U.S. twists ears on Ulster jobs bias

Press, 13 May 1987, Page 21

U.S. twists ears on Ulster jobs bias

London is alarmed by the number of state legislatures and city councils in the United States which have now adopted resolutions not to deal with American companies based in Northern Ireland unless they agree to sign the Macßride Principles. Named after the veteran Irish Nobel Prize-winner, Sean Macßride, the “Principles” lay out guidelines for achieving equality of opportunity and have been criticised as portraying the situation in Northern Ireland as comparable to South Africa.

New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have already passed resolutions instructing their state pension funds not to invest in companies that refuse to sign the Macßride Principles

— and nine other states, including California, are poised to follow suit. The campaign is promoted in the United States by the Irish National Caucus and by Noraid, the Provisionals’ American support group. Last month Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary, Tom King, met Brian Lenihan, the new Irish Minister for Foreign ' Affairs in Belfast It was the first meeting of Ministers under the Anglo-Irish .-Agreement

The British Government hopes that its agreement to counter job discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland will head off a growing campaign in the United States that could severely damage Amercian investment in the province. MARY HOLLAND reports from Dublin

since Charles Haughey’s new Fianna Fail Government'came to power in the Republic of Ireland. Much of the meeting was spent discussing Dublin’s demands for immediate action to .'end job discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland. Recent surveys have shown that the recession in the. province has meant that Catholics are now even .more likely to be unemployed than Protestants. After their meeting, Lenihan

their desire to see discrimination ended, but emphasised that the Government remained strongly opposed to the MacBride Principles which, he believed, “could lead to disinvestment and be very damaging to employment” The Macßride Principles are a continuing source of controversy in both Britain and Ireland. Last week, Peter Archer, Labour’s front-bench spokesman on Northern Ireland, pledged his party’s support for them despite the Government’s argument that'they damage investment prospects. Last year, while he was still leader of the Opposition, Haughey endorsed the Principles.

said that he was satisfied that the British recognised the need for a “completely new approach” to the problem of fair employment He accepted that when legislation was passed through the House of Commons it would have real teeth but this would take time, and in the shorter term he believed action was possible in enforcing antidiscrimination clauses in public contracts. King agreed that the two Governments were “at one” in

Copyright — London Observer Service.