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Erin's Hope, James Connolly. 1897

No matter what may be the moral character of the parent, let us at least save the helpless children of our race from physical and mental degeneracy, and save our teachers from the impossible task of forcing education upon a child whose brain is enfeebled by the starvation of its body.

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Today, the Cork Fenian Society will host a commemoration to mark the 200th anniversary of Cath Chéim an Fhia (Battle of Keimaneigh), a battle between Irish tenant farmers – organized in secret mainly agrarian reform societies, known chiefly as The Whiteboys and The Rockites – against the British militia in 1822.

#gript


https://gript.ie/otd-cath-ceim-an-fhia-1822-battle-of-keimaneigh/

"National liberty, personal liberty, social security all gone; the country ruled from its highest down to its meanest officer by foreigners; the Irish race landless, homeless, living by sufferance upon the mercy of their masters."

James Connolly

Moment of clarity for party opposed to Irish nationalism.

"I have long been of opinion that the Socialist movement elsewhere was to a great extent hampered by the presence in its ranks of faddists and cranks, who were in the movement, not for the cause of Socialism, but because they thought they saw in it a means of ventilating their theories on such questions as sex, religion, vaccination, vegetarianism, etc., and I believed that such ideas had or ought to have no place in our programme or in our party."

- James Connolly, Wages and Other Things (1904)

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Accurate and still as relevant today as it was when he wrote it, if not more so.

Seems like some socialists aren't overly fond of the progressive social projects so important to their blue-haired university allies. Wonder if they'll get over the last hurdle and realise that caring for you own People's needs above those of other's is perfectly natural, or is immigration the hill they are willing to die on? It's not an either/or choice between criticising capitalism or immigration - the real problem is both.

This isn't a new issue by any means and is reminiscent of the debate American socialists were having in the early 1900s regarding the effects immigration was having on the material conditions of workers at the time and how this came into conflict with "internationalism". Funny things happen when reality meets theory.

Here's a few interesting quotes from the socialists of the era, contemporaries of James Connolly who was still in America at the time, as well as one of his own.

"Because your neighbor's house is burning, shall you set your own house in fire? No, say I. Defend your own house and then help your neighbor, that is the way."

- Victor Berger

"I believe in the international solidarity of the working class.... But I do not believe in international solidarity to the point of cutting my own throat."

- Ernest Untermann

"It is hard to believe that any Socialist really thinks that the immigration question is serious enough to justify a Socialist in doing the dirty work of the capitalist class"

- James Connolly

"It is hard to believe that any Socialist really thinks that the immigration question is serious enough to justify a Socialist in doing the dirty work of the capitalist class"

- James Connolly

#immigration #socialism

“I am determined that my race shall not go the way of the Aztec and the Indian. I believe in the brotherhood of man, regardless of races, but I do not believe in extending that brotherhood to the point of eliminating myself voluntarily from the struggle for existence and turning over this country to my brothers of other races.” 

- Ernest Untermann


Like Connolly, Untermann was a member of the Socialist Labour Party of America (SLP) and later the Socialist Party of America. He is credited with translating socialist writings by Engels and Marx for an American audience, including the first American translation of Das Kapital. Despite being a committed socialist he openly opposed immigration, recognising the effects it has on workers conditions and, as the above quote illustrates, the issue of finite resources and living space of a given country.

"Men like Clarke and Connolly were intensely nationalistic and many think that Connolly was not so much but that's not true, I know that's not true, because he told me so."

- Dev

Ireland needs to import more migrants from outside the EU says Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Working conditions in the hospitality sector are dire so Cummins wants to bring in more foreigners who will tolerate it.

As Alan McQuaid points out here, they're going to need healthcare, housing and crèche facilities or schooling if they bring kids with them among other things. Who gets that bill? After five years here they can apply for citizenship.

We have NGOs focused on sustainability but nobody ever costs the mass importation of cheap labour for the long term. It's unsustainable. It drives down the standard of living.

Meanwhile we're struggling to find accommodation for the unlimited number of 'Ukrainians' coming in, never mind Irish people.

In the IRPT's study yesterday, they blamed poverty for the over-representation of foreigners in the prison system, so why do we keep bringing more of them in to work minimum wage jobs?

👉🏻 Late Stage Ireland