Here Are The Motions Adopted By Éirígí Ard Fheis 2022
The morning session of Éirígí Ard Fheis 2022 saw party activists adopt motions across a wide range of issues including women’s rights, housing, international affairs, energy, environment and community safety.
Unlike many Irish political parties, Éirígí operates on the basis of one member/one vote, which means that all party members get to vote directly on the adoption of Ard Fheis motions and wider party policies.
In addition each party member has the right to submit a motion on any topic for debate at Ard Fheis, with all submitted motions circulated to party members in advance of the Ard Fheis.
Ard Fheis Éirígí 2022
As in previous years the motions adopted at Ard Fheis 2022 reinforced existing party policy, established new party policy, and mandated specific tasks to be completed over the next twelve months.
The motions below were submitted by a mixture of individual party members and An Ciorcal Náisiúnta (national executive). And listed in alphabetical order.
Motions adopted by Ard Fheis Éirígí 2022:
Bunreacht Éirígí
Fifteen years after the adoption of Bunreacht Éirígí, this Ard Fheis mandates the incoming Ciorcal Náisúnta to oversee a full review of Bunreacht Éirígí, with the findings of that review, including any potential amendments, to be brought to the membership for debate in advance of Ard Fheis 2023.
Collusion
This Ard Fheis:
welcomes recent reports confirming collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads in the North-West and in South Belfast.
understands that the numerous incidents of collusion identified in these two reports are indicative of wider, systematic collusion between the British state and unionist death squads spanning several decades.
stands with the families of those who were murdered by Britain’s official and unofficial forces as they continue to fight for truth and justice.
recognises that the British government’s current proposal for a general amnesty is motivated by a desire to conceal the truth about the murders of hundreds of Irish citizens who died at the hands of Britain’s official forces and Britain’s unofficial death squads in Ireland.
Éirígí activists mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Derry, January 2022
Community Safety
This Ard Fheis:
recognises that unchecked anti-social behaviour and more serious criminal activity is having a very significant, negative impact on the lives of individuals and entire communities across Ireland.
understands that much of this anti-social behaviour and criminal activity is being fuelled by a capitalist economic model that is inherently divisive and incapable of delivering sufficient levels of high-quality housing, education, healthcare and employment for all sections of society.
notes that successive administrations in both the Six and Twenty-Six Counties have failed to deliver effective systems of policing and justice, resulting in instances of entire communities being left at the mercy of anti-social elements and criminal gangs.
asserts that all Irish citizens and residents have a fundamental right to live their lives free from the threat or reality of anti-social behaviour and crime.
asserts that all Irish citizens and residents have a fundamental responsibility to contribute positively to our society and to refrain from anti-social and criminal behaviour.
mandates the incoming Ciorcal Náisiúnta to oversee the development of a comprehensive policy document on policing, justice and community safety.
Energy
This Ard Fheis:
understands that Ireland must dramatically reduce its output of greenhouse gases, including those generated by the burning of fossil fuels, as part of a global effort to minimise human-driven climate change.
asserts that energy security and energy independence are necessary for meaningful political and economic independence.
believes that technologies that harness the energy of the wind and the sun can deliver unprecedented levels of energy security and energy independence for Ireland.
confirms that all of Ireland’s natural resources belong to the people of Ireland and that these resources should be used for the common good of the Irish people.
asserts that wind and sunlight are natural resources which should be harnessed for the common good of the Nation.
calls for the public ownership of all commercial-scale wind and solar farms and related infrastructure.
calls for the rapid construction of large-scale, publicly owned wind and solar farms and related infrastructure to dramatically reduce Ireland’s reliance on imported, fossil fuels.
repeats the call of previous Ard Fheiseanna for Ireland’s fossil fuel resources to be brought in permanent public ownership.
asserts that electricity generated from Ireland’s wind and solar resources should be supplied at a low-cost to end users to encourage the transition away from fossil fuels.
mandates the incoming Ciorcal Náisúnta to oversee the development of a comprehensive Éirígí policy document on energy. This policy document will identify what role, if any, nuclear power should play in delivering secure, affordable, low carbon energy for Ireland.
This Ard Fheis:
calls for a complete halt to the construction of data centres across the thirty-two counties of Ireland, pending a thorough appraisal of the data centre infrastructure already established in Ireland, what they provide services for, and who they provide services to.
calls for data centres, being both a vital part of the nation’s economy and a heavy consumer of the nations water and electricity, with serious consequences for security of supply, and subsequent carbon emissions, to be taken into full public ownership and control.
Environmental Sustainability
This Ard Fheis:
recognises that our planet is facing multiple human-driven environmental catastrophes including, but not limited to, climate change, habitat destruction, soil degradation, biodiversity collapse, water shortages and the widespread pollution of land, air, waterways and seas.
understands that capitalism, as the dominant economic system of the last two centuries, bears primary responsibility for the existential threat now facing entire swathes of the natural world and large sections of humanity.
asserts that capitalism’s insatiable appetite for never-ending growth is inherently incompatible with the concept of environmental sustainability.
recognises that the long-standing republican demand for collective control of Ireland’s natural resources is entirely compatible with the pressing need to protect our natural environment from the destructive excesses of capitalism.
believes that Irish republicanism, as an evolving political ideology, must now embrace environmental sustainability as a key pillar of our 230 year long struggle.
Healthcare
This Ard Fheis:
commends Ireland’s healthcare and other frontline workers for their ongoing work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
recognises that the impact of Covid-19 on Irish society was made significantly worse as a direct result of the sustained, chronic underfunding and mismanagement of health services across Ireland.
condemns the current global system which has placed medical research and pharmaceutical development in the hands of profit-driven private corporations.
asserts that all pharmaceutical products and medical treatments should be developed and distributed on a not-for-profit basis.
calls for the creation of a new all-Ireland, single-tier, national health service where access to treatment is exclusively based on need.
believes that all privately-owned hospitals, clinics and other significant medical facilities should be integrated into a new all-Ireland healthcare service.
Éirígí activists bringing the Universal Public Housing message to RTE in Dublin, January 2022
Housing
This Ard Fheis:
notes that the market-dominated housing policies of the Stormont and Leinster House administrations have deepened the all-Ireland housing crisis over the last twelve months.
recognises that a housing system dominated by private market forces is inherently incapable of delivering housing justice. And that no amount of reform of the current system of housing will deliver secure, affordable homes for all.
understands that the private rental sector is facilitating the mass transfer of wealth from those who are income and asset poor to those who are already income and asset rich.
commits Éirígí to campaigning for the effective end of the private rental sector as a significant element of housing tenure in Ireland.
rejects cost rental housing as a divisive tool that the political establishment has embraced as a means of shoring up the private-market-dominated model of housing.
calls on all parties of the Left to support Universal Public Housing and withdraw their support for the inherently divisive and unfair model of ‘social’ and ‘cost rental’ housing.
commends Éirígí activists for their efforts in challenging the vulture landlord takeover of Irish housing and in promoting UP Housing as the only system of housing that can deliver secure, affordable homes for all.
recommits Éirígí to the fight for housing justice and UP Housing over the coming twelve months.
International
This Ard Fheis:
condemns the Dublin government for its continuing flagrant undermining of the principle of military neutrality, including allowing Shannon airport to be used by US and other foreign military forces.
welcomes the widening global recognition that Israel is operating a de facto system of apartheid against the Palestinian people in their own land.
is encouraged by the recent electoral victories of leftist candidates in elections in Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Honduras and other countries across Latin and South America.
Offers ongoing solidarity to the Cuban revolution as it continues to fight the twin threats of Covid and renewed efforts by the United States to reduce Cuba to the status of a vassal state.
stands in continuing solidarity with the Kurds, Basques, Palestinian’s and all other peoples who are being denied their right to national freedom and independence.
This Ard Fheis:
reasserts the fundamental right of all countries to self-determination free from external attack, aggression or interference.
condemns Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine and calls for all Russian forces to return to within Russia's internationally recognised borders.
understands that the price for wars between capitalist countries is always paid for in the blood of working class soldiers and non-combatant civilians.
asserts that humanity must move beyond capitalism if it is to move beyond endless wars that are primarily motivated by ruthless competition for the planet's limited resources.
believes that disputes between countries must be resolved through peaceful dialogue, facilitated and supported by a strengthened, non-partisan United Nations.
supports the building of a worldwide anti-war movement to challenge all imperialist militarism.
commends Russians who have taken to the streets to call for an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
This Ard Fheis:
reasserts the fundamental right of all countries to self-determination free from external attack, aggression or interference.
denounces this week’s Saudi Arabian airstrikes in Yemen, US airstrikes in Somalia, Israeli airstrikes in Syria and upsurge in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people as unacceptable violations of the principle of self-determination.
condemns the sickening hypocrisy of capitalist governments who actively support the right to self-determination of chosen peoples, while actively suppressing the right to self-determination of others.
Justice
This Ard Fheis:
Calls for the disestablishment of the Special Criminal Court in the Twenty-Six Counties and the ending of the use of non-jury courts in the Six-Counties, which are in-effect a two-tier justice system.
New Republic
This Ard Fheis:
reasserts that the national territory of Ireland consists of the island of Ireland, its waterways, airspace, islands and seas.
reaffirms the right of the Irish people to live free from external interference and aggression.
recognises that partition and the subsequent establishment of two counter- revolutionary, sectarian, pro-capitalist states constituted a national disaster for the Irish people.
understands that the root causes of many of the inequalities and injustices found in Irish society today can be traced back to the victory of counter-revolutionary forces in the conflict that followed the signing of the 1921 Treaty.
asserts that only the establishment of a new all-Ireland Republic based on the principles of equality, liberty, democracy, justice and community can deliver a new society where the nation collectively, and all citizens individually, can reach their full potential.
affirms that a new peaceful mass movement incorporating individuals, political parties, campaign groups, trade unions, women’s organisations, cultural groups and other progressive forces will be necessary to achieve the reunification of the national territory and to establish a New Republic.
An Teanga
This Ard Fheis:
asserts that the Irish political establishment must bear ultimate responsibility for the existential threat facing the Irish language in general and Irish speaking communities in Gaeltacht areas in particular.
condemns the current Dublin government for its abject failure to deliver on the actions and objectives of its own 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language.
notes that twenty-four years after the Good Friday Agreement and sixteen years after the St Andrew’s Agreement the long-promised Irish Language Act has not yet been delivered in either name or in substance.
commends grassroots activists across Ireland for their ongoing work to defend and promote the Irish language.
Éirígí activists attending the ‘No Woman Left Behind’ protest in Dublin, March 2022
Women’s Rights
This Ard Fheis:
asserts that all girls and women have a fundamental right to live their lives free from all forms of gender-based discrimination, control, abuse and violence.
recognises that misogyny, and the male on female abuse and violence that flows from it, are widespread and deeply embedded problems affecting all sections of Irish society.
condemns successive Dublin governments for their failure to adequately fund the provision of sufficient numbers of beds in secure, women-only refuges and other support services for women experiencing abuse and violence.
calls on the Dublin government to fulfil its legally binding obligations under the Istanbul Convention, including increasing the number of beds in secure, women-only refuges to the recommended minimum of 500 beds.
notes with deep concern the proposed closure of Regina Coeli House in Belfast and commends the workers for the stand they are taking to defend this vital refuge for homeless women.
mandates the incoming Ciorcal Náisiúnta to develop ‘Ní Saoirse go Saoirse na mBan’ as an ongoing campaign for the advancement of women’s rights in Irish society.
This Ard Fheis:
recognises that despite the overwhelming vote to repeal the 8th amendment, many women in the Twenty-Six Counties still cannot easily access free, safe and legal abortion services.
recognises that women living in the Six Counties are subject to one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in Europe.
calls on the administrations in Leinster House, Stormont and Westminster to introduce legislation and approve funding to ensure that all women in Ireland have equal, easy access to free, safe and legal abortion services.
This Ard Fheis:
calls for the creation of a new all-Ireland scheme to provide all women with standard, universal access to free contraception, sanitary products and Hormone Replacement Treatment.