103 And Counting !

This blog would like to extend congratulations to the Republican Sinn Fein organisation on its 103rd Ard Fheis , which is being held this weekend (Saturday 10 November and Sunday 11 November 2007) in a Dublin venue: as we ourselves know , from past experience, a virulent gauntlet of those representing this corrupt Statelet has to be breached - quite forcibly , on occasion - by not only those attending the event , but also by those entering the venue (hotel) on unrelated business . And this year will , no doubt , be the same in that regard as any of the 102 such gatherings which precede it , and will , no doubt , completely fail to deter the Republicans gathered there from doing the same next year !

The system of partition government in Ireland has been maintained since 1922, and since 1973 under the growing influence of the EU. It is an inescapable fact, on the supreme test of results, that this system has failed. It is time to think of radical change.
It is that radical change which the State goons , and those that pay them , fear so much...
Ni seoinini sinn go leir!

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THE COALISLAND STORY : British Torture In Ireland.......
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

The British authorities have turned East Tyrone into a terror-area : scores of young men have been arrested , interrogated , beaten , released , re-arrested - and the torture process repeated to force 'confessions' . This is the story of four such young men who are now held in pre-trial detention - no charges have yet been preferred against them - in Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast. This did not happen in Hungary , Algeria or Cyprus . It happened in Ireland . Now read it and see what the 26-County administration is co-operating with by using their forces to protect British rule in Ireland :

Four Coalisland , County Tyrone , youths - Kevin Mallon , James O' Donnell , Francis Talbot and John O' Neill , were arrested at various times on Monday November 18 , 1957 , and Tuesday , November 19 , by the RUC. They were taken to Dungannon RUC Barracks where the first interrogations began at 7.30pm on November 19 , 1957 , and lasted until midnight . The young men received no meals and a request for a cup of tea was ignored .

They were questioned continuously by relays of three men and in the course of the first questioning were beaten with fists , punched in the stomachs and face , caught by the hair and their heads banged against the wall . Then , shortly after midnight , the four young men were handcuffed.......
(MORE LATER).



A PORTRAIT OF IRELAND , by Saoránach.......
First published in the Republican Bulletin - Iris Na Poblachta , November 1986.

Ellen Hazelkorn wrote : " Through clientelism , the State has actively sought to deflect incipient conflict by channelling it instead into well-established clientele networks , controlled by parties of the dominant classes . Clientelism is institutionalised within the very fabric of the state , and reinforced by a consistent effort to exclude questions that refer to class differences . In this manner , protest is curtailed and the status quo enforced. "

This is how the 26-County state is run . This is how the masses are manipulated and kept docile . Our job is to find ways and means of changing it and this must surely begin as a process of education . 'Class , Clientelism and the Political Process in the Republic Of Ireland' is a book worth reading and studying . It is a serious but readable book and each chapter would provide an ideal basis for discussion in groups - if you cannot afford the price (or do not get a book token for Christmas!) then ask your local library to get it for you .

[END of 'A PORTRAIT OF IRELAND']
(NEXT: 'King Of The Yuppie Heartland' - from 1987)



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 .

Eamon Byrne , the 19-year-old Dubliner who was shot dead by a garda detective during an attempted robbery at the B+I terminal in November 1982 , has been disposed of by due bureaucratic process. But it's unlikely we've heard the last of the matter . The dead youth's teenage widow , Elizabeth , is currently considering an action against the Garda Commissioner and the Officers directly involved in the incident .

A lot of questions remain unanswered . The coroner's jury (handpicked by the gardai) returned , on July 5th , 1983 , an ambiguous verdict that Eamon Byrne died of wounds sustained when he was wounded by a detective garda . Verdicts don't come much more open-ended than that , but there is unlikely to be any follow-up by the authorities into precisely what happened on the Dublin Docks on the morning of November 22nd , 1982 , when Eamon Byrne was shot .

The new facts established at the inquest only deepen cause for concern . Byrne , for instance , was not armed at the time he was shot . Two detective gardai were grappling with him on the ground when the gun of one of them "...struck Byrne's head.." and went off , accidentally killing him.......
(MORE LATER).

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103 And Counting !

This blog would like to extend congratulations to the Republican Sinn Fein organisation on its 103rd Ard Fheis , which it is due to hold this coming weekend , Saturday 10 November and Sunday 11 November 2007, in a Dublin venue: as we ourselves know , from past experience, a virulent gauntlet of those representing this corrupt Statelet has to be breached - quite forcibly , on occasion - by not only those attending the event , but also by those entering the venue (hotel) on unrelated business . And this year will , no doubt , be the same in that regard as any of the 102 such gatherings which precede it , and will , no doubt , completely fail to deter the Republicans gathered there from doing the same next year !

The system of partition government in Ireland has been maintained since 1922, and since 1973 under the growing influence of the EU. It is an inescapable fact, on the supreme test of results, that this system has failed. It is time to think of radical change.
It is that radical change which the State goons , and those that pay them , fear so much...
Ni seoinini sinn go leir!

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THE COALISLAND STORY : British Torture In Ireland.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

Torture stories are not new . But the inhuman treatment meted out to young Irishmen in the name of British law in our Occupied Six Counties may be news to the majority of the Irish people .

The unwritten orders of the RUC are that a 'confession' must be got at any price . And this 'confession' must not only involve the youth who is being interrogated but many others also . Near Coalisland , in County Tyrone , an RUC Sergeant named Arthur James Ovens was killed in an explosion in a disused house at Brackaville , in August 1957 . The Stormont authorities had publicised a scheme of rewards for information leading to the capture of Irish freedom fighters and , accordingly , British military and RUC guides were rushed to Brackaville after being told by telephone that young men had been seen entering the disused house . RUC Sergeant A.J. Ovens was killed when a mine exploded .

The British authorities have , since then , turned East Tyrone into a terror-area . Uniformed British thugs have rounded-up scores of young men.......
(MORE LATER).



A PORTRAIT OF IRELAND , by Saoránach.......
First published in the Republican Bulletin - Iris Na Poblachta , November 1986.

Ellen Hazelkorn wrote : " There is a growth of cynicism and alienation from politicians and the political process , but political debate has not shown any significant alteration in style , content or ideological level .

The Workers' Party and sections of the Labour-left have occasionally succeeded in raising debate onto a more ideological plane , but change will not be easy or automatic . For them to operate in constituencies through clinics could be politically disastrous in the long-term ; suggestions that their councillors/TD's can be as effective as others in acquiring services or information will likely reinforce the traditional vertical/clientele links , and negate the horizontal/class ties which they ideologically favour .

In Ireland , clientelism is not merely a cultural or historic feature of rural life now appendaged onto the urban political scene , nor has its existence and persistence been merely the result of successful interventions by politicians - it is used by the State to deflect incipient conflict....... "
(MORE LATER).



ROBERT EMMET - THE DARLING OF ERIN.......

Margaret McKearney looks at the life and death of one of Ireland's most enduring heroes.
From 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003.

Robert Emmet's trial - on September 19 , 1803 - in Green Street Courthouse in Dublin - lasted all day and by 9.30pm he was pronounced guilty ; asked for his reaction , he delivered a speech which still inspires today . He closed by saying that he cared not for the opinion of the court but for the opinion of the future , "...when other times and other men can do justice to my character ." Robert Emmet was publicly executed on Tuesday September 20 outside St Catherine's Church in Dublin's Thomas Street .

The final comment on the value of Robert Emmet's Rising must go to Séan Ó Brádaigh who states that to speak of Emmet in terms of failure alone is to do him a grave injustice . He with the men and women of 1798 set a course for the Irish nation , with their appeal to Protestant , Catholic and Dissenter under the common name of Irishman , which profoundly affected Irish life for more than two centuries and which will , we trust , eventually bear abundant fruit .

[END of 'ROBERT EMMET - THE DARLING OF ERIN']
(NEXT : 'The Eamonn Byrne Case' - from 'Phoenix' magazine , 1983)

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103 And Counting !

This blog would like to extend congratulations to the Republican Sinn Fein organisation on its 103rd Ard Fheis , which it is due to hold this coming weekend , Saturday 10 November and Sunday 11 November 2007, in a Dublin venue: as we ourselves know , from past experience, a virulent gauntlet of those representing this corrupt Statelet has to be breached - quite forcibly , on occasion - by not only those attending the event , but also by those entering the venue (hotel) on unrelated business . And this year will , no doubt , be the same in that regard as any of the 102 such gatherings which precede it , and will , no doubt , completely fail to deter the Republicans gathered there from doing the same next year !

The system of partition government in Ireland has been maintained since 1922, and since 1973 under the growing influence of the EU. It is an inescapable fact, on the supreme test of results, that this system has failed. It is time to think of radical change.
It is that radical change which the State goons , and those that pay them , fear so much...
Ni seoinini sinn go leir!

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BRITISH OCCUPATION AND THE LONDON 'TIMES' .......

From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .

In a fit of pitiful pleading , David Bleakley stated : " It is an anachronism that an economically insecure Northern Ireland should exist in the midst of an industrially thriving British community . Ulster's labout force is ready , anxious and able to work its way through to prosperity . All it asks is to be given the tools and the jobs."

He should have said that the whole concept of Occupied Ireland is an anachronism - that the only way we can all 'work our way through to prosperity' is by first winning vocational independence and driving British imperialism from our land . That would be wisdom but one does not expect wisdom for Ireland in the columns of 'The London Times' newspaper .

[END of 'BRITISH OCCUPATION AND THE LONDON 'TIMES']
(NEXT : 'THE COALISLAND STORY - British Torture In Ireland')


A PORTRAIT OF IRELAND , by Saoránach.......
First published in the Republican Bulletin - Iris Na Poblachta , November 1986.

Ellen Hazelkorn's paper , 'Class Clientelism and the Political Process in the Republic of Ireland', points to the world of political patronage and brokerage , the 'clinics' operated by those in Leinster House and the use of public money to buy allegiance . Ignorance is perpetuated and democracy becomes a joke . As Ellen Hazelkorn put it - " Few politicians would seek to define themselves as legislators , preferring the image of representing or serving their constituents . The initial assertion that deputies spend their time in clinics and letter-writing has been substantiated by more recent research."

Clientelism she regards as a mechanism for manipulating political disorganisation among the dominated classes in society . Her conclusions are devastating , as she refers to the risks involved in trying to change the system by becoming part of it. The system swallows you up . She wrote - " Put simply , Irish clientelism involves individuals who seek out the elected rep , or similarly placed 'elites' , in order to acquire some benefit or service which they feel they would not receive by their own , or their group's , efforts . This leads to a growth of cynicism and alienation......."
(MORE LATER).



ROBERT EMMET - THE DARLING OF ERIN.......

Margaret McKearney looks at the life and death of one of Ireland's most enduring heroes.
From 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003.

For the English Army , which included Daniel O' Connell, it was then merely a mopping-up operation : in the aftermath , the English arrested and tortured Anne Devlin, even offering her the enormous sum of £500 to betray Robert Emmet - she refused .

Emmet himself hid out in the Harold's Cross area of Dublin , during which he met with his mother and Sarah Curran, however , on Thursday August 25 , 1803 , Robert Emmet was finally arrested . It has been stated by others that a £1000 reward was paid by Dublin Castle to an informer , for supplying the information which led to the capture of Emmet .

Robert Emmet's misfortunes did not stop on his arrest : he had the misfortune to be defended by one Leonard McNally who was trusted by the United Irishmen . However , after McNally's death in 1820 it transpired that he was a highly paid government agent and , in his role as an informer , that he had encouraged young men to join the rebels , betrayed them to Dublin Castle and would then collect fees from the United Irishmen to 'defend' those same rebels in court !

Emmet was tried before a 'Special Commission' in Green Street Court House in Dublin on September 19 , 1803.......
(MORE LATER).

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