Now no one testifying to date, I am sure, is claiming for a minute that the situ ation pertaining in Northern Ireland today is one which lends itself to immediat understanding; no one is pretending that it is a clear cut issue of right or wrong on either side; no one is for one minute claiming that it is an easy task for a govern ment such as the U.S. to observe what is going on over there and pursue a morally correct policy which will please both of its traditional allies, Britain and Ireland but because of these undeniable difficulties which the situation poses, it does no seem to me that we can just walk away from the situation and ignore what i going on, which seems to be the present attitude in the State Department.

Without wanting to sound like someone who is continually saying "I told you so,” I think it should be perfectly obvious that the troubles in Northern Irelan are nothing new. The roots of the present crisis are firmly embedded in the tortuou history of the island itself. In a real sense, Great Britain today is reaping the bitte harvest of hundreds of years of colonial exploitation and domination of a neighbor ing island, the majority of whose people never accepted what they always regarde as foreign rule and where peace has never truly reigned since the first Britis soldier stepped foot on its shores. Policies of deliberate mass migration and trans planting of foreign culture and religion to Ireland as a matter of official and calcu lated government policy by the British over the years are now coming back t haunt their very perpetrators. There was nothing natural about the way th problem of the six counties of Northern Ireland came into existence and const quently, it is not surprising to any student of Irish history that Ireland will neve truly be at peace as long as this unnatural condition not only prevails but i officially encouraged by Westminister. The powers that be in Northern Irelan are, for all the gerrymandering, for all the denial of civil liberties and civil righ for years and years, for all the money poured in by Westminister, for all th military support provided by the British army-the powers that be in Norther Ireland are an inescapable and artificially created minority of the people of Irelan and it is hardly surprising that the majority finds it difficult to accept the cor tinuation of the present situation.

STATESMANSHIP LIMITED

Unfortunately, statesmanship has been an extremely limited commodity in th recent history of Northern Ireland. As the pressures from the overwhelmin majority of the Irish people to democratize and liberalize life north of the bord have increased, the reaction from the powers that be in the north has been mot hysterical than brilliant and easily described as based on short-run consideration rather than the long range need for some kind of modus vivendi with the Cathol minority/majority. Regretably, abandoning the attitude which saved Britai from considerable tragedy and prolonged disputes with the rest of the colonie continuing governments in Westminister have been content to ignore the wing of change which have clearly been sweeping across Ireland as much as any othe part of the British empire since World War II. The occasional demonstration i Hyde Park, the infrequent disruptions from the galleries in the House of Common the rare march were all too easily dismissed by succeeding governments in Londo grown callous with the status quo of the past two centuries as something typicall Irish and something that need cause the more "stiff-upper-lip" English no unne essary qualms. The Irish will be Irish seems to summarize the reaction to repeate warning signs over the years to successive British governments.

The result is that today we are confronted with a situation similar to th confronting a town below the dam that has suddenly burst. What I am questionin in other words, is how suddenly any dam bursts. The stress and strain and crach and fissures in the solid wall which seems to be the government of Norther Ireland were just being ignored and accepted as minor irritants by those in position to display intelligent statesmanship in an obvious intolerable situation Unfortunately, when dams burst we are confronted with a crisis situation. situation where raw power and violence seem to be the order of the day. Eve moderate and conservative sections of the community tend to accept and eve grudgingly support drastic action to get things done. This is especially the cas when reaction finally does come from the government in Northern Ireland an Westminister itself in the form of internment policies stripped of whatever civ liberties did exist, unlimited search and seizure procedures as well-in other word: a situation resembling martial law. Obviously the longer such an "emergency situation prevails and the Army is all that keeps the government of the North i power, then the temporary advantages that might possibly come from a Britis military presence in Northern Ireland are increasingly dissipated and ultimatel the situation is in many respects worse than before-with one serious drawback now the British government itself is involved up to its neck in the worsening situ

ation, is one of the parties in the dispute and becomes a visible, tangible symbol to the "minority/majority" of the very tyranny that they are striving against. Thus, it is that the feelings of relief that perhaps initially greeted the arrival of the first British soldiers sent to augment the standing Army in Northern Ireland has given way to feelings of hatred and revulsion through so much of the Irish population.

Mr. Chairman, I just wish I could be more optimistic about the future, unfortunately, I cannot-if nothing else, because of the way events have been handled, even just in the recent past. A number of resolutions and proposals are before your committee, starting off with some fairly mild ones all the way up to the latest resolution, H. Res. 533, which calls for the replacement of all British troops in Northern Ireland with a United Nations' peace-keeping force.

ACTION NEEDED SOON

The fact is, Mr. Chairman, that unless something is done and done soon and negotiations to determine the inevitable, namely, a united Ireland, are entered into before another day goes by, then we can expect that future resolutions before your committee will be even more drastic. Looking back on the resolution I introduced in January, H. Res. 66, expressing the sense of the House that discrimination, prejudice and violence in Northern Ireland be condemned I am struck by how quickly it has become inadequate to the needs of the present situation— so quickly have events moved and so abysmally have the authorities in London and Belfast failed to keep up with them.

Mr. Chairman, I am convinced from continuing consultations I have had with the British Embassy and the Irish Embassy that there is the basis for working out a long-term solution to the Irish problem. The first step in such a solution would be the recognition by all concerned that the present situation is unstable and that the fiction of the government of Northern Ireland has strained the credulity of even the most complacent Irishmen. The problem obviously rests with the extremes on both sides in the North. Difficult as it may be to reach understanding, a beginning must be made. Otherwise, as the crisis progresses the options open to the British and the Northern Irish are destined to become more and more limited and the solutions more and more extreme. The January 30 Sunday shooting of 13 in Londonderry points out for all the world to see that continued reliance on the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland as even a temporary solution to the present problem constitutes a source of potentially greater conflict in the future.

NOT JUST AN INTERNAL PROBLEM

Neither this country, nor the United Nations, can any longer afford the luxury of regarding this as an internal problem, even bordering on civil war, in the United Kingdom. The Irish border is no Maginot Line. The feelings and family ties crisscross that border in a way which almost ignores its existence. Whatever happens in the North of Ireland is of immediate and painful interest to the South. It is becoming increasingly difficult, in fact, for the government to the South to resist the growing pressure from its own people to take more positive action to come to the rescue of the Catholic minority in the North. For this reason, if for no other reason, we are dealing with a truly international problem. Is the world waiting for government troops to cross the border from Southern Ireland before it will regard the situation as a potentially international situation? How much longer can millions of Americans with close Irish ties continue to be satisfied that their government has refrained from using the influence at its command to bring pressure to bear on the government in London and world opinion in the United Nations to change the present state of affairs and bring peace to Ireland? The world has already seen a potentially explosive situation explode. How much more loss of lives and bloodshed, and suffering, how much more is Ireland to be torn and its economy destroyed before a concerted move will be made by governments of the world to salvage what is left of a difficult situation?

Part of the problem is, of course, that the establishment of this country, including some of the more respected publications such as the New York Times, continue to ignore what their own reporters report and espouse an official attitude that this country cannot afford to have an opinion about the tragic events in Ireland. I feel that such a stand encourages rather than cools down the present crisis. Such a head-in-the-sands attitude certainly was rejected by these same people in the case of Pakistan, Nazi Germany and South Africa. Again and again, our government has taken a moral stand which dictated its relations with certain foreign governments where flagrant violations of civil liberties were either condoned or encouraged. We all lived through the heated debate over continuing aid to

Greece last summer. Now these same people are prepared to continue this coun try's close relationship with Great Britain as if nothing was wrong in Northern Ireland that the British Government could not do much to cure. And yet, the fact remains that Northern Ireland is Britain's responsibility in more senses than one. diplomacy would seem to have an entirely proper and legitimate role to play in influencing that country to exercise some long overdue statesmanship. If the United Nations is to be the last court of world opinion to bring the pressure of world opinion to bear on the situation, then it is time that we availed ourselves of the opportunity to involve that body in one final effort to bring peace to that corner of the world.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM R. COTTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. Chairman: It is a pleasure to share my thoughts with you and your dis tinguished subcommittee about the problems affecting Northern Ireland. The problems confronting the people of Northern Ireland today are manifesta. tions of recurring historical conflicts.

The strong antagonisms between the Irish and English peoples reach far back into the Middle Ages and the time of Henry II. A review of this history reveals that the causes of the present conflict incorporate the abuses and hatreds of nine centuries. In a country where Cromwell's memory is as alive today as it was hundreds of years ago, the potential for misunderstanding and bloodshed is

enormous.

Ulster was, until the 17th century, the center of the most intransigent resistance to English rule. In 1608, there began a policy of populating Ulster with Protestant settlers, expelling the native Catholic and Gaelic speaking people to the poorer lands of the south.

In the 1800's, religion became a predominant factor in Ulster politics as the Catholics became emancipated and militant Irish nationalism was restored. By the second half of the 19th century, this pattern was firmly established and continues up to this day.

The feelings and emotions involved in this struggle are deeply ingrained in the people. The problems and loyalties of today reflect conditions of many, many years ago. For example, Londonderry was the site in the late 1600's of a Protestant victory over James II, a Catholic convert. The victor of that battle was Willian of Orange. Today the same narrow streets of Londonderry express the same emotions in different terms.

The bloody civil war of 1916-1921 dramatically illustrates the intensity of this struggle. The temporary and obviously inadequate solution to those five years of warfare was a divided country, but the deep-seated causes of this violent struggle still remain today.

This unfortunate division did little to end the violence and antagonisms. In the year following partition, 232 people died and over 1,000 were injured. Violence flared up in the period of 1932-1936 and sporadic violence continued after World War II.

Today these same conditions prevail but at an increased tempo. In 1970, 19 people died in Northern Ireland as a result of political turmoil, and by November, 1971, 126 more people were killed.

In spite of promises for reform and various study commissions, deliberate discrimination in housing, employment, educational opportunities, and political participation remains in force. These economic conditions have reinforced religious tensions and provided the environment for more overt violence. Continued repres sion and lack of reforms escalate violence.

There are two schools of thought on the best means to stabilize this situation. One group argues the need for significant and immediate reforms. The other for reunification as the essential first step. I am told that even in the IRA there is division over the most effective course of action.

REUNIFICATION WITH GUARANTEES

After careful consideration, I have concluded that reunification followed by effective guarantees for individual liberties is the only reasonable course of action. It was for this reason I was proud to join with my colleague from New York Hugh Carey, in introducing H.J. Res. 654. I was happy to see that some distin guished Members of the Senate, including Senators Ribicoff and Kennedy, also joined in this effort.

This resolution, as this distinguished Committee knows, addresses itself directly to the substantive issues in Northern Ireland. First, the resolution calls for the immediate end to the unconstitutional and hated internment policy: the mistreatment, even torture, of prisoners, which have been authenticated, must be ended immediately.

The resolution goes even further. It requires these reforms to extend not only to law enforcement but also to housing, employment, and voting rights. Incidentally, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, these were reforms that were promised by the British Government in 1968. Further, the resolution provides for the withdrawal of all British troops.

As I pointed out, I believe that the basic problems in Northern Ireland can only be solved by reunification. This legislation calls for the abolition of the Ulster Parliament and the convocation of all interested parties to reunify Ireland. I have not been content to just introduce this resolution. I urged the President, before his summit conference with British Prime Minister Heath at the end of last year, to exert U.S. influence in a constructive manner to end the tragic civil

war.

I am confident that this subcommittee will take steps to alleviate the crisis in Northern Ireland. This subcommittee's action is in accordance with the fundamental concepts of nondiscrimination, fairness, democracy, self-determination, and justice.

The terror of the conflict is expanding every day. Increasingly, chaos and destruction are becoming commonplace. No one desires another massacre of citizens or soldiers. Diplomatic relations are being unnecessarily strained. If ever there was a need for our assistance and a reversal of developments, it is now. I thank Chairman Rosenthal and the subcommittee for the opportunity to testify on the steps to be taken to end the violence that has plagued the people of Northern Ireland.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES J. DELANEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee, I am glad to have this opportunity to express my strong support for H. Res. 653, a resolution I was happy to co-sponsor, which calls for peace in Northern Ireland and the establishment of a united Ireland.

To understand the profound bitterness and frustrations that underlie the tragic situation in Northern Ireland today, we must recall some of the cruel history which contributed to the present crisis.

Nearly 400 years ago, the Government of Great Britain established plantations in Ireland, whereby aliens were placed in stewardship over an unwilling people. Later, in the early 1700s, the infamous English penal laws stripped the Irish Catholics of the most basic human rights. They were prohibited from buying land or engaging in commerce, and were excluded from all areas of political life. Their religion was subjected to ferocious attack, and they were forbidden to maintain schools. This was the beginning of an era when informing on one's neighbors was recognized as an honorable service. In the words of one observer, the Irish became insignificant slaves, fit for nothing but to hew wood and draw

water.

Of the Penal Code, Edmund Burke said it was "a machine as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment, and degredation of a people, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man."

The crisis in Northern Ireland today is the bitter legacy of those earlier days. Today, as then, it is a land governed not by love, but by fear. Not by the confidence of the people in the laws and their attachment to the constitution, but by means of armed men and entrenched camps.

Americans are rightly concerned about the continued violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland, not only because of our traditional close ties and affinity to the Irish people, but because the repression and violence and discrimination is contrary to our concepts of fairness and justice.

I strongly believe that our government at the highest level must make it a matter of the highest priority to urge full respect for the civil rights of all the people of Northern Ireland, and the termination of all political, social, economic, and religious discrimination.

Further, the current internment policy must be abolished, and persons detained thereunder set free. Law enforcement and criminal justice must be placed under local control that is acceptable to all parties. British forces must be withdrawn and immediate action taken with a view toward the unification of all Ireland.

Since the British Government refuses to move positively toward the establishment of a just and permanent peace in Norhtern Ireland, I strongly urge that the United States Government give prompt consideration to the imposition of economic sanctions against Great Britain.

In view of our long dedication to the principle of self-determination for all people, we must make it abundantly clear that we will make no exception to our advocacy of this noble principle in the case of Northern Ireland.

STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT F. DRINAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS

THE CRISIS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: Thank you for providing me this opportunity to testify on behalf of the resolutions before you which seek to express our concern about the tragic situation in Northern Ireland. I am the sponsor of one of these resolutions, H. Res. 803, which is identical to Representative Hugh Carey's H. Res. 653.

I commend this Subcommittee for holding these hearings. Your involvement is itself an important step in demonstrating to the world that the United States of America will not ignore the deprivation of the civil and political rights of any minority anywhere in the world when those rights are systematically threatened. We all realize that we should not and cannot physically intervene in the internal affairs of another country; we have tried to do so before, with dismal results. Nevertheless, our common morality compels us to exercise such powers of per suasion as we possess whenever minority rights are jeopardized.

If we can agree on one thing, it is that the problem of Northern Ireland defies simple solution-a truism in light of the 600 to 700 years this conflict has existed. If the United States truly wishes to exert its influence in restoring peace to the Six Counties, then it must realize from the outset that its task is not to assess blame or point fingers or take sides. Rather, its task is conciliatory. We are dealing with two of America's oldest and staunchest allies with whom we have the closes cultural ties. Only in an atmosphere of conciliation and mutual friendship can the United States play a significant role in reducing the potential for violence in Northern Ireland.

In the past several years, more than 200 lives have been lost in Northern Ireland and millions of dollars of property damage has been done. What, we may ask, are the basic sources of friction in Northern Ireland great enough to cause such ma sive destruction of life and property? In my judgment, there are three sources, one immediate and two longer-range. The immediate source of conflict is the Stormont government's internment policy, first instituted in August, 1971. Internment is, in Representative Carey's well-chosen words, "a classic act of inter national illegality." Few things are as abhorrent to the Anglo-American lega! system than the notion of imprisoning people without the prospect of trial of detaining them merely because they might commit a crime. And in Northern Ireland internment takes a particularly vicious form based on the Special Powers Act of 1922 in force in Northern Ireland and nowhere else in the United Kingdom, an Act which the Prime Minister of South Africa openly admires because it is stronger that his own racist version.

CONDITIONS OF INTERNMENT

Conditions at the three internment camps in Northern Ireland are unspeakably bad. The prisoners-over 90 percent of them Catholic-are regularly beaten, intimidated and humiliated. Ás Amnesty International, a world investigating organization with headquarters in London, concluded in its judicious report on the internment camps:

"These men generally were not severely brutalised (if a comparative standard can be employed to measure any such dehumanising activity) but they were subjected to calculated cruelties, imposed on them solely for the entertainment of their captors. The beatings and verbal abuse in these areas were clearly of such an unsophisticated type that it cannot be supposed that they were employed to case the future extortion of information from the detainees. Rather, it served as a summary punishment for being suspect."

Nothing in the past few months has exacerbated the tension or been responsible for bloodshed more directly than the internment policy. Any American effort to reduce tensions in Northern Ireland must begin with a deliberate denunciation of this violent policy.