Jack Collins, Kent Delegate to the NUM Executive, spoke at the University of Kent students" Annual General Meeting on 6 December on "The Miners Struggle" Students The Official Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (conference) took place in Dublin over the weekend of 24/25 November. This gathering confirmed that the profound changes within frish Republicanism. set in train by the tumultuous events of the last five years, which led to the split between the Officials and the Provisionals in 1970 have by no means run their course.
An opposition emerged which gathered between 30 and 40% of the delegates to challenge the cadership on a number of key issues. The central differences were over precise form which the national struggle takes, and the relationship between the Officinls and the armed struggle.
AIMS AND POLITICS The potentially most explosive issue before the Ard Fheis, the relationship between the armed and political wings of the movement, was postpotted to a special conference in the now year. The leadership is proposing the subordinatitin of the military to the political wing of the The opposition sees a military campaign against the British Army in the North an essential part of a revolutionary strategy. Without it the movement will fail to mobilise broad social and economic struggles, or relate such sums correctly to the national strugele, the key aspect of which they identity as partition, They propcee a return to a military campaign. allied to that of the Provisionals in the Notch, and an alliance with other revolutionary forces such as the Pennies Democracy in organsing social and coonomic struggles.
However they lend to fall back on traditional Republicso idous in defending their positions; and have not been able to propose forms of military struggle which would break from traditical Republican military elitism. Therefore the leadership has successfully counter: posed a hollow "Leninist", alternative, clouding. the issues for militants who genuinely want lo move towards a more consistently revolutionary organisation. But in practice the integration of military and political struggles could only be curried but by a clandestine organisation, The Official Sinn Fein is incapable of operating clandestinely, thercfore what is posed is lie