The present 'thug tactics' of the Israelis brings to mind similar atrocities 'visited' on a now extinct people , the Tainos , by Spaniards .

In 1492 , Columbus landed on an island which he and other invaders named 'Hispaniola' (now known as the Dominican Republic) . The natives , known as the Tainos , produced pottery and other ornaments using a local resource - gold . Columbus , being the first-class plunderer and pirate that he was , immediately recognised the gold for what it was and knew its value ; the native Tainos were , to their eventual detriment , a peaceful people who loved and respected the land which sustained all 600,000 of them . The Spaniards not only took whatever supplies of gold the Tainos themselves had stored , but put every native man , woman and child to work as slave labour to mine for more gold for them .

Due to their peaceful nature , the Tainos refused to fight back against their oppressor but were equally determined to end their oppression - mass suicide ensued . In the sixteen years (ie 1492-1508) after the arrival of Columbus and his thieves , 540,000 of the Tainos killed themselves by drinking the poisonous juice of the yellow yucca plant , or by hanging themselves after they had killed their own children and aborted their wives babies . Within the following nine years (ie 1508-1517) forty-nine thousand of the sixty-thousand Tainos that were still alive had killed themselves , leaving 11,000 natives on the isle , who were 'ruled over' by a 700-strong force of Spaniards .

In December 1518 , an epidemic of smallpox hit the remaining Tainos - the disease was rampant for two months until it had ran its course , leaving 8,000 natives dead . By this stage (ie early 1519 : twenty-seven years after slave-labour gold mining first began) the remaining gold was judged by the Spaniards to be not worth their time , so they left the 'surviving' natives to do as they pleased - 'all' 3,000 of them .

By 1550 - as other plunderers and pirates were beginning the plantation of Laois and Offaly on this isle - the Tainos were wiped out completely .

The so-called 'ruling elite' of the Spaniards , the Americans , the Israelis and the British , to name but a few , have consistently taught us , the 'ordinary' people , one thing , throughout history : that your way of life , your value system , your morals , are worth fighting for . The Tainos would have been described in their day , by their oppressor and their oppressor's business interests/'friends' , as " ignorant savages" : had they physically fought back they would have been labelled as "terrorists/dissidents" .

This blog , a voice in the wilderness as it may very well be , comes down firmly on the side of "ignorant savages" and "terrorists/dissidents" like the Tainos , wherever they are in this world . With no apology .

John , Sharon , 'Junior' : the '1169...' Crew .
Back on Monday , 31 July 2006 .

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The ' 1169...' crew are back in Dublin - physically , at least , if not mentally !

The weather still feels 'holiday-ish' , deadlines remain something we left behind us in early July , but ....... in the most definite yard-stick that 'normality' is closing-in fast : the spending money has been spent !

As a 'holding-post' until such time as we properly re-organise ourselves , we re-publish a 'Letter to the Editor' of 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper , dated July 9 , 1806 , from a person who signed themselves 'Nemo' . This letter was penned three short years after Robert Emmet's insurrection had failed and gives a flavour of what 'Nemo' sensed was to come .......


' Pray Mr Freeman , are you not misinformed with regard to the Fete Champetre , which her Grace the Duchess has proposed to give in the Phoenix Park , ten or twelve days hence ?
700 NOBILITY AND GENTRY ! Ah! Be easy , Mr. Editor , you are joking , sure , clever as you suppose yourself , you will not go it that way on us . Seven hundred nobility and gentry - 700 fiddle-sticks . Why man , you might as well tell us that 700 of Napoleon's legion of Honor , with their Ladies , were to breakfast with our Viceroy , as to satyrise the IRISH Nobility and Gentry , by supposing that 700 of them could be collected in dirty Dublin , while London , with all its glories expanded to their view .

Do you think , Sir , they are so destitute of taste , so Gothic in their preferences , so Antideluvian in their habits , so vulgarly Irish in their feelings , as to show partiality to the country which contains nothing belonging to them but their DIRTY ACRES ?
Yours ,
Nemo . '

It comes as no surprise to some of us that they had their 'Yes men' then , and their 'Nemo's ' as well !
Back soon .......

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Updated each Monday , Wednesday and Friday . The '1169...' crew will be heading off on our annual holiday today , July 14th , for about two weeks . 'Junior' considers himself "too old" to accompany old fogies like us but , if he finds time for the computer at all , it will be on 'Bebo/My Space' or the like . So whatever chance there is of him minding the house , there is absolutely no chance of him 'minding' the blog ! We should be back in late July , or possibly sooner - depends on the funds!


PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

Whilst Paddy Cooney was away representing the Dublin Administration at the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the wonderful State of Turkey , three of the enfants terribles helicoptered their way out of Mountjoy Prison in Dublin : this set a trend , and British agent Kenneth Littlejohn was the next to leave , followed by 19 more from Portlaoise Jail . Was it any surprise that a 'soft blanket' of paranoia seemed to settle over the State Coalition Administration ?

Organisations like Prisoners Dependents groups and Civil Rights organisations were accused of being fronts for the Provisional IRA : a hunger-strike in Mountjoy Jail 'merited' Free State troops being sent in . In 1975 , the Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Bill was introduced and Paddy Cooney described as "...a fluke in our extradition laws.." the exemption from extradition for political offences : it should be noted that in 1977 , when Mr. Cooney failed to get re-elected , he described this as "...an electoral fluke.. " !

In the late 1970's , Paddy Cooney met members of the UDA in what he described as "...in a casual way.." and talked to British 'Northern Ireland' (sic) Secretary Merlyn Rees about the deployment of SAS units in South Armagh.......
(MORE LATER).


SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

It needs to be said at this stage , although it is a commonplace for Northern Nationalists , that the British shoot-to-kill tactic is nothing new in the arsenal of British repression in the Six Counties , and that - although it has been an on-going tactic at one level or another throughout the whole course of the present resistance in the North of Ireland - it is , like sectarian assassination campaigns run by British forces and their paramilitary puppets in Ireland , a 'tap' that can be turned on and off to suit British and loyalist needs in particular political situations .

Bloody Sunday in 1972 , when British strategists tried unsuccessfully to 'draw out' the IRA and teach civil rights protestors a sharp and brutal lesson in the process , provides one major illustration of this . Nothing fundamentally has changed since this , except perhaps that the British are generally prepared to let loyalist killer gangs carry out random attacks on Catholic civilians , while themselves preferring to engage in specific political assassinations against Irish Republican activists .

Even so , it has generally been the role of the SAS - as seen particularly in the South Armagh area during 1975 and 1976 when they assassinated IRA Volunteers John Green and Peter Cleary and , mistakenly for a Republican , Seamus Ludlow - to carry out covert killings with few or no questions asked , rather than regular British soldiers or the RUC : what has altered then is the political circumstances.......
(MORE LATER).


PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

The Workers Party embraced Eoghan Harris and his 'marxist' policies , hungry as they were for political 'clothes' that would mark them off from the Provos and the Communist Party of Ireland and which would also enable them to replace a jaded (State) Labour Party in the future . Such feverish activity with great matters of State were beginning to cause problems in RTE : Harris was often away 'ill' or , more recently , on sabbatical leave . Last year (1984) an enraged senior executive attempted to remove Eoghan Harris from the payroll because he was not working on any project . Other less flamboyant programmers resent a man they see as a talented yet dilettante producer who can wander in and out of the station as he pleases !

Harris is currently working as a producer on the 'Mailbag' television programme , which hardly exercises his mind to the full...

Something that has not damaged Harris within RTE , however , has been his close relationship with Muiris Mac Conghail , now Controller of RTE 1 television and aspirant RTE Director General ; Harris and other Workers Party members moved a motion at the FWUI station-branch backing Mac Conghail in his tussle with RTE Authority Chairman Fred O 'Donovan earlier this year , but the move backfired when other producers objected to the Director General race being turned into a political football.......
(MORE LATER).


Holidays tomorrow , Saturday 15th July : we will be back in '1169 Towers' towards the end of July . However , having said that , I am reminded of an Oscar Wilde quote : " There is a fatality about all good resolutions . They are invariably made too soon . " Slan go foill anois , and remember : Ni Seoinini sinn go leir ! Sharon and crew .

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Updated each Monday , Wednesday and Friday . The '1169...' crew will be heading off on our annual holiday this Friday , July 14th , for about two weeks . 'Junior' considers himself "too old" to accompany old fogies like us but , if he finds time for the computer at all , it will be on 'Bebo/My Space' or the like . So whatever chance there is of him minding the house , there is absolutely no chance of him 'minding' the blog ! We should be back in late July , or possibly sooner - depends on the funds!

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

It was as Fine Gael spokesman on Justice that Paddy Cooney uttered those immortal words that few now will credit as having emanated from the mouth of the man - speaking on the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill , which allowed for a statement of belief by a Garda Chief Superintendent that a person was a member of an 'illegal organisation' to be adduced in 'evidence' , Cooney said -

" .....how can he (the State Minister for Justice) come into this Parliament (ie Leinster House) and ask it to support a Bill the like of which can only be found on the statute books of South Africa ? There is a limit to the measures a democracy is entitled to adopt in order to protect itself , and that limit is exceeded in this bill . It is repugnant to the basic principles of justice and liberty . " In one short speech , Paddy Cooney had become 'the Great White Liberal Hope of the Seventies' !

Less than three months later Paddy Cooney was appointed (FS) Minister for Justice by the incoming Fine Gael/Labour coalition administration , largely as a concession to the 'liberal wing' of the party ! Only then did the people discover the real Paddy Cooney.......
(MORE LATER).


SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

The text of the press communique issued by the Catholic bishops after their two-day conference read as follows - ".....it became clear that far more attention should be paid to voices of moderation in all sections of the Northern Ireland (sic) community . " This was clear in its call for acceptance of the status quo in the North of Ireland , including the RUC and their shoot-to-kill tactics , and was absolute in its rejection of those who daily experience that status quo , and that 'moderation' , and all the poverty , repression and death it entails .

The reaction of loyalists has been as predictable as that of the SDLP and the Catholic hierarchy , the shoot-to-kill policy answering the demands they have continually made for SAS-style assassination campaigns . Orange Order leader Thomas Passmore said -

" I call upon the (British) Secretary of State to remove the political shackles from our security forces . It is now high time for a review of the whole 'yellow card' procedure... " , while DUP leader Ian Paisley called for shoot-to-kill actions to be " ....repeated across the province. " But whether Paisley or other anti-Republicans spoke in favour of it or not , the Westminster shoot-to-kill policy was nothing new to Northern nationalists.......
(MORE LATER).


PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

In late 1972 , Eoghan Harris wrote an unsigned article in the 'United Irishman' newspaper entitled - " What Is Imperialism? " , one of the most lucid expositions ever penned of the classic anti-imperialist position in Ireland . Two years later he wrote a document , ' From Civil Rights To Class Politics' , which argued that the Sunningdale Agreement had solved the civil-rights question * and that it was now time to polarise Irish workers against Irish capitalism . ( * '1169...' Comment - as far as Irish republicans are concerned , the "question" regarding British jurisdiction over any part of this isle has nothing to do with "civil rights" . It is not , as Republican Sinn Fein has repeatedly stated , a case of saying to Westminster 'stay if you want , just treat us better...' . However - those that fumble in the greasy till , for Sterling or Euro , would accept a so-called "civil rights" 'solution' . Irish republicans , on the other hand , are aware that such a 'solution' would simply postpone the conflict and curse future generations into dealing with this same issue .)

In 1977 , Eoghan Harris co-authored 'The Irish Industrial Revolution' in which he argued that Irish under-development was the result , not of British suppression , but of the unwillingness of Irish capitalists to industrialise . The more orthodox marxists of the Communist Party of Ireland tore this thesis to shreds in a pamphlet issued in reply , but it remained the theoretical guideline of the Workers Party until recently . The result of this approach is to identify virtually all things ethnic as 'reactionary' and 'obscurantist' : thus , Harris would see Irish republican ideology , the Catholic Church and rural "backwardness" as the three pillars of reaction in Ireland today .

In this scenario , foreign multinational company's are the agency of industrialisation and therefore , ultimately , the creators of a strong industrial working class . That such an ideology should pass itself off as 'marxist' is a reflection on the dearth of a marxist tradition in Ireland rather than a tribute to Eoghan Harris as a 'socialist theoretician' - but the Workers Party loved it .......
(MORE LATER).

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Updated each Monday , Wednesday and Friday .
The '1169...' crew will be heading off on our annual holiday this Friday , July 14th , for about two weeks . 'Junior' considers himself "too old" to accompany old fogies like us but , if he finds time for the computer at all , it will be on 'Bebo/My Space' or the like . So whatever chance there is of him minding the house , there is absolutely no chance of him 'minding' the blog ! We should be back in late July , or possibly sooner - depends on the funds!


PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

Paddy Cooney is the first (Free State) Minister for Defence to be appointed who had previously held the 'Justice' slot in Leinster House , which explains why he finds himself more interested in local 'subversives' than foreign enemies .

Whilst soliciting in Athlone , County Westmeath , Generalissimo Patrick Cooney first threw his political hat into the ring by campaigning for his relation General Sean MacEoin in the State Presidential election of 1959 : at 28 years of age he was still a bright young thing , and in the following years ran no less than three times for election to Leinster House in the constituency of Longford-Westmeath .

On one count , he tied with former Provisional Sinn Fein President Ruairi O' Bradaigh , which may or may not go some way towards explaining why he said last December that he could not look at a member of Provisional Sinn Fein "...without a sense of loathing ." However , fourth-time lucky ; and in a by-election of 1970 , Paddy Cooney finally gained his reward for persistence .

Exactly one year later , Paddy Cooney became Fine Gael spokesman on Justice , a subject with which he has been politically connected ever since.......
(MORE LATER).



SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

In early January 1983 , the Catholic hierarchy signalled its political support for the RUC and its total lack of real sympathy even for the relatives of the RUC's victims : arriving in the North of Ireland on January 4th , 1983 , for a two-day visit for talks by leading members of the Catholic hierarchy in England with their Irish counterparts , Bishop James O' Brien from Hertfordshire said that he was satisfied with British government denials that a shoot-to-kill policy existed - " I accept the sincerity of the British government , " he said .

The following evening , when relatives of the six Armagh shoot-to-kill victims gathered outside Aras Coeli , Cardinal O Fiaich's residence in Armagh where the bishops were meeting , to talk to Bishop O' Brien about the uninformed stupidity of his utterances , he callously refused to see them , while Cardinal O Fiaich's secretary , Fr. James Clyne , told the relatives they were trespassing on private property and that the RUC would be called to move them if they did not leave !

Having refused to listen at first-hand to the anguished voice of relatives who knew only too well what ' the rule of law and order' meant to them , the text of the press communique issued by the Catholic Bishops after their two day conference was seen by 'their flock' to be a call to 'accept your lot'.......
(MORE LATER).



PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

In late 1972 , Official Sinn Fein was at a crossroads : attempts to differentiate itself from the Provos meant that it had to forge a socialist ideology while still competing for republican support that was rapidly shifting towards the Provos .

Seamus Costello wanted to adopt a socialist , republican strategy backed by a military campaign : Sean Garland wanted to do likewise minus the armed struggle , as did Eoin O Murchu . Many Official Sinn Fein'ers wanted to maintain a Left alliance with the Communist Party of Ireland and the (Free State) Labour Party Left .

Eoghan Harris , however , decided it was necessary to dump Communists , Labour and republicanism and , along with Cathal Goulding , proceeded to purge the party of any taint of 'green' politics : Goulding was the organisational strategist while Harris provided the 'intellectual' muscle . The transformation of the party's politics could best be mirrored by Eoghan Harris's metamorphosis.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to a 'balls-up' with our staff (!) , this blog will publish only on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays .
Until.......

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

Paddy Cooney himself stated in Leinster House in June 1983 - " Theoretically , the primary role of the (FS) Defence Forces is to defend the territory of the State against external aggression , but in practise its role consists of coming to the aid of the civil power in the apparently never ending fight against subversives and terrorism . " ('1169....' Comment - if Mr. Cooney was truly concerned about "subversives and terrorism" he would have noticed those evils being inflicted on us by Westminster and attempted to do something about that situation . Instead , he co-operated with the British to ensure that their occupation of part of this isle ran as smoothly as possible .)

Now , in the wake of Ballinamore , the State Army is to be given more powers and allowed more discretion in its back-up to the civil power .

The Defence portfolio used to be rated at the bottom of the State Cabinet barrel , but not any more : the very fact that the annual cost of maintaining the State Defence Forces is now over £220 million tells its own story , and with the increased importance of the State Army has come the higher ranking of the Defence job - Paddy Cooney is the most experienced State Minister to be put in charge of Defence since Oscar Traynor.......
(MORE LATER).


SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

The Catholic hierarchy made meaningless calls for public enquiries into the British shoot-to-kill policy , but the British-established 'Northern Ireland Office' - after treating those appeals with deserved contempt - refused to heed , instead instituting internal RUC enquiries to be carried out by those that British Direct-Ruler James Prior glibly referred to as "...independent people from the police force.." !

Those 'enquiries' , meaningless as they are , have yet apparently even to reach the six-county Director of Public Prosecutions , in strong contrast to the alacrity with which the DPP in England received the report into the Metropolitan Police shooting of Stephen Waldorf in London in January 1983 , which resulted in two British detectives being charged with murder .

Dr. Francis Brooks , the Catholic Bishop of Dromore , speaking at the Requiem Mass for Michael Tighe on November 27th 1982 , demonstrated to what extent the Catholic hierarchy has deliberately cut itself adrift from the sentiments and fears of the bulk of the nationalist population , and has rendered itself logically and morally incapable of unequivocally condemning the deliberate shoot-to-kill tactics employed by the RUC . Dr. Brooks stated -

" The police have a most difficult and dangerous responsibility placed on them , restoring law and order in the province . An impartial enquiry , irrespective of its findings , would strengthen the credibility of the police and foster confidence among all fair-minded people . " ('1169...' Comment - as usual throughout our history , the Catholic hierarchy , ever-mindful of its 'position' within 'society' , will stoop to any level to preserve its links with those it perceives to be the 'ruling class' , regardless of the rights and wrongs of the issue at hand . They 'turn the other cheek' , providing said cheek belongs to someone else ).
(MORE LATER).


PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

It was in the 'Feach' team that Eoghan Harris had his first of several celebrated encounters with the equally egotistical Proinsias MacAonghusa - the 'Feach' presenter took umbrage at an unsigned article by Eoghan Harris in an unofficial producers' bulletin which claimed that Proinsias MacAonghusa was angling for promotion to Head of Radio na Gaeltachta : at MacAonghusa's insistence , Harris was removed from 'Feach' , fanning a feud that has continued ever since .

During the 1970's , Eoghan Harris displayed a diabolical talent for embroiling himself in controversy within the Borgia-like court at RTE , Montrose , while managing to survive unscathed himself . During a stint with the 'Seven Days' programme Eoghan Harris came to the angry attention of Conor Cruise O' Brien for his editing of a programme on Northern internees which had Cruise O' Brien openly fulminating about 'subversives in RTE' at the 1974 Labour Party conference .

But the scripting of 'The Greening of America', an award-winning programme on U.S.-Irish immigrants , later marked the climax of Harris's career as a TV producer . More and more he diverted his moody energies after that towards shaping the political direction of the Workers Party , or Official Sinn Fein as it was then known.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to a 'balls-up' with our staff (!) , this blog will publish only on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays .
Until.......


PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

(Free State) Brig. Gen. Gerry O' Sullivan is Paddy Cooney's choice to head up the State Army at what Cooney believed was 'a time of change' : and that 'change' basically means a greater internal role for the State Army in law enforcement in this country (sic) - the young colonels cannot be displeased .

Few people realise the extent to which the State Army has become involved in semi-policing work over the past decade : in 1982 for instance -
* Over 21,000 military parties were supplied in Border areas for check-point duties and over 17,000 joint Garda/State Army checkpoints were set up .
* More than 11,000 patrols were sent out into the road network along the Border .
* Escorts for explosives and blasting operations were provided on over 1,200 occasions .
* About 150 requests for bomb disposal teams were handled.......
(MORE LATER).


SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

John Hume's own craven belief in the 'right' of the RUC and the British Army to repress nationalists as long as it is done within the 'extraordinary' legal framework of the Orange State , was well expressed early in December 1982 -

" No-one objects to any person being arrested for any crime for which they are suspected , charged and brought before the courts . This is the due process of law . But to authorise their instant execution or attempted execution , as has now happened on five separate occasions in recent times , is in effect to abandon the rule of law completely . "

The Catholic hierarchy also made meaningless calls for public enquiries but even these 'words of concern' were ignored by the British , who set about to white-wash the shoot-to-kill policy.......
(MORE LATER).



PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

Politically , Anne O' Sullivan (Harris) is formed in the image of her husband , Eoghan : her public praise of the Official IRA bombers at Aldershot , who killed five cleaning women and a priest at Aldershot Britsh Army Barracks in 1972 , is unlikely to have caused a row in the Harris household , and , today , Anne's sexual crusade against the Catholic clergy , coupled with her execration of things republican or rural , mirrors the route her husband has followed since the 1960's .

Ironically , given his now rabid anti-republicanism , Eoghan Harris first attracted attention as a talented young producer in RTE with a series of religious discussion programmes , but it was with 'Feach' , where he collaborated with Brendan O hEithir , that he made his best programmes .

A competent programme-maker as well as a good publicist - he stage-managed a walk-out by Official Sinn Fein leader Tomas MacGiolla , from one programme , - Eoghan Harris and Brendan O hEithir brought Irish cultural affairs to the nation's attention in a relevant and lively manner that has not often been repeated since.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to a 'balls-up' with our staff (!) , this blog will publish only on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays .
Until.......


PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

The present (Free State) Minister for Defence , Paddy Cooney , has very positive views about Irish neutrality and there is a powerful lobby in the (State) Army now working for full Irish (ie in this case , 26 County) participation in NATO . But it is Mr. Cooney's obsession with 'subversives' at home - and how his army is going to deal with them - that warrants a close eye being kept on the activities of Generalissimo Patrick Mark Cooney .

The past year was a seminal one for the Irish (sic) Army for more reasons than one ; it was the first time a (FS) soldier was killed on active service in the State , it was the first time that a group of very senior retired officers publicly opposed any conduct of the State Army - in this case their participation in the British Legion commemoration on Poppy Day . And it was the first time that (State) soldiers on point duty shot at civilians on the public road .

The incoming (FS) Chief of Staff , Brig. Gen. Gerry O' Sullivan , is taking up his responsibility at a particularly sensitive time for the State defence forces .......
(MORE LATER).



SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

In Donagh , County Fermanagh , Kieran Leonard , a Sinn Fein election worker , was shot and wounded on December 29th , 1982 , near his home , by an undercover British Army unit , and later charged with possession of explosives which were found several hundred yards away .

On February 2nd , 1983 , unarmed INLA Volunteer Neil McMonagle was shot dead , and a friend , Liam Duffy , wounded , by an undercover British soldier in Derry's Shantallow housing estate . In none of the cases mentioned above was there any evidence that the dead or wounded men had been armed or that they had been engaged in acts of republican resistance .

The response to these cold-blooded killings from the constitutional 'leaders' of the nationalist community has been predictable in its bleating ineffectiveness : despite Sinn Fein declaring that the time for calling for 'independent' public enquiries was over , and that they had achieved nothing in earlier cases of legalised murder by the British State : the SDLP's only contribution - expressed by party deputy leader Seamus Mallon - was to call for an "independent enquiry " .......
(MORE LATER).



PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

After a brief flirtation with the right-wing ' Poblacht Chriostuil' ('The Christian Republic') group , Eoghan Harris' 'republicanism' manifested itself in more extrovert ways ; contemporaries recall his habit of strutting around in trenchcoat and black beret and even sporting a green coat , white shirt and gold tie , on one particular Easter week !

Others remember him from the FCA ('An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiuíl') , in which he became a fanatical corporal , forcing his troops on long marches through the night to attain FCA awards for endurance and discipline . More significantly , Eoghan O hEarchu , as he then styled himself , struck up an enduring friendship with historian Professor John A Murphy , and the pupil soon became an intimate of the master : Murphy's pre-eminent role as the sharpest of the revisionist school of Irish historians owes much to his late-night dialectic discourses with Eoghan Harris .

Eoghan Harris met his future wife , Anne O' Sullivan , then a member of the Wolfe Tone Society , at UCC , and she has since emerged from his shadow to become editor of 'Image' magazine and , more recently , an assistant editor of the Sunday Independent 'newspaper'.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to a 'balls-up' with our staff (!) , this blog will publish only on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays .
Until .......


THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .

No-one is more aware than David Trimble himself of how little personal loyality he commands among his parliamentary party , how unreconciled senior colleagues still are to his elevation by the despised rank and file of the 600-strong UUP Council .

In an informal setting , Trimble was once asked why did'nt he tell Orangemen that they must realise the damage done by their yearly equation of unionism with the 'right' to march past angry Catholics ; " And if I did , " said Trimble , " would you find me another party to lead ? "

One veteran talks observer sounds an optimistic though disillusioned note - " He does everything arse about face . It takes forever , he creates obstacles so he can claim concessions , and who knows what that does to his community . But bit by bit with a lot of pressure he's moved in the right direction . And he's still in there . "
[END of 'THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).]
(Next - 'PADDY COONEY'S ARMY' : from 1984.)

SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

On December 12th , 1982 , at the Mullaghcreevie Estate in Armagh City , two INLA Volunteers , Roddy Carroll and Seamus Grew , were gunned down in an RUC ambush that bore all the hallmarks of earlier shoot-to-kill operations and , again , the RUC claimed that the car in which Carroll and Grew were in had burst through a road checkpoint before they opened fire . All the evidence would later confirm that there were no checkpoints at any of the incidents , only RUC men lying in wait . The INLA Volunteers were not armed .

In Roddy Carroll's case , he had only recently been released - to the RUC's considerable annoyance - after an informer retracted 'evidence' he had initially agreed to give against him .

Since those six Armagh slayings in the space of one month , there has been further incontrovertible proof of a shoot-to-kill policy operating right across the Six Counties , aimed specifically at known republican activists but affecting also other members of the nationalist community found in what the RUC or British Army regard as suitably compromising situations : two men engaged in petty theft have been shot dead in Belfast - Patrick Elliott on December 27th , 1982 , by soldiers of the British Army 'Black Watch' regiment as he ran unarmed from an Andersonstown chip shop he had just robbed .

Francis McColgan , January 19th , 1983 , was shot dead after a car chase by the RUC , following a petrol station robbery by McColgan and two friends using an imitation pistol.......
(MORE LATER).


PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

Not the least surprise of the recent Theatre Festival was the emergence into public view of the author of 'Souper Sullivan', one Eoghan Harris , who is better known as a TV producer and less known as a political activist . Harris is so given to secrecy that few people outside the media know of his deep influence within the Workers Party - in fact , more than anyone else , Eoghan Harris has been responsible for the transformation of the Workers Party philosophy from socialist republicanism to a bizarre blend of stalinist unionism .

But strangely , now that the Workers Party is breaking through into electoral politics , it is also shaking itself free from its hard-line mentors . There are new stars rising in the WP , more pliable , more compromising , and more intent on getting their bums onto seats in Leinster House . All of which leaves the moody Eoghan Harris somewhat isolated , somewhat bitter , and with time on his hands to write boring plays .

The son of a well-to-do Cork shop-keeper , Harris was originally an ardent republican ; those who remember him in University College Cork say his early republican persona was almost stage Irish.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to a 'balls-up' with our staff (!) , this blog will publish only on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays .
Until.......

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .

DUP presence in talks , which has begun to seem possible since the recent warm exchange between Ian Paisley and Mo Mowlam , would nonetheless further un-nerve the clearly jittery UUP. The occasional proposition by a few London editorial writers that David Trimble is biding his time , edging his 'troops' forward , meets with derision among talks' participants and a unanimous shaking of heads - however , few predict a Trimble walkout : one delegate put it , gloomily , - " If the Paisley menace revives though , and he stops the thing in its tracks further down the line by starting on again about decommissioning , that would be no surprise . "

Whatever Gerry Adams and the (P) Sinn Fein leadership face in the future , it is the Unionist dilemma which grabs attention now - unionist posturing , mirrored perfectly for one watcher in David Trimble's jerky body language , invites mockery but offers the slightest of hopes - " He can't sit down and the others seem nearly as restless . Perhaps that represents the mood in their community at the moment . Who knows where it might lead ? On good days I think there might be a speeded-up versioin of the shift that brought republicans this far . "

Inside the talks some sympathise with David Trimble's predicament : only a remarkable leader could present the likely outcome of negotiations for unionists as anything other than defeat . Trimble could in theory of course say , as a scornful former colleague puts it - "...this is a process I neither like nor trust , the Shinners are a devious bunch , but I'm staying because my people will go unrepresented if I don't , and I'll argue as hard as I can for a settlement that underwrites the British dimension of Northern Ireland (sic) , no matter what happens to unionist numerical superiority . " That David Trimble who owes his election as leader to his performance at Drumcree 1995 , however , is on past form not the man to make such a pitch.......
(MORE LATER).


SHOOT TO KILL .
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

At around 9.35PM on the night of Thursday , November 11th last year (1982) , 31-year-old Gervase McKerr left his home in Lurgan's Teghnaven estate accompanied by Eugene Toman and Sean Burns , both aged 21 . All three were IRA Volunteers in the North Armagh Brigade , all three were unarmed .

Less than ten minutes later they lay dead or dying on a darkened road less than half-a-mile away , Gervase's Ford Escort car riddled with more than 50 bullets in an RUC ambush . Less than two weeks later , on November 24th 1982 , not far away from the scene of the earlier killings , at a farmhouse between Lurgan and Craigavon , 17-year-old Michael Tighe was shot dead and his 20-year-old friend critically wounded in a second RUC stake-out operation . Neither were members of a republican organisation , yet the RUC claimed that a routine patrol had opened fire when the youths had pointed weapons at them . The 'weapons' the RUC produced were three 60-year-old rifles of German and Italian origin , believed to have belonged to the late husband of the elderly woman who lived at the farmhouse - he was a republican veteran of the Black and Tan war .

There was no ammunition with the rifles and considerable evidence that an RUC unit had staked out the farm for some time before the shooting : Martin McAuley , wounded in the attack , was subsequently charged in his hospital bed with 'conspiracy to murder' , in a transparent attempt to cover up the RUC's cold-blooded killing .......
(MORE LATER).



THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......
Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

In a 1977 directive to RTE , Conor Cruise O' Brien spelled out exactly what organisations were to be banned from the airwaves :

' RTE is hereby directed to refrain from broadcasting any matter which is : an interview or report of an interview with a spokesman for any one or more of the following organisations , namely -
a) the organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army .
b) the organisation styling itself Sinn Fein .
c) the organisation styling itself the Ulster Defence Association .
d) the organisation styling itself the Irish National Liberation Army . '
To that list has now been added Republican Sinn Fein .

The question of electoral broadcasts was contested during the 1982 elections by Sinn Fein candidate Sean Lynch : he won his case in the State High Court , but the State appealed to the Supreme Court , where Judge O' Higgins ruled that the Minister was not acting 'ultra vires' (' outside of his jurisdiction') , by restricting Sinn Fein from taking part in electoral broadcasts , no matter how many candidates they put up .
[END of 'The Right To Silence']
(NEXT : 'Eoghan Harris - Pillars Of Society' , from 1985)

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Due to 'staff' (!) shortages here at '1169...' - because of some football matches or other , this Blog will only be updated every second day , for the next few weeks . In short , I have been abandoned by all but this machine ! Sharon . (PS : the exams are over , but now 'Junior' is distracted by the football . What next - girls knocking on the door ... ? )


THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .

The 'Ulster Unionist Party' were challenged on their 'sloppy' paper-work ; they shrugged and replied - " You know us , always late ... " - however , some suspect the real reason is dread of 'position papers' leaking to Ian Paisley (DUP) or worse , falling under the forensic knife of one-time UUP member and longtime foe , barrister Bob McCartney .

One delegate stated , in language echoed by several others - " It's the absence of McCartney that's made this place more relaxed . When he was there it was like a school with a great big bully and you never knew if it was you that was in for the ritual humiliation . You hoped it would be someone else . Almost everyone felt it , but he hated the UUP worst ; you could see the relief on their faces when McCartney turned on the British government instead of them . " A disloyal colleague said - " David's still looking over his shoulder at Bob , even though he's not there . "

By comparison , the ageing Paisley's thunder has lost some of its intimidatory charge : yet , in the absence of Paisley and Robert McCartney , who between them won 43 per cent of the unionist vote in 1996's Forum Election , the UUP can only claim to speak for a narrow majority of unionists with the support of the tiny loyalist parties , not the most comfortable position for a party which shuns (P) Sinn Fein as indistinguishable from the IRA.......
(MORE LATER).



THE ROMAN REICH....... ?
Following the disbandment of the Dublin-based grouping , the NSIWP , a new right-wing organisation , believed to be linked with right-wing Catholic groups , has been formed . COLM KEENA reports .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , 1 October 1987.

In July of last year (1986) , 'In Dublin' magazine published an article on the National Socialist Irish Workers Party (following which the magazine received a number of threatening letters , and even a fish's head!) which revealed that the owner of the house in Eugene Street , Dublin 8 , which was being used as a postal address for rascist and anti-semitic material distributed in Ireland and abroad , was a Hazel Etherington , married name Deevy , who lives in Stamer Street , Dublin 8 : M/S Deevy told 'In Dublin' that she was not a member of the NSIWP , and that she simply rented the house to them .

That property has since been put up for sale , as has another property on Daniel Street , Dublin , which is also used by members of the same right-wing organisation . The NSIWP has now been 'absorbed' into a similiar group called the National Socialist Party (NSP) , whose leader is an Allen G. Glenhill , who lives in Warrenpoint , County Down : the NSP says there is 'no love lost' between themselves and the 'Social Action Initiative' , the group which publishes the 'Ar Aghaidh' bulletin , and say they are looking forward to see who will 'win out in the end' , when the 'Social Action Initiative' goes public in 1988 .

Both the NSP and the SAI have political lines which are anti-multinationals , anti-communist , pro-nationalism , and anti-non-EEC foreign nationals : the alternatives to capitalist democratic slavery and world communist tyranny is national socialist liberation , they believe .
[END of 'THE ROMAN REICH']
(Next : ' SHOOT TO KILL ' - from 1983.)


THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......
Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

A new RTE Authority was appointed and on 16 November 1974 , the 'Irish Press' newspaper commented : ' Since it took up office the present Authority has been asserting itself in an area of management which previous authorities left to the administrative and executive employees of RTE . It has insisted on being represented on interview boards for example , and its tentacles have reached down deeper and deeper into the day by day decision making areas and programme making areas of the organisation . '

In 1976 Conor Cruise O' Brien introduced the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) which stated - 'Where the Minister is of the opinion that the broadcasting of a particular matter or any matter of a particular class which would be likely to promote , or incite to crime , or would tend to undermine the authority of the state , he may by order direct the Authority to refrain from broadcasting the matter or any matter of the particular class , and the Authority shall comply with the order . ' That amendment included the controversial and highly ambiguous phrase '...tend to undermine the authority of the state..' .

And just in case he had'nt made himself clear , in 1977 O' Brien issued a directive to RTE in which he spelled out exactly what organisations were to be banned from the airways.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to 'staff' (!) shortages here at '1169...' - because of some football matches or other , this Blog will only be updated every second day , for the next few weeks . In short , I have been abandoned by all but this machine ! Sharon . (PS - the exams are over , but now 'Junior' is distracted by the football ! What next - girls knocking on the door.... ?)

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .

The youngest 'Ulster Unionist Party' member , Jeffrey Donaldson , is the only party delegate of any significance whose 'engagement' others noted , on the subject of identity , Britishness and Irishness : but an approving (P) Sinn Fein soundbite brought immediate party denial - he had offered no more than clarification , through the chair . The exception pointed up the rule - David Trimble's habit of dipping in and out of sessions and rarely making a personal contribution sets the tone .

An official whose hallmark is understatement says : " Even though they're in the talks , it looks like the UUP have'nt worked out any clear strategy beyond registering disapproval of (P) Sinn Fein . " Another participant , not a nationalist , came to a despairing conclusion a year ago and sees no reason to change his mind : " They're a mess . They don't like each other or trust each other . I can't believe what a shambles they are close up . "

When the parties were meant to provide papers setting out their 'principles and requirements' in Strands One and Two of the talks , the UUP at first sent neither a paper nor the expected senior figure : next day , no paper but deputy leader John Taylor did stay for an hour ! When that stage ended , the UUP delivered their 'opening statement' - which everyone else had turned in on the first day of talks - and were challenged on same being "sloppy".......
(MORE LATER).



THE ROMAN REICH....... ?
Following the disbandment of the Dublin-based grouping , the NSIWP , a new right-wing organisation , believed to be linked with right-wing Catholic groups , has been formed . COLM KEENA reports .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , 1 October 1987.

The new 'group-within-a-group' , the 'Social Action Initiative' , says it is going to 'go public' in May of 1988 , and wants to be well organised around the country by that date - it has yet to decide on a public name . Referring to various strands of belief within extreme right-wing groups , the 'Editor's Note' in the latest issue of the 'Ar Aghaidh' bulletin reads -

' In these darkening days , all non-communists must pull together , under all circumstances . To do otherwise is to play the 'System's ' game for them . We are all nationalist , pro-Western civilisation , pro-family , pro-life and pro-Nature . Surely there is ample room for manoeuvre here ?' Kevin Boland says that following his and most of his colleagues' withdrawal from Aontacht Eireann , it was taken over by a group of strongly pro-Catholic individuals . For a number of years , up to last year (ie 1986) , the party continued to register with the clerk at Leinster House , with the rights to take part in elections , which that registration 'allows'.......
(MORE LATER).


THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......
Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

Dr. Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael , Dublin South-East constituency) rose to his feet in Leinster House to voice opposition to Fianna Fail pressure on the RTE Authority : Fitzgerald stated that he supported "...every word ,(of) which I heartily endorse.." of that which the State Labour Party's David Thornley had said by way of objection to Fianna Fail machinations .

Fitzgerald continued - " The government regarded this occasion as a means of getting control of RTE , of replacing it with a puppet Authority and preventing freedom of speech * . The real threat to this country is not the IRA but the threat to freedom of speech and this is a sinister plot on behalf of the government to get control . I do not know what kind of superhacks could be found to obey the whim of the minister . " ( * '1169...' Comment : the "threat to freedom of speech" , as represented by Section 31 and acknowledged as such by Fine Gael whilst in opposition , was never recognised as such by Fine Gael when they were in power!)

Despite Garret Fitzgerald's 'outspoken opposition' to Section 31 censorship , when he was returned as a member of the State coalition Administration after the 1973 election , he was not noticably in a hurry to restore the 'independence' of RTE - in fact the opposite was the case and Posts and Telegraphs State Minister Dr. Conor Cruise O' Brien quickly set about trying to refine Section 31 censorship and make it even more an instrument of government policy.......
(MORE LATER).

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Due to 'staff' (!) shortages here at '1169...' - because of some football matches or other , and exams (you show 'em , Junior!) - this Blog will only be updated every second day , for the next few weeks . In short , I have been abandoned by all but this machine ! Sharon .

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .

In Stormont , there is agreement that the most positive and effective unionist voices come from the tiny parties who speak for the loyalist paramilitaries , in particular David Ervine of the 'Progressive Unionist Party' (PUP) and David Adams of the 'Ulster Democratic Party' (UDP). " It's kind of hackneyed now , " delegates from two other Unionist parties agreed , "people say it so often - if only the rest of us had that kind of leadership ."

Some are surprised at the comparative lack of impact to date of the 'biggest' names ; SDLP leader John Hume withdrawn , apart from a few 'effective interventions,' Gerry Adams slow , almost stumbling in what limited debate there has been - "Nervous , maybe..." , said several of those present . Martin McGuinness does better "...in an earthy kind of way , which I did'nt expect.." , said a delegate , not inclined to regard McGuinness as 'humourous' .

The 'stars' to date , by fairly wide consenus , have been the SDLP's deputy leader , Seamus Mallon , and senior SDLP negotiator , Mark Durkan .......
(MORE LATER).


THE ROMAN REICH....... ?
Following the disbandment of the Dublin-based grouping , the NSIWP , a new right-wing organisation , believed to be linked with right-wing Catholic groups , has been formed . COLM KEENA reports .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , 1 October 1987.

The Irish 'Christian Social Party' maintain that communists and freemasons have already infiltrated the ranks of Ireland's public representatives , and some are actually in government : the two sit happily beside each other , and are part of the same conspiracy , according to the 'Christian Social Party' . Garret Fitzgerald , because of his membership of the secretive Bilderberg Group , is in their view an especially suspect Irish politician .

Jim Keating said to 'In Dublin' magazine that he had never heard of the 'Social Action Initiative' , the name which those publishing the 'Ar Aghaidh' bulletin give themselves : he says his magazine "...wears several hats , including protesting about the eastern bloc , and civil rights issues there.."

'Ar Aghaidh' reproduces a poem , titled 'Non-racial' , in its October issue , "...with the author's kind permission.." - the poem is reproduced from 'Clarion' magazine and the author is Eoin O Maille , one of the leading members of the 'Christian Social Party' . The most interesting part of the 'Ar Aghaidh' bulletin is its letters page , where it prints correspondence relating how to organise and how to avoid interception of mail by the 'intelligence community' , and even communications from well-established European militant national socialist groups.......
(MORE LATER).


THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......
Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

A 'crunch point' between the Jack Lynch State administration and RTE was clearly coming and it came when Kevin O 'Kelly of RTE Radio News interviewed Sean MacStiofain , regarded as Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA : MacStiofain was arrested as he left O' Kellys house in the early hours of the morning , and there began a long process which was to include MacStiofain's hunger strike and charging in the 'Special Criminal Court' in Dublin with membership of the IRA , based on his interview with O ' Kelly .

Kevin O' Kelly was later to find himself subpoenaed to give evidence in the court : despite MacStiofain's arrest , RTE went ahead with a version of the interview on the 1pm Sunday Radio News - the State administration was furious and issued an ultimatum to the RTE Authority demanding an explanation ; the Authority refused to comply with the ultimatum and , on 25 November 1972 , State Minister Gerry Collins , acting under 'government directive' , sacked the entire RTE Authority ! 'Government control' over RTE had now been firmly established .

Speaking in Leinster House on 23 November 1972 after the ultimatum had been issued , but before the sacking of the RTE Authority , Labour Party member David Thornley said - " We cannot separate the freedom of the press from the freedom of TV journalists . When asked to comment on the matter by the 'Irish Independent' newspaper during the week , I said I hoped the RTE Authority would tell the Minister to go to hell . I hope they have done so . " Even Fine Gael objected.......
(MORE LATER).

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