Ulster: the fuse shortens

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33941, 6 September 1975, Page 14

Ulster: the fuse shortens

Events in Northern Ireland seem to be building up towards civil war. The decision of the Secretary of State. Mr Merlyn Rees, to send army reinforcements to County Armagh, where tension seems to be at a peak, possibly provides some justification for demonstrations of protest against the British failure to restore security. How’ security is to be restored is far from clear. British troops can deal with terrorist violence where they encounter it. but the intelligence service seems unable to keep the Army command informed of pending terrorist moves, or of the whereabouts of Provisional I.R.A. leaders who direct the campaign from well-concealed hiding-places. All the evidence suggests that the situation in the six counties is again getting completely out of hand: that events are sliding towards what has been described as a condition of perpetual anarchy. It is obvious that efforts to agree on a basis for the restoration of constitutional government will again fail. The Protestant Loyalists, joined in what is known as the United Ulster Unionist Coalition, will not make any concessions to Roman Catholic aspirations, such as the revival of power sharing. The Workers’ Council, which is behind worker support for the new protest demonstrations, called the general strike that last year brought industry to a standstill and sealed the fate of Mr Brian Faulkner’s power-sharing Executive. But the central position remains unchanged. The Roman Catholicaligned Social Democratic and Labour Party will by now have lost hope of persuading Protestant Ulster to revive power sharing. These elements want a parliament based on majority rule and party government, with control over internal security. The S.D.L.P. is adamant that that solution is not acceptable. It demands Cabinet representation that would reflect its share of the total vote at the convention election. It has rejected a Loyalist offer of the chairmanship of important committees linked to government departments. A top-ranking spokesman for the S.D.L.P.. Mr Ivan Cooper, has said plainly that the party “ cannot accept less than full-blooded partnership throughout the community—in Cabinet, on statutory boards, and on councils ”, ’ The Loyalists have flatly refused to concede so much authority. On the contrary the diehard Unionist faction. Vanguard, has lately told the British Government that if it continues to reject Loyalist demands it (Vanguard) will “abandon the political scene ”. The implication is clear. Each side, Roman Catholic and Protestant, has a powerful para-military organisation, well armed and disciplined, and prepared to fight, if needs be. for what each regards as its rights. Mr Rees must be aware that the fuse leading to an explosion is getting dangerously short. He must also accept that his Government has a clear-cut responsibility to guarantee Ulster’s security until order is restored. And behind the factionfighting there lurks the sinister shadow of the Provisional wing, prepared, as the latest bombing in Surrey has shown, to enlarge terrorism to major proportions in Britain itself.