Commentary

Britain Must Get Out of Northern Ireland

On February 12 the British government announced that it had suspended the power-sharing arrangement in Northern Ireland and had re-imposed British direct rule. The pretext for this move was a threat by the Ulster Unionist Party to withdraw from the government if the Irish Republican Army (IRA) did not begin to disarm by February 12. An impression is being created by the news media that the IRA reneged on the Good Friday Peace Accord and is responsible for the setback to the peace process. However, the fact is that in the Peace Accord the sides promised to try to use their influence to bring about disarmament of paramilitary groups within two years, starting in June, 1998. The actual disarming of the paramilitary groups was an objective, but never a condition for Britain's withdrawal from Northern Ireland. The arbitrary date of February 12, 2000 was unilaterally set by the Ulster Unionist Party, clearly to provide Britain with a pretext to re-impose direct rule.

This latest development exposes the real motive of the British government, as well as the government of the Republic of Ireland, namely the disarming of the Republican forces in Ireland and the continuation of the division of Ireland. It is becoming crystal clear that the British government and its Irish allies have no interest in ending the British rule over Northern Ireland, nor in putting an end to the sectarian violence which has gripped that part of Ireland for over three decades. Their only interest is to destroy the one force in Ireland which is opposing British rule and which stands in the way of Ireland's complete integration into the European Union.

When he was first elected Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair announced the intention of his government to restore the past glory of British Empire. That empire rested, first and foremost, on the subjugation of the nation of Ireland. The Good Friday Accord was an attempt by the British government to constitute a new Irish nation, one that is fashioned in the interests of the European and U.S. monopolies. The Irish bourgeoisie, as represented by the government of the Republic of Ireland, as well as the Ulster Unionist Party and others, see their interest for maximum profits also served by such an arrangement.

The Republicans pose a serious threat to the creation of this new Irish nation. The dismantling of the British imperialist state is not the slogan of the Republicans. This, of course, cannot be their slogan. Nonetheless, their insistence to keep their weapons of resistance in their own hands, both material and spiritual, puts them in the position where they pose a serious threat to the British state. To insist that the Republicans disarm, while the British and their Irish agents remain armed to the teeth is to insist that the Irish people meekly submit to their continued subjugation at the hands of British imperialism. Far from sowing the seeds of peace in Ireland, such a capitulation by the Republican forces would only lead to further violence and greater tragedies for the Irish people.

The Irish people have the right to national self-determination. The demand of the IRA that disarmament is conditional on the complete and final withdrawal of Britain from all of Ireland is a just demand. It is the only demand which puts initiative in the hands of the Irish people and which creates conditions for the constitution of a new Ireland which serves the interests of the Irish people and not the interests of foreign monopolies.