THE Labour Party has produced a consultative paper on their views.
thern Ireland? THE discussion paper asks: 'Should we seek LO replace sectarian politics Labour and Torv politics? That is a loaded quesconception to describe Irish politics as 'sectarian.
Certainly the Northern Irish working class is divided, as is une irish working class as a whole. Certainly these divisions approximate to religious differences. But it is the political divide which is important.
This political divide is and always has been centred on attitudes to the division of Ireland and the division of the Irish working class.
This is the fundamenlar ponucal cuestion Irish society. HistoricalWhich any. political parly has been ambivalent on this issue has disappeared at birth.
new political party in Northern would have to take position on question.
If the British Labour Party were to organise in Northern would be quite clear what attitude it would be British Labour would be saying it had a right to interfere in Northern Ireland, and that, by implication, any other British institution, up to and including the British state itself, has the right to interfere and to have a presence Northern Politics In other words, by in Northern the Labour Party would not be seeking to. replace sculallan politic but aner wou De culciu. such politics on the Loyalist side.
Socialist Challenge 5 March 1981 its Irish policy. A series of questions are posed and CLPs and affiliated unions are asked to submit Socialist Challenge is running a series taking up these questions, and this week we deal with the fourth question: should the British Labour Party organise in NorNorthern Ireland The Labour Party's consultative document As to the prospect of working class unity, perience has shown that there can be no suCt unity until that which divides the Northern Irish working class, and the Irish working class as a whole, is settled.
The division is concerned with the unresolved Irish national question. There is only way to solve inal question, and that is to end it: by permitting the unification of Ireland.
united working with a political party of its own, would then be opened up Already the majority of unions which organise in Northern Ireland are affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trades Unions.
If trade unions find it possible to organise on an all-Ireland basis, enjoying as they do fraternal links with the British while being dependent from it, the same principles can applied to the formation oi an all-lelana workig class party.
Once partition abolished the prospects for such a party would be tremendous.
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