SOLDARIDS Make-up-your-mind time on Ireland

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PADDY Logue is vice-chair of the National HBlock/Armagh Committee. He is also an executive member of Derry Trades Council.

Speaking at Greenwich Labour Party's conference on Ireland on November 28, he explained how the hunger strikes had been 'make-up-your-minds time for the Left in Ireland' This became obvious in the course of the conference; but it was equally clear that it is make-upyour-minds time for the labour movement in Britain. • Paddy Logue's approach was in sharp contrast to two other speakers from Ireland. Professor Murphy of Cork, a university representative in the Senate of the Republic of Ireland, gave a version of the theory that Ireland contains two nations - Catholic and Protestant - and so should have two states.

It depended heavily on stories of southern hostility to 'that crowd up there', and his most revealing comment was his declaration that the Provisional IRA 'threatens my state' as well as 'the welfare of Britain'.

Ultra-left

Dis O'Hagan, of Sinn Fein the Workers' Party, showed how far to the right some of the Irish 'left' who made up their minds not to support the hunger strikers have moved. His contribution combined calls for the development of democratic institutions based on proportional representation in the North and attracting investment with Stalinist attacks on 'ultra-lefts' and

WHERE'S THEM

KILLERS? LEMME AT 'EM! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!! C'MON!

I'M GONNA KILLYA! their 'queer little newspapers' Even the Troops Out demand is ultra-left, according to O'Hagan. And he stunned the meeting with his statement that the 'ordinary, decent' Catholic workers of Belfast want to see the RUC patrolling the streets properly.

The leading Labour Party speakers at the conference were Clive Soley MP, who has a 'left' image on Ireland, but has just been appointed front-bench spokesperson on Ireland alongside Concannon, and Euro-MP Richard Balfe.

Soley declared that partition never had worked and would never work, but saw the approach to unity through reformist measures like gradual harmonisa### DIVINE MESSAGE!

FROM GOD!!

KILLERE NO REPLY!

I SUPPOSE THAT MEANS THAT I'LL HAVE TO REINTERPRET THE DIVINE MESBAGE..

....IN OTHERWORDE... țion of social and economic policies north and south of the border. He opposed political status for H-Block prisoners and stressed 'union with consent' leaving the Loyalists with a veto.

Peace-keeping While Balfe's approach was also gradualist, he casped hot the armed there •are resistance to Britain which are just. He agreed to raise the Prevention of Terrorism Act at the next meeting of the European Parliament's group on Ireland.

In the afternoon Carl Gardner, TV editor of City Limits, described how television misrepresents the war in Ireland as al 1 inKILL!

KILL!

KILL THE KILLERS!

KILL! KİLL!

I'LL MURDER THE FIRST TAIG I GET MY HANDS IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU, GOD?! coherent list of atrocities and statistics, with the army and RUC deferred to as peace-keeping authorities. Mike Biggs, a former British army officer, now active in 'Veterans Against the War in Northern Ireland' ', exposed the sham of 'peace-keeping'.

The troops' real role in Northern Ireland, he said, is as an army of occupation, constantly harassing the Catholic community - and gathering information: 'We even knew when the wallpaper was changed' Gardner and Biggs both pointed to the need for political campaigns. Carl Gardner said the Left should not regard the media as something it cannot do anything about. We should subject the media to politifallnuino the example c following the example of the women's movement.

Mike Biggs looked at the way unemployment and poverty helped army recruitment. Teachers and social workers could do a lot more to organise against this. Ex-soldiers should be invited to anti-recruitment meetings,: the Veterans Against the War video could be shown. Counterdemonstrations should be mounted at military tattoos.

An obvious weakness of the conference was the small number of trade union delegates, especially from manual workers' unions. Nevertheless it was an important initiative in opening up discussion on Ireland in the labour movement. It is to be hoped that many more constituency Labour Parties follow Greenwich's example.

There was an encouraging response to a proposal from the floor to start a South-East London branch of the Labour Committee on Ireland. Many delegates took membership forms, and a branch is now being set up.

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Socialist Organiser no. 65 December 9 1981