talks at Casement Military Acrodrome near We can discount press speculation that Heath few in to smooth over the Littlejohn attair. No British Prime Minister & going to get embarrassed about being caught infiltrating secret agents who are merely accused of robbing banks and blowing up a few colonis. Mr Heath nad tar more serious problems on his mind. He has recognised, after two years, that his govermment's policy for solving the Irish problem is in ruins, and cannot be salvaged COUNCIL OF IRELAND The actual achievements of the talks were slender enough: no agreement was reached on any of the three main issues which were discussed. Heath wanted a Council of Ireland to be set up only after the creation of an Executive for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Cosgrave insisted on progress towards the Executive and the Council of Ireland being pursued simultaneously. Heath did not want to discuss Cosgrave's views on the powers and functioning of the Council until after the Executive had been set up. Cosgrave would not agree to Heath's proposal for a definite date for talks between Dublin, London, the Fultner Unionists and the SDLP. But what was most significant was the fact that the Council of Ireland was broached as a subject for scrious negotiation.
The concept of a Council of Ireland was first put forward in the Government of Ireland Act. 1920, It was to be a means of joint discussion. and action on common problems between the two states created by the Act - Southern Ireland' and "Northern Ireland". It was also to he a means of eventual re-unification between them. In the event 'Southern Ireland" never happened, and "Northern Ireland" chose not to implement the proposal. For fifty three years the Council of Ireland has heen a footnote in the history books, Whitelaw's Green Paper of October 1972, now sinking slowiy into oblivion, resurrected the Council of Ireland, but it was a cloud no bigger than a man's hand: If the Republic of Ireland in prepared to recognise its role in the matter joint negotiations should be commenced to establish a new Council of Ireland as a consuilative and deliberative body, charged with the task of exploring areas of mutual cooperation for the benefit of all who live in Ireland: will invite die Government of the Republic of Ircland, and the leailers of the clocted representatives of Northern Ireland opinion to participate with them in a conference to discuss how the thece objectives set out in the Paper for Discussion may best be pursued, that is: 5) the acceptance of the peesent status of NorUrea Ireland, and of the posability which would lave to be compatible with the principle of consent of subsequent change in that status.
Xb) effective consultation and co-operation in Ireland for the benefit of North and South alike; and (e) the provision of a Tirin basis for concerted governmental and community action apinst NEW POLICY In working out a new policy the British goverment has fairly limited options. Not only has it Tailed to quell the Catholic revolt. it has failed to hold together the Unionist Party as a reserve force to safeguard British interests. This was the inevitable result of Direct Rule, which created a contradiction between the two main elements of Unionism the Protestant ascendancy and the union with Britain.
The Assembly was designed to piece together a viable fragment of the Unionist Party which, led by Faulkner, would preserve the Union and salvage some shreds of the Ascendancy. But the split has gone too far: the decision of the "unpledged" Unionists to form an alliance with Panley and Craig has scuppered Faulkner's hopes of winning over enough of the unpledeed" bloc to form a stable Executive with the SDLP. Indeed, the most probuble result of a Faulkner SDLP Executive would be to crcate a split in the Faulkner camp itself.
With the demise of the Unionist Party, British imperialism has to decide whether or not to accept that the Unionists have been irretries. ably swept aside, and that the Protestant Ascendancy must go with them into oblivion. The message of Casement Acrodrome is that British Imperialism will now turn towards the last remaining bastion of bourgeois order in Ireland - the Coalition Government in the South, This implies a policy of British disengagement from Ireland.
INTEGRATION It is true that there is another alternative - and Heath posed it in his press conference immediately after the talks - the integration of Northern Ireland into Britain. Howeser be pulled this kite down very quickly when it became clear that neither the British Labour Party, nor the Dublin government would go along with it.
There is an outside chance that the Tories could go for integration — it would fit in most easily with traditional Conservative thinking on the Irish question. Such a course would mean an immense stepping up of military repression against the Catholic minority, and it should be prepared for. But the implications of such a move would be very serious. Ir would mean that the bi-partisan policy with the Labour Party would he hroken, and there would be a rift with the Southern bourgeoisie. It is unlikely that the Conservative government would be prepared to accept such consequences. ALL-IRELAND CRISIS A Council of Ireland therefore emerges is the most probable means of effecting British dis engagement, and a shift towards reliance on the Southern ruling class. But such a shift in policy is not a solution to the Irish crisis - merely the possible policy with the least drastic connotaThis re orientation will not be implemented immediately, Such is the complexity of the present situation that the Tories can only move slowly and carefully towards disengage ment. They will have to confront a fieroer Protestant resistance than they have yor faced and it will take a long and painful period of strife before the Protestant workers accept the final demise of the Ascendancy In the longer term the consequences are more serious still, since disengagement implies an unproved assumption - namely that the Soutbern ruling class can do the job, In fact, the likely result of a policy of British disengigement would be to turn the crisis in the North into an all-treland crisis, combining the contradictions of the Northern und Southern states and creating an all Ireland struggle in which the fight to overthrow the last vestige of British domination of Ireland would be the central element by drivers qualifies production workers for lay-