Saoradh party 4th conference

Saoradh held its fourth Ard Fheis in Newry on November 9th. Formed in 2016, Saoradh is the newest and most influential republican group opposed to the Good Friday Agreement. The party is an attempt to give a political face to the growing republican dissent in nationalist areas north of the border.
Following a large commemoration on the Easter Rising centenary in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, that attracted over 3,000 participants, Saoradh as a political vehicle was formed.

Over 150 delegates assembled on Saturday afternoon in Newry for the conference. Among them were Saoradh chairperson Brian McKenna, a former IRA prisoner from Dublin, and vice-chairperson Mandy Duffy from Lurgan – both were re-elected in their positions.
Other attendees were Dee Fennell from Belfast, Paddy Gallagher from Derry, and Davy Jordan and Sharon Jordan, both Tyrone.
Thomas Ashe Mellon, who recently spoke at a press conference about house raids and stop-and-search practices in Derry, was another delegate. The Derry office, Junior McDaid House, was searched by the PSNI two days before the party conference took place.
While Brexit occupies the public debate, it merely played a minor role at the Ard Fheis.
“There was hardly any debate on Brexit, our position is clear and has not changed,” explained national public relations officer Paddy Gallagher.
In his address, Brian McKenna stated: “Saoradh supports an exit from the super-imperialist EU, this has been a long-standing revolutionary position. We see Brexit as a defeat for the business and political elite of Britain, Ireland and Europe.”
This should not be interpreted that Saoradh is a pro-Brexit party. Instead, as McKenna outlined in an interview after the publication of the party’s Brexit policy, Saoradh has a largely defeatist view on Brexit.
While the party welcomes the chaos brought to the UK, the party’s goal remains a united Ireland, with or without Brexit. This unified island should then leave the EU.
This anti-EU stance is, indeed, a long-standing republican position developed since the Sinn Féin opposition to the European Economic Community (EEC) – the former name for the EU – in the 1960s.
Sinn Féin itself was a strong opponent of the Lisbon and Nice treaties and only later became an ardent supporter of the EU.
Since its formation, Saoradh was only partially able to provide a political face to their movement. Their Brexit document remains the sole position paper. “We are still in a self-finding process. We are intensely discussing the future direction of the party,” a delegate explained.
In her address, party vice-chairperson Mandy Duffy said that “a series of all-day conferences to debate and form a consensus on policy regarding the issues of drugs, abortion, housing and elections” were held. Whether this will result in further policy documents remains to be seen.
The speeches stressed a democratic-socialist ideology. Strikingly, the word nationalism was largely omitted, instead replaced by revolutionary republicanism. Another term that often appeared was internationalism.