'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.I too was worried about Black James Duirnin ; of course I was , as I worshipped the man. One way or another I was beset by much anxiety : the best thing I could do for the townlands now would be to draw the dogs after me into other parts of the country, where new fighting committees were in process of formation. The Donegal townlands had lived through their hour of crisis and they wrote their share of this story at that evening's meeting. Other men in other districts must write theirs now.
Colonel Maurice Moore called at my home with the manuscript of a pamphlet he proposed to publish - 'British Plunder and Irish Blunder', and he hoped that I might use it serially in 'An Phoblacht'. I knew of Colonel Moore's sustained protest in the Free State Senate against the payment of land annuities to Britain, on the ground that the Free State was under no legal obligation to pay them. I did not seek him out, and 'An Phoblacht' took little notice of his speeches. For one thing I held it against him, as I held it against W.B. Yeats , that he allowed himself to be nominated to membership of so mean a body as the Free State Senate.
For another thing, adventuring as I was beyond the limits of IRA policy in my use of 'An Phoblacht' , it would not occur to me to link up with a Free State Senator who could invoke no better argument than British Acts of Parliament ; this would be politics with a vengeance. But long distance sniping on legal issues offered little shelter for the townlands. Here he was now , Colonel Maurice Moore, facing me across a table......(MORE LATER).
THE ANATOMY OF AN AFTERNOON : THE STORY OF THE GIBRALTAR KILLINGS........
It has always been clear that the inquest would at best reveal only limited amounts of the truth and this was underlined on the very first day of the hearing when Mr John Laws , representing the Crown, submitted three 'Public Interest Immunity' (PII) certificates from the British Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence which enabled the Crown to claim immunity from answering questions which would reveal 'classified intelligence information or endanger national security'.
Specifically , we were told, the certificates were designed to protect sources and the means by which intelligence is gathered and to safeguard the means of operation of the British armed forces. It was obvious from the outset that these certificates , once accepted, would leave the court in ignorance of large amounts of information which would be helpful if not essential in allowing it to establish the full truth of what happened on March 6th , 1988 .
The coroner said that he wasn't necessarily bound by the 'PII' certificates but would have to hear argument on the matter in the absence of the jury. Despite frequent interruptions of his line of questioning by Mr Laws throughout the inquest, Mr McGrory , for the next of kin, repeatedly turned down opportunities to have such a discussion, frequently altering his line of questioning rather than challenging the 'PII' certificates directly. It was as if the Crown's obsessive desire for secrecy was, in McGrory's estimation, one of the weapons in his own legal armoury. (MORE LATER).
21ST AUGUST 1971 : 'EIRE NUA' PROGRAMME UNVEILED.
In the 1960's , whilst working with a co-operative movement in Donegal, Dáithí Ó Conaill - a carpenter/woodwork teacher by trade - realised that , if given the proper opportunity, 'ordinary' people (as opposed to career politicians 'who knew best') could indeed be the 'masters of their own universe' in that they could manage and improve their local economy , curtail if not prevent economic emigration and, overall, increase the quality of their own lives and that of their neighbours. Social issues and policies which affected communities such as that where Daithi found himself at the time were decided in Dublin and enforced from there with little or no regard for the effects caused by same and that , coupled with the fact that practically just across the road from that part of Ulster lay a six-county area which Westminster had parcelled off from its neighbouring Irish counties, planted the idea in Daithi's sharp mind that if such a scenario could be enlarged , on a political basis, on a thirty-two county scale , a fair and proper solution to the North-Eastern issue could be obtained , but the Six-County issue would have to be 'fixed' first.
It was around that time that he had wrote down his thoughts on the matter : " By creating a provincial parliament for the nine counties of Ulster, within the framework of a new Ireland, the partition system would be disestablished and the problem of the border removed. The Protestant people of Ulster would have a working majority and would have immediate access to power. Furthermore, the devolution of power to the local level would ensure for each community the opportunity to foster its own traditions and culture. Each region and community would have within itself the immediate power to deal with its own social and economic problems. Such devolution of power from one central authority to the people is the essence of democracy. The Nationalist population would be of sufficient strength to ensure a strong and credible opposition within reach of power. For the first time in fifty years we would see a normalisation of politics with an end to the domination of one community by another and the resultant frustration and conflict...." Thus were the seeds of the 'Eire Nua' policy sown and, as stated, it remains the best and fairest solution to the military , political , social and economic problems created by Britain's on-going interference in this country.
NEW WEBSITE TO MARK THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF A BRITISH TERRORIST ACT IN IRELAND.
As part of its campaign to mark the 100th Anniversary of the 1916 Rising , the Republican Movement has launched a new website , to be used to keep supporters up-to-date on all activities planned by the Movement in the lead up to 2016 and in that year itself.
Those that , with Westminster's permission, 'took power' in twenty-six of Ireland's thirty-two counties five years after the Rising will no doubt mis-spend taxpayers money in an attempt to falsely integrate themselves with the men and women who fought against British injustice and will have deep pockets and a compliant media with which to do so but, morally, they have more in common with the British and their occupation forces than they have with the people they will purport to 'honour'. The new website will be one of the main sources of proper and trusted information in relation to Irish republican activity connected to the 1916 Rising and I hope the readers of this blog will recognise it as such.
TROUBLESOME WOMEN : 102 YEARS AGO ON THIS DATE.
In Ireland , a few years before the above-mentioned Easter Rising of 1916, it is not far-fetched at all to state that women were 'doubly oppressed' : by 'the State' (a British institution, at the time [now just a pro-British one!] ) and by , in the main, male society , although not all women accepted that that was the way it should be. A number of social and cultural organisations had been established by women and for women , including the Conservative and Unionist Women’s Franchise League, the Munster Women’s Franchise League, the Irishwomen’s Suffrage Federation, the North of Ireland Women’s Suffrage Committee, the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society and the Irishwomen’s Suffrage and Local Government Association, most of which worked independently of each other. Two 'troublesome' Irish women , Louie Bennett and Helen Chenevix, thought it would be to the benefit of the overall objective if those separate organisations were to be coordinated into a more effective campaigning body and, on 21st August 1911 - 102 years ago on this date - the 'Irish Women's Suffrage Federation' was formed "...to link together the scattered suffrage societies in Ireland in the effort to obtain the vote as it is, or may be, granted to men (and) to carry on more propaganda and educatice work throughout Ireland than has hitherto been possible.....to form the basis of an association which will continue to exist after enfranchisement , and whose purpose will be to work, through the power of the vote, for the welfare of the country..." .
In that same year (1911) , the 'Munster Women's Franchise League' was formed in Cork and the 'Irishwomen's Reform League' was established in Dublin. It appears that women , then , were not only more aware of the injustices foisted on them by an unequal and oppressive society , but were more prepared than we are now to do something about it. Time for more drastic action , perhaps....
"OIL... ??
I know it's not a laughing matter , but I couldn't help it as the story developed : the age-old image of the British having to 'carry the feckless drunken Irish' , who would only show concern for food , family or freedom if , first, they had sated their thirst with alcohol , sprang to mind but , worst of all, this time it wasn't being promoted by 'Punch' magazine or somesuch 'satirical'-type supermarket tabloid. No , and more's the pity that that wasn't the source - this time , we Irish supplied the 'headlines' ourselves , which were forwarded around the world by , amongst others, the British press.
Nor was I surprised by some of the reaction to the 'free-booze-for-cops' revelation , although I was, actually, a bit amazed to see that some people just wouldn't accept the fact that not only could 'our cops' be (further) corrupted , but that it could be done with bottles of booze! Honestly - people like that , God bless their innocence, must never have 'experienced' those Blue Fluers as they 'supervise' a protest or picket etc ie in much the same way as the DMP 'supervised' the strikers in 1913! Those supplying the booze (and other favours) must be laughing all the way to their bank at how easy it is to turn the 'feckless' Irish against each other so cheaply and how simple it is to convince those supposedly in charge that that which they have in their possession is practically worthless , despite the advice of those that have the well-being of the State economy at heart.
But sure , then again, maybe a crate or two of the hardstuff was dropped-off elsewhere on the way to Mayo.....
ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , DUBLIN.
"One of the largest public rallies seen in Dublin for years was held by Sinn Féin at the GPO on the eve of the All-Ireland Football Final . Headed by a Colour Party and a pipe band , a parade of more than 2,000 people marched from Parnell Square through the main city thoroughfare as a protest against the continued unjust imprisonment of Irishmen without charge or trial . Contingents from all over the country took part and many carried banners and placards including groups from England and Scotland . In the Ulster section was a strong representation of the Derry supporters who thronged the capital city for the Final . One placard they carried asked - ' Why are Six-County Nationalists interned in the Curragh?'....."(From 'An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman' newspaper,November 1958.)
Those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 1.45pm for the parade to the GPO in O'Connell Street at 2pm.
POETRY IN MOTION....
One of our readers come across this little ditty a few days ago on a 'Facebook' page and sent it to us with a view to having it posted on this blog and we liked it so much we decided to do just that :
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
You won't be done
'Till he has no dough.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
It's time to apply
The inheritance tax.
It's true that 'you can't take it with you' , but it's also a fact that you can't 'leave' without it. Try getting the taxman to understand that....
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
