'peace People at War!

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sures sail The ruling class media, has been thrown into confusion over the last week by. a major crisis which has developed within the movement known as the "Peace People"

Unable to make any significant inroads into the growing mass base of the Provisional Republican movement, and with their continual stories of the growth in anti-IRA feeling by 'ordinary people' beginning to look increasingly lame, the imperialists suddenly had a piece of luck in August 1976.

A car driven by a Provisional IRA volunteer went out of control after the driver was shot and killed by the army. It mounted the pavement with horrific consequences. Mrs Ann Maguire was badly injured and three of her children killed.

The shock of this tragic incident led Mairaed Corrigan ri (the children's aunt) and Betty Williams to found a movement ostensibly to campaign for an end to violence.

Massive publicity was heaped on the movement and the two founders werę subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Accusations:

Particularly since this award the movement has been in some difficulties.

There have been accusations that the founders misused the £80,000 which went with the prize, and rumours for some time that all was not well with the campaign so enthusiastically and cynically encouraged by the imperialist butchers.

In the last week the internal dissention has burst into the open with a clear split in the movement.

It is still not clear what the real reasons for the split actually are.

The occasion of the split was chairman Peter McLachlan. He then walked out " and has threatened: to launch another movement.

He seems to have some support from Betty Williams, who left the Executive meeting when the arguments started.

The movement's treasurer, James Galway, has resigned his post but chosen to stay with the organisation.

'Real life'

In a week of charge and counter-charge McLachlan-a former unionist politician who became chairman 1½ years agohas claimed that at the root of the trouble are the policies of the man he originally replaced -Ciaran McK eown.

McKeown has derided this and refuses to be drawn as to version of the split.

What is clear is that a significant factor in the crisis of the Peace People is a little thing known as real life'.

Pacifism -which seeks to impose a completely idealist solution onto the real worldmust cope with the situation as it is-not as it would like the world to be.

In the Irish war of liberation there are two sides-imperialism and the Irish people led at present in their struggle against oppression by the Republican movement:

There are daily hundreds of situations to be commented on.

One of these, a central burning issue, is the campaign for the restoration of political status to the • republican prisoners on the blanket in H Block.:

Some sections of the Peace People-including McKeown-? have felt it necessary to make CHILDREN ally DuLlI tiality as fort.. to some criticism of the Emergency Legislation and the government's failure to find a compromise solution to end the H Block campaign.

This has aroused intense anger in other sections of the movement, who indignantly see any such concession to impargiving aid and comthe anti-imperialist H BLOCKS!

Wednesday 27 February Organised by Troops Out Movement No doubt further details of the split will emerge in the coming period.

Wé can only hope that the present problems facing the Peace People's Movement will deepen and result in the demise of what has been a useful tool and ally of imperialism.

THE WALL OF SILENCE ON THE

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