Communism as a major political force in Europe may have disappeared with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, but, as someone once said about another organisation, ‘They haven’t gone away you know’!
Between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the end of the Cold War, there were always suspicions of “Reds under the bed!” and some people thought they could see them everywhere.
Hard as it is to believe now, in the 1930s, Fine Gael were convinced that Fianna Fáil were a group of Bolsheviks, determined to turn the newly independent Ireland into a Communist state! Cumann na nGaedhael (the original incarnation of what later became FG ) election posters warned voters against putting any of those covert Red FFers into the Dáil.
All that seemed to be history so I was surprised to see, while checking my Facebook page on Monday, that a couple of my old school mates had signed onto a new page bearing the title Connaught Communist Party.
The party page bears the dramatic emblem of Connacht - the black eagle on a white background and a white arm carrying a sword on a blue background - redone as a black eagle on a red background and with a hammer and sickle and red star in the blue section. The white sleeve of the sword carrier have also been changed to red.
The party states its aims are “Homerule and Socialism for Connaught” (which may mean greater powers for our local government! ) and it provides an email address: [email protected]. A search on the internet revealed no further information.
Facebook is full of various fun and light-hearted political sites. My own favourite is ‘I hate it when you’re watching TV and Iris Robinson calls round for sex’, so the Connaught Communist Party is probably a site created in a light hearted vein or else a place where like minded people can gather and chat on-line. Time will tell.
Still though, it shows that the Reds, ‘haven’t gone away you know’ and if those in the south of the country can have the Munster Republic, then why shouldn’t we in the west have (the rather more Leftist sounding ) The People’s Republic Of Connacht?
