Queens
Unfree Citizen1974Loyalism and unionismBritish troops and the occupationInternment, repression and the courtsLoyalism and unionismBritish troops and the occupationInternment, repression and the courts
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burnt On Wednesday November 20th at a special meeting of the Queen’s University, Belfast Student’s Union, three motions proposed by the Queen’s Democratic Unionist Party branch of Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party were defeated. That night the McMordie Hall where the meeting was held was badly damaged by an Incendiary device.
The first motion under discussion by the meeting came from the union executive. It... condemned “violence” and repression in N. Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Gt. Britain. In particular the motion condemned the Emergency Provisions Act, Offences Against the State Act, Internment, Sectarian Murders, Brutality of British troops and the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland. It also condemned, just to add that nice ‘liberal’ touch: “‘violence by extremist groups in Northern Ireland” and the “‘outbreak of violence in Great Britain”. The mo’.on also mentioned that the solution in Ireland had to be a political one and this had to include “full freedom of political thought’, the “right to work’’, “more equal distribution of wealth’, a “Bill of a majority of over 2 to 1.
defeat the current terrorist 210812 must remain within the United Rights for Northern Ireland”? and “Withdrawal of British Troops’’. The motion also condemned the involvement of the University in military research work for the British army. The metion was passed by The second motion was proposed by the Democratic Unionist Party. It supported the “‘security forces in Northern Ireland in their efforts to campaign’’. It was defeated by over The third motion also proposed by the DUP, said that ‘‘Northern Ireland Kingdom in accordance with the declared wish of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland”. Tis amendment saying that N.I. must remain in the U.K. but that it “must be the cuty of the majority to allow the democratic right of people to pursue in a peaceful arid democratic method their aims for a 32-Co, Republic’?. was passed by clever twisting of words and inuendos for which Queen’s debating chambers are infamous.
The emergency meeting was a direct attempt by the Queens D.U.P. to “take over” the Students Union and enforce their right-wing politics. Thankfully that failed showing that if the student population are not prepared to put up a determined resistance to British imperialism they will at leas* verbally oppose a Loyalist take-over,