AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.
The 'Eproxindine 4/0089' test is a 'split test' , with a gap of three weeks between two sessions. One of the other participants had been in three weeks before Niall Rush and , on the first session, he says, they were taken in at night , some days after their pre-medical. The following morning they were given the drug and about one hour later he experienced numbness of mouth and lips , taste distortion and loss of balance. Another participant suffered an acute attack of nausea.
Niall Rush's father was an Ambassador , and the family spent time in the United States , Nigeria and Portugal. He was born in 1953. Later on , he was sent to Gormanstown College and , sometime in the mid 1970's , he was diagnosed a schizophrenic - he was still under treatment at the time of his death. Over the last six or seven years he worked at a variety of odd jobs , including one as a porter in a hotel. He lived in different parts of Dublin , moving to England and the Continent to stay with friends from time to time. Occasionally , he did clinical drug tests in James Street , as did many of his friends , and was not the healthiest of individuals , smoking up to 50grms of 'Duma Roll-Your-Own' cigarettes a day.
Under the 'Coroners Act', when somebody dies and a medical certificate is not forthcoming , there is an investigation by the gardai , as agents of the Coroner. Following the death of Niall Rush , there was a post-mortem , performed by John Harbison , the State Pathologist. Detective Inspector Connolly of Kevin Street Garda Station and Garda Joe McGarrity from Kilmainham were put onto the case.......
(MORE LATER).
THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.
" When he became Minister , Mr Haughey sought to appoint his man to a minor position which carried payment of a second capitation grant where one 'suffered in the public interest' : he could have sacked the person who was already working in that minor position , but that would have brought down on his head the wrath of the local Dail Deputies who had approached Mr Traynor , the other Minister. I told Mr Haughey that I couldn't make payment (to the second appointee) and when he insisted I should , I said that of course I would obey his direction but that I was requested under the Rules to report the matter to the Minster for Finance and to the Committee of Public Accounts. The matter was not pursued but I thought it prudent when leaving on my annual holiday to acquaint my Assistant Secretary of the facts involved.
On my return the Assistant Secretary told me that he had received a Ministerial directive to appoint the second man to the post in question , that he had informed the Minister that he was aware of the Accounting Officer's refusal earlier and that the Minister would be liable to personal surcharge. He said that the Minister was furious with me , not alone for my refusal but for forewarning the Assistant Secretary , thus causing the Minister to lose face.
I had a second disagreeable clash with Mr Haughey in 1962 ; a vacancy occurred for the appointment of a semi-civilian semi-police post as immigration officer at Cork Airport. The Commissioner of the Garda decided to have a selection board to decide which of the immigration officers serving at Dublin Airport , Shannon Airport and Cobh seaport would be most suitable for promotion. Meanwhile , Mr Haughey told me that he had representations from Mr Jack Lynch for appointment of the Cork based man and to convey that to the Commissioner. But the Commissioner put forward the names of four candidates in the order of merit assigned by the selection board in which the Corkman was fourth.
I supported in writing the Commissioner's recommendation that the number one should be appointed but the Minister , Mr Haughey, sent for me and, purple in the face and in a hectoring voice , said 'Didn't I tell you I wanted X appointed?' , so I pointed out that to appoint X in the teeth of the selection board's choice and the Commissioner's recommendation would be open to grave criticism and that I could not lend my support to it......."
(MORE LATER).
NATIONAL GRAVES ASSOCIATION FUND-RAISER.The National Graves Association will be holding a fundraiser in the Milestone Inn, Balbriggan this Saturday night (20th November 2010) at 8.30pm. The Druids will be playing. Tickets are available at the door for €10.00 and all funds raised will go to the upkeep of Republican graves. As we stated here recently in relation to the NGA - "They are a tireless bunch , totally dedicated to their objective , and deserve any assistance you can give them....". If you can't come along yourself try and spread the word to those that might be interested , and maybe even buy a ticket or two anyway!
Thanks!
Sharon.
