Their actions at that time still cause some bitterness and have caused some commentators to express cynicism about the group's current pro-nationalist position. In the 1980s, B&ICO was advocating the extension of the British parties to organise in Northern Ireland, and many B&ICO members were involved in the organisations, the Campaign for Labour Representation (CLR) and the Campaign for Equal Citizenship (CEC) in Northern Ireland. One member of B&ICO, James "Boyd" Black, ran on an "Equal Citizenship" platform in the Fulham by-election in 1986. The B&ICO group were extremely antagonistic to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, and much of their activity in Northern Ireland was directed at publishing material and supporting groups who shared their hostility to it. The B&ICO also believed nuclear power and nuclear weapons were beneficial to humanity, and were against the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It also praised Wojciech Jaruzelski's imposition of martial law in Poland. The B&ICO also took issue with other left-wing parties for adopting anti-Stalinist and anti-Zionist political positions. When the Falklands War broke out, the B&ICO supported the UK war effort on the grounds the UK was more "progressive" than Argentina. Members of the B&ICO, the Socialist Party of Ireland (1971) and Jim Kemmy's local organisation in Limerick merged to form the Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland) in 1982. Some of B&ICO's members in the Republic were involved in the Campaign to Separate Church and State and published the linked Athol Books magazine, "Church and State." In tandem with these campaigns, the B&ICO also urged a hard line against the Provisional IRA; it opposed the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. Its publications also opposed the campaign to free the Birmingham Six, insisting on their guilt. In August 1988, Clifford was involved in controversy after his publication, "A Belfast Magazine" printed an article, "The Knitting Professor" that was strongly critical of Mary McAleese. McAleese claimed the article was libellous and took legal action against the publication with the help of her lawyer, QC Donal Deeney.The case was eventually settled out of court in September 1990; as a result of the undisclosed settlement, "A Belfast Magazine" ceased publication for several years   The B&ICO's British branch, the Ernest Bevin Society, continued to agitate for Workers' Control throughout the 1980s.