years of British "reforms" have simply gone to show that oppression and repression flow invitably from parti- because it brought victory but because it ycars of death and suffering, is a thousan times preferable to the peace of the gra- veyard that preceded it and which the 1968 brought a vision of an alternative organisation. As a participant, I saw 1968 as the "birth of our power" and its promise Many analyses of the Irish struggle present it as a thing in itself, in some ways disconnected from the world-wide struggle of the classcs. In fact it was the example of other struggles — the interna- brought hope. That hope, despite twenty and a confidence in nur own strength and tional dynamic — which provided the im- The greatest impact came from the civil rights struggle in the US. The organisation of the Northern Treland Civil Rights Asso- clation and many of its tactics, were cer- Influences on the young people who formed Peoples Democracy were much broader. The Vietnam solidarity move- ment helped us to develop an anti- British government secks to re-impose. 20 imperialist consciousness and solidarity - the B specials has lived on in the twenty years since. tainly taken from that movement. tion and British rule in Ireland. pulse for the "68 explosion. protestant militia clause from it.
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