Homage to James Connolly: 1910 - 2010

by Eleanor - Free Derry Collective Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:49

To mark the centenary of James Connolly’s landing in Derry & return from North America to Ireland on 26th of July 1910, amidst increasing social and industrial unrest, this event will both celebrate and examine the life and politics of Ireland’s foremost revolutionary figures through discussion and music.
Discussion with Veteran Socialist Bernadette Mc Aliskey, Labour historian Dr. Emmet O'Connor and Former republican prisoner and IWU organiser, Tommy Mc Kearney will share their thoughts on this historic event that began one of the most historic episodes in Irish history.

With complimentary food and Workers ballads.

Monday 26th July
7pm Gasyard Centre, Lecky Rd. Derry.

by Hermenutist Sat Jul 03, 2010 02:29

Interpretation of writings by any historical activist is a hazardous matter. The activists of yesterday lived in harsh times very different from the welfare state era we live in. Dublin then had the worst slums in western Europe. Much of the welfare system we enjoy today formed a large part of the social agenda of Connolly and other internationalist agitators at the end of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth. One fact that Connolly and others might not have foreseen was that the piecemeal enactment of legislation protecting trade union and worker rights; national pension schemes; free education up to 14 years and much later to 16 years; free hospital treatment in public wards; unemployment and disability benefits; and the extension of voting rights to all citizens regardless of gender and property status - all these and other gradual social reforms would 'soften' the thrust of workers' and other radical political movements. I think Herbert Marcuse may have written at length about this.

While it is useful to have easy access to an internet archive of James Connolly's radical writings provided by Red Banner and other groups, there is a danger that individuals can ' lift ' chunky quotations from his articles and pamphlets and apply them to the different times we live in almost a hundred years after his execution.

Connolly was a dedicated, charismatic and highly intelligent writer and activist - one of the most brilliant social activists on the world stage during his times. I hope his writings can be treasured in their entirety and not used for sectarian and temporary faddist agendas. Just as there are Christian fundamentalists who bombard the public with selective 'holy writ' taken out of biblical context, there are also socialist fundamentalists who bombard the unwary with 'holy writ' selected quotes that presume to 'prove' certain points not shared by the wider members of the low income groups in contemporary society.

by pat c Fri Jul 02, 2010 22:08

The Hidden Connolly
Articles by James Connolly published by Red Banner for the first time since his execution.

Over ninety years after his execution, a huge amount of the writings of James Connolly remains unavailable to the general reader, having never been republished in the meantime. Red Banner has attempted to fill that gap by publishing some of Connolly's ‘lost writings’ in each issue. Those published in Red Banner 1-34 can be downloaded here. They are arranged in five sections, according to the newspapers in which they originally appeared.

part 1: The Workers' Republic, 1898-1903

part 2: The Harp

part 3: The Irish Worker

part 4: The Worker

part 5: The Workers' Republic, 1915-16

by V for vendetta Wed Jun 30, 2010 20:40

Link to lots of interesting connolly material.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/index.htm