Emancipation & Liberation » Irish war of Independence

Jun 13 2020

ONE MAN’S TERRORIST

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,How they are organised,Ireland,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 11:14 am

Connor Beaton reviews One Man’s Terrorist by Dan Finn. This first appeared in Red Pepper.

ONE MAN’S TERRORIST – A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE IRA

When the Irish government announced plans earlier this year to host a special commemorative event for members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) who were killed in the War of Independence, the backlash was immediate and spectacular. Having seized the initiative on the centenary of the Easter Rising just a few short years earlier, marking it with an extensive programme of high-profile, state-backed events and initiatives, ministers now scored a remarkable own goal and found themselves charged with apologism for British colonial violence in Ireland. Hurried clarifications and part-denials from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan failed to stop ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’ from rocketing to the top of the Irish charts off the back of a spirited online campaign, and new cracks began to appear in an already fragile governing coalition between Fine Gael and the eclectic bunch of independent politicians in cabinet with them. Continue reading “ONE MAN’S TERRORIST”

Tags: 1916 Easter Rising, Author: Connor Beaton, Author: Dan Finn, Brexit, Charlie Flanaghan, Gerry Adams, Good Friday Agreement, Irish war of Independence, Leo Varadkar, New Left Review, Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement, Official IRA, Peoples Democracy, Red Pepper, Royal Irish Constabulary, SDLP, Sinn Fein, Stormont, United Irishmen, ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’

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Aug 05 2015

WHAT THE FUK? – Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right

Gavin Bowd’s book Fascist Scotland, Caledonia and the Far Right has given succour to unionist opponents of Scottish self-determination. Allan Armstrong (RCN) provides a republican and international socialist critique.

WHAT THE FUK?

Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right

1) What is a fascist organisation?

Gavin Bowd’s book, Fascist Scotland, Caledonia and the Far Right, contains a lot of useful material about far right writings, culture and organisation in Scotland since the 1920s. However, Bowd does not define what he means by fascism, nor distinguish it from other forms of reactionary or right populist politics. These often invoke similar chauvinist, ethnic or racist themes. The purpose behind Bowd’s lack of clarity over the political basis of fascism only emerges gradually.
Continue reading “WHAT THE FUK? – Fascist UK, Britannia and the Far Right”

Tags: 'One Nation Labour', 'Red Duchess' of Atholl, 'War on Terror', 1320 Club, 1913 Third Irish Home Rule Bill, 1919 Amritsar Massacre, 1919 Spartacus Rising, 1920 Iraqi war, 1936-9 Palestinian Rising, 1944 Kirkcaldy by-election, 1945 General Election, 1945 Motherwell by-election, 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Alex Salmond, Alexander Ratcliffe, Alexander Sloan, Anders Breivik, anti-Catholic Irish sentiment, Anti-Semitism, Archie Lamont, Arthur Donaldson, Auschwitz, Author: Allan Armstrong, Axmed Abuukar Sheek, Babi Yar, Black and Tans, Boleslaw Beirut, Bowd, Braveheart, Brian Hosie, British concentration camps in South Africa, British fascists, British National Party, British Union of Fascists, Britishness, Captain Archibald Maud Ramsay, Charles Forrester, City of London, civic nationalism, Clann Albainn, Common Wealth Party, Communist Parties, Communist Party of South Africa, conservatives, CPGB, David Camerson, Dr. Robert McIntyre, Duke of Hamilton, Emrys Hughes, Ernest Bevin, ethnic nationalism, Eu referendum, Fascism, Fascist Scotland Caledonia and the Far Right, Francis Glancy, Franco, Freikorps, FS, Fullerton's Billy Boys, Gavin Bowd, George Galloway, Gordon Brown, Greek Resistance, Greens, Guernica bombing, Hamish Henderson, Harry Miller, Hector Smith, Henri de Man, Hitler, Hitler-Stalin Pact, Hugh Dalton, Hugh MacDiarmid, Ian Smart, Independent Labour Party, Irish Citizen Army, Irish war of Independence, Islamophobia, Jason Campbell, John Cormack, John MacCormick, John MacLean, John Strachey, John Taylor, Josef Stalin, Karl Radek, King Edward VIII, King George V, Kormack's Kaledonian Klan, Kristallnacht, Labour Party, Leo Schlageter, Lewis Spence, Lib-Dems, Loyalism, Mark Scott, Marshal Badoglio, Mussolini, Naqba, National Bolshevism, National Front, National Party of Scotland, Nazi Germany, Neville Chamberlain, New Economic Policy, New Labour, New Party, Oliver Brown, Oswald Mosley, Plaid Cymru, Popular Front, Protestant Action, Red Army, Red Paper Collective, Red/Brown pacts, Rical Inependence Campaign, Roland Muirhead, Scottish Democratic Fascist Party, Scottish internationalism, Scottish Neutrality League, Scottish Protestant League, Scottish Socialist Party, Scottish Unionism, Scottish Watch, Settler Watch, Shutzbund, SNP, Social Democratic Parties, Soil nan Gaidheal, Spanish Republicans, Terence Reilly, Third International, Third Period politics, Timothy McVeigh, Tom Johnston, Tony Blair, Ulster Volunteer Force, Unionism, Vidkun Quisling, William Power, William Weir Gilmour, Winston Churchill

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Dec 04 2014

EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION RIC 2014 conference special magazine

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 1:53 pm

We are posting the two lead articles from Emancipation & Liberation, issue no. 23, produced for the 3000 strong Radical Independence Campaign conference held in Glasgow, in the Clydeside Auditorium on Saturday, November 22nd. The first is by Murdo Ritchie (RCN), the second by Allan Armstrong (RCN).

WHEN DECADES HAPPEN – AFTER THE REFERENDUM

“There are decades in which nothing happens and there are weeks in which decades happen.” Lenin

When 1,517,989 voters (44.7%) declared they were prepared to abandon their primary, legal national identity to build a better Scotland, it was clear that Scottish national independence was coming. The defeated felt triumphant; the victorious worried.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement on the morning of the ballot declaration was filled with wishful thinking, “the debate has settled for a generation or as Alex Salmond has said, perhaps for a lifetime. So there can be no disputes, no re-runs –we have heard the settled will of the Scottish people.” The media may have declared the result decisive but the numbers and mood told otherwise.

Continue reading “EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION RIC 2014 conference special magazine”

Tags: 'Better Together' Campaign, 'Clause 4', 'Devo-Max', 'Yes' campaign, 2012 Edinburgh Agreement, Alex Salmond, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Murdo Ritchie, BBC, Bernadette McAliskey, Billy Bragg, BNP, British Left, Catalan Convergence, Catalunya, Chinese government, Constitutional Convention, Crown Powers, Crown-in-Parliment, David Cameron, Devolution-all-round, Douglas Alexander, England, Federalism, Free Presbyterian Church, George Monbiot, GlobalMovement for Social Justice, Greens, Holyrood parliament, Independence Referendum, Ireland, Irish war of Independence, Jack Straw, John Wilson MP, Labour Party, Lib-Dems, Lord Smith of Kelvin, loyalists, Michael Russell, Miners Strike, Monarchy, NATO, New Labour, New Unionism, Nigel Farage, Orange Order, Paul Mason, Radical Independence Campaign, Scotland, Smith Commission, SNP, Tariq Ali, the Pope, Tony Blair, Tories, UKIP, Ulster Unionists, United Kingdom, US government, Wales, Wendy Alexander, Westminster, Will Self, Women for Independence

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Sep 25 2014

EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION RIC SPECIAL BULLETIN – September, 2014

Category: Against Imperialism,Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,Cultural Celebration,England,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,Ireland,Our History,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,The Socialist Republican Break-up of the UK,Wales,Women’s Liberation — RCN @ 9:43 pm

Allan Armstrong (RCN) has written the following article for the RCN Radical Independence Campaign Special Bulletin, which will be distributed at the RIC National Forum in Glasgow on September 27th.

Nobody could have anticipated the rise of the Radical Independence Campaign, nor the form it would take. It has been moulded by the largest movement for popular democracy seen in these isles since the Irish War of Independence, and by a new clamouring for political participation and far-reaching changes, not only in Scotland, but across the globe. RIC has been a big success, despite displaying some of the political and organisational weaknesses found in works-in-progress.

Continue reading “EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION RIC SPECIAL BULLETIN – September, 2014”

Tags: Anarchists, Author: Allan Armstrong, break up of the UK, feminists, gay rights, Greens, Irish war of Independence, Left Greens, monarchist, NATO, neo-liberal, Radical Independence Campaign, Republicans, RIC Conference: November 22nd, rUK, Scottish internationalist, Scottish nationalist, SNP, SSP, Tommy Sheridan, women's rights

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