Northern Policy Statement

Many thanks to Peter Mooney for donating this document to the Archive – one of many from his collection that are being reproduced here.

This document, published in 1972 by the Labour Party outlines their approach to Northern Ireland. It states on page 2 that:

The establishment of an all-Ireland Socialist Republic is the fundamental objective of the Labour Party. National Unity, is therefore, a basic objective of the party. As stated in the Party Constitution, the Labour Party affirms that the national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and territorial seas; and it accepts as part of its immediate programme the work of securing social justice and equal opportunities of fall citizens in accordance with the declaration of Democratic Principles embodied in the Proclamation of Easter 1916.

It also argues that:

Whereas other political parties in the Republic aim solely at territorial unity, the Labour Party goes further and aims at the creation of a socialist society in Ireland and the uniting of the Irish people as complementary objectives.

It also as one of its Principle’s posits that:

The Labour Party is convinced that peace and better understanding between the communities is a necessary precondition of rate achievement of both socialism and eventual unity. It therefore repudiates unequivocally any attempt to achieve a United Ireland, ‘socialist’ or otherwise, by force of arms.

And intriguingly it also argues that:

The Labour Party differs from the other forces and national a parties engaged in the struggle for national independence in that it is a democratic as well as a socialist party, totally committed to democratic methods. For that reason it rejects any attempts at usurping by violence the democratic parliamentary processes which are based on the authority of the Irish people.

There is much more, including support for a Bill of Rights and calls for the removal of security from the Stormont Government.

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