Bill McCamley 

A film entitled We Only Want The Earth – the life and ideas of James Connolly is presently doing the rounds at festivals and Trade Union venues. It is funded by a number of Trade Unions and a body called the James Connolly Foundation For Educational Equality.  It is directed by film-maker Alan Gilsenan, who is also listed as the writer.  It has two Executive Producers:  Noirin Greene and Des Geraghty.  I was mildly surprised at Greene’s involvement in the project—a former SIPTU Equality Officer—whose Union career I always thought was centred mainly on issues pertaining to Women’s Rights. Certainly to my knowledge, I can’t recall her having an overt connection to left-wing politics.

Geraghty, on the other hand,  is very much a political animal with a career bridging left-wing politics and Trade Unionism.  He was one of the prime movers in organising the split in the Workers’ Party which created the now defunct Democratic Left.  Geraghty appears to have forgotten this episode because in a recent interview he declares that he “is frustrated by the fractures in leftwing politics”, and that there is “a lot of spitting of hairs in left wing politics”.  As an example he “points to the rivalry between the Labour Party and the Social Democrats”.  An odd comment coming from Geraghty, no stranger to factionalism. He might find  it instructive to ask his erstwhile Democratic Left comrade, Katherine Murphy, why she felt the need to leave the Labour Party and form the Social Democrats!

His  political amnesia aside, I believe it might be useful to understand Geraghty’s motivation in getting this project off the ground in order to appreciate the film’s messaging.  This task is made easy by reading an interview  he give to the Irish Times (2.8.2025) about the film.  Des Geraghty belongs to that section of the Irish liberal elite that would characterise itself as social democratic. I would image he sees himself as part of its ‘radical’  fringe (despite his comfortable life style and long years on the board of the Central Bank). Geraghty, unlike others (like his friend Eamon Gilmore), would I believe admit to an Irish national impulse, although one that wouldn’t stray too far from the average Irish Times opinion piece. 

We see a glimpse of this in the interview, where it says that the film “focuses on Connolly’s life and ideas rather on his role in the Easter Rising”:  Geraghty explains that “I was more interested in his life rather on his death”.  This is an extraordinary mission statement!  Ignoring Connolly’s nationalist politics—a politics he died for—makes his life and work unintelligible.  

Geraghty says Connolly’s legacy still matters but clearly the film’s message is that a reconstructed Connolly, shorn of his revolutionary nationalism and draped in identity politics would make him more palatable to the practitioners of today’s fashionable pseudo-politics.  This message is hammered home by a variety of ‘talking heads’ linking Connolly with their ideologies.  (Some of these espouse a confection of environmentalist, feminist and transgender views—the latter contributor’s argument I thought bizarre.)

It is only fair to add, however, that other contributions were made by writers and Trade Union officials (most of the latters’ being pretty bland and personal):  Padraig Yeates’s offering, as one might expect,  was one of the few germane contributions. 

As the film had decided to ignore Connolly’s nationalism , the piece dealing with the First World War creates difficulties for the film’s mission statement.  Osin Gilmore (son of Eamon Gilmore) delivered the old chestnut that countries “sleep- walked” into the conflict.  Another contributor side- steps the consequences of the First World War in Ireland, by stating that Irishmen joined the British army out of economic necessity:  that was certainly true in peace time: But during this great conflagration thousands of Irishmen were encouraged to join the British Army by constitutional nationalist leaders like John Redmond: recruits being told that their participation would result in Home Rule.  That was the reason why my grandfather joined the British army.  Like the rest of his fellow countrymen he was duped. 

Needless to say, Connolly’s inconvenient attitude to the War isn’t mentioned. 

In short, whatever the title of the film, it is certainly  not about presenting—never mind analysing— Connolly’s beliefs. Indeed the best part of the film is where Connolly is allowed to speak for himself.

I doubt there will be any criticism of the film, the Irish Trade Union world is a rather small parochial world where officials and activists interact frequently or at least know of each other to a surprising degree:  And, after all, this is a Trade Union-approved project.  

In addition, the driving force behind the project is Des Geraghty, a gregarious and well-liked habitue of that world.  

It might be remarked that the film has high production values, with songs and poems—by the likes of Christy Moore and Stephen Rea—sprinkled throughout it.  So, in a way, it is worth going to see, but I would advise young people (if they really want to know about James Connolly’s beliefs) to  go out and buy his works and find out for themselves.