The next morning had surprisingly little on the agenda. I learned that this was pretty much the first year they were electing a National Executive. We broke up into small brain-storming groups to discuss what roles the different positions should have. The different positions were: Chair, Campaigns, Irish language/Education; I should have taken some notes or typed this earlier (couldn't because as soon as I got back I had to work on Erin Kaiser's visit to CU-Boulder) because I can't remember the other two. Because I was prodded to I actually participated a bit in all of this. My comments were sort of aimed at YDS-izing their leadership.
SFY, as far as I can tell, is on a somewhat short leash, probably shorter than YDS is. Also, I believe that, because they are more socialist than SF, SFY is sort of hidden from SF supporters in America- they are not even mentioned on SF's web-site at all, and until a couple months ago there was not a SFY web-site (http://www.ogra.150m.com/).
When we got into a plenary, the only thing on the agenda was the election of leadership. It seems like they have no power to pass resolutions, although I didn't ask to be certain. Also they don't seem to have a constitution, because they somewhat casually split the Irish language/Education position into two (the education part being internal political education). The positions were barely contested; someone suggested I be elected Honorary Chair, but I don't think he was serious and even if he was I think I would have declined. The members there were 3/4 male, and 1, maybe 2 of the positions were acquired by women. I didn't get an impression that the women there felt marginalized or silenced, but on the other hand it's difficult for me to say for sure after just 3 days and as a man.
There is an ongoing debate in SF/SFY about a quota for women, but it's not very popular, and some of the opponents are women. Although in the Republic SF is one of the worst parties when it comes to participation by women, in the North they are the best, aside from the Women's Coalition of course.
Conversations, observations from the conference
1. I asked a few people what they thought about the abortion referendum and got the impression that about 90% of SFY were going to vote "no" (pro-choice).
2. I had a conversation with several people about SF's position on drugs, especially whether or not they agreed with the policy when it came to cannabis. I was somewhat surprised to find that those I was talking with had no interest in using cannabis, although in general they were against it's criminalization and felt that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as hard drugs like heroin (which is a major problem in Ireland) and that it probably was better than alcohol. And they supported, at the very least, medical marijuana.
3. Those I spoke with about this wanted to have dialogue with unionists/loyalists at a grass-roots level and try to encourage in them an understanding of what the republican struggle is really about, that it isn't anti-Protestant. A couple of them confirmed my belief that the Progressive Unionist Party holds great potential for bringing Protestant workers to a radical, anti-sectarian and anti-Unionist agenda. There had been a meeting at a college in Dublin about a week earlier organized by SFY which featured a leader of the PUP. On the other hand, they confirmed that the PUP's influence in working-class loyalist areas is declining and that for a lot of young people in such areas, the "cool" thing to do is to join the Ulster Defense Association, which is a vicious loyalist paramilitary which isn't on cease-fire and has killed about 20 ordinary Catholics since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Very scary.
I also talked with some of them about integrated education, something I think is crucial for several reasons- breaking the power of the Catholic Church and facilitating dialogue between young nationalists/republicans and loyalists/unionists. Those I spoke to were in favor of it. Some attend Irish-language schools which, although mostly attended by Catholics, are not controlled by the Church and are open to everyone.
4. There were some amusing and awkward moments when it came time for me to admit that officially our sister organization is the Social Democratic and Labour Party. Once when I said that a couple conversations nearby suddenly stopped; I pretended to look nervous and said "I have to go," and turned to run- it was hilarious. Seriously though, I said yes, they are our sister org, but I personally have major problems with them (since I imagine this might be a sensitive issue, I've included as an addendum a brief explanation of why I don't like the SDLP).
5. After the end of the conference on Sunday I spent several hrs. with the local Galway kids and a few from Dublin at a pub. One of them told me he had spent 6 months in California during which he had campaigned for Nader, so we had a friendly argument about Nader, much of what I said was based on the YDS statement.
6. I had brought several copies of the joint DL/The Activist issue and I also knew (both from the Internet and from walking around Belfast) that there was a anti-globalization movement in Belfast, and was curious if they were experiencing the same kind of problems around religion/sectarianism that the movement in America has experienced around race. I tried talking with some of the Belfast kids (who were wearing the scarf-type thing around their necks that a lot of Palestinians wear), but between interruptions and the THICK Belfast accent I didn't get much, except the following:
A: The northern branch of the Socialist Party of Ireland (trotskyite, "Militant" Labour, anti-republican) is dominated by middle-class Unionist kids who are just rebelling against their parents.
B: The anti-globalization movement there centers around the Socialist Workers Party (which is critically supportive of Sinn Fein) and is mostly made up of nationalists.
C: I asked if it was possible that the SWP's work on globalization could attract progressive loyalists who would then come into contact with nationalists and republicans and then maybe become republicans. I was told that people in loyalist areas who got involved with the SWP would be seen by their neighbors about the same way they would be if they joined Sinn Fein, and possibly be shot. Discouraging. (I know there are problems with the SWP, but IF they were able to do this I wouldn't be picky about their politics- the fewer sectarian loyalists, the fewer Catholics killed)
(I gave out about 10 copies of that issue)
7. In a few conversations I explained what kind of organization YDS/DSA is- not a party, visionary gradualism, etc.
8. I spoke with one senior member about my call for SF to reach out more to people of color and the Left in America. She thought it was great and when I suggested that the SF leadership might not be willing to risk losing their mainstream Irish-American supporters, she agreed that SF would be better off without them and would at least make up for that loss of support with support from people of color and the Left.
9. There were about 100 SFY members there. They don't use a delegate system and I don't know what percentage of their members were there. But it's a good chance it was about 1/4, because they seem to be concentrated in the North (N.I.) and Dublin, both of which are about 4-8 hrs. drive from Galway.
10. They are definitely becoming more assertive in terms of autonomy from the party. They are demanding more funding, they are now electing their own leadership, and it's possible they DO have the power to pass resolutions.
3/4-3/6 Left Galway and went to Dublin
Not much happened. I bought a bunch of stuff at the SF Bookstore in Dublin. While there I suggested they carry the following books: "Black and Green: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland and Black America," "How the Irish Became White," and "The Color of Politics." I then collected one each of the pro-choice posters for the abortion referendum they were holding 3/6. I gave the Irish Labour one to Erin Kaiser, and the others to the NARAL chapter at CU-Boulder.
Continued...