Wednesday, January 27, 2010


Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....


" The announcement by the British was timed to make publicity and political capital in the same way as the South African apartheid regime announced the release of eight PAC and ANC political prisoners , some of whom had been held for up to 28 years , to influence the Commonwealth Conference in Kuala Lumpur this week and in particular to strengthen the anti-sanctions lobby led by Mrs. Thatcher.

Indeed their acting in concert on the international arena , their sharing of almost identical censorship laws , catch-all conspiracy laws and rascist attitudes , the British and South African regimes are more and more resembling an 'International League of Oppressors' .

The publicity expressed views of David Evans MP for Welwyn and Hatfield , for instance, would surely be as acceptable in Pretoria as in London : Mr Evans announced at the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool this month that he was , and I quote, -
"a hanger and a flogger and I would shut Northern Ireland off from the press and media and send the SAS in and hang the bloody lot of them ".
Aithnionn ciaróg ciaróg eile! "
(MORE LATER).




BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)

The murdered * man was John Corcoran, then aged 45 and father of eight children , living in Ballyvolane , a suburb of Cork city. In a statement issued following his murder * , the IRA claimed that he had been "executed" because , as an IRA member, he had given information to the 'security forces' in the 26 Counties.

The man who has claimed his part in the murder * is Seán O' Callaghan who , at the time, was the chief garda informant within the IRA. O' Callaghan has claimed that, even though he was then operating within the IRA to prevent the loss of lives , he took part in the murder* of John Corcoran to protect his cover as an informer.

O' Callaghan has also claimed that he fully briefed his garda 'handler' of the capture and detention of John Corcoran but that the gardaí failed to intervene to save Corcoran's life.......
(MORE LATER).



TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.
From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.

Meeting for their annual conference in 1978 , the delegates to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions adopted a resolution on prison reform - the major points of which were statements of principle as to how a modern penal service should be run.

The resolution was carried , after intensive lobbying, by delegates , who supported the protesting prisoners in the H-Blocks and Armagh . Notable among those lobbyists was Philip Flynn, deputy general secretary of the white-collar Local Government and Public Services Union, who is currently a member of the Sinn Féin National Executive.

In a brief interview , Philip Flynn explained to this magazine what was being expressed by that particular motion.......
(MORE LATER).