Dublin Branch
An objective assessment of the leadership of the Dublin Branch would have to conclude that it is not entirely the fault of the Branch officers that its level of leadership, its capacity to deal with constructive engagement or its respect for internal democracy is so poor. They have been shielded from the consequences of their actions – and their inactions – by exactly the same low levels that existed in the former Southern Area Committee and the NEC.
Supressing proposals/arguments by brute force is no replacement for learning the skills of engaging in argument to either achieve positive results or even learning the skills of engaging in argument itself. While using blunt force certainly achieves ‘results’ within the Branch it is of no value in dealing with external groups or individuals and is of even less value in developing skills within the Branch. As a consequence, in an engagement with any external entity they would be slaughtered: constrained by no experience, with no brute force to resort to and infected by the same virus that infects the rest of the leadership – they only have to be ‘right’.
Considering the level of protection they enjoy from the Party leadership, it is little wonder they consider themselves the self-declared “custodians of the branch”. Consider the arrogance that is required to adopt such a position: the ordinary members are so fragile that they need protection from the harsh realities of internal Branch engagements. Ordinary members are in such need of protection that the Branch officers simply engage in secret activities even when there is no logical or rational reason for them to do so (leaving aside any requirement to comply with the formal democratic procedures that actually do exist within the Party). Breaches of democracy by the Branch officers are, when challenged, compounded by further breaches of democracy.
Even if there was some emergency situation they felt the need to deal with in a secret mission, they compound the situation by subsequently not referring the issues back to the ordinary members at the earliest opportunity or, indeed, at any opportunity.
As a consequence of the great divide between the Branch officers and the ordinary membership, a handful of members are busy, busy, busy while, for the most part, the rest of the membership trapse from one Branch meeting to the next with little or nothing to do.
The lack of imagination, the lack of political skills, the lack of organisational skills or experience, the lack of focus, the lack of ambition, the lack of strategy is staggering. It is little wonder that the membership numbers are either stagnant or dwindling or that so many members are just bored to death.
And what level of experience, what level of strategy, what level of fear would cause them to dismiss a request to do an audit of the skills, interests, specialities of the Branch members as being ‘too time consuming’? The same proposition was turned down by the NEC. You would not know whether to laugh or cry.
Again, in step with their mentors, they initiate some activity, carry it out, engage is a few rounds of self-congratulation and move on to the next activity. It is fair to say that not a single one of these initiatives ever got further than the first step. Then, that’s that. No analysis: was it worth doing, could it be done again, did it bring any measurable result, could it be modified, used in a different way or was it a waste of time? Even if it was a waste of time, at least, to learn something from it.
Still, as long as it looks good in an annual report what more do you need?
Just like their mentors, they have no imagination, no pride, no respect and no ambition for the Branch or for the Party. And, if anyone does anything to question their little charade, suddenly they spring into action to damp it down. The amount of energy expanded ensuring that members would not be able to get their ideas across or discussed and the resulting exposure of the methods of the Branch officers led to very serious events in the Party. Events that have led us to where we are today among other wider issues.
Once again, the hope lies in the fact that there is only one way for the Branch to go – and it would take so little to turn it into a vibrant, exciting place for communists to inhabit as they turn themselves into a reckonable force within the Party and within the Irish political scene.
Exactly the same can be said of the Party overall.