'BRITISH COLONEL W.W.B. TOPPING ON THE CAMPAIGN' ....... From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Colonel Topping had this to say about the press release from the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau- " I do not think I will be giving very much away when I say that for once they are not very far out in the picture they paint . "
The British Colonel also quoted an unnamed Newry man , whom he called 'a prominent member of the minority' , as writing to him stating that " ...if a plebiscite were held in the town of Newry very few would opt out of Northern Ireland (sic) ." Perhaps Colonel Topping should substantiate his statement by giving us the name of this 'prominent member of the minority' , and perhaps he might also test the truth of the alleged statement by holding a plebiscite in Newry ?
[END of ''BRITISH COLONEL W.W.B. TOPPING ON THE CAMPAIGN']
(Next : 'Fermanagh Ambush' : from the same source)
SOUNDING OFF-COMRADES AND CALCULATORS.
From 'Gralton' magazine, August/September 1983.
By Gene Kerrigan.
There used to be a great cliche on the political Left that always came into use at meetings with titles like 'Socialism -The Way Forward!' or 'Socialism - Making The Links!' or 'Socialism - Drawing The Lessons!' . That cliche was about parliamentary democracy and , like much of the rhetoric , it was an imported cliche . It read - " Capitalist democracy consists of putting an X beside someone's name once every five years! "
We even worked it out scientifically : if it took one minute to mark the X , the speaker might say , and you voted in every general election for fifty years , that meant you had ten minutes of democracy in your whole lifetime ! " Huh! ..." said the speaker - "...some democracy . The alternative we're proposing here tonight is the mass democracy ...etc etc etc......proletariat .....etc etc etc.....workers vanguard...etc etc.....memory of the class...etc etc......forward........make the links.....draw the lessons.....and hope you can come to our next meeting in a fortnight's time on 'Socialism - What Is To Be Done...' "
The 'X-every-five-years' cliche took a bit of a hammering when someone pointed out that it was a fine cliche for the British comrades , but over here we had PR voting and you got to mark 1-2-3 every five years . Okay , maybe the political point was the same , but it didn't sound as snappy , and that particular cliche went out of style.......
(MORE LATER).
WHAT ROUGH BEAST IS THIS , ITS HOUR COME ROUND AT LAST.......?By JOHN WATERS.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987.
If Charles Haughey were to put his 'abrasiveness' to good use in foreign financial circles on our behalf ('1169..' Comment- .....we now know that he put his brass neck to 'good use' in 'foreign financial circles' for his own benefit..) he could be forgiven for a lot . We don't need a pussy cat as Taoiseach , and Haughey is certainly no pussy cat . In government he will be a one-man show , but no single other Irish politician has been tested so hard and come up winning . ('1169...' Comment -.....he did indeed "come up winning" , but it was at the taxpayers expense.)
He could be the one to hold this country's (sic) head up high for the first time in a long time ; as John Healy keeps saying , you don't have to like Haughey , you just have to realise that , as of now , there is no possible alternative - the Left is cannibalising itself left , right and centre , and the Right - in the form of Dessie O'Malley and John Bruton- is standing by with jackboot at the ready . The media have depicted the recent struggle for the leadership of Fianna Fail as a personality issue , but in reality it was a struggle between two opposing ideologies or notions - Charlie Haughey's patronage against Dessie O' Malley's monetarism . I'll take Haughey's patronage any day.......
(MORE LATER).
