17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure - aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .
He arrived at the Maguire house only hours before the police raid , on his first visit to England for seventeen years . He had come to inquire about his son Gerry , who had just been arrested . He died in prison in 1980 and on his deathbed asked Gerry Fitt to clear his name . Fitt promised that he would try .
The campaign to clear the Maguire's family name , and to achieve a posthumous pardon for Guiseppe Conlon , goes on . In a sense those jailed were victims of the IRA , for their 1974 bombings led to a great wave of anti-Irish hysteria in England and tremendous pressure on the police to catch the bombers . ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - Unfortunately , the fact that the police made a mistake in this case did not ensure that "tremendous pressure" was brought to bear on them to stop it happening again . )
Meanwhile , it stands to reason that the authorities will resist with determination any attempt to reopen any of these cases , for to do so would run the risk of having to grant up to seventeen pardons : such an admission of injustice would be to much for the system to bear . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ....and that remains the prevailing mindset within the British 'Establishment' regarding this country - its last colony . )
[END of '17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A Gay View On Kincora' - from 1984.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
During the last election , Patsy Wright , a Sinn Fein member of Athy UDC , met Alan Dukes (FG) and they had an argument about Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act : according to Patsy Wright , Dukes told him that Sinn Fein could go on the radio whenever they handed up their guns - Wright argued that Sinn Fein had no guns : " Would you ever fuck off , " Alan Dukes replied .
Six months later , however , in June 1983 , Joe Bermingham , (FS) Minister of State , invited Patsy Wright to the opening of a new Garda Station in Athy ; Wright declined the invitation . He said that he would not attend such an opening until there was a thirty-two county Republic . The Government's attitude towards Sinn Fein has hardened considerably over the past eight months . This hardening followed the Dublin Central by-election , the deaths at Ballinamore and the Harrods bombing .
The main result of this tougher approach is the embargo on dealings with elected public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein - this embargo was started by Labour Party Ministers and became Government policy on February 21 . It has caused intense bitterness and confusion .
There was , for example , the proposed Civic Reception for Dick Spring in Midleton , Cork , during the Euro elections .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Doctor Michael Moloney found a two-inch bruise on John Milne's chest and left shoulder , and found that he was mildy agitated . Milne also complained of back pain and pain in his leg from time to time . A jury heard the case in November 1983 and after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation , found that the two named gardai had assaulted John Milne . They made a £51,900 award , plus costs .
Stephen Moore was arrested a third time under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act : in June of 1984 , he became one of 2,216 people arrested under that Section , that year ! He was held for nine and a half hours - there was , this time , no questions , no interviews , no charges . He was fingerprinted and photographed . He lost a day's wages - at that time he started work at 4.30 pm and finished at 3am . He was arrested by his next door neighbour at 2.30pm - his neighbour , Garda Ted O' Mahony , had gone on duty half an hour earlier , and had been ordered to carry out the arrest .
The O'Mahony's and the Moores had been neighbours for eight years ; the two households got on well together . Last August , Garda O'Mahony was told that he was being transferred to Gorey , in Wexford , within two weeks . He appealed the decision to Commissioner Lawrence Wren - the appeal was turned down . He then appealed to the Garda Tribunal . Garda O'Mahony was well liked locally . He asked for an explanation as to why he was being moved , and was told that it was in the interests of the Garda force .
He was forced to take up duty in Gorey , by May 1 . He had spent 15 years in the gardai , almost eight of them in Clones , County Monaghan - he had never been disciplined . According to his wife , "...all he ever wanted was a reasonable explanation .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - The "explanation" was , obviously , that a 'cover-up' had begun , and people were being moved into , or out of , place . ) .......
(MORE LATER).
