Yesterday marked 26 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. As Lasair Dhearg has previously pointed out (here), this agreement has brought a quarter of a century of pain and misery on the working-class.
The Good Friday Agreement claimed to promote “a new future for our children”. Instead, we have had precisely the opposite. With the help of Stormont, MI5 and the PSNI, former Republicans have been instrumental in normalising British control over our communities. As a result, more than 20,000 members of the British Crown forces still occupy Ireland, unbeknownst to the majority of the population. It has not even given stable government here, with the Stormont administration having collapsed eight times since 1998.
This “new future” has seen miserable social conditions imposed on our people and has cemented partition for the foreseeable future, with all the inevitable consequences that come with that.
Instead of a “bright future” our young people are faced with disastrous social conditions and a drop in living standards which seems to have no end in sight. They are currently living in the shadow of a drugs epidemic fuelled by the disastrous effects of capitalism on our society. One of the most visible and alarming effects, closely linked to the outbreak of drug abuse, has been the spiralling tragedy of suicides in our communities.
We are quickly approaching the point where the current period of so-called “peace” has lasted as long as did the most recent phase of armed struggle. In this period there have been more than 5,000 deaths due to suicide. Recent statistics gathered have shown that the most deprived areas of the occupied Six Counties had a suicide rate twice that of the least deprived areas.
This shows the havoc which British imperialism in Ireland, hand in hand with capitalism, and cemented by the agreement, has produced. Nothing but social misery on the working class of Ireland who have endured a downward spiral in living standards as a result of multiple capitalist crises; Whether it be the neo-liberal program of austerity imposed after the 2008 financial crash or the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The administrations of both failed states on this island have shown no ability or inclination to properly address these issues, or the many others facing our people.
For example, more than 100,000 homes lie empty across this island because of collusion between partitionist institutions and slum landlords and vulture funds to put profits and shareholders ahead of the basic human right of all people to a home.
However, at the same time, our young people are living with the knowledge that there is a good chance, if things continue as they are, that security of tenure will never be available to them. It seems likely that future generations face a prospect where short-term contracts and never-ending rent hikes are the new normal.
This is the normality our children are told to accept as the price of ‘peace’. The state apparatus which sees fit to parade in front of children in schools and youth clubs armed to the teeth with machine guns and military clothing, is the same apparatus defending the implementation of the social destruction brought about by the Good Friday Agreement.
The almost one hundred so-called peace walls still standing to this day in some of the most deprived areas in Ireland stand as a testament to the fact that we are as divided as ever. In many ways we are growing further apart. It would not be a stretch to say this is by design. The state has a vested interest in keeping working class people divided. Communities that are kept apart are much less of a threat to the interests of the ruling class.
We have to continue asking the question. Was it worth it? Did the disbandment of our revolutionary movement improve the quality of life for our children and future generations? Was the “new future” promised to them 26 years ago delivered? In the opinion of ourselves as Socialist Republicans it’s clear that the answer to these questions is no.
We find ourselves in the midst of yet another capitalist crisis. People are having to choose between heating their homes and putting food on their table. At Lasair Dhearg, we are fighting to rebuild Irish Republicanism from the depths that former comrades left us in through their capitulation 26 years ago. There are those of us from past and current generations who are determined to continue the struggle against foreign imperialism. We are fighting not only the British state but the capitalist system as a whole.
Only through the eradication of both failed states and the establishment of a 32-county socialist republic can we hope to provide a solution to the conditions faced by people across the island. We hope to build a new future, one which the Good Friday Agreement never offered our people.
It’s time for a Socialist Republic. Join Lasair Dhearg.
