Irish Socialist Network
Encyclopedia
The Irish Socialist Network (ISN) is a democratic socialist organisation formed in 2001. It is a campaigning organisation which works actively to fight for the rights of Irish workers and to help build a socialist Ireland
. It is based in Belfast
and Dublin. Politically, the ISN locates itself within the Marxist tradition, but it rejects both Leninism
and Trotskyism
, partly because of its opposition to democratic centralist organisational structures and to the concept of the vanguard party
, which it deems elitist. Most of the founding members were former members of the Workers' Party
, some being involved in the Official Republican Movement split in the late 1990s.
The ISN is organised in both the Republic of Ireland
and Northern Ireland
. In July 2007, it had three branches: Dublin Central, Dublin North West and Belfast. It produces a bi-monthly, full-colour free paper called Resistance, the first issue of which was published in July/August 2007. The ISN's Dublin North West branch also produces the Finglas
People, a freesheet that is widely distributed in the area. Much of the group's publications and articles are freely available on its website.
-like refuse collection charge, commonly known as the 'bin tax', in the Republic of Ireland and a similar water charge in Northern Ireland.
In autumn 2003, members John O'Neill,Colm Breathnach and Bernadette Hughes were sent to Mountjoy Prison
for two weeks for refusing to abide by a High Court injunction
relating to the blockading of bin lorries. This was part of the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
. People from other groups, and non-aligned activists also went to prison for varying amounts of time for similar reasons.
The ISN has been deeply involved in the movement against the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the occupation of Palestine
. It disaffiliated from the Irish Anti-War Movement
in 2004, and has since joined Anti-War Ireland – a group committed to anti-imperialism
, a diversity of tactics in bringing an end to imperialism
, democratic internal structures, non-sectarian behavior, and competence in its activity.
The ISN held its first annual conference in June 2005.
In summer 2003 the Irish Socialist Network organised discussions among various small tendencies on the left about having a united front.
The ISN continues to be active in campaigns against fascism, racism, low pay exploitation and religious sectarianism
. The group also advocates environmentalism
and supports the rights of workers, women, ethnic minorities and homosexuals. The ISN was also part of a leftist alliance that opposed the Lisbon Treaty in 2008.
In 2010 the ISN participated in the One Per Cent Network along with other socialist groups such as éirígí
, Seomra Spraoi
and the Workers Solidarity Movement
which campaigns against the cut backs brought in by the Irish Government due to the recession.
area). He also stood in the 2007 general election in the Dublin North West constituency.
O'Neill ran unsuccessfully in the Finglas electoral area in the 2009 local elections.
The Irish Socialist Network announced it would not stand candidates in the 2011 General Election due to fiscal considerations, they did announce that they intend to run candidates in the forthcoming local elections in Ireland North and South.
The Irish Socialist Network is a group of social revolutionaries, who wish to fundamentally overturn capitalism and its political superstructure. It does not see its role as that of radical social reformers, who wish simply to extend democratic rights and fight for social change within the dominant socio-economic formation. Although arguing and fighting for progressive reforms, the ISN does not view these as a maximal objective.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It is based in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and Dublin. Politically, the ISN locates itself within the Marxist tradition, but it rejects both Leninism
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
and Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
, partly because of its opposition to democratic centralist organisational structures and to the concept of the vanguard party
Vanguard party
A vanguard party is a political party at the forefront of a mass action, movement, or revolution. The idea of a vanguard party has its origins in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
, which it deems elitist. Most of the founding members were former members of the Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
, some being involved in the Official Republican Movement split in the late 1990s.
The ISN is organised in both the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. In July 2007, it had three branches: Dublin Central, Dublin North West and Belfast. It produces a bi-monthly, full-colour free paper called Resistance, the first issue of which was published in July/August 2007. The ISN's Dublin North West branch also produces the Finglas
Finglas
-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland...
People, a freesheet that is widely distributed in the area. Much of the group's publications and articles are freely available on its website.
Campaigning activity
The ISN has been involved in many community campaigns playing a role in campaigns against a poll taxPoll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
-like refuse collection charge, commonly known as the 'bin tax', in the Republic of Ireland and a similar water charge in Northern Ireland.
In autumn 2003, members John O'Neill,Colm Breathnach and Bernadette Hughes were sent to Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
for two weeks for refusing to abide by a High Court injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
relating to the blockading of bin lorries. This was part of the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
The Anti-Bin Tax campaign was a campaign which opposed the introduction of bin charges by local authorities in Ireland. The campaign centred largely in city areas, in particular Dublin. The campaigns were locally based with some co-ordination in the Dublin area...
. People from other groups, and non-aligned activists also went to prison for varying amounts of time for similar reasons.
The ISN has been deeply involved in the movement against the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the occupation of Palestine
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
. It disaffiliated from the Irish Anti-War Movement
Irish Anti-War Movement
The Irish Anti-War Movement is an organisation which campaigns against wars around the world. Recent campaigns have been against wars such as the Sri Lankan Civil War and the Gaza War, and most prominently in recent years against the Iraq War and the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.The...
in 2004, and has since joined Anti-War Ireland – a group committed to anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...
, a diversity of tactics in bringing an end to imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, democratic internal structures, non-sectarian behavior, and competence in its activity.
The ISN held its first annual conference in June 2005.
In summer 2003 the Irish Socialist Network organised discussions among various small tendencies on the left about having a united front.
The ISN continues to be active in campaigns against fascism, racism, low pay exploitation and religious sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
. The group also advocates environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and supports the rights of workers, women, ethnic minorities and homosexuals. The ISN was also part of a leftist alliance that opposed the Lisbon Treaty in 2008.
In 2010 the ISN participated in the One Per Cent Network along with other socialist groups such as éirígí
Éirígí
-External links:*...
, Seomra Spraoi
Seomra Spraoi
Seomra Spraoi is an autonomous social space in Dublin, Ireland. The space is run by an open collective along libertarian principles. The project attracts people from diverse social and political backgrounds...
and the Workers Solidarity Movement
Workers Solidarity Movement
The Workers Solidarity Movement is an anarchist organisation in Ireland broadly in the platformist tradition of Nestor Makhno. It was set up in 1984 and publishes the paper Workers Solidarity and the magazine Red and Black Revolution....
which campaigns against the cut backs brought in by the Irish Government due to the recession.
Electoral Activity
The Irish Socialist Network ran John O'Neill as a candidate in the 2004 local elections (FinglasFinglas
-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland...
area). He also stood in the 2007 general election in the Dublin North West constituency.
O'Neill ran unsuccessfully in the Finglas electoral area in the 2009 local elections.
The Irish Socialist Network announced it would not stand candidates in the 2011 General Election due to fiscal considerations, they did announce that they intend to run candidates in the forthcoming local elections in Ireland North and South.
The Irish Socialist Network is a group of social revolutionaries, who wish to fundamentally overturn capitalism and its political superstructure. It does not see its role as that of radical social reformers, who wish simply to extend democratic rights and fight for social change within the dominant socio-economic formation. Although arguing and fighting for progressive reforms, the ISN does not view these as a maximal objective.
Pamphlets
The ISN also publish a series of pamphlets:- The Ideas of Karl Marx : A Beginner's Guide. Aindrias O'Cathasaigh, Irish Socialist Network, 2003.
- Parting Company : Ending Social PartnershipSocial PartnershipSocial partnership is the term used for the tripartite, triennial national pay agreements reached in Ireland.The process was initiated in 1987, following a period of high inflation and weak economic growth which led to increased emigration and unsustainable government borrowing and national debt...
. Irish Socialist Network, 2003. - After the Troubles: Republicanism, Socialism & Partition. Tommy McKearney, Colm Breathnach, Ed Walsh. Irish Socialist Network, 2009.
- Neo-Liberalism in Crisis: What Comes Next?. Irish Socialist Network, 2009.
- South Africa: the New Apartheid. Ed Walsh. Irish Socialist Network, 2009.
- A Force for Progress? 5 Myths about the European Union. Irish Socialist Network, 2009.
Websites
- The Irish Socialist Network Online – Website
- Interview with ISN member Colm Breathnach in Fourthwrite Magazine
- An article on the politics and importance of Rosa LuxemburgRosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...