My name is Thomas O’Mahony. I’m a native of East Cork and it has been just over a year since I became a member of Sinn Féin. Unlike many reading this article, I was a late comer to Politics, having only become politically active in College and I Don’t hail from a Republican background. In fact, I come from a staunch Fine Gael family on my father’s side. My great grandfather was a Cumann na ngaedheal TD for East Cork between 1923 and 1924. My grandfather was a proud member of FG for much of his life and would often be seen canvassing for the local candidate(s) come election time. And my father while not an active member of the Party continues to be a supporter of Fine Gael to this day. The only Republican background I can lay claim too is my great granduncle on my Mother’s side, who died while on Hunger Strike in Cork jail during the War of Independence.
With this in mind, Comrades will not be surprised to hear that I only really became interested in Republicanism when I was in Secondary School. Specifically during the Leaving Cert cycle. My History teacher at the time, a Laois woman, made a point of ignoring events such as 1798 and 1916 and concentrating nearly exclusively on the Home Rule Movement whenever we covered Irish History. Being the curious sort that I was, and annoyed that my teacher would consciously ignore certain events to suit her own agenda, I started to do my own research in my spare time. It also helped that I became quite friendly (and still am) with a number of Republicans around this time, one of whom comes from a staunch Sinn Féin background. I would like to say that it kind of snowballed from there, that I went on and joined Sinn Féin at the earliest opportunity. But, as Comrades will see, the development of my Socialist Republican Politics was anything but straight forward.
Upon entering College, I initially joined Young Fine Gael and not Sinn Féin. Comrades may be asking, quite rightly too, what prompted me to join them rather than the Sinn Féin Cumann on campus. As I’ve already highlighted, I come from a Fine Gael background rather than a Republican one, so it seemed natural at the time to join them rather than Sinn Féin. I must also stress, that while I was introduced to Republicanism prior to my arrival at UCC, I still had no real defined Politics of my own. I just knew that Fianna Fáil and the Greens were slowly bringing the State to the brink of Oblivion and in my naivety I believed the rhetoric of Fine Gael that they were indeed an alternative to this. I was with them for 6 months in all, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t initially enjoy it. It felt good to be getting politically involved in the shaping of my Country’s future. I also made some good friends, many of whom I am still on good terms with despite my departure.
So, what prompted me to leave? Put simply, I soon realised that Fine Gael were far from the alternative they were making themselves out to be. It became quite apparent that you could not advance if you did not know the right people. It wasn’t about what you brought to the table in terms of ideas and ability, it was about Cronyism. On top of this, during the 6 months I was with them, my Politics continued to develop. As the Country was brought to its knees as a result of the failure of Capitalism and the rampant corruption and incompetence of Fianna Fáil, I gradually moved further to the Left. Concurrent to this, I developed my Republicanism as my research into the Movement gained pace. All of these factors converged 6 months after my initial meeting with Young Fine Gael in UCC and I left.
Comrades can be forgiven for thinking that my tale would conclude at that point. But as you will see, there were a few more twists to come. I will count it as one of the great regrets in my life that following my departure from Young Fine Gael, I did not join with Sinn Féin. While it is true that for a time I helped out with the College Cumann and went to the odd meeting and Protest with them, I would not join the Party for over a year later. I would instead, as some Comrades know, join the Socialist Party in Cork City.
To this day, I cannot explain why I didn’t join with Sinn Féin. I sometimes think that it was because of my family background, that I was simply too scared to join a Party which my father and mother simply hated with a passion. I spend all day thinking about possible reasons for why I did what I did, but I would not be able to come up with an acceptable reason. My stint with the Socialists was much longer than with Young Fine Gael, lasting just over a year. As with Young Fine Gael, I would be doing a dis-service to Comrades if I were to say that I didn’t enjoy my time with the Socialists. They, more than any other Group, have played the greatest role in how my Politics ultimately developed along the Socialist path that they have. Unfortunately for me as it would turn out, they weren’t just Socialist, but they were also Republican.
As some Comrades may or may not know, the Socialist Party has never been a friend of the Republican Movement. To be blunt about it, they hate us. It was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that you cannot be a Socialist and a Republican. Republicans, as one member told me, were little better than ‘genocidal murderers’ who were only interested in Sectarian warfare. Such an analysis was not just shocking to me at the time, but annoyed me greatly as it was blatantly inaccurate. I also learned as time passed that the Socialist Party was not interested in building the Mass Workers Movement they often talked about. Time after time, suggestions to expand into the South side of the City fell on deaf ears. I was told that it would take away from the work of their Candidate. That was not why I got involved with them when I did. To me, Politics should be about empowering local communities to better their lives. It should be about creating a more equal society in every part of this island. I didn’t join up to help certain people get elected into positions of power.
While such a lack of ambition and drive was annoying, it wasn’t the main reason that I would eventually leave yet another Party. From the beginning I felt that many within the Socialist Party simply did not trust me. Not just because of my past association with Young Fine Gael, but also because of my Republicanism. In the end I was left feeling isolated because of my refusal to accept that my Republicanism was wrong. I was left with no real option but to leave.
As Comrades can no doubt tell, I joined Sinn Féin a few short months after this. Since joining Sinn Féin, I have taken an active role in building the Republican Movement in my native East Cork. Of all the projects I have been involved with since joining, I am most proud of setting up the East Cork Cumann of Republican Youth. Several Comrades and I from across the Region came together late last year to form the Clonmult Martyrs Cumann to give Young Republicans a vehicle to become more politically involved in shaping and creating the All-Ireland Republic we strive for. The Cumann has since gone on to play a leading role in several campaigns since its foundation, including; the fight to retain ambulance services in East Cork, the fight to retain services in Mallow hospital, the presidential election and we are currently playing an active role in campaigning for a No vote in the upcoming referendum on the EU Austerity Treaty. This is on top of taking an active role in both planning and executing several regional Commemorations to honour East Cork’s Patriot dead. For me, joining Sinn Féin felt like coming home. I had finally found the courage to join the Party which not only best represents my Socialist Republican Politics, but which is also committed to empowering local communities through Community activism. While I will regret to my dying day that I did not join with Sinn Féin a lot sooner than I did, I will never regret taking that final step to join when I did.
Comrades may be thinking why I took the time to write this Article and share it with them. I wrote this Article as I firmly believe that it is the priority of every member of this Party, at both youth and senior levels, to build it from the ground up so that we can reach our ultimate objective of an All-Ireland Republic worthy of that name. In essence, that means getting new Members involved within the Republican Movement. One of the ways we can do this is by relating our own experiences and highlighting what it was which inspired us to take that first step which ultimately got us politically active.
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