Origin of Irish parties
There is an error in the article “Sinn Fein Vote Surge Fueled by Social Crisis, Calls for Irish Unity” in the Feb. 24 issue of the Militant. This doesn’t detract from the main points of the article, which I agree with, but it’s a bit sloppy on history and the Militant has a fine reputation for accuracy in its articles. The article mentions that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael dominated Irish governments since a war for independence liberated a majority of the country from British rule in 1921.
Neither party existed at that time. Fianna Fail came into being as a result of a split in the Irish Republican movement after the civil war ended (1923), and Fine Gael can be traced to the amalgam of the even later Irish fascist “Blue Shirt” movement with some other parties in 1933.
Marc Lichtman
Brooklyn, New York
Asarco pickets face harassment
On the picket line at the Ray Mine gate entrance to Asarco, the company has hired security guards that film our every move. Is that legal? They are on private property. We are on state property. A police officer speeds into their property going the wrong way, on an exit ramp on a blind corner with strikers only 10 feet away.
Buses Asarco has contracted going in and out of the property get very close to picketers. Someone on the picket line is going to get killed. We need filming of this ridiculousness we have to put up with.
James McDaniel
by email