COLONIAL STATUS PERPETUATED.....



" The failure to break with the colonial past is illustrated by the State’s habit of imitating British practices and conventions. The names and structures of government agencies are copied direct from England: the ‘Special Branch’, the ‘Director of Public Prosecutions’, the ‘Ombudsman’ and so on. Even the forms used in tax assessment are direct copies of those used in Britain. (Originally the Department of Finance wanted to call itself ‘The Treasury’ but this was vetoed by Westminster: there could only be one Treasury and it wasn’t in Dublin!)
It is reflected too in uniforms: the uniforms worn by military personnel, by Civil Defence, even by traffic wardens. As for the police force, it is nominally unarmed but about 25% of it is plain-clothes and armed with Uzis. The Uzi is an Ingram-type machine pistol manufactured in Israel, probably out of re-cycled sardine cans or the like: it is a scatter-fire weapon favoured by security forces in countries where if a few by-standers are mown down then it is of no consequence. The Gardai also have stocks of CS-gas and plastic bullets, though these have only rarely been deployed.

It is often claimed that the State originates in the 1916 Rising and subsequent struggle for freedom. This is of course nonsense. The Free State destroyed and replaced the Republic declared in 1916 and is a continuation of the previous colonial regime by other means. It was established by an act passed at Westminster and it inherited the administrative machinery (and most of the personnel) of Dublin Castle. The State has continued to be ruled by a system of laws devised for a totally different society. British war memorials and the graves of Black-and-Tans are maintained by the Office of Public Works: Republican graves and memorials at private expense...."
(More here....)

Help us to break that 'colonial status...' .

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CURRAGH CONCENTRATION CAMP , 1958...



'IN CURRAGH CONCENTRATION CAMP'.......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

FERMANAGH :

Patrick Connolly , Aughnashannoner , Roslea .
Patrick Tierney , Woghternarry , Enniskillen .
Dan Fitzpatrick , Main Street , Newtownbutler .

GALWAY :

Michael Kelly , Derrea , Killamore , Ballinasloe .
Sean Scott , Ballyforan .
Bart Gormley , 23 Demesne Cottages , Tuam .
Patrick Kelly , Church Street , Ballygar .

KILDARE :

Frank Driver, Ballymore Eustace .
Thomas Stapeleton , Darrs , Sallins .
Chris Kelly , Rathangan .
Denis Harrington , Green Lane , Leixlip.
(MORE LATER).



PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO OUR GREATEST SCANDAL.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1998.
By Vincent Browne.
('1169...' Comment : please note - the use of the term 'murder' in connection with the death of an informer is not our choice of word.)

On the basis of what he himself now says happened , the only possible defence that Sean O' Callaghan could have to a charge of murder could be that he had informed the Gardai all along about what was happening . If it is the case that O' Callaghan did not keep the Gardai fully informed of what was going on in relation to the kidnap , detention and murder of John Corcoran, then why hasn't he been charged with the murder or at least as being an accessory to the murder ?

The only possible explanation for the failure to charge O' Callaghan with the murder , given what he has now said about the role he played , is that he did indeed keep the Gardai fully informed . John O' Donoghue ordered an inquiry into this affair when he became (State) Minister for Justice in July of last year (ie 1997) and , eventually , in January of this year (ie 1998) , a report on the matter was submitted to him . But that was done before Sean O' Callaghan was even spoken to - via telephone- by the Garda undertaking the investigation !

Indeed , it was only following repeated pressure from 'MAGILL' magazine that the investigating Garda made telephone contact at all : it wasn't until O' Callaghan turned up in Dublin to give evidence in the Thomas Murphy-Sunday Times libel case in May this year (ie 1998) was he interviewed.......
(MORE LATER).





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.

In an election that is being fought out almost exclusively in the media , the Provisionals have been hit hard by Section 31 censorship and a general bias against the party . But what comes across very clearly is that Adams is popular in working-class areas .

It has been raining all day and , at the end of the area canvass , everybody is drenched . It's time to call a halt to the electioneering - Gerry Adams has meetings to attend and phone calls to make. 'Take it handy' , he says , and turns his mind towards other matters.

[END of 'TAKING IT HANDY']
(Next : 'John Dunster At Windscale' - from 1986)

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They haven't gone away, ya know.....



...they live in fine big houses but work in a sleezy establishment; they rule over a brow-beaten and morally-exhausted populace yet produce nothing of any value themselves; and , although already wealthy, they will rob from their own kind should the opportunity arise.

They may be off our screens for now - on an extended holiday - but they'll be back.......

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'IN CURRAGH CONCENTRATION CAMP'.......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

DUBLIN:

Eamonn Ladrigan , 19 Merchants Road , East Wall .
Des Webster , 50 Curlew Road , Drimnagh .
Martin Shannon , 46 Griffith Drive , Finglas .
George Kelly , 52 Collins Avenue East , Killester .
John Keane , 30 Upper Dorset Street .
Thomas O' Neill , 5b Mary Aikenhead House , James Street .
Don Merrins , 41 Suir Road , Kilmainham .
Kevin McKay , 351 Captains Road , Crumlin .
Tim Conlon , 22 Turner's Cottages , Ballsbridge .
Liam O' Rourke , 2 Thomond Road , Ballyfermot .
Terry Murray , 16 Harrington Street .
Michael Mann , 57 Tyrconnell Road , Inchicore , Dublin .
(....those from Fermanagh next..)
(MORE LATER).



PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO OUR GREATEST SCANDAL.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1998.
By Vincent Browne.
('1169...' Comment : please note - the use of the term 'murder' in connection with the death of an informer is not our choice of word.)

It stretches belief that the man said by Gardai to have been "...the most important intelligence agent in the history of the State.." did not tell the Gardai at the time what was happening . Sean O' Callaghan says in his book - and he has said repeatedly since he gave himself up to British police in 1989 - that he kept his Garda 'handler' fully informed at all stages of the John Corcoran kidnap , detention and murder .

The consistency of his account on this score - which contrasts with the flagrant contradictions in his accounts of other events and indeed other aspects of this murder - is impressive and plausible , and on the basis of that account the Gardai knew fully about the imminence of the detention of John Corcoran . They knew where he was being held over a series of days and of the likelihood of his murder . They knew of the decision to murder him and/or where he was to be murdered and yet they did nothing . The institution charged with the protection of the life and liberty of citizens of this State , the Garda Siochána, stood by while a citizen , who happened also to have been one of their own informants , was murdered .

And they had an obvious motive for refusing to intervene to protect John Corcoran's life - the protection of their flow of information from 'the most important intelligence agent in the history of the State' . Sean O' Callaghan has claimed variously that he personally shot John Corcoran in the head and that he was not present when John Corcoran was shot in the head . But even in his sanitised version of what happened , Sean O' Callaghan acknowledges that he was instrumental in the kidnap and detention of John Corcoran , that he took part in the decisions to murder him , that he even took those whom he now claims were the direct murderers to where John Corcoran was being held and that he advised them on where they would find a "quiet place" at which to commit the murder.......
(MORE LATER).





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.

Even though the Provos would expect to capitalise on the working-class vote , there were several middle-class looking voters who promised 'to think about it' . Here , as everywhere , the main problem is apathy . Television and radio , newspapers and magazines , have debated endlessly about the election and report all the press conferences , but this enthusiasm is not shared by the electorate .

There is a great cynicism abroad about politicians in general ('1169...' Comment - unjustified , of course..) but the response to the Provos is better , perhaps explained by the fact that , until now , they were pledged not to take their seats when elected ('1169...' Comment - 'pledged' by their membership of the Republican Movement , which they left in November 1986) but , on this occasion , they are fighting on the basis that they will share in the decision as to who will be the next State Taoiseach if and when they are elected . One man tells Gerry Adams that he was voting for the Provos before Adams was born , but that they failed to get Seamus South elected on that occasion . Adams is clearly uncomfortable about approaching people whilst they are out shopping - " I hate this type of canvassing , stopping people , you're almost in their way.." ('1169..' Comment - ...whatever about that(!) , he and his have definitely attempted to 'get in the way' of Irish Republicanism but , like the lackeys that went before them , have failed.)

The word from the various constituencies , especially Cavan-Monaghan , Dublin Central and Louth , is that the Provos are doing exceptionally well , and reports coming in suggest that the party will do much better than expected . But censorship still exists.......
(MORE LATER).

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CURRAGH CAMP/PUBLIC INQUIRY/HANDY.


'IN CURRAGH CONCENTRATION CAMP'.......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

DUBLIN :

Peter Pringle , 2 Alexandra Terrace , South Circular Road .
James Fagan , 171 Windmill Road , Crumlin .
Patrick McLoughlin , 121 Larkhill Road , Whitehall .
Gordon Hyland , 17 McMahon Street , South Circular Road .
Liam Healy , 22 Luke Street .
Sean Garland, 7 Belvedere Place .
Liam Egan , 3 Islington Avenue , Sandymount .
Seamus Doran , 31 Sullivan Street , Infirmary Road .
Frank Ross, 14 The Rise , Glasnevin .
Patrick O' Regan , 1 Goldsmith Street , North Circular Road.
Tomás MacGearáilt , Rathmines Road .
Bernárd Ó Riain , Dun Laoghaire .
Phil O' Donoghue , 95 Lally Road , Ballyfermot .
Peter O' Donoghue , 95 Lally Road , Ballyfermot .
(MORE LATER).



PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO OUR GREATEST SCANDAL.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1998.
By Vincent Browne.
('1169...' Comment : please note - the use of the term 'murder' in connection with the death of an informer is not our choice of word.)

Amidst the mountain of lies that Sean O' Callaghan has told and probably remains telling about his involvement in the PIRA , there are some things we know for sure about him : the first is that he was a high-ranking member of (P) Sinn Fein and the PIRA in the 1980's ; the second is that he was a high-ranking Garda informant during this time . We also know that John Corcoran was murdered in the area of the country for which Sean O' Callaghan had responsibility as a PIRA operative .

Without believing anything at all that O' Callaghan now says concerning the murder of John Corcoran , we can be reasonably sure that he was somehow implicated in that murder or at least would have been aware that Corcoran was about to be or had been kidnapped and was about to be murdered .

If it were the case that O' Callaghan told the Gardai nothing at all at the time about the kidnapping of John Corcoran and the imminence of his murder , then Gardai would have known themselves that O' Callaghan had been involved somehow . Or at least that the kidnapping and murder of John Corcoran could not have taken place without his knowledge and , almost certainly , his acquiescence . On that basis alone , O' Callaghan should have been charged with the murder of John Corcoran in 1985 . There is no evidence that Sean O' Callaghan was even interrogated about that murder at the time.......
(MORE LATER).





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.

Garret FitzGerald finally comes rushing down the stairs , surrounded by handlers and gardai , both of which group have no qualms about pushing , elbowing and shoving their way past the crowd . Gerry Adams is brushed aside before too many words can be exchanged . FitzGerald is pale and tense looking , and there is a general rush towards the narrow exit in the wake of the man . One Fine Gaeler decides to take the law into his own hands and pins Adams against the narrow door , refusing to let him go , while other Fine Gaelers are shouting abuse . Outside a scuffle develops between one Provo supporter and the gardai .

Adams sees the scuffle and approaches the gardai in a conciliatory manner and says 'It's ok , it's ok , I'll take him...' and finally the youth is released and calm has been restored but , by now , FitzGerald has disappeared .

The reception that Adams gets in the Liberties contrasts to that afforded to Dessie O' Malley: Adams is promised a vote by almost every person he talks to . A minibus * goes around , urging support for the party and announcing that Adams is in the area . Many people want to meet him and shake his hand and wish him luck . There is a strong base of support for him in the area and if it transfers into actual votes they could take a seat eventually . Back in Crumlin Shopping Centre , the election workers are sent in first , then the candidates are brought in and , finally , Adams goes in . Unlike most of the other parties , canvassing is done outside . One man remarks that Adams looks much better in reality than he does on television , and wishes him the best of luck.......(*'1169...' Comment : the Provos do their canvassing now from transport supplied by their British and/or Free State paymasters and would scarcely remember what the inside of a minibus looks like..)
(MORE LATER).

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'LOVE TARA' MARCH,DUBLIN,SATURDAY 21 JULY 2007.


RSF protestor , Parnell Monument,O'Connell Street,Dublin,Saturday 21 July 2007, 'Love Tara' March.


Over one-thousand people marched through the centre of Dublin yesterday in support of the campaign to demand that the planned M3 motorway be diverted a safe distance away from the Hill of Tara . In what must have been the first dry day in Dublin in over five weeks (!),the carnival-like procession made its way from the Garden of Remembrance to the State 'Department of the Environment , Heritage and Local Government' in the Custom House in the dockland area , where speeches were delivered calling for , amongst other things , the immediate release of 'The Tara Four'.
'Marchers carrying the flags of all 32 counties gathered at the Gardens of Remembrance and marched up O'Connell St and to the Department of the Environment at the Custom House.' "Apparently Minister Gormley is getting annoyed at people saying that he does have the power to change the M3 route. Perhaps that explains why there were no Green Party representatives at the march today, unlike previous ones....." (Both quotes from here.)
(Incidentally - one of the RSF participants on the 'Love Tara' march had a good conversation with a representative of this group, which deserves to be applauded for its environmental and social science viewpoint.)
It's the politicians that should be buried in concrete , not our heritage centres.

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