The failure of socialist republicanism in the Irish revolution and its aftermath - Part 3
'Big Jim' Larkin in 1913. From www.theirishstory.com . Continued from previous post . The third interpretation The third interpretation is that socialist republicanism might have succeeded in its aims had it not been for errors of judgement, or personal failings, on the part of its leadership. Typical of historians who adopt this interpretation is Emmet O’Connor. In a 2005 article entitled The age of the red republic: the Irish left and nationalism, 1909—36 , [1] O’Connor argued that poor leadership and bad decision-making were the reasons for the failure of socialist republicanism to capitalise on the strength it had during the period before the Anglo-Irish treaty. This manifested itself in Labour's decision not to stand in the 1918 general election and its decision to participate in the political life of the newly formed Irish Free State, thus tacitly accepting the provisions of the Anglo-Irish treaty. Poor leadership was also behind the failure of the con