LAW IN DISORDER.......The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.
When Customs questioned the skipper of the Castletownbere trawler , he said he was working for the Garda , and the Customs officers informed their superiors. At a meeting at Garda HQ later that day , senior customs officers were told that a drugs operation was going down and , the following day, another meeting was held between the two where details of the operation were given.
Customs were told that after landing in Castletownbere , the drugs had been loaded on to a container and moved to a warehouse in Galway - the customs officers expressed concern at not being informed.
The following day gardai complained that a leak to the 'Cork Examiner' newspaper was causing serious operational difficulties , and stressed that they wanted the operation to be finished by that evening. The 'knock' location would be on the Galway to Dublin Road , they said - two customs officers waited in Athlone for word from the Garda about the exact location and , at 2.40pm , they were contacted by gardai to say the operation was going down in Urlingford but , by the time they arrived, the operation was well over.......
(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.
EARLY DECEMBER 1969 :
" I phoned the Commissioner that it would be in the interests of all concerned that he , as Commissioner, should make a formal report to the Minister of the information that had been given to him by the head of the Special Branch as to the involvement of Ministers with the IRA in arms trafficing ; the Commissioner did not express any doubts to me then or at any other time that he had reservations about the sources of the information or the authenticity of the information itself so that it came as a surprise to me to read Mr O Morain's evidence at Para. 11774 of Booklet 28 in which he said to the CPA on 15th June 1971 -
"The source is a source that was not reporting direct to his [Chief Supt. Fleming's] section at all (this was untrue) and a source which was regarded as very doubtful by Commissioner Wymes and myself..." .
The Minister saw the Commissioner and Chief Supt. Fleming on this date at the Commissioner's request. I did not become aware that the visit had actually taken place until I was so informed by my Assistant Secretary , Mr Andy Ward (now Secretary) , in January , when he told me that the Minister had remarked to him that Chief Supt. Fleming had been unable to tell him the occupation of 'Jock' (Padraigh) Haughey (Charlie's brother) and on that account he doubted the general authenticity of the police information......."
(MORE LATER).
'ROYALTY' - A LICENCE TO KILL .......?
Whilst we on this humble blog are still trying to come to terms with the dreadful and disgusting shows of 'affection' and cap-doffing by Irish people in this 'republic' to a British 'queen' who colony-hopped her way over to us last month , we almost forgot to look at the whole 'royal' scenario from a different angle ie the manner in which they see themselves .
Our attention was drawn to the actions of a then 34-year-old member of the Saudi 'royal family' , who goes by the name 'Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud' and who , like 'royals' the world over , had a 'Staff' working for him : his 'manservant' , a Mr. Bandar Abdulaziz , then 32, was found battered to death in a London hotel in February 2010 - the British 'Old Bailey' heard that the 'manservant' had '...been murdered in a sexual attack...' committed by his 'Master'....' . The 'butler' had been beaten and strangled , and had bite marks on his face, but his 'royal' boss denied murdering him , although he did admit to manslaughter and to one count of causing him grevious bodily harm , with intent!
The 'royal' Saudi 'prince' assaulted the 'manservant' before he died , but denied being in a gay relationship with him , even though he had been receiving 'visits' from what were termed 'gay escorts' at the hotel. During the 'trial' , CCTV footage was shown in which the 'royal prince' could be clearly seen repeatedly kicking and punching his 'manservant' in the lift of the hotel and reports at the time suggested that Mr. Abdulaziz was 'barely tolerated' by his Saudi boss and had the demeanor of one so demeaned.
It seems obvious that so-called 'royalty' , whether British or Saudi is , due no doubt in large part to the 'reality cushion' afforded it by the nature of how society perceives it and by its ill-gotten wealth , considers that it is a law on to itself and is set apart from the moral guidelines which should govern 'normal' interaction between people - and , having observed the various 'toadies' in this State that couldn't wait to curtsy , bow and scrape in front of or , indeed, in the mere presence of a 'royal' - it is not surprising that the 'royal elite' eventually , sooner rather than later , come to see themselves as being entitled to such 'reverence'.
As far as Irish Republicans are concerned , those 'royal elites' are a 'sponge' which soak-up resources which should be directed towards the employed and the unemployed , the healthy and the sick , and the young and the old : in good times or bad , it is simply immoral for any just society to elevate any section of that society to the position enjoyed by the British 'royal family' and other such 'institutions'. Those in this corrupt State that are 'gracious' to them have nothing to offer this society and should stop embarrassing the rest of us by their actions.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS.... !
SO GOOD THEY NAMED IT TWICE.....!
.....and we're practically packing our bags as I type - this will be our second-last Wednesday blog post as myself and four other girls are jetting-off to New York for a two-week holiday later on this month: we'll be staying , mostly , in the Bronx (thanks again to Frankie , Shay and the girls!) but will also be filling wardrobe space (!) in Queens , Brooklyn and Hell's Kitchen , with Kevin , Mal , Liz and Susie and all our other friends : which is why we can afford a whole two weeks - free accommodation !
And , if we have any money left over from our many shopping sprees (HELLO Jersey Gardens....!) we may take our hosts out for something to eat.
A hotdog , perhaps...... ;-) !
