32 CSM 2018 New Year Statement
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement sends fraternal greetings to all republican and socialist comrades throughout Ireland. We send revolutionary greetings to all peoples struggling for liberation and justice throughout the world. We particularly note the struggles for national sovereignty in those Arab Nations who were brutally victimised by imperialist conquest. We send solidarity greetings to the people of Gaza and assure them of our unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.
The continuing existence of Irish Republican POW’s and the strategic use of internment by remand lays bare the falsehood that the conflict in Ireland is in some way resolved. We send greetings to all POW’s, Internees and their families. We pledge our continuing support for the broad based campaigns fighting against these injustices.
The year 2018 marks the Centenary of the 1918 General Election which democratically validated the Republic declared in the 1916 Proclamation. The key lesson for republicans today is to understand that pledging loyalty to that Republic is a poor substitute to actually building towards its realisation. This is the example which republicans of that period have set for us. They did not revert to paying annual homage to the Easter Rising but rather extended the core political demand of it by directly engaging with the Irish people to enact their national sovereignty.
The challenge for republicans today is to continue this direct engagement to ensure the relevance of the Proclamation is made manifest in the daily lives of our people. The question of National Sovereignty is not simply concerned with securing a free vote, to now and again elect a government, but rather with the functioning of a just society where fundamental rights are integrated and guaranteed.
Our message must reflect a clear schematic of the republic we envisage and outline viable strategies to pursue it. Republicans must involve themselves in a process which develops this message to demonstrate to our people that we possess the maturity and political acumen to act in their interests. Our conduct must be that of a disciplined and unified movement.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement have been fully engaged with likeminded republicans, from various groupings and none, to develop a radical policy platform that will bring the republican analysis into modernity. In the early stages of this engagement it was recognised that the vast majority of republicans in Ireland are not aligned to any current group and have no desire to be so either. Any political vehicle hoping to harness and give direction to their voice must be primarily focussed on message. The stern reality to be faced is that current republican groupings are wholly inadequate to constitute such a vehicle and therefore alternative strategies must be explored.
The Proclamation Project is one such strategy that aims to address this task. Predicated on the principle that the better argument prevails it offers a democratic engagement for all republicans to converse in comradeship and equity to advance republican objectives. Our primary message for republicans in 2018 is to engage with this project so that our collective wisdom can be brought to bear on the many challenges that lie ahead.
