against the stream

Writings on the struggle for workers unity and socialism

Category: A View from the North

The body of an alleged informer dumped on isolated border road in 1984

A View From the North March 16th 2024: Kitson, Kenova, and Killing for the State

March 16, 2024 /

The publication of an interim report by the Kenova Inquiry into the activities of the IRA informer known as Stakeknife” on March 8th, has told us little new. The Inquiry has now lasted seven years, cost £40 million but has struggled to uncover basic facts. Even the most uncontroversial information about what happened has been withheld from families.

We do know that Stakeknife, real name Freddy Scapattici, was a state agent within the IRA for decades. In this role he was head of the IRA Internal Security Unit, also known as the “nutting squad”, which sought out and executed alleged informers. He was involved in the murder of 20 or more individuals who were accused of betraying IRA secrets. Some of his victims may well have been working for the British state, but some were certainly innocent. There is ample evidence that his British Army handlers allowed some to go to their deaths to protect his identity.

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A View from the North March 9th, 2024: The General Election and the Need for an Alternative

March 11, 2024 /

A general election must be held before January 2025. Most commentators expect this to take place in October or November 2024. There is a widespread acceptance that Keir Starmer, and the Labour Party will form the next government.

As before all elections serious socialists in Northern Ireland are examining the possibility of standing to provide an alternative for working class people. With only months to go, decisions will need to be taken soon as contesting general elections is a major undertaking for small groupings. First past the post elections are not at first sight, viable territory for new parties or movements, but we should not lose sight of the fact that 1/3 of workers and young people do not vote. We also know that many of those who cast a vote for parties outside the mainstream are still in search of a viable cross-community, anti-sectarian, left alternative.

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Ant-sectarian strike, Lurgan January 1976

A View from the North February 24th, 2024: The Hidden History of the Troubles

February 24, 2024 /

There is a hidden history to the ‘Troubles’. The role played by the organised workers’ movement in opposing sectarian violence and, at times, preventing it from spiralling out of control does not appear in the history books.

Throughout the ‘Troubles’ the majority of workers remained united in their trade unions. Not once has a strike been defeated by sectarianism.

The sectarian parties have a sectarian view of the past just as they do of the present. They seek to proclaim themselves as the best representatives of ‘their’ community in the present. And they defend their positions from the past in order to bolster their positions today.

Class-conscious activists have a duty to counter this view, and to act as the collective memory of the working class. It is important to preserve the working-class history of the North, in particular the high points of class struggle when the working class moved in unity on social or industrial issues, or in opposition to sectarianism.

In a series of articles this website will seek to do this. Today we publish an article on the many examples of workers actions against sectarian threats and actions between 1969 and 2001.

We also re-publish a review of the film “Good Vibrations” from 2013, and an updated obituary of trade unionist and class fighter Davy Bell.    

A View from the North Feb 17th 2024: A State Afraid to Take a Census: Lessons from Lebanon

February 17, 2024 /

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald stated that a united Ireland is “within touching distance” in the days before the restoration of power sharing. Her comment was widely reported, not just in local media, but also outside Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein frequently suggest that there is a momentum towards a united Ireland, with references to their hope to be in government on both sides of the border soon and to the impact of Brexit. What they hint at, but are reluctant to state openly, is where the momentum really comes from: demographic change. The population of the North is very slowly changing, with a higher proportion of Catholics and a lower proportion of Protestants.       

The idea that demographic change provides a solution is entirely wrong. It would be a mistake to assume that the imperfect peace that now reigns in Northern Ireland will continue indefinitely. That the “peace process” could unravel is clear both from an analysis of the situation in the North but also from an analysis of other places.

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DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson and British government Secretary of State Heaton-Harris speaking after deal

A View from the North Feb 10th, 2024: After Two Year Boycott, What Did the DUP Gain?

February 9, 2024 /

The Northern Ireland Assembly met on Saturday February 3rd, and after nearly two years of political paralysis, the Democratic Unionist Party agreed to return to the power-sharing Executive. Day-to-day control of the governing of Northern Ireland has once again been returned to the main parties. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Republic of Ireland Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited Belfast to applaud this development but did not meet themselves or issue a joint press statement. There was speculation that Sunak would provide increased funding over to assist the Executive, above the £3.3 billion already on the table, but he did not do so.

As the dust settles all the contradictions inherent in the workings of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement remain to test the system. The problems facing ordinary working people have not changed and remain unresolved. There is an obvious and immediate shortfall in funding, especially for public sector pay claims. Whilst many workers and young people “welcome” the return of devolved government there is little sense of optimism. 

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A View from the North Feb 3rd 2024: Executive Returns, Workers’ Struggles Continue

February 3, 2024 /

The Northern Ireland power sharing Executive has been restored today after a two-year period of stalemate. It was boycotted by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from February 2022 in a protest against the post-Brexit arrangements for trade between Northern Ireland, Europe and Great Britain.

Much has been written and said about the DUP and its boycott over the last two years. Vitriol has been heaped on the party by leading figures from the nationalist parties North and South. Many prominent British political figures and European Union bureaucrats joined in the fray.

The DUP were told repeatedly that the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the Windsor Framework were the best that was available, and that renegotiation was possible. This turned out to be untrue. The capitalist powers will often renegotiate what was previously agreed, and will jettison what was once sacrosanct when it suits. The ruling class will always act in its own interests.

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