A Golden Opportunity

national | politics / elections | opinion/analysis Sunday April 18, 2010 00:19 by Michael Gallagher libertypics at yahoo dot ie

Left Unity, Is It Possible?

Having chatted recently to many other people on the left so as to try and gauge the possibility of the broadest ever coming together of a revolutionary left alliance on this island, it appears that we are going to miss the best opportunity in making the biggest electoral impact by the genuine left in years. Too many parties/groups seem to be carrying too much historical baggage about each other. This party won't work with that party for this reason....that party won't work with anyone for some other reason....that party can't be trusted because of past mistakes....sniping.....backbiting.....nitpicking........petty grudges.....personalities.....sectarianism......our view is the right one......we have more experience.... blah blah blah blah blah.

Below is an open letter to all the genuine Socialist organisations in Ireland

Comrades,

I believe, if ever a time was right for a broad alliance across the genuine left in this country, the time is now. This is the time to consider how serious the 'revolutionary' left are. I appeal to you to make at least one attempt to hear each other out in an open, widely publicised, two or three day public forum, for all party members and none.

There are many many people, working people, young people, men and woman, unemployed, disenfranchised and marginalised who want to see a real alternative genuine socialist left in this country. An electoral alliance of all those parties can make some great gains if they come together and hammer out an agreed programme with agreed candidates to make those gains that are their to be seized. An agreed approach can be worked out.

You are all going to be giving the same message (more or less), although each message given by a different messenger, yet all calling yourselves genuine socialists and claiming to represent the working class of your areas. Don't you owe your voters and potential voters at least that much, an attempt at some sort of as broad an aliance as possible? Do you want to be part of a small splinter or a big stick?

From what I've heard of Eamonn Gilmore's speech tonight (Saturday 17th April), Labour are playing the 'flowery language' game ("...what can you do for your country?"....), but they WON'T succeed in reforming capitalism. We will still have capitalism if Labour get into power (coalition or not), but it will be a more controlled and cleaned up brand of capitalism, with a few more crumbs, eventually, falling from the top table. What new system does the Labour Party plan to introduce? Socialism? Fairness? If the abolition of capitalism in this country is on the agenda of any government in the near future, it's only then that the working class can say it has any chance of going forward with any real certainty. Capitalism can't be reformed, it must be abolished.

If the genuine socialists miss this gig (and it's our gig), then we will have missed a great opportunity to grow substantially at the next general election, an opportunity which may not come again for many years.

Will you seriously consider forming a broad left alliance to benefit from the approaching opportunities for the revolutionary left in this country? No serious attempt has been made to bring those left forces together, I implore you to play your part in doing this.

In appreciation,

Yours in solidarity for socialism,

Michael Gallagher.

A copy of this has been sent to all the politcal parties/groups in Ireland who claim and have shown to be genuine socialists.