Lynch poll aimed at working class

has ended the 19th Dailcraftiest Prime Minister.

The February 28 election is chiefly concerned with two issues: skyrocketing prices and the deteriorating situation in Ulster.

The timing of the election reveals clearly the nature of Lynch's politics, which is itself a reflection of the desperate crisis of the Irish capitalist class.

First Lynch and his Fianna Fail party are asking the electorate for an open mandate. Their Third Programme expired in December 1972.

Faced with a tidal wave of inflation and declining export prices they have deliberately refused to produce any programme since then.

The only significant thing that the Fianna Fail government did was to stampede the opposition into voting for the Offences Against the State (Amendment)

This considerably increased the power of the Free State to suppress Republicanism, but did nothing to enhance Lynch's reputation in southern workers' eyes.

Common Market and the rapidly mounting economic difficulties for Irish agriculture and industry has also led to considerable union resistance- -despite the repressive state powers.

If Lynch now seeks an all-inclusive mandate, it is aimed at curbing the militancy of the working class.

He chose the date of the election principally for this purpose -it occurs only a few weeks before the new register of voters is added to the electorate.

This new register includes 140,000 18 to 21-year-olds who were enfranchised last year by a nationwide referendum.

Lynch obviously fears that a good proportion of these votes could the opposition Labour Party or even the Sinn Fein.

The election timing has also caught the opposition parties— particularly Sinn Fein-flatfooted. Funds are low and they have had no time to select candidates.

The Labour Party and rightwing Fine Gael are having exploratory talks about coalescing. But whether they will be able to do this before February 28 is doubtful.

The last General Election was held in June 1969. Since then Fianna Fail has suffered from severe dissension which depleted its forces in the Dail.

At the time of the dissolution Fianna Fail had 59 seats, Fine Gael 50, Labour 17 and independents six.

The 'arms conspiracy' crisis in 1970 led to the resignation of Messrs Boland, Haughey and Blainey, who sympathized with the extreme wing of Republicanism in Ulster.

If the Ulster crisis weakened the Fianna Fail party to the point where it found it difficult to govern, it is, once again, the Ulster situation which has precipitated the present election.

Having done everything to appease the British campaign against the Provisional IRA, the Irish bourgeoisie nevertheless find themselves unable to obtain a secure agreement about Ulster.

Prime Minister Edward Heath's refusal to divulge the contents of the White Paper before the ¡eral Election, Eire premier and established his reputatio 'Sludge' men picket ABOUT 30 London sludge boatmen picketed the headquarters of the Greater London Council yesterday (right). : The council suspended 82 men without pay 'on January 11 for refusing to sign articles of employment under the new Tory Merchant Shipping Transport and General Workers' Union convenor Mr Tony Smith told me: "The Act scraps the staff code we used to have with the GLC 'Under it men will now sign articles of employment with management's marine superintendent instead of ships masters.

Said T&GWU shop steward Mr Tony Murphy: This Act gives BELOW: OVER 100 electricians on Indefinite strike at St Thomas's Hospital site, London, in suppor of their pay rise frozen under Phase Two of the Tory state pay plan, picketed the site yesterday. border poll and the massive campaign of intimidation against minority Catholic opinion (it was recently revealed and admitted that the army was canvassing for the poll) has created uneasiness, if not fear, in Dublin government circles.

It now seems that Dublin will have little or no say-despite the Darlington and Chequers talksin the future of Ulster. In dissolving the Dail, Lynch hinted broadly at this relation:

"The incoming government, in its appraisal of the British White Paper, will need the unequivocal support of the people to deal suitably with the new situation as it develops.' This apprehension has been amply clarified in the Irish Press' which supports Fianna Fail policy. In a long and explicit editorial the paper attacks British policy in Ulster and warns of a new crisis in Anglo-Irish "The unspoken thought of the great majority of our people is that Britain has failed miserably Jack Lynch as Europe's County Hall and power than civil judges.

"They can sack you just because they don't like the look of your face and there is nothing about it: You can do Should a union convener and members of a crew get together at sea they could be liable to a conspiracy charge.

Technically, the London sewerage boat crews are not seamen and they claim the GLC could ask the government for their exempSACK THE GOVERNMENT 100k Phil to govern, she has not succeeded in getting a concensus but has split the people of the north into segments . . .

"There is another reason why it is essential that the south has a strong government in the next few months-the forthcoming White Paper on which so many hopes are pinned could very well be interpreted from the present drift of British policy to contain disappointment for the beleagured minority of the north and for the majority of people in this island who hope for peace as a result of it.

'If it in fact does do this, then Steel lock-out at Jarrow MANAGEMENT at the British Steel Corporation works at Jairow have locked out the main work force.

The lock-out took place yesterday morning in retaliation against an unofficial 24-hour strike which the men staged on Monday.

The original dispute involved ING IL SLAVER 1710g HE PASSY THE CESS FILTH MOTFORUS LECT RICIANS STRIKE OR-A IVING /AGE El NIHOUR InnlI Ny Oh!

the whole position of constitutionalism in this country, not just the position of one party, will be adversely affected nuch the same way as was John Redmond by Britain's failure to "deliver" Home Rule in 1914' The editorial concludes that in the event of the White Paper being unacceptable, Britain must be told 'to keep your tinkering. We don't want concessions, we want justice'.

In this sense the dissolution of the Dail signifies an intensification of civil war in Ulster and an unprecedented crisis in a claim by three furnacemen payment of extra duties.

Both shifts voted last weekend not to let management divide the work force.

A mass meeting of 200 of the 400 steelmen employed at Jarrow voted yesterday to stay out until Thursday when the situation will be reviewed.

FEBRUARY

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