Today on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Irish patriot, revolutionary and labour leader James Connolly it is as important as ever to reflect on his life and works.

Connolly stated that "the two currents of revolutionary thought In Ireland, the socialist and the national , are not antagonistic  but complementary“ and he dedicated his life to those democratic struggles – the freedom of Ireland and the emancipation of the working class.

Neither of these struggles have reached completion and both continue to this day.

The Irish people continue to be denied national democracy, and the working class has yet to take its rightful place at the helm of Irish society.

The British ruling class continues to work to ensure the subservience of Ireland to Britain's imperialist interests. The intense competition and rivalries between the elites of the dominant countries of the European Union, and their relationship to Ireland arising from Britain's partition of the country, are now openly discussed.

The Irish problem has become an issue once again for every democrat in Britain as it is now being used in an attempt to cage the peoples of Britain within the imperialist sphere of the European Union, and in opportunist attacks on an established internationalist and friend of the Irish people, Jeremy Corbyn, in addition to allowing for the poisoning of British democracy by the DUP.

Democrats must seize this opportunity to right a historical wrong in their own interests. The Irish question cannot wait. The growing potential for a progressive British government alone will not solve the problem.

The labour and democratic movements in Britain must make the position clear – that they stand in solidarity with the Irish people and believe that Ireland should be an independent and united country.

Only the people of Ireland can wage their struggle for independence and determine which system of society they wish to live in, but democrats in Britain can support them by advocating their freedom to do so.

Karl Marx put the question simply: "For a long time I believed that it would be possible to overthrow the Irish regime by English working class ascendancy... Deeper study has now convinced me of the opposite. The English working class will never accomplish anything before it has got rid of Ireland. The lever must be applied in Ireland. That is why the Irish question is so important for the social movement in general … the English reaction in England had its roots (as in Cromwell's time) in the subjugation of Ireland."

This copy of the Irish Democrat offers a range of perspectives on different aspects of Connolly’s very full life, and will complement the recently republished The Life & Times of James Connolly by C Desmond Greaves.

All the contributors will be speaking at the major Connolly Association conference in held in London Irish Centre on 10th June 2018 at 5pm and these articles will provide a useful introduction to their topics.

Tony Donaghey is the president of the Connolly Association.