THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY....... Twenty-six men were convicted on the word of Harry Kirkpatrick. On their appeal against those convictions could well rest the future of the 'Anglo-Irish Agreement'
('The Hillsborough Treaty') . Based on a full transcript of the Kirkpatrick trials , the story of how these convictions were obtained shows why the 'Supergrass System' is a pale shadow of justice.
By Derek Dunne. From 'MAGILL' magazine, February 1986.
Harry Kirkpatrick had been arrested and taken to Castlereagh on numerous occasions . He was picked up and taken there on 4th February 1982 but he had a method of dealing with the questions - say nothing and stare at the wall . The RUC were talking to him about the killing of RUC man Lindsay McDougall but Kirkpatrick said nothing . Then the RUC brought in Seanie McConkey who accused Harry Kirkpatrick of being involved in the McDougall killing . Kirkpatrick professed to remember none of this at his 'trial' .
After seven days , he was charged with the killing on the word of Sean McConkey , but then McConkey retracted his statement and Harry was out again . Then John Grimley started to talk and implicated Kirkpatrick , who was once again lifted and found himself back in Castlereagh . He was kept there for three days . " Look , what's the score here ?" , Harry asked his RUC captors , and was told that he would probably do time on the word of John Grimley . Jackie Goodman had also turned informer and Kirkpatrick was worried . He started to talk.
He said that Jackie Goodman was "...a nobody in the organisation . I'm Brigade Operations Officer for the North but I am saying nothing more." He asked to speak to someone higher-up in authority and wanted "...an assurance." He was told that nothing could be promised ; Kirkpatrick then said that not alone was he Brigade Operations Officer for the North , but that he was also Brigade Quartermaster and Brigade Adjutant . An RUC detective asked him what operations he was involved in and he replied "Murders and a lot of conspiracies." However , he could remember none of the above at his 'trial'.......
(MORE LATER).
THE HOWARD MARKS AFFAIR.......Customs Officers in England have arrested a man who could blow the lid off an embarrassing British Intelligence operation against the Provisional IRA , when he answers drug smuggling charges in London later this year.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, July 1980.
By James Curtis.
The French Judge dismissed the case against James McCann and he was set free , only to be arrested in Dublin in August 1979 . In a well publicised court case he was charged with drugs and firearms offences and then acquitted on the direction of the judge in March 1980. The 'Irish Pimpernel' has now beaten the rap for the third time !
Observers of this extraordinary affair were left wondering when and where the next piece of the jigsaw would drop into place - and it fell sooner than expected . In June 1980 , as Denis Howard Marks picked up a glass of sherry in the bar of the Swan Hotel in Lavenham, England, two plain clothes customs investigators stepped forward and slipped a pair of handcuffs over his wrists.
[END of 'The Howard Marks Affair']
(Next - ' CIA Slams Irish Judge')
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HEROIN IN DUBLIN....... The drugs crisis is one of the major problems facing young people in Dublin today. In large areas of the city it has now reached massive proportions , while in the inner city there is estimated to be a higher percentage of drug addicts and drug abusers than in Harlem in New York . But it has been only recently - 5 years after this epidemic began in earnest - that any notice has been paid to the problem. And even now the Free State government has failed to confront the crisis in a meaningful way . Tony Barry of Na Fianna Eireann has been looking at the issues for 'IRIS' magazine.From 'IRIS' magazine, December 1984.
Apart from Jervis Street and Coolmine there are a few non-residential therapy groups , among them , in Dublin, is the Drugs Advisory Centre in Ballymun , the Anna Liffey Project , the Rutland Centre at Knocklyon Road and the Talbot Centre in Sherrard Street . There are also a number of 'Narcotics Anonymous' groups in Drogheda , Wexford , Limerick and Belfast , as well as some in Dublin .
The response of different communities throughout Dublin to the drugs crisis began last year with the people of St Teresa's Gardens, followed rapidly by the communities in Dolphin House , Hardwicke Street , Liberty House , Tallaght , St Michael's Estate in Inchicore and others , taking a stand against heroin . This invariably started with meetings being organised in local halls or schools to discuss the problem .
In areas like St Teresa's Gardens and Dolphin House there was an immediate and overwhelming response and , as with all those other areas , there was a general agreement that drugs were a community problem which could only be resolved by the local community . Street marches and protests were held on the flats of local pushers and they were told to stop pushing drugs or leave the area . Citizen patrols were organised to turn away drug addicts coming into the areas to get their 'fix' . The pushers were now getting 'pushed' . Then the State media branded the local communities as 'vigilante mobs'.......
(MORE LATER).
