[Mr. MacBride spoke at a meeting organised by the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement at the Mansion House, Dublin, on March 19, 1985. Mr. E.S. Reddy, former Director of the United Nations Centre against Apartheid, delivered the 1985 Lutuli Memorial Lecture at that meeting.]

Before addressing myself to the topic of this year’s Lutuli Memorial Lecture, I cannot let this occasion pass without paying a tribute to Enuga S. Reddy. It has been my privilege to work with E.S. Reddy for close on 20 years, and I can say without fear of contradiction that there is no one at the United Nations who has done more to expose the injustices of apartheid and the illegality of the South African regime than he has. E.S. Reddy has done so with tremendous courage and ability. It is not always easy to work within a bureaucracy such as the United Nations for an ideal. Many civil servants who succeed in securing a post in this world body tend to lose their idealism and to become bureaucrats. This never happened in the case of E.S. Reddy. Steeped in the tradition of Indian nationalism and the anti-colonial revolution, he dedicated his entire energy and skills to the liberation from oppression of the people of Southern Africa. He had to face many obstacles and antagonisms, coming from the Western Powers mainly, but he had the skill, courage and determination necessary to overcome the systematic overt and covert opposition to the liberation of the people of Southern Africa.

The Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement is to be congratulated for the topic it has chosen and for inviting E.S. Reddy here on the occasion of the 1985 Lutuli Memorial Lecture.

Without any further ado, let me get to the nerve centre of the problem we are discussing here tonight. Apartheid in Southern Africa and the continued illegal occupation of Namibia by South Africa exist only, and I repeat only, by reason of the fact that South Africa has been throughout receiving the full support for its illegal policies from the British Government, from the United States Administration and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Secret and not so secret agreements have been in existence integrating South Africa into the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for some years. Naval installations, air-fields and communications systems in South Africa and in Namibia have been linked with the NATO military and strategic system. The prime movers within NATO of this illegal collaboration with South Africa have been the United States and the British Governments. When forced to admit these illegal links with South Africa, the NATO spokesmen seek to justify them by pretending that it is necessary to protect the Southern Atlantic from the threat of "Russian domination". This, of course, is utter nonsense.

The real reason is that both the United States and the United Kingdom have vast investments in South Africa and are able to avail of slave labour in South Africa and Namibia in order to exploit uranium, minerals and diamonds. The links that exist between key persons in the British establishment and in the multinationals with the South African Administration and NATO are easily traceable. The British company Rio Tinto Zinc are one of the chief exploiters of Namibian and South African resources and slave labour.

There are many reasons why we in Ireland should remain neutral and should decline to join NATO; these are solid and valid reasons. But, if no other reasons existed, we should strongly resist any attempts to link us with NATO in any way by reason of the support which NATO has given to those who are the oppressors of the people of Africa. I think that these are matters which should be brought to the attention of the people of NATO Member States such as Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and France, Italy and Greece. I am sure that the people of these countries do not want to be linked in any way with the oppression of the people of Southern Africa through their links with NATO.

Another matter of grave concern is that it is generally believed and reasonably well established that NATO countries, and the Federal Republic of Germany in particular, have provided technical assistance and "know-how" in order to assist South Africa in becoming a nuclear power. This is also well within the knowledge of the higher echelons in NATO. To have done so is a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and of international law. Having regard to the behaviour of the South African Government, the provision of assistance to South Africa in order to enable it to become a nuclear power may well amount to a "crime against humanity" under international law.

In an otherwise very dismal situation in Ireland, allow me to highlight one of the very few points in regard to which we can take pride. I refer to the action of one girl, Mary Manning, who in response to the dictates of her conscience and with a sense of moral understanding and responsibility on her own, took the initiative to refuse to handle South African fruit in one of the chain stores in Dublin. She has now been joined by several of her colleagues who are picketing Dunnes Stores in Henry Street in protest against the sale of goods plundered from the people of South Africa. Mary Manning and her colleagues have responded to the dictates of their consciences and have been prepared to make tremendous sacrifices in order to defend an ideal and a principle. We should salute them. I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to religious orders, to the Irish Distributive and Administrative trade Union, to Action from Ireland and the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement for the support which they have extended to Mary Manning and her 10 colleagues. These are practical ways to give reality to the principles of Christianity and justice in our world today. This is a ray of hope in a world where standards of morality are at a premium in our public life. These workers have given us a fine example of the exercise of moral responsibility and we should support them up to the hilt.

In addition to the import of some 13 million pounds worth of goods annually, I understand that the South African banks are operating freely in this country and have even established some agencies here. This is a matter which should be looked into, and we should here tonight ask our public representatives to make the necessary enquiries to the Central Bank and Department of Finance as to the financial links that exist between Irish banks and South Africa. Are any South African banks operating in Dublin and if so, what are their names and under what circumstances did they come to establish premises in Dublin? Have any Government Departments or semi-state companies been dealing with or through the affiliates of the South African banks in Ireland?

I am very glad that this whole question is now coming up for discussion in the ranks of the trade union movement in Ireland. Perhaps the trade unions would consider convening with the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement a conference to co-ordinate trade union activities to institute an effective boycott of South African goods in Ireland. Perhaps too, the Irish Labour Party, which after all is one of the components of the present Government, would take the matter up at government level to examine the steps which could be taken to curtail financial and commercial dealings between Ireland and South Africa. It is not sufficient for us to meet here annually to pay lip service to the liberation of the people of Southern Africa. We must have the courage of our convictions as the young people who had a sufficient sense of moral responsibility to risk their jobs and their future by refusing to handle South African goods in Dunnes of Henry Street.