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Eighty-one years of editorial freedom
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Ireland: An historical perspective
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1972
NIGHT EDITOR: TAMMY JACOBS
Jail suit: Let the public see
ON THURSDAY at 10 a.m. Ora DuBose,
Betty Matthews and Sandra Rich-
ardson, unconvicted inmates of the
Washtenaw County Jail, will get a pre-
liminary court examination on their suit'
against all county employes responsible
for the .operation of the jail.
Perhaps accommodations there are
only second rate when compared to a
"Holiday InnI' as Sheriff Douglas Har-
vey, who is named as a defendant in the
suit, .contends.
Perhaps one of the reasons toilets
sometimes back up is because prisoners,
as Harvey also contends, tear up bedding
and stuff -the toilets with it.
Perhaps one toilet for twenty people is
adequate.
Perhaps it does not matter that pri-
soners must stand in their cells from 7
a.m. to 10 p.m. or sit on a small steel
bench, but may not lie on their beds. This
is so they "will be tired "and not goof off
at night," according to orne jail official.
Perhaps prisoners should not be con-
cerned. that they may talk to their attor-
neys for long periods of time and to their
families and friends for only 15 minutes
a week._
These are only some of the charges
and counter charges that are at the crux
of this court action.
SOME OF THE problems are certainly
not new to the record. On January
19, 1971, a State Prison Inspector filed a
list ,of at least 18 other items which he
found in conflict with state law.
However, there is no way to tell how
many of these violations have been cor-
rected because lawyers preparing the suit
for the prisoners were not allowed into"
the jail.
County residents should not tolerate
these ambiguities on the operation of a
facility whose purpose is to rehabilitate
people, and where a majority of the in-
mates are either not convicted, or
charged with misdemeanors.
Court settlements are not the usual
sblution chosen by powerless people in
tense situations. But the plaintiffs have
to their credit, chosen that route.
The result of this decision should be
that Washtenaw County residents will
find out whether or not the jail is being
administered in an illegal and uncon-
stitutional manner as the suit contends.
To accomplish this the courts must give
the suit a fair hearing.
BUT JUST a hearing is not enough, if
the allegations of the inmates are
true. Then the court must also act, as the
suit requests, and bring a temporary in-
junction against all those responsible for
the jail until all illegal and/or unconsti-
tutional conditions are corrected.
-WILLIAM LILLVIS
By BERNARD CULLEN
THE COMPLEXITY of the cur-
rent.turmoil in the north-east
of Ireland almost defies analysis,
The conflict is at once colonial,
racial and socio-economic; to say
that Northern Ireland Catholics
Are blacks who happen to have
white skins is indeed an oversim-
plification, but, in the words of
Liam de Paor in his excellent book
Divided Ulster, "it is a better over-
simplification than that which
sees the struggle and conflict in
Northern Ireland in terms of re-
ligion".
The early seventeenth century
brought the Jacobean 'plantation'
of the north of Ireland, whereby
the native Catholics were driven
off their land and replaced by En-
glish and Scottish Protestant set-
tIers.
Irish Protestant fears about the
succession of the Catholic James
II to the English throne in 1685
consequently centered around the
threat a Catholic king posed to
their status as ascendancy land-
owners in Ireland.
Because the economic and re-
ligioushdivisions coincided, how-'
ever, the defeat of James by the
Protestant William of Orange at
the Battle of the Boyne in 1690
readily took on religious over-
tones which reverberate down to
1972.
WELL INTO the nineteenth
century the small Catholic popul-
ation of Belfast was not seen as a
threat to the livelihood or eco-
nomic dominance of the liberal
Protestant inhabitants and the
friendliest relations obtained.
Industrial development changed
all that. The Great Famine caused
thousands of starving Catholics
to leave the land and come to
seek work in the thriving linen-
mills and tanneries of Belfast. A
local leader of the Orange Order
--a semi-secret Protestant society
led by industrialists and large;
landowners - is reported in 1859
to have told his Protestant sup-
porters that they must not let
these Catholic peasants come and
take their jobs. So the Protestant
workers-haunted by fears of un-
dercutting and economic competi-
tion at the subsistence level -
turned on the Catholics.
And this is the very instinct-
the struggle for economic domi-
nance, kCloaked in anti-Popery
terms - which is being played on
by unscrupulous vested interests
in Northern Ireland today. It is
therefore hardly surprising to find
that the last three Prime Minis-
ters have all been important land-
owners and that ' the present
Prime Minister, Brian Falkner, is
the prosperous owner of a group
of textile-mills.
IN THE last General Election in
Ireland in December 1918, 78 per
cent of the Irish population voted Pr
BRITISH TROOPS block road into Newry with armored car as they
search incoming vehicles for firearms and explosives.
The conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions in Northern
Ireland has garnered headlines the world over, and produced a great
deal of confusion in the minds of most people. To help elucidate
this matter, we have asked three University students from ireland
to present their views on the Irish problem.
Army. The IRA bombing cam-
paign was stepped up.
And this gave Faulkner the pre-
text on which to introduce his
panacea for all Ulster's problems:
internment of suspected subver-
sives without trial.
Five days after the first dawn
raids on August 9, the "Evening
Standard" carried the Army head-
line, "We've licked the IRA."
Cruel statistics have proved
them wrong. In the six months
since internment was introduced
under the hated Special Powers
Act (one of the original targets
of the Civil Rights Movement),
some 200 people have been killed,
including some 50 soldiers.
In this six-month period there
have been over 5,000 shooting and
bombing incidents, more than one
every hour.
Ever since the Catholics had
the audacity to ask for basic Civil
Rights on Oct. 5, 1968, each act
of naked oppression by the British
and Northern Ireland govern-
ments has brought increased
alienation of the Catholic popula-
tion until today the homogenity
of the half-million Catholics in
their rejection of all things British
cannot be overemphasized.
In the process, Heath and
Faulkner have 'been the IRA's
most effective recruiting ser-
geants. Forty per cent of the pop-
ulation-equivalent to almost 100
million in the U.S. - are sup-
porting the civil disobedience
campaign; by withholding taxes,.
rents, gas and electricty payments
and by withdrawing completely
from the machinery of govern-
ment.
WHAT IS THE way forward in
Northern Ireland? It is clear that
the present structure of govern-
ment, which owes its very evist-
ence to the domination of Catho-
lic by Protestant, cannot tolerate
to sever the link with Britain. The
20 per cent who voted to retain
the union (hence the name Un-
ionists) were in the North-East
and in 1921 the British govern-
inent submitted to military and
economic pressures and partit-
tioned the country into what is
now the Irish Republic and Nor-
thern Ireland. The latter was
given control over its own police
force and militia, judicial system
and legislature.
In the first two years of the
province's existence, the militia-
the all-Protestant B-Specials --
earned a reputation which they
never afterwards lost, shooting
dead some 300 Catholics, includ-
ing 232 in the year 1922..
The government 'insurance pol-
icy' against effective Catholic par-
ticipation in Northern Ireland has
been an elaborate system of elc-
toral manipulation and discrimi-
nation in employment and the al-
location of government housing.
In central government jobs - for
example, the Civil Service - no
Catholic rose above the bottom
rung; while in local government
and in private industry, Catholics
did not get jobs at all.
Unemployment has averaged 40
to 50 per cent in Catholic ghettoes
in Derry, Strabane and Belfast.
The Catholic population of coun-
ty Fermanagh, for example, is
53.2 per cent. In March 1969 the
Protestant - controlled county
council employed 338 Protestants
and 32 Catholics. The Belfast
shipyard - the province's main
employer - today employs 10,000
rotestants and 300 Catholics.
ONE OF the most controversial
elements of the Ireland situation
is the Irish Republican Army (I
RA). The principle reason for its
widespread support and, in fact,
its very existence, has been the
excess brutality on the part of
British troops.
It is well to remember that it
was not until Feb. 6, 1971 that the
first British soldier was killed by
the IRA. Their bombing campaign
did not begin until April.
Meanwhile, the much - vaunted
reforms were sitting in then Prime'
Minister Chichester-Clark's pend-
ing tray. When the thoroughly in-
effectual Clark was deposed, any
slight chance his successor Faulk-
ner had of communicating with
the Catholic community disap-
peared July 7-8, when 'two un-
armed Derrymen, Cusack, and
Beattie, were shot dead by the
a meaningful Catholic voice in the
governing of the province. An ov-
erwhelming majority of the Irish
people - and now the majority
of the British people - want an
end to British rule in Ireland
A Pontius Pilate-like washing of
hands by Britain would be an ab-
dication of her responsibilities to-
wards a lasting peace, founded bn
justice, in Ireland.
But the IRA has consistently
said that it will lay down arms the
minute the British release all Do-
licital prisoners and set a date for
total withdrawal from Ireland.;
Then Faulkner and Lynch, the
IRA and Paisley, and any other
interested party can get together
and thrash put a new constitution
for a new Ireland.
That constitution would have
to be completely secular, as would
education. Effective guarantees of
civil.liberties for all Irish citizens
would have to be enshrined in
law.
Despite the Irish tragedy of
Catholics and Protestants being
set at one another's throats by un-
scrupulous politicians, there are
signs that such Protestant leaders
as Ian Paisley realize that the
British influence has not, done
their people much good either.
Faced with the enormous prob-
lems on the road to peace in Ire-
land - which nobody wishes to
pretend are not there - it is ter-
ribly easy to be cynical (a recur- 4
ring Irish affliction).
But cynicism is the last refuge
of the defeatist. What Ireland
needs now is not defeatism, but
initiative, goodwill. imagination
and, above all, hope.
Bernard Cullen is a graduate
student in philosophy who
formerly resided in Belfast,
Ireland.
down the number of Catholics
with a campaign of discrimina-
tion. The Catholics were encour-
aged by the Republic and the
Church to ignore political activ-
ity which might have combitt d
this and to passively await the
downfall of the state of Northern
Ireland.
Such was the stalemate which
was only broken three years ago
by the Civil Rights movement
when the Catholics took political
actions in the context of British
politics. They have now reverted
to their previous position of de-
manding complete abolition of
Northern Ireland and its WOW-
sion in the Catholic Republic.
This, then, is the position at the
moment. There is little room for
sloganeering or swashbuckling on
the stage of Ann Arbor.- There
may be some solutions possible,
but none acceptable to both par-
ties as long as the two parties re-
main in their present glacial
states.
The problem can't be dismissed
as imperialism or colonialism, but,
rather, is the refusal of Irishmen #
to accept each other for wht they
are. And whatever else is certain,
crude propagaldizing in Ann Ar-
bor won't help at home.
Time to recognize China
Ireland: Need ol
NOW THAT President Nixon has ar-
rived in China, basked in the pub-
licity of meeting with Chairman. Mao and
Chou-en-Lai, and pledged the two na-
tions-in a manner unmistakably Nixon
--to "a long march" for peace, it may be
a good time to ask our President to in-
dulge in some more concrete actions.
Specifically, now is the time for the
U.S. government to do what its actions
in the past years indicate we will event-
ually end up doing: recognise the Peo-
ple's Republi as the sole legitimate voice
of the Chinese people.
Endorsement'
E HUMAN RIGHTS Party continues
to pick up support from unexpected
sources.
First the Rainbow People's Party joined
up, and now Bill Everett, a Fourth Ward
Democrat who ran in the City Council
primary, has endorsed the "efforts" of
the HRP candidates.
Everett further said he wished the
Democrats had candidates as good in all
five wards.
Although as of the time this went to
print it was unclear whether or not Ever-
ett won the primary and is a candidate in
the Fourth Ward, it would be nice.
For then, he could continue his en-
dorsement of HRP by stepping aside for
HRP candidate David Black.-
Nixon's trip is a grudging acceptance
of the legitimacy of a government whose
political direction we have failed to al-
ter through subversion and attempted
"containment."
Through the recent relaxation of trade
restrictions on our part, we have come
further toward recognizing the political
reality of a nation that may very well
one day eclipse the United States as the
world's leading power.
Clearly, Nixon does not plan to with-
hold official recognition of the People's
Republic as the representative of the
Chinese people. If he did, then his recent
displomatic moves make no sense.
The public realizes that these moves
mean little in themselves and must pre-
sage giving Mao's government the equal
accord granted other: nations. In fact,
Nixon's moves seem to be aimed at mak-
ing several small nations with past po-
sitions of anti-communism grant the
People's republic full diplomatic recog-
nition.
IT IS LIKELY that the U.S. government
will eventually grant the People's
Republic diplomatic recognition.
Our "two Chinas" policy was based on
the premise that two million mainland-
ers on Taiwan actually symbolized a civil
war and possessed a government that
was somehow more .credible than Mao's
regime. This notion has proved false, des-
pite millions in U.S. aid and military
support.
As with Bangla-Desh, full diplomatic
recognition of the People's Republic is
long overdue.
By JOE McKENNA
IN analyzing the Northern situ-
ation, objectivity places terri-
ble constraints on the average
Irishman and demands that two
almost irresistable temptations be
avoided. First, one must shun any
glorification of the present vio-
lence arising from the results of
gross historical oversimplifications
and half-truths. One cannot re-
gard himself as a valiant fighter
against colonialism or as a hero
of the third world. The tragedy of
the situation should prevent Irish-
men from puffing up their chests
to share vicariously and safely in
the glamour of the situation. -
Second, one must avoid any re-
version to tribal loyalties. Most
Irishmen of Catholic background
undergo a process of indictrina-
tion in historical falsehoods and
hatred of the English, which
makes it difficult to think about
Irish-English relationships with-
out foaming at the mouth. This
is something which the average
American must bear in mind when
listening to Irishmen on Ireland's
problems.
There are however, a few points
which can be made, relevant to
the present circumstances, with-
out displaying the bigotry of ei-
ther side.
The Irish situation at the mo-
ment is not in any way a colonial
situation. To describe the long
and complexrelationship of the
two countries throughout 800
years by one crude emotive word
-colonialism-is a mockery of
the truth.
IN THE EARLY part of this cen-
tury, there were in Ireland two
communities with largely differ-
ing cultures and traditions. The
Catholic group opted out of Great
Britain, but resented the fact that
it did not control the entire is-
land. The Protestant group, with
the help of the English Conserva-
tive party stayed in the United
Kingdom, controlling an area 40
per cent Catholic.
This division excited hatred and
suspicion on both sides, and it is
this which is causing the prob-
lems at the moment. Only three
years ago did the Catholic Repub-
lic renounce' the use of force as a
means of i subjugating the North-
ern Protestants. (The present
constitution of the Republic
claims jurisdiction over the entire
island.)
The Catholics refused to take
any part in the Northern com-
munity and hoped that their su-
perior birthrate would eventually
make them the majority in the
area, after which, heaven help the
Protestants.
Worse still, in the Republic, the
Catholics gave the Protestants in-
timations of things to come. They
set up a Church state which de-
nied elementary civil rights to
non-catholics and in which tax
money was used, for example, to
buy vestments for the Pope!
The Protestants in the North.
meanwhile, were busy keeping
Letters to The Daily should
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Rafferty in the Student Pub-
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right to edit all letters sub-
mitted.
o
--T.J. --MARK DILLEN
Joe McKenna is a graduate
student in mnathernatics and is
a graduate of the University
College, Dublin.
CATHOLIC YOUTHS flee as a gas cannister explodes in their midst
during disorders in the Bogside district of Londonderry.
Ireland: The political manipulations
By BRIAN MALLON
TODAY'S CIVIL disorder in Ireland is
the direct - though delayed result
of the 1921 political fiasco known as
the "Partition". This "settlement" de-
creed that the Irish nation was to be
"temporarily" divided. There were to be
separate parliaments for the six north-
eastern counties (Northern Ireland)
and for the remainder of the island
(Irish Free State).
There was to be a joint council, with
representatives from both parliaments,
set up to work out differences and
pave the way to reunification. This
council was never established due to a
decision by Ulster's ruling Unionist
Party not to send delegates.
In viewing the partition one must re-
member that Ireland had been one na-
tion for over 2000 years and remains
so. The vast majority of the neople
Ireland, began stirring up old religious
animosities through unfair employment
practices and hired demagogues.
Had it not been also for the 12 Con-
servative members of parliament which
the Unionist Warty supplies the Conser-
vative Party in Westminister, justice
might have been done.
The partition was inaugurated, sup-
posedly, to prevent the Irish Protestants
from "becoming" a one-fourth minority,
in an Irish Republic. Apparently no one
in London was concerned that Britain
was simultaneously subjecting a pro-
portionately larger number of Catholics
to becoming a one-third minority in
the newly contrived state. There is a
familiar but twisted ring to the recent
words of Ulster's prime minister Brian
Faulkner, who says that it would be
undemocratic to let the minority (the
Catholics) alter the boundaries or con-
stitution of his "nation".
political parties in Northern Ireland to
form along sectarian lines; a reaction-
ary Unionist Party whose sole platform
was the maintenance of its constitu-
tional arrangement, versus a powerless
Nationalist Party dedicated to achiev-
ing a nonsectarian all-Ireland govern-
ment. This unfortunate situation has
nurtured religious dissociation, and has
prevented, any and all economic and
social progress.
The government of Northern Ireland
is, in its very essence, the institutional-
ization of sectarian hatred. Through its
creation and maintenance, the English
government has said, in effect, the Ul-
ster's Protestants do not have to toler-
ate or cooperate with the island's Ro-
man Catholic majority.
A harmonious atmosphere is made
virtually impossible in the North while
the partition persists. The larger birth
rate among Catholics causes Ulster's
mandering. This art has been mastered
and implemented to a scandalous de-
gree in Ulster.
An obvious example is that of Lon-
donderry which has a substantial Cath-
olic and Nationalist majority (29,000
votes out of 47,000). It was split into
two areas, one of which was merged
with an area extending eight miles into
the country in order to counterbalance
the Nationalists, and ensure Protestant
Unionist control.
Such proceedings are no more con-
sistent with a free democracy than are
the "Special Powers" denying individ-
ual liberties to the opposition. These
powers are presently responsible for the
incarceration without trial of over one
thousand Roman Catholics.
PRIME MINISTER FAULKNER has
answered critics with vacuous plans to
eliminate discrimination and gerryman-
dering. But he refuses to discuss the
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