IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......

....... the 'Sinn Fein Courts' were dealing with land issues as well as other civil matters , and were respected by the population who had now turned their back on the British 'Court' system.......

Parish Courts , District Courts and a Supreme Court were established , and a Republican Police Force was mobilised to assist in the running of the Republican Court system ; by late 1919 , the British 'writ' in Ireland was so weak that 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood , the then British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland' , stated to other British Ministers -

- " We can only rely on the Navy , Military and RIC . The Dublin Police cannot be relied on , nor the Post Office , nor the Civil Service . "

On that same day when the All-Ireland Dail Eireann met for the first time in Dublin's Mansion House (ie 21st January 1919) , two RIC men were shot dead in Soloheadbeg in County Tipperary by the IRA ; the cartload of gelignite they were guarding was the target , but they would'nt hand it over without a fight . They lost .

That IRA Active Service Unit was led by Dan Breen and Sean Treacy , who had acted without approval from Michael Collins (military) or Eamonn de Valera (political) ; Dan Breen was called on to account for his IRA Unit's actions on that day by his own leadership .......

(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 .
(7 of 18).

" The British government , having been exposed for the hypocrites they are at the first Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election , had instigated and passed legislation which erased our right to participate in elections and , this done , they fixed the by-election for Bobby Sands' seat for August 20th , 1981 .

By this time a new , active ,treacherous and vigorous campaign was underway to break the hunger-strike ; it was orchestrated by clerics who received approval from the Catholic Church and , on occasion , other individuals were involved also . Attempts were made to discredit we prisoners and the National H-Block Armagh Committee . Most damaging was the promotion of the 'hopeless' syndrome , the projection of which , plus the private lobbying of relatives to effect intervention when hunger-strikers were going into a coma , was proving to be a serious threat to the continuation of the hunger-strike....... "

(MORE LATER).


ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(10 of 13).

A Supreme Court ruling of April 3rd 1987 confirmed that a Chief Superintendent must give evidence of his suspicions when he is issuing an extension order ; it is not sufficient to confirm that he issues the order , he must say why .

Patrick McEntee SC had been added to the defence team - McIntyre's supporters were confident of victory . On the afternoon of 7th May 1987 , Patrick McIntyre was freed , courtesy of a legal loophole which has since been closed ; the Provisionals had a motorbike waiting outside the courtroom and he was driven off at high speed and buried in city centre traffic .

Garda have eighteen further warrants in relation to Patrick McIntyre ; his extradition is still being sought by the British , and he is now on the run .......

(MORE LATER).
('1169...' Comment - We would like to congratulate Republican Sinn Fein on its 100th Ard Fheis this weekend , Saturday 13th November and Sunday 14th November . It has been a long and hard road for RSF , but that's as it has always been ...)

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IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......

....... declared an " illegal assembly " by Westminster in September 1919 , the all-Ireland Dail Eireann went 'underground' and continued to function .......

'Land Banks' were established , which lent money to 'tenant' farmers to assist them in buying their farms , and 'Land Courts' were set-up to deal with disputes . Also , 'Arbitration Courts' (also known as 'Peoples Courts') , which came to be known as 'Sinn Fein Courts' , were flourishing - it was estimated that as many as 900 Irish Republican Courts were by then in operation .

These Irish Republican Courts were used by the ordinary people who had by now stopped going to the RIC or to British 'Courts' . A British 'landlord' wrote of his attendance at one such 'Sinn Fein Court' , where a dispute between two men on 'his' estate had been referred for resolution -

- " Here is one instance of many . A man stole a lot of harness belonging to a small farmer in the neighbourhood . The Sinn Fein Court tried him , convicted him and sentenced him to restore the harness , carrying it all himself , and making him take off his shoes and stockings and perform the task walking over a very rough and stony road for five miles . "

The all-Ireland Dail Eireann , although forced by the British to operate 'in the shadows' , was going from strength to strength ; Westminster was aware of that fact .......

(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 .
(6 of 18).

" On July 13th , 1981 , we were shocked and dismayed to hear that Martin Hurson had been violently ill and had died unexpectedly and prematurely . The next significant development was the British government-sponsored intervention of the 'International Red Cross' (IRC) , which tried to initiate direct dialogue between the Brits and ourselves - the Brits rejected this and suggested mediation based on their July 8th statement , which was aimed at defeating us and unproductive , and we rejected this as futile .

We pointed out to the IRC that , as the Brits were not interested in an honourable settlement , their interest in the IRC must logically be to use them ; a Red Cross delegate asked for a further break-down of our July 4th statement and was initially refused . However , after discussion , we complied and issued the August 6th statement and asked the British government , the Dublin government , the SDLP and the Catholic Church to respond to our statement .

Soon Kieran Doherty , Kevin Lynch and Thomas McElwee were to be murdered by Britain ....... "

(MORE LATER).



ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(9 of 13).

When the case came before District Justice mcMenamin again in Donegal town on January 14th , 1987 , he again heard Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby question the validity of the Section 30 extension ; but Judge McMenamin dismissed the arguments and granted the extradition order . An appeal was immediately lodged in the High Court .

McIntyre's case was becoming something of a cause celebre ; on March 10th , 1987 , when the Dail (sic) met to elect a Taoiseach , Independent Donegal TD (sic) , Neil Blaney , demanded that the extradition arrangements between Britain and Ireland " ... be repealed so that in the interim a young county man of mine , by name McIntyre ...be not extradited ."

But when the case came before Mr Justice Gannon in the High Court last month (ie May 1987), Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby had further 'ammunition' - as well as the ruling in the McShane , McPhilips , Eccles (Drumree) case which included this phrase in relation to the person issuing extension orders ... "... is bona fide suspected by him of being involved in the offence for which he was arrested ... " , Gageby had the additional support of a Supreme Court ruling of April 3rd last .......

(MORE LATER).
('1169...' Comment - We would like to congratulate Republican Sinn Fein on its 100th Ard Fheis this weekend , Saturday 13th November and Sunday 14th November . It has been a long and hard road for RSF , but that's as it has always been ...)

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IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......

....... at the first meeting of the 32-County Dail Eireann , in Dublin's Mansion House , on 21st January 1919 , Cathal Brugha was elected as ' Acting President ' in place of Eamonn de Valera , who was at that time still in a British jail ...

It should be noted that Eamonn de Valera had contested a seat in the 14th December 1918 General Election for the Falls constituency of Belfast but lost to local 'United Irish League' leader , Joe Devlin , by 8,488 votes to 3,245 .

However - in January 1919 , the First Dail met ; in September 1919 , the British declared Dail Eireann to be an " ...illegal assembly .." , and it was forced to go 'underground' . But 'underground' or not , it still functioned : Michael Collins and Harry Boland made plans to rescue de Valera from Lincoln Jail in England and , on 3rd February 1919 , after four cakes , each containing a key (!) had been sent into him , he escaped .

In April 1919 , Eamonn de Valera was elected by the Dail as 'Head of the Irish Government' ; finance was raised by selling 'Republican Bonds' and the Minister for Finance , Michael Collins , raised £358,000 in this manner .

A daily (or almost so !) 'News Bulletin' was published , meetings were held regularly , including a large gathering in Cork (in January 1920) organised by the 'Dail Commission on Irish Industrial Resources' which was attended by farmers , business people , shop-owners etc. and various experts in the 'produce market' .

The population were willing to show their support for the "...illegal.." all-Ireland Dail Eireann .......

(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 .
(5 of 18).

" On July 4th , 1981 , the 'Irish Commission for Justice and Peace' (ICJP) entered the H-Blocks and put proposals to the hunger-strikers ; they put the same proposals to Brendan McFarlane the next day .

On July 8th , 1981 , Joe McDonnell died and the British Government issued their policy statement . We released a statement rejecting the British Government's statement and ambiguous proposals as even less than what we were originally led to believe was offered via the ICJP .

We also rejected the ICJP's proposals which totally evaded the crux of the issue and we expressed our belief that the British Government had used the ICJP to foster the impression that a settlement was imminent . Westminster's renegal on their own commitment to the ICJP compounded our belief that the ICJP were being used .

Later , the ICJP itself dismissed the British Government's proposals as not a genuine attempt at a settlement ....... "

(MORE LATER).


ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(8 of 13).

Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy left the witness box ; defence counsel Patrick Gageby did'nt even attempt to smile ; but he did believe that 'the door had been left ajar' ...

Early last year Patrick Gageby and Anne Rowland had unsuccessfully appealed the three convictions of County Louth men in the Drumree Post Office murder trial - Garda Frank Hand had been killed in an armed robbery .

In the Court of Criminal Appeal , however , Gageby had spotted one sentence and quietly filed it away . He now suggested that Chief Superintendent Murphy had not informed the court of his state of mind when signing the extension order ; it had not been proven that the garda officer had the requisite mental element to justify the detention .

State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin was quickly on his feet trying to answer the point ; District Justice McMenamin adjourned the hearing to consider this and other legal matters raised .......

(MORE LATER).

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IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......

....... after the 1918 Election , Sinn Fein MP's refused to take their seats in Westminster (or any financial gain from same) ...

Instead , they convened the first meeting of Dail Eireann (a 32-County body) in Dublin's Mansion House on 21st January 1919 ; all those elected in Ireland were invited to attend same but the Unionist MP's refused , as did those elected under the banner of a so-called 'United Irish League' (UIL) - the parliamentary nationalists ( ie John Redmond's men ) .

In the Mansion House that day , 37 of the 73 Sinn Fein TD's (referred to as 'MP's' in Westminster) made a 'Declaration of Independence' (Note : the remaining 36 Sinn Fein TD's were still in British jails) -

- " We , the elected representatives of the ancient Irish people in National Parliament assembled , do , in the name of the Irish nation , ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command...

We ordain that the elected representatives of the Irish people alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland and that the Irish Parliament is the only parliament to which that people will give its allegiance . We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English garrison ..."

Cathal Brugha was elected as 'Acting President' in place of Eamonn de Valera who was still in a British prison .......

(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 .
(4 of 18).

" On June 11th , 1981 , nine Irish Republican prisoners stood in the Southern general election ; of these , Paddy Agnew topped the poll in Louth , and Kieran Doherty was elected for the Cavan/Monaghan constituency . In the other seven areas the prisoners polled exceedingly well considering the lack of organisation and the short period of time there was to organise the election campaign .

The ordinary people of the South cast their votes in thousands : in Cavan/Monaghan , Kieran Doherty polled first preference 9,121 (15 per cent) ; Paddy Agnew , Louth , 8,368 (18 per cent) ; Joe McDonnell , Sligo/Leitrim , 5,634 ; Martin Hurson , Longford/Westmeath , 4,573 (10 per cent) ; Sean McKenna , Kerry North , 3,860 ; Kevin Lynch , Waterford , 3,337 ; Tony O'Hara , Dublin West , 3,034 ; Mairead Farrell , Cork North Central , 2,751 , and Tom McAllister , Clare , 2,120 .

On July 4th , 1981 , we issued a major policy statement outlining our five demands , and emphasising the fact that we wanted our five demands to be available for all prisoners (rejecting an assertion to the contrary , made by the British , which we regarded as nonsense and a red herring to justify the barbarity of the British government ) .

This statement was almost universally accepted as 'remarkably conciliatory' . "

(MORE LATER).


ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(7 of 13).

About one hundred Sinn Fein protestors shouted abuse outside the court as Patrick McIntyre was escorted from a prison vehicle ; in the melee , nobody noticed three plainclothes detectives sliding another man past - RUC member Robert Herron . He was needed to identify Patrick McIntyre .

As he rose to speak , Sinn Fein members immediately headed for the exits but gardai told them the doors would have to be kept closed . Then , his identity unknown to those outside , the RUC man was discreetly and safely brought past the crowds before the hearing ended . Chief Superintendent Patrick Murphy was in the witness box - a stranger to the area , he had been transferred from Limerick to Letterkenny , in Donegal , on promotion the previous October .

Murphy gave evidence of signing the Section 30 Extension Order for a second 24 hour period . State Solicitor Ciaran McLoughlin asked him nothing further . District Justice McMenamin had no questions , and Defence Counsel Patrick Gageby kept quiet .......

(MORE LATER).

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IRELAND , JANUARY 15th , 1920 : ELECTIONS .......

....... despite trying to 'fix' the outcome of the 1918 Election , the British lost badly after same in Ireland ...

After that election , the 'Unionist Party' held 26 seats (+8) , the 'Home Rulers' (IPP/INP) held 6 seats (-62) , no 'Independent' candidates were re-elected , and the then Sinn Fein Party held 73 seats (+66).

It should be noted that Sinn Fein made its position clear before and during the 1918 Election campaign - of boycotting Westminster and establishing an independent parliament for Ireland . In the 9 Counties of Ulster , the Unionists won 22 of the 37 constituencies , with a total vote of 265,111 compared to a total vote of 177,557 anti-Unionist votes .

If those figures are broke down to the now British-occupied Six Counties of Antrim , Armagh , Derry , Down , Fermanagh and Tyrone , it can be seen that the pro-Unionist vote won the day with a majority of just over two-to-one : 255,819 to 116,888.

However ; the newly-elected Sinn Fein 'MP's' refused to go to Westminster (and did not pocket their wages or expenses ...) , as per their election manifesto - the British were uneasy with these developments .......

(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 .
(3 of 18).

" The 'European Commission on Human Rights' (ECHR) delegation came to Long Kesh and Bobby Sands said he would meet them providing Brendan McFarlane , O/C of the prisoners , Mr. Gerry Adams , and Mr. Danny Morrison were present . This reasonable proviso was refused and the ECHR left Long Kesh . Bobby Sands released a statement that night attacking Charles Haughey for un-scrupulously exploiting his family's anxiety to cover his own inactivity .

On May 5th , 1981 , Bobby Sands died on hunger-strike , murdered by British callousness and vindictiveness . Frank Hughes , Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara were soon to follow Bobby to the grave .

And still the British Government remained steadfastly and inhumanly inflexible ..."

(MORE LATER).


ONE THAT GOT AWAY .......
Donegal IRA man , Patrick McIntyre - wanted by the RUC and by Gardai - was released by the High Court last month when his lawyers convinced the Court that he was not properly arrested and held by the Gardai . Tommie Gorman details McIntyre's story of two escapes and meets him 'on the run' .
From ' Magill ' magazine , June 1987 , pages 24 , 25 , 26 , 28 and 29 .
Re-produced here in 13 parts .
(6 of 13).

The legal defence was prepared in the tiny rooms over a swop-shop along Ormond Quay , near the Four Courts , in Dublin , where solicitor Anne Rowland , a native of Ballina , County Mayo , set up her own firm five years ago . Her penchant is for the cut and thrust of criminal cases .

On accepting the McIntyre brief , she immediately sought out barrister Patrick Gageby - they had worked together before ; Evelyn Glenhomes and Gerard Tuite were among those they had represented . Rowland and Gageby immediately agreed that their defence case would focus on the circumstances of McIntyre's arrest and detention .

They were told that an extradition application would come before District Justice Liam McMenamin at Ballyshannon District Court on January 7th last . Before leaving for County Donegal , Rowland put the state on notice that she would require in court the garda who performed the Section 30 arrest and the Garda Officer who signed the order extending Patrick McIntyre's detention for a second 24 hour period .......

(MORE LATER).

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