Ireland
What is the Irish conflict all about?

The IRA - and the political party that supports them, Sinn Fein - are fighting for a United Ireland. They want an end to the division of their country into two separate states, so that the Irish people as a whole can decide their own future. This means an end to the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland, and an end to the Northern Ireland state itself.

Why was Ireland divided in the first place?

For hundreds of years Ireland was a colony of Britain. The Irish did not have their own government and were ruled directly from London! In 1918 - the last time there was an all-Ireland election - the majority of Irish people voted to set up an independent state.

Britain would not respect the wishes of the Irish people. They sent in troops and gangs of criminals recruited to terrorise the people, who were known as the "Black and Tans". The Irish did not accept this lying down. They fought a brave and bloody war against the British occupation of their country.

In 1921, the British made a deal and divided Ireland into two. The relied for support on the Protestant minority in the North East. Using the tried and tested technique of "Divide and Rule", they gave the Protestant people slight privileges over the Catholic majority: better chances of finding work, better housing, better chances at school, and more freedom. So it was no surprise that most Protestants became "Loyalists" or "Unionists" and decided they wanted to stay "part of Britain".

Why won't the IRA let Northern Ireland stay part of Britain if that's what people want?

Not everyone in Northern Ireland is a Loyalist. On the contrary there is a large minority - mainly Catholics - who want independence and Irish Unity.

The Loyalists are only a majority in the northern state because Britain cheated when Ireland was divided. Originally the province of Ulster had 9 counties. In these, a majority were Catholics - mainly nationalists who wanted Irish independence. So Britain drew an artificial border that was mapped out in London with only one aim in mind - keeping the nationalists as a minority. Only 6 of the 9 counties of Ulster were included in the new state, which one Loyalist leader called "a Protestant state for a Protestant people."

Discrimination against Catholics and nationalists was built into the set up right from the start.

How did the present Troubles begin?

After the Civil war of the 1920s. anger and discontent continued simmering away until the late 1960s. By then the nationalists in the North had had enough. In 1966 in Derry, for example, there were twice as many Catholics as Protestants, but the Protestant areas had 12 seats in the northern Ireland parliament and the Catholics had only 8.

In the autumn of 1968 a Civil Rights movement was begun by Northern nationalists, who were impressed by the brave struggle of black people in the USA for freedom and equal rights. But when the Nationalists marched they were faced with violent attacks by police, soldiers and unofficial gangs, all overwhelmingly made up of Loyalists. Soon mobs were attacking the nationalist areas every night. The Catholic communities - especially the youth - set up street committees to organise their own defence, building barricades and bravely fighting back.

The situation was heading for civil war or revolution. The British took no chances. Not for the first (or the last) time, a Labour government put the interests of the bosses' establishment before that of democracy and freedom - they sent British troops back into Northern Ireland.

They claimed to be "neutral", a 'peacekeeping force" to "keep the two sides apart". But their real aim was to defeat the movement for equal rights and Irish unity.

The British Army took down the barricades defending catholic areas and started imprisoning nationalists without trial, breaking down doors in the early hours of the morning and dragging young people away to prison.

When the nationalists held a march against internment on 30 January 1972 the British opened fire, killing 14 unarmed demonstrators. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. After that Catholic youth flocked to join the provisional IRA, which vowed to fight until the British troops were forced to leave Ireland for good.

But surely violence is always wrong!

At first this sounds obvious. After all, only psychopaths could claim to enjoy seeing people hurt, suffering and killed.

But in reality very few people really believe that violence is always wrong. The Church says "Thou shalt not kill", but has backed two World Wars this century.

Most people would say there have been occasions when violence and war are justified - such as the violence of Jewish partisans resisting the Nazis who wanted to wipe out all Jews during World War Two. And who could honestly say that the violence of a slaveowner who puts a captive in chains is the same as the violence of slaves who free themselves from their chains? The point is that before condemning violence, it is necessary to look at its real causes, and decide who, if anybody, is in the right.

The establishment are perfectly willing to take sides. For example, British newspapers tell us that the IRA are cowardly terrorists whereas the British Army, despite their long history of cruel killings of Catholic youth with plastic bullets, despite Bloody Sunday, despite the raids and the torture and the beatings, are just brave men doing their job. This is because the millionaires who own the papers have taken sides in the Irish war - with Britain and against a United Ireland.

Why have the IRA thrown away the chance for peace?

They haven't - John Major and the British government have. For 17 months the IRA stopped all armed actions . There were no IRA shootings or bombings, either in Britain or Northern Ireland. This ceasefire was a clear demonstration by the IRA that they were prepared to talk to the British government and the Loyalists and try to come to a negotiated settlement.

But Major would not start the talks. he insisted that the IRA should give up al their guns first... while the British Army was to remain in Ireland. This was incredibly unrealistic. At the same time as he admits that the conflict in Ireland was a war, Major tried to get one side to do what no other military force has ever done - surrender before peace talks even began. The real reason - Major's government is weak. He needs to keep some support from the Loyalist MPs in parliament. He put his own survival before the peace process and the lives of hundreds of soldiers and civilians.

Can the IRA win?

Revolution supports the IRA in their war against the British occupation of their country. But we do not think they can win unless they change their whole political strategy. Right from the start the IRA tried to force Britain out by using the methods of guerrilla war - bombings of military and commercial targets, and armed attacks on soldiers. As revolutionary youth in Britain we will not condemn these actions - even if civilians are killed. The responsibility for the war lies with the British ruling class.

But the whole idea of guerrilla war is doomed to fail. It relies on a handful of dedicated fighters rather than the actions of the masses of anti-unionist workers themselves. And a few hundred IRA fighters will never be able to defeat over 30,000 British troops, 13,000 armed police, and a loyalist community which is allowed by British law to keep hold of its 130,000 guns and weapons.

In fact, today even the IRA admit they cannot bomb Britain out of Ireland. They are just trying to bomb Britain to the negotiating table. Because their approach has failed to get the British out over the last 25 years, they are prepared to go into talks without any chance of real success.

So what can be done?

In Britain, the working class movement - the unions and the Labour party - should end their disgraceful support for the British occupation of Ireland. Young people in particular have a vital role to play in building broad support for the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Ireland. The Irish people themselves - as a whole, in elections across the whole 32 counties of Ireland - should have the right to determine their own future. The Prevention of Terrorism Act - which is used to harass Irish people - should be scrapped and all IRA prisoners of war should be released.

In Ireland the anti-unionists have shown great bravery - now they need a strategy that can win a just and lasting peace. Instead of relying on an elite band of guerrilla fighters, they should look to mass action by the working class - strikes, marches and organised self-defence of their communities. Instead of giving up their guns, the IRA should put them at the disposal of the masses, setting up popular defence committees to control the action.

The Loyalist 'community' is in fact an alliance between two classes: the Unionist bosses and misguided Protestant workers. Only a socialist movement would be able to combine the fight for a united Ireland with a real campaign for jobs, homes and better conditions for all working class people. Only a movement to take over ownership and control of private industry and the banks, taxing the rich and planning society on a democratic socialist basis, could show the Loyalist workers who their real friends are and tear them away from their long alliance with their own bosses.

The nationalism of the IRA can never do this. The national and democratic revolution in Ireland can only succeed as a socialist workers' revolution. That is why REVOLUTION supports the efforts of the Irish Workers Group, which is campaigning for a new party with the goal of a United Workers' Republic of Ireland.

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