Ireland: reject this document

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"the medium-term goal" - is Labour's economic not immediately practical, policy is trotted out as a "it is inevitable that direct solution to Northern Irerule from Westminster will land's economic problems -1._.. de on fne tha no if an channe in the telaFOR THE first time this year there has been really widespread opposition in the Labour Party to the bipartisan policy on Ireland.

The grotesque spectacle of official Labour spokesperson Don Concannon crowing over Bobby Sands' deathbed brought home the reality of it very vividly.

It has been clear for some months that the bipartisan policy could not survive in its old form.

But the response from the Labour Party NEC Working Party - set up early last year to present a new policy for Labour - has been to wrap up the policy of support for the British presence, for repression and for the status quo in tatk about support for a united Ireland and an end to partition Taken on its own and unconditionally, the commitment to a united Ireland would be a major step forward for the Labour Party but it is so hedged about with qualifications as to become meaningless - no more than sugar on the same old pill.

The working party looked seriously at three alternatives united Ireland, a devolved powersharing government in the six counties and a continuation of direct tule. It comes down in favour of all three!

The report states that "These should not be seen as separate alternatives. Instead they should be seen as an integral part of a practical political So for now stay where we are!

Veto

To get to a united ireland, according to the report, consent is needed within i the existing Northern Ireland state - thus the report explicitly gives the Unionists the right to determine the rate of progress. towards Labour's ultimate. goal.

It states that,* the people of Northern Ireland will not be expelled from the UK against their wishes. It does not mean a veto on political progress in the hands of the Unionist leaders" - though given that the Northern Ireland majority support the Unionists it is difficult to see what else it does mean - " Before any constitutional change is made... we would therefore seek to obtain the consent of the people of Northern Ireland.

To get there the report calls for discussions between the British and Southern Irish governments and for the setting up of a powersharing government. Yet the Protestant majority has made it clear - not least through the 1974 UWC strike - that they will not tolerate this.

The report concludes that as power-sharing .. -¿oretti McDonnell - wife of load hunger strike Joe MeJonnell - and Nora McElwee and Theresa McCreesh vhose brothers Tom and raymond have also died for volitical status, spoke to berry Byrne and Anne-Marie sweeney.

WE'VE come over here,"

said Nora McElwee, "to nake in Northern Ireland are not extraordinary. They're just normal people and the men in Long Kesh are not criminals.

My brother Thomas would never have seen the inside of a jail except for British repression in Northern Ireland. And just want to make it clear to English people that we are going to keep coming back to remind people here that the struggle is still going on in Northern Ireland."

Goretti McDonnell: 'There's a war going on. The Thatcher government says the prisoners are of no importance yet they had special interrogation centres for our men and women, and they had special Diplock Courts.

They have very special sentences.

In one instance, Bobby Sands and my husband and nave to continue or unt time being."

The whole of the rest of the document - all the immediate and practical proposals -is cast in the framework of this acceptance of direct rule as the status quo. By this long route the report endsiup back with the bipartisan policy with a pink tinge.

Reformed The existing state should be reformed, abuses of the law - such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act or occasional lapses by members of the army "who have a difficult job in very trying circumstances" - removed. But "under direct rule both Labour and Conservative governments have generally acted to defend the rights of all sections of the community in Northern Ireland." four others were in a car where a handgun was found in it. Six men got 14 years each for one handgun.

If they had been criminals they would have conformed and put on a criminal uniform, done 5 years out of the seven and been out in two years. Bobby Sands and my husband gave the ultimate."

Teresa McCreesh: "My brother didn't die in vain because those men are going to gain their five demands eventually, no matter how long it takes.

But it's typical of the British media to play down everything because they want to put over in Britain that there's nothing happening in Northern Ireland.

The only mention the hunger strikers get is when they go on hunger strike or when they die, but the people in Northern Ireland don't only hear that.

They know what's happening. We know every day what's happening.

It's brought the people together. It's absolutely fantastic, the support of the nationalist people in the Goretti McDonnell: "The press have been getting at us a lot about the other men coming off the hunger strikes and how much their as 1l 1u cuango di eut iciationship between British governments and the six counties was desirable or likely.

Every policy that represents a rejection of the existing state is rejected for one reason or another.

Support for the early withdrawal of troops "was reflected in the evidence received from constituency parties and branches" but, on the basis of evidence from the Northern Ireland unions, this is rejected in favour of the gradual replacement of troops by the RUC: the policy of. 'ulsterisation' that, until the hunger-strike blew it skyhigh, was one of the mainstays of the policy of both Mason and Atkins.

It adds "we would urge all sections of the community to assist the work of the THE women's message to Labour Party conference delegates came from Nora McElwee:

"I would like them to come out in support. They have opposed going on, but when the Northern Ireland question is brought up they go silent; they've no interest in it.

• would like the Party to come out and do what they can for the hunger strikers because it will just go on and on if nothing can be done."

families backed them.

Well, we backed our men 100% right to the end. There's no way in this world you can order a man to die. It was their decision to go on hunger strike and it will be their decision if they ever want to come off. They would have the support of everyone.

People think that we are better than the other relatives who took their sons and husbands off the hunger strike.

Well, we ourselves know for a fact we are not better.

We are very much behind them. Only we know how hard it is to watch someone you love give every minute of their life for their

A new Labour Party NEC discussion document plays lip service to a united Ireland -: and many other ideas

- but ends up in practice proposing real change in the bipartisan policy. Bruce Robinson reports.

police in Northern Ireland in their struggle to establish law and order" , failing to notice that the RUC is notorious for its sectarian harassment of Catholic "sections of the community"

Rejected

Similarly, the demands of the H Block prisoners are rejected for much the same reasons one can read in any British newspaper. Political status is rejected out of hand, the prisoners are accused of asking for privileges over other prisoners and the only concessions suggested are a general improvement in prison conditions in Northern Ireland and Great Britain as a whole, country.

For 63 days I watched my husband die. I could never have made any other decision than the one I took. For a fact I know that if I had intervened with medication he would have gone on hunger strike again and I would just have been prolonging his agony.

So when people think that our men are ordered on the hunger strike, I would just say that they should think again and put yourself in our places.

We are just ordinary people like you, trying to bring up a family but because of repression we can't do it."

Teresa McCreesh: Until the men went on hunger strike, we'd always been fighting for the H Block' situation to be ended but we'd never actually met.

Since the hunger strikes the families have had constant meetings so we're one big family. If anybody tries to break us they'll never succeed, because we just can't be broken."

Teresa McCreesh explained that the women also feel close to many struggles throughout the world.

"We were at a meeting last night and representatives from the Basque country, Malaysia, Namibia and Spain falling well short of the five demands of the prisoners.

At the same time as rejecting any policies opposed to Britain remaining in Ireland for the forseeable future, the report makes a gesture in the direction of "class politics"

This consists of a nod in the direction of Militant's panacea of calling a trade union and labour movement conference in Northern Ireland to set up a Labour Party. The report ignores the reality of working class politics in the six counties that organisations of Catholic and Protestant workers have remained united by agreeing to disagree on partition and thus opting out of the main political struggles of the day. Evasion on the question of partition has withered all the brief flowerings of the nowmoribund Northern Ireland The report does not begin to spell out a distinctive socialist policy, let alone one that makes it clear that the Labour Party supports the oppressed minority in their fight against 'our own' state.

We should reject this document at Conference and insist that the Labour Party adopts policies for withdrawal of troops, an end to the Unionist veto on a united Ireland and support for the prisoners. were there. They told us that the struggle they had gone through was very similar to ours. If they were out on the streets they'd get shot down for no reason whatsoever.

There was an Iranian girl there as well. It just came across to me that the same thing was happening there as was happening. to us -people being shot down, harassed and put in prison.

People over here realise the repression going on in those countries. Because those countries are so far away, Labour leaders can call these people freedom fighters. But they don't recognise that in Northern Ireland the same thing is going on. They just don't accept it.

If they'd only open theil eyes and realise what'! happening.„ they could de something.

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BRICHEON "81

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unger strike families seek abour movement support

not now • not under the next Labour government. but some time in the future.

* big appeal to, English people to realise that people

Maggie Thatcher in everything else that's