THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

The first meeting of the First Dail Eireann was a trilingual occasion ; the Teachtai spoke to their own people in Irish and English : to the world they spoke in English and French . Since the 17th century , French has been the language of diplomacy and in its written form often the language of treaties - this came about because diplomats appreciated its precision and clarity as a language .

The French Revolution of 1789 marks a significant date in the history of mankind : in France , it brought to an end the absolute power of monarchs , aptly expressed in the Latin phrase "Lex Rex , Rex Lex" , : "The Law is the King and the King is the Law ." The tyranny and abuses of King and aristocracy were ended and a new regime was inaugurated , based on the Republican and Democratic ideas enshrined in the motto ' Liberty , Equality , Fraternity ' .

On July 14 , 1789 , the populace stormed the Bastille , the state prison which symbolised the King's absolute power ; from that date on , nothing could stop the Revolution .......

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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 .

When 'British Soldier 127' summoned the RUC , the photographer and John Charteris ('Times' newspaper) , the nail-bombs were , literally , sticking out from Gerald Donaghey's pockets ! Charteris told the tribunal that he could see one of them clearly from outside the car , protruding from Donaghey's denin-jacket pocket : it is scarcely to exaggarate , and not at all facetious , to speculate that a 10-year-old of average intelligence could work out what happened here .

But 'Lord' Widgery concluded that the nail-bombs had probably been in Gerald Donaghey's pockets all along - ' Donaghey had probably been a nail-bomber . The paras had probably had the right to kill him ' . The demands of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign , drawn up early in 1992 , are for a clear declaration of the innocence of all the victims , the repudiation of the Widgery Report , and the prosecution of those responsible for the shootings . Campaigners stress that they are not out for personal revenge -

" I am not fixated on having a 60-year-old Brit put in prison for murdering my father , " says Tony Doherty , whose father , Patrick , was shot dead at Joseph Place , " ... what I want is the complete truth ." It is the demand for a formal renunciation of the tribunal's conclusions that raises the need for a new inquiry - " No matter what apology is made or what sort of 'review' is offered , until the British government formally repudiates Widgery's report , his findings will remain on the record as the official truth of what took place , " says Tony Doherty , "...that's an insult . We will not accept it . "

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

'Black' propaganda and the 'psy-ops' war :
The arrest and subsequent 'breaking' of Christopher Black in November 1981 came at a time when the objective political framework in which informers could be used to testify in court had been prepared ; the British administration was prepared to sanction the granting of immunity to informers who had implicated themselves in activities of a serious nature . This was undoubtedly a powerful motivation in the case of Black , who after being 'broken' in Castlereagh faced a long jail term after being released from Long Kesh .

But the willingness to pay informers huge sums of money - sums mentioned by informers who later retracted , of £50,000 and £75,000 , have undoubtedly been exceeded in many cases - and the RUC's tactic of holding an informer in isolation from contact with family or friends or , as in some cases , abducting members of his family to be with him , has also gradually succeeded in psychologically 'turning' some informers , including Christopher Black , so that they have increasingly acted out of a sense of 'identification' * with the RUC , and have allowed their 'evidence' to be concocted and 'schooled' by the RUC in such a way as to maximise the chances of convictions being secured . ( * '1169 ...' Comment - That 'identification tactic' is still working for Westminster - the Free Staters in Leinster House 'identify' more with Tony Blair [or whoever happens to be in Westminster at the time] than they do with Irish Republicans , whom they persecute.)

A similar sort of psychological disorientation tactic , since refined * , was used against American GI's during the war in Korea . (* '1169...' Comment - 'Refined' indeed : now , instead of a slap around the head , the Brits offer a suit , a salary , 'respect' , a career and a pension ! )

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .
This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !

Come! Rise in your might , O best of men ,
And muster your pikes in yonder glen ;
Your enemies smite , with sword and lance ,
And no laws you will own , but those of France!

The French Hill monument outside Castlebar , County Mayo , bears the inscription :
' In grateful remembrance of the gallant French soldiers who died fighting for the freedom of Ireland on the 27th August , 1798 . They shall be remembered forever . '

' O The French are on the sea
Says the Seanbhean Bhocht
The French are on the sea
Says the Seanbhean Bhocht.

O ! The French are in the Bay
They'll be here by break of day ...

And will Ireland then be free ?
Says the Seanbhean Bhocht
Will Ireland then be free ?
Says the Seanbhean Bhocht

Yes! Ireland shall be free
From the centre to the sea
Then hurray ! for Liberty !
Says the Seanbhean Bhocht .

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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 .

British 'Lord' Widgery heard evidence from two civilians who had carried the wounded Gerald Donaghey into the Glenfada Park home of Raymond Rogan , chairman of the local tenants' association - the two men described Donaghey's tight-fitting jeans and denim jacket , and said they saw no nail-bombs . Leo Young described searching Donaghy's jacket pockets for identification after they had laid him down in the Rogan home .

There had been no nail-bombs ; Donaghey was examined in the house by Dr. Kevin Swords of Lincoln Hospital , who had been in Derry visiting relatives : he gave evidence of loosening Gerald Donaghey's clothes to examine a gunshot wound in his abdomen and then "...going over his whole body .. " for other wounds . He noticed no nail-bombs .

Charlie Hazlett , a reporter with the 'Belfast Telegraph' newspaper for more than 20 years , sheltering in the Rogan home , said he watched closely as Dr. Swords examined Donaghey . He noted no nail-bombs . Raymond Rogan carried the dying Donaghey in his arms to his car and eased him into the rear seat . No nail-bombs . Leo Young sat into the rear seat and cradled Donaghey as they set off . Still no nail-bombs . At Barrack Street , the car was stopped by a British military patrol and Rogan and Young ordered out ; a British soldier drove the car to a first-aid post on Craigavon Bridge . Here , Donaghey was examined by a medical officer from the First Anglian Regiment , who gave evidence of examining the body before pronouncing Donaghey dead .

He noticed no nail-bombs .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

The James Kennedy informer trial - also known as the M60 Trial because of the involvement of some of the accused Republicans in earlier successful machine-gun ambushes - took place in June 1981 , some ten months after James Kennedy had agreed to testify . But some of the verdicts were forestalled by the timely escape at gunpoint from Crumlin Road Prison of the seven main defendants , and another man from Ardboe in County Tyrone ('the Crumlin Road Eight') .

Six of the eight men were subsequently arrested in the Free State and sentenced under the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act to ten-year sentences . Two men are still uncaptured . Those of the remaining defendants in the Kennedy case who had not signed statements incriminating themselves were later acquitted , making the whole affair a grave embarrassment to the RUC .

Nevertheless , the precedent which had been initiated in the McWilliams case and followed up by James Kennedy's testimony , had firmly set the stage for future attempts to gain convictions against Republicans and supporters on the uncorroborated 'evidence' of paid informers .......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

In recent years the DCTU has spearheaded the campaign against the PAYE taxation system - the peak of the campaign came in 1979 when the DCTU organised a 100,000-strong demonstration to Leinster House , undoubtedly one of the largest demonstrations ever seen in Dublin .

And the DCTU has'nt ignored its obligations towards the city's unemployed workers either ; Jerry Shanahan , Vice-President of the DCTU , says that four years of hard work will shortly bear fruit when Unemployed Centres will be set up in Tallaght , Bonnybrook and the North Inner City to act as a focus for local jobs campaigns and to provide 'drop-in' facilities , advice and assistance for the unemployed .

The history of the Dublin Council Of Trade Unions clearly shows that , while taking a leading role in defence of working-class economic interests , they never have lost sight of the importance of national liberation as part of the equation for social liberation .

[END of 'THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS' .]
(Tomorrow - ' THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE' - from 1989.)



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 .

British 'Lord' Widgery hinted at his underlying approach to an inquiry into Bloody Sunday by his deadpan observation that "...there was no reason why they (British soldiers) should have begun to shoot unless they had come under fire themselves . " The same approach led to other crucial findings by Widgery , including that "... on the balance of probabilities .. " Gerald Donaghey , 17 , 'had four nail bombs in his pockets' when shot in Glenfada Park !

Much has been made of this 'case' by defenders of the Bloody Sunday operation and by those arguing there was 'blame on both sides' - it was the only case in which a 'weapon' of any kind had allegedly been 'found' on the body of a victim : all other 'weapons' had been 'spirited away' ... : the 'nail-bomb evidence' came from a British bomb-disposal Officer , 'Soldier 127' , who told 'Lord' Widgery that shortly after the shooting he had been called to Craigavon Bridge to examine a car containing a body .

'British Soldier 127' stated that he noted two nail-bombs protruding from the jeans pockets , and two from the jacket pockets of a dead youth : each of the nail-bombs , he said , was "...about the size of a cocoa tin .. " . He summounded an RUC photographer and a reporter from 'The Times' newspaper to note the nail-bombs : both gave 'evidence' confirming that the nail-bombs 'were in Donaghey's pockets' when they arrived at the car .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

In at least one important respect , the treachery of a 23-year-old Andersontown taxi driver , James Kennedy , (subs required) provided a closer parallel than the Stephen McWilliams affair with the RUC's subsequent deployment of informers .

Kennedy , as well as receiving immunity from prosecution for his alleged role in providing a car for moving IRA Volunteers and arms on a number of occasions , was required to testify in court against 12 republicans on major charges , and a number of others on lesser charges , after being promised £25,000 .

It was this readiness - undoubtedly decided on at a senior political level - to provide relatively (and later , extremely) large sums of money , along with immunity , that hallmarked the way the British would subsequently convince informers , who had first been psychologically 'broken' during interrogation and incriminated themselves , to go through with their 'evidence' in court .

RUC propaganda , on the other hand , and prosecution counsels , would try to suggest that the motivation of informers was not self-interested and was based on a 'moral' disillusionment with the activities they were allegedly involved in .......!

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

Throughout the 1950's , the Dublin Council of Trade Unions and its rival organisation , the Dublin Trades' Union Council , were active on social issues , particularly unemployment , price increases and the provision of free public transport for pensioners . Various attempts to mount joint actions were fruitless until 1955 , when a combined James Connolly Commemoration was organised .

Congress re-united in 1959 but , due to various difficulties , it was'nt until 1960 that the two Dublin Trade Union Councils merged ; the new constitution of the ICTU severely restricted the role of trades' councils in the sphere of industrial relations and inter-union disputes . Correspondingly , the DCTU expanded its activities into an increasingly agitiational role and during the 1960's it played a prominent part in the campaigns of the Dublin Housing Action Committee . Demonstrations were also organised against EEC entry and for the retention of proportional representation .

When the North of Ireland erupted in 1969 the DCTU adopted a position supportive of the Civil Rights movement and when internment was introduced they opened a fund for internees' dependants . At this time , links between the DCTU and the Belfast Council were strengthened ; since 1969 , the DCTU has consistently adopted motions in support of the Nationalist people - it supported the 1981 H-Block hunger-strike and is currently active in the anti-strip-searches campaign .......

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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 .

British 'Lord' Widgery heard evidence from six civilians about events in the flats' courtyard - they were Father (later Bishop) Edward Daly ; Simon Winchester , a journalist then with the 'Guardian' newspaper ; Mary Bonnor , a resident of the flats ; Derrick Tucker , an Englishman living in Derry who had seen service with both the British Royal Navy and the RAF ; Joseph Doherty , an unemployed man from the Creggan Estate ; and Francis Dunne , a school-teacher , now headmaster of a large primary school . All were adamant that the British soldiers' account of gunfire was total fabrication - no shots had been fired at the paras , they had'nt had to take cover and so on .

Widgery professed himself "...entirely satisfied .. " that the British paras had come under fire and had fired back only in self-defence (!) , and that it was in these circumstances that Jackie Duddy had been shot dead and Michael Bridge , Michael Bradley , Peggy Deery , Patrick McDaid and Alana Burke wounded . Widgery stated :

" Such a conclusion is not reached by counting heads or by selecting any particular witness as truthful in preference to another . It is a conclusion gradually built up over many days * of listening to evidence and watching the demeanour of witnesses under cross-examination . " (* -three days , only !) No-where in his report does Widgery compare the two hugely conflicting stories : the reference to "...the demeanour.." of witnesses is his entire account of his process of 'reasoning' - he offers no explanation for the remarkable level of disagreement between the British soldiers .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

The fourth defendant in the Stephen McWilliams informer trial , Kevin Mulgrew , then aged 24 , was acquitted , but remained in RUC custody on separate charges ; he had faced a long concerted effort by the British and their 'police force' , the RUC , to put him behind bars - arrested in 1973 and charged with the ludicrous offence of '... attempted (!) membership of the IRA .. ' , the charges were quickly dropped . In October 1976 he was again arrested and held for five months on remand on charges of carrying out a bombing but , once more , the charges were dropped .

A third time , in November 1977 , he was charged with a bombing and held for fifteen months on remand before being acquitted at his 'trial' in February 1979 . Five months later he was again arrested on the McWilliams charges , and although acquitted in March 1980 he was not released until after a third 'trial' on October 24th 1980 , in which he was acquitted of possession of a weapon with intent .

Ironically for Kevin Mulgrew , despite having faced and beaten no less than five frame-ups and spent almost three years out of seven remanded in custody , he was again to be arrested - in November 1981 - on the 'evidence' of another paid informer , Christopher Black , and held in custody , in what for him had become most definitely a process of internment by remand - indications that Black was deliberately slanting his 'schooled' 'evidence' against Kevin Mulgrew in particular , while testifying in January 1983 , in order to portray him as the prime instigator of acts of Republican resistance in North Belfast , made it certain that the RUC was determined that this time Mulgrew would not escape its clutches , and provided an insight into how the RUC cynically views the role of its informers .......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

The 1930's and 1940's were dominated by the political rise and retention of power by Fianna Fail - * that organisation attracted widespread working-class support and generally had the support of the DCTU for its social and economic policies , particularly their policy of protection of native industries . ( * '1169...' Comment - It is only fair to acknowledge that , in its early days , Fianna Fail did stand for something ; they actually had a 'bottom line' then . But not now - they have been for years simply a political vehicle for snake-oil salesmen to climb aboard and attempt to etch out a career for themselves in . Their representatives and members are one-hundred per cent 'swop-able' with any other Leinster House party , and they with it .)

This period is also marked by the role the trades' council played in all major disputes in the Dublin area : builders' labourers in 1931 ; transport in 1935 ; the building industry for six months in 1937 ; municipal workers in 1940 ; and primary school teachers in 1946 . During this time the DCTU had many of the powers of the present-day Irish Congress of Trade Unions . The DCTU had the machinery for centralised wage bargaining and for handling inter-union disputes . It also took on a more militant political role and when Fianna Fail attempted to bring in a wages freeze and a trade union bill , the Council launched an opposition campaign - massive demonstrations were organised and a special paper , 'Workers' Action' , was produced .

The trades' Council was also in the vanguard of the Dublin movement against fascism and demonstrations were organised against O' Duffy's 'Blueshirts' .

The Irish Trade Union Congress split of 1944 (basically over the national question) had its mirror image in the DCTU and a rival grouping , the Dublin Trades' Union Council , was formed.......

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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 .

British 'Lord' Widgery's political objective is even clearer from looking at examples of his handling of the evidence that he did choose to hear - for example , relating to the key moment when British paratroopers opened fire in the courtyard of Rossville Flats and shot dead 17-year-old Jackie Duddy , the young man seen in a much-used film clip being carried dying through British Army lines by a group of men including Dr. Edward Daly .

British 'Lord' Widgery heard from eight members of 'Support Company' , 1 Para , who told of how they had 'come under fire' as they de-bussed from an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the flats' courtyard , intending to 'arrest' "...hooligans.." - however , every soldier's account of the 'hostile fire' contradicted every other soldier's account ; the 'fog of battle' (!) hardly accounts for the discrepancies . British Sergeant 'O' told of around 80 shots being fired in this enclosed space in the course of two to three minutes from different calibre weapons ; British Lieutenant 'N' , on the other hand , could not recall any civilian gunfire at all .

British Major '236' described "...continuous firing .. " not for 'two to three minutes' but for ten minutes : British Lance Corporal 'V' heard only 'single-shot rifle-fire' . And so on . Some of those British soldiers 'took cover' behind the APC , a 'bulkier' vehicle than , say , a Ford Trasit van . But not only did the 'blizzard' of (incoming) bullets miss the sheltering British soldiers , it missed the APC as well .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

But while changing circumstances were forcing the British administration to look to new methods of getting a flow of information from the nationalist ghettos , it was the McWilliams and Kennedy affairs that provided the 'dry run' for the later more widespread use of informers recruited to give 'evidence' in 'court' .

In March 1980 the 'trial' of four men , including North Belfast Republican Martin Meehan , took place , accused of conspiring to kidnap Stephen McWilliams from the New Lodge Road on July 11th 1979 and holding him against his will . McWilliams , a petty thief caught in the act of robbing a bar , had been recruited by the British Army some time earlier (in return for cash and not being prosecuted) to report on the movements of suspected local Republicans , including Martin Meehan .

At the 'trial' , McWilliams' testimony constituted the only 'evidence' for the prosecution , while monetary gain was shown to be his primary motivation for informing . Nevertheless , despite the evidence of defence witnesses , three of the men - Martin Meehan , Chris Doherty and Patrick Burnside - were convicted and jailed for twelve years . Meehan was later to protest his innocence in the H-Blocks by embarking on a 66-day hunger-strike that brought him close to death .

In November 1982 , Stephen McWilliams , abandoned by his British Army paymasters and in hiding in England , and apparently remorseful at his role in framing Martin Meehan and the others , wrote a letter to the 'Sunday World' newspaper confessing that he had deliberately perjured himself on British Army instructions to obtain the convictions .......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

The rise of Sinn Fein after 1916 caused division within the trades' council's ranks : in 1917 , the DCTU refused to participate in the Sinn Fein Convention , arguing that they would only attend a labour movement convention . William O' Brien and Thomas Farren were sent to explain the DCTU's attitude but instead stayed and made a significant contribution to the Sinn Fein conference .

Other trades' councils attacked them for this and a train of events was set in motion which eventually led to a split in March 1919 , with William O' Brien establishing the rival 'Dublin Workers' Council' . The split was a tragedy for the working class and the great possibilities that were wasted are evident by the fact that in early 1919 , the trades' council won support from Dail Eireann for the advanced 'Democratic Programme' .

The split continued until the late 1920's and the two sides were not reconciled until 1928 ; by this stage the differences had become irrelevant in the face of a 'successful' employers' onslaught and a decline in the number of union members : the re-united council affiliated itself to the Irish Trade Union Congress (ITUC) and the Labour Party , but by 1930 the political and industrial wings of the labour movement voluntarily parted .......

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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 .

Channel 4 television and Don Mullan separately presented expert evidence from the post-mortem results that at least three of the victims had been shot from a height and not from ground level ; Widgery also rejected an offer of evidence from former Derry Mayor Dr. Raymond McClean , who had pronounced four of the victims dead in the Bogside and attended all 13 post-mortems at Altnagelvin Hospital - he would have given his opinion that at least one and possibly two others had been shot from high above .

Widgery completed his 'mission' with remarkable dispatch ; the hearing of evidence and legal submissions was completed in under 100 hours , spread over 17 days between 21 February and 14 March 1972 : he 'heard' 114 witnesses - 37 people from Derry , including 7 priests , 21 journalists/photographers , 5 named and 35 un-named British soldiers , 8 RUC members , 6 doctors or forensic experts and two other civilians , including British 'Lord' Fenner Brockway , one of the scheduled speakers at the intended Guildhall Square rally .

Widgery delivered his report to British Home Secretary Reginald Maulding on 10 April 1972 ; it was published on 18 April 1972 - 71 days after the incident under investigation . It runs to 39 pages . All this can be taken as indicating a cavalier approach to his task by a man who , far from high-mindedly seeking out the truth , regarded himself as being on a political mission and had his mind already made up how best to accomplish the objective .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

The IRA pointed out (see AP/RN January 28 1982) that although informer Christopher Black's 'evidence' had a dramatic effect in terms of the number of Nationalists he was prepared to testify against , a year or two earlier he would have been told to report back to the IRA and subsequently to pass on information over a long period of time that might eventually have caused considerably more damage .

The IRA January 1982 amnesty , therefore , despite its timimg , was not , as media pundits speculated , a hurried response to a 'new breed' of informers , of which Black was the first , but had been decided on prior to Black's arrest to obviate the unfortunate necessity of dealing harshly with informers * remaining at large within the Nationalist community . (* '1169...' Comment : the Provisionals have now put themselves in a position where they are unable to "deal harshly with informers" as to do so would upset their new-found 'friends' in Leinster House and Westminster , not to mention their 'wanna-be' 'friends' in the Loyalist groups : in short , how they run their 'campaign' is being dictated to them by anti-Republican elements.)

Notwithstanding , therefore , the serious new use to which informers , from Black onwards , were being put , the increasing effectiveness of the IRA's internal security procedures had heavily reduced the ability of the RUC's Special Branch to operate high-grade informers secretly within the nationalist community , (sic- see above link) as they had done previously , in some cases for years ('1169...' Comment - and as they are obviously still doing).......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

The 1913 Lock-Out ended in February 1914 with neither side winning a clear victory and the Dublin Council of Trade Unions helping to organise an orderly return to work . However , the spirit of Dublin's workers was unbroken and this was ably demonstrated in a 10,000-strong May Day rally that same year .

One month earlier , in April 1914 , the Dublin Council of Trade Unions approved the formation of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) , described by Lenin as "...the first Red Army in Europe .. " : under the leadership of James Connolly , a Trades Council delegate , ICA Units marched alongside the labour movement to mark May Day 1915 ; it was in that same year (1915) that the DCTU played an important part in opposing the First World War and British government attempts to introduce conscription in Ireland .

Against a massive opposition campaign by the employers and newspaper barons , the DCTU's President , Thomas Farren , contested the May 1915 by-election on an anti-war , pro-trade union , pro-suffragette ticket and came within 600 votes of winning . His manifesto had been written by James Connolly who , by this time , had aligned the Irish Citizen Army with the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Irish Volunteers - in Easter Week 1916 they rose in rebellion against British rule .

The aftermath of 1916 left the DCTU in disarray : James Connolly and Michael Mallin were executed ; Richard O'Carroll and Peadar Macken died in the fighting ; W.P. Partridge died as a resut of prison conditions ; Thomas Farren , P.T. Daly , William O'Brien , Cathal O' Shannon and Thomas Foran were all interned in England . All of the DCTU's and ITGWU's records were seized .......

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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 .

The 10 March 1972 memorandum records that "... only 15 .. " of the 700 statements submitted were "...drawn to [Widgery's] attention .. " - it is not clear whether Widgery himself actually read any of these 15 statements but , on the basis of this knowledge , he is recorded saying of all 700 statements that he did not " ...think that the people who wrote them could bring any new element to the proceedings .. " : the statements were discarded .

The NICRA dossier was discovered by writer Don Mullan three years ago , in a plastic bag in the office of a civil rights group in Derry , and forms the basis of his book , ' Eye-Witness Bloody Sunday' . What mostly gave the book its huge impact were the repeated references in the 100 statements reproduced verbatim to shots fired from the City Walls where they 'beetle' over the Bogside . The evidence selected by Widgery had either been unspecific on the point or told only of shots fired from ground level within the Bogside . Campaigners now argue that this factor on its own invalidates Widgery's conclusions and makes the case for a new inquiry .

It emerged that there had been other evidence available suggesting firing from the walls ; in January 1997 , 'Channel 4 News' broadcast tapes of British Army and RUC communications recorded during the shooting by amateur radio enthusiast Jim Porter ; British soldiers clearly identified as being on the walls are heard reporting incoming fire , firing and claiming "hits" : Mr. Porter recalled offering his tapes to the tribunal and being rebuffed on the ground that the recording of radio communications without appropriate authorisation is illegal (!) .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

Over a fourteen-month period during 1980 and 1981 , the Belfast Brigade of the IRA was forced to execute six informers , from among a number it had uncovered , who had passed on information to the RUC : four of them were IRA Volunteers , including Maurice Gilvarry .

By mid-1981 the IRA was sufficiently in control of the internal security situation * within the nationalist ghettos to have decided to call an amnesty which would allow informers - most of them initially recruited by the RUC using a mix of physical and pyschological terror - to come forward to the IRA without fear of punishment . However , because at that time the hunger-strikes were taking place , the IRA - so as not to allow the media an opportunity to divert attention away from that - delayed calling the two-week-long amnesty until the end of January 1982 . (* '1169...' Comment - .... if that was the case , it can only mean that this man was not in charge at that time and that this man was not then required to protect him .)

By early 1982 , Christopher Black had himself 'broken' under interrogation and agreed to turn ' queen's evidence ' against an eventual total of 38 North Belfast people he incriminated in statements .......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

The forum for the radicalisation of the labour movement during these years was the Dublin Council of Trade Unions , and the progressive grouping around Jim Larkin (which included James Connolly) meant that the nature of the DCTU was utterly changed . Its emergence as the campaigning voice of workers frightened the employers and William Martin Murphy responded by setting up an employers' organisation , the ' Dublin Employers' Federation' .

In August 1913 , the employers tried to suppress Jim Larkin's militant union by refusing to employ any members of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union - this led to a 'Lock-Out' which lasted six months and saw a period of untold hardship and misery for Dublin workers which was marked by street violence , sympathetic strikes and the espousal of revolution by James Connolly . While the struggle was led by the ITGWU , the trades' council played an important co-ordinating role : a strike committee was established to which all unions reported and through which funds and supplies were channelled .

At the height of the Lock-Out , the DCTU's President , W.P. Partridge , accompanied Jim Larkin to England on his 'Fiery Cross' Campaign to rally English workers in support of the Irish union's fight .......

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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 .

Edward Heath (British Prime Minister) is recorded as saying that the Derry Guildhall building would be unsuitable as a venue for tribunal hearings as it " ..was on the wrong side of the River Foyle .. " (ie - the 'Catholic/Nationalist' side) . British 'Lord' Widgery himself stated that he "... saw the exercise as a fact-finding exercise ; it would help if the inquiry could be restricted to what actually happened in those few minutes when men were shot and killed . This would enable the tribunal to confine evidence to eye witnesses . " ('1169...' Comment - ....in other words : to restrict evidence to as few people as possible.)

In the event , Widgery confined himself to the evidence of some eye-witnesses , refusing to hear the evidence of others . In writing his report , he then ignored much of the evidence that he had heard and distorted a great deal of the rest : an examination of the text rules out the possibility of this having come about through mis-understanding , carelessness or unconscious bias .

In the days after Bloody Sunday , the 'Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association' (sic) gathered more than 700 eye-witness statements from civilians in Derry ; copies of these were presented to British 'Lord' Widgery on 9 March 1972 but , instead of welcoming this reservoir of relevant information , Widgery , according to an internal tribunal memorandum dated 10 March 1972 , "...considered that the statement had been submitted at this late stage to cause him the maximum embarrassment .. " . In fact , the three-inch-thick file of statements had been delivered to the British Treasury Solicitor's Office in London on 3 March 1972 - 34 days after the event and 17 days before the tribunal's final public sitting .

A delay of about a week had been caused by disagreement among relatives and others about whether to co-operate with the tribunal at all .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

Deprived first of the 'soft option' of internment and then of the 'luxury' of a comprehensive and unhindered policy of interrogation using torture , and faced with Republicans who , successfully for the most part , adopted a policy of strict silence while under interrogation , the RUC and their political overlords were forced to examine other methods to ensure the imprisonment and sentencing of suspected Republicans .

As always in the Six Counties , the 'primacy' of the 'rule of law' came a distinct second to the entirely pragmatic business of using whatever methods 'necessary' to lock up Republicans . And , for their part , too , the RUC Special Branch faced other problems as well - over the years they had successfully operated a number of low-paid informants within Nationalist areas , keeping them supplied with low to high grade information , reporting the movements of known Republicans etc .

In addition , when occasionally the RUC did succeed in 'breaking' an IRA Volunteer under interrogation , he was sometimes persuaded , in return for non-prosecution by the IRA , to return to active involvement within the IRA and to pass on information on a regular basis . In one notorious incident , a North Belfast IRA Volunteer , Maurice Gilvarry , who had 'broken' and being recruited by the RUC in 1977 , passed on information about a planned IRA operation which resulted in the stake-out/assassination of several of the IRA Volunteers involved .

The IRA , however , had established an Internal Security Department * which had largely succeeded in stemmimg the flow of high-grade information and discovering leaks ....... (* '1169...' Comment - As we now know , any "stemming of information" and "leaks discovered" by that 'Internal Security Department' was done with the permission of Westminster .)

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

In the local elections of 1898 , the DCTU-established 'Labour Representation Committee' fielded 11 candidates in Dublin , eight of whom were elected , three of them being returned as Aldermen after heading the poll in their local wards . Unfortunately , personality clashes and a lack of confidence among those elected quickly wrecked the LRC and no further elections were fought until 1912 .

But politics of a radical Republican nature were beginning to emerge within the trades' council itself and it is worth noting that the decline in allegiance to the parliamentary 'Nationalist Party' and support for Sinn Fein occurred in the DCTU many years before it manifested itself on the national level .

Radical Irish Republicans like Michael O' Lehane , P.T. Daly and Peadar Macken emerged as leading lights in the trades' council in the early 1900's and , in alliance with the more socialist delegates , managed to remove the conservative elements from positions of influence in the Council . This was made possible by the changed nature of the Dublin labour movement after the 1908 carters' strike .

Led by Jim Larkin , the carters' strike marked the emergence of the general workers as an organised force within the trade union movement through their union , the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) : Larkin's success as an organiser and motivator , allied with the militancy of the unskilled worker , set the stage for the 'Great Lock-Out' of 1913 .......

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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 .

The more clearly the truth emerges about Bloody Sunday , the uglier it seems , and the less likely that the British government will agree to look it in the face . Given the context set out above , it will strike many as common sense that the Bloody Sunday operation was intended to strengthen the position of (Six County) 'Prime Minister' Brian Faulkner and stave off Stormont's collapse . Direct evidence might be found in the minutes of the meetings at Stormont on 26 January 1972 and two days later at Downing Street : at the Widgery hearings , James McSparran QU , for the relatives , raised this with the Commander of Land Forces in the North of Ireland , Major General Robert Ford -

McSparran : " Before the brigade orders were prepared , it had been discussed by the Security Committee and it had been discussed by the cabinet ministers in England ? "
Widgery: " That is not a question for the General (Robert Ford) . "
McSparran : " Could I ask him does he know if it had been discussed ? "
Widgery: " No ."

That Widgery's exclusion of the political background was itself politically motivated is suggested by the minutes of an extraordinary discussion between Widgery , Edward Heath and the British 'Lord Chancellor' , 'Lord' Hailsham , at Downing Street , two days after the massacre , on the evening before the British 'Commons' announcement of Widgery's appointment to conduct the 'inquiry' . Among "... a number of points which I [Edward Heath] thought it right to draw to the Lord Chief Justice's [Widgery] attention (was that) it had to be remembered that we were in Northern Ireland (sic) fighting not just a military war but a propaganda war . "

('1169...' Comment - Edward Heath , like the rest of his type then , [and , indeed , now , where the Irish are concerned] made no secret of his true feelings towards the 'natives' in other comments he made at that same time ...)

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

The use of informers is not a new phenomenon , either within Irish history , the present phase of the liberation struggle , or within any comparable liberation movement ; in fact it should be borne in mind that the IRA itself has frequently recruited informers within the enemy camp . It is the use of informers , not their mere existence , which is constant , that determines the danger they pose . Nor is the enactment of 'extraordinary' legislation or the arbitary re-interpretation of existing legislation a new phenomenon in the context of British efforts to crush nationalist resistance since 1969 . ('1169...' Comment - British efforts to "crush resistance" in Ireland has taken place since long before 1969 .)

Internment at the British Secretary of State's pleasure , in 1971 , underwent a change of name but not of substance in response to international outcry , to the less draconian-sounding 'detention' on the authority of a judicial 'tribunal' : British embassies throughout the world propagandised that 'internment was ended' . When the Gardiner Report finally argued pragmatically that internment (or 'detention') was unproductive as a means of reducing Republican resistance , it was phased out to be replaced by Diplock 'Courts' sentencing on the basis of torture-extracted statements in Castlereagh . Long Kesh internment camp underwent a cosmetic name change too , 'becoming' 'Her Majesty's Prison Maze' . 'Special Category' status was replaced by an attempted process of criminalisation .

Eventually , what had become known with good reason as the H-Block conveyor belt , shipping hundreds of Republicans into jail on little or no evidence , was undermined to a significant degree by Amnesty International's torture findings on Castlereagh interrogation methods in 1978 , and by the Bennett Report in 1979 . ('1169...' Comment - Westminster was hostile to both Amnesty and Bennett not because they went some way in exposing the RUC/judiciary/'establishment' as corrupt [which Westminster already knew!] but because it meant that 'the mother of all parliaments' would have to change tact , but not substance , in how they 'dealth' with 'the troublesome Irish' .)

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .......
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

The trades' council saw its role as being "...a useful medium in settling of disputes.. " between employer and worker ; its Officers acted as arbitrators in disputes and were often successful . With this type of reputation , the DCTU rapidly expanded and by 1890 had trebled its affiliated membership to 81 unions and acquired large new premises in Capel Street , Dublin .

At the outset , the DCTU stressed that it was non-political yet , by its very nature , the Council found itself dealing with politicians in their role as employers and public representatives . The inevitable conflict which arose led to an increased radicalisation of the DCTU itself and a realisation that workers must be represented on public boards "...by workers instead of capitalists and seedy adventurers .. " .

This awareness led to a decision in 1898 to establish a Labour Representation Committee (LRC) with the objective of standing in election on a working-class ticket : LRC'S were also established in Belfast and Cork .......

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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 .

Bloody Sunday has been a bitter and emotional factor in Northern politics for 26 years (ie : 1972 - 1998) , but it did'nt become a 'mainstream' issue or begin to figure in Anglo-Irish relations until the early 1990's - the relatives' organisation , the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign (BSJC) , was formed in 1992 , when activities around the 20th anniversary of the massacre brought representatives of the 14 families together for the first time .

Until then , the annual commemoration march , the upkeep of a memorial in the Bogside and sporadic propaganda activity had been organised by the Bloody Sunday Initiative , a loose group with a shifting , largely Republican membership . It was a measure of the difficulty of winning mainstream support until recently that when this writer travelled to Dublin in January 1992 with a number of relatives of the victims for the publication of the book 'Bloody Sunday in Derry' , written to mark the 20th anniversary , only one TD (sic - Leinster House member) , Tony Gregory , attended the launch in Buswell's Hotel , across the street from Leinster House , although every member of the (Free State) Oireachtas had been individually invited .

It has since been helpful that the founding of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign coincided with the inception of the peace process (sic- a true 'peace process' would require a date for British withdrawal) , which has required the Southern authorities to be seen representing the concerns of Northern nationalists . Interest in Bloody Sunday has been significantly boosted too , by new evidence that has come to light in the last two years . Thus the sense of momentum that has given some campaigners confidence that the truth is imminently to be acknowledged by the British authorities .......

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

In many cases the RUC has also consciously used informers to arrest and remove key political personnel in Sinn Fein ('1169...' Comment - ..... that is [re PSF anyway] , presumably , when those " key personnel " themselves are not in the employ of Westminister !) who have been involved either locally or nationally in reorganising the party since the hunger-strikes . Well over 250 men and women - mostly nationalists - have been remanded , many for long periods in custody awaiting 'trial' , on the uncorrororated 'evidence' of a string of informers , beginning with Christopher Black , who have been bribed with offers of immunity from prosecution for their own alleged involvement in republican or loyalist activities , and with promises of huge cash payments and a new ID in return for giving 'evidence' in court .

In addition to interning on remand large numbers of suspected republicans on the flimsiest of 'evidence' , the British administration has also successfully used the previously almost defunct 'Bill of Indictment' in an unprecedented manner to bypass judicial preliminary enquiries , after several informers took the opportunity of their first appearance in open court - temporarily freed from RUC isolation tactics - to retract incriminating statements made against those they had accused . As well as severely embarrassing the RUC , and exposing the coercive methods they had used to recruit informers , these retractions threatened the whole basis of their use .

The 'Bill of Indictment' , with the collusion of magistrates and the half-hearted 'opposition' of a small number of lawyers , effectively 'saved the day' ; to secure 'convictions' in informer 'trials' , the British administration must - assisted by the RUC , the Orange judiciary and the Diplock non-jury courts - secure another fundamental change in 'law' , removing the previous unwillingness of judges to accept the 'evidence' of an alleged 'accomplice' against an accused without corroborative 'evidence' . The outcome of the Christopher Black trial will undoubtedly have a critical bearing in this respect , although by no means a conclusive one .......

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THE DUBLIN COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS - founded on March 3rd , 1886 : 120 years ago this year .
First published in 'AP/RN' , 27th February 1986 .

Monday , March 3rd 1986 marks the centenary of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) . To commemorate this occasion , Donal Lyons , with the invaluable co-operation of the DCTU's Centenary Arrangements Committee and the Irish Labour History Society traces the history of the DCTU from its inception , through to the traumatic 1913 Lock-Out , its leaders' involvement in the 1916 Rising and right up to the present day's campaign for tax reform :

The Dublin Council of Trade Unions was formed in the rather inappropriately-named and long-since-demolished Odd Fellows' Hall on Dublin's Southside on March 3rd 1886 . The inaugural delegate meeting of 27 unions had its origins in an exhibition in 1884 where the work of Dublin artisans was shown . Thirty-four unions were involved in the show and the regular meetings required to set the display up impressed upon the unions the need for a central body in Dublin to represent the needs of labour .

In its formative years , the DCTU was totally dominated by the craft unions and was inclined to be somewhat arrogant in its attitude to the general worker , taking the view that labour and capital should not be antagonistic to each other but should instead wotk together for the promotion of native industry . With this outlook the DCTU presented no threat to the political , social or industrial status quo and , not surprisingly , attracted the patronage of establishment figures such as the Catholic Archbishop William Walsh , Unionist Alderman Robert Sexton and 'Lord' Iveagh .......

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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 - Tomorrow ,Saturday 28th January , a Commemoration to mark the 34th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday will be held at the GPO in Dublin between 1PM and 3PM . All Welcome.)

On 29 January 1972 (the eve of 'Bloody Sunday') the DUP announced the cancellation of their 'prayer meeting' - "We have been assured that the civil rights march will be halted by force if necessary . We are prepared to give the (British) government a final opportunity to demonstrate their integrity and honour their promise , but warn that if they fail in this undertaking they need never again ask loyalist people to forfeit their basic right of peaceful and legal assembly . "

That same afternoon (29 January 1972) , a run-of-the-mill riot in William Street shuddered to a halt when a local man , Peter McLaughlin , was hit in the shoulder by a single shot fired by a British soldier stationed on a rooftop about 100 yards away - as the streets cleared , another man , Peter Robson , ran out to help : as he bent over McLaughlin , another shot from the rooftop on the Strand Road struck him in the shoulder and passed through his body less than half an inch from his spine .

Within an hour , the British Army had issued a press statement claiming that the two men had been throwing nail-bombs : they had fallen a few yards from the spot where Damien Donaghey and John Johnston , the first casualties of Bloody Sunday , were to be shot the next day . Neither man was ever questioned or charged in relation to the 'nail-bomb' allegation . Later that same night , (29 January 1972) at their home on Westway , Creggan , Peter Robson's brother Terry , having driven from Belfast upon hearing of the shooting noted military vehicles on the move in unusual numbers . He remarked - " There's something really odd about all this . Something's up ....... "

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INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War .......
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.

When the RUC's Chief Constable Jack Hermon said on March 24th 1982 that the IRA "...is reeling from these blows and becoming desperate .. " he was undoubtedly giving voice to a new-found optimism shared by other Six County 'security advisors' that the IRA's 'back' , which , contrary to British government expectations , had been strengthened , not weakened , by the hunger-strikes , might finally be broken through the demoralisation among Republican supporters which they believed the use of informers would provoke .

That optimism proved ill-advised , and RUC man Hermon received a 'rap on the knuckles' from fellow loyalists for his bravado , when the IRA struck devastatingly next day in West Belfast , shooting three British soldiers dead in an M60 machine-gun ambush . Since then , the IRA has proved effectively time after time - maintaining earlier levels of military operations - that whatever internal problems have been posed by the RUC's use of informers , the tactic is far from being a winning card , and that its structure and operational personnel remain intact . Neither the large-scale arrests on the 'evidence' of Christopher Black or those on the 'evidence' of Raymond Gilmour and Bobby Quigley have prevented the IRA in Belfast and Derry operating with considerable success over the past year .

Nevertheless the RUC has continued its use of paid informers with undiminished enthusiasm precisely because the primary thrust of the tactic was not to cripple the IRA organisationally (which from bitter experience the RUC believes to be an unrealistic proposition) but has been geared to inflicting a political defeat by creating a crisis of confidence in the Republican Movement among its active supporters - demoralising them and making them afraid of giving support or assistance to IRA Volunteers , in case - so the propaganda goes - they should later be informed on ....... ('1169...' Comment - ...much the same as what appears to be happening today in the Provo organisation : Westminster , having exposed some of its own agents in the Provisional group , has succeeded in neutralising any possible political or military opposition to it that still may have been present in Adams' organisation . Members of that group now face two options - either stay 'in the fold' , which means keeping the head down , accepting further sell-outs and hope , like their leadership have , to obtain a political 'career' from doing so , or - walk ! And the fact that they did'nt walk away from the Adams Family ten years ago when this debacle started has convinced the PSF leadership [and rightly so , it seems] that their members are indeed politically 'pliable' enough to eventually fit-in to an RUC/PSNI uniform and to wear same in the belief that they do so in order to obtain the reunification of their country ! Redmond and Parnell must surely be surprised that such 'followers' still exist ...)
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