THE LIBERAL Party Assembly this week will be according debating time the The Tories won't be discussing it at their conference, acciae wnelner keep troops in Ireland.
And the Labour Party won't make it a major discussion, to the shame of Why are the Liberals discussing it now? Jude Woodward talked STEVEN DAWE, Young representative on the Committee for Withdrawal from Ireland, to see how he explained the Liberal's interest in the issue.
Can you explain why the Liberal Party is discussing the Ireland at its conference, other major parties are not?
I think this is do traditional attitude in Party about civil liberties.
Report and the Amnesty investigations made I clear tal civi noellies die al risk in Ireland Then there's also sympathy with the kind of things that John Pardoe is fond of saying about Ireland - that a solution in Ireland requires some sort of republican initiative.
In addition the Liberal Party unlike the others — is not convinced the of legislation.
And finally there's the fact that it's now been going on for ten years -it's a kind of psychological moment when people have to themselves that it is an emergency.
I understand you have recently been on a fact finding mission to Ireland. Perhaps you'd explain delegation was and what you learnt from it?
There have in fact delegations — an official Liberal Socialist Challenge ' 27 September 1979 Page 10 .:
major question of although they the British Liberals question of when the the the Liberal The Party delegation have range of people.
tor the need political initiatives.
emergency themselves, they Commol to the daily life adjust under the situation.
antagonism what the the Unionist side.
been two 12 August demonstration in London — Young Liberals played a leading role which the Young Liberals were not invited to take part in. And there's been a Young Liberal delegation, the one I was on, which seems to have seen a rather broader up The overwhelming impression we got from the people we interviewed for immediate The SDLP for instance could not really see any future in the kind of British policy that's being pursued at the moment. They saw no future for saw ho pressure being put on the Unionists to come to terms with them or with anything else.
Wealso got a strong impression of calling how people live and The reaction to the British army is on all sides. Nobody believes that the army is playing a troops? peace keeping role, no one is naive enough to believe that — not even on Could you briefly describe the motion that is going to the Liberal Part issembly this week The main motion calls for the setting advisory council on voluntary basis. this there are three amendments.
The first calls for the reunification of Ireland within European Economic Community. The second suggests that the British troops could be replaced by a UN peace-keeping force - this amendment is likely to be divided up so that people can vote for removal rather than replacement.
There's also a third amendment for the remoyal of Emergency Provisions Act.
Is there no specific amendment simply calling for the withdrawal of British An amendment of this type was sent in but interest in the idea of sending in UN troops. produced this composited amendment. Why do people think that UN troops would be any troops?
The present police force, the RUC, in the North. , of unacceptable populanon, Al lnc same me tic UDR is also unacceptable.
If you are a politician you believe that law and order must continue in some torm. Therefore, satisfy this demand, and to get rid of or change the existing organisations, you must have something to put in its place.
Therefore the sending in of UN troops is seen as something acceptable than either keeping in the British troops or of taking them out and strengthening the UDR or RUC. But it would be a stopgap measure.
But aren't these exactly the arguments used for the British troops being there protecting the Catholic popula. tion, preventing stopping the RUC and UDR berserk? about the UN troops?
I am a little sceptical about the use of troops in the situation. However I remain open minded on what would happen if it was necessarily think that it would be totally unacceptable to many people In Inal Sildaliull It would depend on the context. If it was done as a means of creating some new status quo in order that the British government got out of having the to do anytning aboul Ireland io1 twenty years, then it's a quite useless idea.
If it was in the context of regional aid from the EEC perhaps some sort of confederal idea, Fitzgerald, Fine perhaps one would be talking about something more acceptable to the different parties in the situation.