Thug Rúnaí Misneach, Kerron Ó Luain, óráid uaidh ag comhdháil dár dteideal “Winning Our Futures” a d’eagraigh ICEC agus an Radical Independence Convention i nDún Éideann ar an 5ú Deireadh Fómhair. Tháinig ionadaithe as 15 náisiún atá faoi chois nó gan stát san Eoraip le chéile chun dul i mbun plé stráitéiseach faoi thodhchaí na Mór Roinne.

Móran taing, go raibh míle maith agaibh, thank you, for your invitation to speak on Ireland’s past, present, and future. Over the next few minutes, I’ll provide an overview of the key issues shaping the nation’s trajectory.

Ireland’s history is deeply intertwined with colonization, especially from the sixteenth century onwards when it became a testing ground for British imperialism. English policies aimed to suppress Irish language, culture, and political autonomy. The “plantation” policies, for instance, displaced native Irish populations, and in schools, Irish children were subjected to indoctrination, such as reciting verses that celebrated being “a happy English child.” The goal was clear: to either assimilate or eradicate Irish identity.

The British were only partially successful as various forms of resistance emerged over time—some militant, some constitutional, and others focused on cultural and linguistic preservation.

However, the struggle for independence was also only partially successful. The Irish Revolution of 1916-1923 ended with partial autonomy for 26 of the 32 counties, but partition left the North under a supremacist Protestant government. Britain maintained influence in the South by supporting conservative forces during the 1922-23 Civil War. As a result, Kevin O’Higgins, one of the leaders of the conservative wing, later claimed they were “the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution.”

The legacy of colonialism, and the failure to forge a truly radical path, still haunts Ireland. The division of the island has stifled democracy, rather than stimulating it, and exacerbated economic imbalances. The West, where the Irish language remains strongest, has been hit hard by emigration due to a lack of economic opportunities, while Dublin dominates much of the country’s economic activity. Meanwhile, the Irish elite, often serving the interests of global financial powers rather than the local population, have shifted their allegiances from Britain to U.S. multinational corporations.

This has led to an economy overly reliant on foreign direct investment, with dire consequences for ordinary people. Housing, healthcare, education, and the cost of living are in crisis, and this has left room for the rise of fascism. In the North, the intransigence and threats of Unionist elements hold back self-determination, progressive change and deny Irish speakers their basic language rights.

In the South, the use of Shannon Airport for the transport of arms to the Israeli Zionist state, facilitating the slaughter of Palestinians, and the increasing military influence of NATO, the EU, and the US, threatens Ireland’s long-standing policy of neutrality. This policy, rooted in an anti-colonial understanding and a rejection of empire, is at risk of being undermined

The Scottish Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean once referred to the “bitter legacy” of colonialism, noting how it endangered indigenous languages, drove emigration, and empowered “the porters of international big business.” This same colonial legacy continues to shape Ireland’s struggles today.

That said, if autonomy had not been gained in 1922, the challenges facing Ireland – particularly the social problems I alluded to – would, without doubt, be far greater, and neutrality would not even exist. We would be unwilling participants in Empire.

Looking to the future, there is reason for optimism. Demographic shifts in the North of Ireland have made the possibility of a united Ireland more realistic than ever before. Even right-wing and centrist political parties in the South have little opposition to the idea, though many underestimate the challenges ahead.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 stipulates that a referendum on reunification can only take place if the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland believes a majority would vote in favour of it—a hurdle that will not be easily overcome.

While Ireland has come a long way from its days under colonial rule, the country still grapples with the effects of that inheritance. Nevertheless, with increasing momentum towards reunification and an increasingly left-leaning youth, not as shackled by a post-colonial syndrome as previous generations, the country stands at a pivotal moment in its history.

James Connolly, born in Scotland to Irish parents in Cowgate in this city, spoke about a rejection of centralised and imperial states when he referred to ‘a free federation of free peoples’. Ireland, like the other nations gathered here today, has an opportunity to forge such a ‘free federation’ in the coming years. In fact, we must – the alternatives will be catastrophic. So we must struggle for self-determination, democracy, for the republic and for true decolonisation, free from external influence and Empire. Bíodh Misneach againn. Beir Bua.

Reáchtáil Misneach, i bpáirt le Conradh na Gaeilge Inse Chóir, comóradh ar Mháirtín Ó Cadhain le déanaí.

De bharr na géarleanúna atá á bhfualaingt ag muintir na Palaistíne faoi láthair, cinneadh ócáid dlúthpháirtíochta a dhéanamh dó. Is féidir ráiteas ó bhean Ghiúdach a bhí i láthair a léamh thíos agus éisteach le hóráid chumhachtach an Dr Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh san fhíseán chomh maith:

Agus mé in éineacht le comrádaithe eile chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar fhear a chaith a shaol ar fad a mhuintir a shaoradh agus a chultúr a shábháil ó choilíneachas bhí mé ag smaoineamh, mar Ghiúdach Frith-Shíónach, ar mhuintir na Palaistíne. Conas nach bhféadfainn a bheith ag smaoineamh orthu?

Ar feadh na mblianta bhí muintir na Palaistíne curtha faoi chos in ainm an Ghiúdachais.

Ach ní Giúdachas é seo. Ó thús an tSíónachais bhí Giúdaigh i gcónaí ag labhairt amach faoi. Go príomha, ba Ghiúdaigh de chuid an luchta oibre a sheas an fód ina coinne.

Giúdaigh iad seo a bhí i gcampaí le haghaidh daoine easáitithe tar éis an Dara Cogadh Domhanda agus thug Giúdaigh Shíónacha drochíde dóibh as a bheith ag labhairt amach.

Dúradh gur Giúdaigh le féinfhuath a bhí iontu. Cuireadh na Giúdaigh seo ar liosta dubh nó rinneadh imeallú orthu sna pobail Ghiúdacha mar nach nglacfaimis leis an gcinedhíothú, impiriúlachas lonnaitheora, nó coilíneachas a bhí á dhéanamh ar ár son, mar dhea.

Is fuath le Síónaigh teangacha an diaspóra a mbíonn á labhairt againn agus rinne siad tréaniarracht iad a chur faoi chois.

Chuige seo, chruthaigh siad an Eabhrais shaolta. Dá réir sin, tá dáimh agus comhbhá agam do Mháirtín Uí Chadhain. Thuig seisean, mar a thuigeann Giúdaigh atá inár gcónaí sa diaspóra, tábhacht na dteangacha agus an chultúir.

Tá seanfhocal againn sa Ghiúdais, “Mir Veln Zey Iberleben”, “We Shall Outlive Them”.

Beimid fós anseo nuair atá deireadh tagtha leis an Síónachas, mairfidh muid tríd an uafás seo, mairfidh muid tríd an gcoilíneachas seo. Beidh Éire agus an Phalaistín saor!”

I ndiaidh na comórtha bhí seisiún breá ceoil traidisiúnta i Halla Chraobh Inse Chóir de Chonradh na Gaeilge a mhair go hoíche.

Seo thíos litir a scríobh ball de chuid Misneach, Ben Ó Ceallaigh, a foilsíodh i nuachtán ar an Oileán Mhanann. Cé go mbaineann an t-ábhar le heachtra ar leith ar an oileán, tá lón machnaimh sa litir do gach éinne atá ag plé le cúrsaí frith-faisisteacha sa Ghaeltacht, sna tíortha Ceilteacha agus níos faide i gcéin.

The recent publicity given by The Isle of Man Examiner to a dangerous fascist group which is actively trying to recruit on the island, including reproducing their leaflets in full and distributing them on social media, shows a blatant disregard for the welfare of those targeted by fascists and a complete lack of understanding of how these ideas take root. Indeed, the front page of the paper was described by one of the leaders of the group as “amazing publicity” in a recent social media post.

While most readers will recognise fascist ideas for the bile that they are, it only takes a small percentage to be persuaded for people’s lives to be at very real risk. Famously, in the week after the leader of the fascist British National Party was disgraced on Question Time in 2009, 3,000 people applied to join the party – a tiny percentage of the eight million who watched, but a huge increase in absolute numbers for a fringe neo-nazi group. This is the risk of publicising ideas that present an existential threat to all that is decent in society. Across the world, laws proscribe hate speech, incitement to violence and other unacceptable actions such as marketing tobacco to children – very few people are truly “free speech absolutists” who oppose such measures. Likewise, such is the nature of the “paradox of tolerance”, as philosopher Karl Popper called it, that we must not extend freedom of speech to fascists, who will deny this very right to others at the first chance. Reproducing their propaganda and circulating it to a huge audience as The Isle of Man Examiner has done is politically illiterate and utterly ignorant of the nature of the fascist threat. This matter is especially serious given the context of the recent fearmongering about sex education in the QEII High School in Peel.

Groups such as the one recently reported on aim to sow division and hate, scapegoating the most vulnerable in society for problems which are caused by an economic system that makes the lives of so many so difficult. In presenting immigrants and refugees as responsible for issues such as the housing crisis or austerity, fascists serve as useful idiots for the powerful, distracting attention from the real source of people’s woes. As Max Horkheimer, a Jewish refugee from nazi Germany, famously wrote in 1939, “whoever is not prepared to talk about capitalism should also remain silent about fascism”.

As has often been noted, rather than beginning with death camps, fascism ends with them. By giving such an enormous platform to a nauseating white supremacist group, the Isle of Man Examiner has unwittingly contributed to the growth of this ideology, and in doing so put at risk immigrants, people of colour, LGBT+ people, trade unionists and many more who fall afoul of the disgusting ideas spread by fascist groups. Let this mistake not be made again, and all their propaganda removed from the paper’s online presence immediately.

Anti-fascism is self-defence. No pasarán – cha jed ad shaghey!

An Dr. Ben Ó Ceallaigh

Ollscoil Aberystwyth