Reflecting on the 1916 Rising, we recall that when Connolly marched the Irish Citizen Army into battle he advised them to, "hang onto your guns." Those who were marching alongside of them, Connolly knew, sought a very different objective. Of all the wisdom that we have received from James Connolly, this is among the most important he left to us.

Comrades, there are guns, and then there are guns. There are the literal arms, which enable resistance when all other means have been exhausted, but there are other types of weapons as well. There is the fighting which takes the form of a factory occupation in a battle with capitalist exploitation. There is the fighting of our class in the streets, armed with rocks and bottles, but above all else, with our numbers. There is the bravery of a woman who stands up amidst the clucking of clerics to defend her control over her own reproductive system. There is the bravery of a gay man who faces unprovoked assault for refusing to deny who and what he is. There is the courage shown by the comrade who sells the Starry Plough in his local pub despite the jeers of those who‹unable to fight our political programme‹stoop to rumour mongering and malicious slander. There is the courage of the comrade who goes into a meeting of the Left in Dublin because she or he knows that we belong there, ignoring the sectarian hostility and smug elitism displayed by some there.

Comrades, when James Connolly marched out on Easter Monday 1916, the ICA was a far smaller force than the Irish Volunteers or the IRB. Still, they flew the Starry Plough, they marched out under their own name, under their own command structure, and with their leader¹s advice still fresh in their ears: "hang onto your guns."

They fought to free Ireland; but they would not accept a definition of freedom that which did not include their liberation as a class from capitalist exploitation. Our martyrs buried beside us died for Irish national liberation, but also for socialism‹the two inseparably linked.

Recognising this, the sacrifice of our martyred comrades demands from us that their deaths not be made a mockery of were we to ever relinquish either of the twinned goals for which they fought and died. Our martyrs are among the patriots of Irish history, but they are something more. They are also among the revolutionaries of Irish history‹true working class heroes, every woman and man.

So too must we be.

When others bid us to be "reasonable", be "practical", we should remembering how Connolly dismissed such advice, recognising then what is no less true today‹that there is nothing practical for Irish workers except a 32-County Irish Workers¹ Republic. Capitalism cannot provide the compensation due to every worker in society even in the best of times. In harsher days, capitalism will grind workers under its iron heel to extract the last value there.

When others suggest we compromise with the capitalists and imperialists, let us remember that our class created every iota of wealth in this nation. What some call compromise is nothing short of the surrender of what is rightfully ours to those who would steal away what they have never earned. Endlessly droning about the "Celtic Tiger", we are told we¹ve never had it so good. This is the beloved phrase of those who¹ve always had it better‹those who have always had much more than we ever had. If we will not cede to Britain any part of our nation, why then should we cede any part of what only we workers can rightfully claim?

Some have been lured to seek the respect of the bourgeois media, the imperialist U.S. President and British Prime Minister, the capitalist cartel of the European Union. But what would the IRSP gain from such a course? What use do we have for the respect of those we hold as beneath contempt? So often Gino Gallagher, like Costello before him, reminded us that it was only the respect of working people that mattered, not that of our class enemies who count themselves among the "better sort" of society. Let Gino¹s inspiration say to us, "you cannot purchase my principles," as he so often said, "communists are all dead men on leave," as though adding, "death holds no terror, but the shame of compromising the integrity of the revolutionary struggle, that I cannot bear!"

As with our martyred dead, we also draw inspiration from the Republican Socialist Prisoners of War. They are in our thoughts today, and always their refusal to be made pawns in a scheme of manipulation inspires us. But, others¹ sacrifice inspires us as well. Our comrades in the ranks of the IRSP today‹those who, quietly struggle each day for the liberation of Ireland and its working class, far from the spotlight. Whether by efforts in neighborhood associations; work within their trade unions; or simply volunteering to staff an IRSP or Teach na Failte office, they inspire. Through efforts to defend immigrants and fight racism in Dublin or Cork; erecting a fitting monument to our martyrs in Derry; fighting for a working class peace through Non-Aggression Pact charters, or even by simply making time to educate themselves so that they can meet the challenges of being a member of a revolutionary party‹all these sacrifices great and small inspire us. Each time someone chooses the interests of our class over their own personal interests, they inspire us.

These examples, Comrades, we attempt to emulate, to exemplify. Accordingly, this is what we offer to you today, as we join in honouring our martyrs and the ICA¹s example in 1916‹we rededicate ourselves to building support for the Irish Republican Socialist Movement to the best of our abilities. We pledge our sacrifices, our discipline, our time, our labour, our funds, our hearts, and our minds. We pledge these things to you, comrades; and through you we pledge them to the Irish working class. The memories of our martyrs permit us to do nothing less.

Be Moderate," the timorous cry,
Who dread the tyrant¹s thunder,
"You ask too much, and people fly
From you aghast, in wonder"
ŒTis passing strange, and I declare
Such statements cause me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the Earth!"