"The Lost Revolution: A History of the OIRA and Workers Party"

[cactusflower]

I can't believe that Harris was ever a revolutionary socialist.

[netron]

I can't believe that Harris was ever a revolutionary socialist.

Harris sounds more like an entryist to the entryists...

to keep an eye on them.

theres a great joke told by my dad , who was WP, about the CPI that gives an indication on how crazy this stuff was at the time.

the joke is - and this is at the CPI annual meeting -

"Well CPI president what's yer thoughts on Cuba?"

"Well I dont know - i'll have to ask MI5 and the KGB"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that half in the hall are MI5 and the other half over there are KGB"

"And the CIA?"

"Oh they're the folks on the stage with me"

[ON THE ONE ROAD]

The 3 page document....

did DL ever set up in the north?

[Garibaldy]

did DL ever set up in the north?

Yes, although not in great numbers. But they were dumped as soon as possible by the southern leadership. Several long-time public faces of The WP went, but it was closer to retirement than what had gone before.

[peader odonnell]

Yes, although not in great numbers. But they were dumped as soon as possible by the southern leadership. Several long-time public faces of The WP went, but it was closer to retirement than what had gone before.

i think DL had one elected councillor in The North ,first name Gerry ,maybe Dungannon District Council.?

[Garibaldy]

Gerry Cullen it was. He had the seat as a WP councillor, and held it until the DL disappeared. He is no longer a councillor afaik.

[ON THE ONE ROAD]

did any of them drift back to wp. how where they dumped. was it another split or or just left to wither on the vine?

was it rabbitte and mcmanus who put the brakes on labour running for elections in the six counties. they could have had a core there with a bit of foresight.

[Garibaldy]

When DL went into the Irish Labour Party, they were told that there would be no expansion into the north. They were advised to join the SDLP. A few became involved in the Labour forum thing set up a few years ago which was made up of members of both the British and Irish Labour parties, and which had hoped to be allowed to stand in elections. Gilmore slammed the door in their face. The incident is covered here by someone who had no background in The WP or DL

South Belfast Diary: Goodbye, Labour

A few were allowed to rejoin The WP I think.

[cactusflower]

The first paragraph of that document is genuinely hilarious. It presents as ridiculous a whole series of allegations made against the De Rossa/Rabbitte/Gilmore faction, allegations which with the benefit of hindsight we can see were all entirely accurate. Look at it line by line:



The drive to "reconstitute" the Workers Party was indeed driven by the Dail group. After the split the New Agenda/Democratic Left organisation was very much run by the Dail group and turned out to be dominated by a few parliamentarians rather than by a strong membership. They also came to the conclusion themselves that they would be better off in the Labour Party!



That's one we can never know, because the Dail group failed to get the necessary support to "reconstitute" the Workers Party, but we do know that Democratic Left was not a happy home for those who considered themselves "real or revolutionary socialists".



This bit is almost as funny as the outrage in the first line about the suggestion that they'd end up in Labour. Democratic Left, despite maintaining a nominal Northern organisation, was well known for its militant lack of interest in the North. Once they decided to merge with Labour, a move that did wonders for the careers of Rabitte, Gilmore and De Rossa, they did indeed uncermoniously dump the Northern membership.

The most noticeable thing about the WP/DL split is that the leaders of both sides were entirely correct... but only about each other. The WP side was indeed led by hidebound Stalinists. The DL side was indeed led by careerists who were abandoning socialist politics.

The fall of the USSR created an enormous crisis on the left that still hasn't been resolved. It was followed through with a number of engineered splits that made proper discussion and analysis very difficult. It's left a lot of fragmentation and disorientation that continues. The fact that the document explicitly attacks "scientific socialism" is pretty revealing.

Does anyone know who wrote it?

[peader odonnell]

Gerry Cullen it was. He had the seat as a WP councillor, and held it until the DL disappeared. He is no longer a councillor afaik.

thanks for that.