The Patriot Game.
"This Ireland of mine
Has for long been half free,
Six counties are under
John Bull's tyranny.
And still deValera
Is greatly to blame,
For shirking his part in
The Patriot Game...."
(Lyrics here, listen here.)

Congratulations (and 'Thanks'!) to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and to Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach.

105th Ard Fheis of Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach , November 2009.

On November 14th and 15th this year , the Republican Sinn Féin organisation will hold its 105th Ard Fheis in a Dublin venue - and will say " Slán go fóill anois" to its President , Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. Ruairi , whom we on this blog have had the pleasure and honour of meeting on countless occasions ,is a dedicated Irish Republican who is as politically honest as the day is long (a saying he uses himself in relation to other people!) and has never sought or fought for any political objective other than a 32-county socialist Irish Republic , free of British political and military interference. He - and fellow Irish Republicans - have been imprisoned , harassed and censored , amongst other disgraces , by their pro-Westminster and Leinster House enemies but have never faltered or compromised. Nor will they now , which is why this blog is so supportive of Irish Republicans of that calibre. We wish Ruairi and RSF best wishes , and offer our appreciation to them for the fantastic work they have done , are doing , and will continue to do. Ruairi will still be on the Ard Chomhairle of RSF , and has been nominated as Patron of the organisation. An Phoblacht Abú !

We have obtained two 'Visitor Passes' for the 105th Ard Fheis,where political motions , such as the following examples , will be put forward for discussion and accepted or rejected , as the case may be :
"That this Ard Fheis recognises the outstanding contribution that Ruairí Ó Brádaigh has made to Irish Republicanism and commends his selfless commitment to the goal of a United Ireland."

"That this Ard Fheis acknowledges that resistance to the British presence in Occupied Ireland must continue unabated to remove that presence no matter how long it may take."

"That this Ard Fheis calls for a total British disengagement from Ireland , the release of all political prisoners and the future of Ireland to be decided by the people of Ireland acting as a whole unit (32 Counties) . "

"That we actively oppose all British Royal visits to any part of Ireland while Ireland remains under British occupation."

"That this Ard Fheis congratulates all Republican prisoners and their families in the struggle for Irish freedom."

In total , 112 motions will be discussed at this Ard Fheis and , whilst we hope to publish a general report from same , we will not be publishing a detailed report , as the matters concerned are , for now, internal RSF matters. We respect that stipulation , and wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks!
Sharon.

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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 described how he himself had taken over a house to ambush the RUC - but his description was wrong . He said that his companion on that job climbed into the back yard of the house and opened the door , but that couldn't have happened : there was a wire mesh covering the back yard , and a youth who was repairing a pushbike in that small yard at that time would have seen him or heard some noise , but he didn't.

Kirkpatrick claimed that the alleyway behind the house was blocked off , but that was wrong . The defence team claimed that Kirkpatrick was recounting incidents , of which this operation was one, that he had overheard secondhand. But three men were still convicted of conspiracy on the 'strength' of Kirkpatricks claims.

Three other men were convicted of conspiracy to cause an explosion : Kirkpatrick claimed that he had driven past where a bomb had gone off , that he had seen the damage it caused. But no bomb had been detonated or found in that vicinity , and even the RUC admitted that they had no knowledge of anything like that. Kirkpatrick later changed his story , but those three men still done time.

Five other men were then to be stitched-up by Kirkpatrick over an incident in which a member of the British forces died.......
(MORE LATER).



CIA SLAMS IRISH JUDGE.......
A Dublin District Justice was accused by American embassy intelligence personnel of encouraging left wing agitators and tolerating hostile acts against the United States.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine, 'Christmas Special' 1980.

It is doubtful that a file was opened by the CIA on State Justice Robert O hUadhaigh, for this reason : there are indications in the Mairin de Burca file of some of those on whom files have been opened and this does not apply to that State Justice.

Among the papers are some which mention de Burca just in passing - for instance , there are reports on meetings and conferences which she attended and on those reports her name is underlined , as are the names of other people who came to the attention of the 'Emboffs'.

As might be expected , the names marked for special attention contained those that would be regarded as 'the usual suspects' - and a few that the 'political establishment' would have considered to be their own people.......
(MORE LATER).



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.

Tony Barry : "Did that drug pusher have a 'heavy gang' to back him up if an addict defaulted on payments ?"

Noel Sillery: "With most of the drug addicts, they're sort of helpless - the minute they become addicted it's easy enough to intimidate them . They've got absolutely no resistance. So you don't really need heavies to ensure payment.

Anyway the question of debt would hardly ever arise . With the addicts, if they went up to look for a fix without any money there was no way they were getting it. And if they went to the pusher with only half the fix money , they only got half the fix.

Now the addicts themselves had no money to buy the junk , so they either had to go and steal from other addicts , or go snatching handbags , window-shop robbery , house break-ins and/or rob from their own family homes."
(MORE LATER).

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