Socialist Republic: Vol. 7 no. 2, April 1984

OUTSIDE IRELAND 25p. The extradition of Dominie McGlinchy from the 26 Counties marks a new and deeper level of collaboration on the part of the Southern establishment with the British Crewn. It is a_ violation of the Constitution and a breach of both domestic and international law. It was because there was no legal way of delivering McGlinchey into the clutches of the sectarian RUC that the handover took place at the dead of night, The decision to extradite McGlinchey was taken long ago by the Coali-

POBLACHT SHOISIALACH

SOCIALIST

PRICE 20p. Lop. Unemployed and strikers. | tion’s ‘Security Committee’ as part of its policy of appeasing the British Tories and loyalist extremists. The Supreme Court was employed simply to provide a legal gloss for the political order. That is why Jim Prior was able to confidently assure the British media that McGlinchey would be extradited even when a judge in chambers ordered a stay on the warrant, The principle that political offenders shall not be extradited is long established and accepted as a fundamental right in imternational law. It has been upheld by Free State governments of every political hue for more than 60 turbulent years _ despite intense pressure from the British. The fact. that this ‘law and order’ Coalition has been not only ready but eager to cast aside this Constitutional right serves to emphasise just how rotten and corrupt a government it is» The lie has been given to the New Ireland Forum as a step towards a United Ireland: it now _— stands revealed as a conspiracy

UBLI

“2 Paper of PEOPLES’ DEMOCRAGY' VOLUME 7 No. 2 to defend partition and British rule in the North.

The Coalition will want to use the McGlinchey case to drive a coach and horses through the political refuge of the Extradition Act. They must not be allowed to get away with this. Already Sinn Fein has been organising public rallies against extradition in many Southern towns. These must be supported. But if the fight against the Coalition attacks is to be successful then a campaign to defend political refugees from the British occupation must be

APRIL 1984

taken into ail the mass organisations, especially the trade unions. The Coalition and Fianna Fail must hear the message:

NO MORE

EXTRADITIONS!

IN THIS

ISSUE:

SUPPORT

ANTI-EXTRADITION

_RALLIES!

Letterkenny, Co. Donegal Saturday, April 7th 3.30 pm. Cavan Town . Saturday, April 14th 2.30 pm, See Middle Pages

FORUM BETRAYAL

EEC ELECTIONS

Union Row Over UDR! The North’s largest white-collar union, the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) is facing a storm of protest following a decision by the executive council to donate £500 to the UDR Benevolent Fund. The proposal to make the donation came from the CSPOA divisional executive which is dominated by pro-loyalist right-wingers. There is no doubt that it was designed to provoke the union left and cause deep offence to catholic members of the union. In recent years NIPSA has moved from being a management association to one of the most active of the North’s unions. The 1981 civil service strike and the 1982 health workers dispute transformed the union and immeasurably strengthened the influence of the left. The union began to adopt policies opposing the The leadership of the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) has a tradition of inviting representatives of the employers to the opening of ‘their Northern conference. This year they invited Nicholas Scott, Minister for Education, to address the conference at Belfast’s Forum Hotel. They got kicked in the teeth for their pains. Scott announced that the cuts in education would continue, and there would be no improvements in staffing or resources. He went on to detail his concern about ‘weak’ teachers. The message was clear. A witch-hunt against teachers is on the way. They are to be the ‘whipping posts’ who take the blame for the Tory attacks on education. As Nicholas Scott is also responsible for many other areas of public service, in the, North, it is not hard to see that this witch-hunt could easily be extended against all public service workers. y - ~ — rr ee

DEF

DANNY

BURKE!

use of repression in the North and _ identifying itself with democratic struggles internationally such as Solidarnose in Poland and the fight against apartheid’ in South Africa. The strength of the shift to the left was even reflected in a decision by the CSPOA divisional conference (traditionally pro-Ulster TUC) to seek affiliation to the ‘ICTU last year. A left-wing majority on the NIPSA executive was thrown away in 1983 through factional disputes between the Communist Party and Militant. This has given the right-wing an opportunity to undermine the left advance at what has to be the most critical time in the union’s history. A report in December by the Fair Employment Agency (FEA) disclosed discrimination in the Northern civil service on a scale which only the acquie- But INTO delegates did not get long to ponder Scott’s threats. The following day Danny Burke, a’ West Belfast teacher, presented the conference with evidence that the witchhunt is already under way and that he was to be the first target. Danny has been teaching for 16 years, but in recent years has faced increasing harassment from the Department of Education's inspectors. Now he is to be sacked and on Apvil 20th his licence to teach will be withdrawn. Danny Burke’s decision to fight back has exposed a major principle for trade unionists. Despite his experience, the support of his union, and the support of local parents, it has become evident that there is no appeal against the Department. It can unilaterally take action against any teacher without any possibility of defence. But Danny Burke is not a victim chosen at random. He is a leading scence of the union could have left unchallenged in the past. Not only the membership of NIPSA but. the entire trade union movement is. waiting to see how the NIPSA leadership responds to this indictment. The FEA advocated a series of measures which, though limited, would go some way to curbing. the pattern of sectarian appointments. The left in NIPSA wants the union to endorse these proposals but the executive has so far refused to go beyond noting the FEA report and has declared that the issue is an industrial relations and not a political matter. The executive position is designed to hold the union together in the face of loyalist threats to split the union rather than see effective measures taken to combat discrimination. Instead it has encouraged the anti-imperialist militant in West Belfast who has been to the forefront in many community and political struggles — H- Block, the Divis démolition ‘campaign, community education and many other issues, In any witch-hunt campaign, socialists like Danny would be’ the main target. Their removal would leave «# cowed and demoralised workforce under the thumb of the State. A fightback is underway. The INTO conference voted unanimously to empower the Northern Committee to order the withdrawal of cooperation from the Department’s inspectors if a fair appeals system is not agreed. Local parents have expressed interest in organising a defence campaign. But militants in other unions should organise and send protests to Scott. The best way to defeat this campaign is to counterattack before it gets off the ground! right-wing to greater provocations. As well as the UDR donation the right-wing have launched a campaign to reverse the CSPOA affiliation to

ICTU.

Some catholic members of the union have already resigned membership. They have no confidence that a union which gives money to the relaee tives of sectarian killers can represent them. If this is not to become a stampede the right-wing in NIPSA will have to be openly confronted and defeated. It also demands that the loyalist veto in the ICTU has to be ended. As was further evidenced by the FEA indictment of the GMWU (an ICTU affilliate) for actively and ema eS bal Roll of Hond over ‘a ilong period discriminating against catholic union members. The convention of giving the North’s unions a free hand only bolsters up sectarianism and _ ensures that any’ genuine workers unity will not be achieved.

JOHN MAGEE ,

aS ‘Injustice’ Its becoming clearer as the weeks go by, just how nasty this proposed bill is. And its also quite evident how involved the gardai are. They’re falling over themselves defending the Bill and stirring up public fears on vandalism and street violence. Many people, especially the old, are terrified of being mugged by youth, driven to desperation through unemployment and despair.

The gardai and right wing TDs are feeding off this fear in rationalising their support for the bill. Fianna Fail TD and Shadow Spokesperson for Justice, Michael Woods, has been particularly scandalous in his defence of the bill. And this, from a party, whose TDs are loudly proclaiming concern over jailed students.This bill would allow them to put 12.year olds away for 5 years for joy-riding!

NATIONAL QUESTION

As with the — antiamendment battle, the present Criminal Justice Bill campaign should set its target at creating public awareness of the issues, building broad opposition against its implementation and creating a base in the workers movement against repression at the moment, the campaign is concentrating on public meetings with trades union speakers. But the campaign has a weakness. Many fail to see, or are unwilling to, draw the connection between the overall pol- Noonan itical crisis on the national question and the general deterioration of legislative civil rights.

The similarities that now exist between the two legal systems North and South are _ striking. Diplock Courts, Special Criminal Court; Emergency Provisions Act - Criminal Justice Bill same thing, same intent, same results. They’re now using paid perjurers in the North - it will only be a matter of time before that is introduced in the 26 Counties.

WITCHUNT!

Coupled with the Coalitions political witch_.

hunt against Sinn Fein, ‘this Bill will be used against political activists as part of an insidious attempt to nullify opposition to government policy or the state apparatus. And _ the gardai view of subversives is very wide indeed. In reply to press reporters during the Mallon bugging controversy, a senior garda inspector labelled all those :‘who do not support the RUC’ as subversives! It is important that the Criminal Justice Bill Campaign takes on board these issues. They combine with an economic- and _ social crisis of massive proportions within the Southern state. They sum up the reasons why the government and gardai want to equip themselves with legal machinery to protect a crumbling state.

KEVIN KEATING

~ wt te em Oe ee ee ee ee + mew Vs ere mee mee Richer, And... If anyone needed an explanation of why the Coalition collaborates with Thatcher so much they need look no further than the last budget of each government.They were exactly the same. Each was described as ‘neutral’, each was just the opposite and neither will do anything to halt the economic crisis in either state. Far from being ‘neutral’, the budgets were constructed on the principle that the rich have to get richer and the poor ... well, you know the rest! No wonder the Tories’ budget was greeted so gleefully in the City of London when the Financial Times share index went up by a weekly record of 6% to an all time high. It’s not even as if the City of London was having a bad time of it and needed some help. The profits in 1983 for Big Four banks — Barand Nat West were a Staggering £1,704 million. When workers ask for wage rises the media and politicians scream about ‘inflation’ but when the bankers and speculators get large increases we are told that that is good!? For the rest of us we are told’ that there are some small tax deductions. We were not told these would be more than wiped out by National Insurance increases; electricity price rise, NHS and dental charges and of course the introduction of VAT on take away foods.. Not even the humble fish supper is safe in the battle against inflation!

COALITION

BUDGET

The Coalition budget was exactly the same. Dukes, Minister for Finance, said that PAYE workers were going to be better off and so were those on social welfare payments which increased by about 7%. Since inflation will be around 10%, PAYE workers will in fact be taxed more than before the budget and those on welfare payments will see a drop in living standards. Neither budget did anything to help the unemployed — in fact they suffer most. In the North the average income of an unemployed person with a family has dropped Padraic White, Direétor of the Industrial Development Authority, and Garrett FitzGerald have hatched up a plot to demoralise and dis-orient workers fighting back against job closures. They have decided that IDA grants will be refused to workers who are occupying industrial premises, and planning independent enterprises. It has not been workers who have been the recipients of large grants or the free concessions but the big multinationals who disappear after two or three years.

CONFRONTATION!

This is a devious move by the Coalition faced with a growing number of workers, prepared to face imprisonment, in a desperate bid to save their jobs. Thousands of workers now realise that this government and its predecessor, the Fianna Fail variety, have no solutions to the crisis. They are demanding action from trades union leaders and if not forthcoming, take direct steps themselves. Workers at Scarriff, Kingdom Tubes, New Ross Shipyard, Carrigaline, Datsun, Ranks, Ciondalkin, have all refused to surrender their integrity or ability to fight. They have not succumbed to demoralisation or apathy. These workers “ie Coalition side. Fitz- Gerald is preparing the ground for major confrontations by whittling away at the _ limited options, and morale of workers prepared to sitin, The ICTU, if it had any mettle, would really challenge this move — instead of issuing rhetorical statements. But most of the ICTU’s present leaders have little or no strategy worked out. We all saw that through the Tax Campaign when they marched up to half a million people — up the hill and then they marched them down again!

FIGHTBACK!

Workers don’t want to waste their time by going down the road moe eel Ee eee: YS eee 15% under Tory rule, while for a company director it has increased by 43%. The Tories certainly look after their friends. So does the Coalition, While . PAYE workers pay more they refuse to tax the massive profits of multinational firms who are lured to Ireland by the advertisement that Ireland is the most profitable location in Europe. In reality this is what both budgets are all about. Both Thatcher and FitzGerald want working people to pay for the crisis of their system. In order to drag the bosses’ system out of its mess the workers have to take large cuts in living standards and suffer still greater unemployment. We are told that sacrifices now will benefit us later. These budgets show that the only our sacrifices are the rich. There is an alternative. Instead of robbing the workers to pay the bankers we should do the opposite. The banks should be nationalised, multinational profits

DA BASH SIT-INS!

response in the Budget- Tax marches exposed a great deal of scepticism among the rank and file. It is now up to the militants on the ground who have led and learned a great deal from struggles to give a lead. The leaders on top’ can be pushed on or pushed aside, ~~ ee « Posters SOp each

FIGHTBACK FIGHTBACK FIGHTBACK FIGHTBACK

The Rich Get from Merseyside Trade Union, Community and Unemployed Resource Centre, Hardman Street, Liverpool.

taxed and the money used to put the unemployed back to work. No doubt these proposals would be denounced as ‘extremist’, ‘communist’ and ‘simplistic’. Maybe they are, but what is extremist about wanting a job at a decent wage and to live in a house which isn’t a slum? That is not much to ask for, and if the politicians can’t deliver then the workers properly organised should do it for them. We should Fight Back Now! Peoples Democracy trades union activists and supporters are working with other trades unionists to win sponsorship for a major fightback conference later in the year.

ANN SPEED

tween the Unions Protest Witch: | Hunt Of Sinn Fein Resolutions protesting the Coalition witch hunt against Sinn Fein elected representatives and its members in the trades union movement have. forward annual gone for conferences of Ireland’s debate at the two main industrial unions. In the ITGWU and FWUI, PD members and supporters, in the Limerick and Dublin areas, proposed the motions which condemn the attempt of the Coalition Government to censor delegations or exclude from union negotiations, democratically elected representatives. The FWUI motion also calls on the union to abstain from censored delegations.

WORKERS PARTY

The Coalition witch hunt is being aided and abetted by anti-republican elements in the unions. A consistent letter writing campaign has appeared in newspaper pages, spearheaded by members ofthe DSP (Democratic Socialist Party). The Workers Party seem to be abandoning defence of democratic rights — as in one union, the CGPSU libraries section, they abstained and in FWUI No 15 Branch (RTE), voted against similar motions presented by PD supporters. Having got the bit beteeth, the ‘two-nationists’ in the unions won’t let go that easily. And the Coalition is running scared of Sinn Fein'’s potential in the coming EEC elections. A oo0od showing would cerlem for FitzGerald. How Sinn Fein builds for that campaign will be very important for all socialists in the anti-imperialist movement.

UNITY AGAINST

WITCHUNT!

Building community action on the drugs issue has certainly been a major step. Building a fightback must now be extended into the unions on-all the major economic and social issues and immediately on the witch-hunt. PD believes more consistent and organised unity among anti-imperiialists in the trades unions is a priority. We will be discussing with trades union activists and Sian Fein members how to develop that work and the possibility of fringe meetings at the union conferences.

ARIAT DD ATA4”

After repeated delays, the ‘New Ireland’ Forum is expected to produce its final report at the beginning of April. Publicly conceived with the task of producing a blueprint for a ‘new’ Ireland, the Forum has never been’ able to shake loose from the fetters of ‘old’ Ireland. It is this failure that guarantees that the final report will be in Seamus Mallon’s words ‘a bag of dolly mixtures’. In the following article John Magee argues that the refusal of the Forum to come out unanimously for Irish unity and independence will deepen divisions and prolong the violence which scars Ireland today. When the Coalition government first announced its initiative to establish a broad political forum to discuss the shape of a ‘new Ireland’ it set down preconditions on participation that ensured the Forum's efforts would fail. An Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald declared that there was no place for Sinn Fein at the Forum because that party supported the armed campaign of the Irish Republican Army. From the outset then, the Coalition Government, supported by Fianna Fail, the Labour Party and the SDLP, made it clear they were* not prepared to take into account the views and interests of the nationally minded working people of the Six Counties whose resistance of 15 years to British rule was the very factor which had placed a ‘new Ireland’ on the agenda. This issue of ‘violence’ was however to be no problem when it came to encouraging loyalist participation in the Forum. Letters of invitation were sent to all the Unionist leaders including Paisley, ‘Commandant’ of the loyalist ‘Third Force’. The Loyalists however had no intention of entering the discussion. Their reply was the same message they have thundered violently down through the decades — ‘No Surrender’. This unequivocal rejection of any move to further reconciliation between the majority and minority communities in Ireland didn’t suit the Forum participants — so they ignored it! The ceremonial opening of the Forum in St. Patrick’s ~ Hall, Dublin Castle on May 30 last year witnessed speeches by all party leaders which addressed the Northern minority as the intransigents and spoke to the loyalists as if they were the fair-minded, reasonable people. An Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald attacked the nationalist community for paying ‘scant regard for the identity of the unionists, who feel their very existence threatened by the aspirations of Irish unity.’’ Charles Haughey spoke of the need for the new Ireland to be based on agreement and consent and went on to offer the loyalists ‘local autonomy”’ in any new Ireland. Tn tha anesn cnt CHIN leader John Hume dwelled on the need for ‘accommodation’ with the loyalists: *How would we propose to give to Unionists an adequate sense of security — ‘religious, political, and cultural — in a new Ireland?’ In short, the constitutional nationalist parties while proclaiming the desire for a united Ireland were proposing to replace the veto given to the loyalists by the British with a veto fashioned by themselves. This approach was to be hardened out over the following months as the Forum progressed to look at the political, social, economic and cultural factors in a ‘mew Ireland’. It became clearer that far from advancing towards a United Ireland, the work of the Forum was to rebuild and strengthen the barriers to Irish Unity and _ independence. This approach was made oufstandingly clear in the Forum's discussions of the economies, North and South. Despite the fact that the Forum had three well-researched papers prepared by its secretariat, all of which set out in graphic detail the disastrous consequences of partition on

NEW IRELADR

both economies, the political parties preferred to give greater weight to the bigoted impressionism of Sir Charles Carter, head of the Northern Ireland Economic Council who came to Dublin simply to tell the Forum that ‘Irish unity won’t work’.

For the establishment parties it would be best if the Forum could simply report that view and have it accepted. Fortunately, there’s no chance of that being the case which explains the serious difficulties the parties in the Forum have had in agreeing a final report. They cannot ignore the deep aspiration of the majority of the Irish people for national reunification but at the same time they are not prepared to take any serious step towards realising that goal. Their only option is continued support for partition and British rule in the North. The dilemma is how to disguise this option so that it is acceptable to the Irish people. The traditional way in which this deceit has been accomplished is to step up __— republican rhetoric simultaneously with repression of republican fighters. This remains the choice of

A CRIMINAL

Fianna Fail and the © Mallon wing of | the SDLP: they wanted a final report which combined. a call for a unitary state with the promise of ever-' toughening measures against ‘subversives’. The Coalition and the SDLP majority led by John Hume have lost confidence in this trad? itional manoeuvre. They understand that the problem with republican rhetoric is that, if repeated often enough, people will begin to believe it and_ start to question why republican fighters are being persecuted instead of a tougher line being taken with Britain and the loyalists.

Another important factor in the calculations exists however, which severely narrows the room for manoeuvre of the capitalist parties - the crisis of the capitalist economies, which has produced major capitalist organisation of society as a _ whole. As people get increasingly discontented with the capitalist parties the chance is they will look for an alternative. The only seriou’ political challenge to the capitalist parties at present is posed by the anti-imperialist | movement which has spearheaded the resistance to British rule in the North over the past 15 years. The seriousness of this challenge has increased dramatically with Sinn Fein’s electoral success in the 6 counties and its entry into the electoral arena in the South.All the capitalist parties are united in their determination to stop the advance of Sinn Fein. The Coalition and the SDLP recognise that Sinn Fein will not be stopped without injecting some stability into the North. They also recognise — that this stability won't come from Britain coercing the loyalists to accept power sharing or séme link up with the South. That leaves only . the nationalist people to make the concessions. Throughout the Forum the Coalition has been at pains to. promote the idea that Ireland’s future lies not in breaking the connection with Britain but _in cementing this relationship and integrating Treland eawven mare inta

D FORUM

imperialist military and economic alliances. The Coalition even proposes to amend the Constitution to allow British citizens resident in the 26 counties to vote in elections for the Dail: needless to say there are no plans to enfranchise the one and a _ half million Irish citizens in the 6 counties. The extradition of Dominic McGlinchey overturned a fundamental democratic principle of the Southern constitution this emphasises their subservience to imperialist dictats. The options of ‘Joint Sovereignty’ and ‘Federation’ are within this framework. -They* are not stepping stones to uhity but a transmission belt to overturning the limited gains of the national revolution which established formal independence for the 26 counties. As such they mark a criminal retreat from_the historical goal of national unity and ndependence What is also clear is that this abandonment of Ireland's fight for freedom will not evoke any concesions from the loyalists!There is no reason why the unionists should give up any of their traditional positions or become more willing to allow their relative privileges to be eroded. Instead these proposals will encourage the loyalists to be even more intransigent, even more arrogant towards the nationalist minority in the North. There is nothing to suggest that either of these options are any more acceptable to British imperialism than a United Ireland) British Government stat€éments on the Forum have stressed the need for the SDLP to participate in the Stormont Assembly, implicitly ruling out any cross border political institutions. While ‘Joint Sovereignty’ and ‘Federation’ will get no endorsement from the Tory Government they will not be displeased by the Forum bringing such options to the fore.

Thatcher and Prior know that even the pretence of - consideration for these options provides political cover for stepped up collaboration by the Coalition and the SDLP. That is Britains real interest’ in the forum, which a political and security offensive against the republican fighters can be cothe extent to. ordinated and the extent to which the neutral South can be integrated into the imperialist military alliance NATO. Britain’s interests were spelt out by Tory MP Michael Mates in an interview with the Sunday Independent: ‘How could we possibly share sovereignty with a country that is not a member of our defence pact?’ he asked. Mates is the present chairperson of the Westminster Anglo-Irish parliamentary group and was prominent in supporting Prior's Assembly initiative when it was under fire within the Tory party. In the same interview “Mates made it clear that the British Government didn’t feel under any pressure to seek a compromise with the nationalist majority im Ireland. The British would not curb the loyalist ascendency nor would they make any provision for the national rights of the nationalist people in the 6 counties, instead Mates contemptuously advised the Forum to accept that a ‘United Ireland is not on the cards’ and in that way ‘cut the ground from under the unionists feet’. The tragedy of the Forum is that so many of its participants were prepared to accept this advice. Yet the lesson-of the last 15 years, never mind going back into history, is that every hesitation, every offer of compromise made by nationalist Ireland to the loyalists has been understood as weakness and encouraged the loyalist politicians and people to dig their heels in and demand total victory for themselves. And why not, when in every case the British Government has been prepared to back the loyalist position with all the force at the command of the British state. There is nothing in the Forum which changes that reality. Yet again, Irish politicians have been too cowardly to chance of pressing the right of the Irish people to determine their own seize the intervention of the British empire. In _ this failure the Coalition, Fianna Fail and the SDLP have betrayed not just the interests of the minority in the 6 counties but of the Irish people as a whole. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the Forum’s report The upcoming June EEC elections will have an important significance for the struggle against Britain and for their Irish puppets throughout the 32 Counties. The elections will be used by all the capitalist politicians to bolster their declining credibility among working people already impoverished by unemployment and cuts.

Thatcher's Tory programme offers only increased unemployment and repression for workers in the 6 Counties. The Coalition offers exactly the same. A further feature of the contest will be the flagging attempt of the SDLP to mislead the anti-unionist population in the 6 Counties into supporting a restructuring and strengthening of imperialism through the Dublin Forum. Twelve years ago Fianna Fail and Fine Gael would have us believe that EEC membership would lead to Irish unity. We know now that other capitalist states would only become involved if they felt Britain was falling down on the job of preserving capitalism in Ireland. In the same way the U.S. intervened in Vietnam and Grenada when lesser capitalist powers were unable to maintain imperialist rule in those regions, so NATO is already looking on anxiously at the political instability throughout the 32 Counties. Reagan's upcoming Irish tour coupled with the Coalition’s undermining of Irish neutrality is already opening up that door. It would not be surprising if NATO military aircraft were the first’ to inaugurate Knock Airport runway. We were also told 12 years ago that EEC membership would

BETRAYAL!

will be rejected not just by the British and the loyalists but also by the nationalist people of the North.They will continue to resist British rule and loyalist supremacy and to endure brutal repression of this resistance, a brutality that is only possible through the cowardice of constitutional nationalism. Precisely because the Forum has failed to unambivalently press the demand for national unity and selfdetermination, for a United Ireland, it represents not a step on the road to peace, but another guarantee of continuing violence which in time threatens to engulf the whole island. The politicians will not be able to shrug off their responsibility for this development for they ail know well what “futrre WinOHE ENE Mitre’ ee nie needed Haughey has declared that ‘Northern lreland is a failed entity’ John Hume has explained how the loyalist veto blocks all progress. They know that the key to a solution is British withdrawal. They have refused to take this road and so the job must be done by others. The European elections EEC Elections foster prosperity among the Irish people and break our economic dependence on British markets. Instead joining the EEC has led to chaos. Industrial development has ground to a halt and almost total reliance on multinationals has meant massive unemployment, deskilling of workers and destruction of indigenous Irish industry. Agriculture is also in a mess and EEC membership is responsible. It was supposed to bring a bonanza. Instead it has created financial ruin among small farmers, indebtedness and bankruptcy. The crisis of the milk super-levy indicates that the major EEC powers don’t give a damn about Ireland’s national economic interests. They have no qualms about shoving more Irish workers onto the dole and more small farmers into hankruntcy in June will to an extent allow the Irish people, North and South, an opportunity to give their verdict on the final report of the Forum. No-one who genuinely seeks a United Ireland’ who wants to set peace and justice established will be wasting their vote on the Forum parties.

STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE

OF PEOPLES DEMOCRACY

Only a national economit plan based on the actual needs of Irish workers and small farmers will get us out of this mess. This means a socialist transformation of society. This is the practical necessity facing the Irish working class today. This is the kind of pregramme which the antiimperialist | movement has to formulate and fight for in the EEC elections. As the major antiimperialist organisation, Sinn Fein standing in all constituencies in the 32 Counties has both an excellent opportunity and major responsibility to build all-Ireland workers unity against the twin evils of repression and austerity. None of the other parties offer any reason why Irish workers should put their trust in them, This includes those parties who are socialist in words and collaborators in action. Therefore Sinn Fein offers the only real alternative. In building support for their candidates it will be important for Sinn Fein to turn their campaign outwards along the lines of the H- Block movement to gain the attention of the mass of organised workers. It will be necessary to involve the best activists in the campaign. : Fundamentally it will be vital to build .an all- Ireland political fightback against partition and all-its evils. In particular fighting the SDLP in the 6 Counties means not only ousting them as the chief representatives of the nationalist people, it means counterposing to the sham Forum a concrete political alternative. This means an_ all-Ireland Constituent Assembly. This can provide the means by which all the workers, small farmers and oppressed people of Ireland can determine their future and the fu-, ) OS eS ee EC

April 1984 sees. the first national women’s conference to be held in post-amendment Ireland. The Amendmeni stands as a grim Indication of the capitalist parties’ determination to halt all progress on women’s rights. It is an indication of the depth of the crisis that the capitalists find it necessary to heave constitutional blocks onto the pathway of women’s freedom. Moreover, as the recession continues, we can anticipate more repressive _ legislation backed up by propaganda about women’s primary role as wife and mother. What then is the nature of the opposition which this conference must censider and how can

FORUM

The establishment parties trumpet the ‘New Ireland Forum as promising a golden future for a ‘reconciled’ Ireland. But when the Catholic Church made its submission to the Forum there was not even a hint of seeking ‘reconciliation’ with the democratic rights of Irish women. In the comfortable tones of well-fed mandarins the delegation of Bishops declared that they were opposed to divorce; opposed to free contraception; opposed to women's right to choose; in short, opposed to every measure which would liberalise the relations between the sexes and place us in the twentieth century!

BOURGEOIS PARTIES

AND THE CHURCH

All of the political All ot political bourgeois parties in the bourgeois parties in Ireland today continue to genuflect to the church. The Coalition boasts ‘{2minists’ among its ranks, but these supposed feminist champions of progress for women support the Govts. plan All Ireland Womens Conference will be

THE ‘NEW IRELAND’

for a wide range of cut-backs - a policy which can only have disastrous effects for women by way of raising unemployment, reduction or elimination of welfare benefits and denial of adequate health care. Recently Barry Desmond (Minister for Health) proposed a wide-ranging bill to liberalise the provision of contraception. However such proposals are meaningless without challenging Government financial policy, something Desmond will not do. Meanwhile, continuing church pressure, as reflected in the forum submission, will guarantee that young people will continue to live in a sexually repressive climate “and that there man Lovett. Fianna Fail offers no alternative to the backwardness of ‘the Coalition. Its past reforms were all purely cosmetic.

WOMENS STRUGGLES

SO FAR:

Women have*:set up campaigns to challenge the Government on all the major questions of women’s rights. However, these struggles have been carried on independently of each other, and also without linking up with the labour and anti-imperialist movements. This has meant, for example, that women campaigning in the unions on the Amendment remained! ‘campaigning’. consists of proposing token reforms, such as including a woman in the , Cabinet /and- making mild-mannered, liberal staternents on issues like divorce and contraception. The miserable and untimely death of 15° year ‘old’ Ann Lovett while giving birth alone to a baby in a field prompted Nuala _ Fennell, | Minister for Women's Affairs, to the statéments that there was not cnough respect for motherhood in Ireland. No word about the crushing bigotry and hypocrisy of the churches; no-word about the fundamental lack of humanity which this engenders. more ‘Yes means yes and no means no!!’’ was the chant that echoed on the Falls Road when local women marched against rape on Thursday, Feb. 28. The campaign led by the Falls Women's Centre, was sparked off by a series of savage sex attacks on women and children in the area. Press coverage and RUC statements stressed the dangers to local women — Many attacks took place in the early evening — and advised women to’ keep. their children in and not to go out themselves. This type of attitude angered local women and the Falls Women’s Centre called a public meeting to discuss what women could do. One outcome of the meeting was the ‘Reclaim the Night’ march held on_ International Women's Day, March 8. Ultimately the only guarantee that women have of their own safety is not only to be organised themselves, but to have the understanding and backing of the local community -to such an extent that rapists and sex offenders would be driven out. Only a women's strong united movement are still only starting to build such a movement.

SUE JACKSON

isolated and could not turn union paper support into a mobilisation on the streets. Sinn Fein as a whole could not agree the need to oppose the Amendment _although a powerful women’s lobby at the Ard Fheis argued that it should do so.

MAIN STRATEGY -

UNITY OF ALL THOSE

FIGHTING BACK

No group'in Irish society fighting back against Government attacks can win on its_own, _ The Govefhment is committed to a policy of cutbacks, denial of rights and repression against workers, women, youth and anti‘imperialists. The women's movement must, ally itself with these other social forces by means of debate and dialogue to announce loudly and clearly what women require, and by means of umited front campaigns to muster the maximum numbers to fight for specific issues.

Trade unionists and republicans will not automatically understand ‘the Women's Question’ and its imp rtance in the fightback unless the women's movement vigorously confronts them with it:

KATHLEEN CONNELL

Women Meet! The second Annual Conference of the ICTU ICTU Women’s Advisory Committee took place on February 17th and 18th In DunLaoghaire, Co.

Dublin. It was attended by delegates from all over the 32 Counties. Mary O’Donnell of Limerick Trades Council and Ann O’Brien of FWUI No 3 Branch [ublin] spoke to us about the weekend.

SR: This was the 2nd conference of the ICTU Womens Advisory Committee, what function does it have? Mary: It is only advisory of course, but an importtant forum for discussion. A lot of ‘moral’ pressure can be exerted on the ICTU executive though a decision making conference would be ideal. SR: Do you see changes since the last conference? Ann: Well, more women are less neryouse about speaking and debating the issuesv It’s become and event and more women want to. get there. I think there was a high demand for observer seats. SR: What were the main issues of this. conference? Mary: Oh! The agenda was packed, but some issues were obviously the hot ones —like job or work sharing. It’s true many women would welcome greater flexibility and a shorter working week. But lack of child care facilities is driving many women to split jobs and lose the protection of labour laws. This is a step backwards. We decided to ask Congress executive to recommend to constituent unions against indivudal company agreements and formulate an overall policy. Ann: | spoke on privatisation and cut backs in the public Jector. It's a big issue and is sneaking up fast on us. Look at Bord Telecom and the implications for P & T. It's an issue for me, as an_-assistant play-leader with the Corporation.

INTERVIEW

by Ann Speed We recently went on strike for more staff — though the corporation would like to reduce or eliminate us, to save money. SR: Besides these, what else came up? Ann: Delegates continuously referred to the moral hypocrisy surrounding Ann Lovett’s death at Granard. And we condemned the Employment Appeals Tribunal’s decision on the unfair dismissal of Eileen Flynn. The teachet delegates were particularly angry. MARY: Other issues were the lack of family planning facilities, new technology and job losses for women,. education, social welfare. he threat of a nuclear war and Irish neutrality were also on the agenda.

aggressive posture and _even in spite of their invasion of Grenada, US imperialism has suffered a number of setbacks in Central America since the beginning of the year. The first of these was the closing of ranks by the Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the revolutionary front that is opposing the US backed government of President Maguna. The FMLN seems to have made progress towards repairing the damage caused by the killing of their second in command, Commandante Ana- Maria, and announced that they have deepened the unity of the revolutionary forces in late December. So the US and its allies are still faced with an opposition that has not been split. Moreover the FMLN's military capacity is undiminished. The New Year saw a number of spectacular defeats for the US-trained Salvadorean army ‘including the elite Allatad brigade.

For example, the barracks of El Paraiso in Chatelanango fell to the rebel forces after just two hours of combat. The FMLN can move ‘freely in up to one third of the country and holds liberated territory in the north of Marazun and Chatelanango provinces. facilities are run by the local people and a peoples militia has been also —_ increased the FMLN’s fighting capacity. Against this background the claims by the Salvadorean army that they are winning the war ring hollow. Colonel Adolfo Blandon for example has attempted to claim that the rebel forces have suffered ‘considerable casualties’ (Irish Times, Feb 16), but could produce no figures. Reporters at the scene of the operations reported only evacuations but few guerilla casualties or arms captures, confirming rebel Radio Faribundo Marti’s claim that the army’s attacks had been no more than ‘a run around the hills’ for the troops.

The same Colonel Blandon, Salvadorean army chief of state, was unable to point to any success for efforts to clean up the image of the Salvadorean army. To date the main action against the army officers responsible for the killings of tens of thousands in El Salvador has been the transfer of two officers to government posts outside the country. The failure to clean up the army’s image is yet another US policy failure. ~ There is no way that the Salvadorean army can be made to look respectable — it’s too steeped in«blood for that. And the death squads, widely believed to operate out of the army’s HO under the command of far tight leader Major Roberto D’Aubuisson, have begun to operate again. It’s against this background of growing successes and confidence for the rebel forces that recent US government initiatives in Central America should be seen. The White House commissioned the Kissinger Report to give a respectable bipartisan cover to its dirty war. The Commission numbered several prominent liberal democrats and US trade union leader, Lane Kirkland as well as Kissinger himself among its members. The report produced by the Commission satisfied the White House by producing a tissue of lies about the revolutionary forces in El Salvador and the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. In spite of the Report's lies about the opponents of US imperialism in Central America, the tide of US public opinion is running against the war mongers. However that doesn’t stop Reagan and his allies. Soon after the Kissinger Report, US Secretary George Shultz speaking about Sandinista warnings about a possible US invasion of Nicaragua, said ‘If I were them, I'd be worried too.” This is not just talk. The US has used the cover of cloak an enormous buildup of combat forces in Honduras. Last year the first exercises provided cover for the arming of the Nicaragua contras. Then in August the unprecedented sevenmonth-long Big Pine II manoeuvres involved 5,000 US troops in thinly disguised practice invasions of Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast.

POPULAR SUPPORT

That the US hasn’t so far been able to convert this military pressure into a real invasion is due to the fact that the Sandinista-led government continues to enjoy huge popular support. The Sandinistas have been able to organise a large popular militia and an efficient defence force while basing themselves on the mass organisation of the workers and peasants. In spite of the enormous cost of the war the country has made giant strides in the fields of health and education, being named in 1983 as a model country by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF. US imperialism is not the most aggressive military power in the world for nothing and when the Big Pine exercises have officially ended, some 700-800 troops will be left in Honduras. Significantly, the US troops will be left in a narrow strip bordering both El Salvador and Nicaragua along the Gulf of Fouseca. This position would facilitate their use either in an invasion of Nicaragua to or in counter-insurgency operations against the FMLN in El Salvador.

ELECTION FRAUD

In the short-term though the US will be trying to use the elections in El Salvador to legitimise its policies in Central America. An_ election where voting is compulsory and where the revolutionary opposition timate however, especially when the revolutionaries are willing to participate provided only that the elections are organised by a proyisional government with FMLN representatives. In the longer term a direct US military intervention cannot be rulled out. The US have already crushetwane revolution in Grageda by such means and will be tempted to try agai. Reagan must. not be allowed to get away with it. Anti-imperialists -in Ireland must: do - all in their power to defend the Central American revolution. All the warnings over the last 15 years about the lessons ‘of counterinsurgency learned. in Ireland being used in Britain have shown to be true. The British miners have been under an enormous assault from the British state for daring to fight for their jobs. Snatch squads, road_ blocks, political interrogations and massive police operations are all tactics perfected here which are now being used against the miners. In the following article John Ross in the British socialist paper ‘Socialist Action’ looks at the background to the struggle, The Tory press this week ranted, on against the ‘extremism’ of the miners. The Thatcher government was supposedly ordering in thousands of police to defend the right of ordinary workers to go into the pits. These statements are hypocritical lies even by the standard habitually set by Thatcher. The Conservative Party planned its confrontation with the NUM in detail more than five years ago. Tory thinking was drawn together in a_ report authored by Conservative MP Nicholas Ridley. The Ridley report récommended that each nationalised industry should be instructed to achieve a ‘totally inflexible rate of return on capital. Directors of nationalised industries would be instructed to achieve this target even if this, ‘might mean that men would be laid off, or uneconomic plants would be closed down, or whole businesses sold off or liquidated." Nationalised industries were then divided into different groups according to how easily the Ridley report believed it would be to take on and defeat a strike. ‘S€werage and water workers, electricity, and gas were defined as areas of maximum difficulty for the government. To give the government tactical flexibility it was explicitalvador The Presidential- elec- _ tions held on March 25th in El Salvador are characterised by chaos and fraudulent practices by the right wing parties. On top of this the revolutionary opposition was banned and people were forced to vote under threat of death. Christian Democrat Napoleon Duarte gained 46 per cent of votes cast, whilst Roberto D’ Aubisson of the Fascist ARENA party gained 27.8 per cent and Franly stated that where industries, ‘have * the: national interest by the: jugular vein the only feasible option is to pay up.’ The government should: provoke confrontations early in its term of office with groups of -workers in+ sectors where the employers had a particularly strong position.

PROVOKED

Confrontation with stronger groups of workers should be postponed until later in the government’s term of office. The final confrontation which would be provoked would be the mining industry. This struggle should be carefully prepared by building up maximum coal stocks in the power stations, by making emergency plans for importing coal, and by encouraging the _recruitment of ‘good nonunion drivers’ who would be paid to cross picket lines under police protection.” Above all the police should be carefully prepared for large scale cisco Guerrero of the Conservative Party of National Reconciliation obtained 18.5 per cent. None of these parties | achieved an _ overall majority and D’Aubussion will have to fight a run-off with Duarte. Most observers back up the left’s claim that the whole affair was totally undemocratic and was just being used by the a pretext to argue thatdemocracy is operating in El Salvador. Miners Vs State! strike breaking. Large mobile squads of police, centrally. organised and with communications equipment to back them up, should be organised for smashing picket lines. Now the real target has come in the Tory sights: The Yorkshire NUM: the- group of workefs that organised the deféat of Heath in 1972 and 1974. Those clashes on the picket line have nothing to do with ‘miners’ violence’. It is the NUM fighting against the most vicious and coordinated assault on the trade union movement since 1926. lf the Tory government defeats the NUM it will turn on any. group of workers which dares to fight for its jobs, its wages or its conditions of work.

RPOBLACHT SHOISIAL ACH

SOCIALIST R

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PUBLI

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REAGAN’S TOUR

ON June 4th, the US President arrives. in Dublin. No doubt there will be a lot of ballyhoo!

Some readers will remember Some readers will remember the Kennedy visit and craven euphoria which descended on the Irish population. Hard times and economic recessions can make anything out of the ordinary — like a US President's visit and the pomp and ceremony that goes with it — seem like light relief!

US WAR DRIVE

But Reagan’s visit represents more than light relief. He sums up the aspirations of capitalists everywhere, a figure head of world imperialism. And he is intent on deepening the cold war atmosphere we have become familiar with. Aggressive and confident enough to smash the revolution in Grenada, determined enough to undermine it in Nicaragua and_prevent it in the Middle East, Reagan is even bad enough to risk nuclear war — extermination to stop the advance of socialism. Widespread opposition to Reagan's visit has already been expressed by the anti-imperialist and socialist organisations, CND and_ the Central American Solidarity groups. This should be brought together in a broad united movement to ensure a proper welcome for the US _— president. Anti- Reagan mobilising committees should be set up in all the major cities and towns. ‘Already some good proposals have been made such as that to have a peace camp in Ballyporeen. The Cork Ford workers, recently deprived of their jobs by the giant US corporation, have expressed a willingness to be involved in protesting the visit.

IRISH NEUTRALITY

All agree that Reagan’s visit will involve an attempt to win Irish votes in the US Presidential elections and win support for US military interventions in Central America and the Middle East from the British and Irish governments. Reagan will also push FitzGerald on Irish neutrality and the need for Ireland to join NATO in support of the nuclear missiles race. There is of course, another side to Reagan's visit — and that ts the growing convergence between US and British fory policy on Northern Ireland. Or, the agreement between Thatcher and Reagan on defeating ‘terrorism’ and the IRA. America fears another. Cuba, as does Britain! The US has already announced through Price. its US ambassador to London, a new clampdown on US fundraising lor the Northern struggle, Anti-impertalists. socialists and. repubhcans should also draw these implications into the campaign.

DEFEND

DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS

Finally, the threatened clampdown during the (our on ‘subversives’ should be loudly challenged by the campaign as a direct attack on democratic rights and the right to protest. Where is FitzGerald’s liberalism now??? JOHN MEEHAN and JESSIE McDONALD

US CONDONED

DEATH SQUADS

Former US Ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, has testified to a White House subcommittee that ‘US officials have condoned, if not encouraged, death squad activity for years and protected wealthy Salvadorean exiles living in Miami, who finance the terrorist operations.

According to White, six wealthy Salvadoreans ‘hatch plots in Miami and communicate instructions to their agents in El Salvador identified by White as Major d’Aubuisson of the right wing ARENA party. White also testitied that the US embassy in San Salvador gave evidence to the US State Department that D’Aubisson had personally organised the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Washington did nothing with this information, White said.

COMMUNITY

CONTROL AND

POLITICAL ACTION

NEEDED:

If one was to believe the recent reports in various newspapers in Dublin on Community Against Drugs, vigilantes are‘on the rise, Of course, any action by the community independent of Leinster House politicians or gardai will be seen as a threat to their political power over the community.

SELF-ORGANIZATION

There is no doubt that the self organisation of local communities hasf local communities has rattled» the TDs and gardai — they would prefer that people in Crumlin, Ballymun and Teresa's Garderns stayed off the streets. All the evidence points to an abysmal failure ‘to protect communities against long-time drug pushers, and a complete neglect of the young people suffering from drugs. The politicians are hypocritical in their concern about drug abuse, while doing nothing about unemployment. These communities are to be encouraged in _ their efforts at self defence. While the state refuses to provide jobs or funds for drop-in centres, the frustration and angér will grow.

POLITICAL SOLUTION

The next phase of the campaign must raise the need for a. political solution. Demands for more police and longer prison sentences are a diversion. Such repression’ would be directed mainly against the unfortunate victims of the drug pushers and not against the organised big time. criminals. Equally dangerous for the campaign would be a response in kind to the provocative violence of the pushers. This would only obscure the responsibility of the politicians and take the spot light off their abject failure to really help the communities scourged by the pushers. The campaign should moye in the opposite direction. Expulsions of pushers from communities are best linked to demands on the government to provide jobs im surrounding __ localities and develop community facilities for drug afflicted youth.

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