THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.
Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.
As regards Seán Lemass himself , the impression comes over of someone with a good radical position trapped in a system over which he has no control , but to gain control would mean unleashing forces which would tamper with property rights which , in 1945 , he would have been prepared to do - ".....the rights of owners should not include the right to allow land to go derelict.." .
There is a quote from Kevin Boland's book , 'Up Dev' , which sums up pithily the role of the Irish bourgeoisie - ".....Mr Lemass did make an effort to get....investment....but he found that patriotism was in short supply....the highest....aspiration was to win or breed a winner of the Derby....for the glory of old Ireland."
In the period leading up to the repeal of the Control of Manufacturers Act (CMA) , Lemass continued to defend the principles behind the Act but was unable to stem the tide of tendentious advice from economic pundits which promoted "good management , technical knowledge and capital all at once from the subsidiaries of big foreign companies" (Charles Carter , QUB , 1957).......
(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.
" At the funeral of Garda Fallon who was shot in an armed bank robbery by Saor Éire on April 3rd , 1970 , I said to a senior Garda officer that Garda Fallon would be alive today if you had asserted yourself and had implemented the plan which was agreed to in Mount Carmel : he took it with a bad grace."
OCTOBER 16th 1969 :
" During the afternoon I was informed by the nursing staff that I was not being given food after 6.00pm as I would be undergoing medical tests in the morning.
Later , I had a visit from a security officer with such an alarming report of the Baileboro meeting on 4th/5th October - described by Captain Kelly to the CPA as the "genesis of the plan to import arms" - that , in the absence of the Minister on holiday , I felt that the Taoiseach should be told immediately. As I did not know what my health condition would be after the medical tests next morning, I phoned the Taoiseach's Private Secretary , Bertie O' Dowd , only to be told that both were at a function and were not expected back until very late.
I left word that I should be contacted , no matter how late the hour......."
(MORE LATER).
REPUBLICAN SINN FÉIN , DUBLIN : EASTER 2011.(Our photo shows Fergal Moore , RSF Vice President , delivering the main oration at the GPO , Dublin , on Easter Monday , 25th April 2011)
The RSF 2011 Easter Commemorations in Balbriggan and Deansgrange on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday respectively were held as previously advertised but , unfortunately, the pics and text from same, which were to be forwarded to this blog on Easter Monday , were originally stored on a local RSF 'Facebook' page but that particular social networking site has 'pulled' the page and denied all access to it because of a so-called "...fake sign-in name...." issue : in reality , however , 'Facebook' has 'pulled' several local RSF pages in the last few days : we have been told , 'off the record' , by an employee in Hanover Quay , that a political 'request' (ie instruction) has been issued to technical staff in Dublin to locate and close-down Irish Republican- orientated pages 'to prevent 'Facebook' from being used as an organisational tool by groups in this State intending to protest the presence of Queen Elizabeth...' .
The RSF supporter who operated the 'Facebook' page in question is unable to duplicate his work so it seems that we have lost those pics and the text for now , anyway : fortunately , 'Saoirse' has its own record of those two Commemorations , and reports and pics of same will be published in the May 2011 issue of the newspaper , which goes to print on Wednesday , 4th of that month. Incidentally , Colette, who works in the 'Saoirse' Office , offered us access to the material but we declined , as that wouldn't be fair on those who purchase the 'paper.
Apologises to our readers in relation to this issue but , if we do retrieve the 'Facebook' material, we will , of course , publish same on this blog.
However - we managed to locate a few pics and a few words in relation to the RSF Easter Monday 2011 Commemoration at the GPO in O'Connell Street , Dublin :
Two RSF supporters at the GPO in Dublin on Easter Monday , 25th April 2011.The Commemoration warm-up at the GPO began just before 1.30pm , when an RSF member took to the platform and started the proceedings by making reference to those who stood there the previous day - representing the Free State administration - and stated that they had "mouthed platitudes" about how we should 'love our neighbour' and that we should consider the visit next month of an English queen as an event which 'brings to a conclusion' the strife between our two countries : the RSF man said that it is not possible to love your neighbour whilst that neighbour is still behaving like a thug towards you and claiming that part of your 'house' belongs to them, and he repeated the Republican position that a date for British military and political withdrawal from this country is required before any 'conclusion' can be arrived at.
The same RSF speaker outlined in detail the life of one particular Irish girl who was in the GPO during Easter Week in 1916 - Molly O'Reilly - and , when he finished at 2.10pm , received a sustained round of applause from the approximate 300 people that had stopped to listen.
The Easter Commemoration proper then began , Chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin : statements were read on behalf of the Leadership of the Republican Movement , the Republican prisoners in Portlaoise and Maghaberry Jails , with the main oration being delivered at the GPO by RSF Vice President Fergal Moore.
A Wreath was laid by a member of Dublin RSF -
An RSF Wreath being laid at the GPO on Easter Monday , 25th April 2011.- and proceedings were brought to an end by another RSF member singing our National Anthem , in our first language , from the speakers lectern.
A full report , with better pics , will be published in the May 2011 issue of 'Saoirse' : again , apologises for the 'patchy' reports , but it's the best we could do, under the circumstances.
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.
