emphasis on fact-finding rather than on theorising, thereby limiting the development of dissident ideas. Thus Watson the founder of behaviourism, the most "scientistic" school of wycholog was compared to Newton his textbook. Yet paychainya, the o only school of psychology which has luced radical thinkers Dialectics of Personal Liberation Some changes are beginning to occur in the teaching of the subject, but with such a past it is not surprising that as many as 250 people came to a Left Psychology Conference at Keele in early March, probably the first such conference in Britain for many years, the Diate to of auberation Conteren of 1961. It was organised, as far as they believed in organisation, by a group of anarchists, for all those dissatisfied with establishment psychology. The proceedings were rather chaotic and no organised factions developed. Yet there seemed to be at leust three distinet positions represented. First there were hose who, using psychology, had ejected societal ideas on normality and were interested in techniques for obtaining personal liberation. The most sensational of these were the adherents of Reichian vegetotherapy, in which members of a group-best arranged in a circle and naked to remove inhibition caress each other with the aim of removing physical tension and thereby mental tension. For the second group a large number of anarchists personal liberation provides the basis for a political ideology. An extreme example of the style of their arguments is the remark made in the course of an interminable harangue at the final session: "Only those who are personally liberated, about a quarter of those present, know how to fight capitalism, where it is most needed in the mental hospitals and the prisons"!
Low-Level Arguments Finally there was an indeterminate, but not very large, number of Marxists of various tendencies (excluding the SLL) who needed to deal with much more complex intellectual problems than hose facing the groups whose ideology vas based directly on psychology, for we had to attempt to discuss psychological factors in relation to socio-economie factors. I heard only two relevant problems discussed. First, there was an interesting paper by David Ingleby on the pernicigus influence of the reified view of man encouraged by modern academic psychology. Second, some discussion took place on the question of whether or not the study of psychology is basically reactionary-both in view of As you read this article, two young Irishmer Patrick O'Sullivan and Conor Lynch, are locked in a small cell (measuring 8" x 13] in an English prison. They are there as a result of what Paddy O'Sullivan so accurately described as "e showpiece of British justice" which took place between September 8 and September 25, 1969, and which resulted in them both being sentenced to seven years in prison. Previous to that so-called trial, they had been held in custody for well over four months, on the basis of a hearing which was as much a sham as the trial itseif. The alleged crime--that they both took part in a raid on an arms factory in Dagenham, Essex, on May 7, 1969. The evidence was so flimsy and so dependent on suggestion and possibility (as i will show belowi that a conviction, not to mention a sentence of seven years, was astounding. Even more astounding was the comment of Judge McKinnon that he had found the evidence absolutely overwhelming. To us it simply shows to what extent the trial was, in fact, a sham show piece of justice.
Prison Conditions For an Irishman to express the wish to be treated like an ordinary English prisoner seems unbelievable. Yet this was what Paddy O'Sullivan said in his letter, printed in the United Irishman, in February 1970. The same letter shows quite clearly why he wants this change. lil His cell is 8' x 15' in size. He, unlike all other prisoners except Conor Lynch, is confined to it for 19 hours a day, and 23 hours a day at weekonds. (il) He is not allowed to set, meet or write to his fellow republican, as one is classified as "Young Prisoner' and the other as "Adult Prisoner": regulations forbid them to come into contact. (ili) He is categorised as a "Special Watch" prisoner and forced to wear clown-like prison clothes which make him stand out among the prisoners. liv) He is allowed to write only two letters a week, and his incoming mail and reading material is strictly censored. From these facts we can clearly see why our comrade wishes for a normal prison classification.
The Reasons We can also clearly see why they are being subjected to such harsh and inhuman treatment. It is because they are members of an organisation, the Republican Movement, whose aims are the overthrow of capitalism throughout the whole of our country and the shaking off of the tetters of British imperialist domination, now probably more powerful in the economic sphere than ever before since the foundation of the state.
It is because of the threat which the Republican Movement poses to British Imperialism and to Irish capitalism that all opportunities are availed of by the oppressing class, ably represented by the Courts, the police and the prison authorities, harshly to suppress and punish all who take a progressive stand. Thus it is unimportant on what flimsy grounds a man is convicted. The evidence on which Conor Lynch and Paddy O'Sullivan were convicted quite clearly shows this up, and it is with this in mind that it must be analysed.
Since the Republican Movement is also the class enemy of the political "gombeen" men who run this sountry in the interests of native capitalists and British imperialism, it is easy to see why, up to very recently, no political voice had been raised in defence of the two young Irishmen. It is in the interests of our so-called political representatives that all movements with a revolutionary aim be suppressed. Since the Republican Movement has recently emerged as quite clearly a revolutionary movement, a movement with a broad base among the Irish working class, it is thus imperative that it be suppressed, by all possible means. Thus, although it may go agsinst the spirit of their bourgeois nationalism to let a follow Irishman languish so unnecessarily in a British prison, they were land this applies to all parties prepared to do so to serve their class interests. It was only under pressure from the Republicon Movement that one of Labour T.D.s quite recently decided that he would take a stand. It seems strange that this men who are obviously more "au fait" with the facts of the case should be prepared to turn a blind eye to such marked injustice as exists here. However, as shown above, their class interests have obviously been their guideline.
Now let us analyse on what evidence these two irishmen were condemned to seven years' imprisonment under such harsh conditions. We must first rocognise that it is difficult to analyse what influenced a judge and jury, apart from the bias of their class position, in making a decision such as this. We can only deal with the points of which most use were made by the prosecution.
The chief points on which the "trial" was based were as follows:
1. That on May 3rd, O'Sullivan and Lynch entered England with four other men, all giving false names. 2. That O'Sullivan was a confessed member of the IRA, the military an of the Republicon - Movement, and Lynch was a confassed member of Sinn Fein, the movement's political wing. 3. That on the night of the raid O'Sullivan, on being arrested in Barking. Essex, refused to give an account of his movements. 4. That the men who raided the factory spoke with Irish accents. 5. That the police dog had found a pistol with a lanyard hooked around it, with a picture of the Virgin Mary and a pierced hoart. 6. That is of no concern to the court as to whether the IRA were correct or not, dr whether the IRA was an enemy of Britain. Now let us deal with these points and show how utterly inadequate they were for the type of conviction and the sentence given. 1. As members of the Republican Movement, Lynch and O'Sullivan have (like most other members) suffered in the past from persecution by Ireland's political police-the Special Branch. It was this body, working as usual in close co-operation with Scotland Yard's Special Branch that was responsible for having the men quistioned on their arrival at Fishquard. Conscious of this persecution, and of the fact that their mission an educational course for Irish emigrants at a camp in Essex-might be interfered with if they gave their true names. the two men gave false names, and declared a false mission. 2. O'Sullivan's confession to being a member of the IRA was played on to its full extent by the prosecution. It was obvious that if they could find no positive evidence on which to make a criminal conviction then they would convince the jury that being a Republican, especially a member of the IRA, was enough to make one guilty of any crime, and dangerous enough to be locked away for a long time. 3. O'Sullivan, as a member of the IRA, was only acting in line with usual procodure, as he himself clearly stated, when he refused to state his whereabouts on the night in question. Surely not a point on which a man can be convicted. 4. The Irish accents of the men who carried out the raid provides us with one of the most questionable pieces of evidence. First of all we have as witness to this, a man who was severely. injured in the raid. Despite this he was forced by the police to come with them to help in their enquiries after having been ordered by doctors to go directly to bed. From his own words in Court, the night watchman was obviously put under some strain in order to make his state nent. This stain coulo have baer produced by the police. In any case you don't have to be Irish or even Conor Lynch and Paddy O'Sulfivan to have an Irish accent. 5. With regard to the pistol, it was made quite obvious to the jury that no one but an Irish worker would be equipped with such a thing. In cases like this one can never eliminate the possibility of planting by the polico. 6. This trial has certain similarities with that of Bernadette Devlin. The actions are seen in isolation from the circumstances which precipitate them From our Irish Carrespondent
seems to be fairly ephemeral although we shouid be cautious about this There are deep seated and long-termn structural reasons for the development of separatist movements (which will be intensifled upon Britain joining the Common Market).
Historically, , Labour has been able to survive