JULY-DECEMBER 1921 : Revenge Attacks on Republicans During The 'Truce' .......
....... Ireland 1921 - the Custom House was destroyed , the Dublin Brigade IRA was temporarly put out of action , 'hand-to-hand' fighting in parts of the country between the Brits and the Irish Rebels , "extensive" arms finds by the British .......
.....and , in May and June 1921 , there was over two-thousand engagements between the IRA and the Brits in each month ! In May 1921 , elections were held under the British 'Government of Ireland Act' , and Sinn Fein/Republican candidates who won seats refused to attend the 'Home Rule' Parliament in Dublin .
Also that same month (May 1921) British General Macready wrote a memorandum to the British Cabinet (dated May 24th 1921) in which he stated that a full military victory against the guerrilla forces of the IRA was almost an impossibility ; he suggested the introduction of total martial law , the suppression of all newspapers , the licensing of all public traffic on the roads , identity cards and the suppression of any Irish Republican Parliament !
Macready's political masters in Westminster felt that such measures were too extreme ; in reality , there was one over-riding reason why such an order would not be issued to General Macready .......
(MORE LATER).
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
THE CASTLE OF MACROOM .......
".......fifty of us , all armed , were marching thirty miles to carry-out an operation in Macroom . We were crossing an old bog , when it started to crack and splinter - I warned the lads near me as the bank of the bog threatened to give way ......."
" Then I saw something glitter in one of the cracks , on the 'sound' side of it . I dropped on my knees to examine the object ; it appeared to be made of bronze and a circular segment of it showed through the face of the bank . It was undoubtedly an ancient article and from the portion which showed I concluded that the entire object was a large bowl or cauldron . The topmost edge was but a few inches below ground level , and two of the lads who had remained behind with me grasped the thing and tried to tear it out of the ground .
We failed , and we shouted after the Column to wait for us ; the group halted , and our Brigadier , looking back at us , shouted - "What are ye doing there , Mick ?" "We are trying to dig out a piece of bronz here , Sean . It looks very ancient . I think it is a big bowl or a cauldron ." "An ancient cauldron , ?" he shouted derisively , " some old poteenmakers' pot , most likely !" So saying , he turned about and walked on . Snatching a bayonet , I drove it several times through the mould to get some idea of the dimensions of the vessel . Then we hastened after the Column .
Very soon we were dropping , almost vertically , on to the little railway station at Morley's Bridge . Crossing the railway tracks , the road to Kenmare , and a bridge , we turned left on the road to Ballyvourney . Soon we were marching on a road that led for miles uphill through a bare and rocky glen , and the wildly cascading Roughty River which kept on rushing down to meet us ......."
(MORE LATER).
' COLONEL OLIVER NORTH WOULD'NT DO ANYTHING THAT REAGAN DID'NT APPROVE ' .......
'The chain of events that has become known as IRANGATE is circling ever tighter around President Reagan . Sean Cronin draws together some of the links in the bizarre story'
First published in 'The Irish Times' newspaper , Tuesday , February 10th , 1987 , page 14 .
Re-produced here in 12 parts.
7 of 12.
In November , the CIA shipped arms at the direction of Colonel Oliver North , who was also the U S Administration's Liaison Officer with the Contras , whose cause he supported fervently . There are also reports that Colonel North shipped arms to the Contras via Portugal with the help of the CIA , although the U S Congress specifically prohibited such aid .
Oliver North was also linked with the 'private' supply network organised by General Secord for the Contras ; Portugal says it did not authorise such flights . Robert McFarlane was beginning to have doubts about the 'Iran initiative' in November 1985 and , early in December that year , he recommended that the operation be closed down . He then resigned as the U S President's National Security Adviser and , on December 8th , met Mr. Kimche and Mr. Ghorbanifar in London to tell them of the decision.......
(MORE LATER).
