On a Border Poll

“We do not see merit in campaigning for a border poll in Ireland”, says Lasair Dhearg spokesperson Pól Torbóid, “the unity of two failed states into a singular failed entity will not advance the cause of the Irish working class.”

Pól said that, “In order to be ‘successful’, a border poll campaign must build the broadest movement possible with support not just from the working class but also the business community and the interests of capital. The building of such a movement in Ireland is already taking place, emulating those which have been created in Catalonia, Scotland and elsewhere; which are largely absent of any beneficial economic narrative beyond that which would serve those who would benefit from large financial dividends as a result of this supposed ‘unity’.”

“There is no mechanism to ensure a socialist outcome, material conditions will remain unchanged regardless of which class in society makes the demand for a border poll or brings it about.”

“There are those who argue that so long as the working class can build and control the campaign, then they can control its outcome in the interests of our class. This is, in our view, a mistake. Those who advocate such a position have so far failed to present any coherent or reasonable analysis to support this as an outcome. There is no escaping the fact that, regardless of who makes the demand, or indeed creates the right circumstances within which a border poll could come about, be it the broad working masses or the landlord class, the material outcomes of a single issue campaign such as a border poll are inevitable. It will not have dealt with the single cause of concern that underpins the inequality of both the Stormont and Leinster House governments; capitalism.”

“A border poll is a romantic notion. The demands made for one are largely absent of any materialist analysis; acknowledging this, and pursuing it anyway, with the notion that we can later pursue socialism is a mistake. It is, in essence, a ‘labour must wait’ attitude. As socialists, our position is that expounded by Connolly, where ‘The cause of labour is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour. They cannot be dissevered.’ We understand that the fight for national sovereignty and economic sovereignty are inseparable. A border poll deals only with the former, arguing that economic sovereignty can be pursued thereafter. Any subsequent negotiations, post-border poll, would allow our enemies to give as much freedom as is convenient for them to give.”

“For these reasons and more, we reject the growing calls for a border poll in favour of other methods. We believe that the route to the Socialist Republic, and freedom from both geographic and economic exploitation, lies in the seizure of the economic processes of society at a local level, and that to achieve this a mass organisation or movement must be built.”

“We’ll let Connolly have the last word on the matter, he said, ‘If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs.'”