Must Be Smashed

then they will accept it.

The confusion among the Republican and Socialist groups is much more dangerous and must be removed. To retreat at this time, to fail to carry through what we set out to achieve would be a major set back for the whole of the Irish working class.

The position of Peoples Democracy is clear and unambiguous. The UWC, UFF, UVF and other assorted orange backwoodsen are imbued with a fascist ideolagy. Whatever their. talk about their working class membership, their actions have been totally reactionary, There can be no compromise with fascism. The anti-imperialist groups must destroy it, or by destroyed by it. We believe that the 6-County state cannot be reformed. The only solution can come about through the creation of an all Ireland Republic. This will only be achieved by clarity of purpose and unity of action among the groups in the North in the face of fascist aggression, and by support from the working class in the south. There must be no retreat. removed. Billy Kennedy, a married man with a wife and 6 children was arrested in June 1971 and charged with “possession of arms’. He was found guilty and was given a sentence of 12 years. When he appealed the conviction he won and was declared a free man. His “freedom” lasted from the moment he walked from the dock to the front steps of the courthouse,where he was met by members of the British Army and promptly taken into custody again!

An internment order was signed and Billy Kennedy has been in Long Kesh ever since. For the past three years since Billy entered the hell-hole his wife Mary has had to bring up their 6 children single-handed. Of their six children, the two eldest, Paddy 15 and Willie 13, were adopted by the Kennedy's when they were left parentless after a car crash. The youngest child is 7 years old.

As well as having to look after the children Mary has had to travel weekly to the Kesh. Despite her burdens Mary has worked tirelessly in the Divis Flats complex to improve social conditions for all the people there. She co-founded the adventure playground in the Flats and has organised outings and holidays for the old and handicapped people of the area. Although suffering from a kidney complaint Mary has been doing this for over four years. Recently she had to have one of her kidneys On Monday May 13th at 6.00 a.m. the British Army burst into the Kennedy home and took Mary away leaving the children alone until 2.00 p.m. that afternoon. She was locked up in Armagh prison and was brought up in front of the sham commission on June 24th, a surprisingly short period of time since she was first detained and a further proof that the Kennedy family are being victimised more than most other people in the anti- Unionist ghettoes. However, the commission re-detained her, which in effect, means that no-one knows when Mary or Billy will ever be released.

Since Mary's internment, three social -workers, whom she has worked with over the years, are looking after the children. But this cannot go on indefinitely because the Local Authorities say that because they are not related to the family they have no right to look after the children. This means the children will have to be put into a children’s home. To oppose the dictates of the Local Axthorities will result in the suspension of the state benefits the children are in receipt of now; to give into this body means the breaking up of the children with the unpredictable effects this will have on them.

This case of the Kennedy’s is a perfect example of how the whole state system is geared towards the complete repression and maximum hardship of all those who dare to speak out against it. The only solution to this corrupt regime that is in existence in the North is to destroy it completely to ensure that there’s no such thing as internment, faceless local authorities and therest of the attributes of the Northern administration.

We support all the protests surrounding the plight of Mary Kennedy but that is not to say that in highlighting Mary’s case we are implying that all the rest of the internees, both men and women, should be kept inside or that there is any justification whatsoever for them being there. We are totally opposed to Internment and see the Kennedy's case as yet one more reason for it’s total abolition.