FOUNDED 1939

Organ of the Connolly Association

M O C R A T No. 4 5 9 MAY 1982 20p

PRIOR SHOULD GET OUT. NOT

New C.A. premises in Battersea.

PLASTIC BULLETS, 7th CHILD KILLED

ANTI-MARKET European A s -semblymati Richard Balfe

(Labour, South London) has raised the question of the plastic bullets being used in the six counties, after these mur-derous weapons claimed their seventh child victim shot in Derry in mid-April.

Steven " McConomy w a s struck on the head at short range and died in hospital a week later.

Mr Balfe, speaking on Radio Telefis Eireann, said that in his opinion it was a prima facie case of murder. But he noted that despite the trail of havoc struck by these bullets, no sold-ier was ever convicted even of manslaughter.

The British Government, which has now introduced the use of plastic bullets in Britain, refused to withdraw them from use, despite the appeal of Bishop Daly of Derry, but prom-ised "to look into the matter."

Mr Balfe, like many others, believes that these weapons are not suitable for riot control. Those who use them know that they can kill, a n d to use them at close quarters is to commit murder. They should be banned.

END

PARTITION DEMONSTRATION

May 8th

A s s e m b l e

S p e a k e r s ' Corner, 1 p m

L O N D O N

DEVOLVE GOVT DEEP CONCERN IN DUBLIN 0UBLIN ,S

TALK OF AUTUMN ELECTION DECLARED

INSTEAD of thrusting on Irish people in the six counties a constitution that they do not Mill*! FAR-FRFF want Mr James Prior should be discussing with Dublin how Britain should proceed in " W U f c t H I l l i l k k

order to evacuate the territory altogether. The only conceivable right he would have to set up a devolved

assembly would be the consent of the twenty-six county govern-ment acting on behalf of the majority of the people of Ireland.

That consent is not available. A n Taoiseach, Mr . Charles Haughey, has said that in his opinion the Prior plan is unworkable, and there is deep concern in Dublin at the absence of the slightest ' Irish dimension."

I t is u n d e r s t o o d t h a t M r P r i o r h a d i n c l u d e d a n I r i s h d i m e n s i o n in h i s o r i g i n a l p a c k a g e b u t t h a t it w a s r e m o v e d on t h e in s i s t -e n c e of M r s T h a t c h e r , o n e of t h e b i t t e r e s t e n e m i e s t h e I r i s h e v e r had , a n d o n e w h o w e n t o u t of h e r w a y to s h o v h e r c o n t e m p t of t h e R e p u b l i c b y r e -f e r r i n g t o it a s t h e " I r i s h F r e e S t a t e . "

It should give the Orangemen something to think about t h a t since Mr Prior has no m a n d a t e f rom anybody iii I reland, t he only legal basis he could quote wtiuld .be t ha t originating in a bull of Pope Adrian I.

T h e Prior proposals are set out in a seventeen-page white paper ,

Cmd. 8541 which sells a t t he ex-tor t iona te price of £'2.30. I t begins euphorically with t he s t a t ement "Direct rule has served Nor thern I re land well." But the very first p a r a g r a p h admits t h a t the local people a re not drawn into admini-s t ra t ion of their own affairs, and tha t t he six counties are not like other p a r t s of the so-called U.K.

"ULSTERMEN" It is also admitted t h a t " there

is' a subs tant ia l minor i ty within Nor thern Ireland who th ink of themselves as Irish." I t is a more dubious proposition, however, t h a t the "majo r i ty of the populat ion in Nor thern Ireland th ink of them-selves as Brit ish." 1 have heard themselves called "Uls termen" but a good way of s ta r t ing a row in

a pub migh t be to call t hem English.

The paper concedes tha t this dif-ference of na t iona l outlook is at t h e centre of six county politics.

T H E central idea of the document is the se t t ing up of a talking

shop which could be t ransformed by degrees in to a workshop — tha t is provided t h e work suits the London government .

The "Northern Ireland Assembly" is to be set up a f t e r an election under propor t ional representat ion and given "scrut inising, deliberative and consultative funct ions." I t will be invited to recommend t h a t certain legislative powers should be t ransfer red to it. Some will never be—excepted m a t t e r s . Others will be willingly t r ans fe r r ed — trans-ferred mat ters . Others will be t ransferred if they behave them-selves-- reserved mat ters . These are in essence the categories of the Government of I re land Act. 1920.

T h e members p.re to be p;>id. Th i s should ensu re t ha t they will no t be in a h u r r y to abandon their discourse, and meanwhile, once they are safely talking. Mr Prior will be able to shake the dust of t h e six counties f r o m his feet arci r e t u r n to r e sume his promising career.

(Continued on Page Three)

' j N recognition of the impor t ance of t h e Special Session ol the

United Nat ions General Assembly on d i s a rmamen t called for J u n e 1982. Council resolves to declare Dublin City a nuclear-free zone, in te rms similar to those adopted in Bel fas t . Cork and Derry."

This resolution, passed recently by Dublin corporation, opposes t he m a n u f a c t u r e , positioning or tem-porary presence of nuc lea r wea-pons or related equipment on land or water within Dublin City.

I t r e fuses transi t , docking or communica t ions facili t ies to any vehicle or c r a f t carrying such wea-pons or equipment and expresses its suppor t for the region by region extension of such nuc lear f ree zones as first proposed a t t he UM by the Republic of I re land in 19o9.

Council also reaf f rmed i ts sup-port. for I r ish neutral i ty and urged the government to press nuclear powers to guarantee f rom all forms of nuc lear aggressions t he NFZs of non-nuc lear states. Resolut ion was proposed by Alderman P a t Can-oil 'Labour ) and co-sponsored by Cllrs. Mary Frehil l , Hannah Bar low and Tony Gregory, TD.

Connolly Association at Ant i -Apartheid Demonstration. Also for El Salvador.

Please post- the Irish Democrat to me for one year

Name

Address

Enclose £4.00 to 177 LAVENDER HILL

LONDON SW11 5TE

ywi K 8 1 — — 1

3 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT May 1982

HATTERSLEY ON THE TERROR ACT tfci- debute on ,.

I t i roriMii Act Mr Ko\ Hattei 'sa

, r, ion Ml Ha' ).:i)l\ Hot 1)0 ofier. : ;bed a.-- a mode: • •'ore impress : \ e ' " I i tuw can go

cue renders of U. auiv t h m k so::'

;-:> eminent ly q.;ot . jh he did not 1:: . ii'.e where he p here is par t o: v-

fs;:ii by of ten: . . . ::e is tile s \ m p e Hmise U) tllos

111 Nor the rn I' i:ie lenewetl c..:

I know I ha" . v i l l i unr.ecl

mi tiiose w ha-

le ; to:

at be i:. ami it .

• -:.<3 p . • !:;•) .' . ..e m: .

at m • It then-is. between K: i i i \ :c l t

:; ,•:.' to .spe-tne pa r t s of the Kingdom- provides help of

•o 'lie se ,::t\ servti" s The iy de 'e : some acts ot mdr. id-:cr:s:n anc it ce'.t.imly en-:... e ille.-' 1011 Ot tisellll H'l-

Hoaevrr I seriously n w:-.ether the ass is tance it

matches the d a m a g e it aie to the cu .se o: law and m the United Kingdom m : ,l:k: in Northern Ireland m

A. ' s existence is ccr.scioush .plotted by law and order - who continue to .-ay that .•:sh Government are bohav-

!reeaom tm t the G. e,e. claim t - pro-

tit..,. a.- ::: >o n.ai'.;. .-mnlai' .,•!.-. the duty of th.e Gov-

t" d u r e •• wedge between ate.: vio»e:u-' and

•• o: me law-amd.it i pop .la-is • in.t : r. -w drives

- tha t In l -and me- L-.-

•1 "a r •

p :: ' e

11 oii; i ' .! oris

- .. -.. • 1 e.- ive t :•- m-

1 a - n; • ,\! '...e Act f It at : • 't 1.1 1 a i' lias

Orangemen a t i t aga in * | "I-::. o:i- -sided bia- . '. • s'.i

" iion: ie.. was :i':e v. 1.. r, a th.i - . !

i, .. '.vc e allow ed t '..-.: • .. • :•'.-

I. .mi l.ei lonal'.st 1 . • - . . . ; : e !>.«:..i.'il 110:11 the s.: he Connolly Association ... . en

lila- ten years T: e report ing \va • - - . . ' -d

Tin B B C. said tl: : .-.- - •' - t e H.iti; of them Noel . 1 . . who wms i here. e s t ima ted . e ' . . , -.ad m.-ny of them f rom L • -.,/ .1 m.d Glasgow T h e ma.. >. .' of the speerhc; wa> 1: -.. .. of lie- K-.piib'icans. .. 1 -as tl- • '!: n a m shoe ' : : . . 1 t..e Fa i.l.uui I s l ands i: .: . ".lie Arg-'ir. ilia

All tins is u 01,;,;. ; >• . • . r he v 1 -. . : from the [> . is .sctt'i.ileu lor May.

" I 'HE Liverpool El a J ic -tuly " < ! t e j a promi: . '. • • a-

1 t ui.4 irom a deci.si. 1 ; ' • • p\-! re.;: -' " P r o t e s t a n t .••!'-Memorial Church" . 1 ... 1 . the lal.e H 1) Longbot tom. :o halt up with Paisley and st ir it ,.,» ... the city

N'o w o n d e r w e a r e ,.•> i n . 1:. 11 s. ran the he e h . r e

i c e writer did r.;t h . sever ai to know 111 1 h a j hls-

«>..•••. .She wrote • ' c ' • K cti 1 •:: 1:-i it and : u i ta .e over by the r-a-e ;_>;" I „ a:.e - since the C • .a,'e ... , v -II. nt s tar ted w a j ;> • • . i t :•;«!» With the Bill of Ri?'.i-s u;.i.-•;• the Protestant K m ? e . t l .„.t"eti William and Mary of . t .ui^-

I \ r n anybody ever hear s :ch balderdash ? Mary was a

Stuar t William of Orange invaded Ireland with t he blessing of the Po|Kt\ and when he won the bat t le of the Boyne. T e Detims were .sung

worked. 01 be really advised about the consequences ot its repeal We must t ake it on t rust f r om the Home Seen tar;, and f rom those who advise hut:, tha t it is neces-sary. or we must chal lenge the j u d g m e n t which by the n a t u r e of the measure they cannot subs t an -t ia te publictt 11 v m any detail

I mean it as no oftet.ee to tr.e Home Secret, r ; whose integr i ty i regard as being b.-yond quest ion, when I say that the principle of accept ing s .eh. powers on t rus t is wholly repugnant , or ought to be. in a proper democracy. T h a t is particularly true if such Dracon an powers were originally accepted by th is House a.- a t e m p o r a r y measure , iirendecl to meet an im-media te at--- desperate emergen-y . and l u r e ur.itiuaHy o>.er t he ' e a r s grown more and more p e r m a n e n t unti l today u diSte- It to de te : -mine how i.utereir. :n any lea l sense they ..re f rom a perr.iar.e.t -

NEW PAPER POSTPONED A NEW v. "st-. v.:

Si Bi n a !. . v. men V.... appeai'.-d 1 April come out it Ma.'

i; is o-r . u-1 r-e'e .

e - ' . r hsheci 1 .1'. ~

raottcfh a.lt "..-:: - '. : '

p. ople a. :'..'':!' ally -

suspicions .. • • t ' | (

M Mae I. I's ' l e i ' F.'.'t (•Ola .Cs Vat" U f pltaSU': Fit -aetald t-Mlitt.-a ami us lollev.ee- w ' . e lo-•••;.. for «. eouu.c:'ba.l'.ne;r

CerLaiii'i; it w- - d i r in ; that Mr Fi l /ger i ' lc v • • tha t the idea of the server" was mooted

• • A.'h -li o >

ir. re une Tile Bill of R igh t s con-eet'tu-.i the bast.- ot the const. tu-t...:...'. m.unaivliy. not religion And the Orange Ot'd-r was not even

A -ere (thug to tile Official TllStOty of Orangeism" ipnbhsheu by T h y n n e 1. J a m e s Wilson. "Presby-ter ian. a t tended a meet ing of a Ma-onic Lodge in Benbitrb. Co. Ty-rone. on J u n e 24th. '.Tst-i, and asked the Masons to take punit ive ac-ti' ti aga ins t tie- Catholic "Defen-de r . ' They refused. He left them Arrived home, he con-ce t . ed the idea of the new organ-i ; a " e n of the Orange Boys. ' Tin li.st-•<•';." a r . e s the story of t he so-r-.'.l«d Bat.lv1 ot the Diamond 21st Sep" ember IT-i:,. which leswlted in the "birth of a new and powerful order sn.tre known th roughout the world a", the Orange In.- -ltuttoit." I' • p. n -Ipal promoter wa.s a land-lord. Colonel Blacker.

I 'HE landlords of Ul- 'e : avail;-:' ' of t he f.e't that the i r t enan t s

w :e ot nnyed religion to .set them :.: e-.eh. o ther ' s th roa ts and thus extract the maximum rents. The O r a n g e Orde: rout ined to serve this purpose on behalf of em-ployers who wire enabled to keep down wages It has never admi ' -ti-d women, and was tor a period m a d e an illegal organizat ion bv-c i t . se i f a t tempts to unsea t Vic-tor: t f rom the throne of England ::i fa our of the Duke ot Cumber-land. It wits brought out of moth-balls in 1848 to help suppress the rising of tha t year

It h a s always been consistent ly react ionary, and a fa i lure to un-d e r s t a n d th is has been one of the deficiencies of the British Labour Movement over many years. In t he coming period it may be neces-sary for the Irish in Br i ta in to conduc t education regard ing thin body.

" I \ "E sha l . see what is in it v. hen ' ' it comes out. r - meanwhi le

g-i/fus into the crystal mm mus t make what they can 01 t.ie n a m e s of the men who will run if T h e editor is Terry Sneehv w h j its1.1. tD work for Bora Failte. O n - d t iec tur is Colin Turner who works on the London Broadcast ing Coriot 'a t ion the o ther .s Eric Nolan, piesio. n t of the Co. Dublin Association. A11-othei name rumoured te have been involved in prel iminary discussions is t ha t ot Mr Hogan of the Federa -tion of l u s h Societies.

Cf course these gentiem-.-n a r e pei fect.y entit led to s t a r t a pape r if they th ink they can make it pay but we hope that in an a t t e m p t to keep two weeklies running, th.e l u s h in Bri tain will not end up with none

IRISH CLASSES

m STAFFORDSHIRE

I\ 0 you live in S taSord-' shire ? Are you interes-

ted 111 learning some Ir ish history, or brushing up and filling the gaps in what you were t augh t at school?

Gal way women M o y r a Goodman is conduct ing a course for tbe Workers Edu-cat ional Association on Tuesdays f rom 10.15 to 1143 am at Stone Vouth and Com-muni ty Centre S ta t ion Ap-proach. Stone T h i s is a series of six talks and dis-cussions. beginning Tuesday

We hope Mrs Goodman ' s April 27th. All are welcome pleasant personality and ability in her subject will at-t rac t the good a t t endance she deserves.

Act of P a r l i a m e n t - a permanent part of our c r imina l procedure

1 THEORETICALLY, they r e c i . e 1 ' the House 01 C o m m o n s assent for renew al every year, but in pi a. -t ire they are too o f t e n charged through this House late at nigh' af ter other eye-catching, headline-catching business h a s been com hi-ded After last year , when the Government m a n a g e r s provided a propeC debate on a crucial subieet at a proper hour , it is deeply dis-appointing tha t once aga in we have turned to this - m a t t e r of great principle in the hole-and-corner way in w hich we examine it this 'even-ing I say t h a t working 011 the principle tha t I believe guides many of my right hon. a n d hon. Fri-aids. that it is only necessary to sum-marise par t s I I a n d I I I of the A to be offended by its cont inual ex-istence

The Act ent i t les t he Home Sec-retary to exclude f r o m Gieat Britain, or 111 some circumstances f rom the United Kingdom, persons not normally res ident in one of tiiose places—persons whom he bo-h,-\es 111 his j u d g m e n t are ter-rorists. It a l lows the police to deta.il for 4o hours without trial men and women they sus-pct-t ot" being te r ror i s t s and it m o w s the de t en t ion of those men unci women to be ex-tent;- : to -even d a y s on the Home gc-T .'.:•;.'.- fiat. T h e h a r d lac at •::•' e e e f l . e e of tlliS ACt, Cs 10"

u. the Home S e c r e h u y s ; • :. .-.;, • i,.'les, is t h a t only one out

: ;it!;i s ch men a n d women held a'.-u : too- powers has eventually

beer, suivessfully prosecuted Eight o : of every n ine people held wvu-ou: charge and t r ia l have been in-n.y cut men and women

Mr Elojn Griffiths (Bury St Edmunds it No.

Mr Hatte-sley: T h e hon Member for Bury St E d m u n d s (Mr Grif-fiths!, who one might imagine would leap at t he point, says "No". It is a fundamen ta l l y damaging and dangerous t h ing when people say "We did not c h a r g e or try them, they were not convicted, but we happened to know they were guilty". If there was ever t he top of a slip-p°"y slope moving away from the fre'-aoms tha t the House is supposed to protect, the idea t h a t we happen to know people a r e guilty—despite the minor inconvenience tha t the courts cannot find t hem so—seems to be a fundamen ta l l y dangerous proposition for anyone to defend.

I take the example t h a t the Home Secretary has given this evening. As I unders tand his figures. 19 per-sons having been detained for a crime, which all of us must be glad eventually resulted in a s tccessful prosecution, only eight people were so prosecuted and convicted. The case cited to us by the Home Secre-tary, which produced eight prosecu-tions. was also a case m which 11 people, who were not guilty of any-thing according to the courts, were held for ei ther 48 hours or seven days.

Mr Eldon Griffiths: T h e r ight hon Gent leman will remember , perhaps more poignantly t h a n most hon Members, the B i rmingham pub bombings. Is he asking the House to accept t ha t the police and security services should never act pre-emp-tively to prevent such an event f rom happening again, oven though the mat ter is not just iciable?

Mr Hattersley: I find the concept of the police uct ing pre-emptively terrifying, I do not believe t h a t is a term that either the Home Secretary or police officers would use. I hold to the view tha t the police should be given adequate powers to prosecute those who have a l eg i t imate chance of being found guil ty in a court. To be held without t h a t prospect is a fundamenta l danger .

IN view of the poor response by the Labour Party in the recent

vote taken on the issue of the Pre-vention of Terrorism Act, one can hardly see any reason for optimism when calculating the response o* the Irish community to Labour In the next election.

Once again we witness the depths to which the main political parties will stoop in order to obtain that vital vote of the Irish over here to enable them to retain or pre-serve their power to govern this country.

If we are not prepared to accept any longer the manner In which we are manipulated by these poli-tical giants then maybe the only answer for us is to establish a party of our own and divert tha Irish vote towards those who would be prepared to maintain their com-mitments and advance the in-terests of the Irish in general.

The question remains as to when, the Irish will wake up to their re-sponsibility as a significant political force to be used for their own pro-tection and the achievement of peace and stability within their own country, and to play a more activa part in persuading the public at large of the follies of bipartisah policies practised by elected bodies in the name of democracy.

Finally, may I congratulate ths 51 Labour MPs who, along with two Plaid Cymru MPs, one alliance MP and, of course, Mr Gerry Fitt, had the courage of their convic-tions to vote for the repeal of this Act, J, M. W1SENER,

Northampton

T H E Armagh Pipers ' Club is org-an..smg the second a n n u a l

Edward Bunting school, f rom July 17th to 24th inclusive. Last year over 70 a t tended at Benburb Prior;.. Co. Tyrone. This year in addi t ion to the classes lor P.ute t m whistle, accordion, uillean pipes, harp , concert ina and fiddle, the re will be an intensive Irish language course and a singing class (English and I r i sh i. The course fee is £20 and Benburb Priory offer full resi-den t i a l facilities at a cost of £7 50 (bed. breakfast , d m n , r . teai per day.

S t u d e n t s can. of course, m a k e the i r own a r r angemen t s and come in on a day basis. Last year, some of the leading musicians a n d s ingers who part icipated were David Hammond. Noel Hill and the McPeake family.

M a n y of the leading lights in N.A.C.A.I, are back in Ireland a n d the re is less happening - on t h e Engl i sh side of the Irish sea. How • ever, the i r re turn to Ireland h a s revi tal ised athlet ics in e number of areas , part icular ly in the case of t he O'Donoghues who are now back in Kerry. They have a club which regularly br ings up to 100 compet i to rs to the juvenile C.C. championships . B, VALLELY,

Armagh Mr Vallely ha*s been for a

n u m b e r of years in te rna t ional sec-r e t a ry of National Athletics and Cycling Association of Ireland.

" I V OULD you be good enough to ' ' inser t my le t ter of appeal in

the I r i sh Democrat . At an open meeting here in

Glasgow, a commit tee was formed to ra ise funds for a possible pre-sen t a t i on to F a t h e r Patrick Fell oil his relea.se from prison in July of th is year.

We are in no way a f ront organ-isat ion for any political party but s imply a broad-based collection of people with varying views on t h e t r agedy of Ireland

Our sincere ho|x- is to see com-mi t t ee s formed in most pa r t s of Br i t a in with a view to making a wor thwhi le test imonial for t h i s brave m a n who has suffered so much for dar ing to organise and help t he children of Be.fast.

PEADAR McALEER, Glasgow.

(Mr McAleer adds t ha t donat ions can be sent to h im at 8a Royston Road, Glasgow, N.l . Mrs Mairead O'Dell. 606 Alexandra Parade , Glasgow. Mr E a m o n n McGuire, 8 Overwood Drive, King ' s Park, Glas-gow, a n d Mr Donall MacAmhlalgh, St Michael 's Mount. Nor thamfi ton) .

May 1982 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 5

S c h ' i i i ' c a n d I V < - I i i i o I o ^ > l t < > \ J o h n s t o n ARE PLAY GROUPS WHAT IRISH NEEDS? L I F E O N T H E O C E A N WAVE ' I ' H I R T Y y e a r s a g o t h e c e n t r e s

of s u c h t o w n s ;ts B i r m i n g -h a m a n d M a n c h e s t e r w e r e s w a r m i n g w i t h I r i s h immi -g r a n t s . T h a t t h i s i m m e n s e in-flux w a s v i r t u a l l y i g n o r e d w a s o n e of t h e s u p r e m e f a i l u r e s of t h e B r i t i s h L a b o u r a n d T r a d e U n i o n m o v e m e n t .

Now. immigra t ion h a s stopped, except for small g roups of the ad-venturous young, who go back to Ireland before they a r e th i r ty .

At the same time, t he I r i sh are still the biggest e thn ic minority. Hundreds of t h o u s a n d s have ec-onomic reasons fo r s t a y i n g here, and their chi ldren, now growing up are in want of an ident i ty .

As Mr Tom Walsh p u t it at the l.B.R.G. meet ing in Liverpool, it is possible to be both Amer ican and Irish. There is no conflict . But it is impossible to be bo th Br i t i sh and Irish. You have to choose.

1 ) E R H A P S a m a j o r i t y of second generation I r ish people will

choose to be Brit ish. Some will want to over-compensate their Irishness, and t h a t is how Irish names appear in t h e so-called "National Fron t . " T h e y w a n t to be more English t h a n t h e English themselves.

At the same t ime the re is so much tha t is not Eng l i sh in the background of a child born in Eng-land of Irish parents , t h a t a very large number a re op t ing for Irish-ness. But how can t h e I r i sh way of life be preserved?

One aspect, and of course it is only one, is the l ea rn ing of the Ir ish language. T h a t is why there has been such an enormous in-crease in the n u m b e r of Irish

S t r a n g l i n g

" F r a n g l a i s " ^pHE French government has

' issued a list of English words which will be banned from all offi-cial correspondence by October.

"Tour operators" will become "voyaglsts" and there are to be no more "jumbo jets."

However the government is not attempting to storm the Malvinas of "parking", "jogging" and "jeans".

There has been for a number of years concern at the constant ex-pansion of "Franglais"—it is felt that if It is allowed to go on there will be no French language left.

Studies in English dialects has shown a comparable process at work. Local and regional words are disappearing in favour of the creations of "admass". Something over half of them have disappeared in the last twenty-five years.

l anguage classes in Britain, and it is a m a t t e r for sat isfact ion t h a t so many of the leading tutors a re members of the Connolly Associa-tion.

But. to be I rank. Irish is a diffi-cult l anguage for people reared on English. An English speaker will readily pick up the Germanic or Romance languages. Even Russ ian and Greek will not be hard. But cast your mind back to the Lat in t h a t wa.s bet in to you at school and you will remember grappl ing with an entirely ."lifferent way of th ink ing I remember a H u n g a r i a n dur ing the war who told me t h a t he could see perfectly well tha f Engl ish was in many ways an easier language t h a n his own, bu t i ts "spirit" was foreign to him. He would never speak it well.

1 1 7 HAT'S the answer? T h e answer is of course to learn

young. Th i s means t ha t in any household where there is I r i sh the language should be used be-fore the chi ldren as much as pos-sible. They will acquire more t h a n t u r n s of phrase : they will ac-quire modes of thought . Even though they forget these, the im-pression will be there and avail-able when they grow up and. one hopes, t ake an interest in the i r her i tage.

One of the most successful ven-tures of the language movement in Ireland is the inst i tut ion of play groups for th ree and four year olds. This of course presumes the ex-istence of several families in one locality who are interested in t h e language. T h e play group idea or iginated in Wales, and was t aken to I re land some f i f teen years ago by Mr Maolsheachla inn o Caollai. The re are now 101 playgroups in Ireland, some of them in the Gael-tacht .

T H E aim is t.o foster bilingualism. Chi ldren learn more during the

first five years of their lives t h a n in the whole of the rest of t hem Their pr inc ipal method of learn ing is play. And under the system called technical ly "structured free-dom" they a re able to learn a second language in much the same way as they learn the first.

All t h a t is necessary is t ha t t h e children should come together for two or th ree hours every day in the presence of an Ir ish-speaking supervisor. T h e first thing is of course for the paren ts to come to-gether and discuss the -project and to form a commit tee.

Advice on how to s tar t a play group is available, and there is a handbook for supervisors published at £2, and a casset te a t £3.50. There is also a videotape depicting a typical morn ing in a playgroup.

In fo rma t ion can be obtained f rom the Gaelic League. Harcour t Street, Dublin, or f rom An comh-choiste reamhscolaiochta , a t 7 Men-ion Square, Dublin. 2.

HAD occasion recently to at-tend an event organised by the

Inst i tut ion of Engineers of Ireland a t which the "s ta te of the art was outlined for wave energy conver-sion systems, by Sean MacNamara of UCG D e p a r t m e n t of Mechanical Engineering a n d Richard O Fla-her ty of the ESB. The latter was associated wi th the major pumped s torage scheme a t Turlough Hill in Wicklow, so t h a t it can be in-ferred t ha t t he ESB is prepared to put its weight behind a large-scale project wi th th i s technology as soon as the t ime is ripe.

Professor M a c N a m a r a has been associated with t he Japanese pro-ject at Kamei , which has been set up under t he In te rna t iona l Energy Agency umbrel la . (Prior to tha t he has been associated with deep-sea oil projects a t Houston. Texasi .

The Japanese , who have a very strong incentive to reduce their oil-bill, were in first with lull-scale tr ials; the K a m e i "wave-ship" has provided much use fu l practical in-formation, t h o u g h it was designed without good theoret ical analysis, to the extent t h a t the overall con-version efficiency is as low as a'. ' . Professor M a c N a m a r a ' s work has enabled the energy losses in the system to be analysed and quanti-fied, so t h a t t h e design oi a fu tu re wave conversion device can be o. a firmer basis.

' T H E Kamei wave-ship works by driving a i r - turb ines with air

compressed by the water in surge-chambers . T h i s is a good system, in t h a t the speed of the air-tur-

bines is well ma tched to t h e speed of electricity genera tors , avoidme gear ing problems. T h e losses how-ever are in the basic des ign of the system, the sizes of t he orifices, the mot ion oi the ship etc.

Despite this, electricity h a s been generated and a J a p a n e s e village h a s been supplied wi th converted wave-energy

T h e basics of wave energy system design are well advanced in Brit-ain though threa tened b j t h e Tha t -cher axe. £e eral compet ing projects exist : the Lancaster bag, t h e Bris-tol oscillating cylinder a n d the Sal-ter "duck" being the f r o n t runners . For a while the la t te r wa.s the fav-ouri te : 1 lOth-seale t r i a l s have taken place on Lough Ness, but the consensus appears to be h a r d e n i n g t h a t while being efficient it is too complicated, with exac t ing design requirements for a . ' r igid spine.

Cur ren t favourite is t h e Lan-caster bag. which is a n "a t t enua -tor" ra ther t han . a " t e r m i n a t o r " ( the terminology is borrowed Irom microwave engineering) and is floppy so t ha t it should have no difficulty riding out s torms .

Cm lilt e-cimated rusts aii uf the ' d. r i.; £1.600 per installed k\V, ... acn nn credible assumptions givi-. 7 »;,.p pei KWH Tills is not bad . s :ene\ \able energy sm.rres it" C"'.bt it can be impro\, d v. nil a. ... tion tcchmijia s

In .In >,-,! near J apa i . •'••• mean "va\e power per metre is about la k'.V Irish western seas the value IS -'k\v, or aOMW km.

The ESB s es t imate ot the practi-cally if alisablc wave energy poten-tial off Irish coasts is 8000GWH pel-annum. -a- so - , of total electiicity generated.

I N discission it emerged that the first 10-25MW demonstra t ion

pio.ii. t v.as likely to be commis-sioned m or about 1990. and would be likely to cost of the order of £I0UMt this judgement is based on the fact tha t the Japanese are already building the i r "Mark II" project

In this context the \isit of the Har land and Woolf trade union leaders to Haughey is of crucial significance. The re is talk of a n order for bulk coal carriers, to supply the big new ESB coal sta-tion at Moneypoint on the Shan-non with Austral ian coal. This would ensure the .short-term fu tu i e

.̂i' the Belfast shipyard, helping to bridge tiie gap until the demand for wave energy conversion devices begins to pick up in the 1990s. giv-ing a new lease of hie to t he world's ailing shipbuilding in-dustry Ireland could be .11 -he lead here, provided the polita a! problems are ri solved.

IRISH STUDIES IN LONDON 1 T is a sign of t he t imes , when

• there are s t rong forces in the Brit ish es tabl ishment m a k i n g lor a rapprochement with t he I r i sh Re-public (whatever the i r reasons i t h a t British colleges a n d universi-t ies are embark ing on "Irish studies."

T h e Irish universi t ies a r e of course riddled with shoneenism, as the British are mostly dedica ted to I ransnat ional ism and t h e Common Market . Much t h a t pas ses for I r i sh thinking is real ly Irish establishment th inking.

At the same t ime t h e r e is a growing interest in I r e l and , and t h a t interest, as it grows, is bound to include varying aspec ts includ-ing the Republican aspect .

For this reason the arrangement come to between University Col-lege, Galway, and the Polytechnic of North London to put on an Irish

studies course a t the Polytechnic is to be welcomed.

P A R T I C U L A R S can be obtained f rom I r i sh Cultural Activities,

London, 7 King Henrv s Road. Lon-don, NW3.

One project to which unequivocal support can be given is the UCG Summer School on the Irish Lang-uage which takes place between August 2nd and August 27th, 1982. The course fee is £190 Irish (about £h>0 ster l ing) and in addition there is accommodat ion in the de-l ightful su r round ings oi Carraroe in the hea r t of the Gael tacht . An interest ing p rogramme of excur-sions h a s been prepared. Applica-tions mus t be in by J u n e 11th.

A month earlier, July 6th to 22nd, there is also a t UCG a course on the Literature and Culture of Ire-land. This will cost about £85 sterling, plus accommodation Ap-plications must be in by May 21st.

PRIOR (Continued from Page One)

' I 'HEI iE is. however, one lmport-' a n t improvement on previous

plans. T h e Assembly will be em-powered to co-operate with the twentv-six counties government if (once it has got its powers) it so

wishes. ' Ih is was a p ro \ i s inn the Connolly Association had inser ted in one of the Bills of R i g h t s whii h ware .hath-d in the rr\ent.ir-s.

T h e Assembly election is t ipped for Octoct r , iuid the odds a r e t ha t both Unionists and S D . L P . will par t ic ipate . It is even on t h e ca rds t h a t Sinn Fein (provisional) will par t ic ipate , though it is mos t un-likely that any of them who wire e ' e e h d would take their seats . Th i s

K of (oursc. a ma t t e r for them-selves.

For any decisions of t lie Assembly la Ik effective a 70 p-r cent major i ty will be necessary.

The British Government ' s object is doubtless to take the Irish ques-tion out of political controversy and so clear the way for the mam objective of securing effective con-trol of the twenty-six counties in a NATO context.

An Irish language play-group in a c t i on

4 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT May 1982

THE STORY OF MCCAFFERY National sabotage' M > \ \ ..mis of tiu- j.'..'. • of g y A L A N JONES replaced with one of murder '.j: **

» \rhirh t.hp npnfllM u H P:1 T h _ , . • ,, c_ - L 1

jns of m e j.'.. e\isi

lined Iron

1'_'() yen: :<>::h below

have beer, .ons of the .•a changed

? ' h e ac-

M-rd. i ihe ' C .t I -

i. i: ot i'.' .I'm1 the ball.i'.; on-. >:". o: '. iie .story,

i ' . t r ivk McCaffery was o-HT. of •st pa ren t s in Athy :; .e Co.

..: t u e This was in t he year 134J. mother was unable to rear h im lie was fostered out > .. Mrs

iy Murray Not much ts known of his : a :he r

••-.-pf tha t the family or ig ina ted Mulhngar and se t t led in

C-rlow H.'re the f a the r b - . a m e . >: •tnor oi a lunatic asylum s o m e

: ) aiiicd charges were m a d e <:ns* him. but t h o u g h he

<-.-oed himself he dec ides to . i- tor America. He was never

. -in.1 o: aa. ' .ti . \ I OHEi>YLK Patr ick 's m o t h e r

died young, and Mrs M u r r a y • ght ht::i to Eng land '.vhere

*•:•;<•: near Manchester . Here iork.v! a cotton mill He was r.t>.\i • s .i quiet boy whose only •i ' .of . was reading. W h e t h e r

ii'.~ ..::>• significance or not . : : V know n. B .t most

• s!. ' :«>••at this p i r . j . i would • unable to read.

uc . i : • ot .seventeen '.. .• en-I'iie year 181)1 to .r.d ium a

...• •; soldier m the 32nci reg iment .: .f Fulwood Bar racks in

u. i '". Friday lUiii 5ep:em-•' ! u.u.time lie \v:.,- or. gua rd

' it: • children playing .side :! mess broke a window,

u H i-iiam ordered McCaf-' 1 • .ueii them aiu; t.c:e their

,'liiklren is t especially .

iiid ritle. K.'•'>>-.»{ them B C i oi a Protest.:

t he : . ni-".' iie :v. .an • .car.

BREACH OF NEUTRALITY | ..'ELANP'.:5 participation in EEC

•auctions against Argent ina is '. ai' breach of Irish neu t ra .ny ,

- •'. - the Irish Sovereignty Move-It erodes fu r the r mter-

. .onal contidence in IreUtari s de-• initiation to remain neut ra l m

• event oi European e: world

i iir United Nations is tn most • . .propriate place for expressing ': land 's policy on in ternat ional

• .es. says the ISM. Going along the EEC everytime one or

' . .er EEC member seeks to rally .: support of its NATO allies in ; tence of some interest or o ther

believes threatened, is a most • iigerotis pa th for Ireland to fol-

It leaves no basis for r e fus ing ioin in EEC-sponsored policies

. :ei- home which could be im-..'•nsely more th rea ten ing to us in

luture. '-r"iie Fore ign Affairs D e p a r t m e n t

Dublin says tha t I re land 's lieu-i titty is not affected and tha t it is •king par t m sanctions to .show

solidarity" with the EEC and to <pport t he United Nat ion-3ut this is double-talk T h e

. lu ted Nat ions has not called tor motions against Argentina T h e n^h Government is hoping iliat it .11 get a bet ter deal f rom tlie EEC .. : a rm prices if it noes along with . - general EEC line on the Falk-

. ; Island*. For then is no i u obligat ions on us wlvusoeu ' r

•) t.tke par t in such a hosti le . r e T h e Irish communi ty in

-.igentina are up ii a rms about it. rhev t h ink Ireland is disgracing t.-elf because of Mr tl'i'isrhey s •oniphance with the EEC. We "an , ce r ta in t ha t if Garre t Fitz--ei tld were hi office he would be . bet ter and quite possibly would • worse It shows one cannot ex-

)-r t. too much f rom a government >t businessmen.

was unsat:sta-.i .aid McCaffery was put on a charge of neglecting h i s duty Plat ed under arrest he was bin ught ,p oe; ' i f his command ing ottieer n e v morning Th i s was Colonel Ci u11 u son ot a Baron. ' I 'HE charge was read. C a p t a i n * Hanl iam gave his evidence.

There was nobody to say a n y t h i n g m his favour and McCaffery w a s found guilt; and sentenced to fourteen day- los.- oi pay. C.B. a n d extra pack-drill. This was con-sidered a s c re punishment a n d it is to be wondered if the C a p t a i n had a down on him. He m a r c h e d back m the r am with sixteen o t h e r soldiers.

He sat on h..- bed and began to clean his rule. His feelings of course were no: recorded and mus t bi guessed. T h e n th rough t h e window he saw Capta in H a n h a m walking with Colonel Crofton. • He lifted the title and fired a shot . One says no th ing of course about the mismanagement and ineffici-ency of an army which allowed live ammunit ion to soldiers not on ac-tive service Whatever about t h a t both otliccrs tell wounded.

McCattery was found still s i t t ing on the bed with the rifle in h i s hand:.. He told the soldiers who arrested him "it.-.t lie had wounded Captain H.uia .it: Actually t h e bullet had p.t.v-ed through t h e I wo officers and both of them died wuhin days Tins meant tha t t h e wo aiding charge which might h a v e been met v.uk t ranspor ta t ion w a s

replaced with one of murder lor which the penal ty was dea th . ' I ' H E case canu- up at Liverpool

assizes on Thu r sday 13th Dec-ember, 1861. Patr ick McCaffery, wearing the un i fo rm of his regi-ment, stood in the dock He was described as of fair complexion and slightly built. He seemed calm and unconcerned, bat could say nothing in h i s defence. It was a short trial. I t took the jury only ten minutes to reach a verdict of guilty. The judge showed some emotion in view of McCaflery's youthful appearance , but nonethe-less sentenced h im to dea th . He spent his last days on ea r th in Kirkdale prison, mostly in prayer. At a am on 11th J a n u a r y , 1862 he was awakened with news of his impending execution. He seemed calm.

There was widespread public sympathy and a crowd of 10,000 gathered round the scaffold out-side the jail. At noon he mounted the scaffold dressed in prison uni-form and Ca lc ra f t t he h a n g m a n placed the rope round his neck. The last words he was heard to speak were "Mary and Joseph, I give you my soul. J e sus have mercy on me." When the bolt was drawn he struggled for a moment then died.

Kjrkdale prison was long ago pulled down and the site now forms par t of a modern housing estate. So nobody knows where McCaffery was buried. But the bal lad is still occasionally sung, and it is here published in one of the " b a n n e d ' forms.

N.CC.L MEETS THE BALLADS AT WARWICK OF MCCAFFERY

' I ' H E AGM ot tire National Coun-cil for Civil Liberties took

place a VV.tr vr k University over the first weekend of April. Morale amongst members and delegates was high, even though the a n n u a l report showed t lie organisat ion to be in financial difficulties.

Twenty motions and eight emer-gency motions were debated. One on Nor thern Ireland expressed con-demna t ion of the absence of civil liberties and normal democratic inst i tut ions, but the part re fe r r ing to "acknowledging the sound prin-ciple of the aim of one sovereign democrat ic na t ion s ta te for all I re land" was deleted on an amend-ment f rom the NCCL Executive.

The NCCL Executive and the Connolly Association both submit-ted emergency resolutions on the PTA; the Association's call for specific action being added to t he general s t a t emen t by the NCCL. as follows.

"This AGM condemns the re-newal of the Prevent ion of Ter -ror ism Act this March and views with scepticism the government ' s decision to appoint Lord Jellicoe to head ano the r review into t h e Act's operat ion. T h e key recom-menda t ions of T h e Shackle ton Repor t having been ignored, th is f u r t h e r enquiry was no more t h a n a shabby device to de-fuse opposition to renewal.

"This AGM confi rms its oppo-si t ion to the Prevent ion of Ter -ror ism Act. Th i s Act diminishes t he r i gh t s of all people by pro-viding the police, army a n d Executive with powers to ar res t , de ta in and exile which are un-chal lengeable in t he courts. I t has also proved irrelevant in combtiting violence.

"Conference congratu la tes t he NCCL's excellent record of work

4 against the Act and instructs t he EC to ensure th i s cont inues unti l th is legislation is removed f rom the S t a tu t e Book. To th i s end, those who have personal ex-perience of the operat ions of t h e Act which were in contravent ion of the i r own or colleagues' civil liberties should be called upon to make wr i t ten submissions to T h e Rt Hon Lord Jellicoe, The Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Ga te . London SW1H 9AT.

WHEN I was scarcely sixteen years of age

To join the Army I did engage. I left my home with martial intent

To join the Thirty Second Regi-ment.

To Fulwood Barracks I did go To do my training to fight the

foe. Of trouble and trial I never was

free. For Captain Hanham took a dislike

to me.

When I was on barrack duty one day

Some soldiers' children came out to play.

From the Officers' Mess the Cap-tain came,

And told me to take each parent's name.

But I took one name instead of three;

"Neglect of duty" he charged me. Seven days C.B. and ten days pay

It cost me to let those children play.

So I loaded my rifle and did prepare To shoot Captain Hanham on the

barrack square. I took good aim with intent to kill.

But I shot my Colonel against my will.

I did the deed and I shed the blood; At Liverpool Assize my trial stood.

The judge he said "McCaffery — You'll take your place on the

gallows tree."

I have no father to take my part, No loving mother to break her

heart, But I have one friend, and a girl is

she Who'd lay down her life for

McCaffery.

And so I die while he goes free, The man who caused my misery.

Hanham, beware, the day will dawn

When you will wish you'd never been born.

Now all you young Irishmen, listen to me,

Have nothing to do with the British army

For bitter shame and tyranny Have made a murderer out of

McCaffery.

U P . HAUGHEY had some - s t ra ight - ta lk ing in A m e n i when he went over there on St Pa t r ick ' s Day. At the same t ime the road to a United Ireland is n" t t h r o u g h the Oval Office of the Whi te House.

"I do not see the Irish Const i tu-t ion as any par t of the problem which Nor thern Ireland repre-sents ," t he Taoiseach told a d is t inguished American audience "I see t he pr incipal problem as t he g u a r a n t e e which the British Gov-e r n m e n t has offered to the Union-ist populat ion. There will be no progress unt i l t h a t guarantee is re-moved. I have always said t h a t for us to change the Const i tu t ion uni la te ra l ly would be idle and f rui t less . I t would be proposing to please somebody whose wishes at th i s t ime we canno t ascertain, ' he said. Ins tead it was for Br i t a in " to remove this implacable gua ran -tee" so t h a t everyone could get a round the table and write a new-Cons t i tu t ion for I re land as a whole.

P a r t of the purpose of the Taoi-seach ' s American visit, of course, was to undo the damage done b the Coalit ion adminis t ra t ion. "The Coal i t ion 's ent i re activities so f a r as t h e Uni ted Sta tes was concerned could only be described as na t iona l sabotage," Mr Haughey told t h e Dail on his r e tu rn f rom America. He also said t h a t when he c a m e into office he found Dr Fi tzGera ld s policy on Nor thern Ireland to be "nil".

| T is of course what we all knew * all along. Fi tzGerald 's ta lk

about cons t i tu t iona l crusades a n d adopt ing a const i tut ion for t he south t h a t would suit a coun t ry which h a d never been divided was just so much waffle. If he h a d been speaking at t he White House on Pa t r ick ' s Day he would doubtless have been self-flagellating himself with moralising cant and

SHAMELESS INTRIGUE

\ \ r H A T E V E R one thinks of ' Enoch Powell, he has his ea r

close to t he ground when it comes to following the ways of t h e Br i t i sh Es tabl i shment , the Foreign Office and the City.

W h e n he recently accused the Uni ted S t a t e s of being involved in "shameless in t r igues" in the Six Counties , it is wor th paying a t ten-tion.

He s t a t ed t h a t it was a long-s t and ing objective of US defence policy t o br ing the island of Ire-land in to NATO as a base for mis-siles a n d to command the eastern Atlantic. He said t ha t officials in the Amer ican S ta te Depar tment , t he Fore ign Office and the I r i sh Republic were all involved in these intr igues, without the direct know-ledge of ei ther the British Pr ime Minis ter or her Ulster Ministers, former ly Atkins, now Prior. ' T H E Fore ign Office under Car-

r ing ton were up to their eyes in this, he said. Mr Powell sees these developments f rom the point of view of a unionist and English imperial is t , who wants to keep Eng-land s gr ip on the subordinate na t ional i t ies of these islands.

I t is r emarkab le nonetheless t h a t such a n intell igent commenta tor f rom the political r ight should echo what those on the Left in I re land and Br i t a in have been saying for some t ime now—namely t ha t I r i sh neut ra l i ty is in considerable dan-ger. I t is th rea tened by the T h a t -cher -Haughey and the Tha tcher -Fi tzGerald talks, and the Ameri-cans and influential Brit ish circles would no t mind seeing moves t aken towards ending Par t i t ion as long as the whole island was in the proces-s e d more firmly to t he NATO war-bloc. T h i s is the Vnain danger now th rea t en ing I re land as the NATO people m a k e their prepara t ions for World W a r Three.

praising the Unionists for resis t ing sectarian dominat ion f rom the South—in th i s way expressing lus cockeyed view of history and doing Britain s p ropaganda job for it in America.

While f r i ends in America are use-fu l for I r e l and to have, Mr Haughey and h is colleagues would be naive if they th ink the USA is going to press Tha tcher and Co to achieve a uni ted Ireland. T h e only kind of united I re land America would be interested in is one in tegra ted into NATO.

If the I r i sh Government wishe3 to put pressure on Bri tain to t ake steps in t h e direction of I r ish unity, it needs to look to ordinary opinion in Br i ta in for support and to the f r i ends of I re land in t he British Labour and t rade union movement. For it is there I re land will find people who are opposed to the en t i re policy of NATO and the war-blocs, as well as being in favour of a un i ted Ireland.

TAOISEACH

ON GRATTAN'S

PARLIAMENT ' T W O hundred years ago on April

16th last, G r a t t a n ' s Par l i ament convened in wha t is now the Bank of I re land building in College Green, Dublin. I t was t he last Pa r l i ament which legislated for the whole of I re land. I t was an AU-Protes tan t Pa r l i amen t but the I r i sh Volunteer movement which led to its es tabl i shment had pledged itself to upholding pr ivate judgment in ma t t e r s of reUgion s ta t ing t h a t "as men a n d as Ir ishmen, as Chris t ians and as Protestants , we rejoice in t he relaxat ion of t he penal laws aga ins t our Catholic fel low-countrymen."

Two h u n d r e d years to the day Taoiseach Char les Haughey m a d e the following poin ts in an address to a dis t inguished gather ing which came toge ther in the House of Lords chamber of the Bank of I re land, a ha l l which is still just as it was in G r a t t a n ' s day. T h e audience included people f r o m Nor th as well as South :

" G r a t t a n ' s Pa r l i amen t provided a brave a t t e m p t to balance con-flicting aspirat ions, but in t he end G r a t t a n saw his work an-nulled a n d his hopes destroyed by the del ibera te policy of those who sought to fomen t and ex-ploit sec ta r ian divisions, so as to provide a p e r m a n e n t base in th i s count ry for t h e Bri t ish and the i r own power. . . .

"Yet few t h i n g s in our coun-try 's h is tory a re more remarkable t h a n t h e g r ea t upsurge of eco-nomic energy a n d self-confidence which followed the political de-velopments of 1782. The control over I r i sh a f fa i rs which the Pa r l i amen t established and the pride in na t ionhood it brought about worked together to produce a great Increase in investment and indust ry , m a n y of t he evi-dences of which are still to be seen a round this country today.

"Today we seek a broad based nat ion, wi th equal t rea tment for all, in which no group or section will be domina ted or exploited by any other. . . . I have spoken on o ther occasions of a new consti-tut ion for t h e whole island, under which we m i g h t see, for the first t ime since t h e House of Com-mons me t here, a legislative as-sembly which spoke for the whole nat ion. Our a im should be a political s t ruc ture for the whole is land which would banish exclu-sion, discrimination, bias or even condescension f rom Ireland for-ever, a political s t ructure In which all t rad i t ions would find the i r representa t ion as of r ight . . . .

"If t he Bri t ish s ta tesmen of (Continued on Page Eight)

May 1982 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 5

NO CATHOLICS NEED APPLY DISCRIMINATION IS STILL RIFE I OB discr iminat ion against Ca th -

olics is still widespread in N o r t h e r n Ireland, according to re-por t s of the Fair Employment Agency recently carried in the " I r i sh Times".

In H a r l a n d and Wolff s shipyard t h e r e is not one Catholic in a th ree- f igure workforce of skilled fitters a n d similar t radesmen. If t h e r e a re any Catholics, one ship-ya rd m a n a g e r told t h e Agency, they would be "sleepers".

I n S h o r t s Aircraf t fac tory t he agency es t imated t h a t between 4£% a n d 8% of t he skilled m e n were Catholics . In 1978 only six out of 98 new apprent ices taken on h a d come f r o m Catholic schools.

T h e p ic ture is t he same at H u g h e s Tool Company, a n Ameri-c a n subsidiary with an expanding workforce in Belfast . I n October 1980, only seven out of 60 skilled m e n employed there were Catholics. I n a n o t h e r new company, S t a n d a r d Te lephones and Cables, n o r t h of Bel fas t , only six or seven out of 69 skilled engineering c r a f t s m e n were Cathol ics in March 1980. At H u g h Scot t ' s engineering works in Eas t Belfas t , the agency's investi-ga to r concluded a f t e r one explana-tory phone-cal l t h a t t h e firm's workforce w'as 100% Pro tes tan t and ques t ioned the value of doing any-more deta i led investigation.

,4 LL these companies have been asked for wri t ten under tak ings

by t h e F a i r Employment Agency, which is a government established body, to t h e effect t h a t they would encourage job applications f r o m Catholics , promote apprent iceships

Cancer threat in Irish Sea

\ I R ALBERT BOOTH, MP i.Lab-our) h a s called for an in-

ves t iga t ion of t he pollution of t he I r i sh Sea by nuclear waste dis-c h a r g e d f r o m Windscale in Cum-ber land . where t h e amount of Plu-t o n i u m being distr ibuted f r o m the p l a n t is t he equivalent of all t h e a tmosphe r i c nuclear tes ts t h a t have ever been made.

Windscale , says a report by the Poli t ical Ecology Research Group, is t h e mos t heavily polluting of all nuc lea r es tab l i shments in t h e world. T h e I r i sh Sea is t he mos t pol lu ted s t r e t ch of water in t h e world.

P l u t o n i u m is t he most poisonous subs t ance known to man . I t could be b r e a t h e d in f r o m sea-spray. I t could accumula t e in fish.

IT is no tor ious t h a t t he incidence of radia t ion-caused cancer is

h igher t h a n average in Nor th Lan-c a s h u e , C u m b r i a and the Solway F i r th . F e a r s a re now being ex-pressed fo r t he safety of people on t h e coas t s of Co Down a n d Co Antr im.

I t is ca lcula ted t h a t t he amoun t of radio-act ivi ty already emit ted by Windsca le will resul t in th i r ty can-cer d e a t h s , a n d as many non- fa t a l cancers t o say no th ing of genetic defects .

Bu t some scientists disagree. Pro-fessor F r e m l i n of B i rmingham th inks t h e d a n g e r much less, and indeed in 1977 he told a public en-quiry t h a t he h a d ea ten rauio-active fish off t he Cumbr ian coast. Wi thou t ac tual ly pronouncing it delicious h e said it was " fa r sa fer as well a s more p leasant to eat, t h a n a s imi la r quant i ty of t inned luncheon mea t . "

Well, t h a t m i g h t be.

Bu t we'll believe in the h a r m -lessness of these insta l la t ions when they begin to build t h e m on the T h a m e s a n d Medway. To the Eng-lish e s t ab l i shmen t the Celtic peoples a r e expendable.

in Catholic schools and generally pursue an equal oppor tuni ty policy. But a year or e igh teen m o n t h s a f t e r these reques ts were received by the companies concerned, no wri t ten under t ak ings h a d been given.

I n J anua ry 1981 the Nor the rn I re land Electricity Service had been requested to give a wr i t t en under-tak ing about job d iscr iminat ion a f t e r a Fa i r Employment Agency investigation, bu t t h e m a t t e r is still being "considered" by t h e elec-tr ici ty company's executives.

Seemingly, of t h e Electricity Ser-vices 241 senior d i rec tors and m a n -agers, a t least 91% were f r o m Pro-t e s t an t backgrounds a n d only 2£-4% were Catholics . Similarly, fewer t h a n 10% of t h e Electrici ty Service's engineers a n d only 124% of i ts adminis t ra t ive staff were Catholics. At N o r t h e r n I r e l and ' s largest power s ta t ion , a t Ballylum-ford outside Larne , only 3% of t h e engineers were Cathol ics , while a t Coolkeeragh power s t a t ion n e a r Derry, the propor t ion was less t h a n 25%.

4 NEWr depar tu re of t he grea tes t -1 * importance was made last m o n t h by six county t r ade unionists.

Led by S.D.L.P. spokesman on economic affairs. Mr Hugh Logue. a deputat ion of Har l and and Wolff's shipyard union leaders met An Taoiseach. Mr Char l e s Haughey, to discuss orders fo r heavy engin-eering requirements f r o m semi-state industries in the Republic.

As a result of th i s spectacular "hands across t h e border" init ia-tive a Dublin government official is to visit the sh ipyard this m o n t h to discuss possible orders.

Among orders in prospect or a t least possible, is a 130,000-ton coal carrier to supply Moneypoint Power Stat ion in Co. Clare in t h e event of its switching f r o m oil to coal.

Mr Haughey said t h a t the E.S.B. had already placed orders with Har land and Wolff, and there would be work re f i t t ing t h e White-gate Oil Refinery in Co. Cork, gas pipe-line engineer ing contrac ts , and work for C.I.E. and Bord n a Mona.

UNEMPLOYMENT figures in the six counties have now

reached the astonishing level of 112,000.

So Mr James Graham told the conference of the Northern Ire-land Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He said that the figures were worse than the worst recorded in the thirties.

It was being realised, he said, that the principal causes of in-flation had been decimal cur-rency and membership of the EEC. He called for an early withdrawal from that commun-ity, and said that the role of the mass media in boosting the EEC was nothing short of "criminal."

Membership of the EEC had decimated local industries as the goods flooded in from Europe. He said that private enterprise h a d proved a failure.

Among resolutions passed at the conference was one from the National Union of Journal-ists calling for a "full open

'•"FHE Agency concludes: "All the informat ion we have obtained

supports the pic ture presented by the census of 1971 t h a t the elec-tricity service h a s been a Protest-an t preserve." I t found tha t though there was a genera l policy of giving equal oppor tun i ty to Catholics in more recen t recruit-ment , there were still some "s t range results'* in some areas which needed explanat ion . The Agency finds t h a t t h e level of Catholic represen ta t ion in t h e vari-ous grades does, broadly speaking, increase as one moves down the scale. This could be e i ther because more Catholics were joining the Electricity Service in recent years or because Cathol ics were less likely to be p romoted than Protes tants .

"Certainly, if senior posts are fillled by in te rna l promot ion only, it is difficult to see how Catholics can be any th ing except disadvan-taged. Every t ime cand ida t e s are interviewed they will a p p e a r before selection boards which a r e a t least predominant ly , if no t al together, Pro tes tant , " says t h e report .

A MONG those present at the ^ meeting w!as the well-known progressive t rade unionis t . Mr Joseph Bowers, an official of A.U.E.W. iTASS), who was recently working for the union in Dublin, a man of sound na t iona l views.

Others included Messrs Ted Willis, J immy Blair. Hugh Logue. Tom Douglas. Ronnie McQuillan. Jackie Mahood and Billy Harr is .

I t is of significance t h a t the only issue since 1907 to unite workers of the two communit ies has been unemployment . T h i s was t rue in 1932 and again in 1961 when the representat ives of t he Belfas t Trades Council held public meet-ings addressed by National is t M.P.s.

In times of prosperity t he Pro-tes tan t workers do not suffer serious unemployment . Bu t the Tha tcher i t e depression is decimat-ing six county industry.

r p H I S is, however, the f i rs t t ime the predominant ly P ro t e s t an t

workforce a t Har land ' s have looked across t he border, and no th ing could be more welcome.

judicial enquiry" into the scan-dal of the Kincora Children's Home, involving high-up Union-ists in alleged sex irregularities.

Another resolution called on local authorities to declare their areas Nuclear Free Zones.

But a resolution from Derry was ruled out of order. The Trades Council of that city wanted to welcome "the deci-sion by the British Labour Party conference supporting a united Ireland, to be achieved by the introduction of socialist policies and the unification of the Northern Ireland working class."

It was held that this resolu-tion was contrary to the consti-tution of the Northern Ireland Committee of ICTU. Others will see that it did not very accurately reflect the actual policy of the Labour Party, and many will think that the notion of unifying the six county work-ing class while Britain is still there is something of a dream.

Conference also deplored the run-down of public transport.

T H E repor t concludes "Employers still j u s t i f y their position by

the absence of overt discr iminat ion in the i r employment practices a n d then- g e n u i n e belief that , by ignor-mg t h e ques t ion of religion at m a n -agement level, they avoid any problems on t h e shop floor or in the offices. Bu t this is to h ide their h e a d s in the sand a n d t o abrogate t he i r responsibility to soc-iety."

T h e t r a d e unions, on the o t h e r hand, p r e f e r "to see the problem left for o t h e r s to resolve" and both employers a n d unions are "pass ing the buck of pushing for more equality ol opportuni ty to t he other. '

This is a d a m n i n g indictment of ant i -Cathol ic discrimination near ly four teen yea r s a f te r Terence O'Neill's f a m o u s "reforms" and ten years a f t e r the imposition of "direct ru l e" f r o m London. Direct rule m e a n s t h a t London is now responsible for tolerat ing this posi-tion. Will people in Bri tain no t d e m a n d t h a t London does some-th ing abou t i t?

The S.D.L.P. is also to be con-gra tu la ted . I t s leader Mr Hume h a s complained bitterly when the B B C. rout inely describes it as t h e "mainly Ca tho l i c" S.D.L.P.

For it is a non-sectarian party. It h a s now demonstra ted t h a t it wants t he un i ty of Ireland for poli-tical no t rel igious reasons. Those who a re cons tan t ly writing to t he Irish News complaining o f . not being able to join the Br i t i sh Labour Pa r ty , might reflect t h a t they have a perfect ly good Labour Par ty in t h e six counties already the S.D.L.P.

A N LORG OIBRE J E A N : Dia duit . a Mhichil!

Micheal: Dia ' s Muire duit, a Sheain! Ce 'n sceal agat?

Sean: An sceal ceanna ta ag chuile d h u i n e a r na saolta seo -easpa oibre! T a se teipithe g lan orm aon j a b a fhail .

Micheal: T a teipi the ar fir is oige na t hu aon j ab a fhail, a Sheain — ta t u a n tr i scor anois. n a c h bhfui l?

Sean: M a ta fe in nach feidir liom jab a f h a i l ?

Micheal: I s cosuil nach feidir no ni bhelfea a lorg i gconai!

Sean: Na bi chomh smeartai l te sin, a dhuine . Nach feidir liom j a b a ia r ra idh , t a m e ra, nach feidir liom a bhe i t h ag suil leis?

Micheal: Suil Ui Dhubhda Ie hArd na Ri ! F e a r ar bith t a an seasca bl ian d 'aois ta se chomh mai th do a n obair a chur as a cheannn. N a c h gearr go mbeidh tu in aois an ph ins in?

Sean: Ag an diabhal leis an bpinsean. obai r ta uainise agus ni pinsean. Ni a i r im sean go leor le dul ar p h i n s e a n fos.

Micheal: B h u e l dar liom fein da mbeadh ciall a r bith agat go dtogfa go r e i d h e, bain t a i tneamh as an saol a g u s dean dearmad ar an obair. S in a dheanfa innse ar aon nos, a Shea in .

Sean: Sin a dheanfa-sa mar bhi tu leisciuil r i a m h . Is fada bheadh an p insean a g a t da mbeifea sach sean lenn fhf t i l !

Micheal: An diabhal focal breag ansin aga t m a r da bh faghfa inn c ag dul a r scoil dom thogfa inn e — agus c h a i t h f i n n e go binn!

Sean: La m a i t h agat, a dhuine, ni hail l iom dao ine Ieisciula:

Micheal: B e a t h a duine a thoil, a Sheain! La m a i t h agat fein . . .

D. MAC A.

UNIONIST PARANOIA A N a i j : J i n f e a t u r e of Unio t i -

i>t p a r a n o i a l ias a l w a y s b e e n tia :i o b s e s s i o n w i t h plot.-, a n d c o u n t e r p l o t s a n d b o g e y m e n , " a s t l u h,.b^iH)lin> ol Un ion i s t d e m o n m u s t , i to d e s t r u v U l s t e r ', sa id S D L P l o a d e r J o h n H u m e r e c e n t l y .

R e c e n t l y H u m e to ld t h e S D L P at I r v i n e s t o w n , Co F e r -m a n a g h . " t h e f i r m a m e n t h i s t i l led to b u r s t i n g w i t h a w h o l e n e w r a n u e oi' d e m o n s . T h e r e h a v e been s u g g e s t i o n s in r e c e n t t i m e s t h a t t h e K r e m l i n a r e t a k i n g a h a n d in t h e m a t t e r , a s w e l l as t h e C I A . a n d M a r t i n S m y t h is so i n c e n s e d t h a t he w i s h e s to r u s h i n t o t h e a r m s o! R u s s i a to s a v e U l s t e r f r o m t h e l a t e s t b a t c h of e n e m i e s . "

T h i s p a r a n o i d g i b b e r i s h is a n i n s u l t to t h e i n t e l l i g e n c e of t h e e l e c t o r a t e , s a y s M r H u m e . It is a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n of Un-po l i t i c a l b a n k r u p t c y of t h e U n i o n i s t l e a d e r s t h a t t h e y c a n -n o t d e f e n d or p r o m o t e t h e i r c a u s e w i t h o u t c o n j u r i n j . r e a l i t y o u t of e x i s t e n c e .

H e said " T h e P r o t e s t a n t com-m u n i t y mus t s o o n e r o r l a t e r p r o d u c e a r a t i o n a l s t a t e m e n t i t s i n t e re s t s . It is c l e a r b e y o n j d i s p u t e t ha t s u c h a r a t i o n a l s t a t e m e n t is no t g o i n g t o c o m e f r o m t h e p r e s e n t l e a d e r s h i p ol t h e m a m U n i o n i s t p a r t u s . It i-> h i g h t i m e t h a t t h i n k i n g a n d r e s p o n s i b l e P r o t e s t a n t s took u p t h e b u r d e n of p r o v i d i n g the l e a d e r s h i p w h i c h t h e i r com-m u n i t y so b a d l y n e e d s .

" A t s o m e p o i n t it m u s t dav n o n t h e P r o t e s t a n t p o p u l a t i o n t h a t t h e o n l y r e a l l y s e c u r e f u t u r e f o r t h e m l ies in n e g o t i a t -i n g a s o u n d a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e r e s t of t h e p e o p l e " i th w h o m t h e y s h a r e t h i s i s l a n d . I can a s s u r e t h e m t h a t w e h a v e m o r e t o g a i n f r o m —• a n d a r e t h e r e -f o r e m o r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e i r f u t u r e s e c u r i t y a n d w e l l -b e i n g t h a n a n y B r i t i s h G o v e r n -m e n t pas t , p r e s e n t o r f u t u r e . "

W o l v e r h a m p t o n — a den ia l

THE Connolly Association has officially denied that its rep-

resentative at a conference in Wol-verhampton at the end of March said the Association was opposed to British Government funds being used to create employment in the six counties on the grounds that this would give work to Protestants.

First, the Connolly Association was not represented at the confer-ence, and is in no way responsible 11 somebody passed himself off as their delegate.

Second, Mr Desmond Greaves, who was invited to speak at the conference declined to do so, since he dislikes seeing Irish people of various persuasions airing their dif-ferences In front of an English audience. The C.A. always ensures that its speakers represent the majority of the Irish people, or of a section of them such as a trade union.

Third, the Connolly Association has no objection whatsoever to the British Government's providing jobs for Protestants, though It naturally thinks they should pro-vide them for Catholics as wetl on a non-discriminatory basis. Without prejudice to Its belief in the need for a united Independent Ireland, it holds that since the British Government decided \o hold the people of the north-east, It must make itself responsible for their upkeep, while it remains there.

Fourth, the Connolly Association regards the northern Protestants a* fellow Irish-people.

NORTHERNERS APPROACH HAUGHEY

ICTU slams unemployment

6 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT May 1982

THE DEVIL AND A REBEL SONG THE IRISH REBEL BAILIFF McGLYNN

/ ^ N E fine Sunday evening last Summer I was strolling through Condae na M i

When a pair of quare boyos colloguing Before me I happened to see. To know what these boyos were up to. A trifle I hastened my wa!k. A n d in troth I soon learned their profession When I came wi th in range of their t a l k .

Now one of those boyos was the Devil , The other was Bailiff McGlynn : The one was as blacU as the other And both were as ugly as sin. Said the oP boy, "You know I 'm the Devi l And you are a bailiff, I see." ' Is it the Devi l himself, sure, that's in i t ? Well , that beats the Devil," says he.

Close by at a patch of potatoes A bonnabh was striving to dig, When a woman ran out and she shoutuJ : "May the Devi l take you for a pig !'' Said the bailiff, "Now, that's a fine offer Why not the bonnabh," says he. 'It's only her lips that have said it And that's not sufficienl for me,"

A gasun ran out of a cottage And oR wi th him over the fieitt. "May the Devi l take you," said his mother And rattled a stone off his heels. Said the bailiff, "Now, that's a fine o f f e r , Why not take the gasun," says he. "It's only her lips that have wished it. An:! that's not sufficient for me."

A young lad looked up from his playing And ofl to his mother he sped. Oh mother," says he, "there's the bailiff."

And she clasped her two hands and s h e s a i d : "May the Devil take that ugly bailiff ." Says the ol'lad : "Bedad, that'll do— Twas straight from the heart it came s u r e l y .

So. Bniliff McGlynn. I'll t a k e you . '

SLIABK GALLKON BRAES A S I went out walk ing one morning in M a y

To view yon fair valley and meadows so gay, E was thinking on those flowers, all born to decay That blow around those bonny, bonny Sliabh Gall icn braes.

Oit o'er those mountains wi th my dog and my gun I rambled those mountains for joy and for fun But those days they are all over and I am far away, So farewell unto those bonny, bonny, Sliabh Gaflion braes.

Oh, it is not the want of employment at home That causes us poor exiles in sorrow to roam, But those tyrannising landlords, they would not let us stay, So farewell unto those bonny, bonny. Sliabii Galtion braes.

fnion an Fhaoit o n n Gleann ^ l U I L , a chuid, bi g gluaiseacht gan scith, gan stad, gan tuaru

Ta'n oiche ghairid shamhraidh ann is beam araon ar shiul Mar a bhfaigh'mid radharc ar chuanta, ceol, aoibhneas, bailte mora ts, a Dhia, nach ro-bhrea'n uain i d'inion an Fhaoit on nGleann !

Taimse Ian de naire, tri gach beart da ndearna Mar is buachaill og a cradh me is d'iniigh uaini mo ghrcann ; Ni beo me mi na raithe mura bhfaighe me pog is gra uait Agus failte chaoin o d'ehairde. a 'nion an Fhaoit on nGleann.

^ Nil aon chailin speiriuil a ghluaisfeadh seal liom fi.inigfi * Nach molfainn fein a treithe faoi Ard na gCoillte a thuaigh ;

Da mbeimis ag a cheile ag ol i nDurlas Eile Mo lamh faoi cheann mo cheadsearc, do bhreagfainn i chun suain.

Ihios ag Moin na Ratha sea chonaionn mo ghra geal S i an chuachin mhilis mhanta 'binfuil a piob mar eala ar l inn; S gur binne liom i na'n chlairseach's na ceolta binn i ngairdin,

's nach trua sin fear mar 'fa me go saraionn si me tinn.

Bhi me la brea aerach i m' shui ar bhinn an Tsle muigh Sea 'chuala 'n Ion's an cheirseach ag seinm os mo cheann ; Is deas a scriobhfainn vearsai 's ni deise na mar 'lefinn Stair do d'mholadh feinig, a 'nion an Fhaoit on nGleann.

by

James Connolly ( E x e c u t e d May 12th, 1916)

^ O M E , workers, sing a rebel song,

A song of love and hate — Of love unto the lowly A n d of hatred to the great; The great who trod our fathers

down, W h o steal our children's bread, Whose greedy hands are

stretched to rob The l iving and the dead.

C H O R U S :

Then sing our rebel song As we proudly march along To end the age-long tyranny Tha t makes for human tears; Our task is nearer done W i t h the setting of each sun, A n d the tyrant's might is

passing W i t h the passing of the years.

We sing no more of wai l ing A n d no songs of sighs or fears, High are our hopes and stout

our hearts And banished all our fears. Our flag is raised above us So that all the world may see, 'Tis Labour's faith and Labour's

a r m Alone can Labour free.

Out of the depths of misery W e march with hearts aflame W i t h wra th against the rulers

false Who wreck our manhood's name. The serf who licks the tyrant's

rod May bend forgiving knee; The slave who breaks his

slav'ry's chain A wra th fu l man must be.

Our army marches onward Wi th its face towards the dawn In trust secure in that one thing The slave may lean upon — The might within the arm of

him Who knowing freedom's worth, Strikes hard to banish tyranny From off the face of earth.

Connemara

Cradle Song Q N the wings of the w ind

O'er the dark roll ing deep Angels are coming To watch o'er thy sleep; Angels are coming To watch over then, So list to the wind Blowing over the sea.

Chorus:

Hear the wind blow, love hear the wind blow, Lean your head over A n d hear the wind blow!

Oh winds of the night May your fury be crossed, May no-one who's dear To our island be lost! Blow the wind gently Calm be the foam Shine the light brightly And guide them back home.

The currachs are sailing Way out on the blue Laden wi th herrings

Of silvery hue; Silver the herring And silver the sea And soon there'll be silver For baby and me.

^ G R E A T crowd had gathered outside of Ki lmainham,

Wi th their heads all uncovered they knelt on the ground, For inside that prison lay a brave Irish soldier

His life for his country about to lay down.

He went to his death like a true son of Ireland, The firing party he bravely did face;

Then the order rang ou t : "Present arms; fire.'

James Connolly fell into a ready made grave.

The black flag was hoisted, the cruel deed was over ; Gone was the man who loved Ireland so well.

There was many a sad heart in Dublin that morning,

When they murdered James Connolly, the Irish Rebel.

God's curse on you, England, you black-hearted monster,

Your deeds they would shame all the devils in Hell . There are no flowers blooming, but the shamrock is growing

O'er the grave of James Connolly, the Irish Rebel.

Many years have gone by since that Irish rebellion, When the guns of Britannia they loudly did speak.

The bold I R A they stood shoulder to shoulder

And the blood from their bodies flowed down Sackvil le Street.

The Four Courts of Dublin the English bombarded The spirit of freedom they tried Hard to quell,

But above all the din rose the cry, "No surrender"— 'Twas the voice of James Connolly, the Irish Rebel,

OLD BALLYMOE I N the County Roscommon in haste from the rain

I was crossing the fields on my way to the train, I met a cail in and says she, do you know The shortest shortcut into old Ballymoe ?

Says I, cail in og who led you astray ? I think I ' l l go wi th you to show you' the way. Says she, I 'm afraid because you I don't know— You might kiss me between here and old Ballymoe !

Says I, cail in og, I have seldom been kissed; Says she, you poor lad, sure a lot you have missed ! Says I, I am wil l ing to learn you know— We can practise between here and old Ballymoe.

Do you think I'l l go with you, you Mull ingar rogue ? I don't l ike your looks nor your soodherin' oul brogue— You're young and you're handsome but dear knows you're slow. I don't fancy a dead one in old Ballymoe.

Says I, I 've been noticed for strength and for looks, And my brains aren't bad, for I 'm mad for the books, So if you'll say yes, to be married we'll go And forever be happy in old Ballymoe.

She started to laugh till I thought she would choke ; She said, you poor fool, now I ' l l tell you a j o k e -Step out of my way sir. for now I wi l l go, I've a husband and six kids in old Ballymoe.

THE BUNCH OF THYME £ O M E al l you maidens young and lair

Al l you who are bloomin' in your prime, Always beware and keep your gardens fair, Let no man steal away your thyme. For thyme it is a precious thing And thyme brings all things to my mind Thyme with all its labours along with all its joys, Thyme brings all things to my mind.

Once I had a bunch of thyme I thought it never would decay, But there came a lovesick sailor who chanced to pass

that way,

He stole my bunch of thyme away.

The sailor gave to me a rose A rose that never would decay He gave it to me to keep me well minded Of w h e n he stole my thyme away.

Repeat First Verse

May 1982 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 5

THE NEW MOOD OF THE IRISH

T H E Federation of Irish Societies meets In Leeds on May ist .

For the first t ime observers have ft-een invited from the Irish in Britain Representation Group, the Irish National Council and the Connolly Association.

This desire to make the F.I.S. into a grand umbrella organisation of all the Irish In Britain Is a sign of the new mood in the Irish com-munity.

There is a feeling that we can no longer afford the luxury of con-stant sub-division. The success of the l.N.C. and the I.B.R.G., as well as the steady growth of the Con-nolly Association, shows that the need for organisation is beginning to be felt.

Of course differences will remain. The Irish are a nation not an army. There wi!l be differences of opinion, though very much f e w c than seemed likely a few years back. When Irish people start talk-ing together they quickly learn that fundamentally they are say-ing the same thing. All want the reunification of Ireland. All want the welfare of the Irish in Britain.

That agreed there remains a dif-ference of function. The G.A.A., Camhaltas and Conradh have a cultural function. The Connolly Association has an educational and campaigning function. The new organisations being set up have a unifying function based on a broad ag'tation for limited objectives.

There is room- for the lot. Th® mare the merrier. But let us strive for an overall unity.

ONCE MORE THE M A N O'CASEY

MRS R. MORGAN

— R I P —

"The Letters of Sean O'Casey. Volume II, 1942-1954". Edited by David Krause. Macmillan Publishing Co Inc. New York, pp 1,200.

T H E publication of Dr Krause 's second volume is of course a

l i terary event of f i rs t magni tude and he has contrived a t one blow to put in his debt t he world of let-ters. the I r ish people and the Labour movement.

T h e sheer magn i tude of the work impresses T h e first volume con-ta ined 653 letters. T h i s second volume h a s 807. O n e wonders which to be the more as tonished at O'Casey's prodigious o u t p u t or Dr Krause ' s energy a n d persever-ance in collecting it and adding explanatory notes.

Obviously no review ol limited extent could do just ice to th i s mass of material . Now t h a t it h a s be-come public proper ty it will prove a mine of source ma te r i a l for an a rmy of l i terary a n d historical re-

searchers . Nor can one app laud less the a u t h o r ' s decision to de-posit all t h e let ters available to h im in t h e Nat iona l Library of Ire-land, when h is work is complete.

To me. of course, the most in-terest ing m a t e r i a l was tha t re la t -ing to t h e I r ish movement in Bri ta in du r ing the years covered namely, 1942 to 1954 Unfor tun-ately O'Casey 's letters to the I r i sh Democrat were destroyed when our offices in Rosomon Street were "vandalized. ' ' Those tha t were published in t h e paper tsonte when it was cal led I r i sh Freedom i a re reproduced. I remember wri t ing to O'Casey in ' 1942 or 1943. during the first

period when I was General Secre-tary of t he Connolly Association. We had decided to invite him to be president. Actually we were un-aware t ha t t h e t i tu lar president was probably still R. J. Connolly. O'Casey repl ied t ha t he wished us to u n d e r s t a n d t h a t he considered the founder of the modern I r i sh Labour movemen t to be Larkin and

E x p o s u r e of hypocrisy "Tit,? Abuse of Power — Civil Liberties in the Unite !

Kingdom". Patricia Hewitt. Published by Martin Rnh"'-• £15 Hardback. C4.95 Paperback

i r j^HE funera l of Mrs Rose Morgan of Liverpool took place a t St

Augustine's Cathol ic Church, Run-corn, Cheshire, on Thursday. April 22nd

Mrs Morgan was one of a group of Liverpool I r i sh people who went to Dublin for t h e Rising in 1916 a n d fought in t h e Pos t Office. She was universally respected in Liver-pool Ir ish circles

T h e principal m o u r n e r s were her son. Mr Be rna rd Morgan and his sister. T h e Connol ly Association E.C. was represen ted by Mr Des-mond Greaves, a n d the Irish Cen t re by Mr T o m Walsh. The Mass was well a t t ended , about l on people being presen t .

T h e Ir ish Democra t expresses sincere sympathy with the family in their bereavement .

"I V r ITH the Prevent ion of Ter-* ' rorism Act still on the

s t a tu te book, even if unde r review, any study of civil l ibert ies in Brit-ain lias a special s ignif icance for the I r ish community. No bet te r com-men ta to r exists t h a n Pa t r i c i a Hew-itt. Genera l Secre tary of the Nat ional Council for Civil Liber-ties.

Her exhaust ive t r e a t m e n t of the subject covers the police and the judiciary, censorship a n d freedom ot expression, i n t e rna t iona l codes, and the specific problems facing women, immigrants , homosexuals and t h e Ir ish.

With no Bill of R i g h t s and an unwr i t ten const i tut ion. Br i t i sh sub-jects have no easy way of measur-ing the i r f reedom o the r t h a n by comparison.

SUSTENTATION FUND

V f O T quite such a good response 1 ' t h i s month , but you can ' t do

everything all the t ime. Let 's hope it will t ake up next m o n t h .

I t really is a h a r d t a sk to keep an organisa t ion and a paper going in these expensive days. But t h a n k s to our suppor te r s we are m a n a g i n g to car ry on. Our t h a n k s to:

F. Rushe £5.68, P. O 'Doher ty S9p, K.C. £6, P. J . C u n n i n g h a m £3, B Sut ton £1, G. Ward £1, N. Man-chee £2.50, R. Gordon £1, South London C.A. £57, C.O.s £48.50, M. B r e n n a n £5, suppor ters in South London £24.46, in Eas t London £8.92, in Cent ra l London £7.01. Tota l : £172.06.

Premises Appeal Dona t ions : Lena Daly £2, A. Morton £20, T. J . Foley £25, N Connolly £23.69, B. Vallely £6. Tota l : £76 69.

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Ignorance of t he law may be no defence for t h e citizen, but increas-ingly it is t he perfec t defence of t he Es tab l i shment .

T h e p i c tu re t h a t emerges f r o m th is study is less s tark un the sur-face t h a n t h e much publicised abuses of fascis t regimes in Argen-tina, Turkey or South Africa but of a complex, sophist icated and no less sys temat ic erosion of civil liberties over recent years.

It is ironic t ha t the subtitle re-fers to a Un i t ed Kingdom yet i ts test case concern ing Northern Ire-land shows how the laws and the regime in t h e Six Counties a re so much a t v a r i a n c e with Bri t ish law elsewhere, a n d queries the leg. t im-acy of Br i t a in ' s claim cont inued direct rule. Ms Hewitt r igh t ly cas t iga tes t h e PTA and its b l a t an t in t imidat ion of the Irish communi ty in Bri ta in wi th extended de ten t ion without cha rge . The vicious ex-clusion clauses, she says, h a s "created a sys tem of internal ex-ile (sic) by executive order, a sys-tem which t h e government itself condemns when applied in t he Soviet Union, bu t which the m a j -ority of Br i t i sh MPs and most of the Bri t ish P re s s condone in th i s country."

She repor ts t he successful de-m a n d s of Uls te r Unionists in 1976 to in t roduce a balancing' power to deport people f r o m the Six Count ies to Bri ta in , a power which h a s never been useu.

T h e grea tes t value of Ms Hew-itt 's study is in providing a whole catalogue of evidence to suppor t widely held views that successive Bri t ish gove rnmen t s have sough t to limit t he f reedoms of individ-uals and e n h a n c e the powers of t he state. Nowhere is this more evi-dent t h a n t h e Six Counties where it was growing support for t he c.vil r ights lobby which led on dir-ectly to t h e introduction -first of Bri t ish t roops and then draconian Emergency Provisions Act of 1973 to replace t h e ' temporary' Special Powers Act of 1922. In a shor t time, and as a n inevitable f e a t u r e of Bri t ish imperial ism 'protective' measures a re tu rned against t h e minori t ies they were supposed to protect.

T h e problem wi th any book deal-ing with t h e law and cit izens ' r ights is t h a t it tends to need regular upda t ing . Patricia Hewit t has set the scene with comprehen-sive exposure of the hypocrisy be-hind Br i ta in ' s claim to be t he cradle of democracy. I t is an in-valuable weapon in the cont inuing struggle to a s se r t the r ights of t h e individual a n d the communi ty against t he power of the state.

not Connolly. But he never held it against us t ha t we t hen s ta r ted looking for another president.

Dr Krause comment s on his th ing" about Connolly I have a

suspicion tha t he may have ac-quired it f rom Michael O Maolain or P T. Daly dur ing the ruct ions in the Transpor t Union. Dr Krause . whose comment s in th is volume seem to me to be f a r deeper and more knowledgeable t h a n some in the earlier volume, (and th i s would not be surpr is ing in view of the immense amount of work) he h a s done, makes th is observat ion:

" In his bristling de te rmina-at ion to defend the power and glory of J im Larkin, he went to the unnecessary ex t reme of de-nigra t ing the magnif icent con-tr ibution ot J ames Connolly and stirred up a hornet ' s nest ' in the

c a m p of Labour." I have a feeling t ha t there was

something deeper t h a n this, some-th ing more politically significent. and if some student had the ener-gy to extract f rom these le t te rs all O'Casey's views on politics and re-late them to current events as well a.s long term influences. t h e n its discovery may be possible for tiie first time.

I T must have been d in ing the " middle or late fifties t h a t I

formed the opinion t h a t O ' C a s v had exerted a favourable influ-ence on the Bri t ish Laboui move-ment a.s regards foreign a n d Bri t ish affairs bu' an un fo r tun -ate one as regards Irc'iaiid

His let ters to Carney .show how he came to regard the Republic as a semi-facist s ta te I'. was com-mon Brit ish es tabl i shment propa-ganda at the t ime to ascribe Ire-land.s neutrali ty to her indifference to Fascism and not to part i t ion. One oi O'Casey's s t ronges t con-victions was his admira t ion for the Soviet Union. Why would Ireland not fight alongside her? The power of the Vatican T h u s w-get :

"We have to face and fight the political influence ot t he Vati-can." "Clericalism gone looney" pub-

lished in the Daily Worker was a dia t r ibe against t he Catlioln-church which would quite likely a-rouse amusement at its exaggera-tions. These may have been mere hyperbole, but could be taken seri-ously in England, as indeed they were.

During the great influx of Irish immigra t ion the T r a d e Unions took the newcomers seriously, a t least w:hile there was a war to be won.

Later I remember a left-wingei ui gmg t h a t there should be no a> tempt to organise the I r i sh s a v e they would flood the movement wi th Catholicism. I th ink the re is evidence in this book for the view tha t O'Casey's ant i -Cathol i -cism contributed to this belief and ha rmed the British movement , ad-mittedly because it was ignorant enough to be harmed

1 J U T for O'Casey's fear less hon estv and courage in t he presen-

tat ion of his views, and also his f u n d a m e n t a l lairness t he r e is ample evidence. T h u s he h a d hated Bulmer Hobson. but correc-ted Dorothy MacArdle s asser t ion t ha t Sean MacDiarmada (its mana-ger was the Editor of I r ish Free-dom His close f r i endsh ip with Gabriel Fallon was broken in 194«i. but m 19 :3 lie could protes t to David Greene at Miles na Copa-leen's "snarl ing" critic.

Looking througl is possible to se feelings v-c for his so! tei to 1-he >avs

out Alt! hallo

at the d r a m a

these le t ters it t h a t O'Casey 's

ve to sometimes too s t rong so!:er intellect. In the let r ank McCarthy (May l«4t»

•Irish Kepublic is of i tot:. They a re ge t t ing

: tiie linking up with t he t :<• Pact. by joining an U with the U.S.A. alio hand-

•vr all ports, airf ields e t j o,:s: .'•() that will preserve

of parti t ion i M i l a r , " Bi O. I'.'l.' Ilil' !".tl-

IN a win k

III"; O W!li ( bli mishes it

to torn it because Mori Chr i s t i an

It ti t- Republic v > ot the kind of this niag.uru le >: t o nxe bi minor

is spendidiy pro-duced and there is only an oc-casional misprint But one sp>U an "»dd thing Wuiwood Reads , au tho r of the "Mar tyrdom of M a n " ts contused with Char l e s Reade. the novelist. It is a gre.it pity t h a t the let ters to Owen Sheehy-Skeffington have been lost, but one can be sure tha t Dr Krause made every effort to t r ace them Skeffinmon was one of those "impossible" people. like Michael O Maolain. to whom O'Casey seemed irresistibly d rawn He was "impossible" himself.

For t h e rest, political, social and l i terary figures strut t h r o u g h these papes. W h a t a par t O'Casey i played in the life of his t ime! And wha t a contribution Dr K r a u s e h a s m a d e to preserving the memory of it. T h i s book is worth buying and a " m u s t " lor a his tor ian of t he period it covers

C.D.G.

A CLASSIC FIT-UP "Thieves Kitchen—The Regency

Underworld", D o n a l d A. Low. D e n t , £3.9.5.

I> EARDON and Quinn. two out-" of-work I r i shmen in London,

a re taken on by a man they met in Cheapside Market to do some engraving work. Lef t in a room wi th an Ir ish youth named Con-nell and the tools of their trade, suspiciously like those required to produce counterfei t coins, the mei. a re suddenly pounced on by the police.

I t is a classic fit up, as they dis-cover in court where the m a n who h i red them turns out to be a police agent . But having taken the oath t h e men feel disinclined to chal-lenge what is happening , even t h o u g h the , face the dea th sen-tence.

T h e year is 1816, and the hap-less immigrants have fal len victim to t he burgeoning corrupt ion ol the Bow Street Foot Patrol , fore-r u n n e r s of the modern Metropoli-t a n police force.

Connell, Quinn and Reardon escaped the gallows, and returned to Ireland with sufficient compen-sation to buy a small farm, be-cause the Chief Magistrate smelled a rat.

T h i s dramat ic tale is one of m a n y recounted in Donald Low's colourful study of t he Regency underworld . Londcn was a den of iniquity on both sides of the law — and out ol this den of iniquity emerged both the Bri t ish bobby and a rogues gallery of c r imina l types which have haunted popular cul ture ever sincc.

Like Tom and Jerry, conn mpoi • ary car toon charac ters who began life as comic str ip heroes e tched by Rober t and George Cru ickshank in 1821. Irish sporting journa l i s t Pierce E g a n supplied the words for this phenomenal ly successful " rakes progress" through the wild London life of t he period.

I t was the time too of a n o t h e r pair of villains. Burke and Hare the murderous body-snatchers of Edinburgh , whose dire hab i t s ca,me to l ight soon a f te r rumours h a d swept Dublin tha t Irish ch i ld ren were being captured, killed a n d ex-por ted for the dissecting tables of Br i ta in ' s medical es tabl i shment .

T h e book Is peppered wi th evi dence of Ireland s cont r ibut ion ta all aspects of the Regency scene. I t is a n en ter ta in ing and in fo rma-tive account if r a the r expensive. Wor th borrowing from the Library

M.J.

8 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT May 1982

Tlif !'i20's and 30's saw .•tain the i irnerial powers *

once '.'xmg

their muscles via gunboats across gtnbe Germany b v a m e a

(. i strut eel cramped s ' a v re reliving >•< •'•' -'-Pf e. marke ts and influence. •She was encouraged, e.-pi'.-mlly by Bri tain to bring the USSR back in-tc the or!)il of capital

' F ' H F second world war saw Bri-an! a c t i n g its fingers badly

(• . lit for push ing its rival Oer-i.i.'.ny to gobble up the USSR. In-Mead Bi i t a in itself nearly gobbled up.

Printed by Ripley Printers Ltd <TU), Nottingham Road, Riplev, Derbys, and published by Connolly Publi-cations T,td, at 177 Lavender Hill,

3 linden

NO TEARS FOR ARGENTINA? By

TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF

SQUABBLE j ! • FKC was founded ' .•••o by nat i

• ' ^ N 1 . y e a r s ago. Bri tain. I >t : aiui k and I re land joined '< '.1 - I'd •;. Grce i' last yc, i

:.<: ,iie now ever 20 million m-(•; ;-• \ . c; in t'ne EEC. Both Britain . , i, irel.iiid have suffered rampant j.: a l ien since enter ing the Com-

i. n Market.

li: . l am's industry i- only a • ,„ciow of it'- former self and .•• ' ,iiie diminished and forcib1

• • ' c h i l i li'oin the open world i rkei to tiie restr icted and e v f i-n.sivo West European Common Market.

Row.-. and (i.spuics abound ttith-.i: the so called r o m m . n i t y of Ten. r :vm though there is as yet only < r,e common polu\ namely on ag-j ' r tculture (CAP What level of tac t ion would be reached with, t/.ore common policies boggles the tj.ind ' " No wonder, m despara-' ,{n, that the es tab l i shments "Ee-cr.omiM" commemorated tne 2oth a n u v e i s a r y on i ts f ront page with a .suitably inscribed tombstone. T h e »r.graving Born March 25. 1957: Moribund March 25. h'82." T h e .loam wreath was from CAP: I

' P H E background and history of 1 the EEC goes fu r the r back t h a n

tlie 25 years. At the beginning of the comsry the imperial powers ••talked the globe that had been < ivided :;p between tiiem. The

By JOHN BOYD

l i s t world wi'v was rich! oetween these powers to steal lrom the i t her colonial possessions, marke t s ; r.d raw mater ials . I iie outcome ... aided an unplanned pi muict. the

USSR, which took oni sixth of the t iobe outside Capital 's imluence. in th is period tiie idea of a United f-'.'.tes of Europe was Uisi tiss.ed but j e t brought to f imt ion. Of course 1' ia tcu Germany ' s colonial posses-sor , - -aore taken o\ei by the vic-e 's . At the same time Ireland 's

»>.(! to break England's hold was ' .s trated by par t i t io r -ng the ('•iintry into two par ts

IN t h e sun-trap provided by t.'.r - old Victorian Pavilion on the

edge of the Nor thampton Race-course (so-called, of course, be-cause it is a long l i fet ime since t h e last race was run the re i a g roup of senior citizens were discussing t h e F a l k l a n d s crisis. A visitor f r o m outer space who could read Engl ish but was otherwise ignorant of the i n h a b i t a n t s of this country m i g h t be forgiven for believing f rom tne hys ter ia generated by some of t h e popular papers t ha t the count ry was u p in arms and ra r ing to h a v e a bargy with the Argies' . . . some of t h e m are. no doubt, and if de-velopments are along the lines t h a t many sober people dread there m a y ot a lot more hysteria and bellig-erence about by the t ime th i s ap-pears in print; meant ime, how-ever. t he senior ci t izens enjoying tiii sun of the mid-April a l t e rnoc r . were a bit more sanquine.

media. Which is a very encourag-ing t hough t indeed.

Donall

Bloody rum old do. ; t h i n g . Bert!

this F a

Yeah, right old mess. Only h e r e don ' t come to no th ing , n o t h i n g

•ally serious anvwav.

Following on the second world war G e r m a n ambit ions were a g a i n ns i s t r a i ed At the expense of de-fea ted Japanese imperial ism a n d dollar aid iloans with s t r ingen t coi' .dit 'ons. strings and i n t e r e s t ' to wes te rn Europe, US imper ia l i sm was considerably s t r eng thened . Bri t ish imperialism was weakened, especially by the subsequent ad-vances of the National L ibera t ion Movement .

Capi ta l , the real driving force of 20th century imperialism, now dom-ina ted by the form of mult i a n d t r a n s nat ional monopolies, re-quired tor its own purposes the end of t h e nation state in v. eft err. Europe. The idea of a Uni t ed S t a t e s of West Europe was re-susc i ta ted and the EEC founded in 1957. T h e r e existed now th ree im-per ia l centres in the world — the USA, J a p a n and the EEC.

' p H E Common Market domina ted * by the old west European im-

per ia l powers ma in ta ins i ts econ-omic g r ip on nearly all the old colonies through special' t r a d i n g a g r e e m e n t s and the Lome agree-ment . In these is lands I re land , Scot land and Wales remain tied to E n g l a n d ' s position in the EEC.

A l though the three imperial cen-t res a re unremit t ing economic r ivals they combine together to pre-vent any errosion of Capi ta l ' s in-fluence m the world and would still like very dearly to br ing Eas t e rn Europe and the USSR back into i t s fold. This ambit ion goes to t he point of risking the des t ruc-t ion of t he planet itself to achieve t h a t end Part of his plan : = keeping Ireland as a convenient land !r.a*s and base in t i n s s t ra tegy .

W i t h i n the Community c e n t o : y old r ivalr ies continue unabat a. But . t h ings have changed a round . West Ge rmany now dominates t h e EEC ill economic, industr ial , agri-cu l ture and political terms. W h a t two war s d d not achieve has r o w been gained by more subtle and tar less sensat ional means.

Pa r t o f the t r ans and mul t i -na t iona l era is to concen t ra te a r m s product ion, like any other product , into fewer units and f u r t h e r away Irom any democratic control. Any-one working :or the wi thdrawal of count r ies from the EEC is a t t h e same t ime contributing to the all i m p o r t a n t question of Peace. Any-one working for peace is at t he same t ime contributing to t he end of t h e reign of the mul t i -na t iona ls and for nat ions to have the r i g h t to decide their own affa i rs and live in h a r m o n y with neighbours.

- Naw, we c.on t want ano the r war, we've lived t h r o u g h two on em, tha t ' s enough to be goin' on with. —Should th ink it is an ' al l! I 'm sorry for those poor buggers ou t there, but I c an ' t see how a war will help them, kill 'em all off more like.

—It's bin gom" on a long t ime, ent it. I mean it e n t just th is pas t couple of weeks.

—Ask me, 1 reckon our Govern-men t wanted shu t on them1 I m e a n it 's bloody e.ght thousand miles away what ' s it goin' to cost even if we do get the Argen t inas ou t—what ' s it goin' to cost to patrol and gar-rison the islands. I mean?

- P l e n t y . olentv!

Bill, i t 's eonr to cost

. B l o o d y Yanks ent been much help either, are they? I mean this business of being f r iends with both sides, how can Reagan say t h a t he's f r iends wi th both sides in a thing like t ins? 1 mean I ent sayin' as we got any better c laim to the islands, to t he ground it-self, t han tne Argues but they did invade and the is landers don t wan t them so it mus t be an act of ag-gression, so how can Reagan sit in the middle? Tell you what , i t 's like I see you Ber t mugging Wally there and I r e fuse to condemn h im for mugging you cause I 'm f r i e n d s with you both. T h a t ' s about t he size of it in my book . . .

— Old Maggie stood by him, by Reagan. -- Afghanis tan and t h e Olympics and all tha t , she never hestitated.

—No, and she never stopped to think, nei ther , when she sent t he fieet in. T h i s bloody war if it s tar ts will be about savin' he r precious face, not about saving the Falklanders.

- F u n n y thing, I could swore t he Falkland I s l ands was on the coast of Holland . . .

—You ent t h e only one. Madge, t ru th were known! There 's a lot

couldn't .ell where they was en the m a p a f o r t n i g h t ago.

— If the Yanks do come in on our side I bet it wont be till i t ' s all nearly over.

—Like they done before in two wor'd wars, m o r e h indrance t h a n help!

—Let's hope it don ' t come to that , i t 's no t jus t the war bad as it is but th is nuclear t h i n g , they could go m a d and blow t h e whole bloonun' globe u p with their capers. I t s t a r t s sma l l and then you have Russia a n d t h e Yanks at each o ther and we ' re there right in t h e middle. — Bloody mad, the lot on em . . .

4 G E brings wisdom. I suppose - ' ( though cont radic tor i ly there's no fool like an old fool and the Pres iden t of the U.S. of A. isn't ex-actly a pillar of p rudence) and as one m i g h t expect, some young people whose opinions were can-vassed in the local paper here were a lot more bellicose than the old folk enjoying the April sun. All of those, young men and women, interviewed, seemed to w a n t to have a crack at the Argen t ines uhey used to be called Argen t in i ans un-less I mis take i and t h e r e was a pe rhaps laudable, but it seemed to me slightly suspect concern for their k i th and kin in t h e far-flung Fa lk land Islands. Bu t most worryingly of all one young unem-ployed m a n said t h a t t h e prospect of war gave a purpose and meaning to life and t ha t ' f igh t ing to free the Fa lk lands was bet ter t h a n hanging about on the dole . . .' Young people who have neve r witnessed any grea te r violence than a football ma tch p u n c h - u p may be forgiven for not be ing able to imagine the horror of war — T would m a k e compulsory viewing of documenta ry films of t h e last war a part of every chi ld 's e d u c t i o n , not t he glamourised rubbish made for commercial ga in—and no doubt it is one of our less wor thy human t r a i t s to feel exul ta t ion a t the thought of such confl ict : but when unemployment br ings out such yearn ings in young people then it is t ime to get worried indeed . . .

r p H E popular papers certainly give a dis tor ted impression of life in

th is coun t ry for most people it seems to me have m a n a g e d to keep their sense of proport ion and while r ight ly c o n d e m n i n g ' t h e action of a Fascis t S t a t e (which the Tories have never before spoken very ill of) do no t view the prospect of heavy casual t ies with t h e apparent relish some leader w r i t e s give vent to: in f a c t all round it seems to me t h a t ordinary folk have refused to let themselves be s tampeded into a bul l - run of emotion by the

CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION S O U T H L O N D O N B R A N C H

presents a Grand

IRISH & BRITISH FOLK NIGHT

( in aid of New Premises Fund)

f e a t u r i n g

Sue & Tony Norwel l Oliver Mul l igan Lucy Farr

M a r y Whi le Ken Keable Noel Burke

FRIDAY, Mth M A Y , s oo p.m. At the WHITE HART

(Corner New Cross Road and Queen's Road. SE14. Nearest Stations: New Crass and New Cross Gate. Buses 21, 36. 53. 163)

Admission £1

Our own l i t t le country across t h e water was quick to condemn t h e Argent ine invasion without going so f a r a s to say tha t their c l a im to the F a l k l a n d s wasn't valid, a n d t h a t c la im is something w h i c h could be a rgued about: t h a t ' s f a i r enough but t h e i e has been a lot of s en t imen ta l stuff about our connec-t ions wi th t h e Argentine wi th no men t ion a t all of the kind of se t -u p t h a t exis ts there. No doub t t he r e a re a lot of rich I r ish-des-cended r a n c h e r s in the Argen t ine but t he r e a r e a lot of o ther coun-t r ies where our un fo r tuna t e fo re -bears h a d to go for a living (no t least of t h e m Bri ta in) and it 's a l l ne i the r he re nor there in the heel of t he h u n t .

Nobody ever did any th ing f o r I r e l and—the French , the S p a n i s n or any o the r country—except inas -much as it might benefit t h e m -selves, a n d t he re is no need a t a l l to feel unde r a n obligation to a n y of them, least of all to a com a-y such as t h e Argent ine has become and with which, apparent ly , o u r t r ad ing benef i t s are negligible.

" I J U T t h e present crisis h a s * brought a dismaying crop of

possibilities in i t s wake; if t h e USSR can find common cause w i t h a R igh t Wing Dictatorship like Ar-gent ina t h e prospects for wor ld peace a re scarcely enhanced and if the USA t h i n k s it has cause to be-come any more worried t han it a l-ready is about Communist e n -c roachment on the American Con-t inent , who knows what h o r r o r s may be un leashed as a resul t? If t he S t a t e s thinks, it necessary to pour aid a n d a r m s into places l ike El Sa lvador wi th no discernible t h r ea t a t all to their own secur i ty w h a t m i g h t she not do if t h e r e were Russ i an naval vessels in Montivideo? I t wouldn't be t h e first t ime t h a t a major war - came about t h r o u g h ci rcumstances t h a t d idn ' t w a r r a n t it but this t ime i t m i g h t well be a nuclear war w h i c h would mean the end of h u m a n l i f e over large t r ac t s of the globe.

And the worrying thing is t h a t t he powerless senior citizens sit-t ing in t h e sun on the N o r t h a m p -ton Racecourse (so-called) s e e m more aware of this danger t h a n m a n y of t h e all too powerful rep-resen ta t ives of the people, e lected and otherwise!

TAOISEACH ON GRATTAN'S

PARLIAMENT (From Page Four)

today a r e genuinely interested in p romot ing peace and prosperi ty in the i r ne ighbour ing island, t h e y should ref lect on the success of G r a t t a n ' s Pa r l i amen t and m a k e t h e se t t ing u p of a forum which a t leas t h a s the capability of b r ing ing the political represen ta -t ives of t h e whole island in to dialogue a centra l f ea tu re of the i r policy.

"Once such a climate of d ia-logue is established, the f u r t h e r polit ical s t ruc tures which we need will evolve natural ly a n d inevitably. T o the men who m e t here in 1782, any division of t h i s is land would have seemed in-comprehensible and a crime, aga ins t t h a t nationhood which was the i r proudest boast.

"In t he , ','uctive of history both that division and the abhor-rent violence it generates should be seen as a passing phase. A realisation that it can be ended should be our inspi ra t ion; ' the Taoiseach said.