THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... included in the wording of Article 12 of the 1921 Treaty of Surrender (ie the 'Boundary Commission' clause) was a declaration that the border could be 'adjusted' " in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants ... " ; this meant one thing to Eoin MacNeill , the Free State representative on the Commission , and something altogether different to the two British reps on that body.......
J.R. Fisher (the Stormont rep , who was put on the Commission by Westminster !) and Chairperson Feetham told Eoin MacNeill that the term " in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants ... " meant " the inhabitants " of the Six County 'State' itself , not 'individual' parts of it ! Incidentally - ( 'tangent' here !) - the newspaper that J.R. Fisher edited , 'The Northern Whig' , published regularly for 139 years - from 1824 to 1963 !
It was a morning newspaper which , from 1824 to 1858 , was available (I believe) at least for three days out of every week - in 1858 , it published daily . It was in competition with the 'Belfast News Letter' newspaper , which was the market leader , and , to a lesser extent , with the 'Irish News' newspaper . From around the late 1950's , the 'Northern Whig' newspaper was in trouble financially , with losses of about £30,000 , a huge sum in those days and , in July 1963 , the management dismissed five of the journalists to cut costs ; the remaining 20 journalists went on strike that month , in response to their colleagues losing their jobs .
But the other employees on the 'paper , about eighty in all , passed the picket and carried on 'scabbing' . Circulation dropped and advertising revenue all but dried up - in September 1963 , 'The Northern Whig' newspaper closed : one of those who lost his job that month (ie September 1963) was a certain Mr. Wesley Boyd , who was the 'London Editor' for the 'Whig' . He got a job with 'The Irish Times' newspaper , Dublin , as 'Diplomatic Correspondent' and went from there to Radio Telefis Eireann (RTE) as 'Head of News' - which , of course , had no bearing at all (!) on that institutions treatment of how they viewed the Irish Republican struggle (ie Republicans were then , and are now , ignored by the so-called 'National Broadcaster' or , at best , have a 'spin' put on statements etc issued by that branch of the media ) .
[EXAMPLE - this Christmas day , at 12 noon , the '1169...' crew will be going to watch sponsored swimmers in Dublin's Grand Canal at Inchicore , Dublin , as they raise money for the CABHAIR organisation : this is the 28th successive year for this swim (1976 - 2004) and NOT ONCE has RTE sent even a radio reporter , never mind a camera-crew , to cover the event , despite being notified each year of the time , place etc !]
End of that 'tangent' ! ; one would wonder as to what Eoin MacNeill believed would come from the table of the Boundary Commission .......
(MORE LATER).
WE FIGHT ON , SAY IRA CHIEFS .......
... and Maggie is still on their hit list .
Twenty years into their campaign against the British Army , the IRA is still as far from victory , or defeat , as ever . Now , its leaders talk exclusinely about their plans .
Margaret Thatcher is still a target , so are some members of the British Royal family , while attacks on British forces in continental Europe will continue . Peace is out , says a spokesman , there is nothing to be gained from a ceasefire .
By Derek Dunne .
First published in 'NOW' magazine , volume 1 , No. 4 , October 1989 , pages 5 and 6 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
( 2 of 10).
There has been speculation from time to time about whether or not the British Royal family are targetted , but the IRA spokesman refused to be drawn on this . However , he did say -
- " This question has been put by the British tabloids along the lines of ' Prince Harry in danger from the IRA .. ' . Of course this is nonsense ; the fact is that a number of people active in the British royal family have titular positions as commander-in-chiefs of various British regiments which have been responsible for killing Irish men , Irish women and Irish children .
They have allowed themselves to be paraded over here as morale boosters for British forces and Unionists . They have played a part in trying to degrade the majority of people in Ireland and particularly the nationalist community in the North , who are persecuted in the name of the Crown . As for who is and is'nt a target , why should we make life easier for the British security services by publicly stating which member of their royal family is or is'nt a target ?
Let them protect them all , and let them all be on edge . "
The IRA spokesperson was then asked about British ministers at Stormont .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(10 of 31).
Michael Flannery admits that his Committee preferred to send money in cash with people they trusted - " With cash , " he says , " the government did'nt know how much we sent . " Also according to Flannery , the Committee asks people going to Ireland if they would be prepared " to take a message ... " for them . In one instance in 1985 a prominent member of the Committee on an Irish trip handed over cheques worth £40,000 to the prisoners dependents fund .
In the early days most of the money was collected in bars in the big cities - sometimes more ambitious schemes were employed . A prominent Irish-born bar and restaurant owner in Manhattan organised a fund-raising concert for NORAID at Carnegie Hall in 1972 that realised $21,500 . On another occasion , NORAID raffled off a car and raised $13,000 . Beginning in January 1973 , the Committee held annual fund-raising dinners at the Astoria Manor Ballroom in Queens .
Other 'Testimonial Dinners' were held by different units in Boston and Philidelphia , but the New York event was the biggest .......
(MORE LATER).
