28.03.1996

Politically incorrect

Kevin McQuillan of the IRSP replies to ‘Irish feud wastes revolutionary lives’

The Irish Republican Socialist Party was dismayed by the article which appeared in the Weekly Worker (March 21).

It was far from politically correct, and based on ill-informed reports in the bourgeois press of a ‘feud’ within the Irish National Liberation Army.

Prior to the redefining by Inla of its cessation of hostilities, we sought clarification with them regarding both the general political situation and the attacks on our members. Apart from the assassination of Gino Gallagher in January, these have included the wounding of senior member Jimmy Bradley and shots being fired at four others.

These attacks have resulted in our membership, including prisoners at Portlaoise, Long Kesh and elsewhere, rallying to the party.

An enquiry was set up into the murder of Gino Gallagher and, following the death of John Fennell, established the identity of those responsible. These included two former Inla members, who recruited and paid three individuals, including a Dublin-based drug dealer supplying them with the weapon.

The two former members were expelled from Inla on November 15 1995 after they entered into a self-declared ceasefire without consultation with the leadership or with the IRSP. Their expulsion followed cumulative discussions between June and November last year.

These people kept their heads down, only to re-emerge subsequently as the self-styled ‘GHQ faction’. They were the very same individuals who had overseen the degeneration of the IRSP. They had drifted away from the principle of revolutionary political primacy. Their workrate, commitment, the terminology, style and content of their leadership all demonstrated that they were not serious about building a genuine Communist Party. Yet on questions of tactics and strategy, there appeared to be no fundamental differences here. No wonder people began to question where they were coming from.

Contrast that with the dynamism that our organisation has displayed since May 1995. We have established an expansive network of party organisations, refurbished our offices and engaged in discussions with other organisations. There has been a call to bring back our paper, The Starry Plough.

These latest attacks have followed a familiar pattern: every time we have gained support, have begun to re-establish a firm base, sinister campaigns have been waged against us, resulting in the assassination of senior members. The aim has always been to deter other members and politically stunt our revolutionary tradition. Revolutionary socialists are different from nationalists - we have to be neutralised.

We agree that differences have to be argued out openly - they must be articulated. And dialogue must take place through democratic centralism.

But we will not stand for three drug dealers putting us under the hammer. We will defend ourselves against external counter-revolutionary forces. On the simplest level they can appear as questions of ego and power. But on a more sinister level they are directed by British intelligence. On this occasion the finger is pointing in that direction.