power.
Those least able to afford it are going to be made to pay. Those with no responsibility for the recession in the capitalist economy are going to be forced to make all the sacrifices.
sobering reminder that economic and social misery that these policies bring is as nothing to those in Their response to the misery they have created is to make the victims pay, to jail workers who have resisted redundancy, to imprison students who have objected to spending cuts and to denounce and insult those desperately concerned parents who have tried to their policies' worst side-effects.
Their response to the problems they have created is typified by the Criminal Justice Bill which is now almost law: the extension of the methods of legalised political repression across the whole of society. This law does not address the problems of urban crime, but rather, quite deprives everv person in the state of most basic civil liberties.
Sinn Fein has consistently presented an alternative to this. First of all we state that the Irish people themselves must have the power to take the decisions themselves and that this can only be done in a united, independent Irish Republic which is not fettered by the interests of other states. which is not concerned with the maximising of profits for multi-nationals and private enterprise, but is concerned with maximising the benefits to the Irish people themselves.
We reject the negative, miseryinducing policies of the establishment parties, directed, as they are, at the pro tection of the interests of capital.
We declare our concern to be people, not profits. We state our conthronen the implementarish ple, implementation radical socialist economic programme in a united Ireland, to solve their own end the years of joblessness and social misery.
Sinn Fein, in presenting the alternative, has a responsibility to be in a position to deliver the attainment of those objectives.
This means the development and expansion of our organisation through We need to expound not only the reason TOr unity dependence but the logical, social and economic reasons as well.
There are no shortcuts in the task of making revolution. There are no easy options or magic formulae. Only by painstakingly perfecting, educating structuring our organisation so that it becomes relevant to our people and their needs will we be ready and capable of giving the leadership which will be demanded of us in the years to IN THE space of a week the Thatcher government direction of achievements which could have been credited with and thrown Dublin's political establishment into chaos. the Forum report and its collaborationist philosophy has boosted the confidence of Unionist politicians and led to a new wave of sectarian assassinations in the North. as 1l coldly, what the say. but the wav that it said it. carefully cultivated diplomatic double talk was thrown out of the window, Thatcher Republicans have known for years. She is an incorrigible Unionist.
Dublin premier Garret Fitzgerald, was thrown into confusion as he tried to extricate himself from the humiliating debacle. In the build up to the summit as it became clear that the British would not respond in any way positively to the New Ireland Forum, the story was circulated that optimism was running high for Britain to respond favourably to the philosophy of the report if not its final conclusions. In response, Dublin some further measure cooperation. more to maintain the border than the British. Dublin courts have already been made available to London both for the extradition of republicans and the se. questration of the funds of the miners.
On Monday, the Guardian 'security accord possible'. On Tuesday: 'summit sets agenda for initiative'. By Wednesday it could editorialise it was 'very much a working summit', that it was 'one that really tackled the issues' and that there was 'less differences than in previous years'. felt it would be 'churlish to complain about the blandness of the official communique'. The Mirror. (Tuesday) felt confident enough to headline in- cher Gets Irish Backing blitz on the IRA was launched jointly yesterday by Kritain Republic'. Fitzgerald was welcoming the new security framework between the two countries.
ing in the opposite direction. Fitzgerald was still claiming he had won Thatcher's support, was talking of the 'fullest, frankest, ever'.
has switched British policy unravelled ally James Prior sidered reaction, The rejection of respected.
But What changed was not so much British government had to aire eltner The disloyal Fenian.
spelt The press, long used to lionising speak tionalists.
for this was lo announce of security ever go.
Irish tax payers already contribute last day of the announced:
So optimistic was the editor that he "That- A major the Irish quoted as In the real world, things were mov- ed.
Whilst Thatcher herself violence.' most realistic bilateral meeting Socialist Action 30 November 1984 On the Forum report, and its three options, Thatcher declared the unitars state was 'Out', the confederation was 'Out and the joint sovereignty optior was 'Out'. Fitzgerald said British reac tion to the Forum had been 'a conconsidered reaction'.
He went on that both parties were 'talking about realities in a new way. "hatcher, he said had recoonised ther: were 'two identities' which had to be Thatcher clearly saw the realities' like any Orangeman — you for the Queen or are a As for the concept of 'alienation' which the Forum found to explain the high'vote for Sinn Fein, Thatcher said it was nonsense, 'one knows a number of people are republicans, they have been republicans for a long time, their views are different from the unionists'.
Whereas Prior had held out hope for Dublin politicians to play a role in the future of the North, they interpreted this as being given the right to on Northern Thatcher and Hurd could not have given them a blunter rebuff Hurd said 'there will be no executive role for the South in the affairs of the North ... Dublin can express its views, Britain would listen and discuss them' But this was as far as it goes or would In Dublin, the glue was coming unstuck. Fitzgerald, who had talked of useful agreement on Monday, said the British had been 'gratuitously offen sive' (Thursday) and that there could now (Friday) be 'no hope of progress whilst Thatcher was Prime Minister'.
The parliamentary opposition in the South were having a field day. Fianna Fail leader Charles Haughey, "scathingly critical' on Monday, was by / mid. week preparing for a new General Elec. tion. Fitzgerald was guilty of an 'abject capitulation to a new British intran sigence' and a 'craven desertion of the principles of the Forum report'. He was guilty of 'incompetence, misjudgement and ineffectiveness'. It was "a wonder he had the nerve to come home at all'.
The Unionist parties were overjoyed — Thatcher had made it clear that the only settlement she was in terested in was internal to the North. In rejecting the proposals and the ethos of the Forum report, the Unionist veto over political progress has been extendKinnock, who can be relied upon to say something stupid, 'wished formalls to endorse the summit's rejection of Thank you Neil, it was a point that everyone else overlooked.
Socialist Action 30 November 1984
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Planned We advocate a planned economy