THE COALISLAND STORY : British Torture In Ireland....... From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
One by one , the young men were taken out of solitary confinement and the torture and questioning began again - this went on all day . They were told the torture and ceaseless questions would continue until they signed the statements which the RUC had prepared .
Mentally and physically exhausted from the torture , constant questioning , lack of food and sleep , fearful of the continuation and what might befall their families , they eventually 'admitted' anything the RUC wanted them to admit : they signed the RUC-written statements . Any of these days now they may stand in the dock charged with the death of RUC Sergeant A.J. Ovens. The torture-mill confessions will be used to send them - and others - to the scaffold .
The most vicious forms of torture combined with brain-washing techniques are now being practised by the British Crown authorities in Occupied Ireland to obtain 'confessions' . The Coalisland story is not an isolated instance ; we have examples also from Derry , Down , Fermanagh - indeed , from all areas of Occupied Ireland.......
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KING OF THE YUPPIE HEARTLAND....... !
Dessie O'Malley would expect to draw his support almost exclusively from middle-class areas , but if he is to succeed in getting the twenty seats he hopes for that support base would also have to include working-class areas , especially in Dublin . On the evidence of one day spent with PD leader O'Malley ,that working-class support is unlikely to be forthcoming.
From 'IN DUBLIN' ELECTION SPECIAL , 1987.
By Derek Dunne.
Outside the Leo Laboratories factory in Dublin , Dessie O' Malley is interviewed by the media and something comes across quite clearly - he says " I'm not necessarily saying that I should be Taoiseach..." He then says that there are precedents for a 'backbencher Taoiseach' , so what he is really saying is that he should be Taoiseach ! He wants to rule Ireland . He smokes in the entrance to the building , dragging heavily on the cigarette . He drags so hard that the cheeks of his face come together .
On the bus , RTE have their cameras and they want an interview , but Dessie is nervous . " Where's the camera ? When are you starting it ? Are you going to use a bright light ...? " The RTE people start to put make-up on him , but he is clearly embarrassed by this - " Ah stop that , now ..." , he chides , as his hair is combed for him . One of his handlers , a female , reflects ruefully - " He always has a bit at the back that sticks out no matter what you do..." , and she's right . The RTE crew tell him to get relaxed .
Then it's " Lights ! Camera ! " Dessie 'switches' himself on , and , in an authoratative voice , begins to moralise on the state of the 'nation' . The Limerick East constituency is good , he tells RTE , and fifty per-cent of the Fianna Fail organisation went over to the PD's . The 'feedback' - in the jargon of politics - is 'very positive' . As the bus moves along Lower Kimmage Road , bemused passers-by are treated to an insight into how RTE 'set up' these type of interviews . Dessie signs a release form for RTE to allow them to screen the interview , but there are no 'fees' , this time . It then occurs to some of us that he may actually have gotten paid for past appearances.......
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THE EAMON BYRNE CASE .......Eamon Byrne , a 19-year-old Dubliner , was shot dead by a garda detective during an attempted robbery at the B+I terminal in November 1982 . For his family , obtaining justice , or simply the truth , could be a long and expensive process.
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , July 1983 .
State Justice Minister Michael Noonan (Fine Gael) , who had been an ardent advocate of an independent garda authority and complaints tribunal before coming to Office , suffered a sudden conversion afterwards . In contrast to Willie Whitelaw, Noonan uttered no statements on the issue , either in Leinster House or out of it . The only politician who did attempt to raise the Eamon Byrne case was independent Leinster House member Tony Gregory, whose constituent Eamon Byrne was .
Tony Gregory found his questions disallowed by the Leinster House Ceann Comhairle (ie the House Chairperson) because the matter was sub judice , when in fact it wasn't , as charges were not preferred against anyone for Eamon Byrne's death . Gregory was later told that it was the preserve of the Dublin City Coroner and his Court.
Meanwhile , neither of these factors prevented the trial going ahead of Byrne's accomplices - the trial was brought forward , in fact , so that the inquest proceedings on Eamon Byrne wouldn't unduly affect its outcome . Subsequently , the survivors of the abortive raid , David and Stephen Conroy , both received seven years for armed robbery in the State Central Criminal Court, on June 17 , 1983 . The outcome of the inquest on Eamon Byrne hardly came as a surprise.......
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