Lasair Dhearg Ard Fheis 2024

A full report on the first annual conference held in Belfast by Lasair Dhearg, the Irish Socialist Republican activist organisation founded seven years ago.

Lasair Dhearg’s first Ard Fheis was held on Saturday (October 26th) in Cultúrlann on Belfast’s Falls Road.

Scores of members, supporters and Socialist Republicans from across the island of Ireland gathered on an important day for our organisation, marking another milestone in its development.

The morning session was open only to Lasair Dhearg members and focused on organisational, policy and strategic matters. This was followed by an afternoon session open to the public which heard addresses from speakers on a range of issues affecting the working class in Ireland.

Morning Session

Following the registration process, members were provided with reports giving updates on the running of the organisation. These reports were provided by An Runaí Ginearálta (General Secretary) Éamonn Ó Cleirigh, Pádraig Scott (Béal Feirste), Lorcán Ó Duine (Doire) and Críostóir O Tiobraide (Membership). All speakers noted the feeling of loss and sadness felt by our organisation at the recent passing of our friend and comrade Dannielle Meighan, and the key role she played in the growth of Lasair Dhearg from its beginning. Speakers also noted that despite a drop in overall levels of activism at times, attributed to the focus on internal development of National Departments and personnel, we have never reached a wider audience as we have over the past year, reaching at least 2.5 million views across our social media platforms, and we have been at the forefront of campaigns around the issues that most affect people across Ireland. Levels of interest in membership remain strong and it is clear that we remain a credible and persistent thorn in the side of the state. This is important going forward because, as was also noted, while the growth of fascist elements in our communities appears to have been somewhat checked, it has not by any means gone and all of us must redouble our efforts in the coming months to deal with this insidious ideology.

After the reports concluded members heard motions proposing the adoption of various amendments to our Bunreacht followed by considered debate. In addition, a motion was unanimously passed that:

Lasair Dhearg send revolutionary greetings to our brothers and sisters around the world currently engaged in the fight against Occupation, Imperialism, and Capitalism and we affirm the right of revolutionary organisations to use whatever means necessary to resist illegal occupation.

At this stage, our new policy – Immigration, Capitalism and Imperialism in Ireland – was formally presented to the membership for approval. The outcome of around 18 months of planning, debate and research, we believe this policy will present the most complete and succinct analysis of the issues surrounding the debate around immigration, and how they are intimately linked to Capitalism and Imperialism around the world. The policy was unanimously adopted by the membership and will be publicly presented both at a series of events and online over the coming months.

Members then voted for the first time to elect members to the newly convened An Ciorcal Naisiúnta, our national executive, which will take over the running of the organisation from the caretaker body that has overseen Lasair Dhearg from its inception to the present day.

After a short break, the morning session was concluded with a discussion and debate on our strategic vision for the year ahead.

Afternoon Session

The afternoon session began with a presentation to the family of our late friend and comrade Dannielle Meighan. On behalf of Lasair Dhearg, Leas-Chathaoirleach (vice-chair) Pádraic MacCoitir presented to them a framed flag as a token of how much Dannielle meant all of us and everyone who knew her. Pádraic spoke, as so many others have, of our depth of gratitude to her for all of the activism she had taken part in and drove on, but most importantly for her strength of character, unrelenting principles and the friendship and comradeship that will be remembered by so many people across Ireland for years to come.

The event was chaired by Amy Margaret, activist and member of the officer board of Lasair Dhearg Béal Feirste. Amy spoke briefly of the history of our organisation and the importance of the day in its development before introducing our first speaker of the day.

A Palestinian solidarity campaigner who worked with communities in Occupied Palestine on multiple occasions, he spoke in reflection on twelve months of the current phase of genocide there, and what the Irish people can do to help. He made it clear that while there is no doubt that the vast majority of Irish people are in support of the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation, there is much more that can be done. He reflected that while the mobilisation of thousands of people onto the streets over the past year has been a success, there were also a number of failures. Namely, that the Israeli ambassador had still not been expelled by the Dublin government, that Irish airspace is still being used to transport weapons to Israel, and that Leinster House has yet to pass the Occupied Territories Bill after almost a decade.

It was pointed out that fundamentally the Palestinian struggle is against Capitalism and Imperialism and must be viewed as such, not only against Israel but also the Palestinian Authority, both acting on behalf of the US and European Union. Links were made between this struggle and the ongoing struggle against the same forces of economic and political subjugation here in Ireland. The case was made that by continuing to engage with the US, we remain complicit in the ongoing genocide. He called for a surge in direct action against US and EU economic interests here in Ireland such as Thales or Caterpillar here in Belfast. He finished by calling for a complete political and economic boycott of Israel and to put right the failures of the last 12 months.

Amy then called up our next speaker, Conal MacMathúna. Conal is a community and housing activist, who as a member of CATU (Community Action Tenants Union) helped to establish branches in Derry, Donegal, Monaghan and Fermanagh. On the subject of “Housing in a Socialist Republic”, Conal made historical comparisons between James Connolly’s “Re-conquest of Ireland” and the current struggle. He spoke of the current housing crisis and how there is an intimate link between the crisis and political choices made by governments North and South in the interests of Capital. Conal then made a number of different proposals as to how a housing system would be implemented in a Socialist Republic – looking to the future rather than the past. Among these were:

* calls to immediately take all empty and derelict properties in public hands

* a public planning body that would take a holistic approach to housing, aiming to provide not just a house but a community, with all the necessary amenities e.g. healthcare, shop, public transport

* The abolition of the private rental sector and property speculation market, which seek only to exploit the working class in the interests of profit

* The property portfolio of estate agents and private developers to be taken into state hands

* Housing as a fundamental human right.

Conal pointed out that rather than being full, as claimed by the fascists who live among us, Ireland is dramatically underpopulated, with its population still yet to reach the levels of the mid-19th century, and with vast swathes of western and rural Ireland lying almost empty as people have been forced to move to urban areas.

He called for a fundamental change in the way in which housing would be provided, drawing parallels with the system of living socialism we see in Cuba, where housing is built and planned with the needs of the community at its core rather than four walls to make profit for a developer. Conal then made the case that housing is at core of the reconquest of Ireland and our struggle from imperialism and drew upon similarities between the displacement of people in Palestine due to the physical destruction of their home, and the less visible but just as important economic displacement of people here in Ireland.

Our third speaker, Joe Mooney is a long-time community activist, Socialist and Republican from the East Wall area of Dublin and a founding member of Dublin Communities Against Racism (DCAR). He is a also active with Independent Dublin Republicans (IDR) and Friends of the International Brigades Ireland (FIBI).

Joe began by highlighting the links between the right-wing racist ideology growing in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland and the fascist ideology of Unionism here in the Six Counties. He spoke briefly about the founding of DCAR as a credible and respected response to the manipulation of communities by these fascists. He pointed out the importance of tailoring the response depending on the area – what works in central Dublin may not work in a rural village. Joe then talked about the revolutionary socialist and anti-capitalist history of the East Wall area and the close knit community spirit that had long existed.

He identified a number of reasons behind the initial surge in protests in East Wall. Firstly, anger from the community at the offhand manner in which they felt they had been treated by the government, and secondly, genuine concern from people who had no information about what was happening or through ignorance. The vacuum of information was then used by the right to manipulate people and whip up hatred. The same tactics were then used across the twenty-six counties, making use of government incompetence and disinterest in the concerns communities had to spread quickly before an effective strategy could be formulated to combat them.

Historic parallels were drawn between the ongoing situation in Ireland and the rise of the National Front in Britain in the 1970’s and 1980’s, whereby violent fascists were used by the ruling class to normalise extreme viewpoints, before sweeping up their support by appearing to be more ‘acceptable’.

Joe made the point that tactics must be carefully considered in combating this; Confrontations where anti-fascists are outnumbered only serve to weaken and are counterproductive. He pointed to successful engagement with people who had adopted some of the extreme racist views by speaking to people on an individual level. While this may be difficult for many, DCAR had seen positive results.

The core of his argument is that the key to addressing peoples concerns is not to automatically jump to calling people racist, because most aren’t. Instead they have allowed fascists to misdirect their anger for legitimate concerns such as the cost of living and housing, away from the government who are responsible and towards refugees and asylum seekers, some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Conclusion

Concluding the Ard Fheis Cathaoirleach (Chair) Lasair Dhearg Pól Torbóid began by thanking those who made the effort to travel from across Ireland and who contributed to the success of the event. Once again pointing to the importance of the event in the development of Lasair Dhearg, Pól briefly described the history of the organisation and the credibility we have taken care to build as we have grown. He made a call for Socialist Republicans across Ireland to rededicate ourselves to ridding the island of fascism.

Pól extended Lasair Dhearg’s support to the people of Palestine and their struggle against Imperialism. He condemned the calls for a two-state solution, especially from so-called anti-imperialist parties here in Ireland, and reiterated our support for a one-state solution; that of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Pól concluded by lamenting the approach of former Republicans in joining with our occupiers and looking to the future. He summarised the short-term aim of Lasair Dhearg to help in the rebuilding of Republicanism by providing future generations with the tools and structures to finally achieve a Socialist Republic

Urgent Appeal