Fortnight Publications Ltd.

LettersAuthor(s): Jimmy BrownSource: Fortnight, No. 211 (Dec. 17, 1984 - Jan. 20, 1985), p. 11Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25547625 .

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LETTERS Sir,

"Time is not on the side of either Dublin or

Westminster. Generations are growing up in

the North and South who know only the hope lessness of life on the dole and the attractions of

violence.' These words from the Sunday Times

editorial heralded the start of the latest Anglo Irish summit. Reflecting, as they do, the real

power behind Thatcher, the British ruling class,

they sound a word of warning for future British

rule in Ireland.

The dichotomy for the British centres around when to act to shore up capitalism in Ireland and how far to gof. Whether to move now to dismantle the 6-county state (by repartition) with all the risks that entails; or to wait and

having waited too long, find a more revolution

ary-conscious working class throughout Ireland which will not respond to sops and reforms as it

might have done in 1968 or 1974. To even the most casual observer it is obvious that Britain is not as anxious for movement now as the Fitz

Gerald-Barry-Hume axis, who see the need for

stability in terms of their own long-term polit ical survival. The British government, who ap

art from moments like the Brighton bombing, are one step removed from any of Irish' crisis, believe that a Dublin government under in

creasing internal pressure can be more easily moulded to Whitehall's will and that they can afford to move slowly. Particularly in view of the miners' strike.

The search for a 'new solution' is seen as

hampered by Unionist intransigence. Unpre pared to share power they claim they do not

have, they feed John Hume's call for an inter national solution. The latest 'tender-to-sell' re

presents a clear attempt by the Southern Nat ionalist ruling class to pre-empt any further rad icalisation of the working class by coming to terms now with Unionism inside the existing capitalist framework. Such collaboration is on

ly the latest chapter in the negotiated betrayal of the Irish working class and is increasingly seen as that throughout the country.

During the past 15 years the social and class dimensions of the national struggle have been redefined. Separatism from England is now

widely viewed, particularly among younger ele

ments, as the first step to Connolly's Republic, in which 'Socialism will mean the common

ownership by the Irish people of the land and

everything else necessary to feed, clothe, house and maintain life in Ireland.' The pleading of John Hume and Peter Barry to act now regard less of Unionist opposition and their intense

promotion of the 'alienation' theory was as much a cry for help on the part of constitutional Nationalism as anything else. Their insistence

that the necessary 'vision and intellect' absent in 1920 be applied now before it is too late

underlines their anxieties about their own fut ure. While bemoaning the 'alienation' of Nor thern Nationalists, FitzGerald now presides over the crumbling social fabric of the Free

State; clearly this summit offered little to avert the growing threat to the security of the Irish

ruling class in the face of growing disaffection within the 26 counties.

As the ruling class scrambles to reorganise and reassert itself, it comes as no surprise that

Oliver Napier, in what was perhaps his last

major speech as leader of the Alliance Party, attempted to reinforce the status quo within the 6 counties by claiming: 'The dividing line is no

longer between Unionists and Nationalists. It is between those who support the democratic

process and those out to destroy it.' This tactic

of criminalising the opposition is of course no

thing new. And despite the shallowness of offic ial communiques, a major feature of the Che

quers summit centred around discussion on

how to isolate and defeat the Republican anti

imperialist struggle. Year after year, summit after summit, the

ruling class have failed to realise that there can be no going back. The demands of the Civil

Rights Movement in the 1960s were simply re formist in nature. The Catholic middle classes then sought nothing more than an accommod ation within the existing class structures. The

rejection of those demands signalled the decay and disintegration of the 6-county state and

with partition itself, and it unleashed the pot ential for revolutionary change throughout Ire land. The failure of constitutional Nationalism to redefine its analysis of the British presence, the 6- and 26-county states in light of this reject ion renders them incapable of ever leading the Irish working class. Their abdication of that role is total, their weaknesses evident and their

betrayal increasingly understood. At a time when the crisis within international

capital is shedding jobs like an industrial revol ution in reverse, the relationship between the class and national questions has been rediscov ered. Socialism and class-based analysis cent red around the teaching of James Connolly are a thriving currency in ghettoes where summit rhetoric rarely penetrates. The pundits and an

alysts should note that a growing Republican and revolutionary left is now a permanent feat ure in any future equation. And no amount of

'summitology' can alter that fact.

Yours, etc.,

JIMMY BROWN, IRSP remand prisoner,

Crumlin Road jail, Belfast.

1 s I HELP MAKE IT A HAPPY | 1 CHRISTMAS AND A CONFIDENT j g NEW YEAR IN THE PIT VILLAGES f t S

2 The great majority of miners are still on strike. They and their $

g families are desperately poor. A recent report from Dawdon

g g

Miners Distress Centre, Co. Durham, says that 30 per cent of the ? ? striking miners are destitute. It reports: ? SJ s J{ Our biggest problem at the moment is trying to ensure that our ? # children are dressed and have shoes on their feet. jtt A The reports ends: ?

d SI ys

I cannot of course begin to tell you of the desolation we all feel, ? # especially when we are talking about people who are basically

" ? honest, who have paid their taxes and debts to this society and who, S w in any circumstances, are honest citizens and, by their nature, proud w tt and caring parents. A

g The distress of the miners and their families has not daunted

g A their fighting spirit. They are as determined as ever to save their # Sf communities, their jobs and their pits. They have a right to a 5 ? good Christmas. 5

$ This is an urgent appeal for a huge Christmas bonus for the $ ? striking miners and their families. A little money goes a long ? * way: ?

| ?250 will provide a Christmas dinner for 200 ? * ?50 will finance a Christmas party in a miners' welfare hall ?

H ?10 will buy a turkey or a toy SI U ?5 will fill a stocking for a miner's child

jj ^ If all who feel they should do something to help the coal mining j[ g

communities give some money to this fund, we can ensure for 5 ? the communities a happy Christmas and a confident New Year. S

$ Please send donations to Miners Christmas Appeal, c/o Women ?* A Against Pit Closures, National Union of Mineworkers, St James' A g House, Sheffield 1.

|

H Booking Office open Monday to Saturday 9.45 am to 5.30 pm HI J Reservations tel.

241919_Information ^ ^*Q"Q W

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Moo to Thur 2.30 pm & 7.30 pm _^_fflE_E__P_U| I Fri & Sat 6.00 pm& 9.00pm ^^|r_K_rg| I Boxing Day & Thur 27 Dec

^g^^AnmrnS^SJ ^*w I 6.00 pm& 9.00 pm /^Jt TlN* tQ# a\ I No performances Christmas Eve i^XtfjfSLm * ̂ ?^5?m^fr J I and Christmas Day \^%^\ PRE AMCOAT r*g3_JI I

^ VI dazzling rainbow mix of music, song and action j |

Thur74TnTs_ANEVENBVG WITH || 1^1 _ _ -^-^^P_S.I^^^ )\ f | Scottish BaUet Tue~29 Jan to Sat 2 Feb at 730] I ^^MApap^* presents <-rf> Sal matinee at 2.30 pm I

l^VNUTCkAQClR j The Perfect Christmas Present? I

Tickets for the Grand Opera House I Don't forget: Grand Opera House Gift Tokens are I

I available price ?5 and ?10 from the Booking Office. I

Fortnight 17 December 1984 11

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