Workers Solidarity Movement

New documents uncovered by the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry reveal the endemic collusion between the British army regiments and loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. The declassified official documents uncovered highlight that the Ulster Defence Regiment’s (UDR) Belfast battalion was heavily infiltrated by the Ulster Volunteer Force(UVF) in the late 1970s.

Historian Mairtin O Cathain’s ‘Wee Black Booke’ has now been added to our archive for you to read or download.  In it he pulls together reports of anarchism in and around Belfast in the years from 1867 to 1973. With no local movement for much of this period, the pamphlet looks at some individuals whose political activity merited mention in the media of the time. O Cathain’s work stops before the emergence in the late 1970s of the groups from which contemporary anarchist organisations Workers Solidarity Movement and Organise! can trace their roots.

The release of Brendan Lillis demonstrates the power of sustained protests and mobilisations on the streets, led by his courageous partner Roisin Lynch, and friends and families of other prisoners. Solidarity pickets and camps took place across Ireland and abroad including a three day hunger strike at the former Andersonstown barracks site in West Belfast, whcih involved a broad range of republican and human rights organisations including the WSM.

Northern Ireland suffers from some of the worst poverty in Western Europe according to a report produced by a consumer watchdog. The Price of being Poor released by the Consumer Council found that our wages are the lowest in the UK and those who have least are expected to pay more for essential good and services such as the use of transport and fuel poverty.

A Facebook page scrutinizing PSNI harassment and operations has been forced to close down today due to a media frenzy and scaremongering from the police and politicians. The Facebook page Crown Forces Watch has dominated news headlines and radio shows this morning with the Chairman of the Police Federation Terry Spence claiming the site was ‘an attempt to gather information which is likely to be of use to terrorists which I am in no doubt will be used in attempts to target police officers for murder."

David Ford, Minister of Department for Injustice has once again refused to release long suffering prisoner Brendan Lillis on compassionate grounds to receive proper medical attention. Roisin Lynch, partner of Brendan, and representatives from Sinn Fein and SDLP met with the minister today to lobby for his release but have been rejected once again, despite a ground swell of popular support, protests and rallies.

The Shankill library in Belfast hosted a successful meeting as part of the West Belfast Feile on the lives and contributions of working class people from the Falls and Shankill who fought against Fascism 75 years ago in the Spanish Civil War.

It is a living testimony to common class conflict coming to the fore, an often ignored part of our history which does not fit in with the narrative of a divided and segregated sectarian carve up which is the new era in the North.

"End Prison Torture" echoed on the streets of West Belfast on Saturday in support of republican prisoners in Maghaberry. Despite a provocative security operation hundreds of people and three bands marched from Dunville Park on the Falls Road to Andersonstown to demand the rights and dignity of prisoners to be respected.

For the WSM's position on the North see our position paper and our topic pages on Republicanism andLoyalism.

The partner of Brendan Lillis along with ex-blanket men and supporters still continue on solidarity hungerstrike to demand the release of Brendan on humanitarian grounds.  Last Friday, David Ford Minister of Justice released a statement refusing to release Brendan Lillis and claimed who was receiving adequate medical attention in Maghaberry prison hospital. Once again exposing the brutal and callous prison regime which remains unchanged since the 1980/81 hunger strikes.

Roisin Allsop, partner of political prisoner is to begin a 3 day hunger strike along with supporters tomorrow in West Belfast to highlight his case and demand his release based on humanitarian grounds. A meeting was also held this week in Derry attended by over 200 people to highlight ongoing state repression and brutality on the inside. Protests are also taking place across Ireland and in London. His plight has finally broken into the mainstream media in recent days despite in the past being largely abandoned by the political establishment.