Irish Democrat June 1990

ning Journal of the Irish community in Britain No 562 June 1990 Price 40p
Winchester Three released. Guildford inquiry told Maguire family convictions not safe
• •
•HE Winchester Three
have had their 25-year
! I convictions for conspir-
! • acy to murder Tom King
• and persons unknown
with persons unknown quashed
by. the Appeal Court. Counsel to
the Guildford Four inquiry has
told Sir John May that the convictions
of the Maguire family for
conspiracy to cause explosions
are not safe and satisfactory. But
there still remains the unfinished
business of justice for the Birmingham
Six.
t The swiftness of the announcement
by the May inquiry
team that fresh scientific evidence
had undermined the forensic
case against the Maguires so
comprehensively that their convictions
in 1976 could no longer
be upheld is to be welcomed .
Indeed, it is to be hoped that Sir
John himself will concur with the
inquiry team's estimate and
leave it open to Home Secretary
David Waddington to quash the
convictions at long last.
Annie Maguire, her husband
Paddy, their sons Vincent and
Patrick, Annie's brother Sean
Smyth, Paddy's brother
Giuseppe Conlon and a family
friend, Patrick O'Neill were arrested
at the Maguire family
home in north west London by
police investigating the Guildford
and Woolwich pub bombings.
Giuseppe Conlon had
flown to London on hearing of
his son Gerard's arrest.
The house was raided after
threats and violence elicited
statements from Paul Hill and
Gerard Conlon implicating Con-
Ion's aunt Anne in bomb-making
operations.
The only evidence against them
was a forensic test carried out by
an 18-year-old laboratory assistant
who destroyed the samples
after he had finished with them,
and his assistant who forgot to
photograph the results: between
them, they managed to ensure
the tests could not be crosschecked.
But it was enough to
convict the Maguire family - just
as an equally suspect forensic test
was enough to convict the Birmingham
Six.
But the inquiry announcement
doesn't mean the Maguires are
free yet: the full inquiry still has
at least another year to run and
the family themselves are not
building their hopes up. Nor are
all of them alive to witness what
tion of their
Conlon, invalided with TB at the
time of his arrest, was put to work
in a prison paint factory until he
collapsed and died in 1980: if Sir
John agrees the convictions are
unsafe, there are going to be some
very hard questions for someone
to answer about that.
Questions also surround former
Northern Ireland Secretary Tom
King's intervention in the trial of
three people accused of trying to
murder him: it was his announcement
of his intention to
do away with the suspect's right
to remain silent without self-incrimination
the day after the
Winchester Three had declined
to give evidence in court which
made a fair trial impossible, the
Appeal Court ruled.
Either he had completely forgotten
about the trial when he
went on national television, supported
by Lord Denning, to declare
that only terrorists
benefitted from the right to re;
main silent - in which case he and
his entire department were
monumentally incompetent; or
he was perfectly aware of wha
he was doing and simply be
lieved he would get away with it
However King's intervention i
explained, an adequate explana
tion of why it has taken 16 yearfor
the establishment to own uj
to getting the wrong people fo
the 1974 Birmingham pub bomb
ings has yet to be offered.
Freedom for the Winchester
Three, and the expected exonera
tion of the Maguire Seven, car
only be celebrated properl;
when the Birmingham Six wall
free.
• MARTIN MORIARTY
LONDON
CONNOLLY
June meeting
Wolfe Tone
cer: Dr John McGurk
GLASGOW
CONNOLLY
ASSOCIATION
1 Public meeting
i ? i,.i Q
The National Question
Speakers: Jim Sillars MP
Scottish National Party
(personal capacity)
Conor Foley .*?=;
Connolly Association
Chair: John Foley, Glasgow CA
rriaayi o
Dixon Hall s, Glasgow
1
• .
CONSTRUCTION CARNA
CHOQ, 6 » ANONN IS ANALL 8

•Tf
NEWS
IRISH
NEWS
EDITORIAL
Siren songs of
KENNY McADAMS describes the struggle against unemployment in Perry
IN
BRIEF
m m a
THEY came in sixth, behind Sinn Fein • who won
twice as many votes - and the Workers F^ffty,
and they lost their deposit: on the evidence of
last month's by-election in Upper Bann, British Toryism
does not look set fair to seriously challefj
ethe
hegemony of pro-British unionism among the It
otestants
of north-east Ulster.
ts
The Tories' enthusiasm for organising in theS
Counties appears undiminished, however Cojr
Jones, doubtless thankful for every one of her j, 38
votes - Ulster Unionist David Trimble's tally vp
20,547 - put her humiliation down to habit: you
couldn't break the voting patterns established over 70
years in the three weeks the Tories had had between
the official establishment of their local association and
polling day, she said.
This is undoubtedly true, but it doesn't explain why
the party of government at Westminster, with their
media campaign bolstered by Northern Ireland Office
ministers and graced by Tory bigwigs to the rank of
Kenneth Baker, trailed in behind the people they ban
from the television screens. Pace Ms Jones, the British
Tories failed, just as the Right to Vote Labour and the
SDP candidates failed, because none of them will ever
be able to persuade the electors of the Six Counties to
abandon what she calls their traditional loyalties in
any numbers while partition sets the agenda of Irish
politics.
This is the problem for the so-called 'equal citizenship'
lobby, with its representatives in both Tory and
Labour camps in Britain. They seek to transcend the
rival ideologies of nationalism and unionism by ex- j
1
tending voter choice at the ballot-box - more candidates
contested Upper Bann than any other Six-County
constituency since 1982. But there are no short cuts on
the road to an Irish politics where the currant dispute
about the British connection is supplanted by aigu- I
ment about which class - or which political party representative
of which class - should lead Irish society. The
entire decision-making process has to be brought back
home, exercised without intervention from London, j
Washington or Brussels, before a politics of class can j
flourish.
i
It is to be hoped that the Labour leadership in Britain
will continue to pursue a strategy for Irish re-unification
and not be tempted by the siren songs of equal i
citizenship into writing off 17 lost deposits in' their expenditure
plans for the next general election.
MM
EDITORIAL BOARD: Gerard Curran, Conor Foley ,
(news), Martin Moriarty (production), Peter Mulligan
ADDITIONAL TYPESETTING: Roz Hardie .
PUBLISHED BY: Connolly Publications Ltd., 244-46
Gray's Inn Road, London WC1
PRINTED BY: Ripley Printers Ltd (TU), Nottingham
Road, Ripley, Derbyshire
Subscribe!
An annual subscription to the Irish Democrat only costs £6.50
anywhere in Britain and the Six Counties.
Alternatively, why not become a regularseller to friends and
colleagues? Order however many you think you can handle - we
only ask you pay for the papers that you actually sell. -
NAME
ADDRESS
I Please send me: DlOcopies • 5copies • 1 copy !
I ; •
| • Return with cheque to: 244/46 Gray s Inn Road, London WC1. J
• Nottingham Connolly Association members staffing the branch stall at the Chesterfield Mayday celebrations
last month
CONOR FOLEY chronicles construction industry carnage
BUILDING COMPANIES
are still getting away with
murder. Towards the end
of May an inquest was adjourned
into the death of
Daniel Flannagan who was crushed
to death in March when a wall collapsed
into a trench. Flannagan held
up the wall while his workmates got
out safely, but his bravery cost him
his life. Exactly a month before his
death a building worker in Hertfordshire
also died in a collapsing trench.
Unfortunately Flannagan's workmates
did not appear as witnesses at
the inquest hearing where they
might have been able to give evidence
that his death was caused by
the negligence of construction giant
Costain. As lump workers it is quite
possible that they were intimidated
out of appearing by the threat of the
blacklist, although they might still
show up at the rescheduled inquest
in early June.
It is not known how many building
workers have died so far in 1990. We
do know of at least two deaths in
I February, three in March, two in
' April and four in May. This does not
include people dying of industry-related
diseases but is still only the tip
of the accident iceberg.
At least two other Irishmen died in
March as well as Flannagan. John
Fitzpatrick was killed when he
drilled through an electric cable
which had not been properly
marked. Three weeks previously another
worker had been badly injured
in an identical accident in the same
street!
Joseph Burke was also killed in
March, crushed by a mechanical digger
overturning in soft earth. William
Graham, a crane operator, was
killed by a falling oil tank in April.
Stephen Wright died in the Channel
tunnel the same month. On 9 May,
twenty-eight year old Sligo man
Derek McCaffery was killed when a
scaffolding mould collapsed. His
mate had his rib cage smashed. Two
days before that, on the Bank holiday
Monday, the Channel tunnel claimed
its seventh victim. The construction
Poll tax hits thousands of
young Irish emigrants
THOUSANDS of young Irish emigrants
will be affected by the introduction
of the Poll Tax in England
and Wales. The overwhelming majority
of emigrants are aged over 18
and will be liable for the tax.
The tax is likely to have serious implications,
particularly for young
people recently arrived in Britain, for
a number of reasons. By law a person
must inform the Poll Tax Registration
Officer of their presence in a local
authority area and register forthe tax
within 21 days of arrival in Britain.
Failure to do this may result in a fine
imposed and liability for tax arrears.
The obvious additional financial
burden of paying thetax will seriously
impede young people's access to
decent accommodation and young
people claiming social security entitlement
will have to pay 20 per cent of
the tax from their Income Support of
approximately just £28 per week.
Many people will be unaware of
their obligations of this new tax system
and confusion could lead to
young people being prosecuted and
criminalised through no fault of their
own.
People who attempt not to register
for the tax will be breaking the law
and will in practice be unable to claim
social security benefit, housing
benefit, use council leisure and recreation
facilities or go to a social worker
es the Poll Tax Registration Officer
has the power to add names from
company had only just been fined
£50,000 because of its safety recoad
but they still had thirty-three year old
Billy Cartman working at ten-o-clock
in the evening when he was killed
There have been 103 serious accidents
in the Chunnel since January
One worker said Beirut is safer after
another death in May, this time on
the French side.
The fourth fatality, that we know
about, in May was of a young Irishman
Michael Costello killed on a aty
of London site managed by AnliK,
the same company managing thejate
where William Graham was killed.
Costello fell from a platform first
onto the roof of a lorry cab and then
the ground, first injuring his back
then splitting his skull. Theyturaad
off his life support machine on 5 May.
A recent report by the Health and
Safety Executive shows that 90 per
cent of building site deaths are avoidable
but still no construction employers
are behind bars. He
message to building workers is very
simple: organise to save your lives.
these records to the Poll Tax Register
There is also concern that young Irish
people may disenfranchise thenselves
by not registering their righMP
vote in this country as the electoaal
register can also be used by the fw
Tax Officer to complete the list «f
people liable forthe tax. | < •<
The Action Group for Irish Yoatfi
has produced an information leaUt
that provides a detailed outline of tig
implications of the tax, registrattaa
procedure, obligation to pay, cost of
the tax and how to pay. It also illr
eludes information on rebate entitlement,
'joint and several liability', aaJ
the implications of non-registratiee
and non-payment. *«
3,000 copies of the leaflet have bep
produced and is available free af
charge. However, please send PO «r
Chqfor 50p to cover post and packing
costs. Write to AGJY, S-M
Cromer Street, London WC1H 8L$
Tel 071-2781665. -

T—-
-
OPINION
IRISH
IX
BRIEF
Not all nationalisms are equally progressive, argues JACK BENNETT
NEWS
•
Gralton school studies prospects for north-west Ireland
WORLD COMMENT
BY POLITIC US
Lithuania: a reply
Five reporting
to 33
.>i;ihVi:[»i>]I a weekend
of progressive thought
and discussion in the heart of
Dublin is promised at the 1990
Desmond Greaves August
Weekend Summer School at
Kinlay House, Lord Edward
St., Dublin (by Dublin Castle),
from Friday evening, August
24 to Saturday and Sunday,
August 25 and 26. The programme
includes: Professor
Donal McCartney on Revisions
in Irish History, Good
and Bad'; Dr Declan Kiberd on
Democracy and Post-Colonial
Culture'; Dr Flann Campbell
on The Dissenting Voice -
Irish Protestant Radicalism';
and Anthony Coughlan and
Antoin O Muircheartaigh on
Democracy, Nationalism and
Socialism - A Reappraisal'.
The fee covering admission to
all sessions, plus a social on
Saturday and Garden-party on
Sunday is £IO. Send, with
name and address for further
information, to Cathal MacLiam,
School Director, 24
Belgrave Rd., Dublin 6 (Tel:
0001-973154)
T h e
Rev. Martin Smyth, Grand
Master of the Orange Order,
has expressed himself "deeply
disappointed and a little
angry" at the cancellation of
plans by the Order for a Tercentenial
commemoration at
the original site ot the battle of
the Boyne in County Meath
next month. The Order
blamed "exorbitant fees" and
the "complete hostility" of
local farmers for the cancella
tion of the event. Up to 40,000
Orangemen had been planning
to travel south to attend.
FACTORY CLOSURE | After a
long period of uncertainty, the
Sunbeam factory in Cork city
finally closed in April with the
loss of 450 jobs. The British
owned factory had been in receivership
since January.
New owners have been found
but they are only promising to
employ 100 people when they
re-open. The closure has
been widely condemned by
community and Church
leaders who predict it will have
a significant knock-on effect
in the local economy. In its
hey day the factory employed
nearly 2,000 workers.
m n m i l T h e first annual
Wolfe Tone dinner and
dance will take place in the
Clarence Hotel Wellington
Quay Dublin on Friday 22 June
at 8.45 pm. Anrai O Baoigheallain
will be the main speaker
along with Kevin Boland and
Michael O Reilly. The proceedings
will be chaired by Michael
O'Riordan. Tickets are
£13 and can be obtained from
Connolly Books, 43 East
Essex St, Dublin.
i J eter Berresford Ellis' article on Lithuania in last month's Democrat divided opinion among readers. Unable to print all the
correspondence on this issue, the Democrat this month gives equal space over to the alternative view
The CONTRIBUTIONS of
Peter Berresford fcllis in the
Irish Democrat are consistently
excellent. All his writings,
in the Democrat and elsewhere,
are generally sound in the
best political sense. He is sensible,
instructive and - above all - sane in all
his comments. For instance, his very
intelligent exposition of the Breton
cause some time ago was particularly
noteworthy, as well as being worthy
of our thanks
So, being an admirer of his, I was a
little dismayed by what appeared to
be a rather simplistic approach to the
question of Lithuania which he promulgated
in the May issue of the
Democrat.
1 suspect that he has allowed his
generous instincts to overrule his
usually more cautious judgement in
this particular matter Heart over
head, perhaps?
His lapse is, 1 think, understandable,
but it is unfortunate that it
should be published in a journal like
the Irish Democrat, which was
founded to uphold the socialist principles
of James Connolly
Confusion can arise, is seems, from
the very fact that Ireland's struggle
for independence and self-determination
has always been democratic,
progressive and in line with the social
needs and interests of the Irish
people. So it is all to easv to suppose
that all nationalisms elsewhere are
equally so.
Ireland never had a native aristocracy
or highly privileged oligarchy
to give a reactionary stamp to her
aspirations for national freedom.
We've had, at the most, a weak petty
bourgeoisie to provide a conservative
ideology, and James Connolly
strove consistently against the reactionary
tendencies in this sort of nationalism.
The small-nation nationalist
struggles in Europe, while fundamentally
democratic also in their
basic objectives, were bedevilled by
complicating factors like imperialist
intrigue and the self-interest of local
ruling classes.
Polish nationalism was so ultra-reactionary
in its social content that the
socialist Rosa Luxemburg actually
opposed the demand for Polish independence
from the Tsarist empire
until rebuked and corrected by
Lenin.
We even see "leftish" tendencies in
Ireland today which oppose the demand
for unity and independence on
the grounds that this is "backward"
or "bourgeois" or reactionary!
Peter Berresford Ellis says the
struggle of the Lithuanians for independence
is one which the Irish
people can sympathise with. Certainly
we can, and must. The Irish
people, and social jsts everywhere
else as well, must support the right to
self-determination of small nations.
But to support the right to selfdetermination
does not necessarily
mean that in all circumstances we
must support every political movement
that raises a cry for actual independence.
We need to know the social content
of any particular movement, and its
actual and hidden objectives, before
we rush hastily to give sentimental
approval in the name of vague and
lofty principles. In short, we need to
show we are a little more cute in these
matters lest we fall sucker to the confidence
tricksters of capitalism and
imperialism.
If we fail to be wise in making a
judgement in each case, we could
very well find ourselves supporting,
not the independence of some
people, but their enslavement to
some worse tyranny.
For instance, at the moment there is
fierce struggle being prepared for the
"independence" of Kashmir from
India. There is no doubt that this is a
wicked and malevolent conspiracy to
plunge the people of Kashmir into a
midnight of black reaction in which
they will be enslaved by the militarists
of Pakistan, backed by Washington,
whose aim has consistently been
to de-stabalise the Indian union.
Small nations can have a right to
independence without
necessarily
wanting to exercise
it. What is wrong
with a federation of
small nations in
equal relationship,
as we have had,
more or less despite
regional divergences,
in Yugoslavia?
There is no doubt
that the breaking up
of the Yugoslav
federation by the secession
of the wealthier
Slovenia to the
capitalist west
would be a bad
thing for the peoples
of Yugoslavia - and
for the people of
Slovenia as well.
The Slovenian
"nationalist" movement
has little in
common with the
democratic nationalism
of the Irish
movement for self-determination. It
is based on chauvinism and the inflamation
of national hatred, jealousies
and antagonisms - the sure formula
for the enslavement of a people to a
right-wing adventurist clique.
As for Lithuania, many socialists in
Ireland and elsewhere in the world
might have more sympathy for the
present independence movement if
its leaders had not revealed their hidden
agenda by appealing for support
to Margaret Thatcher and George
Bush, whose respect for the rights of
small nationalities is, as we know,
non-existent.
Bush, whose wealth and military
power is used to murder democracy
and independence throughout central
and south America, is hardly a
figure to whom a genuine independence
movement would turn for
assistance.
Lithuania is certainly entitled to
cultural and political self-determination,
as Peter Berresford Ellis rightly
In no way can
we be
permitted to
align ourselves
with the
ideological
jargon of
imperialism
which attempts
to portray the
Soviet system
as an 'evil
says. Whether it is entitled to, or
could hope to have, such a thing as
economic independence is more debatable.
It depends, I suppose, on
what you mean by "economic independence".
But one thing is sure - the road to
any sort of independence is not to be
found by wooing the imperialist
West, detatching itself politically
from the Soviet Union and dismantling
its socialist economy. That
would be the road to disaster and to
servitude to the transnational capitalist
corporations, as the experience
in Poland has already shown.
The upheaval in Poland which
threw out the old authoritarian communist
regime was also partly
fuelled by nationalist sentiments
against Soviet domination. The result
for the Polish people has been the
imposition of a tyranny worse than
the one they got rid off - the ruthless,
greedy, avaricious tyranny of western
predatory capitalism, which is
sending in its hordes of yuppies to
supervise the change-over to mass
unemployment, hunger and desperation
to provide profits for "efficient
hmh^^^ free-market enter-
pnse .
And it is a ty
ranny which will
not be got rid of so
easily by a few
street demonstra
tions. The Fat Man
of Poland, Lech
Walesa, who
started his career
by leading a strike
against a moderate
rise in the price of
bread, and who
later went toadying
and grovelling to
Washington and
London - where he
kissed the hand of
the compassionate
Margaret Thatcher
- can now look
upon his dispossessed
and impoverished
people
whom he has sold
to real slavery and
to a future which, at
this stage, holds little but woe.
It is a monstrous caricature to depict
the Lithuanian people as being
"oppressed" by "Russia". Soviet
policy in practice in the Baltic republics
has certainly fallen short of the
nominal ideals of the Soviet constitution.
But within that constricting
framework which certainly did tend
to stifle national expression, those
countries have benefitted considerably
by the socialist transformation
of their economies.
And again, despite all the woeful
faults associated with the Soviet type
of centralised socialist economy, they
have shared a degree of prosperity
that the people of Ireland might well
envy.
I object strongly to the anti-Soviet
tenor of Peter Berresford Ellis's article.
As socialists, we must be free to
take a critical and detached view of
political tendencies in the Soviet
Union, to deplore their faults and to
abhor the monstrous malpractices of
the Stalin era. But in no way can we
be permitted to align ourselves with
the ideological jargon of imperialism
which attempts to portray the Soviet
system in the words of Ronald Regan
as an "evil empire".
The description of the Soviet Union
as the "Soviet empire" is just one of
those guilty-conscience type of twisters
that the imperialist powers
themselves like to indulge in. Peter
Berresford Ellis is politically incor
rect in describing the Soviet regime
as "imperialist".
We all know what real imperialism
is. And the ideology of imperialism
has always been aggressively anta
gonistic towards the culture and languages
of the small nations it
oppresses, trying forcibly to stamp
them out.
Soviet official ideology is the oppo
site - however much it has failed in
practice to measure up to its ideals ii
all circumstances. Soviet official ideology
has been to encourage and develop
the culture and languages of
small nationalities, and there are dozens
of linguistic groups in the Soviet
Union today who have been provided
with a written alphabet and
written language that they never had
under the Tzarist empire. They even
created a Jewish republic with a daily
newspaper in Yiddish.
Much of this, of course, was distorted
and overriden under Stalinism,
but the fact that a progressive
ideology remains officially in force
provides the hope for an even more
enlightened policy to be pursued ir
practice in the changing circumstances
now emerging in the Soviet
Union.
We would be ill-advised to support
uncritically the total separation of the
Baltic states from the Soviet Union ir
these days when black reaction is
sweeping across Europe, and when
Britain's Prince Charles - that scion of
one of the most corrupt, parasitical
and highly priviliged oligarchies ir
the western world - can go to Budapest
and spew out anti-Soviet rubbish
as if he was an enlightened
liberal. They would all love to see
their monstrous monarchies restored
- and perhaps bring back the landlords
to Ireland!
Remember that to socialists the
Russialn revolution was a great thing
It swept away the old world of privilege
and exploitation, capitalists and
landlords. And even though it developed
an administrative bureaucracy
of its own, so, what do you
expect? Administrators are a necessary
evil. But it gave us our first, perhaps
rough and crude, experiments
with socialism - and a trial run that
for starters was extraordinarily successful.
Now it is inevitably changing
for the better - of its own volition
Always hated by imperialism, it
was to Hitler, the "orientical Bolshevik
threat to western civilisation".
So it was to the English ruling classes,
too, and to all the line-up of savage
imperialists. We as socialists should
never countenance that sort of crap,
or anything remotely like it.
One last word about Lithuania
Those "guerrilla forces" who Peter
Berresford Ellis says "continued to
fight a war of independence" against
the Soviet Union after 1944 were supplied
and supported by the British
secret service. The type of "independence"
they had in mind was
highly suspect.
OCAL PEOPLE, activists
and academics came
together at last month's Jim
Gralton Summer School to
1 examine the prospects for
ie survival of the North-West in the
>90s, made all the more urgent this
?ar with the threatened closure of
ie mines and power station at Aright.
Held this year over the weekend of
>th and 20th May in Drumshanbo,
ounty Leitrim, and featuring an exi
bition on the history of Arigna from
le 17th century to the present day,
le annual school, organised by the
ralton Labour History Committee,
jmmemorates local radical, Jim
ralton, who became the first Irishlan
to be deported for his political
aliefs in 1934. Despatched to Amerii,
he held true to his socialist beliefs,
id was one of the founders of the
ransport Workers Union. He died
11945.
The theme of the 1990 school could
ardly have been more timely: survial
- as in Gralton's time - is exactly
hat is at stake. According to the
>cal priest, Father Tynan, the popuition
has dropped from 1600 12
aars ago to 1200 today, and is exacted
to fall to a mere 400 by the turn
f the century. Local employment is
windling, and the effect on the local
immunity of another250 job losses
i the event of the Arigna closure
ould be equivalent to 50,000 jobs
i sappearing in Dublin - yet there are
a newspaper stories about the econmic
disaster looming in Leitrim.
Whither the
Workers Party?
• DECLAN BREE: secretary of
the Gralton Labour History Committee
AMONN SMULLEN - once well-known in 1960s Lonon
Irish circles - has followed TV producer Eoghan
arris In resigning from the Workers Party. Another
> go is Galway Councillor Jimmy Brick. The reason
; the unwillingness of the mainstream of the party to
inbrace the rlghtward-leaning policies which the
arris group were pushing.
Harris and Co wanted the party to abandon any
retenslons to belong to the Irish "Left" - in effect to
st as close as possible to Fine Gael. It was they who
ad originally foisted on the Workers Party the aburd
policies set in their 'Irish Industrial Revolution'
ocument of a decade or so ago. These policies
rtcritically lauded all forms of Irish State enterprise
ithout querying what class interests ran the State,
hey extolled foreign multinational-based Industrlallition,
though this was manifestly failing to deliver
le goods In terms of employment. And they were
taracterised by an obsessive anti-nationalism and
nti-republicanism because of their hostility to the
rovlsionals - with whose founders the older leaders
I the Workers Party once shared membership In
)60s Sinn Fein.
A first principle of polltrcal wisdom in Irish politics
t that no party can grow into a mass party on the Irish
aft unless It appeals to the working-class base of
ianna Fall. Fianna Fall's working-class support is
ational and republican, which Is why the leadership
f FF has continually to pretend to be that them-
3Ives. A left-wing party seeking Fianna Fall votes
tust therefore appeal to working-class national senment,
while at the same time giving more plausible
olutions to workers' economic and social problems
ian can come from Fianna Fall's business-oriented
aadership.
WP leader Prolnnslas De Rossa's Ard Fheis speech
shows that the Workers Party has a long way to go
The problem, as Belfast-based Dr
Paddy Murphy spelled out, was getting
onto the political agenda. The
governments at Westminster and
Dublin recognised the north-south
divide, he said, but would not acknowledge
the east-west divide:
Westminster did little about deprivation
west of the Bann and Dublin was
equally at fault over development
west of the Shannon.
In the overall battle for survival,
suggested Senator Joe Costello, the
immediate focus had to be the threatened
closure of the mines and power
station at Arigna - which the semistate
Electricity Supply Board had attempted
before during the
Labour-Fine Gael coalition and been
blocked by Dick Spring, then Energy
Minister. "If the mines and the power
station go, it will be extremely difficult
to have something for the people
to rally round," he said. What was
needed was a combination of local
activism and national political pressure,
otherwise, if such a quantity of
local employment went down the
drain, it would be "extremely difficult"
to "build up a new campaign
and a new strength and organisation
to ensure the area is developed", he
said.
ATGWU (British-based) official Michael
O'Reilly pledged his union's
support to the Arigna miners - and
the strikers at Waterford crystal - in
his oration at the site of Gralton's
Pearse-Connolly Hall at Effernagh,
where local people and students
from the school gathered after a
march led by the Kiltubrid Pipe Band
at the end of the weekend. To the
lamenting strains of Larry O'Dowd's
pipes - familiar to 1960s Irish activists
from the marches he led, including
some of the Connolly Association's
own - wreathes were placed on the
site of the hall by, among others,
Doris Daly for the CA.
• MARTIN MORIARTY
before it can do that. For instance De Rossa said that
the party is in favour of a Federal EEC, thus becoming
the first Irish party - indeed the first in these islands
- to say that it supports such a development. This
astonished some observers, for there have been no
reports of such a major policy change being debated
within the Workers Party or surfacing at recent annual
Ard Fheiseanna. Can De Rossa really be favouring
a situation where Ireland becomes like Idaho In
the United States or like Baden-Wurtmeberg in West
Germany? Has he really thought through all the implications?
De Rossa also says the Workers Party favours altering
the extradition laws to facilitate the sending of
political offenders to British courts, as well as amending
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. It Is unclear
how far these proposals are kite-flying or whether
they correspond to widespread feeling within the
Workers Party. It is absolutely certain, however,that
a party advocating such policies can make no major
impact on Fianna Fail working-class voters. At best it
can only jostle with Labour for a narrow patch on the
Irish political ground.
Simultaneously however De Rossa announced
there was going to be a fundamental review of the
party's policy and organisation in the aftermath of
the Harris and Co. resignations. If he is really serious
In this it could be an opportunity for the Workers
Party to revert gradually to a more politically republican
line of policy • for instance in relation to neutrality,
the EEC, the North and policy on job creation
and natural resources. Hard as It may be to Imagine
now, If the WP should move in this direction it wbuld
inevitably and before long put both Labour as well as
Fianna Fail on the defensive. Political rather than
physical force republican^ would still distinguish
the WP from the Provisional*, but at the same time
such a development would encourage the latter to
move towards the more political pol!ry which many
of them now realise they must do - If the present
Northern stalemate is not to go on for another twenty
years.
• DUBLIN CORRESPONDENT
THIS JUNE the EEC Heads of Government will decide at
their Dublin "Summit" meeting to convene a conference
next December to draft a treaty of "European"
Political Union. This conference will parallel another
conference to draft a treaty of Economic and Monetary
Union aimed at fixing currency exchange rates irrevocably between
the EEC countries, establishing a European Central Bank
to control credit, money supply and interest rates, and inaugurating
a common currency for the EEC - with pounds, francs and
marks expressed as so many "ecu" on the different national
banknotes.
The idea is that the treaties will be drafted during 1991, do
the round of national Parliaments for ratification in 1992 and
then come into force for all EEC Member States in 1993 - with
further huge slices of national democracy and sovereignty
handed over irrevocably to Brussels.
This is the EEC's response to the reunification of Germany -
to seek to make a decisive move towards a Federal Western Europe.
They hope that this will "lock in" West Germany to the
present EEC. It is an illusion of course. If a reunified Germany
is not inclined to misbehave there is no need to attempt to set
up new structures of this kind. If it is so inclined, then it will
all the more easily dominate the others within the West European
Superstate the Eurocrats are trying to build.
The key players involved have all got very different interests.
What the Germans are after is not "European unity", but
German unity. Kowtowing to the former disarms resistance to
the latter. And they are willing to do a lot of kowtowing until
German unity is finally in the bag. At the same time the idea of
the Danes, the Dutch, the Italians, Irish and the rest "controlling"
a reunified Germany by vote-package deals around EEC
Council of Ministers table is so much for the birds. Only starryeyed
Euro-dreamers could possibly believe it.
The French are the most prone to illusion of the lot. For decades
since the war Germany was an economic giant but a political
pygmy. The Franco-German partnership which controlled
the EEC made France the more politically influential of the two.
The trouble is that reunification will make Germany a giant
politically as well as economically. German unification, rather
than European unification, is what should be making people
think.The progressive outcome of the talks on German reunification
would be to have the wartime powers - the US, USSR,
Britain and France - plus Germany itself, guaranteeing East-
West security in Europe and reporting to all 33 states of the continent.
It would mean 5 responsible to 33 in a
mini-all-European United Nations.
The EEC project, if it comes off, will divide the real Europe -
the Europe of 33 States, not 12 - not unite it. Which is why the
most progressive development would be a coming-together of
all of Europe around the Helsinki-2 conference due to be held
at the end of this year. A neutral Germany in a neutral Europe -
together with a neutral Ireland indeed - is the progressive thing
to aim at.
The Helsinki-2 Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe will be discussing guarantees for the State boundaries
of all the European States. These must be altered by agreement,
not by force. It could also develop all-European institutions to
monitor and defend the environment and encourage open trading
relations between East and West, as well as between the
North European EFTA countries and the EEC. It could have a
permanent secretariat, which it does not have at the moment. It
is partly fear of such a development which makes the Eurocrats
in Brussels push ahead with their EEC-building. They want a
bogus European structure, covering half of Europe, rather than
a real All-European house.
And Thatcher? Her criticisms of the EEC's talk about Political
Unions and Monetary Unions give her the appearance of
being a defender of British independence and the sovereignty
of Parliament. If she played that card she could use it to win the
next general election, for Neil Kinnock has painted Labour into
the pro-EEC corner.
Experience teaches, hough, that whilq Thatcher huffs and
puffs a lot about the EEC, she always gives in to the others
when it comes to the crunch. The City of London cherishes the
illusion that it will become the financial centre of the EEC,with
the European Central Bank down the street from the Bank of
England. And in the final analysis it is the City which dominates
the Tory Party. All those business and City connections
of the Tory MPs amount to something. For Thatcher to go
against what the City, big business and the so-called "quality"
press desire - and they are all "Euro" to the core - would cause a
real crisis in the Tory Party. It could happen, but it would be unwise
to bet on it.
page
^•A'.'i^nll''.'
ami"
- -v...- i

~ 5 5
OBITUARY
No path for a
wimp
ABOUT 15 years ago I acquired a radio cassette recorder,
and, living in Lancashire with excellent
RTE reception, made a hobby of recording its best.
On St Patrick's Day 1 recorded the sweet lilting
Irish of a Protestant service from Cork, and Ecumenical
Service, also in Irish, and an Irish Mass from Maynooth.
The chief Maynooth celebrant was the College's President,
Monsignor Tomas O'Fiach.
The Cosgrave coalition was then in office and its most
noteworthy spokesman was Conor Cruise O'Brien, Minister
for Posts and Telegraphs and chief overseer of RTE.
O'Fiach's accent lacked the musicallity of Cork, or indeed,
Belfast, having the harsh edge of South Armagh and North
" Louth.
But to my ears his sermon was music.
He started with the observation that for some fashionable
trendsetters to be Irish and Catholic were causes for shame
and breastbeating.
He spoke of the life of St Patrick.
His discourse was peppered with words such as 'neart'
(strength) and 'croga' (brave) which in Irish have a resonance,
not found in English, which the Greeks called onomatopoeia,
to indicate that to follow St Patrick was no path for a
wimp.
It was not a political sermon, textually, but the Minister
for Posts and Telegraphs, if he heard it, (and he collected
subversive' letters from the newspapers) must have welcomed
it like a Semtex enema.
It surprised and delighted me when O'Fiach was raised to
the See of Patrick. The media 'stick' he got both sides of the
Irish Sea was entirely predictable.
It wasn't till I spoke to a friend from Crossmaglen that I
realised what a really popular man O'Fiach was with the
laity. For all the bunkum about the Irish being priest-ridden,
the most pious Catholics among them can be scathing about
their clergy. And one priest, when I mentioned what a good
press a certain bishop had had, assured me the Diocesan
clergy regarded him as a shit, a verdict he endorsed heartily.
It's been a sad spectacle these past couple of decades to
see Irish men and women, some of real talent and learning,
selling their souls and their country, for a well paid job, or
an approving editorial, in London, Brussels, or - god help us!
- Dublin.
Of those who bucked the trend the outstanding examples
were Tomas O'Fiach and Cearbhaill O'Dalaigh. I believe
both will retain a warm place in Irish hearts when their detractors,
if remembered at all, will have joined the Quislings
of Norway and the collaborators of Vichy France, in the dustbin
of European history.
I had a glimpse of the effect O'Dalaigh had on those who
met him from an Englishwoman who worked as a translator
at the European Court when he was a judge there. She had
no interest in nor knowledge of politics, nor did I mention
O'Dalaigh to her. She said he was a lovely man, well-liked
by all who had dealings with him.
Vet, when he was President of Ireland, a Yahoo of a
Defence Minister call him a 'thundering disgrace' to Irish sol
diers, who, led by their Chief of Staff, applauded the insult.
The key positions in Irish affairs could do with more like
Tomas O'Fiach rind Cearbhaill O'Dalaigh, who brought to
their high offices culture and courtesy, and the character,
when circumstances demanded, to kick against the pricks.
D DONAL KENNEDY
Sean fhocail agus abairti
Le Seamus 0 Cionnfhaoia
1. Ta se chomh gasta leis na beacha: he is as cute as the bees
2. Ni! aon bheann agat air: you need not care how the (storm) of winter
will l.cvj
3. Talamh maith chur, beatha a tiuirt: good land for crop
4. Thug s6 an bhion6g sin as a chabail: he made sudden spring (out
ol his body)
5. Nach grdnna ari bhiuch e ar dhuine uasal mar e?: is that not an evil
quality in a gentleman like him?
6. Bean chabhra: a midwife
7. Nior chuir aon dulne aon spfach orm: no-one annoyed me, interfered
with me
8. Cuir s6 spraoch as: he sneezed (alr,o sprae)
9. Dein taca do: help him in lifting
10. Thug m6 urmhur an lae Inne ins na faillte: I spent the greater part
of yesterday on the cliffs
IRISH DEMOCRAT June 1990 page 6
IRISH SONGS EDITED BY PATHICh
Matt Hyland
There was a lord lived in this town,
Who had a handsome comely daughter,
Was courted by a fair young man,
Who was a servant to her father,
But when her parents came to know,
They vowed they'd make him leave the island,
This lady knew her heart would break,
Had she to part with young Matt Hyland.
The lord discoursed with his dear wife fair,
One night alone in their bed-chamber,
"Matt Hyland I will send afar,
I fear my child doth stand in danger."
This lady gay in ambush lay,
While deep depressed she lay repining,
"My father I will him deceive,
Won't I protect my own Matt Hyland."
Straightway off to her love she went.
And ordered him for to awaked,
Saying "arise my dear and go your way,
For this night you will be taken,
Last night i hc^rd my father say,
In spite of fate he would transport you,
So arise my dear and leave this place,
For you know well I do adore you."
"Oh must I go away?" he said,
"Oh must I go without my wages,
Without a shilling in my purse,
Just like a poor forlorn stranger?"
"Here's fifty shillings in bright gold,
Ain't that far more than my father owes you?
So arise my dear and go your way,
For I wish to God I'd gone before you."
'Twas on a bank they both sat down,
Just for the space of on half-hour,
And not a word did either speak,
But down their cheeks the tears did pour,
She laid her head upon his breast,
Around his neck her arms entwined them
"No lord nor duke nor earl I'll wed,
I'll wait for you, my own Matt Hyland."
The lord surveyed his daughter's plight,
One night alone as she lay crying,
"I will give you leave to bring him back,
Since there's no one you style above him."
She wrote a letter then in haste,
For him her heart was still repining,
She brought him back, to the church they wen
And she made a lord of young Matt Hyland.
The Old Bog Road
My feet are here on Broadway
This blessed harvest morn,
But oh, the ache thaf s in my heart
For the spot where I was born.
My weary hands are blistered
Through toil in cold and heat
But oh, to swing a scythe again
Through a field of Irish wheat.
Had I the chance to wander back
Or own a king's abode
Ifs soon I'd see the hawthorn tree
By the Old Bog Road.
When I was young and restless
My mind was ill at ease
Through dreaming of America
And the gold beyond the seas.
Oh sorrow take their money!
'Tis hard to find the same
And whafs the world to any man
Where no one speaks his name?
I've had my day and here I am
A-building bricks per load
A long three thousand miles away
From the Old Bog Road.
My mother died last springtime
When Ireland's fields are green
And the neighbours said her waking
Was the finest ever seen.
Snowdrops and primroses
Piled up beside her bed
And Ferns church was crowded
When the funeral Mass was said -
And here was I on Broadway
A-building bricks per load
When they carried out her coffin
Down the Old Bog Road.
**-. »
Ah, life's a weary puzzle
Past finding our by man
I'll take each day for what it's worth
And do the best I can;
Since no one cares a rush for me
What point is there to moan?
I'll go my way and draw my pay
And smoke my pipe alone.
Each human heart must bear its grief.
Though heavy be the load.
So God be with you Ireland
And the Old Bog Road.
Thank You Ma'am Says Dan
"What brought you into my house,
To my house, to my house,
What brought you into my house?"
Said the mistress unto Dan.
"I came here to court your daughter, ma'am,
I thought it no great harm, ma'am."
"Oh, Dan, me dear, you're welcome here."
"Thank you ma'am," says Dan.
"How came you to know my daughter,
Mv daughter, my daughter,
How came you to know my daughter?"
Said the mistress unto Dan.
"going to the well for water, ma'am,
To raise the can 1 taught her ma'am."
"Oh, Dan, 'tis you're the handy man."
"Thank you ma'am," says Dan.
"She's a bonny girl, your daughter,
Your daughter, your daughter,
She's a bonny girl, your daughter,
And I like her well," said Dan
"She's a girl that's fit for any man
And has a gradh for you, dear Dan.
Oh, Dan, me dear, you're welcome here."
"Thank you ma'am," says Dan.
"Oh you can have my daughter,
My daughter, my daughter,
yes you can have my daughter."
Says the mistress unto Dan.
"But when you take my daughter, Dan,
Of course, you'll take me also, Dan,
oh, Dan, me dear, you're welcome here,"
"Thank you, ma'am," says Dan.
This couple, they got married,
Got married, got married,
This couple, they got married,
Miss Elizabeth and Dan.
And now he keeps her mother,
And her father and her brother and,
"Oh, Dan, 'tis you're the lucky man,"
"Go to Hell," says Dan.
BOOK S /'AGE
CONOR FOLEY previews ITV's four-hour epic on the 'shoot-to-kill' affair
HOOT TO KILL is a four
1 hour epic reconstruction of
k the six killings in Armagh in
11982 that Stalker was sent to
f
investigate,andtheconspiricy
of lies he came up against. It
inishes With his removal from the
inquiry just as it reached its climax.
The firsthalf is being screened on the
ITV network on Sunday 3 June with
the second half being shown the following
night.
It is beautifully filmed and well
acted and directed. Panoramic and
slow paced if allows the real drama
of the events to unfold in a compelling
fashion. It underlines how much
material there would be for some really
good Irish war films if companies
had the guts to make them.
Despite its name, Shoot To Kill does
not place the Armagh killings in their
political perspective. There is very
little background information about
the conflict or even mention of the
other executions which took place
during the same period, the three
incidents are portrayed as botched
revenge for the death of three RUC
men blown up by the IRA in the area.
Nevertheless, the implication of the
film is that shoot to kill is a standard
xjlicy in the province, condoned at
he most senior levels so long as the
murders are not too blatant. When.
John Hermon, convincingly portrayed
by TP McKenna, hears of the
lirst killing for instance, he immediately
tells his press officer to stress
he fictitious injury suffered by an
3UC man—Hie CID officer who appears
at the scene of the killing is
similarly compliant in not interviewing
any of the RUC unit until they
li&ve had a chance to make up their
story about a non-existent road
block. Quite clearly the only reason
why these particular executions became
the subject of an inquiry was
because firstlythey were "cock-ups"
within the RUCs own terms of reference,
secondly they came so close
together and thirdly the lies came out
in a courtroom. .
There are some brilliantly subtle
touches, like the servility of a gardai
officer who accidentally holds up an
v
under cover RUC unit making a
cross-border incursion. A quote
from Chief Inspector Flanagan, who
organised both the murders and the
cover-up, to one of his subordinates
that "the Official Secrets Act requires
you say what I tell you to say" is only
equalled by Pat Finucane's sardonic
Pyella Ignota
deserve.
Kevin Barry and his Time, Donal O'Donovan, Glendale What stands out clearly is the careless unconcern
Publications £7.95 paperback
of leaders who sent out a civilian lad to fight
against professional killers, and gave him no better
weapon than a gun which was out of action. His
38 Mauser automatic was made in 1915 and was
THIS BOOK was written by a nephew of Kevin numbered RJR 995 KN2. And it was useless for
Barry, and as a member of the family he had anything. When you read the story for yourselves,
access to the clan lore and the relevant documents
forthis work. He also had great help from British on a plate, by his very own people, for
you will see that young Barry was handed to the
the research already done by Mr ODonovan Senior
who had once written an unpublished book The book contains transcripts of telegrams ex-
whom he had dedicated himself.
about Kevin,
changed, messages sent, words from the exchanges
at the trial. It is obvious that Kevin was to
the introduction by Tim Pat Coogan is in itself
worth reading. He describes Bany's death as a be executed anyway, evidence or no evidence.
media event, and leads us to think of how our The hypocrisy and double standard of the highest
martyrs today tend to be hidden away in disgrace, authorities come out in the clear, lite British used
or their bodies reviled and desecrated.
the very same tactic that they still use wherever
The narrative proper is also very readable and they are. They treated the War of Liberation as a
immediately gripping It is, however unemotional criminal episode, and the Irish soldiers as murderers.
Which is ironical coming frompeople who
and objective, very low-key, with no dramatic effects.
There is a very little touch of hero worship, exterminated whole races and even carried away
maybe, which is refreshing in these days of herohatred.
The imperial arrogance and immorality is always
the bones to Britain.
Aflsinsta "idrop of blazing Dublin, we see the there. Young Barry was not shot as a soldier but
sacrificial i es, larger than life, their actions hanged as a criminal, although he was a prisoner
tremendous* but the rhetoric subdued- They were of war. Barry's nobility is manifest throughout, in
rtvwe of whom the land was not worthy. They his calm acceptance of his fete. He adjured his
represent a yesterday which today may not sister, Kathy, to make sure that there would be no
comment to Stalker that the rightto
silence has not been taken away yet.
Subsequent events give added.significance
to the venom with which an
RUC officer screams at Stalker for
having that conversation.
Stalker and his deputy, who acted
as the film's consultant, are the only
two people whose characters are
treated in any depth but the film is
less guilty of using "the natives" as a
backdrop for an English/American
hero than most of those currently circulating
about Vietnam or Central
America.
Instead they are portrayed as incredulous
outsiders gradually realising
what a corrupt, sectarian cess-pit
they have wandered into. "They're
out of control" says Stalker.as he realises
that the CID man who investigated
the killings had himself
ordered the doctoring of evidence
and Judge Gibson commends an
RUC unit for bringing three unarmed
men "to the final court of justice".
"These people are more li)tir death
squads from a Banana Republic"
concludes the Manchester police
man only to have the words thrown
back at him when Flanagan taunts
them that the inquiry team's office
has been bugged fromthe start.
The RUC's growing confidence
comes fromthe knowledge that Stalker
is being set up through their contacts
across die water which results
in his suspension and removal from
the inquiry. His subsequent fate, and
those of the other main characters,
are summarised in brief texts before
the finalcredits. Notable exceptions
are Michael Tighe, Eugene Toman,
Sean Burns, Gervais McKerr, Roddy
Carroll and Seamus Grew, six dead
men who who have been joined by
many others since then.
So don't stop being angry when the
film ends.
• ••
appeal. He also sealed his own fate by .fefiisutg to
give any information tohis interrogators. The contrast
is great between his magnanimity and the
peevish, stupid vindictiveness of the British. He
was reluctant to complain of the ill-treatment he
had received in the interrogation and gave bare
details in an understated way. It was clear to all
who saw him that his arm was in a sling, but the
authorities were livid with anger that a legal figure
drew attention to the feet.
This work contains many ballads and poems
written about Barry and his death, which was
highly memorable amdng patriot deaths. He was
pre-eminent as a martyr because many families
were so grateful to him for not breaking under
interrogation. Also there may have been understandable
remorse Oat he had been so easily and
with such insouciance, thrown to the wolves.
The toneof the narrative is so calm and restrained
that it acts as an anaesthesia against the full horror
of the events. The official reassurance was that the
death was instantaneous, but who believes the
voice of obsessive executioners? This is an inspiring
episode in the history of Ireland, and the
author deserves our gratitude for getting it into
print before the revisionists get a chance to destroy
this heroic figure as they have done so many
others. This book is to be had at the Four Provinces
Bookshop and it is the read of a lifetime!
Chronicle of
constant
Constance
Doris Daly
Constance Markievicz • an
Independent Life, Anne Haverty,
Pandora Press £7.95
THIS BIOGRAPHY, published
1988, of the Countess Msrklevlcz
brings a new dimension to
the life and times of Constance
Georglna Gore-Booth and
brings up the major figures of
her day Into a bas-relief on
backdrop of luminaries who so
Influenced and shaped her
extraordinary life and Indeed
helped shape the events on Europe's
mainland and Its Islands
at the turn of the century, events
that have not yet been resolved!
Constance wae born In the shadow
of Buckingham Palace into
an Irish aristocratic family on her
father's side, and related to Lord
Scarborough on her mother's
side, on February 4th 1868. She
was reared In Idyllic splendour
St Llssadel Court, County SHgo
within the sight of magical Ben
Bulban and the volatile Atlantic
Ocean, the natural kingdom of
King Lyr: an indication of her
natural development?
She died penniless In a public
ward of Sir John Dunne's Hospital,
OubHn on July ISth 1827, her
daughter Maeve by her aids.
The Free State Government refused
to allow her mortal remains
to lie In State at the
Mansion House so she lay instead
in the Rotunda Clnemecum-dancehall
for two days and
nights guarded by her own boys
of Flanna nah Elreann aa they
people of Dublin, vety particularly
the poor, paid their reapectato
this the greatest of Irish heroines.
Authoress Anne Haverty faithfully
chronicles this amazing life
with a clarity gleaned from meticulous
research and an absolute
understanding of the setting
and the political Jasues of Marklevlcz's
lifetime. But to find the
real Maridevicz one has to be
detective and aage and shrewdly
sift between the Nnes to evaluate
Constance the Art Student, the
wife of an Impoverished Polish
count, the traunatiaed postpuerpal
mother, the revolutionary,
the crack ahot In the Citizen
Army, leader of Fianna nah-
Elreann (Boy's Brigade), the
playwright, poet, actreee, the
soldier at aims, the Committee
Q A M l a H a l ||, . — -a n , - ., , H y
socialist, me prisoner, me poetrcian,
the first woman In Europe
Minister of State, the beloved
step-mother and most amazing
of all that of Roman Catholic
Convert!
Ma Haverty leaves no stone unturned
and even consults the
rish Astrological Society for a
Natal Horoecope of Markievicz.
I warmly recommend thle book
and Indeed suggest further reedng
of Curloua Journey by Kenneth
Griffith and Tim O'Grady
and avallabls only from Four
Provlncss Bookshop for ths
special price of £5.
I It t 8 M DIM 0 C It A T 4 * a S 1 8 8 8 f a ft S

PETER
MULLIGAN'S
PEEPSHOW
ANONN IS ANALL: THE PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS COLUMN
'Adoration of the Maggie 7 is in full swing despite the local election results
m
Of polls and tax
IRISH JUSTICE "I looked into
the Supreme Court lately and
there before the court was a
man - clearly a crook - arguing
his case. A judge with the
same accent as him was
asking him questions, very
politely.
"In Britain you see an entire
system clearly designed to intimidate
the people who appear
before it. It's an entirely
different philosophy.
"The British judiciary is establishment-orientated
and its
decisions reflect that very
much. The whole development
of our jurisprudence has been
towards developing human
rights vis-a-vis them legislature.
"The Irish judiciary will tend
not to support the establishment
where human rights
are concerned....It's conservative
in some matters but on
human rights it very radical."
A little gem from the London
Independent's view of the British
Government's demand for
Irish prisoners. We would add
that the rest of the article reflected
official British government
policy as most British
newspapers do.
A REMINDER The Irish
question might plausibly be
called a religious one. But it is
untrue, and it is deeply and villianously
untrue. No lie in Irish
life has been so persistent and
so mischievous as this one,
and no political lie has ever
been so ingeniously, and
malevolently exploited ....it is
not Catholic or Nationalist, nor
have I said that it is entirely
Protestant and Unionist, but it
is on the extreme wing of this
latter party that responsibility
must be laid. Clustered around
it (the Unionist Party) is a body
of men whose hatred of their
country is persistent and
deadly and unexplained."
JAMES STEPHENS.
YOUR ENGLAND The Scottish
National Party chairman
told the annual conference at
Dunoon 'When England play
the West Indies at cricket, we
support the West Indies. When
England play New Zealand at
rugby, we support New Zealand.
When England play
anyone at football, we support
the police.' GREENOCK TELE-
GRAPH.
A SOUND ROYAL HISTORY
'"A command of English and a
sound and detailed knowledge
of British history are essential
to being British," Chris Patten,
Home Office Minister, told
Moslems and other communities
yesterday.' DAILY
TELEGRAPH.
THE LOCAL elections have
come and gone and, in spite
of Kenneth Baker's strenuous
public relations efforts,
the message to be derived
from the results is that, if the trend is
reflected in the next General Election,
it will be Labour who will provide
the next Government of the United
Kingdom with a reasonable working
majority.
Now Ireland has many friends
within the Labour Party and between
now and the next General Election,
which 1 suggest will be in the
Autumn of next year (1991), all
groups seeking the only just and realistic
solution to the war in Ireland
should support those in the Labour
Party who want England to announce
its intention of disengaging,
militarily and politically, from Ireland.
The Labour Party represents
the only reasonable hope for withdrawal
and everyone interested
must seek to ensure that a declaration
of intent to withdraw (narrowly defeated
at last year's Party conference)
will become official party policy before
the next general election.
As well as Labour, the Scottish National
Party and Plaid Cymru made
gains in the local elections. But one
4 result caught my eye which none of
the London newspapers commented
on. In Penwith, the extreme western
district of Cornwall, Mebyon Kernow
(the Cornish independence
party, seeking a Manx form of independence
for Cornwall) won a seat
with a 705 majority from the Tories.
To remind you, the Cornish are the
second smallest Celtic people, whose
language was lost from general use
in the late 18th century, although a
rather amazing language revival
began at the end of the 19th century
and has continued through this century
vith remarkable success in spite
of thi fact that it was done without
any local or central government support
or academic backing. Only last
year did the European Bureau of
Lesser Used Languages give Kesva
an Tavas Kernewek (Cornish Language
Board) a grant which was
then, significantly, matched by a
grant from the Cornwall County
Council.
Colin Lawry now holds one of the
biggest personal votes in the election
ILLNESS and overwork have
prevented the appearance of our
appeal coiumn since before the
beginlng of the year. This does
not mean our needs have been
any less. Quite the reverse! Increasing
activity Is increasing
our costs. We have launched a
number of publications, we have
been at the forefront of many
campaigns, have suffered an
arson attack and now of course
have to meet a monthly wage bill.
Thanks for your gifts but please
keep them coming. The following
have been received since
for Penwith District Council in the
Penzance Central ward. He also
holds a seat on the County Council.
Mebyon Kernow (Sons of Cornwall)
was formed in 1951. In 1953 the first
MK election victory took place when
a Ms Charles won a seat to the Camborne-Redruth
District Council. It
was not until 1967 that MK won its
first seat on the Cornwall County
Council in the person of Colin Murley.
MK survived a disasterous split
in June, 1969, when some members,
feeling Cornwall should have 'Commonwealth
Status', set up a Cornish
National Party. In 1979 it was renamed
the Cornish Nationalist Party
and now seeks 'independence within
Europe'. Both parties have fielded
candidates to Westminster and the
European Parliament. While they
haven't been successful in these
areas, they have
had a fair share of
successes over the
years in rural, urban
and districts councils.
Only the Penzance
District, out of the
six Cornish district
councils, was up for
election on M^y 3.
MK fft?ld«T only
one, successful, candidate.
The vote
might encourage
them to rethink
their election strate-
gy-
• • • • • •
But to return to the
main issue, however,
one cannot be
complacent about
Labour's potential
showing at the next
election. The local elections also demonstrate
that the Tories can still appeal
to people's greed and stupidity.
Take their gains in London, for
example, and especially Wandsworth.
That has left even an old
cynic like me gasping. Yet the reasons
for the Tory gains is obvious. As
a leading Tory remarked afterwards
with smug cynicism: 'People always
vote with their pockets.'
Wandsworth is levying the lowest
poll tax in the country ... that is for
this year. Its poll tax of £148 has been
artificially arrived at. For starters, it
The Tories can
still appeal to
people's greed
and stupidity:
Wandsworth
especially left
even an old
cynic like me
aspin
Funding the future
March this year.
receives £116 from the central safety
net' fund. This is a central pool for
redistributing money which other
councils (councils like Hackney,
Camden and Islngton) have to subscribe
to. This 'safety nef will be in
being for the next four years and the
government takes money into it from
those local authorities they deem as
having spent more on local services
in previous years than the government
thinks necessary. So, ironically,
Wandsworth is being subsidised by
Labour authorities.
And Wandsworth further subsidised
its poll tax in a one-off move to
sink half its reserve finances (£17 millions)
to subsidise this first year.
Wandsworth built up this reserve by
selling off nearly a third of its council
housing stock and then making a
profit out of high council rents. This,
coupled with the
• • • • • • • privatisation of services,
likq street
cleaning, refuse collection
and so forth,
meant it could cut
down on its employees.
.Wandsworth
' now
employs 45 per cent
less staff than other
imaerz-tondon-lio'»
roughs. |
The result of all
these artifical reductions,
shrewd
and cynical short
term fabrications by
the Tories six weeks
before the local elections,
resulted in
the Tory gains.
It frankly did surprise
me that so
many people were short-sighted and
gullible enough to fall for the Tory
tricksters. However, fall they did and
it underlines that Labour cannot be
complacent when it does go to the
general election polls. Had the Tories
been able to massage finances on a
nation-wide basis, even though it
was a short-term process (like Wandsworth),
then doubtless the electorate
would have behaved in the same
way as the Wandsworth electorate. I
will concede that there is something
in the argument that the Wandsworth
electorate are 'special' in as
Sustentation fund
C O S. £5, K Doody £2, J Bird £5,
K Matthews £6, J McGrath £5, G
Beskln £17, M Barry £2, C OS £5,
K M £5, P McLoughlln £4, A Hlflgins
£5.80, J Roche £6, E Jeffars
£2, M Guinan £10, J Harmon £6,
A Nunes £12, M Joyce £1, P Gaul
£1, C O'S £5, M Flannery MP £20,
R Smith £6, P Nicholson £2.50, R
Doyle £2, P Curran £2, M Brwman
£5, South London CA £78, M Catfell
£10, J Jamison £17.80, J Robinson
£5. In memory of Harry
Goulding from Elizabeth £6.
Total £284.80
K Dunlea £s, P McGeown £5. PT
Mullln £5, JP Roche £20, T
McGIng £50, T Lyne & K McNamara
MP £10. Total £95
Memorial appeal
J Deighan £100, GFoley £100, K
C Joyce $111. Bankers orders -
per month - £67.
much as most of them are of the welloff
'Yuppie' variety and own lafgf
houses by which the poll tax give:
them financial advantages. How
ever, people are frail, after all, an*
given an appeal to short-term pei
sonal greed and long-term moraliti
the concern "of equality and pro;
perity for all, it seems they will tak
the shor'. l erm.
The Tories are beside themselve
with glee at the way they have foole*
the people in Wandsworth. The Tor;
newspapers have been hailing a 'vie
tory'. This takes a little swallowing
But Kenneth Baker has been quite a
persuasive propagandist. I am reminded
of Paul Joseph Goebbels, the
Nazi Minister of Propaganda, wh<
said the greater the lie, the mor
people will believe it. The Tory hop<
now is that people will believe thei
great lies.
Woodrow Wyatt, whose column in
the News of the World is ironically sub
titled 'The Voice of Reason' is alread j
claiming that the results predict Mag'
gie Thatcher's fourth term in offio
and attacks those Tories who thinl
she ought to go before the next election.
Incidentally, in a recent poll,
per cent of Tory supporters think sh(
ought to resign now. However, Lore
Wyatt of Weeford (to give him hi
proper title) has been one of Maggi*
Thatcher's most sycophantic anc
adulatory supporters. His column h
fascinating by being one long paeai
of Thatcherite praise. Perhaps his •'-•
subtitle should not be The Voice o
Reason' but The Adoration of the
Maggie'!
Wyatt was a Labour Member of
Parliament for 11 years until he saw '
a blinding light on the road to Trans
port House and fell in love witl
Thatcher. In his Confessions of an Op
timist, he makes no bones about it. Hi
initially thought she was simply i. \
'brassy blonde' but 'she won me over : '
... with her pretty legs and complex-,
ion'! Nowadays, the former Pano-!
rama journalist is one of the fiercest
BBC-bashers and his column in the
News of the World makes the blooc
run cold with his far-right jingoism
racism, sexism etc. Thinking abou :
the circulation of the News of th !
World and its potential influence, i
makes one wonder if there is an;
hope for progress and reason in thi
country.
Maggie, The Poll Muddle Tartar'
seems to have become an Englif 1 '
deity, in spite of the fact that the EtJ <
ropean Court of Human Rights hav <
once again found this country (in th< ,
form of its government) guilty ofye i
another human rights violation. Taj:
time it was to do with the activities o
our old friends MI5 and their h«M
ling of the National Council ofCiyi
Liberties as a subversive organise
Hon. It is interesting that the Unit*
Kingdom has the unenviable recbtt < 4
of the highest number of humai \
rights violations of any westeft
country. Since 1960 some 20 per c«ri
of the'guilty findings of f ~
tyofthesi
connectioj
of Ireland or IHfcl
x
IRISH
DEMOCRAT