This is part of London's broader efforts to chip away at the gains nationalists registered in the April 10 "Good Friday Agreement" on Northern Ireland. Those who want to maintain British rule are insisting Irish nationalists disarm first and prisoner releases be slowed down. London has tried to shift the focus away from the whole setup of British rule, suggesting that the problem is the Irish people. Behind this stalling, the anti-Catholic assaults continue, attacks by pro- British loyalist thugs often backed up by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland, report they have faced more than 130 attempted marches by loyalists in their area since July 5, 1998.
It is London that is the source of violence. Like everywhere else in the world, from Iraq to Kosova, these upholders of "civilization" showed on Bloody Sunday how their rule rests on brute force. Far from being the neutral force supposedly keeping the "tribes" apart, London has been trying to preserve its division of Ireland and direct rule of the North through armed force.
These efforts will fail. The march in Derry on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday will be a powerful answer to this stalling, showing that it is the nationalists who retain the high ground. The issue is not "decommissioning," but when the RUC and British Army will go.
As workers in Britain - from Skychefs strikers at Heathrow airport to the Jubilee electricians victory - begin to resist the employers through their unions, and as more people join protests against police brutality and cover-ups, so the achievements of the Irish nationalist struggle will serve as an example of how it is possible to push back the British rulers. Progress by the Irish will weaken the British rulers and strengthen all working people. Grasping the central place of the Irish struggle for workers and farmers in Britain today is key for all fighters.