Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the 1916 Rising

ONCE AGAIN, an opponent of Sinn Féin – Tánaiste and Labour Party leader Joan Burton this time – has trotted out the line that Sinn Féin had little or nothing to do with the 1916 Rising. This is supposed to be a death-blow to our credibility; it is, in fact, a pathetic riposte from the historically illiterate.

The facts are these . . .

Sinn Féin as an organisation was not involved in the Rising because it was not a military organisation nor did it have a republican constitution until 1917.

The Labour Party was not involved either – it was the political arm of the trade union movement.

Obviously, Fianna Fáil could not have been involved because it was not founded until a decade later.

Likewise Fine Gael, which was set up in the 1930s after merging with the fascist Blueshirts.

Members and former members of Sinn Féin took part in the Rising. Executed leader Seán Mac Diarmada had been National Organiser of Sinn Féin. Others such as Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh were Sinn Féin councillors. Labour Councillor Richard O'Carroll was killed by the British Army. The workers' movement was, of course, represented in the Rising by James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army.

In 1917, Sinn Féin adopted the Irish Republic as its aim and its new leadership included many who took part in the Rising. But it also included Arthur Griffith who was not a republican. This Sinn Féin further divided, leading to the formation later of Cumann na nGaedhal (later Fine Gael) and Fianna Fáil, with the name Sinn Féin being retained to this day by those of us who pursue the aim of a 32-county Irish Republic.

All the above parties can claim to have had founder members who took part in the Rising. So the riposte that 'Sinn Féin had nothing to do with it' is meaningless twaddle.

The real test of credibility on the 1916 Rising is how these parties live up to the Proclamation of the Republic today.

Is it those partitionists and austerity warriors who take their orders from Brussels and Frankfurt, impoverish our people and then open food banks?

Or is it those who have never ceased to struggle to end partition, abolish poverty and assert the sovereignty of the Irish people?

I think you know the answer.