Notes
ince the past few days have marked the
■ 315th anniversary of the arrival of Brit- ish troops in Northern Ireland and the 13th of the beginning of internment, it was to be expected that the IRA would find a way of making these occasions noticed. Since Mr James Prior is about to leave the province, the IRA are also keen to make the first days of his successor as difficult as possible. The attempt to arrest Martin Galvin and the killing of another Republican in that attempt have, as so many have parrotted, given the IRA a propaganda victory — not se much, as is claimed, by 'proving' the Republican myth that Britain is a repres- sive colonial power, as by bringing forth once more the cries for a 'political solution' and an all-Ireland approach to the prob- lems from those who think of themselves as the voices of moderation. Mr Prior himself has been much more clear-headed. He has reminded us that Galvin is a leading figure in an organisation which raises money to kill members of the security forces and that any rally illegally featuring him is therefore intensely provocative. He might have added that if the police were to have any hope at all of arresting Galvin they had to Move in quickly and ruthlessly. They have bitter past experience of the IRA's use of Crowds as cover for assassination: they had reason to expect that they might be shot at themselves. Given the character of the IRA, the RUC's action cannot be de- scribed as an atrocity. But it was a blunder. First, because a man was killed without as far as we know at present — proper justification. Second, because Galvin escaped. Mr Prior, with generous honesty, said that it had been a 'bad mistake' to ban Galvin from entering the province. This may be true, but, as he also said, there was 411 strong case for doing so. Besides, what happens if Galvin tries to return? Now that let has caused so much trouble, can he be et in? If he is banned, and still comes in, !a he be caught? Will Mr Prior allow the aad mistake' to be repeated, or will he ,10‘v a man hated by the great majority of Ulster people to pass freely through the Ira.rftince? Probably it would be better to the the resulting problems and insist that ne ban stays. It is better that the security forces be attacked for their severity — it is ,.quite untrue, by the way, that the ,weekend's events undermined Roman ‘-itatholic confidence in the security forces: political existed anyway — than that the zeatical authorities be shown up for their the It would certainly be better if movement Republic, which benefits from the free ki°vement of its citizens into the United einngt113m, would help to keep out for- buers bent on destroying British (and. et3ine to that, Irish) authority.
Previous page
