Discussion: British Irish Relations

Labour in Northern Ireland (LiNI)

For some time now there has been a campaign to allow citizens of Northern Ireland to join the British Labour Party. The arguments for this include the view that Northern Ireland citizens should be able to vote or not for the party that will form the London Government; the view that Labour politics can undermine a politics based on tribalisms and nationalisms. Here, we reproduce some articles that deal with this issue, including an open letter from LiNI to the British Prime Minister.

We reproduce a statement from LiNI President, Paddy Devlin, that explains the campaign and their objectives.
Labour in Northern Ireland (LiNI) is an umbrella organisation of labour groups, unaffiliated CLPs and individuals. Our objective is to replace the existing sectarian politics in Northern Ireland with Labour politics We seek to persuade the Labour Party to accept members in Northern Ireland and allow Labour politics to develop in the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies. We support the principle of unity by consent.
Our aim is to unite people with different views on the border around Labour politics. As an organisation we are not persuaders either for unionism or for nationalism. We are neutral around the principle of consent, though our members may hold personal views one way or another on this issue.
We support the efforts of the Labour Government in the Peace Process. But in our view the Peace Process does not fully address the problems which stem from the political vacuum created by the Labour Party's refusal to take members in the province.
If the people of Northern Ireland are to have a peaceful future, the Labour Party will have to face up to its responsibilities as a Party to the people of Northern Ireland. Attitudes will have to change, because the Labour Party has an important and unique role to play in breaking down sectarianism, a role which no other political organisation is capable of.

Published by Labour in Northern Ireland (UNI) 19 Church Road Belfast BT8 7AL
Tel/Fax. 01232 648924.