People's Democracy
Encyclopedia
People's Democracy was a political organisation that, while supporting the campaign for civil rights
for Northern Ireland's
Catholic minority
, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic
for all of Ireland
. It was founded on 9 October 1968 at Queen's University Belfast after the Royal Ulster Constabulary
had attacked a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
(NICRA) march in Derry
on 5 October. It demanded more radical reforms of the government
of Northern Ireland than NICRA.
The founders included Queen's University students such as Bernadette Devlin and Cyril Toman
as well as college lecturer Michael Farrell.
as well as its Irish equivalent) and a Young Socialist Alliance which grouped together many radical leftists.
Selma to Montgomery marches
, about 40 People's Democracy members held a four-day march between Belfast
and Derry starting on 1 January 1969. The march was repeatedly attacked by loyalists
along its route, including an incident at Burntollet
bridge on 4 January where the marchers were attacked by about 200 unionists
, including off-duty special constables
, armed with iron bars, bottles and stones while police stood by and watched.
PD became increasingly radicalised as a result of these events. They also attacked the censorship laws in the Republic
— earning a rebuke from Ruairi Quinn
and Basil Miller, then leaders of Students for Democratic Action, a revolutionary socialist student organisation, for letting British
imperialism
off the hook. In later years, members of the PD either quit politics altogether or became independent left-wing activists (such as Devlin and Farrell).
.
In the mid-1970s, the experience of the Ulster Workers' Council strike led to PD predicting a loyalist takeover in Northern Ireland, but it later came round to the view that this perspective was incorrect, giving loyalism a degree of autonomy from imperialism which it did not possess. A minority which clung to the old perspective left to form the Left Revolutionary Group, becoming the Red Republican Party in 1976, but was moribund by 1978. This group described the Ulster Loyalist movement as fascist, and it called for stronger support for paramilitary
Irish republicanism
, and published the journal Heads Up.
During the 1970s, PD evolved towards Trotskyist
positions and, by merging with the Dublin-based Movement for a Socialist Republic, was recognised by the reunified Fourth International
as its Irish section.
PD was especially active around the issues of internment
and prisoners' rights. Following the formation of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee in 1979 to build support for the Republican prisoners then on the "blanket protest
" in support of political status and the subsequent death of Bobby Sands
and nine of his comrades during the H-Block hunger strikes
, a number of members of the organisation, led by Vincent Doherty - then a member of the Political Committee and a former party general election candidate - argued that PD should join Sinn Féin, which had moved openly to the left in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1981
, two members of People's Democracy were elected to Belfast City Council
. John McAnulty and Fergus O'Hare were elected in a joint campaign with the IRSP
. Fergus O'Hare
won the council seat of Gerry Fitt
, a sitting Westminster MP. O'Hare had been a founding member of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee and had previously been chairperson of the Political Hostages Release Committee which spearheaded the campaign against internment in the early 1970s. He subsequently went on to found the first Irish-language secondary school in Northern Ireland Meánscoil Feirste.
When Sinn Féin ended its boycott of elections and gained mass support among the republican community, PD entered a political crisis. From 1982 on, a number of activists left them and joined Sinn Féin. At a PD national conference in 1986, a group including Anne Speed proposed the dissolution of the group and that the members all join SF as individuals. This position was defeated by 19 votes to five. A few weeks later the minority of five resigned from PD followed by their supporters and joined Sinn Féin. The remaining rump who continued to oppose this view maintained PD as a small propaganda group.
In the early 1990s the remaining members of PD initiated the Irish Committee for a Marxist Programme as an attempt to regroup socialists and left wing republicans
. This project ended in 1996, when PD dissolved and reconstituted itself as Socialist Democracy
, adopting the program put forward by the ICMP.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for Northern Ireland's
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...
Catholic minority
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
, stated that such rights could only be achieved through the establishment of a socialist republic
Socialist state
A socialist state generally refers to any state constitutionally dedicated to the construction of a socialist society. It is closely related to the political strategy of "state socialism", a set of ideologies and policies that believe a socialist economy can be established through government...
for all of Ireland
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 was founded on 9 October 1968 at Queen's University Belfast after the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
had attacked a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
(NICRA) march in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
on 5 October. It demanded more radical reforms of the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
of Northern Ireland than NICRA.
The founders included Queen's University students such as Bernadette Devlin and Cyril Toman
Cyril Toman
Cyril Toman is a political activist in Northern Ireland.Toman attended Queen's University Belfast, where he joined the Labour Club, and also the Belfast Willowfield branch of the Northern Ireland Labour Party . He visited Moscow as the group's representative in 1964...
as well as college lecturer Michael Farrell.
Roots
PD had emerged out of a milieu of various leftist student organisations. In the late 1960s, Queen's University gained its first Labour Club (affiliated to the forerunner of Labour StudentsLabour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation affiliated to the British Labour Party.Membership comprises affiliated college and university clubs . Membership of Labour Students is through membership of a university or college Labour Club. Affiliation is open to any Labour Club generally supportive of...
as well as its Irish equivalent) and a Young Socialist Alliance which grouped together many radical leftists.
The march and aftermath
After marches in Belfast, in imitation of Martin Luther King, Jr.'sMartin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Selma to Montgomery marches
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
, about 40 People's Democracy members held a four-day march between 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 Derry starting on 1 January 1969. The march was repeatedly attacked by loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
along its route, including an incident at Burntollet
Burntollet
Burntollet was the setting for an infamous attack during the so called Troubles of Northern Ireland. A nationalist march from Belfast to Derry was attacked whilst passing through Burntollet on the 4th of January, 1969 . A loyalist crowd, numbering in the region of 200, attacked the civil rights...
bridge on 4 January where the marchers were attacked by about 200 unionists
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
, including off-duty special constables
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Ulster Special Constabulary was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the founding of Northern Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency...
, armed with iron bars, bottles and stones while police stood by and watched.
PD became increasingly radicalised as a result of these events. They also attacked the censorship laws in the Republic
Censorship in the Republic of Ireland
Ireland rarely exercises censorship though the state retains wide-ranging laws which allow for it, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography...
— earning a rebuke from Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn
Ruairi Quinn is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Education and Skills since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála for the Dublin South East constituency. He was Minister for Finance from 1994 to 1997, and leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002.-Early...
and Basil Miller, then leaders of Students for Democratic Action, a revolutionary socialist student organisation, for letting British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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,...
off the hook. In later years, members of the PD either quit politics altogether or became independent left-wing activists (such as Devlin and Farrell).
Development
In 1971, PD became a founder of the Socialist Labour AllianceSocialist Labour Alliance
The Socialist Labour Alliance was a far left political alliance in Ireland, seen by some of its members as a political party in process of formation...
.
In the mid-1970s, the experience of the Ulster Workers' Council strike led to PD predicting a loyalist takeover in Northern Ireland, but it later came round to the view that this perspective was incorrect, giving loyalism a degree of autonomy from imperialism which it did not possess. A minority which clung to the old perspective left to form the Left Revolutionary Group, becoming the Red Republican Party in 1976, but was moribund by 1978. This group described the Ulster Loyalist movement as fascist, and it called for stronger support for paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
Irish republicanism
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, and published the journal Heads Up.
During the 1970s, PD evolved towards Trotskyist
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...
positions and, by merging with the Dublin-based Movement for a Socialist Republic, was recognised by the reunified Fourth International
Reunified Fourth International
The Fourth International is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International Committee, reunited, electing a United Secretariat of the Fourth International...
as its Irish section.
PD was especially active around the issues of internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
and prisoners' rights. Following the formation of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee in 1979 to build support for the Republican prisoners then on the "blanket protest
Blanket protest
The blanket protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. The republican prisoners' status as political prisoners, known as Special Category Status, had...
" in support of political status and the subsequent death of Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
and nine of his comrades during the H-Block hunger strikes
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
, a number of members of the organisation, led by Vincent Doherty - then a member of the Political Committee and a former party general election candidate - argued that PD should join Sinn Féin, which had moved openly to the left in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1981
Northern Ireland local elections, 1981
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1981.-Overall:-Belfast:...
, two members of People's Democracy were elected to Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
. John McAnulty and Fergus O'Hare were elected in a joint campaign with the IRSP
IRSP
IRSP may refer to:* Irish Republican Socialist Party* International Research by Students Programme, a project at the University of Groningen, Netherlands....
. Fergus O'Hare
Fergus O'Hare
Fergus O’Hare was involved in the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland as a member of People's Democracy in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
won the council seat of Gerry Fitt
Gerry Fitt
Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party , a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.-Early years:...
, a sitting Westminster MP. O'Hare had been a founding member of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee and had previously been chairperson of the Political Hostages Release Committee which spearheaded the campaign against internment in the early 1970s. He subsequently went on to found the first Irish-language secondary school in Northern Ireland Meánscoil Feirste.
When Sinn Féin ended its boycott of elections and gained mass support among the republican community, PD entered a political crisis. From 1982 on, a number of activists left them and joined Sinn Féin. At a PD national conference in 1986, a group including Anne Speed proposed the dissolution of the group and that the members all join SF as individuals. This position was defeated by 19 votes to five. A few weeks later the minority of five resigned from PD followed by their supporters and joined Sinn Féin. The remaining rump who continued to oppose this view maintained PD as a small propaganda group.
In the early 1990s the remaining members of PD initiated the Irish Committee for a Marxist Programme as an attempt to regroup socialists and left wing republicans
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. This project ended in 1996, when PD dissolved and reconstituted itself as Socialist Democracy
Socialist Democracy (Ireland)
Socialist Democracy is the successor to People's Democracy, a left wing current which emerged in Belfast in 1968 during the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. During the 1970s it evolved towards Trotskyist positions and, by merging with the Dublin-based Movement for a Socialist Republic,...
, adopting the program put forward by the ICMP.
External links
- University of UlsterUniversity of UlsterThe University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
CAIN project : The People's Democracy 1968 - 1973