Prior's Assembly Won't Stop Irish War

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THE Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDIP), the major political party in the Catholic community of Northern Ireland, looks like contesting the October 20 elections for the new sixcounties 'Assembly' According to the Financial Times (July 29), a consensus for particıpation exists among top SDLP leaders, and this is likely to be confirmed at the next SDLP executive meeting on August 24.

So the Assembly -designed by Tory Northern Ireland Secretary James Prior - may yet 'take off' despite being criticised or condemned by practiçally every force in Irish politics.

Prior's plan is for gradual devolution of power to the Assembly. Prior himself wil keep the power in his own hands, and transfer it in dribs and drabs to the Assembly if, when and to the extent that the Assembly is able to elect an Executive enjoying 'broad support' The Loyalists are dissatistied because the plan is not for straight majorıty (i.e. Protestant sectarian) rule. Irish nationalists are dissatisfied because the plan is another attempt to square the circle = to patch up a (more or less) democratic solution in the framework of the antidemocratic, Britishimposed, sectarian partition of Ireland.

But Prior's calculation must be that the Assembly can scarcely make things worse for him - and, if the spoils of office prove sufficiently attractive, it may just strengthen his position.

The chances of it leading to a just solution are zero. It was, atter all, a 'devolved' Parliament for Northern Ireland - Stormont - and the ruthless policy of a Protestant state for a Protestant people' i pursued through it, that led to the current war in the North. • In the meantime direct rule and British army repression continue. So does the justified response of Irish republicans who see the British troops in the North as no better than any other foreign army of occupation anywhere.

The Republican paper An Phoblacht commented after the London bombings on July 20 that: ''The screaming, abusive headlines showed just how hypocritical the British press can be within weeks of declaring jingoistic 'Gotcha' headlines when "I used my vote on Wednesday 28 July to protest at the cold state slaughter of seven fellow miners in Poland last year. Since I do not attend embassy junkets, where perhaps private words of regret may be uttered, my protest has to be a public one"

In these terms Dennis Skinner MP (in a letter to the Morning Star) explained his support for the successful resolution at the July Labour Party NEC not to invite any of the Warsaw Pact 'Communist" Parties to this year's conference.

'I have a constructive their forces in the South Atlantic killed 340 young Argentinian sailors of the General Belgrano...

As long as British troops are installed to maintain by force the partition of Ireland, the choice for the Catholic community in Northern Ireland is either to submit and suffer indefinitely - and who has the right to demand they do that? - or to fight back.

And as long as British troops raid, terrorise, and kill in the Catholic communities, who has the right to demand, or the foolishness to expect, that the fightback will be nonviolent?

Whether the IRA's bombing of British soldiers in central London last month should be approved of as good tactics in that fightback is another matter. But clearly it was part of a war between the IRA and the British, state in which the IRA - for all the bitter criticisms that socialists would make of it - is fighting for a goal, a united Ireland, which offers at least a chance of ending the violence.

In comments on the bombing, Republicans stressed 'the IRA's real and painstaking efforts to safeguard civilian lives, of whatever nationality", and contended that despite contrary impressions given by the British press, only one civilian was hospitalised for a substantial time suggestion" , he continued, "to offer those in • Poland who make the decision about who attends Labour Party conferences.

'Why not include the delegation representatives not from any church-dominated grouping but from the families of the miners killed in last year's senseless action? I am certain they would get a good working class welcome."

Left

several left-wing NEC still voted

As the Assemby Bections

draw near the air of

excitement in the North

is unbedrable....

Gree Whiz!

sucha

DRAMA! by Martin

after the bombings.

This idea that their fight is with the British capitalist state, not the British people and still less the Protestant Irish, is one constantly proclaimed by the Republicans. The problem is however to draw the full conclusions.

As can be seen notably from a discussion on strategy currently going on in the pages of An Phoblacht, the Republicans oscillate between aspirations to become a socialist movement, and tendencies to fall back on 'the national question first' and a long war of attrition narrowly (My brother-in-law used to be in the Sticks. He knows how to vote.

My mother used to vote -and personatefor lord Filt. from An Phoblacht/Republican News based on the Northern catholics. (The second option, objectively a blind alley, is one that must drive the IRA into the desperate ically has crippled Irish radical politics again and On the Prior Assembly elections, the Republican political movement Sinn Fein - has now taken a position of seeking a joint boycott by all nationalist parties, but participating is not agreed. From this position they criticise the SDLP and the Irish Independence Party la more purely 'green' ', less 'social' split-off from the SDLP) as 'breaking nationalist ranks'.

But the idea of being, or desiring to be, in common 'nationalist ranks' with the utterly compromised and bourgeois SDLP and IIP - parties which represent in the North the same brand of politics as Fianna Fail in the South - is one which must tie the Republicans to Catholic communalism and thwart their desire to Gasps of amazement are neara thrassanovt the land às the sinn Tein Electoral Machine swings into action!

Is there anyone here who actually knows now to vote? be the force which unites Irish working people, Catholic. and Protestant, north and south, in a common fight for liberaFor Irish socialists the task is to build that force.

task is to build a campaign in the working class to force our ruling class to withdraw from Ireland and to end the terrible oppressive grip which now moulds and twists Irish