An interview with Bemadette McAliskey of 1 newly-formed lrish Republican Socialist

Could you describe how the split from the Official Sinn Fein, which led to the establishment of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, took ”

SOSSSSOSSFESERSEEESEE EEE REESE I think, it’s unfair to call it a ‘split’. Although the majority of the people who originally formed the organisation were from the, Officials, it wasn’t a split in as much as issues were not raised inside the Officials in any concrete sense which enabled people to leave en masse over a particular issue.

What really happened essentially goes back to 1972. At that time, the reformist tendencies of the Officials really began to manifest themselves, and decisions taken at the Ard Fheis [conferénce] with respect to the struggle against imperialism and the national question were not in fact carried into effect by the leadership of the organisation. At the same time many other aspects of the struggle as they saw it, which had not" been argued out or agreed to at an Ard those questions they began playing down the national question. The people who would be involved on the ground in housing or employment issues to all intents and purposes pretended that they weren’t Republicans, so as not to interfere with that level of progress.

On the other hand you had the main thrust of the direct anti-imper dalist struggle being waged by the Provisionals, who, in an effort to produce the broadest possible antiBritish struggle, completely abandoned any allegiance at all to the class question.

Many of us have felt for some time the need for an organisation which had the correct analysis as we saw it: that the national and the class question were one and the same question —that the only way to fight British imperialism was through the class struggle, and the only way to fight the class struggle was through the fight against British imperialism.

SERRERKERAEAKRERAARERREEEREE EK ag will your immediate demands ? have to do, essentially, is conduct an armed campaign, which does not involve the working class, although it may be done on their behalf.

In raising those demands, it’s necessary for us to point out what we mean by the withdrawal of Britain. We don’t simply mean that we dont’ see her —that she can simply withdraw the troops and continue economically and socially to dominate Irish affairs, both North and South. In raising that demand we’ve got to explain and organise people around what it really means: tell them what in fact the British involvement is in Ireland, in terms of government structure and in terms of industry, as well as its most obvious aspect, the repression and the military presence.

ERREEESESEEESEEEELE REE RKEREREE In what ways will you be seeking to force British withdrawal from the North of ireland?

EKEAEREESSSESERSERARERAEAAH ARE The only way that we can effectively_do it is by organising the _working class. We are committed “to a principled broad front of all