IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... using the shooting dead of two RIC men in Tipperary by the IRA as a reason to 'crack-down' on the Republican Movement and the population in general , the Brits realised , too late , that they were doing themselves out of what little support they had left in Ireland . And local elections were looming .......
The Brits , stupid as they were (and are !) in regards to Irish affairs , were not dense ; they realised that public opinion was running against them , and to cancel or postpone the local elections , set for 15th January , 1920 , would only further inflame feelings against them so , in order to 'save face' from the shambles they had put themselves in , they attempted to confuse the issue -
- they declared that the 15th January 1920 municipal and urban elections would take place as due , but under a new system of voting - 'Proportional Representation' (PR) , which was introduced for Ireland only : Westminster was of the opinion that the PR voting system would reduce the number of seats likely to be won by Irish Republicans in the South of the country , but apparently did not forsee the effect it would have in the Ulster wards (ie - 9 Counties) .
At that time , Derry was 'the jewel in the (British) Crown' in Ireland ; but that was about to change .......
(MORE LATER).
Why We Ended The Hunger-Strike .
The full text of the H-Block Blanket Men's statement announcing the end of the 1981 Hunger-Strike .
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2, November 1981 , pages 23 , 24 , 25 and 26 .
Re-published here in 18 parts .
(10 of 18).
" Despite the electoral successes , despite the hundreds of thousands at hunger-strikers' funerals , despite massive and unprecedented displays of community support and solidarity , the British government adhered rigidly to the precept that 'might is right' and set about hammering home the point that nothing has really changed since the fall of Stormont or from the inception of this state .
That is , that nationalist Ireland must always be subjected to the British and loyalist veto .
On the same theme , the lesson of Fermanagh and South Tyrone is that the self-exalted ' British democracy ' is an expediency manufactured - again from the setting up of the border (the 'first and biggest gerrymander') - to preserve a continued British presence in Ireland ....... "
(MORE LATER).
ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
[13 of 13].
Asked about his family and his future , Patrick McIntyre stares at the floor - " They let me out for three days to attend my mother's funeral in March . I was told the best I could expect was to go there escorted , in handcuffs , but I fought the case for compassionate bail in the High Court and won . Then there was a rumour that the decision might be appealed by the state and I was thinking about that all the way during the journey from Dublin to Donegal . That was a shattering experience .
I tried to spend the three days with my family . There were thousands of people at the funeral and to the house . It was the first time that we had the family together for a long time , and we had photographs taken . I met a lot of people that I grew up with . Just before I left , my sister gave me a Saint Patrick's Day card that my mother had written , to me , in Saint Luke's Hospital . "
A knock comes to the door - it is time for him to go . What does he intend to do now ? , I ask - " Make it third time lucky . Or at least stay out longer than the past two times... "
[END of ' ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......'].
(Tomorrow - British 'Lord Justice' Gibson ; ' A CASE Of IRISH JUSTICE' - from 1987 .)
