“Agitate, train, organize!”
James Connolly’s revolutionary slogan

Macradh, the Irish Socialist Republican Youth, was founded in 2019 and is part of Ireland’s Anti-Imperialist Action. Activists of the new Youth Wing of the Irish Socialist Republicans position the creation of Macradh as the need for a new and viable tool for organizing the youth of Ireland in the struggle for freedom, for national liberation and socialism. The founding statement of the new organization states: “The revolutionary youth of Ireland has always been at the forefront of the struggle for freedom, and this generation will not be different.”

One of the main tasks of Macrad, which was set by youth leaders, is to create a powerful new tool for organizing modern Irish youth in the struggle for their rights and freedoms. One of the important components of Macradh’s campaign and educational activities, which includes the Irish from 15 to 25, is to revive the memory of young people about the acts of the Irish Republican heroes, such as the legendary Seamus Costello, the founder of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, who died at the hands of the counterrevolutionaries in 1977 . Senior comrades believe that the young Irish, who are part of Macradh and actively participate in all its actions, consciously taking part in the anti-capitalist and socialist struggles, are worthy of their predecessor heroes.

The new youth organization is also distinguished by the fact that its creators and the core of young activists emphasize the upbringing and training of new members of the organization in a culture of revolutionary direct actions. Macradh activists also teach their new comrades the basics of Marxism, scientific socialism, and Maoism. In addition to teaching the traditions of the Irish resistance, the daily activities of the new youth organization include sports training.

The modern youth of Ireland, for the most part, is very sensitive to injustice in their country and around the world. Therefore, Macradh activists believe that the main thing is to combine them into one united, competent force. They must understand that social, class, and racial injustice are the distinguishing features of capitalism and imperialism, which leads to those hotbeds of tension like Palestine, Syria, Libya, and many of the countries of Latin America. Within the organization, there is an online forum where the youth of Ireland can make sure that many peers and senior comrades share her hopes, aspirations, and pain from the realization of oppression and the unjust structure of the world. As one member of Macradh said, “The youth of Ireland is very hungry for the class struggle, and it is increasingly coming to the understanding that the class of the oppressed can survive against the oppressors, against the world of Capital, only by uniting, because the youth has always been at the forefront of the struggle.” Each of the young Irish, joining Macradh, has the opportunity in our difficult time to play an active role in the struggle for socialism, considering it the only true way to develop the human community.

It is important that the young organizers and activists of the future organization were engaged in a thorough preparation of the creation, all the more so since the creation of a new type of organization was planned long ago, deliberately putting the foundations of anti-imperialist action into it. Today, the Irish Republican socialists, acting on an ongoing, daily basis, have high hopes for the fact that, by focusing on the harmonious development of youth, it will lead to an awareness of the laws and reasons for the fact that social segregation is increasing in all countries now, Of this, the richest and most successful, mainly representatives of the ruling political and business elites, are now slightly more than 1%. The rest of humanity is doomed in the near future to further impoverishment, the taking away of social benefits, and the inaccessibility of medicine and education.

The organizers of Macradh in the constituent documents outlined the main directions of her activities – to devote all her free time to working with the masses of Irish youth not yet included in the struggle; engaging in training and agitation so that young Irish who come to the realization of social injustice become an organized force. After all, it is young people who are most acutely aware of injustice and most empathize with oppressed people all over the world. Watching, each in their own area, as more and more people are forced to suffer from an extremely low, unworthy standard of living, young people joining the ranks of Macradh feel it their duty to explain to their peers the reasons for what is happening in the world today. They understand and explain to others that the modern economic crisis, which has sharply exacerbated the impoverishment of the masses, is not something new, the world of Capital, almost without prejudice to its representatives – the ruling political and business elites – constantly plunges humanity into cyclically occurring economic crises. One of the reasons for this is another redistribution of property, necessary for the capitalists, but mercilessly affecting all other sections of the population. The capitalist system destroys communities of people, forcing them to be single and to survive in a world where everything is against everyone.

Ireland has the right to be proud of its traditions associated with the struggle for independence and social injustice, and its heroes. One of them, Keith Conway, founder of the Republican Congress of 1934, was a volunteer and active member of one of the IRA’s flying brigades, the leader of Military Wing. As a convinced internationalist, he volunteered for Spain to participate in the fight against fascism. Together with his comrades from the Irish Republican Socialist Party, he fought in the international brigade in Spain, and died in battle during the defense of the Spanish Republic in 1937.

They proudly recall the IRA and its youth wing, Macradh, a volunteer, Martin Doherty ‘Doco’, who gave his life for the freedom of Ireland, protecting his comrades and saving hundreds of lives of members of the public on a tragic night in 1994. Members of Macradh youth organization equal Irish revolutionary heroes – Major General Liam Mellous, volunteer martyrs, fellow generals, Rory O’Connor, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett, Seamus Costello and Kitta Conway. Seamus Costello of Wicklow was a leading figure in Irish socialist republicanism in the twentieth century, served in the IRA from the border campaign and established the Irish Republican Socialist Party, he was killed by counterrevolutionaries in 1977. Macradh youth also believes that all young Irish Republicans should study the life, actions and principles of Major General Liam Mellows, a book about which the author C. Desmond Greaves is now difficult to find, nevertheless, it is necessary to study the life of Liam Mellous, who introduced a huge practical and theoretical contribution to the development of Irish socialism, having lived all his life in the service of Ireland and its people. On December 7, 2019, Macradh representatives took part in the traditional celebration of the Four Martyrs, the Four Martyrs, which takes place at Liam Mellous’s grave in Castletown County, where they joined their ISR and AIA comrades.

Ireland has the right to be proud of its traditions associated with the struggle for independence and social injustice, and its heroes. One of them, Keith Conway, founder of the Republican Congress of 1934, was a volunteer and active member of one of the IRA’s flying brigades, the leader of Military Wing. As a convinced internationalist, he volunteered for Spain to participate in the fight against fascism. Together with his comrades from the Irish Republican Socialist Party, he fought in the international brigade in Spain, and died in battle during the defense of the Spanish Republic in 1937.

They proudly recall the IRA and its youth wing, Macradh, a volunteer, Martin Doherty ‘Doco’, who gave his life for the freedom of Ireland, protecting his comrades and saving hundreds of lives of members of the public on a tragic night in 1994. Members of Macradh youth organization equal Irish revolutionary heroes – Major General Liam Mellous, volunteer martyrs, fellow generals, Rory O’Connor, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett, Seamus Costello and Kitta Conway. Seamus Costello of Wicklow was a leading figure in Irish socialist republicanism in the twentieth century, served in the IRA from the border campaign and established the Irish Republican Socialist Party, he was killed by counterrevolutionaries in 1977. Macradh youth also believes that all young Irish Republicans should study the life, actions and principles of Major General Liam Mellows, a book about which the author C. Desmond Greaves is now difficult to find, nevertheless, it is necessary to study the life of Liam Mellous, who introduced a huge practical and theoretical contribution to the development of Irish socialism, having lived all his life in the service of Ireland and its people. On December 7, 2019, Macradh representatives took part in the traditional celebration of the Four Martyrs, the Four Martyrs, which takes place at Liam Mellous’s grave in Castletown County, where they joined their ISR and AIA comrades.

Political activists Macradh interacts with working-class youth in a variety of ways; from debates and agitation through social networks, to leaflets that are distributed directly – knocking on doors in areas of the working class. These are the direct actions declared in the constituent documents of the organization and political activism, which attract new representatives of the youth to the struggle for the socialist republic. Throughout December, the youth of Macradh-ISR, together with the Irish Republicans and representatives of the “Anti-Imperialist Action of Ireland” will campaign in support of political prisoners – Republican prisoners of war. Thus, in addition to real support to those revolutionary fighters in Ireland who are in prisons, as well as their families, serious questions are raised that are directly related to the current national company in Irish prisons. In the TV process of this campaign, protests swept across Ireland demanding the termination of special closed courts and the freedom of all political prisoners.

“Republican prisoners of war are imprisoned only because of the illegal occupation of the Republic of Ireland, for which they fought for freedom and revolution in our country,” says one of the ISR militants, continuing: “Everyone who continues to remain faithful to all of Ireland must during December make extra efforts to support prisoners and their dependents.”

Austin Abraham Moran

«Macradh», Belfast, Ireland

special for Resistentiam.com