21 July 2010
Belfast Central Branch of the Communist Party of Ireland congratulates the organisers of Féile an Phobail for another year’s rich mix of cultural, sporting and political events showcasing the creativity and diversity of “the people” within West Belfast and far beyond.
We are glad to be able to be make a contribution again this year to the Discussion, Debate and Lectures Programme, following the success of last year’s showing of Peadar O’Donnell at the Mill—a DVD of the legendary socialist republican speaking at a CPI meeting at Conway Mill in 1984.
At this year’s event organised by the CPI (St Mary’s University College, Thursday 5 August, 7 p.m.), Kevin McCorry will address the question of “National Democracy: Issues and Tasks in the 21st Century.”
Kevin McCorry now lives in Dublin, but he is no stranger to Belfast, having grown up and worked here as a solicitor for many years. A lifelong socialist republican, he was deeply involved in the struggle for democracy in Northern Ireland as an organiser for the Civil Rights Association during the period of Bloody Sunday. More recently his concern for defending and deepening democracy in Ireland saw him active in both No campaigns against the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty as a member of the People’s Movement.
Communists have always held that the struggle for democracy in its fullest sense is the key to national independence and socialism in Ireland and believe that Kevin McCorry’s views have something to add to the debate on advancing that agenda.
“Within the North there exists a new political terrain resulting from Ireland and Britain’s joint membership of the EU. British state policy is to be seen primarily in an EU context. Ulster Unionism has historically had a deep distrust od and hostility to the EU and its pretensions. There exists an opportunity to explore the potential of that. Northern Unionists now have an objective interest in taking up the struggle for national democracy and independence in the new forms it is assuming today because of the EU.”
