sition of direct rule has clarified the reality of the situation in Ireland.
The change of strategy of British imperialism arose from its inability to defeat the IRA without first isolating it from a sizeable section of the Catholics in the Six Counties. When Stormont stood in the way of this new policy the British Government had no choice but to push past it.
And in pushing past Stormont, Britain has started the process of disintegration of the Orange monolith.
The two fundamental beliefs on which this monolith has rested are maintenance of the Union and maintenanceof the Orange ascendancy. Previously there has been no conflict between these aims, but the British decision to suspend Stormont means that the Protestant power structure now has to make a choice. ing is that to maintain the Union it is necessary to defeat the IRA. To defeat the IRA it is necessary to threaten the Ascendancy. And so all sections of the Unionist camp must now choose which is the most important. One section of the Protestant power structure, represented by the Alliance Party, the Northern Ireland Labour Party, and the "moderate? Unionists, has decided that the Union is the more important. Another, representing the plebeian and petit-bourgeois elements headed by Craig's Vanguard movement, has decided for the Ascendancy.
Faulkner represents those who think they see a way out of this dilemma. He believes that if the present policy of the British Government can be reversed, and Britain returns to a policy of all-out-war against the Catholic population, then the Orange Humpty-Dumpty could be put back together again. This is only possible if he forces the Conservative consensus to the right on the Irish question and if he puts such pressure on Heath as to force him back into an old-style confrontation policy with the Catholic community. The high point of this campaign will be a demand for an attack on the no-go areas, such as Free Derry.
This is the meaning of the Loyalist rallies in Britain. Behind the megalomaniac pretensions of Craig lies the expertise of the Faulkner apparatus, which is drawing together the National Front, the Monday Club, and the other British right-wing organisations.
Supporters of the Irish struggle in Britain must organise a counter-campaign to these moves. The two immediate points in this campaign must be: protest demonstrations against the Craig rallies, and support for the defence of the liberated areas.
The broadest possible forces must be drawn together in united front actions to protest against the Loyalist rallies and the Unionist propaganda. And this means that the forces already active on the Irish question must understand the key importance of Craig's British intervention, and the need to draw the British labour movement into opposition to it. A good start in this process can be made by organising tours of speakers involved in the resistance of Free Derry and any other liberated areas. This will help to explain to broader sections of the labour movement the importance of protesting against the Loyalist rallies. The Irish Solidarity Campaign is willing to play its part in such united action.
Gery Lawless Reprinted from Irish Citizen.
The Secretariat of the IMG notes that the Anti-Internment League has recently changed its slogans. The implications of this are being discussed by the IMG leadership.