“The closing months of and the carly part of…”

The closing months of 1985 and the carly part of this year provided the Irish people with two related ‘big events’. The first was the signing of the Hillsborough Agreement in November amid a Storm of ballyhoo, while January brought us Des O'Malley's shining new party. the Progressive Democrats, The unveiling of both had more to do with marketing techniques and manipulation of ithe media than providing political solutions for the vast majority of the trish pewple.

### MUEDIA

The media played no small part in the recruitment drive of the Progressive Democrats and in building O'Malley's weekly rallies, They drew thousands of the discontented middle class, who listened attentively to the ‘Messiah’ who was going to lead them to the ‘promised land’, O'Malley undertook to ‘break the mould’ in Irish politics and nove away from “Civil war polities’, In fact what the new party has done is declured its position on the unresolved political issues which pave rise to the civil war and which, unfortunately for them, will not go away while Ireland remains partitioned and unfree. O'Malley and his fellow defectors from Fianna Fail used their disagreement with Haughey on the Anglo-Irish agreement as one of the main planks of the new party. Haughey has all the hallmarks of traditional Fianna Fail leaders - long on Nationalist rhetoric and green flag-waving. This: fear of even the rhetoric of nationalism speaks legions about the polities of the Progressive Democrats.

### CAPITALIST BANKRUPTCY

The vast majority of Irish capitalists view Haughey's rhetoric as equivilent to waving & match in a barrel of gunpowder, They want to use the Anglo-Insh deal to dampen down nationalist aspirations, But Fianna Fail populism has the support of workers. The role of the Progressive Democrats is to split that suppert, so they have come up with a new populism - criticising the deal as too hard on our Loyalist brethern and linking divorce and contraception, which should be rights in themselves, to support for partition. The last thing that Haughey wants is a real debate about these issues, so he retreats at once.

The aspiration for Political independence is coming under such heavy fire because economic independence is noncxistant. Irish workers faced harsh austerity and massive tax hikes in the last budget because they have to pay Iwao masters - their own capitalist class and then the multi-nationals that they service. O'Malley takes up the issue of tax - but not-against his imperialist masters - the workers are to pay vet again through dismantling what little there is of a welfare state;

‘HUMANE’* BLUESHIRTS This is very much reminiscent of the heady opposition days of Fine Gael, when “Garret the gow)’ set about reorgamising his party. In todays Coalition we see the contradiction that these policies present in govern with Fine Gael trailing the Pinerenive Denwerats in the opinion polls. for implementing the very policies that O'Malley wins popularity for expounding! Maybe the middie class feel O'Malley will be more successful than Fitzgerald at cutting wages-and services certainly his party has agreed with the Coulton on all these issues while attacking them for not applying the policies in ‘a humane ond sensitive manner’, CUVER The new party serves a very useful function at the moment. Pressure from them gives the cover that the other parties need to push support for gusterity and collaboration. They would serve asa useful watchdog of Fianna Fail in coalition. But the thought of Them in power simply shows how absurd their policies are and their failure to win working-class support lift the bright public relations cover and vou get the same old policies. A determined fightback by workers. and republicans would make them a liability and split the most reactionary clements between them and Fine Gacl.

### LEADERSHIP

The other side of the coin ts however the crists of leadership in the working class and anti-imperialist nuovement, Whatever bourgeois combination we are faced with in the coming period, it’s our ability to build a secialist ‘and anti-imperialist alternative that's invoortant.

Peoples Democracy s Limerick -councillor, Joe Harrington, has shown on a local Jevel that broad working-class forces can be organised. We need to repeat this success in all 32 counties if we are propose the real solution to the crisis - a United Ireland controlled by and organised in the interests of working people.