British Army out of QUB

British Army out of QUB

A protest against the British Army presence in QUB has been organised by the Republican Congress Student Society. Having already held a public meeting regarding the murderous reality of Imperialism throughout the world the Republican Congress has now decided to take to the streets to protest against the Imperialists active on our campus. The protest will assemble in front of QUB Students Union and then proceed to confront the Imperialists.
The fact that the RIR is regularly allowed recruiting stalls on campus and that the British Army's Officer Training Corps is allowed society status in the college demands action. Murdered Irish, Afghan and Iraqi people demand that socialists, radicals and republicans help build a campaign to have these murderers kicked off campus.

Join the Protest against Imperialists!
British RIR out of QUB!
British OTC out of QUB!
British Murderers out of QUB!

Assemble in front of QUB Students Union
Wednesday 26th October
7pm

Scottish Workers Republic - Latest Edition

Hi All

The latest edition of the Scottish Workers Republic the journal for the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement is now available for purchase. This is a bumper 32 page post election special and articles include The Crisis of Capitalism: Towards a Republican Scotland - Gerry Cairns, Cultural Imperialism - Eric Canning, Lessons From the Tragedy in Libya - Peter Urban, On The Brink - Brian Quail, Hono...uring the Scots who Fought Franco - Stephen Coyle, James Connolly 1868-1916 An Unrepentant Socialist - Dr James D Young (this is a taster for his forthcoming book which will be in print soon), There is an article by Jim Clayson which looks at the possibility that he has uncovered another lost work by Robert Burns titled "To Lord Chief Justice Eyre" as well as an article relating to the Proscripton Act of 1746 which was written by Alexander MacDonald 1700-1770 who joined the Jacobite Army in 1745 and was appointed to teach Gaelic to Charles Edward Stuart. The poem is in Gaelic and English.

This edition has lots lots more, buy your copy now £3 + P+P from the SRSM, P.O. BOX 16887, GLASGOW, G11 9EP , SCOTLAND. Please make cheques / postal orders out to SRSM, payment can also be made via PAYPAL our payment address is -

info@scottishrepublicansocialistmovement.org

UK postage is £1, Europe £2, Rest of the World £3

John MacLean: In Memory

Hi All,
new article now available to be read at the SRSM website on the link below.This article was written by Peter Berresford Ellis in 1973 and has featured in a few publications over the years.

http://scottishrepublicansocialistmovement.org/SRSMArticlesJohnMacLeanInMemory.aspx

Enjoy reading

(Peter Berresford Ellis)

Fifty years ago 40,000 Scots followed the funeral cortege of the Scottish Marxist and Labour Leader, John MacLean, to Eastwood Cemetery, Glasgow. Today few Scots remember MacLean, yet he is acclaimed by Socialists of all groups. It is strange, therefore that there is notone volume of MacLean's essays or lectures currently in print, and that few people know just what this Scottish patriot and Marxist stood for. There is not even a biography of the man who was a close friend, of Larkin and Connolly, and who was regarded by Lenin and Trotsky as one of the most important Socialists that the nations of these islands, ever produced. The man who was honoured by the Soviet Russian Government as early as 1918. There is hardly another revolutionary whose work has been more thoroughly buried than that of MacLean, and whose character has been more successfully assassinated.

MacLean, a schoolteacher by profession, devoted himself to teaching working men Marxist economics; and his classes, which he began in 1906, laid the foundation for the Scottish Labour College. When the 1914 War began he denounced it as on imperialist war, as Lenin and Connolly were to do. His denunciation lost him his Job as a teacher. In September 1915 he launched his own newspaper, "Vanguard”, which ran to only five issues before it was suppressed. In October 1915 - MacLean was arrested and imprisoned for sedition under the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA). In February 1916 he was again arrested, and on April the 11th was sentenced to three years' penal servitude, large scale demonstrations led by prominent Socialists of the day led to his release fifteen months later. Connolly, in the very last issue of "The Workers' Republic," also demanded MacLean’s release. MacLean had become known to Irish Socialists through the columns of Connolly's newspapers, and had paid a number of visits to Ireland before 1916. He was “an old friend” of Connolly, who also had been born and brought up in Scotland and began his political life in the Scottish Socialist Movement.

Seamus Reader (1), organiser of the Scottish Brigade of the Irish Volunteers (afterwards the I.R.A.) carried reports to the Irish Military council in Dublin on Scottish conditions during 1916. Connolly, he recalls, was influenced by the state of affairs on "Red Clydeside," and Reader wrote in ‘The Irish in Scotland in 1916’: "Connolly said that Ireland could not wait until 1917 or 1918. John MacLean expected to be arrested in January or February, as he intended demonstrating against the war and conscription. The workers should strike, and those who had guns should use them." When the Easter Rising took place in Dublin, MacLean was still in jail. Along with Lenin, MacLean was one of the few Socialist leaders to hail the rising and to appreciate its importance.

Events were also happening in Russia. Lenin and Trotsky had already acclaimed MacLean, and at the first All Russia Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils in Petrograd (Leningrad), MacLean and Karl Liebnecht were elected honorary presidents of the Soviet Presidium. On February the 1st 1918, on Lenin's instructions, MacLean was appointed Consul for Soviet Affairs covering Scotland and England and Wales. Despite harassment by the Special Branch, MacLean did much work to aid Russian political refugees. But the English Government had, at this time, militarily intervened to smash the young Russian Republic, and on May the 9th 1918, MacLean received a sentence of five years' penal servitude for sedition.

At the trial he mode a magnificent defence speech: "I am a Socialist and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of society for the benefit of all. I am proud of my conduct. I have squared my conscience with my intellect -I am not here, then, as the accused; I am here as the accuser of Capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot!" Again, there were mass demonstrations, and these led to his release on December the 3rd. He immediately stood in a parliamentary by-election, coming second to the official Labour Party candidate.

In May 1920 MacLean relaunched his newspaper, "Vanguard." He began to write numerous articles supporting the Irish struggle and urging Scotsmen, as fellow Gaels, not to be used as tools for murdering their brother Gaelsof Ireland. During this time he published a pamphlet ‘The Irish Tragedy -Scotland' s Disgrace’, which sold 200,000 copies. In this he called for a General Strike and for the withdrawal of English troops in Ireland. MacLean addressed meetings on the Irish question in Ireland, Scotland, and England. He continually urged working class support for the Irish struggle. Orange mobs broke up one meeting in Motherwell. In May 1921 MacLean was again arrested and imprisoned for sedition. He served three months. In September 1921 came yet another arrest, and a sentence of one year. During this time he forced the prison 'authorities to concede him the status of a political prisoner, something never accorded by England, which refuses political status to obviously Political prisoners.

Throughout this time he had been working for the establishment of a Scottish Communist Party aiming at the formation of a Scottish Workers' Republic. Through his association with Connolly and Larkin he had come to the conclusion that national independence was a prelude to social independence, that national and social independence were not conflicting ideals but two parts of one basic democratic ideal; and a few faithful comrades joined him in forming a Scottish Workers' Republican Party early in 1923. MacLean’s Scottish Republicanism had developed during the war years, and perhaps the greatest single influence on the national question was the Irish experience and the teachings of Connolly; but a fellow Scot also had a far-reaching effect on MacLean’s political thinking. This was Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr, a prominent leader of re Gaelic language revival in Scotland, who for years had advocated a Scottish Socialist Republic. Erskine had hailed the Easter Rising and the Russian Revolution; and had taken an anti-war stand.

Those who followed the "British" Communist- Party bitterly attacked MacLean’s Scottish Workers' Republic. They were particularly vicious because of the prestige and influence MacLean had with the workers. They promptly began a character assassination, saying that MacLean had become deranged. In anguish MacLean wrote a famous "Open Letter to Lenin" denouncing his attackers (‘The Socialist’, February 1921). MacLean’s articles and letters right to the time of his death are clear, concise, and theoretically well balanced. In "All Hail, the Scottish Workers' Republic!" (August 1920) MacLean wrote: "For some time past the feeling has been growing that Scotland should strike out for National Independence, as well as Ireland and other lands. This has recently been strengthened by the English Government's intention to rely mainly on Scottish troops to murder the Irish Race. Genuine Scotsmen recently asked themselves the question: 'are we Scots to be used as the bloody tools of the English against our brother Gael of Erin? ' And naturally the instinctive response was- No!"

MacLean went on: "Many Irishmen live in Scotland, and as they are Gaels like the Scots and are out for Irish independence, and as wage earners have been champion fighters for working- class rights. We expect them to ally themselves with us and help us to attain our Scottish Communist Republic, as long as they live in Scotland. Irishmen must remember that Communism prevailed among the Irish clans as among the Scottish clans, so that, in lining up with Scotsmen, they are but carrying, forward the traditions and instincts of the Gaelic race." MacLean began to prepare for an election pending on December the 30th 1923. He was standing as a candidate for his Scottish Workers' Republican Party, which was slowly building its strength; but on November the 30th, 1923, he died... His death at the age of forty-four from pneumonia was attributable to the severe hardships he had suffered during his years of imprisonment.

A number of publications appeared some time after his death. "John MacLean," by Guy Aldred, 1932; Willie Gallagher’s autobiography, "Revolution on the Clyde, " in 1936: "John MacLean" by Tom Bell', in 1944; Emmanuel Shinwell's "Conflict without Malice,"1955. He subscribed to the lie that MacLean had become" unhinged" because he advocated Scottish Independence (2). Only James Clunie, in "The Voice of Labour," printed several of MacLean’s letters written during the years in question, in order to prove that MacLean was in perfectly sound mind. Recently, Walter Kendall’s "The Revolutionary Movement It in Britain, 1900-21" has revealed the full extent of the attempt to discredit MacLean.

Nevertheless, there is still no anthology of MacLean’s works, nor a published biography (though several biographies have been written). It is possible, though, that a biography by MacLean' s daughter, Mrs. Nan Milton, will be issued soon. In recent years the John MacLean Society, of which Mrs. Milton is Secretary, has managed to republish a few of MacLean’s pamphlets (including "The Irish Tragedy -Scotland's Disgrace"). These have contrived to create a certain amount of interest in MacLean and his work.

This year, the fiftieth anniversary of MacLean’s tragic death in 1923," committees are forming to try to publicise more fully his writings. The committees will also seek to raise money for a publishing fund in order to reissue some of MacLean’s pamphlets. The year’s activities will culminate in the unveiling of a memorial to MacLean in Eastwood cemetery in November. It is not without significance that there has long been a memorial to MacLean on the wall of the Kremlin in Moscow. 
(1) Seamus Reader (Seumas Mac Ridire): See Winter 1973 ‘Catalyst' p.17.
(2) Mannie Shinwell, a Glasgow Jew, was later to become, as Lord Shinwell, that caricature of a Socialist - a Labour Peer. 

This article was first published in ‘Rosc Catha’. It was also translated into the Breton magazine ‘Sav Breizh’. Later published in ‘Catalyst’ Autumn 1973, and SWR in 1988.

Weblogs added to SRS News

The following weblog links below have now been added to Scottish Republican Socialist News if you would like your weblog added to SRS News then please email me at redlarry1962@googlemail.com.

Scottish Republican Socialist Newsletter

dawnofliberation.blogspot.com

Scottish Republic

scottishsocfree.blogspot.com

The Breton Connection

thebretonconnection.blogspot.com

The Cornish Republican

thecornishrepublican.blogspot.com

Leanne Wood

leannewoodamac.blogspot.com

IRSP Scotland

irspscotland.wordpress.com

Iskra's Republican Socialist blog

iskra1916.blogspot.com

Scottish Republican Socialist News updated

Just thought I would post here about the new look Scottish Republican Socialist News website.

It is a website that is regularly updated about Scottish events especially republican and socialist but also cultural.

Recently updated are pictures and photos in which some you can click on to get redirected to another site on the image topic.

Also updated are the Scottish Links from tribal Scottish music to Scottish Republican Socialism Movement and John MacLean. There is a link to the SNP majority Scottish Government and The Society of William Wallace.

Any organisation or individual wanting to advertise their event in Scotland on Scottish Republican Socialist News please do not hesitate to email me at redlarry1962@googlemail.com

And the website will get a new domain name next month in which I will advertise widely.

Scottish Republican Socialist News proudly links to SRSM. Again to link to my site please email me.
Slainte
Larry
Scottish Republican Socialist News
http://redstar.webnode.com

"It's 28yrs since the IRSP spoke at a hugerstrike commeration in Belfast."

Tommy McKearney - James Connolly commemoration

Former H-Block hunger strike and IWU organiser Tommy McKearney speaks at éirígí's James Connolly commemoration in Arbour Hill, Dublin, 10 May 2008.

Gerry MacGregor remembered

I had to share this excellent write up Gerry got in Memoriam in Saoirse newspaper of RSF which I have typed until the current edition can be received online.
Slainte
Larry

THE well-known Republican and talented folk singer Gerry MacGregor passed away peacefully in a Glasgow hospital on July 24

Gerry hailed from the village of Duntocher in Dunbartonshire and had Donegal roots. Since his youth he was actively involved in revolutionary politics and embraced the causes of Scottish and Irish freedom and was a committed internationalist.

His heroes were John MacLean, James Connolly and Bobby Sands.

Gerry was actively involved in the Scottish Republican Socialist Party/Movement and was delighted with the landslide SNP victory in the Holyrood elections in May of this year.

Gerry was a regular participant at the annual Republican Sinn Fein 1916 Commemoration in Glasgow on Easter Sunday and attended an Republican Sinn Fein Ard-Fheis several years ago.

The plight of the Republican POWs were never far from his mind and Gerry performed at numerous CABHAIR benefits in support of the prisoners without taking any money. He is best known for his singing and performed for many years after Celtic FC home games in the Tolbooth at Glasgow Cross and also the Tall Cranes in Govan.

His albums include Bobby Sands - The Lark: A Tribute. Scotland Out of Britain - Britain Out of Ireland, I Sure Like Mondays and Your Daughters and Your Sons
Gerry's songs reflected his support for Irish and Scottish liberation, his working class politics and international principles.

He will be sorely missed by the many people who were inspired by his singing and who knew him through the numerous progressive causes he embraced. Sincere sympathy is offered to his partner Karen and family circle.
SAOIRSE Irish Freedom The Voice of the Republican Movement
UIMH 292 LUNASA AUGUST 2011

Giving the SNP a chance to deliver Independence

Nat MSP's fury over tartan extremists

That was the headline for the article about the so-called Scottish Liberation Movement (SLM) which screamed out the Daily Reptile or Daily Record as it is officially known.

What is known about the SLM is little indeed except that they exist on Facebook supposedly although it is not clear how to find them.

In the coming months and years we must be patient and give the SNP a chance to deliver in Government and most importantly an Independence Referendum.

Scotland will get her independence in good time with the support of the majority of the Scottish people.

We must beware about dirty tricks or false flag ships being set up by the British state to try and publicly discredit Scottish nationalism.

Even if a band of Scottish Rebels wanted to hit back at the British state the common sense approach would be not advertise themselves all over Facebook.

However divisions will still happen with some polarization of Scottish society between nationalist and unionist. This is inevitable and happened and exists in Ireland.

In Scotland however we have the opportunity to have a velvet revolution of sorts and the wind of change is in the air. Scottish people are more aware of their culture nowadays especially since Devolution despite it's political limitations.

In Ireland the situation historically has been different with occupation of that country. However we must essentially be cautious about the same divide and rule tactic employed by unionists and the British state.

I do not want to see any more patriots go to jail after being labeled in mock fashion as Tartan extremists by the Brits.

Give the SNP a chance to deliver freedom they have not had such a strong mandate from the Scottish people ever before.
Larry

Free Brendan Lillis campaign video

Free Brendan Lillis campaign video on You Tube