The Red Flag

I was honoured to be invited to the Jim Connell Festival in Crossakiel, Co. Meath earlier this month to sing "The Red Flag," the international socialist anthem. Jim Connell, born in nearby Kilskyre, was a Fenian and socialist, is commemorated in Crossakiel, the last place he spoke in Ireland.

You can read more on Jim Connell on Helena Sheehan's page here.

I have been involved with the song ever since the Tom Johnson Summer School was held in nearby Kells in 2004 and SIPTU historian Francis Devine presented a lecture on the song and the man. I proposed the song be adopted as the Labour Party anthem at the 2007 Conference, a tradition which continues to this day.

Here I am singing it at the Jim Connell Festival earlier this month. It was my first time singing with a full brass band - hence the timing issues!

Election Diary: T- 17: Fiona's Singing Cousin

I said last night I'd be quick, and wrote hundreds of words. Tonight I'll be more than quick - tiredness beats verbosity every time.

It's a happy tiredness. Canvass tonight went really well. Met a lot of Labour supporters and a few old family friends on the doors. Only once did the usual bizarre question arise - "Are you anything to Fiona?" Frankly, if Fiona Looney ran in Tallaght Central, she'd be a shoo-in. Everyone knows her! My promise to start pretending I'm her cousin has not yet been taken on.

Glad to be hitting the front page of labour.ie too. It brings new readers to the blog, and my fame for the Red Flag (alternate version here) seems to be spreading. I successfully proposed a motion two years ago at the Labour Party conference to adopt Jim Connell's song as the anthem of the party, and I've sang it at the end of the last two conferences. My brother in Kerry was canvassed by a Labour Cllr tonight who wasn't sure of me until the party anthem was mentioned. "Fair play to him for bringing it back" was the response, though views are mixed - Cllr Aodhán Ó Riordán blogged that the singing is "embarrassing" (sadly Aodhán's blog doesn't allow comments, so I can't defend myself there!)

Got the ballot sheet layout today. It's a tiny point, but I disagree with alphabetical order in PRSTV elections when so many studies have shown that those near the top of the ballot do well. Surely a random draw would be fairer? Only Simpsons reference "Aaron A Aaronson" could be unhappy with that!

Press Photo Release - Looney in Tune at Labour Conference

Labour's Dermot Looney, a candidate for next year's local elections in the Tallaght Central Ward which includes Greenhills, Templeogue and Tallaght, leads delegates in singing "The Red Flag" at the Labour Party Conference in Kilkenny on November 30th.

"The Red Flag," written by Jim Connell from County Meath, is an international socialist standard and was adopted as the official anthem of the Irish Labour Party on Looney's proposal in 2007.

Looney, who is an avid folk musician and singer and whose influences include Christy Moore, Luke Kelly and Billy Bragg, was featured on RTÉ's 6.1 News leading the thousand delegates in closing the Conference.

Picture by Shauneen Armstrong.