The British struck back by the 'economic war', but the Fenian countryside saw this as an aspect of the anti-imperialists' struggle and bore its burden - they saw Fianna Fáil safely through it. It was the end of a long chapter.
Fenian Ireland, the Ireland of the poor, came to the very doorstep of a struggle for power twice in ten years - in 1922 and again in 1931. In each case it failed to achieve a leadership to correspond with its needs and was driven back in confusion. It has paid a heavy price in mass emigration for those failures but has gained sharp, political lessons. The lesson of 1922, even only half-learned, is apparent in the IRA search for a policy in 1931. Other men, in other days, will contemplate those mistakes, for of course the Ireland of the poor will be back.
There will be another day.
[END of 'There Will Be Another Day'.]
(NEXT - 'Passports For Investment' , from 'Magill' magazine, 1997.)
THE ANATOMY OF AN AFTERNOON : THE STORY OF THE GIBRALTAR KILLINGS........
In his summing up, the coroner pointed out to the jury that if they were to find that any of the three IRA Volunteers had been shot on the ground after being effectively put out of action, "that would be murder if you come to the conclusion that the soldiers continued to shoot to finish him off". On the basis of this, together with the evidence of the Crown pathologist Dr. Watson and the evidence of Soldiers 'A' and 'B' themselves, the conclusion that this precise act of murder was carried in the case of Mairead Farrell seems inescapable.
The precise sequence of events leading up to this is disputed but there are, nevertheless, a number of eyewitness accounts which suggest that a more likely scenario was as follows : Mairead Farrell and Daniel McCann , walking past the Shell station, are approached from behind by Soldiers 'A' and 'B'. Soldier 'A' is directly behind, on the footpath, and Soldier 'B' is standing out on the road (Officer 'M' / Officer 'I' / Stephen Bullock/ Carmen and Maxie Proetta/ PC James Parody/). Farrell hears a police siren behind and looks around (Proettas/ PC James Parody) as Soldier 'A' or 'B' shouts a warning. Soldier 'B' opens fire from the road (Proettas/ PC Parody) - he fires first at Farrell's face (Proettas/ Professor Watson, the pathologist/ various witnesses who say that Farrell was the first to fall) and she raises hands to her face (Proettas) , having been only superficially wounded (Professor Watson) , and is hit again in the face, falling to the ground face down (various).
Daniel McCann , having moved to protect Mairead Farrell, is himself hit once or twice in the head (Professor Watson) and falls also. Soldier 'B' stops shooting, having fired seven rounds, two hitting each Farrell and McCann, the others ricocheting off petrol pumps number four and five. Soldier 'A' moves in and fires five shots from close range - three into the back of Mairead Farrell and two into the back of Daniel McCann as they lie on the ground (Officer 'I' / Proettas / Josie Celecia). Not only do many of the facts and eyewitness accounts support this version, but the known modus operandi of the SAS does also. (MORE LATER).
IF THE BUCKLEYS WIN.....
....WORKERS LOSE -
- all workers, that is, not just those employed by that company. And this is why that will be the case, if it happens. It would be comforting to think that if/when such a scenario comes about - when other greedy employers think that they, too, should be entitled to ride roughshod over the working terms and conditions of their employees - that the 'tipping point' will have been breached and the workers will defend themselves as a unified body. But, unfortunately, I don't believe that that will happen - the workers are far too dependent on a trade union movement which is led by lambs and which is far too quick to compromise.
And, actually, truth be told, most workers themselves haven't got the balls (pardon the language) nowadays that they had in previous years, being so demoralised by wage cuts, USC tax, bin taxes, household tax, property tax, water tax etc etc that they take the hit in their pocket and, for a short time, will complain louder than they did the last time they were 'hit'. But this feeling of powerlessness will pass, in time, and those that are being punished now for the greed, crimes and misdeeds of others will eventually fight back, en masse. Shame that it seems they will have to be squeezed further, financially, before that day will dawn.
"ENGLAND CAN'T FIGHT FOR LIBERTY IN EUROPE AND JUNKERDOM IN IRELAND!"
He was the first president of the Young Ireland Branch of the United Irish League (Home Rule) (mentioned here) and was on the board of management of the Theatre of Ireland with, amongst others, Edward Martyn, Thomas MacDonagh and Patrick Pearse. He established and chaired the 'Peace Committee' during the Lock-Out Strike of 1913, the same year in which he helped to establish the 'Irish Volunteers' and assisted in the purchasing of weapons for that group. The following year (1914) he joined the 'Royal Dublin Fusiliers' and, when he returned home from 'active service' later that year, he made it his business to attend, in his British Army uniform, as many anti-recruiting meetings as he could and argued in favour of the recruiting process! He was, apparently, of mixed emotion as, during his college years, he protested against the playing of the British national anthem and publicly attempted to persuade those interested in fighting in the Boer War not to join up, yet he himself joined the British Army 'to fight for the freedom of small nations'. He answered queries about his inconsistency re these issues by explaining his belief that "England could not fight for liberty in Europe and Junkerdom in Ireland..." and, I presume, intended to use his time 'in the belly of the beast' to give it indigestion (much like the confused souls today who consider such a thing possible) !
He worked for a spell as the war correspondent of the 'Daily News' newspaper and, in his 36 years on this earth, added 'journalist' to his CV, which included economist, barrister, writer, poet, soldier and politician. He died in the battle of the Somme on the 9th of September 1916, but his body was never recovered.
ON THIS DATE (10TH SEPTEMBER) 91 YEARS AGO : AN IMPOSTER JOINS A CLUB!
The British forcibly partitioned Ireland in December 1922 and, on the 10th September 1923, the then three-years-old 'League of Nations' organisation accepted the Free State (a 26-county entity) as a member of the club - had that grouping been called the 'League of States' rather than the 'League of Nations' then I would not be writing this piece but for any so-called 'organisation of nations' to accept a request for membership from a landmass that contains a little more than three-quarters of its own land brings to mind the Groucho Marx quote - "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member"! And, in a further twist of logic, 'Time' magazine stated - "Ireland was admitted into the sacred circle of the League of Nations by unanimous vote. On all sides there were spontaneous manifestations of good-will toward Ireland. In eloquent speeches, representatives of Britain, France, China, Persia and other countries extended felicitations to the Free State representative...." again confusing the Free State as being 'Ireland', rather than part thereof.
Incidentally, this very issue caused a rift between U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the then leader of the Clann na nGael organisation in America, Judge Daniel Cohalan - the Judge was known to be of the opinion that the 'League of Nations' was a ploy by the British to integrate themselves into American society. It was he and the Clann organisation that financed the opposition to Wilson's 'League of Nations' proposal - indeed, of the estimated $900,000 dollar 'war fund' that the Clann had, only $115,000 dollars was spent in Ireland ; the other $785,000 dollars was spent in attacking the 'League of Nations ' or "Britains League" , as Judge Daniel Cohalan and John Devoy called it. But that's a story for another date!
ON THIS DATE (10TH SEPTEMBER) 72 YEARS AGO : CIVILIANS TARGETED BY BRITISH.
On the 10th of September 1942, 100,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on Dusseldorf, Germany, by 476 British Royal Air Force bombers - the objective was as stated above by one of Britain's more infamous 'mad bombers', a psychopathic mass murderer who, along with the man who issued him his instructions (and agreed that the first wave of RAF bombers should drop explosives thereby opening up the infrastructure for the second wave, incendiary bombs) , Churchill, should have been tried for war crimes, along with Goebbels and Himmler, amongst others. Yet the British continue to propagate the myth that they are 'peace keepers' and here, in Ireland, they have found a gaggle of willing fools to assist them in spreading that myth.
ON THIS DATE (10TH SEPTEMBER) 58 YEARS AGO.
On the 10th September 1956,the British, not content with the carnage they inflicted in Dusseldorf 14 years earlier, wanted to see if they could blow things up quicker and kill even more people with less effort, and hundreds of British nuclear 'trials' took place in South Australia, about 800 kilometres north-west of Adelaide, between 1956 and 1963, at the Maralinga site, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area. A total of seven major nuclear tests were performed,along with hundreds of minor trials, with approximate yields ranging from 1 to 27 kilotonnes of TNT (4.2 to 113.0 TJ).
Frank Walker, the author of the above-pictured book, came across the minutes of a meeting held on the 24th May 1957 between members of the 'UK Atomic Energy Research Establishment', chaired by Professor Ernest Titterton, during which the group agreed to continue its testing programme to determine the long-term effects of nuclear explosions on Australian citizens and also agreed to continue secretly testing the bodies of dead babies, infants, children, teenagers and young adults (of which the known total examined was given as 21,830!) for radiation contamination. This violation of the dead apparently started innocently enough , with testing carried out on soil samples, graduating from that to tests on dead animals and then to its final phase - tests on dead humans, to discover "...if Strontium-90 is entering the food chain and getting into humans..."
'The site was contaminated with radioactive materials and an initial cleanup was attempted in 1967. The McClelland Royal Commission, an examination of the effects of the tests, delivered its report in 1985 and found that significant radiation hazards still existed at many of the Maralinga test areas. It recommended another cleanup, which was completed in 2000 at a cost of $108 million. Debate continued over the safety of the site and the long-term health effects on the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land and former personnel. In 1994, the Australian Government paid compensation amounting to $13.5 million to the local Maralinga Tjarutja people...' (from here.)
A 'small price' to pay, I'm sure, for such invaluable knowledge - how to kill people quicker than you had done before. 'Progress' indeed.
BELFAST AND DUBLIN POW PICKETS -
ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , DUBLIN , 2014.
On Saturday 20th September next,the Annual Eve of All-Ireland Rally will be held in Dublin, at 2pm at the GPO in O'Connell Street. Those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance from where, at 1.45pm, a parade will leave to make its way to the GPO. All genuine republicans welcome!
LADIES DAY OUT (FOR RSF) SUNDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2014.....
And that's where myself and the other girls come in ; we'll be on hand that Sunday in the sports hotel venue,on behalf of RSF, with about 50 raffle tickets to share the day with the sisterhood and hopefully give one or more of the girls a secret stash to take home with them. But, win or lose on the raffle, a day out like that is a 'prize' in itself and is something that we girls could get to like - and not only on Sundays! And, if I feel like it afterwards, I'll write a few words about our adventure and post them here. Or not! ;-)
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
