“SINN FEIN The Workers’ Party’s sole representative in Leinster…”
The headline could not be read by machine (it read “Sherlock's Hypocrisy”); the title shown is the article’s opening words. Read the scan for the printed headline.
Socialist Republic1982Labour, the left and left unityPrisoners and the hunger strikesRepublicanism and the IRALoyalism and unionismLabour, the left and left unityPrisoners and the hunger strikesRepublicanism and the IRALoyalism and unionism
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SINN FEIN The Workers’ Party’s sole representative in Leinster House is Joe Sherlock. Before attempting to cover himself in glory by wisely voting against the Coalition budget, Joe Sherlock entered the division lobby to vote against the holding of the Cavan/Monaghan by-election where hunger striker Kieran Doherty TD had his seat.
In this Sherlock and his party were continuing their opposition to the rights of the H Block/Armagh political prisoners. The SFWP denies that the prisoners are political and calls them ordinary criminals. This is unusual since Joe himself, as well as other members of SFWP, are ex-members of the IRA. Joe Sherlock took part in the [RA border campaign in the 1950s. Nowadays SFWP lives off its republican past and puts a “socialist” face on top of it. Many people in the south are not aware that SFWP are now a pro-Unionist party. In Queens University Belfast, during the hunger strike, SFWP members and Paisley’s DUP united to prevent pro-prisoner motions going through the Students Union. All the Republican Clubs (the name of the SFWP in the North) councillors in Belfast lost their seatsto Peoples Democracy and IRSP members because of their refusal to support the prisoneis. Joe Sherlock is in the same tradition as his members in the North who kowtow to Paisleyism. Only by anti-imperialists challenging him at the polls can these facts be brought out effectively. The intervention at the last General Election went some way in exposing the SFWP. Sherlock himself was not challenged and thereby won a seat. This time around there must be an anti-imperialist candidate in Sherlock’s constituency.