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Provisional Sinn Fein, was in London on June 4th to address a rally in support of Republican prisoners on hunger strike in Northern Ireland jails. A Socialist Woman reporter spoke to her. Maire became known to supporters of the Irish struggle in Britain when she led the intervention by Republican women of Andersonstow, Belfast, against the Stormont-financed "Women Together" movement. Maire has herself served a term in a British jail in Northern Ireland for speaking aguinst the role of British imperialism in Ireland.
The interview was carried out before the announcement of the Provisionals cease-fire in the North. At the time of going to press (24th June), the significance of the cease-fire is not clear. If the British have agreed to the demands of the Provos in secret, then we could not of course be opposed in principle to a negotiated settlement which got the British out of Ireland. However it must be noted that in the past, it has usually been the British who gain from such cease-fires. In the war against the British in the carly 1920s, the British used the cease-fire to produce a desire for peace at any price in the Irish fighters, and waited while the irregular forces of the IRA demobilised. Then, the regular British Army remaining intact, the British government was in a position to issue witimatums. Whether this will occur this time is unclear as yer. What we must hope is that the fighting spirit shown to exist by this interview will not be frittered away by lack of political understanding of what British imperialism's real nature and aims are. - The Woman Together movement has been clearly exposed as being run and backed from outside, by people with no interests in common with the people of Andersonstown. People in Britain are less clear however on the nature of the present peace movement. Can you say what it represents and who is backing it?
Maire Drumm: This movement is being promoted by the Bishops, by big business (e.g. such people as Tom Conarty who's on the Whitelaw Commission) and by the Social Democratic and Labour Party. It is nothing but the remnants of the Women Together movement. The people behind it have been onlookers in the struggle. They have never given support to the struggle, so they cannot now withdraw it. The women are completely behind the IRA Do you feel that the Whitelaw initiative offers you anything. and should be given a chance?
Whitelaw has offered us nothing. In spite of Direct Rule, we still have the Special Powers Act, though this does not operate in Britain. They have substituted detention orders for internment. Little has changed.
Can you tell us something about the role of women in the Provisional Republican movement?
The women in the Provisional movement take a full part in the struggle. Women have taken the lead in protecting their communities, with the men interned or on the run. They organised the "hen" patri" which follow the British Army "duck" patrols* and give warning by banging dustbin lids when the Army is coming into an area. There are many Provisional Republican women in jail now on political charges and some of them are on hunger strike -I believe your husband is now in prison on a political charge?
He is serving his third term, and has done 13 years altogether.
There are many women in Northern Ireland who are suffering. emotionally and financially, from having their husbands in prison.
- Do the women of Belfast want peace?
The people in the peace movement say that 95% of the women want peace. They are wrong. 100% of the women want peace.
But it is not peace on any terms-we want peace with justice.
The present peace movement is only a varnish on the surlace there is a boiling pot underneath. We want all the internees released, and amnesty for all Republican prisoners and men on the run. We want a withdrawal of all British troops to their barracks, pending their complete withdrawal from Ireland. There cannot be peace except on these terms. -Are you confident that the Irish people will win their freedom this time?
We have to win it this time. There has been too much bloodshed and too many people in jail. We are determined to win this time. *Duck" patrols is the name given to the British Army patrols in armoured cars in the Catholic areas of the Six Counties.
BACKGROUND TO THE "PEACE MOVEMENTS" (written before the announcement of the Provisionals' cease. fire-see introduction to interview).
The suspension of Stormont and the imposition of Direct Rule over Northern Ireland in March of this year came about because the struggle of the minority could not be kept down. The Stormont government had tried all the repressive measures it could take; internment had failed; even 13 killed by the British Army in Derry did not stop the movement in its tracks. On the contrary, these events themselves led to more militant ac action on the part of the minority and an even greater determi: nation to throw the British Army out of the North. Direct Rule and William Whitelaw's move to Stormont was not a solution to these problems for the British ruling class, rather this desperate measure which was taken shows the very real and profound crisis British imperialism finds itself in, in the North today.
Since Direct Rule there has been much confusion as to what is happening. The Protestants are building "no-go" areas, internees are being released, leading Provisionals are being arrested by the Lynch regime in the South, the Officials have called a "cease-fire" and various "peace movements" have been formed.
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-PEACE?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WOMEN TOGETHER AND THE PRESENT PEACE MOVEMENT The latest "peace group" which has recently come into existence is very different from that of the Women Together movement which received "fame" when Maire Drumm and other supporters of the IRA managed to shout down and break up the Andersonstown "Woren Together" Group. The essential difference between this new movement and the Women Together group is that the former supports the IRA. Of the five main leaders of this latest group one, Eileen Semple, is secretary of one of the Social Democratic and Labour Party groups (SDLP) in the area, one Margaret Doherty, had a brother shot dead by the British Army on Bloody Sunday, and one Kathleen Doherty, lost a son aged 16 who accidently shot himself while training with the Official IRA earlier this year.
THE DEMANDS OF THE PEACE MOVEMENT The demands of the Derry women are fundamentally different from the Andersonstown Women Together Group. They are not for "peace at any price" peace to these women means the following: -an amnesty for all political prisoners and those on the run -an end to internment. -no-go areas to remain -the IRA must still remain behind the barricades. In other words these women recognise that the role of the British troops is not that of peace-keeping and while they remain on Irish soil the minority in the North must have the protection of the IRA.
PEACE AT ANY PRICE?
The situation, as stated earlier, is extremely confusing. Events are changing so rapidly. And it is not only us in Britain who are confused by what is going on, the minority in the North itself is not at all clear what is happening. What is clear is that everyone in Derry wants peace. What is not so clear is what is meant by "peace". . Probably a small minority wants "peace at any price" the majority almost certainly are in favour of an armistice.
There has been much reporting in the press about the many thousands of people who signed the "peace petition", What has not been reported is that these same people who signed that petition still leave their doors open at night for any IRA member in need of a place to hide, still leave out food for these same people whom they are supposed to oppose. THE FAILURES OF THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT What can also be said is that this confusion arises from the failure, certainly in practice if not in theory, to give a political explanation to the people of Derry and Belfast, particularly the women, about what is happening. The women's social life tends to centre around the church, the men's around pubs. And it is in the pubs that the informal discussions take place, the explanations as to what is happening, the latest news, informations about meetings etc etc.
In the present situation this lesson must be learnt by the IRA. It is extremely important with regard to what is happening in the North at present that the women must be integrated much more into the struggle. Because we should be in no doubt that for all the "good intentions" of these women and the fact that they have stated quite clearly that they support and still need the IRA, this movement does act as a serious lever of pressure against the Republican movement.
THE DANGER AHEAD UNLESS....
In the meantime, unless this lesson is learnt quickly by the IRA the "peace" movement in all its confused forms will probably continue to grow. Certainly there was no place for the Women Together" movement, but the response-albeit vague and ambiguous-to this latest movement in Derry and Belfast must be clearly understood, The people of Derry, sick and tired as they may be of the fighting, know they need and depend on the IRA; but unless the IRA itself realises that it cannot rely on the continued support of these people, particularly the women, if they do not give a clear explanation of what is happening in Ireland, then the peace movement could take on its own dynamic, and who knows in what direction it may go. In the words of a leading activist, this movement represents "the fear of the people, not the will of the people." Tessa van Gelderen The existence of the minority "no-go" areas are an important factor in the present situation in Northern Ireland. To show what it is like living in one of the liberated communities, we reprint these extracts about Free Derry from an article in Time Out.
Families in the Catholic area are large -6 or 7 is average, 11 or 12 is no exception. The two or three bedroom houses are adapted as best they can be, with bunk beds and a constant battle for cleanliness and tidiness. The kids organise their own lives as far as possible: the eldest son of a friend of mine, a studious kid faced with A levels, met two other friends most nights and used a room in the comparatively empty house, in which one of the group lived, as a study.
Much of the life goes on, as they say, normally. Kids go to school, those people who have work go to it each morning. Those who collect the dole-and those who can venture outside the area without being picked up collect it. I asked the headmaster of one of the nine schools in the area, Brother Egan of St. Peters Secondary (Boys), if he thought studies and attendance had suffered. He said there was little truancy, perhaps less than before the trouble. Studies suffered because of some lack of concentration, loss of sleep and a feeling in the older boys that they should be out "doing their bit"
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HOUSING FINANCE BILL Over the last few years house prices have rocketed and private landlords and property dealers have made a great deal of money. Council House rents have gone up steadily but have not given to the government the VINCE RISES