EYE ON THE PAST – June 1983: Adams hits the front in race for the West

WE look at the stories that were making the headlines this week in 1983

Opinion poll suggests Adams will take West Belfast for Sinn Féin

WITH the aid of a professional statistician the Andersonstown News has just completed an intensive survey of the voting intentions of people in West Belfast. The election poll revealed that the sitting M.P. Gerry Fitt will do surprisingly well but also indicated substantial support for the Sinn Féin candidate Gerry Adams.

Based on a stratified random sample, the survey adequately reflects the socio-economic profile of the majority nationalist population in the constituency.

Election campaigns in the constituency, where the electorate stands at 57,000, including 16,000 Unionists, were building to a climax this week. Most people had already spoken with canvassers from the various parties and decided how they would cast their vote on June 9th. However, there was a substantial minority still undecided. In all 576 people, comprising 267 men and 309 women, were interviewed in the survey carried out in various parts of the constituency on Tuesday, 31st. May. 

Adams enjoyed strong support on the Falls Road but this will be counterbalanced on polling day by areas such as Brook and Stockmans where the Sinn Féin position, vis-a-vis the other candidates, is believed to be reversed. Certainly the biggest shock of the survey is the amount of support it attributed to Gerry Fitt. Elected with 16,000 plus votes in 1979 he had been considered by many people to be a virtual non-starter. However, it now appears that solid backing from the older voters and the probability of one or two thousand unionist votes could make him a real contender.

A considerable amount of support was also expressed for the S.D.L.P.'s frontrunner Dr. Hendron. Having carried out a wide-sweeping canvass in the area the party will hope to maintain the 8,000 votes obtained in the Assembly election. The Workers’ Party, though lagging behind the other candidates, seem set to pick up a reasonable vote, with their support being strongest in the Grosvenor Road-Lower Falls District. However, Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, who with Alex Maskey obtained over 10,000 votes in October, clearly topped the survey and should pick up nearly half of the nationalist votes on polling day. There are 41,000 nationalists in West Belfast but no more than 75 per cent i.e. 31,000 are expected to turn out.

Editorial

EVERY country has its problems and Ireland has more than its fair share. We have the British military and political presence with all that it stands for. We have the tragic divisions among our own people and we have the proven inadequacy of our political leaders.

Our problems are urgent and heartbreaking. Our enemies are strong and ruthless. But, if we are to overcome the difficulties which afflict us, we must approach our problems with the right mental attitude. We need confidence and courage. We cannot afford to be dominated by fear.

Fear is an ever-present factor in our political, social and religious life. It makes us pretend to believe what we don't really believe.

Take the political problem for example. The reality is simple. We all know what British power has stood for in the past. The sinking of the Belgrano, the killing of prisoners at Goose Green and the response to the hunger strike all show that British values and British ethics have not changed.

Yet despite all the evidence, most Irish politicians accept the British propaganda model of the situation in the six counties. They pretend to believe that the British are reluctant, impartial and benevolent referees in a sectarian squabble. They have ample evidence to the contrary. They cannot deny that direct British rule has been just as oppressive and sectarian as the indirect British rule which preceeded it. So why do they pretend to believe in the British view of what is happening?

Quite simply, because they are afraid. Fear of British power has persuaded Irish politicians and churchmen to accept Britain's version of Britain's role in Ireland. Those who accept Britain’s version of the situation are allowed to talk on television and in political negotiations. Those who do not accept that the British are 'impartially performing a thankless task etc., etc.,' are silenced and harassed. This is not lost on the politicians. They can tell the truth and be slandered and abused or they can become fellow travellers with Britain and have a much easier time.

Southern politicians have had to face this choice. Should they adhere to their own constitution, should they act in sympathy with their fellow countrymen or should they stand idly by and become passive facilitators of British policy? Obviously they have chosen the latter course.

Southern politicians have made their choice, they do not want the twenty six counties to be abused, sabotaged and perhaps invaded, so they have become fellow travellers to a man. Northern nationalist politicians have chosen the same path. They have tacitly agreed to portray the tragedy in the six counties as a problem of 'reconciling the two historical traditions etc., etc.,' and have lowered their sights to aim at some sort of power-sharing arrangement in a new Stormont.

‘Lives put in danger’

THE St Matthew's Tenants’ Association has condemned a claim, by the SDLP Westminster candidate for South Belfast, which links the organisation to the IRA.

Last week Dr. Alistair McDonnell claimed Tenants’ Associations from Twinbrook to Short Strand were under the control of Republican paramilitaries.

In a hard hitting reply to the allegation the St. Matthew's Tenants’ Association, which operates from the Mac Airt Community Centre, Beechfield Street, challenged the SDLP chief to back up his accusation.

"We condemn utterly and without reservation this allegation that we are controlled by any grouping," said chairman, Mr. Taggart. "The Annual General Meetings of the T.A. are always open to observers from the N.I. Council for Social Services," declared Mr. Taggart, and continued. "We are an open and above board group as can be seen by our monthly and yearly reports." Mr. Taggart invited Dr. McDonnell to sit in at anyone of the Association's weekly meetings.

“This type of irresponsible statement can be damaging to the Tenants’ Association and especially to the healthy rapport which we have built up with the various state and voluntary agencies which can help the people of Short Strand."

Mr. Taggart is chairman of the Belfast Law Centre.

Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin candidate for East Belfast, Denis Donaldson, has also denounced what he describes as "Dr. McDonnell's electioneering." Explained Donaldson: "A few months back a member of St. Matthew's Tenants’ Association was shot and wounded in a sectarian murder bid. This pathetic and totally irresponsible statement will almost certainly further endanger the lives of community activists. The cost of winning votes for the S.D.L.P may be high indeed."