The violent events in Northern Ireland are revolutionary in more than one sense: apart from their non-peaceful form they are revolutionary in content because they represent the rejection by wide strata of a parliamentary solution to their [illegible].
[illegible] and secondly, [illegible] Stormont have not got control over the [illegible] and their political supporters in the Unionist Party.
REVOLUTION
The fact that violent forms have burst on to the British political scene [illegible] already having an effect on the thinking of people — we should be careful not to dismiss the phenomenon of the Free [illegible] Army as merely a comic opera episode. This tendency will be even more pronounced in the future: British imperialism and its political system [illegible] in an irreversible state of decline and decomposition, there will be all kinds of situations [illegible] arising in Britain in the [illegible] or immediate future in which wide sectors [illegible] rapidly losing their illusions in peaceful [illegible].
The problems posed by the new stage of struggle in Northern Ireland are likely to be generalised, [illegible] according to the outlying areas of the [illegible] Isles, where, just as in Northern Ireland, economic depression combines with elements of a feeling of national oppression; likewise in the black ghettoes of the big industrial cities, where [illegible] could confidently predict that in the next [illegible] years that the events of Derry will not be repeated in [illegible].
This situation poses for British marxists problems of strategy and tactics which some of them may have thought would never be on their agenda. [illegible] of work needs to be done on this score - even the elementary task of convincing marxists that events in Northern Ireland are of decisive importance is as yet unfulfilled. The [illegible] tiny [illegible] demonstrations called by various organisations is clear evidence of this. The marxist left has yet to respond seriously, let alone [illegible].
The British ruling class tries to meet this situation by sending more troops in on the one hand and by trying to absorb Bernadette Devlin into the system on the other. Present indications are that it is not likely to have much success in [illegible]. The granting at some unspecified date of "one man, one vote" and the resignation of Captain O'Neill will not help British imperialism much either. All agree that the issue of "one man, one vote" is no longer the key question - this concession is more likely to stimulate opposition by showing that the rulers of Northern Ireland can be made to retreat; moreover the [illegible] tardiness in its application will provide yet another [illegible] irritant.
It is clear that our previous assessment that there is no real solution to the everyday problems of the Ulster people within the present framework or one that is likely to be brought about [illegible] revolution is being vindicated daily. This [illegible] have profound consequences and not only for Northern Ireland.
The British bourgeoisie knows this very well and this explains the extraordinary attitude taken up towards Bernadette Devlin after her victory [illegible] the by-election. This is an old trick of the British ruling class. In this specific case it is meant to lay the basis for diverting the opposition of the civil rights movement in Ulster into a parliamentary cul-de-sac. But such is the crisis of British imperialism that it has little room for manoeuvre and too few resources to carry the people [illegible] out this kind of operation.
Struggles on the streets are thus likely to become a more or less permanent feature of the British political scene in the immediate future. Even the talk of civil war is not so wild as some [illegible] think: the principle of armed self-defence is now accepted by wide [illegible] of the Ulster population and the bomb attacks on water installations, etc. [illegible] suggest a [illegible] new and "acceptable" form of struggle.
[illegible] accepted by some on the "left", is a proposal to continue England's [illegible] years of exploitation of Ireland.
[illegible] dispatch of British troops to Ulster scarcely causes a ripple on the British political scene. All left-wingers should support the newly-formed Britian branch of the People's Democracy in its [illegible] solidarity campaign [illegible]. But even this will be of no avail unless correct policies are adopted.
SELF-DEFENCE
The left must support the right of Irish [illegible] to use whatever methods they think fit in [illegible] struggle for self-determination; it should [illegible] of Northern Ireland to achieve [illegible]. [illegible] SELF-DEFENCE against the thugs of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the B-Specials, the Paisleyite hooligans and BRITISH TROOPS; and should oppose by ALL MEANS POSSIBLE the sending of British [illegible] to Northern Ireland, [illegible] the same time the withdrawal of those there. [illegible] has a special duty of assisting the Irish people living in Britain to take part in their national struggle and it has the [illegible] task of opposing any move to place the six counties [illegible] of London control - the [illegible] no matter who is responsible.