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According to reports received by Scottish Socialist there has been a terrorist attack in Glasgow. During the weekend of the 23rd- 24th April the bomb squad was called to the Burnside Hotel near Rutherglen, after an explosion. To the best of our knowledge no-one was hurt. The Hotel is used by members of the Irish community and although there is no reason to connect any of its clients with political organisations, it is entirely possible that there was a political motive for the attack.
Readers may thin it odd that the Rutherglen bomb attack attracted no comment from the Scottish press. If it had been an IRA bomb it would have been front page news. It would appear that the press are nervous of calling attention to anything that smacks of loyalist terrorism in Scotland. They prefer to pretend that sectarianism is a dying cause confined only to a few hooligan Ranger's fans.
We are convinced that Orange sectarianism is thriving in Scotland. The power of the lodges is not doubted by anyone. Inverness District Council has recently announced its intention to ban the July 12th walk. It is more than probable that Inverness will receive the same treatment as did Dundee when it tried the same stunt two years ago - the town will be swamped with thousands of orangemen leaving the council powerless to implement its resolution.
Many in the Labour movement prefer to ignore the problem of sectarianism. They believe that to take it up will divide the working class. We consider that ignoring the issue is the most dangerous course that can be taken.
Ol course, Orangeism has its absurd side. In Hamilton in the 1850's the Rev. Dr. Dill prayed in the local United Presbyterian Church for a three months resurrection of Cromwell to exterminate Popery. Pastor Glass's recent vendetta against the comedian Billy Connolly has the same air of the ludicrous.
Despite this Pastor Glass is a powerful man. When the Burnbank lodge called a meeting to be addressed by him, the attendance was estimated at 4,000 people. Just what this can mean to the Scottish labour movement is shown not by Pastor Glass's theatrical antics but by the kind of general politics he preaches. Scottish Protestant View, the monthly paper edited by Class, carried in its May edition, extensive
coverage of Southern Africa. The view expressed was that the Angolian and Zin- • babwean guerrillas were rapists and cannibals. Most of the material was culled from official Rhodesian government publications. There was also an extract (the article was published in full in the September 1976 issue) from an article first published in Spearhead. Spearhead is the journal of the National Front - the British fascist organisation.
In addition to this we must call attention to the support for paramilitary organisations that exists in Orange circles. When self styled UDA commander Roddy MacDonald admitted on television that he was engaged in running guns to the loyalists in Northern Ireland there was an attempt to have him: removed from the Loyal Orange Lodge. The move was overwhelmingly rejected by the membership. In recent weeks lan Paisley MP - who is closely associated with the UDA was able to address a substantial and friendly meeting in Glasgow. The sense of priorities felt by these people was expressed at the time of the MacDonald affair by - Pastor Glass. The Pastor explicitly dissoclates himself from and condemns paramilitary groups, but he goes on in an editorial in Scottish Protestant View to say:
"Is it not rather smug and self righteous of the Orange hierarchy to dondemn the UDA and other paramilitary groups while they endorse sunday opening of their own social clubg, to put it another way, shooting Tims is not as bad as having a half on a Sunday.
The authorities, to say the least, do not hinder the growth of sectarianism. No police action has ever been taken against Roddy MacDonald for his gun-running activities though countless Irish militants over here have been deported without trial under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Not long after the Rutherglen bomb attack the Irish Defence League, a group calling for the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland and advocating the right of the Irish to self determination, asked police permission for a march in Glasgow. They were turned down. This incident alone makes it plain what the political stakes are for the authorities.
Sectarianism is the forgotten issue of Scottish politics. Scottish Socialist aims to make it a major concern for all Scottish militants. In future issues we will carry more material on this topic MARTIN O'LEARY