A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
A peaceful picket outside Armagh Jail in 1979 had just ended and those present were about to leave ; suddenly , the RUC charged into the 50-strong crowd - eleven women eventually stood 'trial' on charges arising out of the picket . All were fined but two opted to serve prison sentences rather than 'acknowledge criminality' .
A Tribunal exposing the conditions in Armagh Jail and publicising the charges against those arrested on the picket was held ; the Tribunal heard disturbing facts about the conditions of the protesting women - a woman who should have been on an ulcer diet was being treated instead with valium . Another , who eventually had to be hospitalised , was told that the pains in her stomach existed only in her imagination !
Meanwhile , Pauline McLoughlin , a woman who was so ill that she vomited constantly and was rapidly losing weight , was not getting adequate care . On February 7 , 1980 , there was what can only be described as mass assaults by male and female prison officers on the women in B Wing , Armagh Jail ; the resultant bruises and swellings were noted by the prison chaplain , Fr. Raymond Murray , and by Bishop Edward Daly who visited the jail on February 13 , 1980 .
The details of those assaults have been documented in both ' On The Blanket' by Tim Pat Coogan and ' The Armagh Women' by Nell McCafferty : the details are harrowing.......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
As a means of keeping the de jure government - Dail Eireann - in being , the IRA initiated a meeting of Republican deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic ; that meeting was held on September 9th , 1922 and constituted itself as the 'Second Dail' . Eamon de Valera was elected as President and an 'Emergency Government' was appointed . This action , taken by the IRA , was in accordance with a resolution of Dail Eireann which provided for the IRA having the power to proclaim an 'Emergency Government' if enemy action at any time prevented democratic means of securing a Republican government .
This re-constituted Republican government was not able to function - a fact which Liam Mellows was at pains to criticise . Although regarded by a large section of the population as the only de jure government it could do little more than represent the protest against the seizure of power by the pro-Treaty party and place the logical and constitutional facts of the situation on record by means of statements and proclamations .
In May 1923 , the defence of the Republic by armed struggle was suspended : from April 1922 until May 1923 , the fighting had raged throughout the country until the Republican forces , encircled and isolated , were forced to dump arms . The Republican Army had lost some of its best leaders ; the Republican institutions had been smashed and British interests were being protected ".. with an economy of English lives.. " ('1169...' Comment - ...and those in Leinster House have been doing that ever since .)
The Free State government called a general election for August 27th , 1923 ; although 11,316 Republicans were still interned , Sinn Fein contested eighty-seven seats on an abstentionist ticket - because of the oath to the Free State constitution and the English 'king' : the Free Staters moved against the Sinn Fein organisation .......
(MORE LATER).
IN THE SHADOW OF A GUNMAN .
The aspirations of SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY towards socialist respectability are undermined by the continued military operations of the OFFICIAL IRA and that Party's own ideoligical contortions .
From ' MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .
By Vincent Browne.
Prior to Christmas three years ago a row , involving a full-time Official of Sinn Fein The Workers Party , broke out in a Dublin pub , The Dockers, on Sir John Rogerson's Quay . The row resulted in the party Official stabbing a broken glass in the face of one of two of his antagonists , both of whom were former members of Sinn Fein The Workers Party . Inevitably , there were threats of retribution .
These former members , brothers , had been involved on a number of previous occasions in conflicts with other SFWP Officials - indeed , there had previously been a row with the same SFWP Official at the party's drinking club , 'Club Ui Cadhain' , at Gardiner Place in Dublin city centre . Somebody obviously decided that the Dockers Pub incident was the last straw and that the two brothers would have to be taught a lesson : the Sunday morning after the row two cars carrying eight men drew up outside The Dockers ; the men , several of whom were armed , went into the pub and singed out the two brothers , having warned the rest of the Sunday morning drinking crowd to stand back and mind their own business .
They then beat the two brothers over the head with hatchets , causing them very serious injury . A girl who was with one of the brothers and who was then a current member of Sinn Fein The Workers Party , was beaten when she protested . She had been involved with a senior member of the party some time previously and this may have been an aggravating factor in the dispute . Seven of the eight men were members of SFWP - all were members of the Official IRA , some of them from the Dublin Unit OIRA and some from Belfast , including one of the most notorious 'heavies' of the latter organisation in the North , who is now in jail on an arms offence . The other person from that eight-man gang , who is not a member of SFWP , is perhaps the most interesting of that group .
He occupies a very senior position on the GHQ Staff of the Official IRA , and has been involved in numerous robberies over the last several years , and is believed to have murdered a prominent individual in Dublin in the course of the last five years .......
(MORE LATER).
(We would like to wish the Republican Movement well and congratulate them on their 101st Ard Fheis , which is being held in Dublin this weekend : 100 years of unbroken continuity ! )
Thursday, November 10, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
1976 saw the formation of the Relatives Action Committees ; they were mainly women relatives of political prisoners who , finding the added financial strain of visits and food parcels and the deteriorating situation in the jails going un-noticed , got together to draw attention to what was happening .
The Committees worked hard and long , raising money , spreading information and touring Europe , America and Britain raising support for the prisoners : they were later to form the backbone of the H-Block/Armagh Committees which mushroomed during the hunger-strikes . A group called ' Women Against Imperialism ' , believing that feminists could no longer pretend neutrality on the national question , had broken away from the Belfast Women's Collective .
The 'Women Against Imperialism' group marked the linking of the struggles for women's liberation and national liberation by picketing Armagh Jail on International Women's Day 1979 - it was known that , in May 1978 , following disturbances among remand prisoners , a squad of male prison offices in riot gear had locked the women in the cells for a number of weeks .
The picket in 1979 was attended by about 50 people ; when it had ended and those on the picket were about to leave , the RUC charged into the crowd .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The July 31st , 1922 elections left the country swept by rumour : the IRA were holding on to their garrisoned positions and Belfast was fired by pogroms . Eamonn de Valera awaited a call from Michael Collins to forward the names selected by his party for the coalition cabinet - that call , understandably , never came . Sinn Fein - a nationalist movement more than a doctrinaire Republican party - was broken and while the legitimacy of the First Dail remained intact , de jure legitimacy was to be no match for the de facto control exerted ruthlessly by those who now formed the first Free State government .
For parliamentarian republicans - with the repudiation by the IRA of all civil control and a policy of coercion from the parliament itself - only a limited number of options were available . Some had the view that until the Second Dail was formally resolved no other assembly should be recognised as legal ; among these , some contested that those deputies who had broken their oath by conspiring to overthrow the Republic had forfeited their right to sit in Dail Eireann and that the Dail deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic would have the constitutional right to act as the 'Second Dail' .
Others , including de Valera , believed that Republican TD's should go and claim their seats , whether in a 'Second' or a 'Third' Dail ; he discussed this with Mulcahy (of the Free State government) who insisted that the Treaty must be accepted as a condition for attendence in the parliament . This the parliamentarian republicans rejected .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare told the court that his wife , Claire , had been as much a hostage as John O' Grady had been . Claire O' Hare , who is also charged with the kidnap , had opted for a separate trial .
During his speech from the dock Dessie O' Hare told the court that the only justice in Ireland came through the barrel of a gun ; he faltered at one point when he looked up to the packed public gallery - the family of Jimmy McDaid was staring intently at him . Dessie O' Hare and Eddie Hogan got forty years . Tony McNeill received a fifteen year sentence . Fergal Toal got twenty years . The court treated the fourth accused more leniently - Gerry Wright got just seven years .
[END of ' 23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'In The Shadow Of A Gunman' - from 1982.)
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
1976 saw the formation of the Relatives Action Committees ; they were mainly women relatives of political prisoners who , finding the added financial strain of visits and food parcels and the deteriorating situation in the jails going un-noticed , got together to draw attention to what was happening .
The Committees worked hard and long , raising money , spreading information and touring Europe , America and Britain raising support for the prisoners : they were later to form the backbone of the H-Block/Armagh Committees which mushroomed during the hunger-strikes . A group called ' Women Against Imperialism ' , believing that feminists could no longer pretend neutrality on the national question , had broken away from the Belfast Women's Collective .
The 'Women Against Imperialism' group marked the linking of the struggles for women's liberation and national liberation by picketing Armagh Jail on International Women's Day 1979 - it was known that , in May 1978 , following disturbances among remand prisoners , a squad of male prison offices in riot gear had locked the women in the cells for a number of weeks .
The picket in 1979 was attended by about 50 people ; when it had ended and those on the picket were about to leave , the RUC charged into the crowd .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The July 31st , 1922 elections left the country swept by rumour : the IRA were holding on to their garrisoned positions and Belfast was fired by pogroms . Eamonn de Valera awaited a call from Michael Collins to forward the names selected by his party for the coalition cabinet - that call , understandably , never came . Sinn Fein - a nationalist movement more than a doctrinaire Republican party - was broken and while the legitimacy of the First Dail remained intact , de jure legitimacy was to be no match for the de facto control exerted ruthlessly by those who now formed the first Free State government .
For parliamentarian republicans - with the repudiation by the IRA of all civil control and a policy of coercion from the parliament itself - only a limited number of options were available . Some had the view that until the Second Dail was formally resolved no other assembly should be recognised as legal ; among these , some contested that those deputies who had broken their oath by conspiring to overthrow the Republic had forfeited their right to sit in Dail Eireann and that the Dail deputies who had remained faithful to the Republic would have the constitutional right to act as the 'Second Dail' .
Others , including de Valera , believed that Republican TD's should go and claim their seats , whether in a 'Second' or a 'Third' Dail ; he discussed this with Mulcahy (of the Free State government) who insisted that the Treaty must be accepted as a condition for attendence in the parliament . This the parliamentarian republicans rejected .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O' Hare told the court that his wife , Claire , had been as much a hostage as John O' Grady had been . Claire O' Hare , who is also charged with the kidnap , had opted for a separate trial .
During his speech from the dock Dessie O' Hare told the court that the only justice in Ireland came through the barrel of a gun ; he faltered at one point when he looked up to the packed public gallery - the family of Jimmy McDaid was staring intently at him . Dessie O' Hare and Eddie Hogan got forty years . Tony McNeill received a fifteen year sentence . Fergal Toal got twenty years . The court treated the fourth accused more leniently - Gerry Wright got just seven years .
[END of ' 23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'In The Shadow Of A Gunman' - from 1982.)
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' meant that the trappings of 'democracy' had to appear to be present - a large number of political prisoners would seem inconsistent with 'democracy' , so the hitherto recognised Special Category Status was removed and , to the outside world , the North appeared to undergo an 800 per cent increase in "crime rate" in the space of just seven years !
Internment was gone and people were to be 'processed' through the courts : but the 'trials' were to be held in non-jury courts , following up to seven days interrogation . There were to be special 'scheduled' offences which were to carry especially long , mandatory sentences . People could be arrested without charge and uncorroborated 'evidence' was to be accepted by the 'court' as sufficient proof of guilt.
The only trouble for the British Government was that the prisoners refused to accept the 'status' of "common criminals" ; as the numbers of those convicted under the Diplock (non-jury court) system increased , so too did the number of relatives of prisoners who were becoming aware that anyone who was unfortunate enough to get arrested on the whim of the 'security forces' had little hope of jumping off the conveyor belt which would eventually drop her or him into prison.......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A pact was agreed between the Irish Republicans and the (Free State) 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st , 1922 elections would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty but as creating a government to preserve peace .
It provided for a National Coalition Government : Sinn Fein was to put forward a panel of candidates - sixty-six nominated by the 'Treatyites' and fifty-eight by the Republicans . The new government would consist of four Republicans , five pro-Treaty members , a President - to be elected by the Dail (presumably pro-Treaty) - and the Minister of Defence , to be elected by the Army - and therefore most likely to be a Republican , given the (Republican) Army's opposition to the Treaty .
Contrary to the agreements of the pact the new Free State Constitution appeared in the newspapers the following day - this had the obvious and intended consequence of confusing the election results . The Treaty party proclaimed the return of 94 Coalition candidates as an endorsement of the Treaty while the Republican side obviously contested this . The Constitution for the Free State was in fact the British government's interpretation of the Treaty - a diluted 'Home Rule'-type of arrangement and a basis upon which Republicans obviously could not co-operate .
The disaster of becoming involved in the election for the Second Dail had tied the parliamentarian 'republicans' to a semantical debate about the integrity and status of a " Third Dail " which had , in fact , been diluted to a Constituent Assembly , tied to implementing British policy and supplied with British legislation and British guns for that purpose .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
When the John O' Grady kidnap trial opened , the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; however , given the weight of evidence against them , this was inevitable .
Tony McNeill and Gerry Wright had made statements in custody , admitting involvement . There were dozens of fingerprints of the kidnap gang in Carnlough Road and at the site of the container at Midleton . At Carnlough Road the gang got bored and Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal took photographs of each other armed with shotguns - they had'nt even bothered to wear balaclavas .
Dessie O' Hare was unrepentant ; McNeill , Hogan and Toal were acting under military orders , he told the court . Gerry Wright had been duped into helping them initially by the promise to shoot the man responsible for killing his brother and , later , by threats .......
(MORE LATER).
(Thank you for the kind comments , Cathal - glad we could help ! Sharon.)
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' meant that the trappings of 'democracy' had to appear to be present - a large number of political prisoners would seem inconsistent with 'democracy' , so the hitherto recognised Special Category Status was removed and , to the outside world , the North appeared to undergo an 800 per cent increase in "crime rate" in the space of just seven years !
Internment was gone and people were to be 'processed' through the courts : but the 'trials' were to be held in non-jury courts , following up to seven days interrogation . There were to be special 'scheduled' offences which were to carry especially long , mandatory sentences . People could be arrested without charge and uncorroborated 'evidence' was to be accepted by the 'court' as sufficient proof of guilt.
The only trouble for the British Government was that the prisoners refused to accept the 'status' of "common criminals" ; as the numbers of those convicted under the Diplock (non-jury court) system increased , so too did the number of relatives of prisoners who were becoming aware that anyone who was unfortunate enough to get arrested on the whim of the 'security forces' had little hope of jumping off the conveyor belt which would eventually drop her or him into prison.......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
A pact was agreed between the Irish Republicans and the (Free State) 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st , 1922 elections would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty but as creating a government to preserve peace .
It provided for a National Coalition Government : Sinn Fein was to put forward a panel of candidates - sixty-six nominated by the 'Treatyites' and fifty-eight by the Republicans . The new government would consist of four Republicans , five pro-Treaty members , a President - to be elected by the Dail (presumably pro-Treaty) - and the Minister of Defence , to be elected by the Army - and therefore most likely to be a Republican , given the (Republican) Army's opposition to the Treaty .
Contrary to the agreements of the pact the new Free State Constitution appeared in the newspapers the following day - this had the obvious and intended consequence of confusing the election results . The Treaty party proclaimed the return of 94 Coalition candidates as an endorsement of the Treaty while the Republican side obviously contested this . The Constitution for the Free State was in fact the British government's interpretation of the Treaty - a diluted 'Home Rule'-type of arrangement and a basis upon which Republicans obviously could not co-operate .
The disaster of becoming involved in the election for the Second Dail had tied the parliamentarian 'republicans' to a semantical debate about the integrity and status of a " Third Dail " which had , in fact , been diluted to a Constituent Assembly , tied to implementing British policy and supplied with British legislation and British guns for that purpose .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
When the John O' Grady kidnap trial opened , the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; however , given the weight of evidence against them , this was inevitable .
Tony McNeill and Gerry Wright had made statements in custody , admitting involvement . There were dozens of fingerprints of the kidnap gang in Carnlough Road and at the site of the container at Midleton . At Carnlough Road the gang got bored and Eddie Hogan and Fergal Toal took photographs of each other armed with shotguns - they had'nt even bothered to wear balaclavas .
Dessie O' Hare was unrepentant ; McNeill , Hogan and Toal were acting under military orders , he told the court . Gerry Wright had been duped into helping them initially by the promise to shoot the man responsible for killing his brother and , later , by threats .......
(MORE LATER).
(Thank you for the kind comments , Cathal - glad we could help ! Sharon.)
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In 1976 , Westminster introduced a new three-pronged strategy into its illegal occupation of the North-East of Ireland - Criminalisation , Ulsterisation and Normalisation . The latter was the pretence that the contradiction between the demands of the Civil Rights Movement and the intransigent bigotry of the loyalists had been resolved .
In order to make the North appear to be more like a Western-type 'liberal democracy' , the other two strategies were needed . Because having 25,000 British soldiers in Ireland made the situation look more like war than 'peace-keeping' , the British Government set up the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) who would replace some of the British soldiers . The fact that the UDR was composed of some of the most bigoted , anti-Catholic individuals in the Six Counties did not appear to cause any great concern at Westminster .
The fact that they are 'security' personnel enables members of the UDR to take advantage of surveillance to gain the necessary knowledge to carry out sectarian assassinations eg in 1983 an IRSP member was shot dead returning from the dole office on the first day that he had attended at a new time . In this case , and many others , there was inside information . At present , 10 UDR members are awaiting trial for murders of Catholics , some of which were initially claimed by the 'Protestant Action Force' . In addition to setting up the UDR , Westminster made provision for the numbers of RUC (the 'policeforce') to be increased .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' also impacted on the political prisoners .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Sinn Fein split over the December 1921 Treaty of Surrender and , by a majority of seven , Dail Eireann recommended the people of Ireland to surrender the Republic proclaimed in 1916 , ratified by democratic sanction in 1918 and defended since its proclamation by immeasurable effort and sacrifice . Sixty-four TD's voted for acceptance of the Treaty and fifty-seven voted against .
A proper analysis of why this happened - or the bloodshed which followed - is outside the scope of this article , dealing as we do here merely with Republican involvement in the electoral process . While every effort has been made to do this against the outline of the social and political conditions which prevailed (and of the forces at play within both British and nationalist camps) to get a detailed view of this , or any other , period , readers are advised to read any of the many informative studies available .
For our purposes it is sufficient to state that the 'Treatyites' formed a provisional government and prepared to implement the Treaty while the Republicans prepared to defend the Republic ; on March 8th , 1922 , the British Government passed the 'Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill' which , among other things , stipulated that an election should be held before July 31st , 1922 , to elect a provisional parliament which would be ratified and given 'powers' , under a Free State Constitution , by another British Act which was to be passed no later than December 6th , 1922 .
A pact was agreed between the Republicans and the 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st election would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty , but as ' creating a 'government' to preserve peace' .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The new Garda Commissioner , Eamon Doherty , called a secret meeting of all Chief Superintendents at Templemore in Tipperary to discuss what had gone wrong during the kidnap ; 'The Irish Times' newspaper the following day had a detailed report on the 'secret' meeting . The State Minister for Justice had also called for a report from the gardai to establish what had gone wrong , while the opposition parties in Leinster House had called for an independent inquiry .
But the meeting held at Templemore was not concerned with 'probing' - the mood was self-congratulatory ! The Chief Superintendents from Dun Laoghaire , Midleton and Tipperary addressed the meeting , with key sections of their speeches being devoted to rebutting criticism made by the media . However , it was conceded during the Templemore meeting that the need to refer all information to Dublin resulted in the investigation being slowed up . The outcome of the meeting was the setting up of a team of inquiry , led by three Assistant Commissioners known as the 'Three Wise Men' . The Report was ready within weeks ; it 'passed the buck' upwards .
The faults during the kidnap , it concluded , were due to the outdated structures the gardai were operating . The responsibility for this lay with the State Department of Justice - however , the Minister in charge of that Department was unimpressed with the report and was particularly annoyed about the fact that the report had not examined specific 'bungles' during the investigation .
When the trial opened on April 13th the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; but it was inevitable that they should , given the weight of evidence against them .......
(MORE LATER).
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
In 1976 , Westminster introduced a new three-pronged strategy into its illegal occupation of the North-East of Ireland - Criminalisation , Ulsterisation and Normalisation . The latter was the pretence that the contradiction between the demands of the Civil Rights Movement and the intransigent bigotry of the loyalists had been resolved .
In order to make the North appear to be more like a Western-type 'liberal democracy' , the other two strategies were needed . Because having 25,000 British soldiers in Ireland made the situation look more like war than 'peace-keeping' , the British Government set up the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) who would replace some of the British soldiers . The fact that the UDR was composed of some of the most bigoted , anti-Catholic individuals in the Six Counties did not appear to cause any great concern at Westminster .
The fact that they are 'security' personnel enables members of the UDR to take advantage of surveillance to gain the necessary knowledge to carry out sectarian assassinations eg in 1983 an IRSP member was shot dead returning from the dole office on the first day that he had attended at a new time . In this case , and many others , there was inside information . At present , 10 UDR members are awaiting trial for murders of Catholics , some of which were initially claimed by the 'Protestant Action Force' . In addition to setting up the UDR , Westminster made provision for the numbers of RUC (the 'policeforce') to be increased .
The British policy of 'Normalisation' also impacted on the political prisoners .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
Sinn Fein split over the December 1921 Treaty of Surrender and , by a majority of seven , Dail Eireann recommended the people of Ireland to surrender the Republic proclaimed in 1916 , ratified by democratic sanction in 1918 and defended since its proclamation by immeasurable effort and sacrifice . Sixty-four TD's voted for acceptance of the Treaty and fifty-seven voted against .
A proper analysis of why this happened - or the bloodshed which followed - is outside the scope of this article , dealing as we do here merely with Republican involvement in the electoral process . While every effort has been made to do this against the outline of the social and political conditions which prevailed (and of the forces at play within both British and nationalist camps) to get a detailed view of this , or any other , period , readers are advised to read any of the many informative studies available .
For our purposes it is sufficient to state that the 'Treatyites' formed a provisional government and prepared to implement the Treaty while the Republicans prepared to defend the Republic ; on March 8th , 1922 , the British Government passed the 'Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill' which , among other things , stipulated that an election should be held before July 31st , 1922 , to elect a provisional parliament which would be ratified and given 'powers' , under a Free State Constitution , by another British Act which was to be passed no later than December 6th , 1922 .
A pact was agreed between the Republicans and the 'Treatyites' in which it was agreed that the July 31st election would not be considered as deciding the issue of the Treaty , but as ' creating a 'government' to preserve peace' .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The new Garda Commissioner , Eamon Doherty , called a secret meeting of all Chief Superintendents at Templemore in Tipperary to discuss what had gone wrong during the kidnap ; 'The Irish Times' newspaper the following day had a detailed report on the 'secret' meeting . The State Minister for Justice had also called for a report from the gardai to establish what had gone wrong , while the opposition parties in Leinster House had called for an independent inquiry .
But the meeting held at Templemore was not concerned with 'probing' - the mood was self-congratulatory ! The Chief Superintendents from Dun Laoghaire , Midleton and Tipperary addressed the meeting , with key sections of their speeches being devoted to rebutting criticism made by the media . However , it was conceded during the Templemore meeting that the need to refer all information to Dublin resulted in the investigation being slowed up . The outcome of the meeting was the setting up of a team of inquiry , led by three Assistant Commissioners known as the 'Three Wise Men' . The Report was ready within weeks ; it 'passed the buck' upwards .
The faults during the kidnap , it concluded , were due to the outdated structures the gardai were operating . The responsibility for this lay with the State Department of Justice - however , the Minister in charge of that Department was unimpressed with the report and was particularly annoyed about the fact that the report had not examined specific 'bungles' during the investigation .
When the trial opened on April 13th the decision by the accused to plead guilty was greeted with surprise ; but it was inevitable that they should , given the weight of evidence against them .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, November 07, 2005
A HISTORY OF ARMAGH JAIL .......
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
There were over 1,600 political prisoners in the jails in the North of Ireland and this fact was becoming a severe embarrassment to the British government ; attempts were underway to abolish Special Category Status .
While the men set fire to parts of Long Kesh prison , the women in Armagh Jail held a successful blockade of prison officers until Merlyn Rees , the then British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' , gave an assurance that political status would not be tampered with ; that 'assurance' was to prove meaningless and , with the removal of Special Category Status , the (British) Labour Government began the process of 'criminalisation' in 1976 .
All prisoners convicted of 'offences' committed after March 1 , 1976 , were denied political status and classified as 'criminals' ! The Prisoners were now expected to do prison work ; in Long Kesh , 'criminalisation' also meant that male prisoners had to wear prison uniform . In September 1976 , Kieran Nugent refused to wear prison uniform and began the 'Blanket Protest' . The women in Armagh refused to do prison work . The protesting prisoners in Armagh and Long Kesh had begun a struggle for the recognition of their political status which was to end in the deaths of the hunger strikers five years later (ie 1981) .
The British policy of 'criminalisation' was part of a new three-pronged strategy ; the other two aspects were 'Ulsterisation' and 'Normalisation' .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The British 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' came nominally into force on May 3rd , 1921 ; on May 19th , the first Catholic Viceroy of Ireland , 'Lord' Fitzalan , came into office ; he issued a proclamation summoning the 'parliament of Northern Ireland' and the 'parliament of Southern Ireland' to meet in June 1921 . Elections were to take place in the twenty-six counties on May 19th , 1921 and in the six counties on May 24th . The House of Commons of 'Northern Ireland' was to have fifty two members , while that of 'Southern Ireland' was to have one hundred and twenty eight members . The six counties were to be entitled to sent thirteen M.P.'s to Westminster , and the twenty-six counties were to send thirty-three .
While Sinn Fein rejected the 'Better Government of Ireland Act' it fought the elections on the premise that they were to take place as demonstrations of the peoples will (as decreed by the Dail) and were to be regarded as elections for the Second Dail . Elections for the Senate were not to be recognised as the constitution's proposal for these bodies by the British were regarded as undemocratic , a certain number of Senators being nominated by the British Government . The representatives of all Ireland as elected would constitute the Dail and would be permitted to take their seats on subscribing to the Republican oath .
That Sinn Fein contested this essentially partition election was undoubtedly making partition a reality but contest it they did , with 124 Sinn Fein representatives being returned without opposition in any constituency in the twenty-six counties : in the six counties , the Unionists [led by Craig] won forty out of fifty-two seats .
Tyrone and Fermanagh returned nationalist and republican majorities , while Down and Armagh elected republican MP's ; the Unionists formed , as expected , the six county 'government' which was boycotted by the 'Irish Nationalist Party' and Sinn Fein . Stormont was opened by the British 'Monarch' , George V , on June 22nd 1921 . Partition was now a reality and the Truce negotiations which were to follow between the Republican leadership and the British Government merely formalised this arrangement .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The BMW came to a halt after it crashed ; the gunfight had left Martin Bryan dead . Inspector Moriarty and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car - " O' Hare ! Put both your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them ! " , shouted Moriarty . O' Hare's left hand came slowly onto the wheel . Moriarty shouted again to him to put the other hand up . " I can't ," O' Hare replied , " It's busted. " Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke had sneaked around to the back of the car , and now emerged at the driver's window ; he put his Smith and Wesson revolver into Dessie O' Hare's neck . It was over .
Dessie O' Hare was given a glass of water ; he was muttering - " Fading ...fading ...fading fast .. " It was when he was being transferred to the ambulance he uttered the immortal and infamous line : " Easy , easy . You're hurting me .. " On the journey O' Hare held Inspector Moriarty's hand and complained of pain . At St Luke's Hospital his blood-spattered clothes were cut off with scissors and he was taken to surgery . A wallet had fallen out of his pocket when he was being moved into the ambulance ; the contents included a photograph of John O' Grady , taken immediately after he had severed his fingers , and a list of safe houses , vehicles and people . Later that night O' Hare was transferred to St Vincent's Hospital where he was put on a respirator .
28. THE AFTERMATH .
The gardai were jubilant : all the principals involved in the kidnap were now in custody . Dessie O' Hare was discharged from St Vincent's Hospital on January 8 , 1988 ; before being brought to the Special Criminal Court he was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to the Bridewell Garda Station for questioning . He refused to answer any questions ; the only member of the garda force he acknowledged was Inspector Moriarty who had arrested him in Urlingford and travelled in the ambulance with him after the shoot-out . When Moriarty introduced himself O' Hare smiled and nodded his head from side to side before shaking Moriarty's hand . Then , for no apparent reason , O' Hare stood up , shook his fist in the air and began to shudder . He then sat down and started smiling again .
During his period in the Bridewell , O' Hare objected to going on an identity parade : when the volunteers for the parade were brought in , O' Hare removed his shirt and trousers , exposing dressings covering his wounds . He was worried , it appears , that the parade was likely to admit evidence that might prejudice a fair trial.......
(MORE LATER).
The women's prison in the North of Ireland is situated in the centre of the Protestant/Loyalist city of Armagh .
It was built in the 19th century , a huge granite building which today sports all the trappings of a high-security jail such as barbed wire , guards , arc-lamps , and closed circuit television cameras .
First published in the booklet ' STRIP SEARCHES IN ARMAGH JAIL' , produced , in February 1984 , by 'The London Armagh Group' .
There were over 1,600 political prisoners in the jails in the North of Ireland and this fact was becoming a severe embarrassment to the British government ; attempts were underway to abolish Special Category Status .
While the men set fire to parts of Long Kesh prison , the women in Armagh Jail held a successful blockade of prison officers until Merlyn Rees , the then British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' , gave an assurance that political status would not be tampered with ; that 'assurance' was to prove meaningless and , with the removal of Special Category Status , the (British) Labour Government began the process of 'criminalisation' in 1976 .
All prisoners convicted of 'offences' committed after March 1 , 1976 , were denied political status and classified as 'criminals' ! The Prisoners were now expected to do prison work ; in Long Kesh , 'criminalisation' also meant that male prisoners had to wear prison uniform . In September 1976 , Kieran Nugent refused to wear prison uniform and began the 'Blanket Protest' . The women in Armagh refused to do prison work . The protesting prisoners in Armagh and Long Kesh had begun a struggle for the recognition of their political status which was to end in the deaths of the hunger strikers five years later (ie 1981) .
The British policy of 'criminalisation' was part of a new three-pronged strategy ; the other two aspects were 'Ulsterisation' and 'Normalisation' .......
(MORE LATER).
ELECTION INTERVENTIONS.......
Despite the fact that SINN FEIN has been contesting local elections in the 26 counties for more than two decades , much comment has been passed and incorrectly interpreted about Republican involvement in elections - north and south of the British-imposed border - in the past several months .
Here we review Republican interventions in the electoral process for the past century and more .
From 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .
The British 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' came nominally into force on May 3rd , 1921 ; on May 19th , the first Catholic Viceroy of Ireland , 'Lord' Fitzalan , came into office ; he issued a proclamation summoning the 'parliament of Northern Ireland' and the 'parliament of Southern Ireland' to meet in June 1921 . Elections were to take place in the twenty-six counties on May 19th , 1921 and in the six counties on May 24th . The House of Commons of 'Northern Ireland' was to have fifty two members , while that of 'Southern Ireland' was to have one hundred and twenty eight members . The six counties were to be entitled to sent thirteen M.P.'s to Westminster , and the twenty-six counties were to send thirty-three .
While Sinn Fein rejected the 'Better Government of Ireland Act' it fought the elections on the premise that they were to take place as demonstrations of the peoples will (as decreed by the Dail) and were to be regarded as elections for the Second Dail . Elections for the Senate were not to be recognised as the constitution's proposal for these bodies by the British were regarded as undemocratic , a certain number of Senators being nominated by the British Government . The representatives of all Ireland as elected would constitute the Dail and would be permitted to take their seats on subscribing to the Republican oath .
That Sinn Fein contested this essentially partition election was undoubtedly making partition a reality but contest it they did , with 124 Sinn Fein representatives being returned without opposition in any constituency in the twenty-six counties : in the six counties , the Unionists [led by Craig] won forty out of fifty-two seats .
Tyrone and Fermanagh returned nationalist and republican majorities , while Down and Armagh elected republican MP's ; the Unionists formed , as expected , the six county 'government' which was boycotted by the 'Irish Nationalist Party' and Sinn Fein . Stormont was opened by the British 'Monarch' , George V , on June 22nd 1921 . Partition was now a reality and the Truce negotiations which were to follow between the Republican leadership and the British Government merely formalised this arrangement .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
The BMW came to a halt after it crashed ; the gunfight had left Martin Bryan dead . Inspector Moriarty and Detective Sergeant O' Rourke approached the car - " O' Hare ! Put both your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them ! " , shouted Moriarty . O' Hare's left hand came slowly onto the wheel . Moriarty shouted again to him to put the other hand up . " I can't ," O' Hare replied , " It's busted. " Detective Sergeant P.J. O' Rourke had sneaked around to the back of the car , and now emerged at the driver's window ; he put his Smith and Wesson revolver into Dessie O' Hare's neck . It was over .
Dessie O' Hare was given a glass of water ; he was muttering - " Fading ...fading ...fading fast .. " It was when he was being transferred to the ambulance he uttered the immortal and infamous line : " Easy , easy . You're hurting me .. " On the journey O' Hare held Inspector Moriarty's hand and complained of pain . At St Luke's Hospital his blood-spattered clothes were cut off with scissors and he was taken to surgery . A wallet had fallen out of his pocket when he was being moved into the ambulance ; the contents included a photograph of John O' Grady , taken immediately after he had severed his fingers , and a list of safe houses , vehicles and people . Later that night O' Hare was transferred to St Vincent's Hospital where he was put on a respirator .
28. THE AFTERMATH .
The gardai were jubilant : all the principals involved in the kidnap were now in custody . Dessie O' Hare was discharged from St Vincent's Hospital on January 8 , 1988 ; before being brought to the Special Criminal Court he was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and taken to the Bridewell Garda Station for questioning . He refused to answer any questions ; the only member of the garda force he acknowledged was Inspector Moriarty who had arrested him in Urlingford and travelled in the ambulance with him after the shoot-out . When Moriarty introduced himself O' Hare smiled and nodded his head from side to side before shaking Moriarty's hand . Then , for no apparent reason , O' Hare stood up , shook his fist in the air and began to shudder . He then sat down and started smiling again .
During his period in the Bridewell , O' Hare objected to going on an identity parade : when the volunteers for the parade were brought in , O' Hare removed his shirt and trousers , exposing dressings covering his wounds . He was worried , it appears , that the parade was likely to admit evidence that might prejudice a fair trial.......
(MORE LATER).
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