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Terry Conway

'The Most Complete Welsh Revolutionary'

[Socialist Outlook 57]

The celebration of Ceri’s life that took place in Pontypridd two weeks after his death heard an array of speakers from very divergent backgrounds pay tribute both to the enormous political contribution that Ceri made to Welsh politics, but also to the personal impact he had on everyone who had the privilege to know him as a friend.

The irony was that almost no one else could have brought together so many leading members of Plaid Cymru and of the Welsh Labour Party with militants of the Fourth International from both Wales and England as well as messages from further afield. Ceri would have loved to join in the conversations.

The Fourth International and the International Socialist Group are weakened by Ceri’s death. While for us an understanding of the national question is key to our marxism, those who can develop a concrete analysis of their in own countries and so enrichen our overall understanding are a particularly valuable asset.

I treasure the book of Lorca’s writings Ceri gave me when I visited him earlier this year in the Rhondda. Here too was someone who had a passionate relationship with the place he was from but was also a confirmed internationalist. Here too was someone for whom political ideas were not just found in theory but in song, in dream, in all the small things of everyday life.

I remember Ceri as some one who was never satisfied that he fully got across his message across, impatient to know that he had fully convinced me of his argument. I on the other hand always wanted more time to reflect.

I remember him as I remember him as a friend as well as a comrade. I hope he knew how much he meant to so many people.

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