Accumulation and the Irish Crisis

Abstract

From within Ireland and from without, traditional "Republicanism" (pro-United Ireland) is under fire, not only from the right but also from sections of the left. The "Marxist" Official IRA (now Sinn Fein, the Workers Party) began moving away from Republicanism in the early 1970s, causing a split and the formation of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). At the same time, most Official IRA volunteers left it to form the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The new analysis of the Officials and others de-emphasized British imperialism and the repressive role of the Northern Irish state. They called upon anti-state forces in Ireland—the Irish Republican Army and the INLA—to lay down their guns, forget Republicanism, and "build class unity."

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