As our struggle continues into another year Lasair Dhearg sends revolutionary greetings to our members and supporters across Ireland and further afield. We extend solidarity to those suffering at the hand of occupation, capitalism and imperialism, as well as those fighting injustice in pursuit of a better world.
We also keep in our minds those imprisoned for their part in this fight, particularly those here in Ireland and the political prisoners currently on hunger strike in English gaols.
2025 has proven to be yet another important year in the progression of our movement. The structures that were put in place at our first Ard Fheis at the end of 2024 have stood the test, and as hoped for have increased the professionalism, effectiveness and size of our organisation. There has been a sustained growth in our membership over the last year, noticeably in the Twenty-Six County State. Our activism seeks to highlight the economic, cultural and political occupation that still affects all corners of our island more than 100 years after the introduction of partition.
The annual Bloody Sunday commemoration in Derry was as always an important milestone in the calendar. Once again thousands of activists joined the families of those killed on 31st January 1972 by members of the British Parachute Regiment. The message we brought was a simple one shared by many – Justice Delayed is Justice Denied. Little did we know at that stage the heart-breaking rollercoaster of emotions that would be experienced in 2025 by those families, who have struggled for justice for over 53 years. From the highs of hearing that one of the murderers – hidden behind the moniker Soldier F – would finally face judgement, to the new lows when a British court in Belfast let him walk free. Collusion between the British Government – who were supposedly prosecuting Soldier F – and the DPP, which allowed important evidence to be lost, discarded or dismissed is a chilling reminder that Britain will always act in its own interests rather than in the interest of justice. This has only reaffirmed our position, and the position of the families, that there can be no British justice in Ireland.
Throughout the early months of this year the PSNI – the renamed and rebadged successor to the RUC – held one of their largest ever recruitment campaigns in the hope of reviving a force declining in strength. As part of this they sought to use the ‘Police Community Safety Partnership’, an initiative that senior members of the PSNI have admitted is designed to make ‘policing’ more acceptable to Republican communities. In response we, alongside other Republican activists, upped our campaign of opposition to the normalisation of British occupation in Ireland. Disruption of these events, held in collaboration with former Republican representatives, alongside a sustained campaign of activism and propaganda, meant that the PSNI recruitment campaign ended as an unmitigated failure despite millions of pounds being spent on it. A series of huge banners were placed across areas in Belfast including Casement Park and Stormont, as well as in Derry, highlighting the true nature of the PSNI. This message was only reinforced as the year wore on.
Our solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles around the world remains unwavering. The ongoing Zionist campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine has continued unabated despite claims of a fictitious ceasefire. As we enter a third year since the Al-Aqsa Flood marked the beginning of Palestine’s latest phase of struggle, our message continues to be unequivocal in saying that Palestine has a right to resist and that we support only a one-state solution in the form of a reunited Palestine – from the river to the sea.
As we entered 2025, an underlying concern was the continued activity from fascist elements in the Six Counties who were claiming to be representative of Republicanism and yet who openly espoused views that were completely antithetical to those of Socialist Republicanism. This came off the back of the already significant fascist movement in the Twenty-Six County State. It is gratifying then to see that there are those in our communities who were unwilling to allow this cancer to grow. Successful action taken over the summer months has meant that for the most part the threat from their vile efforts has been eliminated in Belfast, and in the Twenty-Six counties Clann Éireann remain afraid to organise in the open. We cannot be complacent, but it is heartening to see that anti-fascism remains at the core of Irish Republicanism as it has done throughout history.
There lies the current state of Irish Republicanism as another year comes around. We remain in a state of rebuilding our movement from the dark depths it found itself in just a few short years ago. Despite the efforts of the British state and the enthusiastic collaboration of many Irish men and women in the administration of British rule in Ireland, there remains a committed core of activists dedicated to returning Irish Socialist Republicanism to a position of strength. There is acceptance that this will take time. However, there is reason for optimism. As time passes new generations are understanding the reality that the Good Friday Agreement has been an unparalleled failure in delivering anything but capitalist exploitation, continued misery for our people and the ever further integration of Ireland into imperialist NATO military structures that will lead them into foreign wars.
The coming years will be critical for Irish Republicanism. We have built our Movement from the ground up with just a handful of activists a few short years ago. Most of our members and organisers are from newer generations, and we are developing resources and implementing plans for the future. Our new Movement has no shortage of will, or people that are ready and willing to implement any plan of action. Significant gaps remain, and we have a long road ahead of us.
That road leads only in one direction.
It is time – it is long past time – for an Irish Socialist Republic.
