New Labour, New Ulster

Talks on new constitutional arrangements for northern Ireland are now going ahead. David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists, the largest Unionist party, quickly overcame his moral objections to sitting at the same table as Sinn Féin.

What has enabled the Labour government to push through the "peace" process at such a pace is the interests of the big business corporations and financiers who New Labour represent. A "modern" Ulster must be created, where global capital can invest, following the pattern of the South of Ireland, in the plentiful supply of cheap labour with access to the European market.

All those who claimed that devolution in Scotland and Wales would benefit the working class should note the enthusiasm with which many northern Ireland politicians, unionists and nationalists, have greeted support for devolution. David Trimble addressed a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference calling for devolution in Ulster with the creation of a regional assembly which would be linked to the Scottish parliament, the Welsh assembly and the English regions in a new "Council for the British Isles".

Calling for "reform of Westminster", "a bill of rights for the UK as a whole" and "a new cross-frontier relationship between northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland", Trimble demonstrated that he has learned the global new-speak as well as New Labour. What interests a reactionary politician like Trimble in devolution is not "greater democracy." Devolution is aimed at facilitating further cuts in vital services by splitting workers along national, communal and regional lines and attracting internal investment from the transnational corporations by stepping up the exploitation of the working class and integrating the regions' economies into the European trade bloc.

Just as David Trimble and the Ulster Unionists hope to benefit from this exploitation of Protestant workers, Gerry Adams and the nationalist politicians believe they will benefit from the exploitation of Catholic areas. Whilst telling their supporters they remain committed to a united Ireland, Sinn Féin leaders work ever more closely with big business supporters in the United States and the Clinton administration. It is this backing that the Blair government has used to push through the IRA cease-fire. The White House now telephones Gerry Adams directly at Sinn Féin's headquarters in Belfast to dictate the line he must take in the talks.

The agenda behind Labour's plans for regionalism and devolution was explained by Paul Murphy, Minister in the Northern Ireland Office, to reporters in Washington. The votes for self-rule in Scotland and Wales would have an important psychological effect on the "reconciliation" process in northern Ireland; the "status quo in northern Ireland isn't any longer an option, change will occur" Murphy stated. His remarks are directed to Irish-American business interests to whom Labour are offering cheap labour and huge tax concessions if they invest in northern Ireland.

No secure peace for Irish working people can come out of these negotiations. Nationalist and Unionist politicians alike are motivated by their own egotistical calculations. All the profit system can offer is increased wealth for a tiny minority at the top of society and increased poverty and deprivation for the majority, as the experience of the so-called Celtic Tiger economy in the Republic of Ireland is demonstrating.

Divisions between rich and poor are rapidly increasing. Without a socialist way forward which unites working people, both Protestant and Catholic, north and south of the border, together with workers in Britain and Europe, reactionary politicians and paramilitary outfits will continue to whip up sectarian divisions and bigotry.

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