Red Alert, No. 1

Many thanks to Tomás Sheehan for donating this to the Archive. It’s a very interesting document, issued by Cork District of the Communist Party of Ireland in 2002, one of a number of editions of this publication. It speaks to a geographic spread of the CPI and an ability to produce such a publication in addition to other materials it was producing at the same time.

A piece outlining the aims and ambitions of the publication is prescient in its assessment of certain issues.

Welcome to the 1st. issue of RED ALERT which is produced by the Communist Party of Ireland in Cork. We have felt for the last number of years that the lack of a paper, outlining the Communist Party position on a whole range of issues, local, national and international, hindered the growth of our party and also weakened the broader left in Cork.

Also while many comrades have been very active in trade union, anti-service charges, women’s and anti-racist movements, as a party we have largely neglected our political work. Hopefully this has now been rectified and once more a vibrant Communist Party will play it’s part in left-wing politics of Cork.

Our goal is to produce a copy of RED ALERT every month and we will do everything in our power to do so. However we will be governed by the availability of resources, financial and otherwise ..

We have no wealthy backers so we are dependent on you!

We aim to produce a paper that will be topical and also will give a clear class perspective on, the many issues affecting the working class and progressive movement in Cork. It couldn’t come at a more opportune time as more and more workers are re-discovering their militancy as the strait-jacket of “partnership” becomes more oppressive with the turn-down in the economy. RED ALERT will support workers in struggle and give them a platform.

Unfortunately racist ideas are gaining ground among sections of the working class, as well as in society generally and must be confronted.

RED ALERT will be uncompromising in it’s opposition to racism.

While RED ALERT will be primarily a communist paper written by communists we welcome ·your comments, articles and letters. We hope you enjoy reading this 1st. issue and also hope you become a regular reader.

The contents is wide-ranging with articles on the Nice Treaty referendum, the need for a new trade union, NATO, housing, the prison system, service charges, racist candidates in Cork electoral politics and Che Guevara (with a report on a visit to Cork by his daughter). There’s also the text of part of speech by Fidel Castro, and excerpts from Communist publications internationally. Red Alert notes that:

The Communist Party of Ireland is and always has been an integral part of the International Communist Movement. Ever since the first Irish marxist party was established by James Connolly, Ireland’s communists have been to the forefront fn solidarity with peoples everywhere struggling against capitalism and imperialism.

In line with that tradition RED ALERT will print a selection of articles and statements from from a number of our fraternal parties.

There’s also a piece on Communist Party electoral strategy.

With the General Election looming, the question of whether or not we should contest it comes up. Unlike the main parties, which really only exist as election machines, the Communist Party: doesn’t see elections as the be! all and end all of politics.

Elections are important as part of the overall struggle for socialism, however contesting elections must not and cannot be our sole priority. As a revolutionary party we are c:ware of the limitations of bourgeois democracy, however the Left can improve it’s position and thus advance the interests of the working class byparticipating in elections.

Whichever party or group of parties wins the next election wilj govern on behalf of big business.

The interests of the Irish working: class do not feature when governments are being formed. The Communist Party would like to see the emergence of a Left Bloc of TDs in the Dail, a bloc linked to working class struggles outside.

However this outcome seems unlikely after the next election.

Electorally the Left is weak and divided and the biggest working class party, Labour, has consistently put the interests of its parliamentary party before those of the working class. It is in this context that we have to make our decision. When we stood a candidate it was in the full knowledge that not only would we not win a seat, but that we would also lose: our deposit. However w believed that politically it was worth it. we believed that during the heightened political awa_reness of an election campaign:people were more open to political discourse, and it presented our party with an opportunity to confront greater numbers of working class voters with a socialist perspective.

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