Free Citizen: Vol. 2 no. 5, 30 October 1970

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PEOPLES DEMOCRACY

D 30 Oct. 1970

18 PD MEN GET

5 MONTHS APIEGE

Eighteen identical sentences, each of three months imprisonment suspended for three years, plus a £25 fine, were imposed by R.M.

Shearer at Magharefelt on Wednesday. Victims of this latest piece of collusion between state and landgrabber were the 18 P.D. members who had staged a demonstration at the offices of the Toome Eel Fisheries on May 30th. last. The fact that the cases have only now come before the court reflects the hardening in the government's attitude towards left-wing activists, a change which coincided with Taylor's appointment to the Cabinet, virtually as Minister of Home Affairs. The I8 members were accused of entering unlawfully to take possess-~ ion of the Toome Eel Fisheries offices at Toomebridge. Leading witness for the prosecution was one of the Robber Barons himself, Barbour, manager of the fishery at Toome. The P.D. defence was that the Toome Eel Fishery Company had no right to the Lough Neagh Eels and had entered upon the Lough with _ intent unlawfully to take possession

LONDON BANKS

ROB BELFAST

of- the eels which by right belonged to the fishermen. Such matters were overruled as "irrelevant" by R.M. Shearer, a former Unionist candidate for Mid-Ulster, who also dismissed the defence that, technically, there had been no unlawful possession since the 18 people left when asked to. Instead, predictably, the courts backed the imperialist robberbarons and very severe sentences were handed out. It is most unusual to suspend sentences for three years and the intention of the R.M. was undoubtedly to try to intimidate P.D.

from carrying on its campaign on the slogan ''The Lough for the People". In the case of Niall Vallely the R.M. has adjourned until Monday to consider whether to impose a direct prison sentence.

These severe sentences come less than a fortnight after the Ardglass cement strike cases because of which three people are now in prison, and ‘wo others have suspended sentences. issues It is noticable that these severe sentences imposed on P.D. members have arisen out of completely The cement strike was an important issue involving North-South working class solidarity; the Toome Eel Fishery struggle is a direct fight against a most blatant example of crude imperialism. Sectarianism plays little part in these issues - they are issues which help to unite the exploited. They are therefore a threat to the Unionists' tactic of utilising sectarianism.

They are also issues which directly attack the pockets and the property of imperialist capitalists and their lackeys. That is why the penalties have been severe. non-sectarian issues. That is why we will go on fighting!

BRADFORD AND

THE BOSSES

The 'indefatigable' Mr. Roy Brad- .ford has , in the words of the new ‘liberal' Unionist paper 'Fortnight', just returned from "slogging round half of Europe" selling Ulster.

His plump though 'mailed' fist has as always been stuffed full of pound notes - free gifts to speculators whc care to exploit the labour market here, and make no mistake about it a large part of Mr. Bradford's glowing testimonials to Ulster consisted of praise for its cheap labour Mr. Bradford tells industrialists that we have a ‘readily available pool of labour" - that is thousands of unemployed. He points out that thanks to a scarcity of jobs, those Ulstermen who do work have to be content with low wages our labour costs are lower than for example in England". He tells Europeans ‘your very high wage rates are a worrying factor to your industrialists", he assures them that government industrial policies here are based on the assumption that cheap labour be exploited. He assures these businessmen that Trade Unions here are quite happy to see this:- "industrial relations in Northern Ireland are among the very best in the United Kingdom.

Indeed the number of working days lost in the first five months of this year fell by one-third whereas in Britain during the same period they rose by two-thirds." And what kind of wonder society is Bradford's policy creating. The same issue of 'Fortnight' comments on a survey of Downpatrick carried out by the Child Poverty Action Group. The survey leaves a sad tarnish on Bradford's brass. It destroys the myth that all people are poor because they don't work, most of the desperately poor in Downpatrick do work, and yet because of abysmally low wages they are no better off than the unemployed.

Downpatrick has in fact more poverty thau distressed areas in Britain. What is true of Downpatrick is true of a hundred other 'normal!

Ulster towns. The average wage in Ulster is £4-10-0d. less than in Britain. competition "Il DON'T PLACE VERY MUCH RELIANCE ON THE CAMERON RE-

PORT BECAUSE THE EVIDENCE GIVEN TOIT WASN'T UNDER

OATH." Then deputy commissioner for Belfast, Sam Bradley, 20th October 1970 at the Scarman tribunal.

AT LEAST A THIRD OF THE RUC WERE RC's,"

"MR, BRADLEY, YOU ARE NOT BEING FULLY FRANK WITH

Justice Scarman. date.

THE TRIBUNAL."

Mr. Bradley's remark. eee mn This weeks competition is for readers to find‘a seven letter which means that someone is "NOT BEING FULLY FRANK" while under oath. As a clue we might add that one word would begin with P and end with Y, and generally is looked upon with disfavour in the Prize is a personal visit from our new assistant head concourts. stable - Mr. Samuel Bradley.

cocina Sen NS 'Fortnight' does ask what are the Trade Unions doing about "low wages". A fair question. In fact the Northern Committee of the I.C.T.U. has just been given a grant of £10,000 by the government.

This illustrates the close co-operation between it and the government.

The money will be spent on training more 1.C.T.U. policemen to ensure that Northern workers live in 'responsible poverty. militant There are militant shop stewards and rank and file union members in Ulster. They lack the cohesion of similar groups in Britain. In Britain most of the major strikes this year have been unofficial and most of the major victories by workers come in unofficial strikes.

Shop stewards and rank and file militants here should meet on an industry-wide or area basis, whichever is the more practical, and discuss demands. They should demand a minimum wage of £20, a demand which would merely put Ulster's workers in line with the British T.U.C. which is campaigning for the same thing they should also ask why the I.C.T.U. has never ever campaigned effectively for wage parity with workers in Britain. They should demand state investment in industry in Northern Ireland to provide full employment. We have already argued that unemployment and low wages go hand in hand. We should not beg for more private industry attracted by promise of a low wage economy.

Workers here should discuss the whole nature of their part in industrial society. This month 500 delegates meet in Britain at the 8th National Conference on Workers Control. When socialism triumphs in Ireland workers must control factory life. Militants should demand the maximum amount of control possible within private industry, and that new state industry should operate under workers control.

"AT THE TIME LAST AUGUST

Same man, same Same day, immediately after word FREE CITIZEN .30th OCTOBER 1970

A WEST BELFAST P.D. HAS

BEEN FORMED. IT MEETS ON

TUESDAY NIGHTS AT 43 BALKAN

STREET.

PEOPLE LIVING IN W. BELFAST

ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.

Comrades, We are setting up this branch of P.D. in the working class areas of North and West Belfast in which we live. It is a development long overdue and very neccessary when we see how these areas are being exploited or abandoned by politicians of all hues; when many thousands of people live below the poverty line in squalid buildings a hundred years, old, and when the ghetto-mindedness of the inhabitants is being used for aims which will not further their own interests. We, who are setting up this branch, live in the area, and therefore know the conditions and have suffered under the jackboot of the rich. We have seen our parents rot in houses not fit for pigs, cheated by politicians(who live in large upper middle class surroundings), and indoctrinated with bigotry by reactionary clergy. We have seen how divisions have been propogated in the working class to stop its growth, to hinder working people escaping from their slums, and to mercilessly subject them to the greed of rich English, American and German industrialists. vermin West Belfast is infested with vermin who preach about ‘uniting Ireland', using all the old patriotism and emotionalism to brainwash us into blind acceptance of themselves and their hypocrisies. To these we say: take a good look at De Valera's republic: the working class slums, the rich industrialists, the aristocratic gentry, and then try to mouth your lies tous. The time has come when the Irish Workers want more than the rule of patriotic Irish nobles, want more than slums when they risk their lives for their country, want more than the Blaney's and Haugheys in which to place their trust. West Belfast is not the only slum area in Ireland. All of Ireland needs to be cleansed of the parasites that devour it, and not just the north. We intend to fight these leeches throughout the land and to show.the workers the neccessity of the fight for their own freedom.. West Belfast is only one of a number of P.D. groups active in working class areas - to its success we devote ourselves.

The call of our revolution shall not be "God save Ireland", but "God save the Irish poor" and hellrot the treacherous politicians who deceive us. The Secretary (West Belfast P.D.)

On Monday last the Belfast City Council voted by 19 votes to 14 to increase bus fares and to cut services. Fares will go up on Monday next from 6d to 9d minimum, or 11d for people without tokens.

This applies to children as well as to adults. They also decided to cut to ribbons an already bad service. They will stop all buses on some of the routes after 7 p.m and cut peak hour services by one bus in five. The decision will increase some families transport bills from £3 per week to £4.10.0.

Many people will have to wait another 15 minutes at rush hours for a bus. All but two of those who voted in favour of the increase arrived in cars, and all were elected to the council on a restricted franchise and the business vote. They rejected several recommendations from a Special Transport Committee including the repeal of the Aberdeen Clause, to allow the buses to be subsidised from the rates. It is clear that they were voting in the interest of the big rate payers and businessmen, rather than in the interest of the general public. They turned down the committees recommendation of an overall increase of 30%, or 40% on adult fares. They even rejected the extension of the old age pensioners ld. concessionary fare to cover the week-end. speech Before the Council meeting started, 20 members of the P.D.

picketed the City Hall and later six went inside to present a petition containing 50,000 signatures against the proposals. A spokesman for the P.D. then addressed the Council. In a speech lasting 10 minutes he pointed out that the buses had a working loss of only £36,000 in the past year or 4/- per bus per day, but in addition £244,000 was paid to London banks.

He refered to the fact that the first phase alone of the ring road will knock down 1,200 dwelling houses.

The vast majority of them are working class and many perfectly sound. The former inhabitants will be forced to move outside the city, pay a great deal more in rent and of course spend high sums each week on bus fares, all for the benefit of the motorist. The current estimate for the Urban Motorway is £70 million, and this was compared with the figure of £3 million a year which would provide free buses. He welcomed the proposal to repeal the Aberdeen Clause and expressed the hope that such a vital reform would pass through its parliamentary stages as quickly as the notorious Criminal Justice (Temporary Provisions) Act did. (Readers will recall that it had its first and second reading and received Royal FREE CITIZEN 30th OCTOBER 1970

FIGHT BUSFARES RISE!

Assent in one day!) He stressed that municipal transport should be regarded as an essential public service. He finished by saying that even if the increase were passed at least some councillors would vote against it. They could show their good faith by offering lifts in their cars when the boycott of the buses by the public came into effect. And so saying he proceeded around the council chamber handing out 'Free Lifts' stickers persued by a corporation official. At this point other members of the delegation stood up and displayed placards. Several councillors including one Protestant Unionist asked for extra stickers for distribution to members of the organizations they represent.

We have planned several methods whereby the public may register their protest against the increases when they come into effect on Monday. The first, which we mentioned last week is to boycott the buses, and to walk or seek a lift from a car witha sticker. For those people who for some reason cannot do this we have distributed forms urging them to temporarily withhold their fares. The idea is to fill in your name and address and give it to the inspector if he asks for your ticket. One of the forms is printed below and more copies or car car stickers can be had by sending a stamped addressed envelope to 88 Ladybrook Park, Belfast. Mark on the envelope which you require. . Culprits Finally we are printing the names of those councillors who voted for the increase. We suggest that each of their constituents might care to contact them and voice their opinions about the voting habits of these so-called representatives. The working class people of Shankill were betrayed by two newly elected councillors; Quinton O'Hara of 4 Abbeydale Crescent, B.14.

Phone 742171, he can be contacted at O'Hara Waste Merchants Tel.

20408, lucky Quinton drives a Rover 33 litre. Then we have George Scott of 30 Abbeydale Gdns.

B.14, Tel. 746296. He runs a newsagents shop at 1 Botanic Ave., Tel. 40700 and drives a Mini.

Joseph Hanna councillor for Pottinger lives at 54 Shandon Park BTS6HX, Tel. 654310 and runs a Singer Excelsior. His fellow councillor William Hastings of the Hasting Hotel Group Limited Tel.

56161 lives at 127 Harberton Park BT96TX Tel. 667254, not for him the worries of travel by bus as he cruises around in his Mercedes.

The people of Sandy Row and Donegall Road placed their trust in the councillors for St. George's and St Anne's. Alfred Shaw runs the Treetops Hotel, 45 Park Avenue BT41PU Tel. 654060 or 655621, he also runs a white Rover 2000.

John Harcourt, of Harcourts the Coal Importers, lives at 60 Malone Road, BT95BT Tel. 666467 and is a car owner. As is Philip Smiles of 11 Broomhill Park BT95JB Tel 665329, but his is a modest 1100. A retired businessman, Matthew Orr of 37 Marlborough Pk. North BT96HJ Tel.666407 represents Windsor ward; he drives a Rover 900. Woodvale boasts Norman Shannon as Alderman and Hugh Kidd as one of its councillors.

Shannon runs a newsagency on the Shankill Rd. Phone 23331 and lives at 55 Lyndhurst Parade BT133PB, Tel. 745522. His car is a Triumph 2000. Kidd lives in the same area at 4 Lyndhurst Way BT133PD Tel. 747498 but favours an Austin A. 40. A councillor for Ormeau is Thomas Gildea who lives at 27 Castlereagh St. BT54NE. And then there is ~he Alderman for Duncairn, Textile Agent, and former Lord Mayor Sir William; Geddis of 7 Waterloo Park BT15 5HU, business phone 25469 or home 76531. He is a bit old for driving but is frequently chauffeur driven, Thomas Rea, a councillor tor Cromac, lives at 34 Chelicnham- Park BT6OHR Tel 642519 and is proprietor of Rea's Confectioners on the Ormeau Rd. Tel 31189. He drives a Cortina. So does Francis Watson, councillor for Clifton, who lives at 103 Circular Rd. BT42GD Tel. 68221. His business number is that of Watson Malcolmson and Co, Blouse Manufacturers, 57795.

Duncairn was represented by Captain Walter Shannon he lives at Ardnalea House", Craigavad, Co. Down Tel. 87-3194.

William Hinds is a former M.P.

and now a councillor for Ormeau.

He lives at 413 Cregagh Road BT6OLF Tel. 648979. He drives a Princess. The same ward is also (cont. next page)

CUT OUT THIS FORM.

FILL IN YOUR NAME AND

ADDRESS.

HAND IT TO THE INSPECTOR

WHEN ASKED FOR YOUR FARE,

OR TO THE DRIVER ON YOUR

WAY OFF THE BUS.

I AM TEMPORARILY WITHHOLD-

ING MY FARE AS A PROTEST

AGAINST THE CORPORATION'S

DECISION TO INCREASE FARES

AND TO CUT SERVICES. I WILL

PAY WITHIN 48 HOURS AT THE

TRAFFIC KIOSK AT CASTLE

JUNCTION,

ADDRESS.....

We welcome Bernadette back. In particular we welcome the political message she chose to give from her celebration meeting in Carrickmore on Saturday. She had on her platform Michael Farrell of P.D., Eamonn McCann of Derry Labour

LETTER

Comrades, In last week's Free Citizen, an article purported to guarantee P.D.

support for the proposed N.I.C.R.A march in Fermanagh. The article was unsigned, which usually indicates that such an article is official P.D. policy. I have been instructed by the Central Committee to clarify the position. This article did not sufficiently represent the diversity of views expressed within that particular meeting. The Central Committee ata subsequent meeting has decided to recommend to all branches that they do not attend the Fermanagh march for the following reasons.

I. The issue of discrimination by Fermanagh County Council, while important is not necessarily the most vital one confronting the people at the moment. Even the immediate ending of discriminatory practices by F.C.C. would have little or no effect on the massive rates of unemployment and emigration in Fermanagh. 2. The replacing of Fermanagh County Council by a commission or a reactionary "green" council is no solution either. It would mean a reversal of discrimination on an Bus Fares con. represented by Miss I.M.E.

McAlery, 25 Annadale Ave., BT7 3JJ Tel. 641516, she drives a Wolsley. Sir Douglas Harkness of 33 Knockdene Park BT57AD Tel 654051, is a Clifton Councillor.

Jack Lewis Alderman for Windsor urives a Pentola and lives at "Emanon", Larch Hill, Craigavad, Co. Down, Tel 87-2720. lock-out Just before the council met, another more significant meeting took place in the City Hall. It consisted entirely of Official Unionist Councillors and Aldermen, and there the decision was taken to reject the recommendations of the special transport committee.

Paltry though these recommendations were, they were at least a tiny step in the right direction. The Unionist caucus decided to have a 50% increase.

They also directed that the City Hall gates be barred to the public.

They installed a large force of police to ensure that their order was carried out and decreed that the gallery be closed to the public.

As a result a large number of Party and Mairin deBurca of official Sinn Fein. ‘hey were invited as representatives of movements, or, in the case of McCann and de Burca, of groups or factions within other parties who could unite in commitment to revolutionanti-protestant basis, or at best bring about a situation of equality of want. 3. Inthe months which have passed since the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act, the P.D. has held dozens of meetings and scores of pickets in towns throughout the North. N.I.C.R.A. were conspicuous by their absence on all these occasions wnich makes us sceptical of their sudden change of heart. 4. The Criminal Justice Act has scarcely been applied in Fermanagh yet every day of the week the courts are full of people from Belfast and Derry who are being railroaded by the pernicious provisions of this act. Therefore we believe tt the march could only be held with any validity in either Belfast or Derry.

Any other venue has no great relevance to the issue. The P.D. will continue to hold meetings against the Criminal Justice Act throughout the North.

Several meetings will be held on the same day as the Fermanagh march at different venues. We ask all comrades to support our continuing struggle against this act.

Yours fraternally, JOE QUIGLEY (P.D. Sec.) Trade Unionists and some of the P.D. picketers as well as the public were refused admission.

The delegation was allowed in only because we had made prior application. The man chosen at this caucus to go through the formality of proposing the increase was Sir Douglas Harkness. He is a retired Civil Servant and from 1953-61 was Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. From 1961 until retirement in 1963 he was Economic Adviser to the Northern Ireland Government. He is of course the driver of a large car and is currently unbelievably or not on the Stormont charities committee. The seconder chosen was the self-appointed guardian of public morality Jack Lewis, another car owner. They then trooped into the Council Chamber where they went through the farce of a 3 hour "debate'' on the issues. After the vote, the members of the Special Transport Committee resigned from it; it was defunct by that stage anyway. The Chairman of the Special Committee, Unionist Alderm Alderman James Stewart, later said that the 50% increase should have been introduced last August ! !

FREE CITIZEN 30th OCTOBER i970 Welcome Home Bernadette ary socialism and the creation of the small farmers and workers republic. Now it is easy enough on an emotional occasion such as the release of Berndaette to produce all the semblance of a new departure without much of the reality. Unity of the revolutionary socialist left is such a vital matter for workers both North and South, that it will require more than mere commitment on platforms to bring it about.

The speakers on the ptatform on Saturday had impertant things in common. Fifstly their politics are based on the meds of the majority the working-class - not those of any sectarian minority or majority.

Secondly they are committed to the creation of a socialist workers republic as a prime objective, and hence the expropriation of all foreign and native, capitalists.

These two points alone provide a strong basis for co-operation between the mid-Ulster Socialist Committees, P.D. and other groups, P.D. has already co-operated with the Mid-Ulster Committees over the Criminal Justice Bill, next week we meet them again to co-ordinate activity in the campaign to wrest Lough Neagh from the Toome Eel Fishery Company.

The spontaneous developement of Mid ULster Socialist Committees despite Bernadette's absence is an important new factor. One of Miss Devlin's problems before the last election was that she was not responsible to any local socialist organisation, and tended to fall into the hands of unrepresentative "circus'' managers. Now she has rightly called for a ''movement literally at grass-roots’. The Socialist Committees can provide the basis for this in Mid-Ulster.

She as a socialist recognises that no individual:can create socialism.

She should make herself fully responsible to these committees and they should expect it of her.

LEADER!

We disagree strongly with Eamonn McCann's view that what the revolutionary socialist movement needs isa leader". Bernadette has a vital part to play in the socialist movement but for McCann; to suggest that she (or anyone else) is ''the only person who can give the necessary leadership" is to show an abysmal lack of confidence in the working-class, or the revolutionary movement within the working-class on which the revolution depends.

Many difficulties remain in the path of socialist unity, but Carrickmore represents a step forward. P.D.

welcomes the opportunity of cooperation on meetings, demonstrations and other practical issues as well as the chance to discuss socialism. P.D. intends always to approach such meetings in a spirit of comradeship.