Socialist Republic: Vol. 3 no. 3, 1980

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POBLACHT SHOISIALACH 12p #o\ SOCIALIST REPUBLIC VOL.3 No.3 Paper of PEOPLES’ DEMOCRACY Anti-Unionist Workers Mobilise Against Gariin large contingent of workers from West Belfast to march through the nationalist areas to the City Hall rather than expose catholic workers to the sectarian loyalist mobs, Trade union supporters of Peoples Democracy are to launch a campaign to force the sacking of Terry Carlin, Northern Ireland Officer of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, This follows Carlin's sectarian manipulation of the April 2nd protest In the 6 counties against the public spending cuts of the British Tory government.

WEST BELFAST ACTION

The West Belfast branch of the Irish National Teachers! Organisation also called for a demonstration to assemble in West Belfast as did local branches of the National Union of Public Employees, the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union and the Northern Ireland Public Service Association, On the day 1, 500 workers who marched to the City Hall from the junction of the Falls and Grosvenor Roads provided the largest single contingent at the 5,000 strong rally outside the City Hall.

CARLIN PLAYS THE ORANGE

CARD

In effect Carlin gave the 'two fingers! to anti-unionist workers and unemployed. As the principal organiser of the April 2nd protest he issued instructions for marches from every area of Belfast apart from the nationalist districts. As a final insult he instructed trade unionists from the Kennedy Way industrial estate and other workplaces in West Belfast to march to the major rally at the City Hall through the loyalist Shankill and Donegal Road‘ “ateasi These latter are notorious bases for the loyalist murder gangs of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association.

KICK CARLIN OUT

The demand for Carlin's sacking should now be taken‘up in the trade union branches who supported the West Belfast demonstration and questions should also be asked about about the role which the 'left-wing!

Paddy Devlin, I1TGWU organiser played in this scandalous conces-

POLICE AUTHORITY

sion to the loyalists and the RUC, The reason for this blatant sectarianism lies in Carlin's member ship of the North's discredited Police Authority. The last thing the RUC wanted on April 2 was the arrival of organised anti-unionist workers in the city centre. The RUCis mindful of the last demonstration of anti-unionist workers through the city centre, which followed the mur-— der of Brian Maguire in Castlereagh, WARNING this man works with the RUC In a press statement exposing Carlin's plans, Peoples Democracy called on shop stewards and trade union activists in West Belfast to take the initiative in organising a

IN THIS ISSUE:

BUILD ANTI-REPRESSION

MOVEMENT IN TRADE UNIONS

TROTSKY AND CONNOLL Y

at ALL IRELAND WORKERS UNTY!! =i

SACK TERRY CARLIN “===

ANTI-NUKE MOVEMENT

RE-ASSERTS ITSELF

ZIMBABWE: THE FIGHT AGAINST

IMPERIALISM

CORK WOMENS! CONF ERENCE

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 2

Industry in Ireland and Irish society too have undergone radical and convulsive change over the past 15 years. Since the Anglo-iIrish Free Trade agreement of 1966 removed the few barriers protecting the weakling 26-—County economy from the dominant British economy, the re-assertlon and deepening of Imperialist domination have increased with the years, Joining the EEC in 1973 was just a milestone along this road, For the major sectors of ''our'!

native gombeen capitalists, these political steps were an effort to cash jn on the post-World War II international capitalist boom. But unfortunately for them -- and of course more so for the Irish work- The second budget since the Tories returned to office at Westminster has been described as an "absolute disaster" by the North's trade union leaders, Typical of their reaction were the words of John Freeman, regional secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, (ATGWU), "it is an attack on the working class and the trade unions, '' he said.

"Instead of declaring war on pover— ty, the Government has declared ~ war on the poor. !!

SWINGEING CUTS

Freeman is absolutely right to talk of war because the Tory budget sets out not only to slash the living standards ef the working class but also to*cripple the ability of orga= nised workers to fight back. Thus along with swingeing cuts in the health and education services and the taxing of unemployment benefits and welfare, the Tories are going to starve the families of striking workers by refusing them sup-— plementary benefit. In this way the Tories hope to ensure that families of those on poverty wages will stop these workers from striking for fear of destitution. It is along time since any capitalist government in Britain has been able to threaten the working class with sucha vicious weapon.

LOWER LIVING STANDARDS

Despite the fiery words of John Freeman, it is unlikely that Northern workers will be given any lead by him and his cronies in the Northern Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC- ICTU). The Tory budget will mean a further cut back of £64m in public ers and small farmers —- that boom was coming to an end in the carly '70s, never again to rear its lusty head,

INDUSTRIALIZATION....

AT A PRICE

For the imperialists, intensified exploitation of Ireland as well as of the rest of the neo-colonial world, was an important part of their efforts to maintain their profit levels as the boom ended, Many of the consequences of the industrialization policy implemented ‘by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), under the direction of successive governments, have left deep social scars and human misery.

Continuation of that policy promises more of the same, Traditional labour intensive industries have been run down under the impact of imperialist competition, causing loss of jobs, Leather and shoes, bacon, flour milling, wool, clothing and carpets -- all of these industries have suffered in this way. The newer industries brought in at enormous expense -- over 50° per cent construction and initial capitalization costs borne by the Irish taxpayers, andno, or very little, British Attack oix-County spending in the North, resulting in the loss of thousands more jobs and almost certainly guaranteeing that the North's unemployment total will soar to 100,000 in the first few years of the 1980's, Under the Tories, the North will continue to have the highest unemployment rate, the lowest standard of living and the highest cost of living in the socalled United Kingdom. The budget cuts mean that since the Tories took office public spending in the 6 Counties has been slashed by £174m -- adding up to approximately £100 per head of population. The North is already the poorest region in the so-called U.K. The latest report of the British Supplementary Benefits Commission revealed that 15% of the North!s population are dependent on benefits compared with 9% in Britain. Food and clothing cost up to 20% more than in Britain while fuel costs in the North are between 30 and 300% higher.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

The Apri! 2 protests against Tory spending cuts which were organised by NIC-ICTU provided a brilliant opportunity for the North's trade _ union leaders to mobilise the entire member ship in opposition to the Tory government. In the event it

HOW WILL IRELAND

INDUSTRIALIZE?

tax to be paid by the companies for the first 25 years -- tend on the whole to be sma!l, highly mechanised (electronics, chemicals, light engineering) and capital intensive.

CAUSE OF HIGH TAXATION

The financial burden which this type of industrialization places on taxpayers and most heavily on the lower paid workers, has fuelled the massive tax protests of the past two years, It has increased our indebtedness to imperialist banks and has helped to push the inflation rate to the vicinity of 20 per cent. In turn the high levels of inflation deepen the oppres-— sion of all those not powerful enough to fight back -- the old, the handicapped, the unorganised workers, the small farmers, There has also been a serious idecological blow to the organized workers! movement in the implementing of this industrialization.

The sweetheart contracts between the multinationals and particularly the Transport Union, have weakened the authority of that union among workers, damaged trade union consciousness and solidarity and helped to split the trade union was like a wet tea party. The Northern Ireland Committee left it up to the individual unions to decide whether or not to issue strike instructions thus guaranteeing that right-wing trade union officials would refuse to call for strike ac-— tion. In fact very few unions did issue a strike instruction, and in some unions, such as the Public Service Alliance, branches that voted for strike action were orderea not to issue strike instructions,

EMPLOYER INTIMIDATION

In this situation it wasn't difficult for employers to intimidate workers into remaining at work by threatening victimisation. The small numbers who attended the protest 3 of the stagnant sixties, movement as a whole, fiasco illustrated this. The Ferenka The major selling point advanced by the |DA and the governments for their strategy of industrialization, is that it provides much needed jobs. For all their huffing and puffing this claim is at bottoma fraud, For instance by 1976 the number of jobs in the 26 Counties was the lowest since the founding of the state (1.035 million) and two years later, after the economic re—covery, the number of jobs was 1,06 million, less than the level With even more young people coming into the labour force, since over half the population is now under 25, another ‘by-product of the IDA industrialization policy is and will be unemployment. But there are other ingredients and consequences of this policy which are becoming more apparent and which should alert workers to the type of future in store for them and their children under capital— ism in Ireland,

AUTOMATION AND CAPITALISM

Ever accelerating automation, using computers and microprocessors based on the silicon chip, should promise more pleasant work and shorter working hours if this -society genuinely sought human welfare, But under capitalism automation is used to increase the length of the dole queue and to further exploit the workforce, More dirty, dangerous and healthdestroying industries are appear—ing’ on the Irish scene -- artificial fertilizers, acrylonitrile textiles in Mayo, asbestos in Cork, the threatened nuclear station in Wexford. The Whiddy Island disaster last year put Ireland close to the top of the world league table for industrial tragedies for that year. ralliesin the 13 centres testified to the success which the bosses enjoyed, At the major rally outside Belfast's City Hall only about 5,000 attended, of which the largest single contingent was 1, 500 antiunionist workers who marched from West Belfast in defiance of NIC- ICTU's instructions,

FIGHTBACK NECESSARY

If ther e is going to be a serious fight against the Tory cuts in the North then the trade unions will have to ditch the inappropriately named 'Jobs -—— An Action Programme! which poses false solutions of multinational investment and small cooperatives. Imperialism has no solution to the problems of the Northern economy, problems which

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—— = or ae ee

POLLUTION AND HEALTH

Not only do the workers in those industries have their health slowly or quickly undermined, but the pollution thrown cut into the air, the rivers, and the lakes, by those industries, puts the whole population at risk, Lough Sheelin in Westmeath is threatened with biological extinction, We thought that only happened far away in places like the Great Lakes in North America and the Caspian Sea in the Soviet Union, But here jn Ireland, "fishkills!

is a new word that has entered the language. Children suffer brain damage because they inhale lead from car exhausts, Pollution related diseases, such as cancer and heart and lung ailments, are the principal causes of death in Ireland, accounting for up to 90 per cent of all deaths. lg ° These too are an inescapable part of the price that Irish workers and small! farmers are paying for the industrialization brought to you courtesy of the IDA. And there is no indication that this price is likely to decrease in the future, Every indication is that the opposite is true,

POLITICAL EFFECTS

So what political and economic effects can we expect in the years ahead as silicon chip technology comes to be more widely applied?

What will be the impact of automation and what policy should workers follow in relation to it? And what are the facts about pollution and risk on the job? These questions and other such issues related to capitalist industrialization in Ireland and the socialist alternative will be examined in later issues of Socialist Republic.

MAT THEW HUSSEY

have themselves been fashioned by jmperialist domination, What is needed in the Northisa real action programme which can organise the workers throughout Ireland in a fight to claw back from imperialism some of the plunder reaped by its exploitation of Ireland's workers andresources, We need a programme which can unite workers North and South in opposition to soaring unemployment, Such a campaign would be centred around demands for a 35-hour week and a useful programme of public works. It would demand the opening of the books of the multinationals who declare redundancies or attempt to fold their operations. To make such a campaign effective a real fight for workers! unity would have to be organised simultaneously.

Crucially this is a fight to reunite the nationalist workers of the North with workers jin the South and .to put an end to the isolation which they have endured since partition. The basis of this fight would be the demand for affirmative action programmes to redress the grievances of the catholic workers which have multiplied during the 60 years of structural discrimination in the 6 Counties. The success of such a campaign, indeed the success of any fight by the working class today demands the full and unconditional independence of the trade unions from both the partitionist states. That means replacing the present misleaders with a real anti-imperialst |eadership. JOHN MacGEO WN The Fight Against Repression Must Be Taken Into The Unions Although Irish trade unions have stated their opposition to repression over the past five years very little has actually been done besides passing resolutions. Furthermore controversial issues such as H-Block tended to be avoided on the grounds that there should be no support given to ''those who advocate violence!!", Except when the small forces of the far left were able to exert some pressure the union leadership on a national level have been, more or less let off the hook, Members and supporters of the Labour Party have, in the best (worst) traditions of Irish social democracy, dodged away from opposing the repression of anti- Imperialists, During the dark days of the late unlamented Cosgrave coalition these people just buried their heads in the sand and kowtowed to the pro-Brit propag— anda of the Cruiser, Very few identified with efforts of the anti- Imperialist left to resist legislation such as the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act or the Declaration of a State of Emergency and the introduction of seven day detention.

The 'two nations! pro-Imperialist current had a field day, Probably around this time their main apologists in Sinn Fein - the Workers!

Party (SF-WP) consolidated their union buse amony disenchanted social democrats and others hostile to the National Struggle.

Anti-Imperialists in the 26 Countics, and specifically the Provos, failed to mobjlize their forces in the unions, These two factors have proved a major obstacle in vetting the unions to fight repression,

THE TIDE 1S TURNING

But times are chanyiny. It is no longer "illegitimate" to raise the National Question, The nationalist sentiment of southern workers js coming to the fore again. The days of Crujser-style apologies to the Brits for daring to want therm to leave our country are yone. As the colonial regime in the 6 Counties resorts to naked brutality with little or no political cover in order to im-— pose its rule, apologists for its alleged aim of "keeping both sides apart'! become more grotesque and ridiculous, The central focus of this renewed desire to put an end to the occup— ation and domination of Ireland has become the plight of the political prisoners in the Northern concentration camps, This has been spurred on by the formation of the National Smash H-Block Committee which does not bar Opponents of the use of violence against the British invader from joining itsranks, The idea that you don't need to support the IRA to back the prisoners is gaining ground. As part of this general trend the unions are contributing, although unevenly, to the struggle for political status,

REAL ACTION BEGINNING

Several southern trades councils have taken motions, The Cork Trades Council passed a motion in support of the H-Block Committee and sent a speaker to the inaugural metting of the Committee in Cork, The Limerick Trades Council gave support to the December 1979 conference in the Mansion House but failed to send a delegate. The Navan Trades Council sends a delegate to the local Prisoners!

Action Committee. The Dublin Trades Council at its November meeting expressed support for the demands of the prisoners but refused to attend the December conference because of its "poss— ible association with organizations that condoned violence". The most successful lobbying appears to have been done in Waterford, There the trades council has set up a sub-committce to investigate the H-Block situation and supported a recent 80 strony public meeting.

Michacl O'Brien, a local trade union official and an ex-internee, spoke from the platform,

THE ROLE OF THE ICTU

Forthcoming annual union conferences will be a target for H-Block lobbyists. Already resolutions have bequn to appear on their agendas, For cxample at Portrush in April, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will be asked to "seek aceess to the prisoners and investigate the conditions", The Irish Transport and General Workers!

Union (1 TGWU) conference held every year at the start of June, will be an essential focal point for the Campaign and this year the professed "national unity" view of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will be put to the test when the conference moves to Belfast in July, In practice partition has been accepted by the trade union deader ship. In 1944 it established the "Northern Jreland Committee", As pointed out in an jissue of the Belfast Workers!

Research Bulletin: "In perpetrating their historical compromise of rec ° ognizing the Northern state, the official trade Union movement effectively became the prisoners of the sectarian bias implicit within the state and contributed to their Own Impotence in the face of subsequent events, "

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE'3

pe ee es oe

BRIAN

MAGUIRE

- ASTLE REAG

THE CASE OF BRIAN MAGUIRE

Because of this the union leadership have turned a blind eye to some of the most vicious incidents of repression within the state.

Even when a trade union member, Brian Maguire, of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW) was hanged in Castlereagh it was not the official leadership in either part of the country that mounted a campaign of protest but a pressure group, the Trade Union Campaign Against Repression (TUCAR). The trade union leaders Narth and South have not challenged repression, brutality, harassment, torture of dissidents and antiunionists, but only merely condem-— ned repressive laws.

ROLE OF ANTI-IMPERIALISTS

What this points to is the absolute need for anti-Imperialists within the unions to begin to organise.

There is a growing response among rank and file trade unionists to the information coming out about H- Block and Armagh Womens Jail.

This must be developed beyond inactive concern to organised campaig-— ning within the individual unions, * Relatives of prisoners should be invited to address union meetings, the facts should be laid before members. * Information on union members in H-Block can be presented to union executives, * Delegations must be organised to try and gain access to the prisoners who are union members, * British trade unions should be lobbied to declare support and demand that the Tory government meet the prisoners! demands, It would be foolish of the anti-Imperialist organisations to ignore the huge social and political weight of the unions, And it would be even more foolish if the trade unionists were to refuse to support a basic democratic demand. Union members have nothing to fear from the extension of democratic rights -— however we all have plenty to fear if they are taken away,

ANNE SPEED

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 4

In a recent series of articles in An Phoblacht/Republican News, Ciaran O'Dowd has carried out an analysis of 'Revolutionary Guerilla Warfare!

studying struggles in China, Victnam, Cuba and Nicaragua. This represents a serious attempt by the Republican left to deepen the content of the paper. and broaden the conciousness of the member ship and supporters of the republican movement. We welcome this attempt and the efforts of Republican News/An Phoblacht to broaden its general coverage of working class struggles and establish itself definitively as a left-wing paper. However we have to say that in this particular series the attempt has failed. Fundamentally it fails because the concept around which the articles are organised -- that of 'Revolutionary Guerilla Warfare! has no real existence. It is not possible to show a clear connection between gucrilla war asa particular method of warfare and the process of revolution.

Revolutionary forces can use any method of armed struggle in the conquest of power: guerilla warfare, mass uprisings or even the strugyle “of conventional armies. Nor is guerilla war in some way the special province of revolutionaries, The first guerilla struggle in Spain mentioned in the introduction to the 'Republican News! articles was in fact by right-wing monarchists.

NARROW MILITARY ANALYSIS

This basic flaw has a number of effects. It prevents any real unified analysis of the four struggles outlined. War is politics by other means. And politics in our epoch are essentailly international.

fore a real informative analysis would show the growth and development of the wor!d-wide struggle against imperialism since the second world war. The rather narrow military analysis means that that the individual struggles them-— sleves are not clearly analysed and the same method of analysis leaves out very many political factors and even at points obscures the political lessons of the struggle.

CHINA

The weaknesses of a military analysis are especially evident in this article. The military actions of the Red Army are seen as the decisive element and the political activity of the Communist Party as aimed mainly to maintain support for the struggle. This viewis persisted in even though it is contradicted by quotations from Mao in the article. For example: "When the red army fights, it fights not merely for the sake of fighting but exclusively to agitate among the masses, to organise them, to arm them, and to help them establish political power. " There is a good summing up of the military lessons of the Chinese experience --'] against 10, 10 against 1'' This sums up the common sense lesson that guerilla forces should be used to extend and disperse the enemy forces, and then concentrated at the weakest links in the chain. Good advice, but is it really "responsible for victory" as the Republican News article claims?

DISTRUST OF WORKING CLASS

The one note of criticism in the article is touched on when Ciaran .- O'Dowd says that a strategy of en-.

circling the cities with a struggle based in the countryside "would ‘not necessarily apply to a highly urban society's In fact this strategy was based on a fundamental There- ‘ll review of Republican News series political weakness of Maoism-- a distrust of the working class as the central leadership of the revolution— ary movement and a willingness to make accomodations with the capitalist class -- the very weaknesses that the republican movement itself suffers from,

VIETNAM

The article on Vietnam begins with a factual error, It says that during World War II the French and Japanese united in a drive against the Viet Minh, In fact the French withdrew in face of the Japanese invasion and the Viet Minh built their power by inflicting defeats on the Japanese. This is worth correcting if only to draw attention to the role of Britain. The Brits occupied Vietnam after the Japanese defeat and organised the return of the French, thus ensuring all the blood and suffering that was to follow. Ciaran O'Dowd introduces the idea of "trading space for time!! —- that by sacrificing territory the revolutionary movement may gain time for regroupment, and makes the important point that the time gained is wasted if it is not used to raise the revolutionary consciousness and will of the masses,

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

IGNORED

The article is at its weakest in giving reasons for the Vietnamese victory. It gives as the main cause the flexibility of the Vietnamese forces and their ability to go from conventional battles to guerilla warfare very quickly. General Giap is quoted as saying that a drawn-out and extended war favours the popular forces against the imperialists.

However the article ignores a major political factor which the Vietnamese themselves acknowledge -- the international solidarity of the working class organisations and the mass mass demonstrations that brought the war home to the heart of America.

CUBA

In dealing with Cuba Ciaran O'Dowd points out that the revolution did not just involve Castro's forces but a whole social and political movement -- the 26th July Movement. He also quotes Che to the effect that guerilla war is the continuation of revolutionary politics by armed force,

CHE GUEVARA

However the article as a whole does not deal with the Cuban struggle, but with a debate about the 'foco!

theory -- the idea advanced by Che that small armed groups could by their actions create part of the pre-— conditions for revolution. Attempts to implement this theory in Latin America led to a series of defeats, Ciaran O'Dowd concludes that it was correct to try to extend the Cuban revolution to the continent and to try to 'take the heat off!

Vietnam, but that the failures were based on lack of popular support.

This approach begs the question, Why was there so little popular support? If immediate armed action was a strategy for defeat, was there there an alternative strategy that would have made victory possible?

For Marxists some level of agita— tion among the masses is always possible. If this sort of slow pa+ tient work does not always offer immediate and spectacular victories, it has consistently laid the groundwork for the mass upsurges of the working class and been an essential feature of all successful revolutions,

PERMANENT REVOLUTION

The absence of an analysis of the Cuban revolution is a disappvintment. This revolution more thon any other is a set-piece demonsira— tion of the Trotskyist theory of Permanent Revolution. The Cuban revolutionary movement had a nationalist leadership and was committed to a programme of democratic reform, yet it burst its own self-imposed boundaries and established a workers! state, This was only possible because the revolutionary nationalists were absolutely determined to carry out their promises, because the work— ers and peasants were themselves organised and active in the revolution and because there was a unity in action combined with an open debate between socialist and nationalists in the -anti-imperialist movement. The lessons for Ireland should be obvious,

NICARAGUA

Given the continuing revolution in Nicaragua and the strategic importance of that struggle for the world revolution, it was to be expected that the article on Nicaragua would mark the high point of the series.

In fact the basic lack of political analysis is shown most clearly here and in many ways it is the weakest of the series,

USEFUL FACTUAL INFORMATION

It does however provide a great deal of factual information. The Nicaraguan movement was deeply infected by the 'foco! theory and led three guerilla campaigns between 1963 and 1970. In 1974 a successful hostage operation lea to the freeing of political prisoners but the founder of the Sandinista movement, Amador, was killed by the forces of the U.S, -backed dictator Somoza. Under the pressure of defeats the movement split into three !'tendencies! —- in reality separate movements -- each with their own strategy. Popular War! tendency aimed to surround the cities from the countryside, the 'Insurrectionist! movement held to the foco theory and had links with figures in the bourgeois opposition, and the 'Proletarian!

tendency aimed itself at the urban worker s.

FSLN

led a mass uprising. The uprising itself was mis-timed, co-ordination between the groups poor, and Somoza crushed it in a river of blood, despite heroic resistance, Despite all this, less than a year later the Nicaraguan masses were on the offensive again. A general strike was followed up by a mass uprising which continued until Somoza fled the country.

MASSES

Ciaran O'!Dowd!'s analysis of this is rather surprising. victory to the 'flexibility' of the Sandinistas and the fact that each different tendency was able to mobilise different sections of the population. A flexibility that requires three different organisations frequently working at cross purposes is somewhat difficult to understand.

The Sandinistas leader ship have a somewhat simpler and more direct explanation. They say that all analyses were wrong because they all assumed that the military organisations would carry out the revo-— lution. In fact the masses themselves carried out and led the revolution with tne military organisations acting in support.

As Commander Humberto Ortega has said, "We had thought that the masses would support the guerillas in taking power. But that's not how it happened. Instead the guerillas ended up supporting the mass insurrection that overthrew the Somoza dictator ship...!

SUBORDINATION TO ARMED

STRUGGLE

Any review of struggles outside Ireland should lead to more than a summing-up of general military principles. It should bring to light general political processes which revolutionaries can grasp because they relate to their own struggle. This the series fails to do, not because the general political lessons do not exist but because the -Republican movement itself assigns to these processes a subordinate role to the demands of the armed struggle. The problem for the Republican left remains, Both republican tradition and their own brand of leftism stress military action and assign a lower level of importance to the mass self-activity of the working class, but more and more in both the struggle world-wide and in Ireland itself it is these forms of struggle that are formins the central dynamic of the revolution. The republican left's solution will of course depend on practice -- on how well they are able to build and work in a unity of all anti-imperialist forces and how well they are able to intervene in and learn from the struggles of the working class, But this process is too important to both themselves and to the Irish revolution to be left to chance. A clear under standing of the lessons of the struggle world-wide will make their paths easier and their final goals clearer.

JOHN NORTH

The 'Prolonged In 1978 the Insurrectionist tendency

FSLN ASSESSMENT OF ROLE OF

He attributes their For some time now in the North, there -has been much conflict within Unionism causing multiple fractures to the once solid block of the loyalist ascendancy. Nevertheless, of consolidation has set in so that now there are two main camps.

However the resulting power vacuum from all this was quickly filled by Paisley and his DUP, They were at first dismissed as lunatic fringe elements, particularly by the popu— lation in the South, A dangerous mistake, but it was quickly recog— nised. To under stand this division in unionism, we must look at the class characteristics of the parties to see whose precise interests they serve, The Official Unionists represent the wealthy farmers, industrialists, the professional and middle classes (doctors, teachers, etc.). This category isnot directly threatened by more equality for Catholics, are conscious of their image in Western Europe and in favour of cosmetic reforms -- reforms which will not alter the basic sectarian nature of the state but will smooth down its rougher edges so as to exhibit a more acceptable facade.

the splintering stopped and a process The Democratic Unionist Party mostly represents the protestant small farmers and shopkeepers as well as a large proportion of the protestant working class, They are the 'frontier elements! of unionism; economically vulnerable, they are thus hostile to any reforms which might tip the balance away ‘rom their favour, Politically they are susceptible to right wing even fascist views and it is no coincidence that their associates to a political machine with religious worship, for the most part, is of a narrow fundamentalist type.

In this way Paisley is the personification of his base of support He is an aggressive, evangelical bigot, and always has been; and that is the key to his political prominence. He was always against reform; it was the thin end of the wedge. Didn't he warn in 1962 that the republican hordes were preparing to undermine the state and protestant religion?

Then the Divis Street riots happened] And again in 1968 that these socalled 'Civil Rights! marches were part of an 'IRA-Vatican plot', and we all know what happened after that! Big lan must have hada vision] Events did prove him correct, ina way. Nevertheless, it wouldn't have taken a person of terrific political foresight to predict that the catholics would not accept their oppression forever, A revolt was bound to occur, but !'In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!.

Politically the Ulster loyalists are very shortsighted, By contrast James Molyneaux is something of a faceless man. Lacking both flair and imagination his political backwardness is drearily mundane. His qualifications for becoming party leader seem to be that he was the best of an unusually bad.

bunch, In personality terms, Paisley has!

They the mass appeal for unionist voters, The Official Unionists deeply resent Paisley. Due to their economically

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 5

and socially superior position they feel that their leader ship function has been usurped, In order to topple him, they first of all need an issue and then massive pressure to be exerted, The 'Atkins Conference!

provided the first condition and the Orange Order the vehicle for the second. Hence the paradox; the 'respectable!

unionists are boycotting the Atkins talks (on the grounds that the SDLP might win some concessions) and the loyalist 'backwoodspersons! are ‘ attending! Nonetheless this has been a bad tactical error for the Official Unionists, They presumed these talks to be a re-run of the Sunningdale Conference which led to the 'Power Sharing! experiment.

Its collapse allowed the political initiative to pass over to the loyalist paramilitaries (UDA, UVF). Logically the same should happen again, destroying the participants, However, the terms of reference have since changed; Power Sharing is no longer guaranteed, Paisley spotted this deliberate loophole left by the British and focuses on it regularly, dispelling any suggestion that he is going soft on the anti-unionists, Secondly the Ulster Defence Association and its allies are not so powerful as before, though still very dangerous, Finally this British government is determined to bring about a 'settlement! even if it has to be imposed, In addition, the Orange Order is an all-class alliance through which patronage is regulated, It isnot an agitational organisation, True, it mobilises masses on the 'Twalf!

and at other times, but these are traditional occasions held annually to celebrate loyalist-patronage. and protestant domination over catholics.

The Official Unionists may hold considerable influence inside the leadership of the Order but it is the rank and file who matter and for the most part they stick with the DUP. 'Big lan' has made a promise; a return to majority rule, back to Stormont.

By the looks of things he is going to keep it. Their faith in Paisley is| reinforced by his notorious political record, They might turn out once or twice on a demo, so as not to let the Order down, but it will pose no threat to the DUP, The real power struggle will happen after a settlement has been reached and is likely to be brought about by Paisley's personality. For a start this reactionary cleric ‘embarrasses the British. Most European politicians regard him as a madman which would hardly be a great advertisement for the leader of a supposedly democratic administration.

More importantly the Northern antiunionist population would find it repugnant to cooperate with a government led by Paisley. In this the SDLP themselves are no prob-= lem. At present they are fishing desperately for a legal formula to get them off the hook of their comitments to Power Sharing without being seen to have sold out, Equally, the population of the 26 counties are aware of Paisley's inglorious past which would make military cooperation between the Northern and Southern states very unpopular, Particularly so since Fianna Fail are in power, whose main electoral appeal is their claim to republicanism. Ideally, the British would prefer to deal with the Official Unionists, but for the moment they have to make do with the DUP. Their problem for the future will be how to engineer a switching of positions of the two parties, without fracturing whatever edifice they decide to build. NIALL MAC AN tSAOIR

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 4

In a recent series of articles in An Phoblacht/Republican News, Ciaran O'Dowd has carried out an analysis of 'Revolutionary Gucrilla Warfare!

studying struggles in China, Victnam, Cuba and Nicaragua. This represents a serious attempt by the Republican left to deepen the content of the paper. and broaden the conciousness of the member ship and supporters of the republican movement, We welcome this attempt and the efforts of Republican News/An Phoblacht to broaden its general coverage of workiny class struggles and establish itself definitively as a left-wing paper. However we have to say that in this particular series the attempt has failed. Fundamentally it fails because the concept around which the articles are organised -- that of 'Revolutionary Guerilla Warfare! has no real existence. It is not possible to show a clear connection between gucrilla war asa particular method of warfare and the process of revolution.

Revolutionary forces tan use any method of armed struggle in the conquest of power: guerilla warfare, mass uprisings or even the strug yle “of conventional armies. Nor is guerilla war in some way the spccial province of revolutionaries, The first guerilla struggle in Spain mentioned in the introduction to the 'Republican News! articles was in fact by right-wing monarchists.

NARROW MILITARY ANALYSIS

This basic flaw has a number of effects. It prevents any real unified analysis of the four struggles outlined. War is politics by other means. And politics in our epoch are essentailly international. Therefore a real informative analysis would show the growth and development of the world-wide struggle against imperialism since the second world war. The rather narrow military analysis means that that the individual struggles them-— sleves are not clearly analysed and the same method of analysis leaves out very many political factors and even at points obscures the political lessons of the struggle.

CHINA

The weaknesses of a military analysis are especially evident in this article, The military actions of the Red Army are seen as the de- ‘cisive element and the political activity of the Communist Party as aimed mainly to maintain support for the struggle. This viewis persisted in even though it is contradicted by quotations from Mao in the article. For example: "When the red army fights, it fights not merely for the sake of fighting but exclusively to agitate among the magses, to organise them, to arm them, and to help them establish political power, !! There is a good summing up of the military lessons of the Chinese experience --']. against 10, 10 against 1'' This sums up the common sense lesson that guerilla forces should be used to extend and disperse the enemy forces, and then concentrated at the weakest links in the chain. Good advice, but is it really "responsible for victory" as the Republican News article claims?

DISTRUST OF WORKING CLASS

The one note of criticism in the article is touched on when Ciaran : O'Dowd says that a strategy of en-.

circling the cities with a struggle based in the countryside "would not necessarily apply to a highly urban society". In fact this strategy was based on a fundamental

REVOLUTIONARY

A review of political weakness of Maoism-- a distrust of the working class as the central leadership of the revolution— ary movement anda willingness to make accomodations with the capitalist class -- the very weaknesses that the republican movement itself suffers from.

VIETNAM

The article on Vietnam begins with a factual error. It says that dur— ing World War II the French and Japanese united in a drive against the Viet Minh, In fact the French withdrew in face of the Japanese invasion and the Viet Minh built their power by inflicting defeats on the Japanese. This is worth correcting if only to draw attention to the role of Britain. The Brits occupied Vietnam after the Japanese defeat and organised the return of the French, thus ensuring all the blood and suffering that was to follow. Ciaran O'Dowd introduces the idea of "trading space for time!! —- that by sacrificing territory the revolutionary movement may gain time for regroupment, and makes the important point that the time gained is wasted if it is not used to raise the revolutionary consciousness and will of the masses,

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

IGNORED

.However the article ignores a major political factor which the Vietnamese Republican News series themselves acknowledge -- the international solidarity of the work-— ing class organisations and the mass mass demonstrations that brought the war home to the heart of America,

CUBA

In dealing with Cuba Ciaran O'Dowd points out that the revolution did not just involve Castro's forces but a whole social and political movement -—- the 26th July Movement. He also quotes Che to the effect that guerilla war is the continuation of revolutionary politics by armed force,

CHE GUEVARA

However the article as a whole does not deal with the Cuban struggle, but with a debate about the 'foco!

theory -—- the idea advanced by Che that small armed groups could by their actions create part of the preconditions for revolution. Attempts to implement this theory in Latin America led to a series of defeats.

Ciaran O'Dowd concludes that it was correct to try to extend the Cuban revolution to the continent and to try to 'take the heat off!

Vietnam, but that the failures were based on lack of popular support.

For Marxists some level of agitation among the masses is always possible. If this sort of slow pa+ tient work does not always offer immediate and spectacular victories, it has consistently laid the groundwork for the mass upsurges of the working class and been an essential feature of all successful revolutions,

PERMANENT REVOLUTION

The absence of an analysis of the Cuban revolution is a disappvintment. This revolution more thon any other is a set-piece demonsira-— tion of the Trotskyist theory of Permanent Revolution. The Cuban revolutionary movement had a nationalist leéadership and was committed to a programme of democratic reform, yet it burst its own self-imposed boundaries and established a workers! state, This was only possible because the revolutionary nationalists were absolutely determined to carry out their promises, because the workers and peasants were themselves organised and active in the revolution and because there was a unity in action combined with an open debate between socialist and nationalists in the -anti-imperialist movement. The lessons for Ireland should be obvious,

NICARAGUA

In fact the basic lack of political analysis is shown most clearly here and in many ways it is the weakest of the series,

USEFUL FACTUAL INFORMATION

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tator Somoza. Under the pressure of defeats the movement split into three 'tendencies! —- in reality separate movements -- each with their own strategy. The 'Prolonged Popular War! tendency aimed to surround the cities from the countryside, the 'Insurrectionist! movement held to the foco theory and had links with figures in the bourgeois opposition, and the 'Proletarian!

tendency aimed itself at the urban worker s.

FSLN

In 1978 the Insurrectionist tendency led a mass uprising. The uprising itself was mis-timed, co-ordination between the groups poor, and Somoza crushed it in a river of blood, despite heroic resistance, Despite all this, less than a year later the Nicaraguan masses were on the offensive again. A general strike was followed up by a mass uprising which continued until Somoza fled the country.

FSLN ASSESSMENT OF ROLE OF

MASSES

Ciaran O'Dowd!'s analysis of this is rather surprising. He attributes victory to the 'flexibility' of the Sandinistas and the fact that each different tendency was able to mobilise different sections of the population. A flexibility that requires three different organisations frequently working at cross purposes is somewhat difficult to understand.

The Sandinistas leadership have a somewhat simpler and more direct explanation. They say that all their analyses were wrong because they all assumed that the military organisations would carry out the revolution. In fact the masses them-— selves carried out and led the revolution with tne military organisations acting in support.

SUBORDINATION TO ARMED

STRUGGLE

Any review of struggles outside Ireland should lead to more than a summing—-up of general military principles. It should bring to light general political processes which revolutionaries can grasp because they relate to their own struggle. This the series fails to do, not because the general political lessons do not exist but because the Republican movement itself assigns to these processes a subordinate role to the demands of the armed struggle. The problem for the Republican left remains, Both republican tradition and their own brand of leftism stress military action and assign a lower level of importance to the mass self-activity of the working class, but more and more in both the struggle svorld-—wide and in Ireland itself it is these forms of struggle that are forminc the central dynamic of the revolution. The republican left's solution will of course depend on prac-— tice -- on how well they are able to build and work in a unity of all anti-imperialist forces and how well they are able to intervene in and learn from the struggles of the working class. But this process is too important to both themselves and to the Irish revolution to be left to chance. A clear under standing of the lessons of the struggle world-wide will make their paths easier and their final goals clearer,

JOHN NORTH

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 5

Who Now Beats The Orange Drum? i For some time now in the North, there.has been much conflict within Unionism causing multiple fractures to the once solid block of the loyalist ascendancy. Nevertheless, the splintering stopped and a process of consolidation has set in so that now there are two main camps.

These are the Democratic Unionist Party led by lan Paisley and the Official Unionist Party led by James Molyneaux, Since the EEC elections Paisley is clearly seen as the leader of Ulster unionism. His party the DUP has developed from being a group of associates to a political machine with with contacts and penetration all over the Six Counties. At local government level the DUP sets the pace in maintaining discrimination against Catholics and in demanding more repression for the Northern anti-unionists, Previous to this, the recognised loyalist leader ship had been the Unionist Party which was badly shaken by the anti-unionist revolt in 1969 and thoroughly demoralised after the parliament at Stormont was brought down in 1972. The party staggered on to help form the 'Power Sharing Executive! but when il col-— lapsed in 1974 the Unionist Party shattered, One of .the main fragments titled itself the 'Official Unionist Party! and has been trying ever since to get back to power, However the resulting power vacuum from all this was quickly filled by Paisley and his DUP, They were at first dismissed as lunatic fringe elements, particularly by the population in the South, A dangerous mistake, but it was quickly recog-— nised, To under stand this division in unionism, we must look at the class characteristics of the parties to see whose precise interests they serve, The Official Unionists represent the wealthy farmers, industrialists, the professional and middle classes (doctors, teachers, etc.). This category isnot directly threatened by more equality for Catholics, They are conscious of their image in Western Europe and in favour of cosmetic reforms —- reforms which will not alter the basic sectarian nature of the state but will smooth down its rougher edges so as to exhibit a more acceptable facade, The Democratic Unionist Party mostly represents the protestant small farmers and shopkeepers as well as a large proportion of the protestant working class, They are the 'frontier elements! of unionism; economically vulnerable, they are thus hostile to any reforms which might tip the balance away from their favour, Politically they are susceptible to right wing even fascist views and it is no coincidence that their religious worship, for the most part, is of a narrow fundamentalist type.

Then the Divis Street riots happened] And again in 1968 that these socalled 'Civil Rights! marches were part of an 'IRA-Vatican plot!, and we all know what happened after that! Big lan must have hada vision] Events did prove him correct, ina way. Nevertheless, it wouldn't have taken a person of terrific political foresight to predict that the catholics would not accept their oppression forever, A revolt was bound to occur, but 'In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!.

Politically the Ulster loyalists are very shortsighted, By contrast James Molyneaux is something of a faceless man, Lacking both flair and imagination his political backwardness is drearily mundane. His qualifications for becoming party leader seem to be that he was the best of an unusually bad \ bunch, In personality terms, Paisley has!

the mass appeal for unionist voters, The Official Unionists deeply resent Paisley. Due to their economically and socially superior position they feel that their leader ship function has been usurped In order to topple him, they first of all need an issue and then massive pressure to be exerted, The !Atkins Conference!

provided the first condition and the Orange Order the vehicle for the second. Hence the paradox; the !respectable!

unionists are boycotting the Atkins talks (on the grounds that the SDLP might win some concessions) and the loyalist 'backwoodsper sons! are attendingJ Nonetheless this has been a bad tactical error for the Official Unionists, They presumed these talks to be a re-run of the Sunningdale Conference which led to the 'Power Sharing! experiment.

Its collapse allowed the political initiative to pass over to the loyalist paramilitaries (UDA, UVF). Logically the same should happen again, destroying the participants, However, the terms of reference have since changed; Power Sharing is no longer guaranteed, Paisley spotted this deliberate loophole left by the British and focuses on it regularly, dispelling any suggestion that he is going soft on the anti-unionists, Secondly the Ulster Defence Association and its allies are not so powerful as before, though still very dangerous, Finally this British government is determined to bring about a '!settlement! even if it has to be imposed, In addition, the Orange Order is an all-class alliance through which patronage is regulated. It is not an agitational organisation. True, it mobilises masses on the 'Twalf!

and at other times, but these are traditional occasions held annually to celebrate loyalist-patronage. and protestant domination over catholics, The Official Unionists may hold considerable influence inside the leadership of the Order but it is the rank and file who matter and for the most part they stick with the DUP, 'Big lan' has made a promise; a return to majority rule, back to Stormont.

More importantly the Northern antiunionist population would find it repugnant to cooperate with a government led by Paisley. In this the SDLP themselves are no problem. At present they are fishing desperately for a legal formula to get them off the hook of their comit-— ments to Power Sharing without being seen to have sold out, Equally, the population of the 26 counties are aware of Paisley's inglorious past which would make military cooperation between the Northern and Southern states very unpopular, Particularly so since Fianna Fail are in power, whose main electoral appeal is their claim to republicanism. Ideally, the British would prefer to deal with the Official Unionists, but for the moment they have to make do with the DUP. Their problem for the future will be how to engineer a switching of positions of the two parties, without fracturing whatever edifice they decide to build. NIALL MAC AN tSAOIR

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 6

[SESE a a ee a Me Reo i a

BRITISH BARBARITY EXPOSED |

Anti-Imperialist During the last two months the conditions for the women prisoners in Armagh Jail have deteriorated so much that they are almost in the same dreadful position as the men in the H Blocks. On the 9th of April, a Tribunal was held in Belfast which |ooked into the treatment and the conditions under which these women live.

The Tribunal was organised by Women Against Imperialism, eleven of whom were arrested on International Womens Day, March 8, 1979, after a peaceful picket on Armagh Womens Prison and charged with disorderly behaviour, obstruction and/or assault. Having been in court twice already and been ad-—journed twice they decided to boycott the court the third time. The third appearance was to be April 9.

The Tribunal was an active boycott that reiterated the reason they went to Armagh prison originally. The Tribunal had judges of national and international repute and throughout the day they heard evidence of the brutal conditions in which the women prisoners are being kept in Armagh jail. The evidence was given by way of personal testimonies from ex-prisoners, by letters smuggled out of the prison and by relatives and friends of the prisoners.

THE FACTS EXPOSED

The Tribunal heard of conditions for prisoners who have political status, prisoners on remand ‘and women detained in Castlereagh, but most of the day was given over to the worsening conditions for the women on protest for political status in Armagh. This included statements about their food, medical treatment which isnil, their health which is dangerously open to infection at the moment because of the lack of washing, toilet and sanitary facilities and the violence which the women have had to endure since the 7th of February.

THE TRUTH EMERGES

At the end of the day the judges found that: * there has been an escalation of violence and hardship against the women in Armagh * the women suffer acutely heal th-— wise from lack of washing facilities lack of sanitary towels, etc. and lack of ante-natal or child facilitics * that male screws have been used in beatings and searches.

The Tribunal holds the British Government directly responsible for these degrading and inhuman conditions.

PLAYING AT JUSTICE

During the day the word came that the judge at the other court had found the Armagh 11 guilty and fined them a total of £290. Basil Mclvor, the presiding judge who took 30 minutes considering the verdict, said there was no doubt that for the first 15-20 minutes the demonstration was peaceful. He described the women in four photographs taken by the police as "a happy enough band of women -there doesn't seem to be anything wrong in this country (sic) witha group who have a political cause peacefully demonstrating their views. |! But according to RUC evidence, the demonstrators had become more aggressive, and could not be arrested because of insufficient police! The fact of the matter is that the women's determination to make contact with the prisoners inside and their hostility to those responsible for the brutality and torture became too much for the RUC. And so they waded in, angrily attacking the picket.

Even funnier, was the statement "the women abandoned their decision to contest the police evidence.

The inference must be that they didn't think they had a case to contest! '!' made in full knowledge of the Tribunal and its intentions. The Armagh 11 have discussed not paying the fines, under threat of retributive jail sentences.

SOLIDARITY MUST GROW

The support from the women's movement in Britain has been a real indicator of the potential for an even wider campaign on Irish women political prisoners in British and Irish jails. Similar solidarity is emerging in the South. This must be consolidated and could be quickly done by fighting for feminist supporters to pay the fines asa direct gesture of solidarity with the Armagh 11. To motivate this, meetings could be organised through Ireland and Britain, at whicha broader discussion on the British occupation and its effects would definitely emerge. This would give anti--imperialists in the Irish women's movement areal chance to implant themselves firmly in that movement asa fighting and conscious current.

On May 11th, the Dublin Armagh Prisoners Solidarity Committee is holding a day of sducation, information, video and in the evening, some music, Its purpose is to spread the information that has been collected for the tribunal and open more discussion among women and men in the South. Anti-impcrialists, feminists, republicans and socialists have a responsibility to support this and should organise to bring the crowds along,

ANNE SPEED

In November, 1978, a local Limerick radio station (Big L) began broadcasting a weekly programme called Big W.. One section of this programme (which was compiled by 4 women from the local area) dealt with the problems women come up against in five areas -- work, marriage, social welfare, health and children. It was presented by Cathie Chappell. The information amassed on these subjects is now the basis of a pamphlet entitled Together We Stand (a feminist guide to women's rights) and published by the Bottom Dog yroup who publish a local radical paper of the same name, Together We Stand is a simply written, straightforward account

CORK WOMEN

DISCUSS

THEIR

LIBERATION

A highly successful one-day [Forum by women, for women, and about women took place recently in Cork.

It was the first such event.to occur for several years and showed that in the Munster region there isa lively interest in the problems facing women in Irish society today. The Forum entitled "Health and Sexuality'! was organised by Cork members of the Feminist Federation and was designed to bring women together to listen, discuss and to share common experience.

It was also planned that from the Forum a women's group, or several women's groups, would emerge, The topics covered included a report on family planning in Ireland by members of the Contraception Action Programme who outlined campaigns in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway. Two video films were also shown, one which dealt with the stresses on women of married life, and another exploring women's feelings about their own sexuality.

SEXUALITY

Angela Phillips, a member of the Spare Rib Collective, co-editor of the book Our Bodies Ourselves, and an active feminist, was guest speaker. She argued that for women sexuality was used as a means of control in patriarchal society based on property ownership. Sex could therefore be defined as a rate of exchange. In such a situation, she explained, women were unable to express themselves either sexually or as free human beings.

Whilst birth control challenged such a situation to some extent, it should not be seen as the ultimate solution, Infngland, for example, although a sexual explosion had taken place, there had been no significant : change in sexual relationships.

Women still stood in the same economic relationship to men as they had always been, They had mercly revalued the rate of sexual exchange,

ENCOURAGING TURNOUT

Around 160 women attended the Forum from areas as far apart as Feminist Guide to Womens’ Rights of women's rights in Ireland today -- what they are, how to obtain them, where they are provided and what to do to obtain them if they are not -- this booklet takes a critical look at our Constitution, The booklet covers in some detail the laws in such areas as: Women at work; Women at home; Women and the Social Welfare System; Women's health; Women and Children.

It is written by Cathie Chappell, contains several cartoons by Charlotte Cryer who also designed the attractive cover, and is published by Bottom Doy Publications, Sylvia Mechan, Chairperson of the Employment Equality Agency had Limerick, Midleton, Macroom and Cork city. They were of all ages and backgrounds and showed a tremendous enthusiasm in sharing experiences and linking up with each other to actively fight for change. An important contribution to the success of the Forum was the provision of a creche which gave many of the women the opportunity of participating freely in the discussion without being tied to children.

At a subsequent follow-up meeting of 50 women various areas of interest were discussed. The whole role of child-rearing and the need to socialise methods of child-mind+ ing was seen as an important step in the overall fight for women's freedom. Another crucial aspect of women's subjugation, particularly relevant in Irish society, was the sexist nature of education and its place in socialising women into the roles of wife and mother.

FUTURE PLANS

Many women at the meeting expres-— sed a need to form themselves into small groups to combat isolation and develop their own conscious— ness. All agreed, however, that the momentum and strength of the group as a whole should not be lost and that there were many areas where women in Cork could work and struggle together. A series of small and large group meetincs are planned which will actively taxe up issues felt to be particularly relevant in the Cork region. These will include such things as contraception, women in industry, trade unionism, problems faced by rural women, women and the media, violence against women and such other issues as will be raised through the group's participation in the Feminist Federation. The vitality and atmosphere at both meetings shows that an active women's current exists in Cork. It will be important to strike a balance between sclf development, education, and active participation in cgmpaigns around women's issues,

GLEN SPRAY

this to say about it: "If we want the Equal Pay and Employment Equality Laws to help Irish women assert their rights to equality in employment, the first step is to make sure that everyone gets the right information and the confidence to use it. Cathie Chappell's pamphlet will be a big help in this task and | congratulate her and the distributors, the ‘Bottom Doy! for sponsoring this project," Owing to exceptional demand, this booklet has been reprinted for national distribution and is obtainable from: Bottom Doy 109 O'Malley Pk. Southill, Limerick

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 7

TROTSKY -LEADER OF RUSSIAN

Can the working class and their oppressed allies achieve a success-— ful socialist revolution in an economically backward country or do they have to wait for a breakthrouyh in the advanced capitalist states? The history of the twentieth century has given us the answer. Capitalism was overthrown first in Russia.

Even more dramatic proof was given after the second World War by the revolutions in China, Cuba and Vietnam. One of the few people to foresee this exciting possibility was Leon Trotsky. We became known after the 1905 Russian Revolution as the advocate of the theory of Permanent Revolution, This became the corner stone of his fight to help end capitalism In Russia.

INTERNATIONALIST

Trotsky was, with Lenin, the main leader of the Russian Revolution, Later he played a central role in defeating the White, counter-revolution. Finally he was the principal defender of workers! democracy and the main opponent of Stalinism.

This record alone would command our respect and admiration, But there Is an aspect of Trotsky's role which is of even more interest to us, While his historic achievements are forever linked to the fate of the Russian Revolution, he never acted simply as a Russian revolutionist, His crucial motivation was inspired by a concern for the workers and oppressed of every country.

Trotsky was above all an internationalist. The Marxist internationalism of Trotsky never descended to the bland cosmopolitanism of those who ignore national peculiarities and dismiss the struggles of the nationally oppressed. In criticism of Stalin he wrote, "It is false that the specific features are 'merely supplementary to general! features!

like warts on a face. Inreality, the national peculiarities represent an original combination of the basic features of the world process.

This originality can be of decisive significance for revolutionary strategy over a span of many years."

Real internationalism is impossible without a thorough appreciation of unique national features. Trotsky was nowhere more sensitive to this requirement than in relation to the oppressed nations, He fully endorsed Marx's statement that "a nation which oppresses another nation can never itself be free'!. The elementary duty of a consistent internationalist is to give maximum support to the justified struggles of the na— tionally oppressed,

NATIONAL OPPRESSION

AND SOCIALESM

Not surprisingly, Trotsky was one of the few socialists who under stood and gave unconditional support to the 1916 Easter Rising. Later, in exile from the Soviet Union, he was to recall his admiration for Connolly.

How pleased Connolly would have been -- shortly before his execution Connolly mentioned to his daughter that one of his few regrets was that socialists in Europe would not ap— prove of his stand, Connolly would also have peen pleased for another reason. He and Trotsky shared an original understanding of how to advance socialist revolution in countries where nation-: al development was stunted and deformed. For most Marxists of the: time the national struggle and the socialist revolution were compart— mentalised into two distinct stages, Connolly and Trotsky by contrast, saw them as interacting in an explosive combination. lution, ‘at a time when the leading theore-

REVOLUTION

tats HE nated their interests to Britain's needs and consequently had no real desire for national self-determination. The workers remained as the sole repository of Ireland's aspiration for freedom, Nationhood could only be achieved through the struggles of the workers, spoke of ''the working class reconstructing the nation under its own leader ship", "only the working class remains as the incorruptible inheritors of the fight for freedom in Ireland. "' Trotsky's views were summed up in the theory of Permanent Revothe cornerstone of which was a characterisation of the working class as an active and creative force in history. Such a characterisation may not seem particularly novel coming from a Marxist. But ticians of the socialist movement believed the working class would achieve political power as aresult of the evolution of capitalism rather than through its own independent efforts, Trotsky's position represented a profound rediscovery of Marxist principles,

WORKERS! DEMOCRACY

Despite the weight of conservative orthodoxy within the socialist move- Connolly too had a similarly fresh insight. Im tabour in Irish History he formulated his thesis that the workers were the prime agents of historical change and not just the passive raw material of historical evolution. He set out to prove that all social classes in Ireland, especially the capitalists, had subordiment Connolly and Trotsky had the courage to proclaim the full revoof workers! democracy. Connolly formulated the same conclusion in his slogan, the Workers Republic,

MOBILISE TRADE UNIONS

AGAINST NUCLEAR POWER

nised and coherent. Since the last Carnsore Rally (August 1979) moves have been made to form a national structure, federation which does not interfere with the autonomy of |ocal groups but tries to promote united action around specific issues. One of the issues it has singled out is the de- Sean McBride has agreed to become trustee for a fund to hold such an enquiry if the government tries to restrict discussion or avoid public accountability. To judge by statements made by government and ESB representatives, Ireland is backing away from its previous aggressive nuclear power policy. Undoubtedly two factors hawe influenced this; the growing public concern over the industry's inability to bring the Three Mile Island plant under contro! (over a year after the initial near-di saster) mand for a 'public enquiry'.

and the downward revision of eneray needs in anticipation of a new international economic recession. But Ireland is part of the European Nuclear Programme which is well under way and unlikely to be reversed voluntarily. Sooner or later the TRADE UNION ACTIVITY ‘threat of a nuclear power plant will More recently a Trade Union Campaign Against Nuclear Power has been formed, At the founding meethave to be faced by the Irish people.

ANTI-NUKE MOVEMENT

The anti-nuclear movement is well aware of this and is continuing to organise. It is becoming more orga- Just as Trotsky Connolly asserted that ' lutionary implications of their views, To the bewilderment of his comrades Trotsky asserted that national revolution could only succeed jn the form This structure is a loose Both of them despised parliamentary (bourgeois) democracy as an illusory form of freedom, Their concepts of freedom varied in accor- -dance with their different experiences. Connolly believed that real democracy could be achieved only through councils elected in the factories and workshops and directly under the control of the workers.

Trotsky also adhered to a counci!

(Soviet) form of democracy but much more broadly based. This concept of alternative democratic institutions is one of the most important lessons to be learned from Trotsky. The new forms of democracy wil! not be built after the revolution. They must be created in the first instance to carry out the revolution. The Soviets in Russia arose in the course of the struggle against Czarism as united-front organisations of the workers, soldiers and small land users. Their democratic nature was a practical necessity for the workers, Strong links were built uniting the entire population, by ensuring that the Soviets were easily accessible to all. It was only through this process that they eventually became alternative organs of state power. For Trotsky the combining of the National and Socialist revolutions was not simply a matter of linking national and socio-economic demands together. This of course is part of the Permanent Revolution. But by itself it is not inherently revolutionary. The cutting edge of Trotsky's approach was the idea of fighting for national demands by working class methods of struggle.

CONCLUSION

The significance of Trotsky!'s idea will not be lost to socialists and republicans in Ireland today. At the moment we are endeavouring to build a democratic united front in defence of the political prisoners, At first sight it may have seemed a pedestrian and unrewarding |abour.

But as we have really committed our selves to building a united front which reaches out to all sectors of the community and places a premium on democratic procedures we are not simply fighting a rear—guard action against British imperialism; we will be taking the first step on the road to Permanent Revolution.

BRENDAN KELLY

ing John Carroll, vice-president of the | TGWU told the 100 activists present that his union would black any attempt to build a nuclear reactor and take "other appropriate action'', The Campaign agreed to work closely with the existing antinuclear movement and seek representation on the national co-ordinating committee. Although those in attendance were mostly.from Dublin there was strong representation from other areas, especially Waterford and Wexford, and workshops will be set up to investigate various as— pects of nuclear power as they affect trade unionists. A steering committee was elected to oversee this work, ; Clearly there is a strong anti-nuke sentiment in the unions and this Campaign has an opportunity to make them a decisive factor in defeating the government's plans,

JAMES CONWAY

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC

Paper of PEOPLES’ DEMOCRACY a nage

POBLACHT SHOISIALACH

12p If you are interested In joining People's Democracy and working for a 32 County Workers Republic, write

MASSES READY TO ACT

In 1890 a group of British soldiers and 'explorers! hoisted the Union Jack at a point on the plateau that rises south of the Zambesi River which they called Fort Salisbury.

Exactly 90 years later, this 17 April, that flag was lowered forever as Zimbabwe became an independent state. With the British flag will also pass the worst aspects of almost a century of pillage, exploitation and the vicious rule of 97 percent of the country's population by a tiny minority.-- the white Europeans.

COMMERCIAL ORIGINS

Founded as a going commercial concern by Cecil Rhodes, ‘the British Central Africa Company became a, ‘country! in 1923: the colony of Rhodesia. For the next 57 years its British colonialists carved out the best land for themselves and established a booming economy based on the cheap labour and disenfranchisement of the despised black African. As waves of nationalism and decolonization swept Africa 20 years ago, southern Africa stood out asa bastion of European reaction. Here imperialism was prepared to fight to maintain its stranglehold. To hold its direct imperial control, capitalism reduced the native population to near slavery by brute force and some of the most degrading racial laws in history.

BREAKTHROUGH IN 1975

The first victory over this system was in 1975 with the defeat of Portuguese colonialism and South African arms that gave independence to Angola and Mozambique. From then the days of the breakaway white settler regime of Smith in Rhodesia were numbered. Since 1972 an armed struggle has been waged in the Zimbabwean coun-— tryside against Smith's state. It became clear to Rhodesia!s imperialist backers that some sort of settlement had to be reached to buy off the black population. Every trick was utilized to find a safe accomodation without sacrificing white power and privilege. The victory of Robert Mugabe!s Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) announced after the elections on 4 March has destroyed the chance of such an accomodation.

ZANU VICTORY

The stakes were high. But despite the intimidation, the open attacks against Mugabe himself, the effort to discredit and even ban ZANU, the threats of a coup by Rhodesian whites and the military presence of South Africa, the Zimbabwean masses themselves voted for selfdetermination. The 'marxist terrorist! so loathed by white Africa is now Prime Minister.

ZANU stunned all observers (except of course Zimbabweans themselves) by securing 63 per cent of the black vote. The puppet bishop Muzorewa, despite his roaming 25,000 thugs, was eliminated along with the other stooge Sithole.

After all the trickery and manipu-.-_ lation American and British imperialism have been forced reluctantly to greet an independent Zimbabwe mobilized on a mass basis behind the liberation forces who brought down both the settler regime of Smith and the quisling one of Muzorewa, The first prerequisite for any oppressed country has been fulfilled -- self—determination for the people themselves. As such we, as socialists, can only welcome the enormous victory of ZANU. This is particularly so as the victory of the Zimbabwean people will be an inspiration to anti-imperialists in ihe rest of the region, particularly in Namibia and in South Africa itself. Already solidarity meetings and celebrations have been held in Soweto, outside Johannesburg.

WHITES STILL A THREAT

However there are grave difficulties ahead. White settlers still hold an absurd 20 percent of the seats in Parliament, and, more importantly, retain control of the Civil Service, industry, agriculture and the former Rhodesian armed forces. South Africa has publicly warned Mugabe not to go 'too far! or it will intervene mili-tarily as it did in Angola.

Yet the myth of white supremacy is badly damaged among the masses, And the masses of Zimbabwe will not be content with Mugabe's rhetoric or promises of slow and careful progress. Already widespread strikes in industries in Salisbury, Gwelo and Umtali, have demanded better wages and working conditions and faster movement towards the Africanization of the state. These strikes represent a serious threat to any attempts by the new government to negotiate away the hardwon gains of the people themselves.

The right of the Zimbabwean people to full civil liberties, the nationa—lisation of land and its distribution to the peasants and the free determination, without prior limits, of the economic and social structure of the country is absolute. This right must be supported by the in-, ternational workers movement.

GOING FORWARD

So while all progressive forces hail the victory of Zimbabwe a note of caution must be sounded. An important advance has been made. But the struggle will not be over until white supremacy and racism are ‘completely rooted out. And that will not be done until the workers and peasants of Zimbabwe take power into their own hands, carry through the revolution in their Own country and provide support to the masses in South Africa itself in the final push against imperialism in the region. Only when self-determination and independence has been extended from Beit Bridge to Cape Town will the victory of ZANU on 4 March be complete.

ALAN BRUCE °

for more information to: CONNOLLY BOOKSHOP, Avoca Park, Ander sonstown, Belfast, or 38 Clanawley Road, Killester, Dublin 5

IRISH FILMS?

On Friday 19 April a twenty-four hour non-stop film show was held in Liberty Hall by Ireland's independent film makers. They are trying to draw attention to the denial of necessary resources for them to pursue their craft by the government of the twenty six counties,

CONTROL OF COMMUNICATIONS

This is a political issue -- control of communications media and the film industry by big commercial interests and government's limited and highly selective funding, means that the mass of working people are daily subjected to a view of the world which all too often portrays those commercial interests, the interests of a capitalist society, as the only possible system for the western world, It's a system of communications that has never adequately portrayed the full picture of the nationalist struggle, the role of neo-colonialism in Ireland, the role of the church, or the position of women. Without an independent film industry encouraging new, young, small scale Irish films, we have even less chance of learning the political and cultural realities of Irish life, through a crucial medium that should be used positively, instead of being used to exploit us,

GOVERNMENT PLANS

The government is shortly to allocate £4 million towards a film industry in Ireland. Its de facto intentions are to spend most of this on foreign feature productions in Ardmore Studios. This studio has already spent £2 million of Irish taxpayers! money. NO IRISH

FILM HAS EMERGED FROM THE

STUDIO.

There are 41 Irish independent film producers, In the past five years they have generated £10 million worth of films in this country, without formal government support. A truly independent Irish film output needs this £4 million and more; the marathon twenty-four hour film show has demonstrated that Irish skills deserve the available Irish funds before foreign feature productions.

CULTURAL DEPRIVATION AND

CENSORSHIP

Until there is a real socialist democracy in Ireland, film and television will always be dominated by clever, per suasive propaganda created through the use of extremely costly techniques -- propaganda of many forms -- programmes which uphold and celebrate the status quo --a status quo which means the oppression of women, the exploitation of labour, the acceptance of British imperialism. There will always be token gestures —- films and current affairs television that try to expose the problems of today, but in the present system only a handful of people have the final say in what the Irish public will see on large or small screen. MAEVE McLOUGHLIN