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The Plough
Web Site www.theplough.netfirms.com
Vol 5-No 1
Sunday January 20th 2008
e-mail newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial:
2) Three areas of struggle
3) Book Reviews
a. The Politics of Enmity
4) From the newspapers
5) Facts
6) Without comment
7) Letters
8) What’s On
Editorial
We would like to send New Year greetings to all our readers in this
the first Plough of 2008 and thank them for their support and
comments through the last four and a half years.
The new year usually sees people in the advanced countries make
resolutions to give up smoking, loss weight save money have more
holidays and so on. That luxury does not extent to about 92% of the
world’s population. Most live in absolute (as opposed to relative)
poverty. Irish Republican Socialists basing themselves on the
revolutionary ideas of the leading leftist thinkers of the 19th and
20th centuries resolutely stand on the side of all those who suffer
under imperialism and capitalism. We are internationalists, secular
socialists, and Irish Republicans. We can do no other than take an
internationalist stance.
We salute the heroic resistance of the Palestinian masses to the
Zionist occupation, we support the armed resistance to the USA
occupation of Iraq, we applaud the Cuban masses for their defence of
the gains of the Cuban revolution and we stand resolutely with the
Bolivarian movement in Venezulea as it attempts to break free from
the chains of capitalism.
All over the world there are major problems including global
warming, starvation, ethnic wars, armies of occupation, slavery and
massive poverty. We believe only the establishment of socialism on a
world wide scale can begin to deal realistically with these
problems.
But we are not abstract dreamers. We act now. Living in the Ireland
of the year 2008 we must deal with the problems that confront the
working classes today. It is clear that there is a downturn in the
international capitalist market. House prices in many areas are
plummeting. Speculators and landlords are taking a hit. In the south
of Ireland the bench marking body wants public sector workers to
take a 0% rise in wages while inflation goes up. Local councilors in
the north and south have been in the past and still are in hock to
the speculators and owners of property. One only has to look at the
links between Ian Paisley Junior and property developer Seymour
Sweeney to realise that there are those who think that the business
of politics is business itself!
Three Areas of Struggle
The growth of the IRSP as an organisation has been steady and
consistent for the past ten years. More and more young people have
now come to accept that what previously posed as a radical
republican socialist alternative was merely a vehicle by which
aspiring sections of the petty bourgeoise could get their hands on
the levers of power and use them to the advantage of their class.
Others think that they can turn the clock back and re- fight the old
fight only this time with better leaders. They are wrong. Since 1798
Irish Republicans have used armed resistance against the British. At
no time have republicans defeated the British. At times the guns or
pikes were put away “for another day” as republicans faded into the
background and reformist nationalists took the lead. These
reformists were at all times ready to settle for less than full
Irish independence. And the republicans in the background failed to
seriously challenge this reformism. No! They were too busy dreaming
of past defeats or looking forward to another generation repeating
their own failures. So-called mainstream republicanism failed the
Irish people. By the rejection of political action and by solely
concentrating on armed resistance they helped create the conditions
for reformists to park the struggle for liberation.
The alternative strategy is that advocated by Republican Socialists.
It is the same strategy as James Connolly. It is the class struggle.
Some people see the term “class struggle” as somehow representing
only the struggles of workers for better pay and conditions and
refer to this as
“economism”. That is not our meaning. Rather we identify with V.I.
Lenin when he clearly outlined the role of the revolutionary,
“-a popular tribune who knows best how to react to all and sundry
expressions of arbitariness and oppression wherever they occur,
which ever stratum or class they affect; who knows how to generalize
all these expressions into one picture of police violence and
capitalist exploitation, who knows how to utilize every little thing
in order to expound before all men his Socialist conviction and his
democratic demands , to explain to each and everyone the universal
historical significance of the liberating struggle of the
proletariat.” (V.I. Lenin “What is to be done?” Page 124 Panther
Modern Society London 1970)
We must adopt to today’s conditions while bearing in mind the
arguments of Marx and Engels that there were three great areas of
struggle for revolutionaries, the political, the economic and the
theoretical.
To concentrate on only one of these areas at the expense of the
other two is to pave the way for defeat, disillusionment and the
passivity of the masses. Irish republicans who put all their faith
in the armed struggle simply disarm the masses. Look at how a
militant working class nationalist working class has almost sleep
walked into acceptance of the new Stormont as their previous leaders
in armed struggle simply capitulated to the pressures.
Nationalist workers did so because of their loyalty to the
organizations that awoke them to political life and gave an
organized expression to their aspirations and put them into words.
That role was in the main taken by the provisional movement.
On the other hand there were those who concentrated on the day today
struggles of the workers while ignoring the democratic tasks of the
day and in reality capitulated to the backwardness of many workers
by refusal after refusal to campaign around the issue of the
national question. The failure of many on the left to actively
participate in the day to day struggle for civil rights in the late
sixties or to actively participate in the campaign against
internment in the early seventies simply paved the way for the
provisional leadership to capture the allegiance of the nationalist
working class. Breaking that allegiance is the responsibility of
those who would claim the mantle of republican revolutionaries.
The defeat of the republican struggle from 1969 and the failure to
prevent neo-colonial exploitation of Irish workers and of our
natural resources was and is down to a failure of revolutionary
leadership
In the early part of the 20th century the Bolshevik Party succeeded
in a very short time in winning over the decisive majority of the
workers and soldiers in the Russian revolution. They did this not by
oratory, rhetoric, spontaneity, activism or sloganising. They did
this on the basis of clear Marxist ideas and methods. They combined
an ideological firmness on all fundamental questions with tactical
flexibility needed to win over the masses to the side of the
revolution. Building such a party today in Ireland will be no easy
task. Ta Power pointed out the scorn some activists held for those
who developed ideas and posed political actions. Within
republicanism there is a tendency to denigrate thinkers particularly
those who challenge the orthodox ideas of generations. And there is
also sadly a lack of flexibility in tactics. To reject tactics such
as fighting elections or taking seats in parliaments is to tie ones
hand behind ones back before entering the ring. Republican
socialists have always been flexible able to adopt to the situation
we find ourselves in and work it to our advantage.
But we now need to accelerate the ideological development of the
movement accelerating our political education to lay the basis for
the formation of a new generation of political leaders who can lay a
strong foundation for renewed revolutionary struggle in the days
weeks and years ahead.
But along with this theoretical development we also need to
intensify our work in the political struggles of the workers.
In this the tenth year of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement a
priority could be a series of meetings /marches denouncing the
fruits of that agreement. Republican socialists should seek to do
that with other radical bodies but if necessary go it alone.
Again in the south of Ireland we need to re-establish our commitment
to Connolly socialism and should organise meetings with others on
the relevance of Connolly socialism today.
But these activities should not detract from pushing social issues,
unemployment, housing, health and education etc. We need to show
that Stormont and the Dail are an integral part of the capitalist
system and will work only for the rich.
We Republican Socialists should also use this time to re-emphasise
our non sectarian republicanism. We should not be afraid to preach
the gospel of divine discontent in areas where we would usually not
go. Loyalist/Protestant working class people should have nothing to
fear from socialism or republicanism. They are not our enemies.
Militant actions by sectarians masquerading as republicans pushed
these people away from our politics. Let us reaffirm that we are
pro-working class.
A major advance towards that would be by increasing our
participation in the trade unions. Republican socialists are weak on
the ground in trade union activity yet that is an area of struggle
that holds out great possibilities of recruiting militant workers
regardless of their perceived religious background.
The quality of the leadership is ultimately decisive in all
revolutionary struggles. Republican Socialists have had outstanding
leaders in the past including the likes of Seamus Costello, Miriam
Daly, Ronnie Bunting, Ta Power and Gino Gallagher. Our movement has
quite rightly paid homage to our dead comrades. But we also need to
remember that revolutionaries including all of the above look
forward to a better world. We need to look forward not back and
establish a republican socialist leadership of the highest quality.
Gerry Ruddy
Book Review
(a slightly different version of this originally appeared in HISTORY
IRELAND November/December 2007))
The Politics of Enmity
Paul Bew
Ireland: The Politics of Enmity 1789-2006
Oxford University Press, 2007 (613pp)
This volume is an addition to the Oxford History of Modern Europe
series. “The book is about the conflict between the Protestant
British -both on the British ‘mainland’ and in Ireland itself- and
the Catholic Irish” states the preface. More specifically, it is a
detailed history of the management of that enmity from the 1800 Act
of Union to the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. All the various political
frameworks created by the British state to solve its ‘Irish problem’
- Home Rule, partition, etc- are discussed in detail. With great
skill, Bew recreates the political world of the ruling classes in
London, Dublin and Belfast throughout two centuries through an
extensive use of archives and papers available, and also attempts to
convey the mood of popular politics through a particular emphasis on
the press. The book is meticulously researched, thoroughly argued,
often original in its insights; and most of its conclusions will be
subject to controversy.
The author writes from a perspective sympathetic to liberal unionism
and what he calls ‘conciliatory nationalism’. Parnell’s May 1891
speech, which insisted that “conciliation” was the only possible
nationalist response to the “reasonable or unreasonable” sentiments
of the Unionist community expresses one of the central arguments
advanced by this book. While Bew defends ‘conciliatory nationalism’,
he is critical of republicanism for failing to either convince or
conciliate Unionism. However, it is not that Republicanism
disregards the issue of Unionist consent to political arrangements,
where it differs from other political forces like constitutional
nationalism is that it refuses Unionist consent to be a prerequisite
for constitutional change. While arguing that it is undesirable to
coerce a ‘minority,’ republicanism contends that to give a guarantee
to a ‘minority’ in advance against all coercion is to put a premium
on unreasonableness and to make a settlement impossible. It will
have no incentives to consider other political options so long as
the British government gives it unconditional guarantees. The
consent of a minority becomes transformed into a veto over the
majority - unity by consent of a minority, partition by coercion of
the majority. Bew’s stress on the importance of conciliation is
partially based on a reading of history which concludes that it is
impossible to coerce Ulster.
However, the fact that Ian Paisley could admit in a recent interview
regarding why he came to endorse the St Andrews Agreement -“The
British government threatened me. I was frightened. I was frightened
for my country”- suggests that in specific historical conjunctures
this can be possible. (1)
The emphasis upon the issues of conciliation and coercion is one of
the strongest points of the book. But the author’s defence of
conciliatory nationalism against a republicanism which exacerbates
enmity with Unionism is sometimes problematical. Pearse for example
was a constitutional home ruler who became a revolutionary after the
Tory and Unionist subversion of the democratic request for Home
Rule. Bonar Law’s “there are things stronger than parliamentary
majorities”, the Curragh mutiny, the Larne gun running -events
dismissed by Bew as “an extreme form of the politics of theatre” and
as threats “more apparent than real”- convinced some conciliatory
nationalists that the constitutional process was not allowed to be
effective and that the threat of force was.
In his reading of the 1916 Rising, reduced to the more than
questionable notion of a “blood sacrifice”, Bew underestimates the
degree to which the actions of the Tories and the Unionists had a
central role in driving figures of proven constitutional instincts
such as Pease away from the constitutional path towards
insurrection. The author also underestimates the extent to which the
development of Unionism and partition were due to British policy
rather than factors internal to Ireland. Edward Carson himself later
admitted: “What a fool I was!” he exclaimed, “I was only a puppet
and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland in the political game that was
to get the Conservative Party into power.” (2) Bew believes that
there was nothing 'artificial' about the creation of Northern
Ireland and that partition was inevitable.
However, it was the British government which chose the way in which
Ireland was divided and imposed this by force. The plan to partition
Ireland was made long before any boundary areas were decided and
long before the overall population of what is now the six and twenty
six counties had any say in the matter. Moreover, in 1916 there were
17 Home Rule MPs in Ulster as opposed to 16 Unionists. It is
inconceivable that face-to-face negotiations between Republicans,
Nationalists and Unionists would have produced the same settlement.
Unfortunately Unionists refused to attend the first meeting of the
All-Ireland parliament set up in January 1919 and work out a
political arrangement. They instead supported a continued attempt by
Westminster to rule Ireland against the democratic mandate of the
people for their own national parliament. The book lacks an in-depth
discussion of the significance of the 1918 elections and of the
consequences of the British government’s refusal to accept its
results. The Unionist support for the British military campaign to
crush the democratic wish of the people through the ‘fascist
dictation’ of the RIC to use the very words of Crozier, the first
commanding officer of the Auxilairies, puts them again into the camp
of coercion rather than conciliation, something not emphasized by
Bew despite his frequent criticisms of the negative aspects
unionism.
The book contains some fine analyses on how strategic considerations
shaped the nature of British state policy towards Ireland; for
example with the Act of Union or during the Second World War. Bew
agrees with Peter Brooke’s statement that the British state has no
selfish strategic interest in Ireland today and even evokes
“unselfish strategic interests”.
However, one can hint from an interview Brooke gave to Spanish
academic Rogelio Alonso that this sentence was essentially intended
to strengthen the hand of those within the Provos who were pushing
for a ceasefire and embrace the peace process rather than as a
statement of fact. Has the end of the Cold War made the British
state's strategic interests in Ireland redundant? In his book The
Geopolitics of Anglo-Irish Relations in the Twentieth Century
(London: Leicester University Press, 1997) G.R. Sloan, Deputy Head
of Strategic Studies at the Britannia Royal Naval College in
Darmouth argued that the end of the Cold War had not diminished
Ireland's strategic importance; compelling the British state to
pursue a strategic policy of 'geopolitical dualism': on one hand
ensuring that part of Ireland remains within NATO, and on the other
claim 'no selfish strategic interests' to further the peace process.
This is not of course to argue that strategic interests are the
prime factor in shaping British state policy towards Ireland; but to
emphasise that Bew is wrong to take as axiomatic that the British
state has no longer any strategic interests in Ireland today.
The book finishes with a question mark as to whether the Provos
acceptance of the principle of consent marks the end of over two
centuries of enmity. As long as the British state remains in
Ireland, there will always be those who will attempt to strike a
blow against ‘normalization’ and ‘amnesia’ to use Bew’s good
description of the intent of Robert Emmet’s 1803 insurrection. This
book is not the “definitive history of Ireland” but rather a
sophisticated polemical reading of the history of Ireland since the
French revolution. It can be difficult and heavy going in some
places if one is not familiar with some of the issues discussed. The
book will be especially of interest for people interested in ideas
and arguments.
Liam O RUAIRC
(1) Dan Keenan, Paisley chose power-sharing over 'destruction of
Union', The Irish Times, 6 April 2007
(2) ATQ Stewart, Edward Carson, Dublin: Gill&MacMillan, 1981, p.125
From the newspapers
Most Russians said to favour Soviet-style economy
MOSCOW (Reuters) - More than half of all Russians favour a return to
a Soviet-style economy and believe democracy could be sacrificed to
maintain order, according to an opinion poll. Fifty-two percent of
respondents to the poll, conducted by the independent Levada Centre,
said they favoured an "economy based on state planning and
distribution" -- a reference to the Communist-era economic
system.The figure has increased by 11 percentage points since 1997.
The number of respondents who said they favoured an "economy based
on private property and market relations" declined in the same
period to 29 percent from 40.
The emergence of the market economy and the introduction of
democratic freedom changed Russia's economy dramatically in the
years following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.But
privatisation has also been accompanied by plummeting living
standards for many Russians.
President Vladimir Putin, who came to power in 2000, has made
restoring order his priority. Opponents say this has damaged
democracy and accuse Putin, who has to step down next year, of
focusing political and economic power in the Kremlin. Under Putin,
the government has also claimed back control over strategic sectors
of the economy.
According to the Levada Centre, 69 percent of respondents believe
that"maintaining order is paramount even if democratic principles
and personal freedoms need to be breached". Only 18 percent of
respondents thought otherwise. However, 66 percent of respondents
said they believed authorities should remain under the control of
the people, against 55 percent two years ago. The representative
poll was conducted on November 20-23 among 1,600respondents. Error
margin was 3 percent.
(Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; editing by Robert Woodward)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL0671501520071206
Facts
Belfast: slow growth and low cost labour…
A report from the Centre for Cities <http://www.centreforcities.org/about/
<http://www.centreforcities.org/about/> > produces interesting
statistics about Belfast
,Of 60 cities Belfast has the slowest growth (-0.8% over ten years).
Belfast has the lowest wages. £395.7 being the average wage.
Belfast also has the lowest employment rate at 63.4%.
The demand for social housing in the north it at its highest in 30
years according to a new report. It has also been revealed that no
new social housing is being built in west Belfast.
Recent reports on the extent of poverty in the north is also
alarming, before housing costs 43% of homes live on 300 a week, 16%
live on 200 per week and 25% after housing costs. 22% of employees
are in the ‘low pay sector’ and 8 of the 10 of the UK’s ‘economic
blackspots’ are in the north.
Meanwhile, Seagate have made 900 workers redundant despite receiving
37 million in government grants of the tax payers money!
Without comment.
THE IRISH TIMES headlines on a recent (Provisional ) Sinn Fein's Ard
Fheis
Republicans get comfortable with notion of prosperity <http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/1210/1196839244978.html>
Analysis Sinn Fein leaders are signalling significant shifts in
policy
Adams concedes need to alter SF message <http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/1210/1196839244989.html>
President's address Sinn Féin must fundamentally reshape its message
in the Republic if it is to succeed in future elections, the party's
president, Gerry Adams, has conceded following poor results in May's
general election.
McDonald tells party migration must be managed <http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/1210/1196839244984.html>
Debates Sinn Féin is "not in favour of an 'open door' or 'open
border' policy", the party's Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald told a
special conference to conclude the party's lengthy review of its
general election performance.
Ferris calls for public support of Garda in fight against drug crime
<http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/1210/1196839244991.html>
Illegal drugs Kerry North Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris called for
public assistance for the Garda in the battle against drug-pushing.
Political parties seen as most corrupt institutions
Irish people see political parties as the most corrupt institutions
in the country, according to a survey by the Transparency
International Organisation.
The survey has also found that almost half of people believe
corruption will
increase in the coming years. 51% say the Government isn't doing
enough to tackle the problem.
Transparency International, which campaigns against corruption
throughout the world, says the findings of the survey show that
inquiries like theMahon Tribunal must be allowed to continue their
work unhindered.
06/12/2007 -
10% rise in A&E charges
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has defended the Government's decision
to increase A&E charges by 10% as part of 'budget.
A visit to Accident and Emergency wards will now cost €66.
The rise was designed to encourage people to go to a GP rather than
clogging up A&E units.
Lesson don’t get sick!
__
Letters
Re the “Editorial: So What˙s The Alternative? In many of our
activities as a Party we in the IRSP are often asked, occasionally
in a hostile manner, but more often in a resigned but curious”
Fellow Worker,
I cannot Thank you enough for the clarity and honesty of this
editorial. I had the great fortune of being friends with several
noted and notorious civil rights activists in the USA civil right
movement, one of whom was the only white person in Dr M L King Jr’s
entourage on the evening when he was assassinated. Over and again
this woman would note that there is absolutely nothing worse than
betrayal by someone who you believed to be your friend. I’ve found
this to be consistent and unfortunately ingrained in the movement of
those of us who struggle for fairness and justice, no matter where
we are.
The great betrayal of those, who we believed to be our comrades,
morphing themselves into the very people they preached that they
hated, seems all too universal.
My Irish ancestors came to Kentucky in the 1770’s seeking a better
life for our families and communities. The wealth of the land, be it
the crops, the coal, the timber, the eco-system or the health and
safety of our workers has been repeatedly exploited and exhausted
with little or none of the fruits or benefits of that wealth
remaining here in these mountains.
In Kentucky, in Ireland, it is painfully clear that the wealth of
our communities belongs to the people who live in those communities.
If there is a way to obtain this end other than democratic
socialism, it entirely escapes me.
Once again, thank you for the clarity with which you explain the
difficult dynamics of the Irish working people’s lives. Those
dynamics are no less devastating to good decent men and women across
the globe as long as the World Bank and IMF control our destinies
and not democratic communities.
For Justice,
Frank Barrett Norris
Louisville, KY USA
Dear friends,
On the 8th January two young persons were arrested in the Basque
Country by Spanish Guardia Civil. They were accused of being members
of ETA. Their names are Igor Portu and Mattin Sarasola. On the 9th
januaqryIgor Portu was transfered to the intensive care unity of "Donosti
Hospital". The reason:
- Two ribs Broken.- Perforate lung .- Haemorrhage in the left eye.
- Bruises all over the body.
This link will send you to a copy of the medical report:
http://www.gara.net/agiriak/20080107_parte_igorportu.pdf <http://www.gara.net/agiriak/20080107_parte_igorportu.pdf>
We have recently known the tortures and rape that Gorka Lupianez
suffered a month ago in the hands of the Guardia Civil.Mattin
Sarasola, the other arrested, continues under custody of the Guardia
Civil. We fear that he might also be being tortured at this moment.
Please spread the news.
All the best,
Batasuna - European Office
0032 (0 ) 473881513
What’s on
Republican Network for Unity
Bloody Sunday Workshop
7.30pm Monday 28th January
Gasyard
*Political Parties are asked to indicate whether they would like to
nominate a speaker to the panel
Truth against Lies
The Republican Network for Unity is an organisation made up of
ex-Republican prisoners and concerned Republicans. It was formed
over a year ago to provide a platform from which British rule in its
various guises can be effectively challenged.
RNU propose to host a workshop during the Bloody Sunday
Commemoration events on the theme of “truth against lies”. To defend
truth and expose lies in the political arena in a fundamental
prerequisite of real democracy and political activism.
The British Government has effectively used lies and misinformation
as weapons of war in Ireland for generations. Bloody Sunday, its
aftermath and the Wigery whitewash are examples of this fundamental,
deliberate and strategically targeted dishonesty. They are by no
means isolated examples but form part of an elaborate tapestry of
lies woven into the political fabric of the occupied six counties of
Ireland.
The RNU would like the workshop to host an open debate on the damage
systemic lies can inflict upon the political sphere itself. Over
recent years, the British Government has been involved in political
“window –dressing” trying to sell the normalisation of the six
counties to the nationalist community. In reality, the draconian
powers to detain, remand and intern are still on the statute books
and, if anything have been beefed up so as to support the American
“War on Terror”. MI5 are openly overseeing the implementation of
RUC/PSNI security policies and the British Army haven’t gone away.
These were all among the critical issues that brought marchers out
onto the streets on Bloody Sunday.
We would like these issues to be debated in the workshop as well as
specific instances of continuing RUC/PSNI political policing and use
of diplock courts. The case of Sean Hoey recently exposed how
readily senior RUC/PSNI officers will resort to lying in order to
frame those they suspect of Republican sympathies. This is only the
tip of the iceberg and one of a number of similar cases in recent
years where lies and tampering with evidence were shown to be among
the ordinary techniques the RUC/PSNI use – and have always used – to
“police” nationalist areas. Others cases include that of Martin
Brogan, the Seamus Doherty case and the trial of Kevin Murphy.and
others who were set up by a Special Branch agent.
Comrades,
Shell To Sea
The RSYM, in co-operation with the Shell To Sea campaign are holding
a
Shell To Sea picket on Tuesday 29th of January at 5pm outside
Andersonstown Shell Station in protest over the continued abuse of
the community in Erris, Co. Mayo by Shell and Garda thugs and over
the
selling off of Ireland's natural resources.
We are asking for your support to make this event a success.
More information on the situation at present can be sought from:
http://www.corribsos.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_to_Sea
The Republican Socialist Movement invites all members, supporters
and fellow republicans and socialists to the 25th Anniversary
Commemoration March in Memory Of INLA Volunteer Neil McMonagle.
2pm, Saturday 2nd February 2008
Assemble Galliagh Co-op
http://irsm.org/fallen/mcmonagle/ <http://irsm.org/fallen/mcmonagle/>
SATURDAY 16TH FEBRUARY
CELEBRATORY PARADE in support of THE IRISH LANGUAGE AND DIVERSITY
1 pm Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich to the city centre.
Here’s some important information about the next big event in the
‘Tá’ project.
Spread the word and come out and show your support for the Irish
language and diversity!In the past number of years, the Irish
language community has grown and developed. More and more people
have felt they could show their interest in the language. New
schools and new projects have been established. But in recent
months, the Irish language has been under non-stop attack.
POBAL has launched a new campaign to give a chance for everyone to
show their support for the Irish language. Anyone can do it -
individuals, Irish language groups, schools, local councils,
residents’ associations, partnerships, teachers, ethnic minorities,
trade unionists, artists – you name it!
We have posters and flyers and can get these to anyone who would
like them. If you can give an hour or two to get involved in the
work of the project, give us a shout 028 90 438132 or eolas@pobal.org
THE CUBANS ARE COMING...THE CUBANS ARE COMING...THE CUBANS ARE
COMING...
WHERE?-GLASGOW CENTRAL HOTEL
WHEN?- 7.30PM THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY
WHO?- ORLANDO BORREGO- CHE GUEVARA'S DEPUTY 1959-1964
'Orlando Borrego is so identified with me all that is missing is for
him to get asthma and we
would be the same person'- Che Guevara, Bolivia 1967
...and representing two other generations of Cubans-
JESUS GARCIA- PHILOSOPHER AND AUTHOR OF FIVE BOOKS ON SOCIALISM AND
DEMOCRACY
YOSELIN RUFIN- YOUNG WOMAN LEADER OF CUBA'S FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS
WHY?- TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO HEAR AND DISCUSS WITH THE
SPEAKERS HOW
CUBA HAS MAINTAINED ITS COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE, HEALTH,
EDUCATION AND
WELFARE FOR ITS PEOPLE. HOW THE CUBANS HAVE RETAINED AND DEVELOPED
THEIR
SOCIALIST REVOLUTION, INTERNATIONALIST PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
DESPITE THE 50
YEAR BLOCKADE OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET
UNION.
This is an opportunity not to be missed. Join us in building for
this important and historical event. Support the events below.
Donate what you can at www.cubansarecoming.org <http://www.cubansarecoming.org>
. Contact us for leaflets, posters, tickets and details of how you
can work with us to promote this meeting.
GLASGOW AND DUNDEE BUILD UP EVENTS
GLASGOW
Tuesday 22 January - RATB Speaking Tour Organising Meeting! 7pm
Open to any individuals and organisations who want to help out with
publicising and organising the Speaking Tour.
7-9pm, Tuesday 22 January
Room 613, Boyd Orr building, University Avenue
Glasgow University
Saturday 26 January - The Cubans are Coming Street Event! 12-4pm
Help publicise the Speaking Tour and defend Socialist Cuba! All
Welcome, Open Megaphone
Top of Buchanan Street - Near Buchanan Galleries and Donald Dewar
Statue
Glasgow City Centre
Saturday 16 February - The Cubans are Coming Street Event! 1 -3pm
Socialism into the 21st Century
Help publicise the Speaking Tour and defend Socialist Cuba! All
Welcome, Open Megaphone
Top of Buchanan Street - Near Buchanan Galleries and Donald Dewar
Statue
Glasgow City Centre
Nearest Subway - Buchanan Street
Saturday 23 February - The Cubans are Coming Street Event! 1-3pm
Socialism into the 21st Century
Help publicise the Speaking Tour and defend Socialist Cuba! All
Welcome, Open Megaphone
Top of Buchanan Street - Near Buchanan Galleries and Donald Dewar
Statue
Glasgow City Centre
Nearest Subway - Buchanan Street
DUNDEE
1) Dundee Speaking Tour Support Event: DVD- "How Cuba Survived Peak
Oil"
Discussion and Speaking Tour Support Planning.
Thursday 24 January
7-9pm
Room G9
Dundee University Tower
Perth Road, Dundee
2) Dundee Speaking Tour Fundraiser: DVD/ Social- "Erroll Flynn And
The
Cuban Revolution".
Cuba Libres, Music, Quiz and Raffle. £5/ Donation
Thursday 14 February
7-9pm
Room G9
Dundee University Tower
Perth Road, Dundee
3) "Take This Bus To Cuba!" Transport leaves Dundee for Glasgow
Speaking Tour Rally
Thursday 28 February
5.00pm- returning for 12.00am £10/Donation
Meet at Braes Bar,
Perth Road, Dundee
JOIN US. SUPPORT THE SPEAKING TOUR!CONTACT:
cubansarecoming@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile:07779785529
VENCEREMOS! VENCEREMOS! VENCEREMOS! |
