Fergus O'Hare Tours US

Fergus O'Hare has just returned from a two-week speaking tour of the United States. The tour was organised by the New York H Block/Armagh committee and covered cities and towns in the north east of the country.

Cllr O’Hare addressed a large number of meetings of activists and supporters of the-H-Block struggle and as a result a number of new H-Block support groups have been formed to carry on the work of building support for the prisoners. In addition he addressed councillors and aldermen in several cities on the H-Block situation. He met with Councillors in Pittsburgh City Hall, addressed a packed meeting of the city council in Burlington Vermont, received a standing ovation and was presented with an official citation from the Massachusetts State Cllr O'Hare also used the opportunity to explain and seek support for the Irish cause among other ethnic groups in the U.S. He met with leaders of the American Indians. As a result, several Indian chiefs will be coming to Ireland to visit ‘the prisoners and to address a public rally. Similarly, discussions were held with people involved in the American black movement.

LABOUR MOVEMENT Discussions were held between Cllr Q’Hare and many of those involved in Irish support work, including leaders of Noroid, the Irish National Caucus, and the Irish American Labour Coalition. The latter group is a newly formed organisation which represents many of the largest Tradé Unions in the U.S. It was formed with the intention of involving the U.S. labour movement in the Irish solidarity campaign. The urgency of the H-Block situation and the vital importance of the American labour movement taking effective action against Britain in terms of boycotting British goods was emphasised by Cllr O'Hare.

IMPERIALISM Cllr O'Hare also spoke with representatives of the American Socialist Workers Party and other left-wing groups and impressed upon them the importance of the Irish struggle in the overall battle against imperialism.

Overall the tour was a major success in terms of helping spread the truth about the H-Block struggle. Also in terms of assessing the situation in the Irish support movement in the U,S.. Basically the position is that there is very widespread sympathy and interest in the situation in Ireland, not only among Irish Americans, but right across all layers of American society. The potential for building a massive support campaign is there. Problems exist in terms of disunity among various groups. Steps must be taken immediately to build a united outward looking campaign which can mobilise the massive sympathy that exists into a powerful crusade of support for the prisoners.