PBP AGM 2022: Building an ecosocialist party of struggle
The recent 2022 People Before Profit AGM was a major success and marks another positive step forward in building a major, pluralist eco-socialist party in Ireland. Here newly elected PBP Steering Committee member and Rupture author Cian Prendiville reports on some of the key highlights from the conference.
I have attended many large socialist conferences in my life, but none as lively and full of genuine and comradely debate as the recent People Before Profit AGM. Too often conferences of large socialist organisations can either be entirely stage-managed and sterile events, concluding with unanimous votes and leadership elections via the slate system or on the other hand a series of bitter debates and sectarian point scoring.
““The organisation emerges from the conference stronger, with a clearer agreed strategy and priorities for the year ahead, as well as deeper democratic structures and a bold eco-socialist programme.””
However, the two-day PBP AGM, which took place in the Rowlagh Community Centre, Clondalkin, on 28-29 May, managed to create a space for honest discussion and debate, including tight votes on important questions, without falling into squabbling. The Steering Committee elections saw over 250 delegates vote in a tightly contested PR election, with well-attended online hustings on Friday night, and produced a diverse national leadership reflecting the pluralist nature of PBP. Throughout the AGM there were many strong contributions from delegates who participated both in person and remotely. The organisation emerges from the conference stronger, with a clearer agreed strategy and priorities for the year ahead, as well as deeper democratic structures and a bold eco-socialist programme.
Agreed priorities for the year ahead
The first two sessions involved a review of the year gone by and a discussion of priorities for the year ahead. Kieran Allen delivered the report of the outgoing Steering Committee, highlighting the important successes and major campaigns of the last year. Notable among these were the tireless campaigning of People Before Profit members from across Ireland in the Stormont elections and the reelection of Gerry Carroll as a strong eco-socialist fighter for working-class communities across the sectarian divide in West Belfast. Kieran further outlined the key issues facing us, in particular the intertwined crises of the cost of living, climate and the war in Ukraine.
Richard Boyd Barrett moved the motion on priorities from the outgoing steering committee, highlighting the cost of living, housing and neutrality as the three focuses for the year ahead. With rent and bills going through the roof, and wages stagnant, there is growing anger at the profiteering by energy companies and landlords, and the refusal of the government to do anything about it. PBP is working with others in the Cost of Living coalition to try to turn that mood into a movement. Protests on June 18th are just the beginning, and this is the key priority for all our branches in the weeks and months ahead. Within this, the specific angle of housing has major organising potential. Pre-Covid we saw growing protests and developments such as eviction resistance and the growth of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU). It’s important to keep pushing for a major Raise the Roof demonstration.
The war in Ukraine has been used by the Irish establishment as an excuse to unleash a war on neutrality. There is a medium-term strategy from the government to further undermine neutrality, and push for Ireland to increase its military spending, join an EU army or perhaps even NATO. While the cost of living issues have more immediate mobilising potential, it is vital that the socialist left organise to resist this push. We should fight for neutrality, and explain that this means opposition to all imperialist blocks.
Recommitting to Ecosocialism
A key political discussion at the conference was around the climate and biodiversity crisis, and the need for eco-socialist solutions, with guest speaker Michael Löwy.
The climate crisis is accelerating, with capitalism driving us to catastrophe. People Before Profit have led the way in advocating for eco-socialism, actively engaging with important movements such as Extinction Rebellion, and helping to build large demonstrations in Dublin and across the country last year for Cop26. With the Green Party selling out the thousands of young people who voted for them hoping for serious action on climate, there is a growing space for PBP as Ireland’s eco-socialist party.
““People Before Profit has managed to both connect with ordinary workers and young people on the key issues of the day and to popularise socialist ideas with them, and we must continue to do both.””
A debate on the People Before Profit tagline saw an overwhelming majority for maintaining the current slogan of ‘“Fighting for Workers and Eco-Socialism”. People Before Profit has managed to both connect with ordinary workers and young people on the key issues of the day and to popularise socialist ideas with them, and we must continue to do both. The AGM also re-committed to pushing for key eco-socialist demands, such as free and frequent public transport, mass retrofitting of homes, a state construction company and a ban on new data centres and fossil fuel infrastructure.
Within that framework, there was a lively debate on how to respond to the proposals for a ban on commercial turf extraction. There was widespread support for a motion arguing that, given the ecological importance of Ireland’s peatlands and the disastrous environmental impacts of burning turf, PBP should call for a ban on the commodified selling of turf alongside support for just transition measures for those who rely on turf to heat their homes. However, there was a debate on how exactly to respond in the case of one-sided measures from the government, which fail to provide the necessary just transition measures. AGM passed an amendment saying that a ban on commercial turf extraction should only be supported if such measures were included, so as to avoid compounding the fuel poverty crisis. The amendment was opposed by some delegates who argued that our support for ending the commodified selling of turf should be unconditional given its environmental consequences.
A pluralist, socialist Steering Committee elected
““These are all very important and welcome developments, ditching the failed approach of narrow sects while defending socialist politics to hopefully build a broad and pluralist party with real roots in the working class.””
PBP AGM elected a 14-member Steering Committee which meets every two weeks to provide political and organisational leadership to the party between AGMs and National Councils. This year for the first time a Proportional Representation system was used. This makes the Steering Committee more representative, with smaller networks within PBP and members of no network able to win seats.
AGM elected a Steering Committee involving nine members of the Socialist Workers’ Network, three RISE members, a member of the Red Network and a member who is not a member of any network, all self-avowed revolutionary socialists. A hustings where candidates got to outline their key priorities saw a lot of engagement and interest as well. These are all very important and welcome developments, ditching the failed approach of narrow sects while defending socialist politics to hopefully build a broad and pluralist party with real roots in the working class.
AGM also passed other important measures to deepen that democracy, including an improved independent procedure for handling complaints and protecting members, and establishing a quarterly discussion bulletin to enable members and branches to more easily exchange information, reports and ideas.
Focus on Equality and Oppression
Several crucial motions on women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and anti-racism were passed at the AGM.
Speakers noted the emergence of a new feminist wave in Ireland in the past year, with increasing numbers of women and non-binary people radicalised and politicised by developments such as government plans to allow the National Maternity Hospital to be owned by the Religious Sisters of Charity, the horrific killings of Urantsetseg Tserendorj and Ashling Murphy bringing us to 247 femicides since 1996, the sealing of the Mother and Baby Home records, ongoing restrictions on abortion access, and continuing failures by the government to adequately fund domestic violence refuges or bring in LGBTQ-positive sex and consent education. The recent killing of George Nkencho has also shone a light on the prevalence of state and other forms of racism in our society, which are also instanced by the continuing existence of the direct provision system, and the racist policies of Fortress Europe and discrimination against Travellers.
Reflecting these developments, AGM resolved to complete the PBP Women's & Non-Binary Manifesto started by the PBP Women & Gender Equality caucus, to continue our involvement in the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women’s Healthcare, to create a working group on combating violence against women, the LGBTQ community, and other minority groups, and to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and helping to build United Against Racism.
A motion agreeing the formation of a PBP Irish language caucus was also passed by the AGM, strengthening PBP’s existing active involvement in the movement for equality for Irish language speakers in the north and across Ireland.
Deepening our analysis of the war in Ukraine
The AGM also saw more developed discussion and debate analysing the ongoing war in Ukraine, and discussing how socialists should respond.
Some in the media and politics have attempted to vilify People Before Profit TDs for their principled stance and speeches on this issue. However, members strongly endorsed the decision of PBP TDs to stand in solidarity with Ukraine but refuse to clap Zelensky’s speech and his calls for escalation from NATO, and commented on the strong speeches made on the issue by all our TDs.
There was important debate on the underlying causes of the war, and what demands socialists should advocate for, with amendments and speakers advocating different perspectives which were argued over. A large majority backed the main motion on the war, which was introduced on behalf of the Steering Committee by Paul Murphy. He highlighted how the war involves many overlapping aspects. On one level, it is a brutal imperialist invasion by an imperialist power on a former Tsarist colony, with Russian forces committing outrageous atrocities against the Ukrainian people. Opposition to the invasion is widespread across Ukrainian society, including among Russian speakers, and we stand entirely with them in resisting this and fighting back. We call for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, the abolition of Ukrainian debt, opening the borders of the EU to all refugees from Ukraine regardless of colour or nationality, the sending of humanitarian aid to the people in Ukraine, and shutting down the shadow banking system of the IFSC to hurt the world’s oligarchs.
On another level, however, we have to recognise that the US and EU imperialism has also long been seeking to expand its power more and more into Eastern Europe, expanding the borders of NATO 800 miles closer to Russia in recent decades, engaging in massive military exercises and building missile bases along the Russian border. Given this context, it was noted that the war in Ukraine forms part of this escalating inter-imperialist conflict between the US and Russia. As socialists, we must oppose all imperialism, and encourage workers to rise up against the warmongers the world over. The inspiring anti-war movement in Russia must be an inspiration for us to build similar anti-imperialist protests across the globe.
Building the socialist alternative
““All those who wish to see a mass, democratic eco-socialist alternative built in Ireland should join with PBP now and work together to build the movements, deepen the roots and prepare for the major struggles and opportunities ahead.””
Like James Connolly, we must explain that “war is a relic of barbarism only possible because we are governed by a ruling class with barbaric ideas; the working class of all countries cannot hope to escape the horrors of war until in all countries that barbaric ruling class is thrown from power”.
The rising inter-imperialist tensions, the climate catastrophe, the cost of living crisis and the inability of housing to provide people even with affordable homes, all highlight the need to build a strong eco-socialist party, to fight for real change. PBP AGM 2022 made important steps towards this. All those who wish to see a mass, democratic eco-socialist alternative built in Ireland should join with PBP now and work together to build the movements, deepen the roots and prepare for the major struggles and opportunities ahead.