'LAW AND ORDER IN OCCUPIED IRELAND' From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
'Sir' Norman Stronge had many words of advice for many people when he addressed a meeting of Tory-Unionists in Mullaghglass , County Armagh , recently . 'Sir' Norman , the Speaker at Stormont, congratulated Mr. de Valera for coming out on the side of what he called "...law and order.." in Occupied Ireland : he said - " I suppose that with age people get more sense. "
'Sir' Norman said that he thought that what Mr. de Valera stated could be trusted . He went on to say that all "...the rot.." which the Resistance preached could be put down to propaganda , and that industrialists were coming from Canada and the USA to build factories in Occupied Ireland , and that their friends in many parts of 'the Empire' were congratulating them for their stand on the side of Britain .
'Sir' Stronge also told the members of the Mullaghglass Unionist Association that they owed more to the Tory Party in England than anybody knew ; he said a good many of the Labour Party were unfriendly to them and the Liberal Party was for Home Rule.......
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OUT OF THE WOMEN'S GHETTO .......
By INEZ McCORMICK.
A review of Margaret Ward's book - 'Unmanageable Revolutionaries:Women and Irish Nationalism' .
From 'FORTNIGHT' magazine , October 1983.
Hannah Sheehy Skeffington pointed out that the position women were forced to adopt in the Gaelic revival and Sinn Fein was a restricting one , re-inforcing their roles as 'mother and housewife' .
She advised women to "...refuse any longer to be camp followers and parasites of public life , dependent upon caprice and expediency.." : the pity is that her advice was ignored , and Irishwomen are still suffering the consequences . The 1935 Conditions of Employment Act, presented by the late 'progressive' Sean Lemass, and supported by the male Labour leaders in Leinster House and the State Senate- under the paternalistic guise of concern for women's welfare - restricted women's access to the workforce , and hence retarded their entry in significant numbers into the trade union movement .
De Valera's 1937 (State) Constitution made second-class citizens of half the population - the 'Mother and Child' debacle and the even more recent Constitutional Amendment on Abortion show the ease with which women's needs can be ignored , once women are persuaded to subordinate them.......
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WHAT ROUGH BEAST IS THIS , ITS HOUR COME ROUND AT LAST.......?By JOHN WATERS.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987.
Charles J. Haughey, more than any Irish politician , is aware of the dynamics of power : he knows that the ability to use power is useless unless you first obtain it . He knows that to do this in a democracy you must be a 'Man Of The People' , which he undoubtedly is , but that you must also have authority , a sense of leadership , about you . He knows about the theatrics of power .
He has cultivated mannerisms which he has borrowed from a wide range of leaders which include Napoleon, Lemass and Catholic Popes ! If you watch his hands , they speak volumes about his belief in himself , his destiny , his inevitable inheritance of the earth . He is acutely aware , however , that there is a potential conflict between being a 'Man Of The People' and maintaining the necessary trappings of power .
You must have the illusion of wealth , but you mustn't flaunt it . It is a tricky tightrope : he rarely allows himself to be photographed inside his house in Kinsealy - "...too much Georgian splendour.." , he explains . Because of this monarchical streak in Haughey's character , much has been made of the possible dangers to democracy should he achieve his ambition of an extended period in Office . This is almost certainly pure nonsense ('1169...' Comment... that Haughey was living beyond his means was obvious to almost all at the time ..) and we have recently observed the colour of the democracy espoused by one of the chief proponents of this viewpoint , Dr Conor Cruise O' Brien, in the form of his behaviour over South Africa.......
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