Éirígí Releases James Connolly Video To Mark 104th Anniversary Of Execution
Éirígí For A New Republic released a new video on May 12th 2020 to mark the 104th anniversary of the execution of James Connolly. It can be viewed by clicking on the image above.
The animation is based around a quote from an article that Connolly wrote in 1897 entitled ‘Socialism And Nationalism’, an article which is remains highly relevant 123 years after it was written. Long before the rise of the fascism of the 1930s, Connolly understood how dangerous narrow nationalism was to the cause of Irish republicanism and the interests of the Irish working class.
Within the article Connolly rejects the idea of a capitalist dominated Republic, like that of France of the United States. Instead he paints the vision of a new Irish Republic that would act as a beacon of light fo the oppressed across the globe.
“The Republic I would wish our fellow-countrymen to set before them as their ideal should be of such a character that the mere mention of its name would at all times serve as a beacon-light to the oppressed of every land, at all times holding forth promise of freedom and plenteousness as the reward of their efforts on its behalf.
To the tenant farmer, ground between landlordism on the one hand and American competition on the other, as between the upper and the nether millstone; to the wage-workers in the towns, suffering from the exactions of the slave-driving capitalist to the agricultural labourer, toiling away his life for a wage barely sufficient to keep body and soul together; in fact to every one of the toiling millions upon whose misery the outwardly-splendid fabric of our modern civilisation is reared, the Irish Republic might be made a word to conjure with – a rallying point for the disaffected, a haven for the oppressed, a point of departure for the Socialist, enthusiastic in the cause of human freedom.”
Today, in the Ireland of 2020, Éirígí continues Connolly’s fight for a new all-Ireland Republic that can act as beacon of light in a world that has been darkened by capitalist wars, environmental destruction and hyper-individualism. If you’re ready to join the fight for the New Republic, join Éirígí today.