Solidarity and Pressure: The Story of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement

This book is the first full-length study of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement (IAAM). Founded in April 1964, the IAAM fundraised, organized events, lobbied Irish politicians, and generally promoted the struggle against Apartheid South Africa in local, international, political, and cultural terms. Despite its size, Ireland’s movement was ranked by Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress as the strongest in solidarity terms alongside the Dutch and Scandinavian movements. Its activities took place across a range of sectors: sports, culture, and trade unionism. High-profile members and supporters included future Irish presidents and Taoisigh, and it is essential to see its interaction with other causes including civil rights, peace-making, and anti-racist campaigning. This book assesses the contribution of its enigmatic founder Kader Asmal (1934–2011), who—with vital support from his wife Louise—enforced the African National Congress’s strategy of building broad political coalitions, spanning members of all Irish political parties to advance the anti-Apartheid struggle in a sympathetic corner of Europe. It ends with his perspective in Nelson Mandela’s first government: the activist academic turned government minister, who drew on his time and experience in Ireland in the new South Africa. Drawing on over sixty interviews, the IAAM’s own records, and private papers from anti-Apartheid activists, Solidarity and Pressure captures the complicated yet exhilarating story of the IAAM across three decades: how it thrived in Ireland due to the historical context of national liberation, along with the opposition it received in the era of the Cold War.