14 May 2011
The Communist Party of Ireland condemns the preparations being made to welcome the representative of the British monarchy to Ireland.
The purpose of this visit—and it has been said explicitly—is to write “finish” to the centuries-long struggle of the Irish people for national sovereignty and democracy. It is a carefully organised symbolic act. Ireland’s unresolved national question is to remain unresolved. All the bourgeois parties are agreed that the shameful, impoverished wreck of the Irish republic that we inhabit today is as much as we are entitled to, or should aspire to.
The most offensive aspect of this affair is the grovelling towards the institution of monarchy. While growing numbers of people in England see the need to rid themselves of this embarrassing relic of privilege and backwardness, the Redmondite Irish elite and their media sycophants are applauding and celebrating it.
Monarchy—the most undemocratic form of government since the era of slavery—should not be celebrated or hailed but should be condemned and reviled. Instead we have been treated to a systematic softening-up process, orchestrated by RTE and the other “national” media, beginning with a state visit from a casino-owner “prince,” followed by a Hollywood-style “royal wedding” broadcast live in Ireland.
The English monarchy remains a powerful symbol of privilege and an effective source of false consciousness. It is used today to legitimise and glamorise the aggression of the British armed forces in Iraq, Libya, and elsewhere.
Particularly worrying is the announcement that the Garda Síochána are vetting householders to see if they can be permitted to remain in their own homes or business premises, and that citizens must be prepared to be stopped and searched in the street. The same violation of civil rights will apply during the subsequent visit of the president of the United States, a hypocritical warmonger. We call upon the Irish Council for Civil Liberties to stand up for people’s rights and against these gross violations now taking place.
The cost of the so-called security operation, with its total disruption of the city’s life, is being borne by the Irish taxpayer, at a time when we are being told that the country cannot afford public services, hospitals, or schools.
We call on people to support the wreath-laying by Justice for the Forgotten at the memorial to the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which British military intelligence had clear and deep involvement, and in other peaceful protests against this visit. Citizens should not allow themselves to be led into traps being set by the political establishment, with its eye on possible restrictions on the right to protest as the crisis in this state deepens.
