Working within British 'law' with a vow NOT to use force against the British....... :
DANIEL O'CONNELL -1843 ;
THE PROVISIONALS -1994 TO DATE .
.......the 'new' British 'broom' in Westminster swept clean ; 'Lord' John Russell's administration , represented by British Treasury Head Charles Trevelyan , cancelled relief efforts for the Irish .......
A report from that period (possibly in 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper , around October 1846) stated that ' ...several hundred men , often carrying shovels , were marching into towns and on to landlords estates pleading for work . When several thousand called on the Marquis of Sligo at his house in Westport they were careful not to tread on his grass , and even though he had no work for them they were rewarded by being told he would not harass them for their rents. ' A generous boss , to be sure ...
A British 'Justice of the Peace' (no name given) wrote from County Mayo - " The heart sickens at the sight of so many creatures all but dead ; many , many , many are not able to work , they are so debilitated from want of food . I see hundreds of women and children going through the stubble fields striving to get an old stalk of potato ..." It was these same " debilitated creatures " that had put their faith in Daniel O'Connell to speak up for them , but the great 'Liberator' , who lived in a stand-alone mansion overlooking Kenmare Bay in County Kerry , 'Derrynane House' (where his uncle , Maurice O'Connell , used to live) failed them by his own hand .
By giving a vow to work within British 'law' and to use "moral force" only , he could only 'achieve' as much freedom as the British were willing to give him .......
(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.......
".......the Brits would , on occasion , 'play' even dirtier than usual - either for revenge , or just to terrorise our supporters . But it did'nt stop us , or our people ....... "
" At that time the people of Ballyvourney , and indeed of all our area , would not yield an inch to tyranny or terror . On the day of Liam Hegarty's funeral they showed their appreciation of the man who died for Ireland and their contempt for the deed of terror . Behind the marching Companies of the IRA came a mile-long procession of horsemen and vehicles . The Black and Tans in Ballyvourney , peering from behind their shutters , must have thought it interminable .
The Black and Tans in Kilgarvan , County Kerry , where we laid Liam Hegarty to rest , must have thought likewise . But whatever their thoughts , they did not come out to investigate the invasion ; the barracks and the graveyard , both in the village , were but a short distance apart . The IRA firing-party's volleys , by a coincidence , were directed over the roof of the barracks . The Tans must have heard the bullets whistle , for we used sharp ammunition .
The next shooting , the cold-blooded and deliberate murder of a civilian , took place in the village of Ballymakeera on the evening of 1st November 1920 . Elsewhere I have described how , at noon on the same day , the British Auxiliaries from Macroom had surprised two IRA men in the act of burning the Black and Tan Barrack at the Mills , Ballyvourney ......."
(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 .
(18 of 21).
Within two years the number of American 'military advisers' in Vietnam jumped from 500 to 10,000 . Back in 1945 , Ho Chi Minh had been an informer for the American 'Office of Strategic Services' (OSS) (forerunner of the CIA) , giving them intelligence on China and Vietnam . The Americans had , however , backed the French attempts to retain control in Vietnam and when the French failed , the Americans took on the burden .
By now , with Kennedy playing macho politics , the war between Vietnamese nationalism and Western imperialism was getting into top gear .
Kennedy was dead by the time the CIA set up the 'Provincial Reconnaissance Units' (RCU) ; these units were established to use murder , kidnapping and intimidation to reduce rural support for the Viet Cong . Two years later, in 1967 , the RCU's were incorporated into the 'Phoenix Programme' .......
(MORE LATER).
