Conway Hall last Friday 123 Novem ber) heard Frank McManus MP and Maire Drumm (Vice-President of Sinn Fein) demand the repatriation to Ireland of the defendants in the London car-bombing "trial' and other Republican prisoners in British jails. Other speakers at the meetings included Bernadatte O'Hagan, wife of Joe O'Hagan (one of the successful helicopter escapees), and Brendan Magill of London Sinn Fein, the organisation which had called the meeting.
Maire Drumm told the meeting that the prisoners must receive the right to serve their sentences, with political status, in the North of Ireland, where they would be amongst their comrades, and where their relatives would be able to visit them. She appealed for action to save the Price sisters who are on hunger strike. Frank McManus pointed out that the weapon in their vote, and if they used the threat to withhold it to press for political status, and the right for the prisoners to servu their sentences in Ireland, they would be able to win a victory Brendan Magill called for the unity of all organisations working on the Irish issue in Britain. He said that Sinn Fein hoped to see a broedly representative committee, on a non-exclusive basis, being set up to sup port the campaign, which was to be called the Irish Political Hostages Campaign.
All organisations on the British left ought to fight for the demands of campaign. While the demand for repatriation is not the same as the demand for release, it does not contradict it. Inevitably the struggle for the release of Irish political prisoners will be a long term one, and in the meantime there is nothing wrong with fighting for an immediate Improvement in their conditions.
If the defendants in the recent Republican trials are returned to the North of Ireland they will automa tically get political status, which establishes that they cannot be trea tee like ordinary criminals, and they will be induded in any major amnesty which is won for Republican prisoners by the mass struggle in The demands are capable of gaining broad support, and so will cut across the hysteria of the press. The cam paign will establish that the prisoners have rights, and will, draw attention to the discriminatory treatment they are receiving when compared with toyalist prisoners, and British soldiers convicted of crimes in the North of Ireland, who have been returned to Britain to serve their sentences.
he our potential allies in the campuign, Randall also made great play of the need to avoid beine intimidated by