Costello states that Labour is responsible for implementing 1916 ideals

26 November 2015

by Cllr Joe Costello

Speaking at the 1916 Club Debate “Who fears to speak of 1916?”

 

My father and uncle participated in the War of Independence 1919-21.  They were both members of the Irish Republican Army.  Both spent time in Sligo Jail and the Curragh Military Camp.  My uncle joined the republican side in the ensuing civil war.

 

My uncle ended up a prisoner and back in the Curragh Camp this time under an Irish Free State Government.  On release he went off to Scotland to earn his fare to the United States and never set foot again in either the Free State or the Republic. The Republican ideals of 1916 were poisoned by the bitterness and recrimination of the Civil War.

 

  1. Modern Republicanism has much of its origins in the 18th century Enlightenment a time when philosophers and statesmen such as Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, questioned the citizens’ subservient relationships with both Church and State and began to redefine those relationships.

 

  1. The American Declaration of Independence proclaimed in 1776 that  “all men were created equal” with “the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The Declaration together with the slogan of the War of Independence “no taxation without representation” had reverberations in Europe as the right to democracy and self-determination became legitimate objectives which could justifiably be pursued by “armed struggle” against malevolent monarchies and despotic parliaments. 

 

  1. Hence in 1789 the French Revolution erupted with the potent mantra “liberty, equality and fraternity” The idealism of the American War and French Revolution captured the imagination of many Irishmen who sought to overthrow the oppression of the British Empire.  

 

  1. And so the United Irishmen came into existence, founded by Theobold Wolfe Tone.  Tone’s United Irishmen espoused the Republican values of the American and French struggles.  The United Irishmen was an all Ireland movement advocating equality for all citizens and religious tolerance for Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter.  Despite assistance from their French allies, the United Irishmen failed in their bid for freedom from Britain.

 

  1. The political legacy of Tone and Emmet continued throughout the 19th century.  Much of the Nationalism of the early 20th century was based on the political philosophy of the United Irishmen. 

 

  1. In the early twentieth century, Padraig Pearse explored these republican ideas and James Larkin and James Connolly combined this with the rights of working class people.  James Connolly put it best:

 

“Ireland without her people is nothing to me.”

 

The 1916 Proclamation combined these two political philosophies – Republicanism and socialism.  Religious and civil liberty on the one hand and the right of the people to the ownership of the land on the other.

 

  1. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 by Connolly and Larkin as a vehicle for the Trade Union movement to have a voice in the Home Rule Parliament—a parliament that never materialised.  The 1916 proclamation was the product of Pearse and Connolly and the 1919 Democratic Programme was the brainchild of Tom Johnson, Leader of the Labour Party.

 

The War of Independence divided the country and side lined the Labour Party for generations as tribal politics, religious conservatism and sterile nationalism poisoned the body politic.  Ireland was not a country for young men or young women. 

 

Labour just about survived the fallout throughout the ‘20’s, ‘30’s,  ‘40’s, ‘50’s and ‘60s – a half a century of struggling to exist before emerging as a significant force in Irish politics in the ‘70’s, ‘80’s, ‘90’s, and now in the last five years.   Belatedly the ideals of 1916 were rediscovered and the Labour Party alone within parliamentary democracy took the initiative in bringing them to fruition.  Ironically, it was facilitated by our membership of the EU so that by pooling our sovereignty we ended our sterile isolation.

 

We introduced a raft of social and employment legislation and policies which has transformed Ireland into one of the most progressive and egalitarian countries in the world.

 

Labour Legislation:

 

1970s:  During the 1973-77 Coalition  important social reforms which transformed Irish society took place – instigated in the main by the Labour Party. Legislation affecting the status of women, included the lifting of the marriage bar  in the Civil Service, recognising the female heads of household and new forms of  financial support for lone parents, families of physically and mentally disabled children;  the first Equal Pay Act and new working time legislation were all Labour Party initiated reforms. This Government built 100,000 social housing units over its lifetime – 25,000 a year.

 

1980’s:  While battling the economic problems of 1980s, Labour also managed to pursue its reform agenda:  appointing Ireland's first Ombudsman; reforming family planning legislation - in the face of bitter opposition; enacting child welfare legislation; establishing the Combat Poverty Agency; and setting up a National Development Corporation, to stimulate the economy. Labour continued its drive to liberalise Irish society, but the divorce referendum it had long fought for was defeated in 1986.  Significantly, Labour, through Tánaiste Dick Spring, played a key role in the negotiations that resulted in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed between London and Dublin in 1985. It was the first in a long series of initiatives that would finally bring an end to senseless violence in Northern Ireland.

 

1990s: Once again, when Labour was in Government significant social reforms took place including, decriminalising homosexuality;  the referendum on divorce was carried under the careful stewardship of Mervyn Taylor who was a pioneering Minister for Equality and Law Reform.  He was responsible for the Equality Legislation which for the first time outlawed discrimination against people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, Travellers, ethnic minorities and other minorities.  Labour established the National Anti-Poverty Strategy; Labour also introduced a range of transparency legislation – capping political donations, election spend and ensuring publication of donations.  Labour also introduced Freedom of Information.  Abolition of Third Level fees combined with establishment of DEIS “Breaking the Cycle” schools – demonstrated our commitment to cherishing all the children of the nation equally. Michael D Higgins, our first and often considered best Arts and Culture Minister established TG4 demonstrating our commitment to the Irish language.  Once again, Dick Spring played a seminal role in the Peace Process, leading to the Good Friday Agreement.

 

2011-2015: And again, in 2011 it fell to the Labour Party to ensure the continued delivery of social and progressive legislation – following fourteen years of Fianna Fail neo liberal/conservative policies.  We introduced and successfully steered through the Marriage Equality Referendum which will benefit thousands of families across the country.  In accordance with our commitment, we legislated for the X case and will continue to seek a repeal of the Eighth Amendment.    It was the Labour Party that ensured two increases in the Minimum Wage - the only country in Europe to do so - during its term despite being in Government during the worst financial crisis.  We also reinstated the Registered Employment mechanisms which is protecting the pay and conditions of tens of thousands of workers and is critical to maintaining a threshold of decency in the workplace across the economy.  We have delivered legislation on collective bargaining, which sees the right to join a trade union enshrined in Irish law for the first time. 

 

Despite the worst austerity imposed on us and agreed to by Fianna Fail with the arrival of the Troika, the Labour Party ensured that there were no compulsory redundancies in the public service; that core social welfare rates were maintained;  limited  the divestiture of state assets; and placed the country on the road to fiscal solvency.  

 

  1. Looking to the future we will advance that vision:
  • Full employment for all our people so that the forced diaspora of the Celtic Tiger collapse is reversed by 2018.
  • A living wage for all, starting with the public sector, so that people can live and work with dignity;
  • Repeal of the 8th Amendment to provide equality for women under the Constitution.
  • Invest in our public services, especially health and education and childcare and ensure that there are greater supports for our vulnerable people, the old, the sick and those with a disability.

 

  1. At European level the EU has given us the freedom to attain greater freedom.  It has benefitted Ireland socially and economically.  It has protected us against the excesses of the free market. It remains the way forward.  By pooling our sovereignty we can gain greater freedom.

 

However, it must revert to the vision of its founding fathers   - a social  solidarity as well as an economic coming together of countries.

 

We as one of the smaller states of Europe must play a bigger part.  Scotland for example is pro Europe and the SNP has now joined the PES.  We can make common cause with them and Northern Ireland as we look to the future.

 

  1. Finally we must play our part on the world stage as we have always sought to do.  Our role as a neutral country supporting the less well-off is well recognised.  We played a major role in developing the new Millennium Development Goals which will guide the global approach to the elimination of poverty through sustainable development.

 

As Minister for Trade and Development, I first articulated this approach in the first every policy document “One World: One Future” which I drew up with Irish Aid after a national consultative process in 2012, which engaged the Diaspora in Ireland.

 

We got agreement for that approach from all 28 Member States of the EU during our Presidency in 2013 and it became the core principle of the new Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the United Nations in September 2015.

 

Having led the way in developing the world’s policy on eradicating poverty, we must be to the forefront in pointing the way to its implementation for the next fifteen years.

 

The events and ideals surrounding 1916 have paved the way to a self-determination that is national, collective and global.  It is an exciting future for a small country.  We must now play our part in all three.