All across the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), many of our sections have been holding their national congresses.
Comrades from across each country gather to discuss world and national perspectives, to draw up a balance sheet of their activity, and to set out their tasks for the year ahead.
In just the past few months, RCI congresses have been held in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Spain, Colombia, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Pakistan, Ireland, and Austria.
Two Central Committee comrades from the British RCP attended the Third Congress of the Irish section this month. See below for their first-hand report of this inspiring event, and the lessons they will bring back to Britain.
There are many more congresses to come in May, including in Canada, as well our own British congress, which will open in exactly a week’s time. We are reaching some incredible milestones across the world; and our goal of reaching 10,000 members worldwide is on the horizon.
In Denmark, meanwhile, we held our largest congress to date, with 230 comrades in attendance. We are now one of the most visible and known-about left groups in Denmark.
In Spain, the comrades held their second national congress in Madrid, with 100 comrades and visitors in attendance. Many attendees commented that it marked a personal turning point in their political development.
There are many more exciting announcements and reports to explore, all of which can be found on the daily website of our International – marxist.com.
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The Third Congress of the Irish section: Pride, enthusiasm, and determination
Georgina Ryan and Grace Dowswell, RCP Central Committee
We arrived at the Third Congress of the Revolutionary Communists of Ireland to scenes of palpable anger. Buses were not running due to large fuel protests, in which tractors and lorries blocked roads in the city centre.
We spoke with a taxi driver about the protests, and he became visibly angry as he railed against the high prices, low wages, and how the Irish economy had seen apparently miraculous growth, but this wasn’t felt by the working class.
He expressed his disgust at the establishment, exclaiming that “there are two types of people in this world: people like you and me, and the politicians.”
Down the road from the Congress venue, there were dozens of tractors and trucks blocking O’Connell Street in protest against rising fuel prices. The protestors were largely small truck company owners and farmers, whose livelihoods are being devastated by this crisis.
Not only did the protest garner massive support from the workers and youth of Ireland, but it also became increasingly anti-government by the hour!
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Workers and youth squeezed
The Congress session on Irish perspectives outlined why this mood exists in Irish society. One thing that really stood out to us both is the extent of the housing crisis there.
House prices and rent have shot up in the last two decades, alongside the price of construction materials going up 90 percent.
This is particularly affecting the youth, who cannot afford – even with full-time work – to move out of their parents’ houses. In the South, the average rent is €2,000 a month!
Increasingly, the working class cannot afford to live: 59 percent of people report that they struggle to make their wages last the full month.
This is all compounding into a mood of anger at the political establishment. The ruling Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition is deeply unpopular, and the government is struggling to push through its austerity programme, for fear of backlash.
In the North, meanwhile, the scale of austerity is similarly acute. The British politicians in Westminster do not rely on the North for votes, so these cuts and attacks have been carried out in the open by successive Tory and Labour governments.
As it stands, there is no viable left alternative for this rage to be channelled through, and in many cases, left-leaning parties such as Irish Labour and the Greens have been tried and tested – and the memory of betrayal is fresh in the heads of workers and young people.
Pride and enthusiasm
This radicalised mood has provided fertile soil for the Irish section of the RCI to grow: their membership has risen from 42 comrades in January 2025 to 96 today. And this was after nearly doubling their membership the year prior.
This remarkable progress has given comrades an enormous sense of pride and enthusiasm that impacts all the work they do.
Their success is in part due to their ability to connect with the burning class rage that pervades Irish society. The membership is drawn directly from the growing layers of furious working-class youth, who can see there is no future for them in capitalist society.
It is clear that there are no passengers in the Irish section – everyone plays a driving role in their activity, which is imbued with seriousness and professionalism. Comrades expect a lot from one another, because they understand the urgency of their tasks and the need to seize every opportunity to grow the forces of Marxism.
A member who has built a branch of seven members in a rural area explained that the comrades have to plan to arrive at paper sales and meetings an hour early, because the public transport is so unreliable. He explained that this is the only way to run a professional branch in his area, so the comrades do as they must.
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Smashing obstacles
In the Congress session on organisation, national organiser Ewan McGrane explained that this progress has been built on Marxist ideas. The justification for setting up the Revolutionary Communists of Ireland as a distinct political force is that in Ireland, the RCI alone represents genuine communism.
It is this understanding – that they will play a decisive role in the Irish revolution – and the sense of urgency which flows from this, that pushes the comrades to overcome any obstacles in their path.
In just one year, the section has gone from taking on their first full-time revolutionary, to being on the cusp of a third; they have gone from a quarterly to a bi-monthly newspaper, and are launching the drive towards a monthly paper; and have set a target of reaching 200 members by their fourth Congress.
Equally impressively, this small group of mainly working-class young people was able to raise a staggering €24,000 – exceeding their ambitious target of €18,000!
The message of the Congress, in the words of national organiser Ewan McGrane, was clear: “You must arm yourself with Marxist theory, and raise yourself up politically, because it is the only way to build a revolutionary party capable of overthrowing capitalism.”
Pakistan: Defiant mood at first Congress of the Inqalabi Communist Party
Kiam Bellam
4-5 April marked the first Congress of the Inqalabi Communist Party, the Pakistani section of the RCI. The Congress met under intense objective difficulties: inflation and skyrocketing fuel prices are shaking the country, and police repression has sharply increased.
The day before the Congress began the government raised the price of petrol and diesel by 42.7 percent and 54.9 percent respectively. Many comrades woke up on Friday morning to the realisation that their Congress travel budget was no longer sufficient. Many made the journey regardless, determined to smash any obstacles to building the revolutionary party.
Aside from the price hike, the Congress was organised in an atmosphere of unprecedented uncertainty. The war in Iran has turned the whole situation upside down, and no one knows clearly what events will unfold in the coming days and weeks.
The lives of millions of people have become a living hell due to skyrocketing fuel prices and resulting inflation. The ruling class of Pakistan is terrified, and is planning to brutally crush any movement that may erupt in these circumstances. That is why they have been cracking down on democratic rights on a scale that had not been seen before the war.
These factors made the organisation of this Congress extremely difficult. Alongside this, at the time of the Congress, one leading member of the party was already in prison while two others were in hiding due to the crackdown in Gilgit-Baltistan.
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The Congress opened with inspirational greetings sent by comrade Ehsan Ali. The international day of action in solidarity with AAC just two days before the Congress raised the morale of all comrades in Pakistan.
Against all odds, 225 delegates, party members, and guests travelled to Lahore to participate in this historic event. International delegates from Britain, Denmark, and Canada also attended the Congress. This was a big surprise for everyone, as the war has disrupted thousands of flights, and most westerners are leaving this region in huge numbers.
The mood of the Congress was defiant. All the participants were determined to build the forces of revolutionary communism in Pakistan.
Read the full report at marxist.com.
