ANNUAL WOLFE TONE COMMEMORATION : Sunday , June 11 , 2006 , Sallins , Co. Kildare .
A bus for this Commemoration , which is organised each year by the Republican Movement , will leave from outside the old McBirneys/Virgin Megastore site on Dublin's Aston Quay at 12.45PM on the day : the Commemoration itself starts at 2.30PM .
The same bus will leave Bodenstown at 5.30PM that afternoon on its return to Dublin city centre . The fare is ten Euro per person .
For information on the death of Wolfe Tone , scroll through this piece (article starts on March 9 on that page) which was published on this blog last year .
" From my earliest youth I have regarded the connection between Great Britain and Ireland as the curse of the Irish nation , and felt convinced that , while it lasted , this country could never be free nor happy . My mind has been confirmed in this opinion by the experience of every succeeding year , and the conclusions which I have drawn from every fact before my eyes . In consequence , I was determined to employ all the powers which my individual efforts could move , in order to separate the two countries .
That Ireland was not able of herself to throw off the yoke , I knew ; I therefore sought for aid wherever it was to be found . In honourable poverty I rejected offers which , to a man in my circumstances , might be considered highly advantageous . I remained faithful to what I thought the cause of my country , and sought in the French Republic an ally to rescue three millions of my countrymen " . -Theobald Wolfe Tone .
THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .
One month on , many in the North of Ireland are still amazed that unionists are now inside a talks process in Stormont's Castle Buildings with the (Provisional) IRA's political wing , (Provisional) Sinn Fein .
Outside the talks , Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is berated at supposedly 'United Unionist' rallies organised by the 'Reverend' Ian Paisley and the M.P. Bob McCartney , for being duped by 'pan-nationalism' . A series of past leaders have trembled , then fallen , under such attacks : but the rallies have drawn steadily smaller crowds .
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As importantly for Trimble's nerve , the mood at his party's annual conference (on October 25 last) suggested that staying in the talks meets general 'Ulster Unionist Party' acceptance . But not their enthusiasm .......
(MORE LATER).
THE YOUNGER BREED : ANDY CALLAGHAN.......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , April 1986 .
No By-Line .
Andy Callaghan , or rather 'Aindreas O' Ceallachain' as he was then known , joined Sinn Fein while at UCD , which was "...in the wake of Bloody Sunday... " , as he puts it himself . His rise to the top within the Movement was quickly aided by a leadership anxious to approve of his undoubted rhetorical skills , and he became a member of the Ard Comhairle (party leadership) in 1976 and again in 1977 .
His oration at Maire Drumm's graveside , after her assassination in hospital in October 1976 , was the highpoint in a long list of speaking engagements for young Andy .
That speech was unremarkable , at what was a low-key Republican funeral , although there was a firing party : indeed , the most memorable ingredient of that occasion was the presence of British actress Vanessa Redgrave . An earlier speech which Andy Callaghan made , in November 1975 , leaves him with a lot more explaining to do to his new-found friends in Fianna Fail .......
(MORE LATER).
THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .
Six out of every ten Fianna Fail voters disapproved of Section 31 censorship , and eight out of every ten Fianna Fail supporters favoured allowing Sinn Fein access to the media . These figures are proof of Fianna Fail's shaky stance on Section 31 in the last few weeks , according to Niall Meehan -
" Fianna Fail have traditionally a more working class vote in the Dublin area than either Fine Gael or the PD's , so they have more to lose by denying Sinn Fein access , because Sinn Fein are at their strongest in those areas of Dublin. "
John Doyle of Sinn Fein stated - " With increased Sinn Fein community work in working class Dublin , Fianna Fail are certainly feeling the pinch . " Doyle says that Fianna Fail had to do all in their power to win back support that might have gone Sinn Fein's way so they had to be seen to make some moves on the Section 31 restriction . And those Fianna Fail 'moves' in relation to that censorship Act left Charlie Haughey and Fianna Fail open to an attack from other Leinster House organisations .......
(MORE LATER).