Even if the Officials do not go back into military action the events of the last month can give cold comfort to the British. Despite press denunciations of the 'mindless' violence of the Provisional IRA, and the widespread belief that the Provisionals have no political perspectives ( a view even held by many on the British left), their military strategy is based on very precise political perspectives. They believe that they do not have to drive the British Army off the streets in order to defeat it. If they can keep up the guerrilla war, they feel that the contradictions within the South and in Britain will make it increasingly difficult for the British to carry on with their strategy, and sooner or later a British Government will have to concede on peace terms which will drastically undermine British political and economic domination of Ireland. This would destroy for all time the Protestant ascendancy in the North.
In the South there have been few significant developments since the arrest of Sean Mac Stiotain at the end of last year. The Coalition government has been reluctant to launch a major wave of repression. Nevertheless the trend towards repression continues, and when Heath visits Southern Prime Minister Cosgrave he will press for its speeding up. Despite the embarrasment of the Littlejohn affair, the British Government will be reluctant to give up such a proven method of spurring the Southern government into action, as the use of spies and agents current and a developing democratic opposition. Open resistance is increasing in the army, occasionally involving the mass of conscripts, as over the recent death of two soldiers on exercises at Fontainebleau. The magistrates, who always used to be at the beck and call of the regime, are now taking an independent lir and some are even challenging the class natur of justice itself. In the church, which has always played a very conservative role, a scandal has been caused by the opposition of clergymen to the nuclear tests. Several weeks ago, a priest even gave up his pulpit to a trade unionist so that he could explain the significance of the strike. And so one could go on... These cracks in the machinery which the ruling class uses to maintain its control, show that the government's difficulties involve much more than just coming up with a few new faces. Despite setbacks earlier this year, the willingness of the working class to struggle is clearly AVER
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The struggle at LIP promises to spark off a whole series of social explosions, as this article, taken from Rouge (formerly published by the Communist League), explains.