IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......
....... a British 'hardman' , General 'Sir' Nevil Macready , went to 'great lengths' (!) to ensure that the local Irish people that he was about to terrorise could prepare themselves for his " punishment " ; he gave them one hours notice ....... !
It was British policy that those to be " punished " would be given one hour " to remove any valuable foodstuffs , hay or corn , but not furniture ... " from their homes , which were then reduced to rubble by the use of explosives . However , generous to a fault as the Brits are/were , a slightly different variation of this " punishment " was applied to those who lived in terraced houses - the furniture was to be removed from the dwelling and burned in the street !
On 3rd January 1921 , in Middleton , Cork , the Brits reduced seven houses to rubble " in Official reprisal ... " for an IRA ambush carried-out in the area , on 29th December 1920 , in which three RIC/Tan members were killed . 'The Cork Examiner' newspaper carried a report of that particular IRA operation -
'Attack on Police at Midleton ,
Followed by Ambush ,
Two constables dead .
Closing on to ten o'clock at night when the police patrol standing at a corner of the main street were attacked by a large number of men who fired on them from three directions . The firing was of rapid but short duration . The ten policemen were considerably outnumbered , and taken as they were , completely by surprise , they had little time to put up a defence .
One of them , Mullen , was shot by one of the first few shots discharged . He was killed instantly . A telephone call was made to Cork , and some lorries of police and ambulances set out and had nearly got to Midleton by 11.30 pm .
The procession of lorries and ambulances , it is stated , had their way further impeded about two miles from the town , by obstacles , such as heavy branches of trees , lying on the roadway . They were just within two miles of the town , at a point where boreens cut off the main road , when fire was opened on the last lorry .
A sharp encounter ensued . In all , three policemen died as a result of the shooting . '
It was also on that same date (ie 3rd January 1921) that 'The Cork Examiner' newspaper printed a statement from the Brits , in which they outlined their position , and intentions , regarding that IRA attack .......
(MORE LATER).
RELEASE NICKY KELLY .......
By Vincent Browne .
First published in 'Magill' magazine , April 1982 , pages 4 and 5 .
Re-published here in 8 parts .
(6 of 8).
That the Court of Criminal Appeal should consistently refuse to look behind the decision of the Special Criminal Court on such matters is a matter for considerable disquiet , for it means that there is effectively no check on the Special Criminal Court's inevitably prejudiced predisposition towards the Gardai .
Nicky Kelly's two co-defendants , Osgur Breathnach and Brian McNally , were discharged on appeal on technical grounds ; by that time Kelly had absconded to Canada - he had jumped bail before the verdict in the Special Criminal Court . However , once his co-defendants were acquitted by the Court of Criminal Appeal he returned to Ireland and gave himself up to the Gardai .
He was immediately imprisoned in Portlaoise Prison and he had considerable difficulty in winning a right to appeal his conviction , not having lodged his appeal within the statutory period .......
(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.
(8 of 13).
One month later , the prosecution wanted the case delayed until after a High Court hearing in Dublin , scheduled for July , in which John Patrick Quinn's affidavits would be a matter for legal argument . Senior Treasury Counsel for the prosecution , Roy Amlot , said that the 'speciality rule' - a rule which allows for an extradited person to be charged only with the offences for which they were extradited - would apply .
Amlot also said that this was an agreement " reached between the Irish Attorney General and the British Attorney General ... " - but 'sources close to the [Dublin] Government' have denied that such an " agreement " was ever reached . All charges were dismissed against Quinn and he returned to Ireland .
In the weeks following his release , the 'London Evening Standard' newspaper and the 'Daily Express' newspaper carried unattributed stories about John Patrick Quinn .......
(MORE LATER).
