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Colorful Classics #13
Revolutionary Works
Seamus Costello was the founder of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).
Declaring as a principle, “I owe my allegiance only to the working class”, he is considered the most important republican socialist after James Connolly.
Declaring as a principle, “I owe my allegiance only to the working class”, he is considered the most important republican socialist after James Connolly.
125 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 20, 2023
its just terribly sad to read such amazing work and really and truly understand the voice behind it and have to reckon with the fact that he was assassinated. not to mention that i hardly doubt any irish person would know who he is or what he’s done anymore AGGGRHH !!
October 22, 2023
absolutely phenomenal. what a fantastic man. very insightful and practical
January 26, 2025
He understood how it all works
June 5, 2025
Offers a snippet of his thoughts, his murder and that period of sectarianism was so damaging to the struggle for a 32 county socialist republic.
September 22, 2024
I listened to the free FLP audiobook of this last St. Patrick's Day. It's a bunch of great speeches, interviews, and other assorted miscellany and fairly enjoyable to work through. Not really any discussion about Marx or Lenin, but a lot of very specific discussions intermixed with commentary on colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, etc. Will finish with this excerpt on religion:
"The Irish Revolutionary Movement at the beginning of this century had no better champion than James Connolly. His feat in uniting the Protestant and Catholic workers of Belfast in 1911 and leading them to victory in the dock strike is often forgotten. But here in the fight for the emancipation of the worker, Connolly showed that Catholics and Protestants had a common bond. His slogan was “Irish Worker”, not Catholic Workers, or Protestant Workers—his battle cry was “The Cause of Ireland is the Cause of Labour, the Cause of Labour is the Cause of Ireland”. A further illustration of this common bond can be found in the Belfast of the early ‘30s, when armed Catholics and Protestants side by side faced British armoured cars and machine guns, when the British attempted to cut down on the outdoor Relief Benefits. The united efforts of Irish workers won the day. The ideals of the Republican Movement of today are identical to those of Tone, Mitchel, Lalor and Connolly. The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland, the wealth of Irish Industry for those who create, it—namely, the Workers. This is not a Utopian dream, and certainly not impossible. It can be achieved and will be achieved when the workers of Ireland, when the men of no property in Ireland, when elements of Irish Republicanism and Labour realise the power which they hold in their own hands, when they decide to unite and fight for the rights which are theirs for the taking."
"The Irish Revolutionary Movement at the beginning of this century had no better champion than James Connolly. His feat in uniting the Protestant and Catholic workers of Belfast in 1911 and leading them to victory in the dock strike is often forgotten. But here in the fight for the emancipation of the worker, Connolly showed that Catholics and Protestants had a common bond. His slogan was “Irish Worker”, not Catholic Workers, or Protestant Workers—his battle cry was “The Cause of Ireland is the Cause of Labour, the Cause of Labour is the Cause of Ireland”. A further illustration of this common bond can be found in the Belfast of the early ‘30s, when armed Catholics and Protestants side by side faced British armoured cars and machine guns, when the British attempted to cut down on the outdoor Relief Benefits. The united efforts of Irish workers won the day. The ideals of the Republican Movement of today are identical to those of Tone, Mitchel, Lalor and Connolly. The land of Ireland for the people of Ireland, the wealth of Irish Industry for those who create, it—namely, the Workers. This is not a Utopian dream, and certainly not impossible. It can be achieved and will be achieved when the workers of Ireland, when the men of no property in Ireland, when elements of Irish Republicanism and Labour realise the power which they hold in their own hands, when they decide to unite and fight for the rights which are theirs for the taking."
October 26, 2021
This collection of interviews and lectures from Irish revolutionary socialist Seamus Costello serves as a great glimpse into the socialist struggle in Ireland during the 60's and 70's, and his work to try to create a socialist state, and achieve national liberation for Ireland.
Costello's lectures cover a number of topics and issues faced by the Irish revolutionary socialist movement at the time. It is his emphasis on the importance of creating a mass movement through party building and organizing to unite sections of the working class wherever possible by holding rallies and reaching out to working class organizations like trade unions and tenants associations (best covered in the lecture/chapter "1969: Democracy and the Mass Movement"
in my opinion) that is most prominently featured in the book through Costello's words and actions. Costello's thoughts on the importance of standing against bigotry that divides workers, and taking a strong Internationalist and anti-Imperialist stance as it relates to the Irish situation and the colonized world is also shown through his statements against excluding Loyalists or Prostants from his organization as long as they hold socialist principles to try to stop contributing to fighting among Irish working class people, and his stated support for the Vietnamese communist forces in the Vietnam War.
Revolutionary Works let's it's reader see the depth and detail of Costello's analysis of the revolutionary potential of the Irish working class, and his strategies to unite working people behind a national struggle for a socialist Irish republic. While not successful in his efforts to achieve all his goals Costello's words are worth the read to see his incredible class-based observations and organizer skills alone.
Costello's lectures cover a number of topics and issues faced by the Irish revolutionary socialist movement at the time. It is his emphasis on the importance of creating a mass movement through party building and organizing to unite sections of the working class wherever possible by holding rallies and reaching out to working class organizations like trade unions and tenants associations (best covered in the lecture/chapter "1969: Democracy and the Mass Movement"
in my opinion) that is most prominently featured in the book through Costello's words and actions. Costello's thoughts on the importance of standing against bigotry that divides workers, and taking a strong Internationalist and anti-Imperialist stance as it relates to the Irish situation and the colonized world is also shown through his statements against excluding Loyalists or Prostants from his organization as long as they hold socialist principles to try to stop contributing to fighting among Irish working class people, and his stated support for the Vietnamese communist forces in the Vietnam War.
Revolutionary Works let's it's reader see the depth and detail of Costello's analysis of the revolutionary potential of the Irish working class, and his strategies to unite working people behind a national struggle for a socialist Irish republic. While not successful in his efforts to achieve all his goals Costello's words are worth the read to see his incredible class-based observations and organizer skills alone.
January 7, 2021
It's okay when the Irish do it.
September 3, 2021
A leader in Ireland's struggle that mainstream history often conveniently writes out of the narrative altogether.
June 5, 2024
I can’t lie, he was saying some real shit.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews