Workers Life, Vol. 2, No. 12

Many thanks to SM for donating this to the Archive.

This edition of Workers Life was published following the election of Charles Haughey with the assistance of a number of Independents as well as the then Sinn Féin The Workers’ Party TDs. The editorial provides an explanation of this:

CONSIDERABLE surprise has been expressed in many quarters at the decision by Sinn Fein The Workers’ Party to support Mr Haughey for Taoiseach in the 23rd Dail. On that account it is worth quoting in full the statement released by the Party on the day the new Dáil assembled.

The decision by Sinn Fein The Workers’ Party on whom to support for Taoiseach has been taken after prolonged study not only of the harsh immediate economic, social and political circum­stances which face the Irish working class but also with regard to securing a government which will have the opportunity and time to tackle these issues. But we state categorically that these issues -. unemployment, unfair taxation, gross social deprivation, inequalities of the legal system and the continued denial of fundamental human rights within the family must not only be tackled but determined efforts made at their solution. – We also wish to make it absolutely clear, so that there 1s no doubt about it whatsoever, that Sinn Fein The Workers’ Party has done no deals, made no bargains nor are we giving our unreserved support to the incoming Taoiseach and Government. On the contrary we will vote on every issue as it affects the interest of the Irish working class. For we are conscious of the role the working class has chosen for Sinn Fein The Workers’ Party at this point in time. And we will not betray that trust. . Therefore there will be one consideration and one cons1derat1on only guiding our judgement in opposition -the interests of the working class of this entire island. Every action, every word, every deed, every piece of legislation coming from the government will be judged in that light. And we will vote accordingly.

And it notes:

SFWP must be understood therefore to have adopted in the main a strong opposition position to a number of the key planks in the Fianna Fail general programme. Northern Ireland in particular stands out. Indeed the Party’s stated view from recent Ard Fheiseanna is at complete variance with that of Fianna Fail on this issue. SFWP accepts that there can be no change in the status of Northern Ireland except by the democratic decision of the people there. Fianna Fail see London and Dublin as the centres of decision making, effectively giving the people of Northern Ireland no say as to their future. A recipe, in fact, for ongoing violence and terrorism on even a wider scale.

The rest of the magazine includes a piece by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson that links with the front cover photograph of Eamon de Valera, entitled ‘The Pragmatic Face of Fianna Fáil’. Paddy Gillan criticises Tony Gregory’s arrangement with Fianna Fáil. There’s a critique of ‘Haughey’s Northern Policy’ and Paul Sweeney asks ‘Is Private Enterprise a Myth’ amongst many other articles.

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