IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... having 'lost' out badly in the 15th January 1920 local elections in Ireland , the Brits decided to 'batten down the hatches' ; within one year (ie by February 1920) a Bill was passed at Westminster .......
'The Government of Ireland Bill' was introduced at Westminster , having being produced after a five month 'consultation process' (sic - the Irish people were not consulted) - ie from October 1919 to February 1920 ; a British government cabinet committee gave the Bill its seal of approval .
This Bill proposed two 'Home Rule' parliaments in Ireland - one for the nine counties of Ulster , the other one for the rest of the country . The 'powers' that Westminster proposed to 'give' to those two puppet parliaments was strictly limited , with Westminster having the final say and , in order to 'sell' the idea to Nationalists/Republicans , a 'Council of Ireland' was promised by the Brits .
This 'sweetner' , the 'Council of Ireland' , was to be tasked " ... with a view to the eventual establishment of a parliament for the whole of Ireland and to bring about harmonious action between the parliaments and governments .."
The Unionists in Ireland were sceptical as to the 'benefits' for them of said Bill and 'Council'.......
(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 .
(12 of 18).
" From the outset , the Catholic hierarchy opposed the hunger-strike even though they offered no alternative course of action . We contended that their position has at all times been established by political consideration rather than the Christian values of truth and justice . Therefore , their stance has been extremely immoral and misleading .
At no time did the church publicly support the five demands or for that matter reject them ; equally, when specifically asked to respond to our August 6th 1981 statement , they kept silent .
Even though hunger-strikers were dying virtually on a weekly basis , they kept silent ......."
(MORE LATER).
A CASE OF IRISH JUSTICE .......
By Maureen Armstrong .
First published in ' The Spirit of Freedom ' magazine ; An Independent Journal of Irish News and Opinion ' .
Volume 2 , Number 5 , May 1987 , page 3 .
Re-published here in six parts .
(2 of 6).
British 'Lord' Justice Gibson was always picked to sit in judgment in cases of murder committed by RUC and British Army forces as it was understood that , in his court , they were certain to go free no matter how heinous the crime against the Nationalists .
As a Diplock court judge , Gibson was particulary harsh ; Martin Meehan , a Belfast man , was sentenced to a long term on the 'evidence' of a paid British informer . In November 1982 , Eugene Toman and his two friends were ambushed by an RUC 'death squad' in Craivagon . These young men were unarmed but they were riddled with British bullets .
In July 1984 , the three RUC agents who were responsible for the murders came before 'Lord' Justice Gibson ; he ordered the three murderers released at once and said that they should never have been charged ! Gibson commended them on their courage and determination and told them they had sent the three young Catholics "... to the final court of justice ."
(MORE LATER).
