THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .......There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago .
The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime .
By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .
This was all in relation to the by now notorious Sallins mail train robbery , which occured on March 31 , 1976 and the subsequent trial of three people , Osgur Breathnach , Brian McNally and Nicky Kelly in connection with that robbery .
While the case inevitably relates to allegations of Garda brutality against persons held in Garda custody , it is not the kernal of the case presented here . We do go into some detail to show that the Gardai did ill-treat Osgur Breathnach , Brian McNally and Nicky Kelly but our point is not to prove that the Gardai were guilty of ill-treatment , it is not even to show that the convictions of all three by the Special Criminal Court was mistaken or even that the subsequent failure of Nicky Kelly's appeals to the State Court of Criminal Appeal and the State Supreme Court were mistaken .
The purpose of this present article is to show that as there was overwhelming evidence that the Gardai did in fact ill-treat the three accused , of the 82 Gardai who gave evidence in the trial a significant number of these perjured themselves , as they must have known what was going on.......
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(Martin McGuinness , left , with Henry Kissinger , as usual , on the right ...) DISARMING MARTIN .......
All (P)Sinn Fein leaders have a series of mantras and mini-speeches which they seek to get into every interview , regardless of the question .
The task of the journalist is to avoid setting off these reflex responses : the problem with Martin McGuinness is that he does it so pleasantly that it seems impolite to interrupt him .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 .
By John Waters .
The (P) Sinn Fein position is already well documented , but Martin McGuinness has a certain fascination with the manner in which the idea was introduced to and maintained within the 'peace process' for almost five years : " I think it's absolutely vital that people contexualise why all of this is happening . I remember before the (P) IRA ceasefire ever took place , in the summer of 1994 , decommissioning was a word none of us ever heard of . I had been given responsibility within theleadership of (P) Sinn Fein to open up a channel of communication with the British government * , which I did in October of 1990 ." ('1169...' Comment * - ...much the same , in all probability , as Denis Donaldson was .)
" And right through from then until the (P) IRA ceasefire of1994 , I could have contacted the British government , 10 Downing Street * , within seconds , and they could have contacted me , any day of the week , any hour of the day , night-time , whatever . " ('1169...' Comment * - Notice how well got Martin considered himself to be with Westminster . And how comfortable he felt in being able to speak openly about his ability to contact Westminster "within seconds" , should he need assistance . Sickening .) " And never once during that whole period was the word decommissioning ever mentioned . And when it was mentioned eventually , I had to get a dictionary and look it up . " ('1169...' Comment - It was obviously a faulty dictionary as it informed Martin that decommissioning had nothing to do with handing over arms and munitions.)
" And the very first meetings of the delegation that I led , with the British government civil service , was to this very building . ('1169...' Comment- Most men would speak like that in such fond terms of their first date with their then girl-friend ; but Martin , with tears in his eyes , no doubt , fondly remembers one of his first encounters with his future employers !) And the first people we met , it was clear , that the architects of the decommissioning issue were across the table from us , people like Quentin Thomas and Stephen Leach , from British Intelligence....... "
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GUNS TO BREAD AND BUTTER .......EDDIE ROONEY looks at the transformation of the Official Republican movement from a revolutionary organisation run by its military wing to a social democratic electoral party .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , 1983 .
Billy McMillen was committed simultaneously to electoral participation and the construction of an army , and he attempted to build an organisation of politically active , socially conscious volunteers .
Until his death in April 1975 - shot by the INLA after negotiating an end to a feud - he remained a militant , advocating that the armed wing should retain control of the movement , although also maintaining that military activity should complement political goals . Despite the evident contradictions in the practical application of his approach , Billy McMillen was sufficiently strong to retain a degree of autonomy for the movement in the North of Ireland in the face of an increasingly visible gap with the more constitutionally-minded leadership in the South . The Officials never recovered from his death .
Following the death of Billy McMillen , the character of the Officials began to change - the military structure was gradually run down , and increasingly a clear distinction was made between 'politicians' and 'militants' . This trend was temporarily reversed at the end of 1975 following an attack on the Officials by the Provisionals.......
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