NOTE CttANGED VENUE DICK GAUGHAN

k / ^ l a w * / 3-' A.* ^ a-'

No. 507 MAY 1986 30p

IRELAND

/ / NOTE CttANGED VENUE

DICK GAUGHAN STEADY TOP TEN FOLKSINGER

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THURSDAY, 28 MAY 8 pm Admission £2.50 (Concessionaries £1.25)

ONCE MORE THE WESTS —AWAKE—

T H E enormous success of the James Gralton centenary leads Joe Deighan to the conclusion that a reawakening of the radicalism of the early years of this century is presently in prospect.

At the inaugural meeting of a week-end school organised among others by Alderman Declan Bree, there were 110 people from all over the west, but mostly r rom Sligo and Leitrim.

Leitrim was always the most republican :ounty of the West as Sligo was the most adical town.

Opening the weekend, Alderman Bree aid:

"Today many people say Jim Gralton was born before hits time; his ideas and philosophy were too advanced. But I say the opposite. Had James Connolly and his comrades not been shot in 1916, and had Liam Mellows and his colleagues survived the Civil War, and had Gralton and others not been forced into exile, we would now be living in a truly independent state where exploitation and oppression would be no more." Other former Connolly Association

members who were present were Mr Packy Early, himself a south Leitrim man living in Dubl in , and Mr John Meehan. N o doubt there were others too. Regarding Mr Meehan, however, there was great disappointment that he could not give the talk on the future of the small fa rmers that was on the programme. He was taken ill ind had to be rusher! to hospital where we .11 wish him a speedy recovery.

INVALIDS M R S MARY CAMPBELL who was recently knocked down by a car and taken to hospital, has now recovered from bruises and shock and will be spending most of May in Dublin.

M r Noel Harris, who was in hospital for an operation, is now fully recovered, and has returned to work as National Organiser of the VC.T .T .

All readers will wish to send their congratulations.

WEST LONDON

CONNOLLY J D THE WORLD TODAY

Speaker: DR JOHN HOFFMAN

(Leicester University) TRADES CLUB

33 High Street. Acton W3 8 pm

SATURDAY, MAY 31st • SOCIAL AFTERWAR08 * Admission £1.50 (Con £1)

PROTESTS AT REAGAN RAIDS Haughey 'cannot condone'

t <

Paisleyites say 'Now bomb Dublin' IRISH people, north and south of the border, joined in the world-wide revulsion against President Reagan's barbaric attack on innocent civilians in Tripoli and Benghazi.

There were demonstrations before the American embassy in Dublin, and processions of protest in Belfast.

Mr Charles Haughey, leader of Fianna Fail, declared that he "could not condone" this act of aggression, and strongly criticised the coalition government in which the Irish Labour Party sinks ever lower in credibility.

LABOUR WOULD BAN PLASTIC

—BULLETS—

M r Pete r Barry, one haza rds with a heavy hear t , h a d said he dep lo red any ac t ion where lives are lost , but dep lo red " the .terrorist ac t ions that m a k e a t tacks like this necessa ry . "

BLACK-AND-TANS This was the a r g u m e n t used to

jus t i fy the Black-and- tans . As J o h n Mi l t on r emarked , the devil 's jus t i f i ca t ion ' for his f iendish act ions , is always necessity.

P ro ins ias de Rossa showed that the W o r k e r s ' Par ty h a d not complete ly fo rgo t t en its f o r m e r repub l ican i sm by d e m a n d i n g in the Dai l :

" D o e s the Minis ter believe that any s ta te — the UK for ins tance — would be correc t to l aunch an a t tack o n I re land because of terroris t a t t a cks 1 v Irish people in

BRENT

CONNOLLY AND THE WORLD TODAY

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MONDAY, JUNE 2nd :: 8 pm

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Britain — because tha t w a s the logic of what he was s a y i n g . "

M r Haughey pressed the g o v e r n m e n t to try to s ecu re a Uni ted Na t ions initiative.

It w a s of interest t h a t M r de Rossa ' s suggestion was t a k e n seriously at the annual c o n f e r e n c e of M r Paisley's party whe re the re were ser ious suggestions tha t B r i t a i n s h o u l d " b o m b t h e h e a d q u a r t e r s of the I R A . "

SELF-DEFENCE? Like M r s Thatcher , M r Ba r ry

c la imed tha t Reagan was a c t i n g in s e l f - d e f e n c e . - O n e A m e r i c a n apo log is t , asked what R e a g a n was

CONNOLLY FESTIVAL LONDON 1986

FOUR PROVINCES BOOKSHOP

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REPUBLICAN CONGRESS

FRIDAY, 6 JUNE. 1986 = 7 pm Admission FREE

de fend ing himself against , replied against " f u t u r e act ions by the L i b y a n s . " T h a t was b roadcas t once by the BBC. It seemed ra ther to give the show away.

It is c lear tha t the Irish people are overwhelmingly against the Reagan ac t ion , They are not satisfied tha t the b o m b let off in Berlin was of Libyan origin, a n d Reagan a n d T h a t c h e r refuse to disclose thei r "ev idence . " It was Ana to l e F r a n c e who, discussing the D r e y f u s case said " T h e best p r o o f s n o p r o o f . " And the same principle was a d o p t e d by Hit ler 's p r o p a g a n d a m i n i s t e r t h e cre t inous D r Goebbe ls , w h o used to m o u t h s t reams of unsuppor t ed a l legat ions against any coun t ry G e r m a n y was a b o u t to invade.

O n e need not d o u b t that Reagan w o u l d love to get his hands o n L ibyan oil reserves.

The who le disgraceful episode has d o n e m o r e to expose the aims

(Continued on page three)

A P L E D G E tha t a future L a b o u r gove rnmen t would d i scon t inue the use of plast ic bullets in the six count ies has been given by M r Peter Arche r , shadow six c o u n t y secretary.

This p ledge is made a t a t ime when police forces t h r o u g h o u t Britain are busily bui lding u p s tocks in an t ic ipa t ion of waves of p r o t e s t a g a i n s t T o r y w a r adven tu r i sm.

Some peop le who though t they would be i m m u n e are n o w a t t h e receiving end of these le tha l implements , a n d Unionist H a r o l d McClusker , a f t e r the dea th Of a young P ro te s t an t M r Keith W h i t e , has c o m e to the conclusion t h a t they a re n o t nice things at al l a n d should be d iscont inued. M r Paisley o n the o the r hand is still a l l f o r t h e m " w h e n u s e d i n accordance with the r egu la t i ons . "

In the pas t the pa ren t s of Cathol ic chi ldren killed by these weapons have appealed to the i r co-religionists not to h a r b o u r thoughts of revenge. It is p l ea san t to record tha t the parents of M r White a p p e a l e d movingly o n television t h a t the memory of the i r son should n o t be besmirched b y sectar ian violence.

HACKNEY

CONNOLLY AND THE WORLD TODAY

Speaker: DESMOND GREAVES

TRADE8 CLUB (96 Daliton Lane)

LONDON E8

8 pm :: TUESDAY, JUNE 3

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HOLBORN

CONNOLLY MAN AND MESSAGE

Presented in Poetry, Music and Song

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Well known actors and singers

THURSDAY. JUNE 5 :: 8 pm Admission £2.50 (Con £1.25)

Page T w o I R I S H D E M O C R A T MAY 1985

LORD GLENARTHUR'S APOLOGY I H ANK \ o n tor s o u r le t ter of 10 I ebruary enclosing a cops of one f r o m a cons t i t uen t . Mr Cierard ( Lirran, ol 3 D r a s t o n G r o v e . I aling a b o u t the t r e a t m e n t of ln^li w o m e n in Brixton p r i son .

As s o u mas k n o w , there are three w o m e n o n r e m a n d in Brixton Prison — Ms A n d e r s o n . Ms O ' D w y e r and Mrs Sonja S c l m l / e . a n l a s t G e r m a n . Because ot the na tu re a n d c i r cums tances ot the o f fences with which they have been c h a r g e d . a l l t h r e e h a s e b e e n p l a c e d provis ional ! ) in the highest security ca tegory . Ca t ego ry A. which is reserved for those pr i soners whose escape would he highly d a n g e r o u s to the pub l i c , or to the police or to the securi ty ot the Sta le .

Mi C u r r a n referred first to s t r ip searching. I his is a r o u t i n e security measure to which all inmates — male a n d f ema le ( inc luding those on r e m a n d ) — a ie siibjec Such sea rch ing is essential to detect small i t ems ot c o n t r a b a n d — in p a r t i c u l a r w e a p o n s a n d d rugs — which can easily be concealed a b o u t the person a n d which c a n n o t be delecteu by o ther m e a n s of searching. Tin jus t i f ica t ion fo r t h i s m e t h o d of searching is tha t staff d o discover i tems (such as d iugs . syr inges, razors , p las t ic knives s h a r p e n e d into d a g g e r s , and scissors) which they w o u l d not o therwise f ind; a n d the knowledge that these sea rches i.ike place u n d o u b t e d l y h a s a de ter ren t effect . Clear ly , we s h o u l d be neglecting o u r d u t y if we were not to take r ea sonab le p recau t ions to en »ure the safe ty of our s taf f , o the r pr i soners a n d the public in general . But s taff a re well a w a i e of the need t o c a r r y o u t such searches with as m u c h cons ide ra t ion a n d cou r t e sy a s possible and they are only u n d e r t a k e n where the interests of security requi re that they shou ld . 1 he p r o c e d u r e s d o no t . of course , involve an internal e x a m i n a t i o n .

In a c c o r d a n c e with s t a n d a r d pract ice, the three w o m e n in I Brixton are str ip searched be fo re a n d a f t e r cour t appearances , a f te r visits, at the time of cell changes and du r ing wing and cell searches. 1 am sure you will readily unde r s t and the potent ial risk that exists at the t ime of , for example , cour t appea rances and visits (which jointly accoun t for the great ma jo r i ty of occas ions on which Ms Anderson a n d Ms O ' D w y e i h a v e b e e n s t r i p searched) and o u r consequen t concern that a d e q u a t e s a f e g u a r d s should be t aken . This risk is all the greater when the w o m e n a re accused of being involved with a highly sophis t ica ted terror is t o rgan isa t ion . However , such searches are intended not only to prevent i tems being smuggled in to (or out of ) the prison but a l so to detect any th ing which a p r i soner mas fabr ica te or obta in within the es tabl i shment (whether f r o m ano the r p r i soner or o therwise) — hence the need for str ip searches a t the time of cell changes a n d wing and cell searches.

It is not possible to general ise about the f requency with which s t r ip searching may be necessary. This will depend upon a n u m b e r of fac tors , such as the incidence of cour t a p p e a r a n c e s a n d visits, a n d (he securi ty category of the pr isoner conce rned . Moreover, comprehens ive i n fo rma t ion about number s of s t r ip searches is not n o r m a l l y a v a i l a b l e b c c a u s e es tab l i shments are not required to r e c o r d e v e r y s t r i p s e a r c h . However , in view of the small n u m b e r of women in Brixton,

STRIP-SEARCHING MR GERARD CURRAN of West London Connolly Association has been in contact with Harry Greenway, MP over the repeated strip-searching of women prisoners held in Brixton.

MR GREENWAY elicited a lengthy and reasoned reply from Lord Glenarthur of the Home Office, which was sent on to Mr Curran. Mr Greenway seems to have drawn the most comprehensive statement of government policy on this subject, which we publish on this page and invite our readers to study and form their own opinions on. Here is ours: strip-searching is

SADISM DISGUISED AS SECURITY

in lormat ion regarding searches affecting all t h ree of them has , exceptionally. been collected. T h i s is as accurate as possible and shows that many of the claims wh ich have been m a d e a b o u t number s o f s t r i p s e a r c h e s h a v e b e e n exaggerated, some t imes gross ly so. For e x a m p l e , it has been suggested that Ms Anderson a n d Ms O ' D w y e i have each b e e n subject to an average of 50 s t r ip searches per m o n t h . The a v e r a g e monthly f igures f r o m the t ime of their initial recept ion to the end of January a re s h o w n below: (See table — E d ) .

The f igures -show the e f fec t of court a p p e a r a n c e s and the large n u m b e r of visits which r e m a n d pr isoners in general m a y ( a n d which Ms Anderson a n d Ms O ' D w y e r d o ) r e c e i v e . M s C r o w l e y ' s l e t t e r r e f e r r e d specifically to the fact t ha t b o t h p r i s o n e r s r e c e i v e d 21 s t r i p searches be tween 4 a n d 16 November . Brixton 's r e co rds show that Ms Anderson h a d 19 searches d u r i n g this per iod (of which eight were before a n d a f t e r cour t a p p e a r a n c e s and eight were a f te r visits) a n d that Ms O ' D w y e r had 18 (wh ich again inc luded

SEARCHES Before a n d af ter court

a p p e a r a n c e s Alter visits Cell c h a n g e s and wing ot

cell searches T O T A L

Ms Anderson Ms O ' D w y e r

6.4 6.4 13.4 I2.7

5.3 5.4

25.1 24.5

The use of hostages IS Mrs Thatcher encouraging Mr Ian Paisley in his stance of " s c u p p e r t h e A n g l o - I r i s h agreement or I'll scupper law and order in the six counties?"

However unlikely it may seem on the surface, there could well be something in it.

She secured good terms from poor softie Fitzgerald, but she wouldn't mind getting better.

She got the one supreme thing s h e w a s l o o k i n g f o r , t h e abandonment of the national claim to unity. This was given up in defiance of the constitution. She got agreement to co-operate in international affairs. She probably got military undertakings too, but that would be in the secret clauses that have been mentioned in the USA.

BUT S H E had to undertake to give concessions to the Catholics, stop discrimination, relax the Flags and Emblems Act, phase out the UDR and end the supergrass trials and Diplock Courts.

She had to give enough, in a word, to enable Mr Hume to sell the agreement as something better than the IRA could get and to enable Mr Fitzgerald to tell the electorate that he'd sold the country but got a worth-while price for it. Now the Paisleyites are helping

Mrs Thatcher to reMgate on her

bargain. Six months have gone by and the much-boosted reforms are totally invisible.

Catholics in isolated areas are in terror of their lives, and are in effect hostages for Mr Fitzgerald's good behaviour.

And not only is Mrs Thatcher failing to keep her side of the bargain, she is demanding that Mr Fitzgerald should pay more than he contracted. One such demand is that the Republic should show more enthusiasm in extraditing its citizens into the clutches of foreign courts. One can imagine what sort of trial Miss Glenholmes would have got with the hounds of Fleet Street baying for her blood!

ANOTHER demand you would scarcely believe, but it has been seriously made. It is for joint internment of the "men of violence." Hold a moment - it doesn't mean President Reagan. It means republicans north and south of the border. The Idea is to bring back internment in the six counties, but "balance" it with Internment in the Republic.

Of course with all this in mind one can see why the Unionist hard-liners have been treated with kid gloves. They are doing Mrs Thatcher's work for her.

What Mr Fitzgerald should be doing is to say plainly that the agreement is not being kept, and that if Mrs Thatcher does not come dean with her part of it within a reasonable time he will refuse to carry o«t his part of it, demand the return of the six counties and avoid any farther European or NATO eataaglcMMts.

Then Mrs T would he in trouble with her America! misters u d would tare to too dw line.

eight b e f o r e a n d af ter cour t appea rances a n d eight a l ter visits). 1 can assure you that Ms Anderson a n d Ms O ' D w y e r are being t rea ted n o differently f r o m Mrs Schulze or f rom male Category A pr isoners .

Mr C u r r a n also suggested that the p r i soners are being woken every q u a r t e r of an hour dur ing the night . Th i s is not the case. In the in teres ts of security, all Category A pr isoners must be checked in their cells at regular intervals a n d a t night it is necessary to switch on a light to see the pr i soner . Whenever possible, howeve r , a low-powered red cour tesy light is used in order to minimise a n y d i s tu rbance to the prisoner. S ta f f are instructed to carry ou t these observat ions as quietly as poss ible .

In view of the interest which has been s h o w n in the three w o m e n (and par t icu la r ly Ms Anderson and Ms O ' D w y e r ) , the H o m e Secretary a n d I have t aken a personal interest in their cases. We are sa t i s f ied that they are b e i n g t r e a t e d f a i r l y a n d reasonably a n d in acco rdance with Pr ison Rules ; and they have n o t b e e n s u b j e c t t o a n un reasonab le n u m b e r of str ip s e a r c h e s . W e r e f u t e a n y suggestion tha t Ms Anderson and M s O ' D w y e r a r e b e i n g d iscr iminated against on the g round of sex, race or religious d e n o m i n a t i o n , or that they are being t rea ted in a m a n n e r calculated to harass , humil ia te or degrade t hem.

IRISH SEA POLLUTION

MR BRIAN STOWELL. lecturer in physics at the polytechnic, addressed Liverpool Trades Council on the subject o f the radio-active pollution of the Irish Sea on Thursday, April 17th.

There was a lively discussion in which the question of Iheemployment of workers in the nuclear industry was mooted. Mr Stowell explained that what the Connolly Association wanted was a cessation of radio-active emissions. It did not want the plants closed down unless this was the only way to stop them.

There was reference to the hostile reception given to the "Greenpeace" ship at Barrow-in-Furness and elsewhere. The Connolly Association had advised them to come to Liverpool, where they could be sure of a good welcome, but they had ignored this advice.

t he delegate of the National Union ol Seamen look away copies of the Association's pamphlet for distribution amongst his members.

The subject was also dealt with at a meeting of Central London Cunn'olly Association addressed by ProfessOT James Jeffery, who said that nuclear energy was no t n e c e s s a r y . T h e r e w a s a m p l e alternative power available, fossil and renewable. But some scientists had guilty consciences over their invention of the atom bomb which has hung over two generations, and they try to excuse themselves by pretending there is n o alternative to atomic energy.

Copies of the pamphlet, containing detailed scientific facts about the pollution of the Irish Sea, against which the Irish government and all political parties have protested, can be obtained post free £0.20 from Michael F. Mortimer, 24 Kingsway Waterloo, Liverpool 22. or from the Four Provinces Bookshop at 244-246 Grays Inn Road, London, W.C.I , open 11 am to 5.30 pm Tuesdays to Saturdays — those wishing to call on a Monday should telephone as there is often somebody there. Phone 01-833-3022.

New books at Four Provinces C O M E a n d e x a m i n e t h e s e exciting new titles at t h e - F o u r Provinces B o o k s h o p 244 /246 Grays Inn R o a d . Add 15% f o r postal o rde rs .

THE IRISH H U N G E R STRIKE bv Tom Collins £6.95; THE PEOPLES O F

•IRELAND by Liam de Paor £6.95; T H E I.R.A. AT WAR 1 9 1 6 T O T H E P R E S E N T -Illustrated History £ 12.50; THE MURDER MACHINE by Padraig Pearse £3.75; TRAGEDIES O F KERRY by Dorothy Macardle (out again at last) 50p; T H E WORDS O F J A M E S CONNOLLY Ed by James C. Heron £5.95; GARRET T H E ENIGMA by Raymond Smith £6.50; AN END TO S I L E N C E by Des Wilson £5.95; THE HISTORY O F THE IRISH IN BRITAIN - A BIBLIOGRAPHY £2 50; WOLFF, T O N E AND THE C O M M O N NAMe. uF IRISHMAN by Hubert Butler £1.50; B E Y O N D NATIONALISM by Desmond Fennell £9.50; PROTESTANT NATIONALISTS IN REVOLUTIONARY IRELAND — Leon O'Broin £20.00; T H E STONE FIDDLE by Paddy Tunney (remaindered) £4.50; MODERN IRISH STORIES (From the Irish Times) £5.95; BRENDAN BEHAN'S ISLAND £4.95; BRENDAN BEHAN'S NEW YORK £4 95; THE FEMALE LINE by Northern Irish W o m e n W r i t e r s £ 3 . 0 0 ; P A U L I N E BEWICK - PAINTING A LIFE by James White £20.00; H E L L O , IS IT ALL OVER? by Mauyan Keane £2.50; IRISH WOMEN IMAGE AND ACHIEVEMENT Ed by E i b h l i n ni C h u i l l e a n a i n £ 6 . 9 5 ; PORTRAITS O F THE IRISH by Liam Blake and Elgy Gillespie £10.95; O L D DAYS, O L D WAYS by Olive Sharkey £ 11 95; OPEN C U T by Jerry O'Neill £9.95; TRAVELLER by Nan Joyce £4.95; S H A D O W S - P H O T O ALBUM OF THE IRISH P E O P L E 1841-1914 £ 9 . 9 5 ; IRELAND'S FIELD DAY by Deane, Heaney, Kearney. Kiberd, Paulin £5.95; A S H O R T H I S T O R Y O F I R I S H LITERATURE by Seamus Deane £6.95;

COBBETT IN IRELAND - A WARNING TO ENGLAND Ed by D. Knight (£4.95; BRIAN BORU KING O F IRELAND by R. C. Newton £19.50; DEORAITHE by Donal MacAmhlaigh £4.00; AN t-OILEANACH by Tomas O Crohan (new edition) £4.85; ISLAND C R O S S TALK by Tomas O Crohan £3.95.

(Add 15% of book price for postage and packing if ordering by mail).

M r Patrick Bond writes: J E R R Y O'Nei l l c a m e down to the F o u r Provinces Bookshop o n e evening a couple of m o n t h s ago t o w e l c o m e o l d f r i e n d s a n d au tog raph copies of his new novel 'Open Cu t ' , which has a t t rac ted much favourab le c o m m e n t . J e r ry is the fo rmer p ropr i e to r of the Sugawn Kitchen in Is l ington 's Balls Pond R o a d where he p roduced scores of Irish plays — many written by himself — and a great ri-ra agus rauille-buaille was had by all.

Most un fo r tuna te ly , the night he came down, Je r ry h a d jus t had a fall and u n k n o w n to himself had dislocated his co l l a rbone , a n d was in such pain tha t he had to get a taxi home a f t e r qu i t e a shor t t ime, d isappoint ing a n u m b e r of la te comers .

Anyhow, he is coming down* again on Fr iday , M a y 9 th , from 7.00 till 9.00 pm to the b o o k s h o p , 246 Grays Inn R o a d , so c o m e , down and meet h im this t ime, and shake his h a n d , though i t ' s advisable not t o p o u n d him on the back . Supplies of the b o o k will be available.

LIVERPOOL CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION WEDNESDAYS :: 7.30 pm

AUEW, Mount Pleasant May 20th - "ROBERT TRESSELL" June 25th - BRONTERRE O'BRIEN

Speaker: DESMOND QREAVE8

MAY 1985 I R I S H D E M O C R A T Page Three

APARTHEID NOT A TILT AT A PROVISIONAL WINDMILL FOR CORK CITY T O P S o u t h African d i p l o m a t Mr Leo Evans was prevented by d e m o n s t r a t o r s f r o m address ing a d e b a t e under the auspices of Univers i ty College Phi losophica l Society.

T h e p lanned mot ion was " t ha t the m o r a l case against Sou th Afr ica a n d its policies reflects the t r i u m p h of p r o p a g a n d a over t r u t h . " It was much as to say that the o p p o n e n t s of apar the id were a pack of liars.

M r E v a n s h a d e x t r e m e d i f f i cu l ty getting to his hotel which was a centre of ex t ravagan t secur i ty . Demons t r a to r s met him at t h e a i r p o r t , f rom which he was smugg led under police escort af ter a n a t t e m p t to leave in a self-drive ca r , a ccompan ied by his a ide , was foi led by protesters lying in the r o a d w a y .

By J I M SAVAGE T h e r o o m in the science block

where the debate was to have been held was thronged long be fo re the d e b a t e was due, a n d on the mot io i ; of a lecturer w h o defied the c h a i r t o make his p roposa l tha t the debate shou ld be a b a n d o n e d , t h e m e e t i n g d i spe r sed . By then M r Evans h a d le f t , still protes t ing tha t the S o u t h Afr ican gove rnmen t had been misunders tood .

P e o p l e described the act ion of the Phi losophical Society as an insul t t o the City of C o r k . A n d P r o f e s s o r B. E. O ' M a h a n o y of the d e p a r t m e n t of ph i losophy was at p a i n s to make clear tha t the inv i t a t ion to the First Secre tary , o r D e p u t y Ambassador , was in no w a y c o n n e c t e d w i t h h i s d e p a r t m e n t or the s tuden t society tha t ope ra ted within it.

REAGAN

W E W I L L , I believe, agree on the need for a mass m o v e m e n t in Britain on the issue of Ireland. The s tumbl ing block to such a mass movement is the disunity that exists here. The Connol ly A s s o c i a t i o n ( C A ) h a s a n impor t an t role to play in creat ing a united mass movemen t but cannot d o so because thei r policy is inconsistent and unclear . I would be obliged if you would give me the space to a rgue that point of view.

Y o u h a v e , in t h e I r i s h Democra t ( ID) d e n o u n c e d the ' p a c i f i s t a p p r o a c h ' a n d in ' U N I T Y ' the pape r of the C o m m u n i s t Par ty of Ireland (CPI) your na t ional organiser Paul Gi lhooley has d e n o u n c e d " inver ted imper ia l i sm" . You do not name the o rgan isa t ion which suscribes to such policies but I can identify myself and T h e C P G B in these s ta tements . If such is not the case you have a simple remedy.

The term 'nea r pacifist pos i t ion ' was first used by the E d i t o r in I D October '84. It was a response to my disagreement at the CA conference held in March that y e a r , w i t h G e r r y A d a m s ' s t a t e m e n t p u b l i s h e d in An Phoblacht that there is a moral right to kill. The te rm pacifist cont inues to be used in I D but without any reference to the a rgumen t . Firstly, l a m not a pacifist . As a m e m b e r of the a rmed forces I had a close acqua in tancesh ip with deal ing in dea th , and would d o it again

A REPLY

should the circumstances w a r r a n t it. But my reasons would be pragmatic belief that I have the weapons , tha t is to say, the mora l r ight to deprive people of their lives. As to the a r g u m e n t , I said that if Gerry A d a m s ' p ropos i t ion were to c o m m a n d widespread suppor t , it wou ld s t rengthen , not the hands of the oppressed , as he intended, bu t the hands of those with access to weapons , tha t it to say, the o p p r e s s o r s a n d the i r S t a t e machine. The moral right to kill is not a work ing class need a n d it would be dangerous fo r the

— Continued from page one

of Amer i can imperial ism than a l ib ra ry of books. And the c o n t e m p t i b l e part played by Mrs T h a t c h e r has led to a s l ump in T o r y poll ratings in Bri ta in .

Fi rs t repor ts were tha t the USA w a n t e d to use Bri t ish-based b o m b e ' s , but that M r s Tha tche r w a s resisting. T h e n , o n e by one the bul le t ins changed .

T h e widespread suspic ion is t ha i M r s Thatcher was not asked. S h e was T O L D . And the reason f o r b r ing ing Britain in to it at all was polit ical , namely t o create a p receden t for a large-scale pre-e m p t i v e strike with nuclear w e a p o n s against Russia which is R e a g a n ' s reason fo r his immense b u i l d - u p in Europe . He was tes t ing Britain's polit ical defences.

T he significance of all this for I r e l and is that the c o u n t r y is being e d g e d into an ugly plot . The Angol - I r i sh agreement is said to h a v e secret clauses, which provide f o r mili tary c o m m i t m e n t s the g o v e r n m e n t s dare not disclose to t h e publ ic . It is widely believed t h a t this is the reason fo r the lame d e f e n c e offered by M r Barry .

T h e r a t i f i c a t i o n b v t h e O i r e a c h t a f of M r Fi tzgera ld ' s t r e a t y of capi tula t ion would be o n e m o r e " b l o w t o I r i s h i ndependence and we hope it will n o t t ake place.

part icular c i rcumstances . I will refer to t w o differences between the s i tua t ions in South Afr ica and N. I re land.

( I ) T h e A f r i c a n N a t i o n a l Congress a n d Nelson M a n d e l a have dec la red that they have resorted t o violence because they are denied the right to take pa r t in peaceful pol i t ics . The Provis iona l IRA and S inn Fein have declared that they a r e resort ing t o violence despite the fac t that they have the right to t a k e part in peacefu l politics. " T H E B A L L O T A N D T H E B U L L E T " is their dec la red policy.

LETTER FROM MR BERT WARD working class to subscribe t o the not ion tha t it is. The mora l r ights that worke r s should be c o m b i n i n g to d e m a n d are those rights which will u n d e r m i n e the power of the ruling class, such as the rights to work , equal i ty , and par t i c ipa t ion in decision making.

F E I C R E A N A C H (ID Feb-ruary, 1985) refers to 'the right wing pos i t i on ' that c o n d e m n s Republ ican violence but no t the violence of the African N a t i o n a l Congress . He sees this as be ing inconsis tent and "chauv in i s t i c " . (There is an implication the re f o r his own posi t ion if he th inks a b o u t it). It is no t sufficient to s u p p o r t a policy in one place merely b e c a u s e we s u p p o r t tha t policy in a n o t h e r . The criteria to be used in r each ing d e c i s i o n s m u s t i n c l u d e t h e

(2) T h e British G o v e r n m e n t and Pa r l i amen t have Execut ive and Legislat ive powers in N. Ireland which they do not possess in r e l a t i o n t o S. A f r i c a . Consequen t ly , the British people can exert pressure on the British G o v e r n m e n t a n d Pa r l i amen t fo r changes in policy on N. I re land. Does the I R A armed c a m p a i g n help or h i n d e r the deve lopment of such a m a s s pressure. The C P I a n d the C P G B believe that it is a hindrance. So too does the C A . ( P e r h a p s F E I C R E A N A C H would look at that impl ica t ion to which I r e fe r red above) .

Now cons ider some q u o t e s from the I D .

" T H E I R I S H ( ID emphas i s ) will d o wha t they th ink the

W H A T Mr W a r d seems not to unde r s t and is that n o b o d y living in Bri tain, has the" right to lecture the Irish in I re land u p o n what they may think necessary in pursui t of their object of nat ional unity a n d independence .

N o r has he the right to compare the d i f ferent na t iona l struggles t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d a n d p r o n o u n c e what m e t h o d s this one or that is entit led to use. They are the judge.

If he wan t s to be genuinely anti-imperial is t , he will take the s i tuat ion as it is, a n d concent ra te his f ire on the evils his coun t ry and his government are imposing.

H e t a l k s a b o u t d i s u n i t y . N o t h i n g c a u s e s m o r e t h a n dividing people over suppor t or oppos i t ion to what is being done in a n o t h e r coun t ry , and Mr W a r d ' s tactics at the conference he got such a rough passage at , were in fact divisive, though of course not in tent ional ly so.

The Irish D e m o c r a t has always . m a d e it clear that it has not

advoca ted violence anywhere , and that is tha t .

But just think of the ludicrous posi t ion Mr Ward pu t s himself in. Everybody knows there is no such thing as a mora l right to kill. One of the ten c o m m a n d m e n t s deals with tha t .

B U T there are people who think they have a right to kill, whether it is mora l o r not . They include President Reagan . T h e y include Mrs Tha tche r . They include the G o v e r n m e n t of Sou th Africa. They include the S ta t e of Israel. Why does moral i ty only come into the mat te r when the o p p o n e n t s of these people use force?

It is pre t ty well u n d e r s t o o d that M r G e r r y Adams was p a y i n g his little t r ibu te to violence in o r d e r to p e r s u a d e his followers to g o in f o r o the r th ings was well, pol i t ics for example . But the deduc t ion tha t should be made by the Engl ish is that thei r behaviour in I re land over m a n y years has resul ted in a pos i t ion where an Irish l e a d e r is not regarded by his fo l lowers as serious if he«*does not iden t i fy himself with violence.

T h a t is the conclusion t h a t n o t a few Irish people have d r a w n as a result of hundreds of yea r s of English oppression. Even M r Paisley is saying that E n g l a n d will never be impressed by w o r d s .

Of course everybody reg re t s it — including the o p e r a t o r s of violence themselves — b u t t h a t is the s i tuat ion that the Engl ish have crea ted .

And just as people can see that A r a b violence is liable t o c o n t i n u e until the problem of Pa les t ine is resolved, so they should be ab l e to see that Irish violence is l iable to con t inue until the pa r t i t i on ques t ion is solved. M o r a l s d o n ' t enter in to that predict ion.

A S F O R t h e s u p p o s e d c o n f u s i o n of the Irish D e m o c r a t pos i t ion , we will try to pu t it s i m p l y a n d c l e a r l y b e y o n d peradventure .

It is not only the pol icy of Britain in Ireland that is w r o n g , it is the a im to which tha t po l icy is d i rec ted , the m a i n t e n a n c e of imperial domina t ion o v e r six count ies of Irish ter r i tory a n d the exercise of the m a x i m u m poss ib le inf luence over the r e m a i n d e r .

• This a im, to which British

policy is directed, is wi th in the overall a ims of the so-cal led " w e s t e r n " alliance, a n d is to ta l ly reac t ionary . What is r equ i r ed is a gove rnmen t that will a d o p t a d i f fe ren t a im, and tha t is the significance of the dec l a r a t i on of

intent t o wi thdraw, which the Irish D e m o c r a t was the first paper to voice in this count ry .

It is no t possible to say what precise s teps would fo l low such a change of a i m . Obviously before it could be adop ted big political changes must come a b o u t . But every I r i sh organisa t ion in Britain of c o n s e q u e n c e would like to see it happen , a n d meanwhile whatever leads in t h a t direction is good , and whatever leads away is b a d .

B U T the re is a n o t h e r point to make — it is not the responsibility of the L a b o u r movemen t or anybody else in Britain to " p e r s u a d e " the artificially created major i ty in the six count ies to agree tha t a united Ireland is in their interests , now to s t ipulate that reunif ica t ion must wait till t h a t a g r e e m e n t is r e a c h e d . Mak ing a declarat ion of intent to wi thdraw means ceasing to bolster up the par t i t ion of the count ry which w a s designed to give that artificially created ma jo r i ty a veto on cons t i tu t iona l change , and a r r a n g i n g t h e s c e n a r i o of wi thd rawa l with the Irish.

Final ly , we assure M r Ward that we a re not of fended and are always pleased to hear f r o m him, and a p a r t f r o m those two points agree there is nothing to fall out about .

IT may however be no harm to emphasise that the Connelly Assotiatton is an independent organisation of Irish people and their friends in Britain, and is forbidden hy its constitution to affiliate to any political parly while prepared to listen to anybody.

Over the course of neary fifty years it has dealt with all the vita! issues thai have confronted the Irish in Britain and has seen many other organisations come and go. Its contacts with Iceland have been close and continuous and perhaps there are people in England who would gain an advantage from trying to learn from it. - I D I TOR

si tuation demands , rightly or wrongly. They are not looking lor praise o r b lame f rom E n g l a n d " F E I C R E A N A C H Feb '85 II)

" T h e British Labour Move-ment can support the objectives ol the Repub l i cans while o f fe r ing n o suppor t to their methods . They will d o w h a t they want a n y w a y . " " W h e n the IRA blow someth ing up the L a b o u r Movement should say t o M r s Thatcher ' look what you've m a d e them d o ' . " II) Oct '84.

So it seems that , acco rd ing to the I D tha t the Irish peop le , the Republ icans and the IRA are s y n o n y m o u s . Until, that is, we turn back to the ID of May 1982. " T h e C o n n o l l y A s s o c i a t i o n regards the Northern Pro tes t an t s as fe l low Irish people ." S ta t emen t publ i shed b> the CA.

A c c o r d i n g to the I D a n d F E I C R E A N A C H , n o b o d y in Britain h a s the right to c o n d e m n , speak o u t , or advise against the IRA a r m e d campaign. So what are we to make of the I I ) N o v 1981, " A W O R D A B O U T B O M B S " by the Edi tor . " T h e explos ion of a shrapnel b o m b in Chelsea was a deplorable event which we hope will not be r e p e a t e d . " And the I D of J a n 1984. " T h e bombing of H a r r o d s was needless and dep lo rab le . . . The d e a t h and injury of innocent civil ians can only weaken the inf luence of those a n x i o u s to spread pro-Ir ish u n d e r s t a n d i n g . "

In the CPI paper " U N I T Y " 26 Oct '85 Paul Gi lhooley , C A Na t iona l Organiser writes:

" W e ( the C A ) a r g u e aga ins t any k ind of outside interference in Irish affairs. One of the c o n t i n u a l problems we face is a r g u i n g with those, admi t t ed ly well mean ing people w h o would " i n v e r t " the posi t ion of the Bri t ish imperialists. By this we m e a n those people w h o see the i r role as providing on the o n e hand a more progressive f o r m of interference m Irish a f f a i r s , or on the o the r those p e o p l e who see their role as b e i n g to single out one section of t h e republican movemen t to t o t a l a n d u n e q u i v o c a l s u p p o r t . " So wha t is the C A policy?

A c c o r d i n g to the I D Feb 1981 it is that the British G o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d say that it f avour s un i f i ca t ion of Ireland. It shou ld then try to persuade the ma jo r i ty in N. I re land that this would be in t h e i r b e s t i n t e r e s t s . T h i s pe r suas ion to take the f o r m of m a t e r i a l i n d u c e m e n t s a n d p r o p a g a n d a . T h e D u b l i n G o v e r n m e n t should say whether pe r suas ion has gone on long e n o u g h a n d t h e B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t should take its advice f r o m Dubl in . The British G o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d n o t uni la tera l ly withdraw.

A n d Paul Gi lhooley accuses o t h e r "well meaning p e o p l e " of " i n v e r t i n g imperia l ism".

T h e policy of the C P I and the C P G B t h a t t h e B r i t i s h G o v e r n m e n t should declare its i n t en t ion to wi thdraw f r o m N. Ireland (the CFI also wanting a d a t e t o be given) with British G o v e r n m e n t policies in the t r ans i t i on period designed to b r ing t o an end the sec tar ian d iv i s ions is different f r o m tha t of the C A only in de ta i l . I can d i sce rn n o difference in pr inciple .

I h o p e that the a b o v e will p r o v i d e food for t h o u g h t in the C o n n o l l y Associat ion, wi thou t c a u s i n g offence

P a g e F o u r IR ISH DEMOCRAT MAY 1985

DUBLIN CORRESPONDENCE WHAT? Another referendum?

From a Dublin Correspondent WITH his unerring instinct for

concentrating on the politically inessential, Taoiseach Garret Fitz Gerald has decided to launch Ireland on a divorce referendum, thus embroiling the country in another hot and hectic controversy.

The reason seems to be FitzGerald's desire to refurbish his liberal credentials, which have been badly faded by the divisive abortion refer-endum his own weakness in the face of a minor pressure group was largely responsible for. He is also being pressed to act by the Labour Party, even though the chances are that a referendum on divorce held at this time will be lost. If that happens it is improbable that there will be another referendum for a decade, during which time the constitutional ban on divorce will remain.

Taoiseach Fit:,Gerald has met delegations from the churches to discuss the subject. The Protestant churches all told him that some form of divorce was needed in the Republic for couples whose marriages had irretrievably broken down. The Catholic Hierarchy said that it was up to legislators to legislate as their consciences thought fit, that it was quite proper that when drafting legislation legislators should keep in mind the convictions of those who were not Catholic as well as those who were Catholic, but that the Catholic Church 's view was as it always had been. That is, that divorce was not in accordance with the common good and its introduction would cause more harm than it would remedy.

Before liberals hurl abuse at Catholic

obscurantism, it is as well to be familiar with the Church's point of view.

The main point put by the Hierarchy to the Taoiseach has that in their view divorce legislation affects all marriages and not simply broken marriages. From being a permanent contract marriage tends to be regarded widely as a temporary thing once divorce legislation is introduced. Thus the introduction of divorce, which is seen as a solution to the growing problem of marriage breakdown, would tend to accelerate enormously the trend towards breakdown. The adverse consequences of this they say would be greater than the adverse consequences of the present situation where divorce is not possible. Divorce allows spouses to break their marriages against the wishes of the children and permits the unilateral breaking of a contract between two t so pie. Given the Catholic theological premise that marriage is a sacrament before God which is inherently indissoluble, this position is quite logical. It is therefore foolish to be criticising the Catholic Church for doing or saying what it must do and say if it is to remain the Catholic Church. What politicians like FitzGerald do and say is quite another matter.

The Taoiseach and the Hierarchy did have a meeting of minds on some things though, which many would say are quite as important as divorce. It is the Catholic view that marriage should be made more difficult rather than that divorce should be made easier. In other words people should be mature and stable enough before embarking on such a venture, which

normally entails bringing children into the world. It is probably the most important job anyone could undertake, yet young people are normally totally unprepared for it. What do future fathers and mothers learn about baby care, child psychology or human relations when they are at school?

The Taoiseach saw merit in the Hierarchy's proposal that there should be a three month ' 'waiting period'' at least to ensure adequate preparation for marriage and that 18 should be the minimum marriage age. They also both endorsed the idea of special Family Tribunals to deal with disputed issues between husbands and wives. And the Hierarchy put in a strong appeal for a more active housing and socirl security policy by the State to help parents of families and reduce financial pressures on them. It is quite clear that a proper family policy encompasses a wide range of issues other than the question of divorce.

And what of the divorce question and Partition? After meeting the Taoiseach Cardinal O Fiaich stated that "Protestant leaders in the North have made it clear on several occasions - on divorce, on abortion, on contraception and other family morality issues - that no changes in this area will influence their political outlook."

While the opinions of the Catholic church must be given due weight, it remains true that the main trend of the progressive opinion, including Sinn Fein and the Labour Party are in favour of change.

Leitrim patriot commemorated

Surprise backing for Unionists

J I M Gr.i l ton, the Lei t r im radical w h o was depor ted f r o m Ireland in 1933 because of his political beliefs, is being c o m m e m o r a t e d at C a r r i c k - o n - S h a n n o n this spring.

A G r a l t o n C e n t e n a r y C o m m i t t e e has invited Fa the r Des Wilson of Belfast, G e r a l d O'Reilly of New York, Michael O ' R i o r d a n of the C.P.I. , J o h n Car ro l l of the I T G W T and Prons ia s Mac-\ong lu i s a to a sy m p o s i u m on his

life and times. " D e p o r t e d " , a study o f G r a l t o n

by Des Guckian , was launched by novelist John M c G a h e r n at M c L o u g h l m ' s Public H o u s e near G o w e l , Co Leitr im, o p p o s i t e the site of the "Pea r se -Conno l ly H a l l " w h i c h G r a l t o n h a d e s t a b l i s h e d a n d w h i c h was des t royed in an a r son a t t ack on C h r i s t m a s Eve 1932.

G r a l t o n was born at Lffernagh a h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o and emigra ted to the U S where he b e c a m e a US citizen. H e became act ive in the Labour movement there and raised money for the Irish cause in the W a r of Independence .

R E T U R N I N G h o m e in 1921, G r a l t o n became active in the small f a r m struggles of the West, which a imed to involve the mass of the people on the republ ican side. He was c o n d e m n e d by the clergy for this and Free State t roops c a m e to arrest h im in 1922, but he escaped back to the States. The re he played :i leading role in e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e p o w e r f u l T r a n s p o r t Workers U n i o n of Amer ica .

W h e n Fianna Fail c a m e to power in 1932 Gra l ton r e tu rned to

I re land where he again became subjec t to local clerical a t tack in Lei t r im as a " c o m m u n i s t agent a n d a n ant i-Chris t in o u r mids t" . T h e burn ing of the Pearse-C o n n o l l y Hall fo l lowed, which he h a d set up on his pa ren t s ' f a rm.

M r D e Valera 's G o v e r n m e n t o rde red him to be depor ted despi te his Irish b i r th on the g r o u n d s that he was an Amer ican citizen a n d unwelcome here. A d e p o r t a t i o n notice was issued o r d e r i n g him to leave I re land by M a r c h 1933. He went on the run and a defence commi t t ee was f o r m e d by t rade union officials a n d p e o p l e l i k e P e a d a r O ' D o n n e l l , George G i l m o r e and C a p t a i n Jack White , w h o had helped f o u n d Connol ly ' s Citizens A r m y . G r a l t o n was caugh t in Augus t a n d put on b o a r d a ship for Amer i ca , where he spent the rest of his life.

T h e Centenary C o m m i t t e e plans to pu t up a small m u s e u m in his house , which is still in a r easonab le state of repair . His re la t ions are helping in the o rgan i sa t ion of the c o m m e m -ora t ion of this fine I r i shman who was bad ly t reated in his own land.

T H E R E was surpr ise in Dubl in when Worke r s P a r t y leader T o m a s MacGiol la e choed the call of Ulster Unionis ts fo r the " s u s p e n s i o n " d f t h e I n t e r -g o v e r n m e n t a l C o n f e r e n c e establ ished under the Hills-b o r o u g h Agreement .

Pressure is bui ld ing u p on the Dubl in G o v e r n m e n t a n d on S D L P leader J o h n H u m e to agree to tha t , ra ther t han press fo r improvemen t s in the posi t ion of N o r t h e r n nat ional is ts p romised f r o m this Confe rence a n d so far not delivered.

At the same t ime the Worke r s Par ty leader made c lear tha t he was not calling for the suspens ion of the Anglo-Ir ish Agreemen t itself. D o e s this mean tha t he is happy with Article 1 of the Agreement , which gives de jure recogni t ion to Par t i t ion and British sovereignty in I re land? This is undoub ted ly Bri ta in ' s ma jo r d ip lomat ic ga in f r o m Hi l l sborough.

T h e I n t e r - g o v e r n m e n t a l Confe rence comes u p fo r review in three years time. It m a y well have become a mere fo rmal i ty by then. The conference is in any case only a fo rmal i sa t ion of in te r -govern-mental talks that have been

t a k i n g place regularly f o r years b e t w e e n the British a n d Irish G o v e r n m e n t s on m a t t e r s of m u t u a l i n t e r e s t , a n d i t s i m p o r t a n c e is being exaggera ted in o r d e r to sell the whole package to the Irish people.

SUSTENTATION FUND Our thanks to: J. Bird £2, E. O'Dowl ing

£2d* the Doody family £3, M. Brennan £5, G. Findlay £4, A. Higgins £2.40, P. Bransficld £5, H. Cassidy and friends £4.60, W. Turner £1, A. West £2, E. Markham £2.50, M. Murphy £2, South London C.A. £15, supporters in South London £36.27, in Central London£17.84.

Total: £122.64

OH JAY! We're not on the pig's back this month, but definitely off it.

The fund is looking decidedly sick. It's all those spending sprees over the

early Easter! We need a minimum of £300 a month to keep going. So let's hope readers backed all the right horses, and the May fund will be a bit rosier.

SA TRADE BAN T H E impor t a t i on of f ru i t and vegetables f rom South Afr ica will be p h a s e d out over the next nine m o n t h s .

Th i s s ta tement by the Irish g o v e r n m e n t has been widely we lcomed .

T h e reason given by the g o v e r n m e n t is that pr ison l a b o u r is be ing used.

T h e real reason is tha t publ ic o p i n i o n , a n d part icularly Ca tho l i c op in ion , is so de te rmined ly agains t the racialist regime tha t the g o v e r n m e n t must b o w to it.

But its " E E C p a r t n e r s " are t r ad ing a w a y merrily. A n d soon they will have to be consu l t ed if the E u r o p e a n treaty is ra t i f ied . So a n o t h e r r eason had to be f o u n d .

T w o c o n c l u s i o n s e m e r g e . First ly, adherence to the E E C s e v e r e l y c o n s t r i c t s I r e l a n d ' s f r e e d o m of action in fo re ign af fa i rs . But secondly, where there is a suff ic ient ly s t rong publ ic op in ion the government is ab le to devise f o r m u l a e that enable it to bow to it.

There will be a reduction of four and a half million pounds in Irish imports from South Africa, and this is particularly a feather in the cap of the Dunne's Stores strikers whose action had world wide s u p p o r t . H o w e v e r r e l u c t a n t l y the government may have acted, it is to be congratulated.

SHAMEFUL MOMENT

IN a press statement on the subject of President Reagan's barbarous slaughter of Libyan civilians, issued on April 15th, the Irish Sovereignty Movement described Irish acquiescence in the American campaign of savagery as marking a "shameful moment" in Irist history. ,

Here is the statement in full: By subscribing last night to thi

EEC Foreign Ministers' statemem on the Mediterranean crisis Ireland has given moral support to President Reagan's cowardly middle-of-the-night attack of sleeping Libyan cities, carried out a few hours later.

By signing this statement the Foreign Minister, on behalf of the Government, has struck another blow at Irish 'neutrality', using the excuse of solidarity with our EEC partners, from one of whom -Britain - this outrageous attack was launched, against all the accepted canons of international law.

It is a shameful and dishonourable moment in Irish foreign policy.

What right have Peter Barry and his colleagues to commit Ireland to restrict the movement of Libyan diplomats or impose stricter visa requirements on Libyan nationals when Libya and its peoples have done nothing against this country? What right have they to give credence, as the EEC Foreign Ministers' statement implicitly does, to the American claims that Libya has been responsible for the TWA and Berlin disco incidents, when not a jot or tittle of evidence has been produced?

These measures have been agreed to by Ireland in order to placate Reagan's principal NATO allies in Europe - Britain and West Germany in particular - under the guise of European foreign policy

1 co-operation. They show vividly that Irish commitment to such co-operation is quite incompatible with any genuine neutrality or independence in foreign policy.

And yet Messrs Fitzgerald and Barry have just signed the new European Act which binds Ireland by Treaty to consulting and seeking a consensus with the NATO members of the EEC in matters such as this. If it is ratified by the Oireachtas it will make nonsense of our pretensions to a meaningful neutrality.

Instead of cosying up to the NATO allies of America and Britain, who are responsible for this outrage, Ireland should insist that the whole matter be brought before the UN Security Council. It should simultaneously pull back from EEC foreign policy co-operation, which is increasingly involving us in shameful and dangerous courses

ANTHONY COUGHLAN Chairman

MAY 1985 IR ISH D E M O C R A T Page Five

LAGAN LIGHTS BY S. O. DIOCHOISI

PANDORA'S BOX

REPLY TO 'EUROPHILIA

F O R a l m o s t t w o c e n t u r i e s U n i o n i s m has well served British in te r ference and interests in I re land . The Act of U n i o n in 1800 was enac ted by b r ibe ry and c o r r u p t i o n and the c rush ing of the d e m o c r a t i c process in society. This un ion with Bri ta in was resisted by every gene ra t ion , at t imes by cons t i tu t iona l means at o t h e r s b y n o n - c o n s t i t u t i o n a l ac t ion . Eventual ly in the face of this un remi t t i ng resis tance British un ion i sm was forced t o retreat f r o m Dub l in to Belfast . Fo r sak ing the Unionis t s in the Sou th the British G o v e r n m e n t en t r enched a de l ibera te ly calculated m a j o r i t y of N o r t h e r n Unionis ts beh ind the p a r t i t i o n b o r d e r a n d t h e G o v e r n m e n t of I re land Acts 1920. But the British have never succeeded in f inding a consensus basis fo r Union ism in I r e l and . The 1920 Act is now p rov ing to be as ineffec tual as ' the Act of 1800. The basic reason for this is tha t the c o n c e p t o f u n i o n i s m is i n c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h a t of d e m o c r a c y .

I n t h e o l d S t o r m o n t G o v e r n m e n t the f o r m e r servants of the Brit ish' presence, such as Lords Cra igavon a n d B r o o k -b o r o u g h , were perfectly a w a r e of this con t rad ic t ion . T h e y knew tha t Un ion i sm could on ly be ma in ta ined in ,.an u n d e m o c r a t i c s y s t e m a n d t h e y o p e r a t e d accord ingly with state violence, the Special Powers Ac t and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a g a i n s t t h e Nat ional is t popu la t ion . In fact they d e m a n d e d submiss ion a n d did not seek consensus f r o m the Nat iona l i s t s .

A F R E Q U E N T and pla int ive m o a n f r o m the Unionists of t o d a y is tha t if it h a d no t been f o r the Civil Rights campaign all the present " t r o u b l e s " would not have h a p p e n e d . There is t r u t h in that c o m p l a i n t . The s imple d e m a n d of the Civil Rights o rgan i sa t ion o n the Wes tmins t e r G o v e r n m e n t was that they s h o u l d see to it tha t thei r client S t o r m o n t gove rnmen t ope ra t e the Union i s t system in a democra t i c f a s h i o n . But orice aga in the i n c o m p a t -ibility of British unionism with the democra t i c process was shown u p and S t o r m o n t fell.

T h e Anglo- I r i sh Agreement is the latest a t t e m p t by the Brit ish G o v e r n m e n t t o l o o k f o r consensus f o r their unionism in Ireland. Th i s t ime a r o u n d the Brits decided n o t to consul t the local Unionis ts bu t to go over

j their heads a n d deal with the | Dubl in G o v e r n m e n t . In o t h e r I w o r d s t h e i r i n t e r n a t i o n a l

interests, their conce rn fo r N A T O I s trategy a n d thei r subservience t o the USA is m u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t than the pa roch ia l Unionis ts in the Six Count ies ,

j This switch h a s presented t h e m I with a new p r o b l e m in consensus politics as t o h o w they can reconcile their new a d a p t a t i o n of British un ion i sm with that of the Jrish Unionists, who are still

Jrooted in the Glor ious Revolution <»nd the Siege of Derry in 1690. The resul t ing confl ict it producing very bizarre and intriguing results.

T H E revolt o f the Unionists against the British Government and t h e t h e W e s t m i n s t e r p a r l i a A j r j i t . : i s manifesting itself as a 'strange

p a r o d y of the Civil Rights c a m p a i g n . The pro l i fe ra t ion of local act ivist g roups , the long march f r o m Derry to Belfast, abs t en t ion f r o m local government bodies a n d f r o m Wes tmins te r , the threat t o wi thold ra tes payment s are all a re-echo of the earl ier Civil Rights s t ruggle . Howeve r , it can only be a pa rody . T h e Unionis t aim at present is for the con t i nuance of an undemocra t i c s y s t e m . T h e C i v i l R i g h t s M o v e m e n t sought to abol i sh it.

The S ix -Coun ty Unionis ts have landed themselves in a Jekyl l a n d Hyde s i tua t ion . They proc la im their loyal ty to the British Es tab l i shment yet they are its most d is loyal subjects. The Royal Ulster C o n s t a b u l a r y which was always THEIR force is n o w u n d e r a t tack by them. T h e y have suddenly become a w a r e that plastic bul le ts d o actual ly kill people. Union i s t leader H a r o l d McCusker M P , sound ing like Paul on the- r o a d to D a m a s c u s , belatedly i n f o r m s us tha t he has seen the light a n d now realises that the plast ic bullet is an evil de ter rent .

" D e m o c r a c y " was not a word to be f o u n d in the poli t ical d ic t ionary of the f o r m e r rulers in the old S t o r m o n t pa r l i amen t . Yet today every speech of the Unionis t p o l i t i c i a n s h a s " d e m o c r a c y " landed t h r o u g h it like let ter ing in a stick of B lackpoo l rock . This is e s p e c i a l l y n o t i c e a b l e in t h e s ta tements of Ian Paisley a n d his deputy Peter R o b i n s o n .

T h e i r c u r r e n t i n c e s s a n t par ro t ing a b o u t d e m o c r a c y a n d democra t ic r ights only serves to illustrate the be leagured pos i t ion into which pas t British policies h a v e c o r n e r e d t h e m . T h e i r concept ion of democracy is based on the undemocra t i ca l ly imposed major i ty c rea ted by the Whi tehal l civil servants u n d e r the 1920 Act . It is the pol i t ical s t agna t ion created by th is built-in m a j o r i t y t h a t t h e B r i t i s h a r e n o w endeavour ing to c i r cumven t , t h r o u g h t h e A n g l o - I r i s h Agreement , because it no longer suits their present purposes a n d aims.

T H E A G R E E M E N T signifies a m a j o r c h a n g e in B r i t i s h Governmen t tact ics to retain its presence and inf luence in I re land Ireland. It a l so m a r k s the a b a n d o n m e n t b y G a r r e t t Fitzgerald a n d his cabinet of the d e m a n d for Irish independence f rom Britain. It has not and will not advance the democra t i c r ights of t h e N a t i o n a l i s t s o r t h e Unionists . Yet it is a P a n d o r a ' s box that the British may regret h a v i n g o p e n e d . U n i o n i s t demons t ra to r s have experienced the sharp edge of s t a t e power a n d the plastic bullet . The Shankhi l l R o a d women, like the w o m e n f r o m the Falls R o a d , m a k e thei r way to the jai ls a n d the pr i son camps with f o o d parcels for THEIR political prisoners. The obscenity of the super-grass trials is a shared experience. As the British strategy contained in the Agreement unfolds there could be a growing realisation among the people that it is not original sin in the Protestant and Catholic communities that is the cause of the "troubles" but that it can be attributed to the British presence

W E R E P U B L I S H here M r Anthony Coughlan's reply to Mr M a u r i c e O ' C o n n e l l , t h e Replacement MEA for the Dublin Euroconstituency.

The worthy Assemblyman had taken exception to Mr Coughlan's defence of the men of 1916, and described members of the Irish Sovereignty Movement as "Green Tibetans squatting outside their bothies waiting for the satellites to fall out of the sky."

Mr Coughlan's reply contains many valid points. It was published in the Irish Times of April 15th and runs as follows:

The replacement M E P misunder-stands the Green Tibetans. Mr Maurice O'Conne l l (letters, April 8th) will know that Tibet used to be known as the home of a special wisdom — in this case perhaps relevant to political affairs!

From our "bothies" (Mr O'Conne l l ' s w o r d ) w e c r y " L o n g L i v e I n t e r n a t i o n a l i s m . " It i s o u r international ism which m a k e s us advoca te s o f maximum feasible national independence for our own country , and s u p p o r t e r s a l s o of t h e n a t i o n a l

i n d e p e n d e n c e o f o t h e r s . It is internationalism which makes us defenders o f the sovereignty of all nation States — for what else can we be "inter" amonj!? It lifts our spirits to see 160 sovereign States at the U N — most of them new arrivals since the 1950s — and we expect many more to jo in them in the coming century, as new emerging nations in Africa and Asia sort out the state frontiers imposed by European colonial ism.

D O W N with all narrow nationalism then. And up with a broad national ism instead — the kind which we lcomes the c u l t u r a l d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s , p o l i t i c a l achievements and useful g o o d s and services of all other nations, while at the same time intelligently developing our own. For such deve lopment is our n a t i o n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e international _ c o m m u n i t y — which extends more widely than the EEC. That is our international responsibility and we are realists e n o u g h to k n o w no others can adequately undertake it for us.

Of course Ireland on its o w n cannot control oil prices. Neither for that matter can the EEC. But Green Tibetans seek to have as much control as they can over things which can be controlled — over the resources o f our o w n territory, for example, over who makes our laws

Cardinal on "Polarisation' *'I W O U L D feel that po la r i sa t ion between the communi t i e s has p r o b a b l y increased in the last six m o n t h s , " said Cardinal T o m a s O Fiaich recent ly in giving his first p u b l i c c o m m e n t s o n t h e Hi l l sbo rough Agreement .

So m u c h , therefore, f o r the t r u m p e t i n g by the pol i t ic ians a n d media last November t h a t the Agreemen t would bring peace !

The C a r d i n a l said that his view of the ag reemen t was tha t of the Ca tho l ic b i shops last N o v e m b e r ,

'' When th6y said that they h o p e d it w o u l d m a k e a g e n u i n e c o n t r i b u t i o n t o p e a c e a n d reconci l ia t ion.

" I t h o u g h t there would be an initial o u t b u r s t of opposi t ion t o it and g radua l ly things would have died d o w n . But I don ' t see m u c h indicat ion of that happening as ye t , " he said .

" I ' m a lso , I must say, a bit d i sappo in ted with some of the c o m m e n t s m a d e on it by M r King — for ins tance where he said it would be a bulwark against a uni ted I re land and that there would be n o possibility of a uni ted I re land, m o r e o r less ad inf in i tum,

and so on. " I think those hints will a lso

have a cer tain impac t on the nationalist c o m m u n i t y because at some stage nat ional is ts w h o have shown their suppo r t fo r the agreement u p to n o w will begin asking themselves, 'Well , if this is going to be the main purpose of that agreement, why does it deserve our suppor t . ' I would be a f ra id that what might h a p p e n is tha t he might on the one h a n d drive off some of the nat ional is t suppor t for the agreement wi thout at the same time winning the vast major i ty of Unionis t suppor t , which he's obvious ly striving to a t t a in . "

The Card ina l said tha t he thought the ag reemen t d id serve to ease the Ca tho l i c s ' sense of a l ienat ion, t h o u g h " I t p robab ly did that more symbol ical ly than a n y o t h e r w a y . T h e I r i sh G o v e r n m e n t ' s en t i t lement to express views a n d m a k e proposa l s in t h e I n t e r - g o v e r n m e n t a l conference led to Cathol ics not considering themselves as isolated as they had been — they had a s p o k e s m a n . "

MacBRIDE PRINCIPLES REJECTED

M A J O R U S - o w n e d companies in the Six Coun t i e s have failed to give representa t ive employment to Cathol ics , according to New Y o r k c o m p t r o l l e r H a r r i s o n Gold in w h o is demanding tha t New York based pension f u n d s should insist o n the MacBride p r i n c i p l e s b e i n g a p p l i e d in compan ies they are investing in.

T h e r e a r e 2 4 A m e r i c a n co rpora t ions , employing 11 per c e n t of t h e m a n u f a c t u r i n g workforce , n o w operat ing in the Nor th . US investments there a m o u n t to a b o u t 1,200 million dollars . A m o n g the American owned c o m p a n i e s are Gallahers Tobacco , F isher Body of East Belfast, H u g h e s Tools , Dupon t , Oneida , Uni ted Technologies , V F C o r p o r a t i o n , F r u e h a u f a n d Unilever.

Mr Goldin is concerned that

in Ireland. To speed that day there is an urgent need for a mass re-invigoration of the campaign for democratic rights for all the people in the Six Counties.

there are "vi r tual ly n o Cathol ic males in Gal laher ' s work fo rce of n e a r l y 2 ,000 , a l t h o u g h t h e C o m p a n y is s i tuated beside the Cathol ic New Lodge a r e a . " The F o r d C o m p a n y , which m a n u f a c -tures ca rbure t to r s at its West Belfast factory, is said to employ only abou t 20 per cent Cathol ics in its workforce . T h e F r e u h a u f C o r p o r a t i o n , w h i c h m a k e s trailers in N e w t o w n a b b e y , is s p o r t e d to have refused to sign the MacBride principles.

Mr Harrison's friends in New Y o r k a r e p u t t i n g f o r w a r d resolutions this year at the annual meetings of pension funds which have shareholdings in these six county firms. They are calling for the application of the fair employment principles drawn up by S e a n M a c B r i d e . It is c o m m e n d a b l e t w o r k w h i c h highlights the continued anti-Catholic discrimination in the six county area, presided over by the British Government and the sovereign Westminster Parlia-ment.

and const i tutes our government , over our choice o f who are our foreign friends and enemies . We look with env> at s o m e of our European neighbours w h o indeed d o just that. At the Norwegians u h o d o not have to share with anyone their 200-mile zone o f fishery and oil-rich waters. At the Austrians and Swiss w h o are genuinely neutral in foreign policy and not sliding as we are to one side in the new Cold War. At the Swedes , F inns and Yugos lavs who are so le and e x c l u s i v e l e g i s l a t o r s w i t h i n t h e i r national territories — as we used to be before we jo ined the EEC — and w h o need not b o w as we must to the d iktats of unelected and undemocratic Brussels counci ls and commissions.

IT IS because we are democrats that we distrust the Europhiliacs, the Bilderberg groupers and Trilateralists — and the implicitly despairing messages of Replacement MEPs. Space satellites and gyrating oil prices d o not make democracy out of date, even though they present it with new problems. Being realists we recognise that democracy only operates at the level of the nat ion State, forthere on ly is there s u f f i c i e n t s o l i d a r i t y w i t h i n communit ies to induce minorities freely to submit to the rule of majorities tlie-basis of all stable political order.

Realism too makes us suspicious of the critics o f national sovereignty. "National sovereignty is the dirtiest p o l i t i c a l t e r m in the A m e r i c a n language," Professor Schiller of the University of California told an audience of Green Tibetans in Dubl in the other year. He was drawing attention to the fact that it is only the Nat ion State — either individually or in co-operation with others — which can impose social controls on capital. That it is not only socialists but enlightened capitalists who see the necessity of such controls in the interest of people's welfare and meet ing human need. That the transnational companies generally are opposed to such controls, for they interfere with maximum private

, p r o f i t - m a k i n g , and therefore they are enemies of national sovereignty. And that is why the handful of Big Powers whose politics are ult imately determined by the interests of the T N C s — the U S A , Germany, France, Britain and Japan, where the majority o f the t r a n s n a t i o n a l have their headquarters — are out to subert the polit ical and ecqpomic indepence of the great mass of Slates, which are smaller and weaker than their own.

M A Y i suggest to the Replacement M E P that this essential ly is what the (Continued on page eight)

BUA GLORMHAR B A g h r e a n n m h a r an f e i c Aontachtai an Tuaiscirt ag rith anonn go dti Parlaimint na Breataine chun an Bille um Siopadoireacht Domhnaigh a chur faoi chois an ir.hi seo thart D'on ocaid ar leith seo bhris siad an baghcat a bhi ar siul acu le tamall anuas de thairbhe a n-easaontais fiochmhar in eadan an Chonartha Angla-Eireannach. Mar a tharla fagadh bean Thatcher agus a comhaltai rialtais in a mionlach in easpa ceathair vota deag, uimhir a ba direach cothrom le votai na n-aontachtai.

An la arna m h a r a c h i mBealfeirste bhi cinn-litreacha mora ar nuachtan na n-aontachtai, an "Newsletter", ag scairteadh os ard fan bhua ghlormhar a thug siad chun abhaile leo. San tuairisc a bhi acu ni raibh an oiread is focal amhain faoi "ibrithe siopai sa B h r e a t a i n , f a o i d e a r c a d h U.S.D.A.W. no faoi na jabannai a bhi i gcontuirt srl. An bhfuil dream a mbarrtha ar an domhan seo maidir leis an dearcadh paroisteach a leirionn siad? Ar an mhaidin cheanna thainig an sceal amachfan aer-ruathar coirpeach a loisc Ronald Reagan ar Libia agus a d'fheadfadh bheith ina reamheheap don triu cogadh domhanda. Chuir an "Newsletter" an nuacht sin i mbun leathanaigh a tri. Ba t h a b h a c h t a i l e o a s a b o i d calbhinisteach agus bua oraisteach M o l y n e u x a g u s P a i s l e y ar Thatcher.

t

Page S i x IR ISH D E M O C R A T MAY 1985

THE BLARNEY ROSES "I W \ S OUT in old I re land , near the town of Cushendal l , O n e morn l met a damse l there, the fa i res t of them all. I w a s with my young af fec t ions and my money she did go.

And she told me she belonged to where the Blarney Roses grow.

C H O R U S : Can anybody tell me where the Blarney Roses grow? It may be down in Limerick Town, or over in M a y o , It 's somewhere in the Emerald Isle, but this I want to know: C an anvbodv tell me where the Blarnev Roses grow?

H e r cheeks were like the roses, her hair a raven hue B e f o r e that she was done with me she had me ravin' too! S h e left me, sorely s t r a n d e d , not a coin she left you know. And she told me she belonged to where the Blarney Roses grow.

They 've roses in Ki l larney, and the same in County Clare , But pon my word, t hose roses, boys, I can ' t see anywhere . S h e blarneyed me, fo r by the powers, she left me broke, H o ! H o ! Did this damsel tha t belonged to w h - e the Blarney Roses grow.

Acushia , g r -machree , my boys, she m u r m u r e d soft , did she, )f you belong to I r e l and , i t 's yourself belongs to me; H e r Donegal comal lye brogue, it cap tured me, you know, B a d scran to her - and tha t same place - where the Blarney Roses grow!

The lark in the clear air D E A R t h o u g h t s a re in my m i n d , a n d my soul s o a r s

e n c h a n t e d . As I hear the sweet lark sing, in the clear air of the d a y , For a t ender b e a m i n g smile to my h o p e has been g r a n t e d , And t o m o r r o w she shall hear all my fond hear t w o u l d

say. I shall tell her all my love, all my sou l ' s a d o r a t i o n , And I think she will hear me , a n d will not say me nay ; It is this that gives my soul all its j o y o u s e la t ion . As l hear the sweet lark sing in the clear air of the day .

THE GREEN COCKADE T1S f a r away to Newry Town

And Newry Town is fa i r . And l would go through sleet and snow To meet my own love there; His hea r t is true as Heaven is true, A king he might be made , And f a i r e r still, through good and ill. H e w e a r s the Green Cockade .

Edited by

PATRICK BOND

UNDER THE TOWER

T H E beauty of Ireland My heart fills with pride

From the green glens of Antrim To sweet Malahide

But the spot that I cherish And prize as my own

Lies in Limerick's fair city Around Garryowen

With its sporting arena Renowned Market's Field

Where the blue and white jersey All honours achieved

Now some may seek riches Others great power

Oh I yearn for the old home Right under the tower.

Beloved St John's Cathedral The Pike and Fairgreen

The old clubhouse of Rovers Our famed football team

For hurling and Gaelic Then on to Claughaun

What a pleasure to watch Those lads wield the caman

On the feast of St Patrick We would go to the well

With our Shamrock and Harp New ganzey as well

Those memories I treasure Every day every hour

Of the good times I spent there Right under the tower.

In the dark winter evenings What joy and delight

To see the shops open All cosy and bright

And a kindly shopkeeper With patience attend

The request of a youngster With one penny to spend.

Then the street games we played On the Garryowen Road

Those friends of my boyhood Light be your load

Some day we may meet Where in life we did flower

In old Limerick's fair city Right under the tower.

S E A N D O Y L E

IS FADAMOCHOSA GAN BROGA

IS f ada mo c h o s a gan b roga 'S is fa ide m o p h o c a i gan p ing in . Is f ada me ag ol le fir oga Ach nior ol me a o n deoi r r i a m h le m o m h i a n . D a mbe innse seach t m b l i a n a i n d u b h t h a l a m h N o i b h f i a b h r a s ' m o leaba ' m o lui ' S m o c h e a d g h r a a theacht a r cua i r t c h u g a m Sceal c innte g o n-e i reo inn ' m o shui . Ar m'e i r i d o m ar ma id in D e C e a d a o i n M o chiall m h a i t h gu r lig me le g a o i t h Nua i r a chua l a me t racht a r m o c h e a d g h r a O stiall me an m h e a r on alt d h i o m . Is f ada mo u a i g h s e da d e a n a m h 'S m o t h u a m b a d a b h r e a c a d h ag sao r Nil pleisiur na a t h a s sa tsaol seo O scar me le g ra geal m o chro i .

TAKE IT DOWN FROM THE MAST T H E Y have taken brave Liam and Rory,

They have murdered young Richard and Joe, And their hands with their blood are all gory

Fulfilling the work of the foe. C H O R U S :

Take it down from the mast, Irish traitors, 'Tis the f lag we Republicans claim;

It shall never belong to Freestaters For they've brought on it nothing but shame.

We stand with Sean and with Feargal, With McGrath and Russell so bold

We'll break down the English connection And bring back the Republic ye have sold.

*

S o leave it to those who are willing To uphold it in war and in peace,

The men who intend to defend it Until England's tyranny cease.

NOREEN BAWN T H E R E ' S a glen in old T i r c o n n a i l l , the re ' s a co t t age in the glen Where o n c e dwelt an Ir ish co l leen w h o insp i red the hea r t s of m e n ! She w a s h a n d s o m e , hale a n d hea r ty , shy a n d g race fu l a s a f a w n , They all loved the w i d o w ' s d a u g h t e r , h a n d s o m e lovely Moreen B a w n . T h e n o n e d a y there c a m e a le t ter with he r pas sage paid to g o T o the l a n d where the M i s s o u r i a n d the Mississ ippi f l ow, So she sa id g o o d b y e to E r i n , a n d next m o r n i n g with the d a w n This p o o r widow b r o k e n - h e a r t e d , p a r t e d with h e r N o r e e n Bawn . M a n y y e a r s the widow w a i t e d , till one m o r n i n g to her d o o r C a m e a t ende r -hea r t ed w o m a n , cost ly were the c lo thes she w o r e , Saying " M o t h e r , d o n ' t y o u k n o w me — sure , I 've only go t a c o l d " But he r c h e e k s were f l u s h e d a n d scarlet , a n d a d i f f e ren t tale they t o ld . The re ' s a g raveyard in T i r conna i l l , where the f lowers wildly wave , The re ' s a g rey-ha i red m o t h e r kneel ing on a green a n d lonely g rave . " A h , m y N o r e e n , " she is s ay ing , " I ' ve been lonely since y o u ' v e g o n e , ' T w a s the curse of e m i g r a t i o n laid you here , my N o r e e n B a w n . " All y o u f a i r a n d tender m a i d e n s , p o n d e r well b e f o r e you g o , F r o m y o u r h u m b l e h o m e s in I re land , w h a t ' s b e y o n d you'l l never k n o w . W h a t is go ld a n d what is s i lver , when your hea l th a n d s t rength a re g o n e ? W h e n they speak of e m i g r a t i o n , w o n ' t you th ink of N o r e e n Bawn?

I met him on a Sunday e>e Beside Car l i iy j ford Bay; The ta le he whispered on that eve I mind it to this day; ' I w a s all of Ireland and her wrong, I he old debt still unpaid; ' T w a s then I vowed my heart to him And to the Green Cockade .

O h . how l pray to see the day W hen f r o m our Nor thern side T h e t rue hear t s rank and pour along * To swell the bat t le- t ide; I'll put t he rifle in his g rasp \ n d buckle on the b lade . T o t each our Ulster lasses well To love the Green C o c k a d e .

J O H N K E E G A N CASEY

RECALL

CONFERENCE "The defence of the nation state"

Speakers: JOHN BOYD, ANTHONY COUGHLAN, CHRISTINE CRAWLEY

(MEA) l l a m :: SATURDAY, 21 JUNE, 1986

at the GRAYS INN RESOURCES CENTRE

1A Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1

MAY 1985 IRISH DEMOCRAT Page Seven

SHOOTING TO KILL!

Wandering Scholar

D. Felicitas Corrigan, 332 pp, Gollancz, £16.95.

W H E N St Columkille sailed away from Derry to convert the heathen he went only as far as lona, but in his self imposed exile he started a long tradition of Irish missionary scholars. Another Ulsterman, the Rev Hugh Waddell — Presbyterian minister of Glenarm, went as far as Tokyo to take the faith to the benighted Japanese in 1873, and stayed there, preaching no doubt in an uncompromising Ulster accent, for the next twenty seven years. He took his Irish wife, and produced ten children, the last being Helen, the subject of this book. Born in 1889, her reputation today still is high, particularly for her studies of the mediaeval wandering scholars who founded centres of learning all over Europe.

Helen was a woman of prodigious learning and for a time her one novel 'Peter Abelard' was a best-seller. She was lionised in Dublin as 'Ulster's darling', and in London as the 'most distinguished woman of her generation.' Her scholarship in mediaeval Latin and French helped her to recreate the poetry of the Middle Ages with a freshness that opened it up to academics and factory workers. This great scholar of the Renaissance dawn in Europe pays fitting tribute to the Irish contribution. In the sixth century the Irish monastic schools were the most famous in Europe. They had long been the refuge of scholars sheltering from the storm of the barbarian invasions abroad, and now in their turn they were to send missionaries across the seas to establish centres o f learning all over Europe. In the 'Wandering Scholars' Helen Waddell describes the Irish notes written in the margins of manuscripts in Berne, Leyden and St Gall, like 'We are from Inch-madoc, Coirbre and I', and the monk from faraway Strangford Lough who wrote 'I am Malhee from Nendrum". And the most famous of all — the Irish author w h o wrote about Pangur Ban, his cat, in his exile in Carinthia. The Irish influence was enormous — Columbanus and his disciples founded over one hundred monasteries, some of them the most famous centres of learning in the Middle Ages.

Incidentally the staunch Presbyterian daughter of missionaries discovered that the Protestant tradition in European literature had obscured a vast tradition of Roman Catholic poetry which she herself proceeded to re-establish. She was the sister of Samuel Waddell, who under the name of Rutherford Mayne wrote many plays of Irish life for the Ulster Theatre

and the Abbey. To recreate the life of this unusual

Irishwoman requires a rare sympathy and depth of scholarship in the biographer harself. Scholarship for Helen Waddell was an ability to enter through the imagination into the reality o f the past. T h i s e x c e l l e n t b i o g r a p h y by the Benedictine nun Dame Felicitas Corrigan is equal to the task, and makes it clear how Helen Waddell's uncanny ability to move between past and present made her the brilliant illuminator of the so-called 'Dark Ages.'

MARY CAMPBELL (Note: Helen Waddell used occasionally

to attend meetings o f the London Connolly Association. — Editor).

ANNE WALSH, ALL readers of the Irish Democrat will wish to express sympathy with Mr Peter Walsh, whose wife Anne Walsh died in mid-April after a long illness. The funeral took place in Plaistow on April 23rd, and the Connolly Assoc iat ion was represented by Mr Paul Gilhooley and others. Mr Walsh is one of the oldest and staunchest members of the Association tod has been for many years active in UCATT.

International lawyers inquiry into the lethal use of firearms by the Security Forces in Northern Ireland. Chairman Kader Asmal. The Mercier Press. £5.95. 173 pp p/b. Reviewed by Donal Kennedy. BETWEEN July 1969 and November 1983 the Crown Forces killed 269 persons, 155 of them civilians, in the six counties. The inquiry, conducted by lawyers from Britain, France and the United States, under the Chairmanship of Kader Asmal, Senior Lecturer in Law at Trinity College, Dublin, an Irish citizen of South African birth, arose from allegations that the Crown Forces often acted outside the Law and that the Crown's Courts and Judges frequently failed to uphold it. The inquiry, endorsed by Britain's National Council For Civil Liberties and by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, amongst others, sought but was refused the co-operation of the Crown's Military, Police and Legal officers, but had the co-operation of numerous practising lawyers and many learned authorities on British and International Law. It held hearings in the Six Counties during 1984 and examined thirty cases of killings by the Crown Forces.

It should be made clear at the outset that neither internally nor to the world does Britain accept or plead that the troubles in the six counties constitute a war. Under

A HORRIFYING DOCUMENT

UK law, policemen, including the RUCare "citizens in uniform" and the British Army also, tue latter "acting in aid of the civil power." In law they hold no "licence to kill" nor have they a right to kill or injure anyone, except in those circumstances where any civilian may legally do likewise. They are subject to C o m m o n and Statute Law, and international law, specifically the U N Covenant and the European Convention to which the United Kingdom is formally and solemnly subscribed. The inquiry examined the practice of various Government agencies, and Government principles, in the light of the relevant laws.

" N o one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life", declares the U N Covenant, and "law must strictly control and limit the circumstances in which a person may be deprived of his life by the authorities of the State."

The European Convention declares similarly but also says "deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary." A state may not take life outside those limited circumstances except in pursuance of "lawful acts of war." The C o m m o n Law in the six counties stated — "an officer of justice in the legal execution of his duty may repel force with force; and if, in so doing he kills the party resisting him, it is justifiable homicide." It was ruled that "if

ORANGE FANTASIES

The British State and the Ulster crisis, by P. Bew and H Patterson, published by Verso. 153pp. £4.95.

BEW and Patterson, two six county academics, have produced an infuriating little book in which they chronicle political developments affecting the six counties from 1964 to the Forum Report.

In terms of Style, there are over five hundred footnotes in less than 130 pages of text. Many of the references could be replaced by a short bibliography. More important, selective quotations are littered throughout the book in place of reasoned argument. Quotes are used as if to clinch a particular point when in fact the argument is not well made.

For example, a quote from Gerry Adams saying that Marxism has no influence in Sinn Fein is used to discredit that party. It would of course be possible to find contradictory quotations which would cast doubt on a particular point. However, this is a futile exercise'best left to the pages of small circulation academic journals.

In trying to disabuse the British left of the idea that Sinn Fein is socialist the authors present an extremely distorted picture. They rightly criticise the reactionary views of Sean Mac Stiofain but just to point out that

he resigned from Sinn Fein in the late 1970s because of the leftward drift. Further, whilst acknowledging the political differences in the Republican movement arising after the 1975 truce, Bew and Patterson did not follow through the subsequent changes in its leadership. There is no commentary on Sinn Fein's political development beyond Dail Uladh/Eire Nua.

Whilst it is no harm to disabuse some of the British left who see Sinn Fein as the vanguard of a putative Irish'revolution (I understand Sinn Fein does not claim that role) the Bew and Patterson treatment is clearly distorted to Tit in with the book's main thesis, that is, that since loyalism is most aggressive when British policy is uncertain and that benign British social and economic policy limits sectarianism in the Protestant population, the way forward is for a Labour government to reflate the Northern Ireland economy, and introduce firmer anti-discrimination laws. In this way working class unity is assumed to emerge.

The blurb describes the book as a "brave and original contribution." Unfortunately it is neither but it reflects the effect of partition on the labour movement. It offers nothing to the working class in the 26 counties and is dependent on what happens in "the rest of the United Kingdom."

TIM WALSH

CASH SCORER R.I.P.

A MEETING to commemorate Civil Rights worker Cash Scorer who had died the previous week after a long illness, was held in County Hall, London on April 11th. The Connolly Association was represented by Jane Tate. Miss Scorer worked for the National Council for Civil Liberties for many years, and previously for the Trade Union TASS. The first speaker at the meeting was Mr Ken Gill, president of the TUC and . General Secretary of TASS. He said that although Miss Scorer was only 38, she had managed to pack two lives into that short time. Other speakers were Bill Birtles and Sarah Spencer of the NCCL, and Nick Blane of the Haldane Society of socialist lawyers. Several speakers mentioned her work for Ireland.

County war plans

BRITAIN is currently preparing for a possible nuclear attack on the Six Counties.

J o h n Hume has been told in the House of Commons that some £8 million is to be spent on three civil defence shelters in the North, with w o r k s t a r t i n g nex t yea r f o r completion in 1989.

These shelters are meant for essential administrative and defence personnel who would emerge after the nuclear attack to continue running the show.

Top civil servants, army chiefs and RUC and UDR personnel would scuttle for the shelters when the bombs started to fall, while the rest of the population could go and face the fire-storms and radiation clouds without any shelter. Then they would crawl out afterwards to continue lording it over whatever unfortunates might still remain living outside.

It shows the way these people really regard the mass of common humanity they rule over.

the officer were to have killed without apparent necessity, or after resistance had ceased, or there had been no reasonable necessity for the violence used by the officer, the killing would have been manslaughter at the least." These C o m m o n Law rules were superseded by the Criminal Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1967, which says: "A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large." Note that this gives no special privileges to policemen or soldiers.

Only a few of the hundreds of killings by the Crown Forces have resulted in prosecution, and the case resulting from the death of Patrick McElhone in August 1974 is the most significant from the legal aspect.

Patrick McElhone was a farmer, and as he sat down to tea in his family home, soldiers burst in and ordered him out. It was broad daylight. His mother testified that she then saw soldiers beating him. His father ran out to enquire why. Then Private Jones took Patrick into a field and shot him at a range of 20 yards. Neither Patrick nor his family were armed, nor had any of them any paramilitary connection. Private Jones was charged with murder. First he explained that the shooting was accidental. Next he admitted that it was

, deliberate, but claimed that McElhone had run away from him, and that he believed him to be an IRA man. Private Jones was

ISLANDERS The Blasket Islands: By Joan

and Ray Stagles; published by the O'Brien Press: Price paperback £6.95, pp 144.

W H E N the authors, husband and wife, first visited the Great Blasket Island, off the coast of Co Kerry, in 1966, the island had been abandoned for thirteen years. Sheep were still grazed on the fields, and the owners, now housed on the mainland, made the boat journey across the strait, to head the animals and fish in the seas.

Joan and Ray Stagles were captivated by this group of bleak Western Isles, as many others had been before them. The resulting book was an addition to what has become known as "The Blasket Library". Autobiographies, written by Peig Sayers, and Thomas O'Criomnthain, as well as Maurice 'O'Sullivan's Twenty Years A-Growing, all depicting the daily life of the Islanders, are Gaelic classics, and have been translated into many languages. Famous scholars, such as Robin Flower, frequently visited, and wrote extensively, about the islands.

What material then was left for the present authors?

They admit that, for knowledge of the Blasket Island community, there could be no substitute for the vivid personal style of

. the a u t o b i o g r a p h i e s . Yet , through painstaking and loving research, the Stagles have produced a fascinating book, which does add to our knowlege o f the historical background of a unique community.

The islands were part of the extensive estates of the Earl of Cork from about 1600 until taken over by the Congested Districts Board in 1907. The sixth Earl, on a visit to the Dingle Peninsula observed from the Mainland "some tillage and a few cabins" before he hurried away in horror at the sight o f men launching a flimsy boat in "tempestuous seas" in order to sell a few rabbits on the mainland. This did not stoo agents" o f the absent Earls f r o m attempting evictions for the non-payment of rent in the bad times. The islanders were frequently saved from outright starvation by shipwrecks on their sto»my coasts.

The origins of the Islanders, the different families, the layout of houses and fields, the smaller outer islands, all are dealt with in great detail, illustrated by beautiful photographs.

From the late I930's, the population,-which had never exceeded 160, declined. The school closed in the I940's. By the time the Island was evacuated in 1953 the population was down to 22 persons. They were moved to new houses in Dunquin where they could look across the sea at their former houses. A unique way o f life had c o m e to an end. As Thomas O'Criomhthain had written prophetically in The Islandman, "The like o f us will never be attain."

- N.D.

acquit ted by a Diplock (jury-less) Court where Mr Justice MacDermot t acted as Judge and Jury The Judge accepted that the soldier "had no belief at all as to whether McElhone had been involved in acts of terrorism or was likely to be i m m e d i a t e l y i n v o l v e d in a c t s of te r ror i sm," but , nevertheless, " the force used was no more than reasonable in ttie c i rcumstances ." The judge was not referring to the particular circumstances ol the killing, but to what he called "itie general wartime situation in Nor the in I re land ."

When an accused person is acqui t ted in a lower court there is no way the verdict can be set aside by a h 'gher cour t , but the Attorney General of England, who had recently taken on that role for Nor thern Ireland, exercised a rarely used perogauve to refer the judgement to higher cour ts on points of law. First it was considered by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal , where two Judges ruled that the soldier, since he believed McElhone to be an IRA man , was entitled to arrest, stop and question him, but that the degree of force lawf ul lor these objects was a matter for the " t r ibunal of fact", (ie, Mr Justice M a c D e r m o t t ' s Diplock Court).' A third judge warned — "In a case such as this, the trial Judge should direct the Tribunal that it is not reasonable for a soldier or policeman to fire with the intention of killing or causing grievous bodily harm to an unarmed man who is suspected of being a card-carrying member of the Provisional IRA to prevent him f rom escaping answering fu r ther questions even if the accused honestly considers it a reasonable discharge ol Ins duty to do so ." The Attorney General then referred the case to the House ol Lords, whose Judgement was pronounced by Lord Diplock himself.

Diplock stated that the facts of the case were not capable of providing Private Jones with a possible plea of "self-defence." He then proceeded with his own political and military analysis and a disquisition on economic and social conditions in Northern Ireland, described the deceased as "the accused" and by way of an inconsequential rigmarole arrived back at Mr Justice MacDermott's original justification of the real accused, Private Jones, by pleading "circumstances". Until Parliament amends the Criminal Law Act so that "reasonable in the circumstances" means reasonable in the immediate or proximate circumstances, nobody may sit down to his tea in the Six Counties without fear of being shot by the "Security Forces" for there are upwards of 30,000 of them a r m e d a n d i m m u n e f r o m t h e consequences. Lord Diplock pronounced that judgement on the Attorney General's test case in 1977, since when the Judiciary in the Six Counties have congratulated policemen on their marksmanship in shooting trapped and unarmed men, and on bringing other unarmed men to " j u s t i c e , t h e f i n a l c o u r t o l J u s t i c e " . Lord D i p l o c k r e c e n t l y went before that Final Court of Justice himself, but the evjl which he did lives after him. Prior to February 1984 only One member of the Crown Forces was convicted for an unlawful killing. Private Robert Reid shot dead a woman passenger in a car in Strabane in 1980. Convicted of manslaughter he was sentenced to 12 months in a Young Offender's Centre. The sentence was suspended for two years.

The inquiry found that in many cases where unarmed persons were killed, they had been arrested, harassed, and promised that they would be subsequently killed. Apparently, in their eagerness to bring these people to "Justice" the "Security Forces" forgot to obtain warrants for their arrest. Afrequent occurrence after a killing is a raid on the deceased's home, looking for posthumous evidence, during which the relatives are not informed that a member of the family has been killed. In one such case paratroopers searched the deceased's home, only to find that his father and brother were RUC men, and that the deceased himself had just applied to join the force.

The activities of the RUC's special ambush and assassination squads have been revealed in open court, as have the fact that they have operated in the Republic, and that their members were under orders to lie about their activities. The inquiry discusses them in dry, unemotional prose. Similarly the use of plastic bullets. An interesting section deals with the role of Coroners Courts.

This painstakingly researched and logically presented report is cold comfort for anyone living in Britain or the six counties. It should be studied by every candidate for parliament and the question it raises put before them by anyone interested in justice and the rule of impartial law.

DONAL KENNEDY

Page Eight I R I S H D E M O C R A T MAY 1985

Peter Mulligan's peepshow A GRAVE VOCATION

TIMES LOGIC - "As one county Armagh businessman explained - I think power sharing is the answer as long as the Catholics have no positions of responsibility." THE TIMES.

» * * P R O T E S T A N T TOWN'. ' "The

people of P o r t a d o w n can lift up their heads today f o r the first time since last July. This is our town, it is a Protestant town, and will cont inue to be a Pro tes tan t town," says Protestant c lergyman the Rev Ian Paisley.

* * * JOINED TO FIGHT - "I

never thought I would be expected to fight loyalists. I joined to fight the IRA. There is a lot of talk about the agreement and a lot of muttering about resentment. We are all basically Unionists. The police are being put in the front line to enforce the agreement. Don't get me wrong though, most policemen have too much at stake to resign." GUARDIAN. An R U C constable can earn in excess of £12,000 a year; slightly more than the prison wardens.

* * * R O Y A L ' ' A N D L O Y A L ?

ULSTER C O N S T A B U L A R Y - — " O n e group (of R U C officers) takes an even h a r d e r line and has proposed that the RUC should refuse to enforce any future bans that H a r m o n and the secretary of state, Tom King, try to impose on Unionist marches . One officer said — 'We have to ask ourselves the wisdom of get t ing involved in enforcing a ban which will only bring more t rouble and increase the risk to o u r families ' ." S U N D A Y T I M E S .

PROFITS G O LEOR - The English Clearing Banks have announced their annual profits. Midland Bank £351 million, Lloyds Bank £561 million, National W e s t m i n s t e r £ 8 0 4 m i l l i o n , Barclays Bank £854 million, an increase of 37 per cent on last year.

* * *

U N E M P L O Y M E N T up — profi ts up — " T h e unlisted securities marke t has created 467 millionaires in its first five years, according to T o u c h e Ross, the city accoun tan t s . " T H E TIMES.

* * * T H E Treasury has reported

that private inves tment overseas hit £22.2 thousand million in 1985 an increase of £6.9 thousand million.

* * *

LIBERATION THEOLOGY -The Vatican has announced that Fr Leonardo Boff of the Franciscan Order in Brazil has been released from the order of silence imposed on him for preaching the doctrine of liberation theology which is gaining wide support among the clergy in neo colonial countries. The order previously banned Fr Boff from writing or discussing his Work. GUARDIAN. { Printed by Ripley Printers Ltd (TU),

Not t ingham Road, Ripley, Derbys, and published by Connol ly Publi-cat ions Ltd, 244 Gravs Inn Road,

V London WC1. Te lephone: 01-833-3022.

THE clerk in the 'labour' thought I was crazy: 'You'll only be thirtv-bob better o f f , pal!' he demurred. What harm, 1 told him, gimme me cards and I'll give it a go anyway.

We are talking about bygone times as you may guess from the terminology of the above. I was getting £13 signing on (1967 if my memory serves me right) and the pay as a gravedigger was only £14.10s. 0d a week plus eight bob for each grave dug-manually to be sure, the digging to be done on a rota basis so that each of the four gravediggers got a fair chance. There was the odd cre-mation. too which meant only a tiny square of a hole that you'd chop out in a matter of minutes, and the 'Super' (that was the title of the man in charge of the cemetery) was sore grieved to be paying out eight shillings bonus for that. ' Yes, yes, lads, I know it's a grave for all intents and purposes, and going by the book I have to pay you the bonus just like 'twas a proper grave - but morally, lads, morally it's wrong, money under false pretences, I call it!'

The Super was an oldfashioned Yorkshire man from some obscure dales village and the morality of things obsessed him to an extraordinary degree. That man would see morality where nobody else could, but somehow all his morality came down on the employer's side, not on the side of his 'lads'. (The employer, I need hardly say was the local borough council and if the money wasn't great even for those far off days when you got a helluva lot for a

fiver, the conditions were good. We had an hour and a half, near enough, for dinner every day and the only snag about that was that the Super would insist on visiting our cabin and monopolising the conversation. Alas, he had only a very narrow range of subjects and his favourite theme was horses. The Super could talk about horses till the cows came home and very often we returned to our work with a

By DONALL MacAMHLAIGH

great feeling of relief-boredom can be lethal and there were enough reminders of death about).

I'll never forget the first grave I dug; the Super handed me the slip with the name on it (an old lady well up in her eighties) and after the interment when the mourners had departed and I had rolled up the imitation grass matting that is draped over the clay and down the sides of the grave, I tackled the job of backfilling. In Ireland they used to begin this, with a quite indecent haste I always thought, even before the mourners had begun to move away; it was unnecessarily cruel, it always seemed to me, for no more heartrending sound can be heard than the clump of a stone or lump of clay on the lid of the newly-lowered coffin . . . I began the backfilling operation carefully enough but a big clod rolled off the shovel and landed on the box with a loud thud -and even before I could check myself I had blurted out an apologetic 'Sorry, ma'am!'

There was no one about, happily enough, but a little later when I was well down in a grave, my head about six inches below ground level and a bit more to go, I heard a voice talking somewhere above me. The voice 'I could hear clearly enough but there was no reply to what it was saying arid, intrigued I climbed up a couple ofmngs of the ladder to have a look-see . . . There was only one person there, an ageing man of quite ordinary appearance, but talking to himself as it seemed. I coughed discreetly so as to lessen his embarrassment (I mean I have been caught out often enough, God knows, babbling away to myself and felt a bit of a fool I need hardly say) but the old chap was not perturbed in the least.

"Don't mind me, Pat," wasallhe said, "Tm just having a chat with my old gal!"

"You are?" I queried, failing to see any sign of the old girl he referred to. "Where is she?"

The old chap indicated the grave at his feet without the slightest sign that he feared I would think his behaviour odd.

"She's right here Pat, been up here this ten years now, she loves it here on the hill."

We had quite a little conversation after that as it happened and whatever one may think of a man having a chat (as he told me he did regularly) with his dear departed, your man was one of the sanest people I ever spoke to. his attitude to death was as one's should be - he didn't fear it, seeing it, as old Willie Shakespeare did, as a necessary end that will come when it will come. He knew that his wife was happy and he expected that he, too, would share her happiness when the time came to shuffle off the mortal coil . . . Meantime he came up to the cemetery every few days and had a chat with herself He gave me the price of a couple of pints as he left and the Super (whom I soon came to suspect of being possessed of the divine auality of omniscience) gave me Slecture on the morality of accepting money from members of the public. The vocation of grave-diggers - oh yes, so help me, he called it a vocation! -was a noble and a worthy one, indeed he could think of no worthier or nobler, and to accept little perks on the side detracted in his opinion

from the dignity of the job... After that I made sure to glance left and right (and all about) before taking whatever little gratuities were on offer. . .

There was an impressive array of tools to work with in the cemetery,

CONFERENCE "National Sovereignty and the defence

of the Nation State" Speakers:

ANTHONY COUGHLAN (Dublin)

RON BELLAMY (Leeds)

JOHN BOYD (London)

2 pm - SATURDAY, MAY 31st, 1986

S H A F T E S B U R Y H O T E L , Mount Pleasant, Liverpool

,0

a heart-shaped cutting implement for removing the turf (or the sod as we say in Ireland), spades, shovels andforks - but the best bit of kit of all was a spade with a serrated blade that tore through the ground with greater ease than anything else you could use. This particular tool was called a claymaster and the only drawback was that it left a series of scrape-marks down the walls of the grave - a matter of little moment, you might say; but there you'd be wrong! The Super couldn't abide to see scratch-marks down the side of the grave - it had to be even and smooth so that after excavating with the claymaster you had to run the blade of your shovel all over the sides again to eliminate what he regarded as the unsightly marks. I doubt if the mourners had an eyefor such detail but that's the kind of man the Super was and there was no use arguing with him.

One of the things that struck me most forcibly when I began my vocation as a grave digger was the vast amount of money spent on

flowers - some graves, and I exaggerate not, had all of £200 worth of floral tributes on them and that was in 1967 when two hundred quid was a lot qfeash. Grief may be assuaged I suppose by a beaUtiful display offlowers but just the same I used to think that perhaps the money might have been better spent. I wouldn't care to generalise too readily but it seemed to me from what I saw while employed in the cemetery that the English look after the graves of their departed kith and kin better than the Irish do, especially the rural Irish. In many parts of rural Ireland there is little or no tradition of visiting the graves of dead friends and relatives.

Hard as it may be to credit the charity of the green artificial grass drape was officially denied the paupers' graves - if someone was being buried 'on the rates' (as many unknown poor old Hibernian was) officially the green matting was not to be used at all! In practice it was, though, because the Super, for all that he was a pain in the rear-end, was a truly charitable man and this was one rule that he didn't scorn to break. And so whenever some poor lonely pauper was lowered the cold clay was concealed beneath the" green drapes.

It mightn't have been a lot of consolation to the deceased but it was a nice gesture on the part of the Super...

I pursued my career as a grave-digger for three months or so and then I left to return to the less depressing industry of building. After all, I reckoned, Td be long enough in the cemetery in the next life and so why spend too much time there in this?

EUROPHILIA Continued from Page 5 EEC is all about — an assault on na t iona l democracy beh ind a smokescreen of bogus idealism, a supranationalism, which is the opposite of genuine in te rna t iona l i sm, a technology-worship which sees man serving the machines he has created rather than technology serving man. At such shrines worship Replacement MEPs and many others. It is undeniable that for a time there can be lucrative rewards. But may I suggest to Mr O'Connell that Green Tibetans know a better God. — Yours etc.

ANTHONY COUGHLAN