THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... after about one year spent arguing about what the term " ... in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants .. " actually meant , the Boundary Commission decided ( by a two-thirds majority - ie the two Brit representatives !) that the Free State should cede some of its territory to the Six County 'State' ....... !
Eoin MacNeill , the Free State representative on the Boundary Commission , resigned in disgust : but you would wonder , again , that he found himself in that position at all , on that November day in 1924 ; one of those who had signed the 1921 Treaty of Surrender for the British side , a 'Sir' Lamington Worthington-Evans (who , by the sound of it , must have been a great cricket player !) had let it be known , in practically the same breath with which he signed that Treaty -
- " It was not intended that there should be large transfers of territory . If by any chance the (Boundary) Commissioners felt themselves at liberty to order the transfer of one of these counties , nothing would induce the Ulster (sic) people to accept such a decision and no British Government would be guilty of the supreme folly of trying to enforce such a decision . "
In actual fact , the British Prime Minister , Lloyd George , said much the same thing even before the Boundary Commission had its first meeting and agreed with a resolution passed by the British House of 'Lords' that the Commission "... contemplated nothing more than a re-adjustment of boundaries - no other interpretation is acceptable or could be enforced . " Also , Eoin MacNeill and his colleagues in Leinster House must have known 'the game was up' when , following the refusal of the 'Prime Minister' of the Six County Stormont (British) 'Parliament' , 'Sir' James Craig , to elect a member to the Boundary Commission , Westminster , in turn , refused to establish any such Commission at all and asked one of its own Legal Committees where it stood in relation to such a move .
That British Legal Committee , the ' Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ' , issued its ruling on 31st July 1924 - it stated : " If no appointment is made (ie by 'Sir' Craig) the (Boundary) Commission cannot go on . " What happened next was , in this scribblers opinion , highly dubious and illegal .......
(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 .
( 5 of 10).
The IRA spokesperson stated -
- " The gains a military strategy creates have to be capitalised on by politics ; by that I mean there is no point in fighting a struggle when the human costs are great , only to hand over the advantage to people who are socially and economically comfortable to begin with . We are fighting an armed struggle from within that area in circumstances which can be described as foreign military occupation and the aim is to improve the lot of the oppressed people and to bring about a radical change in the relationship between Ireland and Britain .
We are aiming to break the British connection and we know that until that is done the loyalist will never integrate with the rest of the Irish people , that we will never be equal with Britain until Britain withdraws and that this country can stand up internationally on equal terms with her . The irony is that we know we will take a lot of flak in the course of the struggle from people who are opportunistic or short-sighted or who are satisfied enough and have settled for partition whilst paying lip-service to independence and that we will be vindicated at the end of it all , just as the people who went into the GPO in 1916 and were repudiated , have since been exulted . ( '1169...' comment - an apt description of those in Leinster House ; those who have "... settled for partition whilst paying lip-service to independence .... ").
But as with previous inquiries as to how long more the war will take , the IRA are unable to quantify it ; they say that "nobody thought it was going to be as long as this " and that " you can't put a time on it " - that is within Britain's remit . We have afforded them more opportunities to honourably withdraw , we have called ceasefires and truces which they abused . At one stage the leadership of the IRA believed the Brits were withdrawing , but they were actually building the H Blocks in Long Kesh . The people who want peace are the Irish Republicans , because they know the price of war .
The people who want war are the British because they know the price of peace - a free Ireland , a free people and the potential to progress ....... "
(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 .
( 13 of 31).
Another FBI memo , dated 29th June 1973 , gives an example of this effect ; FBI agents were investigating New Jersey's Bergen County NORAID Chapter after it had collected $10,000 - a member of that NORAID Chapter was questioned , and he told the FBI that " ... the money they had raised was given with the intention that homeless and poor people in the North of Ireland would receive food and clothing . "
The FBI said that it believed that the money went for other purposes , and that the INAC was being asked to declare its relationship to the IRA . The FBI memo noted that its agents were later informed that ' the membership had been greatly curtailed because members feel that some of the aid given may be used to obtain things to cause destruction . '
Another member of the Bergen County NORAID Chapter told the FBI that controversy had broken out in it because of the investigation . Some members who were against violence wanted to resign ; this man told the FBI agents he would leave NORAID if it was shown to be connected to the IRA - he then volunteered his help to the FBI to " locate terrorists ... "
(MORE LATER).
