Republican Socialist Youth Movement | Easter Statement 2010
Comrades and friends,
First of all I would like to extend to you a warm welcome here today on behalf of the Republican Socialist Youth Movement, and I would also like to thank the IRSP for giving me the opportunity to address this years Easter commemoration.
Nearly a century ago Irish men and women, boys and girls, set out to break the connection between this country and its imperialist and capitalist rulers. Their sacrifice at Easter Week 1916 continues to inspire young Republicans and socialists all over this island to take up the rebels’ struggle and to finally achieve freedom for this country. But just as important as striving for freedom.. is to define exactly what freedom entails for us. Unfortunately over the years the 1916 rising has been distorted and misrepresented as simply a nationalistic happening, something which is completely untrue and only seeks to undermine the role and revolutionary socialist legacy of James Connolly and what Lenin described as Europe’s first Red Army, the ICA. Let us in the RSYM use this opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to the struggle for both national liberation and socialism, because we know that to divorce one from the other would be to give up the goal of Irish freedom.
It is with great pleasure that I can tell you all here today of the great strides the RSYM has made over the past 12 months. We are active on all issues effecting our class throughout the country and are constantly growing. With the calibre of young Republican Socialists in our ranks I am sure that the cause of labour in Ireland is a safe one indeed. But comrades, now is not a time to rest on our laurels, to reflect on our achievements thus far. Now is a time to look to the future. Many things have come and gone within Republicanism over the last number of decades but one thing has remained a constant, and that is the imperialist occupation and capitalist exploitation of Ireland and her people. With that in mind we must set about our work with a new enthusiasm and a similar dedication to that displayed by the rebels’ of the 1916 Rising.
Comrades, capitalism and imperialism have had their day.
Take a stand and join us in the fight for all that makes life worth living.
Victory to the Republican Socialist Movement and onwards to the Socialist Republic!
