'IN CURRAGH CONCENTRATION CAMP'....... From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
DUBLIN :
Michael Traynor , 38 South King Street .
Gearóid Ó Broin , 27 Church Avenue , South Circular Road , Rialto .
George Dearle , 82 Lower Drumcondra Road .
Robert Russell , 67 North Strand .
Eddie Gargan , 11 Auburn Street , Broadstone .
Tomás Ó Dubhghaill , 36 Comeragh Road , Drimnagh .
Anthony Magan , 45 Dodder Road , Rathfarnham.
Andy Nathan , 398 Nutgrove Avenue , Churchtown.
Brendan Sealy , 21 Weston Road , Churchtown.
Ruaídhrí Mac Daibhéid , 100 Griffith Avenue , Marino .
Patrick Cosgrove , 21 Dufferin Avenue , South Circular Road .
Michael O' Brien , 32 Hazel Road , Donnycarney .
(MORE LATER).
THE PRISONS OF THE PAST.......
In a jail outside Belfast , republican prisoners have begun smearing their cells with excrement . They are demanding the right to political status . We have been here before.....
From 'MAGILL' magazine August 2003 .
By Niall Stanage.
In the present circumstances , one can entirely disagree with the actions , and the political analysis , of 'dissident republicans' yet still understand why it is crazy to imagine that they will accept being treated only as criminals , or that they and their loyalist counterparts will mix without difficulty .
Here is where pragmatism also enters the equation . The British government has spent millions of pounds erecting ugly 'peace walls' to try to keep the north's warring factions apart . How , then , does it make sense to keep each community's most recalcitrant members cheek-by-jowl in a prison ? To insist on such a system is a receipe for disaster .
History is supposed to teach us lessons . We are not supposed to be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Someone should remind the north's prison authorities of that fact . If they display the same arrogant ineptitude as their predecessors , the grimness of twenty years ago could envelop the jails - and the landscape beyond - once again .
[END of 'THE PRISONS OF THE PAST']
(Next : 'Public Inquiry Into Our Greatest Scandal' - from 1998.)
TAKING IT HANDY.......
Provisional Sinn Fein are fighting this election as a party which has just emerged from seventy years of abstentionism. The party is banned from the airwaves and there is a strong apparent bias against the party in the press.
From 'In Dublin' magazine Election Special, 1987.
By Derek Dunne.
On another doorstep , one woman complains that they are unable to get an Irish school going because of local objections . Gerry Adams suggests that , since it is a local issue , locals must sort it out between themselves . Throughout the day , four State air-force planes have been flying over the area and the noise is deafening . There have been complaints about the noise but seemingly to no avail . People wonder why the planes do not fly over less densely-populated areas , but nobody knows the answer .
In contrast with other political parties who bring journalists to bars and hotels for food and drink , Provisional Sinn Fein hospitality involves invading the house of a supporter for coffee . As it grows dark , many people have still not returned home . Most of those canvassed expressed either support or total apathy , but the PIRA was never mentioned . It is clear that the PIRA campaign is not an issue with most working class people , and there was no hostility towards Adams because of it . Generally , people were of the opinion that the country was in a dreadful mess and that they were tired of it all .
One woman wants to know if Provisional Sinn Fein will change all of that . " You have to change it..." , answers Adams . One of the biggest problems facing the party may be getting their voters out on the day . That particular canvass lasted only a couple of hours and the plan was to continue it the following day - a Saturday . And on that Saturday , it was known that Charlie Haughey would be in Crumlin Shopping Centre in Dublin and it was agreed that it would be a good opportunity to canvass his vote . And sure enough , when Adams and his team arrived at the shopping centre , there was Haughey , surrounded on all sides by handlers , gardai and journalists.......
(MORE LATER).
