Working within British 'law' with a vow NOT to use force against the British....... :
DANIEL O'CONNELL -1843 ;
THE PROVISIONALS -1994 TO DATE .
.......The 'Famine' in mid-19th Century Ireland was nothing of the sort ; every foodstuff except the potato was available - but not for the poor and hungry . The Irish people were distraught ; the Brits and their friends in the 'landlord class' moved in to take further advantage .......
As if man-made 'Famine' was'nt enough for the Irish people to contend with , the Brits made life even more miserable for the dying ; a report in 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper (Summer 1846) gave the following description of an eviction in County Galway -
- " It was the most appalling sight I ever witnessed : women , young and old , running wildly to and fro with small portions of their property to save it from the wreck . The screaming of the children , and wild wailings of the mothers driven from home and shelter ... in the first instance the roofs and portions of the wall only were thrown down .
But that Friday night the wretched creatures pitched a few poles slant-wise against the walls covering them with thatch in order to procure shelter for the night . When this was perceived the next day the bailiffs were despatched with orders to pull down all the walls and root-up the foundations in order to prevent the poor people from daring to take shelter amid the ruins ..."
Meanwhile , as the Irish people were suffering - un-necessarily , for the most part - a different government came to power in England ; a new Prime Minister , 'Lord' John Russell , replaced 'Sir' Robert Peel at the end of June 1846 . The situation was to change for the Irish - but not for the better .......
(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.
SHOOTINGS.......
" An 'abandoned' British military lorry ; genuine , or a trap ? If we waited too long to investigate , and the lorry was genuinely broke down , the Brits might return to tow it away . But , if we moved in too quickly ....... "
" The children had again returned to the vicinity of the lorry , and a few local IRA Volunteers had strolled along from the village and had stopped on the opposite side of the road from it . It was their intention to give it only a few moments of inspection and then move on again . But their brief scrutiny revealed nothing and they lingered on , intrigued by the mystery , and loth to leave without finding a solution .
Meanwhile , Liam Hegarty and Dannie Healy arrived at the lorry ; with little delay , Liam passed by one side to grasp the engine bonnet fastenings , while at the other side Dannie lifted a corner of the body covering . From within came a fusilade of rifle shots - Liam , whether hit or not , managed to cross a low bank which served as the road fence on his side . Then turning left he travelled in its small shelter for a short distance before he fell .
Dannie dashed to the other side of the road and , gaining some scanty cover , got away unscathed . The other IRA Volunteers and the children all escaped injury . But it was not over yet ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CIA : REAGAN'S SECRET ARMY .......
Since 1947 , the CIA has been a powerful force in covertly executing American internal and foreign policy . A major book detailing the workings , methods and sometimes incompetence of the secret service - 'The Agency ; The Rise and Decline of The CIA ' , by John Ranelagh , has recently been published .
Gene Kerrigan examines the books findings and assesses the importance of 'The Agency' and the role it has played over the last 39 years .
First published in 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper , Dublin , 24th August 1986 , page 11.
Re-produced here in 21 parts .
(16 of 21).
U S President John F. Kennedy and the CIA made frantic efforts to get rid of Fidel Castro ; in 1959 , the CIA used their part-time agent Robert Maheu (he had made the Sukarno porn movie and in 1954 he had bugged Aristotle Onassis for the CIA in a little sting to protect American oil interests) to organise Castro's assassination . Maheu offered $150,000 dollars to three gangsters to kill Castro ; the gangsters had lost their gambling and prostitution palaces in Cuba and they wanted them back .
They were happy to oblige ; over the next three years there were several attempts to kill Castro - in February 1961 one of the gangsters , John Rosselli , got poison pills from the CIA and organised two assassination attempts . There were attempts with poison pens , bacterial powder in a diving suit and a poison dart gun !
There were lots of "whatever works" ideas floating about : like putting toxic dust in Castro's shoes which would cause his beard to fall out , so he would lose his 'charisma' and be overthrown ! Like staging a " second coming " to convince Catholic Cubans that Christ would come to Cuba if they overthrew Castro ...
... - apparently , a similar project had been mounted in the Philippines years earlier , broadcasting to 'primitive' tribes from helicopters !
(MORE LATER).
