The Socialist Party believes that solutions to the contentious issues which divide our communities will not be delivered from above by institutions of the capitalist state or by the sectarian and pro-capitalist parties. We favour open and direct negotiations, not rulings imposed from above, between and within working-class communities to resolve issues of contention, be it flags or parades. We have no faith in sectarian politicians, nor the Westminster or Irish governments to meaningfully resolve legacy issues of the Troubles. They all were complicit in the violence and today have a vested interest in defending their narrative of the conflict - not providing truth and justice to victims as illustrated by the British Governments #BillofShame. Working class people can expose the truth of the conflict and expose these forces to real scrutiny. This could mean some form of wide-ranging enquiry into the Troubles, which would be made up of respected trade unionists and those with a record of campaigning on these issues from the standpoint of ordinary people, including human rights groups. Overall, we believe these issues can only be overcome by building a united movement of the working class around our common interests, which can lay the basis for genuine solutions based on a spirit of solidarity, mutual respect and compromise. Similarly, while the Socialist Party wishes to see an end to paramilitarism, segregation and the sectarian marking of territory, we do not believe that bans backed by police enforcement will resolve these issues, and can instead be counterproductive, increasing tensions and actually strengthening the hold of paramilitaries. We believe initiatives to remove sectarian and paramilitary symbols can only come from within the communities effected.
