Social Items

TPQ
Showing posts with label Paddy Mooney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paddy Mooney. Show all posts
Pádraig O Maonaigh ✍ The Padre is an amazing story which cuts through decades of modern Irish history and serves as a piece of literature which vividly describes the journey of a unique man and provides the reader with the greatest of paradoxes otherwise only captured in a far fetched fiction.


If you could only select one book to present to an otherwise uninformed reader on recent Irish history, this book is high on the list. It tells of the post treaty conservative Ireland which created the man, on how the second son who became a priest was exported to the African missions as one of many surplus vocationalists not required by overabundance to minister in Ireland.

Each chapter is set up with an eloquent scene setting which places you within the very surroundings described by the writer. But even without such writing artistry the content itself would keep you reading as it charts through many of the most renowned actions in the IRAs attempt to restore the Republic by force with particular insight into the Libyan dimension.

The great contradictions of Fr Patrick Ryan the son, the priest and the dedicated missionary who could achieve great things if allowed to work autonomously, is contrasted with the man who in applying exactly the same skill set could enable a guerilla war which included operations that went badly wrong and claimed civilian casualties, innocents and victims at odds with Christian morality. Ryan is a truly unrepentant militant Nationalist more so than a Republican idealist, a man clearly gifted with great intelligence and absolute resolve.

What becomes apparent as you read through the decades of his life is that he was comparable to a Lone Wolf operator and this is precisely how he was so effective, elusive and trusted by the network of contacts he would keep at arms length including IRA leaders, members and the plethora of secret service agencies who pursued him. The fact that he could not operate under the authority of others was evident in his lack of subordination to either of the two biggest impacting organisations in the history of Ireland, the Church and the IRA.

A highly recommended book which reveals yet more evidence of the early trajectory of the running down of the IRA by the Northern Leadership while revealing an inside story on the Provisionals' international dimension. A book that's hard to put down.

Jennifer O'Leary, 2023, The Padre: The True Story of the Irish Priest who armed the IRA with Gaddafi’s Money. Merrion. ISBN-13: 978-1785374616.

⏯Pádraig O Maonaigh is a social justice activist.

The Padre

Pabby Mooney 🔖answers thirteen questions in Booker's Dozen. 

 Reading Aloud And Allowed


TPQ: What are you currently reading?

PM: Southside Provisional by Kieran Conway. I usually devote ninety per cent of reading time to books written by figures in Irish history.
 
TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

PM: Best is The Body by Stephen King. Worst - Gerry Adams Hope And History as I only enjoy harmless fiction. 

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child?

PM: The Body by Stephen King in teen years and The Famous Five as a younger child. Enjoyed many of the Irish mythical legends which I repurchased and read to my own children. Children like adventure I suppose. 

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

PM: Enid Blyton

TPQ: First book to really own you.

PM: The Outsiders by SE Hinton. 


TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

PM: Stephen King 📑 Kisten Hannah 

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

PM: Fact these days as I mostly read books by figures in history. But facts are absolute, and personal accounts can be subjective so I suppose you've got to be applying your own filters too. 

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you.

PM: Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary. Few cannot admire the resolute and principled position of the man. His projections of where Provisionalism would go were so accurate because he'd seen it all before. The vision of Éire Nua was never fully embraced and the irony in the smear of him going from a sop to unionism to hard-line dissident is laughable. 

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

PM: No interest in reading anything promoting the British Colonial system or Monarchy. Where could you start? Plain Tales From The British Empire by Charles Allen or anything up that street. The psychological damage gained wouldn't be worth the insight into the thinking. 

TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you.

PM: Ninety per cent of all I read is politically or socially based. I really enjoyed Bandit Country by Toby Harnden and admire the close knit fabric of South Armagh and the generational resistance within the DNA. There's a great line in there that the only bandits around here are the British army.


TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

PM: Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words to my wife who loves the genius and tragedy of the character

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

PM: One I have yet to read but will once I finish what I'm on. On The Brinks by Sam Millar and I think this may happen. 

TPQ: The just must - select one book you simply have to read before you close the final page on life.
 
PM: The Truth by Gerry Adams 👀. Perhaps as that curtain draws I'll say the bible but all joking aside maybe A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawkin or something to stimulate continuous curiosity to ask the big man. Looking forward to getting hold of The Yank by John Crawley soon too.


Paddy Mooney is an Independent
Socialist Republican Activist.

Booker's Dozen 📚 Paddy Mooney

Paddy Mooney ✒ discusses the Covid protests with Anthony McIntyre.

AM: There was a march in Dublin at the weekend organised by the Campaign For Truth And Proper Health Care. One estimate put it at around 700. I passed it and felt it was closer to 1000. You helped put it together so I’m wondering why you thought it a worthwhile exercise.

PM: Ironically, as the restrictions were eased on Saturday, it’s no longer an issue to be an "organiser". Had they not eased I would have corrected you on that point as charges have been brought on people for allegedly doing just that.

The march was planned since Christmas time looking into the New Year and a continuation of the restrictive policies in place, particularly since the introduction of the Covid cert.

We would place the number in attendance far higher than reported. But to answer the question - we do not see an easing of restrictions as satisfying our objectives. Those objectives are the outright abolition of all restrictions and the emergency powers vested in the Health Minister.

AM: Frequently, these events are depicted as a right-wing attempt to manufacture bias. You are anything but right-wing. The evening prior to the march you gave up your time to go out on union activity with me in defence of employees being denied rights. And you have a socialist republican history. How in your view has this far right characterisation come about and what difficulties does it present for mobilising on what you feel is the core question – one of rights?

PM: If you look pre-Covid we had the emergence of anti-establishment right-wing groups in the country. Yellow vests, The National Party, The IFP. These were supplemented by an alternative right-wing media, something which appeared to copy British and American versions. They existed predominantly to focus on immigration and topics ranging from fundamental Christianity to very conspiratorial topics. These were prime and fertile grounds to embrace Covid 19.

My analysis of the mishandling of the country through Covid was based on quantifiable inconsistencies such as how those we knew we had to protect (the elderly) were treated in care homes. Then the introduction of mask mandates, then the Covid cert. My politics didn't change.

A vacuum emerged where questioning the narrative was concerned and this was filled by these right-wing groups. It wasn't until March 2021 where I could see middle ground and left-wing activists emerging. This is when I first considered becoming active on this issue. And its incumbent on anyone with a social justice outlook to offer an analysis and direction and look at the effects of lockdowns and discrimination on ordinary working class people.

The working class always bear the brunt both socially and economically. And I believe objective analysis will support this view in the months and years ahead. The biggest transfer of wealth and reduction in rights occurred during this time. To not look at this from a worker’s perspective is an utter failure of the left.

We looked to offer a non-ideological middle ground on this issue, citing rights as fundamental and clear the noise of left and right politics. Clearly, many moderate right and left-wingers identified with our outlook. We also played a vital role in countering far right ideas on the ground while others who shout from the sidelines did nothing.

It’s important we maintain that space otherwise another vacuum emerges. To be clear too, not everyone charged as far right in my experience actually is. I observed a number of throwaway terms used throughout the last two years which created a dehumanising effect, which is always a breeding ground for hate.

AM: Most people seem willing to regard the powers as some form of necessary intrusion or inconvenience. With the receding of the powers (for now) did the march organisers not jump the shark? It certainly did not look as big as the 27 November one which I also passed and I am wondering if you think that is down to the issue no longer being perceived as being so pressing?

PM: We were very happy with the numbers and the vibrancy of those who turned out on January the 22nd. I think it's fair to say if it had been the previous weekend, it would have been huge, off the back of discussions on Mandates. After 2 years of Covid, and constant bombardment with doom and demonisation from the media, it’s understandable the intensity would wane on the day restrictions eased as people were given a break that didn't appear remotely likely just one week previous.

The thing is, you cannot react to every announcement of government. We've had very conflicting directives for two, sometimes in the same day: so we must be confident in our outlook and conduct our campaign with a clear strategy to oppose undemocratic decrees and definitively discriminatory segregation.

Restrictions on people's liberties and freedoms must as a minimum be proportional to the risk. The 26 County state was one of the harshest on its citizens for restrictions. And as the scandal of children sitting in a class room with windows open wearing masks continues there's an obvious absurdity to tackle.

As the crowd on Saturday made clear, there is no trust in the regime in Leinster House with such sweeping powers. Our focus is on campaigning to abolish mask mandates, stopping the extension of emergency powers and a holding to account of those in authority. We have always and will always uphold the rights of people who freely consent to wear masks and seek vaccination.

AM: My abiding memory of the protest is one of being accosted by religious nutters as I passed it. They weren’t at the march but when a captive audience appears the sandwich board men will prowl for somebody to inflict Jesus on. The march organisers can’t be blamed for that. But there is a wider tendency to look over the history of the anti-vaccination movement and see religious wackos and right wingers heavily involved in it. Do you think there is a danger that your campaign which is not anti-vaccination, but anti mandate, is nevertheless suffering from that perception, which is likely to have a limiting impact on it? Also, although you say there is no trust in the government, I think to the contrary that there is. There seems to be a consensus across the board within Leinster House around restrictions. SF is in favour and is currently the most popular party in the country. I think the most that can be said is that those who turned up last Saturday have no trust but how representative is it? Apart from yourself, I have not talked to anyone opposed to the restrictions who comes at it with a substantive logic. I talk to a wide range of people from the left to the right (something which I think the ethos behind The Pensive Quill also reflects) and if the anti-government sentiment was as pervasive as you suggest I think I would pick up on more of it. In general, I have little interest in the broader theme and for that reason zone out from a lot of the discussion. But I have been approached by people who remind me of the screamers from the republican community who loudly label MI5 and touts anybody disagreeing with them. On this issue they see everything in terms of a grand conspiracy by government, the media and the science community aimed at bamboozling society: they alone know the problem and the solution. You can easily grasp the type of response that is likely to induce.

PM: It's funny who and what goes on with public events, I looked around me at the November the 27th Rally and there was a guy on stilts at the front of the march, others with crass signs of grim reapers and "new world order references": don't know where they came from and don't know where they went. My own view at the time was suspicious" - were these people there to discredit what were very clear principles around rights, truth and equality? I haven't seen much religious or far right stuff other than on social media, as we have asked to leave all that aside. These distractions could be considered as threats to how we are perceived though we resonate a very simple message continuously which gets through well I believe and I don't think it has impacted the Campaign for Truth and Proper Healthcare in recent times.

There is no trust in government among the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people impacted by the discriminatory Covid cert. Of that I'm quite certain. If we want to take a snapshot of trust in government's approach to restrictions, we can look at the Dail vote which passed the indoor dining legislation. It was voted in favour 74 to 68 and that's within the Dail, So much apathy was present and parties like SF and PBP maintain in correspondence that they were not in favour of mandates or Covid certs though our issue is they did nothing beyond those votes to protect those positions. Many of the impacts on society from these policies are not apparent to the middle or upper class as they have adapted to remote working. Many in lower paid jobs didn't necessarily feel it due to PUP payments but many others felt hardship and isolation not to mention fear. It’s easier to see this week how happy people are to see the easing of restrictions.

I never subscribed to conspiracy theories. They were distractions from the issue of what was actually happening to people here. People were being divided by a digital authenticator. To regain equality you had to consent to a medical intervention which you didn't want. That is coercion. A good way to highlight the level of coercive intent is to ask why didn't the government here allow a third option in the form of testing to access goods and services? European and British controlled regions did this. Leo Varadkar stated very clearly late last year that vaccines hadn't proven very effective at stopping transmission but very effective at driving up vaccine rates. Nobody should be comfortable with this. With the money spent on digital certs its difficult to imagine it's the last we have heard of them particularly given this isn't the first incarnation of them (The Public Services card).

Our position on the discriminatory nature of Covid certs was recently vindicated by Fianna Fail TD Willie O Dea and the ICCL. Of all the claims made against the vaccine free cohort only one continued to be levelled into January and that was the over representation of vaccine-free in ICU and this has been shown to be a classification sleight of hand.

AM: But the right rather than the left has long been associated with opposition to public health measures. And they usually come at it from an individualist position rather than a collective one. Prior to Covid the strongest criticism of vaccinations has been from the right. So, there is no surprise that they will hitch their wagon to the type of campaign you try to push. I have found it in the anti-censorship debates – we can end up campaigning around the issues that the right are also engaged with. In fact, I think the free speech issue has been taken up by the right while the Left has been defending censorship, no platforming, cancel culture. Do you see comparisons?

I doubt it is possible to create non-ideological space and clear the left-right noise. By you coming at it from a Left perspective militates against that. You are not some Left winger who has decided to leave your leftism at the door of the campaign, but have sought to bring that leftism to the campaign. The right will of course do the same. So, rather than a non-ideological space, you have a contested ideological space. In this sense can you explain something of the “vital role in countering far right ideas on the ground."? I think this often goes under the radar and the work in this field needs to be shown not concealed.

There is also a need to avoid sloganizing. And the left do look at it from what you call a worker’s perspective. And most workers approve of the measures. I know from the trade union movement that the whole thrust is from a worker’s perspective. There is a massive amount of left-wing literature outlining such a perspective. I think it is possible to argue that the Left has called it wrong but much less so to insist that is has done so from a perspective that is not one of workers. In this sense the Left would reject a characterisation that it has utterly failed.

I think it is all too easy to label people fascist: I was struck by something Brendan O’Neill once wrote – fascist as a term has lost much of its meaning and has become a new way of calling someone a bastard.

PM: My views and that of the Campaign group are not one and the same in terms of analysing from a left perspective. So, to be clear, I also subscribe to leaving ideology at the door but that doesn't change me. It only means I'm not pushing my politics on others who may be fairly politically naive or indeed politically opposed.

There are a lot of identifiable left wing people involved but it's agreed that we don't approach it in that manner. That can be achieved in other avenues. We agree that this issue is rights based.

The concept and basis of the collective good in this was always characterised as support for restrictive actions to protect the public health of the broad mass. I too was not opposed to that at the very outset based on absolute risk and proportionality.

That view wasn't compatible with objective analysis of Lockdowns. They caused huge economic and health damage not to mention social damage. I always believed the at-risk should have been protected but disagreed on how it was being done.

Anything after the first lockdown was unnecessary. I believe the collective good was not served by further restrictions.

I don't believe the left view is dismissive of individual rights either, clearly seen in the 8th amendment which ironically the right see as an argument for the second entity (the unborn). There can be huge paradoxes for ideologues.

Vaccination is well accepted to have been of huge benefit to humanity: not this one in my view. Look at the revision in the UK on Covid deaths, slashed from 152,000 down to 17,000 on review. So public health measures were implemented on false figures. This is where the truth argument comes in.

The Covid vaccines are not within the classical definition of a vaccine. They didn't immunize, they didn't stop transmission nor did they prevent death and severe disease. I always accepted that they had short term severe illness benefit but not at no cost. They also carried risk. So the collective good argument wasn't upheld and brought declining one down to an individual rights issue as the narrative persisted with pressure.

Sadly I saw little evidence of the left in Ireland do anything other than promote vaccine uptake or indeed push harsher lockdown ideas like the zero Covid concept. They campaigned for workers' health on a one ticket only basis - vaccines.

My issue began before vaccines were released because lockdown ignored all normal public health procedure and adopted the Chinese solution rather than the normal pandemic response, but that's a question for the WHO which must be questioned.

I agree with your observation on censorship but I think those being censored will always be in favor of free speech.

On countering the far right, we countered it in messaging, debates and in person. We would see fascistic language like "pure bloods" and patriots etc and try and eliminate it where it grew by offering another analysis to follow. We opposed parties joining our protests, we shutdown attempts to distribute right wing Nationalist literature at our rallies, we opposed platforming some speakers all to the extent that we were literally taking fire from both the left and the right. We have been labelled communists and controlled opposition by the far right so we must have made some impact on their programme.

The problem with over using a term is its devalued which I think you have highlighted but it's use then becomes trivialised. In the past any moves to control the movements of people, coerce them to do things against their will, segregate them, label and dehumanise them would all fit a fascist profile. In this case these were all done by governments aided by the major left wing groups.

So I can agree with you that, the left has supported restrictions by virtue of believing it to be of the collective good.

Though, you cannot apply such measures with absolutely new technology and claim it's in the common good without a holistic review of all component parts and that can only be done when all the cows come home. The difference for me is I took another view than the majority, one I'm convinced is correct.

AM: Where now for the campaign? People like me feel it will be drained of momentum given that Covid seems to be getting much weaker and the restrictions are being reduced. I suppose if a point is reached where there are zero restrictions, you might feel the campaign would then have zero purpose.

PM: It's about zero potential and not just zero restrictions. Emergency powers must go, they are undemocratic in their application.

The Dáil barely debated the statutory instruments that were introduced and that isn't healthy for a democracy.

I think some really good networks have been formed on this issue that will remain in place until all restrictions are totally removed and I can see discussions then continuing on reorganising towards the other endemic issues in society like the homeless situation, housing, poverty, and holding power to account, some of the issues many of us are already active on. Those topics will surely be less divisive.


Paddy Mooney is an Independent
Socialist Republican Activist.

In Quillversation ✑ Covid Restrictions

Paddy Mooney ✒ This is the third article on this broad topic. I didn’t think id be writing a trilogy when I wrote the first - "Covid Passports" One Step Too Far - and I’ll keep this short. For context see Left Lockdown Sceptic In Ireland.

I will be attending the Rally for Truth and Proper Healthcare on Saturday the 27th in Dublin. I never attended any Yellow Vest Rally styled to contest the same issue because as a person who identifies as an Irish Republican and Socialist the gap was too wide for me given the association of Far right and Conspiracy theory, much of which was groundless. Many of the same people who attend YV rallies will be in the Rally this week, because the issue is the same and few look so deep into the organisers.

I aligned myself with the Peoples Convention who launched a Peoples Movement active to oppose discrimination as the name categorizes “Truth and Proper Healthcare”. I attended Rallies in Cork and supported the non-ideological format because the ultimate issue transcends ideology and focuses on civil and human rights.

What this now boils down to when you strip away all the noise is simple. Do you support or oppose discrimination? We have discussed the Science and the morality to death at this point and the facts are there for discussion but we are onto something deeper now. There's little to be gained by re-visiting the quagmire. My position is clear, I am pro-choice. I support the right to receive a vaccine based on individual choice. The flawed and contentious argument that somehow those who decline the treatment are a threat to those who receive it rumbles on and produces State driven discrimination which all should oppose regardless of confidence in the treatment.

I’ve spent most of my adult life studying class consciousness and Republican history. I am acutely aware of the external dominance imprinted on our national psyche and of the unfinished revolution. A diverse range of identity exists on our island none of which are materially significant to this crisis.

I must appeal to the reader to reset objectivity on this topic and revisit it on these binary grounds:

Do you believe in bodily autonomy?

Do you believe in Civil liberty?

Do you believe in Human rights?

Do you believe in opposing discrimination?

If you have answered yes to all the above then how can you reconcile the narrative that accuses people who adhere rigidly to the fundamental medical principal of informed consent of selfishness when we know that the vaccines are available to all freely and definitively do not stop transmission?

Have you fallen into the mob mentality being unceremoniously championed by the political establishment which all critical thinkers can attest is deeply associated with corruption in government?

Ask yourself again, do you oppose discrimination?

Paddy Mooney is an Independent
Socialist Republican Activist.

Binary Questions

Paddy Mooney ✒ is highly sceptical of the measures being used to tackle Covid-19.

 I've found a minority within a minority it seems in Ireland; many like minds on the topic but few who come from the same ideological viewpoint. 

To challenge my own position on Covid, the "Far right" and the Republican left approach I take three quotes from a left republican compass, James Connolly.

Don't be 'practical' in politics. To be practical in that sense means that you have schooled yourself to think along the lines, and in the grooves that those who rob you would desire you to think.

Applied to Ireland right now, it's clear that we are only thinking along establishment lines around Covid. Perspective and alternative views which exist in abundance both domestically and internationally are not circulated for our consumption, creating a taboo subject matter.

Under a socialist system every nation will be the supreme arbiter of its own destinies, national and international; will be forced into no alliance against its will, but will have its independence guaranteed and its freedom respected by the enlightened self-interest of the socialist democracy of the world.

It’s clear we do not arbitrate on our own affairs, that we are relegating our autonomy over the condition of our people to compromised entities like the WHO, the EU and Global corporations.

Ireland, as distinct from her people, is nothing to me; and the man who is bubbling over with love and enthusiasm for "Ireland," and can yet pass unmoved through our streets and witness all the wrong and the suffering, shame and degradation wrought upon the people of Ireland-yea, wrought by Irishmen upon Irish men and women, without burning to end it, is, in my opinion, a fraud and a liar in his heart, no matter how he loves that combination of chemical elements he is pleased to call Ireland.

It’s clear that we are not looking after the interests of our people. We have lazily left that to “experts” who remain largely unchallenged in the media who were undemocratically awarded power in our country, some with track records that any normal society would have brought to task. It seems we have learned nothing from Tuam, nothing from the cervical smear scandal, nothing from the Swine flu “Pandemic” and nothing from the many instances of bias journalism which perpetuates endemic corruption in Ireland.

Context must be observed in any unpacking of quotes. This is an imperative to respect the source. My understanding of Connolly is that he was a Socialist, a true Patriot (a word appallingly devalued by some) and a family man. To me a true example. This article does not predict what Connolly’s perspective on today would be but it asks to start a conversation on the full picture of Covid and its effects and cost on Society.

I once read a line which stated that Society without an opposition is a totalitarian nightmare. There is no opposition in Leinster House and none so far on the Republican left in any significant way on this seismically important topic. Clearly the assessment is none is required.

The Sinn Fein leader in the North is quoted as saying she would have “real” and “genuine” concerns from “a human rights perspective” around the implementation of Covid certs to access indoor hospitality or entertainment. Rightly so, given the North has only emerged from a two-tier society and short of its goal of full re-unification. Those with living experience of segregation and discrimination should be leaders in opposing it. After all, attaining civil rights and equality is likely the only trophy in the Sinn Fein cabinet thus far from the GFA.

Yet Sinn Fein in the South are showing no leadership on the same issue. If you contact them, they will respond and tell you they are opposed to unfair and discriminatory legislation, but the suspicion is that their solution will be equal access to such certs rather than the abolition of such certs, as is the stated next phase of the southern coalitions plan. I hope this suspicion is wrong. If its correct, then this doesn’t address the lack of protection for individual autonomy or privacy as they both require acceptance of Covid certs, a vehicle that can be the trojan horse to permanent individual authentication.

Our other representatives of the left in Leinster house between them pursue policies of harsher “Zero Covid” measures and fence sitting politicking. The imperfect 1937 Irish constitution would have prohibited these discriminatory pieces of legislation had it not been effectively suspended by emergency powers.

For 18 months nothing has dominated our lives like Covid so it must be analysed, but has it been analysed objectively by the Republican left? There are two things to assess with Covid, the disease and the effect of the measures to curb the disease. The cure should never be worse.

To measure the disease in Ireland, all-cause mortality is the only metric applicable if we want to quickly get to the root. In a "pandemic”, (remembering Ireland didn't input into that decree, that came from the WHO), you expect significant excess mortality. This is not displayed in CSO data. For 5 years the mortality rates are separated by hundreds, 2018 almost on a par with 2020. The main burden of suffering here was our elderly and the blame for that lies with government.

Covid, never warranted a shutdown of our country. The precedent of that shutdown was set by a regime which may claim to be Marxist but cannot claim to be democratic. Connolly was an internationalist but it’s hard to imagine he would be comfortable with the reach of powers like the WHO which has funding from corporatist entities, and with that, hidden influence on the direction taken toward pharmaceutical solutions based on profit rather than welfare of the working class. There are alternative pharmaceutical solutions with huge amounts of supporting data and real-world use which will not enrich global capitalists that nobody is allowed to speak of such as Ivermectin.

We based all our data off PCR tests run at levels acknowledged internationally by the WHO and the US chief medical advisor to be unreliable at high threshold cycles. In Ireland we use 45 cycles as confirmed under a FOI request by Michael McNamara TD.

Lockdown didn’t prevent significant excess death here; we only need to look at Sweden. A country that compares well with Ireland in terms of mortality, has returned to pre-Covid economic activity and has done so without lockdown and masks. To look at Sweden now, Sweden has had almost a month without Covid deaths and that’s without dividing their people and imposing curtailment of freedoms and civil liberties.

I believe that the Republican left has been blinded from objective assessment because they, rightly, assume no scientific or medical authority and because it’s been, to date, cast as a cult topic led by the bogeymen of "the far right". I am not trivialising the damage that can be done by far-right growth but it’s easy to dismiss the issues at hand by using labels which do not cover the substance of the real problem.

For those in strong Covid resilient employment like those employed by the State, those employed in big tech and big pharma, restrictions have been inconvenient and unpleasant but financially unconcerning. But for the rest it’s been a different story. Those who work in industries which have been affected like small businesses, construction, hospitality have been kept, just, by PUP supports which are not a gift and are open to assessment. Such supports are to be reduced and retired with guarantees of returning to their previous employment source. There are Garda checkpoints setup to catch people working on PUP payments sent by the committees of the rich. Who will it be that pays back the 50 billion borrowed to create the Covid industry and all the golden circles that hang off it if it isn’t the working class? Will it be austerity or a different financial model completely that addresses that debt?

The real health pandemic is yet to come, that of missed appointments for the full array of chronic conditions found in a population. Why did we not see a significant increase in our ICU capacity since March 2020. The youth who suffered through disrupted education and little to no social outlets including sports are now expected to conform to unnecessary risk in taking vaccines which are on emergency use authorisation with flippant regard to their informed consent, remembering this was to protect the elderly who have now all been offered a vaccine. It’s simply not good enough to not stand and oppose these injustices because of the bogeymen of the far right.

Far-right Influence

When the last big anti-establishment movement was active (Right to water campaign) there really was no far right. That tag had been applied to loyalists of the orange state or the 1930s Blueshirts but little in-between. On that occasion people were cast as Trotskyists and or thugs by the establishment as it sought to install its double taxation water meters. It was inaccurate then just as being cast as a fascist sympathiser or conspiracy theorist is now. Far left political organisations sought a support base in the water charges movement just as Far right organisations do the anti-lockdown movement but its not yet anywhere near as organised. In fact you can find many of the same ordinary people opposed to lockdowns as opposed water charges which helps to understand comments previously made by Leo Varadkar where he claimed he couldn’t tell the difference between the far left and far right.

The global nature of Covid has given oxygen to conspiracy theory and that has been a convenient distraction to assist in the passage of the shocking mistreatment of our people since March 2020. A smoke and mirrors game is played with the truth by the establishment through the media with misleading numbers inflicting a fear on the population. Misinformation exists on both sides without question.

The IFP are the most prominent group. They have attracted many contributions to their events from mainstream public life in the past like George Hook and former Irish diplomat Ray Bassett. They have lost the talents of Ben Scallan but acquired the membership of Doctor Pat Morrissey. They are certainly accused of being far-right, but they have not displayed such tendencies in relation to this topic. They are unlikely to shake the association with Farage and UKIP though.

There are, however, other basket cases out there who seek the same support base, the National Party, and the curious case of Siol na HÉireann. Both these entities look to me like deliberately inserted constructs of division. These are the mad hatters that we can call the far right. It's hard to know who pulls their strings but it's clear who benefits from their existence, the establishment.

I've seen little of their presence, and they appear roundly isolated among protestors. Few are interested in such divisive and uneducated rhetoric around immigration and the restoration of theocratic control. There does exist a toxic alt-right media which needs to be countered so I do not dismiss the presence of a far-right movement, but reality needs to be cast on its influence. I'd place support for such views in the hundreds, nationally, and certainly not anything like a majority of people who have become active in opposing lockdowns here.

The best way to combat this curious new element in Irish anti-establishment politics is to seize that space by distributing the left republican analysis of the effects of lockdown and new undemocratic social controls. The big mistake is to misrepresent the majority as far right or conspiracy theorists. They are in there, but they are the 5%. History in Ireland tells us that within that 5% there are always state players.

When 12,000 people marched through Dublin on the 24th of July, they didn't March for Yellow vests, or right-wing nationalism or UFOs. They marched because they feel threatened. For the first time the crowd was largely non-partisan and seeds of a popular protest seem to be growing. For the first time consideration in attending isn’t inconceivable. To date I have supported protests organised in Cork as the organisers there are coming from a left republican position though the crowds are not clearly ideological.

Protestors are active because they feel threatened: threatened by government lies, corruption, constitutional breaches and medical coercion which is now targeting under 18s who are statistically not at risk. Many feel society is veering away from democracy and the emergence of authoritarian rule. Like it or not, technology is being extended into your validation as a citizen via green passports and many see this as a departure from normal boundaries. There is a genuine fear that emergency laws brought in under Covid resemble enabling laws of 1930s Germany. Assurances for humanity born out after the Nuremberg trials are often cited.

My fear is that the void of left republican analysis gives a platform to these new right-wing groups for their “other” politics. The protest movement as it is, seeks broader direction. They have been failed by establishment politics but this time there is no opposition or voice save for a small few independents with integrity, the Tobins, and McNamaras of this world inside the chambers of democracy - and the leadership and activism of Diarmuid O Cadhla, a left Republican in Cork, outside of Leinster House.

If we apply socialist logic to this topic and do so in a purely public health way, I can see that the assessment has been that solidarity of the people is through adhering to public health advice and trusting science.

This is a gamble which I believe has neglected the overall condition of the broad body of people, the working class. The science that supports neoliberal government actions, global media reporting and Tech giants worrying hold over people is that which they have trusted.

It's long past time for the Republican left to awaken on this. Our people are being segregated; minorities created all on the words of the very entities left republicans have always opposed.

If you want to find fascists look no further than NPHET and the Irish government who are restricting freedoms and dividing people.

History is always being written and this chapter is not yet complete but as of yet the only record of the Republican left here is its lack of leadership and its trust in power.

 
Supporting documentation:


Paddy Mooney is an Independent
Socialist Republican Activist.

Left Lockdown Sceptic In Ireland

Paddy Mooney ✒ Since Monday the 12th of April 2021 Irish Civil Society has arrived at a dangerous junction. 

For the first time that I can remember I have witnessed the introduction of an overtly discriminatory practice deemed enforceable by law on this side of the border other than the Special Criminal Court.

A reality not lost on me is how little we learn from recent history in relation to Civil rights on this island given how we largely watched on in disgust at almost a century of inequality beyond the border. The current government policy on Covid restrictions has broken dangerously regressive ground in Civil rights and equality.

Introducing S. I. 168 The Government of 26 counties in Ireland gave preference to people who had received a vaccine against covid-19 over those who had not. This preference was minor and mostly insignificant, but it has set a precedent, and nobody should be in any doubt where the destination is intended to be and it’s no longer forgivable to stay silent and not at least challenge this as a democratic right.

Vaccine passports have been well telegraphed and will create a two-tier society if allowed. To remove yourself from exclusion from events and services including travel you must agree to be vaccinated, this is simply not a free choice as it's loaded with consequence.

So why the hesitation to be vaccinated? Well for a start anything that comes in a coercive manner really does announce itself with questions and hesitancy. The development of a vaccine was almost universally desirable to us all as we feared the unknown and by all account’s deadly pandemic in March 2020, so what's changed?

Well, quite a lot has changed, and a lot of issues have surfaced which have offered no satisfactory explanations. The natural human instinct of empathy has always been to place human wellbeing at the highest point above all else. Upon learning about the catastrophic numbers of deaths in the care homes among resident’s it’s understandable if your comprehension is challenged as to how exactly we were led in the protection of the vulnerable? So why did government policy lead to the demise of the biggest risk group to Covid? That question remains despite numerous calls from TD Peadar Tobin to hold a public enquiry.

The revelation by HSE and NPHETs Cillian De Gascun that PCR tests are being run at a level widely recognised to produce unreliable results leaves the question as to why? Regardless of alternatives like Rapid antigen testing why run your "gold standard test" at cycles known to produce erroneous results if indeed PCR is a method consistent with a Gold standard.

To discover that public health policy which is headed by the controversial Dr. Tony Holohan, (a man with a name synonymous in the cervical cancer scandal) through the unelected group which, for all intents and purposes runs the country (NPHET) was based on data produced from these unreliable tests really sowed seeds of mistrust in NPHET. However, the wave of hysteria in society about the virus kept most concerned onlookers compliant and the rest it seems uninformed. The revelation out of the mouth of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar that the Covid death count in Ireland includes people who both succumbed to the Virus and those who had tested positive prior to death offers substance to mistrust on the true numbers recorded, a point further supported this week by Mayo Coroner Patrick O Connor in his article in the British news agency The Times.

The 180-degree U turn on masks was an interesting development, which didn't offer any ground-breaking science which explained why the Public health advice changed from no masks to all out masks over the summer in 2020 when infections had fallen. The topic of masks became so divisive that there is little to be gained in revisiting it other than to point out that they do have serious consequences for at least some people who wear them which really shouldn’t be dismissed in both physical and phycological senses.

It's been evident for some time that government health policy has placed all its focus and most of its resources on Covid-19. It’s done this despite covid being only an element in national mortality and nowhere near the biggest. Mental health services, cancer treatments and other serious contributors of mortality have been largely ignored and in doing so placing covid deaths as the only national disaster. For other illness like cancer, deaths appear to be less significant news. To add further pain and anxiety all families have endured restricted services to pay respects to those whom they have lost from any illness, truly nothing is left unaffected.

Lockdowns have divided families, destroyed incomes, separated devout Christians from sacraments and contributed to extreme anxiety in people as they grapple with fear of death and fear of infecting vulnerable people, although its more and more difficult to see fear of succumbing to Covid in people. There is only one class of people who pay for everything and it’s the worker, the insurmountable debt being accrued will leave us a very long time in hindsight much like the great banking crisis but most likely much, much worse.

So fast forward to the emergence of vaccines, given the word coming from major Covid alarmists that the recovery rate without a vaccine is still 97 to 99% depending on who you’re listening to and that we had by now established the three risk groups being the elderly, the obese and those already suffering from at least one or more serious illness which affects the immune system. Safe vaccines are surely a great addition to resolving this crisis for those in the risk groups or those inclined to do so as a form of insurance. Unfortunately to date no vaccine can claim to prevent transmission so the argument that asks you to take one to save others is void. In fact, why don’t we introduce the social guilt to people who are championing vaccines about those who have died from them? Surely its fair game?

On the question of safety, public opinion seems to be tipped towards they are safe, yet nobody can confirm this as they are still in stage 3 trials and authorised under emergency use and without manufacturer liability. These points are staggering if you consider how aggressive the rhetoric is around trusting them and full approval is not expected until 2023.

So, is it reasonable to coercively apply pressure to people to take these vaccines? If you are to answer from a purely free will and bodily autonomy perspective then no, this must be individual choice and come without penalty. It’s actually quite difficult to believe that this topic is real when you consider that it can be argued that the vaccine which is a new unknown entity is more of a risk to people outside the established risk groups than the virus itself. To attempt to Mandate vaccines by the backdoor through green certificates is surely an abuse of your right to bodily autonomy a soundbite synonymous with the 8th amendment. Nobody seems aware or wants to talk about alternatives to vaccines either in the form of safe treatments or simple supplements.

So, on Monday the 12th we had an official commitment to diverge on equality. An idea unacceptable if applied to anything else. The ability to implement such a directive is contingent alone upon the existence of an emergency for it’s within this emergency that S. I. 168 has been introduced and can suspend normal constitutional rights. All-cause mortality for 2020 does not support pandemic status and the introduction of Statutory Instruments without referring to the people is extremely undemocratic.

Given how, we've been made to accept masks, distancing, lockdowns, and financial ruin we cannot be accused of recklessness towards the vulnerable who ironically are normally left to rot on trolleys every other year by government. But discrimination in the form of passports is too far and cannot be acceptable.

For many years I've heard the saying about being on the right side of history. It was a saying which pointed at the ills of fascist Spain, Italy, and Germany. I've always understood which was the right side and always will but being against fascism and not noticing the top-down enforcement of behaviour over the last 14 months and the suspension of rights seen as fundamental leading us to this take it or suffer scenario just feels very wrong. Forget all the division around Lockdown, around masks and vaccines but spare us one hurdle please.

No to vaccine passports. 

Paddy Mooney is an Independent
Socialist Republican Activist.

"Covid Passports" One Step Too Far

Paddy Mooney shares his thoughts on the conditioning of capitalism.

The Unmentionable Six

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)