A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Gay people have watched the growth of the Kincora industry with fascinated horror : a number of sordid and petty crimes perpetrated against teenage adults have been presented as atrocities on a par with Bloody Sunday , Bloody Friday and every other bloody day of the Ulster week .
Prejudices long dormant in the intelligent public have been gentled back into life ; homosexual people are underhand , sexually voracious and unusually interested in young people as sex partners , whether those young people are willing or not .
This is how the crazed notion that a boy brothel could exist in a city the size of Belfast got off the ground . It could be taken for granted that gay men in particular would find such a set-up congenial and that we would close ranks to protect the people who would try to organise such a venture . William McGrath is the central figure in the Kincora 'stew' - he had ideas which were lunatic enough to pass for fascist , he was also homosexual and subjected his charges to distressing and unwanted sexual attentions .
This , it is implied , is the crux of the matter so far as McGrath is concerned . Such an attitude is nonsensical ; William McGrath and his fellow defendants spent whole lifetimes building up images of familial rectitude . They never once said anything about their homosexual orientation . It is worth questioning whether they were entirely homosexual at all . No hint of their being gay ever seeped out into the gay community , much less the general community .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Ted Murphy , the Fianna Fail Chairman of Midleton UDC , was approached by two local Labour Party Officers , Eddie Allen and Billy Murphy , about arranging a 'Civic Reception' for Dick Spring , who was due to visit Midleton while touring the Cork area . Ted Murphy says he agreed readily .
Days before the visit , Dick Spring refused the offer of a 'Civic Reception' : the 'problem' was Charles Ronayne , a Sinn Fein member of the UDC , who would also be present . Ted Murphy was not impressed - " As an elected public representative himself it is disgraceful that Mr. Spring will not meet a fellow elected public representative . The Tanaiste (ie 'Tanaiste' - 'second-in-command' of the Free State Administration , as Dick Spring was at the time) , in refusing to meet the urban council , is acting like a dictator . "
The next day , Spring issued a statement saying - " I would not for the world have wished to offend the people of Midleton , or their elected representatives , in this way . " He pointed out , however , that for him to attend a function at which a Sinn Fein member would also be present would be in contravention of the government's decision not to deal with Sinn Fein .
He said he would be writing to the Urban District Council (UDC) to express his regret at the upset caused and to suggest a separate meeting with Ted Murphy - the latter , however , was not happy with that .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
At the same time as Garda Ted O'Mahony was transferred , his neighbour Stephen Moore was suing the gardai for injuries sustained while he was in garda custody . Eileen O'Mahony believes that the fact that her husband was friendly with Stephen Moore was the reason for his transfer .
When Stephen Moore was awarded £25,000 in an out-of-court settlement , the gardai immediately started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention . On 19 July , Stephen Moore gave evidence of his ordeal to two Garda Superintendents ; ironically , the interview took place on a Saturday in a deserted garda building on Saint John's Road in Dublin .
The building is used mainly for scrapped garda cars ; at one point , it housed the Garda Technical Bureau , part of which includes the 'Investigation Section' from which sprung the alleged ' Heavy Gang ' of the 1973-1977 period . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Nothing "alleged" about the 'Heavy Gang' : they did exist , and were given a free reign by the Free Staters to operate outside 'normal' practice when it came to 'interviewing' Irish Republicans . )
The file was expected to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for 'consideration' by 1 August .
[END of 'THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS' : from 1986.)
