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 .
William McGrath's 'paramilitary' organisation , 'TARA' , appears to have consisted of a smallish number of 'chiefs' and no 'indians' at all ; even Roy Garland , once his deputy , admits that all its invitations to other Unionist 'chieftains' to 'pow-wow' were always refused . This fits in with the image of a psychologically dislocated dreamer . Such people are often attractive to young people .
Unionists in the early 1970's appeared to be 'girt' (ie 'be' and 'mix with' ) with cruel foes - and successful ones . The Unionist leadership did not have an idea between them . William McGrath had lots of ideas - all utterly impracticable - and the ability to put them across . Young Ulster (sic) Protestants who had not caved in to self-hatred probably momentarily enjoyed the thought that they were the Vanguard of the Chosen Race : McGrath was a British Israelite .
British Intelligence probably did know about McGrath and 'TARA' ; they probably also knew about his employment and they may have known that he was homosexual . So also did Ian Paisley , who told his informant , Valerie Shaw , that she should give thanks to God she "...was not born a pervert .. " But it required journalists working for Ireland's leading quality newspaper to turn this into something sinister .
We are asked to be outraged by the fact that Ian Paisley did not instantly assume that a homosexual must be sexually molesting his charges .......
(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.
Fianna Fail's Ted Murphy was not happy with Dick Spring's 'no-show' ; he refused to meet Spring , whose letter , which expressed 'regret' at the 'annoyance' caused by the incident , was rejected at the council's next meeting . Murphy thinks the affair did not help the Labour Party locally : " I reckon they did'nt get ten votes from Midleton as a result of that . "
From bitterness to confusion : Galway County Council elected a Sinn Fein Chairman in 1979 . This election marked the installation of the first non-Fianna Fail Chairman since 1934 . To wrest this position from Fianna Fail , all the other members of the council had to band together . This alliance included members of Fine Gael , Labour , Sinn Fein and Independents , and it had a majority of one over the combined Fianna Fail vote . The alliance has since elected three Fine Gael members to the Chair .
There are two Ministers of State on Galway County Council - John Donnellan and Paul Connaughton ; Donnellan seconded Frank Glynn of Sinn Fein for Chairman in 1979 . Paul Connaughton is a member of Galway Committee of Agriculture , whose current Chairman is Patrick Ruane , also of Sinn Fein . Connaughton says he fully supports the government's position on Sinn Fein and as a Minister of State he would not meet public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein . Connaughton does not see any contradiction between this stance and his willingness to work with Frank Glynn , Sinn Fein , on Galway County Council and the Committee of Agriculture .
He distinguishes between his role as Minister and his role as a Councillor ....... ( '1169 ....' Comment - A typical 'Irish soilution to an Irish 'problem' ' : an 'issue' causes 'trouble' - the 'powers-that-be' introduce legislation to deal with that issue ; then carry-on as before . When it is pointed out to them that they have not 'solved' the problem , they point to the legislation and declare - " We have . Look - there's our solution to this problem ... !)
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Representatives of the 27 nationalists convicted last month on the sole word of self-styled former INLA member Harry Kirkpatrick have begun a hunger-strike in the H-Blocks against the corrupt paid-perjurer system .
The hunger-strikers have said that the fast will continue until they are given an early date for appeal against their sentences and an urgent review of all cases of people convicted on uncorroborated evidence of alleged accomplices . The hunger-strike began on Thursday , December 19th 1985 , hours after the 102-day show-trial ended , when 27-year-old Bobby Tohill refused breakfast . Tohill , who was sentenced to life imprisonment , is married with a four-year-old son and comes from the New Barnsley area of West Belfast .
He was joined a week later , on December 26th 1985 , by 28-year-old Gerard Steenson , from the Falls Road area , who is serving life with a recommended ' minimum' 25 years . A third defendant , un-named as we went to press , is due to join the fast today ( ie Thursday January 2 , 1986) , and others at weekly intervals .
In all , ten of the 27 defendants face life sentences and the other 17 were sentenced to savage terms of up to 20 years , after trial judge Carswell pronounced that Harry Kirkpatrick was a " ...credible.. " witness ; earlier , the Unionist judge had admitted that Kirkpatrick was "... a man of bad character and low moral standards .. " who had lied in court .......
(MORE LATER).
