THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Noel McCabe agreed to do a bit of work for the Republican Movement ; he began doing the odd bit of fixing walkie-talkies , radios and battery chargers . Before long McCabe became a kind of Provo 'chauffeur' : he would be asked to pick someone up and drive him to , say , Inniskeen and pick the guy up a couple of hours later and drive him back .
He got petrol money for this ; sometimes Paul Finnegan himself was the passenger . Another of the people he drove for was a Northerner called Frankie ; McCabe used to see Frankie around Dundalk from time to time and he would give him the nod . The man never acknowledged the greeting . The next time McCabe gave Frankie a lift he was warned never to speak to him in the street - McCabe was not to be publicly identified with the Provos , he could then be used safely as a driver or helper .
Around March 1984 , Paul Finnegan began leaving guns with Noel McCabe ; first , a .38 automatic for just one night , then a sawn-off shotgun for a month . McCabe hid the guns under a bench in his shed - he was nervous about this and complained . Finnegan was understanding and took the guns away . He asked if McCabe would do one last run for him , he was stuck and he would'nt ask again . McCabe agreed and gave Finnegan a lift to either Inniskeen or Swords (later he could'nt remember) and picked him up later and brought him back to Dundalk .
A couple of months went by in which McCabe was'nt asked to do anything for the Republican Movement ; then , around June or July , Paul Finnegan arrived with a bag of guns : a sten-gun , two carbines , a sawn-off shotgun , a modern pistol and a rusty old revolver - " Everyone has to play their part . Headquarters know you held guns for us before and they expect you to do so again , and to do your part , " Finnegan told Noel McCabe .
McCabe kept the guns under his bench for a few weeks .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents petrol-bombed his home , burst down the door and mobbed up the stairs to his bedroom . Fitt fired a shot over their heads . The experience made him rely more and more on the British Army and the RUC for protection , as the 'mob' returned again and again . His home had to be protected by floodlights , wire netting and a direct two-way radio link to RUC Headquarters .
There was little link with the SDLP , most of whose members were turning , in those wilderness years , to drink or business affairs , or home life : Paddy Devlin , the left-wing voice of the party , turned to trade-union affairs , saying in his resignation statement that the SDLP made not even a pretence of uniting the workers , never mind uniting Ireland . Austin Currie remembers Gerry Fitt turning up at his home in an RUC car , and asking Currie to drive him the rest of the way to his boat moored on the Shannon , where he was going on holiday . The RUC , said Austin Currie , were worried about going over the border . ('1169...' Comment - that never bothered them in later years .... )
Gerry Fitt says Michael Canavan " ...hardly ever turned up at SDLP Executive meetings .. " . Most of these were held in Donegal , west of the Bann , and were described as 'think-tanks' . But there was actually little to turn up for - the only political action , and it was little enough , was at Westminster . In the North , in November 1977 , Gerry Fitt was to exclaim , there was Roy Mason " ...a colonial administrator , always dressed in a safari suit , walking down the main street in Belfast , with the natives holed up in substandard wigwams on the Falls and Shankill reservations .. "
There was'nt even that much the politicians could do about the 'wigwams' : the 'Housing Executive' , established as an independent body because of the way politicians had exercised discrimination when they had control of housing , was "...treating politicians with contempt .. " , Gerry Fitt snarled in 1979 .......
(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 .
While so far the real pressure exerted within the Nationalist community on the perjurer system has been largely 'internal' (perjurers retracting in response to their families' efforts) - since the Stormont administration will only feel pressurised by 'external' political pressure from Nationalists when the campaign achieves its full impetus - there is undoubtedly strong concern among sections of the Loyalist community too , which may eventually cause headaches for the British government .
That concern stems , obviously enough , not from any opposition to the clinging of the Northern judiciary to the coat-tails of Stormont , which after all is unionist policy , but from the increasingly heavy losses which perjurers are inflicting on loyalist paramilitary groups , and the spin-off effect which this undoubtedly has on loyalist political parties , particularly the DUP .
Although the Official Unionist Party has taken a strong line in support of paid perjurers under their 'law and order' spokesperson , Edgar Graham , individual members of the OUP including John Carson have identified themselves with a campaign of opposition . In April of this year (1983) , DUP leader Ian Paisley condemned the use of perjurers as 'undermining the rule of law' and he specifically opposed the granting of immunity to perjurers . Immediately after the informer Robert Lean's 'evidence' began to lead to the arrest of several prominent Republicans , the DUP appeared to modify its stance considerably when leading spokespersons Peter Robinson and Jim Allister - at a press conference on September 13th , from which , strangely , Ian Paisley was absent - supported the use of
uncorroborated evidence and only opposed the granting of total immunity , implying that perjurers should instead be given heavily reduced sentences for their own admitted involvement .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, June 16, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .......
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Joe Gargan had a yellow Ford Escort car ; he was a Provo sympathiser , aged 34 , a lorry driver who lived at Kentstown , County Meath . Noel McCabe , aged 44 , from Dundalk , County Louth , was a Provo sympathiser : he was handy with cars and , around July , he began repairs to a car belonging to another Dundalk man - it was a blue Ford Cortina , and when McCabe fixed it he did'nt return it to its owner immediately , but began driving it himself .
A stolen beige Open Ascona , a stolen red Mercedes , Joe Gargan's yellow Escort , Noel McCabe's 'borrowed' blue Cortina : two cars brought within reach , two local cars 'on tap' . Noel McCabe was an alcoholic who was beating his problem ; by August 1984 he was eight months off drink . To fill his time and keep his mind off drink he fixed television sets in a shed at the back of his house in Oliver Plunkett Park , Dundalk , County Louth : his odd-jobs extended to various kinds of electrical work and car repairs .
Some time in 1983 a man arrived at Noel McCabe's house with a TV that needed fixing ; the man was a Northerner , a hardened Provo now living in the South . As legal proceedings may yet ensue against this man we will for the purposes of this narrative call him Paul Finnegan , though that is not his name . McCabe fixed the TV and Finnegan asked him to fix the TV again in February 1984 ; on this occasion McCbe went to Finnegan's house to do the job . The two chatted for a long time about politics , about the Provos .
Finnegan said his family had been harassed by the RUC and the British Army and he was forced to go ' on the run ' and come to live in Dundalk . McCabe expressed sympathy with Finnegan's republican sentiments - the two became friendly and McCabe sometimes dropped into Finnegan's house for tea . Finnegan sometimes dropped around to McCabe's with some little repair job on a car or radio .
Eventually , Finnegan asked Noel McCabe if he would "... do a bit of work for the republican movement ......... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster ; he could have forged links with groups like the Socialist International to which the SDLP was affiliated , but he did'nt . His entire temperament went against formal relationships of any kind - " I hate being in parties , they keep trying to tell you what to do , passing resolutions on every little thing .. "
It was his proud boast that the SDLP never had a branch in his West Belfast constituency ! He was a saloon man , and his saloon was Westminster , and he liked wandering in and out of hotels and bars , seeing people when he came home . Since the fall of the Executive , he spent more and more time in the Europa Hotel in Belfast ; the bars were dangerous places now for him and his very home was unsafe . He was under attack from his own constituents .
When the Executive collapsed they were left with internment , punitive repayment of the rent they had withheld during the years of protest against it , replacement of internment in 1975 by non-jury courts , and British Army camps and RUC stations all over West Belfast . Their sole representative upheld British rule as an alternative , he said , to civil war and they turned on him . ('1169...' Comment - in later years , this was refined to read - " If it was'nt for ye lot taking pot shots at them , the Brits would have gone home years ago .. " . Expect much the same now from Adams and Co. in reference to those they call 'dissidents' . )
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents went looking for him .......
(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 Catholic Church have maintained a low profile on the issue of paid perjurers , with the exception of Dr. Edward Daly , Bishop of Derry , and a handful of priests , who have condemned the use of perjurers . Bishop Cahal Daly , previously so vocal on political issues , has adopted a studious silence .
For his part , Dungannon priest , Fr. Denis Faul , having failed to limit the opposition to perjurers to relatives (whose emotions , his experience during the hunger-strikes leads him to believe , can, at critical points , be exploited against republicans ) has concentrated much of his efforts on vitriolic attacks on Sinn Fein - on one occasion going as far as to allege that Sinn Fein were 'using' the perjurer campaign to finance their involvement in the EEC elections !
Also ranged against the use of perjurers have been the SDLP-controlled Derry Council , the Belfast and District Trades Council and a number of British MP's and British and American legal figures . British Labour MP , Martin Flannery , has said that the use of perjurers is bringing "...the whole of the British system of justice into disrepute . It is the kind of thing that Hitler and company engaged in .. " .
The use of paid perjurers by Westminster was welcomed by some Unionists but condemned by others - sometimes both 'pro' and 'anti' camps were in the same political party .......
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
Joe Gargan had a yellow Ford Escort car ; he was a Provo sympathiser , aged 34 , a lorry driver who lived at Kentstown , County Meath . Noel McCabe , aged 44 , from Dundalk , County Louth , was a Provo sympathiser : he was handy with cars and , around July , he began repairs to a car belonging to another Dundalk man - it was a blue Ford Cortina , and when McCabe fixed it he did'nt return it to its owner immediately , but began driving it himself .
A stolen beige Open Ascona , a stolen red Mercedes , Joe Gargan's yellow Escort , Noel McCabe's 'borrowed' blue Cortina : two cars brought within reach , two local cars 'on tap' . Noel McCabe was an alcoholic who was beating his problem ; by August 1984 he was eight months off drink . To fill his time and keep his mind off drink he fixed television sets in a shed at the back of his house in Oliver Plunkett Park , Dundalk , County Louth : his odd-jobs extended to various kinds of electrical work and car repairs .
Some time in 1983 a man arrived at Noel McCabe's house with a TV that needed fixing ; the man was a Northerner , a hardened Provo now living in the South . As legal proceedings may yet ensue against this man we will for the purposes of this narrative call him Paul Finnegan , though that is not his name . McCabe fixed the TV and Finnegan asked him to fix the TV again in February 1984 ; on this occasion McCbe went to Finnegan's house to do the job . The two chatted for a long time about politics , about the Provos .
Finnegan said his family had been harassed by the RUC and the British Army and he was forced to go ' on the run ' and come to live in Dundalk . McCabe expressed sympathy with Finnegan's republican sentiments - the two became friendly and McCabe sometimes dropped into Finnegan's house for tea . Finnegan sometimes dropped around to McCabe's with some little repair job on a car or radio .
Eventually , Finnegan asked Noel McCabe if he would "... do a bit of work for the republican movement ......... "
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster ; he could have forged links with groups like the Socialist International to which the SDLP was affiliated , but he did'nt . His entire temperament went against formal relationships of any kind - " I hate being in parties , they keep trying to tell you what to do , passing resolutions on every little thing .. "
It was his proud boast that the SDLP never had a branch in his West Belfast constituency ! He was a saloon man , and his saloon was Westminster , and he liked wandering in and out of hotels and bars , seeing people when he came home . Since the fall of the Executive , he spent more and more time in the Europa Hotel in Belfast ; the bars were dangerous places now for him and his very home was unsafe . He was under attack from his own constituents .
When the Executive collapsed they were left with internment , punitive repayment of the rent they had withheld during the years of protest against it , replacement of internment in 1975 by non-jury courts , and British Army camps and RUC stations all over West Belfast . Their sole representative upheld British rule as an alternative , he said , to civil war and they turned on him . ('1169...' Comment - in later years , this was refined to read - " If it was'nt for ye lot taking pot shots at them , the Brits would have gone home years ago .. " . Expect much the same now from Adams and Co. in reference to those they call 'dissidents' . )
In 1976 , on the eve of the anniversary of internment , Gerry Fitts' constituents went looking for him .......
(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 Catholic Church have maintained a low profile on the issue of paid perjurers , with the exception of Dr. Edward Daly , Bishop of Derry , and a handful of priests , who have condemned the use of perjurers . Bishop Cahal Daly , previously so vocal on political issues , has adopted a studious silence .
For his part , Dungannon priest , Fr. Denis Faul , having failed to limit the opposition to perjurers to relatives (whose emotions , his experience during the hunger-strikes leads him to believe , can, at critical points , be exploited against republicans ) has concentrated much of his efforts on vitriolic attacks on Sinn Fein - on one occasion going as far as to allege that Sinn Fein were 'using' the perjurer campaign to finance their involvement in the EEC elections !
Also ranged against the use of perjurers have been the SDLP-controlled Derry Council , the Belfast and District Trades Council and a number of British MP's and British and American legal figures . British Labour MP , Martin Flannery , has said that the use of perjurers is bringing "...the whole of the British system of justice into disrepute . It is the kind of thing that Hitler and company engaged in .. " .
The use of paid perjurers by Westminster was welcomed by some Unionists but condemned by others - sometimes both 'pro' and 'anti' camps were in the same political party .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND .
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
John Collins retired from the Garda Siochana (Free State cops) in February 1984 . He lived at Ballybane , County Galway .
Two months later , on April 27 1984 , he had a night out at the golf club in Salthill and emerged at 1.30AM to find his beige Opel Ascona had been stolen from the carpark . He had left a lot of property in the car , including golf clubs , golfing clothes , spectacles and a briefcase . Two days later the briefcase was handed into Coolock Garda Station in Dublin , minus a chequebook , banker's card and documents relating to the Ascona car .
Three months later , on July 27 1984 , John Small of Newcastle , County Down , parked his dark red Mercedes car in an open carpark at Monaghan Street , Newry : when he returned after three hours it was gone . Tommy Eccles , aged 24 , from Muirhevenamore , Dundalk , County Louth , went to Newry on that day . Eccles was a Provo ; he had been instructed to go to Newry and pick up the red Mercedes . He found the car , as per his instructions , parked near the Cupid Nightclub , with the keys in the ignition .
Eccles drove the car down across the border and left it in the care of Paddy Duffy , aged 24 ; he was a landscape gardener and lived in a mobile home in a yard at Dromiskin , a village south of Dundalk . Duffy was a Provo . Around the same time he was also given the Ascona car , and concealed both cars on a farm near Castlebellingham .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The collapsed North of Ireland Assembly was replaced by a six month Convention in 1975 , when the same political factions were elected to a talking shop whose brief was to come up with another power sharing plan or be banished to the wilderness . The Convention could not agree and was abolished : Gerry Fitt was now the only anti-unionist with a parliamentary seat , and he snuggled further into Westminster . Always , when he came home to Belfast , the RUC provided a car and an armed companion-driver ; the two men became good friends . ('1169...' Comment - and that was to be expected : human nature . Today , there are those who describe themselves as 'republicans ' and insist that their 'relationship' with other career politicians in Stormont , Westminster and Leinster House is based on the need to convince same that a United Ireland is on the agenda . Their own supporters appear to believe this , but true Republicans are reminded by history that the 'good' apples do not turn the bad apples ... ).
From 1975 until the 1983 Westminster election , says Michael Canavan (SDLP) - " The SDLP was left with no constitutional place to go . Only a revolutionary party could have continued to operate without status , or Office , or pay ... " . Those were the years when the British government withdrew politial status from the prisoners and sought a military solution to the North ; those were the years when the Provos , through the prisoners , emerged as a political force in the North ; those were the years when the SDLP abandoned the search for an internal solution and said the North could only be solved in an all-Ireland context ('1169...' Comment - that part of "...those years.. " did'nt last long for the SDLP !) ; those were the years when Gerry Fitt , from 1975 until he resigned from the party in November 1979 , and John Hume , Euro MP from June 1979 onwards , were the only SDLP politicians with a seat and a salary .
While John Hume operated from Brussels , Washington and west of the Bann , Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster and his perspective on the North was formed from that distant point .......
(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 .
To date , the response on the perjurer issue from sections of the Catholic establishment has been a muted one , explicable by their obvious ambivalence to a strategy which although seriously eroding the already blackened 'judicial process' is clearly seen to be aimed at undermining the political advance of republicanism - a shared objective , after all , with the Catholic hierarchy and the SDLP .
In response to such a taunt by West Belfast MP Gerry Adams on September 11th 1983 , SDLP spokesperson Seamus Mallon retorted that the use of perjurers was '...law bending .. ' but the thrust of his attack was aimed not at the British but at Sinn Fein and republican resistance .
On September 28th 1983 , however , the SDLP met the 'Relatives for Justice' group and condemned the use of perjurers - though they have maintained a low profile on the issue since then . And what of the Catholic church on the issue ....... ?
(MORE LATER).
On February 10 , 1986 , the courts turned down the appeals of three men sentenced to hang . The men now face , on commutation of sentence by the (Free State) government , 40 years in prison without remission , for their involvement in the Drumree robbery and killing .
By GENE KERRIGAN.
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 .
John Collins retired from the Garda Siochana (Free State cops) in February 1984 . He lived at Ballybane , County Galway .
Two months later , on April 27 1984 , he had a night out at the golf club in Salthill and emerged at 1.30AM to find his beige Opel Ascona had been stolen from the carpark . He had left a lot of property in the car , including golf clubs , golfing clothes , spectacles and a briefcase . Two days later the briefcase was handed into Coolock Garda Station in Dublin , minus a chequebook , banker's card and documents relating to the Ascona car .
Three months later , on July 27 1984 , John Small of Newcastle , County Down , parked his dark red Mercedes car in an open carpark at Monaghan Street , Newry : when he returned after three hours it was gone . Tommy Eccles , aged 24 , from Muirhevenamore , Dundalk , County Louth , went to Newry on that day . Eccles was a Provo ; he had been instructed to go to Newry and pick up the red Mercedes . He found the car , as per his instructions , parked near the Cupid Nightclub , with the keys in the ignition .
Eccles drove the car down across the border and left it in the care of Paddy Duffy , aged 24 ; he was a landscape gardener and lived in a mobile home in a yard at Dromiskin , a village south of Dundalk . Duffy was a Provo . Around the same time he was also given the Ascona car , and concealed both cars on a farm near Castlebellingham .......
(MORE LATER).
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The collapsed North of Ireland Assembly was replaced by a six month Convention in 1975 , when the same political factions were elected to a talking shop whose brief was to come up with another power sharing plan or be banished to the wilderness . The Convention could not agree and was abolished : Gerry Fitt was now the only anti-unionist with a parliamentary seat , and he snuggled further into Westminster . Always , when he came home to Belfast , the RUC provided a car and an armed companion-driver ; the two men became good friends . ('1169...' Comment - and that was to be expected : human nature . Today , there are those who describe themselves as 'republicans ' and insist that their 'relationship' with other career politicians in Stormont , Westminster and Leinster House is based on the need to convince same that a United Ireland is on the agenda . Their own supporters appear to believe this , but true Republicans are reminded by history that the 'good' apples do not turn the bad apples ... ).
From 1975 until the 1983 Westminster election , says Michael Canavan (SDLP) - " The SDLP was left with no constitutional place to go . Only a revolutionary party could have continued to operate without status , or Office , or pay ... " . Those were the years when the British government withdrew politial status from the prisoners and sought a military solution to the North ; those were the years when the Provos , through the prisoners , emerged as a political force in the North ; those were the years when the SDLP abandoned the search for an internal solution and said the North could only be solved in an all-Ireland context ('1169...' Comment - that part of "...those years.. " did'nt last long for the SDLP !) ; those were the years when Gerry Fitt , from 1975 until he resigned from the party in November 1979 , and John Hume , Euro MP from June 1979 onwards , were the only SDLP politicians with a seat and a salary .
While John Hume operated from Brussels , Washington and west of the Bann , Gerry Fitt operated almost exclusively from Westminster and his perspective on the North was formed from that distant point .......
(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 .
To date , the response on the perjurer issue from sections of the Catholic establishment has been a muted one , explicable by their obvious ambivalence to a strategy which although seriously eroding the already blackened 'judicial process' is clearly seen to be aimed at undermining the political advance of republicanism - a shared objective , after all , with the Catholic hierarchy and the SDLP .
In response to such a taunt by West Belfast MP Gerry Adams on September 11th 1983 , SDLP spokesperson Seamus Mallon retorted that the use of perjurers was '...law bending .. ' but the thrust of his attack was aimed not at the British but at Sinn Fein and republican resistance .
On September 28th 1983 , however , the SDLP met the 'Relatives for Justice' group and condemned the use of perjurers - though they have maintained a low profile on the issue since then . And what of the Catholic church on the issue ....... ?
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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 .
The attention to his various duties and rights under the 1965 Extradition Act was never acknowledged by the Fine Gael Minister for Justice in the Free State , Michael Noonan ; this can be gauged by the reply from his Office to an inquiry about the John O' Reilly extradition case by Brian Lenihan (Fianna Fail) :
: the reply notes that John O' Reilly "...is at present serving a prison sentence in Portlaoise Prison .. " - John O' Reilly has not , of course , been convicted of anything , and is jailed awaiting extradition appeals ; the fact that the Free State Department of Justice could be so ignorant of the facts of the case indicates that the extradition process , despite the succession of embarrassments , is running on automatic .
[END of ' FETCH ! ']
(Tomorrow - 'THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND' , from 1986.)
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The gap between Gerry Fitt's house on the Antrim Road and Stormont , four miles away , was bridged by the RUC which provided him with a car and armed driver ; Paddy Devlin , too , was given an armed escort for travel through loyalist areas on his way to Stormont but he always drove his own car , and was followed by the RUC in theirs .
" I kept my distance from them in all ways , " Devlin said , " once you step into an RUC car you have to surrender a bit of yourself . "
Austin Currie had RUC men living in his garage in Mid-Ulster , but he criticised the force when he thought necessary , leading the ' Police Federation ' at their annual general conference to speak bitterly against him . ('1169 ... ' Comment - at best , on his strongest day , Currie was an 'outlaw pet' . After trying to build a career for himself with the SDLP , he joined the Fine Gael party in the Free State . Enough said . ) The Executive and the Assembly lasted a mere five months ; it was brought down by the Protestant workforce who held key positions in energy , transport and engineering , and who paralysed the North of Ireland by withdrawing their labour in unofficial action . Frantic calls to Westminster to order the British Army to step in yielded only the sour televised response from London that Northerners were "spongers" !
Gerry Fitt stated - " The (British) Labour Government were afraid to shoot the Prods , which is what it would have amounted to . They told me that if they established the precedent of using the British Army against workers , they'd be handing the Tories a stick to break the trade unions with next time the Tories got in . Edward Heath was just waiting to get back at the miners . "
(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 .
British judges in the North of Ireland were defending the use of informers to obtain convictions at the same time as that perjurer system had started to come under attack from a variety of directions , while among the Nationalist community itself - buoyed by the retractions and less open than it initially was to demoralisation over the issue (since it has seen the IRA's continued ability to inflict losses on the British) - there have been the unmistakeable signs of a 'fight back' .
The first clear example of this was the mass rally at Beechmount Avenue in West Belfast on September 11 , 1983 , which announced the holding of an open conference in Dungannon on October 2nd 1983 to establish a broad-based committee on the non-exclusive lines of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee established during the hunger-strikes of 1981 . Up until that point public protest action on the perjurer issue had mainly been confined to small and isolated groups , such as Relatives For Justice and Campaign Against The Show Trials (CAST) , which although active had drawn support primarily from relatives of the victims - in much the same way as the Relatives Action Committee had campaigned between 1976-79 on the H-Blocks .
The Dungannon conference announced the setting up of a new 'umbrella' organisation , the 'Stop the Show Trials Campaign ' , calling for an end to the use of perjurers , an end to show trials and the release of all the (sentenced and remanded) victims of perjurers . It voted to mount a campaign of political opposition to the perjurer system , at the same time embracing those sections of the community whose opposition to the use of perjurers is based on humanitarian or civil liberties motives and who endorse the campaign's central demands .
It is inevitable that the campaign structure , and mobilisations , will focus heavily on the North , though it is envisaged that support groups will be established in the 26 Counties and abroad . However , not all Irish Nationalists were opposed to the perjurer system .......
(MORE LATER).
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 .
The attention to his various duties and rights under the 1965 Extradition Act was never acknowledged by the Fine Gael Minister for Justice in the Free State , Michael Noonan ; this can be gauged by the reply from his Office to an inquiry about the John O' Reilly extradition case by Brian Lenihan (Fianna Fail) :
: the reply notes that John O' Reilly "...is at present serving a prison sentence in Portlaoise Prison .. " - John O' Reilly has not , of course , been convicted of anything , and is jailed awaiting extradition appeals ; the fact that the Free State Department of Justice could be so ignorant of the facts of the case indicates that the extradition process , despite the succession of embarrassments , is running on automatic .
[END of ' FETCH ! ']
(Tomorrow - 'THE DEATH OF FRANK HAND' , from 1986.)
TO WESTMINSTER AND BACK .......
The Life And Times Of Gerry Fitt.
By Nell McCafferty .
First published in ' MAGILL' magazine , July 1983 .
The gap between Gerry Fitt's house on the Antrim Road and Stormont , four miles away , was bridged by the RUC which provided him with a car and armed driver ; Paddy Devlin , too , was given an armed escort for travel through loyalist areas on his way to Stormont but he always drove his own car , and was followed by the RUC in theirs .
" I kept my distance from them in all ways , " Devlin said , " once you step into an RUC car you have to surrender a bit of yourself . "
Austin Currie had RUC men living in his garage in Mid-Ulster , but he criticised the force when he thought necessary , leading the ' Police Federation ' at their annual general conference to speak bitterly against him . ('1169 ... ' Comment - at best , on his strongest day , Currie was an 'outlaw pet' . After trying to build a career for himself with the SDLP , he joined the Fine Gael party in the Free State . Enough said . ) The Executive and the Assembly lasted a mere five months ; it was brought down by the Protestant workforce who held key positions in energy , transport and engineering , and who paralysed the North of Ireland by withdrawing their labour in unofficial action . Frantic calls to Westminster to order the British Army to step in yielded only the sour televised response from London that Northerners were "spongers" !
Gerry Fitt stated - " The (British) Labour Government were afraid to shoot the Prods , which is what it would have amounted to . They told me that if they established the precedent of using the British Army against workers , they'd be handing the Tories a stick to break the trade unions with next time the Tories got in . Edward Heath was just waiting to get back at the miners . "
(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 .
British judges in the North of Ireland were defending the use of informers to obtain convictions at the same time as that perjurer system had started to come under attack from a variety of directions , while among the Nationalist community itself - buoyed by the retractions and less open than it initially was to demoralisation over the issue (since it has seen the IRA's continued ability to inflict losses on the British) - there have been the unmistakeable signs of a 'fight back' .
The first clear example of this was the mass rally at Beechmount Avenue in West Belfast on September 11 , 1983 , which announced the holding of an open conference in Dungannon on October 2nd 1983 to establish a broad-based committee on the non-exclusive lines of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee established during the hunger-strikes of 1981 . Up until that point public protest action on the perjurer issue had mainly been confined to small and isolated groups , such as Relatives For Justice and Campaign Against The Show Trials (CAST) , which although active had drawn support primarily from relatives of the victims - in much the same way as the Relatives Action Committee had campaigned between 1976-79 on the H-Blocks .
The Dungannon conference announced the setting up of a new 'umbrella' organisation , the 'Stop the Show Trials Campaign ' , calling for an end to the use of perjurers , an end to show trials and the release of all the (sentenced and remanded) victims of perjurers . It voted to mount a campaign of political opposition to the perjurer system , at the same time embracing those sections of the community whose opposition to the use of perjurers is based on humanitarian or civil liberties motives and who endorse the campaign's central demands .
It is inevitable that the campaign structure , and mobilisations , will focus heavily on the North , though it is envisaged that support groups will be established in the 26 Counties and abroad . However , not all Irish Nationalists were opposed to the perjurer system .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, June 13, 2005
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. )
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. )
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