Ira Bombings: a Backward Step

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TIMIS Irish people to self-deter- . It me restoraon or and face an agonising death. mination. political status to Irish repubThey underline the refusal of lican prisoners.

It is hard to imagine a more stupid time for the IRA military command to embark on a series of bombings in Britain.

In recent months the heroic The British government will continue to seek an end to the H Block protests-but on terms much more favourable to its tough image.

The H Block prisoners are by all accounts divided and angry at the outcome, and supporters in the north and south of Ireland are confused and to some extent demoralised. (The prisoners however remain steadfast: a small handful only has come off the dirty protest).

It cannot be the wish of any anti-imperialist that a single hunger striker should have died. Yet the support which built up behind the campaign was unparallelled in both the north and south of Ireland in the last seven years. The ending of the hunger strike dissipated much of that support without achieving its aims.

Talk of renewing the hunger strikes is wishful thinking. Mass support cannot be turned on and off like a tap. Indeed, although: supporting strike action was limited, the fact that strikes took place in the north and (on a larger scale) in the south put real fear into the Thatcher government.

For the Provisional leaderstruggles of the blanket men of Long Kesh for Prisoner of War station -1+ 1.å_h sidlus-brougut to a nign pomi by the 53-day hunger strike by seven republican prisoners-had forced the issue of the Irish war to the attention of wider sections of the British labour movement.

The struggle for political status of course had rallied mass support in the six counties and in the Irish republic.

But even in Britain where the labour movement is backward on the issue it had brought to the fore discussion on military rule, the rigged no-jury Diplock courts and the political basis on which seven brave men would he willing to foreon fond Following the deal that ended the hunger strikes, eyes were on the Tory government's --::11: - willingness to tuill its agreement and on the stubborn resistance of the blanket men to any sell-out.

The bombing campaign cuts right across this development. A few feeble fire bombs in militarily irrelevant targets, and a failed attempt to assassinate an almost unknown FFC politician offer nothing to advance the struggle to drive imperialist troops out. of Ireland: but they give the Tory press further ammunition to carry forward their witch-hunt of the republican movement and those who defend the right of this Tuish manal ta onlf Artoo