| Description | Interview with unidentified man from Derry. He talks about his identification as a James Connolly Republican and gives his view about the relative weakness of the trade unions and the difficulty of organising labour when there are such high levels of unemployment. He discusses the labour situation and the probable failure of any industrial dispute and thinks that the current tensions can be explained by the poor treatment of people in Derry by the Unionist government. He talks about the lack of political representation for Catholics in Derry, the poor housing conditions that many people are living in (tracks 1-5).
Another man joins the conversation to talk about his involvement in the trade union movement, the power of the Orange order in getting employment for Protestants and the extent of religious discrimination. He discusses the connections between Northern Ireland and Westminster and the subsidies that the government provides. Both men believe that the subsidies and unemployment benefits keep people from causing trouble. They go on to talk about incidents where bombs have been left in churches, their belief that there will be more violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland and their concerns about police brutality in breaking up demonstrations. They think that there will be a civil war and discuss the activities of Unionist extremists and the Rev. Ian Paisley, and their inability to trust the police who failed to protect Catholic demonstrators on a recent peaceful demonstration. One of the men describes witnessing some of Paisley's supporters drinking tea with police, discusses the involvement and rulings of the clergy in disturbances, and the activities of the RUC and the B Specials (tracks 6-13).
Total: 22.50 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF565D0071980 |