SECOND was the news that the British will probably allow the "peace people to rally in Trafalgar Square. The right to meet there is a right which can only be supported, but the fact that since 1972 all meetings concerned with Ireland have been banned from the square, and that the Government is now considering lifting the ban for the benefit of the "peace people', shows as clearly as possible the attitude of British imperialism towaros willams, friends.
THIRD is the disclosure of who represents the "peace people" in Britain. When Red Weekly phoned the Belfast headquarters of this supposedly neutral force, we were informed by a spokesperson that the London organisers were Lord Longford and Mrs. Ewart-Biggs. Record The reactionary record of Lord Longford on such issues as censorship and abortion does not need restating. As for Mrs. Ewart-Biggs, the fact that she has Shocked by this rejection by the Catholic working class in Turf Lodge, Williams and Corrigan issued a statement criticising the Army. BUL statement was made, Loyalist supporters of the "peace people' indicated that they were considering withdrawing their backing from Williams and Corrigan.
Such threats were enough to send Corrigan and Williams back-tracking all the way to the Lisburn Army barracks. and They said that their previous criticism was an "over-reaction", and made the statement greeted with such enthusiasm by the Daily Mirror.
The moral does not need spelling out -the possibility of uniting the Protestant and Catholic working class on the basis of some undefined wish for "peace" is a non-starter. In the end the 'peace people" conceded to the Loyalists. stand with those Loyalists in backing the British Army and the RUC. And as such they stand against the nationalist population. The previous support they have received from working class Catholics can now only decline. soon as this by at least five witnesses, "minority [Republican] areas".
They now *The O'Donnell Gaelic Club in Rathmore Road was burnt down early this morning [Tuesday] by a patrol of military stationed at the MacRory Park on the Whiterock Road. This patrol was seen all of whom are currently making statements to the appropriate investigating body.
This incident, well supported by hard facts. , compounds the Army's behaviour in the Turf Lodge and Lenadoon recently. Mr Mason has been told repeatedly by me and others of this behaviour; if he does nothing about it, it must be assumed that he has given a specific instruction to the military to increase aggro against that part of the population that live in This is the full text of a statement issued to the press by Paddy Devlin, a Social Democratic & Labour Party member of the former Northern Ireland Convention. He is just one of the many thousands in Republican areas who have been forced to recognise the stepping-up of repression by the British Army in these districts. Anyone who strolls around Belfast at this time cannot fall to be impressed by the saturation of the minority ghettoes with British troops of the King's Own Borderers, 2nc Light Infantry, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers The raised military profile has been evident for many months. but it became particularly marked with the appointment of former Defence Secretary Roy Mason to the Northern Ireland Office, and the appearance of the 'peace people"
the fruits of Mason's In the Catholic areas or benast, appointment are only too evident. In the ghettoes which flank the Falls Road in Belfast, at least six people have been injured in the past couple of weeks as a result of indiscriminate firing campaign with the Union of Students of Ireland around the themes of peace and progress'. The major components of this campaign were explained as support for a Bill of Rights, the Better Life for All' Campaign, and te women s peace move Despite this wrong starting point for activity on Ireland, the decision of the -menta nosoitars delegation to offer help to the panel of speakers building the Kent Conference against Britain's Repressive Policies in Ireland will be a boost to the discussion delegation's findings and the report back to the NUS Conference this waknolnvuk The Kent Conference, at the University COT in Canterbury on 13 November, is com- during mitted to a real and open debate on how best to build a mass united campaign of peaceful and legal action in this country to end Britain's repressive role in Ireland.
The organisers believe that students have slander. a great responsibility for the development of such a campaign, given their tradition of taking anti-imperialist stands in solialmost every people. corner of the globe. Students also played Tner a major role in the demonstrations agains A speaking tour of colleges to build for the conference will be held between 26 notorious October and 12 November. Delegates from both the NUS and recent Labour diagnosed as Movement delegations to Ireland have Supporters of the aims of the Conference should fight in their student unions for joint report backs from the two delegations with the aim of starting the debate straight away. Details of the conference from: Pamela Holmes, Convenor of the Kent University -WHO was skull and a fortnight later he died was lying troops were being questioned by the RUC onlin Army out now by British soldiers. One of these, 13-year-old Brian Stewart, was hit at point blank range by a plastic bullet. It fractured his As in all these cases, the Army issued a quick statement distorting the facts of the incident. They claimed that Brian was one of 400 youths who attacked a foot patrol in Turf Lodge. The local people denied that any such riot took place. Anyone who has watched television reports of Belfast riots will know that a riot is not easily disguised, nor can you just throw a blanket over the aftermath, the glass and stone littered streets. No such evidence was produced in the case of Brian Stewart- the Army It lied as well over the burning down of the Gaelic Club saying the following day: These allegations are yet another example of the exploitation of recent incidents in West Belfast as part of a deliberate propaganda campaign to discredit th army. That was on the Tuesday, but on the Wednesday the Army were forced to retract and admit that soldiers were involved in the burning down of the club - and that these But the residents of Turf Lodge know that there is little chance of redress through the 'courts of justice". Not one day in prison has ever been spent by a British soldier convicted of having been responsible for the death of an Irish civilian. Very few have even been brought before the courts. No wonder the people of Turf Lodge have decided that the only solution is