THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.
On 6th December 1921 , the 'Treaty of Surrender' was signed in London ; included in that 'Treaty' was the establishment of a 'Boundary Commission' (Article 12 of said Treaty) to determine the boundaries between the partitioned 6 and 26-County 'States' .
Those who favoured the Six County 'Ulster' (sic) remaining as " part of the United Kingdom " were outraged - the British Administration in the Six Counties , which operated from Stormont , dis-agreed with the 'terms of reference' of the Boundary Commission , which were -
- " To determine in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants so far as may be compatible with economic and geographic conditions , the boundaries between Northern Ireland (sic) and the rest of Ireland ....... " .
This was later 'tweaked' to prevent any of the Administrations (ie Dublin , Stormont or Westminster) from giving ' privileges to , or imposing disabilities on , anyone because of religion ....' . This Boundary Commission was to consist of three members .......
(MORE LATER).
PLASTIC BULLETS.......
First published in 'IRIS' Magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
In April 1981, 1,955 plastic bullets were fired - a rate of one every 20 minutes over the month . This was more than in the whole of 1980 .
Plastic bullets do not arouse the indignation that normal bullets excite . Over 7,000 have been fired since the death of Bobby Sands (ie May 1981 - November 1981) .
The intent of the British is that the mass protests can be shot off the streets without international opinion responding , as it would to news of large numbers of civilians being shot-up with buck shot or live rounds in , for example , South Africa .
Cases since April 1981 ; ' * ' denotes plastic bullet death .
Re-published here in 11 parts .
(3 of 11).
May 9th , 1981 . Dominic Marron , 15 years of age , Falls , Belfast . Shot by RUC , severely injured , many days in intensive care , suffered brain damage .
May 11th , 1981 . * (Day of Francis Hughes' death.) Julie Livingstone , 14 years of age , Lenadoon , Belfast . Shot from rear of British armoured car : Julie had two brothers in H-Block . She died in hospital May 13th , 1981 . Julie was walking home with a bottle of milk from a local shop - there was no riot in the area .
May 12th , 1981 . Pauline Donnelly , 21 years of age , Falls , Belfast . Mother of five-month-old child . Shot at point-blank range from rear of RUC landrover . Badly bruised behind left ear . Two men , Frankie Short and Victor Angels , who came to her assistance , were also hit .
May 13th , 1981 . David Madden , four-and-a-half years of age , Turf Lodge , Belfast . Shot by RUC while leaving school . Other children were fired at but not hit . David received six stitches to his head .
May 13th , 1981 . Neil Lynash , 5 years of age , Grosvenor Road , Belfast . Shot by RUC . A skin graft over serious burn wounds was ripped-off by the bullet . He was sitting outside Lappin's sweet shop when shot .
(MORE LATER).
THE EXTRADITION FIASCO .......
By Derek Dunne .
First published in 'Magill' magazine , October 1985 , pages 9,10 and 11.
Re-published here in 13 parts.
[13 of 13].
Then came the case of Seamus Shannon , wanted for killing eighty-six year-old 'Sir' Norman Stronge and his son , James ; it is felt that these were particularly "emotive" cases , not likely to benefit from the political exception from extradition . Philip McMahon's extradition was turned down ; one of the reasons for this was that four of McMahon's co-accused had appeared in court in the Republic (sic) nine years previously , had asserted that the offence of escaping from Newry Courthouse was political , and were not extradited .
The latter case of John Patrick Quinn turned completely on its head the traditional assumption of a " political offence " . Senior Counsel and President of the Irish Bar Council , Paddy MacEntee , says that the case of John Patrick Quinn " presents a most disquieting set of facts " and that " it needs to be looked into in all its aspects as a matter of urgency . " John Patrick Quinn faced three years of High and Supreme Court battles without any legal aid .
Both the Irish Attorney General , John Rodgers , and his British counterpart , Michael Havers , have refused to comment .
[END of ' THE EXTRADITION FIASCO .....' ].
(Tomorrow - 'Noraid's Untold Millions' ; from 1987.)
