Comments on The Pensive Quill: Engaging with Dissident Republicanism

Damian "On behalf of éirígí we salute the pe...

2010-11-21T18:00:33.088Z

Damian

"On behalf of éirígí we salute the people of Palestine and the
democratically elected government of Hamas. We stand shoulder to
shoulder with the people of the Basque Country, of Cuba, of Venezuela,
of Vietnam and others throughout the world defending democracy and
Socialism."

Not much to argue against there

"On behalf of éirígí we salute the people of ...

2010-11-15T20:04:46.582Z

"On behalf of éirígí we salute the people of Palestine and the democratically elected government of Hamas. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of the Basque Country, of Cuba, of Venezuela, of Vietnam and others throughout the world defending democracy and Socialism."

http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest070410speech.html

Cracroi, people engage with opinions they find en...

2010-11-11T19:56:55.279Z

Cracroi,

people engage with opinions they find engaging. Nobody that I am aware of is considering his opinion above anybody else's. It is considered alongside rather than above other opinions. I think there were quite a few dissenting opinions on his article. I suppose if somebody makes the effort to put together such a lengthy piece it will attract a degree of interest. It does

Sorry, but who is Damian O'Loan and why should...

2010-11-11T17:27:08.287Z

Sorry, but who is Damian O'Loan and why should any consideration be given to his opinion above anyone else's? When he comes off with comments like this - "Eirígí supports Vietnamese communism, seemingly unaware of that nation’s joint military exercises with its avowed imperial enemy" - well, considering éirígí have never commented on Vietnam, it does seem like he's

Mark, You're not the first to comment on the ...

2010-09-12T09:20:58.442+01:00

Mark,

You're not the first to comment on the use of the GFA as the focus of what the groups dissent from. One one hand, it's significant because it's the point at which the Process, no matter the concerns that can and perhaps should be held about it, gained legitimacy through referanda. If certain groups were formed in the years before it, it was because they had rejected

Damian, Thanks for this and apologies for coming ...

2010-09-11T20:53:43.172+01:00

Damian,

Thanks for this and apologies for coming to the conversation late. I’ll not address your piece in its entirety but make a comment on your initial premise:

“Firstly, what are these groups and individuals dissenting from? I will take it to be the GFA and/or a solely political approach to reunifying Ireland through the institutions created thereby.”

I think

newry republican- have we had words before? polic...

2010-09-05T14:57:24.605+01:00

newry republican- have we had words
before?

police and SINN FEIN, stormont and
SINN FEIN, i am happy with both, others are not,
eirigi has two councillors, maybe more, who were voted in as SINN FEIN, 1 in dublin 1 in tyrone, both were still in SINN FEIN a year after the police vote and 11
years after the stormont accaptance
the one in tyrone has said that he is

Anthony, Good points each one. I concentrated on...

2010-09-05T11:53:35.879+01:00

Anthony,

Good points each one. I concentrated on the policies more than the 'republican mindset' for a couple of reasons. One is that I don't think you can ignore the Good Friday referendums in terms of legitimacy. The lack of a response to that, or even serious engagement with the question, from most dissident groups is symptomatic of exactly the kind of absolutism you

Newry Republican, people can change their positio...

2010-09-04T15:21:36.531+01:00

Newry Republican,

people can change their positions It would be a dire world if they could not. I am sure you are right tht it applies to RSF and 32CSM also.

One of the puzzling things is that some of the Eirigi people backed Stormont enthusiastically and then got a rude awakening over the policing question. It makes me wonder how flexible their position is. I don't see

AM, Yes its a shame he hasn't responded as i ...

2010-09-04T14:56:21.809+01:00

AM,

Yes its a shame he hasn't responded as i would have liked to hear where he got his info from about éirígí contesting next years election.

In regards to your point, yes that is true that some éirígí members were at one time supportive of PSF and their participation in Stormont. Indeed the same can be said for RSF, 32csm and various other groups.

But éirígí

Newry Republican, Michaelhenry has not yet respo...

2010-09-04T10:30:54.341+01:00

Newry Republican,

Michaelhenry has not yet responded but I was interested in what point he might have made.

It may be that he shares the view of many other republicans that a few of those in Eirigi were stalwart defenders of the Stormont situation while still in SF while at the same time reinforcing prejudice against those critical of Stormont. Some Eirigi people were

Damian, again thanks for giving this to TPQ. I hop...

2010-09-04T08:31:09.238+01:00

Damian, again thanks for giving this to TPQ. I hope the reading of it generates thought commensurate to what you put into writing it. Nothing short of a piece of equal length would do it justice so comments are limited dealing with a snap shot here or there rather than the piece in its totality. There are a couple of points I would make.

In general terms I think many dissidents would

Damian, I think what makes the so called 'diss...

2010-09-03T17:26:33.639+01:00

Damian, I think what makes the so called 'dissidents' interesting,is the fact, that they are a constant reminder that we are not floating about in the airy fairy utopia Sinn Fein would have us believe we are.

Sinn Fein has built an illusion on the back of a deal, the GFA, which was seemingly never more than a papering over the cracks exercise.
and I honestly believe that

Daminian, many thanks for a thought provoking piec...

2010-09-03T14:35:45.597+01:00

Daminian, many thanks for a thought provoking piece.

I couldn’t help but think that your statement was a little erroneous.
“No conflict has been resolved by a security response alone..... This is manifestly false.”

Whilst one can identify security responses such as ‘Operation Motorman’ or ‘Operation Alljah’ in Iraq that have indeed played a significant role in

Michaelhenry, you stated that "eirigi is goin...

2010-09-03T14:08:13.077+01:00

Michaelhenry, you stated that "eirigi is going to stand in next years local goverment elections in the 6 counties"

Your lack of knowledge is outstanding, éirígí have never said they will stand in next years elections, in fact they have never stated when exactly they will stand.

I think they'll contest elections when they are ready to do so

You also

Fionnuala, Tain Bo, Thanks very much again. I do...

2010-09-03T12:57:06.138+01:00

Fionnuala, Tain Bo,

Thanks very much again.

I do think it's interesting for everybody for there to be a dissident republican movement, in the sense that a single point of view is likely to miss out on things or do things wrong. The trouble was the impression I got was mainly of undeveloped ideas.

Damien A very insightful piece well worth reading...

2010-09-03T04:16:48.105+01:00

Damien
A very insightful piece well worth reading I agree with Fionnchú and hope to hear more.

Damian, thanks so much for this. Like yourself, I...

2010-09-02T15:43:51.600+01:00

Damian, thanks so much for this.

Like yourself, I would also like to understand what alternative republican factions have to say.

I think there is a deliberate policy of wind down in relation to the commemerations, I believe Sinn Fein will still wave their flags and read the odd roll of honour, however, it all seems very superficial now lacking any real
sincerity.

Fionnuala, Sorry it's not clear what views ar...

2010-09-02T15:22:35.834+01:00

Fionnuala,

Sorry it's not clear what views are mine and which are drawn from elsewhere. The section you mentioned on memorials was me stating what follows logically from the GFA. That's not to say it's what's to be expected.

The Agreements' only relevant provisions are to ensure expressions of cultural identity. So a dissident Easter 1916 memorial is

Damian, appreciate your response, the problem I ha...

2010-09-02T13:37:05.435+01:00

Damian, appreciate your response, the problem I had was, I never quite knew when you were saying something or you were saying something on behalf of someone else.

Fioncchu and Anthony would have had no problem reading through the article, however,with all due respect both are academics.

Can I just ask something else, when you say, 'The GFA has some remarkable

Fionnuala, My issue on globalisation is that it i...

2010-09-01T19:50:51.716+01:00

Fionnuala,

My issue on globalisation is that it is raised as a bad thing per se, but made to sit with a Marxist economic doctrine. That's where the big state element mentioned by Fionnchù is relevant, because it's not Marxism in its entirety that has been adopted. All of the dissident groups are more nationalistic than anything else though.

The comparison between

Thanks Anthony, thanks Fionnchù, I think much of ...

2010-09-01T18:34:52.872+01:00

Thanks Anthony, thanks Fionnchù,

I think much of what I said about 32CSM would apply equally to RSF. They share a starting point of anything for or from a united Ireland is democratic and therefore good. It doesn't show much engagement.

They have the same contradiction of wanting to appeal to supranational organisations like the UN but not respecting any interference

Damian, I have read your article several times and...

2010-09-01T18:22:22.560+01:00

Damian, I have read your article several times and I still find the part in relation to globalisation very confusing.

You acknowledge that, the form of globalisation, which you credit with spreading the Marxist doctrine and the one these 'dissident' groups find problematic are very different!
Why then, did you bring it up?

I do not see the contradiction in the

Lots to unpack here in your pithy contrasts such a...

2010-08-31T23:13:06.335+01:00

Lots to unpack here in your pithy contrasts such as Behan to Benedict and Yeats to Marx. How does the Éire Nua policy of RSF align with your critique of distributism and corporatism? Thanks for a calm, lucid, and articulate summation of this combative topic; we look forward to hearing more, Damian.

damian o'loan seems to be under the impression...

2010-08-31T22:24:09.613+01:00

damian o'loan seems to be under the impression that the dissidents
are fighting in some war because of the good friday agreement-
the continuity started in 1986, 12
years before the agreement,
the real started in 1997, about 7
months before the agreement,
parden the pun but the only real anti agreement group are o.n.h, but
this group only started up 10 years