[page 31]
political weapons to put this into practice. Money was poured into the financing of Voice of the North, the mouthpiece of this particular faction. The intention of the Blaney wing of Fianna Fail was blurted out by their creatures within the editorial staff of the Voice at the time that the gun- They boasted that all the talk of "the future being with doctrinaire Socialism and Cuban style commune politics has been blown sky high by the extreme Socialists, Trotskyists, Maoists, pettitcoat revolutionaries like Bernadette Devlin and Maureen de Burca, Farrell, McCann, etc.. Tories' have belied the smear name attached to ther." (Voice of the North. At the same time, they have been successful in splitting the old guard Republicans split away from the "political" and "Socialist" Sinn Fein which had now been taken over by the Irish Communist Party. ition of this "provisional" section was outlined in the first issue of its journal "An Phoplacht" (The Republic). In the reasons given for the split were "extreme socialism leading to totalitarian dictatorship". may have reacted to the Stalinist programme of the leadership of the official movement, the overwhelming majority did so because of the "need" to uphold the traditional anti-parliamentarian, "unity first" position maintained by sections, in the North in particular, was a consequence of the failure of the official movement to protect the Catholics in Belfast from the August Some of the youth have been drawn into the work of the "provisionals" with disastrous results for class unity. The scheming of Blaney & Co. has been demonstrated in the sectarian attacks which have been made on Protestant in the past few months. Paisley was delivered of a gift just before the Bannside bye-election in the attacks on Protestants made in the Ballymurphy and Springfield Road area. In linking up with the "provisional" wing, Blaney & Co. care little, in county with the highest unemployment in the 26 counties. acted as the Defence Counsel for the TACA (the millionaires club within from the party with his son) was the Minister of Justicein 1941 and interned Not one gun would have been forthcoming if all the arms in the North fear which has been one of the factors in the attitude of Lynch and the that guns used for the defence may be turn to attack". (Times, 29/5/70). The "attack"he fears most is one that would come from a joint Catholic and running charges were made.
events in Dublin".
17/5/70.
Republican movement Sinn Fein.
Sinn Fein from the 1920's.
1969 pogrom.
reality, for their own "kith and kin".
the Fianna Fail) at Fianna Fail Congresses.
and shot out of hand countless republicans.
were under the control of the Trade Unions.
bourgeoisie as a whole to gun running:
Protestant movement.
It then attacks "all the talking 'revolutionaries', That they were able to take with them big The Green Assistance was given on condition that the The pos- While some Thus, Blaney represents Donegal, the He also It has been precisely this "Mr. Lynch •.. (is) taking the view 29.
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BANKRUPT 'THEORIES' OF 'PROVISIONALS'
Behind the actions of the right wing "provisionals", which has been responsible for the reinforcement of sectarian divisions, as was shown by the driving out of the Catholic workers from the shipyards in June, are some weird and wonderful "theories". The main aim, it seems, is to force a confrontation between the Catholic population and the British Army which will of the Irish Army might march over the Border or be prepared to give assistance to the Catholics in the North: a mutiny along the lines of the one in However, while some sections of the army, might come to the assistance the Catholic population, British Imperialism is not prepared to be militarily forced out of the North. The "other" solution is to create such chaos that the United Nations would come in and carry out a miraculous unification of The lessons of the intervention of the United Nations (in reality the dis-United Nations) in Cyprus, the Congo, the Middle East, where not one of the problems has been solved, is lost on the leadership of the "provisionals." The only way to undermine the power of British Imperialism and their capitalist allies North and South of the Border, as the only way of bringing Devlin, on the basis of an astounding 92% turnout and the vote of 6,000 Protestant farmers and workers, demonstrates the way forward for the working But for it to be guaranteed of long-term success, it must be "broad alliance" outside the ranks of the organised Labour Movement is Labour Party, and the irish labour Party, actively participated in by the Marxists on the basis of a socialist programme and linked in action to the British Iabour Movement would it be possible to begin to break down the Catholic-Protestant syndrome of the last half-century. In the short term, British Imperialism will have no alternative but to press ahead with the process of "reforms" i.e. the ending of the most blatant discrimination against the Catholic population. It has warned the right wing of the Unionist Party of the consequences of any dragging of feet In the event of a right wing take over by Craig or raisley, the British ruling class has already advocated the suspension of the Constitution may have to accept that Ulster cannot solve its problems and that the Stormont system must be wound up" (Economist) The vaue threats of a Universal Declaration of Independence made by Mitchell and West, provoke an upheaval in the South.
1924.
Ireland!
about real unity, is through class unity.
class.
channelled through the organised Labour Movement.
doomed to sterility.
PERSPECTIVES on this issue.
and direct rule from Westminster.
30.
Only by the coming together of the Northern Ireland In this way, it is hoped that a section The election of Bernadette The suggestions of a "Mr. Maudling and the rest of Britain
[page 33]
the supporters of Craig, as laughable as they are to the British bourgeoisie, nevertheless, indicate the irreversible split within the Unionist Party. It has forced them to look towards the dismantling of the Unionist Party in Their perspective is for its reconstitution or replacement by a traditional type of "Conservative" Party by involving the Catholic bourgeoisie and middle class within its ranks. Its realisation depends on the deveopment of the British economy and the possibility of resolving some In the meantime, while on the one side making concessions, it is also preparing to come down heavily both on the Republicans and the UVF if building of a new prison to accommodate "the increase in the prison popul- Over 300 have been arrested in the past two months alone. On the basis of "physical force" alone, the British Army, with its superior forces and fire power will win hands down. will be powerless against is working class unity organised on the basis of a Marxist programme and appealing to the "workers in uniform" in the actions and propaganda, are, it seems, determined to prevent this coming It has come to be expected that the right wing "provisionals" would refuse to appeal to the British troops but how to explain the vicious which appeals to Catholic workers "DON'T FRATERNISE", individual troops are described as "murders, intimidators, looters, oppressors". This is calculated to drive the British troops further into the similar backgrounds, sometimes from worse social conditions, as the workers made, including the demand for TU rights for servicemen then the rank and file soldier would be won to support the struggle for workers' power both in Ireland and Britain.. It is a measure of the degeneration of the "Communist" Party leadership that it can so miseducate its ranks that this of the Communist Party on the issue; one of the leaders of the British CP, Campbell, was arrested in 1924 for making a class appeal to troops! The Catholic workers also will turn against those who merely provoke one fruitless violent confrontation after another with the Army. CLASS CONTRADICTIONS WITHIN PAISLEYISM But British capitalism and any new-fangled "liberal" type of capitalist party which it brings into being will be incapableof solving the problems of jobs, housing, education and a rising living standard for the its old form.
of the worst economic ills of Northern Ireland.
necessary• ation".
British Army.
about.
chauvinism of the "official" Sinn Fein.
"United Irishman" carried arms of the reactionary officer caste.
they face on the streets of Derry and Belfast.
kind of propaganda can be diseminated by them.
One "reform" urgently pressed by the bourgeois But the Republicans, the "Left" and right, by their a similar article.
What the capitalists In a leaflet circulated in Derry The Most of the troops come from If a class appeal was They forget the history 31.
[page 34]
Neither can Paisleyism offer any way forward for Protestant and In the short term, mainly as a result of the actions of the Catholic bigots, it will probably continue to grow in strength. the crisis within the Unionist Party, Paisley will pick up some support. But under the pressure of events the class divisions within the Paislevite "aristocrats" at the top of the Unionist Party has paid off in the short In conditions of economic crisis, the Protestant workers will be looking for something more tangible than religious ranting• and even before then, Paisley's position amongst the Protestant workers, can be undermined by the labour Movement fighting on a class programme. From the point of view of the British bourgeoisie, they wish to keep Paisley, attempt is made to openly challenge its position now then they are prepared Neither will any section of the Southern Irish capitalist class be able to liberate them socially or bring about the unity of the country which The crisis in the North has brought to the surface all the ranks of the capitalist class has developed as a result of the events in Northern Ireland and the unprecedented upswing in the power and cohesion the pattern set by the struggle against British imperialism and the Civil A newly strengthened labour farty, formally adhering to the idea of a "Workers' Republic" (but denied in practice by the labour Developments in both areas will react on Britain and conversely the gathering storm here will be reflected in North and South Ireland. British dock strike, which provoked the active support of Protestant and Catholic workers, to counter the blacklegging which was carried on between the North of Ireland and Scotland, is an augur of these developments. BACK TO CONNOLLY, MELLOWES AND MARXISM In the course of these developments the ideas of Marxism will find & greater and greater response within the labour Movement. tested tendency will be developed from the youth, in particular, who have been prompted to rediscover the ideas of Connoly, Mellowes and the Marxists •fested itself in the splits from the labour Party in the past must be avoided working class of Northern Ireland.
Catholic workers.
movement will come to the fore.
term but will rebound on him at a later stage.
like Powell in Britain, as a reserve weapon to deal with Paisley as with Right Wing Republicans. would benefit them.
the festering sores within Southern society.
of the Southern working class.
the highest strike record in Western Europe.
War is breaking down.
Leaders) has taken shape.
a dramatic influence on the South and vice-versa.
by the Northern Ireland explosion.
32.
From The clever demagogy of Paisley against the In that situation, for the future.
But if any A crisis of confidence within The Southern Irish workers have presently Here as well as in the North Further upheavals in the North will exercise The A tried and The ultra-left impatience which mani-
[page 35]
Only by this means, by formulating a clear Marxist perspective and programme along the lines of that proposed by the Derry Young Socialists can the age-old poverty, misery and division of Ireland be ended. programme entailing the demand for the nationalisation of the big monopolies under democratic control and management by the producers themselves, the winning of the small farmers to the idea of a planned socialist economy through the guarantee of cheap credits, fertilisers and cancellation of their debts to the banks, would usher in a period of peace and plenty for the A Socialist United Ireland would break the pattern of centuries: instead of "exporting" her best sons through unemployment, etc. the idea of change, of the socialist transformation of society, would be the message that would go out to the international Labour Movement. perspective and programme which Irish Marxists will be fighting for in the W.I.R. Publications Obtainable from W.I.R. PUBLICATIONS 375 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E.2 workers both sides tumultuous period ahead.
MARX if the same mistakes are not to be repeated.
of the Broder.
ENGELS CONNOLLY The bookshop for Socialist literature This Such is the TROTSKY LENIN 33.
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