6 MAR 1990 mocPAC
Founded 1939 nity in Britain No 559 March 1990 Price 40p
Full public inquiry needed into Wallace allegations
THIS MONTH sees the re-launch of which Britain would be unable to the Connolly Association's news- maintain its grip on Northern Ire- paper, the M»h Democrat, the ol- land. dest Irish working-class And it has also sought to foster newspaper in Britain. and dsvelop progressive Irish cul- It has been completely re-de- ture in Britain, with a list of past slgned using the opportunities and present contributors which made available by the acquisition reads like a "who's who" In pro- of new technology. This is the first gressive Irish politics: Kader Issue of the Irish Democrat Xo bo Asmal, Andy Barr, Brendan produced entirely on computer, Behan, Peter Berresford Ellis, which has allowed us not Just to Ftann Campbell, Mary Campbell, brighten up the paper, but also Anthony Coughlan, Pat Dooley, lays the baste for steedy improve- R.M. Fox, George Qllmore, De- ments in layout and design over smond Grooves - who edited the thecomtngpedod. paper for 40 years • T.A. Jackson, A new editorial board deter- Jim LaiMn Jnr, Donal MacAmh- mines the overall political direc- laigh, Sean O'Casey, Peadar tion of the paper, which will O'Donnell, Sean O'Faoteln, Clare continue to build on the best tradl- Short and Batty Sinclair. Hons established
LONDON SCENE: EDITED BY DONAL McCRAITH OPINION
EDITORIAL Brent council will continue to back community group CONOR FOLEY argues soveriegnty should rest with Dublin once Britain is commited to leaving Irish freedom, Britain's press Labour pledges
T SINN FfilN'S recent Ard intention to leave and approach the RENT Council leader Dor- Irish travelling families are known In his report, Willesden-based Ker- Fheis a resolution was over Unionist heads, with the inter- EVER let the facts get in the way of a good stor>„ Dublin government to discuss the man Long says that despite to have been in London for the past ry man Pat Griffin claims: "It is safe to moved advocating that, nationally recognised repre- runs the old journalistic adage. It's one the British logistics. The declaration should be its financial problems the 150 years but it was only with urban assume that drinking habits in this Spending all-Ireland elec- sentatives of the Irish majority. establishment have sworn by since the civil right* irreversible, reflecting a consensus local authority has a duty development in the past 50 years country are the biggest single factor Jitions, sovereignty for Dublin could then enter direct dis- movement rocked the Stormont regime to its foun- amongst the British public, but the to try to attempt to address when traditional stopping places in the drop in standards between ' Northern Ireland should be ceded to cussions with the Unionists about the dations over 20 years ago. Prior to that, the religious timescale would have to be agreed former. Marriage is a mutual con- discrimination in the Six Counties, the gerrymandered vot- Bthe needs in the Irish community, were built upon that they have been players here and those at home. Dublin in the aftermath of a British N between the two governments. Ob- and promises that the kind of assist- forced to stop on unsuitable land. "Players turn up for training in withdrawal. It stimulated a brief but tract, divorce can be unilateral. ing system, the sectarian militias simply were not news - to viously, the shorter the period the ance that it is already giving will con- mid-week but on Sunday they have interesting debate. Republicans may have a low opi the extent that the Connolly Association was once rung up The 1968 Caravan Sites Act im- better but divisions fostered for tinue Addressing the annual to be pulled out of bed otherwise they nion of the policies of successive Dn by the BBC to check on which side of the border Belfast ac- posed a duty on London councils to The motion was voted down which generations cannot necessarily be general meeting of Brent Irish Advi- would not turn out for the game", blin governments but accept thi tually lay. provide adequate pitches for travel- seems surprising at first sight. Du- healed to suit a British parliamentary sory Service at Brent Town Hall, St. said Mr. Griffin, a sports writer who situation could be transformed bv r But things have been very different since 1969. Nowaday •> lers in the boroughs. According to blin is Ireland's historic capital and timetable. Lucia-born Councillor Long said that lives in north-west London. British withdrawal. there is more information on this side of the water about the official government figures, between its government seems the natural although he was speaking on behalf It would then be up to Dublin to it is also difficult to envisage such <-> cost of maintaining Britain's claim to sovereignty over the 1983 and 1989 there was a average of Mr. Griffin also believes "declining place to which Britain should trans- of Brent Council he had a particular sort out new governmental struc- withdrawal without political north-east part of Irish territory. But it mostly appears in the fifty caravans in the borough of moral standards and the undermin- fer sovereignty when it is finally empathy with the Irish community. Brent. ing of the institution of marriage" are forced to withdraw. tures, convene elections and come to changes being reflected in the Lein- .electronic media in the context of stories about 'Britain's war terms with its new national minority. ster House Dail. Sinn Fein have now "I have been in a particularly plea- In August 1986, travelling families having a serious affect on the associ- Clearly someone has to be respon- on terrorism' and Ireland's warring religious communities Some possible structures of accomo- accepted that most Irish people re- surable position on Brent Council to began a mass occupation of Fryent ation. "In rural areas especially a few sible for the administration of North- Rival interpretations, closer to the truth, dissenting voices dation, including federalism, were gard the Dublin government .is legit- lend whatever support I could have Country Park in Kinsbury in protest large families often made up a team. ern Ireland during the period of are very rarely heard. explored in the ill-fated New Ireland imate but the old abstentionist in addressir g some of the aspirations at Brent Council's failure to provide That trend is changing and it should disengagement. Sinn Fein's Scena- There are innumerable reasons why: legislation, media Forum but it needs to be hammered mentality stil! seems to want to keep of the Irish community, and BIAS pitches. The protest resulted in the be a far greater worry for the GAA rio For Peace envisages this as taking ownership and control, the very institutions of news gather- home that this is up to the Irish. Bri- them out of the peace process. This being one of those," he said. The Council opening a 15-pitch caravan than the competition for players from up to the lifetime of a British Parlia- ing itself are all involved. A handful of international news tain has no right to dictate political attitude can be given an ultra-left plight of the Irish was particularly site at Neasden in 1988. other associations", he says. ment. In fact the main flaw in this agencies which dictate what makes the daily news to televi- structures to the people who will gloss, with Trotskyite notions ol daunting, he said, but local auth- MrGriffin criticises theG AA for not coherently argued scenario is its am- sion, radio and newspapers. Proprietors see to it that stories have to live with them. leap-froging a democratic settlement orities were coming under ever-stric- having taken a stronger stance on the biguity about how sovereignty never see the light of day. News editors must clear all stories to the national question to an Irish ter scrutiny, and resources were abortion issue in the Republic of Ire- should be transfered to the Irish The notion that Britain can an- about 'national security' with the D-notice committee - and Shortage of socialist Republic. But it is fun- being continually reduced because of land in the l480s. "I felt that the people. The scenario envisages all- nounce its intention of pulling out national security' is a catch-all broad enough to include the damentally flawed and contributes the direction of legislation and cen- leaders of our association should party discussions and the election of and then try to convene a constitu- refusal to prosecute police officers involved in the 'shoot-to- caravan pitches tional conference to discuss the to Sinn Fein's isolation in the south. tral government, he pointed out. have taken a stand on this issue. a 32-county assembly. But who will kill' controversy in County Armagh in 1982. And for the last evacuation is both dangerous and "Therefore it is increasingly diffi- They should have made their feel- facilitate these discussions and or- The last few years have seen a wel- 18 months, television reporters have been unable directly to has forced a bizzare. Unionists would either boy- cult for local authorities like Brent, ings known in the Pro-Life issue". ganise the elections? SWAPO's re- come increase in debate about tin quote republican politicians by the fiat of the Home Secre- cott the arrangement, to undermine which at one stage had a very im- Mr Griffin's report has received a cent experience in Namibia's South mechanics of disengagement in both tary, who didn't even need a parliamentary debate to stop number of I Repressive apparatus must be dismantled Pic: Belfast Exposed its legitimacy, or try and seize it to pressive programme of assisting vol- mixed reception among local GAA African-supervised elections shows Britain and Ireland. Such discussions them: he simply wrote a letter to the BBC and IBA. preserve their state. It is in this con- untary groups such as BIAS", he said. members, with one official and this is no academic question. Sinn are a vital rail of the debate abotil This is what makes the work of the Irish Democrat so im- travelling ish after a declaration of intent to tween the two countries. It is diffi- text that British moves to re-establish how to build ? movement capable ol "A number of local authorities have player describing it as "unbeliev- Fein have ruled out United Nafidns portant. Every month since January 1939 the paper has withdraw. The vast repressive state cult to predict how long this transi- a devolved six-county administra- forcing the option of withdrawal taken peculiar and in some cases sin- able and opinionated lecturing by a intervention and would presumably sought to furnish the Irish in Britain and our British allies families to squat apparatus will need to be disbanded tion period will take and there is tion should be viewed. onto the political agenda. If the ge- ister methods of dealing with some of self-appointed watchdog". not welcome supervision from Brus- with the facts about Britain's rule in Ireland, and developed and the indigenous security forces obviously a need for negotiations Unionists need to be given the nuine fears and worries, so often ex- the Irish immigrants who are forced "If the secretary paid more atten- sels or Washington. But, apart from a ground-breaking analysis of the need for united action to in empty disarmed. State benefit payments about the transfer of administration. maximum possible say in the struc- pressed in both countries, are n,t to come over because of pressures at tion to hurling and football than to Britain, who does that leave? win a change in government policy. For our re-launch to help and public sector wages will also ture of a new Ireland but can be honestly confronted then the cam home", he said. "You find increas- drink and sex the association would us to continue that tradition, we need to find new ways to properties Britain has responsibilities towards have to be maintained pending an The most logical way to precede allowed no veto on British withdra- paign will not move beyond first ingly some authorities - and I hope I be a lot better off", he said. reach new readers with our ideas. We can all help to boost Northern Ireland which will not van- ultimate financial settlement be- would be for Britain to declare its wal Britain can negotiate the latter, base. the Democrat's circulation - at meetings, in pubs and dubs, at don't live to see the day that Brent The continuing shortage of caravan Irish classes, wherever there are others interested in freedom adopts some of the practices now pitches in London has forced a num- and self-determination. And with the national question at being adopted elsewhere - are de- ber of travelling families to squat in • Housing the centre of current international developments that doesn't claring people 'intentionally home- empty properties or to apply for re- • NNISFREE Housing Association in leave many who wouldn't appreciate a copy. less' at the very mention that they left housing as "homeless in priority I Willesden Green, which describes accommodation in Ireland", he said. MM need", often placed in bed and break- • itself as the only "general needs" "There is a question of increasing fast hotels. housing association in the Irish oeoi- those occasions had any stomach tain. in Dublin. He is reported as saying was on the specific theme of the EDITORIAL BOARD: Gerard Curran, Conor Foley (news), immigration of young people who London education departments munity, is now developing a rangeof Letters to for starting such a sing song they It is not the Connolly Associ- "If Britain gave a clear commit- British State and Irish unity, not Martin Moriarty (production), Peter Mulligan because of the pressures on housing employ teachers for travellers, re- housing projects in a number of Lop- certainly did not display it. It the ation strategy with which I dis- ment to withdraw, far from there extradition. Myself and Emmet TYPIST: Pat Fitzpatrick are finding themselves in all kinds of sponsible for the education of hun- don boroughs. conclusion is wrong, It must be agree. I do not think that the being a bloodbath it would create Stagg answered questions on a PUBLISHED BY: Connolly Publications, 244-246 Gray's Inn situations and being forced to live in dreds of travelling children, both The support which it received from the Editor because one of the premises is Unionists will participate in the the conditions for real close whole host of topics suitable to the Road, London WC1. Cardboard City. caravan and house dwellers, whose Brent Council, and from Network, wrong. talks that the Connolly Associ- friendship between the Irish and agreement of the meeting but My purpose In quoting Garret Fltz- PRINTED BY: Ripley Printers Ltd (TU), Nottingham Road, Cllr Long said: "The scale of the education is often affected by the lack and Paddington Churches, housisg Conor Foley accuses me of ation strategy envisages, under British peoples". And he went on could not cover every issue due to . gerald was to portray Irish aspira- Ripley, Derbyshire. problems, the scale of the needs of proper sites. associations, has been vital to its "bending the truth" and using se- the duress of a British declaration to say by way of evidence "just as shortage of time. If Tom cares to which local authorities are finding it Traveller John Connors says: "We growth and development from its tions for a united Ireland more lective quotes. All quotes, it is self of Intent to withdraw, as their reac- between the people of former col- attend more branch meetings we increasingly difficult to address let would remind borough councillors small beginnings in Kilburn some realistically that the exaggerated evident, are selective. But my tion to the Anglo-Irish Agreement onies and Britain once the British can take up the other questions he alone deal with satisfactorily which that we have human rights en- five years ago. picture painted b/lhe Provision- quote was not out of context, nor demonstrates. master left"
IRISH OEMOCRAT March 1990 page 3 IRISH DEMOCRAT March 1 9 9 0 page 2 IRISH NEWS IRISH NEWS
WORLD COMMENT 7 The cutbacks have gone on for far too long, and the price is too high, argues JIM SAVAGE BOBBIE HEATLEY argues against the bloodbath theory BY P O LIT I C U S Parties East Bleak prospects for 1990 Flimsy excuses and West
have to wait until the 'Declaration of No Protestant Irish child is taught OME MONTHS AGO the Irish Democrat quoted its "U e will havegreat difficulty in 1990 by 1992, which no-one in his right people properly looked after, not in a vulnerable. "Why must this alway Intent' is extracted. Irish in the Northern State schools, late editor, Desmond Greaves, as having said as far providing the level of service of last mind can ever see paid. patronising but in a real caring way ." be so?" he asked. "No law of God o Lagan Lights Many people here suspect (erro- despite the fact that some Loyalist back as 1973: "The socialist countries have made so Cork Letter year", Mr Dudley emphasised He If this scandal of the National Debt Bishop Murphy said that many na ture makes this inevitable. The de neously, as it happens) that, with the ultras look kindly on the language many mistakes, which have had an enormous effect in said the Board had already suffered is crippling our people, leaving them emigrants were more or less aban- cisions of men are what make it so ." N EASTERN EUROPE nations Anglo-Irish Agreement, the process and regard it to be their own. And holding back socialism in the West. The most fun- ITH THE decade nov. crushing cutbacks in the 1980s. One without hope, jobless, forcing emi- doned on the streets of London and The Bishop of Cork, Dr. Michae' are getting greater degrees of in- of disengagement has begun al- these are the hypocritical British in- Sdamental one, I think, is the way they have mixed up the Party ebbed inU> historv thousand staff had been shed, with gration and with fewer hospitals for other cities. This is a massive prob- Murphy, has made what still stands dependence and self-determina- ready... de facto. Brooke has made it terlopers who criticise the Russians and the State. The Party should go in for education, persua- when ordmarv people over 300 beds closed and he said that, the sick, then this by necessity needs lem. Voluntary agencies can only do as the most relevant comment on the tion while, in the West, the EC is clear in his Bangor speech that the over Estonia. In Estonian schools the sion, propaganda. The State should always act according to the ended lip w.th the rape but tor some cost-saving measures, examination. This enormous burder so much. Twenty-eight percent of existing situation: "People and their gobbling up nations. The two- aim of the AIA is to 'copper-fasten' national language is both spoken and law, treating all citizens equally. Perhaps the best counterbal- of their publv ser\ ice- the situation would have been worse. of deadweight, this astronomical those emigrating had only junior needs must come before book-keep Ifaced British government, supported the sovereignty of Britain in the North. taught. ance to State power is an independent trade union movement." thWe embattled Soutbi'::i He.iltii He went on to say that energy bills debt is still rising by about £600 mil That was surely a far-seeing perception. A realisation of its cycle education and this figure is ing". Another bitter criticism came by the leaders of its loyal opposition, Fitzgerald, if he thought otherwise, Were the British intending to quit, Hoard is facing vet .mother dec.Hie ot had been slashed, and the contract- lion a year, despite all the cutbacks very high. That aspect of it and the from the Auxiliary Bishop of Cork, extols freedom in the East while de- was 'Fooled Again'. there would be economic induce- truth seems to be the fundamental impulse behind the Gor- penny-pinching and r:c:d financial ing out of laundry, cleaning and and poverty. extreme youth of those emigrating (8 Dr. John Buckley, who said thai ny ing it to nations under its own con- If the British were intending to de- ments offered to the Protestant work- bachev-inspired reforms in Russia and Eastern Europe. Of eontrol, with no prospect '••• iuKvv er maintenance and catering services per cent at 18 years and under, 70 per "emigration is now at famine level' trol. Scotland and Ireland come to part, their deeds would be the infal- ing-people to encourage them to look course those who produce the wealth in a modern society - its ot development in am . • had also reduced costs. He stated cent between 19-25 years) meant that more favourably on the authorities of workers - need a politically conscious vanguard party which l and that the latest figures issu3d b) mind. lible indication of their good C.eneral hospitals wii! .v hit h.irJ- that taking everything into account, they were immature and likely to ex- the Central Statistics Office showed In the .case of Ireland, the British intentions. They would be preparing the Republic. Remember when will seek to express the needs of the labour movement, as well est, acute services will be monitor^ d. thev had finished 1989 with a net perience great difficulties in getting that in the past two years, 78,000 ruling-establishment, Tory and top- this society for its handling over to a Haughey met the Shipyard shop-ste- as advance the best interests of society and the nation as a and there will be a cris:- shortage ot deficit of £500,000. Although the any kind of suitable employment be- people left the country. Labour, puts forward the novel and recipient stable regime, most likely wards to offer them prospects (fanci- whole. Of course such a party should attract the best, most in- moni'v I his was the gium predic- gross increase from the government telligent and most public-spirited citizens. It needs also to de- cause of lack of qualifications. In a separate attack on the situation, peculiar excuse of a part of a nation. the Irish government, which would ful as it turned out) that their jobs tion ot Health Board chief Denis was around £10 million, he pointed bate thoroughly all issues and have the discipline and Emigration... again Bishop Murphy said there was a the Labour Party T.D. forCork Nortl This section happens to hold at the have to be brought into the agree- might be saved? The British could Dudley, as he warned. The options out that £6 million of this would go collective commitment to carry out to an agreed policy, demo- •••HE TWO bishops in Cork are built-in tolerance of emigration - as Central, Gerry O'SulIivan, claimed moment fortuitously an opinion with ment on the conditions of the transfer quite easily provide the cash for more open to us are becoming fewer and on salaries. an acceptable solution, historically. which the British establishment of sovereignty. What interest can the such successful ventures. cratically decided on. If there is no such party or movement, fewer". The bluntness of his address far from popular with the that Cork was the worst hit part of the When seen against the background There is almost a view that emigra- agrees: that its best interests are British have in leaving behind a va- To keep 12,000 British soldiers in with a grasp of scientific politics, the political sphere will be to the I lealth Board caused members well-heeled section of the country. He should know, being e of what the Board had gone through tion is our destiny. There was a time served by staying inside the United cuum, or anarchy? Their staying cre- Ireland costs, in wages, at least £1.5m dominated by anarchy or mere personal place-hunting. to react angrily, especiaii\ when told community. The Bishop of redundant Dunlop worker himself in the '80s, the prospects for 1990 when young people used to say "We Kingdom. This is no accident. Bri- ates the problem, their going would per week, in addition to the £684m But a leading role has to be earned in practice and continually that the Board had paid almost I Cork, Dr. Michael Murphy He added that there was scarcely i were daunting in the extreme. The won't go. We are going to make it tain has carefully cultivated this atti- provide the opportunity to end it. per year earned again as time passes and circumstances change. To .'.200,000 in bank charges last year, a made a blunt statement, saying that house in his constituency untouched major problem, however, lies square- here". Now it seems to be quite the tude among Unionists over decades. 'Defence' money to which 1 referred seek to obtain it by means of legally enshrined constitutional 2,7000 per cent increase or. the £7,300 the tendency to regard those who by emigration. He described the la- ly with the government, which must reverse. There is the view that this Now her Tory-minded spokespeople two months back. Then there are all guarantees - as in Eastern Europe for decades past - is to encour a paid in 1987. emigrate as being "off our hands" test figures as "horrendous", saying accept its responsibilities where was "an abomination". The "export" country cannot support its people, it placed Ireland on the level of «> brazenly declare that they have had 'The process of the other overhead costs ... equip- age complacency, arrogance and bureaucratic monopoly. For The two banks concerned were Al- health care is concerned and make of 30,000 people a year, who would but that is ridiculous too. We are in Third World country in terms o nothing whatsoever to do with it. ment, accommodation, ancillary ser- no legal guarantees can protect one against mistakes. They lied Irish and the Bank of Ireland appropriate funding available to the otherwise be unemployed and on this situation basically because of people. But this nurturing explains the disengagement vices. All this for repression and the can, however, stop people learning from their mistakes and These people are part of the fabric of Health Boards. welfare here represented a "saving" poor leadership. Tories' favouritism regarding Union- keeping alive of old-time antagon- make them insensitive to the need to adopt new courses. The a society which sees itself as Chris- When government - or a Health isms. turmoil in Eastern Europe comes as ruling communist parties The health of our people should in very harsh terms, he said "That Dr. Murphy called for a competent Board acting at the behest of the gov ist prejudices (which are their own lian, and which pays lip service on a must begin This money could be more con- pay the penalty for decades of complacency of this kind and as come before the miserable heritage of money should be spent on these body to examine unemployment ernment - embarks on a book-balanc • off-spring} and their readiness toian- regular basis to the concepts of care structively channelled through the they seek to develop quite new modes of working for which a mountainous National Debt, which people. They have a right to these blackspots; to look at the needs and ing exercise, it is inevitably the case tagonise the majority of Irish people. and compassion Mr. Dudley said with the Irish government into economic de- there are no pre-existing blueprints. can scarcely be contained at £24 bil- services. They are citizens of this resources available; to develop the that those who suffer most are the Minorities have rights, but they do that the Board's short term cash-flow velopment from which the Protes- In the West we know too well the limitations of conventional lion and is growing again. We have country. I am quite sure that if resources and then find an industry least well-off members of society not have'this Tory-concocted right. problems were critical, especially as re-education tants would benefit on a fair and party-politics and so-called "bourgeois" democracy. We are this unique pressure to pav the hiked people were made aware of the rea- appropriate to the area. He hit out at The cutbacks, already very severe Their argument for repressing the an additional overdraft accommoda- equal basis. This would.help to rec- used to continual mock fights between politicians with little rates on the National Debt interest, sons for providing these services, the hardship caused by the cutbacks have gone on for too long and the North is even more flimsy. But it is tion from the banks w is unlikely. of the oncile the Protestants to Dublin and difference between them on fundamentals. Look at the Demo- which threatens to reach £30 billion they would be quite happy to see our which affected the poorest and most price in human terms is far too high one that carries some weight with people who are addicted to self-delu- usher in a new age of Anglo-Irish crats and Republicans in the US, or in Ireland successive Fian- sion. This is the 'blood-bath' scena- Protestants' relationship. na Fail and Coalition governments. In Eastern Europe, where rio. We cannot declare our intention If it really was the policy of the Brit- as yet there are no capitalists to form a ruling class, the refor- THE IRISHMEN to withdraw because all hell would Likewise the Irish authorities ish to conciliate prior to their depar- mers are seeking to separate State and party. In the West the break loose. The Loyalist para-mili- would wish to take on a reconciled ture, these are the things they would politicians seek office to milk the public revenue through pa- An Impression of Exile Profits mushroom in Mayo be doing as part of an on-going pro- tronage, leaving the class interests of Big Capital intact. taries would attract presently docile community. Protestants and the blood-letting of Where is the evidence that the Brit- cess of disengagement. Other im- To be a worthy political vanguard the socialists, as the great then invest their profits from their been lost by our politicians, the back the past twenty years would be as ish are preparing the North for such portant sections of the Protestants Irish socialist James Connolly taught, in seeking to give a lead For generations Irish men and women have had to leave venture; earned from the sweat of bone of the protest has been the boat nothing. -The IRA might be satisfied, an impending transfer? A process of could be insulated against any temp- to the workers must ensure as well the working class leads the their own country to find work abroad, mostly in England Mayo News Irish workers, wherever they can men, mainly small farmers who but the British Army (despite its disengagement, during which - at tation to indulge in prospective back- nation. That means in turn the socialists should welcome all reap the largest dividends, by financ- genuine patriotic sentiment and champion in every sphere or America. make extra money during the fishing NATO backing) could not cope with some time - a 'Declaration of Intent' lashes. What if the salaries of the civil NCREDIBLE, yet according to ing the exploitation of workers in season, and hoteliers and guest the likely anti-Catholic pogrom... etc, might be made in order to facilitate servants and the Police - and their people's aspirations for national independence and democracy This film, first made in 1965, but powerful in its relevance local newspaper reports a some other country. house owners. They are convinced! f etc. the process, has to begin with the pensions - were to be effected If the Lithuanians and Azerbaijanis want national inde- to the 1990s, is a valid contribution to the debate in England woman from the Westport area The opening of a new £5 million fish this hated legislation is not repealed Therefore, despite our pro-Irish re-education of the Protestants, only through the medium of the Irish gov- pendence, they must have it and will have it. The socialists and Ireland about emigration and its effect on family life "earned" 20p for 4 hours picking feed mill at West port - ironically by fish farming will become a reality goodwill, and our freedom-loving a minority of which, at the moment, ernment, funded by British transfers? would be committing a folly if they sought to stop them. If the mushrooms. ITGWU (now and the individual, particularly the young. the Minister of the Environment Pa- and their livelihoods will be de- proclivities, we had better stay in Ire- is aware of its Irish republican back- Would these sections be ready to bite Germans want a coming-together of their nation, then it is wise ISIPTU) official Michael Kilcoyne said draig Flynn, TD - has heightened ground. The British have powerful the hand that was feeding them? of the socialists of East Germany to seek to express that, as A film on video, 50 minutes long by Seamus Ennis and stroyed. So they feel they have noth land... for the benefit of the Irish. the woman had received £3 for the 4 fears of the introduction of fish rea- ing to lose by continuing. Nice one that! What a pity it is an means for achieving this, not least the These costs to the British exchequer their Prime Minister Hans Modrow has sought to do. Philip Donnelllan. hours, but had £2.80 deducted from ring cages into the Western lakes. The anglers may have set ar apology full of holes. Full of holes or press, TV and radio, to say nothing of would be transitional. The current Of course there are dangers in the East European turmoil. her Social Welfa re money for the day, £15.00 from:- As the anti-rod licence dispute en- example the rest of us would do well not, it is a lie which has fooled some the State-controlled schools. This subvention of £1.6bn per year is not. Being elected to office is no guarantee of wisdom. Lech Wale- leaving her with a grand total of 20p. The Northampton Connolly Association, ters its third fishing season, the fears to follow. They have refused point gullable. Irish people - including would not be brainwashing. It There might still be a few irreconcil- sa's Solidarity is now pushing the Poles towards the capitalist pleasures of massive unemployment and inflation. Massive 5 Woodland Avenue, Abington, 1989 has been a year of rapid expan- of anglers and anti-pollution cam- blank to accept "assurances" from some not normally regarded to be would be to make the Protestants ables. But if anyone thinks that these layoffs are now planned for the Gdansk shipyard, the place sion for the mushroom industry. A paigners about the use of the word government ministers that the cages simple - and the greater part of the aware of their own 'other tradition' would be a formidable force, then he Northampton NN3 2BY which first gave Walesa a platform. L park covering several acres has "licence" in fisheries seem to have will not be installed on the Westerr readership of unmentionable British about which they have been kept in or she does not know the hard If the socialists do not articulate national aspirations, one can begun production at Claremorris. been well founded. When millions of lakes. The building of the fish feed newspapers. ignorance for so long. headed Ulster Protestant or the be certain these will be exploited by reactionaries and dema- Individual growers can rent houses fish, usually salmon, and reared mill at Westport, a short distance On Ireland, the British, authorities northern Protestant middle-class. on this complex, or erect them on gogues. This seems to be happening in places like Yugoslavia 1 Get (Irish books from| under farm conditions, the resulting from Loughs Corrib, Mask, Carra. are not neutral. They hold on to Ire- These latter are prepared to fight their own property. Four houses and Azerbaijan. In East Germany the economy is being under- pollution, from slurry alone, is equal Conn and Cullen must convince the land because they regard this policy only to the last lumpen-proletarian seems to be the minimum for a viable mined by West German encouragement of a massive outflow FOUR PROVINCES BOOKSHOP to the sewage discharge from a City last of the doubting Thomases of to be in their own best interests. Their OWEVER, on the contrary, from the back-street slums. Golf can operation. The company which be played as enjoyably in Portmar- of workers, while Chancellor Kohl and those to the right of the size of Galway. Fish are also plans to exploit the last few remain- reasons are secondary to this fact. the British are using 'cultu- owns the complex at Claremorris, treated with a chemical called nock as it can at Donaghadee. him dream of a new Fourth Reich - an economic and military 244-246 Gray s Inn Road, London WC1 ing unpolluted fresh water lakes in Should this perception ever change, ral heritage' money and and provides refrigeration and stor- Nuvan, to protect lice infestation, they will be out as fast as their legs schemes to reinforce the The big Protestant backlash is a ca- giant - achieving Hitler's dream of dominating Europe. But in Europe for short term commercial ( both Germanies there are other forces - Socialist, Social Demo- age, apparently buys the mushrooms and already there have been accusa- 'two traditions' fallacy and nard to smoke-screen the fact that Tel: 01-833 3022 gain. can carry them. from the tenants. tions of farmed salmon spreading prize the community apart. For the Britain's Tory-minded establishment crat and Green - who have a vision of a neutralised, demili- If the anglers lose we can look for- But what of the blood-bath, not the The industry is currently receiving disease to wild salmon and sea trout. one which is actually taking place, but BBC here, an event in Belfast is the has no intention of ending its cen- tarised Germany, a good friend of the Soviet Union, whose ward to drinking fish effluent with coming into being would signal a dissolution of the war-blocs. government funding, and is another The anglers, boatmen and guest the prognosticated one? There is no 'local' or the 'regional' news while an turies old Anglo-Irish conflict. The L ATEST SPECIAL OFFERS our tea, as it is planned to supply That would enable resources to be devoted to dealing with the example of the worst evils of capital- house owners, opposing the rod reason why the Unionist reaction to old woman's mugging in Bermond- next time they preach to Russia on most of South Mayo from Lough most urgent problems facing the human race - the poverty of History of Ireland on tape from Stone Age to the present day ism. The banks finance the erection licence, have been portrayed as the going of the British should be sey is the national news. Apparently how it should behave decently to the Mask. Castlebar already receives its the Third World and the ecological damage primarily perpe- Six lectures by distinguished historians of growing houses, rental etc. The middle class yuppies and vandals anything other than the flickering of the head buck cats in Broadcasting nationalities, perhaps they would re- water supply from this source. It is trated by the First. growers, in order to meet repay- who want to fish free of charge and a damp squib. Everything would de- House cannot distinguish between a member to practice what they £36 the set significant that the spirited resistance The most important world development this year is likely to ments have to pay slave wages, seven prevent ordinary decent anglers. pend on how the British went about political-State and a nation. The preach. to this hated legislation has its stron- be the determination of which of these forces will prevail in pence per pound of mushrooms Nothing could be further from the preparing their withdrawal. They 'South' is acknowledged once in a Only pressure from the Irish J.J. Lee: Ireland 1912 -1985 Politics and Society £14.95 gest support in an area stretching Germany. Unless that is, the gigantic capitalist financial crash picked seems the usual rate, al- truth. do not need to be told about the im- blue-moon and usually in the context people, North and South, in alliance though some growers may pay as from Ballinrobe toConnemara, home portance of timing in politics. The of some gripe about 'security' or with the genuine democrats of Bri- which now seems inevitable should supervene over the com- While some salaried people have to the descendants of the tenants and ing months. Fitzgerald Collection: Irish legendary tales for children high as 10 pence. The workers are process of disengagement does not extradition. tain, can force a change of policy. been elected to leadership of the cam- small farmers who gave a new word Six different tapes £5.60 each not insured, being employed on a paign and have shown a degree of sub-contract basis. The banks will to the English language - "Boycott"* ability which seems to have long ago Owen Regan IRISH DEMOCRAT 19 9 0 •.n-.'JifS IRISH DEMOCRAT March 1 9 9 0 page 4 B B O 0 K S At Ballyvaney Fair Niall Plunkett Taking some very
They found him crumpled on the street, a ragged, lifeless frame, O'Boyle And they swept him up like litter and no one knew his name; A smile was on his cold, grey face, a fiddle by his side - Muldowney had been smiling - and remembering? - when he died. (Killed by Free State forces, Wicklow, February 1923) Remembering? There was a time, long, lonely years away, out of mothballs When life for Jack Muldowney was right and fine and gay, We laid him to rest by the rim of When Nora of the angel face and tumbling raven hair the ocean, Sang songs to his accompaniment at Ballyvaney Fair. Near the home of his fathers we laid him to rest, Her voice, a ringing echo of the angel's song above, would sharply question the defini- Old Ireland he lived with true Puella Ignota tion of the wowi "lawful" for the Would fill the town with sweetness when she sang of love; faith and devotion, A Wounded Church: Religion, Politics greedy gangsters who wasted the re- come out of the North by other tories are won. There are always Or move a man to madness when she glorified the green - going to be so- called 'grey areas'; He fought and he died for the and Justice in Ireland Joseph McVeigh, sources of the country, who fed to Peter Berresford Ellis means. It is important in that we have He was twenty summers then, and she was seventeen. their dogs and to their mistresses the War Without Honour, Fred Holroyd with now have an account of British army and the operations based upon intel- cause he loved best. The Mercier Press, £5.95 pbk ligence work fall, perhaps, into the food which they had snatched from Mick Burbridge, Medium Publishing Co., 'counter-terrorism', Kitson's philos- the mouths of the poor. The modern ophies as actually put into practice, greyest of all. But even here, the se- They walked the world together then and sang their own refrain, When the call it went out to the £6.95. Catholic would SCO the amoral sub- and one written by an officer in the curity forces mustbe seen to act with- And he loved her with a wildness he would never know again, sons of the heather field. in the law. I have to admit, however, HE INTRODUCTION to this servience of a hierarchy for whom His life, his queen, his glory ... and of all who gathered there, O'Boyle was the foremost to the rich could do no wrong. But do not come to this bookexpect- that while I was a witness to such book gives us the quotation operations, on my tour I did not feel Muldowney was the proudest man at Ballyvaney Fair. answer the call; Whereas in this research man) ing to find Captain Holroyd hasbeen from Justice in the World, the RED HOLROYD'S detailed at the time that it as (sic) my role or The sons of the Rosses he document drawn up by the Church prelates do show up very account of the events which converted to the immorality of Brit- badly, there have been exceptions, ish imperialism, or to accepting the duty to try to intervene. I was very Their fame went o'er the county wide and people come from far, banded together world synod of bishops in have made him somewhat just as there are today. These were moral injustice much fighting on the 'side of the From Killyroe and Millerstown and Dell and Annagar; T1971. In this, the bishops claim that notorious has long been To drive the oppressor from crown'." the Church's mission is "the redemp- rare and wonderful people, "lucer- awaited in book form. There of one nation to exert its rule on But Muldownay knew within him, though is fiddle he held dear, Holroyd is certainly not the first Dark Donegal. tion of the human race, and its libera- nae lucentes in caliginoso loco" - Fare few people Who have followed another by force of arms. There has British Army officer who could not That 'twas Nora's lovely singing all the people came to hear. lights shining in a dark place. And events in Ireland who are unaware of been no blinding light on the road to tion from every repressive live with the immorality of British perhaps, even more eminently, the general details of ex-Captain Hol- Damascus for Holroyd. He believes Oh bravely he fought with the situation." methods in Ireland; doubtless he will among the Protestants. But we Cath- royd's story. A British intelligence firmly in Queen and country and, And then one day a strange young man approached them where foe all around him The author of the present book as- not be the last. In 1920 Brigadier- olics did have Pope John XXIII and officer in the Six Counties, recruited surprisingly enough, in the army. they stood: sesses to some extent, the way in General F.P.Crozier resigned his Till alone and outnumbered, a Pope Paul VI. The tetter did approve by MI6, Holroyd became too knowl- It's a rather naive attitude but one which bishops may not have lived up command because he had the same "Come with me to the city and I'll make you rich," he said. captive he fell, edgeable about the 'dirty tricks' cam- that might be expected from a sol- to this commitment, especially in the concept of a just revolt against moral principles as Captain Holroyd They were speechless with excitement till the stranger made it clear paign, the British administration's dier. To the bastille at Newgate, a Northern Ireland. He is concerned oppression. when he found soldiers following I Holroyd only disagrees with army memoas rm. attempt to terrorise and coerce the Not for him any question of mor- That he didn't want Muldowney. He only wanted HER. prisoner they bore him - that the Irish bishops generally come Many people will not be aware of exactly the same campaign of terror, nationalist population into sub- ality of the denial of the right of the chestnut that if the British Army were He escaped through a tunnel from the comfortable middleclass, the fact that insertions were made in murder, torture and brutality against 'aberrations' rather than the norm of mission. Holroyd was making Irish people to self-determination not in the Six Counties there would There was silence, Then Muldowney, as he wiped away a tear, and do not identify with the poor and the Irish population that Holroyd ob- British rule in Ireland. If only a quick and bade them farewell. 'waves'. Therefore, Holroyd himself through partition, military occupa- be a civil war between the Catholics underprivileged of their own flock. served. Crozier, in his book Ireland course in Irish history was provided Said, "Go with him, Nora darlin' - 'tisn't fair to keep you here." became the subject of an attempt to tion and abuse of civil rights. He only and Protestants. On page 101 he re- Much historical background is For Ever! (Cape, 1932) became con- for such people! One is amazed by But she took Muldowney by the arm and with him walked away, 'One cannot discredit him and was shipped off to disagrees with British Army metho- Again on the hillside, un- covered in the second section of the vinced of the immorality of the Brit- Holroyd's lack of an historical over- counts that he told a senior Irish the British Army psychiatric hospital dology. Or, to be specific, what he "I couldn't sing a note," she said, "and you not there to play." daunted and daring, book. This is reaily illuminatirg in ish position in Ireland. view which one felt would have been Army officer that "the UDR would at Netley. His colonel made the situ- sees as the activities of a small band the way in which it reveals how the avoid asking picked up by someone serving sev- go through the Irish Army likea knife But it is not the Saxon this time ation quite dear to him: "Fred, you of mavericks in MI6. This is not to say that Holroyd's simple faith of the Irish was abused eral years in Ireland as an intelligence through butter. For Ulstermen were For many a day and many a year at Ballyvaney Fair on his trail, do what we say and you'll be laugh- "As far as I am concerned there is a book is not compelling, and often with utter cynicism. Anyone inter- why it's never officer. And one has to put up with a martial breed, and while the Irish Muldowney and his nightingale entranced the people there. ing all the way to the bank. The RUC very simple law in this; if the forces nauseating, reading. This is the way Oh no, 'twas the bloodhounds ested in these issues ought to buy the general ignorance, such as calling the were highly civilised and attractive have put you up for a MBE for gal- of the state allow themselves to act it is; and as it was during the 1919-21 But there's no lasting happiness in this poor lonely place of Richard Mulcahy, book and read it before the whole right for the 26 Counties fiire (and without the people, they could hardly be de- lantry. And Tve recommended it to with the same degree of brutal il- period. It is indeed a 'war without And sickness put the mark of death on Nora's angel face. And the men who sold Ireland, thing is put through the shredder, accent). But he does, again disar- scribed as the best soldiers in the go forward. But if you fight us now, legality as those they are com- honour'. There is little honour in any because many people will not like it Irish to defend mingly, admit that he knows nothing world". the dregs of the Gael. we'll crush you." manded to defeat, then in a sense war but especially in a colonial war at all. In fact it has been confided to about the country that he was sent to Well it would take far too long to She faded swiftly as a rose and then in Avonmore they are shown to be losing the battle. and no honour at all for the forces of some of us that a certain Catholic themselves' We all know that Holroyd decided imperialism. But one is astonished to in order to keep it 'British' by military start hammering out such racist con- They laid her in a deep, dark grave, to sing and smile no more. Once more on the hillside un- For the success in that battle depends, cepts. Perhaps one should merely ac- publisher would have nothing to do the CaS^S'SSSSTiB^ehest to make a stand. And was crushed. see that Holroyd (and John Stalker force. Muldowney wept the last goodbye, he couldn't speak for pain, not on purely military victories, but cept this comment as a compliment, daunted and daring, with it, and undoubtedly, some of the British Representative in the This is a fascinating book, confirm- also) seems to think such measures as He apparently believes the old on the moral ground that those vic- for who would want to be like the And he bundled up his fiddle he would never play again. Till all hope abandoned, he bookshops will refuse to stock it: be- Vatican. Sir John Hippisley wanted ing many of the stories which have 'good soldiers' who emerge in the cause this author has taken some the Irish to be adequately brain- turned on the foe, pages of Holroyd's book? very unpalatable truths out of moth- washed by their own Church, to He left that grave in Avonmore to face the years ahead. "Long live the Republic," his On the other hand, as an historian, balls, and not before time. spare the energies of the British In grief and gloom and loneliness to get his daily bread, words rang out clearly, I suppose it would be petty of me to brainwashers. This catechism dealt We find reproduced the oath of loy- ask who destroyed the English army Weeping and remembering the one who wasn't there; Then the guns thundered forth predominantly with the duty of obe- alty which was administered rou- at Fontenoy in 1745? A French vic- And he never show ed his face again at Ballyvaney Fair. and O'Boyle was laid low. dience to the secular powers. Such tinely to the staff and students of tory, yes: but brought about by the six sanctimonious reiterations of St a help in seeing who is mentioned. Although Maynooth. By means of this, the workers, while a minority succeed in becoming regiments of the Irish Brigade. he does not tell us what happened to the Offi- They found him crumpled on the street, a ragged, lifeless frame, Now bravely he sleeps by the Irish hierarchy became the tool of Bri- Paul's exhortations! Where did we capitalist employers of labour. The strength of tain, just another element of the op- hear about the devil quoting Scrip cial IRA - it eeeme to have disappeared like the Where the book is essential is in And they swept him up like litter, and no one knew his name; rim of the ocean, ThePiMcsofOlusion: Republicanism and Socialism inth e peculiar Irish Republican tradition of elev- Holroyd's accounts of the British pressive State apparatus. By her ture for his purpose? And it is al- ating physical force Into a principle derives Cheshire Cat, leaving only a smile or grimace A smile was on his cold, grey face, a fiddle by his side - Nor wind now, nor tempest his support for the British, the Irish ways conveniently forgotten that St Modem Ireland, Henry Patterson, Hutchinson Radius, behind! - there la Interesting material on the Army's intelligence service's terror from the fact that the small employer and the campaign. The activities of SAS Cap- Muldowney had been smiling... and remembering... when he died. slumber can spoil, Church became a sharer in the guilt Paul himself was executed for dis- 1389, £7.95 Ideological evolutiori of the Workers Party. worker, the foreman and the clerk, can agree tain Robert Nairac are partially re- of the famine, the rackrents, the ex- obedience to the secular power of Irish Democrat readers will be pleased to note Long, long we'll remember with on using the gun and bomb as a means, while vealed. And the major lesson is about ploitation, the destruction of Parnell, Rome, which decreed that the Em- that thia ia the first book out of the veritable But the spirit of eternal love can't crumble in the clay; faith and devotion they cannot agree on other forms of politics. the depths to which the intelligence and the various kinds of genocide peror was to be worshipped, that he DESPITE its sub-tWa this book is not really a library which has been published on the Six The song of everlasting joy can never die away, Social Republicaniam seeks to break with The fate of our hero, Niall Plun- that were used against their own was God. Well Hippesley did not gc history of Hah republicanism and aociallam. services of Britain are prepared to thla physical force tradition, to aeaert the pri- County troubles, to recognise the role of the And somewhere in the vastness, where the endless times begin. kett O'Boyle. flock. Even today, in the new Ire- so far as to ask the Pope to say that There te tittle in It about the Labour Party, Irish sink, to coerce and intimidate even macy of politica over the gun. In some mani- Connolly Association In the 1060s In pioneer- There's a ragged angel singing to Muldowney's violin. land, members of the hierarchy are the King of England was God, but communism or indeed republicanism of the their own, in order to cover up their festations - Pearse, Mellows, the Republican ing the idea of a civil rights movement aa the being seen in the role of collabora- certa i nly he came very close to it. The Wanna FaH variety. II la falhar the history of mistakes. I have little sympathy with Congress - the radical republicans seek allies way to undermine Northern Unionism. Patter- tors. Irish were to pray for kings, but it Was social repwHcaniam , a term wnien refers to Holroyd when, having resigned to their left, among Labour, the communists eon faHs, however, to grasp the significance of nowhere mentioned that they would the attempts of physical force republicanism to from the British Army, he makes a Luckily for the reputation of the and trade unions, on a programme to achieve the Bill of Rights concept as a middle way bee-line to join the Rhodesian Army pray for the poor and starving. become mere politically relevant and of left- between Unionist domination of Stormont and Irish Church, there were the tower- Aulfkja am m > liiHmm* 4* tealea ^IH^m la% IwBmmiw an independent Republic. In others - the Offi- in which he serves fighting the Zim- "direct rule" from London, whose imposition ing shepherds, Archbishop Croke All this history is very relevant to wing repuDiicans to win awes in me laoour cials of the earty 1970a • Instead of seeking babwe forces. He does comment, and Archbishop Mannix. These did the situation in the gerrymandered M • I - nil • 111 U Hk. haIMmI iMflMAH uikUk allies to the Left, the physical force men seek he evidentially approves of. The BHi of Rights however, that the white Rhodesia its The Spanish Lady something for redemptr i 3ut in- state, the last remnant of Orange movement, t m is me pomicsi iraaiuon wntcn to substitute for the working class movement. was first proposed by the Connolly Associ- soldiers reminded him of the RUC stances are given of the way in v/hich apartheid. The last part of the work links Pearse and hie comrades of 1*16 with They'delude themselves Into thinking that they ation In a letter to Prime Minister Harold Wilson and UDR. various Churches do still support, can actually beoorne the labour movement. m July 1006 and waa introduced in the House deals with the contemporary in the Uam Mellows In the early 1920s, PeadarO'Don- What is clearly revealed by Hol- unashamedly, the status quo, how- They change the label on the bottle from "re- of Commons and House of Lords on 12 May As I lYimt' down through Dublin As 1 came back through Dublin As 1 came back through Dublin light of the past strategies. The old noil, George OH more and the Republican Con- royd's book, as, indeed, it was by ever appalling that status might be. public jniem" to "socialism" and proclaim 1971. This event has to date gone unrecorded City City City pattern is re-emeiging. At the sight ireaainthe td30a,Sinn Fam and thelRA of the Stalker's account and Peter Wright's There are many extracts from state- of the wolf turning up in imperial themseives the best socialists of the lot. These in aN the "hiatories". At the hour of twelve at night, 1900a and early 1970s and the Gerry Adams Spycatcher is the exactly what sort of At the hour of half past eight When the sun began to set ments put out by prelates and politi- social republicans forget Marx's well-known Patterson's failure here la linked to the garb, the apologetic shepherds turn HepuDiicans or today. society we live in. It is a very frighte- Who should 1 see but a Spanish Who should 1 see but a Spanish Who should I see but a Sp \iish cians. The documents reveal the remark to the effect that the emancipation of booya fundamental flaw, which la that he does away from the sheep. One cannot OImiaImaI ^Aiiiua l»l«tV wt nUllwilnm UmhTh |iem ning society, far removed from the lady Government, the rich, the landgrab- theworklng-class can only be achieved by the not recognise that British Imperialism exists. lady lady avoid asking why it can be right for rnysicai vorce msn republicanism nas its dream of a 'free democratic' country bers, the British Army and the hier- " > • . a. . ...a.-. V JM • ^ working-class Iteelf. Not "alone", pleaae note The British Just happen to be In Ireland, but Washing her feet by candle- Brushing her hair in broad day Catching a moth in a golden net? anyone at all to kill and rob Irish that is often prattled about. It is not archy, all firmly united against the people, but it is never right for the - for the labour movement can always do with Patterson gives no explanation of why they light? light? just the Irish community which need When she saw me, then she fled defenceless poor. awes - but "Itself". The Third World today is ehould be. He writea from a pro-Unionist Irish to defend themselves. That fear the knock on the door in the early First she tossed it, then she me fuK of small-bourgeois "socialisms" of this standpoint, having developed Indeed a kind of It is, to me, disappointing that there kind of morality surely belongs to the hours. The totalitarian state is here. First she washed them then she brushed it Lifting her petticoat over the SAS. How can the hierarchy be in kind and in eo far ae Irish Republicans go down exotic academic "Marxist" Unionism. He Is is no reproduction of the famous let- There is much in this book that is dried them On her lap with a silver comb - knee - ter sent by the Pope to the starving league with that kind of international tftolA e~<%g» •am A N ON N IS ANALL: THE PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS COLUMN ^ PETER MULLIGAN'S PEEPSHOW National question® HE EVENTS in Eastern Eu- of independence in the Celtic coun- TIDYING UP - "I regret to say that rope and within the Union of tries to get power, such as the 1945 a re-organisation of the depart- Soviet Socialist Republics Election Manifesto in Wales: True mental papers has brought to appear to have taken a lot of freedom for Wales would be the re- light information (concerning people bv surprise. The sult and product of a Labour Britain disinformation) which show's Tbreak up of the Russian empire has and under such conditions could that there were a number of been called 'a failure of Socialism' - self-government in Wales be an effec- statements in my letters, and in especially by Margaret Thatcher tive and secure guardian of the life of other ministerial statements and (but, as she has never bothered to the nation'. It is bearing in mind that official correspondence, which find out what Socialism is, we can't long history of broken self-govern- were incorrect or required clari- take her comments too seriously). ment pledges from both the Liberals fication." Margaret Thatcher to However, a number of people do see (prior to 1918) and the Labour Party the Chairman of Civil Service the situation in those terms, as a afterwards, that the electorate of Select Committee. failure of the Communist or Socialist Scotland and Wales are turning to system, as a negation of all that Marx parties based firmly in their own DISINFORMATION - "It has not and Lenin taught. countries who do not see self-govern- since the mid 1970s been the The fact that the Soviet system had ment merely as a 'political expedi- policy o disseminate disinfor- little to do with the basic principles of ency'. mation in Northern Ireland in Socialism should cause one no sur- ways designed to denigate indi- prise in what is happening today. If • CONNOLLY: internationalist viduals and/cr organisations or one were conscious of the analysis of tor propaganda purposes." Mr. James Connolly , one could have fore- don, it would still have the same atti- of 'political expediency' has served Archie Hamilton minister for the seen the inevitability of the current tude to the other nations which oc- the Labour Party well in Wales'. John S EARLY AS 1898 Con- armed forces. GUARDIAN situation Connollv never saw the cupy these islands as the Tories. In its Taylor, secretary of the Labour Party nolly maintained: '...under NB Later Mr. King confirmed creation of the USSR; neither, in fact, years in power Labour has shown its in Scotland (no such thing as pre- a Socialist system every ria- that disinformation was st6ill did Lenin in its modern mould. Both English imperialist stance. Look tending there was a Scottish Labour k tion will be the supreme ar- employed by the army for had denounced such a creation in what happened in 1979 when, hav- Party then) was even more frank: 'I rbiter of its own destinies, "sound military purposes." their writings ... for both were ex- ing set up a referendum concerning myself ceased to desire self-govern- national and international; will be tremely conscious of the national self-government, and with the Scot- ment for Scotland as soon as we se- fprced into no alliance against its will, ON THE MURDER OF THREE IR- question. tish majority of the referendum vote cured a Socialist Government for but will have its independence guar- ISHMEN - "Prosecution in cases One of the sad problems in beth the demonstrating the Scots wanted self- Britain'. anteed and its freedom respected by involving the security forces are United Kingdom and USSR is that goyernnjej^J^bour changed the These are the same arrogaW tv»- the enlightened Se1f-1rtf^sf oFthe rare. Convictions are even the people of the dominant nation rules of the referendum and the will tional/imperial attitudes which social democracy of the world'. rarer...the Army and the RUC have little or no understanding of the of the Scottish nation was ignored. occur among the Russian and Russi- It is fascinating to hear the political have made it plain that they dis- importance of the national question. That, incidentally, was down to Kin- fied rulers of the USSR towards the pundits of England waxing lyrical approve of charges being And lack of understanding applies to nock who (perhaps because of his nations incorporated in their state about the cause of the nations in East- brought against them." INDE- so-called Socialists as well as people background) is fanatically pro Eng- and this is why the state is teetering. ern Europe and in the USSR; c6m- PENDENT of the right and centre. 'Nationalism' lish. Lenin's teaching has been forgotten. mentators taking the moral 'high NE Following the killing of 11 is dismissed as a right-wing phe- No self-determination for Kin- 'Victorious Socialism must achieve ground' and denouncing imperial- unarmed men in Tyrone in 87/88 nomenon, as simply reactionary and nock's native land. complete democracy and, conse- ism by Russia. Do I hear those cham- the Salker inquiry was set up archaic. Yet nationalism, by which I I recall hearing his wife being inter- quently, not only bring about com- pions of national freedoms- applying and we know what happened to mean (and I find myself having to viewed on radio. Pointing out that plete equality of nations, but also the same moral code to, Ireland, or, that. The DPP later announced repeat this definition constantly to Mrs Kinnoek was a native Welsh- give effect to the right of oppressed indeed, the other Celtic nations in the that it was not in the public inter- English readers) the advocacy of the speaker, the interviewer asked nations to self- determination, if the United Kingdom who do not .^ven est to make any prosecutions. freedom of national communities whether Mrs Kinnock was bringing right of free political secession. So- have the basic trappings of'freedom No report was ever published. from the cultural, political and econ- her children up bilingually, speaking cialist Parties which fail to prove by enjf yed by the Soviet Republics? No; omic exploitation of other nations, is both Welsh and English. Her replj all their activities now, as well as dur- sacly,no. GUILDFORD AND AFTER - "One inseparable from the achievement of was interesting. Kinnock does not ing the revolution and after its vic- In 1797, at a meeting, in,London, of our QCs whispered to another a true Socialist society. National and speak Welsh. His record in local and tory, that they will free the enslaved representatives of the United So- social freedoms are not two separate before the trial, 'I feel dreadfully central government, as far as Wales nations or establish relations with cieties, the United Irishmen, Uiiitad and unrelated issues. They are two unpatriotic because I think my is concerned, has demonstrated he is them on the basis of free union - and Scotsmen, United Englishmen &etc, sides of one great democratic prin- client is innocent....they moved anti the Wflsh language. Mrs Kin- a free union is a lying phrase without decided that they wanted to see inde- ciple, each being incomplete without me 51 times. I spent 1,600 days nock confirmed it when she replied right to secession - such parties pendent self-governing republics in the other. in solitary confinement....we that she was not bringing her child- would be committing treachery to Ireland, England, Wales and Scot- have merely rippled the surface Many English Socialists denounce ren up bilingually as 'Neil wouldn't Socialism.' land. Perhaps one day (English of a very deep pond and the es- Celtic nationalism, for example, like it'. Not only does this reveal majority will be civilised apdstwpg tablishment are aware of this. It without any understanding of its in- much about the Kinnocks' attitudes enough to allow that to happen., per- epitomises all their dealings trinsic anti- imperialist nature and to their own nationality but a lot haps one day the English will get rid with Ireland." PAUL HILL believe that if the English established about their self-professed socialism ENIN made it abundantly of the concept, ingrained into their a Socialist Government in London all and attitude to women's equality! clear: The principal condi- souls by centuries of rule byrobber- DANGER MONEY - The armed the problems in the Celtic countries Nevertheless, the Labour Party, tion of a democratic peace is kings and barons, that: .they have forces will get a new pay deal would disappear under their benign since 1918, has claimed to believe in the renunciation of claims of some sort of 'manifest destiny' to rule amounting to 9.7 per cent in- Socialist rule. Indeed, just as the 125 self-government for the Celtic coun- I annexation. This must not be the people of these islandsinstead of crease. Servicemen working million Russians, exerting their rule tries - on and off, that is, when it has wrongly understood in the sense that sharing the islands with them. It was abroad, and this includes North- over the 107 million non-Russians in been attempting to get into power. all powers should recover what they only a few years ago that'tWey were ern Ireland, will receive an in- the USSR, believed that there would Arthur Henderson, introducing a have lost, but according to the only taught the sim would nev«ir set on creased dally allowence from be no nationalities problem! self-government policy in 1918, said: true meaning, which is that every na- their empire. Well, the sujndWiyVPt £2.95 to £3.20. TELEGRAPH If a nation is ruled by another na- The Labour Party believes in self- tionality without exception in Eu- entirely set but who carideny the tion, no matter how benignly, or by government. The Labour Party is rope and in the colonies should twilight? Instead of being fearful of ARMY OF OCCUPATION • what the system is claimed to be, it is pledged to a scheme of statutory obtain freedom...' the twilight, the English people "Stalemate has now been still imperialism, and that is why I legislatures for Scotland, Wales and The problems within the USSR are ought to concerning themselves vyith achieved in Crossmaglen. The referred to the USSR as a Russian Ireland as part of the larger plan not, therefore, caused because Social- envisaging a New Dawn, not* New British have been frightened off empire in my opening statement. The which will transform the British Em- ism has failed. They have been Dawn of Empire (a hearkening back the roads and all their South Ar- Soviet leaders inherited a Tsarist em- pire into a Commonwealth of self- caused because a true Socialist sys- to England's so-called 'greatness', as magh military posts must be pire, did some tinkering with the governing communities.' - tem was never established in the first Mrs Thatcher would have it) but a serviced by helicopter. INDE- nuts and bolts, but left that empire In 1945 the Labour Party's election place. But one wonders whether the striving-forward to an England free PENDENT intact. Their invasion of the Baltic re- manifesto jpromised self- govern- English Left will understandrAVith a from poverty and fear, working in publics in 1940 and the military an- ment to Wales and Scotland. In those few notably and honourable excep- harmony * m»«— GREED - Nigel Lawson has nexation of those republics into the countries, on the self-government tions. English Socialists have demon- in terms of mutual res joined Barclays Bank as a two USSR was an example that the im- issue, they won the vast majority of strated the same imperial arrogajp^e equality.'^-*: ; - day a week advisor/director for perial ethic had not died out simply seats. During its years in power, it to the Celtic nationalities as their • If mere is a 1 which he will receive £100,000 because Moscow called itself 'Social- dropped setf-governmerit from its forebears who conquered those peo- per year on top of his £26,707 ist'. programmei JWhen asked about this ples in the first place. backbencher salary. By the same token, if a Socialist in a Welsh oontext Herbert Morrison Sometimes the Labour Party * Government came to power in Lon- was astonishingly frank: The device cyflically used the still stirring s] mm IRISH DEMOCRAT March "19 90 page 8 1