THE MURDER OF JOHN CORCORAN -

- THE COVER-UP CONTINUES.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1998.

Mr Dick Spring : " The matter I am raising on the adjournment this evening is one with which the minister for justice, equality and law reform is familiar - he raised it himself on many occasions when he was opposition spokesperson. This is a matter of fundamental importance to the public interest in relation to the administration of justice and the protection of human life.

In March 1985 , the body of John Corcoran of Riverview Estate , Ballyvolane , County Cork , was found dumped outside Cork city , the murder apparently having taken place in County Kerry. It has been widely reported in recent times that he was murdered by the IRA on the instructions of the chief of staff and that the Garda Síochána were aware, from information received over some days previously, that Mr Corcoran was going to be murdered.

A statement issued by the Department of Justice on 8 December 1997 stated that the minister for justice had sought a full report on all aspects of this matter a short time after he took up Office in the middle of 1997. What I would like to know this evening is whether the minister has that report and if he is going to make it public......."
(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.

APRIL 30 , 1970 :
" The Taoiseach sent for me , and told me that he had seen Mr Blaney and Mr Haughey and that the matter was ended , that there would be no repetition. I asked incredulously - 'Does this mean that Mr Haughey remains Minister for Finance ? What will my position be ? He knows that I have told you of his conversation with me on 18th April and of the earlier police information.' The Taoiseach replied - ' I will protect you .' I felt a very sorry man returning to my Department where I told the tale to my usual colleagues.

It is interesting to read the Taoiseach's entirely different account in the Dail : Volume 246 , No. 7 col. 1331 - '...but I had said to both of them....that the information that I had would justify my asking for their resignations...the Minister for Agriculture asked for some time to consider the position. Because of the condition of the Minister for Finance I felt I just could not possibly pursue the enquiries with him...' The Taoiseach makes it clear at the foot of col. 1440 that he was speaking of his meetings with the Ministers, separately , on Wednesday , 29th April.

The Taoiseach phoned me later that evening to have the Head of 'S Branch' at his home at 8.00pm . I had assured him that this was the Garda officer who had the most knowledge of the arms conspiracy. I informed the Commissioner and , later, had a phone call from Chief Supt. Fleming for information as to the purpose of the meeting and who would be present . I told him that I knew no more than that he was to be at the Taoiseach's house at the time stated. 'But' , he said , 'you know more than anybody else. Will you not be there?' I replied that I had not been asked and that I did not know the purpose. Later in the night , at about 9.30pm , Chief Supt. Fleming called to my house......."
(MORE LATER).






Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration , New Years Day , Sunday 1st January 2012 , Dublin -



- the annual Dáithí Ó Conaill Commemoration will be held in Dublin on January 1 , 2012 , in Glasnevin Cemetery. Those attending are asked to assemble at the Cemetery Gates at 12.45pm. More information on Dáithí can be read here.




Seán Sabhat Commemoration , New Years Day , Sunday 1st January 2012 ,Limerick -



- the annual Seán Sabhat Commemoration will be held in Limerick on Sunday , January 1 , 2012 , at the Republican Plot in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery : those attending are asked to assemble at the 'Horse and Hound' Pub, Mulgrave St , in Limerick City, at 12.30pm.



AND FINALLY , re the recent CABHAIR Swim...



.....we forget to mention that the Organisers presented all the swimmers with a Republican handkerchief , all five of which had recently been decorated in Portlaoise Prison by Irish Republican POW's , and we also forgot to mention that a raffle was held at the event at which only the five swimmers had been given tickets for : the prize was a bodhrón which , as with the 'hankies' , was made in Portlaoise Prison , and was won by Dougie who , next year , will now be able to supply his own drumbeat before he belly-flops into the water....!

And really , really finally : as this will most likely be our last post in 2011 , we have to say a big 'Go Raibh Maith Agat' to all our readers (we are quickly approaching 475,000 overall 'hits' !) and wish you all a Happy New Year ; we'll be back on Wednesday 4th January 2012 for definite , and possibly before then , if anything 'out there' takes our fancy.....!
Thanks,
Sharon (and Team!).

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CABHAIR CHRISTMAS SWIM , 25th DECEMBER 2011 :



On what was , compared to last year's event , a Summer's day , the CABHAIR organisation 'fed and watered' approximately 100 people over the three-hour period that the Swim event lasted for - the CABHAIR Crew arrived on site at , as usual , 10am and packed-up 'shop' at about 1pm , in between which five sponsored swimmers 'earned their keep' (Lee , David , Dougie , Paddy and Tony) : the sixth swimmer , Declan , from near-by Driminagh , was asked repeatedly not to swim , as he had a small , fresh cut on his leg and , for safety reasons , the Organisers insisted he not enter the water which - eventually - he agreed was for the best. Those that sponsored Declan - he had two full sponsorship cards and one card half-full - will be offered their money back over the next few days.

Anyway ; the 'Declan Dilemma' (!) was one of three 'upsets' at the event - the nuisance caused by the eight 'Special Branch' men who , as usual, tried to turn people away from attending the Swim and the fact that three of their number had 'detained' Santa and two of his 'helpers' in a near-by street for twenty-five minutes (and actually repeatedly stood on his feet to stop him from moving away from them) were the only 'mishaps' in an otherwise flawless enterprise , and all of them outside of CABHAIR control.

The National Flag flew high and proud from the Naas Road-entrance point , surrounded by three CABHAIR banners , at one 'end' of the Swim Site Irish Rebel music blasted-out from twin speakers whilst at the other 'end' , a man with a guitar entertained a section of the crowd with a sing-song , an almost endless supply of 'soup' (including two bottles of a stronger brew!), lemonade , mince pies , crisps etc , and Christmas crackers , were consumed by the crowds , the weather held-up nicely for all concerned , the neighbours came out in force to cheer-on the five lads and the local swan family were easily distracted by some well-placed tit-bits ! All foodstuffs , including the 'Swan Bait' (!) were donated by local shops and pubs etc , and were gratefully received by the organisers and the crowd.

As always , the CABHAIR people are to be congratulated for this much-needed event and , as mentioned by one of the organisers , all monies raised go directly to the families of the Republican POW's in Maghaberry and Portlaoise Prisons : we publish with this report a few pics from the day in question and, down the bottom of this post , we publish a link to three videos and over 80 pics from the event - so put the kettle on now and be prepared to say goodbye to the next hour or so !


'Swim Stall' 2011 ;" The Right of the People of Ireland..."


All 'Gold' winners , not Silver....


One makes a break for it...


....two find the exit.....


...whilst these three are caught in the act !


This wannabe escapee was roasted on the fire....


...and his comrade was caught by a cameraman-cum-guard !


Two swimmers , linked by the Green !


Santa 'hip-hops' his way to the Swim Site!


Sing-Song at the 2011 CABHAIR Swim!

Finally - Congrats as well to the 3 swimmers who also braved the (fine summer's day!) elements for CABHAIR in Craigavon Lake and the 5 swimmers in Wexford who took the plunge : well done , Men - fair play to ye all !
The three videos and over 80 Swim pics I mentioned earlier can be located here - but you might need a 'Facebook' account to view them. Once again , CABHAIR have more than held their own , and our Irish Republican Prisoners , and their families have , once again , being reminded that they are not forgotten by their comrades , colleagues and supporters on the 'outside' - and they never will be !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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