Re: [Marxism] Ireland and Europe - to Einde

[Einde O'Callaghan <einde@xxxxxx>]

Philip Ferguson wrote:
> Einde writes:
>
> > I'm not sure where you slot Ireland into this generalisation. A genuine
>
>
> question, not a sectarian point.
>
>
> It's a good point (and important politically).
>
> I'd argue that Ireland, all of it, is still an oppressed nation.  It's
> the Western European exception.
>
> I think your Irish co-thinkers argue this isn't the case or, at least,
> isn't the case with the 26 counties and that the South is now a
> developed capitalist nation-state.
>
> Needless to say I think this downplays the national question and is also
> highly partitionist.
Thanks for the prompt reply.

I tend to think that the situation of Ireland is contradictory, i.e. i
think the reality is contradictory. On the one hand there is the
imperialist imposed partition of the country, but on the other hand the
Southern Irish ruling class has managed to get its snout into the
imperialist trough as a junior partner.

I would argue that understanding this is only partitionist in the sense
that the Irish bourgeoisie has no real interest in solving the national
problem. But this was an view already expounded by James Connolly,
although, for obvious reasons, he didn't see how it would work out in
reality almost a century down the track.

I find the arguments and data presented by Kieran Allen in the pamphlet
"Is southern Ireland a neo-colony?"
(http://www.marxists.de/ireland/neocolony/index.htm) fairly compelling.

Einde O'Callaghan


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