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 .
THE CASE OF NICKY KELLY .
Edward Noel (Nicky) Kelly was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act , 1939 , at Arklow , County Wicklow , at 10.00am on the Monday morning of the 5th of April , 1976 , and brought soon afterwards to Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station in Dublin .
He said in evidence that repeated requests for legal counsel were ignored and alleged the first assault took place around midday when Detective Garda Thomas Ibar Dunne turned him round by the shoulders against his will in the presence of Detective Sergeant Francis Campbell and that he was shouted at by Detective Dunne : later on , Nicky Kelly said , Detective Garda Thomas Ibar Dunne slapped him about the face and ears , shouting at him all the time , and that Dunne then sprinkled holy water on him .
Nicky Kelly said that Detective Garda Michael Finn (*'CASE 2' , here) entered the room , slapped him , and asked him if he was ready to make a statement . Further , Detective Finn made him stand up and sit down on a chair repeatedly , and then pulled the chair from under him , causing him to fall to the ground . Kelly alleged that the next assault occured when Detective Garda Thomas Ibar Dunne punched him on the arms , and that Detective Garda Michael Finn was the next to assault him by ramming his head of a locker , whilst Detective Garda William Maher was present also . Together , Kelly claimed , the Gardai shouted at him to "own up....... "
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THE SEEDS OF ANOTHER BITTER HARVEST .......By STEPHEN GREER .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , October 1983 .
There are at least three factors which make the testimony of the North of Ireland's 'converted terrorists' especially unreliable -
1) The need to construct a story sufficiently appealing to the RUC to attract immunity from prosecution , and the financial and other rewards which 'successful' supergrasses obtain could operate as an incentive for the fabrication or embroidering of 'evidence' .
2) It seems that several supergrasses were rejected in the past by the paramilitary organisations to which they once belonged because they were regarded as being unscrupulous or of a criminal disposition . If the paramilitaries take this view how can the 'authorities' trust them as reliable and credible witnesses ?
3) Because of the hostility which undeniably exists between informers and their former paramilitary colleagues and others , there is a serious risk that such witnesses may attempt to use the criminal justice system to pay off old scores against personal enemies . This could result in people being convicted for offences which they did not commit .
It is also extremely misleading to present the supergrass strategy as merely a particular application of the 'UK'-wide practice of defendants 'turning Queen's evidence' : for one thing , unlike most supergrasses here , criminals 'grassing' on their associates in Britain are usually not granted total immunity from prosecution - as a rule they are tried and sentenced before appearing as 'Crown' witnesses in cases against their criminal colleagues.......
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THE PROVOS AT THE BALLOT BOX .......By Michael Farrell .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1983 .
Sinn Fein supporters are mostly young , employed and unemployed and/or ex-prisoners - as are their candidates in elections . They live in the working-class ghettos , they speak the people's language ('1169...' Comment - ..... or at least they did , then : but that was before the professional spin-doctors taught them [post 1986] how to pad-out a reply with terms such as "...going forward.." and other similar shite talk !) , they experience their problems .
The SDLP candidates are all middle-class : three of the four candidates in Belfast are doctors , and most of their workers are middle-class too . On election day they have to pay people to staff the polling booths . Sinn Fein have no trouble getting volunteers .
The SDLP give the impression of being tired , jaded and out of touch with the people : the 'Londonderry' issue is a good example - at the end of April the small 'Irish Independence Party' (IIP) group on Derry City Council proposed that the official name of the city be changed back from 'Londonderry' to 'Derry' : the SDLP , who control the council , said they didn't want to offend the Protestant minority in the city and abstained . The motion was voted down by the Unionists.......
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