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MSinn Feins_ election involvement didn’t come about by accident. The abilitv of the movement -in 1981 to ensure that Bobby Sands was elected didn’t come about by _accident either. There were a number of people in the Republican Movement who for a number of years believed that areas like Fermanagh, South Tyrone, Mia Ulster, areas like West Belfast had potential for inflicting poll defeats / against nationalist collaborators and in creating a republican veto over British attempts and SDLP attempts to sell down the stream the war and struggle.

You have to be very wary of what potential the elections have unleashed. For example, as John McAnuity said, if voting could have got one anywhere, the British, and infact ail the colonial powers, would have banned it years ago. All we’re managing to do is exploit certain weaknesses .in..the nature of British colonial rule ¥ in the North of Ireland - thats all we’re managing to do, But this electoral intervention has its weak‘nesses, it has its Strengths. Its weaknesses are pitfalls which no revolutionary organisation or revolutionary should allow himself or herself to fall into. There is a danger and it has been warned against, of falling into clientelism with regards to the constituency advice centres which have absolutely no use unless we are to raise the consciousness of the people.

HThe positive developments of the recent mandate giyen to Sinn Fein hav obviously been seen, in overturn-:

ing British __ prop-: aganda on Ireland which ° has stated that the popular Republican struggle had no support. That’s how they were able to introduce criminalisation, build the HBlocks and stick young men and women away and weaken the struggle We were able to overturn that by — our political successes. We were able to show in America, in Europe,. - Australia and elsewhere that the nationalist people of the North remain undefeated, that the nationalist people of the North despite what they had gone through, were infact certain where they were going. Remember the conditions against which Sinn Fein gained its. first’ 65,000 votes and then the 100,000 plus votes. What we were fighting, and indeed when the IRA announced the strategy of the long war, what we were saying was this; the British are not going to be got out of Ireland constitutionally. The British are going to have to be’ fought ou a number ‘or separate fronts. It was going to take a considerable amount of time to remove the British presence from Ireland and during the course of that revolution because that’s what it’s going to be),.will be the will be the flourishing of certain ideas with regard to the liberation of every single man, woman and child with regards to attitudes in the home, our attitudes towards gay people, our attitudes towards how economics is generated, how people live, how property should be redistribut -ed. And that is. in fact, wnat’ we hope to gain at the end of the day - complete and avovillte control of vur lives and to be able to determine what we do with our lives.

‘certainly unique wi regards to the liberation Struggles in other countries throughout the world and, in particular, in other 3rd _ world countries. For example, the struggle here is being fought against a background of mass media disinformation and information. No other struggle took place against such a_ background, no other successful struggle, and in fact it is true to say that whenever we fight with ‘an Armalite in one hand and a ballot paper in the other it’s an experiment, an historic experiment. Whenever the Yanks were fighting in Viétham and whenever the Vietcong were fighting aganst them and indeed in Namibia, in Angola, in Mozambique,. none of those soldiers were ' faced with the exact repercussions of their actions against the enemy. But every time a shot is fired in the North of Ireland, or a landmine is exploded, and there are fatalities or casualties, the media draws through the mill the exact effect of that operation on the total community here.

I think the Nationalist people of the North have to be congratulated, and certainly the Republican movement has to be clapped on the back, considering what it has withstood over t going to be a long struggle, the political successes are only going to reap certain benefits to the struggle, They have shown there is popular support, they have overturned British propaganda. Now what we hope to do, and indeed this is where the problem arises, because proNOW! blems always arise from success, the problems which we face North, South and in Britain and internationally, have to be analysed, have to be examined and we have to come up with strategies which dovetail on The Republican move- cochlea: oe ment has developed as a the North, and indeed if we are to develop these in the South where people largely consider the institutions of thr state as legitimate presents us with major difficulties and Ihonestly going toovercome them. one who stands for electPeople who are not particularly tied to our traddition can put forward certain strategies which ‘are difficult for the Republican Movement to overcome, because interested in getting into Britain divided Ireland parliament for their own in 1920 with the Gov-, ends and for their secternment of Ireland Act jonal ends and not for and whenever she the ends of the people. enforced that in 1921, We are going to have to actual” recogonition of remember this point Free State institutions. whenever we discuss the and not just the Oath way forward. Secondly, of Allegiance which De jnside the North, I Valera was later to believe that fhe Nationditch, but the actual alist community is basicinstitutions of the state ally sound. We've had “Indeed, down “es one has often been internment. considered as a traitor if one ever entered into institutions which other men and women had ‘died opposing. The republican split in 1969 enforced that division and it presents major (problems to us. For example, if Sinn Fein, in order to develop the the popular struggle in the North, in order to link in with and properly represent working-class interests, advocate entry into Leinster house, it would still present major problems and possibly certain fronts. insuperable Beoblems : tentially split electoral successes in afraid that we would attract to our movement people who are really interested in _ political careers. At the present point in time, given the abstentionist policy of the Republican movement and the fact that, don’t know how we are at least internally, any— ion has to declare an oath of allegiance to the Republican movement, republican philosophy. and ideology, I would be afraid that we would attract to our movement people who would be unfortunately whenever dbating chambers, into many crosses to bear, vil War. ment and from t ? tern the decad- blocks which replaced The H-Blocks and Arm-_ agh gaol were filled with young men and women on the basis of signed, forced incriminating statements made by these people under spells of 7 days in Castlereagh, Gough barIF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE PEOPLES DEMOCRACY AND FIGHTING FOR A SOCIALIST 32 COUNTY REPUBLIC, FILL IN THE FORM BELOW AND SEND IT TO: connolly bookshop, NAMES Sos scisescacrer cea, iiaktaatenneneynteessagees PUD RE Sa iisrirss cacacscsisras Greta teso iting racks and Strand road.

Whenever the Brits found that that had been, blown wide open the Brits then moved from there to the present strategy of using hired perjurers. Now we're going to have to mount a street campaign against that which will also have its limitations because the British 7pp- , reciate - absolutely the value.of this strategy.

It has the potential of tending the National st community apart, it cert- , ainly creats distrust and of course a major by-product of if is that Republican ‘activists, along with ordinary people, are going to go to gaol for long periods of time. We ate going ti ' have to determine strategies and tactics to fight all these problems. The electoral victories give us the opportunity to link in with people in Britain who sympathise with National unity, But to this day, no organisation, along with ourselves let me modest- .

ly add, has produced, or finalised a strategy for British withdrawal.

We come up with statements like ‘Disarm the RUC or UDR!’ or with statements like ‘Immediate, total British withdrawal!’ and yet the various scenarios are going to present us with and it is prepared _to develop its strategy as it goes along.

MI believe that we totally and absolutely need unity but I also think that comrades in other organisations have .to bear respect for the traditions of the Republican Movement.”’ 6, avoca park, Annee neat ee en er ewnensesetenneee Peaseenneae

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result of certain divis- so we have many, many ions in Ireland and problems to face. Also I certain attitudes. The ould personally “be