
James Connolly
The Relevance of James Connolly Today
Although James Connolly was murdered by the British Empire more than a hundred years ago his analysis of the situation in Ireland then is still valid today.
Connolly was a Marxist Socialist. This truth is at the heart of his life’s work; without it his struggles and sacrifice cannot be understood.
When James Connolly, Marxian Socialist and Commander-in-Chief of the Irish revolutionary army of Easter Week, 1916, was awaiting his doom at the hands of a British firing squad, his last words spoken to his daughter Nora, expressed a fear that his comrades would not understand this action. And few of them did.
If we believe that working class struggle for better conditions within the society in which we live must, to achieve a worthwhile result, be pushed ahead to the overthrow of the social system that rests on the exploitation of the working classes, and to the organisation of society on a socialist basis instead then we can consider the question of the relevance of Connolly’s teaching to the tactics of today.