| From Unity, 12 September 2009 |
“Peadar O’Donnell at the Mill” (DVD)Review by Lynda WalkerA DVD is now available of a meeting in 1984 organised by West Belfast Branch of the Communist Party of Ireland. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Republican Congress, Peadar O’Donnell was invited to speak at the Conway Mill in west Belfast. The DVD gives an important insight into Irish politics through the life of this man who met James Connolly, who fought and was arrested in the Four Courts in 1919, and was a veteran of the Republican Congress in 1934.Peadar O’Donnell began the meeting quite modestly, saying, “I didn’t really contribute anything important . . . I just happened to have a ringside seat at the important things that were happening at the time.” He goes on to talk about the milestones in his life, one being in Liberty Hall with Connolly before the Easter Rising, when the latter said, “Not one shot to be fired in Ulster . . . I was a fiery young person in Liberty Hall.” Peadar also speaks about “the last I saw of Liam,” the night before the Free State government executed Mellows in 1921. During the course of the meeting Peadar talks of the politics behind the Republican Congress, saying that “it cannot be repeated” but lessons must be learnt, emphasising the need to build the unity of the Irish working class and small farmers. He says that after the Congress he tried to “build a deep representation of Protestants to go to Bodenstown.” On the first march, after the Congress, he said about sixty people came with a banner that bore the words “Wolfe Tone Commemoration, 1934—Shankill Road, Belfast. Break the connection with capitalism.” O’Donnell says: “They rallied to the slogan of ‘Up the Shankill!’ It was one of the greatest pleasures to march behind that banner. It was a very proud moment for me” to see the banner, and “if anybody knows any of the men, give them my regards.” A battalion of the IRA seized the banner, O’Donnell says. “It was rather disastrous that there should be such an attack.” He gives anecdotes, often funny, of the politics and people in Ireland and his personal life. He tells how a local parish priest, Father Campbell, writes anonymous letters in the name of Catholic Action, who, having O’Donnell on Achill Island, “gets it into his head that he is being punished for some sin in his past life . . . and started agitation to drive Peadar O’Donnell and communism off the island.” O’Donnell tells how he deals with the situation. He talks about building bridges with Protestants in the North, saying to Tommy Carny, deputy grand master of the Independent Orange Lodge: “How is it that we get on so easily, so brotherly?” Whereupon Tommy replied: “Ah, well, we did our homework and decided if the Pope had any dark purpose against Belfast, it would not be you that he would use.” The chairman of the meeting in 1984 was Seán Morrissey; he controlled the meeting in the “old style,” taking no prisoners. He introduced Peadar as “a fierce defender of the rights of the Irish people to run their own affairs.” Seán has a wealth of knowledge, and his own background is as colourful and active as was Peadar O’Donnell’s. He was a member of the republican movement and a former internee, chairperson of Turf Lodge Residents’ Association, a member of the Communist Party of Ireland and full-time officer for the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union. Also speaking was the journalist Eoin Ó Murchú, who was at that time a member of the Communist Party of Ireland. If you were there on the day you might just enjoy seeing yourself, twenty-five years younger! In 2009, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Republican Congress, the Communist Party of Ireland made a DVD of the original video of the meeting to show at the West Belfast Festival. Sean Morrissey spoke at this event. Having been privileged to meet Peadar O’Donnell on several occasions and to be a comrade of Seán Morrissey, I can say that it is well worth getting the DVD to see these men speaking. It is not edited but it is a historic record of the meeting, available for £6, including postage and packing, from Unity Press, PO Box 85, Belfast BT1 1SR. Please make cheques or postal orders payable to “Northern Area Trading CPI.” Peadar O’Donnell (1893–1986) was born in Co. Donegal. In the 1930s, along with others, he formed the Republican Congress in an attempt to radicalise the Irish labour and national movements. Peadar, a Marxist, wrote several novels and other books and was active in many campaigns. Sadly, he died in 1986, but his whole life was devoted to the finest cause in the world, the liberation of humankind. |
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