“INSIDE: DANUS FACTORY SIT=-IN The last three weeks have…”

INSIDE: DANUS FACTORY SIT=-IN 3"

The last three weeks have seen the resurgence of the assassinations of Catholics on a large seale. Many of the bourgeois politicians and the media have blamed the execution of two Belfast judges for setting off this wave of attacks. This explanation totally ignores the fact - that there have been continual attempts on the lives of Catholics, and that many Catholic homes in towns like Antrim have been petrol-bombed, and many Catholic pubs — particularly in July — have been attacked without warning. The increasing viciousness is not something that exists in a vacuum, but is a significant development in the reassertation of Protestant ascendancy in preparation for a return to Stormont.

LOYALIST TAKEOVER Britain's strategy since the U.W.C. strike is to hand back power to the Loyalists, and it is within this framework that the murders must be seen. This hand back of power will take place through the creation of a constitutional convention with a built-in Loyalist majority. To back this convention up there is an impressively armed police force being created with a reserve force recruited exclusively from Loyalist paramilitary organisations. An excellent example of this for those who harbour illusions in the Loyalist majority is the case cited in the ‘Irish Times’ of the 400 members of the Ulster Service Corps applying en masse to join the R.U.C. Reserve, once Rees opened the flood-gates. To make this hand-over as easy as possible, there is at the moment a two-pronged attack on the anti-Unionist minority.

CROPPIES LIE DOWN POLICY The first method of eroding the morale in the anti-Unionist areas is the mass harrassement of those who are known to have anti-imperialist views. This slightly more selective repression is designed to avoid the original errors which the British Army made by alienating the Catholic middle classes through their policy of total repression. Now it is aimed specifically at the working-class.. The other prong of this attack is the assassinations which are being perpetrated on Catholics. Very often it is Catholics as workers who are being attacked, the frequency would indicate that it is rather more than coincidence. Rather it reflects the concrete reality of the sectarian state, where the Protestants although oppressed, can at least ensure that they keep what privileges they have in respect of job opportunities for instance. The attacks are a conscious attempt to drive the ‘taigs’ back into the ghettoes. As the crisis deepens sectarian attacks will increasingly serve as an outlet for the frustrations of the Protestant working class, and will take pressure off the ruling class. It can be seen that British imperialism is well served by these assassinations enabling it in the short term to create an area of stability at a time when Britain itself is going through a very severe crisis.

WORKING WOMEN - THE PROVOS- STUDENTS - BRITAIN -The changing increasing tigures for the level of unemployment in the South have been issued at such.a fast rate, it is almost a daily task to try to keep abreast of them. For the last two months, the economists, Government and employers have been predicting a gloomy period ahead. And, in this they are not far wrong. The increase in unemployment for the last twelve months has jumped from 14% to 20%. Now, the Industrial Development Authority has announced that the increase by the end of 1974 will have reached 25%. “Around 15,000 jobs will be lost in Ireland during 1974, through lay-offs, non-replacement of employees and company closures” said Tom Killeen of the |.D.A. He went on to say “This would represent an increase of 25% in the number of jobs lost in 1973, and most of the fall-out is occurring in the traditional protected Industries.” (Irish Times, Thursday 17th October).

Looking at the areas where unemployment is growing quickest, the building, car, footwear and textile industries, we can see that even greater numbers of workers are soon to be jobless. Forecasts, for example,.on the footwear industry, indicate that 3,500 workers are threatened with short time working and inevitably redundancy. In the car assembly plants some 2,000 men are to lose their jobs; a loss which will have its effects on the near 10,000 workers in its ancilliary jndustries. Predictiofis ON the situation in the building industry have been estimated at 5,000 threatened redundancies. The textile workers within the E.E.C, are also soon to discover that the home industry is not able to compete profitably with European markets.

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