Militant Irish Stand Poised

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31975, 30 April 1969, Page 13

Militant Irish Stand Poised

(N. Z.P.A,-Reuter—Copyright)

BELFAST, April 29. The downfall of the Northern Ireland Prime Minister (Captain Terence O’Neill) leaves the Roman Catholics and Protestants poised for what could be their bloodiest battles yet, writes Patrick Massey, A.A.P.-Reuter correspondent in Belfast.

Any sudden provocative move by either side could lead to a new chapter of ! violence in Ireland's long hisI tory of religious strife. The Roman Catholics, outnumbered two to one. will be watching jealously for any attempt to reverse the efforts | that Captain O'Neill had made i over the last seven months to improve their civic status. On the other hand. Protestant firebrands might be tempted to strike out at the militant Roman Catholic groups now that the moderating hand of Captain O'Neill has gone. In the eyes of these fanatical Protestants, Captain O'Neill represented a con-

temptible. milk-and-water style of Protestantism; his; cautious efforts to improve} the lot of Roman Catholics were viewed as a surrender to Popery and to the Roman Catholic Republic of Ireland., One hopeful sign of peace ; is the restraint observed by i the Roman Catholic militants: in the last few crucial days;! it gives rise to hope that their leaders will at least wait until the choice of Captain O’Neill's successor before taking any action. Watching the scene anxiI ously will be the British Government in London, which still holds ultimate responsibility for the direction of [Northern Ireland. A 1921 Act of Parliament ended Britain's centuries-old 'domination of Ireland and } split it into an independent Roman Catholic South and a Protestant North still tied to the Crown. The North has internal self-government, but Britain retains final power to suspend its Constitution and resume direct rule.

Such a step would be taken by the Administration of the British Prime Minister (Mr Harold Wilson) only as a last resort, it raises the spectre of Britain once more attempting the unrewarding experience of holding down a terri-

tory with the majority of its people against her. Northern Ireland Protestants fervently proclaim that they are "British through and through." but with the contrary nature of Irish politics they would be staunchly opposed to the application of actual power by Britain on i their own home ground. Nevertheless, if Northern Ireland fell leaderless into j civil war, Mr Wilson's Gov- ! eminent could hardly stand . by and see part of the United i Kingdom tearing itself apart. ’ He might have no alternative 1 but to asusme direct rule and send in troops to keep order.

Republic Claim

Also watching the situation keenly will be the Government of the Irish Republic, which has never renounced its claim to power over all of Ireland, including the six counties of Ulster.

The politician regarded as most likely to succeed Captain O’Neill is a man who has also proclaimed his belief in the one-man, one-vote principle in local elections: Mr Brian Faulkner, formerly a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce.

Mr Faulkner is generally regarded as more of a hard-

line Protestant than Captain O'Neill, but he is on record as also favouring reforms for Roman Catholics. He disagrees with Captain O'Neill, however, about methods of applying these reforms; in particular, he dislikes the way in which Captain O'Neill appears to have been pushed into granting concessions by pressure from the British Government and from Roman Catholic rioters in the streets Mr Faulkner claims that the whole question of local election suffrage should be thrashed out by the Unionist Party, as a whole, and not just by Unionists in Parliament, as has happened up to now. Also, he says Captain O'Neill has been too lax about obliging both sides to maintain order in the streets

There are many enigmas about Mr Faulkner and his polices. But he commands wide personal admiration inside the Unionist Party and would probably be sure of solid Parliamentary support if he were made Prime Minister.

The other likely contender, Xhe former Minister of Agriculture (Mr James Chiches-ter-Clark) has long been a vague figure in Northern Ireland politics. His policies had not been clearly defined until last Wednesday, when he resigned over the one-man, one-vote move. He could be a compromise candidate elected for his largely-uncommit-ted record.

The Unionist Party has two days to think about a successor. Whatever happens, both sides in Northern Ireland will have to tread with extreme delicacy if the rebel legends of old are not to be played out in the streets once more.