The NATO Threat

Over the past few years the “arms race” | wath the Soviet Union has accellerated aad NATO has continuously seturbished its military capacity. A mazjor problem, however, was the weakness of Britain’s air defence sysiem. This became a cause foi | serious concern when the Soviets | developed a “backfire” bomber a= attack on Britain from the Atint in the west rather than from Britain had to completely over its air defences. Ireland immediately became an attractive area for Jocating part of a new string of vadar stations. One such station has giveady been installed at Bishopscourt, Co. Down.

For a really effective air defence system Britain needs to extend its radar facilities south of the border. Earlier last year, Michael Mates, Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, admitted as much on RTE radio. Simce then, an earth satellite station has been built on the South West coast in Midleton, Co. Cork, instead of Dublin where most telecommunications traffic originates. The Irish government’s Minister for Telecommunications at the time, Albert Reynolds, could not explain this unusual decision. He merely stated that it was taken “on the advice of a foreign expert”.

Subsequently two more similar stat-. ions were completed in Sligo and Donegal. This gives Britain complete 2ccess to the colossal capacity ot the Irish communications system m the West Coast, via Derry and These developments indicate just how important Ireland has become in the somtext of international military srategy.

This is the starting point of the Jane’s Defence Review. It emphasises the Srategic importance of Ireland “on the Western flank of Europe lying astride the main sea routes between Europe and North America” It proposes that the Irish Army should be “reorientated from its primary anti-subversive emphasis in favour ofconventionalwarfare”. Significantly, the Air Corps gets a severe lashing for its outdated and useless capacity. A major re-equipment is mooted involving massive purchases ot armoured cars, planes and ships. The real soberly states that purchases of this magnitude would necesSitate subsidies rom VATO which Ireland would have several years.

alliance.

All : Pa of NATO arose recently in the context of the Thatcher—Haughey talks. A defence pact between Britain and Ireland was suggested as part of the “special relationship” between the two countries. At the time, Haughey vehemently denied that this would involve entry into NATO. But he hedged behind the formula of “Ireland’s commitment to defence of its European partners”.

NATO LOBBY IN IRISH ARMY NATO of course is the only realistic defence mechanism which the EEC has. It is not surprising therefore that behind the scenes the Irish Army has been gearing itself for joining this alliance. sting comes of course when the Review Several years ago, in a series of interviews with senior officers Conor Brady (Irish Times, March 3, ’77) noted that “there is a strong NATO lobby (among Irish officers) which sees the present quasipolice phase as a necessary evil which ershin Last month the Jane’s' Defence Review published the most comprehensive analysis of the Free State Army to appear for The Review is influential with senior military personnel in Western countries and can be taken as reflecting NATO thinking about the role of Ireland in the Western imperialist Its conclusions give an important insight into the evolution of Ireland’s international relation.

Southern ‘lroops patroi border near Crossmagler key feature of this so-called “policephase” has been the building of an impressive arsenal of modern weapons modelled on NATO basic weapons.

The command staff course was also reorganised to allow for training in “conventional warfare” ala NATO.

For example, tactics up to divisional standard are studied although the Irish Army is not of divisional strength.

In 1979 the FCA was divided off and the Army reorganised on a more profess 1onal basis.

indicates a steady streamlining of the Army with European defence in mind.

As Brady concluded, the Irish Army “is well trained, well officered and capable of adapting at short notice to a broader role such as would be required in NATO”

DANGER FOR WORKERS A whole range of dangers which are of minimal. in the status quo. ‘am All the evidence 1920’s. concern to Irish workers and their allies arise from this gradual but relentless drift towards NATO membership. In the last 10 years defence spending has imcreased by 800% and now stands at £450 m or 1.6% of GNP. To increase expenditure to a level where practical participation in NATO could become a reality would require trebling this figure. The foreign subsidies necessary would increase Ireland’s dependence on imperialism and reinforce the neocolonial nature of our economy. The role of the officer corps in politics would be greatly enhanced. Up till now the fragmented and limited size of the Army command staff has deprived it of any coherent intervention in political life. For example, up to 1978 there was only one rank of General in . the armed forces. Today this has already been increased to nine. Also the co-ordination and contact between land forces, navy and air force has been In an army organised on conventional lines this would change significantly. The command staff would be enlarged and in closer liaison with army officers from colonel onwards currently earning up to £30,000 a year, this would constitute a coherent and socially privileged elite with a direct interest Membership of NATO would mean Ireland becoming Britain’s western shield against nuclear attack. The implication of this for Irish independence and unity is obvious. Membership of NATO would rapidly boil down to integration into the United Kingdom. When the Free State entered the EEC, it committed itself to the aim of a common European Defence Policy. But the other EEC powers already have such a policy, shared with the USA through membership of NATO. The South of Ireland’s foreign policy is said to be governed by the principle of neutrality. We must ask ourselves how long this can last in any meaningful sense if the trends we have revealed continue. One thing is certain: if political parties like Fine Gael, Labour and Kianna Fail remain dominant we will be tying our hands behind our backs. They have put us in danger of losing the very limited gains made through ending direct British control of the South in the The struggles for Irish Unity; against British imperialism; against the danger of nudear war; are therefore linked ina very fundamental way by the threat of NATO membership. Such a disaster must be firmly resisted. : campaign had petered out due to lack of Northern support, and because of , the Republicans’ own lack of politics. There were few mass demonstrations at the time, fewer still confrontations with the Gardai.

On this basis the Irish left began to recover from the traumas of the second inter-party government (1954-57) and forge a precarious unity in action. The high spot of this was probably the referendum campaign of 1968 (PR) against Fianna Fail efforts to to defend Proportional Representation introduce the straight vote. Even then, the national question was raising its head. In reaction, the Labour leaders pushed their party into coalition _ with Fine Gael, with a main aim of preventing the Northern uoubles coming south. Although Noel Browne criticised coalition, he originally proposed it was not broad enough. He wanted an alliance of all people of goodwill behind the Lynch-collaborationist wing of Fianna Fail(!). He remained a loyal opponent of the Labour leaders and supported their . campaign to expel members of the anticoalition Socialist Labour Alliance (SLA). Once Browne was used, in turn, he was thrown. aside Browne’s opposition to Republicanism seems to date from his betrayal by the constitutional Republicans of Clann na Poblachta (over the Mother and Child scheme which was attacked by the Catholic Church hierarchy) and a dispute with Fianna Fail leader Sean MacEntee later on. Browne’s theory of Irish political history is constructed in the following way: Republicanism is an undifferentiated bourgeois mass; it is not qualititatively different from Unionism; incidents like the Civil War and relentless Free State repression of Republicans are merely faction fights.

Worse still Browne’s pacitism leads him to defend the constitutional wing of Republicanism against the physical force people. It would not be so irresponsible if he had not admitted that if he had been a teenager in an Ulster -ghetto, he would have been in the Provos. He has never developed this insight into an analysis of how to solve the 6 County problem. Instead he denounces the Provos, upholds the Union and pleads for evolution towards . Socialism in the semi-colonial South.

Despite his Socialist claims Browne is merely the far-left of the prevailing bourgeois consensus. “In order to delude himself, he calls this consensus “Republicanism’’.

Despite his past record, Browne’s present obsession with defeating the national struggle has eclipsed his interest in ‘social reform. He is another sad example of how a Socialist who errs on this fundamental issue ends up serving the most conservative elements in Irish society. RAYNER LYSAGHT AND PAUL HURLEY