Irish Democrat June 1990

•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 .
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• 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. -