Saturday, October 20, 2007

Armed Irish Republicans on patrol in British-Occupied Ireland .

Take a few minutes to listen to this, then - if you can - give an hour or two for this :
PICKET FOR POLITICAL STATUS....
On Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 12.45pm, a Republican picket will be held at the GPO in Dublin's O'Connell Street in support of political status for Irish Republican prisoners .
All Welcome !






Friday, October 19, 2007


O'Donovan Rossa , by Brian Na Banban.......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

They made him an exile , an outlaw ,
They slandered him living and dead ;
But his love or his hate never wavered ,
'Till the spirit God gave him had fled .

His crime was that Ireland , his Mother ,
Had called him to dare and to dree,
That one day her bonds might be riven ,
That one day her limbs might be free
From the chains of the English enslaver -
And proudly he answered her call ,
Nor cared what the future might bring him ,
So Ireland were freed from her thrall .

Bear him back to that Mother who loves him ,
Bear him back to the land he loved well ,
Go forth 'mong the children of Ireland ,
The tale of his triumph to tell.......

(MORE LATER).



ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.......

By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

As the unemployment spectre receded somewhat , Irish trade unions also began to flex their muscles again through the 1960's - a hopeful development which nonetheless was defused with the introduction of centralised wage baggaining at the beginning of the 1970's .

But the 'profit principle' of capitalism , native or foreign , always predominant , was to halt this industrial progress . Recession came on the scene in 1974 and foreign capital began to be pulled out as speedily and as clinically as it had come in . By that time , too , the Free State had abandoned its economic sovereignty , such as it was , having become the very junior member of the EEC with all its restrictions .

Even agriculture , which in cash terms appeared to benefit from this membership , continued its ceaseless trend of putting profit in the pocket of the large farmer - still producing only cattle - and saw the small , poorer farmers continue to grow even poorer or disappear altogether.......
(MORE LATER).



PRISONERS RIGHTS - the mark of a civilised society .......

From 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003.
By Siobhan O'Dwyer.

I would ask people who oppose the way that the 'war on terrorism' is being used to wipe away the few remaining legal safeguards left to ordinary people and to impose a system of fear and oppression across the West as well as in the targeted countries of the Middle East , to stand up now for the rights of republican prisoners and their families .

The republican prisoners in Maghaberry and elsewhere would not be in prison if it were not for the political situation in Ireland .

That is an unfashionable and scary truth for many people who prefer to think that the capitulation of 'mainstream' Provisional republicanism is actually a victory and that those who oppose the 'new' regime can be easily labeled 'Terrorists' and 'Dissidents' and therefore deserve all they get.......
(MORE LATER).







Thursday, October 18, 2007



PICKET FOR POLITICAL STATUS....

On Saturday, October 20, 2007, at 12.45pm, a Republican picket will be held at the GPO in Dublin's O'Connell Street in support of political status for Irish Republican prisoners .
All Welcome !






Wednesday, October 17, 2007


O'Donovan Rossa , by Brian Na Banban.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Diarmuid O Donnabháin Rossa -
Honour and love to the name ,
There is nought in it mean or ignoble
It speaks not of serfdom or shame .

It tells of a life lived for Ireland ,
Of a heart fond and fearless and true -
Of a spirit untamed and defiant,
That the foeman could never subdue .

They chained him , they starved him , they scourged him ,
They tried every devil-spent plan :
To blacken the heart of the hero ,
To shatter the mind of the man.......

(MORE LATER).



ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.......

By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

On the industrial scene , significantly , from the 1930's right up to the 1960's , the only really successful development was when state investment created the semi-state bodies such as the Irish Sugar Company, the Milk Board, Aer Lingus and Irish Shipping. Private capital again failed to respond to the challenge of nominal political independence , and the Free State economy remained tied virtually completely to Britain .

Throughout the period as well , the possible political consequences of massive unemployment , poverty , rural decline and economic stagnation - the 'breeding ground' for revolutionary upheaval - were avoided by the traditional release valve of almost continuous emigration on a massive scale .

The establishment of the Industrial Development Authority in 1958 marked the beginning of a new era . Where Irish capital had failed , now foreign capital was to be attracted by every possible means - economic protectionism was abandoned and , by tax concessions , grants and the outlay of public funds , foreign capital - particularly American - was wooed into a desperate 26-County economy . Certainly , foreign capital taught the native variety a lesson in industrialisation , as through the 1960's and early 1970's - at a massive cost borne by the taxpayer themselves - foreign industrial development brought with it for the first time the hint of industrial prosperity.......
(MORE LATER).



PRISONERS RIGHTS - the mark of a civilised society .......

From 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003.
By Siobhan O'Dwyer.

The hostile treatment of these prisoners can also be related to the ' New World Order ' : the fact that hooded and manacled men are seen on TV screens in Guantanamo Bay, having been flown half way across the world without a trial or even being charged , means that many people have forgotten the meaning of Justice , Democracy or Human Rights or are at least willing to turn a blind eye .

There has been no mass movement to demand that those men be freed or at least charged and tried in a court of law and there is little or no outcry against the treatment of our own republican prisoners and their families here .

This is the main difficulty that the prisoners , their families and supporters face - how to separate the impact on ordinary people of 'the war on terrorism' from their right to demand that there is at least a right to due legal process and to be treated in a humane manner . Bernadette McAlliskey said recently that while she didn't agree with the ideological position of republican prisoners in the 1970's , 1980's , 1990's and up to today , that did not stop her standing with their families and friends to demand that they be treated with dignity and respect.......
(MORE LATER).







Tuesday, October 16, 2007



PICKET FOR POLITICAL STATUS....

On Saturday,October 20,2007, at 12.45pm, a Republican picket will be held at the GPO in Dublin's O'Connell Street in support of political status for Irish Republican prisoners .
All Welcome !






Monday, October 15, 2007

THEY ARE HELD IN BELFAST JAIL .......

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

DETAINED FOR POSSIBLE TRIAL :

J. Carville , Lurgan , County Armagh .
D. Casey , Coalisland , County Tyrone .
C. Grimes , Coalisland .
J. McGorry , Mountjoy , Dungannon , County Tyrone .
K. Mallon , Coalisland .
Seán O' Neill , Coalisland .
Seán Devlin , Coalisland .
Paddy O' Neill , Coalisland .
F. Talbot , Coalisland .
D. Devlin , Coalisland .
J. O' Donnell , Coalisland .
P. O' Neill , Coalisland .
D. McAlinden , Derryloughlin , Coalisland , County Tyrone .


[END of 'They Are Held In Belfast Jail']
(Next : O'Donovan Rossa , by Brian Na Banban. - from the same source)


ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.......

By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.

From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.

The Second World War, inevitably , and even more than any other British foreign war , had its effects on the Irish economy : fuel and raw materials , necessary to be imported for any real industrial advance , were almost impossible to attain but , at the same time , the total necessity of self-sufficiency forced the introduction of compulsory tillage for crop production on the farms .

In the economic world of widespread destruction and scarcity after the war , it could have been boom-time for the Free State economy , with a ready market for its agricultural produce , and a chance fior its manufacturing industries to quickly expand but , once more , there was scarcely any growth during this period because of the refusal of private Irish capital to invest .

Massive increases in subventions to farmers in the post-war period , far from encouraging tillage , saw surpluses in such subsidised crops as wheat and sugar beet , scarcities in other crops and the return to cattle as the Free State's main economic prop . Much the same was happening in relation to the industrial scene in the State.......
(MORE LATER).



PRISONERS RIGHTS - the mark of a civilised society .......

From 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003.
By Siobhan O'Dwyer.

The families of Irish Republican prisoners are also subjected to fear and humiliation every time they visit Maghaberry Gaol as they are singled out for 'special attention' from the sniffer dog to force them to take closed visits , which are usually refused ; parcels , books , papers for the prisoners are often 'mislaid' or take weeks to arrive and the families must share the visiting areas and the waiting rooms with known loyalist paramilitaries .

Visits are often cancelled after the visitors have arrived at the prison , often having travelled long distances with young children . Republican prisoners have agreed to undergo drug tests in order to prevent their family members and in particular the children , having to undergo the humiliating and frightening experience of being faced with this large sniffer dog .

By refusing , the Prison Service has shown that they are not interested in facilitating proper family contact for prisoners but only in enforcing a degrading regime . This hostile treatment can be related to the 'New World Order'.......
(MORE LATER).