BLOODY SUNDAY PICKET , SATURDAY JANUARY 27, 2007 .

After a peaceful Civil Rights march on January 30 , 1972 - from Creggan to Free Derry Corner - units of the British army Parachute Regiment opened fire with automatic rifles and shot dead 13 unarmed civilians , injuring many more . It was later revealed that some days prior to the massacre , the British soldiers involved had been briefed to "...shoot to kill.." at the march .

" This Sunday became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and bloody it was . It was quite unnecessary . It strikes me that the (British) army ran amok that day and shot without thinking of what they were doing . They were shooting innocent people . They may have been taking part in a parade which was banned , but that did not justify the troops coming in and firing live rounds indiscriminately . I would say without reservations that it was sheer unadulterated murder . It was murder , gentlemen . "
- the words of British Major Hubert O'Neill , Derry City Coroner, at the conclusion of the inquests on the 13 people killed by the British Army .
Today , Saturday January 27 , a picket to mark the 35th Anniversary of that massacre will be held at the GPO in Dublin , from 12 Noon to 1.45pm . All welcome !

---

---

---

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 .

Amongst the Gardai involved in the course of the Sallins mail train robbery trial were :
Detective Sergeant Michael Egan / Garda Peter P. Cavanan / Detective Sergeant Bernard Cullen / Detective Garda Gerard O' Carroll / Chief Superintendent Anthony McMahon / Garda A. Keane / Detective Garda Joseph Holland / Detective Garda John Jordan / Detective Inspector Richard Murphy / Detective Garda Michael Noonan / Sergeant Martin J. Dowling / Detective Sergeant Thomas Boland / Detective Garda Patrick Raftery /

Detective Sergeant Thomas King / Sergeant James Dolan / Garda James G. Keogh / Garda Brian McGauran / Garda Patrick Fitzgerald / Detective Garda J. Naughton / Detective Garda James Butler and Sergeant William John Fennessy .

There is another list - one which contains the names and rank of those members of the Gardai against whom allegations of ill-treatment were made : 19 names in all.......
(MORE LATER).



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 : " It's sometimes said (by women probably!) that , once involved , women make more dedicated revolutionaries than men because of their double oppression , the 'slaves of slaves' . What do you think ? "

MARY : " The way women are oppressed in our society would make me rebel against it . I can't say there is usually any conscious effort on my part to link the war with the fight against women's oppression , but the two are integrally related . I think it's true that when male Volunteers are going out on an operation they have in one sense less to lose . Women have a home or the prospects of a home to lose ('1169...' Comment - ....so have the male Volunteers !) and , if a male Volunteer is captured he still has his wife and family at home ('1169...' Comment - ...meaning what ? That a husband won't 'wait around' ? Rubbish!) : so , yes -in a lot of cases I think women do make more dedicated revolutionaries . " ('1169...' Comment -...perhaps , in some cases , and perhaps not . But not for the reasons listed by 'Mary' .)

ANNE : " I would agree with Mary in that the two struggles , national liberation and women's liberation , are integrally related . From my own point of view I cannot say that I am more dedicated than the male Volunteers I work with . "
(MORE LATER).



" COMRADES , BROTHERS AND SISTERS ......."
Kerry Dougherty talks to Michael O'Riordan about fifty years of Irish Communism.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1983 .

Although he is reluctant to speak of his own family , Michael O' Riordan , who is a father and grandfather , admits that should any of his offspring develop a capitalistic leaning he would object as strongly as his parents had when he first became a communist - " I'd send for a psychiatrist , " he says .

To ensure that there will be a next generation of Irish communists , the party has started communist youth groups which serve as a sort of 'communist boy scout'-organisation for the children of party members . For these up-and-coming young communists , Mr O' Riordan says he believes they will have a more active role to play in history than did his generation which was plagued by the Cold War .

The fact that 66 years after the Russian Revolution there is a growing global trend toward socialist states encourages him in his hopes for Irish communism.......
(MORE LATER).

---

---

---

BLOODY SUNDAY PICKET , SATURDAY JANUARY 27, 2007 .

After a peaceful Civil Rights march on January 30 , 1972 - from Creggan to Free Derry Corner - units of the British army Parachute Regiment opened fire with automatic rifles and shot dead 13 unarmed civilians , injuring many more . It was later revealed that some days prior to the massacre , the British soldiers involved had been briefed to "...shoot to kill.." at the march .

" This Sunday became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and bloody it was . It was quite unnecessary . It strikes me that the (British) army ran amok that day and shot without thinking of what they were doing . They were shooting innocent people . They may have been taking part in a parade which was banned , but that did not justify the troops coming in and firing live rounds indiscriminately . I would say without reservations that it was sheer unadulterated murder . It was murder , gentlemen . "
- the words of British Major Hubert O'Neill , Derry City Coroner, at the conclusion of the inquests on the 13 people killed by the British Army .
On Saturday , January 27 next , a picket to mark the 35th Anniversary of that massacre will be held at the GPO in Dublin , from 12 Noon to 1.45pm . All welcome !

---

---

---

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 .

Amongst the Gardai involved in the course of the Sallins mail train robbery trial were :

Garda Noel Ryan / Garda Philip Bowe / Sergeant John M. Freeman / Garda James Galvin / Superintendent Patrick Casey / Detective Garda Thomas Fitzgerald / Detective Garda O. Fitzsimons / Detective Inspector John Murphy / Garda Noel McGuire / Garda Joseph Calnan / Detective Sergeant P.F. Cleary / Detective Sergeant Joseph Collins / Detective Sergeant John J. McGroarty / Detective Garda Michael Mullen /

Detective Garda Patrick Waters / Detective Inspector James McPartland / Detective Garda Fintan Dunne / Detective Sergeant Patrick Byrne / Detective Garda Patrick Looby / Garda George Callanan / Garda Francis King / Garda Eric Lynch / Sergeant M. Purtill / Sergeant Carey / Detective Garda John Jordan / Garda John Hyland / Garda Patrick J. Delaney / Garda Joseph Callanan / Garda Alphonsus King / Ex-Superintendent Patrick Flaherty /
(MORE LATER).



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 : " Since you joined the IRA , have you been allowed to play an equal role alongside male Volunteers ? "

MARY : " Yes , very much so . Everyone just has to do the job , there's never any question of 'oh , we'll have to leave her at home' . "

ANNE : " Since I joined the Army I have been allowed to play an equal role with the rest of the Volunteers in my unit . I'd expect it to be so . I received the same amount of training as my comrades did , so why should I take less risks than them ? It wouldn't be fair to them or me . "
(MORE LATER).



" COMRADES , BROTHERS AND SISTERS ......."
Kerry Dougherty talks to Michael O'Riordan about fifty years of Irish Communism.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1983 .

To Michael O' Riordan and the other old-timers in the Communist Party , these seemingly small changes in public attitudes towards the party are the things they point to when asked to cite their major accomplishments . They admit that trying to promote communism , in one of the most Catholic and conservative nations in the West , has not always been easy :

" If you look at our members you'll find a lot of older people , about my age , and quite a few young members , but we did miss out on the middle-aged . They were all scared away by the Cold War ," he says . His own baptism into communism is interesting - especially considering he was born into a devout Catholic family in Cork in 1917 . By the age of 17 he had read James Connolly - whom he calls the first Irish communist - and was won over by the man's beliefs .

In 1934 , over the protestations of his parents , young Michael O' Riordan came to Dublin and joined the fledging Communist Party of Ireland : three years later he left Ireland to fight in the Spanish Civil War, returned when the war was over and devoted the next 40 years promoting the Communist cause in Ireland.......
(MORE LATER).

---

---

---

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 .
(MORE LATER).



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 . "
(MORE LATER).



" 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.......
(MORE LATER).

---

---

---