Nettlth

**Nettlth** is an Irish Marxist and Politician.

## Early Life

Not much is known about Nettlth's early life. It is believed he was born and raised in Belfast to Irish or Scottish parents.

He has previously stated that he attended a Grammar School, but this cannot be confirmed.

It is believed the revolutionary *nom de guerre* "Nettlth" is a lisped pronunciation of "nettles". His real name is unknown.

## Political career

Nettlth first drew national attention when elected as the Chairman (Irish: *Cathaoirleach*) of Sinn Féin in early 2016. In this role he was in charge of membership admissions and drafting the manifesto.

Nettlth joined Sinn Féin with a few ex-members of Official Sinn Féin who had grown tired of the party's stagnant and sectarian attitude towards Marxism. They argued that Sinn Féin was becoming the largest voice on the Irish left and the main party radicalised workers and youth were turning to during Ireland's economic crisis. Nettlth quickly became a rising star of Sinn Féin, guiding it towards more radical socialist policies and winning their first MP in the February 2016 General Election. When Sinn Féin entered the Official Opposition, he served in the Shadow Chancellory as an economic advisor.

Nettlth also tried to unite the MHOC and MhOir wings of Sinn Féin into a single all-Ireland party. He cited his failure to achieve this as a reason for his resignation from the party.

#### **Departure from Sinn Féin**

In June/July 2016 Nettlth left Sinn Féin stating that his socialist, internationalist views could not be fully represented or expressed in an Irish Republican party and that his anticipation of Sinn Féin's potential was incorrect. He left expressing a desire to stand with fully-fleged socialist polices in Northern Ireland and helped found People Before Profit with the Radical Socialist Party.

Nettlth was expected to join the RSP after leaving Sinn Féin due to his far-left views and rapproachment with SPQR1776. Instead, he was highly critical of the RSP's "opportunist" and "reformist" record in Government and Opposition. Nettlth applied to join Labour after the defection of AlmightyWibble, believing that it may be possible to promote socialist policies through Labour and work towards a "workers' coalition government" with the RSP.

Nettlth soon changed his mind about Labour, stating that he critically supported the RSP-Green-SF Government and didn't want to be a member of the Official Opposition. He resigned from Labour to be an independent.

## Political Ideas and Interests

Nettlth describes himself as a revolutionary Marxist who stands in the intellectual tradition of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. He is also influenced by many other socialist thinkers, most notably Ted Grant, as well as other schools of thought.

Nettlth gained minor notoriety for his criticism of Basic Income, which was supported by most others on the radical left. He described Basic Income as "paying people to do nothing", instead advocating the implementation of a universal job guarantee.

Nettlth has been heavily critical of the Radical Socialist Northern Ireland Secretary, SPQR1776. He attacked the NI MP as having a "liberal unionist" position on the question of a United Ireland, rather than a "socialist, internationalist" position. SPQR1776 rejected these criticisms, but continued to state that he thought Northern Ireland should remain within the United Kingdom until a majority of people in NI support a United Ireland. Nettlth opposes this, arguing that a class-based alternative to sectarianism needs to be built in Northern Ireland and that Marxists must advocate for a socialist revolution across Britain and Ireland, rather than have benevolent neutrality towards either side of the sectarian divide. Nettlth upholds James Connolly's slogan of an "Irish Workers' Republic" as part of a socialist federation of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

## Controversies

#### **Roundhead Magazine**

In February 2016 Nettlth attempted to launch *Roundhead*, a magazine and journal for the anti-capitalist left of MHOC. Immediately after its announcement the publication was attacked by plastic paddies from Labour and the Radical Socialist Party for allegedly celebrating the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Nettlth defended the magazine's name, stating that it was only supposed to reference the radical proletarian elements of the New Model Army during the English Revolution of 1640-1660 and the style of the American left-wing magazine, *Jacobin*.

The first edition of *Roundhead*was never printed due to the destruction of the printing presses by Vanguard fascisti.

#### **MI5 hoax and alleged connection with the IRA**

In April 2016 private correspondence and redacted documents were revealed to the press by someone claiming to be an anonymous leaker at MI5. The correspondence between the hoaxer and Sinn Féin leader Irelandball demanded that the party be renamed "the Revolutionary Sinne Fein Party"[sic] and the leadership handed over to Nettlth. Following the failure fo this blackmail, a faked MI5 intelligence brief entitled "Operation FREE DERRY" was sent to the press. It described a scheme to infiltrate Sinn Féin and make Nettlth the leader in order to strain the party's relationship with the Provisional IRA and harm its popularity in Northern Ireland.

Nettlth was originally suspected of originating the hoax in order to challenge Irelandball's leadership of Sinn Féin. Nettlth had consistently denied that he wanted to unseat Irelandball and become leader, though it was rumoured that he thought Irelandball's leadership was harming the party. Nettlth stated that he thought the hoax was designed to make Sinn Féin appear internally divided between moderates and his Marxist policies.

The anonymous hoaxer suddenly stopped their campaign and it was claimed that they had been threatened by the IRA. Nettlth denied any connection with the hoax or the IRA, stressing that as a Marxist he was opposed to the use of terrorist methods.