Comments on: Soviet na hÉireann http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/ It's a group blog. What more do you need to know? Tue, 22 May 2012 22:03:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Garibaldy http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68768 Garibaldy Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:32:15 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68768 It seems to still be working on the TG4 website if you follow the instructions in the original post. It seems to still be working on the TG4 website if you follow the instructions in the original post.

]]> By: Derry Chambers http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68765 Derry Chambers Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:39:16 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68765 Anyone know where I can get a copy? Anyone know where I can get a copy?

]]> By: Philip Pilkington http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68719 Philip Pilkington Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:27:48 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68719 @We hate Shankley and St. John In all fairness you're probably right, the revolution probably wasn't an "SWP away". However, from a didactic point of view I think the documentary did highlight the leftist's subservience in favour of a notion of the nation - have we not seen something similar throughout the "Celtic tiger"? - and thus I find it quite refreshing from a political perspective. Perhaps I'm worng, but the question which the programme asked me to address was: how exactly do we conceive of national interest? And how exactly is this concept deployed politically? From this perspective the documentary was a breath of fresh air... @We hate Shankley and St. John

In all fairness you’re probably right, the revolution probably wasn’t an “SWP away”. However, from a didactic point of view I think the documentary did highlight the leftist’s subservience in favour of a notion of the nation - have we not seen something similar throughout the “Celtic tiger”? - and thus I find it quite refreshing from a political perspective.

Perhaps I’m worng, but the question which the programme asked me to address was: how exactly do we conceive of national interest? And how exactly is this concept deployed politically?

From this perspective the documentary was a breath of fresh air…

]]> By: We hate Shankley and St. John http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68717 We hate Shankley and St. John Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:46:49 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68717 It was a reasonably good programme, with some interesting stuff on both industrial and farm labourers struggles. Certainly if you knew nothing about the subject it was a good start. However the use of segments from the 'Wind that Shakes the Barley' didn't work in my view. Neither did the fact that the same actors, wearing the same clothes, featured in every workplace occupation. The local historians and Emmet O'Connor told the story and added a bit of nuance but the overall politics seemed to be dominated by Conor Kostick and his book 'Revolution in Ireland' which downplayed the importance of the IRA and the War of Independence, blamed everything on trade union bureaucrats and gut-less labour leaders and basically suggested that a Bolshevik revolution was just an SWP away. Well it wasn't. It was a reasonably good programme, with some interesting stuff on both industrial and farm labourers struggles. Certainly if you knew nothing about the subject it was a good start. However the use of segments from the ‘Wind that Shakes the Barley’ didn’t work in my view. Neither did the fact that the same actors, wearing the same clothes, featured in every workplace occupation. The local historians and Emmet O’Connor told the story and added a bit of nuance but the overall politics seemed to be dominated by Conor Kostick and his book ‘Revolution in Ireland’ which downplayed the importance of the IRA and the War of Independence, blamed everything on trade union bureaucrats and gut-less labour leaders and basically suggested that a Bolshevik revolution was just an SWP away. Well it wasn’t.

]]> By: Philip Pilkington http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68716 Philip Pilkington Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:21:02 +0000 http://dublinopinion.com/2008/10/23/soviet-na-heireann/#comment-68716 The documentary was extremely interesting. The only comment I could possibly make is that it showed Ireland's serious lack of political organisation (from a leftist point of view, of course...). The Nationalist struggle, for all its popularity among the European Leftist radicals, was, to put it bluntly, rather mythic; reliant on pretty pictures and not concrete social relations. Once again, and I hate to say it, it showed that the Irish people, probably due to their late development as a nation, have an awful tendency to identify with even the crudest sketches of "nationalism" drawn up by the ruling-class. The Irish people, again as far as I can see, are perfectly happy to blame the imperial "other" for their hardship, and perfectly happy to remain cynical bystanders in the political process. Harsh? No doubt. And undoubtedly someone will say that the lower-classes formed Soviets at their own risk... I agree, the motivations were there... its those that were potentially in the political classes which were to blame... Lesson? Adhere to people's general self-interest rather than some spectre of collectivity under a national identity... The documentary was extremely interesting. The only comment I could possibly make is that it showed Ireland’s serious lack of political organisation (from a leftist point of view, of course…).

The Nationalist struggle, for all its popularity among the European Leftist radicals, was, to put it bluntly, rather mythic; reliant on pretty pictures and not concrete social relations.

Once again, and I hate to say it, it showed that the Irish people, probably due to their late development as a nation, have an awful tendency to identify with even the crudest sketches of “nationalism” drawn up by the ruling-class. The Irish people, again as far as I can see, are perfectly happy to blame the imperial “other” for their hardship, and perfectly happy to remain cynical bystanders in the political process.

Harsh? No doubt. And undoubtedly someone will say that the lower-classes formed Soviets at their own risk… I agree, the motivations were there… its those that were potentially in the political classes which were to blame…

Lesson? Adhere to people’s general self-interest rather than some spectre of collectivity under a national identity…

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