Tomás Ó Flatharta

Rumours about sharp disagreements between the Connolly Youth Movement (CYM) and the Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) circulated publicly on various platforms, notably the Cedar Lounge Revolution. https://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2020/12/02/what-you-want-to-say-2-december-2020/

The CYM has disaffiliated from the CPI – a public statement is here : https://cym.ie/2021/01/18/cym-statement-on-disaffiliation/?fbclid=IwAR2rMRnPz2RhVRn8x6Q3GPBTmysFeX26swCJKaVpsOyvWpyupMsLloOSQmk

One correspondent observes :

An interesting political development. Whilst I would not overstate it in any sense, it is true that the CYM has presented itself as a generally vibrant group and has garnered a lot of recruits particularly (though not exclusively) through leaning into a particular online aesthetic and social circles.

Their attachment to the Communist Party and, partly, its selection of recruits, has resulted in it inheriting a framework of analysis which led to a fundamentally left-sectarian approach (“anti-Trotskyism”) and self-imposed isolation from a significant section of the socialist left. It is no joke to say that some in the CYM spend almost as much (if not more) time attacking other socialist groups than they do attacking our common enemy.

This is no doubt a product of the mistaken view that the CYM and CPI together represented the only real means through which revolutionary change could be achieved in Irish society (meaning: all other socialist groups are detrimental obstacles to be overcome).

That said, there are many good organisers and activists in the CYM, and in that I include some of those very sectarian individuals. While some elements of the statement come across to me as particularly ironic, taking it at face value there are important conclusions drawn around sectarian political approaches and democratic culture. Speaking from experience, splits are often catalysts for reflection, introspection and reassessing your politics – try and use the time productively instead of trying to continue with the status quo minus-CPI overhead. Hopefully the conclusion is a less sectarian approach. Best of luck to all involved.

Let’s hope nobody is threatened with finishing their days in an updated version of “the prisons of the GPU” https://youtu.be/ZiA2OgNQ51A

John Meehan January 18 2020