James Connolly William Walker Debate

At a time of renewed interest in the life and politics of the prominent trade unionist William Walker (1871-1918), Connolly Books takes the opportunity to republish the famous debate, long out of print, between Walker and James Connolly.

The debate that forms the text of this pamphlet took place on 1911 in the pages of the socialist paper, Forward. That debate, on the way forward for the working class in Ireland, developed over the issue of the establishment of an independent Irish Labour Party, which Connolly advocated but which Walker opposed.

A proposal to establish an Irish Labour Party had been put before the Irish Trades Union Congress earlier in 1911 by Connolly, “to fight the capitalist parties of Ireland on their own soil.” Walker opposed the motion and proposed instead an amendment pledging support for the British Labour Party, which won the support of a majority of delegates by the narrow margin of 32 votes to 29. 

The debate, which was sharp, reflected the two currents within the labour movement: those who wanted an independent labour movement and those who saw the labour movement in Ireland as an appendage of the British movement..

Connolly asserted that the cause of labour was the cause of Ireland; he wanted to mobilise the working class to become the ruling class, rather than, as Walker wanted, to reform capitalism piecemeal and to remain within the British Empire. Connolly clearly saw and understood the relationship between the national and social questions.