The revolutionary change we seek does not stop at Ireland’s coastline. Internationalism lies at the heart of our ideology and praxis in accordance with the revolutionary tradition both in Ireland and internationally. We remain proud and unabashed members of the international meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, and also have continued, until its very recent dissolution to play an active role in the Initiative of Communist and Workers Parties. We maintain a broad range of fraternal relations with parties and governments across the globe, and are respected for our principled positions and commitment to proletarian internationalism.

We oppose imperialism, which means war. We reject a simplistic attitude to imperialism that focuses only on the United States and its allies while ignoring other imperialist centres and powers, and the competition between them.
Decades ago, we moved beyond a simplistic understanding of the nature and role of imperialism in Ireland, and we have continued to update our analysis as the Cold War ended, as the EEC developed into the EU, as new imperialist powers on a global or regional basis emerged, and, including very recently, the campaign to overturn Irish neutrality by reactionary elements in politics, media, academia and elsewhere has intensified. We have remained clear that competition between imperialist powers means war. The imperialist war in Ukraine bears this out in the most brutal and reactionary way possible, with catastrophic consequences for the working people of both Ukraine and Russia. This Ard Fheis repeats our Party’s condemnation of the war and our call for its immediate end.

Unfortunately, the faction within the Party in recent years adhered to a flawed analysis of imperialism at home and abroad. This led to them pushing for the Party to change the character of our international politics, to forge links with the likes of SYRIZA, to fail to grasp the imperialist nature of the EU and the right attitude towards it, to seek to support one group of imperialist powers over another, and to push for an anti-Leninist and nationalist analysis of the Northern Ireland situation. While all these positions were name only, while abandoning the Marxist-Leninist principles on which it was built, swapping them for incoherent and vaguely left nationalism.

The current period is both profoundly reactionary and dangerous. The United Nations, once a progressive force in many ways during the era of the strong influence of the Soviet Union and the socialist states, and the vehicle for the Irish state to play a progressive role promoting peace, has in essence been reduced to a sideshow. The Security Council and the powerful imperialist blocs have weakened Rather than strengthened the precepts of the original Charter. There have been numerous imperialist wars since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the war drums are beating once more in certain powerful reactionary forces. Dangerous right-wing antidemocratic nationalist governments are raising the likelihood of armed conflict between major imperialist powers. The attempt to forge a new type of cold war with Russia and/or China (albeit not on the same ideological grounds as the last one) by the political class in the US, UK, and elsewhere has profoundly dangerous implications, especially during the Ukraine war and the attendant NATO provision to Ukraine of training, intelligence, and weapons. In such a climate it is more vital than ever that the Irish state maintains its policy of neutrality.

It is important also to note the contribution of imperialism to climate catastrophe. The US military alone is responsible annually for a carbon footprint greater than more than 140 countries. The Ukraine war is not just adding to the emission of greenhouse gases from military operations, but also destroying habitats, animal life, and ecosystems. The damage done by climate change to poor countries will only intensify, and we can see how rich countries plan to handle the resultant migration in the Fortress EU approach that has drowned so many in the Mediterranean. Marxism-Leninism is an internationalist doctrine, and requires us to be internationalist. The problems faced by the working-class cross borders. Changing the world requires cooperation across international borders. We have never and will never forget this.

The Workers Party, which has throughout its existence demonstrated its solidarity with the working class and the oppressed on every continent, remains committed to the most important of all the socialist maxims – Workers of All Countries, Unite! This Ard Fheis meets at a crucial time. Parliamentary elections loom within the next 18 months or so in both states, and electioneering has effectively gotten under way. For all the talk of change, there is a serious possibility that we will end up with more of the same – austerity for the people allied to transfer of wealth from the public purse to the wealthy, and another litany of promises broken by those who talk left but tack right. Nor is it impossible to imagine results that essentially return the same right-wing governments to power.

There will also be local elections in the Republic in 2024, and we look forward to flying the red flag, including in Cork where our we will be fighting hard to retain our Party President Ted Tynan’s seat. Just as it was crucial that the Party stood in recent elections in Northern Ireland, these local elections are vital to us organisationally, politically, and ideologically. They present a challenge, but also a real opportunity to cement our position, and to help put in place a springboard for rebuilding the Party, and getting our message out to a wider audience. Imperialism has once again brought a major war to our continent, while other conflicts continue around the world fuelled by rivalry among current and aspirant powers, and competition for resources and the opportunity to exact profit. Ethnic cleansing, massacres, violence against women, the deliberate targeting of the most vulnerable by military forces. We can see all these in the world around us, all too often with the self-proclaimed defenders of democracy and human rights complicit. The potential for more and greater conflicts cannot be dismissed. The ongoing and increasing efforts aimed at transforming the competing interests of the two states with the largest economies, the US and China, into some form of a new cold war are of particular concern.

Climate change and its effects are undeniable and accelerating. It is clear that the opportunity to prevent devastating additional change has been lost due to capitalist greed and governments more interested in facilitating maximum profits and placating anti-science and reactionary elements of their electorates than preserving life on the planet. Imperialism contributes to climate change not just in its destruction of the environment in pursuit of profit, but also through the environmental impact of the militarism associated with imperialism. The war in Ukraine is devastating the environment as well as lives, and adding countless tonnes of carbon to the environment. Socialists have recognised for over a century that one of the most destructive elements of capitalism is its wasteful use of precious resources, though the socialist states themselves came to recognise that much environmental damage was also done through errors in their work. Protecting and repairing the environment must be, and is, central to the socialist alternative in the twenty first century. Providing a decent standard of living for everyone need not be environmentally destructive. The capitalist market cannot provide a solution. Neither “green” capitalism, “digital” capitalism nor any form of capitalist production can provide solutions to the problems confronting humanity. It is only through a rupture with and liberation from capitalism that opportunities can be provided to harness technological advances for the benefit of all, the protection of the planet and a secure future. Socialism means a planned economy. A planned economy is exactly what fighting climate change requires. Only a socialist approach can provide for the careful husbanding of resources necessary to ensure sustainability, and only a socialist approach can operate on the scale necessary to prevent further climate change and introduce restorative measures to repair much of the damage done. Truly, when it comes to a socialist approach to the environment, there is no alternative.

The last five years or so have been especially challenging for working people, with, for example, the pandemic, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and the failure to emerge of a clear alternative. While working people have been struggling, the number of billionaires and millionaires has rocketed. They have been capturing for themselves a greater share of the wealth being created. In 2021, it was estimated that the share of the richest 1% had climbed to nearly two-thirds of new wealth over the previous two years. Wages have been held down below inflation, precarious and under-paid work become ever more central to the economy, and trade union rights have been systematically undermined while trade union membership has fallen. There is no doubt, however, that the current crisis has sparked an upswing in class consciousness, at least in terms of economic interests. The successful unionisation efforts in the US and elsewhere at companies with sophisticated and bullying antiunion tactics like Amazon, the number of strikes taking place in Britain and Ireland, many of them successful, and a swing in the polls to what are perceived to be leftwing parties all provide evidence of this fact. The Workers Party has been highly visible in its support for workers taking industrial action, evidenced by the presence of our members on picket lines, which has often been commented on by unions pleased to receive our support.

Trade unions remain a vital area of work for any serious socialist party, and will form one of the major areas of our focus in the coming years. Trade union rights remain a major battleground in the class struggle. The right to collective bargaining has still be to recognised in the Republic, and while Northern Ireland has escaped some of the worst aspects of Tory anti-union laws, there is a chance that the Tories could carry out some of their planned anti-union legislation before the next election, and an inevitability that they will should they win. These planned laws intend to render strikes in public services null and void. Nor can we assume that a Starmer government – despite his promises – will restore lost trade union rights.

There is a housing and homelessness crisis across our island. This is not the result of COVID or the recent cost of living crisis, or even of the gross profiteering by landlords shifting to the likes of Airbnb, though undoubtedly that has exacerbated the situation. The current crisis is the result of a long-term failure in both jurisdictions of the state taking responsibility for building sufficient homes and of providing high-quality rented accommodation at an affordable price. Instead, housing has been used in both states to fuel speculation-induced booms that have inevitably been followed by busts. The reality that the modern state is the executive committee of the bourgeoisie has never been clearer than in the public being lumbered with tens of billions of debt for decades to save the interests of a tiny number of speculators and banks.

Young people in particular have been thrown to the wolves in housing, facing a situation where not only can they not afford to buy a house, even renting accommodation is becoming unreachable for many, with average rents in Dublin significantly over €2,000 a month. At the other end of the spectrum, some aged people are losing their homes, equally unable to afford to keep up with absurd rises in rents. The main parties have facilitated this situation not only by delivering what was asked of them by Irish speculators, but also by enabling the acquisition of huge numbers of homes by the vulture fund Real Estate Investment Trusts, which are generally exempt from corporation tax on their income from renting property.

All this contributes to the record number of homeless people, including thousands of children, in the Republic – the record has been broken time and time again in the last year. By August 2023, the number stood at a record 12,691, having climbed about 20% in a year.

Voters are voting on the basis of housing, and Sinn Féin has successfully presented itself as the alternative to the current situation. However, we note their involvement in the plans to replace one of the core gains of the civil rights movement, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, their close relationship with property speculators and rackrenting landlords in Northern Ireland, the plan to sell-off a substantial portion of the new homes they claim they will build, and the absence of what is really needed - a state housing executive to oversee the construction and maintenance of a sufficient stock of quality publicly-owned housing. 29 Northern Ireland sees many of the same problems – high house prices, rising rents (nearly 10% in the past year in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis), and the absence of a government committed to taking decisive action. Insufficient new public homes are being built despite the huge waiting list, while the maintenance of existing stock is being neglected. The impasse at Stormont means the situation can only get worse.

We in the Workers Party are clear that only planned state action in housing can permanently end the crisis, and ensure that housing is delivered in an environmentally sustainable fashion and serves the interests of the many, and not those getting rich from properly speculation and rents that a nineteenth-century absentee landlord would have been delighted with. With a problem on the scale of housing, there is no alternative to socialism. Health services in both parts of Ireland face enormous pressure, and none of the Dublin, Westminster nor occasional Stormont governments have shown any ability to tackle the problem, nor even any sign of having the will needed to do so. In 2022, the British Medical Association stated that ‘If ‘crisis’ sums up the health service in England, Wales and Scotland, then perhaps we need to invent a whole new word for Northern Ireland’.

Northern Ireland has the highest waiting lists per capita in the UK. You are more than twice as likely to have to wait over a year for an appointment than in England. Some people have to wait 5 years. NHS units available in England of great use to the population, such as walk-in centres and the mother and baby units, are absent in Northern Ireland. This Ard Fheis welcomes the introduction of an urgent care centre model in winter 2023, and reiterates the Workers Party’s support for the establishment of a mother and baby unit in Northern Ireland.

The number of GP practices has fallen 9% since 2014, while the average number of patients registered in a practice has climbed in the same period by 17%. No-one can be surprised that patients have problems accessing appointments. The absence of walk-in centres for low-level problems exacerbates the pressure on Accident and Emergency departments, where the number of patients waiting for more than 12 hours grew by 9% between June 2022 and June 2023.

NHS staff at every level, from cleaners to consultants, have been systematically underpaid, matched to systematic under-investment in facilities and buildings, but also in services, including in crucial areas like mental health. In the absence of Stormont, and amidst Tory indifference, civil servants are talking about serious cuts.

The trade unions in the health service have responded with campaigns and strikes, and we reiterate out support for their efforts to protect the health service. The state of the health service speaks more eloquently than perhaps anything else about how nationalism and unionism fail the working people of Northern Ireland. We must build the alternative,

Despite its problems, there is absolutely no question that the National Health Service remains one of the greatest assets possessed by workers in Northern Ireland. The Republic needs a properly funded public health service of its own to end the unequal access to healthcare that currently exists, and address the very similar problems in hospitals and across healthcare. In April 2023, 830,000 people were waiting to be seen at an outpatient clinic or for hospital treatment. The Irish state has been happy to see healthcare as a for-profit industry, one of many signs of its real nature as a facilitator of the native and international bourgeoisie. The health service will be a key political background in the Republic, but it is also a site of class struggle, where the health and life expectancy of ordinary people is sacrificed on the altar of capital, and healthcare staff, especially at the lower end, need better wages, especially given the cost of living crisis.

The Workers Party is clear that only the state is capable of successfully providing the quality of healthcare everyone deserves to everyone who needs it. Private models, either of the American or the more mixed Irish and continental European type, have inequality built into their very fabric. Our society must not tolerate this any longer. With much talk among the Dáil parties of a national health service being created in the Republic, both for and against, we must not lose sight of this fundamental fact. There can be no doubt that recent years have seen improvements for Irish women, north and south. However, society across Ireland is still marked by the unequal treatment of women, whether that is in the double burden of employment and housework, the treatment of women in the media and its resultant pressures on women, especially young women, in lower wages, lack of provision to meet the specific needs of women in healthcare and other areas, or violence against women and the failures of the criminal justice systems to effectively address it. James Connolly’s remark that the worker’s wife is the slave of a slave retains a great deal of truth.

In other words, recent progress for women cannot mask the fundamental reality that much improvement is needed in political, economic, social, and cultural fields. The Workers Party has a proud history of campaigning on the rights of women, of playing the leading role on many occasions. They remain a fundamental part of our politics, and of our analysis of the inevitable structural inequality of capitalist society. Moreover, women’s issues are being used in the ongoing international culture war that is one of the means by which the far-right is trying to grow its influence in Ireland and further afield. We have seen fake concern for women being used to try and justify hatred of people from a Muslim background, attempts to whip up racist panics about migrant men to justify racist attitudes and attacks, and the far-right burrowing into the arguments about gender, and attempting to use them to widen its appeal. They have not shown much concern for the women workers in libraries that they have been physically intimidating, aided by neo-fascist elements from other countries and the inaction of the Gardaí and politicians who are more likely to offer a sympathetic ear than the necessary resistance to fascism and fascist talking points infiltrating themselves into wider political discourse.

The failure to actually introduce the full range of reproductive healthcare available to other women in the UK despite legislation being passed several years ago is yet another example of how the Stormont parties fail our people, and of how the Tories are interested only in initiatives that produce headlines but which they have little interest in ensuring actually happen. Politics in Northern Ireland is all too often about ensuring that nothing happens that would change the status quo, and the cushy positions of the two largest parties at the head of their respective blocs. The fallout from the UK’s exit from the European Union continues to dog politics in Northern Ireland. We must be clear. This was not inevitable. It is the outcome of decisions made in London, Belfast, Dublin, and Brussels. None of the major players involved has had the interests of working people in Ireland at heart. Instead, they have concentrated on sending a message to internal and external audiences, often to warn, chide, or frighten. While the revolving cast of Tory prime ministers have sought to curry favour with the likes of the European Research Group and the Murdoch press, the EU has sought to make clear to member governments that might consider following the UK example that doing so will prove costly. The governing parties in Dublin have acted with one eye on their biggest political challengers at home, playing to nationalist sentiment when it has suited them without regard to the consequences. The reality is that it has suited the major parties in Northern Ireland not to have Stormont operating, leaving them free to posture over the various protocols and frameworks. Their eyes have been firmly focused on their own party political advantage, while working people in Northern Ireland suffer the consequences.

Despite the overheated rhetoric from various branches of nationalism and unionism, the reality is that the UK’s exit from the EU has not in fact shaken Northern Ireland’s place within the Union, nor demonstrably begun a process destined to end in the break-up of the UK. Support for Scottish independence has not been growing, while support for Welsh independence remains comparatively small. For all the talk that UKexit has induced an openness to considering a united Ireland among large numbers of unionists, there is no electoral evidence to support this. The shift in support among unionists, especially in Antrim and Down, away from the traditional unionist parties to Alliance reflects dissatisfaction with a lot more than their approach to the EU. Meanwhile, the percentage vote for nationalist parties remains roughly where it was two decades ago.

Marxism-Leninism is a method for analysing society by looking at objective as well as subjective factors. While others have been getting carried away, seeking to build new strategies on what is essentially wishful thinking, we have been able to see through the rhetoric and focus on what is actually happening. While there has been a shift in mood among nationalists, and unrepresentative unionist hardliners have been crying betrayal, the numbers do not support the conclusion that UKexit has doomed the Union as a whole, nor Northern Ireland’s place within it. Any political strategy based on a misunderstanding of the consequences of the UK’s exit is going nowhere, whether that is nationalist attempts to convince unionists the game is up, or those calling themselves socialist who have abandoned the primacy of class politics for nationalism in light of UKexit and its consequences.

The task of building unity is the same as it has been for centuries – the need to forge the unity of Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter, to unite the ordinary people of Ireland behind a revolutionary vision of solidarity, democracy, and equality. UKexit has not changed that.

The message from the Workers Party at this Ard Fheis is clear. It is a message rooted in experience of our own struggle for socialism and those globally for over a century and a half. Half-measures are insufficient. A vital part of raising class consciousness is driving this message home to workers through all the means at our disposal, in person and through communications. Reforms can certainly alleviate problems and improve people’s lives, and they are worth fighting as hard as possible for. At the same time, only the socialist transformation of society can successfully and finally solve the many challenges and end the many instances of exploitation and oppression we see in our society, at home and abroad. Those forgot or neglect that message, as we have seen on numerous occasions. fall by the wayside, and ultimately abandon their principles, surrendering to capitalism.

Capitalism cannot deliver what people need, and what the planet needs in the face of the climate emergency. Only an economy organised on socialist lines and under the control of the working class can do this. In the interim, it remains vital to fight for economic policies that benefit the majority. Our Party has long advocated that the state, which remains the largest single actor within the economy, take an active role in planning growth and in developing strategically important areas of the economy. This remains at the core of our economic strategy for both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

And on this issue, we again see the limits of social democracy, of those who want to reform capitalism, or to simply make it run better. Capitalism is built on exploitation, and will always seek to increase it where it can in order to maximise profits. Government regulations designed to prevent this have been gutted in recent decades, and there is little evidence that this trend will be reversed by any social democratic parties in Ireland or abroad.

Government spending to stimulate the economy that simply transfers wealth to the private sector, as the pandemic showed most recently, will always produce instances of great corruption, with the political elite and their business-owning friends-cummasters enriching themselves fraudulently at public expense. Any plans that rely upon handing over public wealth to the private sector are not steps along the road to socialism, and it is vital that we agitate, educate, and organise among workers on this issue.

Socialism is the alternative. Events in coming years are only going to make that message all the more urgent. Transforming ourselves in a party capable of spreading this message among huge swathes of the population, and ultimately of delivering that change is the task we face in the long-term. Our short and medium-term actions can only be drawn up with that undeniable objective in mind. We face a long road ahead, but one to which we are committed, as we have demonstrated once again in resisting the attempts to change the nature and politics of the Workers Party. Our struggle for socialism goes on, with renewed commitment and dedication.