the Dublin government. Ireland, MARTIN COLLINS, look at ruling class thinking on the current stage of polities in the North.
Retiring to the country farm, lucrative chair at GEC and a graceful departure the backbenches, James Prior is viewed by the establishment as with an exquisite sense of timing.
The Guardian said that after three years as head ot the Northern Ireland Office, OS L unrelenting posts', he had through slow progress rapid, random constantly ansasles revealed the touch authority of a political heavyweight.' Prior was despatched to the North not to solve a problem in Ireland, but to solve that in the British cabinet neutralising wet threat to Thatcher.
The key to his image of success has been the pompous, relaxed stance which meant any hint of progress was attributed political authority, whereas any sel-vack was put down to the *perplexing realities of Irish politics' By making the right noises about law and order been able to concentrate gently the Dublin government wards doing Britain's job for it. By refusing to be harried by the loyalists ino stepping up army pro ile, allowing the RUC anc UDR to remain in ne front Prior is accredited great success reducing the casualty figures for the British army. Editor of Labour and By refusing stampeded into a banning Sinn their profile to that of the car bomb, he has 'engineered normality in Belfast city centre life' The economy he leaves is in ruins, promised Iciet of unemployment has not arrived and the North remains the most he in subsidised Western Europe, the only growth area being in the security forces.
Assembly The much heralded Assembly as a prelude to rolling. 'rolled' nowhere. Boycotllationalist community and signiticant sections of the loyalists, it remains as the possibility of a Northern solution' James Prior was not deterred. No matter how much he continued to 'pawith politicians to drop their boycott, he realised that the 'problem of the North' can only be solved by looking at Ireland as a whole.
The cooption of the Southern government the key policy goal of the British government. Here is the real 'progress' of the last three years.
Peter Barry, the Foreign Minister of the Coalition Government recently spelt out four reasons for optimism:
There is a clear recognition by British and Irish that 'alienazo calls tion in the North' (read support for Sinn Fein) is so threatening that necessary The forum report has destroyed the 'unalterable realities.
Despite the fact that the wording of the forum report gave the 'preferred option' of reunification, its message was that Dublin was prepared to drop constitutional claim on the North negotiate 'sovereignty option that would be ac ceptable to Britain.
• The British government nave accepted une Irish government have the right to speak on behalf of the Northern nationalists. Unionists Spelling out the implications, Barry has publicly apologised Unionists for raising issues WaCe loser unem royal visit to the Drumadd (UDR) barracks. border shoos to ill actions, shoot to kill actions security TOrCeS remarks of judges comthem He plain to do salued my to do would default legitimise the serious pretensions ot the Provisional IRA and their political henchmen'.
So although not one Northern nationalist voted for Fine Gael and 42 per cent voted for the southern government forums, developing the Prior, turning his back on three years of failure. will now speak to Britain on their behalf Dublin London Have now solid governments which together will have time to make a new and sustained attempt to bring peace in Northern Ireland.
Barry's claim is that there is sufficient stability in the South to push ahead with plans to combat the alienation in the North (read Sinn Fein), means 'a transformation of the system public authority' (read security in Northern He shares unionist the genocidal outrage at slaughter by the IRA of people [read the vOl ares... the IRA are UDR] border much my enemy as they of the [read socialist republic] they want to bring about.' A section of the British ruling now realise that harnessing the collaboration of the Free State rulers is the best long term solution, but doubts rentall the southern SUD DIONS tionalism of Sinn Fein? Is the South a reliable ally for the Western block? Can it control working resistance to austerity policies?
Despite the willingness of the South offer reassurances. they cal achieve little without the active of the British government Remaining sceptical of their abilly to denver une good. the cabinet continues to Unionists sabotage their humble efWhile we may expect some cosmetic 'advances' to be projected from the Anglo-Dublin summit, the Tory government so soon Brighton bombing is unlikely to give FitzGerald the helping hand he so desperately craves.
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THREE YEARS after the hunger strike, the British establishment is preparing for a new summit with