Éirígí New Years Statement 2018
As 2018 begins, Éirígí acknowledges and commends the significant political activism of our members and supporters during 2017. Your work, alongside the work of other progressive forces, offers hope to the Irish people in a time of global turmoil and widespread despair. For this you should be immensely proud.
In the coming year Éirígí will continue to work within our communities to fan the flames of hope and to provide a credible, coherent alternative to the failed politics of the past.
2018 will mark the centenary of the seminal 1918 General Election, the last occasion where the people of Ireland collectively voted as one Nation.
The subsequent formation of the First Dáil Éireann and adoption of the Declaration of Independence and Democratic Programme of the First Dáil on January 21st, 1919, represented the high point of the 1913-1923 revolutionary period.
The divided, unequal Ireland of 2018 bears little resemblance to the Republic envisioned by that First Dáil a century ago.
On January 20th, 2018, Éirígí will publicly launch ‘A Democratic Programme For The New Republic’, a major new policy document which will map out our vision for a future new all-Ireland Republic. Below we publish, for the first time, the opening section of that document.
The public launch of A Democratic Programme for the New Republic will take place at 4pm, Saturday, January 20th, Wynns Hotel, Abbey Street, Dublin. It’s free of charge and open to all. Bígí linn.
“To the people of Ireland,
In the words of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, Éirígí declares the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be sovereign and indefeasible.
We assert that partition, the domination of private capital and the interference of foreign powers are collectively preventing the social, cultural, political and economic advancement of the Irish Nation.
The failings of the Six and Twenty Six County states can be measured in the emigration of millions of citizens, in the escalating exploitation of workers, in the deepening levels of inequality, in the crippling levels of national and personal debt, in the destruction of our natural environment, in the collapse of gaelteacht communities, in the slavish obedience to the diktats of foreign governments and in the endemic corruption of the gombeen ruling class.
We reject these two failed states and commit ourselves to building a democratic, peaceful, progressive, mass movement for a New Republic.
A National Irish Republic that shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the island of Ireland, its waterways, airspace, islands and seas.
A Sovereign Republic where the Irish people, free from foreign interference, shall freely choose their form of governance and the international alliances that the Republic shall enter.
A Participative Republic where citizens shall have ongoing democratic input into the development of their communities, their workplaces, the economy and wider society.
A Free Republic where citizens shall live free from the profiteering and tyranny of private landlords, private banks, private stock markets and the multitude of other parasitic practices that exist within the capitalist system.
A Workers Republic where all workers shall be protected from the exploitation of private employers and private capital.
A Socialist Republic where the right to private property shall be subservient to the right of the public good; where Ireland’s natural resources and major wealth-producing processes shall be held in common ownership and used for the common good.
A Fair Republic where all citizens shall contribute their labour in return for a share of the Nation’s wealth and access to public housing, healthcare, education, social welfare, transport and other essential services.
A Humanitarian Republic where the resources of the Nation shall be used to meet the needs of the young, the old, the unwell and the less-able before all others.
An Egalitarian Republic which shall treat all citizens as equal regardless of their gender, religion, skin colour, ethnicity, sexual preference or other false division.
A Secular Republic with full separation of church and state, where the state alone shall provide education, healthcare, housing and other essential services.
A Just Republic where the law shall be applied without fear or favour and all citizens shall be guaranteed their legal and political rights.
A Feminist Republic which shall overcome the legacy of patriarchy and guarantee women their equal rights, including the right to bodily autonomy.
A Sustainable Republic which shall act as a guardian of Ireland’s natural environment, protecting and managing it for the benefit of future generations.
A Gaelic Republic which shall promote Irish culture and seek to bring the Irish language into widespread everyday usage.
An Internationalist Republic which shall oppose imperialism, promote mutually beneficial fair trade and provide safe haven to those who flee persecution and war.
An Ethical Republic which shall eliminate the corruption, nepotism and waste of the status quo, replacing them with honesty and efficiency in all aspects of public life.”