A COUPLE of weeks ago Anne Marie McMullen was asked by the socialist youth newspaper Revolution: 'Do you think Britain should leave Ireland?'
She replied:'Yes, it's the only way there'll be any peace. I think they should leave today. They have no right in our country.'
Today, 15-year-old Anne lies in a Belfast hospital on the edge of death. She may indeed be dead by the time you read this newspaper. She was shot by a plastic bullet in Belfast at the weekend. The bullet was fired by a British soldier.
Michael Donnelly is already dead. He was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning, near Falls Road in West Belfast. He too was hit by a plastic bullet, a weapon described officially as 'non-lethal'; that too was fired by a British soldier.
Michael was murdered and Anne Marie was gravely injured during a weekend of protests and demonstrations in Belfast and elsewhere in the North of Ireland which marked the nineth anniversary of the introduction of internment without trial.
In 1971 internment was the ultimate proof that the British Army in the North of Ireland was, first and foremost, a force of repression to be used against the Catholic population in the North of Ireland.
The events last weekend show that nothing has changed.
Internment might have officially gone but now there are the H Blocks and the women's prison in Armagh. There the victims of British rule are sent by a juryless court in which the judge is also the jury and sentencer.
Anne Marie told Revolution that in her area 'Everyone supports the prisoners. Many of us have brothers, sisters, or relatives in H Blocks or Amargh.
'When Kieran Nugent (the first H Block prisoner) was released we organised a demonstration in about 20 local schools against the conditions. At lunch-time we all started to tear up books and throw food everywhere. They had to bring in 12 Brits (soldiers) to stop us and kick us out of school.'
Ann Marie is a militant. She would make no apology for that. The situation in Ireland breeds militants. The presence of the British army breeds militants.
In Britain the campaign is growing to get the troops out of Ireland without further delay. The Daily Mirror repeated its call last Tuesday.
Approximately 150 members of the country-wide Troops Out Movement went over to Ireland to join the protests at the weekend. At least one of the TOM members, Piers Marston, was arrested by the British Army.
Two other campaigners on Ireland were also arrested in Glasgow on Saturday. The two, Kristine Crosbie and Mike Duffield, were selling the magazine Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! and 'Hands off Ireland' badges.
For this they were charged on Monday under the Prevention of Terrorism Act that they 'did solicit and invite financial support for a proscribed organisation'.
It is the first time the PTA has been used in this way against Irish solidarity activists. The two have been remanded in custody for a week. Their, and others, right to speak out on Ireland should be defended by all socialists in this country.
The demands of the Troops Out Movement — troops out now, self-determination for the Irish people — had a tragic relevance for Michael Donnelly and Anne Marie McMullen in Belfast last weekend.
To repeat Anne's words, British troops 'should leave today'. Any other solution would be to prolong the agony. The Irish agony has gone on long enough.