Basic HTML Version
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 22, 1985
PAGE 7
sufficient public wel fare programs.
But the President's Democratic
opposition remains philosophically opposed to significant cuts in
social spending. Thus the deficit widens to appalling proportions.
Experts now believe the Reagan administration will have no choice in
1986 but to cut back on defense and raise tax rates sometime during the
year. The simple fact is, too many people (and their representatives}
prefer social programs to low taxes. Worse yet, 1986 is an election
year. Look for increases in spending. As the Nov. 15 WALL STREET
JOURNAL editorialized: "Faced with an opportunity to increase federal
spending, Congress can act with head-turning speed. Faced with the
responsibility to cut federal spending, Congress can no longer act at
all."
Northern Ireland--Peace But Ro Peace
On Friday, November 15, Prime
Ministers Margaret Thatcher of Britain and Garrett Fitzgerald of
Ireland signed a long-awaited agreement that gives the Dublin govern
ment a first-time-ever advisory role in the affairs of Northern
Ireland.
The accord establishes an Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental
Conference to address political security and judicial and economic
affairs in the province. The agreement also stipulates the right of
the Irish government to propose measures and be consulted on Northern
Ireland issues, while assuring that sovereignty in the province remains
with Britain. Dublin, in turn, shelved for now aspirations for Irish
unity.
Both sides hope it will be a first step on the road to discovering a
peaceful solution to "the troubles" that have ravaged Ulster for
decades. But don't hold your breath. Three times before this century,
leaders of Ireland and Britain have tried, without success, to reach an
accommodation.
This time the situation is considerably different,
however. The Irish Republic now has a foot in the door in running
affairs in Ulster. This is inflaming those in the North who call the
agreement a sellout. Protestant politician and minister Ian Paisley,
the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, pledged to destroy the
agreement, which he labeled a conspiracy. "It represents the end of
Northern Ireland as we know it and is the beginning of joint Dublin
London rule," he said. Another Protestant leader, James Molyneaux,
spoke of "the stench of treachery and betrayal in London."
The
Unionists see in the agreement an "undisguised Trojan horse" that will
eventually lead to the absorption of the northern six counties into the
Irish Republic. Unionist leaders are withdrawing all support from and
contact with the British government, adopting a siege mentality.
On the other side of the fence, Gerry Adams, head of the legal polit
ical wing of the Irish Republican Army, Sinn Fein, declared that the
accord would not stop his party's campaign for British withdrawal from
Ulster. Public support for Sinn Fein in the north is growing at the
expense of another, more moderate Catholic party. Just how high the
fears and emotions of the Ulster Protestants are was revealed in the
November 4 NEWSWEEK:
In Ballynahinch, a small loyalist stronghold that is south of
Belfast, a Union Jack flies from every telephone pole on the
city's main street. Even the curbs are painted in British
colors and graffiti--"No surrender"--decorate the walls••• _.