BRITISH TROOPS IN ULSTER Lynch opposed to fast withdrawal

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33083, 25 November 1972, Page 15

BRITISH TROOPS IN ULSTER Lynch opposed to fast withdrawal

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) OXFORD, November 24. Mr Jack Lynch, Prime Minister of the Irish Republic, last night gave warning of “a disastrous scale of violence” if British troops were prematurely withdrawn from Northern Ireland.

The British people could understandably become impatient for a speedy and final settlement in Northern Ireland, he said during a debate on the Irish question.

“I would counsel | against any hasty or illconsidered action,” Mr Lynch continued. “In particular the prema-1 ture withdrawal of British I troops could precipitate a disastrous scale of violence and bloodshed.” The Prime Minister was proposing the motion to the Oxford Union society “that this house would favour Irish unity.” Wider dimension He said that it was evident that the partition of Ireland 50 years ago "did not and cannot work ... the way forward is to cast this prob-, Jem into a wider dimension] — the Irish dimension.” Irish unity was not yet an immediate prospect and movement towards unity

.must be graduated and based jon agreement and reconciliaJtion, he continued. “Coercion and violence have demonstrably failed over the years in Northern Ireland,” Mr Lynch said. "The Irish Government has emphatically condemned at all stages the activities of those, on both sides, who resort to force to maintain their ends.” On the other hand, he welcomed the prospect of discussions with the British Government and political I representatives of the two communities of Northern Ireland. E.E.C. membership i “Through negotiations of I this kind we would hope that it would prove possible to move towards a solution acceptable to all responsible people,” the Prime Minister said. He said that the membership of both parts of Ireland in the European Common Market after January 1 would present an opportunity for the change necessary to bring a peaceful and united Ireland. Opposing the motion, Mr Ray Bradford, a member of the mainly-Protestant Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, attacked the notion that Irish problems would be solved if the British pulled out. Unity through British withdrawal would amount to a “shotgun wedding” which would not prove fruitful “and indeed might perpetu-

ate the shotgun as an instrument of policy,” he said. The Irish Government today faces a crucial test in its mounting campaign to crush the underground guerrilla army fighting British rule in Northern Ireland.

At a special criminal court in Dublin three judges will be asked to decide if Sean MacStiofain, reputed chief of staff of the militant Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army (1.R.A.) can be formally indicted as a member of the outlawed organisation. MacStiofain, aged 44, is reported to be in rapidly declining health and his solicitor, who visited him yesterday, said that he was suffering from severe kidney pains and had lost 151 b since his arrest on Sunday. On Tuesday MacStiofain said that he had refused all food and drink and would continue to do so till he was freed—or until he died. “I reckon I have 12 days to live,” he told the Court. Tape-recording The case against the Eng-lish-born MacStiofain hinges on the tape recording of an interview he gave last Saturday — only hours before his arrest — to a reporter of the state radio and television network, R.T.E. The R.T.E. director-general (Mr Tom Hardiman) was instructed by the Court on Tuesday to bring the tape to the hearing today. Last night the journalist who took the interview, Mr Kevin Kelly, was also told he must give evidence today. MacStiofain has never publicly admitted he is a member of the 1.R.A.,' and under present Irish law the State has to prove that he is.

Under a new law introduced to the Dail (Parliament) on Tuesday defendants are likely to have to prove that they are not in the I.R.A. But the law, which is not likely to be passed until the new year, will not be retrospective. By then MacStiofain, if he were frefed today, could have gone into hiding to continue directing the guerrilla war against Britain in the north. The case has also led to a conflict between the Government and the R.T.E. authority, who were instructed a year ago not to broadcast interviews with people involved with subversive organisations.

The instruction was given by the Prime Minister (Mr Lynch), who is due to hold talks on the Irish question with the British Prime Minister (Mr Edward Heath) later today. The Government has demanded an explanation from the authority and has made it clear it expects action to be taken against Mr Kelly. The authority has made a formal reply, but has not revealed what it contained.