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 .
PERJURY BY SOME OF THE 82 :
In the course of the Sallins mail train robbery trial a total of 82 Gardai gave evidence - allegations of ill-treatment were made against 19 of them : every one of them denied ill-treating any of the accused or being in any way aware that any of the accused were ill-treated by other Gardai . The Gardai who gave evidence in the trial were :
Garda John Murphy / Detective Garda Thomas Connolly / Garda Pierce Freaney / Detective Garda James Grehan / Detective Garda Michael Drew / Detective Garda William Maher / Detective Garda Adrian O' Hara / Garda Thomas B. Fitzgerald / Detective Superintendent John Courtney / Detective Inspector Edward Ryan / Sergeant William Ryan / Assistant Commissioner John P. Fleming / Detective Sergeant Patrick Culhane / Detective Garda Joseph Egan / Chief Superintendent John J. Joy .
Garda James Heffernan / Superintendent Hubert Reynolds / Detective Garda Gabriel McCarthy / Detective Inspector F.J. Campbell / Detective Garda Thomas Ibar Dunne / Detective Garda Kieran P. Lawlor / Detective Garda Felix McKenna / Detective Inspector Myles P. Hawkshaw / Detective Inspector Cavanan / Sergeant Patrick Bohan / Detective Sergeant Patrick J. Sullivan / Sergeant Luke Padden / Detective Garda Michael Finn / Detective Inspector Vincent McGrath / Superintendent Patrick Casey .
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A PEOPLE'S ARMY . 'IRIS' magazine talks to two active women Volunteers in the Irish Republican Army about their involvement , their political attitudes , and their observations on the role played by women in the liberation struggle. Both Volunteers are from the Free State , where they live , and are in their twenties . 'Mary' comes from a country area and has been in the IRA for six years ; 'Anne' comes from the city and joined the IRA about a year ago .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.
'IRIS' magazine : "First of all , could you explain why you got involved in the republican struggle ?"
Anne : " As I didn't come from a republican family it wasn't until I was 19 that I first began to identify with the Republican Movement , and that was mainly through meeting people who explained why there was a war taking place in the North . When I realised the degree of oppression there was , and the fact that it was primarily the IRA that was opposing it , I felt I should do something to help . Gradually I became more involved and decided to join the Army ."
Mary : "For me it was different because I come from an extremely republican area and from a republican family , so I never thought twice about becoming involved . I was aware of Free State repression as well as Brit repression in the North . First of all I was approached about joining Cumann na mBan, but there were a group of us getting involved at the time , boys and girls , and we all knew each other and went round with each other , and we thought why should any of us be different . We thought we should all be in the same army , so there was a conscious decision on my part to join the IRA rather than Cumann na mBan . "
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" COMRADES , BROTHERS AND SISTERS ......." Kerry Dougherty talks to Michael O'Riordan about fifty years of Irish Communism.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1983 .
Not only were Irish communists denounced by the Catholic Church but they were followed by the Special Branch and listened to through phone taps .
" Back in the fifties the Church said you couldn't even read a party paper , " he recalls with a smile . " When I ran for Leinster House back in 1951 - in the Dublin South-West constituency - the Bishop declared that to vote for O' Riordan was a mortal sin ! Times have changed , however , and today you have priests fighting side by side with the communists in El Salvador and no-one ever blesses themselves when they see me coming down the street and believe me , they used to do that ! "
Michael O' Riordan says he knew for certain things had changed when he was asked to address a group of priests and nuns in Maynooth about communism recently . The only problem he encountered was what to call the assembled ; as a communist , he couldn't , in good conscience , greet the group with references to Church hierarchy , and he feared they would be offended if he simply called them comrades . " So I settled on 'comrades , sisters and brothers...' " , he says with a smile.......
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