What now in Ulster?

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32715, 18 September 1971, Page 16

What now in Ulster?

The meeting in London later this month between the Prime Minister of Ireland (Mr Lynch), the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (Mr Faulkner), and the British Prime Minister (Mr Heath) is one of the few encouraging signs that a settlement in Ulster may still be possible. Mr Lynch’s quick acceptance of the meeting, proposed recently by Mr Heath when the two leaders met at Chequers, suggests that the more cautious Irish politicians realise they have nothing to gain from a continuation of the violence. If there is to be a political settlement in Ulster, it is in just such a meeting that efforts to build an acceptable framework must begin. Proposals for separate sectional administrations are so obviously impracticable that it is a wonder they were seriously put forward. Two administrations, with radically differing ideas -on policy, would make co-operation and co-ordination impossible. Mr Lynch’s proposal for an equal sharing of power and decision-making in the north is no less illogical. It is a basic democratic principle that the right to govern resides with a parliamentary majority. The Protestant elements in Ulster outnumber the Roman Catholic by two to one. The best that can be hoped for is that Mr Faulkner’s Cabinet will endorse an immediate return to proportional representation, as the best means of putting government in Northern Ireland on a broader and fairer communal basis.

Mr Lynch has suggested that reunion is the only possible solution to the problem of violence in the north. Mr Heath could not possibly subscribe to a course that would mean forcing the Protestant majority to submit to what it regards as an alien system of government. Neither Mr Heath nor Mr Lynch can overlook the fact that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. The first step towards a return to order in the north must be the suppression of Irish Republican Army activities—a task in which both communities should be aiding the British troops, not harassing them. It is some satisfaction that Mr Cahill, leader of the militant I.R.A. wing, was not permitted to carry out his fundraising mission in the United States. It would be even more reassuring if Mr Lynch’s Government were to bring the I.R-A. under effective control in the south. There would be no terrorism in the north if it were proscribed in the south in fact as well as in law. Nor can the idea of the creation of rival Protestant and Roman Catholic armed forces in Ulster be tolerated. Their very existence would bring nearer the possibility of civil war. British troops are in Ulster to carry out a specific task. That it now involves the internment of I.R-A. suspects is regrettable. Co-operation with the troops by both communities, with the approval of Mr Faulkner and Mr Lynch, would assuredly shorten the duration of the present emergency. .