An atmosphere of terror is enveloping Belfast and many other towns in the North of Ireland. A wave of nakedly sectarian murders reminiscent of the period from 1972 to 1976 seems to be claiming more innocent victims every day.
The loyalist murder gangs have a long history of murdering Catholics simply because of their religion. It is now largely undisputed that their campaign in the 1970s was conducted the British intelligence services with the intention of terrorising the nationalist population.
What has changed is that a group within the RUC is passsometimes grade intelligence' to the loyalist ternection to pretenth can nections to Republican is made much easier with a photo, adber of a potential target.
The second significant change is that a new tedderstup has emerged within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Uster Volunteer Force (UVF). They are better or•sea, ana nave cicarey decided to embark on prolonged campaign of murdering Catholics.
The Ulster Freedom Fighter: (UFF), a legal front-organisation for the UDA, have stated that everyone attending Gaelic Athletic Associationsporting or social events the reapon.
response the Republican organisations has not been good. Peoples bloeranon Urgansa tion (IPLO) has been meeting murder, walking into bars frequented by Protestants and shooting anyone to hand.
With the increased effective ness or the loyaust kiers, d Catholic is usually murdered, hours. Such gangsterism has nothing i common wit she Republican movement's antiand har still less to do with socialism.
Meanwhile, the IRA'S military campaign has been deteriorating into adventurism. Bombs have been left on Protes. businesspeople have been killed on the grounds that they goods to the British army or That the IRA is more isolated from the civilian population now than at any time in the last 15 years is demonstrated by a report in a West Belfast local The Anderstown lor called on anyone with knowledge of the identities of the IRA members in a car which killed a local man, to pass it on to the RUC.
In a development which seems almost calculated to increase their youth, the IRA have begun a campaign of kneecapping sup ›liers of cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy in Belfast. Earlier this month, Republican News carried a full page article on the evils of these drugs, and the iniquities that occur at the 'raves' where they are consumed.
The IRA is right to assert that the people supplying these dy the state he only way on are open to manipulation which unemployed youth car pay for the habit is to turn to crime against working class communities.
But all that is being offered to peals, more worthy of a priest. All that is expected of the communities that are affected, is that they sit at home and cheer on the IRA volunteers when they firebomb a pub in which cannabis has been sold.
The imperialist offensive represented by the nightly slaughter, the isolaand aimlessness of the Republican movement, bring to mind the low point of the mid-1970s.
These are dark days in the Irish national liberation strug gle and, at the moment, it is difissue to draw the anti-impolitics. What is certain, is that ation, the Republican move ment will not be able to break out of this vicious spiral.