(Starry Plough image taken from the cover of ‘The Lost Revolution’)
DCTV have uploaded this fantastic audio recording of last nights public meeting in the Ireland Institute on Pearse Street, with historians Brian Hanley and Matt Treacy discussing Republicanism in the 1960s. The meeting was chaired by Tommy Graham of History Ireland magazine, and certainly contained a lot of interesting discussion on the ideology and aspirations of those active in Republican circles in the period. The meeting was attended by a huge crowd, and there were familiar faces from the period in the audience. I’ll leave it to the listener to draw their own conclusions!
Click the link below to hear proceedings:
Recording of Talk on 1960s Republicanism by Brian Hanley and Matt Treacy 26-06-12 by Dublin Communitytv on Mixcloud
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
A really interesting night and good to have the option to listen to what was said again. The audience participation was seriously unbalanced with very few Provisionals willing to speak and the Officials ignoring any archival sources and waxing lyrical about the campaigning in the 1960s.
The hairy old chestnut of the Provisional being the creation of FF saw the light of day but went unchallenged while the infiltration of the officials by Moscow was dismissed out of hand.
Key moments for me were Matt Tracy’s crowd winning plea “go read the fucking thing”, Eugene McCartan of the CPI preaching unity but getting a cheap dig in before he finished and some guy who seemed to think Stalin’s behaviour in WW2 was a noble defeat of Nazism rather than a Soviet Imperialism land grab. Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact anybody?
I wasn’t at the meeting, but you must have heard a different meeting to the one I listened to. The two speakers explicitly said they rejected the idea that FF created the provos for example, as did of course Des Dalton. I think you were also mistaking the CP people for people who had been in the Officials, but have since wondered off in various directions.
Kudos to whoever recorded the meeting too.
Must have been at the wrong meeting. The FF creating provos theory was dismissed and not argued by anybody, two leading Dublin provos of 69 vintage spoke and both ‘waxed lyrical’ about campaigning in the 60s, the president of RSF spoke as did Paddy Prendiville supporting Matt Treacy. Hanley’s speech was based entirely on archival sources.
And mine wasn’t? Brian’s was just as much or less polemical as mine. Are you questioning my sources? Anyone who wants to challenge my facts is welcome to. Courts or wherever. Don’t imagine there will be too many takers for that now. Sorry the publishers did not front up.
Was replying to Shane. So didn’t attack your sources. Interested why nobody from Sinn Fein seemed to be there or least speak in your defence? and why AP/RN has not reviewed it to my knowledge, (I’m sure I would have seen it as I get every issue).
My book The Communist Party of Ireland 1921 – 2011 is now available. Will answer quite a few of the questions raised in objection to the last one!
Go to Brocaire Books page on facebook – https://www.facebook.com/#!/BrocaireBooks?fref=ts
Cheers for that Matt.