Divide and Rule: Labour and the Partition of Ireland

by Peter Hadden

Divide & Rule is a socialist classic, which argues that the partition of Ireland was a conscious act of the British ruling class in order to cut across a working-lass movement with revolutionary potential. Importantly, it argues that this was not inevitable but that, with a socialist programme and leadership, a united movement of workers had the capacity to cut across sectarian division and challenge imperialism and capitalism itself.

“The tactics of ‘divide and rule’, of setting Catholic against Protestant, has again and again been used in Ireland. But history shows, not once but repeatedly, that the oppressed masses are capable of overcoming religious divisions and withstanding the attempts of the exploiters to set them apart. Unity of the oppressed has always been possible on the basis of opposition to oppression.”

The 2020 edition, with a brand new introduction, was printed as we approach the centenary of the partition, so workers and young people can draw the lessons of this historic period and apply them to the struggle for socialism today.

Reach out to Socialist Party Ireland to get printed copy including postage within Ireland – €7

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986