From Drumcree to Derry
Date: c. July 1996 (approximate) — after Drumcree.
Socialist Democracy leaflets1996 Read the scan at the Encyclopedia of Trotskyism On-Line (PDF) →This text was read from the scan by machine and has not been corrected. Words are misread, and on the newspapers neighbouring columns sometimes run into each other. Use it to find things; for anything you quote, read the scan.
Scan page 1
FROM DRUMCREE
TO DERRY
Drumeree was a victory for the orange mob. It demonstrated their “right” to freely indulge in sectarian intimidation It showed thar the North remains a sectarian hell-hole and the RUC a bigoted Orange force. It showed that when it comes to the crunch Britain will not confront the Orange mob that remains the base of its occupation in Ireland. It showed that despite all the treaties and diplomacy Dublin and Irish capitalism are junior partners of British imperialism and can be openly treated with contempt.
What had changed by Derry? Nothing at all.
Despite all the negotiations The Apprentice boys conceded nothing at all.
The British “ban” included allowing the loyalist unto the walls above the Bogside to Haunt their sectarian emblems. Dublin. the SDLP. and the Catholic church were carrying out the one job they are really good at - defusing and demobilising resistance in the face of Orange and British provocation. There was one significant change. the Sinn Fein leadership. faced with a choice benveen diplomacy and mass action. chose diplomacy, As a result they have given a whole series of hostages to fortune. The principle of “consent” will prove a much more powerful tool in suppressing clissent than in curbing Crangeism. Recognising the right of the sectarians to march and elevating sectarianism to one of two “traditions” is a profound mistake, Lets be clear. Our opposition to Orange sectarianism should be total. We should not recognise a “right” to march in order to propagate sectarian hatred. We should avoid like the plague ary formulations which imply that our future is as one of two apartheid tribes recognised as equal traditions. Instead we should fighi for a new identity in our common membership of the Irish working class.
The best.way to fight for these issues is in an open and democratic united front fighting Orange sectarianisn1. As a first step we should demand: RUC ont of Nationalisi areas!
Dishand the Grange RUC? SDLP out of Storment talks!
Dublin: Serap the irsuunework deal!
Secialist Democracy, PO Box 40, Belfast.