Once the laws governing the import of foreign capital into Southern Ireland were repealed and protection was relaxed in the late 1950s and early 60s, the Southern Irish bourgeoisie had little objective basis left for its pose as a progressive class. Not that this was in fact a new development, for the whole attempt to develop capitalism in one country was doomed from its inception. Rather than see its economic privileges imperiled by the broadening of the national struggle into a thorough-going anti-imperialist struggle, British capitalists were prepared to grant some concessions to the Southern Irish in 1922. With political independence came protection and control of new foreign investment in the South, Neither of these two measures was sufficient to free Ireland from the imperialist stranglehold, however, Much of Ireland's surplus flowed abroad and what remained was used to build up small scale service industries and a few light industries. The Irish market was too small to build up a viable capitalist economy and the 1950s saw a stagnant economy in the 26 counties and a large surplus agrarian population being forced to emigrate. The Irish economy could not develop in isolation from the main imperialist market, not as a capitalist economy at least, This economic fact secured political recognition with free trade and the throwing open of the market to foreign capital. The post-war economic boom allowed a rapid development of light industry, Export markets were relatively easy to find and capital flowed to Ireland in search of cheap labour. Emigration and unemployment began to drop but this boom could only sustain itself while the general boom lasted. Once a general economic downturn began, the process rapidly reversed itself. The base of the Irish bourgeoisie had become narrower, Only a few big bourgeois (by Irish standards) would gain in the long run, As soon as the economy sagged many smaller firms would begin to find themselves in difficulties, the more liberalised trading relations became.
The proletariat had become bigger and its hopes and expectations grown much more ambitious during the boom years. The capitalist found himself in the position of having conceded a lot during the time of rapid growth. He had to claw some of it back and resorted to all the weapons in the arsenal of modern capitalism - inflation, productivity agreements, etc and a most vicious anti-strike bill, which attempts to limit the right to strike and lays down strict penalties for infringement of its stipulations. The development of class consciousness has been reflected in the break-up of the Green Tory political strength. The urban areas have recorded an increasing vote for the Labour Party, For two years in succession Ireland was top of the league for days lost in strikes and in recent months maintenance workers in Dublin secured a huge rise, which still continues to affect the shaky economy seriously,
Recent events in the North have further radicalised wide sections of the working class. The demand is for guns for the North, but although it has no further economic interest in the continuance of the partition, the Southern Irish bourgeoisie is much too deeply committed to British and world imperialism to be an effective agent in the liberation of the North. Only a people's war could do that and, having resolutely repressed the workers after the end of the Civil War and throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Dublin capitalists won't become involved, More ineffectual actions such as the despatch of field hospitals to the border and announcements in the UN will take place in an attempt to keep the people quiet but it will be very difficult for the Green Tories to maintain their progressive posture in the face of continuing resolute struggle by the oppressed people of the North.
To liberate the whole of Ireland and make a real economic revolution the workers will have to build a party with the other sections of society that have no interest in the continuance of capitalist rule. The small farmers have traditionally supported the Labour Party in the south and west but their support seems to have been alienated in the recent elections by Fianna Fail's Red scare tactics. To forge a successful alliance with the farmers a transitional programme will have to be evolved, which takes into account their fears with regard to their small property after the revolution, and the vigorous attempts the bourgeoisie will make to play on these fears, The continuation of the economic struggle in the south and the building of a strong workers' movement will damage the Orange bloc in the North, The increasingly dilapidated state of Northern Irish capital will cause increasing doubt among the Protestant workers on the capability of the Protestant industrialists to safeguard their interests. but nothing will alter their consciousness so much as a strong workers' movement a few miles to the south, breaking up the monolithic image of the Catholic South that it suits the bosses to present. They rightly fear at present that integration with the South would lead to a reduction in the level of their own wages, but this fear could be much alleviated by the emergence of independent politics in the South.
When threats begin to be posed to the safety of British investments in Ireland in the South and the North, the role of British troops as protector of capital but not people will soon become revealed and they will line up with the big bourgeoisie in the North and the Dublin bourgeoisie to put down the Irish people, The Irish people can only free themselves once and for all from the power of British capital by building a revolutionary party led by the proletariat to continue the struggle where Connolly and Larkin left off
The immediate demand is for arms against the North, the ultimate aim is to turn the arms against the bourgeoisie.