WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

The leadership of the Republican Movement was obsessed with the Commission and getting its recommendations adopted , and preparations for the defence of our people did not receive the necessary attention . This was an underlying reason for the 'walk-out' : despite repeated warnings from last May on , sufficient priority was not given to this matter , with results too well known to require enumeration .

We will not dwell at length on this matter since it is self-evident to any observer of the Northern scene . We might add that we feel particularly strongly on this point ; we find absolutely incomprehensible from any Republican stand-point the campaigning in favour of retaining the Stormont parliament in August , September and October last when it was in danger of being abolished altogether by the British government .

In any future struggle for freedom it would surely be preferable to have a direct confrontation with the British government on Irish soil without the Stormont junta being interposed . In any event , the taking away of the Orange Order's power-bloc would surely be a step forward rather than backward . The line of policy adopted at the time was , of course , yet another product of the 'policy-makers' who by this time must have felt really secure and able to dictate.......

(MORE LATER).





BLOODY SUNDAY.
On 30 January 1972 , 14 civilians were shot dead by the British Army . They had been taking part in a civil rights march in Derry , protesting against internment without trial .
British 'Lord' Widgery was highly selective in the 'evidence' he used in his 'official' report on the matter - and some of the accounts he chose to include were highly suspect. The victims' families have campaigned for justice ever since . Their case is too strong to ignore any longer .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1998 .
By Eamonn McCann .
(Note - on Saturday 28th January next , a Commemoration to mark the 34th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday will be held at the GPO in Dublin between 1PM and 3PM . All Welcome.)

The British government has two closely related problems in dealing with Bloody Sunday : the first has to do with political motivation and responsibility for the massacre , the second with the possibility that a subsequent cover-up was organised at the highest level within the British political and legal establishments .

The facts suggest as a likelihood that the military operation was approved in advance by representatives of both the North of Ireland and British governments and mounted in order to shore up the Stormont administration headed by Mr. Brian Faulkner and that , thereafter , the lord chief justice of England conspired for political reasons to conceal or distort the truth and thus to pervert the course of justice .

There are no foreseeable circumstances in which a British government would sanction an inquiry that it was aware might establish these likelihoods as fact ; in other words , there is currently no possibility of the key demand of the families of the victims being met . Twenty-six years on (ie 1972-1998) , the 'Bloody Sunday' issue is as far from resolution as ever .......

(MORE LATER).




ENTERING LEINSTER HOUSE - A VETERAN SPEAKS .......
By Comdt. General Tomas Maguidhir (Thomas Maguire) , October 1986.

Tom Maguire :
Comdt. General Tom Maguire was Officer Commanding of the South Mayo Brigade of the Irish Republican Army in the Black-and-Tan war .

He led the Brigade Flying Column in the Kilfall and Tourmakeady ambushes and in the latter action was seriously wounded . In May 1921 he was elected Sinn Fein T.D. for South Mayo-South Rescommon and was later appointed General Officer Commanding , Second Western Division IRA . In January 1922 in the Second Dail Eireann he voted for the All-Ireland Republic and against the Treaty .

At various times during the 1920's he was a member of the IRA Executive . In October 1922 he was captured by Free State forces and interned in Athlone Barracks . In January 1923 he was one of six men set aside for execution : the other five men faced the firing squad .......

(MORE LATER).

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WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

We have already dealt with the Sligo case and that of Cumann na mBan , but Northern Republicans were not to be exempt - Jimmy Steele of Belfast , who has suffered almost 20 years of imprisonment in Crumlin Road Jail for the Republican Cause , was expelled last July because he dared to criticise ultra-left policies in his oration at the re-internment of Peter Barnes and James McCormack in Mullingar .

Sean Keenan of Derry City , another veteran Republican who was Chairman of the Derry Defence Association last August and has been very active on behalf of Civil Rights in the North , was expelled in December last while on a tour of America . His first notification of this action came when a friend showed him a four days' old copy of the 'Irish Times' newspaper which contained a news report of his expulsion from the Republican Movement . These are but the most notable cases .

There is no doubt that all this formed part of a plan to push out certain members who opposed the 'master-minds' - in other words , those who showed they had minds of their own - and replace them with others . Around the country some people of mature years who had displayed no interest whatever in the Republican Movement heretofore , now joined its ranks and were quickly promoted to positions of influence . Such individuals had invariably had previous connections with the 'radical groups' already mentioned .

The basic method of procedure was stated to be that the ultimate objective was the only principle - everything else was merely a tactic ; truth and justice and many other things were to go 'by the board' , apparently . At the Ard Fheis itself elaborate precautions were taken regarding the admission of delegates known to be opposed to 'recognition' . Where a Sinn Fein Organiser would report a Cumann to be in favour or indecisive , receipts for affiliation fees and delegates cards were forwarded , even up to the eve of the Ard Fheis but the affiliation fees of long-standing Cumainn , well-known to be 'against' , were returned with the excuse that they were too late .

In Belfast , three Republican Clubs were denied representation on the 'grounds' that they had been "...inactive.." since August last . We leave it to the public to assess the validity of this last subterfuge , bearing in mind the circumstances of Belfast for the past six months . It seems hardly likely that any Republican would be 'inactive' . In all this harassment of the delegates opposed to 'recognition' , many of the full-time paid officials of the organisation were unduly active .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

The irreversible trend of family interventions which Fr. Denis Faul had nursed , cajoled and nourished with emotional and moral exploitation , distortion of truth , vilification and downright political hostility to the hunger-strike and the achievements of the prisoners' demands , was in the ascendency .

The coup de grace to the hunger-strike was achieved at a meeting in the Lake Glen Hotel in Belfast where all but one of the families attending a meeting there with Faul indicated that they , too , would seek medical intervention . Challenges from the O'Hara and Fox families about the implied slurs and the baseless moral pressures which utterances of Faul's had subjected the mothers of those families to were waved aside with the same arrogance as when on previous occasions Faul had been exposed as untruthful .

Once again Fr. Denis Faul trotted out the rubbish of external authorship of prisoners' statements , and perhaps sensing 'victory' , embellishing his point by referring to members of Sinn Fein as "...thugs.. " and to the National H-Block/Armagh Committee as "...cowboys.." .

All that was left after that was the formal announcement by the Republican prisoners of the ending of the hunger-strike at 3.00PM on Saturday October 3rd , 1981 .

[END of 'FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN' .]
(Tomorrow - ' BLOODY SUNDAY : 30 JANUARY 1972 - 14 CIVILIANS SHOT DEAD' . )



ENTERING LEINSTER HOUSE - A VETERAN SPEAKS .
By Comdt. General Tomas Maguidhir (Thomas Maguire) , October 1986.

" There is no difference between entering the partition parliament of Leinster House and entering a partition parliament of Stormont . I speak as the sole surviving Teachta Dala of the Second Dail Eireann and as the sole surviving member of the Executive of the Second Dail Eireann .

In December 1969 , as the sole surviving member of the Executive of the Second Dail Eireann , I recognised the Provisional Army Council , which remained true to the Irish Republic, as the lawful Army of the Thirty-Two County Irish Republic . I do not recognise the legitimacy of any Army Council styling itself the Council of the Irish Republican Army which lends support to any person or organisation styling itself as Sinn Fein and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House .

The majority of delegates to a recent IRA Convention purported to accept the Leinster House partition parliament and , in so doing , broke faith and betrayed the trust placed in their predecessors in 1969 . The Irish Republic , proclaimed in arms in Easter Week 1916 and established by the democratic majority vote of the people in the General Election of 1918 , has been defended by Irish Republicans for several generations . Many have laid down their lives in that defence . Many others have suffered imprisonment and torture . I am confident that the Cause so nobly served will yet triumph " .

' If but a few are faithful found , they must be all the more steadfast for being but a few' - Terence MacSwiney in 'Principles of Freedom' .

Dated the 22nd day of October , 1986 .
Signed - Thomas Maguire.
Tomas Maguidhir
Comdt.General.
(MORE LATER).

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WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

It is of interest to note that the entire Cumann na mBan organisation was expelled from the Republican Movement because it objected to these 'radical groups' with their banners taking part in the Bodenstown parade of 1968 . The Sligo town Cumann of Sinn Fein , which included the Mayor , the late Councillor Norbert Ferguson , was disbanded in 1969 because they objected to the local Connolly Youth Movement marching as a body in uniform , in the annual Easter Commemoration parade .

After those Republicans were thrown out without their side of the case being heard , a 'new' Cumann of Sinn Fein was formed consisting almost entirely of the Connolly Youth members . We leave it to the people of Ireland to draw their own conclusions in regard to this point : we know that in other countries which have come under the control of organisations similar to these 'radical groups' , totalitarian dictatorship has been the outcome . We have no reason to believe that the result would be any different in Ireland. We believe that the delegates who 'walked out' had long been disgusted with the internal methods in operation in the Republican Movement for some time and indeed with the general atmosphere at the Ard Fheis .

In 1966 , the entire North Kerry Comhairle Ceantair of Sinn Fein , embracing 13 Cumainn and 250 members and including three local councillors and leading figures such as Miss May Daly (sister of Charlie Daly , executed at Drumboe , Donegal , in 1923 ) , John Joe Rice , Sinn Fein T.D. , 1957-1961 and John Joe Sheehy , veteran Republican and Kerry footballer , were ousted from the organisation . The underlying issue was the uncompromising stand of Kerry in refusing recognition to Westminster , Leinster House and Stormont . Others in Cork and Kildare resigned in disgust at what was happening .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

On Saturday , 26th September 1981 , a statement was issued by the Republican prisoners who were on hunger-strike :

" From recent experience we have found Fr. Faul to be a conniving , treacherous man , not in the least shy about twisting the truth to achieve his own ends . Once he decided to oppose the continuation of the hunger-strike , he threw himself into a vigorous campaign to discredit both we prisoners and the National H-Block Committee .

Realising the futility of such a campaign , he turned his attention to the hunger-strikers' families , who are under tremendous pressure as it is , and he actively set about increasing the pressure on them . He has insinuated that those mothers who so courageously stood by their sons were somewhat less than 'loving mothers' ; and we utterly deplore such devious manipulation of emotional words to maximise the pressure on families , and especially on mothers , to go against their sons' expressed wishes .

At one stage , Fr. Faul was seen to be a sincere cleric who was genuinely concerned about the attainment of justice for prisoners , but now he has forfeited that moral standpoint on justice and emerged as the best friend the British government has . " (End of Statement.)

The prisoners' statement was in reality no more than putting their view on the historical record .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

If the Free State administration does not believe that the basic 'security structures' of the Six Counties can be reformed in the absence of a united Ireland , then there is no point in calling , as Charles Haughey has done , for the disbandment of the UDR before a united Ireland is achieved .

A cosmetic level of constitutional 'progress' which consists in no more than the establishment of a 'consultative process' achieves only the worst of both worlds , giving a validity to discredited 'security forces' and at the same time risking an escalation of loyalist violence . What is needed is real and tangible progress towards finding acceptable institutions of justice .

Without it , all the talks of "...historic objectives and a united Ireland .. " is just so much verbiage .

[END of 'THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN' .]
(Tomorrow - 'ENTERING LEINSTER HOUSE - A VETERAN SPEAKS' : from October 1986.)

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WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

Ex-members of the Irish Workers' Party who joined Sinn Fein and who were in a position to do so , made sure that the historical background to the Movement and the fundamental Republican position* were , needless to say , not part of the education courses which they were in charge of , so that for four or five years many young people came into the Republican Movement without knowing many of the basic tenets of Irish Republicanism ; by 1969 the process of infiltration and take-over was nearing completion , as will be seen . ('1169....' Comment - * Today , Provisional Sinn Fein refer's to its "30 year campaign" against the British , deliberately choosing to ignore its own history . It prefers its new members to be politically ignorant of that part of its past .)

There is no doubt that an extreme form of socialism was being pushed on the Movement by the 'policy makers' referred to and their aides ; this was a further reason for the 'walk-out' . While we ,who went to Parnell Square , believe in a Democratic Socialist Republic for all Ireland , it seems certain that the ultimate objective of the leadership which remained at the Intercontinental Hotel is nothing but a totalitarian dictatorship of the Left . It was admitted that the 'National Liberation Front' would eventually involve a merger and amalgamation with the 'radical groups' mentioned , since all would be working for "...the same ultimate objective.." .

Meanwhile , it was stated , joint educational classes involving members of the Communist Party of 'Northern Ireland' and the Irish Workers' Party could be held : " While we were strong on practice and weak in theory , the reverse was true of them and they could educate us on theory .. " , was how this was put . Furthermore , in the opinion of the 'master-minds' , there was no need for establishing a Republican youth organisation when the Connolly Youth Movement existed , nor was there any need for the Republican 'Clann na hEireann' organisation in Britain since the Connolly Association was there . The 'master-minds' also turned their attention to the Cumann na mBan organisation .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

On Friday 4th September 1981 , Matt Devlin's family sought medical intervetion to prevent him from dying on hunger-strike ; he had gone fifty-two days on his fast . Two days later , on Sunday 6th September 1981 , Laurence McKeown's family did likewise - he had fasted for seventy days .

On Friday 25th September 1981 , Bernard Fox dropped out of the hunger-strike after thirty-two days because of a serious , premature deterioration which would have caused death within days . On Saturday 26th September 1981 , Liam McCloskey came off the hunger-strike after fifty-two days when his mother , accompanied by a Fr. McIldowney , convinced him that she would intervene in the event of him lapsing into a coma .

On that same day the prisoners issued a statement calling on Fr. Denis Faul to cease his hunger-strike breaking activities and to mind his own business by staying out of their affairs . That statement verbally lashed Faul , describing him as , amongst other things , "...the best friend the British government has.. " .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

Where Charles Haughey is wrong is to link this demand for the disbandment of the UDR with a rhetorical repetition of the demand for a United Ireland ; such a stance not only fuels the paranoia which it is in the interests of those who would manipulate Loyalist reaction to build up , it also ignores the fundamental problem of unity by 'consent' - the 'winning' of the consent of both communities in the Six Counties . That 'consent' can only be built on the basis of certain basic agreed structures of law and justice * and those structures need to be given time to work in the absence of the kind of strife and violence which the 'threat' of a United Ireland will provoke (ie - to the Loyalists). ('1169...' Comment - * 'Consent' can also be 'obtained' [and indeed, was so obtained] by , in this case , the enemy [Westminster] securing control of the leadership of what once was the
opposition . Doing a 'Scap/Donaldson/?/' , some might call it ... ).

The 26-County administration either believes that the basic security structures of the North can be 'reformed' in the absence of a united Ireland or it does not - if it does , then the emphasis in any deal it can do with the British government needs to be on the radical overhaul of the 'security' machinery , and not on a 'consultative role' which involves responsibility without power....... ('1169....' Comment - The Dublin administration will do all in its power to assist Westminster to 'run' the occupied Six Counties : Leinster House may occasionally make noises to the contrary , especially around election time , but it long ago 'washed its hands' of any desire to re-unite this island . And that is one of the 'trump cards' which Westminster knows it holds .)

(MORE LATER).

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(Still here.....!)


WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

The recommendations of the Sinn Fein Commission which were made , were two in number :
(A) ' That the relationship with "other radical groups" involving co-operation for the achievement of limited objectives be now brought a stage further ; that it be formalised into an alliance to be known for the sake of convenience as the 'National Liberation Front' ' .
(B) ' That , subject to certain conditions etc , Republican elected representatives should participate in Westminster , Leinster House and Stormont . '

Some of those who came into the Republican Movement from the Irish Workers' Party were prominent on both the Conference of 1965 and the Commission of 1968-1969 ; in point of fact , by 1969 they had , with the aid of a few long-standing members , become the 'master minds' and policy makers of the Republican Movement .

One of them in particular had been in charge of an 'Education Department' for the stated purpose of educating new members and re-educating older members into certain social and economic policies . ('1169....' Comment - a dangerous position for the Movement to have placed those people in . As we will see ...).......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

On Sunday August 23rd 1981 , Fr. Denis Faul eventually rectified the scurrilous and baseless assertions made in the 'Irish News' newspaper on August 14th 1981 , villifying hunger-strike supporters outside the prison and implying manipulation of the hunger-strikers - but it took a blistering row with Brendan McFarlane and other Republican prisoners to achieve that .

Emerging from the prison after saying Mass there on Sunday , August 23rd 1981 , Faul put the public record straight on that score - still declaring the hunger-strike situation as "...hopeless.." he nevertheless said that the prisoners "...insisted that the chain of command on the hunger-strike is inside the prison and they are not taking commands from outside . They asserted , very strongly , that all statements issued in their name do , in fact , come from them.. "

The public record was one thing - enforced as it was by a confrontation with the prisoners who needed a public response from Faul to satisfy them but , privately , as part of his on-going campaign of undermining and vilification , Faul was to adhere to his untruthful claims about the authorship of prisoners' statements in order to wean the hunger-strikers' families to his own ends . And his more subtle and less dramatic tactics paid off in the end .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

As symptoms , the behaviour of the UDR and the behaviour of the RUC have also been massive irritants in preventing the evolution of basic structures of law and justice which could win even a temporary and contingent consensus of 'Catholic' and 'Protestant' support ; Charles Haughey is again right to identify the disbandment of the UDR as a central pre-requisite to a meaningful agreement .

All but a handful of the 7,500 members of the UDR are Protestants and the increasing role that that British regiment has played in 'security' in the North has meant that through it and the RUC one 'community' has been given the task of 'policing' the other - 'security' has been hopelessly compromised as part of a sectarian apparatus , and much of the hatred and disgust which Catholics feel at the operation of the 'State' in the North has been directed at the UDR , a disgust quite properly strengthened by the role of UDR members in sectarian crimes .

This is not in itself the problem as John Hume says * , but the disbandment of the UDR would be an achievement which would give the Northern Nationalist 'community' reason to believe that the Southern government was acting as an effective guarantor ** of its immediate interests . Without the disandment of the UDR what can the Southern government hope to achieve by being 'consulted' about the operation of an innately sectarian 'security' system .......?
('1169...' Comment - * As far as Hume and his SDLP are/were concerned [and , indeed , the Church hierarchy and the rest of the 'Establishment'] , the "problem" was not the British presence , but those that opposed that presence [which is now the PSF line , too] ! ** The bastard Free State administration in Leinster House has always been an "effective guarantor" to the British - it never had , in the first place , a 'back' to turn to Republicans . And , regardless of its composition - it never will .)
(MORE LATER).

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1169 And Counting - Irish history , Irish politics : from today and yesterday : all 32 Counties !

We believe we may be taken 'off line' in the next few days .
On Thursday night last , January 12th , at approximately 10.10PM , the house belonging to myself , John Horan , in Clondalkin , Dublin , and at which the equipment used to publish the '1169...' blog is housed , was visited by four members of the 'Special Branch' , this States 'political police' force .
From past experience of such events (with this house and with houses belonging to our colleagues) this seems to have been a 'dry run' by those State operatives . We therefore expect to be raided in the near future and , as is usual in such events , computer equipment , discs , mobile phones etc will be removed from the premises .
If/when this does happen , we will obviously be unable to 'post' any articles for ... a while ! But we will get 'up and running' as soon as possible ! It is a small price to pay when one considers what those that went before us paid .


Slan go foill anois ,

John , Sharon , 'Junior' .
1169 And Counting .......

WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

In the years 1964 and 1965 certain persons came into the Republican Movement from the Irish Workers' Party and the Connolly Association in England and , early in 1965 , a ' .....conference to discuss political tactics , policy and internal organisation (and make recommendations).. ' was established .

Most of the ten points which emerged (from the Conference) were turned down at an Extraordinary Ard Fheis in June 1965 , notably one which sought to have Sinn Fein recognise Westminster , Stormont and Leinster House . Another - which was also turned down but was later accepted by a further Ard Fheis - looked for "...co-operation with other radical groups.." in pursuit of limited objectives : these groups included the Communist Party of 'Northern Ireland' on one side of the 'border' , the Irish Workers' Party and Connolly Youth Movement on the 'other' side of the 'border' , and the Connolly Association in England .

Fifteen months ago , after the 'parliamentary' idea had been rejected at an IRA Convention by a majority of three to one and the continuation of "...co-operation with the other radical groups .. " already named , carried once more by a slender majority , a Commission was set-up to examine again all the policies of the Republican Movement and make recommendations - this Commission was to tour the country and take evidence at local centres .

In spite of the developments North of the 'border' since October 5th 1968 , in Derry , and the escalation of events throughout the Six Counties all through the first half of 1969 , the Commission remained blind to what was obvious to even outside observers . The terror of August 1969 in Belfast , Derry , Armagh , Dungannon and other places was not foreseen when the Commission reported finally in July 1969 , nor was anything of the kind considered or provided against .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

From Thursday August 20th 1981 , an insidious campaign of moral exploitation took place involving clerics who not only adopted Bishop Daly's recommendation of family intervention but posed it as a moral duty for Catholic mother's to do so .

So conspiratorial were they in their endeavours that when three Belfast men - Pat Sheehan , Jackie McMullan and Bernard Fox - joined the hunger-strike consecutively , on August 10th 1981 , August 17th and August 24th , respectively , it drew the somewhat neurotic response from Fr. Denis Faul that this was a deliberate ploy aimed at making their families more amenable to 'ghetto discipline' !

The reality of the situation was , however , that as Belfast men constituted the biggest percentage of all the H-Block prisoners it was unavoidable that at some stage a geographic spread of hunger-strikers from throughout the Six Counties could not be maintained by the prisoners : what Faul was in fact decrying was that he believed Belfast families to be less amenable to his influence . Faul was to have a blistering row with the Republican prisoners after which he backed-down , but only reluctantly so .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

Charles Haughey's 'sleight-of-hand' should not be allowed to obscure , as it has to date , the debate about the 'consultative role' which the 26-County government is to have after the signing of the Hillsborough Treaty : for it is * possible to isolate the demand for legitimate and agreed institutions for policing 'Northern Ireland' and for administering justice from the demand for a United Ireland . (* '1169...' Comment - In our opinion , the two cannot be separated : the claim of 'jurisdictional control' from Westminster throws a shadow over any attempt to do so successfully .)

And it is clear that a 'consultative role' which comes into effect only before the institutions of 'the Northern State' have been reformed is meaningless . If the 26-County government is to be involved in overseeing the operation of (British) 'security forces' which have not been fundamentally reformed , then they will be in an even weaker position than they are at the moment in seeking to represent the point of view of northern Nationalists with regard to those 'security forces' .

They may find theselves unable to exert any control over the RUC and the UDR , and at the same time unable even to protest publicly about the behaviour of the RUC and the UDR because they are locked into a 'consultative process' . John Hume argued at the SDLP conference that the UDR , the RUC and their behaviour were not the 'Northern Ireland' problem ; Hume said that "...they were symptoms of a deeper problem , which is division .. " . This is of course true * , but it is not an excuse for entering an 'agreement' which leaves the position of the UDR and the RUC fundamentally unaltered ....... (*' 1169...' Comment - ...as usual with the SDLP , they sold themselves short with that comment : they should have asked who fostered that "division" , and laid the blame at that doorstep . But those with a 'Free State' mentality will never do that - it is easier not to . And certainly safer .)

(MORE LATER).

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WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.......
The following statement was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 .

Those who remained in The Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday January 11th 1970 sought to reverse this basic principle of the Sinn Fein organisation down the years and to participate in all three existing parliaments . That sitting and participating in the affairs of these assemblies constitutes recognition of them , all reasonable people will agree without hesitation .

Those who walked out stand by the Constitution and Rules of the Sinn Fein organisation ('1169....' Comment - ....as , indeed , they did in 1986 when others [including those working for British Intelligence] attempted to constitutionalise the organisation) and claim the historic name of Sinn Fein , while those who remained sought , without success , to alter that Constitution and change a National Movement into yet another political party seeking votes at all costs ; having failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority to effect these changes they then pressed on the Ard Fheis (ie - the Organisation's 'AGM') a resolution requiring a simple majority only viz : "...expressing allegiance to the IRA leadership.." which had , prior to the Ard Fheis , adopted recognition of Westminster , Stormont and Leinster House as policy.

This the delegates loyal to a 32-County parliament could not tolerate and since the resolution in question seemed likely to be carried , they took the only action open to them if they were not to be compromised - they walked out and resumed the Ard Fheis elsewhere ( in the Kevin Barry Hall , Parnell Square , Dublin) . The background to these events is not as well known as the events themselves : we refer to the years 1964 and 1965 .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

In an attack on the hunger-strike and on Republicans in general , Fr. Denis Faul , indicative of his general as well as specific political attitude to the hunger-strike , Faul defended the 'Establishment' , whose continuing co-operation with the British government , Republicans had correctly pinpointed as the chief buttress of its intransigence : " It is not a 1916 situation . People have not changed their political consciousness to any great degree . It is foolish to expect salvation from an increased effort from the Dublin government , the hierarchy and the SDLP ... "

Prominent among his other ludicrous assertions was that the statements issued by the Republican prisoners were written by people on the outside ! But more serious was the implication of external manipulation of the hunger-strikers , inherent in that ridiculous assertion . Overall , the purpose of Fr. Denis Faul's attack was to further instill defeatism , defend the 'Establishment' which reflected his own political views and vilify the prisoners' supporters .

On Thursday , August 20th 1981 , Micky Devine , the tenth and final hunger-striker to give his life for political status , died at 7.50 AM after sixty days on hunger-strike . The Nationalist people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone cast their votes to elect Owen Carron as the prisoners' candidate that day also . Early that evening , Mrs. Pauline McGeown sought medical intervention to prevent her husband , Pat - at that stage forty-two days on hunger-strike - from dying .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

Loyalist opposition to a Dublin voice will focus on the consultative machinery involving the Dublin Government and on any secretariat from the South which is based in Belfast . There is a tendency to assume that those aspects of an agreement would of themselves be enormously significant for nationalist aspirations , but a clear look at the consequences of such a 'consultative' machinery suggests otherwise - Charles Haughey has good reason to regard a 'consultative role' which gives responsibility without authority as potentially "...disastrous.. " .

In many ways a 'consultative role' is a diplomat's dream - the prospect of continuing , open-ended discussion , of an endless series of 'nods and winks' and behind-the-scenes 'bargainings' has innate attractions for the professional diplomats who have negotiated the substance of the deal . It sets up a machinery which is self-generating and ultimately self-'justifying' ; there is always plenty to consult about and consultation is always sufficiently vague to be seen as an end in itself ! ('1169...' Comment - 'Talks about Talks' , anyone ... ?)

The point , however , is the institutions which this machinery is meant to oversee , and it is those institutions themselves which have created the immediate problems which the Anglo-Irish process is supposed to tackle . Mr. Charles Haughey has engaged in some 'sleight-of-hand' in this regard - the term 'alienation' which has been used so often to sum-up the plight of the Northern nationalist is deeply ambiguous - it implies at once an alienation from 'the United Kingdom' , which can only be overcome by the institution of a United Ireland , and a more specific alienation from the machinery of security and justice , which can be overcome in the absence of a United Ireland - Haughey has used these senses of 'alienation' interchangably , allowing him to move imperceptibly from criticising any arrangement which does not tackle the alienation of the nationalists from the 'security forces' and
the 'Courts' to maintaining that there is no solution short of a United Ireland ....... ('1169...' Comment - We have had over eight centuries of 'solutions' imposed on us , and all have failed . Though it pains us greatly here on this blog to do so (for other reasons) , we would have supported Haughey in his supposition regarding the 'United Ireland' solution . Having said that , we do recognise that Haughey was simply 'playing the green card' - the man is a Free Stater at heart . ) .......

(MORE LATER).

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WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS.
The following is the statement which was issued subsequent to a meeting of the Caretaker Executive of Sinn Fein on January 17th 1970 :

We , the Caretaker Executive of the Sinn Fein organisation , wish to explain to the Irish people why almost half of the delegates to the recent Ard Fheis 'walked out' from the Intercontinental Hotel ('1169.... ' Comment - ...now 'Jury's Hotel' , Ballsbridge , Dublin 4) on Sunday January 11th 1970 , and resumed the Ard Fheis in the Kevin Barry Hall , 44 Parnell Square , Dublin . There they elected us as a Caretaker Executive pending the re-convening of a full Ard Fheis .

There are five major reasons for the walk-out : each is explained in detail in the following paragraphs :

RECOGNITION OF PARLIAMENTS .
The Sinn Fein organisation , since its foundation in 1905 , has consistently denied the 'right' of the British Parliament to 'rule' in Ireland . Similarly , Sinn Fein has refused to recognise the two partition parliaments at Stormont and Leinster House , forced on the Irish people under the British Government of Ireland Act 1920 , and the Treaty of Surrender of 1921 .

Sinn Fein's alternative to those British institutions of government was the All-Ireland Republican Dail which it assembled in January 1919 ; it remains the task of Sinn Fein today to lead the Irish people away from British , 6-County and 26-County parliaments and towards the re-assembly of the 32-County Dail which will then legislate for and rule all Ireland .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

On Friday , August 14th 1981 , Fr. Denis Faul launched a public attack on the IRA and the hunger-strike , daubing the latter as "... hopeless.. " and "...a situation of dispair .. " . More interestingly he did not confine his attack to further instilling defeatism , but at one point in an attack on the aims of the hunger-strike , which is indicative of his own political attitudes and which cannot be isolated from his political attitude to the hunger-strike and his activities therein , Faul suggested that maybe the real issue was "...the control of the voice of Irish Catholic Nationalists .. "

This was a ridiculous suggestion to be posing to Republicans , who were opposed to the hunger-strike from the start because of the personal tragic consequences for their comrades and their families but which must surely counterpose the question - were Fr. Faul's hunger-strike breaking activities aimed at ensuring that its political consequences , by default on the part of the Nationalist 'establishment' as much as anything else , did not lead to the total erosion of that 'establishment's' influence over the Nationalist people .......?

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .......
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

The evidence of 1912 , of 1920 and of 1972 , argues against the belief that 'the Protestants' are bluffing ; in each of those years tens of thousands of ordinary Protestants joined 'official' or 'unofficial' paramilitaries - the UVF in 1912 , the 'A' and 'B' and 'C' Specials in 1920 and the UDA in 1972 , when Stormont was prorogued .

Both in the early 1920's and the early 1970's substantial numbers of Catholics were brutally murdered ; in 1972 , as now , there was no immediate threat to the position of 'Northern Ireland' in the 'United Kingdom' , but the response was none the less vicious . There is no reason to believe that it would be different in 1985 if the Loyalists perceive a threat , and it is clear that they do perceive such a threat even in a relatively innocuous consultative machinery involving the Dublin government .

The strategy of Ian Paisley's DUP for defeating an Anglo-Irish agreement involves a carefully-staged series of moves , from parliamentary opposition to the engineering of electoral contests to civil disobedience and finally to armed conflict and the declaration of a Provisional Government . Whether or not all of these stages actually come into force , it is clear that the opportunity for the DUP to build up tension , with a consequent open invitation to the sectarian killers to go to 'work' , is there to be exploited .

However loathsome the DUP's 'ballot-box-in-one-hand-and-armalite-behind-the-back' strategy , it has obvious political advantages for them in their attempt to establish themselves as the political spokesmen for Ulster Loyalism and it has to be taken seriously .......

(MORE LATER).

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TIME MARCHES ON .......
The Easter Commemoration Parades took place this year in the North as usual . At the regular venues - Belfast , Derry , Crossmaglen , Newry - the same Proclamation was read , the usual speeches were made and the routine Army Council message was delivered to the faithful .
The only difference this year was that by Good Friday the North's death toll since 1969 had reached 2,500 and Ireland's longest period of civil disturbance appeared no nearer an end .
Behind much of the violence stands the Provisional IRA , organisers of most Easter Parades and , by their own claims , direct lineal descendants* of the men of 1916 . But how strong are they and for how long can they continue the military and political struggle ?
PATRICK MURPHY reports from Belfast .
First published in 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , May 1987 .
(* In 1986 the Provisional IRA abandoned that lineage and offered their support to what was to become a Leinster House-registered political party.)

Like any 'business' , the Provisional IRA intend to stay in operation and like any organisation they have made efforts to maximise their efficiency and to therefore produce a high level of 'satisfaction' for their 'members/shareholders' ; it may sound a callous analysis of what has produced tragic human consequences * in the North of Ireland , but then war - guerilla or otherwise - is a callous 'business' and when all the analysis has been done 'murder' is still the name of the political 'game' . (* '1169 ...' Comment : The root cause of those "tragic human consequences" can be laid firmly at Westminster's doorstep . )

All that stands against the PIRA is the Anglo-Irish Agreement (Hillsborough Treaty) which is rapidly falling into disrepute through its vague terms and ambiguous promises ; like all British initiatives in the past 75 years (sic - even then [ie 1987] , it was over 800 years of 'failed British initiatives') it has produced nothing but violence . The long-term solution in the North of Ireland may be difficult to visualise at the moment , but the short-term solution * is simply to live with the problem . (* '1169....' Comment - The 'long-term solution' is to remove the British military and political presence from Ireland , while the 'short-term solution' is for Irish Republicans to continue fighting for that to be implemented.)

That 'task' falls mainly to the RUC at present and their plea for help to the community shows that they do not relish the prospect . And the 'sad' thing is that nobody , apart from their wives and family , really cares . Like the Provos , most people in the North of Ireland have become 'cost/benefit' conscious and the name of the 'game' is survival.

[END of 'TIME MARCHES ON' .]
(Next - ' WHERE SINN FEIN STANDS' - from January 1970.)



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

The McElwee family's involvement prior to and during Thomas' hunger-strike had brought them almost to the point of exhaustion .

It was suspected that Fr. Denis Faul viewed each meeting about the on-going hunger-strikes as a potential nucleus for an anti-hunger-strike movement ; however , the families of all the prisoners rallied behind those on hunger-strike . After one such meeting , on Friday August 7th 1981 , the families issued a statemrnt which was read by Mrs. Eilish McDonnell , mother of dead hunger-striker Joe McDonnell , which said :

" It is unknown in Irish history for eight young men to die on hunger-strike for the principle of human dignity . We , the prisoners wives , fathers , mothers , brothers and sisters welcome the statements from the protesting prisoners in the H-Blocks and Armagh of July 4th and August 6th . We find them clear , responsible statements . We find the British government guilty of the most callous cruelty and lack of responsibility , care and compassion in the present hunger-strike crisis . We , the relatives , stand in full support of the protesting prisoners and the hunger-strike . "

Fr. Denis Faul was instrumental in having an attack on the Free State government , the SDLP and the Catholic hierarchy deleted , saying that it was all too much for one statement . Thwarted for the time being (by failing to have the whole statement squashed) Fr. Faul's offensive , in the public arena at least , was dormant for a week ; but he 'bounced' back , in full flight , on Friday 14th August 1981 .......

(MORE LATER).



THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT - THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN .
As the Anglo-Irish talks reach their conclusion , FINTAN O'TOOLE talks to activists of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and hears that they would prefer civil war to an accommodation with Dublin .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985 .

That there are dangers in any Anglo-Irish deal is obvious , but not so obvious that it goes without saying . That there are dangers in not pursuing an agreement is equally obvious . The task at hand for the British and Irish political establishments is to weigh the dangers against the possible gains .

For the Irish (sic) government in particular , compelling reasons have to be found for running the risk of massively increased civil unrest in the North and possible violent action aimed at the South . The political pressure on the administration to 'pull a rabbit out of the hat' and the public relations challenge of presenting the same proposals in two different ways to two different audiences are not sufficient justification for a deal that does not tackle the immediate problems of the North of Ireland . ('1169....' Comment : as far as Irish Republicans are concerned , those "immediate problems" all stem from Westminster's continuing occupation of part of this island.)

In spite of the evidence in history and the repeated statements of Loyalist political leaders , there has been an abiding assumption among Nationalists that the threat of Loyalist violence in 'response' to anything they see as threatening their position in the 'United Kingdom' is a bluff . In this issue of 'MAGILL' we probe the deep psychological disposition towards a violent 'response' by the semi-constitutional party of 'Ulster' Loyalism - the Democratic Unionist Party , which represents nearly half of the Protestant population . The evangelical , often apocalyptic , turn of mind of the DUP gives little ground for hope that they can be swayed by an appeal to rational , pragmatic calculations .

The evidence of 1912 , of 1920 and of 1972 also argues against the belief that the Protestants are bluffing .......

(MORE LATER).

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TIME MARCHES ON .......
The Easter Commemoration Parades took place this year in the North as usual . At the regular venues - Belfast , Derry , Crossmaglen , Newry - the same Proclamation was read , the usual speeches were made and the routine Army Council message was delivered to the faithful .
The only difference this year was that by Good Friday the North's death toll since 1969 had reached 2,500 and Ireland's longest period of civil disturbance appeared no nearer an end .
Behind much of the violence stands the Provisional IRA , organisers of most Easter Parades and , by their own claims , direct lineal descendants* of the men of 1916 . But how strong are they and for how long can they continue the military and political struggle ?
PATRICK MURPHY reports from Belfast .
First published in 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , May 1987 .
(* In 1986 the Provisional IRA abandoned that lineage and offered their support to what was to become a Leinster House-registered political party.)

Recent killings prompted the RUC to issue a unique statement in which they asked for support from the public (!) ; it is only this type of support which can counter the PIRA operations , but it is unlikely to be forthcoming from all Nationalists in the foreseeable future and thus the bullet in the back of the head strategy is likely to be with us for some time to come .

Logistically , it is but one step up from shooting UDR men at or near their homes or at other so-called ' soft targets' in their place of work or recreation . Militarily , the PIRA operations are simple , and represent the first serious 'cost/benefit' analysis by the Provos in recent years and they provide a unique form of 'occupational therapy' for what would otherwise be a bored standing army .

Politically they do neither harm nor good in the context of support for (P) Sinn Fein ; Gerry Adams will be returned as MP for West Belfast no matter how many RUC/UDR men live or die . The deaths simply keep the political pot boiling , and represent a challenge to the Hillsborough Treaty (the 'Anglo-Irish Agreement') - the killings maintain the high level of sectarian fear within which the Provos can continue to operate . ('1169...' Comment - any 'sectarian fear' on this island was 'introduced' , maintained and , indeed , encouraged , by the British for their own purpose ie to allow Westminster to claim themselves as 'neutral peace-keepers' in Ireland.)

And the PIRA can continue to operate indefinitely because militarily they cannot lose * : equally true is the fact (?) that they cannot win , but if you were Chief of Staff of the Provisionals what would you do ? Fight on or give up ? There is only one alternative open to the Provos because to give up is to disband .......
(* "...cannot lose.. " ? The Provisionals 'lost' to themselves : any organisation , which has elements within its leadership who work for over two decades for the alleged enemy , is bound to 'lose' . )
(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

On Friday July 31st 1981 , Paddy Quinn's mother authorised medical intervention to save her son's life because she could not bear "...the sight of him kicking and screaming in so much pain.. " Paddy had prematurely slipped into a coma after forty-seven days on hunger-strike .

Bishop Daly of Derry lost no time in exploiting the situation by recommending Mrs. Quinn's action to the mothers of all the hunger-strikers . At 1.00AM on August 1st 1981 Kevin Lynch died after seventy-one days on hunger-strike . That evening , at a meeting which was attended by , amongst others , Cardinal O'Fiaich , Fr. Faul , Bernadette McAliskey (of the 'National H-Block/Armagh Committee' and a staunch defender of the prisoners) and Belfast solicitor Oliver Kelly , the 'monitoring committee' proposal was formally dropped and in its place the 'Help the Prisoners Committee' was formed . All that was missing was the actual words '...to help themselves..'

This Committee issued a statement supporting the prisoners' July 4th position - that was one of only two statements issued by that Committee to find its way into print . On Sunday August 2nd 1981 Kieran Doherty TD died at 7.15PM after seventy-three days on hunger-strike . His father , Alfie Doherty , who , along with Kieran's mother , Margaret , had been exhaustingly active in the hunger-strike campaign , had verbally attacked Fr. Denis Faul for putting pressure on the prisoners and their families instead of on the British . Then Fr. Faul announced a meeting of relatives of all protesting prisoners to take place in Clonard Hall , Belfast , on Friday August 7th 1981 : the idea for such a meeting came from Mrs. Alice McElwee , mother of Thomas McElwee , who viewed it as a means of mobilising all the
families of H-Block prisoners to involve themselves in the hunger-strike campaign .......
(MORE LATER).



THUGGERY : THE UGLY FACE OF SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .

In early April 1982 , members of Sinn Fein The Workers Party seriously injured an American reporter outside McEnaney's Pub beside Andersonstown RUC Barracks and left him unconscious on the footpath . His 'offence' was to be in the company of a woman who was selling the IRSP newspaper .

The brother of a well-known SFWP member was present during the beating of the reporter and then walked by saying that he had seen nothing . In 1973 a former member of SFWP was beaten by two very prominent members of SFWP in a bar in Belfast for 'indiscipline' - they cracked his ribs and broke his nose . One of the people involved in this beating is a very prominent spokesperson for SFWP in Belfast .

Later this same victim was kneecapped by the Official IRA having been enticed to Dundalk , County Louth .
[END of 'THUGGERY : THE UGLY FACE OF SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY' .]
(Tomorrow - 'THE 1985 ANGLO-IRISH AGREEMENT : IN THE SHADOW OF THE GUNMEN' : from 1985.)

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TIME MARCHES ON .......
The Easter Commemoration Parades took place this year in the North as usual . At the regular venues - Belfast , Derry , Crossmaglen , Newry - the same Proclamation was read , the usual speeches were made and the routine Army Council message was delivered to the faithful .
The only difference this year was that by Good Friday the North's death toll since 1969 had reached 2,500 and Ireland's longest period of civil disturbance appeared no nearer an end .
Behind much of the violence stands the Provisional IRA , organisers of most Easter Parades and , by their own claims , direct lineal descendants* of the men of 1916 . But how strong are they and for how long can they continue the military and political struggle ?
PATRICK MURPHY reports from Belfast .
First published in 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , May 1987 .
(* In 1986 the Provisional IRA abandoned that lineage and offered their support to what was to become a Leinster House-registered political party.)

Consider the alternatives to the two methods of fighting : two young-fellow's sit in a car or hang about a car-park in a quiet Loyalist town , such as Portrush or Newcastle , wait for an RUC member or two to walk down the street , shoot him/them and make their escape .

There is little planning needed (RUC members have to walk down most streets in the North every day ) , handguns are by far the easiest weapons to transport - certainly more convenient than half a ton of explosives - and there are no local contacts who can be picked up by the RUC afterwards to find out the structure of the operation . The effect is quite devastating and its psychological impact on the community is enormous .

The secret of success is simple ; there are 'two' RUC's in the North of Ireland - there is the RUC of the Falls Road , the Bogside , Newry and Crossmaglen and there is the RUC of Newtownards , Comber , Portrush , Newcastle , Ballynahinch and Ballymoney : the RUC in Bangor does not expect to be hit - the RUC in Strabane does . So you hit them where they do not expect it - hardly an original guerilla war idea , and you hit them in a way that they neither expect nor can counter . The only way to stop a two-person RUC patrol being shot in the back of the head is for one of them to walk backwards down the street at all times .

Quite simply there is no effective counter-measure that the RUC can adopt .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

What had emerged over a two-day period was the involvement in varying degrees and roles of Fr. Denis Faul , Fr. Oliver Crilly and Cardinal O' Fiaich in an attempt to bring an immediate and unconditional end to the hunger-strike ; Fr. Crilly was tasked with providing a completely implausible and incredible 'way out' for the hunger-strikers in which was inherent all of Faul's reasoning the previous week at his meeting with Sinn Fein's Eamonn McCrory - '...help the prisoners to help themselves..' etc .

Faul provided the pressure on the prisoners supporters through subterfuge and exploitation of the emotions of the hunger-strikers families . And Cardinal O' Fiaich , to whom Faul was conceivably 'reporting-in' to on the morning of Wednesday July 29th 1981 , when Gerry Adams was attempting to contact Faul , was on hand to arrange any necessary facilities with regard to prison visits which might arise .

The following morning , Thursday July 30th 1981 , Gerry Adams rang Fr. Faul who expressed his satisfaction that Adams had done everything possible in appraising the hunger-strikers of the grim reality of their situation . But at another meeting he held with the families , again in Toomebridge , later that day , he cast aspersions on the credibility of Adams' account of what took place inside the prison ; to his 'arsenal' of lies and emotional exploitation , Fr. Faul had now added the undermining of the prisoners' supporters as a weapon towards his ends .

From this point onward Faul ignored the 'bulldozer' tactics he had employed on the evening of Tuesday July 28th 1981 , opting for a more sedate pace involving moral exploitation , undermining the prisoners and vilification of the prisoners' supporters on the outside while all the time maintaining his public image by reiterating his 'support' of the prisoners' five demands .......

(MORE LATER).



THUGGERY : THE UGLY FACE OF SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .

BEATINGS , KNEE-CAPPING AND INTIMIDATIONS , 1975-1982 :
There are countless stories in Belfast of these incidents involving members of the Official IRA , and they are certainly a weekly , if not daily , occurrance .

Only earlier this month the Official IRA were involved in kneecappings of two brothers in the Moyard housing estate . During the hunger-strike protest last year the OIRA intimidated several pub owners into either refusing to close during hunger-strike funerals or , as in one case , forcing a publican to remain closed for one week in retaliation for closing during a funeral .

Members of Sinn Fein The Workers Party also carried out a vendetta against members of the IRSP .......

(MORE LATER).

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TIME MARCHES ON .......
The Easter Commemoration Parades took place this year in the North as usual . At the regular venues - Belfast , Derry , Crossmaglen , Newry - the same Proclamation was read , the usual speeches were made and the routine Army Council message was delivered to the faithful .
The only difference this year was that by Good Friday the North's death toll since 1969 had reached 2,500 and Ireland's longest period of civil disturbance appeared no nearer an end .
Behind much of the violence stands the Provisional IRA , organisers of most Easter Parades and , by their own claims , direct lineal descendants* of the men of 1916 . But how strong are they and for how long can they continue the military and political struggle ?
PATRICK MURPHY reports from Belfast .
First published in 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , May 1987 .
(* In 1986 the Provisional IRA abandoned that lineage and offered their support to what was to become a Leinster House-registered political party.)

Gone are the days when shots were fired at passing RUC patrols or massive landmines destroyed inadequately armoured RUC cars on border duty ; in early 1987 the tactics were switched towards the bullet in the back of the head and the success rate has been phenomenal , although the death of 'Lord Justice' Gibson shows that the Provos have not put all their eggs in one tactical basket .

The reason for the bullet in the back of the head is simple - logistically it is much easier to operate . A landmine operation can take up to a month to prepare , and sometmes longer , as it requires the movement of massive amounts of explosives , normally across country for at least the final part of the journey and , depending on the physical details of the culvert or bridge , anything up to three nights preparing , priming and running wires/fixing radio equipment .

An IRA operation like that would need at least four men , and often up to a dozen , with all of them being exposed at various points before the operation . All are potential security risks and all could 'talk' years afterwards if arrested : the operation itself can involve a wait of up to a month for a suitable vehicle to come along and the RUC are sufficiently flexible to vary their patrol routines in strategic areas . Thus up to a dozen men can be occupied for anything up to two months in the hope of carrying out an operation and always there exists the risk of prior discovery .

This type of operation can be countered by surveillance and by routine intelligence work and generally it represents the old style guerilla campaign which has varied little (apart from the radio switches) since West Cork in 1921 .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

The content and outcome of a meeting held on Wednesday July 29th 1981 are now well recorded historical fact - over a period of hours , Gerry Adams , Brendan McFarlane , Owen Carron and Seamus Ruddy saw all the hunger-strikers with the exception of Kevin Lynch whose deteriorating condition prevented him from being present . Having outlined the reasons for their visit the deputation , as requested , gave a painful but necessarily frank assessment of the situation to the hunger-strikers .

In a statement , prepared in conjunction with the hunger-strikers , Gerry Adams said afterwards : " We gave them a factual and hard breakdown on their position - that is , that they would all be dead very soon . They told us , individually and collectively , that they were determined to continue with the hunger-strike until the British government was pressurised into meeting in a commonsense manner with the protesting prisoners on the hunger-strikers' position as outlined in their July 4th 1981 statement . "

The hunger-strikers were fully aware of the situation outside the prison , of its inevitable consequences to themselves , but they were totally determined to continue . One other previously unknown fact arose at that July 29th 1981 meeting - Fr. Oliver Crilly of the ICJP had been in the prison the previous day to see Thomas McElwee with a proposal that the hunger-strike should be suspended to allow a 'monitoring committee' to ensure the implementation of British government commitments ; Fr. Oliver Crilly was to attend the meeting with the families later that day at Toomebridge but did not accompany them to the Belfast meeting late that night .

This strange proposal was obviously a non-starter simply because it had no basis - the British government had not given any public commitments : there was nothing to monitor and as such it was rejected that night as totally implausible by the hunger-strikers and Brendan McFarlane who had been brought from the cells to the hospital wing .......

(MORE LATER).



THUGGERY : THE UGLY FACE OF SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .

JOE McCABE : SHOT IN THE HEAD , AUGUST 1980 -
There was a riot taking place in the vicinity of Divis Flats close to midnight between local youths and British soldiers .

Official IRA men emerged armed from the vicinity of their drinking club in Cyprus Street - they had two rifles and a handgun . They opened fire on the rioters , hitting 18 year-old Joe McCabe in the back of the head .

As McCabe lay on the ground seriously injured , one of the Official IRA men , who had been in school with him , came up and kicked him .
(Tomorrow - 'Beatings , knee-capping and intimidations ; 1975-1982' .)
(MORE LATER).

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Bhi an saoire caite inne !
The holiday was over yesterday !
....great to be back ; we continue from where we left off on Wednesday 21 December last ...
But first ...three years before the Sinn Fein organisation was founded ; three years after 'The United Irishman' newspaper was founded ; and Anna Johnston died in this year : 1902 . This man , a legend amongst Irish Republicans , was born that year , and celebrated his 104th birthday on Monday last , January 2nd ! 'Respect' , Dan - Congratulations ! From the '1169....' team .

TIME MARCHES ON .......
The Easter Commemoration Parades took place this year in the North as usual . At the regular venues - Belfast , Derry , Crossmaglen , Newry - the same Proclamation was read , the usual speeches were made and the routine Army Council message was delivered to the faithful .
The only difference this year was that by Good Friday the North's death toll since 1969 had reached 2,500 and Ireland's longest period of civil disturbance appeared no nearer an end .
Behind much of the violence stands the Provisional IRA , organisers of most Easter Parades and , by their own claims , direct lineal descendants* of the men of 1916 . But how strong are they and for how long can they continue the military and political struggle ?
PATRICK MURPHY reports from Belfast .
First published in 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , May 1987 .
(* In 1986 the Provisional IRA abandoned that lineage and offered their support to what was to become a Leinster House-registered political party.)

In military terms , British Army personnel are the more difficult to hit ; of course they are by no means impossible to hit , but their military alertness , their firepower , their training and their mobility make them a more difficult target . The problem with fighting the British Army is that they are likely to fire at you first and even if they do not you normally only get one shot at them before they start firing back .

In recent years the alternative tactic has been to bombard their bases with mortar shells and although this has had marked success against the RUC - notably in Newry - the British Army have survived largely intact from this type of attack . British Army superiority in the air and the PIRA inability to bring down helicopters has meant that there really is no contest on a military level between the two sides .

The difficulty in hitting the British Army has been accompanied by a political shift of emphasis in the Westminster 'Northern Ireland (sic) Office' where dead RUC/UDR bodies are apparently more acceptable than dead British bodies ; the switch towards the priority of the RUC as the main 'security force' with the British Army as the 'back-up' organisation has been justified by 'NIO' sources in terms of the primacy of the RUC and the need for an 'acceptable police force' as a foundation for political stability in the North of Ireland . ('1169.... Comment - There will never be 'political stability in the North' as long as Westminster maintains its military and political presence in this country.)

But the political unacceptability of military funerals on a regular basis in Britain must also be a factor and with less British Army personnel on the ground the PIRA have 'obliged' the British by hitting at the softest targets ; ' ...if the Provos must kill people , let them kill the Irish ..' , runs the British 'logic' .

And kill the Provos certainly have .......

(MORE LATER).



FR. DENIS FAUL : A CONNIVING AND TREACHEROUS MAN .......
First published in 'IRIS' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 2 , November 1981 .

Fr. Denis Faul's complete and deliberate distortion of the truth had achieved for him what he wanted ; he had created a 'chink' in the hitherto unified front of prisoners , hunger-strikers' relatives and prisoners' supporters .

Unashamedly , and with single mindedness , after having been proved in the presence of more than a score of people to have been deliberately untruthful , Faul pressed ahead with his primary intention of having the hunger-strike ended immediately . Like the ICJP before him , he was attempting to use the families of the hunger-strikers as a 'pressure group' towards that end . However , even in this he did'nt have things his own way , coming under vociferous attack , particularly from Mrs Margaret Doherty - Kieran's mother - and members of Thomas McElwee's family who were aghast at the idea of removing pressure from the British and putting it on the prisoners .

But given that Faul's premise for forcing this meeting to take place in the first instance was entirely incorrect - a fact of which he himself was fully aware - the meeting was largely inconclusive ; only one of the several aspects of the discussion could be dealt with . Some of the families raised doubts about whether their relatives on hunger-strike were fully appraised of the political situation outside the prison and its grim consequences for those on hunger-strike . Despite the fact that this was not the case - communications detailing all the known facts accompanied by a full assessment of their implications , were been smuggled into the prison on a daily , and often on a twice daily , basis - Gerry Adams , the following day , contacted Fr. Denis Faul to see if arrangements could be made whereby he could see the hunger-strikers in order to allay those particular fears of the families : after some initial failures , Adams eventually contacted Faul at Cardinal O'Fiaich's residence in Armagh city .

It was in fact Cardinal O' Fiaich who made the necessary arrangements with the British administration at Stormont to facilitate an unprecedented visit between Gerry Adams , the hunger-strikers and the prisoners' representative , Brendan McFarlane , on the afternoon of Wednesday , July 29th 1981 . Also present at that meeting were Owen Carron of Sinn Fein and Seamus Ruddy of the IRSP .......

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THUGGERY : THE UGLY FACE OF SINN FEIN THE WORKERS PARTY .......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1982 .

The murder of Hugh Halloran , September 8 , 1979 :
Hugh Halloran , a former member of Sinn Fein The Workers Party , was 'sentenced' to a beating for indiscipline : he was beaten to death with hurley sticks by members of the Official IRA in Belfast .

Two of the men responsible for the murder fled to Cork , where they were looked after by local Official IRA contacts . Meanwhile , public outrage over the killing evinced from Seamus Harrison , who 'mans' the Sinn Fein The Workers Party office in Belfast's Springfield Road , this comment : " Our party wishes to place on record its absolute condemnation and disgust at these murders (caused by street violence generally) . Those responsible showed callous disregard for human life by their unprovoked assaults against innocent and harmless people . "

Public re-action became so intense that the Official IRA decided to order the culprits back from Cork and give themselves up to the RUC ; Francis Macklin of Britton's Parade , Belfast , and Stephen Hunter of Ballymurphy Road , Belfast , duly arrived in Newry and gave theselves up at the RUC Barracks there .

In the course of their trial , their counsel told the court that they had been approached by two Official IRA men and told they would be shot if they refused to return to the North to confess the killing : Macklin was jailed for 15 years and Hunter for 13 years .
(Tomorrow - Joe McCabe - shot in the head in August 1980.)
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1169 And Counting ..... : Irish history , Irish politics - from today and yesterday : all 32 Counties !

Bhi an saoire caite inne , Deardaoin 29 Nollaig 2005 .
The holiday was over yesterday , Thursday 29 December 2005 .

Now it's time for the New Year break ... !

We will re-commence our posts on WEDNESDAY , JANUARY 4th , 2006 .
Enjoy your own break , have a good start to this New Year ....and check-back here on January 4th !
Slan go foill anois ,
Good-bye for now ,

John , Sharon and 'Junior' .

NOLLAIG SHONA DAR LEITHEOIRI !



Ar eagle an dearmaid ....

Ba bhrea an rud e siochain bhuan bunaithe ar an gceart a bheith againn in Eireann . Is i an bronntanas is fearr a d'fheadfaimis a thabhairt duinn fein agus dar gclann .

Coinniodh an ceart agus an tsiochain uainn le breis agus ocht gcead bliain , de bharr ionradh , forghabhail agus miriaradh na Sasanach . Socru ar bith a dheantar in ainm mhuintir na hEireann agus a ghlacann le riail Shasana agus a dhaingnionn an chriochdheighilt , ni thig leis an ceart na an tsiochain bhuann a bhunu .

Ni dheanfaidh se ach la na siochana buaine a chur ar an mhear fhada agus an bhunfhadb a thabhairt do ghluin eile . Tharla se seo cheana nuair a siniodh Conradh 1921 agus cuireadh siar ar mhuintir na hEireann e in ainm na siochana . Is mor ag Sinn Fein Poblachtach Eire a bheith saor agus daonlathach , an cuspoir ceanna a bhi i gceist ag Wolfe Tone agus ag na Poblachtaigh uile anuas go dti 1916 agus an la ata inniu ann .

Rinne a lan fear agus ban croga iobairti mora , thug a mbeatha fiu , ar son na cuise uaisle seo .

CEART . SAOIRSE. DAONLATHAS .


A PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS TO OUR READERS !

Least we forget ....

A just and permanent peace in Ireland is most desirable . It is the greatest gift we could give to ourselves and our children . We have been denied justice and peace for more than eight centuries , because of English invasion , occuption and misrule of our country .

Any arrangement which , in the name of the Irish people , accepts English rule and copperfastens the Border , will not bring justice and lasting peace . It will only postpone the day of permanent peace , handing over the basic problem to another generation .

This happened before when the Treaty of 1921 was signed and was forced on the Irish people in the name of peace . Republican Sinn Fein cherishes the objective of a free , democratic Ireland , as envisaged by Wolfe Tone and all Republicans down to 1916 and our own day . Many brave men and women sacrificed a lot , even their lives , for this noble Cause .

JUSTICE . FREEDOM . DEMOCRACY .

1169 And Counting.....


29th Christmas Morning Swim : 1976-2005.

SPONSORED SWIM - CHRISTMAS DAY , 12 NOON .

Venue : Grand Canal (opposite Kellys Pub/Blackhorse Inn) Inchicore , Dublin 8 .

15 swimmers , turf fire , Rebel music , lemonade for the kids , 'soup' for the adults...

ALL WELCOME !

Organised by CABHAIR (Irish Republican Prisoners Dependants Fund) , 223 Parnell Street , Dublin 1 .

Back after our Christmas break. Or.......

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