Friday, January 19, 2007

THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .......
There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .

The following has been established so far -

* That the Garda applied for a remand back into Garda custody , in spite of the fact that senior officers were aware that very serious allegations were being made about Garda ill-treatment of these men over the previous few days .
* That the application for remand into Garda custody was highly unusual as was the application for a remand for one day .
* That the only plausible explanation for the remand into Garda custody was to establish a scenario whereby it could be alleged later that the accused came by their injuries other than at the hands of the Gardai .

Our contention is that there is persuasive evidence that Osgur Breathnach , Nicky Kelly and Brian McNally were ill-treated by Gardai - the evidence goes far beyond raising a reasonable doubt about the 'voluntary nature' of their self-incriminating statements , and it is in the light of this established contention that the evidence of the Gardai in the course of this trial in the (State) Special Criminal Court must be viewed . In the course of the trial a total of 82 Gardai gave evidence ; we name those Gardai , and give their rank at the time.......
(MORE LATER).



SPORTING NATIONALISM .......
A look at the political origins of the GAA .
By 'Celt' .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982 .

On the topic of Irish unity , the GAA says : " Since she has not control of all the national territory , Ireland's claim to nationhood is impaired . Until complete nationhood is achieved , the association must continue to maintain an all-embracing , patriotic spirit . This national side of the GAA , and its dedication to the ideal of an Irish-Ireland , must be kept to the forefront at all times .

To the youth of Ireland , a knowledge of the circumstances in which the GAA was founded , of the part it played in the years before the Rising of 1916 , of the share its members had in the fight for freedom , is merely knowledge of their own inheritance and should not be withheld from them . "

Is the GAA then purely a sporting body for activities like running , hurling and football ? Emphatically not ! Both historically and by its own declaration it has aligned itself with the cause of full national sovereignty . What future role it may play in the present liberation struggle is a subject of speculation , but its members have not been slow in years gone past * to direct their energies in the cause of freedom . ('1169...' Comment * .... "in years gone past.." , yes . But , today , the GAA gives the impression that it feels itself to be in 'hock' , financially and morally , to the State administration and the assorted suited leeches and 'yes men' that comprise the so-called 'establishment' in this corrupt State . The GAA has sullied its own name in that regard .)
[END of 'SPORTING NATIONALISM']
(Next - 'A PEOPLE'S ARMY' : from 1982)



" COMRADES , BROTHERS AND SISTERS ."
Kerry Dougherty talks to Michael O'Riordan about fifty years of Irish Communism.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1983 .

The Communist Party of Ireland celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this month in its headquarters in the 'New Books' Shop, near Parliament Street in Dublin . In the half century of its existence the party has presumably made some gains in membership - although numbers are secret - but it has failed to stand a single successful candidate in general elections North or South and has had little impact on the political , economic or social life of Ireland .

Why has the party remained so small and insignificant while other socialist parties have been born , grown and even elected candidates to Leinster House ? "The question should be , how did we survive at all over the past fifty years , " says Michael O' Riordan, the 66 year-old General Secretary of the Communist Party of Ireland, who has been a member since 1934 : " When you look at the Cold War - the years from 1948 until just about five years ago - it is a wonder we were able to exist at all . "

Placing his considerable bulk into a wobbly office chair in the meeting room behind the party book store , Michael O' Riordan recalled the dark days when the United States and the Soviet Union seemed poised for war and when 'communist' was a dirty word . Ireland then had its own form of 'red-baiting' in the guise of the Catholic Church.......
(MORE LATER).