Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland
7 January 2020
The decision of the Fine Gael government to cancel the planned commemoration of the DMP and RIC, including the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries, was a result of the widespread anger felt by the majority of our people and the speedy mobilisation by a number of progressive forces, including the CPI, against this commemoration.
Despite decades of historical attacks by the establishment parties—Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Labour Party—and also by every university history department, they have failed to break the people’s commitment to and identification with our country’s long struggle and resistance to colonialism and imperialism.
The strategy of the Irish establishment it to weaken the people’s understanding of their own history, which is reflected in the removal of history as a core subject in the school curriculum. They wish to deepen the alignment of this state with imperialism, in the form of membership of the EU’s PESCO, collaboration with NATO, and the continued use of Shannon Airport by the US army and air force.
We should not relax our guard, as it is clear that the Government has not abandoned its strategy and will no doubt come back and attempt something similar.
We ask all progressive forces to remain vigilant. We need to take this opportunity to push forward for more people-centred celebrations of the centenary of the War of Independence, away from control by the establishment.