Unity, 13th July 2024

Many thanks to the Irish Communist Party for allowing us to post up this edition of Unity. The genesis of the Irish Communist Party was in 2022 when a group of Communist Party of Ireland members left to form the new party.

As this is the first document from the ICP worth reprinting the overview of the party provided on their website in full:

The Irish Communist Party is an all-Ireland Marxist-Leninist political party. Its primary goal is to provide a political focal point for many different struggles unified into one – the struggle for an independent, united and socialist Ireland where the working class holds power over its own destiny.

Membership of the Irish Communist Party is open to anyone over the age of 18 who upholds its programme and is willing to adhere to the discipline of the party, the organisational principles of democratic centralism. The Irish Communist Party is a cadre party, meaning that it provides the infrastructure for political organisers to demonstrate leadership in a wide range of fields – the trade union movement, education, community issues, national political campaigns, all with a common outlook aimed at analysing the contradictions facing our class to embody the concept of a vanguard.

The Communist Party in Ireland has gone through several iterations through over 100 years of history, creating a conscious tradition that has been at the heart of political upheavals in Irish society, and which has firmly staked Ireland’s place in an international movement that has provided liberation to millions. The Irish Communist Party traces its roots to the Irish War of Independence, when communists first formed a party to advance the demands of the working class at a time when everything was at stake and the margins of our social conditions were being redrawn. The party also draws inspiration from the diverse and egalitarian ideas that found purchase on Irish soil as far back as the United Irishmen.

Before the reconstitution process culminated in 2022, the Irish Communist Party operated under the name of the Communist Party of Ireland. Due to a wide range of political and organisational issues which led to the party becoming dormant and its registration falling under the control of an opportunistic and anti-democratic faction, it became necessary to reconstitute the party under a new name at our 2022 Party Congress. The reconstitution process has led to many dysfunctional practices being rectified and has brought communists together in their mission with new enthusiasm and hope.

The party is currently represented by an elected interim National Executive Committee. The interim National Chairperson is Eoin Ó Murchú. The interim General Secretary is Adam Murray.

The analysis and policies which define the Irish Communist Party can be found in the pages of the only weekly left-wing newspaper in Ireland – Unity. Information on subscribing to Unity, as well as upcoming events organised or supported by the Irish Communist Party, can be found on this website.

The Irish Communist Party is experiencing a period of revitalisation at a time in Irish history when revolutionary change has never been needed more. If you have had enough of declining living standards, constant attacks on workers’ rights, and the entrenchment of reactionary politics at home and abroad, now is the time to take a stand and get involved in the fight against imperialism and capitalism.

This edition of Unity from July 2024 has a very specific focus:

The Irish Communist Party has prepared a special supplement for this week’s edition of Unity to coincide with its participation at the Durham Miners’ Gala on 13 July 2024.

Four pages long it contains a “Salute to the Miners” and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 1984-1985 miners’ strike in Britain. It contains photographs of a. support event in Belfast in 1985. It also publicises the goal of Free Palestine.

The publication also has a large photograph of Betty Sinclair and Madge Davidson, both members of the CPI and the Communist Party of Northern Ireland before it, promoting a Madge Davidson Memorial Lecture focused on ‘Betty Sinclair: A Life of Working Class Revolutionary Struggle’.

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