For my next trick

presence and will in practice be an eventual steppingstone to a united Ireland.

A theoretical underpinning of this view is given by Sinn Fein and left groups like the SWM and Militant Labour who either privately or openly take seriously the British declaration - stated in the Downing Street declaration and reiterated in paragraph 20 of the framework document -that they “have no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland”.

From this point of view Britain can be trusted to disengage from Ireland without a further fight and the North-South bodies are the way to create an exit door.

Again understanding is to take a back seat. No-one explains when Britain stopped being an imperialist power, why it alone of all the powers has no interest in a neighbouring country which it dominates, when British firms and capital withdrew from Ireland, who now owns the capital infrastructure in the North and why the good Samaritan - unable to meet its aid commitment to the third ment have shown themselves willing to be co-opted and they need the cover provided by the cross-border bodies. Alongside Dublin the SDLP and the Catholic middle class they represent stand ready to aid the British. For them this is the perfect deal - no separation from British capital that ensures their comfortable life-style and some measure of exclusion from the worst excesses of the sectarian regime, from which nationalist workers will continue to suffer.

A Six county Assembly The great defeat for Britain in the past 25 years of struggle was the destruction of the Stormontassembly. Essentially this allowed Britain to determine the direction of Irish politics without the instability that direct involvement brings. The violence associated with partition can be controlled by native forces and presented as a conflict between the Irish. The assembly itself become a shield, deflecting attention away from the British.

The main strategic aim of the British has been and is to reestablish that shield. It’s significant that this proposal is not part of the framework document - that carries only 2 pages of waffle on “structures in Northern Ireland”. Attached are 9 pages of British proposals in enough detail to be transformed quickly into an act of parliament and then into actual structures. In terms of detail a modified

Stormont is the only concrete proposal - and Britain will hope to win it even if the rest of the pack of cards comes tumbling down.

A new assembly only makes sense if it restores unionist power. This new assembly will do so, the main concem being to limit that power sufficiently so that their bigotry does not provoke another nationalist uprising. Overall .less is on offer to the nationalist population than was offered at the time of the Sunningdale agreement - but today there is no mass movement to be placated.

Some of the control mechanisms are familiar - rolling devolution - if the unionists behave themselves they will gain new powers. New mechanisms depend on a “last chance veto by one nationalist politician on a panel of two unionists and a nationalist and on weighting of certain votes. The whole package is meant to win middle-class catholic participation, but within a context of unionist power. Itoffers absolutely nothing to nationalist workers and will leave unchanged the fault lines in the working class.

Significantly the token reform touted most assiduously over the past 25 years - a bill of rights - is nowhere mentioned. In fact a reference to compatibility with British structures would tend to rule it out. Instead there is to be a “Charter or Covenant” - pious wishes with no legal standing.

In line with earlier British dismissal of a Sinn Fein “clarification” question on repression there is no commitment to the repeal of repressive legislation.

East-West structures The framework document contains significant new proposals strengthening and deepening the structures of the Hillsborough agreement of 1985.

Again the carrot and stick are present. Powers will move to the assembly if they behave. Itis however clear that this will not amount toa withering away of intergovernmental structures - not surprising when we consider that it is the one element of British strategy which has actually worked and enabled the British to tur the tide.

Conceived after the hunger strike, the agreement enabled the British to co-opt Southern capital and greatly expand the military pressure on the IRA on both sides of the border, survive unionist protest, halt the Sinn Fein electoral threat to the SDLP and exploited Sinn Fein’s confused attitude to constitutional nationalism - leading directly to the present “peace process”.

Garrett Fitzgerald explains in the Irish Times [25/2/95]:

“after the1985 agreement the Sinn Fein share of the minority community vote was down by no fewer than 10%. Thus one of the key objectives was achieved; the danger of Sinn Fein overtaking the SDLP in popular support had been averted.....It became clear that neither the conference nor the initially controversial Maryfield secretariat posed any threat to the unionist community - though it is doubtful if that community ever realised the extent to which these new structures had a positive impact upon North-South security cooperation.”’

So the most successful pillar of the framework document is a system designed to militarily crush the IRA, politically isolate Sinn Fein and co-opt Dublin as a junior support for partition [Paragraph 46 re-states the relationship - Dublin can consult but Britain rules]. And Sinn Fein and a large section of the left see this as a stepping stone to a united Ireland!

A real solution The four pillars of the framework hang together. Do they constitute a solution to the Irish question? Are they the basis ofa short-term settlement? The Irish Committee for a Marxist programme is certain that they in no way represent a solution. Even as a temporary settlement the deal is extremely fragile. Amendments to articles 2 and 3 depends absolutely on them being presented as part of an overall settlement. -Cross border institutions in no way represent a stepping-stone to a united Ireland and even to fulfil the limited role outlined will require a unionist support which will not be forthcoming. The new six-county assembly will face pressure from a section of the republican community and will also be a focus for the unionist far right demanding a full-blooded return to sectarian rule. Even SDLP supporters will expect substantial reform. There will be very little of that from a majority unionist assembly. In any case the end of military action will release strong pressures from within the British economy for a major “peace dividend” for Britain itself. Anyone who imagines that a capitalist society that can find billions for war can find the same money to secure a peace is in for a rude shock. Both the SDLP and the Unionists will find themselves presiding over massive public service cuts.

Not only is the framework document not a solution, it is a very weak settlement that gains most of its immediate strength from the collapse of the republican programme and the present strategy and tactics of the republican leadership.

The immediate battle is a battle for ideas - an unremitting opposition to any imperialist settlement without looking back to a failed militarist strategy and outlining the only real alternative of independence and workers power. We need a party of the working class and we need it now - not when the working class as a whole realise they’ ve been conned and begin to swing into action. Join the ICMP and help us build that party!