existence of the latter was known to the very dumbest of street-dwelling canines at the time, yet many ex-Official Sinn Féin/Workers’ Party members, especially some of those prominent in today’s Labour Party, seem to have been blissfully unaware of the gunmen and women with whom they licked envelopes and put up posters.”((Paddy Woodsworth, “Pinochet and me,” July/August 2008, https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/pinochet-and-me/.))
The standard line from party members was to declare that the OIRA wing had been disbanded in 1972 but this is absolutely false. This organisation was involved in murder, feuds with other paramilitaries (usually other republicans), racketeering, intimidation robberies and became increasingly sophisticated as time went on.
“They are worse armed and numerically fewer than the Provisionals, but more vocal and politically sophisticated…The Officials have a considerable following in the Universities and a number of sympathisers in the press and radio: in general they attract the left-wingers present in most western societies.”((1972 British Intelligence Assessment on Ireland referenced in: Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 248.))
As recently as 2002, SFWP stalwart Seán Garland was implicated in a British court case regarding a massive international counterfeitting operation “producing tens of millions of US $100 bills in league with former Russian KGB agents.” The operation “may be the biggest in history” while the “currency notes produced by the counterfeiters have become known as “super dollars” because of their near-perfect quality,” underlining the sophisticated nature of the organisation.((Willie Kealy,”Workers’ Party boss linked to counterfeit ‘super dollars’,” August 18, 2002, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/workers-party-boss-linked-to-counterfeit-super-dollars-26243360.html.))
The “Industrial Department” Intelligence Gathering & Research
Another activity started in 1973 was the creation of the secret “Industrial Department” which consisted of “specialist cumainn” made up of various trade union members including the aforementioned Harris, Oliver Donohue and Des Geraghty.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 251.))
Effectively these groups acted almost as covert intelligence gathering organisations that got around the usual union prohibitions on “factional activity” through secrecy. Information was gathered on bosses incomes, their other company directorships etc. They did uncover important information about corruption in the semi-state sector amongst other things however which was used to great effect on the pages of the organisations newspapers.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 356.))
The SFWP paper The Irish People set up in 1973, was also prominent in breaking a number of scandals before the rest of the Irish media. One significant case in 1981 was the naming of “Patrick Gallagher, Gerry Jones and Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor as beneficiaries of corrupt land dealings.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 439.))
A report from the time written by Eamon Smullen stated that “Knowledge that such a machine existed but that they could not “prove that it exists” could be used to coerce union officials.” This clearly demonstrates the subversive tactics and capabilities employed to take control within the bureaucracies of the state.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 277.))
“Many university Republican Club graduates, several of whom had taken up posts in the civil service and semi-state companies, were absorbed into the special”research groups”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 276.))
Academics Paul Bew and Henry Patterson also joined the SFWP Republican Clubs. Bew believed in the British and Irish Communist Party’s views that the Protestant working class were not inherently reactionary and felt drawn to the politics of SFWP.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 395.)) Bew is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Professor of History and Politics at Queens University Belfast.((Royal Irish Academy, “Paul Bew,” accessed May 2020, https://www.ria.ie/publications/author/paul-bew.)) He is a frequent contributor in the media and in a 2019 paper in the “right-of center” Policy Exchange think tank argued strongly in favour of maintaining Northern Ireland as part of the UK.((Ronan McGreevy, “Leading historian says case must be made for NI to stay in UK,” June 19, 2019, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/leading-historian-says-case-must-be-made-for-ni-to-stay-in-uk-1.3930766.))
Henry Patterson has written extensively on the troubles from his position at the University of Ulster at the School of Criminology, Sociology and Politics.((Academia, “Henry Patterson, accessed May 2020, https://ulster.academia.edu/HenryPatterson.)) “Patterson had been co-opted on to the WP Ard Chomhairle in 1986”. He wrote The Politics of Illusion about the relationship of republicanism with socialism.3
Both academics gave lectures at a Marx Centenary Conference in 1984 that also featured Ellen Hazelkorn, Des Geraghty and Proinsias DeRossa.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 463.)) Hazelkorn and Helena Sheehan were American supporters of the Officials who emigrated to Ireland in the early 1970’s.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 229.))
Subsequently Hazelkorn would go on to have a very influential career in education policy in Ireland and the OECD generally. In addition to her position as Director and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts at DIT, some of her prominent roles have included being a specialist on higher education Research Strategy and Management with the OECD’s Programme for Institutional Management of Higher Education and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Irish Communications Review. She has led a “consortium of 40 European academic, research and industrial institutions developing an EU research programme in cultural/intelligent heritage.”((OECD, “Ellen Hazelkorn, Director, and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland,” accessed May 2020, https://www.oecd.org/site/imhegeneralconference2004/ellenhazelkorndirectoranddeanofthefacultyofappliedartsdublininstituteoftechnologyireland.htm.))
“Professor Hazelkorn has worked as higher education policy consultant and specialist with international organisations and governments for over 15 years, and regularly undertakes strategic and research evaluations and peer review assessments for European and national research/scientific councils and universities.”((DIT, “Professor Ellen Hazelkorn,” accessed May 2020, http://www.dit.ie/hepru/researchteam/hazelkorn/.))
Helena Sheehan is a Marxist and a self described “academic, activist and author” who grew up in a catholic family in America prior to becoming a nun and subsequently a new leftist in the 1960’s. She moved to Ireland where she would become involved with SFWP before founding the Labour Left Group with future partner and trade unionist Sam Nolan after joining the Labour party in 1981. She spent time in the Communist Party of Ireland and the International Lenin School in Moscow.((Helena Sheehan, “Bearing witness to lost worlds – why Marxists are best placed to write an autobiography,” August 9, 2019, https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/bearing-witness-to-lost-worlds-why-marxists-are-best-placed-to-write-an-autobiography-1.3980488.)) She has taught at the School of Communications at DCU on their BA and MA courses in Journalism, Communication Studies and International Relations amongst others.
Another member of the the Industrial department who would go on to become influential was future psychologist and media columnist Patricia Redlich who played a prominent role in the Ireland-GDR Friendship Society((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 342.)) Redlich later worked for the Eastern Health Board and rose to be the Education Officer of an antecedent of the UNITE trade union. Redlich left for a career in the media in the 90’s and wrote for publications such as Image magazine, the Sunday Independent and the Irish Press. She was also a member of the RTÉ Authority. Speaking at her funeral in 2011 Eoghan Harris said “left the socialistic dogma of her early years behind, she never lost its principles.”((Irish Times Obituary, “Psychologist and popular advice columnist,” September 10, 2011, https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/psychologist-and-popular-advice-columnist-1.596790.))
“Group B” Covert Action & Underworld Activity
Most sinister of all perhaps is the fact that it was the paramilitary wing of SFWP, the aforementioned Group B that built up dossiers on potential party members as well as politicians etc. It had extensive connections to the criminal underworld with drug dealers such as the Dunne brothers who are seen as being largely responsible for the introduction of heroin to Ireland((Mary Raftery, “The Dunnes – the inside story of a criminal family,” October 31, 1983, https://magill.ie/society/dunnes-inside-story-criminal-family.)) and gangster Eamon Saurin.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 417.)) Connections with the security forces were established early on and their acceptance by the authorities in Northern Ireland was on such good terms that a building firm ran by Group B received contracts from the Housing Executive((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 419.))
The Officials were so sophisticated that they ran elaborate front companies and filed the appropriate tax returns with inland revenue. Profits were invested in the financial markets after being discreetly laundered in a multitude of seemingly legitimate busineses.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 526.))
Good relations were enjoyed with some loyalist paramilitary groups, particularly the UVF with whom they enjoyed a close relationship, frequently watching over each others building site protection rackets. Insurance scams were a favourite as were tax-exemption scams which eventually brought the West Midlands Fraud Squad in to investigate, so huge were the amounts these socialists were creaming off.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 419.))
Group B was active at least well into the 1990’s with most people in the party aware that such a structure existed. The common refrain in denying the existence of such an organisation was to claim that it had been disbanded in 1972. The bad publicity regarding paramilitary links would be one of the main reasons for the creation of Democratic Left in the 1992.
Members of Group B typically stopped being public members of the political party but were absolutely affiliated, despite the lies spun by the political machine to justify their connections. Journalists like Vincent Browne carried out investigations into the Officials in Magill and made public some of these connections as have others. Browne also reported on SFWP influence in RTÉ, the trade unions and described it as “perhaps the richest party in the country”.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 441.))
Perhaps the most troubling thing about the activities of Group B were it’s extensive connections inside the organs of the state. Bodies such as the IDA and Revenue were penetrated which handed SFWP the major scoop that Charles Haughey hadn’t filed taxes for a number of years amongst other stories. This information became a major scandal, as did a lot of other scoops released by Group B that the national media subsequently reported on.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 413.))
In addition to politicians, Group B collected extensive information on Catholic groups such as the League for Decency, Public Rosary Movement, Society to Outlaw Pornography and the Irish Family League. Anybody seen as anti-Soviet was likely to be monitored, including the Irish Council for European Freedom, Irish Czech Society and even Amnesty International’s Louise O’ Brien due to her campaigning for Russian-Jewish immigration out of the Soviet Union. Additionally environmentalists were targeted due to them being potentially useful for America corporations to prevent industrial development. In this regard, Roy Johnson and Kevin B. Nowlan of the organisations Conserve and the Dublin Civic Group were respectively targeted.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 413.))
“Names, addresses, car registrations and movements of members of these bodies were collected and crossovers in membership noted.”Ultra-left” organisations – which were believed to be potential tools of a right-wing backlash, no matter how revolutionary their rhetoric – were also the subject of surveillance. A group called Revolutionary Struggle, which had members in Trinity College and in community groups in the Ballyfermot area, was considered virulently anti-SFWP.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 413.))
Group B was no different than any other paramilitary organisation with the exception that it’s goals were quite in line with the views of the Anglo-American establishment with it’s members now quietly forgotten and likely living otherwise respectable lives. Their Stasi-like tactics even extended to voter impersonation, indeed the Provisionals had a similar habit of undermining democracy themselves. It is interesting to note how the positive relationship between SFWP/ Group B and the authorities extended to the RUC and even the courts with some members receiving very light sentences for crimes. RUC members were even seen fraternising with the party and there appears to be some level of collaboration between them in dealing with the Provisionals activity.4
SFWP & the Irish Media
The rise of SFWP within RTÉ seems to have began in earnest to gain influence around 1971 with Eoghan Harris featuring prominently. The Officials set up the Republican Trade Union Group in that year with Des Geraghty of the IGTWU heavily involved. Harris chaired the Worker’s Union of Ireland, produced the Irish language program Feach, worked on the RTÉ leftwing journal Feedback and made an appearance on the Late Late Show attacking the EEC.((Vincent Browne, “Eoghan Harris and The Workers Party,” August 9, 2007, https://magill.ie/archive/eoghan-harris-and-workers-party.))
Geraghty featured prominently in SFWP, Democratic Left and Labour in the 90’s and 00’s. He was appointed to the European Parliament in 1992 and served as a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy in the European Parliament. He has been on the board of the Central Bank since 2019 and has been a member of the RTÉ authority.
Other Harris allies at the station included John Caden, Oliver Donohue who was “an active trade unionist who had joined the Labour party while a student in UCD”((Brian Hanley, Scott, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party Millar (Penguin Books, 2010) 243.)) and Fergal Costello. John Caden went on to produce and edit the Gay Byrne radio show before leaving RTÉ in the nineties. His daughter Sarah is a journalist and is married to RTÉ presenter Brendan O’Connor.((Paul Martin, “CHAT’S GREAT NEWS FOR BRENDAN.. Wife expecting baby number 2,” July 16, 2010, https://www.thefreelibrary.com/CHAT%27S+GREAT+NEWS+FOR+BRENDAN..+Wife+expecting+baby+number+2-a0231669653.)) Harris would also hire Marian Finucane at RTÉ in the early 1970’s.((Eoghan Harris, “Expect to find me smiling in a serene and senatorial way,” August 19, 2007, https://archive.is/20120803001603/http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/expect-to-find-me-smiling-in–a-serene-and-senatorial-way-1061975.html#selection-1631.0-1631.56)) Harris even acted as a political advisor to John Bruton briefly before becoming an advisor to the Ulster Unionist Party and a rabid defender of Bertie Ahern over allegations raised against him.
Hanley and Millar tell a fascinating story regarding the SFWP and RTE regarding the current affairs programme Today Tonight of which they claim;
“From its inception the show was associated with people seen as sympathetic to SFWP, among them producer Trish Barry, and programme editor Joe Mulholland, a Donegal man and Francophile, (who) had a keen interest in Marxist politics and personally knew some of the SFWP leadership, including Garland.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 373.))
Mulholland went on to recruit more party associates to the programme, including Gerry Gregg, Barry O’ Halloran, Joe Little, David Blake Knox and later on Una Claffey.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 373.)) Gregg was removed from the Today Tonight programme in 1982 over an episode targeting Fianna Fail was aired,
“Gregg recalls getting a “letter from [the] controller moving me to kids’ programmes, so I brought a Marxist perspective to kids’ programmes”.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 430.))
Gregg has moved on from RTÉ in 1989 to become a columnist at independent newspapers since 2012 as well as a producer/ director of numerous films through his Praxis Pictures production company, a project which also involves Harris. There was controversy over one of the companies programs in 2012 regarding claims about the IRA carrying out sectarian killings in 1922 during the war of independence.((Tom Cooper, “RTE upholds complaint against Eoghan Harris programme on War of independence,” June 25, 2012, http://www.indymedia.ie/article/102026.)) According to Gregg’s LinkedIn profile;
“In 2009 we completed the feature length documentary “Till the Tenth Generation”,-the story of Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental for the Irish Film Board and RTE. The film has been screened at festivals in Ireland and the US and is now used in all Irish Post Primary Schools as part of the Irish Department of Education’s commitment to Holocaust Education. Now in 2014 we have completed a feature length sequel “Close to Evil” for RTE. This tells the compelling story of Tomi Reichental’s quest to meet one of the SS women who held him captive in Bergen- Belsen. The documentary has already won prizes at the Galway Film Fleadh and the Irish Film Institute’s “Stranger than Fiction” Festival. It will be screened on RTE in September 2014.”((Gerry Gregg, LinkedIn biography accessed May 2020, https://archive.vn/i0JnX#selection-1729.519-1729.1259.))
Joe Little “has been RTE’s Religious and Social Affairs Correspondent since 1994”, he also has represented his colleagues on the board.((Pobal Dé, “Speaker: Joe Little,” accessed May 2020, http://www.pobalde.ie/conferences/12_2011_02/speaker_JoeLittle_1.html.)) Barry O’ Halloran has had a long career in journalism and also released a book on the Kerry babies story in 1985.((Liam Collins, “Zozimus,” https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/sunday-independent-ireland/20190127/281749860575222.))
David Blake Knox has been a producer at RTÉ, BBC and HBO in America. Prior to leaving RTÉ in 1998, “as director of television productions he held the number two position in television after managing director, Mr Joe Mulholland.”((Michael McMahon, November 19, 1998, “Blake-Knox to leave RTE,” http://iftn.ie/markets_festivals/festivals_news/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=280&tpl=archnews&only=1.)) He founded Blueprint Pictures production company in 2002 and has written a number of books such as “Hitler’s Irish Slaves”.((New Island, accessed May 2020, “David Blake Knox,” https://www.newisland.ie/david-blake-knox.))
Una Claffey having joined RTÉ in 1977 and working on Today Tonight, “retired” as RTÉ’s political correspondent in 2000 after being part of the stations political team based in Leinster House to become an advisor to Bertie Ahern.((Alison O’ Connor, “RTE woman joins Taoiseach’s team,” November 4, 2000, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/rte-woman-joins-taoiseach-s-team-1.1113753.)) The revolving door between media and politics is a perennial problem in Irish politics it seems as Claffey did not actually quit her job at the station but was instead “seconded” with her significantly larger salary paid through RTÉ but paid by the Taoiseach.((Independent.ie, “Big-hearted Bertie stands by his woman and her salary,” December 10, 2000, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/big-hearted-bertie-stands-by-his-woman-and-her-salary-26257638.html.))
Joe Mulholland would go on to found the Magill Summer School in 1981, it is considered highly influential within the Irish establishment. After Joining RTÉ in 1970, he;
“went on to hold several senior positions including Editor of Current Affairs, Controller of Programmes, Director of News and Managing Director of Television. He has been a regular contributor to the French media including the influential daily, Le Monde. He served as Chairman of the News Section of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 1993-7 and was Chairman of Radio Television Kosovo (RTK) 2001-2. He was named Donegal Person of the Year 2008-9″((Magill Summer School, “History & Achievements,” accessed May 2020, http://www.macgillsummerschool.com/about/.))
In addition to the production of the Today Tonight program, SFWP allies even got interviewed on the program without their affiliations being made known. Others not connected to SFWP who were working on the program included Brian Farrell, Mary McAleese and Olivia O’ Leary((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 373.)) The media coverage of the Hunger Strikes was also affected by the presence of SFWP personel on the RTE payroll. Some of them even got nominated for an emmy for their coverage.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 430.))
SFWP influence also extended to the Late Late Show, with members involved in production and sometimes as “guests” in the audience.
Prior to Praxis, Harris and Gregg created a production company called Iskra, named after Lenin’s newspaper in pre-revolutionary Russia, amongst other things, it produced a programme on Conor Cruise O’ Brien early on.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 485.)) In 1986 Garland even asked the International Committee of the CPSU for funding for Iskra (seemingly unsuccessfully) which he described as a “Marxist film-making enterprise”. In 1989 Iskra produced a program for UTV featuring numerous Workers’ Party members, presenting a Unionist and British framing of the troubles as being caused purely by the Provisionals campaign.((Vincent Browne, “Eoghan Harris and The Workers Party,” August 9, 2007, https://magill.ie/archive/eoghan-harris-and-workers-party.)) In addition to Harris and Greg, John Caden was also linked to Iskra.
Official Sinn Féin’s 1973 election campaign in Dublin South Central was ran by Charlie Bird who a year later was given a tip off about a research job at RTÉ’s current affairs program, 7 Days by Harris himself.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 280.)) Other from the Official movement who entered RTÉ around this time include fellow NUJ members such as Patrick Kinsella and Rodney Rice. After leaving RTÉ Kinsella has worked for the BBC as a senior broadcast journalist before becoming a freelancer. He has also been a lecturer in journalism at DCU for 18 years.((Dublin City University website, “Patrick Kinsella” accessed May 2020, https://www.dcu.ie/communications/biographies/patrick_kinsella.shtml.)) Rodney Rice worked in RTÉ for 40 years before retiring and spending a number of years working with Action Aid which is partially funded from Irish Aid((ActionAid, “ActionAid Ireland Annual Report & Financial Statements 2018,” accessed May 2020, https://actionaid.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ActionAid-2018.pdf.))
Other affiliated journalists included Padraig Yeates, Gerry Flynn and Paddy Woodsworth, these SFWP linked journalists were in favour of Section 31 which was enforced at the expense of their Provisional enemies.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 372.))
A lifelong socialist and trade unionist, Padraig Yeates cut his teeth as editor of the SFWP linked Irish People before moving to the Irish Times where he held numerous positions. He has advised numerous non-profits and unions including SIPTU while writing a number of books.5 In 2018 Yeates was awarded NUI’s highest honour for his contributions to Irish social and labour history by President Higgins.((Carl O’ Brien, “Historian Pádraig Yeates conferred with NUI’s highest degree,” June 12, 2018, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/historian-p%C3%A1draig-yeates-conferred-with-nui-s-highest-degree-1.3528449.))
Gerry Flynn worked in the Gardiner Place headquarters and was a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) along with other RTÉ staff such as Charlie Bird, Rodney Rice and Patrick Kinsella. They succeeded in keeping Section 31 “from becoming an all-consuming passion for the union.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 372.)) An “Employment relations Specialist”, Flynn has “been an adviser to the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) as well as a journalist writing for the Irish Independent, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Tribune and Observer (London)…For many years he taught at Dublin City University’s undergraduate and Masters journalism courses.”((Business English Institute, “About Us,” accessed May 2020, https://bizplus.ie/guest-blog-gerald-flynn-business-english-institute/.)) In this article Flynn outlines his company’s activities in helping foreign workers with English competency and explains the increasingly international characteristics of the workforce in Ireland.((Gerry Flynn, “Tuition for non-native English speakers in employment,” August 15, 2018, https://bizplus.ie/guest-blog-gerald-flynn-business-english-institute/.))
As a committed Leninist and SFWP member Paddy Woodsworth had a run in with Harris in 1977 which resulted in Woodsworth being reprimanded by an RTÉ producer over the incident.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 345.)) Woodsworth left the party due to it’s dogmatic cult like Marxism and seems to have matured into a social democrat and promoter of sustainability and environmental concerns.((Paddy Woodsworth, “Pinochet and me,” July/August 2008, https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/pinochet-and-me/.)) These days he is a freelance writer for organisations such as RTÉ, BBC and NPR having working for the Irish Times until 2002 as Arts Editor and later as Editor on the Foreign Desk. He has “lectured at Harvard, Dartmouth, Georgetown, London School of Economics, National University of Ireland (NUI), Dublin City University” amongst many others. He has also written three books including “Our Once and Future Planet: Restoring the World in the Climate Change Century” which has led to new engagements such as “a course on restoration ecology” at DePaul University in Chicago, becoming a Visiting Fellow at DePaul’s Institute of Nature and Culture, a Fellowship at the University of Nevada, and “numerous one-off lectures for universities and NGOs.”((Paddy Woodsworth LinkedIn profile, accessed May 2020, https://ie.linkedin.com/in/paddywoodworth.))
Other journalists who were members of the Workers Party were Liam Clarke and his partner Kathryn Johnson. Interesting to note is the positive relationship between the Sunday World Newspaper, where a number of supporters worked. Apparently an internal SFWP report claimed that the paper was looking for stories but SFWP decided it was a bit too low brow to form any serious relationship with. BBC radio were also looking around the party for “human interest stories” and to a large extent this seems to have been seen as a positive PR move by the party.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 396.))
Another outlet that came under SFWP influence to some extent was Fortnight magazine where writers associated with the party regularly wrote such as “Martin O’ Hagan, John Hunter, Kathryn Johnson and Robin Wilson”. Martin Lynch had a weekly column in the Irish News, while Henry McDonald also worked there. [ref]Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 513.[/ref]
This favourable publicity and cosy attitude with the authorities and media raises one or two questions that are beyond the scope of this essay but the reality is that by at least the 1980’s SFWP were effectively advancing a unionist position as opposed to a traditional republican one. The “Sinn Féin” part of the moniker was largely seen an as embarrassment to their college lefty credentials. The realisation that Marxism and Nationalism were uneasy bedfellows had been accepted at this point by the party and they were happy to focus on leftist politics as their main objectives more and more
Changing Views on EEC & Multinational Investment in Ireland
SFWP, following the vision of Harris and Smullen would reappraise their approach to a number of issues in the mid 70’s. Seeing it as vital that Ireland grow it’s state sector and nationalise it’s resources, the Resource Protection Campaign was launched in 1973 with the aim of aligning the left nationally behind it’s goals. In Galway a young Eamon Gilmore was chairman and also a member of the UCG Republican Club. Labour’s Una Claffey was the campaigns organising secretary.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 305.)) Pat Rabitte was chairman of the RPC’s trade union group.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 326.))
Further gains were made on University front as well with (Official) Sinn Féin dominating “the leadership of the 55,000-member Union of Students in Ireland, Eamon Gilmore and Johnny Curran having been elected President and education officer, respectively” in 1976.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 326.)) By the late 1970’s, many undisclosed members of SFWP in the Union of Students of Ireland held influential positions such as Gerry Grainger, Padraig Mannion and John Ryan.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 348.)) Student members tended to retain their party affiliation when in the state sector, increasing influence of the left-wing and SFWP in all these areas.
By 1976 SFWP & it’s paramilitary wing the Offical IRA, were basically a communist organisation with extensive links abroad and close relationships with the Soviet Embassy in Dublin. It saw Ireland’s joining the EEC as a means to industrialise and create a “highly organised and militant working class” that could be used to usher in socialism as capitalism proceeded to eat away at the traditional society as Marx himself prophecised.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 338.)) This further emphasises the symbiotic relationship between revolutionary socialism and liberal capitalism in destroying traditional societies.
Other SFWP plans were created regarding expanding the state sector “until it has obliterated all private enterprise.”
“The growing state enterprise sector, consisting of companies such as the ESB, Bord na Mona, CIE and Aer Lingus, was identified as the other key conduit of progressive change. “The struggle to defend, consolidate and expand the state sector” should be seen as the single most vital task confronting the organised working class as the present time.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 338.))
There were also public transport plans and the increased exploitation of resources was seen as vital to creating an industrialised society. Indeed the party was openly hostile to “green” or “environmentalist” movements at this time, seeing them as potentially subversive agents of American imperialism by encouraging countries like Ireland not to industrialise.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar (Penguin Books, 2010) 354.)) It is interesting to note the attitude change of the left on many of these issues after this time.
Also it was seen as preferrable for foreign multinationals to set up in Ireland to displace indigenous businessmen, Tony O’ Reilly coming in for particular scorn from Harris.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 328.))
Once again the socialist revolutionaries fell into line with international capital at the expense of the indigenous population. Farmers and small businessmen were to be jettisoned and forced into the urban proletariat while the national financial elite were to be targeted for their welcoming of foreign capital and American influence into Ireland. This contradictory approach seems completely incoherent but the prevailing thinking seems to have been that Ireland needed industrial development and leftist social reform so it was seen as a necessary development along Marxist ideological lines to displace the native elite class and in theory replace it with a more leftist minded one. In reality we see that foreign capital has walked in lockstep with the international left and has transformed Ireland into an economic colony with foreign capital dominating and leftist social reform championed by global giants such as Goldman Sachs. There was also stiff resistance to Ireland joining the western alliance, with “social democrats” seen as turning the working class away form their role in “revolutionary change.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 339.))
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties
In addition to the RPC, leftwing parties also planned the creation of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties which had several members or supporters of the Officials represented on the executive committee of the council.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 326.))
“Founded by Mary Robinson and others in 1976, we have worked tirelessly to defend and strengthen constitutional rights protections and to ensure the full implementation of international human rights standards. “((ICCL, “About Us,” accessed May 2020, https://www.iccl.ie/about/.))
The ICCL has been instrumental in promoting abortion, gay marriage and is currently engaged in a campaign to introduce “hate speech legislation” to censor critics of any of their agenda, particularly the radical immigration policies followed for the last twenty years in Ireland. According to their website they “monitor government policy and legislation to make sure that it complies with international standards, and speak out when it does not.”((ICCL, “,Who we are,” accessed May 2020, https://www.iccl.ie/about/who-we-are/.))
Frequently portrayed as being above politics, the politics of the ICCL are very clearly displayed and very well subsidised, the following are listed as the funders of the ICCL; The Atlantic Philanthropies, Sigrid Rausing Trust, The Open Society Foundation, The Community Foundation Ireland, The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, The European Commission, The Friends of ICCL and ICCL’s Members.((ICCL, “,Our Organisation” accessed May 2020, https://www.iccl.ie/our-organisation/.))
The Stalinist agenda of the SFWP would begin to alienate many within SFWP as the 1970’s wore on and this would call forth a further change in direction in the 1980’s. This change in direction saw some members move closer to the Labour party while the radicals themselves would move from the fringes to the very core of the policy making in subsequent governments under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on issues such as divorce and social reform. SFWP would also become key activists in Mary Robinson’s successful Presidential campaign in the 1990’s which is seen as a major liberalising force in Irish political history.
Turning to Gramsci & Eurocommunism
As the SFWP maintained close links with communist groups internationally, it came to pass that the idea of Eurocommunism became a prominent idea within the party that could offer a different route to a socialist Ireland. This idea represented an area of difference from the mid 1970’s between the Italians and Spaniards who wanted a more pluralistic form of communism than the Soviets.
“The concept of communism developing democratically within Western Europe and independent of a strict adherence to the USSR found it’s ideological inspiration in the work of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. It placed an emphasis on building broad alliances with groups such as environmentalists and women’s rights campaigners, and democratic change rather than working class revolution.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 362.))
It seems that the Gramsci influence was also in the rank and file as “other activists also began to read Gramsci and looked to Milan and Bologna rather than in Moscow for ideological guidance.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 362.))
Highlighting the newer strategy of creating broad coalitions, at the 1979 Ard Fheis a motion was put forth to drop the “Sinn Féin” part of the organisations name. Additionally “Motions were passed returning civil liberties, health policy and women’s equality to prominence..”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 370.)) From this period onwards, we see the engine behind the liberal-left social change machine being built, with the center forced more and more to form coalition governments with what were basically fringe characters in the 1980’s. The language of the party members was also becoming increasingly similar to what we today derisively refer to as “Social Justice” language. Terms such as “nationalistic and fascistic terrorist gang” were used to describe the Provisionals repeatedly. Today the Provisionals political wing refers to traditional Irish nationalism as “Fascistic” along with the state institutions who are militantly forcing this kind of ideology on the public. SFWP paved the political road for the journey the Provisionals would follow at a slower pace over the decades.
Further evidence of this shift is seen in the 1982 decision to target women’s issues such as contraception and social issues like healthcare rather than traditional Marxist economics. Joe Sherlock got elected to the Dail as their first TD around this time and later on the party would make a deal with Charlie Haughey that involved a promise for a divorce referendum and other concessions. There were also rumours of secret deals regarding the “OIRA’s prisoners and mysterious Middle Eastern contacts.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 436.))
The party was still against holding a referendum to enshrine the right to life of the unborn in the Irish constitution, although they were careful to frame this as a “civil liberties” issue. The referendum came to pass in 1983 with mass public support. How effective the institutional penetration of SFWP and others since then have been in promoting liberal abortion laws in the intervening years can be seen in the complete reversal of this decision in 2018 after a campaign and media onslaught that was farcical in it’s choreography.
Democratic Left Split & 90’s Social Reform
In the 1990’s Harris would spearhead the party’s attempted move to a social democratic position, away from the older Marxism. With 7 TD’s in the Dáil, the Workers Party created a “Left Cooperation Group” with Labour under Dick Spring.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 547.)) This would ultimately split the party with DeRossa and most of the party’s TD’s including Gilmore and Rabitte eventually forming Democratic Left in 1992. Democratic Left followed a similar socialist vein as SFWP in the 1980’s and went into government with Fine Gael in 1994 as part of the so called “rainbow coalition”.
DeRossa served as Minister for Social welfare and in this role would organise the first ever Commission on the Family who’s report in 1998 recommended that “The diversity of family forms and relationships should be recognised,” thereby paving the way for more radical reform of the laws around the family in subsequent years.((Commission on the Family, Interim Report, November 1996, 12.)) This was part of an overall change from “Catholic corporatism” to “social partnership”as the family unit moved from outside the scope of state to being simply a lesser constituent part thereof.
A key advisor to DeRossa was Rosheen Calendar, a former member of the Industrial Department’s Joe O”Connor Cumann in the 1970’s.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 455.)) Calendar is a former teacher, economist and worked in the ITGWU and SIPTU since 1973 before founding the Foundation for Fiscal Studies in 1985.((Foundation for Fiscal Studies, “About Us,” accessed May 2020, https://fiscal.ie/us/.))
DeRossa would become an MP in 2002. A committed European Federalist he was a member of the European Convention that drafted the 2003 European Constitution. He also was a member of the delegation to Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) in 2003 which was a key step in the Barcelona Process and the further development of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
Conclusion
This essay has been an examination of one interesting strand of influence over modern Irish society. I am not claiming that the SFWP and their former members run the country or that they are all former terrorists but I do believe that I have demonstrated that they have left a surprisingly large footprint on what Ireland society has evolved into. Most of these people would likely claim that their influence was minimal and that there are many other forces at play. Indeed, I agree that there have been many forces at play in steering Ireland down it’s current road but if we consider how small a fringe SFWP were for most of their history relative to their influence on much of the social change and their heavy representation within the media at crucial periods then it seems rather outlandish to claim they had little influence.
Within the trade unions, SFWP alumni such as Brendan Mackin and Sally Ann Kinahan rose to leadership level positions while Kieran Mulvey became chairman of the Labour Relations Commission.((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 597.)) Influence in the North is also notable.
“There were former members in the non-governmental sector and in the advisory bodies to the Northern Irish Assembly.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 597.))
Influence in the Labour party is also significant with the journey of Liz McManus from the SFWP to Labour mirroring others such as the aforementioned Gilmore, Rabitte and DeRossa. Indeed when Democratic Left folded into the Labour party in 1999, it’s members quickly came to dominate the party.
Let’s take one interesting case study to demonstrate the past connections of some of these politicians. Kathleen Lynch TD, who served as a Minister of State in 2011 is married to Bernard Lynch who she controversially appointed as her advisor. Bernard was acquitted of murder on appeal in the Special Criminal Court during the 1970’s “when a key statement made by defendant Bartholomew Madden was ruled inadmissable because his legal detention period had expired.” Her brother-in-law is wanted in connection to the aforementioned counterfeiting operation ran out of the Workers’ Party office in Dublin in which Seán Garland was also linked.
“Bernard’s brother Brian, 58, was suspected of being the brains behind a massive counterfeiting scam uncovered by gardaí in a raid at Repsol Ltd, which was on the ground floor of the Workers’ Party Dublin headquarters in 1983.”((Niamh Walsh, “Irish Minister of State’s brother-in-law suspected of being brains behind elaborate counterfeiting operation,” August 21, 2011, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028412/Irish-Minister-States-brother-law-suspected-brains-elaborate-counterfeiting-operation.html.))
The fact that so little has been made of connections like this while parties such as the Labour party are vociferous in promoting censorship under the guise of “hatespeech” legislation while describing people with doubts about Ireland’s radical immigration policies as dangerous, displays the attitudes prevalent in the fourth estate. Also relevant is the ascension of former SFWP activists to the bench.
“Pat McCartan and Michael White became judges during the period of the Rainbow Coalition.”((Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 597.))
I would summarise the influence of SFWP as having been quite significant on Irish society. Whether it was preparing the road that the provisionals would subsequently travel thirty years later to parliamentary politics or being key architects of social reform in the areas of divorce, abortion or family law legislation the movement clearly exercised inordinate influence.
The SFWP also helped normalise the idea of radical leftist politics rubbing shoulders with centrist parties such as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Indeed it is debatable whether the radicals of the left were that radical compared to the current regime of “supply agreements” and rule by civil society institutions. Mainstream parties social policies now seem more radical than much of the change called for by SFWP only a few years previously. Subsequent events such as gay marriage and the rise of Gramscian special interest groups wielding massive amounts of power over society has become endemic. Politicians cower at the invocation of the ICCL or Amnesty International in any argument and a plethora of state funded State funded foundations and charities with extensive links internationally are able to have their way with the State legislature. Radical policies of immigration which have fundamentally altered the ethnic makeup of Irish society and which are policed by unaccountable bureaucracies are now moved forward despite not even being raised as electoral issues.
Native Irish citizens are now afraid to question this and many other changes that have been engineered in a place outside of traditional party politics and this has rendered people unable to offer resistance. The State bureaucracy, bloated and well heeled, can rely on the more unsavory elements of far left agitation to intimidate nationalists on their own streets. An investigation by the Burkean Journal has recently exposed some of the links between “respectable” civil society and far left thugs who are empowered to intimidate.((Follow this brilliant investigation here: https://www.theburkean.ie/articles/2020/03/06/introducing-the-irish-antifa-project))
As a key constituent of the institutional power structure in Ireland, the SFWP faction have certainly contributed to driving Ireland radically left in many areas. I leave it up to the reader to do their own research and come to your own conclusions regarding just how influential they have been.
- Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0141028459/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1582484518&sr=1-3 [↩]
- Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA (W. W. Norton & Company, 2002) 76. [↩]
- Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 513. [↩]
- Brian Hanley, Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party (Penguin Books, 2010) 538. [↩]
- Padraig Yeates, Linkedin profile accessed May 2020, https://ie.linkedin.com/in/padraig-yeates-41704a5. [↩]