AN APPEAL TO REPUBLICANS....


The following quote is part of the description of the torture of Paddy Joe McClean (39), a remedial teacher. McClean was not a member of any section of the IRA; he was merely a local civil rights worker. He was arrested and taken from his home in Beragh, Co. Tyrone, at 5 a.m. on Monday 9 August 1971. He is married and has eight children. McClean stated:

"I spent the first 48-hour period with the other detainees at Magilligan camp. At the end of these initial 48 hours a hood was pulled over my head and I was handcuffed and subjected to verbal and personal abuse which included the threat of being dropped from a helicopter while it was in the air. I was then dragged out to the helicopter, being kicked and struck about the body with batons on the way.
After what seemed about one hour in the helicopter I was thrown from it and kicked and batoned into what I took to be a lorry. The lorry was driven only a couple of hundred yards to a building. On arriving there I was given a thorough examination by a doctor. After this, all my clothes were taken from me and I was given a boiler suit to wear which had no buttons and which was several sizes too big for me.
During this time the hood was still over my head and the handcuffs were removed only at the time of the 'medical examination'.
I was then taken into what I can only guess was another room and was made stand with my feet wide apart with my hands pressed against a wall. During all this time I could hear a low droning noise, which sounded to me like an electric saw or something of that nature. This continued for what I can only describe as an indefinite period of time. I stood there, arms against the wall, feet wide apart. My arms, legs, back and head began to ache. I perspired freely, the noise and the heat were terrible.
My circulation had stopped. I flexed my arms to start the blood flowing again. They struck me several times on the hands, ribs, kidneys and my kneecaps were kicked. My hood-covered head was banged against the wall....."
(More here...)

Read the above , follow the link and read what it offers . Then , read this link and see if you can help.......
Go raibh máith agat , from the '1169...' Crew .

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COLONEL W.W.B. TOPPING/RENT COURT/A ROUGH BEAST.


'BRITISH COLONEL W.W.B. TOPPING ON THE CAMPAIGN' .......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Quoting from a press release from the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau, British Colonel W.W.B. Topping gave the reason for the 'troubles' in Occupied Ireland : " For example in the Fermanagh area , the headquarters of British mechanised forces there are at Castle Archdale, near Enniskillen . Tanks , heavy armoured cars weighing 15 tons at least , armoured scout cars and heavy troop carriers are used nightly along all Fermanagh roads .

Churchill tanks have been used to guard main roads while the other vehicles in the patrol passed by . All units of the British Army which are engaged in these operations are accompanied by B-Specials who act as guides..." The RUC Commandos, the 'Irish Republican Publicity Bureau' press release went on to relate , were more of a Black-and-Tan terror force than an elite group picked from the RUC- they had been specially trained at Ballykinlar British Military Camp by the British Army for anti-guerrilla operations . The majority of these 'RUC Commandos' were full-time B-Specials.......
(MORE LATER).





A DAY AT THE RENT COURT.......
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .

Both of the houses mentioned in the above cases , and one other dwelling , were bought by the present landlord in 1979 : he paid between £1000 and £1500 each for them . This information was supplied by a friendly valuer , but was not mentioned in court and therefore was not taken into account in fixing the rents .

The judge in this court is known to be more sympathetic (!) than most to the tenants that come before her and , indeed , she treated them kindly . It did not , however , appear to affect her final rent decisions : from 87 pence per week to £19.50 and from 57 pence per week to £16 . ('1169...' Comment - decisions like those made by well-heeled insulated leading-lights of the so-called 'Establishment' contribute in no small way to situations like this. However , then , as now , that is of no concern to those well-heeled 'elite'.)

[END of 'A DAY AT THE RENT COURT']
(NEXT : 'Sounding Off - Comrades And Calculators' ; from 1983.)


WHAT ROUGH BEAST IS THIS , ITS HOUR COME ROUND AT LAST.......?

By JOHN WATERS.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987.

On the campaign trial you get the sense of being in the presence of a man whose hour has come round at last , of destiny about to be fulfilled , that Charlie Haughey has used up all of his life-time's bad luck . ('1169...' Comment - whatever about that , Haughey lost no time in manufacturing more 'bad luck' for himself...) And the reason why he is going to win this election is that we want to feel that we have used up all of our bad luck as well , and that with Haughey at our head we will stride boldly forward into a new bright future . And perhaps we will , too . Most of us believe that this is a great little country which has been * dragged down by vested interests and small-minded men - politicians , economists , journalists etc . ('1169...' Comment *...and still is..)

But maybe Charlie Haughey , too , is all wind and piss , but it remains , largely , to be seen . We cannot really say that he has yet had a real chance . Or maybe not - in all the acres of newsprint written about this election , one of the most interesting items was a piece in 'The Sunday Tribune' two weeks ago by Vincent Browne, which purports to report a private conversation with Haughey in which he is supposed to have said that in office he is 'determined to face the tough decisions' in spite of his campaign rhetoric .

If this is accurate it bodes ill for the prospect of any new thinking being injected into the running of political affairs , if Charlie Haughey is prepared to allow the same economists and commentators set the agenda for the coming five years . He seems , listening to his public utterances , to really believe that this country has the capacity for large-scale growth , but if he allows himself to be frightened by the figures and the economic blackmail of the World Bank then it will not happen . No country or business ever became great on cuts.......

(MORE LATER).

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'LOVE ULSTER' TO SEEK SUPREMACY IN DUBLIN AGAIN ?




Willie Frazer of the so-called 'Love Ulster' organisation has stepped-up his campaign to parade through Dublin , accompanied by other Loyalist thugs and Combat 18 members .
These are the same people from , and representing , the same organisation which the Dublin Administration last year tried to assist in their quest to triumphantly parade through the streets of Dublin : the place-seekers in Leinster House authorised the use of force against those who objected to the presence of 'Union Jack'-waving neo-Nazi's in Dublin , resulting in other elements using the occasion for what they deemed to be their own advantage - riots ensued on the streets of Dublin .
If this Loyalist parade goes ahead , Republicans have made their position clear .
Are the 'powers-that-be' in Leinster House listening this time...?

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COLONEL TOPPING/RENT COURT/A ROUGH BEAST.


'BRITISH COLONEL W.W.B. TOPPING ON THE CAMPAIGN' .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

British Colonel W.W.B. Topping told the Larne Unionist Association that no one knows how long the campaign of Resistance will continue and "...what other wicked forms it may take.." He said that after 30 or 40 years Mr. de Valera had realised there was no hope of cutting the Six Counties from the United Kingdom .

Colonel Topping said that since December 12 , 1956 , 40 men had been convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment totalling 272 years , that 242 men were held in the Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast, of whom 166 were held without charge or trial , and 27 were detained in prison also without charge or trial but under 'investigation' for trial .

Of those 27 detained in prison , Topping said , it was likely that 13 would be charged with offences , and the question of charges against the remaining 14 was under consideration . In the same speech he gave the reasons behind why all this was happening in Occupied Ireland when he quoted extracts from a press release by the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau.......
(MORE LATER).





A DAY AT THE RENT COURT.......
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .

Mr. O' Sullivan , a joiner by trade , was made redundant in 1980 . He is not yet of pensionable age and does part-time work at the local credit union for £50 per week . After 'due consideration' , the judge in the rent court decreed that the old controlled rent of 87 pence per week be increased to £19.50 pence per week for the next five years !

Another case , involving a Mrs. O' Neill , came to court without the solicitor and valuer to which she is entitled . The lady is in her seventies and somewhat confused about what is happening , so the judge appoints a solicitor to act on her behalf . Mrs. O' Neill and her son live together in a house similar to that of the O' Sullivan's in the last case : her son has not worked for eight years and gets £26 per week unemployment assistance , and she herself has the old age pension . She has lived for 43 years in the house .

The living room is damp and the ceiling cracked . The bedroom is damp . There is no bathroom . One of the walls of the outside toilet fell down recently . There is only a cold water supply . The judge listened to all this , then decided that the rent of 57 pence per week should be increased to £16 per week for the next five years.......
(MORE LATER).



WHAT ROUGH BEAST IS THIS , ITS HOUR COME ROUND AT LAST.......?

By JOHN WATERS.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987.

It is a measure of Charlie Haughey's political astuteness that he has managed to turn even the media's hostility * to his advantage . (*'1169...' Comment - the establishment media were too scared of Haughey and his powerful 'friends' to expose the huge difference between his legitimate income and his lifestyle . They were more frightened of him and his cronies than 'hostile' to them.) During the attempts to remove him from the leadership in 1983 he effectively managed to hold on , not in spite of but because of the hostility of the press towards him . The line was that he , as democratically elected leader of the party , could not be seen to be hounded out of office by the media .

That line worked , and so well did Haughey sow the seed that nowadays the media are bending over backwards to be fair to him . Anyway , it is probably true to say that unless the media could prove that Charlie Haughey ate live babies for brekkie there is nothing they could do to touch him . This , in turn , has allowed him to become more relaxed with the media , and in this election campaign , apart from the occasional tetchiness , he has been good humoured and co-operative .

This time round there is a sense that nothing can touch him , that all that went before were false starts , that this time it's for real . Charlie Haughey is about to inherit the earth and them as don't like it can go and get knotted.......
(MORE LATER).

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THE HILL OF TARA.......



.....there's a motorway under (and above!) all that muck -



From this, this and this .....

.....via this......

......to this!

The Green Party get their careers , Fianna Fail secure a probable slap-on-the-wrist for themselves at a future Tribunal but , for the moment , those that bank-roll that organisation make millions more for their off-shore accounts. Or to stash in Bertie's biscuit tin.......

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OCCUPIED IRELAND/RENT COURT/A ROUGH BEAST.


'THE TRUE POSITION IN OCCUPIED IRELAND' .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

The Stormont Finance Minister , Captain Terence O' Neill, told a West Essex group dinner meeting that it was important at this time that the British people appreciate the true position in Occupied Ireland . In this work , said the Stormont Minister , the Ulster Association had a valuable role to play in Great Britain .

The dinner was held in the Palace of Westminster: Mrs. Patricia McLaughlin , Six Counties Imperial M.P. at Westminster , presided .

Captain Terence O' Neill stated : " The true position in Occupied Ireland is that in their attempt to win world sympathy (for a free Ireland) the people who thought they were going to get it have lost it..." Mr. O' Neill did not elaborate !

END of 'THE TRUE POSITION IN OCCUPIED IRELAND']
(Next : ' British Colonel W.W.B.Topping on the Campaign' - from the same source)




A DAY AT THE RENT COURT.
From 'GRALTON' magazine , August/September 1983 .

Mr. O'Sullivan is appearing for his wife , the tenant of the house , who is ill . She was born 65 years ago in the house in question , an artisan's dwelling in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin . They married in 1945 and he moved in . Mrs. O ' Sullivan became the tenant in 1960 when her father died .

In assessing the new rent to be struck , any improvements done before 1960 - a new bathroom was put in and electric lighting - are not taken into account by the court . Improvements after 1960 are taken into account , and these include putting in a hot water supply . There is fungus on the wall in the living room and poor ventilation necessitates the floorboards being replaced every five years .

The judge calmly asks "....and that keeps the damp under control , Mr. O' Sullivan , does it...? " Both the landlord's and the tenant's valuers agree that two pound per week can be allowed as fair return for all this tenant's work , as opposed to the 87 pence now being charged . But the judge has other ideas.......
(MORE LATER).



WHAT ROUGH BEAST IS THIS , ITS HOUR COME ROUND AT LAST.......?

By JOHN WATERS.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987.

A lot of the objections to Charles Haughey , it has been said , have a great deal to do with class prejudice * and little enough to do with objective political assessment . ( '1169...' Comment : * "Class prejudice" in that Haughey believed he was more fitting to a different "class" other than that which he was born into.)

There may be some truth in this . Charlie Haughey is a little northside gurrier , the product very much of his background . Politics and political journalism are something of a club , and the members of that club like to see themselves as equals . Haughey believes that you fight for your place on the ladder and that , moreover , the top rung is for him alone . Journalists don't like this .

Also , of course , there's his patent vulgarity : the four-letter words and so on , which journalists also use , though you'd never gather that from the response to the aforementioned interview in 'Hot Press' magazine . To this day some superior-minded journalists upbraid me for publishing the interview , 'fucks' and all , yet everyone knows that Charlie Haughey has a tongue that would make a lumberjack blush but nobody is allowed to say so . This says a lot more about journalists than it does about Charlie Haughey.......
(MORE LATER).

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