Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 16)
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- Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 16)
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lreland
Interview with Sinn Fein
This interview with Gerry Adams, MP and President of Sinn Fein, was granted to «Democratic Palestine»
in August. Since then, Gerry Adams was briefly detained by British security forces in their frenzy follow-
ing the Irish Republican Army's October 12th bomb attack aimed against Margaret Thatcher and others
of her cabinet. Gerry Adams has just been reelected as President of Sinn Fein at their November con-
gress.
There has been talk of a move towards the left in
the Irish Republican Movement. Would you com-
ment on this and explain something about Sinn
Fein’s political and mass work?
First of all | should perhaps explain the composition of the
Republican Movement. We are not an alliance of political
organisations like the PLO. The Republican Movement is a
loose title historically given to several branches of the move-
ment for national liberation, which today share the common
goal of establishing a Democratic Socialist Republic of all Ire-
land. Those branches are Sinn Fein, the IRA, Cumann na
mban (women’s section), Na Fianna Eireann (youth scouting
organization) and An Cumann Cabhrach (political prisoners
support organisation) as well as the National Graves Associa-
tion which is responsible for the care of graves of our patriot
dead.
The partition of Ireland was achieved by a combination of
the British threat of «fatal war» and its acceptance in 1921, by
a middle class section of the republican leadership, which was
satisfied that its interests could be maintained in a 26 county
Free State. In the counterrevolution which followed, the repub-
lican forces were defeated and «dumped arms» in 1923. A few
years later another section of the movement, under the leader-
ship of Eamonn de Valera, with a pluralist political outlook,
broke away and involved itself in Free State politics. These two
parties became known as Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
Over the years with the consolidation of the Free State,
the leadership of both parties became progressively more mid-
dle class and upper middle class, with politics to match... What
they lacked in political policy, both parties made up for in wide-
spread political patronage throughout the state.
Both, like their unionist counterparts in the six counties,
have a vested interest in maintaining partition and the conser-
vative nature of both states. The preponderance of Irish politics
on both sides of the border, with, on the one hand, civil war
alignments and on the other, maintaining the British border,
has prevented the organisation of a serious socialist organisa-
tion in either state.
Republicans have consistently believed that the border -
with British military occupation in the six counties- is the
greatest obstacle in any attempt to organise towards a socialist
society. In consequence, we have set about gaining the active
support of the unborn working class, small farmers and rural
workers by making our policies relevant to them. This is not sol-
ely on the national question but also in the areas of unemploy-
16
ment, housing, welfare rights, community organisation, cul-
ture, women, youth, etc. Organisationally this has meant the
creation, over a period of years, of departments of women's
affairs, trade unions, culture, etc.
In practice, the political work is carried out in over thirty
Sinn Fein offices/advice centres throughout the country.
These are involved in all areas of community politics with a
wide scope of activities ranging from involvement in co-opera-
tive enterprises to assisting communities to organise to com-
bat dealers in hard drugs, which is particularly prevalent in
Dublin.
Wall painting in Northem Ireland.
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