> r

FOUNDED 1939

Organ of the CoaaoDy Association

/

RAT No 490 DECEMBER 1984 30p

NO SALE!

BUY BOOKS WHILE YOU

CAN! The Tories are planning a 15% VAT on books

so as to spread their cult of Ignorance.

BUY NOW at the

FOUR PROVINCES BOOKSHOP 244/246 GRAYS INN ROAD, WC1

Sustentation fund YOU might think that £326 is a good figure-until we tell you that it covers two months.

We could paper a fair-sized wall with bills and reminders and we really need £300 a month.

For there are wages to be found, rest, electricity and water to be paid for, plus the materials required for political activity.

If you figure that out you'll see that £300 a month is only part of what we need, the rest having to be met in other ways.

However, we keep going, and our thanks to:

M. Brennan £5, S. Clarke £2, C. O'S. £5, J. D. Bolton £15, S. S. Watts £10, G.Ward £1, J. Mavanagh £3.20, A. Noone £4, C; Moloney £8, South London CA £55,1. Linehan £1, J. Harmon £3, J. McDonald £11, R. J. Tolhurst £5, Anon £50, I. Moody £5, B. Farrington £2.50, M. O'Donnell £10, E. O'Dowling £20, D. O'Connor £1, C.C. £2.60, J. Kavanagh £3.20, H; Robson £5, C. Moloney £1.50, K.C. £3.75, C. Qtrinn £1.08, South London CA £25, East London CA £9, M. Brennan £5, C. Leslie £5, T. Egan £2, C. & G. Findlay £10, D. McLoughlin £6, C. Pamment £3.20, G. Sheilds £5, R. Rossiter £ 9 , P. Horgan £ 2 . 6 0 , R. Searchfield £1.20, supporters in Soath London £9.25.

total: £326.08.

MRS T. WANTS IT FOR NOTHING

LONDON SUMMIT FIASCO They'll go on chattering

FROM all accounts the London "summit" (other people have meetings, big shots have summits) between Mr Fitzgerald and Mrs Thatcher, produced a big nothing. But they'll go on chattering, and things will go on as they are, which will suit them fine.

The only thing they are agreed on is to continue the repression of republicans.

The IRISH DEMOCRAT has never advised republicans to pursue a policy of violence, which has political disadvantages a man sees clearer when he gets older. But has it ever occurred to the British Tories that if what they are doing in Ireland did not provoke violence, then human nature would have undergone a miraculous transformation?

So the two big-wigs filled their bellies and got their heads together and decided to hot up "security," though if the Republic were to refuse to waste its money

C M t f f t t t Cards hand-printed by the NpOaprntoa Connolly Association, 25p each, 10 for £2, by post from 244 Grays Ian Road.

protecting England's border, the Tories would be suing for terms within a month.

ABYSMAL Mr Fitzgerald belongs to a class

which regards itself as "west Br i t i sh , " and the abysmal performance of the present government in the opinion polls arises not only from the economic p o s i t i o n , w h i c h p r e s e n t s difficulties outside government control, but from a widespread belief that its allegiences are non-Irish.

There is a feeling that Mr Fitzgerald would sell the country if he could get a price for it, but that Mrs Thatcher wants it for nothing.

The present impasse presumes a factor that is never discussed. This is the agreement arrived at in 1921, that America regarded Ireland as a "British sphere, of influence." This was implicit in the Washington naval treaty and the USA has respected it ever since.

Yet it is becoming daily clearer in Washington that Britain is totally incapable of delivering the goods in Ireland, the goods being the deep harbours of the twenty-six counties, and the* other military facilities the Pentagon requires for the third world war.

Irish people and their friends should therefore be vigilant. A m e r i c a n pa t i ence is not inexhaus t ib le . The Tha tche r g o v e r n m e n t k o w - t o w s and genuflects in or Jer to keep its stewardship, but how long will this last?

MERCENARY There are signs that some

Americans have lost faith in a B r i t i s h s o l u t i o n a n d a r e considering the possibility of an American solution. If British troops were moved to Shannon the country would go mad. But if the, Yanks decided on a big naval base at Bantry, southern shop-k e e p e r s and c h a m b e r s of commerce would be overcome with mercenary enthusiasm for the stars and stripes. Or at least we fear some of them would.

And if they were brought in on the discussions, some of the Republicans might accept a united Ireland under American tutelage, though by no means all would do so.

The alternative to a British solution, which is no solution, and an American solution which is no beMer, is an Irish solution, a united independent Ireland, and anything that leads in this direction is good, anything that leads away from it is bad.

It must not be thought that time is unlimited and that it is either Thatcher or us. Big changes and policy-reversals are possible in the present state of world affairs. The effort to convince British Labour, weak and flabby though its leadership.. may appear, of the need to hand over the six counties to ^Dublin and to get them in power with a mandate to dr it, is something to be pursued ere worse befaH.

Remember Republican prisoners

IF you sent a prisoner a card like the one illustrated on this page, you couldn't be sure that he'd get it.

But you don't need to send a political message. The main message is that the prisoner is not forgotten.

The "Irish Democrat" has never recom-mended the o f fences of which republican prisoners have been found guilty. But for one thing we are not convinced that all of them are guilty. A n d for another even if their actions were unwise their motives were not those o f personal gain.

Here is a list of them, got out by Northampton' Connol ly Association:

William Armstrong (119085) Gartree, Liam Baker (464984) Hull, James Bennett ( 4 6 4 9 8 9 ) P a r k h u r s t , S t e p h e n B l a k e ( 5 0 7 9 5 3 ) W a k e f i e l d , M a r t i n B r a d y (119087) Long Lartin, Eddie Butler (338637) Leicester, Eddie Byrne (873453) Long Lartin, B o b b y Campbell (B32954) Hull, Anthony Clarke (726381) Parkhurst, Martin Coughl in (507955) Hull, Anthony Cunningham (B03106) Long Lartin, Gerry Cunningham (132016) Long Lartin, Robert Cunningham (131877) Long Lartin, Hugh Doherty (338636) Parkhurst, Vincent Donne l ly (274064) Gartree, Brendon D o w d (758662) Leicester, Harry Duggan (338638) Parkhurat, N o e l Gibson (879295) Gartree, Richard Glenho lmes (B32952) Long Lartin, Patrick Gui l foy le (507956) Parkhurst, Patrick Hackett (342603) Parkhurst, Sean Hayes (341418) Albany, Paul H o l m e s (119034) Albany, Sean Kinsella (758661) W o r m w o o d Scrubs, Brian Keenan (B26380) Leicester, Ronnie McCartney (463799) Gartree, J o h n M c C o m b (B51715) Parkhurst, C o n McFadden (130662) Gartree, Andy

Mulryan (461576) Long Lartin, Patrick ! Mulryan (461575) L o n g Lartin, Mick Murray (509534) Hul l , Stephen N o r d o n e (758663) Parkhurst, Paul Norney (863532) G a r t r e e , J o e O ' C o n n e l ( 3 3 8 6 3 5 ) Parkhurst, Shane O'Doherty (336143) W o r m w o o d S c r u b s , E d d i e O ' N e i l l (135722) Wakef ie ld , Roy Walsh (119083) Hull .

Prison addresses are: Albany, Newport , Isle o f Wight; Parkhurst, Newport , Isle o f Wight: W o r m w o o d Scrubs, PO Box 757, D u Cane R o a d , London, W I 2 0 A E ; Long Lartin, South Littleton, Evesham, Wore*.; Gartree, Leicester Road, Market Harborough, Leics.; Welford Road, LdcNter, Love Lane, Wakefield, Yorkshire; Hedon Road, Hull, North Humberside; Jebb Avenye, Brixton, London SW2 J W ; ' 1

' v

Page 2 IRISH D E M O C R A T December 1984

IRELAND AND WORLD PEACE T E X T O F PAPER DISCUSSED AT LIVERPOOL CONFERENCE ON NOVEMBER 18th

M i l ( I N I R I M ["._• " l u s h q u i p j i o r i - '.hi* d i s p u t e d v , \ e r e ; g n n ol I he v \

. • •unt ies ,»l "N .< r the rn" I r e l a n d " I K -v o n n o f t j - W i c i a t i n r . ha s f r o m it* I n u n d a t i o n sough t t p e r s u a d e t he Brit ish l a b o u r m o v e m e n t that n o jus t a n d p e r m a n e n t so lu t i on is poss ib l e wi thou t the r e c o g n i t i o n ot the right ot the m a | o r i t \ ot the p e o p l e ot I r e l and to govern the w h o l e of their c o u n t r v I l i i s m e a n s re iec t ing the l o r v c la im to h o l d t e r m o r s in I r e land , a n d the Union is t Li.rini t o s e p a r a t i o n I r o m the rest ol I re land u n d e r lor> p r o t e c t i o n .

Hie w o t d " ' I o r \ " is here ««• . : a d v i s e d l y W h e n t h e I i b e r a ! g o v e r n m e n t in 1412 i n t r o d u c e d the t h i r d " H o m e Rule Hill" which w o u l d h a v e given s e l l - g o v e r n m e n t to the w h o l e ot I re land , t he l o r y pai tv o r g a n i s e d a r m e d rebel l ion in the n o r t h - e a s t , a n d eng inee red a m u t m v in the Brit ish \ r n i v when it was p r o p o s e d to t a k e s t eps aga ins t it. l l i e s e tac ts s h o u l d be i c m e m b e r e d when m e m b e r s ot M r s I h a t c h e r ' s g o v e r n m e n t talk a b o u t "law

a n d o r d e r " There ha s never been anv d o u b t tha t t he p a r t i t i o n ol I r e l and was ca r r i ed o u t I r o m mot ive s ol i m p e r i a l i s m , the a im be ing to re ta in a m i l i u m , pol i t ica l a n d e c o n o m i c f o o t h o l d in I r e land , l o r t hose oI us u ho believ e tha t the te r r ib le evils a n d d a n g e r s tha t beset the w o r l d today a r e p r i m a r i h d u e t o i m p e r i a l i s m , t he re can he no q u e s t i o n ol ou i a l i g n m e n t It mus t be wi th t h o s e w h o s t a n d wi th the ma |o r i t> of t he Irish p e o p l e h i t n a t i o n a l u n i t s a n d i n d e p e n d e n c e

Hie Ir ish Repub l i c , e s t ab l i shed as a " r e b e l " g o v e r n m e n t in J a n u a r y 14 14. a d o p t e d an a d v a n c e d " d e m o c r a t i c p r o g r a m m e " d r a w n u p in c o n s u l t a t i o n with Irish l a b o u r , a n d a p r o t r a c t e d guer r i l l a war resu l ted f r o m the i m p e r i a l e t to r t to d e t a c h the m a j o r i t y I rom its a l l eg iance to this r epub l i c . Desp i t e s u b s t a n t i a l s u p p o r t f r o m B r i t i s h l a b o u r . I l o u t G e o r g e ' s g o v e r n m e n t u l t imate ly succeeded m us ing t he p i . •pe r i l ed e l e m e n t s ins ide I re land to d iv ide the n a t i o n a l m o v e m e n t , a n d the resul t was e n f o r c e d p a r t i t i o n f o l l o w e d bv a d i s a s t r o u s civ il war

Hie issue which most sliarplv d i v i d e d the n a t i o n a l i s t s was not in tact tha t of p a r t i t i o n , a b o u t which a p ledge h a d been received that it w o u l d on ly be t e m p o r a r y . but that ol a l leg iance t o t h e C r o w n , tha t is to sav the issue o f sove re ign ty . The m a t t e r was d e b a t e d verv shor t ly a l lo t the end ol the f irst wor ld w a r in to which I re land w a s b u n d l e d w i t h o u t her c o n s e n t , at a t i m e when its m a i m e d a n d she l l - shocked vic t ims were to be seen on the s t ree ts of D u b l i n , .is indeed thev were to he seen on the s t ree t s ot L ive rpoo l . To accep t the C r o w n was seen as a c o m m i t m e n t to p a r t i c i p a t e in an imper ia l war

\ l RI-'ADN there a s t r o n g t r ad i t i on in f a v o u r ol neu t ra l i ty in I re land As early as 1790 Wol fe l o n e , the l a the r ot Irish r e p u b l i c a n i s m , u r g e d Irish neu t ra l i t y in Br i t a in ' s w a r wi th Spain In 1914 J a m e s C o n n o l l y j o i n e d with l u s h n a t i o n a l i s t s m e s t ab l i sh ing t he " I r i sh Neut ra l i ty l e a g u e " . T h e Ris ing o1 I91fi had as one of its o b j e c t s w i t h d r a w i n g I r e l and f r o m the E u r o p e a n conf l i c t . T h e l o r i e s w h o eng inee red t he C u r r a g h M u t i n y of 1914 were bv n o w in the War C a b i n e t , a n d were in a p o s i t i o n to cons ign the D u b l i n " r e b e l s " to the f i r ing s q u a d , s o m e lawyers h a v e c l a imed in c o m p l e t e d e f i a n c e of legality

In c o m p a r i s o n with the Repub l i c of 1919. the Irish Free State e s t ab l i shed at the end of 1922, was r e a c t i o n a r y . In c o m p a r i s o n with s o m e of the r eg imes b e i n g set u p on the basis of t he Versai l les T r e a t y , it h a d i m p o r t a n t d e m o c r a t i c a s p e c t s It was pol i t ical ly necessary t o re ta in f e a t u r e s of the 1919 Repub l i c , a n d the issue of an Irish fo re ign pol icy i n d e p e n d e n t of tha t of Bri ta in was never a l l o w e d to lapse It s h o u l d be c o m m e n t e d here tha t the o c c u p a t i o n of t h e six c o u n t i e s bv Bri t ish fo r ce s necessar i ly r eac ted negat ive ly o n D u b l i n ' s f r e e d o m of a c t i o n

prive had to he pa; 1 De \ a l e r a alvvavs c o m b i n e d neut ra l i ty wi th s u p p o r t lor collect ive security a n d t r i ed t o reactiv ate this at the end ot the war He said "I th ink we have a du ty as a m e m b e r of the wor ld c o m m u n i t y to d o o u r share in t rv ing to b r ing a b o u t g e n e r a l c o n d i t i o n s which will m a k e lor the m a i n t e n a n c e of p e a c e " His s u c c e s s o r s in the " I n t e r partv g o v e r n m e n t " t u r n e d d o w n the inv i ta t ion to j o in N A T O , g iv ing as a r eason the ex is tence ot p a r t i t i o n . While the re were in te res t s w i t h i n I r e l a n d which wou ld have been p r e p a r e d to ba r t e r neutral i ty aga ins t the r e t u r n of the six coun t i e s , it is d o u b t f u l w h e t h e r public o p i n i o n , aff ec ted by the l o n g t r a d i t i o n of neu t r a l i t y . w o u l d h a v e been p r e p a r e d to' allow this

In the | 4 n k . I r e l and o p p o s e d nuc lea r r e - a r m a m e n t . u r g e d g e n e r a l d i s a r m a m e n t a n d c o n d e m n e d a p a r t h e i d in Sou th Af r i ca . Mr [-'rank Aiken p r o p o s e d the c r e a t i o n , r e g i o n by reg ion , ol nuc lea r - t r ee / o n e s w h i c h wou ld ul t imately cover the w h o l e w o r l d It was as a result ot an Ir ish r e s o l u t i o n a d o p t e d u n a n i m o u s l y in 1961. tha t t he non-p ro l i l e r a t ion treaty was s i g n e d in 1967, It was the Irish w ho first ra i sed the q u e s t i o n ot C h i n e s e m e m b e r s h i p of I N O agains t the e x p r e s s wishes of the I SA a n d the w a r n i n g s of C a r d i n a l Spe l lman [Tie l ibera l o r i e n t a t i o n of Irish foreign policy ha s been a c o n s t a n t e m b a r r a s s m e n t to r u l i n g c i rc les in L o n d o n a n d W a s h i n g t o n . T h e r e is a c o n t i n u o u s war of p r e s s u r e a n d c o u n t e r -pressi i re wi th in A n g l o - I r i s h r e l a t ions . Hie f u n d a m e n t a l fac t is tha t British

imper i a l i sm still exis ts , w i t h vast e c o n o m i c in te res t s in every pa r t ot the wor ld . The essence of its po l i cy , now tha t its mil i tary p r e d o m i n a n c e has p a s s e d , is that these i n t e r e s t s shall be d e f e n d e d bv the U n i t e d Sta tes , T ins in t u r n l e a d s t o s u b s e r v i e n c e t o W a s h i n g t o n a n d wi l l ing a c c e p t a n c e of the ant i -Soviet a r m s race . T o I re land this is an e c o n o m i c i r r e l e v a n c e a n d Irish fo re ign policy d o e s no t r e q u i r e t he cold w a t . t h o u g h of c o u r s e t h e r e a re in te res t s p r e p a r e d to m a k e a dea l o n it

T H R O U G H O U T the w a r per iod t h e r e were c o n s t a n t c o m p l a i n t s that Irish h a r b o u r s were not a v a i l a b l e to a l l ied navies. T h e r e were f r e q u e n t comple te ly g r o u n d l e s s a l l e g a t i o n s that G e r m a n s u b m a r i n e s w e r e u s i n g them, a n d p r e p a r a t i o n s were m a d e fo r an i nvas ion f r o m the six c o u n t i e s when Bri t ish t a n k s were to h a v e f l o w n Irish t r i c o l o u r s to s u p p o r t the p r e t e n c e of r epe l l ing a G e r m a n l a n d i n g T h e s e f lags were s u b s e q u e n t l y so ld at a u c t i o n . D u r i n g the w a r M r C h u r c h i l l r a i s ed the q u e s t i o n ol c o n c e s s i o n s o v e r p a r t i t i o n if I r e l and wou ld j o i n the al l ies . W h e t h e r De Valera c o u l d h a v e p e r s u a d e d pub l i c o p i n i o n to accep t th is is a m a t t e r of s p e c u l a t i o n . W h a t is fact is t ha t C h u r -chil l did not m a k e a firm o f f e r , d o i n g l i t t le m o r e t h a n p r o m i s i n g t o d o his best w i th the Union i s t s . T h e s e were t o repre-sen t a veto in reserve

Lhe use ot Irish fac i l i t i es f o r war p u r p o s e s has been u n d e r regu la r d i s c u s s i o n , fo r e x a m p l e in t he H o u s e of L o r d s in 1960 T h e i n c e p t i o n of the s e c o n d c o l d w a r by t h e a g e d n e c r o m a n c e r R e a g a n rev ived such d i scuss ions . T h e p r e t e n c e t h a t I r e l and h a s n o s t ra teg ic v a l u e ( a n d t h e r e f o r e Br i ta in re ta ined the six c o u n t i e s o u t of shee r a l t ru i sm t o w a r d s t h e U n i o n i s t s ) w a s incon t inen t ly d r o p p e d . It w o u l d not w a s h in A m e r i c a . A m o n g m a t t e r s d i s cus sed were l a n d i n g s at I r i sh p o r t s , t r a n s i t of w a r m a t e r i a l s t h r o u g h Irish t e r r i t o r y , the use 6f t h e u n d e r - p o p u l a t e d m i d l a n d s as a d i s p e r s a l a r e a fo r A m e r i c a n t r o o p s , a n d t he e r e c t i o n of m i c r o w a v e i n t e r c e p t o r s t a t i o n s r o u n d t h e west coas t . S e r i o u s d i s c u s s i o n was g iven to c o n v e r t i n g S h a n n o n A i r p o r t as t he t e rmina l of an A m e r i c a n air-l if t a n d susp ic ions h a v e been v o i c e d tha t c e r t a i n E E C - s p o n s o r e d e l e c t r o n i c p r o g r a m m e s a r e i n t e n d e d f o r war p u r p o s e s .

m i l i t a r i s a t i o n ol the Irish Sea w h e r e s h i p s h a v e been mys te r ious ly s u n k n o t a b l y in the Tusker Rock a r e a F o r s o m e ol these s ink ings the Bri t ish G o v e r n m e n t has been c o m p e l l e d t o pay c o m p e n s a t i o n f i s h i n g h a s b e e n f o r b i d d e n in an a rea be tween L a r n e a n d the Isle o f M a n . the r eason b e i n g the d u m p i n g ot "h igh exp los ive s " . W h e t h e r lo r th is o n e s h o u l d read " n u c l e a r w a s t e " is a m a t t e r fo r s p e c u l a t i o n . It is a d m i t t e d tha t the Ir ish Sea is the mos t r a d i o - a c t i v e in the w o r l d a n d the high r a t e s of L e u k a e m i a n o t e d in the n e i g h b o u r h o o d ot W i n d s c a l e (Sel laf ie ld) a re g r a d u a l l y c r e e p i n g r o u n d the coas t s of C u m b r i a . L a n c a s h i r e a n d t he east of I r e l a n d

Ih i s p r o c e s s which t h r e a t e n s the Br i t i sh p e o p l e as a w h o l e , bu t p a r t i c u l a r l y the densely p o p u l a t e d tow ns a n d cit ies of L a n c a s h i r e , w o u l d be e n o r m o u s l y a c c e l e r a t e d in the e v e n t of Ir ish n e u t r a l i t y b r e a k i n g d o w n . It is t h e r e f o r e an essent ia l w o r k i n g - c l a s s in te res t t o s u p p o r t the Irish p e o p l e in the i r r e f u s a l t o allow the m i l i t a r i s a t i o n ot t he i r c o u n t r y Tliey a re p e r f o r m i n g a se rv ice t o the p e o p l e s of the w o r l d . It is t h e r e f o r e r e m a r k a b l e that t he Br i t i sh p e a c e m o v e m e n t has t ended t o r e g a r d the Ir ish q u e s t i o n as i r r e l evan t . T h i s p r o b a b l y a r i ses f r o m its t r a d i t i o n of p a c i f i s m , f r o m which the re a r i s e s the t e n d e n c y t o c o n c e n t r a t e , v e r y u n d e r s t a n d a b l y , on the a b o l i t i o n of n u c l e a r w e a p o n s , w i thou t c o m i n g to g r ip s w i t h the pol i t ica l reali t ies w h i c h lie b e h i n d t h e t h r ea t of their use. F o r t he fac t o f t h e m a t t e r is that if R u s s i a a n d A m e r i c a d o not c o m e t o s o m e a g r e e m e n t then we will all be b l o w n u p . It is a s a n o n - a l i g n e d a rea , o u t s i d e the c o n f r o n t a t i o n , t ha t a neu t r a l I r e l a n d is so vi ta l ly i m p o r t a n t

It is e s sen t i a l t o recognise t h a t h e r e w e h a v e the t rue essence of t h e Ir ish q u e s t i o n , t o wh ich the q u e s t i o n of p a r t i t i o n is l inked as the pa r t is l i nked t o the w h o l e . P a r t i t i o n is only the m o s t b l a t a n t a n d i n d e f e n s i b l e of the m e a n s a d o p t e d by Bri t ish impe r i a l i sm in its pol icy t o w a r d s I r e l a n d as a w h o l e . It is f o r t h i s r e a s o n t h a t s u c c e s s i v e g o v e r n m e n t s at W e s t m i n s t e r h a v e been p r e p a r e d to t o l e r a t e 2,300 d e a t h s a n d 24 ,000 n o n - f a t a l c a sua l t i e s in t he six

c o u n t i e s in t h e l a s t 13 v e a r s , accep t a n e s t i m a t e d £ 1 1 , 9 0 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 e c o n o m i c d e s t r u c t i o n a n d a loss to the Br i t i sh E x c h e q u e r of s o m e £ 2 . 0 0 0 mi l l ion a year on p r e s e n t f igu res , a m o u n t i n g t o £4 a week f o r every f a m i l y in Br i t a in . This is all seen as war e x p e n d i t u r e . T h e r e is a lways m o n e y fo r t h a t . M o n e y f o r the Hea l th Se rv ice , the m i n e s o r t he r a i lways is a n o t h e r m a t t e r a l t o g e t h e r .

F o l l o w i n g t he Br igh ton e x p l o s i o n the c o m m e n t was m a d e tha t the v io len t a c t i o n s of t he I R A e n j o y c o n s i d e r a b l e s u p p o r t in t h e six c o u n t i e s . T h i s s h o u l d give p a u s e f o r t h o u g h t . It m e a n s t h a t t h e u l t i m a t e r - su l t of Bri t ish po l i cy in I r e l and is t o c r e a t e a m o o d of d e s p e r a t i o n no t on ly a m o n g a f ew

SOME people are still yapping about extending the British Labour Party to the six counties. It is hard not to be aghast at the brazen arrogant imperialism of the thing. There is alreac in the six counties a Labour Party, the SDLP, which is affiliated to the Labour and Socialist International. Most of its members are Catholic, not because it won't accept Protestants, but because the main run of Protestants won't join it because it includes in its policy the unity of Ireland.

Now these rubbishy chauvinists want to start up another Labour Party from outside that would cater for Protestants opposed to a united Ireland. And the hypocrisy of it! Hils act of blatant sectarianism is being represented as in some mysterious way directed against sectarianism. Will nobody cry shame on them?

* * *

THERE is no question Fiannsr Fail,

ac t iv i s t s b u ' in a wide s t r a t u m ot the p o p u l a t i o n The re mus t t h e r e f o r e be g r i e v a n c e s that are f o u n d i n t o l e r a b l e There m u s t be a total lack of c o n f i d e n c e tha t any redress will be a t t e m p t e d . A n d the tact tha t n o redress has been a t t e m p t e d ar ises f r o m the fact t ha t n o r ed res s is poss ib le wi th in the f r a m e w o r k of the w a r pol icy. Tha t is why p u s s y f o o t l i b e r a l i s a t i o n p r o g r a m m e s wh ich d o not t o u c h t he pol i t ica l hear t of the q u e s t i o n r e m a i n in the region of w e l l - m e a n i n g g o o d will.

T H E R E A C T I O N t o n a t i o n a l i s t g r i e v a n c e s is repress ion — b o g u s t r ia ls , b o g u s c o u r t s , supe r -g ras ses a n d p las t i c bul le ts . W h e n these fail, e f f o r t s a r e m a d e to enl is t the services of t he g o v e r n m e n t ol t h e R e p u b l i c , u n d e r s t a n d a b l y n e r v o u s of the sp read of a n a r c h y to all I r e l a n d , t o e n c o u r a g e q u i e s c e n c e a n d assist t he secur i ty forces . T h e r e is ta lk of e l e m e n t s of na t i ona l un i ty ; these i n v a r i a b l y involve pol ice o p e r a t i o n s , wi tness f o r e x a m p l e the p r o p o s a l f o r an a l l - I r e l a n d pol ice fo rce f o r a p a r t i t i o n e d c o u n t r y T h e ma t t e r was m a d e c rys ta l c lear by T o r y M P Mr Michae l M a t e s w h o on O c t o b e r 12th sa id tha t if e n o u g h peop l e w a n t e d it in the six c o u n t i e s Br i ta in m i g h t give way o n the i s sue of p a r t i t i o n , bu t on n o a c c o u n t w o u l d th i s h a p p e n wh i l e the Repub l i c m a i n t a i n e d its n e u t r a l i t y . O n e can imag ine the s t a t e ot an I r e l a n d un i t ed wi th in the w a r a l l iance — the re w o u l d be m o r e t h a n an a l l - I r e l a n d pol ice fo rce !

It is a m a t t e r of interest tha t M r s I h a t c h e r ' s insensitivitv and a r r o g a n c e , as

it is seen in I r e l and , has led t he m o s t p r o -imper ia l g o v e r n m e n t that ha s ru l ed I re land f o r m a n y years to p laca te pub l i c o p i n i o n by m a k i n g n a t i o n a l i s t s t a t e m e n t s tha t have run c o u n t e r t o its s t a ted po l i cy . This has been n o t e d pa r t i cu l a r ly in the field of e x t e r n a l a f f a i r s

It s h o u l d be clear f r o m the a b o v e t ha t we a r e no t c o n c e r n e d jus t wi th a t h o r n y , d i f f i cu l t i n t r a c t a b l e p r o b l e m in a c o r n e r of the U n i t e d K i n g d o m . We are d e a l i n g with a po l i cy fo r to ta l war . This i n v o l v e s the use o f Irish ter r i tory f o r i m p e r i a l p u r p o s e s , a n d the result is p o p u l a r r e s i s t ance — repub l i can , na t i ona l i s t a n d C N D . T h e g rea t a n d g r o w i n g m o v e m e n t in d e f e n c e o f neu t ra l i ty which has h e l p e d to d e f e a t E E C e f fo r t s to edge I r e l a n d in to t he w a r a l l i ance exempl i f i es f u r t h e r . F r o m the s t a n d p o i n t of the Br i t i sh w o r k i n g c lass it is essential t o r everse t h e war po l icy a n d tha t m e a n s a b a n d o n i n g its o b j e c t i v e . The s u p r e m e d e m o c r a t i c q u e s t i o n b e f o r e the wor ld t o d a y is peace : a n d the Irish q u e s t i o n is p a r t of tha t .

S O M E Bri t ish obse rve r s fail t o see this. T h e y s ta r t f r o m a l imi ted s ix-c o u n t y p o s i t i o n , d r e a m i n g of " u n i t y t h r o u g h s o c i a l i s m " t h o u g h s o c i a l i s m c a n n o t even be a p p r o a c h e d while t h e w o r k e r s a r e d iv ided on the n a t i o n a l q u e s t i o n M o r e o v e r they wou ld n e e d t o

he r eun i t ed o n the issue tha t d i v i d e s them A n d th i s is in tu rn i m p o s s i b l e while the w h o l e we igh t of Brit ish po l icy in every a s p e c t o f a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g is t h r o w n b e h i n d t he tactic of " d i v i d e a n d r u l e " .

The first s t e p t h e r e f o r e must be t he public r e c o g n i t i o n of the need f o r wi thd rawa l f r o m I r e l and . This is on ly possible t o a g o v e r n m e n t that means peace. It r e q u i r e s a n e n o r m o u s r e - t h i n k of a s s u m p t i o n s , a i m s a n d policies. T h e extent of t he c h a n g e s h o u l d n o t be o v e r l o o k e d . It s h o u l d a l so be r e c o g n i s e d that there is a n I r i sh in teres t in how w i th -drawal is c a r r i e d o u t . P e r h a p s t he simplest s c e n a r i o , w h i c h we d o no t n e e d to f inal ise un t i l t he necessi ty f o r w i t h d r a w a l is r ecogn i sed , is t ha t the British g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d m a k e a d e c l a r a t i o n o f i t s i n t e n t i o n o f w i t h d r a w i n g , a n d a c c o m p a n y this w i th an inv i ta t ion t o t h e D u b l i n g o v e r n m e n t to discuss t he m e a s u r e s necessary . It is clear of c o u r s e t ha t s o m e t h i n g m o r e soph i s t i ca t ed is r e q u i r e d t h a n is impl i ed in the c r u d e s l o g a n " t r o o p s out n o w " D i s e n g a g e m e n t m i g h t be qu ick o r slow-a c c o r d i n g t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s .

It is not t he i n t e n t i o n of this p a p e r to deal with i n t e r n a l Ir ish a f fa i r s . But it c an be said t ha t t h e r e a r e pol icies ava i l ab l e in I re land t o m e e t m o s t of the p r o b l e m s likely to be e n c o u n t e r e d f o l l o w i n g a British po l icy of w i t h d r a w a l a n d reun i f i ca t ion It w o u l d be necessary to work for t he m a x i m u m poss ib le consen t . F o l l o w i n g a d e c l a r a t i o n of intent IRA v io l ence c o u l d be expec t ed to d r o p sha rp ly . Eimergencv power s c o u l d be p rogress ive ly r e l axed . T r o o p s c o u l d be w i t h d r a w n . Vio lence ins tead o f esca la t ing w o u l d de-esca la te . M o n e y saved by t he c e s s a t i o n of r ep res s ion could be d i v e r t e d t o c o n s t r u c t i v e

ipurpose , s u c h as a de l ibe ra te well-financed g o v e r n m e n t c a m p a i g n to reconci le the e s t r a n g e d c o m m u n i t i e s . It is wor th n o t i n g t h a t no t a p e n n y of g o v e r n m e n t m o n e y ha s ever been a l loca ted f o r th is . I n s t e a d of cons t an t l y h igh- l igh t ing t he Br i t i sh ident i ty of the Union is t s , w h i c h h i s t o r i a n A J . P Tay lo r r e m a r k e d w a s never h e a r d of until 1922, the m u c h m o r e ex tens ive Irish e thn ic , c u l t u r a l a n d h is tor ica l b a c k g r o u n d c o u l d be h igh- l igh ted . It is not the b u s i n e s s o f a n y b o d y in Br i ta in t o m a k e a b l u e - p r i n t f o r such policies. It shou ld be s u f f i c i e n t to s ta te tha t such policies exist

Lhe p u r p o s e o f t h i s p a p e r is to p resen t the Irish q u e s t i o n in re la t ion to wor td peace This is t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t aspec t of it. But n o t h i n g s a id a b o v e mus t be t aken as d i s p a r a g e m e n t of m o v e m e n t s in t ended to t a c k l e p a r t i a l a spec t s of t h e p r o b l e m , f o r e x a m p l e p las t ic bul le ts , the Prevent ion of T e r r o r i s m Act , the de-indus t r i a l i s a t i on po l icy o f the Tor ies , etc. The p u r p o s e h a s b e e n to try to s h o w the n a t u r e of t h e w h o l e .

In 1923 the F r e e Sta te j o i n e d the l e a g u e < f N a t i o n s . In 1935 Ireland s u p p o r t e d the a d m i s s i o n of t h e U S S R i n t o t'.ie L e a g u e , a n d the f o l l o w i n g year a p p l i e d s a n c t i o n s aga in s t Italy f o l l o w i n g the invas ion of Abyssinia Ireland was n o t a p a r t y to the Tory b u i l d - u p of Nazi mil i t a r i sm a n d w a s under n o ob l igat ion t o go t o war w h e n H i t l e r turned o n his wes te rn f r i ends . But a h e a v y e c o n o m i c

M E A N W H I L E the mil i tarisat ion of areas under British contro l has p r o c e e d e d apace. M i c r o w a v e stat ions , s u b m a r i n e detect ion e q u i p m e n t and e a r l y - w a r n i n g d e v i c e s h a v e b e e n insta l led in the six count i e s a n d l inked to Scot land . In C o A r m a g h a who le m o u n t a i n has been h o l l o w e d o u t for s o m e undisclosed military purpose . T h e r e h a s b e e n a p r o g r e s s i v e

CONTRASTS - SDLP, LABOUR AND FIANNA FAIL

u n d e r M r C h a r l e s H a u g t r e y ' s leadership is moving to the left. It is already well to the left of the Irish Labour Party from which people- are predicting an early rat-race t<̂ <4PKne Gael, leaving we hope an dppdtttMty for one of the decent ones lifcftMlduM O'Higgins to the hereunto task o f reconstructing the party of Connolly.

But to return to FF..Mr Haughey, at the recent Fianna Fail Yodtli conference, condemned Fine Gad's imported "new right" monetarict policies which he said were leading to social unrest.

He condemned the extradition of McGlinchey who was alleged to have committed crimes in the Repnblic, and should have been tried for them in the place he was alleged to have committed them. The conference passed a resolution to the effect that Sinn Fein should be allowed time on Radio Eireann, though Mr Haughey was not so sure of that.

Mr Haughey spoke in favour of "constructive neutrality" and Ireland's taking international initiatives to preserve world peace.

Bolton lecture M E M B E R S o f the Manchester . Bcrtton and Wigan branches o f the I B R G attended a lecture o n "Physical Force in Irish Politics" g iven by Mr D e s m o n d Greaves at the Socia l i s t C l u b in Bdl ton on Wednesday, N o v e m b e r 21st.

The talk was part of a series organised by Mr Paul S a l v e s o n prominent local historian. A l s o present were Mrs Molly Weaver, w i d o w o f the miners' leader Michael Weaver , and Mr Michael Mortimer, secretary o f LiverJ>ool Connol ly A s s o c i a t i o n .

The idea is b e i n g floated that C A . I B R G and LCI s h o u l d get together in an al l-Lancashire c o n f e r e n c e t o set u p a local "Parliament o f the Irish."

December 1984 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT Page 3

FOOD MOUNTAINS THAT CAUSE FAMINE The Plough at The Abbey

T H E R E has been a deal of hear t -r e n d i n g a b o u t t he E E C f o o d m o u n t a i n s and the famine in the north eas t of A f r i c a . But t h e r e is m u c h , m u c h , m o r e t o the h i d e o u s a n d i m m o r a l p ic tu re of f a m i n e in o n e p lace a n d the f o o d s u r p l u s a f ew hundred mi les away. T h e f a m i n e is n o t j u s t d u e t o a l ack of ra in or wa te r , these c o u n t r i e s h a v e a legacy f r o m f o r m e r imper i a l i s t days and also have t h e r e e c o n o m i e s c o m p l e t e l y d i s t o r t ed e v e n n o w by t he s a m e f o r m e r imper ia l p o w e r s .

C h a d , E t h i o p i a , S o m a l i a a n d S u d a n are all f ormer British, French o r I t a l i an 'possess ions ' . These coun t r i e s are p r e d o m i n a n t l y a g r i c u l t u r a l and their e x p o r t s cons i s t of r a w mate r i a l s such as c o t t o n , h ides a n d sk ins , cof fee , b u t t e r a n d s u g a r . T h e S u d a n p r o d u c e s c o t t o n wh ich f o r m e r l y c a m e to Bri tain a n d its mi l ls . T o d a y m a n - m a d e f ibres have o v e r t a k e n c o t t o n , h ides a n d skins. The S u d a n c o t t o n f i e lds a n d the mills in Br i t a in e a r n li t t le or n o m o n e y a n d p r o v i d e next t o n o work T o replace, s a y , c o t t o n p r o d u c t i o n in S u d a n , there w o u l d h a v e t o be heavy inves tment in m a n u f a c t u r i n g p l a n t . The work fo rce w o u l d r equ i r e p e o p l e leaving the land P o w e r s t a t i o n s , r o a d a n d rail n e t w o r k s w o u l d be n e e d e d all r equ i r ing m o n e y w h i c h the c o u n t r y d o e s no t have. Even if it d id have the m o n e y the p r o d u c t s w o u l d have to c o m p e t e on a wor ld m a r k e t a l r e a d y s a t u r a t e d with such g o o d s . T o b o r r o w the m o n e y fo r such a v e n t u r e the c o u n t r y immed ia t e ly p laces itself in the c l u t c h e s of the b a n k e r s , the i r d i k t a t s , a n d , the well worn pa th to b o r r o w i n g f u r t h e r m o n e y to pay off the in te res t on the d e b t s

C O F F E E d e p e n d s o n the wea the r and the e r r a t i c w o r l d pr ice , largly d ic t a t ed by the m u l t i - n a t i o n a l s a n d not bv the

T H F constant vilification of Mr Arthur Scargill in the yellow press is , one supposes, understandable.

By any account he is a remarkable man. It was he who understood the long prepared strategy of the Tory wreckers w h o years ago determined to destroy the coal industry if that was the only way to destroy the miners' union.

The stockpiles of coal at home and abroad, the carefully calculated legal restraints of trade union practices, the preliminary run with the steel industry, confirmed the content of such inside information as leaked out.

But the plan was prepared in complete secrecy, and was protected by a b a r r a g e of l i es a n d prevarications.

Then at the end of winter, with the demand for coal pLimmeting, came the provocation. Five pits were closed without consultation.

Mr Scargill realised that if he did not respond to the challenge at once dozens of pits would be closed before winter, and though that would be a better time for a strike, it would be too late.

But could the miners hold out through a summer and autumn'.' They could and they did, but at terrible cost.

IT must not be forgotten that the division in their ranks is largely the work of Lord Gormley who accepted payment by results and broke the front. Mr. Scargill had to take this into account.

Then there was the miserable pusillanimity of the TUC talkers and M r K i n n o c k o f t h e L a b o u r P a r t y w h o has given us a foretaste of what he will b e l ike a s l e a d e r o f a L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t if he ever w i n s a n e l e c t i o n . A fa in t heart never w o n a f a i r l a d y , a n d s u r e l y K i n n o c k ' s is t he

, f a i n t e s t in L a b o u r history. T h e b u m b l i n g M i c h a e l F o o t is a Sir

• ' G a l a h a d in c o m p a r i s o n .

B u t there a r e e x p l a n a t i o n s for this In w h o l e a r e a s o f the country and w h o l e industries the British working class is demoral ised by forty yfeairS of unparallelled prosperity. They might shake off their sloth given leadership;

By JOHN BOYD

p r o d u c i n g count r ies . T h e c o f f e e pr ice is a c t u a l l y decided in L o n d o n !

B u t t e r a n d sugar c o m p e t e , a n d lose even b e f o r e they a re p r o d u c e d , to the E E C ' s o w n expor t ed o v e r p r o d u c t i o n The E E C d u m p s f o o d o n t he wor ld m a r k e t depress ing pr ices t o r id icu lous ly l o w levels. T h i r d w o r l d c o u n t r i e s c a n n o t p o s s i b l y c o m p e t e o r even p r o d u c e at t ha t p r i ce . Th i s r obs t h e m of a n y n o r m a l t r a d i n g a g r e e m e n t s a n d a n y i n c o m e f r o m the i r own p r o d u c t s . T h a t is only p a r t o f the pic ture .

T h e resu l t s of the E E C d u m p i n g not o n l y dep re s se s the t h i rd w o r l d but p r e v e n t s indus t r i a l i sed c o u n t r i e s f r o m t r a d i n g with the th i rd w o r l d a s well. It is very expens ive to the E E C ' s a g r i c u l t u r e to p r o d u c e the su rp lu s se s in the first p l a c e because , fo r e x a m p l e , it is a n in-a p p r o p r i a t e par t of t he w o r l d t o g row s u g a r . W h e n it is o v e r p r o d u c e d it is h igh ly subs id ised in o r d e r to d u m p it c h e a p l y with the cos t c a r r i e d by the t a x p a y e r s . T h i s fo rces u p t he pr ice of i n d u s t r i a l p r o d u c t i o n a s w o r k e r s h a v e to b u y the highly pr iced f o o d and o b v i o u s l y requi re w a g e s t o d o so. Th i s in t u r n fo rces up the p r i ce of the m a n u f a c t u r e d g o o d s w h i c h the th i rd w o r l d c o u n t r i e s find even h a r d e r to p u r c h a s e .

T H E overa l l effect is t o se r ious ly d a m p e n wor ld t r ade a n d is a n i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r c o n t r i b u t i n g to the so cal led e c o n o m i c recession, e spec i a l ly lo r B r i t a in and its w o r k f o r c e . L o n g e s t a b l i s h e d t r ad ing l inks a r e b r o k e n oil eve ry d a y of the year. I n s t e a d of being

they will certainly not do so without leadership.

But instead of leadership there has been too much mealy-mouthed moralising. What can be said of the hypocrisy of a woman who drowns four hundred youngsters in the South Atlantic in blatant defiance of international law, and then tells miners not to throw stones'? Is there n o b o d y on the L a b o u r s ide courageous enough to throw that in her teeth.

ONE thing the miners should have learned, apart from the hypocrisy of the ruling class, is its ferocity and total committment to the class struggle. Will it be surprising if they see the law merely as codified tyranny, with the police as its well-paid, unthinking hatchet-men, and the courts as the willing agents of government policy? They say "the law is an ass." It may be that, but it looks very like a jackal.

A policeman is walking a dog. A boy aged 17 says "miaow." He is arrested at once, and fined a hundred pounds. Only in British-occupied Ireland did you have such things. Patrick Pearse is said to have defended a youngster who was accused of looking at a policeman The judge queried the charge, but it was explained that he had looked at the officer "in a humbugging sort ot wav."

ALL criticisms of the miners, be they right or wrong, should be totally avoided. Leave that to the BBC, the newspapers, the Tory members of Parliament and the Coal Board.

able t o t r a d e f ree ly wi th the th i rd w o r l d , t r a d i n g m a n u f a c t u r e s f o r f o o d a n d o t h e r raw m a t e r i a l s , Br i ta in ha s to a t t e m p t to t r ade m a n u f a c t u r e s f o r m a n u f a c t u r e s wi thin the E E C as well as b u y i n g d e a r F E C f o o d . Its o u t d a t e d a n d c l a p p e d ou t i ndus t r i e s a r e n o m a t c h fo r the t a sk , even if w o r k e r s a c c e p t low i n c o m e s a s par t of t he 'ge t c o m p e t i t i v e ' n o n s e n s e of l o r y t h e o r y .

In the c u r r e n t e ra t h ; f o r m e r E u r o p e a n i m p e r i a l p o w e r s h a v e j o i n e d toge the r in a new f o r m of i m p e r i a l i s m , the E E C . T h e E E C itself is in c o m p e t i t i o n with the o t h e r two imper i a l cen t r e s o f J a p a n a n d the U S A . T o g e t h e r they exp lo i t a n d e x t r a c t as m u c h a s ooss ib le o u t of the th i rd w o r l d . T h e g r a n t s and aid are peanuts c o m p a r e d to the co los sa l s u m s m a d e by t he t r a n s -n a t i o n a l c o r p o r a t i o n s a n d the b a n k s It is the T N C ' s t ha t d i c t a t e , for i n s t a n c e , the p r ice of c o p p e r m i n e d in c e n t r a l Af r i ca . T h e c o p p e r is e x p o r t e d as raw m a t e r i a l a n d p r o c e s s e d i n t o m a n u f a c u t r e s i n t h e i n d u s t r i a l c o u n t r i e s . T h a t is all par t of the cut t h r o a t c o m p e t i t i o n a n d d o m i n a n c e of the t h i rd w o r l d . T h e c o p p e r p r o d u c i n g c o u n t r i e s h a v e n o c h a n c e u n d e r the b a n k s a n d T N C ' s ru l e s t o d e v e l o p the i r own i n d u s t r i e s a n d e x p o r t f i n i shed g o o d s t h e m s e l v e s .

T h e f a m i n e in E t h i o p i a a n d a d j a c e n t c o u n t r i e s ha s s p o t l i g h t e d the r i d i c u l o u s s i t ua t i on r e g a r d i n g f o o d . T h e s h o r t t e rm aid a n d t w o H e r c u l e s a i r c r a f t loaned by Br i t a in f o r a m o n t h a r e to def lect a t t e n t i o n a w a y f r o m the real p r o b l e m a n d s i t u a t i o n c a u s e d by the E E C , T N C ' s a n d the City ol L o n d o n . Lhe j o b in h a n d is t o e x p o s e l u r t h e r the real c a u s e of the pl ight o f so m a n y in the third w o r l d , a n d , in d o i n g so it will he lp w o r k e r s in these i s lands as well

Another thing that should stop is speculations upon what compromise the miners might accept. That is a matter for the miners il and when they decide to accept compromise. It is no-body else's business If the miners say they intend to fight and win, the rest of the L a b o u r movement shou ld predicate its policy on that, attack the miners' enemies and step up financial support, and industrial support where it is appropriate.

I crossed O'Connell Bridge 111 Dublin about a week ago, and in order to encouage others, threw 50p into the bucket one of the Welsh miners was holding. My 50p, disappeared under wads of pound notes.

T H E R E was consternation in Dublin when Judge Barrington f roze the miners' assets in a Dublin bank in response to a civil action in a foreign country. It was unprecedented. But it is well to remember that it was this same J u d g e B a r r i n g t o n whose b road ly p ro -Br i t i sh o r i e n t a t i o n inspired Colm Power to coin the p h r a s e " a n 1 1 - n a t i o n a 1 b r a i n -washing."

II is from the national and republican minded Irish that the miners got the response. The Unionist dockers of Belfast turned away their pickets with condemnation of their political strike. "What did they have in 1974? A political lock-out. That 's all right.

If the Labour movement does its duty this strike can be won. Let them do their duty and argue the details afterwards

F E I C R E A N A C H

WHEN the Easter Rising took place Sean O'Casey was faced by an acute dilemma

He had been Secretary of the Irish Citizen Army. His writings about Thomas Ashe leave no doubt that he approved of the insurrection Friends and colleagues of many years standing were out risking their lives.

True, he had had a tiff with them But many so placed were turning up at the Post Office.

But here was the obstacle. He had a mother on his hands, ailing, aged over eighty, and dependent on him since the other brother was in the British Army.

Should he go out or not? Out of this dilemma O'Casey

constructed his most famous Dublin play "The Plough and the Stars," written ten years later in the light of events and the disillusionment of the civil war, and recently revived in Dublin at the Abbey in a prodution by Joe Dowling.

THIS is the best prodution for some time. The essential conflict of

LIVERPOOL EVENTS

A N E X T R E M E L Y s u c c e s s f u l H a l l o w e ' e n Party was held at the Irish Centre o n M o n d a y , O c t o b e r 29th , under C o n n o l l y Assoc iat ion auspices . The m o v i n g spirits were J o e O ' G r a d y and Jane t Walsh ably ass i s ted by Bernard M o r g a n and Michae l Kelly. Alex, C h r i s and Vine) on the d r u m s represented the Irish Centre Pipe Band, but the s t r e a m of voca l i s t s s e e m e d i n e x h a u s t i b l e , cu lminat ing with a s e s s ion wi th the Ryan brothers.

* * *

T H E C O N N O L L Y A s s o c i a t i o n c o n f e r e n c e on the Irish O U C ! > l i o n

World P e a c e was an outs tanding s u c c e s s on November 18th, with an a t t e n d a n c e o f about 75. These included d e l e g a t e s f r o m Blackburn I B R G , B o l t o n I B R G , Troops Out M o v e m e n t . Labour C o m m i t t e e on Ireland, a number of Labour Part ies , C o m m u n i s t Party , N C P Merseys ide Act ion for P e a c e , m e m b e r s of C N D and the North West Pens ioners ' Assocat ion . A group of s tudent s f r o m Edge Hil l ( O r m s k i r k ) tra in ing c o l l e g e c a m e as vis i tors , and Mr Eddie Glacken of the F W U I in Dublin.

The s p e a k e r s were Nial l Power ( L C I ) , S e a n Redmond (Dubl in ) . G e o r g e D a v i e s (Blackburn) and Alec D o s w e l l , S e c r e t a r y of Liverpool Trades Counc i l t o o k the chair. M r D e s m o n d G r e a v e s m a d e an appeal for a united front of al l Irish organisat ions .

* * *

AT T H E c lose of the Liverpool c o n f e r e n c e M r Michael Kelly drove S e a n R e d m o n d , D e s m o n d G r e a v e s and Noel G o r d o n to Blackpool where they addressed a fr inge meet ing cal led by the united s t a f f s organisat ion o f A S T M S w h o s e c o n f e r e n c e w a s in progress . O v e r 6 0 people attended and H u g h O ' D o n n e l l of I^t terkenny Trades Counci l brought greet ings from Sinn Fein.

L I V E R P O O L LCI are holding a one-day s c h o o l on Ireland on S a t u r d a y . D e c e m b e r 8th, at the Trade Union C o m m u n i t y and U n e m p l o y e d Centre . H a r d m a n Stree t , at 10 .30 am. The s p e a k e r s will be Don- Flynn. Niall Power , A n g e l a Birtill and S teve Bundred o f the G L C . The final speaker will be Al len Roberts, M P . who sent an apo logy for his inability to attend the CA c o n f e r e n c e as advert ised, but this was d e l a y e d in the post. L C I hold a soc ia l at 8 p m at " H i e S w a n " , l^ondon Road.

* * *

T H E Liverpool Irish writers' group, in which J o e O ' G r a d y and Janet Walsh are p r o m i n e n t , is to hold a ge t - toge ther in the Irish Centre on D e c e m b e r 13th. D e t a i l s f r o m Joe O ' G r a d y .

* * *

D E T A I L S o f t h e C o n n o l l y A s s o c i a t i o n ' s fortnightly historical l e c t u r e s w i l l b e a n n o u n c e d in

• • - '

l oya l t i e s , f o r w h i c h t h e r e is n o s o l u t i o n , is n e v e r iost s ight of T h i s is m o r e o v e r a p o l i t i c a l p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h e n a b l e s y o u t o ga in a d e e p e r i n s igh t i n t o 191b

It m a k e s n o c o n c e s s i o n s t o t he wi ld t h e o r i e s t h a t s o m e n o n - I r i s h c r i t i cs h a v e p r o p o s e d , s u c h as D r K r a u s e ' s t h a t O ' C a s e y is f e t i n g t h e " a n t i - h e r o " , o r J a c k M i t c h e l l ' s t h a t O ' C a s e y is t e l l i ng us t h a t t h e p e o p l e rea l lv w a n t e d p r o l e t a r i a n r e v o l u t i o n a n d s h o w e d it by l o o t i n g t h e s h o p s !

O ' C a s e v d e d i c a t e d th i s p l a y t o the m e m o r y of h i s m o t h e r , a n d its h e r o . J a c k C l i t h e r o e , m a k i n g t he o p p o s i t e c h o i c e a n d l e a v i n g h is p r e g n a n t wife t o g o f i g h t i n g , i n i t i a t e s a t r a i n o f t r a g e d y

O N E o r t w o c a v i l s . T h e t h r e e 1CA m e n in t he p u b s c e n e s t e p f o r t h l a r g e r t h a n life a n d a d d r e s s t he a u d i e n c e . A f a i l u r e of r e a l i s m . The s t r ee t s c e n e w h e n l . a n g o n lies w o u n d e d a n d o o z i n g b l o o d is d r a g g e d o u t t o o l o n g a n d ve rges o n n a t u r a l i s m . If t h e m a n is t o last t h i s l e n g t h he n e e d s t o be less severe ly i n j u r e d . O n e is r e m i n d e d of t h o s e d v i n g c o n s u m p t i v e s w h o s i n g i n t e r m i n a b l e c o l a t u r a a r i a s bu t m a n a g e t o s u r v i v e t h e m f o r a t r i u m p h a n t c o d a . A n d t h e r e is the l o n g - w i n d e d O p h e l i a o p e r a t i o n in t he last act B o t h o l t h e s e p a s s a g e s .ire h a r d t o p lav w i t h o u t s e n t i m e n t a l i t y a n d s i n c e M r D o w l i n g h a d t he p r a i s e w o r t h y c o u r a g e t o cut t h e well-d r e s s e d w o m a n f r o m R a t h m m e s , p e r h a p s he m i g h t h a v e d o n e a n o t h e r c h o p p i n g | o b h e r e .

But the g o o d p o i n t s t a r o ' r b a l a n c e t he m o r e d u b i o u s . C . D . G .

TIMES ATTACK ON IRELAND

O N I H I d a y G a r r e t I i t / g e r a l d sat d o w n wi th M r s T h a t c h e r t o d i s c u s s A n g l o - I r i s h r e l a t i o n s , the L o n d o n I i m e s , m o u t h p i e c e ot b ig b u s i n e s s

a n d the C i t y , p u b l i s h e d a v i c ious s n e e r i n g a t t a c k w h i c h c o n t a i n e d ve i led t h r e a t s o l a N A I O i n v a s i o n ot t h e R e p u b l i c .

It w a s c l e a r t h a t , as the Ir ish D e m o c r a t w a s t h e f i r s t t o p o i n t o u t . t h e T o r i e s a r e n o t i n t e r e s t e d 111 p e a c e in t h e six c o u n t i e s . T h e y a r e p r e p a r e d t o r d e a t h , i n j u r y a n d d e s t r u c t i o n in I r e l a n d . As f a r a s t h e y are c o n c e r n e d it c a n g o o n f o r e v e r .

Bu t t h e o n e t h i n g t h e y a r e i n t e r e s t e d in is m i l i t a r y b a s e s . T h e w h o l e t h r e e - c o l u m n e d i t o r i a l w a s a n a t t a c k o n I r i sh n e u t r a l i t y .

I r e l a n d is r e m i n d e d t h a t its " c a p a c i t y t o g i v e p h y s i c a l m e a n i n g to its po l i cy o f n e u t r a l i t y c o m p a r e s u n f a v o u r a b l y w i t h a n y o t h e r of t he m o r e p r o f e s s i o n a l n e u t r a l s of E u r o p e . " S.o s i n c e if N A T O w a n t s the p o r t s it will i n v a d e I r e l a n d a n d t a k e t h e m , we m i g h t a s well h a n d t h e m o v e r n o w !

T h e " l i m e s " d e c l a r e s th.i t it t a k e s o n l y o n e g l a n c e ; n t h e m a p to sec t h a t it is a " l e g i t i m a t e Br i t i sh s t r a t e g i c i n t e r e s t " f o r I r e l a n d to " p r e s e r v e s u f f i c i e n t p o l i t i c a l s t a b i l i t y to p r e v e n t it b e c o m i n g t h e b a s e f o r t e r r o r i s t a t t a c k s d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t any m e m b e r o f the A l l i a n c e . " Y o u ' d t h i n k it was N i c a r a g u a !

A N Y B O D Y l o o k i n g at the m i n e r - ' s t r i k e w o u l d t h i n k t h e R e p u b l i c w a s a d a m n s igh t m o r e s t a b l e t h a n T o i y B r i t a i n . A n d al l t h a t is r e q u i r e d to e n s u r e a c e s s a t i o n o f t e r r o r i s m is tha t B r i t a i n s h o u l d ge t o u t iiKk s tock a n d b a r r e l a n d s t a y o u t . A n y tns lab i l i lv t h e r e is in I r e l a n d is d u e to tin? l in t i s i i p r e s e n c e .

But i m p e r i a l i s t s n e v e r learn. It is t o b e h o p e d f o r t h e s a k e of t h - B n t i s h p e o p l e t h a t t h e y p i t c h th i s T o r y c r r v o u t o f o f f i c e b e f o r e t h e v d e s t r o y t h e m .

Irish people should however be warned. The re-opening ol arms talks in Geneva is to be welcomed, but President Reagan's policy remains war. He remains a blood-thirsty old imperialist. And Mrs Thatcher's status is illustrated clearly by the fact that when the USA said she was not spending enough on arms, she at once increased e x p e n d i t u r e by £500 million.-;' '• - - —

BEAUTIFUL IRELAND CALENDARS

1985 Cafle^ £1.50 By Post £1.80

244 GRAYS INN ROAD, LONDON, WC1 . . i^aiMi ill - • - " ' - ~ ^ - ' - * - ' - * ** *" * * - r - * * '• " 1 ^ A 'T * .'I. 'S %

Keep backing the miners

P a g e 4 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December 1984

Neutrality movement in full swing I k l S H t ' N O ' s D e f e n d N e u t r a l i t y

P e t i t i o n is n o w b e i n g t a k e n u p all o v e r the c o u n t r y . P e o p l e a r e g o i n g f r o m h o u s e t o h o u s e l o r s i g n a t u r e s a n d a r e g e t t i n g a 9 0 % p o s i t i v e r e s p o n s e in w o r k i n g - c l a s s a r e a s a n d a n r e p o n s e i n m i d d l e - c l a s s o n e s

I h e p e t i t i o n m a k e ^ t h r e e d e m a n d s o n t h e G o v e r n m e n t , f i r s t t h a i I r e l a n d s h o u l d p u r s u e a " p o s i t i v e n e u t r a l i t y " p o l i c y w h i c h w o u l d e n t a i l g e t t i n g t o g e t h e r wi th o t h e r n e u t r a l s t a t e s l ike S w e d e n . S w i t z e r l a n d , A u s t r i a . F i n l a n d , C y p r u s , M a l t a a n d - Y u g o s l a v i a t o t a k e i n i t i a t i v e s in s u p p o r t o l d i s a r m a m e n t b e t w e e n t h e s u p e r p o w e r s

S e c o n d l y , it w a n t s I r e l a n d t o w o r k t h r o u g h t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n b a s e i t s f o r e i g n po l icy o n s u p p o r t l o r N A T O t h r o u g h I K f o r e i g n p o l i c y c o o r d i n a t i o n

A n d t h i r d , it w a n t s ,1 c o m m i t m e n t t o p e r m a n e n t I r i sh m i l i t a r y n e u t r a l i t y p u t i n t o t h e I r i sh C o n s t i t u t i o n hy p o p u l a r r e f e r e n d u m

' In D u b l i n seve ra l I r i sh C M ) g r o u p s . n e o u t o n .1 r e g u l a r b a s i s c o l l e c t i n g s i g n a t u r e s in t h e h o u s i n g e s t a t e s D o w n c o u n t r y b r a n c h e s h a v e e i t h e r s t a r t e d o r i l e a b t nit t o

B a l l v s h a n n o n h a s c a n v a s s e d v i r t u a l l y l h e e n t i r e t o w n , a n d g o t m o s t p e o p l e t o s i g n In S l i g o J i m M a c D o n a l d , w h o w a s in t h e C o n n o l l y A s s o c i a t i o n ill I o n d o n , w a s i n v i t e d t o a d d r e s s S l i g o C o r p o r a t i o n , w h i c h a g r e e d o f f i c i a l l y t o s u p p o r t t h e p e t i t i o n In K i l k e n n y F a t h e r l u l l I o r r i s t a l is l e a d i n g t h e loca l

c a n v a s s ll h a s got g o i n g in VV.i ler lord , i i . d I i n i e r i c k a n d C o r k a l s o

ASMAL STANDS FIRM

( a t h o l l c p o l i t i c i a n s

•M RI \ D Y , o n e of til B i s h o p s a n d s o m e l e a d i n g h a v e s i g n e d the p e t i t i o n , b u t C M ) is n o t r e l e a s i n g t h e s e n a m e s u n t i l m o r e s i g n a t u r e s o l o r d i n a r y c i l i / e n s h a ve b e e n g o t A t a m e e t i n g of Y o u n g F i a n n a Fa i l in N o r t h C e n t r a l D u b l i n s o m e w e e k s

a g o , c h a i r e d by M r S e a n H a u g h h e y , s o n of t h e F i a n n a F a i l l e a d e r , v i r t u a l l y all o l ihe h u n d r e d o r so p e o p l e p r e s e n t s i g n e d , a n d the c h a i r m a n p r o p o s e d t h a t t h e nex t

pec ia l c o n f e r e n c e of O g r a s h o u l d be on n e u t r a l i t y

I h e d e m a n d ill t h e " D e f e n d N e u t r a l i t y " p e t i t i o n t h a t t h e G o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d s p o n s o r a c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a m e n d m e n t o n n e u t r a l i t y , at a n a p p r o p r i a t e t i m e f o c u s e s t h e g r o w i n g p u b l i c c o n c e r n a b o u t n e u t r a l i t y on to a m e a s u r a b l e a n d a t t a i n a b l e po l i t i c a l g o a l O n l y last m o n t h F i n e G a e l D e f e n c e M i n i s t e r P a d d y C o o n e y sa id t h a t I r i sh n e u t r a l i t y w a s " a p o l i c y of e x p e d i e n c y " , a n d i m p l i e d t h a t " o u r f r i e n d s in t h e W e s t " w e r e t h e r e t o d e f e n d us if n e e d be P u b l i c o p i n i o n w a s o u t r a g e d a n d e v e n in F ine G a e l m o s t p e o p l e see C o o n e y a s o u t o n a l i m b But t h e r e is d e e p c a u s e f o r c o n c e r n w h e n a m i n i s t e r in s u c h a p o s i t i o n c a n m a k e s u c h a s t a t e m e n t

\ l p r e s e n t w r t u a l l v a l l I r i s h p o l i t i c i a n s s a y t h a t " o f c o u r s e " they s u p p o r t I r i sh n e u t r a l i t y ll is l ike b e i n g in l a v o u r ol v i r t u e a n d a g a i n s t s i n ' But in p r a c t i c e t h e y o f t e n d o t h i n g s w h i c h w e a k e n n e u t r a l i t y a n d a r e q u i t e i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h it. f o r e x a m p l e s u p p o r t i n g F T C s a n c t i o n s a g a i n s t I r a n . R us s i a a n d A r g e n t i n a — t h o u g h in t h e la te r c a s e p u b l i c o p i n i o n f o r c e d a r eve r sa l — o r u s i n g C o l d W a r r h e t o r i c a b o u t tile R u s s i a n s in A f g h a n i s t a n o r the V i e t n a m e s e s u p p o r t l o r C a m b o d i a a g a i n s t Pol P o l

I K G I N G t h e p o l i t i c i a n s t o s u p p o r t a n e u t r a l i t y a m e n d m e n t will h a v e t h e c l f ec l of f o r c i n g t h e m t o c o m e c l e a n wi th llie pub l i c a b o u t it ll they a r e n o l wi l l ing

t o w r i t e ' n e u t r a l i t y i n to the C o n s t i t u t i o n t h e p o l i t i c i a n s w o u l d h a v e to s a y w h y n o t a n d i n d i c a t e the c i r c u m s t a n c e s in w h i c h t h e y w o u l d see the I r i sh S t a t e j o i n a m i l i t a r y a l l i a n c e , a p a r t f r o m I r e l a n d ' s U N o b l i g a t i o n s

I r i s h C N D b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e a d o p t i n g of a p o l i c y o f p e r m a n e n t m i l i t a r y n e u t r a l i t y in t h i s way w o u l d b e a p o w e r f u l s i g n a l t o i n t e r n a t i o n a l p u b l i c o p i n i o n t h a t t h e c o u n t r y v a n t s n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h w a r o r w a r p r e p a r a t i o n s T h i s w o u l d e n c o u r a g e the p e a c e m o v e m e n t all o v e r E u r o p e a n d pu l I r e l a n d o n a p a r w i t h c o u n t r i e s l ike A u s t r i a a n d S w i t z e r l a n d , w h o s e n e u t r a l i t y is all t h e s t r o n g e r f o r b e i n g w r i t t e n i n t o t h e i r c o n s t i t u t i o n s .

S o m e p e o p l e h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h a t I r e l a n d s h o u l d a b a n d o n n e u t r a l i t y in t h e c o n t e x t o f a E u r o p e a n po l i t i c a l u n i o n o r in e x h a n g e f o r s o m e c o s m e t i c B r i t i s h m o v e o n p a r t i t i o n But m o s t I r i s h p e o p l e w o u l d r e j ec t such a p r o p o s a l , a n d t h e a d o p t i o n o f a n e u t r a l i t y a m e n d m e n t in t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n w o u l d m a k e a n y s u c h m o v e i l l ega l .

I h e g o v e r n m e n t of a u n i t e d I r e l a n d c o u l d o f c o u r s e m e e t all r e a s o n a b l e a n d l e g i t i m a t e s e c u r i t y c o n c e r n s o f B r i t a i n w i t h o u t a b a n d o n i n g n e u t r a l i t y in w a r o r j o i n i n g a c o l l e c t i v e d e f e n c e p a c t s u c h a s N A T O . T h e a d o p t i o n of a n e u t r a l i t y a m e n d m e n t w o u l d a l so h a v e t h e e f f e c t o l m a k i n g it i l legal f o r t h e I r i s h G o v e r n m e n t t o p r o v i d e m i l i t a r y o r o t h e r f a c i l i t i e s o n its t e r r i t o r y t o N A T O o r a n y o t h e r b l o c T h i s w o u l d e n a b l e i n j u n c t i o n s t o b e t a k e n o u t a g a i n s t t h e p r o v i s i o n o f t h i n g s l ike t e l e c o m m u n i -c a t i o n s s t a t i o n s , r a d a r d e v i c e s a n d s o o n , if t h e s e c o u l d be s h o w n t o h a v e t h i s c h a r a c i e r

FORTY YEARS ON, by Donal Kennedy t\M

W 1 F N to thai Women Ion, and a hillcl d o u v to the Nether Regions " D e a r Nick, c o m e quick and collect your own. l t i ev 're g i v i n g the Righteous a hard t ime; not IN m e n t i o n the l e f t - W u s e . "

Hy the bye . Old Nick t r ans l a t e s as D o n a l l D u h h . al leas! in Ihe S c o t s G a e l i c o f M a c Alpine's century-o ld D i c t i o n a r y , but D i n e e n reserves that soubr iquet for the Raven. Perhaps ihe raven-ha ired D o n a l l in Ihe neighbouring c o l u m n can throw s o m e light on the m a t t e r , f a i l i n g tha t , to criii Milton, "darkness vis ible ."

I h e Black Raven is Ihe e m b l e m of I i n g a l , that slrip of the North Dublin ( o a s t where d e m o n i a c fair-haired Vikings swept in from the sea to lake great p r e y s o f Irish women, and later se t t l ed in d o m e s t i c bl iss or strife. I ingal s tre tches f r o m Rush and l.usk to ihe l i i l l o f I lovvth. w h e r e my first daled n u i n o r v is of C h r i s t m a s f i d e 11-14

D e c e m b e r 28th, 1444. lo be prec i se , for o n that Feas t of I he Holy I n n o c e n t s I was t h r e e y e a r s old, I remember I had apple p ie , a n d a present no less c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of W e s t e r n c iv i l i sat ion, ll w a s a toy a e r o p l a n e , and it had c a m o u f l a g e m a r k i n g s and four engines , just like Ihe m a c h i n e s then deal ing hell t o my c o n t e m p o r a r i e s and other Holy Innocents o v e r h a l f the world. Ididn't know that , nor c a n I r e m e m b e r Ihe A c k - \ c k b a l l e r y . a m e r e 7 0 0 y a r d s away on the Daily G r e e n , g u a r d i n g the approach to our neulral c a p i t a l .

I I I S widely believed llial l e U - i s i o n p i c t u r e s o f war led to Amer ican public o p i n i o n turning against I S invo lvement in V i e t n a m . I saw a reveal ing c o m m e n t on this recent ly hy Daily T e l e g r a p h c o l u m n i s t Peter Simple . H e sa id the N o r t h V i e t n a m e s e made darn s a r e nol to show s u c h p ic tures . By the s a m e token you mav w o n d e r how Ixu idoners and H a m b u r g e r s knew of the b o m b i n g of T H F . I K c i t i e s , without any he lp f r o m the g o g g l e - b o x . Fh?y say H o m o S a p i e n s is d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m oiher a n i m a l s hy be ing m o r a l a n d rational. C o u l d H o m o T e l e g r a p h i r u s he a hitherto un ident i f i ed s p e c i e s o f Urate l least?

I know D e m o c r a t readers won't be was t ing money on bombers or Ihe Daily Te legraph but will f lock to Four Prov inces B o o k s h o p or call it on 0 1 - 8 3 3 - 3 0 2 2 . There a m o n g s t other treats they may find " I h e Dalkev Archive" and o ther novels bv "Flann O ' B r i e n . " and the r ib-t ickl ing sat ire "An Beal Boch t " by Ihe s a m e man under the a l ias " \ 1 y l e s Na ( i o p a l e e n . " ll w a s as " M y l e s Na ( i o p a l e e n " that the S l r a b a n e - b o r n Brian O ' N o l a n de l ighted readers of Ihe Irish l i m e s from 1940 till his death 25 years later. H e l a m p o o n e d n o n s e n s e and harpooned p o m p o s i t y . He didn't even spare his own Editor , who. about Ihe t ime I u n s e a t i n g that apple -p ie . c a r p e d al S t a l e expendi ture of half a mi l l ion pounds annually on res torat ion of the Irish l a n g u a g e

M \ l I S observed lhal the Irish were constant ly c o m p a r e d , to (heir detr iment , with their various neighbours. These n e i g h b o u r s each spent haif a mi l l ion every five minutes on ki l l ing each other . Ihe Irish were e n g a g e d in a m o r e urbane e x e r c i s e . If family c o m m i t m e n t s lock you in a r o o m with the TV during its mindless C h r i s t m a s s e a s o n you may need a c c e s s to M y l e s to keep a grip on your sani ty . Alternatively you might find out how much has been spent on the Irish language s ince 1922. Then find out what advanced countr ies spend e a c h day on the current a r m s race. Then mai l your findings to An T a o i s e a c h , T e a c h l . a ighean Dubl in 2. I hear he is a wizard with s ta t i s t i c s and an authority on the for tunes of Ihe language .

On the mat ter of books , no doubt forty years hence s o m e children of the Irish D i a s p o r a will cherish books given them this C h r i s t m a s which unlock for them s o m e of the m y s t e r i e s of (lie soc ie ty thai mou lded (heir parents . O lder people in iheir e x i l e will w e l c o m e renewed a c q u a i n t a n c e with books lliev loved in their youth, or new ones evoking happy m e m o r i e s .

F O R m yse l f I resolve this C h r i s t m a s , as I have resolved for the past ten years , to read Charles Kickham's " K n o c k a g o w . " It is subtit led "The H o m e s Of T ipperarv" . Mv eopv d a t e s f rom Ihe earlv 1880s when my paternal grandfa ther was living in that ancestra l c o u n t y , in the v i l lage of ( loughjordan. and about the t i m e he

s t o o d a s the s p o n s o r at the Chr i s t en ing o f Ihe infant T h o m a s M a c D o n a g h .

I s u p p o s e it is the wrong s e a s o n to admit r e l a t i o n s h i p with the g o d f a t h e r o f a b o n y - t h u m b e d m a n of v io lence , and m o r e a t ime to e x p l o r e , through K i c k h a m ' s novel , a g o o d p a r t of my Roots .

T A O I S E A C H G a r r e t t F i t z G e r a l d a n d L a b o u r P a r t y M i n i s t e r f o r H e a l t h B a r r v D e s m o n d h a v e m a d e t h e m s e l v e s t h e l a u g h i n g s t o c k o f D u b l i n by t h e i r c a r r y -o n o v e r S i n n F e i n ' s a f f i l i a t i o n t o t h e I r i sh A n n - A p a r t h e i d M o v e m e n t .

F i t z G e r a l d a n d D e s m o n d h a v e r e s i g n e d a s s p o n s o r s o f the M o v e m e n t b e c a u s e of S i n n F e i n ' s a f f i l i a t i o n t o it a l t h o u g h t h i s h a s e x i s t e d f o r s e v e r a l years . S i n n F e i n is a legal po l i t i ca l party in t h e T w e n t y - S i x C o u n t i e s , b u t F i t z G e r a l d a n d D e s m o n d a r e in a h u f f b e c a u s e t h e A n t i - A p a r t h e i d M o v e m e n t will n o t o s t r a c i s e t h e r e p u b l i c a n s a s t h e m o r e c o n s e r v a t i v e a n d b a c k w a r d -l o o k i n g m e m b e r s o f t h e p r e s e n t C o a l i t i o n a r e t r y i n g t o d o

T h e f u s s w a s s t a r t e d by f o r m e r L a b o u r G e n e r a l S e c r e t a r y , B r e n d a n H a l l i g a n . o n e o f t h e a r c h i t e c t s of L a b o u r ' s d i s a s t r o u s t u r n t o w a r d s c o a l i t i o n w i t h F i n e G a e l in 1969, w h o is n o w p u t t i n g h i m s e l f f o r w a r d a s l e a d e r o f t h e a n t i - c o a l i t i o n i s t s in t h e L a b o u r P a r t y . H a l l i g a n is v i r u l e n t l y a n t i -r e p u b l i c a n a n d o b s e s s e d w i t h t h e P r o v i s i o n a l s , w h o p o l l e d h i g h e r t h a n t h e L a b o u r P a r t y in t h e las t D u b l i n b y -e l e c t i o n . W h e n t h e e x e c u t i v e of t h e A n t i -A p a r f h e i d M o v e m e n t , d e c i d e d u n a n i m o u s l y n o t t o g o a l o n g w i t h his p r o p o s a l t h a t S i n n F e i n be d i s a f f i l i a t e d H a l l i g a n r e s i g n e d . F i t z G e r a l d a n d D e s m o n d t h e n r e s i g n e d a s I A A M s p o n s o r s . They s a i d t h a t S i n n F e i n h a d a p o l i c y of a c h i e v i n g po l i t i c a l e n d s t h r o u g h v i o l e n c e a n d t h a t it w a s in e f f e c t a " r a c i s t " o r g a n i s a t i o n .

I H E I R I S H A n t i - A p a r t h e i d M o v e m e n t in t u r n a c c u s e d t h e T a o i s e a c h o f m a k i n g a g e s t u r e in s a f e s u r r o u n d i n g s , w h i l e a t t h e s a m e t i m e c a u s i n g m a x i m u m d a m a g e t o t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n h e s a i d h e c h e r i s h e d . D r F i t z G e r a l d ' s d e c i s i o n t o r e s ign a s s p o n s o r o f t h e I A A M w o u l d " e n c o u r a g e t h e a l r e a d y d a n g e r o u s t e n d e n c y in o u r s o c i e t y t o a t t r i b u t e g u i l t by a s s o c i a t i o n a n d t o p u r s u e w i t c h h u n t s .

A l e t t e r t o t h e T a o i s e a c h f r o m t h e l A A M ' s p r e s i d e n t . R e v T e r e n c e M c C a u g h e v . a n d i t s c h a i r m a n K a d e r A s m a l , s a id t h a t t h e a f f i l i a t i o n o f S i n n F e i n d i d n o t i m p l y a n y e n d o r s e m e n t o f t h a t p a r t y ' s p o l i c i e s . I n f a c t t h e s t a n c e t a k e n by t h e M o v e m e n t in a c c e p t i n g S i n n F e i n ' s a f f i l i a t i o n — w h i c h o c c u r r e d s e v e r a l y e a r s b e f o r e D r F i t z G e r a l d ' , G o v e r n m e n t a r r i v e d a t i ts d e c i s i o n n o ' t o d e a l w i t h a n y e l e c t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f S i n n F e i n — w a s in t h e best t r a d i t i o n o f d e m o c r a t i c p o l i t i c s .

US APPEAL AT TUC

T H E I S S U E of the miners ' s t r ike r i g h t l y a n d u n d e r s t a n d a b l y d o m i n a t e d the proceedings of t he T U C last S e p t e m b e r .

But w h e t h e r the speech of the f r a t e rna l de lega te f r o m the A F L -C l O in the IJSA would h a v e received m u c h publici ty in even the mos t f avourab le c i r c u m -stances is d o u b t f u l .

For M r Pa t r ick C a m p b e l l , vice-pres ident of the A F L - C I O , a n d pres ident of the 600 ,000-s t rong B r o t h e r h o o d of C a r p e n t e r s a n d Jo ine rs , h a d some f o r t h r i g h t r e m a r k s t o m a k e a b o u t the I r ish s i tua t ion which we r e p r o d u c e below:

B r i t i s h a n d A m e r i c a n w o r k e r s h e l p e d t o f o r g e t h e c o n v e n t i o n s o f t h e I L O t h a t p r o c l a i m t h e r i g h t t o c o l l e c t i v e b a r g a i n i n g a n d t o f r e e -d o m f r o m d i s c r i m i n a t i o n in e m -p l o y m e n t . a n d o t h e r r i g h t s c t w o r k e r s

If is a g a i n s t f i n s b a c k g r o u n d t h a t I w o u l d m a k e it k n o w n t o t h i s c o n -g r e s s t h e c o n c e r n o f t h e A F L - C I O f o r t h e f u t u r e o f I r e l a n d

T h i s c o n c e r n is n o t l i m i t e d t o t h o s e of u s in t h e A m e r i c a n L a b o r M o v e m e n t w h o h a p p e n t o b e o f I r i s h e x t r a c t i o n — a n y m o r e t h a n o u r c o n c e r n f o r S o l i d a r n o s c is l i m i t e d t o P o l i s h - A m e r i c a n s , o r t h a n o u r d i s t a s t e f o r a p a r t h e i d is l i m i t e d t o A f r o - A m e r i c a n s . N o r

w a s o u r i n t e r e s t in t h e p r o b l e m s o l I r e l a n d b o r n y e s t e r d a y .

I N D E E D , t h e v e r y f i r s t r e s o l u -t i o n o n i n t e r n a t i o n a l a f f a i r s e v e r c o n s i d e r e d in t h e m o d e r n A A f r i c a n L a b o r M o v e m e n t w a s i n t r o d u c e d in 1881. a n d it w a s a r e s o l u t i o n e x -p r e s s i n g s u p p o r t f o r t h e s t r u g g l e f o r f r e e d o m o f t h e I r i s h p e o p l e

A t o u r l a s t c o n v e n t i o n , t h e A F L - C I O d e p l o r e d t h e use o f p l a s -t ic b u l l e t s b y B r i t i s h t r o o p s , n o t i n g t h a t t h e y h a d k i l l e d 14 p e o p l e a n d i n j u r e d n e a r l y 1 0 0 m o r e . T r a g i c a l l y , t h o s e n u m b e r s h a v e c h a n g e d l o r t h e w o r s e in r e c e n t weeks" .

I d o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t o u r m o v e -m e n t s c a n b e i n d i f f e r e n t t o t h e f a t e o f N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d a n d a l l o w a n -o t h e r g e n e r a t i o n o f i t s p e o p l e t o b e c o n d e m n e d t o v i o l e n c e a n d e c o n o -m i c s t a g n a t i o n . F o r t h i s r e a s o n , t h e A F L - C I O w e l -c o m e d t h e r e p o r t o f t h e N e w I r e -l a n d F o r u m a n d i t s ca l l f o r a u n i t e d I r e l a n d O f t h e t h r e e o p t i o n s i n d i c a t e d b y t h e r e p o r t f o r a c h i e v -i n g t h i s g o a l , t h e A F L - C I O s u p -p o r t s a u n i t a r y s t a t e .

B u t w h a t e v e r is c h o s e n , t h e p r o b -l e m s of N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d m u s t b e a d d r e s s e d o n a n u r g e n t b a s i s by t h e B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t , a n d I h o p e t h a t t h e T U C a n d t h e A F L - C I O c a n w o r k t o g e t h e r t o w a r d s t h a t e n d . F o r , in t h i s i n s t a n c e , t h e e n e m i e s o f s o c i a l j u s t i c e a r e i n d i f f e r e n c e a n d n e g l e c t .

" T o c o m p e l u s t o e m b a r k o n a c o u r s e o l v e t t i n g t h e c r e d e n t i a l s of a f f i l i a t e d o r g a n i s a t i o n s o r i n d i v i d u a l s is t o e s t a b l i s h t h e r u l e o f c o n t a m i n a t i o n by c o n t a c t o r g u i l t by a s s o c i a t i o n . "

T h e l e t t e r s a i d t h a t t h e I A A M w a s p r e p a r e d t o a c c e p t a n y o r g a n i s a t i o n w h i c h w a s l ega l a n d n o t r ac i s t . " W e c o u l d n o t a c c e p t t h a t S i n n F e i n is r ac i s t in any a c c e p t e d m e a n i n g of t h e t e r m . " T h e l e t t e r s a i d a l s o t h a t it d i d n o t a l l o w any p o l i t i c a l p a r t y t o i n f l u e n c e i t s po l i c i e s a n d " w e h a v e b e e n s c r u p u l o u s in m a i n t a i n i n g o u r i n d e p e n d e n c e . "

T h e l e t t e r h o p e d t h a t t h e T a o i s e a c h ' s r e s i g n a t i o n d i d n o t m e a n a n y l e s s e n i n g of h i s d i s a p p r o v a l o f a p a r t h e i d a n d u r g e d h i m t o m a k e a p u b l i c s t a t e m e n t o f this . A G o v e r n m e n t s p o k e s m a n s a y s (hat D r F i t z G e r a l d h a s n o l c h a n g e d h i s v iews o n a p a r ( h e i d " o n e w h i ( " b u t d i d no l k n o w if a s t a ( e m e n t o n his v i e w s w o u l d be i s s u e d j u s t n o w .

M E A N W H I L E a n o ( h e r L a b o u r M i n i s t e r in t h e C o a l i t i o n , R u a i r i Q u i n n , s a v s t h a t h e h a s n o i n t e n t i o n of r e s i g n i n g his s p o n s o r s h i p o f t h e I A A M , w h a t e v e r B a r r y D e s m o n d o r D r F i t z G e r a l d d o . S o it s e e m s t o b e a n o t h e r case o f t h e C o a l i t i o n f a i l i n g t o ge t i ts act t o g e t h e r .

T h e i n c i d e n t wi l l u n d o u b t e d l y h a v e the e f f e c t o f i n c r e a s i n g s u p p o r t f o r t h e Ir ish A n t i - A p a r t h e i d M o v e m e n t in F i a n n a F a i l a n d w i t h r e p u b l i c a n p e o p l e all o v e r t h e c o u n ( r y , w h o a( t h i s s t a g e g r e a t l y o u t n u m b e r F i n e G a e l a n d r i g h t -w i n g L a b o u r .

In (he c a s e o f B a r r y D e s m o n d it is s a i d t h a t his L a b o u r s e a t in D u n L a o g h a i r e i s l ikely to be u n d e r g r a v e t V e a t a t t h e n e x t g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n b e c a u s e o f t h e d e c l i n e in L a b o u r ' s s u p p o r t in D u b l i n a n d t h a t h e is m o r e a n d m o r e a d o p t i n g p o s i t i o n s d e s i g n e d t o a p p e a l ( o F i n e G a e l o p i n i o n in t h a t c o n s t i t u e n c y . T h e r e a r e a l s o t u m o u r s t h a t s o m e L a b o u r M i n i s t e r s m a y d e c i d e t o f o l l o w t h e i r f o r m e r l e a d e r M i c h a e l O ' L e a r y i n t o F i n e G a e l b e f o r e ihe n e x t g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n in t h e h o p e t h a t F i n e G a e l v o t e r s wi l l k e e p t h e m in t h e Da i I. b e c a u s e it is u n l i k e l y tha t L a b o u r o n e s wil l .

T h e f u s s ov e r S i n n F e i n ' s a f f i l i a t i o n t o the A n t i - A p a r t h e i d M o v e m e n t is t o be seen a g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n d M r B r e n d a n H a l l i g a n ' s m o t i v e s h a v e yet t o r e v e a l t h e m s e l v e s .

GREAT LEADER KIM IL SUNG

T H E R E h a s b e e n s u r p r i s e in D u b l i n at s t a t e m e n t s m a d e d u r i n g t h e r ecen t visit t o N o r t h K o r e a o f a d e l e g a t i o n f r o m t h e W o r k e r s ' P a r t y c o n s i s t i n g o f T o m a s M a c G i o l l a , S e a n G a r l a n d a n d S e a m u s L y n c h .

T h e p r e s i d e n t o f t h a t c o u n t r y . G r e a t L e a d e r K i m II S u n g , g a v e a s p e c i a l l u n c h e o n f o r t h e I r i s h d e l e g a t i o n , in t h e c o u r s e o f w h i c h h e c o n g r a t u l a t e d t h e W o r k e r s ' P a r t y o n its l o n g d r a w n o u t a r d u o u s s t r u g g l e t o w in b a c k t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e n a t i o n a n d t h e s o v e r e i g n t y o f t h e c o u n t r y u n d e r t h e b a n n e r o f i n d e p e n d e n c e . "

" Y o u r p a r t y is v i g o r o u s l y s t r u g g l i n g t o get t h e B r i t i s h o c c u p a t i o n f o r c e s o u t o f the N o r t h o f I r e l a n d , " he s a i d .

In his r ep ly T o m a s M a c G i o l l a s a i d t h a t b o t h I r e l a n d a n d K o r e a " h a v e e x p e r i e n c e d a n d c o n t i n u e t o e x p e r i e n c e f o r e i g n o c c u p a t i o n a n d o p p r e s s i o n , a n d w h i l e we b o t h s u c c e s s f u l l y o n m a n y o c c a s i o n s f o u g h t t h e a g g r e s s o r a n d o p p r e s s o r , o u r e f f o r t s h a v e b e e n f r u s t r a t e d a n d o u r c o u n t r i e s d i v i d e d . "

W o r k e r s ' P a r t y P r e s i d e n t t h e n w e n t o n t o s a y t h a t " p s e u d o -r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s h a v e f o r m u l a t e d a f a l s e t h e o r y t h a t t h e r e e x i s t in I r e l a n d t w o r a t i o n s , a C a t h o l i c n a t i o n a n d a P r o t e s t a n t n a t i o n . W e re jec t s u c h t h e o r i e s , f o r j u s t a s t h e r e a l w a y s h a s b e e n a n d a l w a y s wil l b e o n e K o r e a a n d o n e K o r e a n p e o p l e , s o t h e r e is o n l y o n e I r e l a n d a n d o n e p e o p l e . "

W h i l e s u c h s e n t i m e n t s a r e n o t t o t a l l y f o r e i g n t o t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e W o r k e r s ' P a r t y , t h e y h a v e c e r t a i n l y n o t b e e n h e a r d f r o m t h e m f o r q u i t e a l o n g t i m e A n d K i m II S u n g ' s r e m a r k s w o u l d s u g g e s t t h a t he m a y h a v e t h o u g h t he w a s s p e a k i n g t o t h e P r o v i s i o n a l s .

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e " S u n d a y T r i b u n e " t h e p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s o f f i c e r of t h e W o r k e r s ' P a r t y , M r T o n y H e f f e r m a n , w a r n e d t h a t t r a n s l a t i o n s f r o m K o r e a n i n t o E n g l i s h o f t e n o b s c u r e t h e f l a v o u r o f a s p e e c h But s e e m i n g l y t h e f u l l tex t m a y be f o u n d in t h e " P y o n g y a n g T i m e s " of S e p t e t p b e r 29 th l a s t , f o r t h o s e w h o k n o w K o r e a n

December 1984 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT Pooe S

LONDON, 1935. Photo taken at the wedding of socialist republican Sean Mulgrew, Red Lion, Kilburn London. Front row left to right: Dolly Flynn, Mrs Mulgrew, Sean Mulgrew and a friend of Sean's. Back row left to right: Peter O'Connor, Mr Hanrahan from Cahirciveen who worked with Sean in the building trade, and Tommy Patten, best man at

the wedding and close friend of Sean and Peter.

GABRIEL.McNulty who delivered the oration at the unveiling of the memorial to Tommy Patten at Dooega, Achill, on Sunday, 28th October 1984. The memorial carries the inscription "In memory of Thomas Patten, Dooega, Irish Republican 1910-1936, who fought bravely and died in defence of Madrid, 1936, for the Spanish Republic and all

oppressed people."

VINDICATION! T O M M Y P A T T E N was the first Ir ish vo lun tee r to die in d e f e n c e of the Spanish Republ ic aga ins t F r a n c o Fascism. He gave his life o u t s i d e the gates of M a d r i d in D e c e m b e r 1936.

H e was a nat ive Irish s p e a k e r a n d an IRA ve te ran f r o m D o o e g a Achill , C o M a y o , a n d a m o n u m e n t to his m e m o r y was unve i l ed by Sean F i t zpa t r i ck of t he N a t i o n a l Graves Assoc i a t i on o n 28th Oc tobe r last.

T h e unveii ing took place a f t e r 11.30 a m Mass, the c e l e b r a n t be ing F a t h e r Sommerv i l l e , w h o a f t e r w a r d s blessed the m o n u m e n t . It is e rec ted a b o u t t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f a mile f r o m the C h u r c h o n a h i l l s ide ove r look ing the b e a u t i f u l b a y of Dooega a n d T o m m y P a t t e n ' s o ld h o m e s t e a d .

In the Sep tember issue of the " I r i s h D e m o c r a t " we m i s t a k e n l y r e f e r r e d to T o m m y P a t t e n as be ing a P ro te s t an t . In fac t he was a C a t h o l i c a n d we are g lad t o m a k e the co r r ec t i on .

T h e p a r a d e to the m o n u m e n t w a s led by the n a t i o n a l f l ag c a r r i e d in f ron t of a p ipe r ' s b a n d , f o l l o w e d by T o m m y ' s re la ta ives , ch ief a m o n g w h o m were his b r o t h e r s O w e n a n d W i l l i e , T o m m y ' s sister, O w e n ' s wife a n d s o n , y o u n g T o m m y Pa t t en , a n d o t h e r nieces a n d nephews .

T h e n came represen ta t ives of the N a t i o n a l Graves Assoc i a t i on a n d the flag of the C o n n o l l y C o l u m n , 15th I n t e r n a t i o n a l Br igade , carr ied by Packy Ea r ly , t ha t s t a u n c h Repub l i can a n d T r a d e U n i o n a c t i v i s t f r o m Lei t r i in , now living in D u b l i n . Beside the flag walked Michae l O ' R i o r d a n and Peter O ' C o n n o r , e x - m e m b e r s of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l B r igade , a n d beh ind them c a m e several h u n d r e d m e m b e r s o f the gene ra l publ ic f r o m the a r ea .

T H E M O N U M E N T is a fine piece of w o r k m a n s h i p , ca r r i ed o u t by local l a b o u r . T o m m y ' s p i c tu re is i m b e d d e d in the m o n u m e n t a l s lab . T h e inscr ipt ion on the s l ab is in t h r ee l anguages — Ir ish, S p a n i s h a n d English.

T h e unvei l ing was p res ided ove r by M i c h a e l G e r a g h t y f r o m S w i n f o r d , C o M a y o , w h o i n t r o d u c e d Michael O ' R i o r d a n w h o s p o k e on behal f of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade a n d laid a wrea th a t the foo t of the m o n u m e n t . Wrea ths were a l so laid by O w e n Pat ten on beha l f of the re la t ives a n u by a y o u n g l ady on b e h a l f of the Repub l i can M o v e m e n t . The main o r a t i o n was de l ivered by a young Achill m a n , G a b r i e l McNul ty .

l i t e wea the r t ha t . S u n d a y

m o r n i n g looked very t h r e a t e n i n g , with a n overcas t sky, bu t ju s t b e f o r e the m a r c h the sun c a m e ou t and it w a s a bri l l iant a f t e r n o o n .

P E T E R O ' C O N N O R o f W a t e r f o r d , w h o f o u g h t with T o m m y Pa t ten in Spain a n d w h o was a close f r iend of his a n d p resen t a t his wedding (see p h o t o -g r a p h ) wr i tes :

" F o r me persona l ly t o be p resen t tha t S u n d a y w a s an h o n o u r a n d a privilege. It w a s a m o v i n g a n d u n f o r g e t t a b l e ex-pe r i ence f o r me to mee t wi th T o m m y ' s relatives, espec ia l ly with his b r o t h e r O w e n w h o m I h a d k n o w n in L o n d o n In 1934-36. Mee t ing him aga in f o r t he first t ime since then b r o u g h t b a c k m e m o r i e s of those t ry ing b u t g l o r i o u s y e a r s w h e n T o m m y , Owen , Sean M u l -g rew, the three Power b r o t h e r s — J o h n n y , Paddy a n d Billy — Alan M c L a r n a n a n d o t h e r s were t o g e t h e r in the L o n d o n b r a n c h of the Republ ican C o n -gress .

" T o g e t h e r w i t h T o m m y ' s b r o t h e r s a n d sisters a n d s o m e o f his o ld f r i ends a n d n e i g h b o u r s w h o were present last S u n d a y , I was pr iv i leged to have k n o w n T o m m y as a f r iend a n d c o m -rade . H e was such a w o n d e r -ful h u m a n being, full of t he j o y of life, h a t i n g o p p r e s s i o n a n d in jus t ice a n d finally giving his y o u n g life — he was on ly 26 — for the c a u s e he believed in so p a s s i o n a t e l y . S a l u d . "

It w a s f r o m the L o n d o n Branch of the Republ ican C o n -gress a few years la ter t h a t peop le c a m e together to f o r m the C o n n o l l y C l u b a n d its p a p e r , " I r i sh F r e e d o m " , f r o m which c a m e the p r e s e n t - d a y C o n n o l l y Assoc ia t ion a n d the " I r i sh D e m o c r a t " . P e a d a r O ' D o n n e l l ded i ca t ed his

book on Spa in " S a l u d " — to " a boy f r o m Achi l l " . H e h a d t h e job of g iv ing the news of P a t t e n ' s dea th to his paren ts . T o m m y Pa t t en ' s n a m e is listed a m o n g t h e heroes of the Span ish Civil W a r in Chr is ty M o o r e ' s recently re leased song, " V i v a La Quince B r i g a d a . "

E L E V E N U S S e n a t o r s — o n e t e n t h o f t h e e n t i r e U S Senate — c a m e to Dubl in fo r ta lks with G a r r e t F i t z G e r a l d , a n d there was scarcely a word in the Irish papers a b o u t it.

Irish C N D is a l a rmed at the fur t ive sec recy s u r r o u n d i n g the meeting. T h e s e pol i t ic ians have close c o n n e c t i o n s with N A T O a n d the fact t h a t the secret mee t ing was a r r a n g e d a t their request once again ra ises g rave concern at a t t empt s t o u n d e r m i n e Irish neutra l i ty .

In a p ress s t a t e m e n t Irish C N D says that the Tao i seach shou ld answer the f o l l o w i n g ques t ions :—

PETER WOPUN RIP

ALL those in and around the South London Connolly As-sociation who knew Peter Woplin will be saddened by the news of his death on November 12th from a form of blood cancer, from which he had been suffering for some years. It was Peter's grandparents who came from Ireland, but brought up as he was in the Irish community in Battersea- his g.andmother well remembered Mrs Despard-he developed a deep feeling of identification. A deeply religious man and firmly convinced socialist, it was a pleasure and honour to know him. Peter's wife Kate comes from Co. Carlow, and it was at Peter's own wish that his remains were taken back there for burial in the place he loved.

My last memory of Peter is a happy one- at the Connolly Association's garden party in August, where he enjoyed the sunshine, the Irish music and company.

Our sincere sympathy goes out to Kate, and to his children Mary-Ann and Kevin.

PA TRICK BOND

Knowledge tax AS par t of its c a m p a i g n to p r o d u c e a n i g n o r a n t a . i d coi t ipi iany p o p u l a t i o n a v a i l a b l e for a t o m - b o m b f o d d e r , the b a r b a r o u s T o r y g o v e r n m e n t in tends t o i n t r o d u c e 15% V A T o n books .

This is likely to increase cover prices by 2 5 % at least as pr in ts go d o w n , a n d f u r t h e r r e s t r i c t libraries w h o s e f u n d s have been cut by r a t e - c a p p i n g . There might be a ease f o r b u y i n g all the b o o k s you think you m i g h t want N O W .

Secret mission against Irish

neutrality ® W h y was Ihe mee t ing secret"1

• W h y w a s r e f e r e n c e t o the t i S S e n a t o r s ' visit b a r r e d f r o m R T F s l o p news p r o g r a m m e " T h i s W e e k " at the last minu te ' '

• W a s the a b a n d o n m e n t of Ir ish neu-t ra l i ty discussed'. '

• W a s the re r e fe rence t o poss ib le p rov i s ion of specific faci l i t ies f o r N a t o 1

• Is the T a o i s e a c h slill o n [he execu-tive of ihe Tr i l a t e ra l C o m m i s s i o n ' '

• W a s this m e e t i n g a r r a n g e d t h r o u g h the T r i l a t e r a l C o m m i s s i o n ' '

• W h y were Ihe US S e n a t o r s c o n -ce rned t ravel l ing on a mil i tary aircraft ' . '

T H E T R 1 1 A T E R A L C o m m i s s i o n is the top- level ' t h i n k t a n k ' of key po l i t i c i ans , b a n k e r s , b u s i n e s s m e n a n d in te l l ec tua l s which seeks t o work o u t s o l u t i o n s to the p r o b l e m s of N A T O , the E E C a n d the

W e s t e r n Capi ta l i s t s y s t e m genera l ly . It is ' t r i l a t e r a l ' because it l i nks t o g e t h e r key p e o p l e in the U S A . W e s t e r n E u r o p e and J a p a n , ll was or iginal ly set u p bv the Rockefe l l e r s and the C h a s e M a n h a t l e n B a n k Kissinger is a l e a d i n g light in it. It s e e k , to deve lop an in t e l l ec tua l c o n s e n s u s a m o n g its m e m b e r s t h r o u g h secret c o n f e rences and then t f v po l i c i e s d c c i d e J o n a re imp lemen ted w h e n the people c o n c e r n e d gel i n k . g o v e r n m e n t

I h e Tr i la te ra l p e o p l e a re s t rongly o p p o s e d to na t iona l s o v e r e i g n t y . I ' l l i m j tely they are s e rvan t s of the mult i-n a t i o n a l c o m p a n i e s T h e y a re .irdenr s u p p o r t e r s of N A T O a n d the E E C and wan t J a p a n to join the a r m s race agains t Russ ia

It is not a body with w h i c h any ,el!-respec t ing po l i t i c ians f r o m a neut ra l c o u n t r y like I re land s h o u l d h a v e a n y t h i n g to d o

Discrimination is still rampant

D I S C R I M I N A T I O N a g a i n s t Ca tho l i c s in the Six C o u n t i e s is jus t as s t r o n g as ever , a c c o r d i n g to the long-awai t ed religion repor t v o l u m e of the 1981 Census , which h a s jus t been released.

Overa l l , u n e m p l o y m e n t a m o n g C a t h o l ICS in the Six Coun t i e s r e m a i n s more than twice that a m o n g Pro te s t an t s — 14.7 per cent as aga ins t 6.7 per cent

Of those avai lable for work in 1981, o n e in f o u r Ca tho l i c s was u n e m p l o y e d , aga ins t o n e in six for all o the r d e n o m i n a t i o n s . In Belfast the s i tua t ion was even worse . O n e in ihree Ca tho l i c s was u n e m p l o y e d c o m p a r e d with one i.i five P ro te s t an t s . And in the twelve C a t h o l i c w a r d s of Belfast the u n e m p l o y m e n t rate varied f r o m a lew of 19 per cent in L a d y b r o o k to a high of 51 p e r c e n t in W h i t e r o c k . The P ro tes t an t ra te var ied f r o m nine per cent in East Belfast t o a high of 32 per cent in C o u r t W a r d

T h e 1981 f igures s h o w that link-h a s c h a n g e d since the last Census in 1971, the year be fo re the i n t r o d u c t i o n of direct rule f r o m L o n d o n a n d the abo l i t i on of S t o r m o n t . At that t ime the

Ca tho l i c u n e m p l o y m e n t rate was 2% t imes the P ro t e s t an t rate Ca tho l ics in the m a i n were restr icted to unski l led o r seasona l work a n d there were few Ca tho l i c s employed in key indus t r i e s like engineer ing , public ut i l i t ies a n d insurance .

A F T E R a decade of d i rec t rule the inequlai ty remains . Less t h a n nine per cent of p r o f e s s i o n a l s are Ca tho l i c — t h o u g h C a t h o l i c s c o m p r i s e one third of the Six C o u n t y p o p u l a t i o n . Bare ly 15 per cent of scientists a n d t echn ic ians are Ca tho l ic . In the cr i t ica l a r ea — for work ing class C a t h o l c i s — of s h o p f loor and site e m p l o y m e n t , a mere 13 per cent of m a n a g e r s are Catholc is .

As the British j o u r n a l " N e w Soc ie ty" says: " T h e key finding f r o m the p re l iminary ana lys i s of the C e n s u s is that a f t e r a l m o s t ten years of ' impar t ia l m a n a g e m e n t ' the infer ior posi t ion of C a t h o l i c s r emains essentially the s a m e . The N o r t h e r n Ireland Off ice m a y have b e c o m e more s o p h i s t i c a t e d at de fend ing the s ta tus q u o , b u t the s e c t a r i a n l a n d s c a p e o f t h e p rov ince remains , in e m p l o y m e n t as in o t h e r t e rms , as hos t i l e as eve r . "

Page 6 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December 1984

Ok ail the stars that ever shone Not one does twinkle like your pale blue eves, l ike gulden corn at harvest time, your hair Sailing in my boat the wind gently blows and fills my sail. Your sweet scented breath is everywhere.

Daylight peeping through the curtains of The passing night time is your smile. The sun in the sky is like your laugh. < ome back to me Nancy linger for just a little while. Since you left these shores I know no peace nor joy.

Chorus: No matter where I wander I'm still haunted by your name. She portrait of your beauty stays the same. Standing by the ocean, wondering where you've gone. If you'll return again. Where is the ring I gave to Nancy Spain?

On the day in soring when the snow starts to melt and streams lo flow.

With the birds I'll sing to you a song. In the while I'll wander down by bluebell grove Where wild flowers grow And I'll hope that lovely Nancy will return.

Barnev Rush

MASTER McGRATH (Iord I.urgan's famous greyhound, which won the Waterloo Cup in 1X6X. IX6V and 1X71; ur note his name is now on tins of pet

food!)

I K . 11II I N SIXTY-1 K . I H being the date of the year S hose Waterloo sportsmen did grandly appear !o gain the great prizes and bear them away Never counting on Ireland or Master McGrath.

On the 12th of December, th;ii day of renown, McGrath and his trainer they left Lurgan Town; John Walsh was the trainer, and soon they got o'er. For the very next day they reached England's shore.

And when they arived there in great London town. Those great English sportsmen they all gathered round, And one of the gentlemen gave a "Ha! Ha! Is that the great dog you call Master McGrath?"

Then lord Lurgan steps forward and says: "Gentlemen, Is there any among ye has money to spend?

T o r ye nobles of England I don't give a straw-Here's five thousand to one on my Master McGrath."

l'hen the slips were let loose, and amid a great roar The greyhounds swept on like the waves to the shore To a dead even break, for old Erin-go-bragh Sure they tore round the course, led by Master McGrath.

We've seen many grey hounds that filled us with pride In the days that are gone, but it can't be denied. That the greatest and gamest the world ever saw Was the champion of champions, old Master McGrath.

ROISIN DUBH A ROISIN. nu h iodh broil ort na cas ano i s , la do p h a r d u n on Roimh is on b P a p a aga t . l a na bra i thrc ag teacht thar saile 's ag triall thar rnuir,

'S in ccal lar lion Spainneach ar m o Roisin D u b h .

la gia agam im lar d u n It' bliain ano i s Cira crai te . gra c a s m h a r , gra c iapa i the , ( i r a d ' l ag me gan s lainte gan rian gan r i th , 'S go h i a t h . b r a th , gan aon fhaghail agan i ar mo Roisin D u b h

Bcidh an fha r ra igena tuilte dcarga 's an speir 'na fuil, Beidh an saol 'na c h o g a d h chraoragh 'gus reabfar cnuic. Bcidh gacli g leann slcibhe ar fud Ei reann 's mointc ar c n t h , I a c-igin sul a n -cagfa idh mo Roisin D u b h .

PURCHASE CHRISTY MOORE'S NEW

SONGBOOK AT FOUR PROVINCES BOOKSHOP,

244 246 GRAYS INN ROAD, WC1

The Moon Behind the Hill

LISDOON VARNA

H O W ' S n g o i n ' . e v e r y b o d y . F r o m C o r k , New Y o r k , D u n d a l k ,

G o r t a h o r k a n d G l e n a m a d d y ? H e r e w e a r e in the C o u n t y C l a r e , I t ' s a l o n g l o n g way f r o m h e r e t o t h e r e . T h e r e ' s t h e B u r r e n a n d t h e O i f l * o f

M o h e r , D i e T u l l a a n d the K i l f e n o r a . M t k o R u s s e l l , l ) r Bill, W i l l y C l a n c y , N o e l Mill. I l u t e s .Mid f i dd l e s e v e r y w h e r e . II i t ' s m u s i c yoti w a n t T h e n g> i n C l a r e .

( horus : O h I i s d o o n v a r n a . I i s d o o n . I

I i s d o o n . 1 . i s d o o n v a r n a s d o o n ,

E v e r y b o d y n e e d s a b r e a k . C l i m b a m o u n t a i n . | u m p in a l a k e S o m e h e a d o f f lo e x o t i c p l a c e s , O t h e r s g o t o t h e G a l w a v r a c e s . M a t t i e g o e s t o the S o u t h of F r a n c e . J i m t o t h e d o g s , Pe t e r t o t h e d a n c e . A c o u s i n o l n u n e g o e s p o t h o h n ' , A c o u s i n o f he rs loves J o e D o l a n . As t h e s u m m e r t o m e s a r o u n d e a c h y e a r W e g o t h e r e a n d they c o m e h e r e . S o m e h e a d o f f lo I r i j i l l ana But a l w a y s g o lo I . i s d o o n v a r n a .

I a l w a y s l e a v e on a I h u r s d a y n i g h t W i t h n n l en t an i l g r o u n d s h e e t r o l l e d u p

t i g h t , I a l w a y s l ike to hit I i s d o o n In o r a r o u n d a F r i d a y a f t e r n o o n 1 his g i v e s m e t ime t o ge t m e g e a r

t o g e t h e r 1 d o n ' t n e e d t o w o r r y a b o u t t h e w e a t h e r R a m b l e in lo r a p in t of s t o u t , Y o u ' d n e v e r k n o w w h o ' d be h a n g m '

a b o u t

l o o k t h e r e ' s ,i D u t c h m a n p l a y i n ' a m a n d o l i n

A n d a G e r m a n l o o k i n ' l o r l . i a t n O g O ' l l o i n n . I h e r e ' s A d a m , B o n o a n d G a i r e t t

l i t / G e r a l d G e t t i n ' t h e i r p h o t o t a k e n f o r t h e S u n d a y

W o r l d . A n d t h e r e ' s l i n b a r , C h a r l i e a n d J i m

H a n d A n d t h e y ' r e i t r i n k i n ' p m l s t o b a t e t h e

b a n d I sn ' t ii g r a n d .

I he m u l t i t u d e s they H o c k e d in t h r o n g s l o h e a r t h e m u s i c a n d t h e s o n g s

O n m o t o r b i k e s a n d H i a c e v a n s W i t h b o t t l e s , b a r r e l s , f l a g o n s , c a n s . M i g h t y c r a c k a n d l o a d s o f f r o l i c s . P i o n e e r s a n d a l c o h o l i c s , PI A C . S P t ' t a n d t h e F C A . F r e e N i c k y Kelly a n d t h e I R A , H a i r y c h e s t s a n d mi lk w h i t e t h i g h s , M i c k e y d o d g e r s in d i s g u i s e , M c G r a t h s , O ' B r i e n s P i p p i n s , C o x ' s , M a s s a g e p a r l o u r s in h o r s e b o x e s , A m h r a n s . b o d h r a n s , a m a d a n s . A r a b s h e i k h s , H i n d u s i k h s J e s u s f r e a k s , R I I m a k i n ' t a p e s , t a k i n ' b r e a k s ,

t h r o w i n ' s h a p e s . I Ins is h e a v e n , th i s is he l l . W h o cares ' . ' W h o c a n tell? A n y o n e f o r the last f e w c h o c ices '1

A 747 l o r l a e k s o n B r o w n e , A s p e c i a l r u n w a y t o ge t h i m d o w n . Bel o r e t h e C h i e f t a i n s b e g a n t o p l a y S e v e n c r e a m y p i n t s c a m e o u t o n a t r a y S e a n C a n n o n d id t h e b a c k s t a g e c o o k i n ' , S h e r g a r w a s r i d d e n by L o r d L . u c a n . ( l a n n a d p l a y i n ' ' H a r r y ' s G a m e ' ,

C h r i s t y s i n g i n ' ' N a n c y S p a i n ' . M a r y O ' H a r a a n d B r u s h S h i e l d s T o g e t h e r s i n g i n ' ' T h e F o u r G r e e n

F i e l d s ' V a n t h e M a n a n d F m m y l . o u , M o v i n ' H e a r t s a n d P l a n x t y t o o .

I v e i v b o d y n e e d s a b r e a k , C l i m b a m o u n t a i n , j u m p in l a k e .

O l i v e r J F l a n a g a n g o e s s w i m m i n ' in t h e H o l y S e a ,

S c a n D o h e r t y g o e s d o w n f o r t h e R o s e o l T r a l e e .

But I l ike m y m u s i c in t h e o p e n a i r S o e v e r y s u m m e r I g o t o C l a r e . W o o d s t o c k , K n o c k n o r t h e F e a s t o f

C a n a C o u l d h o l d a m a t c h t o L i s d o o n v a r n a .

I wa tched last night the rising moon , U p o n a fore ign s t rand, Till mem ' r i e s came like (lowers of June , Of h o m e and fa ther land; 1 d r e a m t 1 was a child once more , Beside the rippling rill, W h e n first I saw, in days of yore The m o o n behind the hill.

It b r o u g h t me back the visions grand T h a t pu rp l ed boyhood ' s d r e a m s , Its y o u t h f u l loves, its h a p p y land, As br igh t as morning beams: It b r o u g h t me back my own sweet Nore. The cast le and the mill, $Jnt i l my eyes could see no more The m o o n behind the hill.

It b r o u g h t me back a mo the r ' s love, Unt i l , in accents wild, 1 p rayed her f rom her home above T o g u a r d her lonely child; It b r o u g h t me one across the wave-T o love in mem'ry still; It b r o u g h t me back my Kath leen ' s grave. The m o o n behind the hill.

and there , beneath the silv'ry sky I lived life o 'er again; 1 c o u n t e d all it 's hopes gone by, I wept at all it's pain; And w h e n I 'm gone, oh! may some tongue . The mins t re l ' s wish fulfi l . And still r emember him who sang, " T h e M o o n Behind the Hi l l "

Limerick, You're a Lady Chorus:

Limer ick , you ' re a lady. Your S h a n n o n water 's tears of joy have f l o w n -The beau ty that su rounds you I take it with me, love, where ' e r I go. While w a k i n g in the arms of d is tant waters A new d a y f inds me far away f r o m h o m e ; Then Limer ick you ' re my lady. The one t rue love that I have ever known .

As ch i ld ren you and 1 spent endless days of fur. In win ter snow or summer ' s golden sun; We f ished in silver s t reams — the fabr ic of my d r e a m s Was f a sh ioned by your loveliness, and so I had to s a y -

Chorus:

A gift tha t t ime has made to travellers on their way Seeking o u t the beauty of o u r land; A shr ine where children pray a n d bells ring out to say T h a n k G o d we're living just fo r you , the f r eedom of each day .

Chorus:

POOR OLD GRANUAILE O H , dreams they do tc some come true, and they come with grief

to more, As they did to me, my countrymen, round Erin's lovely shore, I dreamt I was upon a hill beside a lovely vale And it's there 1 spied a comely maid, her name was Granuaile.

H e r g o l d e n hair hung down her back and she w a s dressed in green , I thought she w a s the fairest maid my e y e s had ever seen; As I drew near I then could hear on the p leasant morning g a l e . As she s tro l l ed a long she sang a s o n g , s a y i n g "I 'm poor old G r a n u a i l e . "

In her hand she held a splendid harp, by her s ide she let it f a l l . And the t u n e s she p layed were Br ian B o r u , G a r r y o w e n a n d T a r a ' s H i l l ; Then G o d S a v e Ireland was the nex t , a n d O u r M a r t y r s W h o D i e d in J a i l -Oh, you needn't fret, we'll have Home Rule yet, says poor old Granuaile.

When I awoke from my slumber I was in an awful fright, I looked around and could not see altboagh it was daylight. I thought I saw her shadow by the walb of a lonely jail, But her mantle green was the last I seen of poor old Grannaile.

r

I December 1984 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT Page 7

More thoughts from Boland

Witty play

Tea in a C h i n a C u p by Christ ina Reid. At the Riverside Thea t re , Oc tobe r lO th - l s t November .

T H F last five o r six years have brought fo r th a p le thora of p lays a b o u t that "green field" which still b l e e d s u n d e r Its n e i g h b o u r ' s heel M o s t h a v e b e e n h o n o u r a b l e a t t e m p t s t o p o r t r a y t h e c o s t in h u m a n a g o n y , t o tease ou t a s o l u t i o n . Few have been w i t h o u t a n y m e r i t F e w , one must a d d . have been very g o o d p l a y s . " T e a in a C h i n a C u p " b e l o n g s t o t h e la rge ma jo r i t y—i t is h o n e s t r e p o r t i n g o f a f i e ld tha t has h i t h e r t o received t o o l i t t le a t t e n t i o n , as c r ea t ive wr i t ing il is l ow o n d r a m a .

T h i s p lay h a s m u c h to c o m m e n d it. W e live with a P r o t e s t a n t work ing-e la s s f ami ly f r o m 1939 t o 1 9 7 2 — o r t o be more precise with the w o m e n of t h i s f a m i l y — t h e m e n , w h e n they d o s u r f a c e , a re all total n o n -ent i t ies w h o c a n be re l ied upon lo c o p o u t of a n y d i f f i c u l t y , t o d u c k , usually, in to the p u b . T h i s I a m s u r e is not a bar ren an t i -m a l e f e m i n i s m b u t a t r u e ins ight—slavery (which is the rea l s t a t e of this fami ly) is m o r e c o r r o d i n g t o m e n t h a n w o m e n — w o m e n a r e saved by the i r c o m m i t m e n t to t h e i r ch i ld ren , men a re d e n i e d a n y m e a n i n g f u l role. "Tea in a C h i n a C u p " is a l s o o f v a l u e in depic t ing the P r o t e s t a n t u r b a n w o r k i n g class f r o m wi th in . T h e y a r e s h o w n a s being mate r ia l ly scarcely less p o o r t h a n the Ca tho l ics b u t cu l t u r a l l y f a r p o o r e r . F e n c e d in by s t u n t i n g s u p e r s t i t i o n s , t hey e x p e r i e n c e their ident i ty by m e a n s of a f r a m e w o r k of p roh ib i t i ons . T h e i r idol , t he c h i n a c a b i n e t , ep i tomises the i r sense of s u p e r i o r i t y ovei thei r C a t h o l i c n e i g h b o u r s , it ep i tomises the i r gent i l i ty

T H E A U T H O R p o r t r a y s very lovingly the warnMh a n d c a r e t o r each o ther tha t exis ts b e t w e e n t h e w o m e n of the fami ly , il s h o w s us, t o o , t h a t h o w e v e r scornful ly they m a y speak of C a t h o l i c s , when ac tua l ly c o n f r o n t e d by a m e m b e r of the species , t hey are bas ica l ly k i n d a n d h u m a n .

C h r i s t i n a Reid h a s g iven us a play tha i s ays m u c h t h a t is r e v e a l i n g a b o u t Bel fas t ' s p o o r P r o t e s t a n t s , s h e is witty, she is h u m a n . But on ly a t o n e po in t did I f ind t r u e d r a m a . T h a t w a s w h e n the son in the A r m y died . T h e w a y in w h i c h this news was g iven by a r o b u s t a u t o m o t o n of a soldier , in f ixed p h r a s e s a n d with reference n u m b e r s , to t h r e e w o m e n w h o would never to ta l ly r ecove r f r o m t h e b l o w truly en raged a n d m o v e d me B a i c a l l y , that is w h i t d r a m a is, a kick in t h e g u t . Chr is t ina Reid s h o u l d e i t he r d ig d e e p e r i n to her pitv a n d a n g e r a n d wr i te p l a y s t h a t hit us at a n e q u a l l y d e e p level , o r d o s o m e t h i n g which is equa l ly use fu l a n d h o n o u r a b l e : give us g o o d j o u r n a l i s m in t h e f o r m of j o u r n a l i s m

P.O'F.

Fine Gael: British or Irish? Kevin Boland, Mercier Press £2.85 99pp (P/B)

K E V I N B O L A N D ' S Republ ican lineage stretches back to the United I r ishmen. His uncle , Har ry Boland, might in the G A A ' s Centenary Year be r emembered as the source of some of the modern rules of Gae l i c Foo t -ball, but he was also one of the key f igures in the 1916 to 1922 phase of the struggle for independence. Sinn Fein ' s candida tes in the 1918 General Election were selected jo in t ly by Michael Collins a n d Har ry Boland. When De Valera toured America for the Republ ic , Har ry was with h tm, and wro te back to Collins in a co r r e spondence that had the warmth of a b r o t h e r ' s , but H a r r y Boland died at the hand Coll in 's t roops in the f i f th week of the Civil War which claimed Coll ins himself in the eighth. His b ro the r Ger ry , Kevin ' s fa ther , never forgave Coll ins, a l though as

F ianna Fail Justice Minister he was himself responsible for hanging IRA men in the 1940s; and Kevin as Minister fo r Defence interned them in 1957, the year incidentally that this reviewer s tar ted his seven-year stint in the Sunday-soldier ing F C A under his regime.

T h r o u g h o u t all t h e z i g z a g g i n g of p o l i -t ica l e x p e d i e n c y G e r r y B o l a n d a n d h i s s o n c a r r i e d t h e t o r c h o f t h e o l d i d e a l , u n t i l . w i t h t h e 1960s a n d F i a n n a F a i l ' s M o h a i r G e n e r a t i o n , K e v i n l o o k e d l ike t h e b o y s t a n d i n g o n t h e b u r n i n g d e c k w h e n al l b u t he h a d f l e d . H e e v e n p r e s e n t e d t h e A n n u a l R e p o r t a n d E s t i m a t e s f o r h i s D e p a r t m e n t t o A n D a i l in I r i sh ! W h e n . lack L y n c h , o n i n f o r m a t i o n r e c e i v e d f r o m Br i t i sh I n t e l l i g e n c e via F ine G a e l ' s L i a m C o s g r o v e , f i r e d C h a r l e s H a u g h e y a n d N e i l B l a n e y a n d h a d t h e m u n s u c c e s s f u l l y p r o s e c u t e d f o r a r m s s m u g g l i n g in 1970, B o l a n d q u i t t h e C a b i n e t a n d F i a n n a F a i l . H i s " R i s e a n d D e c l i n e o f F i a n n a F a i l " w a s r e v i e w e d h e r e in N o v e m b e r 1983. H e b r i n g s t o h i s s t u d y of F i n e G a e l a n i n f o r m e d a n d s i n c e r e love of I r e l a n d , t o g e t h e r w i t h t w o g e n e r a t i o n s o f l o a t h i n g t h a t p a r t y

I T IS B o l a n d ' s c o n t e n t i o n t h a t the m a i n s p r i n g o f F i n e G a e l is a be l i e f t h a i t h e e l e c t o r a t e w e r e m i s g u i d e d in 1932 1933, 1937, 1938, 1943, 1944, 1951 a n d 1957 a n d o n t h e f ive o t h e r o c c a s i o n s t h a t t h e y r e t u r n e d F i a n n a F a i l t o o f f i c e ; o n f i v e o t h e r o c c a s i o n s s i n c e 1932 t h a t F i n e G a e l t r a i l e d b e h i n d F i a n n a F a i l b u t m a n a g e d t o c o m e o u t s m i l i n g a t t h e h e a d o f a C o a l i t i o n . A s f o u n d e r s a n d i r o n - f i s t e d r u l e r s o f t h e F r e e S t a t e in t h e y e a r s 1922-32 t h e s h o c k o f b e i n g r e j e c t e d b y t h e p o e p l e in f a v o u r o f t h o s e t h e y

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h a d s m a s h e d in t h e Civ i l W a r g a v e rise t o a d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o r e a s s e r t t h e m s e l v e s a s t h e S t a t e ' s n a t u r a l m a s t e r s a n d t o r e s t o r e t h e i r h i s t o r i c c r e d i b i l i t y by r e t u r n i n g t o a C o n s t i t u t i o n a l p o s i t i o n a p r o x i m a t i n g t h a t o f 1931 W h i l s t F i n e G a e l a w a i t s F r e u d i a n a n a l y s i s t h e in fe r -e n c e M r B o l a n d d r a w s f r o m i ts po l i t i c a l r e c o r d is p r o b a b l y t h e b e s t a v a i l a b l e .

B o l a n d t r a c e s t h e r e c o r d b a c k t o the D a i l D e b a t e o n t h e T r e a t y in J a n u a r y 1 9 2 2 w h e n n o s p e a k e r w a s e n t h u s i a s t i c f o r t h e d o c u m e n t a n d w h e n t h e b e s ' ha t c o u l d be c l a i m e d f o r it w a s t h a t it p r o v i d e d a s t e p p i n g s t o n e t o the R e p u b l i c a n g o a l t h a t t h e y al l s h a r e d W h e n t h e N a t i o n a l m o v e m e n t d i v i d e d , t h e F r e e S t a t e r s n e e d e d al l t h e a l l i e s t hey c o u l d f i n d a n d c o - o p t e d all t he c o n s e r v a t i v e a n d a n t i - n a t i o n a l e l e m e n t s in t h e c o u n t r y . T h e R e p u b l i c , i n s t e a d of b e i n g t h e g o a l t o b e p u r s u e d b y in -d i r e c t m e a n s , b e c a m e t h e o b j e c t o f des -t r u c t i o n a n d e x e c r a t i o n , a n d the h a l f - w a y h o u s e p r o c l a i m e d t h e f i n a l p o l i t i c a l d e s t i n y of t h e I r i s h n a t i o n . H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n o r G e n e r a l w a s i n s t a l l e d in P h o e n i x P a r k a n d w h e n h e v i s i t ed the R o y a l D u b l i n S o c i e t y H o r s e S h o w G e n t l e m e n w h o h a d w o r n the i r c a u b e e n s b a c k - t o - f r o n t w i t h t h e F ly ing C o l u m n s a t t e n d e d in t o p h a t a n d s p a t s a s a m a r k o f r e s p e c t a n d r u b b e d s h o u l d e r s wi th the r ea l " g i n t r y . " T h e old h a d t h e i r p e n s i o n s c u t a s t i g h t f i s t e d n e s s c o m p l e m e n t e d t h e a t t a c k o n R e p u b l i c a n s , a n d F i n a n c e M i n i s t e r P a t r i c k M a c G i l l i g a n d e c l a r e d t h a t p e o p l e m i g h t s t a r v e b u t he w o u l d b a l a n c e h i s b u d g e t .

B O L A N D ' S e x p e r t i s e a s a f o r m e r D i r e c t o r of E l e c t i o n s a n d a s L o c a l G o v e r n m e n t M i n i s t e r r e s p o n s i b l e f o r r e d r a w i n g e l e c t o r a l b o u n d a r i e s w i t h i n C o n s t i t u t i o n a l l i m i t s f i n d s e x p r e s s i o n in s o m e l e n g t h y a n d r e p e t i t i v e p a s s a g e s . T h e s e h a m m e r h o m e t h e f a c t t h a t t h e F i n e G a e l p a r t y n e v e r w o n t h e l o v e o r t r u s t o f t h e p e o p l e I n 1923, s t a r t i n g f r o m its b a s e in G o v e r n m e n t , it w o n a 41 p e r c e n t o f D a i l s e a t s t h a t s t e a d i l y d e c l i n e d t o 21 p e r c e n t in 1948 a n d nex t t o p p e d 4 0 p e r c e n t in 1982 w i t h 4 2 p e r c e n t . S i n c e I 9 3 2 F i a n n a F a i l ' s s h a r e b o t t o m e d at 4 4 p e r c e n t a n d p e a k e d a t 57 p e r c e n t .

W h e n F i a n n a F a i l a b o l i s h e d t h e o a t h of a l l e g i e n c e t o t h e k i n g a n d w h e n t h e y d r a f t e d t h e I 9 3 7 C o n s t i t u t i o n v e s t i n g a u t h o r i t y in the I r i s h p e o p l e , F i n e G a e l s t o o d f o r C r o w n a n d C o m m o n w e a l t h . W h e r e t h e n e w c o n s t i t u t i o n c l a i m e d j u r i s d i c t i o n o v e r a l l I r e l a n d F i n e G a e l h a r k e d b a c k t o t h e i r B o u n d a r y A g r e e m e n t o f 1925 f o r m a l i s i n g i h e s u r r e n d e r o f t h e S ix C o u n t i e s t o B r i t i s h R u l e . By t h e 1960s t h e y w e r e d o i n g t h i s by s t e a l t h w h e n t h e i r m o s t s o p h i s t i c a t e d l a w y e r s d o m i n a t e d a n a l l - p a r t y c o m m i s s i o n o n t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n w h e r e F i a n n a F a i l f i e l d e d a n i n e x p e r i e n c e d a n d n o n e - t o o -b r i l l i a n t t e a m . T h a t C o m m i s s i o n " f e l t it a p p r o p r i a t e " t o r e p l a c e t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n a l s t a t e m e n t o f I r e l a n d ' s r i g h t t o h e r t e r r i t o r y by a p i o u s a s p i r a t i o n t o h a v e it r e s t o r e d h e r . S u r r e n d e r t o B r i t a i n ' s i m p e r t i n e n t c l a i m is t h e c o r e , i n d e e d t h e o n l y s u b s t a n c e , o f G a r r e t t F i t z g e r a l d ' s b a l l y h o o e d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c h a r a d e .

H o w , y o u m a y well a s k , d i d s u c h a p a r t y n o t o n l y s u r v i v e a d u l t s u f f r a g e b u t r e c o v e r t o i ts p r e s e n t s t r e n g t h u n d e r i t? P a r t l y b e c a u s e F i a n n a F a i l w a s n e v e r p e r f e c t a n d p a r t l y b e c a u s e p a r t i e s m o r e e m o t i o n a l l y R e p u b l i c a n a n d m o r e S o c i a l i s t i c t h a n F i a n n a Fa i l i g n o r e d t h e m o r a l o f t h e l i m e r i c k a b o u t t h e y o u n g l a d y f r o m N i g e r . I n I 9 4 8 F i a n n a F a i l g o t 4 6 p e r c e n t o f D a i l s e a t s , F i n e G a e l 21 p e r c e n t . C l a n n n a P o b l a c h t a t o o k p a r t o f F i a n n a F a i l ' s R e p u b l i c a n v o t e a n d t w o w a r r i n g f a c t i o n s o f L a b o u r r e p r e s e n t e d t h e le f t . T h e r e w e r e o t h e r p a r t i e s w h i c h a r e n o w f o o t n o t e s t o h i s t o r y b u t e v e n t h e n F i a n n a F a i l h a d o v e r 5 0 p e r c e n t o f p a r t y s e a t s , a s n i n e a s s o r t e d I n d e p e n d e n t s h a d b e e n e l e c t e d . A s h a r e d w i s h t o k e e p F i a n n a F a i l o u t o f p o w e r a n d t o w a r m t h e i r b a c k s i d e s o n g o v e r n m e n t b e n c h e s r e s u l t e d in a F i n e G a e l - l e d C o a l i t i o n . F i n e G a e l ' s l e a d e r , G e n e r a l M u l c a h y , a s the h a r d m a n o f t h e C i v i l W a r t o o k t h e E d u c a t i o n p o r t f o l i o , n e v e r t o o i m p o r t a n t in G o v e r n m e n t t h i n k i n g . J o h n A . C o s t e l l o , a b a r r i s t e r u n s u l l i e d by a n y b a n d o l i e r s , b e c a m e T a o i s e a c h . H e h a d o n c e p r o m i s e d t h a t a s t h e B r o w n s h i r t s h a d g o t p o w e r in G e r m a n y a n d t h e B l a c k s h i r t s in I t a l y , s o t o o w o u l d t h e B l u e s h i r t s d o f o r I r e l a n d . C e r t a i n l y t h e y " d i d f o r " t h e i r C o a l i t i o n p a r t n e r s in t h e i r f e w t e r m s o f o f f i c e a n d t o d a y I re-

l a n d ' s p a r l i a m e n t a r y L a b o u r P a r t y is d i s a p p e a r i n g , h e a d f i rs t d o w n t h e F i n e G a e l t i g e r ' s t h r o a t It w o u l d b e a p i t y t h o u g h t o l e a v e y o u c o n t e m p l a t i n g o n l v the s m i l e o f t h e t i g e r . M r B o l a n d m a y n e v e r fill t h e G a i e t y w i t h his h u m o u r b u t o n e of h i s s t o r i e s d e s e r v e s r e p e t i t i o n w h e r e v e r m e n m e e t wi th jars- of p o r t e r o v e r a t u r f f i r e

In 1949, w i t h o u t a l t e r i n g a w o r d o r a c o m m a o f t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n . C o s t e l l o d e c l a r e d t h e S t a t e a R e p u b l i c a n d d e p a r t e d t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h , p e r h a p s t u r n i n g h i s c o a t a c c o r d i n g t o h i s c l o t h In B r i t a i n A t t l e e p a s s e d t h e I r e l a n d A c t , a n a b s u r d i t y p r e t e n d i n g t o vest s o v e r e i g n t y o v e r N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d at S t o r m o n t ' s d i s p o s a l . All p a r t i e s a n d e v e r y I n d e p e n d e n t in t h e D a i l r e j e c t e d B r i t a i n ' s c l a i m t o a n y say in I r e l a n d a n d ca l l ed o n t h e Br i t i sh G o v e r n m e n t . t o e m b a r k o n d i s e n g a g e m e n t f r o m t h e c o u n t r y . A h u g e m e e t i n g in D u b l i n w a s a d d r e s s e d b y C o s t e l l o d e n o u n c i n g B r i t a i n a n d p r o m i s i n g t o hit t h e B r i t i s h , , " i n t h e i r p r i d e , t h e i r p r e s t i g e a n d t h e i r p o c k e t . " T h r o o g h the w i n d o w s o f t h e G r e s h a m H o t e l t h e vo i ce o f F i n e G a e l ' s T a o i s e a c h c a u g h t t h e e a r s o f C o l o n e l F i t / M a u r i c e , t h e a i r m a n w h o p i o n e e r e d F a s t - W e s t A t l a n t i c l l igh t . G l a s s in h a n d he w a v e d in c o u n t e r p o i n t t o e a c h d e c l a m a t i o n , s a y i n g . " G o o d o l d D e v " . " G i v e ' e m H e l l ' "

D O N A E K E N N E D Y

LONDON EVENTS

W e list b e l o w a n u m b e r o l e v e n t s c o m i n g u p in L o n d o n S a t u r d a y , D e c e m b e r 8th - ( . r a m i

X m a s B a z a a r at the M a r c h m o n t C o m m u n i t y Centre , 6 2 M a r c h -mont S t r e e t , W C l , II a m - . 3 p m . A d m i s s i o n I Op.

F r i d a y , 1 4 t h D e c e m b e r C h r i s t m a s S o c i a l at t h e M a r q u i s of Cornua l l i s , M a r c h -mont S tree t , W C l , 8 p m . M u s i c , r e f r e s h m e n t s & C h r i s t m a s Raf f l e .

S u n d a y , D e c e m b e r 1 6 t h -S h o w i n g o f the historic film "The D a w n " at 6 .30 pm in the M a r c h m o n t Communi tv C e n t r e W C l . Admiss ion £1.

From Red scare to neutrality DE VALERA AND HIS TIMES:

Edited by J. P. O'Carroll and John A. Murphy. Published by Cork University Press. Hard-back, £15, ppl94.

L O V E him o r ha te h im , E a m o n D e Valera is t h e mos t s ign i f ican t f i g u r e in the pol i t ica l h i s t o r y of m o d e r n I r e l a n d . L i k e O ' C o n n e l l a n d Parnel l b e f o r e h i m , he h a s lent his n a m e a n d pe r sona l i t y t o the a g e in which he l ived.

W h e n he died in 1975 at a n a d v a n c e d a g e , he seemed a l m o s t an i r r e l evan t figure f r o m a byegonc age , t he c e n t e n a r y of his b i r t h in 1982, saw a revival of i n t e r e s t , with t e lev i s ion coverage a n d n u m e r o u s s tud ies .

T h i s v o l u m e , ed i t ed by P r o f e s s o r J o h n A. M u r p h y a n d J . P. O ' C a r r o l l . is a c o l l e c t i o n of l ec tu res d e l i v e r e d at a c o n f e r e n c e in C o r k U n i v e r s i t y . As wi th all s i m i l a r co l lec t ions , s o m e t r a n s f e r m o r e succes s fu l ly to the p r i n t e d p a g e t h a n o t h e r s . T h e gibe, wh ich ra i ses a l a u g h in a

SPLENDID SONG BOOK

CHRISTY MOORE. Ireland's favourite ballad singer, has at last published a collection. The Christy Moore Songbook (Brandon. £3 95). of songs he has recorded, including many of his own composition Appealing to the republican, socialist. internationalist, folksong tradi-tionalist, peace campaigner and poet. this.is d collection for everybody. And the music is printed as well

Christy has not pui in traditional rebel songs of Ireland—perhaps he thinks we should know them already! — but there are samples of just about everything else, f rom songs about H-Block to the cheeky ballad of Knock Airport, from El Salvador to the Little Musgrove, f rom a touching tribute to Seamus Ennis to . . . oh! I could go on Bury it yourself! The Four Provinces Bookshop has it in stock.•'-P B

Reviewed by NORAH DILLON l ec tu re ha l l , c a n g o sour when t r a n s l a t e d to the w r i t t e n w o r d

J o h n A. M u r p h y in his very interesting and far -rang ing lecture maintains that neutrality w a s D e Valera's greatest ach i evement , and that he used it to shape and stabi l i se the state "It became the s u p r e m e e x p r e s s i o n o f M g t i o n a l Sovere ign ty ." At the same time D e Valera emphas i sed that a free Ireland would have many interests in c o m m o n with Britain, and w o u l d never al low itself to be used by any aggressor against its neighbour.

Professor Murphy also discussed D e Valera's a t t i tude towards the Church , and argues that in spite of his personal piety, in spite o f the controvers ial const i tut ion and the tact that his speeches tended to be secular s e r m o n s , he s tood up to the b i s h o p s on m a n y issues . D e Valera's Fianna Fail differed f r o m the O'Connel l and Parnell eras in that there was no place for clergy in the o r g a n i s a t i o n and in fact polit ics had be c o m e a secular matter.

Professor M u r p h y concludes that D e Valera left Irish society much as he fouj id it. In spite o f lip service to C o n n o l l y ' s ideals " h e had n o burning pass ion to redress soc ia l inequities. He had n o n e of the rage that characterised Connol ly , and even Pearse ."

J. P. Carrol l in his lecture points to the way in w h i c h D e Valera ensured the survival o f the new state by m o u l d i n g political c u l t u r e and poltical structures in a period o f typica l post-colonial instability.

M a r y a n n G i a l a n e l l a V a l i u l i s contr ibut ion is entit led "The man they c o u l d n e v e r f o r g i v e , " and deals with D e Valera a s v i e w e d b y his many enemies . F o r example , h is o p p o s i t i o n to the treaty was

s imply seen a s a p lay for the p o w e r whi j i had s l i pped a w a y f r o m him d u r i n g h i s absence in A m e r i c a

Brian F a r r e l l p o r t r a y s h im, no t a s a d i c t a t o r , b u t a s a pa t i en t c h a i r m a n , a b l e t o h a r v e s ' t he l oya l t y a n d m a i n t a i n the u n i t y of a r e m a r k a b l e gene ra t i on of s e n i o r pol i t ical l e a d e r s

Both C u m m a n n nc n G a e d e a l a n d t h e I R A f a i l e d t o u n d e r s t a n d D e v ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o the " r u l e of o r d e r " a n d b o t h were e q u a l l y surpr i sed w h e n h e c r a c k e d d o w n on d iss idents , a c c o r d i n g t o R o n a n F a n n i n g

O t h e r c o n t r i b u t i o n s include M A G O ' T u a t h a i g h o n the link be tween N a t i o n a l F r e e d o m a n d e c o n o m i c p r o s p e r i t y a s seen t h r o u g h h i s t o r y , D e r m o t K e o g h o n t h e Red S c a r e in 1931-32 a n d D e v ' s c lever u se of it t o r e h a b i l i t a t e himself with t h e c l e r g y a n d at the s a m e t ime to d i sc red i t t h e C o s g r a v e ' s G o v e r n m e n t .

T. Ryle D w y e r in dealing with the part i -tion ques t ion , as it used to be cal led, p o n -ders o n h o w smal l a part partition p la y e d in the objec t ions to the treaty. L a t e r D e Valera be l ieved that a prosperous T w e n t y -six Count i e s wou ld entice the N o r t h t o join. He a l so bel ieved that the C a t h o l i c s with their higher birth-rate wou l* -eventually o u t n u m b e r the Protestants . Sadly, whi le he concentrated on o t h e r matters, u n e m p l o y m e n t , the o a t h o f allegiance, the land annuities, every passing year was consol idat ing the border

John B o w m a n rounds off the lectures with an assessment of seven b iograph ie s published during the subject's l ifetime? D c Valera was concerned with the verdlet o f history. H i s sensit ivity to cr i t i c i sm portrayed se l f -doubt about his b e h a v i o u r during the treaty period. The d e f i n i t i v e biography w h i c h still remains t o b e wr i t ten must await release o f his personal papers in 1985. M e a n w h i l e , this vo lume a d d s m u c h to our k n o w l e d g e o f the man a n d his period.

Page 8 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT December 1984

Peter Mulligan's peepshow THE NAVVY POET

TAXPAYERS' MONEY-giving it out - The Belfast-based Lear Fan aircraft company, which has received •lore than £50 million of UK taxpayers' money has finally received a certificate of approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration. It is now possible that some of the 320 workers iNsmissed in August will be taken back. The British Government holds only a five per cent equity holding in San Holdings, the Delewere-based parent company of Lear Fan. The holding was purchased for £25 million in 1982. Two members of the Saudi Arabian royal family put up 60 million dollars and hold 85 per cent of the equity. A further 7 million of public funds is due to be paid to the company in the next few months.

P A Y I N G IT B A C K — w i t h interest—"The strain of servicing Ireland's eight million-dollar foreign debt has been exacerbated by the rise of both the US dollar and the interest ra tes . The G o v e r n m e n t ( I r ish) estimate that repayments will cost almost 10 per cent of Gross National Product annually between now and 1987"—Financial Times.

PUBLIC spending (hospitals, welfare, roads, etc.), accounts for 60 per cent of Irish G.N.P. With 16 per cent unemployed and the highest taxes in Europe it is expected that cut-backs in public spending will be enforced to pay the international bankers. * * *

W O U L D YOU believe it? The Times reports the IRA: "The IRA has announced that the next bomb to be planted by. them will merely be to test the British bomb squads, and not designed to hurt anybody. This technique, believed to be French in origin, has not been tried by them before. 'We have already planted the

" bomb, in fact,'—said a spokesman, 'and it is now up to you to find it. You have about a month, starting from now. No, clues. We're not too sure ourselves where it is, as we got a Frenchman to do it for us and we can't understand a word he's saying'."

* * *

. THE EFFECT of colonialism. The case of a young RUC officer who recently raped a young woman at gunpoint, shot her mother and took two other women hostage before shooting himself with a gun issued to him by the State is typical of the moral trauma that the Royal Ulster Constabulary is going through. Gary Dickson was the third member of the security forces to kill himself in a ten-day period and the ninth this year. The suicide rate in N o r t h e r n I r e l a n d has r isen dramatically from 93 in 1982 to 142 in 1983. This year 54 persons have committed suicide including nine members of the security forces. Sir J. Harmon, the RUC chief, has instructed ( b a t h i s o f f i c e r s should be psychologically screened , for every RUC officer is armed at all times, and is given sophisticated Firearms training. * * *

THE BRITISH war machine in Ireland—"Since 1968, no British soldier, no RUC man has served a day

• in jail for killing innocent persons with legally-held weapons or brutally ill-treating people even though we can give a list of 140 innocents killed and over 2,000 cases of ill-treatment in interrogation centres. It is the absence of justice and fair play that helps violence. Remember the part played

1 by the families at the end of the hunger

Printed by Ripley Printers Ltd (TU), Nottingham Road, Ripley, Derbys, and published by Connolly Pub-lications Ltd. 2 4 4 Grays Inn Road, London WC1

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TWENTY odd years ago you could still meet oldtimers - old long distance men and tramp navvies -1 mean who could reel off great hunks of the poetry of Donegalman Patrick Mac Gill for you, no bother. Admittedly such men belonged to an age when poetry was learnt by heart and enjoyed in a way that poetry is no longer enjoyed by ordinary non-literary people. It was the same with the poetry of Rudyard Kipling and Robert W. Service, much of what they wrote lent itself to the entertainment of the party or the pub.. I suppose more workingmen could quote you verses from The Cremation of Sam McGee or The Little Yellow Idol - along with other favourites like Adieu to Bela-shanny - than almost any other poetical compositions you could mention, barring maybe the poems of Pat Mac Gill whom incidentally some of the old timers even claimed to have worked with! (Incorrectly, since not many of them would have been old enough to have navvied in the pre-Great War days when Mac Gill wielded the pick and shovel by the day and the pen by night) I knew an old navvy who arrived in Britain a good ten years before Pat Mac Gill but he had never heard of the author of Children of the Dead End, much less met him - and, interestingly, Mac Gill was known among his contemporaries and fellow-navvies less as a writer than a wrestler! Peadar O'Donnell was surprised to discover this when he spoke to men here in Britain who had worked with Mac Gill).

Apart from his great prose works, classics like THE RAT PIT and CHILDREN OF THE DEAD END, Pat Mac Gill wrote and published three collections of verse - Songs of Donegal, Songs of the Dead End and Soldiers Songs and now all three have been bought out attractively in one book by the enterprising Co. Kerry publishing firm of Brandon; the hardback edition which would make a beautiful Christmas present, costs £12.00 (Irish) but I believe there is a soft-covered edition, too, at less than £5.00. Brandon has also brought out the best known of Mac Gill's novels in paperback as visitors to the Connolly Association bookshop well know..

HOW DOES Patrick Mac Gill rate as a poet in an age when poetry seems to have little to say to the ordinary man, is more often than not an expression of clever-ness than anything else and would certainly seem to be composed for the printed page rather than for the human ear? Well the answer must be that Mac Gill's range is so wide that some of his poetry-especially his war poetry-could rank alongside the work of Joyce Kilmer or Wilfrid Owen-while more of it

strike. Nothing would undermine the Provos and the INLA violence quicker than the release of prisoners in a steady stream; the only power that can stop the Provos is the families. Each prisoner links to 100 people; 2,000 prisoners means over 100,000 persons with a sense of injustice. If there was a bit of hope the families would quell most of the violence by their disapproval. Silly, stupid British, their military victory is not possible! Do they want an alternative or not?"—statement issued by Fr. Denis Paul.

BY DONALL MacAMHLAIGH

belonged rather to the Robert Service tradition, the kind of simple, moving poetry that spoke directly to the poor and the down-trodden everywhere. Let us look at what I would count as one of his finest war poems (Mac Gill went through the Great War with the London Irish Rifles). This poem is called s.mply The Cross:

The cross is twined with gossamer

The cross that some hand shaped with care.

And by his grave the grasses stir But he is sleeping silent there. The guns speak loud: he hears

them not The night goes by; he does not

know A lone white cross stands on the

spot, And tells of one who sleeps

below. The brooding night is hushed and

still The crooning breeze draws quiet

breath A star-shell flares upon the hill And lights the lowly house of

death.

Ihere is a war poem, too called A.D. 1916 which for a moment I thought might have had to do with the Easter Rebellion but is of course about the misery of war.. .it is an interesting thing about Mac Gill, a man with a deep abiding love of Ireland and particularly his native Donegal, that - unless lam greatly mistaken and I think I have read most of his works - there is little or no reference to Anglo-Irish conflict or to the Irish struggle for self-determination. I may be wrong in this but I get the impression from Mac Gill's work that separatism or nationhood as aspired to by so many generations of Irishmen, did not loom large in his conciousness at all. His novels do not reflect it, I believe, and very often there is no indication as to what nationality a character had . . . I have heard Irishmen and Englishmen alike claiming Moleskin Joe!

PA T MA C GILL may never have joined a political party but his socialism is implicit in his work, much of which is reminiscent of Jack London in its bitter condemnation of the status quo. Let us look at a few excerpts from the Songs of the Dead End section, of the book - the following, for example, I often heard quoted,'by Donegal and Tyrone men . in particular, on building sites or civil engineering jobs:

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Have you tramped about\ in Winter, when your boots

were minus soles Have you wandered sick and

sorry with your pockets full of holes?

Have you wondered which was better when your capital was light

A plate of fish and taters or a hammock for the night?

Have you smelt the dainty odour of some swell refreshment shop?

When you'd give your soul in barter for a single mouldy chop?

Have you sought through half a kingdom for the job you could not get?

Have you eyed the city gutters for a stump of cigarette?

Have you dossed in drear December on a couch of virgin snow

With a quilt of frost above you and a sheet of ice below?

That is the opening verse of a ooem sub-titled On the Road to Kinlochleven 1998. Mac Gill worked on the waterworks scheme in Kinlockleven as successive generations of Irishmen have worked on hydro-electric schemes down to the present day, almost but it would appear from the various biographical gleanings that have been made available to us over the past few years that he did not in fact navvy for more than six or seven years in ail-but of course so brutally hard was the work in those days this might well represent a lifetime's labour in terms of modern performance!

An even more popular poem of Mac Gill's often quoted by a good friend of my own, a Tyroneman by the name of Eddie McNeilis, was "The Song of the Shovel":

Down on creation's muckpile, where the sinful swelter and sweat

Where the scum of the earth foregather, rough and untutored yet.

Where they swear in six-foot spaces, or toil in the barrow squad

The men of unshaven faces, the ranks of the very bad

Where the brute is more than the human, the muscle more than the mind

Where their gods are loud-mouthed gaffers, rugged, uncouth, unkind.

Where the rough of the road are roosting, where the failed and the faljgp be.

there have we met in the ditch-way, there have I plighted

.v"1' with thee The wage-slave troth of our

union, and found thee true to fny trust

Stoic in loveless labour, \ companion with beggered

when beggered and burst Wonderful navvy shovel, last

of the tools and first. ..

I REjAD enough poetry reviews in the literary pages of various papers and periodicals to know very well that many modern critics wouldn't rate that kind of versifying very highly-and this I think is a very big 'but'-where else can you find the authentic expression of such feelings, where else will any poetry describe what it is like to tramp hungrily about the land in search of a job or to 'swelter and sweat' in a narrow cutting? It is fashionable to say nowadays that machinery has done tfway with navvying but at the recent CKAC festval fn

PATRICK McGILL

Birmingham I spoke to a strapping big Co. Galway man who often digs 100 metres a day, on cable-laying jobs, and even a little rough arithmetic will show you that this is a fairly prodigious feat of labour-in an age when all kinds of technological junk is flying about in space! Well might Pat Mac Gill call the shovel 'first of the tools and last.'

But I suspect there will be as many if not more readers interested in the portion of this fine book that deals with the poet's homeland -Songs of Donegal. in this collection Mac Gill poured fourth all the longing he felt for his native county, where, alas, clerical and gombeen bigotry prevented him from making his home even when he could well have afforded to remain there after the success of CHILD-REN OF THE DEAD END ...the petty powers that were did not forget, nor did they forgive, the bitter condemnation that Mac Gill made of them in his powerful novels. For all his hard-headed (if sometimes sentimentally expressed) perception of life Pat Mac Gill must have been something of a romantic and the wee folk figure largely in his Songs of Donegal:

At night when I be sitting in the corner of the house

And oh! so close and quiet that I wouldn't scare a mouse

With the wind above the chimney top and it's me can hear its song:

Go to bed, you sleepy heifd, you're staying up too long!

Then Mawmy up and looks at me and says: "It's now. to bed

Or else 'twill be the Fellow with the Wee Red Head!"

THAT MAC GILL for all the conservatism of his verse (I niton the conservatism of form, of course) he did experiment quite a bit and though most of the poems have the traditional form there are some, like the following, more modern in execution:

Tirconaill! On the.hem of the royal Hill,

the hill of Aileach, I stood-And the Past, and the Present

and the Future Were in my eyes As nothing-The light foot in a forgotten

dance. A spark in the air . . .

It is not possible within the scope of a piece like this to suggest the range and breadth of these, the col-lected poetical works of Patrick Mac Gill; I would just say that it is the kind of book you could return to again and again, the kind of book /-wish had been available a couple of decades ago so that I might present it to Eddie McNeilis who so often quoted Mac Gill-Eddie himself being a dab hand with shovel and pen alike. ,

/ recommend it wholeheartedly to readers and if you're within any sort of reach in the London atw Tm sure you'll find it, in hardback and soft, in the Connolly Association's bookshop in Gray's Inn Rpqd. .

THE NAVVY POET (The collected poetry of Patrick Mac GUI) books •

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