Seán Byers' book caught my eye in Easons
in Cork City. It was quite appropriate that a book dealing with the first
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Ireland would be selling in one of
the city's main bookshops as not too long ago, 2 Maoist bookstores were burned
down in the city for selling seditious literature. This ossification within
Irish society's view of Communism further illustrates the challenges the book's
subject and his party faced.
Murray was born in the Glens of Antrim,
into a rural Catholic background. Joining Sinn Féin in 1917, Murray would have
a life-long dalliance with Irish republicanism, with tenure in the IRA spanning
the War for Indpendence and Civil War. Embracing James Connolly's maxim “The
cause of labour is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of
labour”, Murray joined the Communist Party of Great Britain while in London in1924.
For recognition of his talents, he was selected to attend the International
Lenin school for intense study. The resulting “Bolshevisation” would lead to
Murray's life-long affinity with the Soviet Union.
Murray and his newly-found Revolutionary
Workers Party (later Groups) faced severe problems in Ireland. The Catholic
Church was in firm control of the state and society. It had no tolerance for
atheist Communism. Murray and his comrades faced heckling, abuse, intimidation
and violence. It's paper was refused publication in several instances. Murray himself
was stabbed at a demonstration. In 1933, Murray formed the new Communist Party of
Ireland. In March 1933, Connolly House, its headquarters was besieged and
burned down, Murray and others narrowly avoiding serious injury or worse.
The Comintern had a tight rein on the CPs
of Europe, Ireland included, and expected them to obey their diktats on
strategy. The Comintern had little sympathy for Murray's protestations that the
party in Ireland needed to drawback on its anti-Catholicism or would further
scare off potential recruits. The Cominern also feared, as part of its “class
against class” position, that the Irish party was getting too close to the
“petit-bourgeois” IRA.
Murray was an ardent Bolshevik and needed
Moscow for financial support and ideological legitimacy. However, he was
pragmatic and used his own wit to deal with some matters. For instance, Byers
writes on p.70 “There was indeed a vast gulf between Comintern policy which
ruled out cooperation with social democrats and other reformists, and CPI
practice.”
The COMINTERN used the CPGB to try to reign in the Irish party and
in a few instances, put Murray's leadership under scrutiny and considered
changing the role for someone less inclined to pursue an independent line.
Thankfully for Murray's leadership, Moscow acquiesced on some issues and
trusted him as the mose capable to lead the party. Murray, a former IRA man and
Connollyite himself, believed that, despite certain disagreements, that the IRA
would play a key role in the Irish anti-imperialist movement. Murray had a
great friendship with socialist republicans such as Peadear O'Donnell and Frank
Ryan. With them, he played a key role in the Republican Congress. The Congress would
ultimately fail but Murray's ambition for republicans and communists working together
would never wane. In some instances, the IRA would provide stewards for some CPI
rallies at Murray's behest in recognition as a republican stalwart.
The CPI was an internationalist party and
provided the bulk of volunteers to fight with Republican Spain against Franco's
fascists. Here, Murray played a key role. He was responsible for the organising
of recruits and the unenviable position of informing the families of the
deceased. The CPI went up against the Irish Christian Front and Blueshirts at home
and regularly disrupted meetings of both along with republicans. This clearly
did not help their standing in the eyes of the church.
The outbreak of World War was quite
obviously hugely significant to the Irish party. A debate on the party’s
position on southern neutrality while the north was fighting the war led to an
impasse between northern and southern comrades. The party decided to break, the
south dissolving its branches while the northern party continued its
activities. Murray moved to Belfast but found organising the CPNI a different
kettle of fish to his former activities. Murray would no longer be General
Secretary and it would be awhile until his talents would be suitably recognised
and he was brought on to the executive. Murray became editor of the part's
war-time bulletin Unity. The CPNI supported the British war effort and for
this, was rewarded with Stormont's ambivalence to its activities, allowing it
to recruit, at its height, 1,000 members.
The party in the north had a huge base
among the unionist working-class and this showed in its attitude towards
republicanism. The party feared losing its Protestant members and was reluctant
to be seen as supportive of the IRA. There was also an attitude whereby the
party saw itself more as being a section of the CPGB which caused problems for
Murray in his disagreements with that party. The end of WWII and the
beginnining of the Cold War lead to a Red Scare which would damage the party,
especially as it was beginning to organize again in the south with the
development of the Irish Workers League and later the Irish Workers Party.
Murray strived for party unity and Sean
Murray was a key player in bringing Irish trade unionist congresses to
amalgamate and foster a more favourable climate for re-unification of the Irish
parties, a case study of how partition had complicated the development of Irish
communism. Murray especially, as one himself, believed in the northern party
taking an active role in fighting for equal rights for northern Catholics. His
6 point demands would later from 6 of the 7 points of the future Civil Rights
Movement. Murray authored “The Irish Path to Socialism” in 1960 which
advocated, perhaps naiively, for the establishment of 2 Left-wing governments
on the island as the path to re-unification. At the same time, the IWP
published its manifesto “Ireland Her Own” which was remarkably similar to the
northern manifesto.Both were Connollyite in their approach and repudiated the
orthodox “stageist” model to socialism, highlighting further Murray's skill in
analysing the concrete conditions available to revolutionaries.
Seán Murray died in 1961, as a result of
life-long alcohol abuse. Murray was certainly highly intelligent and many of
his analyses would come true later on or provide inspiration for later
individuals. His position on what was needed for the republican movement to become
relevant for the working-class would later be taken up by leading republicans
such as Tomas MagGiolla several years after Murray's death. His position on the
economic results of Capitalism for the Irish nation would turn out to be
astutely foreseen. His demands for northern Catholics would be almost copied by
the Civil Rights Movement, again several years after his death. His ambition
for a united Irish Communist party and agitation for that would eventually
become a reality in 1970 after several years of estrangement.
Byers' book is not the first to deal with
Irish Communism, but is arguably the most
important, as we yet have a full
historiography of the Irish party. Byers skillfully deals with his fellow
academics' books and offers succinct and constructive criticisms of them. His impeccable
use of sources offers further reading material and are often as insightful as
the book itself, especially in his reliance on primary-source information such
as interviews with contempary figures and Special Branch reports. His book
fills in many gaps in the history of Irish Communism and while not trying to be
a full analysis of the Communist Party of Ireland, offers a benchmark for any
future historian dedicated to telling the full story of the party which it so
deserves.
By Graham Harrington, Connolly Youth
Movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment