In a situation where America is becoming like a dictatorship; the president has taken over virtually all the power, the masked security forces arrest people without any legal reason, and imprison immigrants, people of colour and Muslims - sometimes sending them to prison camps in El Salvador - the election of a Muslim man of colour who condemns the Israeli genocide and speaks of democracy and improving the conditions of the poor seems like an important step forward.
This is a sign of imposing a retreat on the ruling fascist power that has with all its might attacked all manifestations of democracy and civil rights. The right-wing media calls Mamdani a socialist. Taking into account that the mainstream media brings the name of socialism into the mainstream to spread fear-mongering propaganda, is nevertheless a sign of defeat. The left movement is excited, and it is celebrating the victory of socialism.
Mamdani has nothing to do with socialism. Whatever the Right and Left agenda or illusions are, Mamdani is from the left of the Democratic Party. However, shouts of socialism, especially in the media prove that socialism is not dead as the capitalist ruling class has been claiming. Socialism, hope and aspiration for a socialist society is alive and kicking. This message must be taken seriously.
Elections in countries under democracy, especially in the United States, depend on various factors, most importantly money and connections with "the powerful."
Mamdani has the support of two billionaires, and Alex Soros also donates money to organisations related to Mamdani. Mamdani has the support of Obama, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic Party. These facts are enough to put to rest any hope or “fear” of Mamdani's socialism.
If Mamdani is young and not well-known, we know Obama and Bernie Sanders well. The role of both is clear to us. We also know AOC. Obama needs no explanation. We all remember the vibe Obama’s campaign created. It was at the time of Wall St. occupation, a radical populist movement against poverty, inequality and injustice. Obama used this vibe to send hopeful messages to the poor and the deprived. “Yes, we can!” was his slogan. He won the election among the public euphoria. What happened? He threw the dollars at Wall Street; instead of alleviating poverty and inequality he raised the bonuses to the bosses and the CEOs. He also threw the bombs over the Middle East; leading to ruining Libya and Syria and killing and displacing millions of people. One must say: Yes, they can!
The role of Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the like is to pull the left of society behind the Democratic Party. We have seen their instrumental role in the past two elections. Mamdani is a left-liberal.
One reason for his victory, is people’s extreme anger with Trump and his government culminating in protests all over the US. The society has become extremely radical. It is said that the majority of young people in America are against Israel. This is a trend that has occurred over the past two years. New York has the largest Jewish population. A significant part of New York Jews are against Israel and have organised large demonstrations in the past two years condemning Israel and defending Palestine. These are among the factors that facilitated Mamdani's election.
It is clear that electing a left-liberal who has announced that he will implement some reforms (of course, there are no guarantees of this) is better than electing a fascist. But the important point is not to let illusion replace hope. We fight for reforms, but we do not replace reforms with revolution. What Mamdani represents has nothing to do with socialism. In the context of the widespread aggression of the world bourgeoisie, the rise of fascism, poverty, war and genocide, every retreat from this force of repression is a step forward. The lesson we must learn from this event is to rely on our organised power of struggle and to strive to push back the ruling power as much as possible.
⏩Asar Majedi is a Member of Hekmatist Party leadership & Chairperson of Organisation for Women’s Liberation.
As the BBC reels from resignations and legal threats, new evidence reveals a culture of bias and ideological capture, from politically edited documentaries to newsroom activism and “forbidden” words like women.
If you’re wondering how the BBC plans to spend your licence fee this year, here’s a clue: it won’t be on impartial journalism.
Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion (£760 million) over claims that a Panorama documentary deliberately edited one of his speeches to make it appear as though he was inciting the January 6th Capitol riot.
According to a leaked internal memo, Panorama spliced together two separate parts of Trump’s 2021 speech, misleading viewers into believing he was calling for direct action. The BBC has since admitted it was an “error of judgement”, one that gave the “impression of a direct call for violence.”
That “error,” however, came amid a pile-up of editorial controversies. A Telegraph investigation published last week revealed an internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee. His report accused the corporation of systemic bias, citing one-sided Gaza coverage, anti-Trump and anti-Israel framing, and ideologically skewed transgender reporting.
Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion (£760 million) over claims that a Panorama documentary deliberately edited one of his speeches to make it appear as though he was inciting the January 6th Capitol riot.
According to a leaked internal memo, Panorama spliced together two separate parts of Trump’s 2021 speech, misleading viewers into believing he was calling for direct action. The BBC has since admitted it was an “error of judgement”, one that gave the “impression of a direct call for violence.”
That “error,” however, came amid a pile-up of editorial controversies. A Telegraph investigation published last week revealed an internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee. His report accused the corporation of systemic bias, citing one-sided Gaza coverage, anti-Trump and anti-Israel framing, and ideologically skewed transgender reporting.
Continue @ Labour Heartlands.
Ten links to a diverse range of opinion that might be of interest to TPQ readers. They are selected not to invite agreement but curiosity. Readers can submit links to pieces they find thought provoking.
Before We Conform, Or Condemn, Let Us At Least Be Curious
♜One recognizes one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it - Albert Camus♞
It was a final characterised by some of the most appalling refereeing decisions ever seen in elite football competitions which provoked riots amongst Leeds United fans and led to the club’s suspension from UEFA competitions for four seasons (later reduced to two years on appeal). The film also tells the stories of five Leeds fans who travelled to Paris and shows rare footage of film taken by one of these veteran supporters, Ray Schofield. As such it is a valuable cinematic archive of a lost world of football – an era of almost umbilical relationships between club and fans; when foreign travel were rare experiences; before the hyper-monetised world of sponsorship, private equity and Sovereign Wealth Fund fuelled multi-national club ownership for whom fans are “customer” and whose ambitions are to reach the what is now the European Champions League as opposed to actually winning it; never mind the humble, bien peasant FA Cup and Football League Cups.
I must start this article with a caution to TPQ readers; I have yet to see the film for myself. It has been shown in many independent cinemas throughout the North of England and has migrated to a couple in London but not in any venues that are within each reach for me. As such it is not a full-blooded review but an amalgam of a podcast featuring a discussion between Ger Lynch of The View (an aggregated news site of Leeds United stories) and the maker of the film Harvey Marcus; recollections on the Paris 75 Facebook group and an analysis of the film by Rick Broadbent of the Times. I therefore stand corrected by anyone fortunate and privileged enough to see the film.
A few match facts to get out of the way first. Leeds United were competing in their first only European Cup Final by virtue of having won the English Football Championship in 1974 and having played four rounds of home and away matches (unlike today’s League format) – defeating FZ Zurich, Ujpesti Dosza of Hungary, Anderlecht of Belgium and Barcelona (including Johann Cruyff and Neeskens). Bayern were defending European Champions and included stars of the West German World Cup winning team of 1974 including captain Franz “the Kaizer” Beckenbauer, who will feature as a major dramata persona in this tale, and lethal goalscoring forward Gerd “Der Bomber” Muller. It was widely seen as the Last Hurrah for former manager Don Revie’s legendary team for whom wining the European Cup was a holy grail. But Revie was not around to lead his charges on their date with destiny having left the previous year to manage the England international team; that duty fell to Jimmy Armfield, a calm affable former England defender who had steered the good ship Leeds United to calm waters after the chaos of the 44 day reign of the club’s nemesis, Brian Clough.
The match took place on 28th May 1975 in the Parc des Princes which doubled up as the national stadium for the French international rugby team and is now the home for current Champions League holders PSG. Both sides had finished outside the UEFA qualifying places in their domestic leagues and so victory on the night was their only route into the next season’s European competition. The match kicked off at 8.15GMT and Leeds quickly asserted their dominance while Bayern immediately retreated into deep defence mode. In the fourth minute, in an incident that Leeds players and fans do not wish to give too much attention to, Welsh international Terry Yorath and father of famed sports presenter, Gabby Logan, committed a terrible tackle on Bjorn Andersson leaving him for three weeks in bed caked in plaster and as much as ending his career. Johnny Giles, playing his last match for the club, commanded midfield and legendary hot shot Peter Lorimer tested goalkeeper Sepp Majier’s reflexes in a few dead ball situations. Then on the half – hour came the first of the night’s controversies. Just as Leeds legendary forward Alan “Sniffer” Clarke was about to pull the trigger to give Leeds the lead; his legs were taken out from beneath him by a hopelessly late tackle by Beckenbauer. In today’s football parlance, a stonewall penalty. Yet the referee Michel Kitabjan took no notice not even consulting the linesman. Remember there was no VAR in that era. There was also a handball in the penalty area by the Kaiser but that was similarly waved away.
So, the match reached the interval scoreless. In the second half Leeds resumed their dominance, and the pressure began to tell. After 62 minutes Maier thwarted captain Billy Bremner’s point-blank effort and five minutes later, a Lorimer sweet special volley hit the Bayern net. The goal was awarded; there were no German protests and the referee marched back to the centre spot to resume the match with Leeds one nil ahead. But in that moment Beckenbauer persuaded Monsieur Kitabjan to have a word with the linesman who decided that since Billy Bremner had been in Maier’s line of vision, the goal should not stand. Never mind, that any VAR footage would rule that Bremner was not interfering with the keeper’s line of vision (Yes, VAR did get it wrong over Virgil van Dyk’s recent disallowed goal at The Etihad IMHO). Never mind that the Kaiser’s teammates on the night, Franz Roth and Rainer Zobel have admitted that Lorimer’s goal was good. Never mind that Herr Beckenbauer was to admit that Leeds were unlucky (make what you will of that morsel of sympathy) For a referee to bow to persuasion from a team captain to reverse a decision of such finality as the awarding of a goal surely invalidates their competence and integrity.
After that, in the words of Harvey Marcus, Leeds seemed to fall bark. Bayern scored in the 73rd minute with their first shot on target from Franz Roth. A typically lethal strike by arch predator Muller after an admittedly brilliant run on the right flank by Karl Heinze Rummenigge completed the scoring in the 82nd minute and the Leeds night and indeed the Don Revie era came to a crashing and distressing end.
Kitabjan’s decision to nullify Lorimer’s goal after it seemed so certain that it would stand triggered an outbreak of rioting on the terraces; the “English disease” of football hooliganism which had broken out at the 1974 UEFA Cup Final between Tottenham and Feyenoord in Rotterdam was metastasising into a plague that was attracting pathogens in the form of disaffected young and the dedicated “Ultras” of the “firms”. In the years afterwards, Leeds United fans were to earn a particularly violent, and most sickeningly, racist reputation. However, on this night there was a clear cause for the disturbances that Paris night if not legal or moral justification.
As is explained in the dialogue between Harvey and Marcus, the riots represented the explosion of a pressure cooker of frustration and grievances over injustices at the hands of football officialdom for a decade. For Leeds fans of that aera can recall a long litany of appalling refereeing decisions and hostile acts by the football authorities. Two years previously Leeds had been robbed of the 1973 European Cup Winners Cup in Salonika where referee Christos Michos, who is known to have been offered gifts by our opponents AC Milan, denied Leeds three clear cut penalties and awarded Milan the only goal of the night which came from an indirect free kick in the third minute. Michos was later banned for officiating for life by UEFA who actually offered Leeds a replay which they turned down. It is my opinion that the result of that final and of the 1975 European Cup Final should both be expunged from the records.
I must start this article with a caution to TPQ readers; I have yet to see the film for myself. It has been shown in many independent cinemas throughout the North of England and has migrated to a couple in London but not in any venues that are within each reach for me. As such it is not a full-blooded review but an amalgam of a podcast featuring a discussion between Ger Lynch of The View (an aggregated news site of Leeds United stories) and the maker of the film Harvey Marcus; recollections on the Paris 75 Facebook group and an analysis of the film by Rick Broadbent of the Times. I therefore stand corrected by anyone fortunate and privileged enough to see the film.
A few match facts to get out of the way first. Leeds United were competing in their first only European Cup Final by virtue of having won the English Football Championship in 1974 and having played four rounds of home and away matches (unlike today’s League format) – defeating FZ Zurich, Ujpesti Dosza of Hungary, Anderlecht of Belgium and Barcelona (including Johann Cruyff and Neeskens). Bayern were defending European Champions and included stars of the West German World Cup winning team of 1974 including captain Franz “the Kaizer” Beckenbauer, who will feature as a major dramata persona in this tale, and lethal goalscoring forward Gerd “Der Bomber” Muller. It was widely seen as the Last Hurrah for former manager Don Revie’s legendary team for whom wining the European Cup was a holy grail. But Revie was not around to lead his charges on their date with destiny having left the previous year to manage the England international team; that duty fell to Jimmy Armfield, a calm affable former England defender who had steered the good ship Leeds United to calm waters after the chaos of the 44 day reign of the club’s nemesis, Brian Clough.
The match took place on 28th May 1975 in the Parc des Princes which doubled up as the national stadium for the French international rugby team and is now the home for current Champions League holders PSG. Both sides had finished outside the UEFA qualifying places in their domestic leagues and so victory on the night was their only route into the next season’s European competition. The match kicked off at 8.15GMT and Leeds quickly asserted their dominance while Bayern immediately retreated into deep defence mode. In the fourth minute, in an incident that Leeds players and fans do not wish to give too much attention to, Welsh international Terry Yorath and father of famed sports presenter, Gabby Logan, committed a terrible tackle on Bjorn Andersson leaving him for three weeks in bed caked in plaster and as much as ending his career. Johnny Giles, playing his last match for the club, commanded midfield and legendary hot shot Peter Lorimer tested goalkeeper Sepp Majier’s reflexes in a few dead ball situations. Then on the half – hour came the first of the night’s controversies. Just as Leeds legendary forward Alan “Sniffer” Clarke was about to pull the trigger to give Leeds the lead; his legs were taken out from beneath him by a hopelessly late tackle by Beckenbauer. In today’s football parlance, a stonewall penalty. Yet the referee Michel Kitabjan took no notice not even consulting the linesman. Remember there was no VAR in that era. There was also a handball in the penalty area by the Kaiser but that was similarly waved away.
So, the match reached the interval scoreless. In the second half Leeds resumed their dominance, and the pressure began to tell. After 62 minutes Maier thwarted captain Billy Bremner’s point-blank effort and five minutes later, a Lorimer sweet special volley hit the Bayern net. The goal was awarded; there were no German protests and the referee marched back to the centre spot to resume the match with Leeds one nil ahead. But in that moment Beckenbauer persuaded Monsieur Kitabjan to have a word with the linesman who decided that since Billy Bremner had been in Maier’s line of vision, the goal should not stand. Never mind, that any VAR footage would rule that Bremner was not interfering with the keeper’s line of vision (Yes, VAR did get it wrong over Virgil van Dyk’s recent disallowed goal at The Etihad IMHO). Never mind that the Kaiser’s teammates on the night, Franz Roth and Rainer Zobel have admitted that Lorimer’s goal was good. Never mind that Herr Beckenbauer was to admit that Leeds were unlucky (make what you will of that morsel of sympathy) For a referee to bow to persuasion from a team captain to reverse a decision of such finality as the awarding of a goal surely invalidates their competence and integrity.
After that, in the words of Harvey Marcus, Leeds seemed to fall bark. Bayern scored in the 73rd minute with their first shot on target from Franz Roth. A typically lethal strike by arch predator Muller after an admittedly brilliant run on the right flank by Karl Heinze Rummenigge completed the scoring in the 82nd minute and the Leeds night and indeed the Don Revie era came to a crashing and distressing end.
Kitabjan’s decision to nullify Lorimer’s goal after it seemed so certain that it would stand triggered an outbreak of rioting on the terraces; the “English disease” of football hooliganism which had broken out at the 1974 UEFA Cup Final between Tottenham and Feyenoord in Rotterdam was metastasising into a plague that was attracting pathogens in the form of disaffected young and the dedicated “Ultras” of the “firms”. In the years afterwards, Leeds United fans were to earn a particularly violent, and most sickeningly, racist reputation. However, on this night there was a clear cause for the disturbances that Paris night if not legal or moral justification.
As is explained in the dialogue between Harvey and Marcus, the riots represented the explosion of a pressure cooker of frustration and grievances over injustices at the hands of football officialdom for a decade. For Leeds fans of that aera can recall a long litany of appalling refereeing decisions and hostile acts by the football authorities. Two years previously Leeds had been robbed of the 1973 European Cup Winners Cup in Salonika where referee Christos Michos, who is known to have been offered gifts by our opponents AC Milan, denied Leeds three clear cut penalties and awarded Milan the only goal of the night which came from an indirect free kick in the third minute. Michos was later banned for officiating for life by UEFA who actually offered Leeds a replay which they turned down. It is my opinion that the result of that final and of the 1975 European Cup Final should both be expunged from the records.
There was the disallowed goal from a free kick by Peter Lorimer in the 1967 FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea because the Chelsea defensive wall had not retreated ten yards. There was the offside goal scored by WBA at Elland Road in April 1971 as a result of the decision by referee Ray Tinkler to overrule his linesman while the Leeds defence stood static expecting play to stop which helped to deprive us of that season’s League title. There was the final game of the 1971-72 season at Wolves played at the insistence of the FA 48 hours after our sole FA Cup Final victory when the denial of three glaring handballs in the Wolves penalty area denied us the Double with the hosts winning 2-1.
The Paris disturbances were reportedly sparked by the roughing up of a fan who had got onto the pitch in protest at the disallowed goal by the fearsome French riot place force, the CRS, of whose number there were 200 - all martial arts trained. The mood was immeasurably worsened by the reported sight of the CRS applauding Bayern’s first goal. Things just then disintegrated into resigned defeat on the pitch and visceral anger and anarchy on the terraces. As is also pointed out on Ger’s podcast, the righteous condemnation visited upon the Leeds fans in the following days from those guardians of morality – the British tabloid media took little or no account of the manifest injustice that sparked the riots.
Alan Clarke and Paul Reaney as two surviving Leeds veterans from that night appear in the film and by all accounts their contributions in it and in accompanying Q&A sessions are passionate and outspoken. But the gold of the film is the grainy footage shot on Super 8 by the fans and it is a fan's film, the stars of which are Heidi Haigh and Margaret Clark with their recollections of just how rare it was to be a female at football in 1975. In necessary antidotes to some romanticised, nostalgia seeped accounts of terrace culture in those halcyon days, Heidi recalls how her and friends were called “slags, scrubbers and whores” on the terraces. In the sea of masculinity that was the Elland Road Kop where just a few hundred girls would have stuck out as prominently as black and brown faces among 17,500 males, bum nipping was practically a given (no hotlines to report sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour at football grounds in those pre-woke times) but as Margaret says starkly there was a real fear of being attacked and raped during the routine battles that took place in pre-segregation away ends.[1]
The legacy of Paris 75 can be summed up in one Leeds United supporters chant “We are Champions. Champions of Europe.” What to outsiders may appear to be an obsession with a long-lost cause, a denial of historical reality or a pathological inability to “move on” is a reclamation of our history, a metamorphosis of the bitterest night into a celebration of the finest team of that era, both nationally and globally. Knowing what we know now about the desperate financial need for Bayern to win on that night and of Franz Beckenbauer’s ability to win friends and influence people, history can now judge who were the real moral victors that night. Having not attended Paris 75 yet I would hope I will find it a therapeutic experience; it took me 30 years to have a full and frank conversation with a fellow Leeds fan about that night.
While this film can be of interest to any soccer fan, it has to be emphasised that it is a film made by Leeds fans for Leeds fans.
So just as we will always be The Last Champions as the winners of the last First Division title in 1992; we will always be “Champions of Europe” at least until we get a chance to defend our title, remote though that possibility is.
Visit
To watch Ger Lynch and Harvey Marcus interview
Paris 75 - An Interview with Creator Harvey Marcus. Leeds United V Bayern Munich 1975 European Cup
References
[1] Rick Broadbent Paris 75: Brutal but poignant film of Leads’ infamous final. The Times. The Game. 3 November 2025 p.11
The Paris disturbances were reportedly sparked by the roughing up of a fan who had got onto the pitch in protest at the disallowed goal by the fearsome French riot place force, the CRS, of whose number there were 200 - all martial arts trained. The mood was immeasurably worsened by the reported sight of the CRS applauding Bayern’s first goal. Things just then disintegrated into resigned defeat on the pitch and visceral anger and anarchy on the terraces. As is also pointed out on Ger’s podcast, the righteous condemnation visited upon the Leeds fans in the following days from those guardians of morality – the British tabloid media took little or no account of the manifest injustice that sparked the riots.
Alan Clarke and Paul Reaney as two surviving Leeds veterans from that night appear in the film and by all accounts their contributions in it and in accompanying Q&A sessions are passionate and outspoken. But the gold of the film is the grainy footage shot on Super 8 by the fans and it is a fan's film, the stars of which are Heidi Haigh and Margaret Clark with their recollections of just how rare it was to be a female at football in 1975. In necessary antidotes to some romanticised, nostalgia seeped accounts of terrace culture in those halcyon days, Heidi recalls how her and friends were called “slags, scrubbers and whores” on the terraces. In the sea of masculinity that was the Elland Road Kop where just a few hundred girls would have stuck out as prominently as black and brown faces among 17,500 males, bum nipping was practically a given (no hotlines to report sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour at football grounds in those pre-woke times) but as Margaret says starkly there was a real fear of being attacked and raped during the routine battles that took place in pre-segregation away ends.[1]
The legacy of Paris 75 can be summed up in one Leeds United supporters chant “We are Champions. Champions of Europe.” What to outsiders may appear to be an obsession with a long-lost cause, a denial of historical reality or a pathological inability to “move on” is a reclamation of our history, a metamorphosis of the bitterest night into a celebration of the finest team of that era, both nationally and globally. Knowing what we know now about the desperate financial need for Bayern to win on that night and of Franz Beckenbauer’s ability to win friends and influence people, history can now judge who were the real moral victors that night. Having not attended Paris 75 yet I would hope I will find it a therapeutic experience; it took me 30 years to have a full and frank conversation with a fellow Leeds fan about that night.
While this film can be of interest to any soccer fan, it has to be emphasised that it is a film made by Leeds fans for Leeds fans.
So just as we will always be The Last Champions as the winners of the last First Division title in 1992; we will always be “Champions of Europe” at least until we get a chance to defend our title, remote though that possibility is.
Visit
To watch Ger Lynch and Harvey Marcus interview
Paris 75 - An Interview with Creator Harvey Marcus. Leeds United V Bayern Munich 1975 European Cup
References
[1] Rick Broadbent Paris 75: Brutal but poignant film of Leads’ infamous final. The Times. The Game. 3 November 2025 p.11
⏩Barry Gilheany is a freelance writer, qualified counsellor and aspirant artist resident in Colchester where he took his PhD at the University of Essex. He is also a lifelong Leeds United supporter.
Ten links to a diverse range of opinion that might be of interest to TPQ readers. They are selected not to invite agreement but curiosity. Readers can submit links to pieces they find thought provoking.
Before We Conform, Or Condemn, Let Us At Least Be Curious
♜One recognizes one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it - Albert Camus♞
Ideals rarely seem so fragile as when they are taken by those who would undo them. As an Irish Republican, it’s hard to watch these groups or individuals wrap themselves in our history while pushing openly xenophobic and racist politics. These people use the Republican mantle, but what they promote runs completely against the ideals our movement was built on. They’re certainly not Republican projects. They’re circuses formed by opportunists trying to carve out a base by stirring up fear around refugees and migrant workers.
Let’s be clear about what Republicanism actually is. Our politics come from the anti-imperialist ideals of the United Irishmen, from Connolly and Ryan’s international socialism, and from the many struggles against structural inequality in Irish History. Republicanism is civic, egalitarian and anti-sectarian at its core. It doesn’t recognise ethnic privilege, and it doesn’t blame the powerless for problems created by capitalism, imperialism or the institutions that defend them.
Those now using Republicanism as a flag of convenience to attack migrants aren’t continuing any Irish struggle. They’re simply of the same current as the hate filled mobs gaining ground up and down the country. Their whole tactic is to turn working-class frustration away from the landlords, profiteers, developers, bosses and the result of neo-colonial underdevelopment; and turn it downward instead, towards people who hold no power or influence. It’s the oldest divide-and-conquer trick in the book. It weakens the proletariat, strengthens reaction, and hands victory to the same systems Republicanism has always been opposed to.
That’s why Republicans have a responsibility to call this charade out. We can’t allow grifters and opportunists to twist our politics for their own gain, or in other cases, for self-preservation. We need to be firm that those pushing racist fear under a Republican mantle have no claim on the legacy or the future of our struggle. They don’t stand with Tone or Russell, they don’t stand with Connolly or Mellows, and they certainly don’t stand with any vision of a Socialist Republic.
If we don’t defend the principles of our own tradition, others will rewrite them beyond recognition. Now is the time to draw the line. Republicanism belongs to those committed to national sovereignty, equality, democracy, international solidarity and the dismantling of oppressive systems everywhere; not to those who target the vulnerable to cover up their own political emptiness and ignorance.
⏩Gérard Malachy is a County Down-based Socialist Republican and grassroots activist involved in Dundalk Communities United, the Community Action Tenants Union, and BDS Newry.
The divisions in Northern Irish society are brilliantly lampooned in a now famous scene from the hit Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls when a group of teenagers are asked to explain the differences between Catholics and Protestants. ‘Protestants keep their toasters in cupboards’ and ‘Protestants hate Abba’ are among the nuggets from the now iconic scene.
In the last while another division may have emerged in what is a similarly obscure domain: data gathering methodologies.
Opinion polls and surveys on constitutional matters have particular importance in Northern Ireland due in part to the vague wording of the ‘Border Poll’ provision of the Good Friday Agreement:
Victims campaigner Raymond McCord took a legal action in 2018 seeking clarification of this clause. McCord wanted to know the exact criteria that would determine whether or not a poll was to be held. He lost the case.
Opinion polls and surveys on constitutional matters have particular importance in Northern Ireland due in part to the vague wording of the ‘Border Poll’ provision of the Good Friday Agreement:
The Secretary of State shall exercise the power [to call a Border Poll] if at any time it appears likely to him (sic) that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.
Victims campaigner Raymond McCord took a legal action in 2018 seeking clarification of this clause. McCord wanted to know the exact criteria that would determine whether or not a poll was to be held. He lost the case.
Continue @ Stories From A Border Kitchen.
For Unionism, it was yet another betrayal of the pro-Union community in Northern Ireland, this time by a person most Unionists once regarded as a hero - then Tory Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher.
It was to mobilise the Unionist community in a manner not witnessed since the Ulster Workers’ Council strike of 1974 which collapsed the then Sunningdale power-sharing Executive.
What was a tremendous shock for Unionism is that the signing came just over a year after the Provos’ bid to kill Thatcher in the October 1984 in the Brighton hotel bombing in England at the annual Tory party conference.
Did Thatcher think that by signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement, also known as the Hillsborough Accord and to many Unionists, the Dublin Diktat, that the Dail would agree to some magic cross-border security arrangement to defeat IRA terrorism?
Perhaps what Thatcher, her advisors and supporters wanted was some form of official security ‘hot pursuit’ agreement whereby the then RUC, Ulster Defence Regiment, other British Army regiments and even the SAS could chase IRA and INLA terrorists across the Irish border deep into Southern Ireland.
Many republican terror gangs were using the political and geographical safety of the Irish Republic to plan, launch and especially escape when they carried out terrorist atrocities in Northern Ireland.
Did Thatcher seriously think she could trust the Dublin establishment to reciprocate a say in the running of Northern Ireland by cancelling out Southern Ireland being a safe haven for republican terror gangs? Thatcher was obviously misinformed, misguided, even deluded if she thought she could trust the Dublin establishment to keep its side of the bargain.
The Anglo-Irish Agreement spawned the notorious Maryfield Secretariat, located near Belfast, which was where Dublin’s say in interfering in Northern Ireland affairs was administered from.
The real depth of the degree of betrayal of Unionism by Thatcher was etched on the face of the then Ulster Unionist Party leader, Jim Molyneaux, during one of his frequent visits to our family home in North Antrim.
Molyneaux, or ‘Gentleman Jim’ as he was affectionately known in some Unionist circles, viewed my late dad, Rev Dr Robert Coulter MBE, as a political confidant; someone he could talk to and it would not end up in the media.
I was a staff journalist at the Belfast News Letter in 1985 and I was allowed to sit in on their meetings provided I did not repeat what was discussed in the media, too.
In all the years I knew Molyneaux, I have never witnessed him being so depressed as that lunch meeting at our North Antrim home shortly before Christmas 1985.
Molyneaux was close to tears as he admitted he did not think Thatcher would sign such an agreement. He felt totally snubbed by her attitude. Put bluntly, he gave the strong vibe ‘I didn’t see that one coming!’
Molyneaux had often talked about his ‘special relationship’ with Thatcher and the Tory Right-wing. In 1985, the UUP was by far the ‘Big Dog’ of Unionism as the lead party and even within the UUP, the Right-wing Ulster Monday Club pressure group was the most influential of all the factions within the party.
The agreement, signed on British soil between Thatcher and then Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald, was to spark the Unionist protest movements, the Ulster Says No and Ulster Still Says No campaigns.
It saw Unionists getting involved in politics who had previously been inactive or uninterested. The first major Ulster Says No rally at Belfast City Hall saw an estimated 250,000 attend.
One of the poignant images that day was the crowd’s reaction to then DUP leader Rev Ian Paisley’s famous ‘Never, never, never, never’ remark. But whilst people can remember that remark from Paisley senior, can anyone - including myself - remember a single quote from Molyneaux’s speech on that occasion?
Looking back on that specific rally, Molyneaux was very muted. Was it a sign that his ‘special relationship’ with Thatcher was in political tatters, or did he come to the realisation that the seeds of his demise of his leadership of the UUP had been sown at Hillsborough.
While it would be another decade before he would relinquish the leadership in 1995, the grassroots mumblings within the UUP about the need to replace him had already started. The Hillsborough Accord merely shifted them up a notch.
Within Unionism, other organisations were launched or mobilised. The Ulster Clubs was formed, which was a mirror image of the Unionist Clubs which had existed in the early 20th century to organise grassroots opposition to Home Rule for Ireland.
On the paramilitary front, Ulster Resistance was launched with its distinctive red berets. Both the UDA and UVF saw an increase in membership.
Politically, the concept of Ulster independence came on the agenda with the formation of fringe pressure groups such as the Ulster Movement for Self-Determination (MSD). Even the Far Right National Front capitalised on Unionist mobilisation by appointing one of its ruling national directorate members to oversee recruitment in Northern Ireland.
Party politically, too, it was to see a massive degree of Unionist unity between the parties with agreed candidates at the January 1986 protest Westminster by-elections and the 1987 Westminster General Election. Although ironically, Unionism as a whole was to lose an MP in each of those two elections.
What Unionism needs to do in reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Dublin Diktat, is to ask itself - how can this spirit of mobilisation and unity be reinvigorated? Put bluntly, Unionism will need to find this seemingly long-lost spirit in time for the 2027 Stormont elections.
In 1985 and 1986, Unionists tramped the cold, wet streets of Ulster against the Anglo-Irish Agreement and got nowhere. The election guns have already been fired for the 2027 campaign.
The seeds which spawned the Pan Nationalist Front were sown in November 1985. That Front is now in full bloom in 2025. Unionism needs to find the political weed killer to spray on it by the time of the next Northern Ireland Assembly poll.
 |
| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
Ten links to a diverse range of opinion that might be of interest to TPQ readers. They are selected not to invite agreement but curiosity. Readers can submit links to pieces they find thought provoking.
Before We Conform, Or Condemn, Let Us At Least Be Curious
♜One recognizes one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it - Albert Camus♞
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
