FETCH ....... !
By Gene Kerrigan .
Four years ago this month the RUC began trying to put JOHN O' REILLY away . Four 'Supergrasses' failed to do the job . O' REILLY is now in Michael Noonan's custody . The RUC have demanded that Noonan "...bring him forthwith .. " to answer the accusations of HARRY KIRKPATRICK .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Normal standards of judicial practice have been corrupted in the North of Ireland by the power struggle between the various forces ; the Southern Supreme Court has been used in a deliberate and cynical way by the Northern authoroities , being drawn into the process .
The (FS) Minister for Justice , Michael Noonan , has various duties and rights under the 1965 Extradition Act : being aware of the manner in which the (FS) Supreme Court decision on extradition has been abused he could demand sufficient information (from the British) to ensure that the Court is not being further abused .
('1169...' Comment - Michael Noonan was a member of Fine Gael at that time ; that party was then , and is now , not only anti-Republican but is in fact pro-British . The very idea that they would query Westminster on extradition details or anything else , for that matter , is laughable. )
Under various sections , including Section 50 , Noonan has powers to vary the application of the Extradition Act in order to ensure the integrity of the judicial process ; in the John O' Reilly case , Michael Noonan has waived such rights , the courts are to be presented with the bare warrant which obscures the reality of the process which produced it .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
A 'power-sharing Executive' was formed in the North of Ireland on January 1 , 1974 ; but the British Government this time kept control of the British Army and the RUC . British Prime Minister Edward Heath , however , lost Office that January (1974) , brought down by a miner's strike which resulted in the return of a Labour government with a tiny majority of three .
Bernadette Devlin too bowed out , as the SDLP split the mid-Ulster vote . Gerry Fitt , Deputy Chief Executive under Brian Faulkner , had no specific portfolio as did John Hume in Commerce or Austin Currie in Housing . SDLP sources said at the time that he had not the intellectual capacity or discipline to handle a department , but Ben Caraher , Policy Adviser to the SDLP , captured the raison d'etre of the man perhaps more accurately .
Gerry Fitt told Ben Caraher then that he hated not being able to represent his constituents properly , in his capacity as 'dole lawyer' , arguing at tribunals on their behalf against the government of the day . He did , however , manage to civilise the austere house on the hill , persuading teetotaller Brian Faulkner to install a drinks cupboard and ignoring Faulkner's ordinance against smoking during Executive business sessions .
Gerry Fitt's rough charm , cigarette in one hand , glass in the other , helped enormously in bridging the gap between men separated by centuries of cultural , religious and political tradition ....... ('1169...' Comment - " bridging the gap " may very well be a 'feel good' thing to do , but it is more important , to Irish Republicans anyway , to seek to remove that gap : and that will only be done when Westminster's claim of jurisdiction over our six north-eastern counties is removed .)
(MORE LATER).
UPS AND DOWNS FOR RUC's PERJURER STRATEGY .......
SEAN DELANEY looks at recent developments in the use of perjurers in the North .
From ' IRIS ' magazine , November 1983 .
The British Attorney-General , Sir Michael Havers , in a statement obviously timed to coincide with British Chief Justice Lowry's comments in the wake of the Robert Lean/Patrick McGurk affair , also defended the 'independence' of the judiciary - but added , in response to loyalist criticisms of the system , that in future all "...financial arrangements (made with) accomplice witnesses .. " would be disclosed to defence counsels .
The utter worthlessness of this 'concession' lies of course in the fact that the RUC deny , and will continue to deny , that cash bribes - such as Edward Carmichael's offer from the Brits of £300,000 - are made to perjurers in the first place . Havers' 'sincerity' should be judged in the light of his flagrant dishonesty in saying that the practice surrounding the use of "...accomplice witnesses .. " was identical in England , Scotland and Wales with its use in the North of Ireland !
The Lowry verdict in the McGrady trial was a crucial one for the future of the perjurer strategy ; although the principle of accepting uncorroborated perjurer evidence had earlier been accepted by the judiciary in the UVF Joe Bennett trial which ended on April 11th this year (1983) with convictions for 14 of the 16 accused , and in the Christopher Black trial in which Judge Basil Kelly convicted 35 of the 38 defendants on August 5th , both judges in these cases had gone to considerable lengths to emphasise the 'credibility' of informers Bennett and Black and the general consistency , "... in all important respects .. " , of their testimony .
While this was incredible enough , the fact that Lowry convicted on McGrady's 'evidence' , which was substantially bizarre , contradictory and unsatisfactory , is an indication that the judiciary in the North of Ireland has fallen completely into line , contrary to Lowry's denial , with the political objective of securing convictions , and has cynically redefined even the previously low standards regarding acceptable evidence .......
(MORE LATER).
Fianna and Members of RSF Attacked After Frank Gartland Funeral .
Posted on the Irish Republican Bulletin Board by P.R.O. Na Fianna Éireann .
This is a shocking story of how the Free State 'authorities' will sanction , approve and encourage their paid thugs to intimidate Irish Republicans : doors kicked-in , handguns put to peoples faces , and a house practically destroyed . This happened in Dublin on the day before yesterday - Saturday 11th June 2005 .
Click on the above link to the 'Irish Republican Bulletin Board' to read more and to view the pictures of the aftermath . The Free State Gardai have already been exposed for being corrupt re their carry-on in Donegal (just the tip of the iceberg) ; are they now attempting to further 'bully' those who would expose them in the future ie "..this can just as easily happen to you too .. " ?
Please follow the link . Thanks , Sharon.
( Kevin , from Canada : thank you for the message , the kind words , and the link : we really do appreciate it - thanks again. Sharon. )
