Idiosyncratically Irish
,Sir: In your Notebook of 13 March you are (understandably) mistaken about Sinn Fein the
Workers Party and its support for Mr
Haughey as Taoiseach. It is one of the idiosyncrasies of Irish politics that a party Containing the words 'Sinn Fein' (Ourselves ,A, Icine) in its title is in fact opposed both to the Provisional IRA campaign and all other attempts to coerce the Northern Unionists into a united Ireland. Its president has specifically stated that Mr Haughey's hard- line Policy on the North will not receive its support.
The SFWP originated in the Official IRA, which split from the Provisional IRA in the early Seventies over the question of Marxism, with the Officials taking the Marxist line. Attempts at recent party con- ferences to drop the 'Sinn Fein' from its title were narrowly defeated. The SFWP en- joys the approval of Moscow (its bookshop is the Irish agent for Soviet publications).
Paul Rowlandson
Milford Grange, Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland
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