Upcoming Events

National | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

offsite link Formal complaint against Robert Watt Anthony

offsite link RTE bias complaint Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
A Blog About Human Rights

offsite link UN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights

offsite link 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights

offsite link Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights

offsite link Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights

offsite link Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Suella Braverman Warns of ?Orwellian? Policing Sat Jun 03, 2023 17:00 | Richard Eldred
Home Secretary slams virtue signalling belief police: Focus on catching criminals, not silencing debates.
The post Suella Braverman Warns of “Orwellian” Policing appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Rowan Atkinson Challenges Electric Cars as Environmental Panacea Sat Jun 03, 2023 15:00 | Richard Eldred
Rowan Atkinson: The inconvenient truth about electric cars.
The post Rowan Atkinson Challenges Electric Cars as Environmental Panacea appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link New CDC Director Is Another Lockdowner  Sat Jun 03, 2023 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Loyalty Over Morality: The rise of the lockdown party and the chilling echoes of Soviet Union.
The post New CDC Director Is Another Lockdowner  appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Left-Wing Parties Suffer Electoral Wipeout in Western Europe Sat Jun 03, 2023 11:05 | Richard Eldred
Rise of the Right: Western Europe?s Left in decline, amidst a make-believe fascist obsession.
The post Left-Wing Parties Suffer Electoral Wipeout in Western Europe appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Pupils From Deprived Areas Fell Most Behind During Lockdown Sat Jun 03, 2023 09:00 | Toby Young
According to new data released by the ONS, school closures disproportionately affected the most disadvantaged children. Lockdown sceptics predicted this ? but were ignored by the Left and the teaching unions.
The post Pupils From Deprived Areas Fell Most Behind During Lockdown appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link The West refuses peace in Ukraine, by Thierry Meyssan Tue May 30, 2023 07:00 | en

offsite link Armenia cedes Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan Fri May 26, 2023 04:36 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter, n°41 Wed May 24, 2023 07:15 | en

offsite link Armenia ready to abandon Nagorno-Karabakh Tue May 23, 2023 09:14 | en

offsite link The Growing War Cost on Our Shoulders, by Manlio Dinucci Tue May 23, 2023 08:40 | en

Voltaire Network >>

The Rising - What If?

category national | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis author Thursday February 22, 2018 11:35author by Pat Waine - working class Report this post to the editors

After The Rising

We all heard the comment , the rebels of 1916 would turn in their grave at the Republic we now have. Well this article asks a question. That question is where is there any proof to back that up . One big hole in that argument is that most of "the rebels " survived and lived long enough to shape the Republic we ended up with

The Rising -What If?

Listening to all the debates about the 1916 rising during the centenary year I was struck by the amount of reverence given to those who died during the rebellion. However I am more struck by comments like “what would the heroes of 1916 think about the current “Republic”. This view of the world was repeated recently by Joan Collins TD in a debate about the role of Constance Markievicz .The impression given by this and other statements is that those who fought in the Rising would not approve of the “Republic” we now have. The implication is that if those who died in Easter week had in fact survived that the Republic would have been different. No “Republican” has outlined any evidence for any such belief. In fact If you removed James Connolly from the equation there is little or no social vision for a new Ireland that would lead anyone to believe that the Republic would have been any different .

I have heard the argument that the civil war was in fact a struggle for a different Ireland. This may or may not have been true but there is no real evidence that either side in the civil war had a major difference in social affairs in the new Ireland. The key for me is that approx 1600 fought in the Rising and approx 250 died in combat leaving 1,346 survivors’. Most of these went on to agree a sectarian constitution promoting a right wing catholic ethos dominated by the church and backward on almost all social issues.
The question I pose is what makes people think that if the Rebels who gave their lives in 1916 had survived that they would have built a different/better Ireland than their one time comrades did? Some people have pointed at Liam Mellows as someone who would have had a similar outlook to James Connolly and would have been more progressive . However it was mellows who at one stage after the rising nominated or seconded the Nomination of Eamon Devalera . Dev was later to hand over the republic to the church with the resultant Conservative ethos embedded in the core of the new Constitution and indeed the new “independent “Ireland. Griffith and McNeill went as far as meeting with the Financial Times telling them
“You can tell your city men that they have nothing to fear in the way of confiscation or unjust discrimination” We have no intention to harm investors in the least. Nationalists may point to the massive vote received by Sinn fein in the 1918 election as some shift in post rising Ireland. However 65% of those elected under the SF banner were from the a professional background , teachers and journalists. And there wasn’t a peep from SF about making “ equal rights and Equal opportunities” guaranteed to Irish citizens by the declaration of independence, were now been made subject to the interests of foreign and domestic financiers.
The first Dail opened with a prayer and catholic conservatism ruled in it ever since With the full support of “republicans”
For me I don’t see any evidence that with the exception of James Connolly that anyone of note mapped out a vision of a different Ireland. I stand to be corrected.

 #   Title   Author   Date 
   One small point . . . . . .     Pearse Monnet    Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:55 
   why Sean O'Casey left Ireland     Swifty    Thu Mar 01, 2018 14:46 
   On O'Casey and the new Irish state     Pearse Monnet    Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:49 
   Ernest Blythe's cultural and social conservatism     Swifty    Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:51 
   what if ? 1916 Rising     Pat Waine    Fri Jun 15, 2018 09:03 


 
© 2001-2023 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy