IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... in the 1918 General Election in Ireland , Nationalist/Republican candidates won almost three-quarters of all the Irish seats in Westminster .......
Many of those elected were still in British prisons after the 'German Plot' arrests earlier that same year (ie May 1918) . John Redmond's 'Irish Parliamentary Party' won only six seats , despite the 'backhanded' assistance given to that Party by the then British Prime Minister , Lloyd George -
- he had instructed the British Army 'Election Censors' to cut sections out of the Sinn Fein Election Manifesto , seized their leaflets and posters , 'arrested' Sinn Fein speakers and declared that the 47 imprisoned Sinn Fein candidates , including the Party leader , Eamon de Valera , should remain behind British prison bars . Before the 1918 General Election , Ireland was 'represented' in the Westminster 'House of Commons' by 103 members ,
comprising 68 'Home Rulers' (Irish Parliamentary Party , also referred to as 'The Irish Nationalist Party') , 18 members of the 'Unionist Party' (as the name suggests , in favour of the 'Union' between Ireland and England) , 10 'Independent' members and 7 Sinn Fein members .
After the 1918 Election , the political scene in Ireland was transformed .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(2 of 18).
" On March 1st , 1981 , Bobby Sands embarked on hunger-strike ; on April 9th , 1981 , 30,492 people in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency elected him as their MP and by doing so they recognised him as a political prisoner and demanded that the British Government respect the mandate given by them and by the entire nationalist community on the streets by implementing the five demands -
1 No prison uniform .
2 No prison work .
3 Free association .
4 Full remission .
5 Visits , parcels and recreational/educational facilities .
The British Government , caught in the hypocrisy of their own " democracy jargon " , ignored the people's wishes and mandate . On April 23rd , 1981 , Charles Haughey , the Dublin premier , met relatives of Bobby Sands and by playing on their distress convinced them that the intervention of the ECHR ('European Commission on Human Rights') could , and would , solve the issue .
Bobby Sands' sister , Marcella , acted on Charlie Haughey's advice and signed an intervention document . The ECHR delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them ......."
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(5 of 13).
Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of 6th January 1987 , Aiden Murray and other armed Detectives raided a house in Cashlings , West Donegal ; inside , they roused a young man from his sleep - he was wearing pants only and , when asked his name , he hesitated before telling them he was 'Colm McGuire' .
He requested to see a doctor and solicitor and refused to answer any further questions . Detective Aiden Murray promptly arrested 'McGuire' on suspicion of being a member of the IRA . The Gardai were back at base in Ballyshannon with their prisoner soon after nine o' clock ; they still had no official identity for him and , in accordance with his wishes , a local solicitor was sent for .
A Solicitor , John Murray , arrived and after consulting with the man in the cell , told gardai during a casual conversation that the prisoner was Patrick McIntyre of Ard O'Donnell , Letterkenny . The gardai say that minutes afterwards they received information which possibly linked McIntyre to a robbery in Ballyshannon immediately before Christmas and that they began questioning him about this crime .
By mid-morning the word was out in Donegal : Paddy McIntyre had been collared and the prospect of extradition loomed . By that afternoon , a Belfast solicitor , Pat Finucane , was contacting a colleague in Dublin .......
(MORE LATER).
