[page 11]
(Cont. from p.9)
Hospital closures like these reflect just one of the ways in which the deepening crisis in the NHS is hitting at women, both as workers and as patients.
The Labour Government, despite its infamous social contract has no intention of putting more money into the welfare state when big business is crying out for financial help in the face of the collapse of international capitalism.
And private medical enterprise stands poised in the wings, eager to exploit the growing deficiencies in the health service at the expense of the working class.
The demand should be raised that the Government make available the extra money needed to keep the hospital open, as part of a massive injection of funds into the NHS budget-which should from now on be on a sliding scale of NHS expenditure to keep up with inflation.
The issue of hospital closure ers" enquiry into the state of ALL the health care facilities in the area, involving all sections of the commshould be used as the focus for a workPhoto: Chris Davis (Report unity. It is vital to fight any cutbacks in the NHS with united working class action, particularly when the rights of an oppressed section, such as women, to adequate health care and especially abortions are threatened.
It is only by taking these steps towards a workers solution to the crisis in the NS that it is possible to win the ficht for decent health services not only for women, but for all the working class.
[page 12]
role played by women in the anti imperialist struggle. The internment and impri sonment of many male Republican activists has in numerous cases forced women of the Irish Republican Socialist Party -a revolutionary group which has recently been formed out of a split from the Official Republican movement. Although there are many points raised in the interview with which the Editorial Board disagrees, we are not replying in this issue, but welcome correspondence to continue the de Photo: Chris Davies (Report)
into the front lines of the struggle pression has never been seriously considered.
bate on this vital aspect of the trish revolution, What has been the role of women in the struggle in Ireland?
Many people imagine that because we have had women internees and the Price Sisters, women are equal in the Irish struggle. And that is not essentially the case. There is no revolutionary organisation that treats women members as equal in the struggle. The classical mark of the Provisionals was: "We don't need to send our women out to fight, which caused a great uproar from their women members.
It's true that women have been involved in the forefront of the battle, One of the most important developments in Ireland is the increasingly contral This has led to a more general questioning of the position and role of women in Irish society. As yet, this has not produced a women's liberation movement of the sort that exists in Britain, which is integrated into the national struggle And within the organisations leading the struggle the question of women's op Following is an interview with BERNADETTE (DEVLIN) MeALISKEY but it would be a mistake to assume that they are treated as equal by the male members of the organisation or that gains have been made in society as a whole. Because we have the Price sisters, Liz McKee and Mary Kennedy and Evelyn Gilroy, it doesn't follow that the woman in the street and the woman in the factory have made the same bounds forward. Nor that any of the organisations have made any great effort towards the women's position or about re-evaluating the women's position.
Women have exerted themselves in the struggle. They have played an equal role. Unless we do a great deal the dinner. question. more about it, after having driven the British out and having made gains towards our socialist republic, we may well find that our comrades believe that their wives ought to be cooking What explains the lack of any strong women's liberation movement in the North of Ireland is that women have come to the fore and have played such a part in the national liberation struggle. And it's bound to take its effect. It has forced organisations to change their attitudes, but what I am saying is that there is still a lot of work to be done. Revolutionary women, political women play an equal role with political men and that itself has changed the nature and outlook of organisations on the women's Maire Drumm has said that the major difference between tbe current war and previous campaigns the IRA has waged has been the involvement of women. The reason it has carried on for so long and with at least comparative success has been due to the involvement of women.
I think a fundamental mistake is being made there. What I'm saying is that we must ensure that when the history is written in say 10-20 years from now that women's role does not disappear. Looking back at every aspect of the struggle in Ireland, women have played their part and have played a valuable part.
You had Cumann mBahn in 1916; Betsy Grey and her women's group, but they all seemed to disappear. None of them made the national hero grade. It is up to women to ensure that having played the part that our role and our rights are not forgotten.
In what way can the question of women's liberation be integrated into the national struggle?
Because of the level of the crisis here and given the division of labour for those of us active in the broad struggle, we simply do not-I know many women criticise me for saying this- have the time to devote to a purely women's struggle that the more liberal organisations have. But in our day-to-day activity it is necessary to ensure our rights; to ensure that the political education of women members is equal to that of the men.
In the day-to-day things like in my coming to the meeting today...I have a three and a half year old child. Now