The Lessons 10 Years of Struggle Part

the struggle. and the Northern Ireland Office, Coalisiand Demonstration the obvious centre for another Demo. nstration was in Derry. The main reason was symbolic. As a Catholic town permanently controlled by a gerrymandered unionist council it represented all the worst aspects of unionist discre imination. The segond practical reason was that a great deal of political activity was taking place there. For some time Derry socialists and Republicans had -been co-operating in agitation around a housing action committee. The committee soon ran up against the facts of a brutal discrimination against Catholics in housing. They weve attacked by both Union ists and Nationalist politicians as ' Godless communists ' but won a wide local support. Wt was the housing action committee which decided on the march and invited NICRA to sponsor it.

BA . . ° In the meantime the Union. ists were getting worried about the growing strength of the movement and had decided to nip it in the bud before it developed further. They were given their excuse for action when the Apprentice Boys announced a ' traditional ' march along the same route as the civil rights march. Craig immediately banned ail marches for a month and began drafting RUC men into the city.

The reformists who controlled WICRA had never considered it as an agitational body. They had only reluctantly agreed to support the march and when the ban was ennounced they held a hurried meeting and were about to call the march off. The Derry action committee was outraged. They said they would go ahead regardless and NICRA decided to continue support.

October 5th.

On the day of the demonstration two thousand marchers set off from the Waterside station and got about 200 yards. Nationalist leader Eadie McAteer had opposed the march but attended on the day. Gerry Fitt also attended and was batoned along with other marchers as they reached the RUC. The organisers tried to hold a meeting but the charges from both sides and brought in water-cannons.

Scattered fighting broke ont throughout the city as the RUC charged groups of marchers and it developed into a major attack on the Bogside. The Bogsiders came out to defend themselves and that night barricades were thrown up and petrol bombs used. 77 civilians were injured.

After October Sth events moved with amazing speed. But the attitudes which the various enti-unionist groups took around the march gave a clear indication of the roles they were to play in the years ahead. The socialist @roups and the individual repub-_ licans were the initiators of the demonstrations and carried out agitation and organisation. The Communist party, the then leadership of the Republican movement and other reformists in NICRA tried desperately to retain a ' respectable ' image and avoid activity on the streets. The Catholic workers, their confidence improved by a relative economic boom, moved to organise themselves and defend their areas when they came under attack.

The attitude of the Catholic business class deserves an even closer look. Shortly after the march a meeting of ' concerned citizens. ' was held in a Derry hotel. They set up a ' Citizens Action Committee ' and moved to oust the socialists from leadership and to hold back the general struggle. A local businessman who hadn't even attended the march, John Hume, became leader of the committee. This role of difusing and holding back struggles was to be the hallmark of the Catholic business class throughout Derry march a wave of anger swept through the Northern minority and they mobilised against the unionists. On October 9th students marched through Belfast and at a meeting afterwards the : Peoples Democracy was set up. It was to play a décisive role in the future struggle ( see puilout supplement to this issue ). On October I5th the Nationalists a Mass mobilisation are agreed thet the whole deal After the formation of the various groups This article deals with the first As more and more details come to light about the new DeLorean As more and more details come to light about the new De Lorean car factory in Belfast's Twinbrook area,it is becoming even clearer that the whole thing is a@ massive con-trick. Various investigavions into De Lorean's background have shown a history so shady thet it would make a mafia mobster green with envy.

### AIL sources,except DeLorean

is extremely dubious and risky. Much has been made of Delorean's connection with the Chrysler motor company-In facet he is working as an individual.In 1975 he set up a company to develop & eports car and managed to get $3.5 million from investors. With a lot of wheeling and dealing he managed to put together about $8.5 m and then went looking for grants. In April 1977 Puerto Rico offered him $65m if he

will work for rock bottom wages. i From the last tssue of And so do all his capitalist tiSocialist Republic the price All this shows that any Irish r e much regret the need } worker employed by DeLorean ij for this price increase but @ should'nt spend too much time p t given unconditional support to but we are sure that all 5p Delorean means that little help ur readers will acree that can be expected from that fer 20 pages it is ol ch SPP PS PD OD SD NE HAD Ca GRD ERY EIN GLEE END QOD ED Gem eRe p series of articles about the t pm 1968 on, The first article,, P| Republic! dealt with the ! nd the first Coalisland march. H Derry march and its aftermath.

could put up $25m of his own. The deal fell. througn.He opened up negotiations with tke IDA in the 26 Counties.They offered £33n, ($700) without strings.But it was "financial Wizard" Roy Mason who orfered the softest deal.After an incredible ten days of negotiations he offered DeLorean a £65m, ($1%0n) ‘no strings’ deal.

It's significant that.

negotiations were carried out by George Quigley,the civil servant responsible for the ‘Quigley Report' on the Northern economy published tn 1976. He showed that the economy was headed for collapse and argued that to attract miuitinational companies the British Government should put up mast 4f not all of the capital needed to carry the risks for an initial period.

And this is the main point of the DeLorean affair. It's not some isolated brainstorm by Mason.

It's an extreme example of what gyernment economic policy, both withdrew from their position as The next day PD held another It was the last anti-repression -until a TUCAR demonstration in 1978. On the 24th October PD and staged a sit-in. In the ain to the British and they in turn began to pressure the unionists.

. Another march was planned banned all marches for a month. 15,000 people marched but were stopped by a massive force of RUC. The Derry CAC difused@ the situation by staging a token but the situation generally was outside their control. Derry workers kept on the march and broke Craig's ban two and three times a day. The whole city was in revolt. At the same time meetings were taking place all in the 26 co make Ireland a haven for the one else really wants.

cronies.

a hard struggle against this official opposition at Stormont. Reform march to the City Hall in Belfast march to get into the city centre took over the Stormont buildings South Lynch was forced to compl+ for Derry on November I6th. Craig march of members of the committee over the North and local committees set up. Support was gathering North and South,really is -- to economy capitalist enterprises that noDelorean has got e lot of money for nothing.He expects a lot more. :

He expects 77% of any profit and the freedom to move it out of the workers a level of productivity ; SOCIALIST country He expects from Irish t .

14 times higher than his nearest On November 22nd O'Neiii announced a package of reforms. Derry corporation was to be abolished and replaced by 4 nominated commission, there woul be an ombudsman, local authorit. ies would be encouraged to adopt a points system for housing, the company vote would be abolished for local elections. I+ was a case of too little, too late. It was enough to outrage loyalists | without satisying the civil right movement. The campaign began to -centre around '‘ one man, one vote ' and control of the gerrymandered counciis. NICRA decided ‘to continue with a march planned for Armagh on the 30th November.

_ On the morning of the march Paisley took over the cantre of Armagh with an armed mob. The RUC made no effort to remove the Paisleyites but stopped the march at the edge of the ghetto. Any support that O'Reill had won for his reform package was lost by his capitulation et Armagh. ‘It was clear that the denonstrations would continue.

’

defending living standards ené in the long serm atruggle to determine who controls the Irisz Hote: For further information on DeLorean. see :

Belfast Workers Research Bulletin . No 5.

| ij a § a é i i] a lief the paper has had te be a lincreased from 8p te 10p, . qever-rising production costs ‘ t a i f a q

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competitor. ‘€ REPUBLIC He expects that Irish workers Hi praising the boss . They will have have made the increase the Trade Union leadership have Socialist ~~ ublte costes 1 quarter. Rank and file organ- ice € wor tion wi ucial b e price,