After eventually getting around to reading James Connelly’s 1910 book, Labour in Irish History, I began to think about this Catholic elite which he speaks about. The general consensus on Irish history is that the Protestant invaders oppressed the native Irish Catholics for centuries under the feudal system and it was impossible for someone who stayed true to their catholic heritage to have any social mobility within Irish society. Connelly however, flipped this on its head and argued that it was not the persecution of the Catholics which was the primary reason for the subjugation of these poor tenant farmers, it was however the class system which was the true oppressor. While Connelly acknowledges the penal laws definitely did not aid these farmers, as they were majoritively catholic, he claims that there were many Irish catholic landowners who held the same power over their native brethren as the protestant English landowners did and exacted equal oppression over their tenants;
“But the social system thus firmly rooted in the soil of Ireland— and accepted as righteous by the ruling class irrespective of religion— was a greater enemy to the prosperity and happiness of the people than any legislation religious bigotry could devise.”
This is in line with the Marxist view of history, which Connelly subscribed to, which states that the only enemy of the working class is the bourgeoisie, or ruling class, and regardless who is in power they will still continue the same oppressive regime as their predecessors. Connelly points out that the leaders of the nationalist movement even stated to their proletariat followers that no change would come as a result of a rebuke of British rule and an assertion of the independent Ireland;
“being explicitly told by their leaders that they must not expect any change in their condition of social subjection, even if successful”.
Connelly retained this sentiment in his 1914 pamphlet, "Socialism Made Easy", when he explained how the working classes enemy was not in fact the British;
“The working class has ever refused to be drawn into any mere anti-English feeling; it refuses to be drawn into it now. It has always refused to consider that hatred of England was equivalent to love of Ireland, or that true patriotism required an Irishman or woman to bear enmity to the toiling masses of the English population. It still holds that position.”
While Connelly himself was a nationalist, and led the Irish Citizens army in the 1916 Rising, he also acknowledged that the overthrow of British rule would not mean a significant, if any, improvement of conditions for the working class.
Once the Irish Free State was eventually established in 1922, Connelly’s assertions were posthumously confirmed when the lives of the working class proletariat throughout the, now 'free', island of Ireland did not in fact improve. Those catholic elites which we spoke about earlier came into power by driving the working class into an ultra-nationalist anti-anglo frenzy, even if it was of no benefit for them or their material conditions. De Valera even went on to prioritise the assertion of independence over socio-economic progress of the country.
This sort of pointless nationalism has continued in the North particularly, with the cultural divide described one American writer as “a race war among white people”. This led to decades of violence which was eventually resolved in the Belfast agreement of 1998, otherwise known as the Good Friday agreement. While one must acknowledge the progress which the initial movement by nationalists for gaining civil rights had, this quickly devolved into kaos which was primarily caused by radicals on both sides, nationalist and loyalist, with the use of violence on a much larger scale which sent strays to far beyond the borders of Northern Ireland to London and Dublin.
At the peak of the troubles over 400 people died in one year and this was the result of the abandonment of the peaceful protests initially used by NICRA and John Hume's SDLP in favour of the car bombs and street warfare favoured by paramilitary organisations such as the IRA, who would except nothing but a united Ireland and the UVF/UDF, who wanted to maintain Northern Ireland's position as part of the UK. This divide, while not as prevalent as it used to be, still lives on in many areas of the North on both sides. With the recent rise of Sinn Féin in the North and South it is easy to see these old wounds being brought up again as they push for a reunification of Ireland.
Mary Lou MacDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, is a perfect example of this Catholic elite who prioritises nationalist identity over the wellbeing of the working class who she supposedly represents. With the absence of a functioning Labour party in Ireland many of the labouring class are settling for their next best alternative when it comes to representation in the Dáil. The blatant populism of Sinn Féin has landed them at the top of the polls in the South when it comes to predictions for the next general election, as well as a victory in the North over the unionist majority. With this return of Sinn Féin it seems inevitable that a push for a united Ireland is on the way, however, how does reunification actually benefit the working class people of the island of Ireland?
2 June, 2022