Aitheasc an Uachtaráin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh don 85ú Ard-Fheis de Shinn Féin in Óstlann an Spa , Leamhcán , Co. Atha Cliath , 21ú agus 22ú Deireadh Fómhair , 1989 /
Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin in the Spa Hotel , Lucan , County Dublin , 21st and 22nd October 1989.....
" Britain had simultaneously been found in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights for the seven-day detention powers in the 'Prevention of Terrorism Act', giving her the worst record on Human Rights in Europe with 21 violations since 1950. Pleading "a state of emergency threatening the life of the nation" , they derogated from the European Treaty as they did with internment in the Occupied Six Counties from 1971 to 1975.
Did this not influence the decision on extradition in Leinster House ? Not in the slightest , for the Dublin administration's own Emergency Provisions Act (1976) also provides for seven-day detention without trial and, as the British would not be slow in pointing out to their clients in Dublin , how can the kettle call the pot black ?
It is the legacy of two failed political entities in this partitioned island , north and south, that makes it impossible to rule in either area without continual breaches of human rights. In the 26-County state this collaboration with British rule has far-reaching effects on the lives of ordinary people....."
(MORE LATER).
BETRAYAL.......
The (State) Gardaí used John Corcoran (pictured) as a (P)IRA informer. They allowed him to be killed by another (P)IRA informer, and have since refused to investigate his murder*.
From 'MAGILL' magazine, Christmas Annual 1997.
By Ursula Halligan and Vincent Browne.
(* '1169...' Comment - their word, not ours.)
When controversy arose earlier this year over Séan O' Callaghan's role in the murder* of John Corcoran and the garda failure to question O'Callaghan in connection with the incident , the then Leinster House opposition Fianna Fáil spokesman on justice , John O' Donoghue, promised to have the matter "fully investigated" on the party's return to power.
In a statement issued to 'Magill' magazine on Monday December 8th 1997 , the (State) Department of Justice stated - "Within weeks of coming into office , the minister [John O' Donoghue] sought a full report on all aspects of the O'Callaghan case from the garda authorities . As of yet he is awaiting that report . He [O'Donoghue] understands that the report is imminent."
The claim that the report into this affair is "imminent" is surprising , given that Séan O' Callaghan confirmed to 'Magill' magazine on the previous day (Sunday December 7th 1997) that he had not been interviewed by gardaí or by anybody else in connection with the murder* of John Corcoran and that no attempt had been made by the gardaí to even contact him.......
(MORE LATER).
TRADE UNIONS AND THE HUNGER-STRIKE.......From 'IRIS' magazine, November 1981.
Brian Maguire died in RUC custody after a strenuous interrogation which his friends and family allege involved repeated semi-strangulation . The RUC attempted to suggest that Brian Maguire hanged himself from a ventilation grille in his detention cell but previous victims of the seven-day detention orders in Castlereagh observed that the grilles in question were inaccessible - being some 12ft from the floor - and anyhow, the grilles were of a size which did not permit anything being tied to them.
Most Irish people , and trade unionists in particular, believe that Brian Maguire was murdered by the RUC Special Branch ; he 'missed' his place on the conveyor belt system which leads from Castlereagh into the H-Blocks . His death gave a new urgency to the anti-repression struggle and provided fresh impetus for trade union involvement in the prison issue.......
(MORE LATER).
