Socialist Republic: Vol. 3 no. 5, 1980

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POBLACHT SHOISIALACH

4=Je) zeit SOCIALIST REPUBLIC Paper of PEOPLES DEMOCRACY

_ EXPOSE HAUGHEY'S FREE STATE ERROR

PARTITION MEANS

BAT lon The British Tories have called Gharlie Haughey's bluff. Their latest plan for the North is a revamped Stormont —— thinly disguised Loyalist rule. There could be no clearer snub to Haughey!'s proposal of anewrelationship with Britain.

The message to Haughey is absolutely clear: Britain means to stay in Ireland and partition will continue to be enforced by British terror.

PATHETIC RESPONSES

Haughey the 'republican! has been pathetic in his response: the next The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has announced a 20% wage increase as its target for the next round of wage bargaining. In addition it is looking for an extra week!s holiday and a 35 hour week, These demands were not pulled out of ahat. With an inflation rate of over 20% and unemployment heading towards the 10% mark, the I1CTU!s demands are the basic minimum required to defend worker s!

living standards, There will be a hard fight to win these demands, The Federated i Union of Employers is calling for a three month "Pay Pause! while the government is canvassing a 7% — 8% ceiling on wage increases, It is clear that there is little common ground between the ICTU i and the FUE/government. The # battle lines are firmly drawn and H only a full call-up of its troops by the ICTU can prevent a steep cut in workers! incomes and conditions, The trade union leaders, however, are not preparing for sucha timé he rakes Thatcher a siiver teapot he intends to politely ask her if we can have our six counties back Haughey has no strategy for Irish unity and no interest in achieving a genuine British withdrawal.

Fianna Fail!'s stance has been equalled by the SDLP. John Hume has said that the SDLP will be pleased to talk to Atkins about "the positive aspects!!! Presumably Hume isreferring to the prospect of a local assembly regaining control over housing, education, services and employment! confrontation. While the employers and politicians have already declared war the ICTU continues to parlay and in the enemy camp at that --— the Employer-lL abour Conference, This isa strategy for defeat] The gap between the two sidesis obviously too wide to be bridged by talks which are bound by the collaborationIst rule of the Employer-L abour Con ference,: The trade unions need full freedom of action to defend thelr member s, They must immediately withdraw from the E-LC, It is necessary to impress on the FUE and government that all future negotiations will be on an ad hoc basis and liable to suspension at any time. If the basic minimum for preserving living standards (ie 20% plus shorter working week) is not recognised as the starting point for a new wage increase and better conditions, employer -labour conference

OUT!

social

ANY DEVOLUTION MEANS

LOYALIST RULE!

For 50 years the North had a local assembly with all these powers and more, The Unionists who will always have a majority in any Six County assembly used these powers to grind down the anti-unionist population to exclude anti-unionsts from employment, to deny them decent housing and full educational opportunities -- in short, to create a sectarian stronghold, Despite direct rule the Loyalists have clung to these sectarian privileges, with the permission and collusion of both Labour and Tory governments. To imagindé that there is any possibility that the Loyalists might now surrender these privileges is nothing short of lunacy.

There are no 'positive aspects! to possible Loyalist rule, The Loyalists have given us many examples of what they are likely to do if they can grab back more govern-— mental control. They have, for example, under the leader ship of Paisley's lieutenant 'Reverend!

Beattie, stalled the building of the Poleglass housing estate, situated on the edge of the overcrowded, predominantly Catholic, Twinbrook estate in Belfast, Just think of what they would do if they had direct control. Obviously Paisley and company must be stopped, But talking to them won't even cost them a second off their night's sleep -- it will just make them attracted to the Idea of ploughing on. regardless and intimidating the ‘Catholic masses into resentfully living under Loyalist jackboots, But the Loyalists also know that the more they show their fangs they alert the Catholic masses to the enormity of the danger that lies ahead. They calculate that itis worth the risk, so long as most Catholics in the North look to the |) SOLP for leadership, and the nationalist-minded people in the South look to Haughey. So we have jot to tear the SDLP and Fianna Fail steait-jacket off and forye a stronger more effective more

TERROR

voice that’ will tell the British and their allies where to go.

A CLEAR POLICY

The British should get out and be quick about it. The Loyalists shauld be told that they will no longer be allowed to block the aspiration of the overwhelming majority of the Irish people for national unity. Haughey and the SDLP don't Say this because they have the same class interests as the British Tories. They are a fifth column within the fight against British imperialism. Connolly wrote that only the working class remain as ''the incorruptible inheritors of the fight for Irish freedom", The working class at the head of all Ireland's exploited will settle accounts with the likes of Haughey and the SDLP and go on to defeat imperialism. Connolly's message is as clear today as ever, There can be no imperialist solution to the divisions in our country. '!'The cause of Ireland is the cause of labour", Devolved rule means Loyalist rule!

IN THIS ISSUE:

ARMS CRISIS

PAY AND TAX

H'BLOCK NEWS

POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION

ARMED STRUGGLE DEBATE

NICARAGUAN REVOLUTION

NO TO CONTRACEPTION LAWS

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE

The emergence of the Trades Councils as the organisers of the "Tx Revolt!! indicated a widespread discontent with the leader ship provided by the ICTU (Irish Congress of Trades Unions). The growing gap between the rank and file and the top bureaucracy of the unions is further underlined by the fact that throughout the 70s nearly twothirds of all strikes have been sanofficial, The response of the ICTU to this crisis of leader ship has been to wave the big stick. At ire July annual conference proposals were put forward by the executive to deprive the Trades Councils of voting rights and =a'pport legal action against unsanc-— tioned stoppages, To justify these measures the union leaders blame "outsiders!" and "militants!! for the growing discontent of the rank and file. The driving force of the escalating strike wave has a much more obvious explanation however. Take the following figures issued by the Economic and Social Research Institute:

COMPOUNDED ANNUAL AVERAGES

1971 -— 1977 Real Take Home Pay 1.7% Industrial Employment 0 Industrial Output 4,2 GNP per Person at Work 3.4 What these figures show is that productivity and wealth have

“PAY AND

4 es —— <_< increased considerably faster than wages and jobs, In short, workers have not been getting a fair deal.

This is the real cause of rank and file discontent in the unions,

TAX REVOLT-WAGE REVOLT

The tax revolt therefore was in essence a revolt against the NWAs, The trade union leader snip understood this well enough and was careful to keep the question of wages and taxation distinctly separate, Taxation was not posed as part of the conflict between Labour and Capital, but was transformed into an urban versusrural conflict.

Instead of being used at the cutting edge of wage demands it was shunted off to a toothless Commission on Taxation, By separating wage demands from tax reform the trade union leadership have managed, if only for a while, to contain the tax revolt, and to save the concept of NWAs, Now that the tax problem has been referred to the Commission on Tax there is no practical focus for campaigning exists, Moreover the union leaders are preparing the rank and file for a sell-out, At the ICTU conference the only precondition layed down for the acceptance of the Commission On Tax proposals was the introduction of an unspecified wealth tax. Suggestions for retaining the 45% Corporation Tax (which is soon to be reduced to 10%) a "steeply progressive Wealth Tax, "!

indexation of tax allowances, etc were thrown out. ORIGINS OF NWAs To get a clear answer it is useful to look back at the history of wage bargaining and taxation over the past two decades, During the 60s the trade unions negotiated a nationa pay norm which was usually considered a minimum and individual unions were free to fight for additional increases. Asaresult, wage rose rapidly. At the same time the tax level in Ireland was one of the lowest in Europe, As the policy of relying on foreign multinational investment accelerated the national debt grew and the government steeply increased income tax to finance it. Today Ireland has one of the highest income tax levels in Europe. T0 achieve this dramatic turnabout the government had to change the nature of wage bargaining.

To prevent workers clawing back what was taken from them in tax, the strait-jacket of the National Wage Agreements and the Employer-L abou Conference was imposed, Now instead of workers clawing back tax through wage increases, the government was able to claw back wage increases through taxes, A look at average earnings during the 70s shows that this is exactly how the NWAs worked. Average earnings (after allowing for inflation) rose by 4.4% annually. But after taxation and social insurance this was reduced to 1.7%,. Thus it was government revenues which benefited from the NWAs most. The need for massively increased government revenue was in turn dictated by the growing national debt. STRATEGY AGAINST NWAs The anger of workers has been directed against the union leadership because it has played a deci-

WHAT STRATEGY?

Determined leadership can overcome People's Democracy pays tribute to Miriam Daly, -a brave antiimperialist, a leading supporter of' the H Block prisoners, and a tire less defender of the Irish working class. We offer our deepest sympathy to the bereaved husband, family and comrades of Miriam.

Given Miriam!s leading role in the National Smash H Block Committee and the recent murder of John Turnley, we have no hesitation in saying that her murder is part of a campaign of assassination aimed at activists prominent in the political struggle against British rule in Ireland which aims to terrorise the anti-Unionist population in preparation for the restoration of a Unionist regime at Stormont. In particular, these murders aim to disrupt the continuing and successful struggle in support of political status (Miriam Daly was re-elected to the National Committee of the Campaign only a fortnight before her murder, and John Turnley was also a prominent supporter of the H Block struggle). Peoples Democracy unreservedly condemns this brutal murder and accuses the British government of complicity in it, We believe that the conception of this campaign and the detailed planning and intelligence necessary are beyond the capacity of any of the Loyalist groups, Theirs may be the hand on the trigger, but the brain is that of Buraucrac

BY BRENDAN KELLY

sive role in enforcing the government!s and employers! strategy of skinning the workers, The slow growth of wages compared td overall!

economic growth was accomplished through the National Wage Agree- | ments, Why then didn't the rank and file backlash against the |CTU come on s the question of wages rather than taxation? The answer to that question is important for developing a strategy to break the strangle hold of the existing trade union leader ship. By shoving the tax question into the realm of generalities the union leaders have also prepared the way for more robbery under the new NWAs, It is no accident that the proposal of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions threatened that any renewed tax campalgn be focused on the 1981 Budget was endorsed by the ICTU conference. This r means that the 1CTU can go ahead and negotiate a new wage agreement while 'eaving the thorny problem of tax reform in the background, The anti-NWA wing of the trade union movement is thereby deprived of an important weapon in the fight against wage restraint. As the latest economic recession bites deeply it becomes all the more important to defend workers! living standards, Activists in the Trades Councils and union branches must lead the fight back. The experience of the Tax Revolt has proven one point: even the most trenchent resistance of the ICTU and union executives can be overcome by determined rank and file leader ship.

It is up to the Trades Councils and union branches to regain the initiative from the top bureaucratic leaders, with a campaign to link tax reform to wage bargaining.

cy We British military intelligence, warn the British that they are playing with fire, No previous level of murder and oppression has succeeded in defeating the resistance to British rule and this campaign will not succeed, The decision by the British Labour Party to investigate ‘the H Blocks shows that awareness of the struggle is continuing to spread, The only effect of the murders is to increase our determination to fight on, We will make the ruins of the H Blocks a fitting memorial to Miriam Daly, our comrade and friend in the anti-imperialist struggle,

NATIONAL COMMITTEE

PEOPLES DEMOCRACY

In July the Northern Ireland Office released figures showing a total of 84,600 (15%) unemployed in the Six Counties, Even areas which had previously escaped the wor st of the economic crisis were showing gaping wounds -- eg. Belfast, 12.1%. A more recent report by the Cambridge Economic Policy Group predicts that unemployment in the North will increase dramatically in the coming years, 107,000) out of work -- or 20% of the workforce -- is the forecast for 1983, At the moment the traditional Catheclic ghettoes are the worst affected, eg. Strabane already has: a 27.5% unemployment rate. The CEP report expects even worse news for these areas in the future,

TORY ECONOMIC PLANS

The Tory plans for the North are designed to reduce employment and within this framework to increase the burden carried by the Catholic workers, The Tory budget for the North envisages no overall increase: in funding, but intends to redirect finance. Thus funds for public services -— the lower echelons of which are an area of employment for the Catholic ghettoes -- are to be cut by £100m; this money will be redirected towards industry. The justification for thisis a 29% increase of first time surveying visits by foreign multinationals, Past experience shows that if foreign firms are to be the mainstay of new job creation then there is little hope for any change in the pattern of discrimination against Catholic workers, The Economist has pointed out that such firms are attracted by the availability of skilled and trained labour; they are The revolutionary socialist , Petr Uhl is currently serving a six-year sentence in the infamous Mirov Jail in Czechoslovakia. His crime: opposition to the Stalinism of the Husak regime. Uhl was a founder of the Movement of Revolutionary Youth which included Czech student leaders and prominent members of the Metal Workers Union, For his role in the RMY he has already served a four year prison sentence.

After his release he became a leader of Charter 77 and VONS -- two civil rights movements which have been active in a large number of cities and towns throughout Czechoslovakia, Before his more recent arrest he had completed a book entitled Czechoslovakia and Socialism which is the most comprehensive indictment of a Stalinist regime since Trotsky!'s Revolution Betrayed, Petr Uhl is serving his sentence under ''strict regime" and can only be visited once every six months for two hours, To make matters wor se Uhl is suffering from chronic bronchitis and is being subjected to additional harassment by prison authorities, Uhl needs the support and solidarity of the international labour movement if he is to survive their persecution, Peoples Democracy will be participating in the campaign alongside the Fourth International. In future issues of SR we will give reports of the progress being made.

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 3

JOBS CRISIS IN THE SIX COs all-Ireland trade ee _ needed not interested in the dole queues of West Belfast, Strabane or Newry,

THE LEADERS FAIL

The most dismal aspect of the situation is the complete inability of the trade union leader ship to offer any policy of resistance. The demonstrations in April and May against the Tory economic policy were abysmal failures, Yet a resolution at the ICTU conference dubbed this campaign a success. An amendment from the National Union of Public Employees which stated "Congress regrets the unnecessary confusion caused by the divided and limited support for the demonstrations of 2 April and 14 May, 1980 was much closer to the truth. The Economist most aptly summarised the campaign: ''The Trades Union Congress days of action hardly caused aripple in Ulster apart fror non-arrival of London newspaper s, It all adds up to the Protestant work ethic, although nobody is supposed to say so!!,

ICTU MUST ACT

Wh atever about the ''Protestant work ethic!! it needs to be said loud and clear that resistance to the economic crisis has been paralysed by the pro-—partitionist and sectarianism of the trade union leader ship.

Their cant about "workers unity" is a miserable excuse to ignore the plight of the Catholic ghettoes, Their sectarianism is demonstrated by an obvious unwillingness to mobilise the most oppressed and exploited section of the Northern workers. Without such a mobilisation there cannot be an effective and fighting unity between Catholic and Protestant worker s, So long as the specific oppression and exploitation of Catholic workers is ignored there will not be an effective response to the economic i crisis, There is no chance thut the Northern trade union leaders, trapped as they are in a Partitionist strait-jacket -- the Northern Ireland Committee -- will leada real struggle. The initiative for this must come from the all-Ireland trade union movement. There is an urgent need for affiliated organisa~ tions to demand that the ICTU face up to its responsibility to those workers who are being betrayed by the Northern Ireland Committee,

JAMES CONWAY

H-BLOCK, ARMAGH NEWS

ACTIVITY IN NAVAN

On Sunday the 6th of June, the Navan Prisoners Action Committee (PAC) staged a protest to highlight the conditions of the men and women in H Block and Armagh. The event chosen was a Gaelic Football match between Meath and Dublin. Under a banner of ''Smash H Block'', thousands of leaflets were distributed. This action was well received by many who attended the match and similar actions should be repeated outside GAA matches, particularly as the closing stages of the All-Ireland Finals are now in full swing.

TRADE UNION CAMPAIGN

The National H. Block campaign in the trade unions is growing, A special sub-ctte has been lobbying T.U organisations with satisfactory results.fhe most fav-— ourable response so far has come from the Trades Councils, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Derry etc. , have come out in support of the prisoners! demands, This support is now developing into a demand for real action from the Trade Union leader ship. A resolution at the |CTU conference from the Waterford Trades Council called for a trade union enquiry into H. Block, The ICTU leaders manoeuvred behind the scenes to have this resolution referred back to the incoming execeutive where they hoped it would be forgotten, But their manoeuvring was not entirely sucessful, Even without discussion, a quarter of the delegates signed a petition Supporting the resolution. Indeed to head off growing support Kennedy and Carroll circulated a document calling for a referral back on the grounds that the Waterford resolution was not radical enough', The ICTU execeutive have not heard in Ireland, As well, Mc Loughlin was discussed In detall and statements on her situation were Issued the following day from Belfast and Dublin. Other aspects-of bullding the campaign were discussed, : the case of Pauline the last of this, The Trade Union sub Anyone interested In working on the ctte of the National H, Block Campalign intends to organise a mass lobby of the execeutive to ensure.

that the Waterford resolution Is discussed, The Trade Union subctte of the Bray branch ITGWU also new committee Is asked to attend on Aug. 31. =. for those who need to bring children with them, Meanwhile, those In the Dublin area are asked to attend meetings every Wednesday at 6,00pm A creche will be provided plans to raise the issue in the unions. at 29 Mountjoy Square (basement).

All union organisations from the shop floor up to national level are urged to give support to this campaign and to build for the forthcoming lobby of the ICTU execeutive.

DUNDALK ARMAGH MEETING

A meeting In Dundalk, called by the National H-Block Committee on July July 27, brought together women, mostly from Belfast and Dublin, to plan for the launching of an Armagh Women Prisoners Committee (incor= porating the Dublin based Armagh Prisoners Solidarity Cttee.) which will take place at a meeting in Dundalk Dundalk on August 31 (in the Imperial Hotel). It is hoped that the meeting on Aug, 31 will draw large numbers of people from all parts of the 32 Counties, The planning meeting drew up aims for the committee which will be put to the vote at the August meeting- (i) to develop support for the women prisoners demands (ii) to win large numbers of women to support the campaign for political status (iii) to highlight the specific problems as women suffered by the Armagh prisoners (ie, health and sanitary conditions, lack of ante and post natal care) (iv) to highlight the cases of women In prison in the Republic and Britain because of the political situation

COPENHAGEN MEETING

The Armagh Prisoners Solldarlity Committee mounted an Intensive lobby during the recent U.N, conference on womens rights, held in Copenhagen, PD women members who attended report that In addition to government delegations there were thousands of womens rights Ccampalgners from every part of the globe, who participated In an alternative tunofficial! conference, It was among these actlvIists that the APSC made Its voice heard, Dozens of workshops heard reports from Nell Mc Cafferty on the conditions of women political prisoners In Armagh. Thelr case aroused considerable Interest and sympathy, and recieved widespread commitments for raising thelr pftgitt In many countries, Among those who agreed to campaign for the prisoners were the PLO, Vietnamese and Cuban delegations, The APSC also worked closely with the delegation of the Fourth International which made Armagh one of Its. priorities at Copenhagen. During the 'official'! conference, the report of Paddy Daly, Minister of State for the Dept, of Labour, was challanged from the press

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7.....+«+

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 4

Armed olruggle and Socialism 1. The Republican Viewpoint The author of a four-part series on guerrilla warfare in An Phoblacht/ "Republican News has sent a reply to a critique of the series carried in Socialist Republic, We welcome his desire to discuss the issue in a clear and constructive manner. In order to continue the debate, we also produce here a reply from the author of our critique. Socialist Republic also welcomes the AP/7RN articte by Ciaran Dowd on the American anti-war movement.

The argument it makes for singleissue campaigns built without exclu— ding people of different political views is one PD agrees with. Itis a measure of progress that our two organisations can now agree on such points, Comradely debate over our real policies can only advance the struggle against our common imperialist enemies, That is why, for example, Intercontinental Press, weekly journal which reflects the views of the Fourth International, has reproduced Ciaran Dowd!s article (see the July 7 issue, p. 715). ee In the current issue of your paper (Vol Ill, No 3 - Ed) you dedicate a considerable space to an attack on my series of articles on revolutionary guerilla warfare, published in An Phoblacht/Republican News.

I trust you will allow me to respond through your pages to some of the points raised, First of all, you question whether it is legitimate to even discuss guerrilla warfare because "it is not possible to show a clear connection!!

with ''the process of revolution", Now, reactionaries have certainly trsed the method of guerrilla warfare as you point out, but so has every successful revolution except perhaps the Russian one. So, itis quite ludicrous to deny that there is a theory of revolutionary warfare.

Was it not Lenin who said one "must study insurrection as a science!!?

Your own mentor Trotsky's Military Writings (3 volumes!) are being published. Did James Connolly not study meticulously the specifically military tasks of the revolutionary process? Your small grouplet may deny the validity of armed struggle, but please don't make out that successful revolutionaries have ignored these questions. Remember -- "Force is the midwife of history", . ..

Secondly, all your criticisms relating to my articles on China, Vietnam, Cuba and Nicaragua revolve around one single question -- my alleged 'militarist! bias. | cannot go back to the original articles to quote pieces for you, but I think _ any fair reading would indicate that they were far from 'militarist!.

Over and over again, | stressed the need for popular involvement in the struggle, that war is the continuation of politics by other means, etc. Having said that, the focus was on military lessons, so! can hardly be expected to provide a history of the Cuban Revolution as well, as you demand. Specifically on Nicaragua, | think you are sadly out of touch with the revolutionary process, You say that ''the masses themselves carried out and led the revolution", Certainly the Sandinistas were surprised by the extent of popular mobilisation, but would these people really come out on the streets without the powerful backing of the Sandinista army?

And who did the ''slow patient work of agitation among the masses!

which you demand? Your fellow thinkers there, who months before the final victory were still chalking up the slogan 'Unionise the National Guard! or the revolutionary Sandinistas? Third, and last point, is your alter— native (or rather lack of one) to the views you so freely criticise. As we all know it comes down at the best, to 'mass self-defence!, as you now conveniently forget that Trotsky forged the Red Army, which probably saved the fledgling Russian Revolution. Now, the nationalist ghettoes of the North have always had a limited number of arms avail— able for self-defence against possible sectarian attacks, Itis common knowledge that the Brits do not object to this; all they worry about are the offensive actions of the IRA. So, are we to win the Irish revolution by sitting back and waiting for the magic day of the storming of the Winter Palace? Are we to concentrate on building up ‘self-defence! forces which the state does not feel threatened by?

(though of course these are neces-— sary). No, comrades we builda powerful political/military machine which takes on the capitalist state in all its manifestations —exploitation of labour, women, its repressive forces, etc. We attempt to forge an alternative here and now to the outdated system we live under -- the 'no-go! areas, the popular assemblies, etc, Your practical contribution amounts to propagandism -- spreading ideas, which in themselves change nothing, anda sickly legalism -- filing for marches with the RUC etc, to ''not frighten people off!', So, whereas your article makes a number of points worth debating at the end of the day it offers very little to revolutionaries who live in the real world. Also, | suggest you retract the ludicrous accusation that the Republic Movement shows "a willingness to make accomoda— tions with the capitalist class!" if you wish to keep the debate at a serjous level.

CIARAN DOWD

BELFAST

P.S. You say I neglect the impact of the anti-war movement in the USA on the Vietnamese revolution. May ! refer you to my recent article in AP/RN_ on "the lessons of the anti-war movement in America", which takes up precisely that question.

REPLY TO CIARAN DOWD

f would suggest to Ciaran Dowd that he re-read my article more carefully. I do not deny that itis "legitimate to even discuss guerrilla warfare!', 1 do deny the validity of a concept of "Revolutionary guerrilla warfare!!! on which the series in An Phoblacht/Republican News was based; Guerrilla warfare, like any other means of warfare, is a method available to any social class and any political current. It isin this sense of method that Lenin, Trotsky and Connolly deal with the question.

Revolutionary organisations are however defined not by their methods but how they relate these methods to the political aims of the working class. We agree that "force is the midwife of history" but it does not follow that as a matter of principle revo— lutionaries must at all times under— take offensive military operations -- that remains a tactical decision based on the balance of class forces, This fundamental misinterpretation leads you to misinterpret my criticisms of the series asa whole. A study of guerrilla warfare asa technique or of the relationship between war and revolution might have been valuable, !n my view the series failed because it explains the eventual victory of the communist forces in terms of their use of this technique. Obviously a movement incompetent in these techniques would not succeed, but their victory depended not on this but on the balance of class forces and the correctness of their own political programmes. This absence is the reason for your failure to satisfac— torily explain both Che's victory in Cuba and his defeat in Bolivia.

You query my understanding of the revolutionary process in Nicaragua and ask: "but would these people really come out on the streets without the powerful backing of the Sandinista army?" In reply | can only shrug my shoulders and say that ''these people! actually did so -- that the battle for Managua was fought and won by the masses before any significant section of the Sandinista army arrived. Thisis not to deny that the Sandinista movement provided the framework for the organisation of the masses and that it has remained the leading force in the Nicaraguan revolution.

However it has done so precisely because it was open and flexible enough to abandon the militarist conception you put forward and turn towards a’Marxist conception of the role of the masses in the process of revolution. The comment about our "fellow thinker s!! | can only treat asa slander. Who are they and what is their association with PD? The Fourth International, with which PD is associated, has been to the forefront in the defence of the Nicaraguan revolution and in support of the Sandinista movement. I must say that your assertion about the Brit's lack of objection to the holding of arms for defence fills me with amazement. How does this process work? Do the Brits ignore 'defensive! dumps? Return defensive arms? Give lighter sentences to those engaged'in purely defensive activity? This ignores the major problem of how any defence against sectarian forces would not also be a defence against the British army itself -- given its history of colla— boration with the murder squads.

+ FE ZN g It seems to me that your assertion denys the history of your own move- Ment. If there is any point where the present armed struggle can be said to have begun it is with the 'Battle of the Falls! in 1970 -- when the British army attempted the smashing of the defensive capacity of the Northern ghettoes. Our own experjence as a movement contradicts you.

A member of our movement got six years in 1977 for possession of weapons and narrowly escaped a much longer sentence on an 'intent! charge -- this despite the fact that he based his case on the right to self-defence and that the judge accepted many of The irish Times monthly surveys of public opinion show a good rating for Fianna Fail's policy on the North. This isnot surprising since on no other problem have Haughey & Co, played such an intensive double game. But there is one issue

HAUGHEY'S STRATEGY

Haughey has good reason to follow his strategy. He knows that the Antl-imperialist movement Is weak at the level of national politics -ae Se his arguments, I will accept that our own concept of mass self-defence is under-developed and appears as theoretical and abstract. This is because we area small organisation and have enly begun the work of implementing it in practice, Also, as with many other aspects of our work, it requires an acceptance and an activity by other sections of the anti-imperialist movement to be fully implemented, For example, our 'sickly legalism!!

in urging the filing of marches is in What Strategy for Revolution ?

2. The Socialist | Viewpoint the British to ban marches on political grounds rather than technical.

As we have never accepted the right of the RUC to ban or re-route marches 1 don't see the basis of your criticism.

We would extend this concept of political defence in the following way: the response to assassination campaigns should be a united campaign for the disbandment of the UDR and the immediate removal of the RUC from the ghettoes, coupled with a propaganda campaign detalling British collaboration with the Loyalists. our view part of the political defence could force the Brits to 'turn off! their This sort of mass pressure of the right to demonstrate and forces Loyalist auxilliaries.

which is likely to blow the whistle on them -- that is the issue of H Black, Haughey has won public credibility by placing responsibility for the Northern crisis on Britain. Yet while appearing to put pressure on Thatcher he has in fact given her a free hand to ride rough-shod over the Catholic minority. When Miriam Daly, a member of the National H Block Committee, was murdered by Loyalists, Haughey was silent.

next day when an RUC man was shot he was quick to condemn the »Natrocity",

EVASION OF A CONFLICT

This is only the tip of Haughey's hypocrisy, not to say cynicism.

around the country Fianna Fall councillors have been giving support to the H Block prisoners! demands, A few TDs, a Euro MP and even Minister for Agriculture, Ray McSherry have indicated support.

On Dublin Corporation ten Flanna Fail councillors voted to support the prisoners! demands on humanitarian grounds, But the government itself has remained totally silent. Obviously Haughey's strategy is to consolidate Fianna Fail's militant image at grassroots level while dodging a governmental clash with the British and the Fine Gael- Labour opposition. All But, that we don't have a huge party machine and mass electoral backing.

If he can succeed In keeping the debate on the North abstract -power-sharing, Irish dimension, etc, -- then we won't have the strength to make our relevance felt, But If a practical Issue like H Block becomes a central topic, then soclall sts and Republicans can easily show their relevance. The que silon of H Block has a simple "yes! or "no! answer. Elther you are prepared to let the prisoners suffer or you are not; either you act or you sit back, There are no two ways about it, and Haughey's duplicity would be at an end.

RELIANCE ON REPRESSION

In the second place the plans which Haughey has for the North are based on accepting the continued Imperialist domination of Ireland, This domination has always relied on repression. The fast thing Haughey wants Is attention drawn to this, The H Block struggle threatens to do just that.

it 1s essential for the collaborators therefore to keep the issue quarantined and out of public sight.

For Haughey to continue successfully riding the tide of national sentiment he must steer clear of practical Issues such as H Block, And so long as he manaqes to do reply.

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 5

‘In any case it seems to me that your own position is far from clear. | don't see the logic of a position .that 'steps over! the question of day to day defence. A strategy that is unable to deal with Loyalist assassination, Brit and RUC penetration of the ghettoes and increasing repression is unlikely to defeat the imperialist forces, © Five years ago the Republican strategy seemed to be based ona short-term defeat of the British forces. Now it seems to be a long war of attrition without specific short or medium-term aims, Finally, 1 object both to your decrying of the value of propaganda and to your dismissal of our organisation as a propagandist one.

_ Very large numbers of people today support the ideas of republicanism and socialism. These ideas did not drop from the sky. Where did your own positions come from?

Did their formation not involve the reading of propaganda and debate and discussion about Marxist theory? We in PD are proud of our work as propagandists, but our reputation rests not only on this but first and foremost on the agitational work we have carried out over the past twelve years and our place In every major united front organisation of that period.

| regret that | am not able to change my view of the Republican movement.

lf | felt that your movement went beyond the programme of revolutionary democracy and based Itself on a programme of working class social revolution then | and the other members of PD would be member s of It. If you feel you can demonstrate this feel free to use again the columns of the Sociallst_ Republics

J. NORTH

this It will be difficult to enlfst — widespread public» support which alone can force the British to retreat, It Is important therefore that the National H Block campalgn take the fight to Haughey.

FORCE A REAL FIGHT

Already a letter has been sent to Flanna Fail requesting that it clarify its views on the conditions of the political prisoners, The National Committee received no Those councillors and TDs who previously expressed support must be asked why this Is the case.

They must be asked to demand clarification from Haughey. Does Fianna Fall as a party support the demands of the prisoners? or are these secondary party functlénarles being used to give a false impression while Haughey makes a deal with Britain to sell-out the prisoner s? It Is Iniportant to clarify this matter, A lot of people belleve that Flanna Fal! does support the prisoners and that Haughey will eventually do something on their behalf. Only when they see that they have been misied will they begin to act by themselves; only then will they actively support the H Block campaign.

BRENDAN KELLY

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 4

Armed Strugg 1. The Republican Viewpoint The author of a four-part series on guerrilla warfare in An Phoblacht/ "Republican News has sent a reply to a critique of the series carried in Socialist Republic. We welcome his desire to discuss the issue in a clear and constructive manner, In order to continue the debate, we also produce here a reply from the author of our critique. Socialist Republic also welcomes the AP/RN article by Ciaran Dowd on the American anti-war movement.

The argument it makes for single— issue campaigns built without excluding people of different political views is one PD agrees with. Itis a measure of progress that our two organisations can now agree on such points, Comradely debate over our real policies can only advance the struggle against our common imperialist enemies, That is why, for example, Intercontinental Press, weekly journal which reflects the views of the Fourth International, has reproduced Ciaran Dowd!s article (see the July 7 issue, pe 715). In the current issue of your paper (Vol Ill, No 3 — Ed) you dedicate a considerable space to an attack on my series of articles on revolu— tionary guerilla warfare, published ‘in An Phoblacht/Republican News.

Il trust you will allow me to respond through your pages to some of the points raised. First of all, you question whether it is legitimate to even discuss guerrilla warfare because "jt is not possible to show a clear connection!!

with 'the process of revolution", Now, reactionaries have certainly «sed the method of guerrilla warfare as you point out, but so has every successful revolution except perhaps the Russian one. So, it is quite ludicrous to deny that there is a theory of revolutionary warfare.

Was it not Lenin who said one "must study insurrection as a science!!?

Your own mentor Trotsky's Military Writings (3 volumes!) are being published. Did James Connolly not study meticulously the specifically military tasks of the revolutionary process? Your small grouplet may deny the validity of armed struggle, but please don't make out that successful revolutionaries have ignored these ques-— tions. Remember -- "Force is the midwife of history", ... Secondly, all your criticisms relating to my articles on China, Vietnam, Cuba and Nicaragua revolve around one single question -- my alleged 'militarist! bias, | cannot go back to the original articles to quote pieces for you, but | think _any fair reading would indicate that they were far from 'militarist!.

Over and over again, | stressed the need for popular involvement in the struggle, that war is the continuation of politics by other means, etc, Having said that, the focus was on military lessons, so | can hardly be expected to provide a history of the Cuban Revolution as well, as you demand. Specifically on Nicaragua, | think you are sadly out of touch with the revolutionary process, You say that ''the masses themselves carried out and led the revolution", Certainly the Sandinistas were surprised by the extent of popular mobilisation, but would these people really come out on the streets without the powerful backing of the Sandinista army?

And who did the ''slow patient work of agitation among the masses!

which you demand? Your fellow thinkers there, who months before the final victory were still chalking up the slogan 'Unionise the National Guard! or the revolutionary Sandinistas? Third, and last point, is your alternative (or rather lack of one) to the views you so freely criticise. As we all know it comes down at the best, to 'mass self-defence', as you now conveniently forget that Trotsky forged the Red Army, which probably saved the fledgling Russian Revolution. Now, the nationalist ghettoes of the North have always had a limited number of arms avail— able for self-defence against possible sectarian attacks, Itis common knowledge that the Brits do not object to this; all they worry about are the offensive actions of the IRA. So, are we to win the Irish revolution by sitting back and waiting for the magic day of the storming of the Winter Palace? Are we to concentrate on building up ‘self-defence! forces which the state does not feel threatened by?

(though of course these are necessary). No, comrades we builda powerful political/military machine which takes on the capitalist state in all its manifestations —exploitation of labour, women, its repressive forces, etc. We attempt to forge an alternative here and now to the outdated system we live under -- the 'no-go! areas, the popular assemblies, etc. Your practical contribution amounts to propagandism -- spreading ideas, which in themselves change nothing, anda sickly legalism -- filing for marches with the RUC etc, to "not frighten people off", So, whereas your article makes a number of points worth debating at the end of the day it offers very little to revolutionaries who live in the real world. Also, | suggest you retract the ludicrous accusation that the Republic Movement shows "a willingness to make accomoda-— tions with the capitalist class!! if you wish to keep the debate at a serjous level.

CIARAN DOWD

BELFAST

P.S. You say | neglect the impact of the anti-war movement in the USA on the Vietnamese revolution. May {| refer you to my recent article in AP/RN_ on "the lessons of the anti-war movement in America", which takes up precisely that question.

REPLY TO CIARAN DOWD

§ would suggest to Ciaran Dowd that he re-read my article more carefully. I do not deny that itis “legitimate to even discuss guerrilla warfare!', 1 do deny the validity of a concept of "Revolutionary guerrilla warfare! on which the series in An Phoblacht/Republican News was based; Guerrilla warfare, like any other means of warfare, is a method available to any social class and any political current. It isin this sense of method that Lenin, Trotsky and Connolly dea! with the question.

Revolutionary organisations are however defined not by their methods but how they relate these methods to the political aims of the working class. We agree that ''force is the midwife of history" but it does not follow that as a matter of principle revolutionaries must at all times undertake offensive military operations -- that remains a tactical decision based on the balance of class forces, This fundamental misinterpretation leads you to misinterpret my criticisms of the series asa whole. A study of guerrilla warfare asa technique or of the relationship between war and revolution might have been valuable, In my view the series failed because it explains the eventual victory of the communist forces in terms of their use of this technique. Obviously a movement incompetent in these techniques would not succeed, but their victory depended not on this but on the balance of class forces and the correctness of their own political programmes. This absence is the reason for your failure to satisfactorily explain both Che's victory in Cuba and his defeat in Bolivia.

You query my understanding of the revolutionary process in Nicaragua and ask: "but would these people really come out on the streets with— out the powerful backing of the Sandinista army?" In reply I can only shrug my shoulders and say that ''these people! actually did so -- that the battle for Managua was fought and won by the masses before any significant section of the Sandinista army arrived. Thisis not to deny. that the Sandinista movement provided the framework for the organisation of the masses and that it has remained the leading force in the Nicaraguan revolution.

However it has done so precisely because it was open and flexible enough to abandon the militarist conception you put forward and turn towards a'Marxist conception of the role of the masses in the process of revolution. The comment about our ''fellow thinker s!! | can only treat asa slander. Who are they and what is their association with PD? The Fourth International, with which PD is associated, has been to the forefront in the defence of the Nicaraguan revolution and in support of the Sandinista movement. I must say that your assertion about the Brit's lack of objection to the holding of arms for defence fills me with amazement, How does this process work? Do the Brits ignore 'defensive! dumps? Return defensive arms? Give lighter sentences to those engaged ‘in purely defensive activity? This ignores the major problem of how any defence against sectarian forces would not also be a defence against the British army itself -— given its history of collaboration with the murder squads.

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 5

What Strategy for Revolution?

2. The Socialist Viewpoint Zh It seems to me that your assertion denys the history of your own movement. If there is any point where the present armed struggle can be said to have begun it is with the 'Battle of the Falls! in 1970 -- when the British army attempted the smashing of the defensive capacity of the Northern ghettoes, Our own experfence as a movement contradicts you.

A member of our movement got six years in 1977 for possession of weapons and narrowly escaped a much longer sentence on an !intent! charge -- this despite the fact that he based his case on the right to self-defence and that the judge accepted many of The irish Times monthly surveys of public opinion show a good rating for Fianna Fail's policy on the North. This is not surprising since on no other problem have Haughey & Co. played such an intensive double game. But there is one issue

HAUGHEY'S STRATEGY

Haughey has good reason to follow.

his strategy. He knows that the Antle-imperialist movement is weak at the level of national politics -his arguments, I will accept that our own concept of mass self-defence is under-developed and appears as theoretical and abstract, This is because we area small organisation and have enly begun the work of implementing it in practice, Also, as with many other aspects of our work, it requires an acceptance and an activity by other sections of the anti-imperialist movement to be fully implemented, For example, our "sickly legalism!

in urging the filing of marchesis in the British to ban marches on political grounds rather than technical, As we have never accepted the right of the RUC to ban or re-route marches | don't see the basis of your criticism.

We would extend this concept of political defence in the following way: the response to assassination cam= paigns should be a united campaign for the disbandment of the UDR and the immediate removal of the RUC from the ghettoes, coupled with a prepaganda campaign detalling British collaboration with the Loyalists. our view part of the political defence could force the Brits to 'turn off! their This sort of mass pressure of the right to demonstrate and forces Loyalist auxilliaries.

FE hypocracy on Hiwhich is likely to blow the whistle on them -- that is the issue of H Black, : HHaughey has won public credibility by placing responsibility for the Northern crisis on Britain. Yet while appearing to put pressure on Thatcher he has in fact given her a free hand to ride rough-shoed over the Catholic minority. When Miriam Daly, a member of the National H Block Committee, was murdered by Loyalists, Haughey was silent.

next day when an RUC man was shot he was quick to condemn the -Vatrocity!".

EVASION OF A CONFLICT

This is only the tip of Haughey's hypocrisy, not to say cynicism, around the country Fianna Fall councillors have been giving support to the H Block prisoners! demands, A few TDs, a Euro MP and even Minister for Agriculture, Ray McSherry have indicated support, On Dublin Corporation ten Flanna Fail councillors voted to support the prisoners! demands on humanitartan grounds, But the governmerit itself has remained totally silent. Obviously Haughey!'s strategy is to consolidate Fianna Fail's militant image at grassroots level while dodging a governmental clash with the British and the Fine Gael- Labour opposition. But , All | that we don't have a huge party machine and mass electoral backing.

If he can succeed In keeping the debate on the North abstract -power-sharing, Irish dimension, etc, -— then we won't have the strength to make our relevance felt, But If a practical Issue like H Block becomes a central topic, then soclallsts and Republicans can easily show their relevance, The que silon of H Biock has a simple "ves! or "tno! answer. Elther you are prepared to let the prisoners suffer or you are not; either you act or you sit back, There are no two ways about it, and Haughey's duplicity would be at an end.

RELIANCE ON REPRESSION

In the second place the plans which Haughey has for the North are based on accepting the continued Imperialist domination of Ireland. This domiration has always relled on repression. The last thing Haughey wants Is attention drawn to this. The H Block struggle threatens to do just that.

it [s essential for the collaborators therefore to keep the issue quarantined and out of public sight.

For Haughey to continue successfully riding the tide of national sentiment he must steer clear of practical issues such as H Block, And so long as he manaces to do reply. ‘In any case it seems to me that your own position is far from clear. I dontt see the logic of a position .that 'steps over! the question of day to day defence. A strategy that is unable to deal with Loyalist assassination, Brit and RUC penetration of the ghettoes and increasing repression is unlikely to defeat the imperialist forces. — Five years ago the Republican strategy seemed to be based ona short-term defeat of the British forces, Now it seems to be a long war of attrition without specific short or medium-term aims.

Finally, 1 object both to your decrying of the value of propaganda and to your dismissal of our organisation as a propagandist one.

_ Very large numbers of people today support the ideas of republicanism and socialism. These ideas did not drop from the sky. Where did your own positions come from?

" Did their formation not involve the reading of propaganda and debate and discussion about Marxist . 4 theory? We in PD are proud of our work as propagandists, but our reputation rests not only on this but first and foremost on the agitational work we have carried out over the past twelve years and our place In every major united front organisation of that period.

| regret that | am not able to change my view of the Republican movement.

If | felt that your movement went beyond the programme of revolutionary democracy and based Itself on a programme of working class social revolution then | and the other members of PD would be members of It. If you feel you can demonstrate this feel free to use again fhe columns of the Socialist Republic.

J. NORTH

LOGK

this it will be difficult to eniTst™ widespread public» support which alone can force the British to retreat. It Is important therefore -; that the Natlonal H Block campaign take the fight to Haughey.

FORCE A REAL FIGHT

Already a letter has been sent to Flanna Fail requesting that It clarify its views on the conditions of the political prisoners, The National Committee received no Those councillors and TDs who previously expressed support must be asked why this Is the case, They must be asked to demand clarification from Haughey. Does Fianna Fail as a party support the demands of the prisoners? or are these secondary party functlonarles | being used to give a false impression while Haughey makes a deal with Britain to sell-out the prisoner s? It Is Iniportant to clarify this matter. A lot of people belleve that Flanna Fal! does support the prisoners and that Haughey will eventually do something on thelr behalf. Only when they see that they have been misied will they begin to act by themselves; only then will they actively support the H Block campalgn.

BRENDAN KELLY

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 6°

Several years ago when Peoples Democracy raisedthe issue of "positive discrimination" for women, we met with disbelief and angry opposition, Not least among our opponents were other socialists who accused us of trying to "divide the working class!', Whena motion from the Craigavon Trades Council, proposing positive dis— crimination for women in the trade union movement came up for debate at the ICTU conference it provoked a similar reaction. No less a person than Dan Murphy, the incoming President of Congress, raved on and railed against it. But times have changed and the struggles of the Women!s Movement have forced a change of attitudes, The Craiga-— von motion passed comfortably]

A PLAN TO CROSS THE DIVIDE

Far from "dividing the working class!'' positive discrimination helps to promote its unity. The reality Is that the workers are already divided. The facts tell the truth.

While women constitute more than 50% of the population they are only 30% of the workforce, and the most exploited and oppressed 30% at that. Although they constitute 30% of the workforce they comprise only 11% of the trade union member ship, and less than 1% of trade union officialdom, While women are not allowed to fully participate in society or the trade union movement the working class is fighting with only half its strength -- it is fighting in effect with one hand tied behind its back.

Women themselves are often blamed for this. "They don!t attend meet-— ings", "they don't speak up!', "they Won!t go on committees", are comments commonly heard, It isas

CONTRACEPTION

The Family Planning (Health) Act (1978) which was made law in August of last year, is finally going to be implemented on November 1st.

Just as a reminder, the new law will make it harder to get contraception and advice. For condoms cream, etc., you will needa doctor's prescription. This will cost money and so will the chemist's fee. Medical card users will not be able to obtain contraceptives free under the new law. There are no plans to set up clinics in locat health centres, nor are there plans for sex education in schools, or for the training of doctors, nurses or social workers in family planning. lf-the clinics are to go along with the Act, they will no longer be able to provide a service to single people. (A major Dublin F.P.C, said thet over 50% of the clients were single and under 25), This illustrates that youth are going to § be particularly affected by this law.

CAP members feel that the whole | area of youth and the needs of youth | in terms of their sexuality have been totally ignored, Because of this they are holding a 2 day conference on September 20/21st on "Youth & Contraception", taking in such areas as 'youth as workers!, !youth in 2nd & 3rd level education!, 'Family life/age of consent!, 'sexism and youth!, ‘birth control and your body!

and you!, The clinics will no longer be able to sell non—medical contraceptives, will not be able to advertise, which is a crucial factor, as many people change this. if women were by nature Incapable of equal participation with men. But this is far from the truth. It isnot the nature of women but the nature of capitalism which prevents women from reallsing their full potential at all levels In soclety.

The reality Is that women are doubly, even triply oppressed: first as domestic slaves, second as wage earners, and third, in the case of Ireland especially, as youth, Itis the extra burden Imposed on women by these three weights which prevents them from full participation in the unions and elsewhere. Thus it is not that women don't want to be fully involved, but that they don't have the time, facilities or training which would allow them to be.

Positive discrimination aims to It doesn't simply mean reserving a few jobs or positions for women, More than that, it

LAVVS

OUT:

As CAP has to date been the main of the clinics to stay open.

POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION FOR WOMEN

In society generally. It is this revolutionary dynamic that provokes such hysteria in the trade union leaders, One can take it for granted that they will do their best to bury the concept of positive discrimination. It is necessary to be vigilant about the faith of the Craigavon motion.

The resolution instructs ''the Executive Council (of the ICTU) to examine ways in which positive discrimination can be implemented and to report its findings not later than at the 1981 delegate conference'', f the Executive is left to itself it will at best come up with a super-— ‘icial and half-hearted report. The & 2pportunity or excuse for this # should not be given. Pressure 2xerted at every level within the inions can ensure a full and compref vensive report. Is it unreasonable © ask that individual unions and sven branches should set up womens vommittees to carry out their own studies and report their findings to the ICTU? Is it unreasorable to expect that the experiences of the international trade union movement be taken into account? means ensuring tnat resources are made available to ensure the provision of proper facilities (eg creches) -and training programmes so that women can actually take advantage of the gains they have won.

GUIDES TO ACTION

Already action along these lines is being taken. The annual delegate conference of the 1T GWU accepted a document favouring positive dis— crimination and proposing the seting up of special ''study groups!! at section and branch level. The North City Dublin branch of INTO has also set up a special women!s committee, Here is a practical lead for other unions, It is the first practical step in positive dis— crimination, Make no mistake about it, unless women put on the pressure the Craigavon motion will turn out to be another pious platitude,

ANNE SPEED

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Positive discrimination in the trade unions means exactly the same thing.

There is no point in reserving positions on union branches and exccutives or of appointing shopstewards etc if the timing and organisational structures are not geared to the specific requirements of women and if adequate training facilities are not provided,

BUREAUCRATS REACT

But this is where the trouble begins, Positive discrimination in the unions can only be effective if it is accompanied by positive discrimination gallery to state the Irish Govt,'s position on the Armagh prisoners, Afterwards, an embarrassed Mr. Daly told the APSC that in his opinion the Armagh women were not 'criminals!', He also directed the official delegation to answer any media questions on Armagh by saying that 'the Irish Government had made representation on behalf of the prisoners to the British authorities!, This should have interesting reprecussions at home, Can we now expect Fianna Fail to support the H-Block/Armagh prisoners demands and make this an issue with the British Government?

who need the service badly either dont't Know about the clinics or would feel intimidated about going in to them. : CAP, who have been selling nonmedical contraceptives each weekind at the Dandelion market, is inder severe threat with the new aw. CAP sells to over 700 people zach weekend, the majority of whom are single working class youth.

These people will have no access to contraceptives after the lawis implemented. The fines and sentences for breéexing this law are enormous, Fora first offence the fine is up to £500.

The sentence is up to six months in prison; however both fine and imprisonment can be imposed, Fora second or subsequent offence a fine of up to £5,000 (if the offence continues on a daily basis the fine is £250 for each day).

LIMERICK H-BLOCK MARCH

Sat, Poth September PERY SQUARE 3.00pm Organised by Limerick H-Block Committee H-Block the

PD PAMPHLET

Irish Revolution on March Cap intends to continue running the Dandelion stall. The demand and need for easy acess to contraceptives will not disappear just because of this new law. If the state wishes to repress this protest activity, Cap intends to resist and fightback, Available from Connolly Books, 38 Clanawley Road, Killester, Avoca Park, Andersonstown, Belfast. Price: 25p incl. p&p political voice for changing the law on contraception, it is of extreme importance that the Family Planning Clinics would support, and play a major role in the defence campaign.

Likewise, if any of the clinics are attacked, CAP would be at the centre of the campaiyn defending the rights Other PD Publications:

A PEOPLE UNDEFEATED -

Analysis of 10 years of struggle Price: 70p incl. p&p

THE LIMERICK SOVIET -

1919 General Strike against British Militarism. Price: 50p incl. p&p Jacinta Deignan.

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PAGE 7

Over half a million people turned j out in Managua, the capital of Niceragua to celebrate the first year of the revolution lead by the FSLN, For a country witha population of 2.5 million it was a huge mobilization and an impress— ive demonstration of the FSLNIs popularity. There was every — reason to celebrate with confidence.

Since the overthrow of the infamous dictator Somoza, the Niceraguan workers and toilers have made steady gains,

GAINING TIME

These gains were not made without sacrifice, however. The revolutfonary insurrection swept away the old political order of capitalism., But the country was also left in ruins, 120,000 people were The Atkins initiative represents the end result of months of intense polittcal activity by the British -—activity aimed at the restoration of a stable regime in the Six Counties.

Talks with the major political parties centred around six options that were all variations of a new Stormont. In the background were threats that Thatcher would proceed unilaterally and 'do a Rhodesia!

on the North, The green paper that is the end result of all this activity is above all a confession ‘of failure -- a further acknowl edgement that no action by Britain can bring about peace and stability in Ireland and that no real solution can be based on the continuation of the six—county state.

UNUSUAL HUMOUR

However the green paper differs from other British plans in that it contains an element of humour, 'Option 1' suggests a form of powersharing -- despite the fact that the British abandoned power-sharing in 1974 and have made no attempt to revive it since, and despite the fact that it was not one of the six options in the initial discussions, We can only conclude that the proposal is put forward, not in any serious sense, but simply to enable Haughey and the SDLP to continue talking and to head off criticism from Europe and the USA of Britain's fallure to implement any structural reform of the North.

In fact, the proposal only amounts to power-sharing in a very minimal way. In order for a party to win a place on the executive it would require 25% of the votes cast. In practice it would be very difficult for even the SDLP to achieve this, given that they don't represent Northern Catholics as a whole or even the massive majority of them.

SOUPED UP FAULKNERISM

This brings us to 'Option 2', the proposal that the British actually hope to get agreement on. In essence it is arevival of the committee system proposed by Faulkner back in the bad old days of Stormont. Minority parties could .ave up to 50% of the seats on these committees and the comdead or wounded; the cotton crop (on which Niceragua heavily depends) was not planted; much of industry was shattered, Famine ‘and stagnation faced the nation.

The intensified struggle for survival promised inter necine and sectional strife among the workers and toilers themselves, The industrialists and landowners , used the economic chaos as their trump card. By threatening to close down business altogether, and throw the country headlong into disaster, they were able to gain a stay of execution, In return ‘ the FSLN permitted a continuation of private enterprise and even gave two of the five seats in the new government to the pro-capitalists, The industrialists/lamdowner s, (backed by the United States,

ATKIN'S P

powertul right-wing regimes in Central America and the 5,000 members of the crack National Guard who escaped fully armed into Honduras) hoped to use these concessions to regain power.

FSLN PUSHES FORWARD

The people of Niceragua, lead by the the FSLN, were not blind to this manouevre, While not provoking an economic confrontation, they set about the building of an alternative political power based on local councils, a popular militia and a professional army all under the command of the FSLN and not the government, This gave them leverage in the economic arena as well. 20% of industry and 40% of land is already expropriated. In addition a series of price, production and trading controls, monitored by the mass organizations have been imposed, Needless to say, this has not pleased the pro-capitalists, They have responded by withdrawing from the government, exporting their assets (ie. cutting production) and refusing to plant the cotton crop, Moreover the international situation is not very favourable for the procapitalists. American intervention is made less likely by their inability to intervene in Iran; the rightwing regimes in El Salvador and Honduras are busy fending off their own revolutionary opponents and feuding among themselves, In this situation the FSLN has been

OPOSALS

... the ugly results of British rule In Ireland...” mittees could delay but not veto new legislation. These proposals were given a qualified welcome by Unionist leaders, but within a few days they had all rejected them outright. In reality the green paper has already failed. It has come up against the reality of Unionist refusal to reach an accomodation with the Catholic middle class at any level, their insistance on control of 'security! and the impossibility of even the SDLP agreeing to anything less than a fundamental restructuring of the Northern state,

UNIONIST DIVISIONS

This failure makes a deeper failure of unionism as the bulwark of British imperialism in Ireland. By any definition of bourgeois politics the Official Unionists are behaving irresponsibly in refusing to discuss the British proposals. But they have no choice, The decay of the native capitalist class on which they were based and their life or death struggle with Paisley means that they can no lonyer serve asa‘: reliable base for imperialist interests,

PAISLEY A THREAT

At some points during the Stormont talks the British must have hoped that Paisley would serve as their faithful representative. However his posturing since then must have convinced them otherwise. The protestant petty—bourgeoisie on which Paisley bases himself are too bigoted and unstable to serve in this role. Their rise to power would only be accomplished by a total Suppression of Northern Catholics and this a destabilisation of all Ireland. This does not mean that Paisley does not remain a major threat. It does mean that the British are not about to throw their weight behind him,

HAUGHEY'S PROPOSAL S

» This gradual under standing of Unionist incompetence and inability ness. able to take strong measures, in the form of more factory and land seizures, against the pro-capitalists.

DIVISIONS AND DEMOCRACY

The only wéak plank of the Revolution at this stage is the possibility of internal division. As the economy remains weak and living’ standards are low sectional differences within the "WOPKEF s and toifers tend to become flashpoints, The FSLN has not always resolved these differ-— ences smoothly. For example, the FSLN unions have carried out mass mobilizations against trade union leaders (mainly the pro-Stalinists who themselves are jockeying for position) of the more established and stable industrial workers, who have been demanding better wages, Many of these trade union leaders were arrested and briefly impris— oned, Such actions can only jepordize revolutionary unity.

In general the FSLN has recognized this, and in nearly all cases has conceded wage demands and restored.

unity with the non-FSLN unions, In doing so the FSLN recognizes that the needs of the workers are real and urgent, and that the problem lies elsewhere- in the increasing sabotage of the economy by the pro- Capitalists. .— Despite inevitable errors the FSLN has a strong commitment to popular democracy. Such democracy alone can facilitate maximum mass unity which allows full concentration against pro-capitalist sabotage, to rule has been parallelled by a growing British interest in Haughey's proposals. It's no wonder, for these proposals: dual citizenship, continued Unionist rule and partition in a federal Ireland structure and the end of Irish neutrality, add up to the restabilisation of imperialist rule in Ireland as a whole. But a dissatisfaction with Unionism and a new reconciliation with the Nationalist bourgeoisie doe not mean that the British are about to turn on the Unionists and open full scale negotiations with Haughey.

No matter what the attractions of an all-Ireland solution, the dangers of a further weakening of Unionism and of all-ireland destabilisation are powerful disincentives.

MORE REPRESSION

' So the attempt to install a stables _ regime in the North is likely to be pur sued with a grim determination by Atkins and Thatcher. This will mean pressure on the Unionists and even greater pressure on the SDLP.

Above all it will mean increased repression of the anti-unionist population. The Loyalists have jumped on this issue and spoken with almost total unanimity, only pausing to try and outdo each other i1 levels of vicious This should serve asa | warning .gainst any illusions that the extent of differences within the Unionist bloc will prevent things getting worse, or that they can be appeased by calling off the struggle against partition. Anti-imperialists must work all the harder for the prisoners in Armagh and the H Blocks and give leadership to the nationally-minded Irish masses by demanding an end to the talks with the British and the Loyalists. The SDLP must be forced out of the talks and Haughey made to put his money where his mouth is.

Anything else would be just collaboration covering over the grim and ugly results of British rule in Ireland,

JOHN NORTH

aS a Fare, el

POBLACHT SHOISIALACH

“i SOCIALIST REPUBLIC Paper of PEOPLES’ DEMOCRACY THE PEOPLES DEMOCRACY bases the following points: itself on We agree that the central political, ism and that the central the Irish revolution of the national question ment of political independence, We are united the claim that any to the oppression of the framework, any to continue partition, “Aas Marxists we believe thet the capitalist state must be smashed state and replaced by a workers!

and that only political question for the Irish pe ople is the economic and military domination of Ireland by imperial— task for is the solution through the ending of partition and achieve— and economic in our rejection of lasting solution Irish people can be found within a 6 count y and in rejection of "right" of the Loyalist minority the organised wor— the here. olution will ression. “s Marxists, imperialism, able to comtrol binning king class can prowide the motive force for doing this. We believe that a crucial capitalist oppression and this is especially so in Ireland, given the history of clerical Women are oppressed as a sex and ewen a successful rev— not automatically Qquar— antee the elimination of this opp— For this reason, conditionally support the right of women to organise independently to fight for thelr emancipation.

we believe that the working class has the ability to successfully challenge and defeat It produces the wealth of society without being or distribute it. it is potentially stronger than any other other class because of its ability to organise on amass base, its economic strength and If you are interested In joining 4=Je) People's Democracy and working for a 32 County Workers Republic, write Weaccept that right to defend themselwes against imperialism. accept the Ideology of militarism -—the belief that armed groups can substitute themselves for the masses and win freedom for them.

area of is women, power we un— ship, ism. ist. com— ual We believe organised and experienced | eader— in a Marxist the Leninist ganisation: of which The organisation It commits an organised discussion with rep— resentatiwes of the Fourth national affiliation to the Fl. the organisation may hold indivic— membership of the Fi. for more information to: CONNOLLY BOOKSHOP, Avoca Park, Ander sonstown, Belfast, or 38 Clanawley Road, Killester, Dublin 5 its strength of numbers. workers have the However, we donot im the building of an Party based on theory of party or— the central feature is democratic central— is international — itself to hol ding Inter— om the question of Members of

FIANNA FAILS ARIS CRISES:

Let us have a United Ireland Lord...but not yet The recent series of articles in the May, June, and July issues of the monthly current affairs magazine, Magill, which seek to uncover the real story behind the 1970 Arms Crisis, are of major interest to.

all these who wish te see an end to British rule in Ireland.

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE,

The story behind the removal of three prominent Ministers from the 1970 Fianna Fail cabinet, and then the dismissal by the courts of the charges made against Charlie Haughey and others, ef illegal gunrunning te the North, has not been adequately told up tonew. A genuine conspiracy of silence has cloaked one of the most vital turning points in recent Irish history. All the politicians centrally involved, from Jack Lynch and Liam Cosgrave through to Haughey himself, have done their best to discourage discussion.

Some of them, such as Jim Gibbons and Des O!Malley, have threatened libel action. For this reason the magazine's editor Vincent Browne had to go to the extraordinary lengths of having the 'Arms Crisis!!!

articles printed in England and then resort to ad hoc distribution arrangements in Ireland. This has meant that although Magill's normal circulation of 35,000 has shot up to around 80,000, large numbers of Irish people, especially in the Six Counties, remain in ignorance of its contents. The main sectors of the mass media have collaborated in the conspiracy of silence. RTE!'s Frontline programme was prevented from covering the issue by a directive from Director-General George Waters. The daily press has been just as bad, only choosing to make some comments on relatively trivial parts of the story. The fullest 'coverage! they gave resulted from the fracas kicked up in the Dail by Noel Browne, and those loyal little pro-British quislings on the Fine Gael and Labour benches. Who do they think they are with their talk about 'threats to democracy!? Remember the late unlamented Cosgrave coalition and its pro-Brit policies: * I|'We must say or do nothing which might antagonise the Northern Unionists!' -- a call for collaboration which only encouraged the loyalists to become more confident they could get away with their bigotry. * The introduction of systematic police torture and the attempted frame-up of Osgur Breatnach and the IRSP?

VALUABLE INFORMATION.

The Magill series on the 1970 Arms Crisis tells us an awful lot. Unfortunately Socialist Republic does not have the space or resources to cover all the details. But the most important new information can be highlighted. Most of this seems to come from the personal diaries of Peter Berry, who at the time of the Arms Crisis was Secretary to the Department of Justice, the top civil servant in the 26 County state in charge of suppressing the IRA. Vincent Browne uses the information from Berry and other sources to show as conclusively as possible that: * The plan to import arms for use in defending the North's Catholic ghettoes had full government authorization. Jack Lynch lost éffective control of cabinet policy after August 1969, For example the famous !'!we won't stand idly by!'!

speech, broadcast on RTE after the Battle of the Bogside, and which gave the impression that the 26 County government was prepared to take real action such as the sending of troops across the border, was in fact written by Haughey and Blaney after the cabinet had thrown out Lynch's draft speech prepared by his civil servants. Blaney and Haughey were the main participants in a sub-committee in charge of Northern policy. This group authorized the paying over of money for 'relief'. Berry became aware of the arms importation plan in October 1969 through two police spies in the IRA Army Council. and informed Jack Lynch. (Both of these incidentally were on the 'Official' side in the IRA split. The 26 County police had no inside information on the Provisionals when they were set up. So much for the theory that the split was created by the agents of the 26 County ruling class!) Irish Army intelligence officer, Captain James Kelly reported the following from a meeting in Gerry Fitt!'s home on September 13: NF itt made clear the urgency of the situation and that it was of paramount importance to get in arms immediately... '!no, you have it all wrong. It (civil war) could happen any time. It could happen this minute. ! Fitt said." (Magil!

May 1980, p. 40). - Many similar incidents are detailed. * Jack Lynch sat tight on the information about the arms importation, claiming later that he only knew of the plan in April 20, 1970. He avoided the issue right up to the last possible minute, and probably would not even have sacked Blaney and Haughey until his hand was forced by Liam Cosgrave. Cosgrave was leaked the information, and after failing to have it printed in the press, went to Lynch. * Haughey tried to shift responsibility for the arms importation on to the other court defendants, avoiding the issue of governmental _authorization. Haughey's line of defence that he 'knew nothing!

endangered Captain Kelly and John ‘Kelly's defence since they could not possibly argue ignorance of what was done. He callously dis-— regarded Captain Kelly's appeal to use the most effective line of defence -- telling the truth.

The court threw out the prosecution case, thus accepting the Kelly argument that there was governmental authorization. Haughey was able to use the ambiguity created by his own "Me fein!! defence to continue merrily along with his Fianna Fail career.

DON'T TRUST FIANNA FAIL

What lessons can be drawn from this? The main one is to avoid secret and ambiguous deals with Fianna Fail. This party will go to any lengths, (including material aid to 'violent subver sives'), to protect its hold over its supporters who genuinely desire a United Ireland. It must be pressured openly and publicly and not allowed to slip through loopholes it is adept at creating. At its heart is the insoluble contradiction of wanting a United Ireland but avoiding spelling out how it can be achieved. Behind this screen it manoeuvres to fantastic lengths, usually collaborating enthubiastically in the only 'Irish dimension!

it is allowed 'by peace and in agree agreement with! its British masters -- the suppression of anti-imperialists who genuinely try to end the evil of partition.

JAMES GALLAGHER