St Patrick , Bertie , Bush and (political) reptiles .......

Bertie 'to be sure to be sure..' Ahern who, yesterday (Friday 16 March 2007) speaking in Washington in relation to the 'Irish situation' , stated , amongst other things - "Everything along the way, every single demand, every single issue that has been put on the table has been delivered. There is only one thing left: powersharing."
And....
- " Mr. President, I'm glad to be able to say on this St. Patrick's Day, 2007, that peace in Ireland is a reality....."
What a political imbecile that man is !
The continuing demand , from Irish Republicans, for a complete British military and political withdrawal from this island has not yet "...been delivered.." on : that issue has been "...on the table.." for longer than 'Blank Cheque Bertie' (see 'Cheque Mate' , here) has been in Leinster House but , in the grand tradition of said institution , he has done nothing positive about the Six County issue . Nor will he . He will , however , as, indeed , will the rest of the political morons in that dirty toilet , continue to do everything in his power to prop-up the illegal and immoral claim over , and occupation of , those six Irish counties , thus ensuring that the issue will remain a 'live' problem for future generations of Irish people . And that is the 'legacy' which political self-serving time-wasters like Ahern will leave in their wake : the potential for future conflict . 'Happy St. Patricks Day' indeed.......

MEANWHILE.....



....... George Bush Junior yesterday congratulated Bertie Ahern for his "...strong leadership in resolving the issues of Northern Ireland(sic).. " !
The only two things Ahern ever 'resolved' in his political life was to obtain a State pension in order that he be kept in the style to which he has become accustomed and to bury 'The Boss' before 'the boss' could bury him !
Come back , St. Patrick - there are still (political) snakes around the shores of Ireland ....

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THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.......

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the 'REAL LIVES' programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " What did you think of your party's results in the local elections in Dublin ? They were much less than half the ten percent in the North ."

GERRY ADAMS : " I think the results were most striking for a party of our size . We got a sizeable vote in the areas where we stood . It took the Workers' Party a long time to build up anywhere near the same vote and in quite a few areas we beat the Labour Party. I think that what an awful lot of people forget is that we did that while censored by Section 31.

No spokesperson for our party was interviewed by any of the main daily newspapers or by RTE radio or television . I'm quite sure that if the Labour Party or the Workers' Party were to be censored like that , they wouldn't exist today . So our vote was quite respectable . "
(MORE LATER).



THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Raymond Gilmour was an informer when he joined the IRA "...to avenge the death of my best friend , Colm McNutt, who was shot by British soldiers.." , Gilmour said in court . Who set Colm McNutt up ? , some relatives ask : McNutt had tried to hijack a car in the Bogside , and the four occupants , members of the SAS in civilian dress , shot him dead . Colm McNutt had not suddenly appeared with a revolver : it takes time to set up a hijacking and he would have had to tell his unit beforehand . Or maybe remarked on it to a friend .

"That woman there , " Mrs Gilmour said , indicating a woman who had frozen her with a glance , " is very cold to me ." You have to understand her feelings , mammy , a daughter explained , her man might be jailed for years and she has a family to raise . But it's not my fault , Mrs Gilmour said , as she burst again into tears - my man's gone , too . Her Sinn Fein minders tried to console her . For months they have defended her against the outrage of others in the community . Raymond Gilmour's returned wife Lorraine had already been thumped by the wife of a prisoner as she sat in a Derry cafe having a cup of tea .

Martin McGuinness had gone to the wife to explain that this was not good - having tea in Derry , living it up in a Cyprus hotel while my husband is in jail , the wife had spluttered . The Gilmour family has to be protected , Sinn Fein explained - they are the emotional link with Raymond , and if that link is broken there is no hope of him recanting . It is common knowledge that some of the prisoner's relatives are insisting that Raymond Gilmour's father be shot dead.......
(MORE LATER).



GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)


DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PARTY: formed in 1982 as an amalgamation of 'The Socialist Party' and the 'Limerick Socialist Organisation', together with members of the 'British And Irish Communist Organisation'. With Jim Kemmy's defeat in 1982 it lost it's only seat in Leinster House.

DUBLIN ANARCHIST GROUP: formed in 1978 , ceased to function in 1979 . Most of its members were later involved in the 'Anarchist Bookshop Collective'.

INDEPENDENT SOCIALIST PARTY: formed in 1976 as a replacement for the 'Irish Committee For A Socialist Programme'. The 'ISP' was known for the membership of Bernadette McAliskey, but it was never more than a small group and ceased to function around 1978 .
(MORE LATER).

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(Apologises for late posting : issues with the Blogger server.)

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.......

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the 'REAL LIVES' programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " What about rumours that there is a split in Sinn Fein between the people in favour of the armed struggle and those in favour of constitutional change- does this split exist between what might be called the hawks and the doves ? "

GERRY ADAMS : " It's nonsense! First of all there has been no split in Sinn Fein since the late 1960's. If there were major divisions I wouldn't try to deny it. Leaving aside any morality , that would be because it would surface. I'd be saying to you that there wasn't and then next month there would be a splinter-group or a faction and it would be quite obvious . It's a hardy annual which is brought up every so often - the doves versus hawks or north versus south . As our magazine said - 'There isn't a Volunteer who didn't applaud the success of Sinn Fein or a Sinn Fein person who didn't applaud the IRA's success .' "
(MORE LATER).



THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Mrs Gilmour stood in the roadway outside the courthouse pleading for absolution , surrounded by her children , and some of the relatives of the prisoners moved stiffly by her , not speaking to her . The Gilmour family is tainted - they have not disowned Raymond , have they ? But if they did disown him , he'd be beyond all emotional bidding : he's beyond bidding now anyway , comes the reply . He doesn't care about his father , did not break down even when his wife and children left him in exile and returned to the Creggan.

But he has been breaking , runs the counter-argument : look what his wife said about the time he tried to kill himself in that hotel in Cyprus, overdosing on her tranquillisers as well as his own . Didn't she say he was drinking heavily and bewildered ? " He rang me on Mother's Day , " Mrs Gilmour said on the roadway . He rang every member of his family that night , Martin McGuinness confirmed , and he seemed incoherent and emotional , saying he'd be killed if he returned to Derry : " Then he wrote me a letter thanking me for rearing him ," said Mrs Gilmour , " ...but I didn't rear him for this , did I , Martin ..? " She turned for consolation to the two representatives of Sinn Fein , McGuinness and Mitchell McLaughlin who have become her own minders .

How come she never noticed , some relatives wondered bitterly as they left her on the roadway , crying and pleading . Hasn't the prosecution confirmed in writing to the defence solicitors that Raymond Gilmour was a paid RUC teenage tout long before he joined the IRA ? Gilmour himself addressed this issue in court.......
(MORE LATER).



GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)


COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRELAND (MARXIST-LENINIST): Maoist organisation which changed its name from the 'Irish Communist Movement (Marxist-Leninist)' in 1972 .

COMMUNIST PARTY OF NORTHERN IRELAND: Formed in 1941 when the then Communist Party of Ireland divided between North and South due to their differing situations with regard to the Struggle . Despite a surge of support at the end of the Struggle , it never made a large impact except within the trade union movement . It merged into the Communist Party of Ireland in 1970 .

CONNOLLY YOUTH MOVEMENT: Formed in 1965 , it has always been dominated by the Communist Party Of Ireland (originally 'Irish Workers' Party').
(MORE LATER).

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EASTER 1916 COMMEMORATION , SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2007, Dublin .

'The Mother'.

" I do not grudge them : Lord , I do not grudge
my two strong sons that I have seen go out
to break their strength and die , they and a few ,
in bloody protest for a glorious thing ,
they shall be spoken of among their people ,
the generation shall remember them
and call them Blessed :

But I will speak their names to my own heart
in the long nights ;
the little names that were familiar once
round my dead hearth .

Lord , thou art hard on mothers ;
we suffer in their coming and their going :
and tho' I grudge them not , I weary , weary ,
of the long sorrow .
And yet I have my joy ; my sons were faithful , and they fought . "

- PH Pearse, written hours before his execution , May 3 , 1916 .

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Sunday Commemoration (8 April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

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THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GERRY ADAMS.......

The recent strike by BBC journalists over the 'REAL LIVES' programme and the dispute at RTE over the interview with NORAID representative MARTIN GALVIN have focused world attention on Sinn Fein once again .MICHAEL KELLY spoke to Sinn Fein president GERRY ADAMS at interviews in Dublin and Belfast , conducted over the course of the past month .

From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, August 1985 .

MICHAEL KELLY : " You know what many people down south fear - that Sinn Fein will set up a one-party state with the help of the IRA . Do you think there are grounds for that fear ? "

GERRY ADAMS : " No . Our position is simply that when Irish democracy is restored , then it's up to the people to decide who or what governs . I mean the Sinn Fein threat is completely exaggerated . But what I would like to see , obviously , is a republican society , a socialist society in Ireland with a planned economy , but I couldn't see it being done with any sort of imposed dictatorship . Even if there was some lunatic with such grandiose thoughts . Nor is it even feasible .

If we make as many advances as possible on the whole social dimension of republicanism , resolve the national question (? ?) , then you will get a re-alignment of Irish politics on the basis that the working people (sic) of Ireland are the majority . "
(MORE LATER).



THE ACCUSING FINGER OF RAYMOND GILMOUR.......
By NEIL McCAFFERTY.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, August 1983 .

Then there was the young man that Raymond Gilmour could not find at all : back and forth he looked around the courtroom , peering , craning his head , then looking again , back and forth . Finally Gilmour smiled , as in fond remembrance of a joke - '...of course , there you are ...' , he almost thought aloud . Some of the prisoners turned smiles on the man that the informer Gilmour had finally located , because this man was quite small , and you wouldn't hardly see him in a crowd , and his size was the butt of fond jokes .

This 'communal link' snapped suddenly as another prisoner rose to his feet and snarled in fury - " Gilmour you yellow bastard ... " and then the prison guards and the RUC were on top of him , but he had turned already to go down to the cell below because he knew the procedure once composure had snapped . " I hope your da gets stiffed ... " (Link here - see near end of page) , the man yelled , and this time the Crown Forces around him pushed him harder - a clatter of feet , a muffled call ... and 'the waters' closed again . Raymond Gilmour continued to point at people , and did so until the court rose for lunch .

On the road outside , Mrs Gilmour , surrounded by her three daughters and son John , stood waiting . " I'm sorry ... " , she said , to anyone , to everyone , "....I just couldn't bear it... " The plan had been for her to wait until it came time for her son to point at people , then she was supposed to stand up and say ' Raymond , can you identify me...? ' That surely would have brought him to his senses , for was he not out of his senses that he could do what he was doing ? Was he not brainwashed , he was not himself , couldn't everybody see that her son had been programmed completely , completely taken over by the RUC....... ?
(MORE LATER).



GLOSSARY OF THE LEFT IN IRELAND : FROM 1960 TO 1983.......
These notes attempt to record the left-wing organisations which have existed in Ireland since 1960 . No attempt has been made to record purely local organisations outside Dublin and Belfast , or microscopic groups which never reached double figures . The larger organisations have been presented in more detail .
From 'GRALTON' magazine, 1983.
By John Goodwillie.
(NOTE : Links in the following article are as accurate as possible - not all the groups mentioned left a discernible 'footprint' .)

BRITISH AND IRISH COMMUNIST ORGANISATION: Changed its name from 'Irish Communist Organisation' in 1971 . Initially made an impact with its 'two nations theory' , but support declined after it adopted other 'uncommon' positions . Members participated in the 'Campaign for Labour Representation in the North' and supported the 'Democratic Socialist Party' in the South .

CAMPAIGN FOR LABOUR REPRESENTATION: Formed around 1978 with the participation of members of the 'British and Irish Communist Organisation' to campaign for the extension of the British Labour Party to the North of Ireland .

COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRELAND: Reformed in 1970 with the amalgamation of 'The Communist Party of Northern Ireland' and 'The Irish Workers' Party'. Although it fared miserably in every election contested , it did have some influence within the trade union movement . Ideologically , it remained friendly to Moscow .
(MORE LATER).

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EASTER 1916 COMMEMORATION , SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2007, Dublin .




'The Mother.'

" I do not grudge them : Lord , I do not grudge
my two strong sons that I have seen go out
to break their strength and die , they and a few ,
in bloody protest for a glorious thing ,
they shall be spoken of among their people ,
the generation shall remember them
and call them Blessed :

But I will speak their names to my own heart
in the long nights ;
the little names that were familiar once
round my dead hearth .

Lord , thou art hard on mothers ;
we suffer in their coming and their going :
and tho' I grudge them not , I weary , weary ,
of the long sorrow .
And yet I have my joy ; my sons were faithful , and they fought . "

- PH Pearse , written hours before his execution , May 3 , 1916 .

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Sunday Commemoration (8 April 2007) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12.45pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!

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