Year’s Work

KISS FOR PEACE central committee.

paigning for civil rights. The Twelve months ago, following the August troubles, the P.D. reorganised itself. It became a closely organised group with a card-carrying membership and an elected Prior to this, the P.D. has been a mainly student organisation camAugust emergency clearly demonstrated the need for a deeper analysis of Northern Ireland's problems The simple exposure of Unionist government discrimination, though necessary, was no solution in itself. In effect, the emphasis given to this, especially by the rightwing of the C.R. movement led to the growth of a Protestant backlash which was reinforced by the 1912- ings.

style rhetoric of the neo-fascist ’ With this in mind, the P.D. left the University and set up branches throughout the North, expanding its membership to such an extent that it became comprised of (non-student) workers ranging from labourdoctors. The first conference of the reorganised P.D. clearly démonstrated the developing class-consciousness of the P.D. It examined the social, economic political problems in the North. It came to the conclusion that these problems were inter-related, that they could only be solved together, not seperEconomically the North was subforeign companies. These could be B.S.R. and Cyril Lord - or a more malignant, deeper penetrating fungus like the Toome Eel Fishery Co.

Politically the presence of 8,000 brought us face to face with the reality of British control of this area.

power in the North, Britain was alomic and military imperialism, and Workers Republic.

Industrially, the P.D. has been very active on numerous occassions - for example by our continuing campaign for the return of Lough Neagh to the fishermen we have exposed the exploitation of the Toome Eel Company and even forced the Unionist government to talk of nationalising the Lough. During the Cement Workers strike we took up collections to help the strikers and held meetings to protest against scabs and strike-breakers. Since the Unionist police force is always on the side of the blacklegs, seven of our members were sentenced to from four to fifteen months in prison when the police attacked one of these meetThe P.D. also took the initiative when the Trade Union bureaucracy cancelled the annual May Day March. Backed by militant trade unionists, the P.D. organised a May Day March which was successfully held and well attended by several hundred workers.

On the social front we have been involved in a wide range of activities from helping the homeless, by squatting, or merely preventing them from being intimidated by Housing Trust or Corporation bureaucrats, to aiding those who were threatened with unjust dismissal from work.

We have also held many public meetings te-protest against-the __ various pieces of repressive legislation with which the Unionist government are undermining every person's basic freedom - the Special Powers Act, the Public Order Act, and the latest one, the Criminal Justice Act, These protests were, and are, designed to demonstrate the political nature of this legal repression and the fact that it is used, and will continue to be used, to jail those who pose a threat to the state - witness the massive number of summonses served on P.D. members and Supporters in the past six weeks, Underpinning all this action is the fact that the ultimate solution to the problems of Ireland, North and South, is the establishment of a socialist Workers Republic. This will only be achieved by ununiting the workers, Catholic and Protestant, ina common struggle against the common enemy. In its first year of organised existence the P.D. has broken down the sectarian barriers to some extent, numbering both Catholic and Protestant workers among its members, Admittedly these tend to be among the most class-conscious and politically-aware bers of the working class. The P.D.'s task for this coming year and the years which follow is to extend this consciousness to the mass of the workers of all religions and none, the more quickly to bring about the creation of the