The Quality of Life in the New Ireland
Date:1979
Organisation: Sinn Féin
Edition:2nd
View: View Document
Discuss:Comments on this document
Subjects: Environment

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Commentary From The Cedar Lounge Revolution

21st May 2012

This is a particularly interesting document since it outlines the vision Provisional Sinn Féin [At that time the SF prefix was still used by the WP as SFWP] had of life in a united Ireland in relation to the areas of Environment, Control of Technology, Pollution, Advertising and Consumer Protection. This was the second edition of a document first published in May 1973.

The Preface notes that ‘as most of the [significant changes in Ireland and the world] confirm in concrete fashion the issues which we raised in May, 1973, we have decided to reprint it now, as we get ready or the 1979 electoral test.

It suggests that:

[the “oil crisis”] marked the first major rebellion in the post-1945 era of the primary producing nations against the exploitation of Western multinational capitalism - one of the main causes of poverty and economic imbalance in the world and the system which produced a situation where six per cent of the world in one finny corner of the globe consumed over 40 per cent of the energy and consumer luxuries of the world.

It continues:

The rich Western nations, and the multinational corporations will continue to exploit as long as they are allowed to do so. The only language they appreciate is their own language - that of the hard bargain, if not the no-option “choice”.

And…

It was possible to ensure that more of the wealth derived form the toil of third-world countries stayed in those countries. Since then the call has gone round the globe. The Third World, the poor majority of mankind is showing a new militancy which is on the increase with each passing day.

It is strongly critical of the EEC and the European Parliament ‘which is neither European (in that it represents only 9 states) nor a Parliament’. And it lays out its position where it intends to boycott the elections.

It makes clear that Sinn Féin will ‘actively contest’ the 26-county local elections ‘educating people in its federalist Éire Nua policies and ensuring that the maximum amount of power and decision making is retained by the people in their own local areas’.

It states that:

We see the need for a new international order and said so even before there was an oil crisis or economic recession. We reject monopoly capitalism, Wester-style consumer society as well as State Capitalism (Communism) under the guise of the ‘Socialist’ tag. We advocate a third way forward, and we see our place in the international order as a member of the non-aligned states struggling to free ourselves and mankind from the curse of all types of colonialism, imperialism and exploitation of people by people. This too has become clearer in the past few years and the wide range of contacts which the Republican Movement has established with liberation movements around the world confirms the wisdom and righteousness of our stand.

And it continues:

There are important sections in the 1973 statement about the control of technology and the activities of multinational companies. These two have been in the news since 1973 - the latter mainly because of the corruption they have been involved with almost everywhere but especially in the poorer post-colonial countries. We cannot afford to forget the lessons of Chile. Nor can we overlook the tactics to thwart the democratic process in case such as these than we can in the case of the persecution of writers, intellectuals and independent-minded political activists in Soviet Russia.

The document is strongly anti-nuclear power. And it takes a very critical line on Multinational Companies. Indeed it argues that:

The fact is that several countries in Europe have learned the hard way about the environmental effects of certain types of heavy industry - smelters, oil refineries, chemical planst, and have either banned extra plants form being built or introduced regulations and controls, which even where they may be inadequate, still eat into the profit margin of the big multinational corporations which operate those industries.

It also criticises the IDA, ‘not only do we try to get the dirty outcasts of European industry to come to Ireland. We pay them large grants to come’. But it also argues: ‘Industrial development, although vitally necessary, must be controlled and the side-efects of any such projects must be evaluated in terms of the grave damage that can result from them. SF is not against industrial development and fully appreciates the short-term attractions of some of these projects for people in areas starved of development opportunities. But the full short term and long term implications of such developments must be placed before the people. We cannot allow the capitalists of Europe and North America to unload the filth, which is no longer tolerated in their own countries in many instances on our door-step in return for jobs which it would be the duty of any proper Irish government to provide in the first place’.

There is considerably more, although a relatively short document it covers a wide range of areas.

Note the slogan on p.16. And the statement:

We believe in people before profits. We believe in public control for the common good while recognisingthe right of individuals to hold personal property. And we believe in local control to restore dignity and a sense of involvement in the individual citizen. If people before profits, public control for the common good, are Socialists’ ideas then we are Socialists. But we are democratic Socialists. We serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland only.

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  • By: daibhidhdeux Mon, 21 May 2012 07:20:29

    Reblogged this on Daibhidhdeux's Blog.

    Reply on the CLR

  • By: CMK Mon, 21 May 2012 08:23:01

    In reply to daibhidhdeux.

    Do you have to reblog everthing on this site? It’s very distracting to see the proliferation of your comments in the last few days each one of them a progressively more moronic ‘reblogged this on….’

    Reply on the CLR

  • By: daibhidhdeux Mon, 21 May 2012 10:11:07

    In reply to CMK.

    Simply thought to share. If you find this offensive, no problem. Regard it stopped now. It would seem that the spirit of the agora and the mutual exchange of ideas is alien to you.

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  • By: CMK Mon, 21 May 2012 10:20:36

    In reply to daibhidhdeux.

    Not at all, but would like to follow a blog, particularly a popular one like CLR, where the majority of comments were actually reblogs? Would you wade through dozens of comments of ‘reblogged at…’ to get to a meaningful comment? If every other blogger did what you were doing, that’s what would happen. Contributes nothing to the exchange of ideas. And, frankly, if you have your own ideas put them up on your blog, build up a following, pay your dues; don’t cannabalise other blogs. There are dozens of other bloggers who post and comment here and I’ve never seen any of them doing systematically what you’re doing. But I suppose they, too, are hostile to the mutual exhcange of ideas.

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  • By: ejh Mon, 21 May 2012 10:38:09

    In reply to CMK.

    The thing is that it is irritating if somebody persistently uses one site in order to advertise their own. You want to reblog something – that’s OK, if it’s OK with the site you’re reblogging. But why do we need to know that, other than to advertise your site? It’s not to let us know about this great piece you’ve got, because we’ve already read it here. You’re not actually sharing anything.

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  • By: RosencrantzisDead Mon, 21 May 2012 11:17:44

    In reply to CMK.

    Also, the site in question consists of nothing except pieces reblogged from other sites and links to newspapers.

    The spirit of the agora only stretches so far…

    Reply on the CLR

  • By: daibhidhdeux Mon, 21 May 2012 11:27:19

    In reply to CMK.

    OK. Point well taken. Apologies. Don’t want to burden you and your team. Simply want to multiply the connections to your articles.

    I do comment, but only with a point I feel may contribute.

    I am Workers Party of Scotland (whose demise was even falsely predicated before Matt Lygate’s recent death).

    If you are uncomfortable that a “Maoist/Scots/Stalinist” (to paraphrase Brit/Pale “theoreticians”) offends you by leaving your posts unedited or commented upon. So be it.

    For the record, I am utterly opposed to lack of dialogue between different schools of thought genuinely engaged in; and, consequently, want to facilitate folk sharing their thoughts.

    However and the above aside, and let me be quite clear, again: I am Workers Party of Scotland; and, additionally and forbye, it was inculcated in me that a multitude of ideas in debate were welcome. And that one should haud ones wheest if one knew fuck all.

    Yours in anti-colonialist, communist liberation
    Daibhidh MacGille-Mhuire

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  • By: WorldbyStorm Mon, 21 May 2012 16:03:40

    In reply to CMK.

    Just a thought re reblogging. If people find it intrusive then it’s probably best not to do it. I’d noticed these comments over the weekend and was thinking about how to respond but wasn’t sure. As long as the number of reblogging comments was limited not much of a problem, but when it becomes every post that then requires a different approach.

    To be honest, flattering and all as it is to be noticed, I’d be a lot more interested in what your thoughts/ideas etc are from your Scottish Workers’ Party position. That seems a lot more interesting than reblogging. I notice also that you have no list of links of other blogs on your website, or at least I couldn’t find any when I went looking. That’s a pity because while it’s great to get a sense of what’s going on it’s also important to get a sense of what individual/collective bloggers are about.

    .

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  • By: The Weekly Archive Worker: The Workers’ council. An organ for the Third International « Entdinglichung Thu, 24 May 2012 08:45:36

    […] Provisional Sinn Féin: The Quality of Life in the New Ireland […]

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