EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2007 :Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance,Parnell Square, Dublin , at 1.45pm for the Parade to the GPO.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
THEY ARE HELD IN BELFAST JAIL .......From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Sentenced To Penal Servitude :
E. Boyce , Dublin - 12 years .
T. Mitchell , Dublin , - 10 years .
P. Clarke , Dublin - 10 years .
J. McCabe , Leitrim - 10 years .
S. O'Callaghan , Cork - 10 years .
J.Hegarty , Cork -10 years .
L. Mulcahy , Cork - 10 years .
P. Kearney , Dublin - 10 years.
K. O' Rourke , Banbridge , County Down - 7 years .
E.Timoney , Derry City - 10 years.
P.J. O' Kane , Dungiven , County Derry - 10 years .
P. Collins , Belfast - 4 years .
T. O' Malley , Belfast - 5 years .
C. A. Loy , Newry , County Down - 8 years .
B. G. Loy , Newry , County Down - 8 years .
P. Constantine , Dublin - 8 years.
T.P. Cairns , Newry , County Down - 8 years.
P. Shaw , Dundalk , County Louth - 8 years .
S. Hands , Dundalk , County Louth - 8 years .
P. Duffy , Dundalk , County Louth - 8 years .
J. J. Kelly , Belfast - 8 years .
J. Madden , Cork - 8 years .
D. P. Lewsley , Shore Road , Lurgan , County Armagh - 8 years .
P. J. Monaghan , Dunamorie , County Tyrone - 3 years .
T. Ferron , Belfast - 4 years .
J. J. Corbett , Belfast - 5 years .
T. P. P. Doyle , Dublin - 6 years .
P. J. Hodgins , Dublin - 5 years .
(MORE LATER).
ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.......By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.
However , for all this apparent failure of capitalism to deliver , the immediate prospect is not one of revolution towards a socialist alternative which would include nationalisation , the ending of the profit motive , and a planned economy with full employment , but rather one of the continuation of private enterprise , publicly-financed where weakest by the State , and of the further crippling of workers and the unemployed who bear the brunt of this failure .
Undoubtedly , the reasons for this total lack of socialist economic alternative , even in the absence of a strong constitutional force of the left either North or South , rest on political factors originating in Ireland's national history . In the North , the continuation of sectarian discrimination against the nationalist people , in order to maintain the State itself , has eradicated any basis for the growth of class politics . In the Free State , the centrality of the unresolved issue of partition in the political affiliations of the population , coupled with a labour movement historically afraid of that issue , has had a devastatingly similar effect in stifling even the mildest consideration of revolutionary economic solutions .
But of equal importance in considering the position of the Irish capitalist economy - and ultimately in considering its particular weaknesses - is the development of that economy historically.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
You work on a building site . You might have had a few jars the night before and maybe you don't feel too well . You might be thinking about getting home for something to eat . But right now you are down a hole , digging it deeper . Suddenly you hear - " How's it goin' lads ? " You look up and there's Dick Spring looking down into the hole , smiling : he asks if the digging is going okay . That can be very un-nerving.
Dick wanders off and starts to 'level' some concrete with a piece of timber , and lets it be known that he once worked on a building site . Nobody mentions that perhaps it might have been a good idea if he had stayed there . Dick gets a hard hat and a sledgehammer and poses for local photographers beside a bucket of concrete . 'Dick The Builder' , photographed filling a bucket of concrete with a sledgehammer . Someone remarks that Dick was known as a very dirty player on the sportsfield and Dick doesn't deny this . Dirty play is now parading as virtue . " Still am . When I don't get my own way , I walk off the pitch."
Later , on the way into a hotel , Dick notices that a poster of Dessie O' Malley has had eyeshadow and lipstick painted in . " Graffiti with taste , " he remarks . The political-circus bus drives on : Malahide , then Swords . At a shopping centre , it's time to talk to the punters again . The reaction is not great for the party leader who claims to represent the working class . Indeed , one woman says she will only vote for him when he gets her husband back to work , another woman says only when he gets her husband back from his job in England , and a third woman says only when he gets her a grant for some building work that she's trying to get done . A nurse says she will vote for Barry Desmond as she admires him , even though she wouldn't agree with everything he has done . But by now the timetable is getting loused up and Dick is led away by his handlers.......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
SUPPORT IRISH POW's IN MAGHABERRY JAIL ! 
EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2007 :
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance,Parnell Square, Dublin , at 1.45pm for the Parade to the GPO.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
THEY ARE HELD IN BELFAST JAIL .From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
There are now approximately 250 persons jailed in the Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast . It is impossible to be precise about the figures for they change from day to day . The Stormont Home Affairs Minister , Walter William Buchanan Topping, said on November 29 , 1957 , that 166 persons were being held without charge or trial and were interned : that 27 are being "detained" meaning that charges may be brought against them . W.W.B. Topping said 13 would definitely be charged and the question of charges against the remaining 14 was under consideration . Another 49 prisoners were serving sentences after conviction .
The 49 men sentenced since December 12 , 1956 , had been condemned to a total of 272 years imprisonment . British Minister Topping said that the intention of these young men was to "...blast Ulster (sic) out of their way.." He is wrong . What these young men - and some of them are not so young - are demanding is a free and united Ireland with the shadow of British Imperialism removed forever from the land . Irishmen and women at home and abroad salute the courage of these gallant men . We list here , firstly , the details of those sentenced to 'Penal Servitude.......'
(MORE LATER).
ECONOMY IN CRISIS - An Historical Perspective.By any standards the economy of Ireland , North and South , can be described as being in a sorry mess with crisis , recession and imminent bankruptcy the most constant themes of economic discussion , intermittently over the last decade and ceaselessly in the last three years . In this article , Peter Graham surveys the factors which have produced this economy , and the historical role of foreign and native Irish capital.
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982.
Every economic indicator tells its own story . Unemployment , officially put at more than 250,000 throughout the country , has never been higher . Growth in the Free State , by virture of its dependency on international investment , summarily pulled out by the Western world's recession , is stagnant . The North's economy , similarly , dependent almost totally in recent years on British government public spending , is crumbling as a result of monetarist policy decisions which demand cut-backs in state spending .
Whilst in the North the tight fiscal policies of the British government have brought inflation painfully down to single figures , the Free State - now separated by its independent punt in the European Monetary System - suffers inflation that soars uncontrollably each year by around twenty per cent .
In simple human terms , the economic statistics are translated into the depression of joblessness , either for those losing jobs or those never having had one in prospect . As a result too , come the cuts in real wages of those employed , decimating living standards . Adding to the misery is the severe drop in public services of all kinds , at a time when needed most , and the prospect of further cut-backs as the governments' response to the 'crisis'.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
The reception everywhere to Dick and Ruairi is similar : one man with a child refuses to stop and passes by . " He doesn't care , he's a Sinn Fein man ..." , says someone else , pointing to the child . " Did you see the funny man going by ? " he asks the child , " Did you see the man with the moustache ..." All of those belonging to the Labour Party camp-circus ignore the man and the child .
Supermarkets ! You look after the kids all day and then you go out shopping . Now it's getting on towards evening and you're tired . You're pushing the trolley along wishing you were at home . As you reach for that tin of beans , your hand is grabbed , and a Dick is there pumping it up and down , telling you who he is , introducing people to you , asking you for your vote . It rarely dawns on anybody that this man has been Deputy Prime Minister for the last four years . You're so surprised you just stand there and say nothing . Stalking between the shelves of supermarkets looking for innocent voters to accost is pretty safe because of the element of surprise . Dick wonders if it is of any benefit at all .
One woman says she won't be voting at all as she doesn't believe in politics . Another shopper says she wore a blueshirt and is not afraid to say so . A third woman tells Dick that she has been living in uninhabitable conditions for twelve years and , for Dick , this suddenly becomes a priority . Something will be done, he says . But not just now , alas , as it's time to move on to the hotel . Dick spots a building site across the road from the hotel.......
(MORE LATER).
(Patrick K - thanks for the favourable comment ; much appreciated!)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
SUPPORT IRISH POW's IN MAGHABERRY JAIL ! EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2007 :
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance,Parnell Square, Dublin , at 1.45pm for the Parade to the GPO.
Monday, September 10, 2007
RELEASE PRISONERS ! From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Portlaoise Town Commission called for the release of prisoners held in the Curragh Concentration Camp as a token of peace and goodwill . The motion was passed by three votes to two , with two members abstaining .
At Mountmellick Town Commission , the Chairman Mr Peter Johnson , said - " I was there (in the Curragh) one time myself and it isn't a very pleasant place to be . I think these men should be all released ." He asked for comments . None came . Expressing disappointment , he then said -
" These men shouldn't be arrested and pegged in behind barbed wire . None of you are going to say anything about it anyway . That is a bad thing ."
[END of 'RELEASE PRISONERS!']
(Next : 'They Are Held In Belfast Jail' - from the same source)
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
Rita O' Hare stated : " Women both inside and outside the Republican Movement should also realise the importance of their necessary actions within the liberation struggle , not solely concentrated on women's issues , but active in all possible areas of that struggle .
In the aftermath of national liberation struggles around the world we have seen attempts made to force women who were active in those struggles alongside men back into subordinate roles in the new society . This danger cannot be overcome by standing on the sidelines . It can only be totally negated by the fullest possible involvement of determined women in the heart of that struggle . It is time that all of us faced up to these realities . "
[END of 'A QUESTION OF LIBERATION']
(Next : 'Economy In Crisis - An Historical Perspective' ; from 1982.)
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
Ruairi Quinn bought everyone lunch in Kitty O' Shea's pub. Dick Spring stated that there will be a second election within eighteen months . " Come on , we're wasting time . Let's go , " says Dick . It's back across the river and onto the Northside Shopping Centre, Charlie Haughey's political heartland . Fianna Fail are having a press conference at 3pm that same afternoon and there are very few photographers still with Dick and Ruairi . In any event , many had been under the impression that they would have to pay for their own lunch and this had the effect of diminishing the numbers somewhat .
Dick wanders in and out , into a shop here , a fast food joint there . Two customers , who appear to be engrossed in some sort of deal , are frozen with horror as they see Dick advance towards them with hand outstretched . One of them tells Dick that he should have run the full term of Office , whilst the other is "disgusted" by what the Labour Party has done but , before the argument can proceed , Dick is pulled away by a handler to sign an autograph . Whatever one may say about Dick Spring , he is not afraid to be challenged about his four years in government ('1169...' Comment -...providing he has a 'handler' present to pull him away to sign autographs..) .
On Water Rates , Dick said he would 'change the system' : one woman said her mother was stopped a pension because she 'had a few pounds from England' , while a second woman cannot get a medical card . Dick replied that he 'will see what we can do' . In reply to men out of work that he meets , he says that what is needed is a strong Labour Party but they seem unimpressed . One of them replied that he used vote Labour until Micko did the dirt on him. And so the travelling circus moves on.......
(MORE LATER).
Saturday, September 08, 2007
SUPPORT IRISH POW's IN MAGHABERRY JAIL ! EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY , SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2007 :
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance,Parnell Square, Dublin , at 1.45pm for the Parade to the GPO.
Friday, September 07, 2007
DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........ From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Larry Grogan, the Sinn Fein candidate for Louth constituency in the election , who is at present interned in the Curragh Camp , was referred to by Alderman Peter Moore when he said that he was proud to say Drogheda had made its contribution to the Republican Movement and they now had this man in prison that - "...the latchet of whose shoe many of those who liked to talk of all they did for Irish Freedom are not worthy to loose."
Concluding the debate , the Mayor of Drogheda , Councillor Eugene Hughes , said - " As long as there is one British soldier on Irish soil , there will be young Irishmen willing to go out and sacrifice their lives for freedom."
[END of 'DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS']
(NEXT : 'Release Prisoners' - from the same source)
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
Rita O'Hare stated : " Such reforms as have been achieved have often been hailed by middle-class women as progress , but in fact , as intended , have served so often to defuse rising feminist militancy , and to that end put back the struggle . Women's demands are revolutionary demands and can only be fully achieved in the aftermath of a revolutionary change in the system .
While many women in the North , open to all different types of oppression in addition to the over-riding burden of oppression as women , have seen this connection and reality , women in the South , perhaps beginning at the converse position - identifying their oppression as women first - have not always taken the logical and vital step of becoming involved in the mainstream struggle for Irish liberation .
Women in the Republican Movement have worked for , and welcomed , in recent years , the recognition by that Movement of the importance of building and developing a real policy on women's struggle and attempting to carry that out , just as it has realised the importance of developing the struggle in the labour movement , without which socialism cannot be built....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
A young man tackles Dick Spring about the lack of funding for the Coolmine Drug Treatment Centre and the politician assures him that he will not find his Party wanting in that area . Ruairi Quinn had by now arranged for everybody to go to Grafton Street for another walkabout . There are people walking and talking on Grafton Street , minding their own business , when along comes Dick and shakes their hand and introduces himself and asks for the vote . It is clear that people recognise him but they are far too polite this early in the day to be rude .
Ruairi and Dick go into a hairdressers : it's a great scam and will give rise to loads of photos . So Ruairi combs Dick's hair and Dick pats Ruairi on the head . Sometime a few years ago , Ruairi had his hair parted by Moses and it hasn't been the same since .
Phil Coulter is on the amp system singing 'The Town I Loved So Well' as the bus reaches Landsdowne Road ; there are thirty-five workers engaged in work close to the river Dodder , developing a park . Needless to say , this is another of Ruairi's ideas . Some of the lads ask Dick for tickets to see a rugby match , and Dick replies 'see your man over there' , pointing at Comrade Quinn . There's very little really that can't be 'fixed up' if there's a will , a way and an election . It's lunch time , so we all head for Kitty O' Shea's.......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 06, 2007
A FEW UP-COMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS...POLITICAL STATUS PICKET -
Saturday , September 8 , 12.45pm , GPO , Dublin .
ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY -
Saturday , September 15 : Garden Of Remembrance , Parnell Square , 1.45pm for parade to the GPO .
ANNUAL BOBBY SANDS LECTURE -
Monday , September 24 , 7pm-9.30pm , Wynn's Hotel , Dublin . Theme : 'The Fenians And The Manchester Martyrs' .
More details to follow...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
INTERNMENTS/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.
DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Alderman Peter Moore said he admired the stand taken by Councillor Harry Pentony and said that he , too , had his duties as an Irishman , and stated that the other Councillors were all aware of where he stood in relation to Internment - " We are the greatest nation of hypocrites in the world . The political parties in this country have perpetuated unemployment and emigration and we are worse off now than we were in 1922 ! The Republicans are the only consistent element in the country today. They stand to gain nothing and to lose all ."
Referring to the freedom movement in Occupied Ireland he said the young men involved were right and should be admired . They went out to attack the institutions of the British Government and the British Monarchy . Their ideals were the ideals of Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet and the men and women of 1916. Speaking on the internment of Irishmen without trial he said that the situation in the so-called "Free Ireland" could only be compared with that prevailing under the "Kadar Regime", in the Six Counties , and behind the 'Iron Curtain' .......
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......
Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
The Women's Centre in Dame Street , Dublin , opened on 'International Womens Day' in 1982 after a long fight to find funds and premises , and is struggling for its existence . Run by an ad-hoc committee it provides a meeting place for any women's group or individual woman : " We would only draw the line , " says spokesperson Ita Gannon , "...at fascists." Women meet and discuss items of interest at the Centre , which also provides typing and duplicating facilities as well as running a small cafe . There is , deliberately , no over-all policy so that all women's groups can meet here . The gap between the Women's Centre and the pampered 'Council for the Status of Women' group , in terms of their usefulness to campaigns on women's rights , is as glaring as the difference in their budgets .
Questions then must be raised in any feminist movement worthy of its name . What struggles can be interpreted as feminist ? Can issues which do not 'prioritise' women be considered as legitimate areas of concern for feminist groups ? Or alternatively , is any campaign which does 'prioritise' women a feminist campaign , irrespective of its political direction ?
Imperialism affects the lives of women in ways that may not be specific to them as women : women living in imperialist-dominated countries live in poverty , political repression and discrimination , but these are oppressions of both men and women - not of women specifically . Does this mean that they cannot then be supported ? Speaking at the Irish Women United conference in 1981 on the implications of this , Rita O' Hare, the head of the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs , said : " Campaigning for women's rights under the capitalist and imperialist system is essential both in increasing awareness in women's situation and achieving whatever improvements can be wrung from the present system , and which are so urgently needed . But the capitalist system will inevitably , as in every other field of struggle , yield only the minimal reforms it can....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......
Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
On Camden Street in Dublin , Dick Spring and Ruairi Quinn talk to the street traders - and are told that business is bad . This is the first real opportunity * they have had to talk to the traders since their last election four years ago and this fact is not lost on the women of Camden Street . ('1169...' Comment - *...rather it's the first time they have bothered , and even then only because it's election time again.) It was on Ruairi Quinn's initiative that South African fruit was partially banned from Ireland , but it would appear that the level of Mr Quinn's understanding is beyond that of those who trade in the 'forbidden fruit' .
The message as to why the fruit should be banned did not get across . In response to a question , one women says - " We'll sell anything we can get a living out of." And that is the general mood on the street - apathy . People are tired of politicians , politics and promises , and many belong to the 'don't-vote-it-only-encourages-them' school of thought . This , despite the fact that many politicians are of the 'don't-vote-it-suits-us' school of thought . One street trader remarks that 'you won't see them until the next time' , and her companion replies - 'That's it' . One old man says that business is terrible and , just then , a baby is pushed past in a pram and someone asks Dick Spring if he will do the 'decent thing' and kiss the baby . " No , " says Dick , "...we're not in that league . We kiss the mothers." Then the issue of drug abuse is briefly raised.......
(MORE LATER).
DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS........ From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
Alderman Peter Moore said he admired the stand taken by Councillor Harry Pentony and said that he , too , had his duties as an Irishman , and stated that the other Councillors were all aware of where he stood in relation to Internment - " We are the greatest nation of hypocrites in the world . The political parties in this country have perpetuated unemployment and emigration and we are worse off now than we were in 1922 ! The Republicans are the only consistent element in the country today. They stand to gain nothing and to lose all ."
Referring to the freedom movement in Occupied Ireland he said the young men involved were right and should be admired . They went out to attack the institutions of the British Government and the British Monarchy . Their ideals were the ideals of Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet and the men and women of 1916. Speaking on the internment of Irishmen without trial he said that the situation in the so-called "Free Ireland" could only be compared with that prevailing under the "Kadar Regime", in the Six Counties , and behind the 'Iron Curtain' .......
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
The Women's Centre in Dame Street , Dublin , opened on 'International Womens Day' in 1982 after a long fight to find funds and premises , and is struggling for its existence . Run by an ad-hoc committee it provides a meeting place for any women's group or individual woman : " We would only draw the line , " says spokesperson Ita Gannon , "...at fascists." Women meet and discuss items of interest at the Centre , which also provides typing and duplicating facilities as well as running a small cafe . There is , deliberately , no over-all policy so that all women's groups can meet here . The gap between the Women's Centre and the pampered 'Council for the Status of Women' group , in terms of their usefulness to campaigns on women's rights , is as glaring as the difference in their budgets .
Questions then must be raised in any feminist movement worthy of its name . What struggles can be interpreted as feminist ? Can issues which do not 'prioritise' women be considered as legitimate areas of concern for feminist groups ? Or alternatively , is any campaign which does 'prioritise' women a feminist campaign , irrespective of its political direction ?
Imperialism affects the lives of women in ways that may not be specific to them as women : women living in imperialist-dominated countries live in poverty , political repression and discrimination , but these are oppressions of both men and women - not of women specifically . Does this mean that they cannot then be supported ? Speaking at the Irish Women United conference in 1981 on the implications of this , Rita O' Hare, the head of the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs , said : " Campaigning for women's rights under the capitalist and imperialist system is essential both in increasing awareness in women's situation and achieving whatever improvements can be wrung from the present system , and which are so urgently needed . But the capitalist system will inevitably , as in every other field of struggle , yield only the minimal reforms it can....... "
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
On Camden Street in Dublin , Dick Spring and Ruairi Quinn talk to the street traders - and are told that business is bad . This is the first real opportunity * they have had to talk to the traders since their last election four years ago and this fact is not lost on the women of Camden Street . ('1169...' Comment - *...rather it's the first time they have bothered , and even then only because it's election time again.) It was on Ruairi Quinn's initiative that South African fruit was partially banned from Ireland , but it would appear that the level of Mr Quinn's understanding is beyond that of those who trade in the 'forbidden fruit' .
The message as to why the fruit should be banned did not get across . In response to a question , one women says - " We'll sell anything we can get a living out of." And that is the general mood on the street - apathy . People are tired of politicians , politics and promises , and many belong to the 'don't-vote-it-only-encourages-them' school of thought . This , despite the fact that many politicians are of the 'don't-vote-it-suits-us' school of thought . One street trader remarks that 'you won't see them until the next time' , and her companion replies - 'That's it' . One old man says that business is terrible and , just then , a baby is pushed past in a pram and someone asks Dick Spring if he will do the 'decent thing' and kiss the baby . " No , " says Dick , "...we're not in that league . We kiss the mothers." Then the issue of drug abuse is briefly raised.......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
NOT WELCOME!
"Republicans throughout Ireland are strongly opposed to the impending visit by British Queen Elizabeth, who is also the British head of State, and will protest at this extravagant display of pomp and wealth.
But not alone for these reasons. Queen Elizabeth saw fit to award an OBE to Colonel Derek Wilford, Officer Commanding the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in Derry when they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. Not exactly an inspiring role model for women? It matters not a whit that some of those armed forces are leaving Irish soil because their place will be taken by MI5 who are deeply embedded here.
There remains one huge obstacle to reconciliation between us and Britain and that obstacle is Partition. Part of the process of putting the past behind us and moving forward would be the removal of the illegal and unjust border that divides our country and our people. Have the courage Elizabeth Windsor and begin the process of handing back what has never belonged to you - the Six northeastern Counties. That would indeed be called a 'historic event'.
It has nothing to do with maturity on our part that we should welcome the Queen of England to our shores, rather it is the same slavish attitude that has always existed in Ireland. Being an occupied and colonised people for so long can make us willing participants in our own domination.
We reject the fraudulent claims of the English Queen to be 'Queen of Northern Ireland' ".
-statement from Cathleen Knowles McGuirk, Vice-President Republican Sinn Féin
June 26, 2007.
The Dublin Executive of Republican Sinn Fein intends to protest the visit of this English queen by holding a peaceful picket in Dublin on the day of her visit. This protest will take place at the GPO in O'Connell Street, and not on O'Connell Bridge as previously stated. Full details will be announced at a later stage. All welcome!
"There is always more brass than brains in an aristocracy."
- Oscar Wilde.
"Republicans throughout Ireland are strongly opposed to the impending visit by British Queen Elizabeth, who is also the British head of State, and will protest at this extravagant display of pomp and wealth.
But not alone for these reasons. Queen Elizabeth saw fit to award an OBE to Colonel Derek Wilford, Officer Commanding the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in Derry when they shot dead 14 unarmed civilians. Not exactly an inspiring role model for women? It matters not a whit that some of those armed forces are leaving Irish soil because their place will be taken by MI5 who are deeply embedded here.
There remains one huge obstacle to reconciliation between us and Britain and that obstacle is Partition. Part of the process of putting the past behind us and moving forward would be the removal of the illegal and unjust border that divides our country and our people. Have the courage Elizabeth Windsor and begin the process of handing back what has never belonged to you - the Six northeastern Counties. That would indeed be called a 'historic event'.
It has nothing to do with maturity on our part that we should welcome the Queen of England to our shores, rather it is the same slavish attitude that has always existed in Ireland. Being an occupied and colonised people for so long can make us willing participants in our own domination.
We reject the fraudulent claims of the English Queen to be 'Queen of Northern Ireland' ".
-statement from Cathleen Knowles McGuirk, Vice-President Republican Sinn Féin
June 26, 2007.
The Dublin Executive of Republican Sinn Fein intends to protest the visit of this English queen by holding a peaceful picket in Dublin on the day of her visit. This protest will take place at the GPO in O'Connell Street, and not on O'Connell Bridge as previously stated. Full details will be announced at a later stage. All welcome!
"There is always more brass than brains in an aristocracy."
- Oscar Wilde.
Monday, September 03, 2007
INTERNMENT/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.
DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
The internment behind barbed wire fences in the Curragh Camp , of young men suspected of having been associated with the activities of freedom fighters in the Occupied territory of Ireland was the subject of strong protests at the December (1957) meeting of Drogheda Corporation .
The debate emanated from the reading of a letter from the Sinn Fein Publicity Committee protesting against the internment of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle * ('1169...' Comment * - On 6 July, 1957 the fortnightly meeting of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle was being held at the party’s Ard Oifig (Head Office) at 31 Wicklow Street in Dublin. The meeting was raided by the Garda Special Branch and seven members of the Ard Chomhairle were arrested and detained. This signalled the imposition of internment without trial by Éamon de Valera’s Fianna Fáil administration.
Among those arrested and interned were the President of Sinn Féin , Patrick MacLogan, the Vice-President Tom Doyle and the National Secretary Michael Traynor). Alderman Peter Moore and Councillor Harry Pentony spoke strongly against the 26-County government's policy in introducing the Offences Against the State Acts.
Councillor Harry Pentony said they had a right to protest against internment without trial , not only of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle , but also of all the young men held in custody behind the barbed-wire fences of the Curragh Camp . None were safe under the present laws , he said , and even he could be interned for what he stood up and said there that night . " Is this freedom ? " , he asked.......
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......
Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
Irish Republicans aside , in the 26 Counties the women's movement is trying to re-organise following the collapse of the 'Irish Women United' group: most of those formerly involved in the IWU and the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' were involved recently in campaigning against the 'abortion amendment' to the Free State constitution . Sinn Fein , too , although not involved in the campaign which implicitly recognised the 'legitimacy' of that 'constitution' , which republicans of course do not , condemned the hypocrisy of the amendment which was a piece of opportunist political gimmickry that will make no difference to the tragedy of thousands of Irish women forced to have secret abortions in England .
The Free State government-funded 'Council For The Status Of Women' perhaps points up best of all the relative failure and inconsequence of the women's movement in the South of Ireland . With a plush office in Dublin's fashionable Merrion Square and a budget of £90,000 , its brief is supposed to be to make recommendations to the Leinster House administration about women's rights , about the need to promote women in positions of authority , and to press for Irish women's demands , but its origins and nature prevents this .
Run exclusively by middle-class women ('1169...' Comment - so much so that it became known as 'The Council For Women With Status'!) whose outlook is at best reformist , it sees its limited demands being met by getting women elected to Leinster House . The total inadequacy of this is exemplified by the fact that it is , after all , a woman - Fine Gael Leinster House member Gemma Hussey - who has implemented education cuts affecting so many 26-County school children . Yet another Fine Gael Leinster House member , Nuala Fennell, was a member of the Irish Women's Liberation Group but has made no representation about women's rights while in Leinster House ! The 'Council For The Status Of Women' put thousands of advertisements in the newspapers during the last elections , calling on women to 'Vote for a Woman' but making no reference to the actual politics of the women candidates.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......
Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
Dick Spring provides as many photo opportunities as he can think of , to give him the chance to be seen to do as many different things as possible . Except he won't be doing anything at all ; he'll just be posing . His first stop of the day is at Guinness's Brewery in Dublin, where he poses with what looks like a suspended wheel in his hand : he has no idea what the function of this wheel is , but neither does anybody else . The newspaper people tell him where to walk , how to talk . The badge on his lapel says 'People Matter Most' . The really strange thing about all of this is that Dick Spring never once gets embarrassed about the carry on . Other people might want a break for a minute , but not Dick - he signs the visitors' book 'click-click-click-click-click' goes the cameras .
All of the above was very early in the day . Later , voters would tell Dick how fed-up with politics and politicians they really were . People have lost faith in Fine Gael, in Labour and the other parties that have been playing musical seats for the past seventy years . Dick is taken downstairs to see small engines that were used to transport Guinness in years gone by . He says they're "Fantastic" . It is then time to go on to Camden Street and tie-in with Ruairi Quinn, which is where the day got hi-jacked .
Just before the Labour Party bus reached Camden Street , a road worker did a cut-throat sign towards Dick Spring , twice , but Dick never noticed . Later on in the day , a driver gave him a single digit sign , which Dick noticed , and responded to in kind . At Camden Street , Dick is told to wait until everyone is out of the bus before he steps onto the street , as this will provide really good shots of Dick getting off a bus . When Comrade Quinn and Comrade Spring meet each other there is great hugging and kissing , in the Russian fashion , as if the two had not met in years . The Labour Party Office in Camden Street is a dump and looks like a bad squat . There are large bare rooms , some of which are in the process of being painted . Ruairi and Dick head off down Camden Street , and a handler attempts to introduce Dick to the public . An old woman brushes past , saying - " No . I'm not interested in meeting him......."
(MORE LATER).
DROGHEDA CORPORATION ON INTERNMENTS.
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
The internment behind barbed wire fences in the Curragh Camp , of young men suspected of having been associated with the activities of freedom fighters in the Occupied territory of Ireland was the subject of strong protests at the December (1957) meeting of Drogheda Corporation .
The debate emanated from the reading of a letter from the Sinn Fein Publicity Committee protesting against the internment of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle * ('1169...' Comment * - On 6 July, 1957 the fortnightly meeting of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle was being held at the party’s Ard Oifig (Head Office) at 31 Wicklow Street in Dublin. The meeting was raided by the Garda Special Branch and seven members of the Ard Chomhairle were arrested and detained. This signalled the imposition of internment without trial by Éamon de Valera’s Fianna Fáil administration.
Among those arrested and interned were the President of Sinn Féin , Patrick MacLogan, the Vice-President Tom Doyle and the National Secretary Michael Traynor). Alderman Peter Moore and Councillor Harry Pentony spoke strongly against the 26-County government's policy in introducing the Offences Against the State Acts.
Councillor Harry Pentony said they had a right to protest against internment without trial , not only of the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle , but also of all the young men held in custody behind the barbed-wire fences of the Curragh Camp . None were safe under the present laws , he said , and even he could be interned for what he stood up and said there that night . " Is this freedom ? " , he asked.......
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
Irish Republicans aside , in the 26 Counties the women's movement is trying to re-organise following the collapse of the 'Irish Women United' group: most of those formerly involved in the IWU and the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' were involved recently in campaigning against the 'abortion amendment' to the Free State constitution . Sinn Fein , too , although not involved in the campaign which implicitly recognised the 'legitimacy' of that 'constitution' , which republicans of course do not , condemned the hypocrisy of the amendment which was a piece of opportunist political gimmickry that will make no difference to the tragedy of thousands of Irish women forced to have secret abortions in England .
The Free State government-funded 'Council For The Status Of Women' perhaps points up best of all the relative failure and inconsequence of the women's movement in the South of Ireland . With a plush office in Dublin's fashionable Merrion Square and a budget of £90,000 , its brief is supposed to be to make recommendations to the Leinster House administration about women's rights , about the need to promote women in positions of authority , and to press for Irish women's demands , but its origins and nature prevents this .
Run exclusively by middle-class women ('1169...' Comment - so much so that it became known as 'The Council For Women With Status'!) whose outlook is at best reformist , it sees its limited demands being met by getting women elected to Leinster House . The total inadequacy of this is exemplified by the fact that it is , after all , a woman - Fine Gael Leinster House member Gemma Hussey - who has implemented education cuts affecting so many 26-County school children . Yet another Fine Gael Leinster House member , Nuala Fennell, was a member of the Irish Women's Liberation Group but has made no representation about women's rights while in Leinster House ! The 'Council For The Status Of Women' put thousands of advertisements in the newspapers during the last elections , calling on women to 'Vote for a Woman' but making no reference to the actual politics of the women candidates.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.......Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
Dick Spring provides as many photo opportunities as he can think of , to give him the chance to be seen to do as many different things as possible . Except he won't be doing anything at all ; he'll just be posing . His first stop of the day is at Guinness's Brewery in Dublin, where he poses with what looks like a suspended wheel in his hand : he has no idea what the function of this wheel is , but neither does anybody else . The newspaper people tell him where to walk , how to talk . The badge on his lapel says 'People Matter Most' . The really strange thing about all of this is that Dick Spring never once gets embarrassed about the carry on . Other people might want a break for a minute , but not Dick - he signs the visitors' book 'click-click-click-click-click' goes the cameras .
All of the above was very early in the day . Later , voters would tell Dick how fed-up with politics and politicians they really were . People have lost faith in Fine Gael, in Labour and the other parties that have been playing musical seats for the past seventy years . Dick is taken downstairs to see small engines that were used to transport Guinness in years gone by . He says they're "Fantastic" . It is then time to go on to Camden Street and tie-in with Ruairi Quinn, which is where the day got hi-jacked .
Just before the Labour Party bus reached Camden Street , a road worker did a cut-throat sign towards Dick Spring , twice , but Dick never noticed . Later on in the day , a driver gave him a single digit sign , which Dick noticed , and responded to in kind . At Camden Street , Dick is told to wait until everyone is out of the bus before he steps onto the street , as this will provide really good shots of Dick getting off a bus . When Comrade Quinn and Comrade Spring meet each other there is great hugging and kissing , in the Russian fashion , as if the two had not met in years . The Labour Party Office in Camden Street is a dump and looks like a bad squat . There are large bare rooms , some of which are in the process of being painted . Ruairi and Dick head off down Camden Street , and a handler attempts to introduce Dick to the public . An old woman brushes past , saying - " No . I'm not interested in meeting him......."
(MORE LATER).
Sunday, September 02, 2007
" IF FROM THE PATH YOU CHANCE TO STRAY..."
" I met the bravest of the brave this morning..."
Tom Williams , 12 May 1924 –2 September 1942.
“Williams was one of six IRA volunteers sentenced to death by hanging in 1942. A group of eight, including two women, had mounted a diversionary operation to take away attention from three republican parades held in Belfast to celebrate the 1916 Easter Rising. All such parades had been banned under the Stormont regime since the partition of Ireland and the introduction of the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act of 1922. A police patrol managed to capture the group but not before an exchange of shots which resulted in the death of RUC constable Patrick Murphy. Although only 18 years old, Tom Williams was in charge of the unit and in a controversial statement to the police he assumed full responsibility for the shooting. Following a remarkable international reprieve campaign, the colonial Governor of Northern Ireland commuted five of the six death sentences to terms of penal servitude. But the British had decided that Tom Williams should hang....”
(From here)
'Time goes by as years roll onwards
But in my memory fresh I'll keep
Of a night in Belfast Prison
Unshamefully I saw men weep
For the time was fast approaching
A lad lay sentenced for to die
And on the second of September
He goes to meet his god on high
Now he's walking to the scaffold
Head erect he shows no fear
For on his proud and gallant shoulders
Ireland's cross he holds so dear
Now the cruel blow has fallen
For Ireland he has fought and died
And we the countrymen who bore him
Will love and honour him with pride
Brave Tom Williams we salute you
And we never will forget
Those who planned your cruel murder
We vow to make them all regret
So come all you Irish rebels
If from the path you chance to stray
Bear in memory of the morn, when Irelands cross was proudly borne
By a lad who lay within these prison walls.'
(From here)
For Tom , and all the other brave men and women .
" I met the bravest of the brave this morning..." Tom Williams , 12 May 1924 –2 September 1942.
“Williams was one of six IRA volunteers sentenced to death by hanging in 1942. A group of eight, including two women, had mounted a diversionary operation to take away attention from three republican parades held in Belfast to celebrate the 1916 Easter Rising. All such parades had been banned under the Stormont regime since the partition of Ireland and the introduction of the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act of 1922. A police patrol managed to capture the group but not before an exchange of shots which resulted in the death of RUC constable Patrick Murphy. Although only 18 years old, Tom Williams was in charge of the unit and in a controversial statement to the police he assumed full responsibility for the shooting. Following a remarkable international reprieve campaign, the colonial Governor of Northern Ireland commuted five of the six death sentences to terms of penal servitude. But the British had decided that Tom Williams should hang....”
(From here)
'Time goes by as years roll onwards
But in my memory fresh I'll keep
Of a night in Belfast Prison
Unshamefully I saw men weep
For the time was fast approaching
A lad lay sentenced for to die
And on the second of September
He goes to meet his god on high
Now he's walking to the scaffold
Head erect he shows no fear
For on his proud and gallant shoulders
Ireland's cross he holds so dear
Now the cruel blow has fallen
For Ireland he has fought and died
And we the countrymen who bore him
Will love and honour him with pride
Brave Tom Williams we salute you
And we never will forget
Those who planned your cruel murder
We vow to make them all regret
So come all you Irish rebels
If from the path you chance to stray
Bear in memory of the morn, when Irelands cross was proudly borne
By a lad who lay within these prison walls.'
(From here)
For Tom , and all the other brave men and women .
Saturday, September 01, 2007
VICTIM OF POLITICALLY-INSPIRED FORGERY.
LEST WE FORGET THIS IRISH HERO....
ROGER CASEMENT : born September 1, 1864, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland , put to death August 3, 1916, London, England .
Roger Casement.
by William Butler Yeats.
I SAY that Roger Casement
Did what he had to do.
He died upon the gallows,
But that is nothing new.
Afraid they might be beaten
Before the bench of Time,
They turned a trick by forgery
And blackened his good name.
A perjurer stood ready
To prove their forgery true;
They gave it out to all the world,
And that is something new;
For Spring Rice had to whisper it,
Being their Ambassador,
And then the speakers got it
And writers by the score.
Come Tom and Dick, come all the troop
That cried it far and wide,
Come from the forger and his desk,
Desert the perjurer's side;
Come speak your bit in public
That some amends be made
To this most gallant gentleman
That is in quicklime laid.
(From here)
Roger Casement rarely receives a mention when it comes to the writers and poets of 1916 and yet his reports from the Putumayo and from the Congo show a writer of great talent. His descriptions of the horrendous brutality inflicted on innocent and perfectly peaceful native inhabitants was enough to force a change of policy with regard to the treatment of workers and slaves on the rubber plantations. Casement wrote in 1911 that "The robbery of Ireland since the Union has been so colossal, carried out on such a scale, that if the true account current between the two countries were ever submitted to any impartial tribunal England would be clapped in jail." Besides his obvious wit he managed to write some serious and emotive rhyme including his poem Parnell:
" Of unmatched skill to lead by pathways rife
With danger and dark doubt, where slander's knife
Gleamed ever bare to wound, yet over all
He pressed triumphant on- lo, thus to fall."
(From here)
We Irish have long memories - we need to have , with , so far, over eight centuries of recorded history to pass on to future generations...
The '1169...' Team .
LEST WE FORGET THIS IRISH HERO....ROGER CASEMENT : born September 1, 1864, Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland , put to death August 3, 1916, London, England .
Roger Casement.
by William Butler Yeats.
I SAY that Roger Casement
Did what he had to do.
He died upon the gallows,
But that is nothing new.
Afraid they might be beaten
Before the bench of Time,
They turned a trick by forgery
And blackened his good name.
A perjurer stood ready
To prove their forgery true;
They gave it out to all the world,
And that is something new;
For Spring Rice had to whisper it,
Being their Ambassador,
And then the speakers got it
And writers by the score.
Come Tom and Dick, come all the troop
That cried it far and wide,
Come from the forger and his desk,
Desert the perjurer's side;
Come speak your bit in public
That some amends be made
To this most gallant gentleman
That is in quicklime laid.
(From here)
Roger Casement rarely receives a mention when it comes to the writers and poets of 1916 and yet his reports from the Putumayo and from the Congo show a writer of great talent. His descriptions of the horrendous brutality inflicted on innocent and perfectly peaceful native inhabitants was enough to force a change of policy with regard to the treatment of workers and slaves on the rubber plantations. Casement wrote in 1911 that "The robbery of Ireland since the Union has been so colossal, carried out on such a scale, that if the true account current between the two countries were ever submitted to any impartial tribunal England would be clapped in jail." Besides his obvious wit he managed to write some serious and emotive rhyme including his poem Parnell:
" Of unmatched skill to lead by pathways rife
With danger and dark doubt, where slander's knife
Gleamed ever bare to wound, yet over all
He pressed triumphant on- lo, thus to fall."
(From here)
We Irish have long memories - we need to have , with , so far, over eight centuries of recorded history to pass on to future generations...
The '1169...' Team .
Friday, August 31, 2007
A MANIFESTO/LIBERATION/LEFT BEHIND.
A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......
This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
" To achieve our objectives we must end forever interference in our affairs by an outside power . We must drive from our shores the forces of this outside power . We must establish national independence .
That is the task the Resistance has set itself . With the help of the Irish people we will reach our goal . All British occupation forces must withdraw from Ireland now ."
[END of 'A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES']
(NEXT : 'Drogheda Corporation On Internments' - from the same source.)
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......
Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
One founder member of the 'Irish Women United'(IWU)group recalls -
" Young angry women in IWU only had to look at the position of women in Dublin , Belfast , Cork or Kerry to see that nothing had been gained for women through fighting beside men . Republicans had been as guilty as imperialists in their eyes . Now seemed the time for women to fight on their own , undistracted by calls for support from anti-imperialist but essentially male struggles . Ultimately though , the damage done by the non-discussion of the North led to the break-up of the IWU ."
For their part , republican women raised the question of women's rights formally for the first time at the 1979 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis . Both Northern and Southern women spoke , convinced that Sinn Fein had to take up seriously the oppression of women , and that it was not enough to say - as some argued - that women in the Republican Movement were not discriminated against within the Movement . Whether that were true or not , our concern had to be for the people of Ireland , for all the women who were not just second-class citizens but , as James Connolly said , "...the slaves of slaves.." .
Out of that Ard Fheis intervention came the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs which submitted a policy document - 'Women In The New Ireland' - to the 1980 Ard Fheis . It had the backing of the Ard Comhairle (ruling body) of Sinn Fein and was passed almost unanimously . Since then , 'women's affairs' officers have been appointed in most Sinn Fein cumann and comhairli ceantair , and the 'Women's Affairs' Head of Department is automatically co-opted to the Ard Comhairle : that Department , focussed mainly on Belfast , Dublin and Derry , is still in a formative stage but it has been responsible for some important initiatives as well as heightening generally the republican consciousness concerning women's rights.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.
Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
Nobody noticed how Ruairi Quinn hi-jacked Dick Spring's itinerary that day . The plan that had been laid out for Dick in advance included a visit to Ruairi , but when everybody arrived Ruairi had an alternative sheet prepared which he gave to journalists . Other than to have a stand-up row about it , there was really no choice but to go along with the new plan , which included a fair amount of publicity for Ruairi himself , who may not be returned in this election . There was even talk that he might have found himself 'a job' in the event of being made redundant by the electorate .
It's hardly a month since Dick Spring sat at the cabinet table, but in the minds of the Labour Party ministers they have distanced themselves from those awful days . Nowadays , posters of Dick show the man with an open shirt - a 'Good Man Of The People'- : his moustache is trimmed , to give it a tamer if sharper look . On the posters at least , the working class hero has finally come home to roost .
The day is dark and cold when the bus leaves Labour Party Headquarters ; Dick Spring steps out - 'People of Ireland , I love you...' On the bus , the RTE cameras start to roll as the vehicle makes its way down Dorset Street . Passers-by look with amazement as they see James Connolly's successor (!) answering questions , facing into a camera , in a bus moving through the early morning traffic . Dick has own reservations about touring in buses , and what effect it has on people but , since the other parties do it , Labour would not seem to have a choice . It is a travelling circus.......
(MORE LATER).
A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
" To achieve our objectives we must end forever interference in our affairs by an outside power . We must drive from our shores the forces of this outside power . We must establish national independence .
That is the task the Resistance has set itself . With the help of the Irish people we will reach our goal . All British occupation forces must withdraw from Ireland now ."
[END of 'A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES']
(NEXT : 'Drogheda Corporation On Internments' - from the same source.)
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
One founder member of the 'Irish Women United'(IWU)group recalls -
" Young angry women in IWU only had to look at the position of women in Dublin , Belfast , Cork or Kerry to see that nothing had been gained for women through fighting beside men . Republicans had been as guilty as imperialists in their eyes . Now seemed the time for women to fight on their own , undistracted by calls for support from anti-imperialist but essentially male struggles . Ultimately though , the damage done by the non-discussion of the North led to the break-up of the IWU ."
For their part , republican women raised the question of women's rights formally for the first time at the 1979 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis . Both Northern and Southern women spoke , convinced that Sinn Fein had to take up seriously the oppression of women , and that it was not enough to say - as some argued - that women in the Republican Movement were not discriminated against within the Movement . Whether that were true or not , our concern had to be for the people of Ireland , for all the women who were not just second-class citizens but , as James Connolly said , "...the slaves of slaves.." .
Out of that Ard Fheis intervention came the Sinn Fein Department of Women's Affairs which submitted a policy document - 'Women In The New Ireland' - to the 1980 Ard Fheis . It had the backing of the Ard Comhairle (ruling body) of Sinn Fein and was passed almost unanimously . Since then , 'women's affairs' officers have been appointed in most Sinn Fein cumann and comhairli ceantair , and the 'Women's Affairs' Head of Department is automatically co-opted to the Ard Comhairle : that Department , focussed mainly on Belfast , Dublin and Derry , is still in a formative stage but it has been responsible for some important initiatives as well as heightening generally the republican consciousness concerning women's rights.......
(MORE LATER).
THE LEFT BEHIND.Dick Spring and the Labour Party headed into this election campaign with four years of coalition government behind them . To observe them on the campaign trial you would never guess this , but there is , nevertheless , a noticeable resistence to them , especially amongst traditional Labour voters . Judging from Dick Spring's reception on the campaign trial it is almost certain that the party is in big trouble , at least in the Dublin area .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine 'Election Special' , 1987 .
By Derek Dunne.
Nobody noticed how Ruairi Quinn hi-jacked Dick Spring's itinerary that day . The plan that had been laid out for Dick in advance included a visit to Ruairi , but when everybody arrived Ruairi had an alternative sheet prepared which he gave to journalists . Other than to have a stand-up row about it , there was really no choice but to go along with the new plan , which included a fair amount of publicity for Ruairi himself , who may not be returned in this election . There was even talk that he might have found himself 'a job' in the event of being made redundant by the electorate .
It's hardly a month since Dick Spring sat at the cabinet table, but in the minds of the Labour Party ministers they have distanced themselves from those awful days . Nowadays , posters of Dick show the man with an open shirt - a 'Good Man Of The People'- : his moustache is trimmed , to give it a tamer if sharper look . On the posters at least , the working class hero has finally come home to roost .
The day is dark and cold when the bus leaves Labour Party Headquarters ; Dick Spring steps out - 'People of Ireland , I love you...' On the bus , the RTE cameras start to roll as the vehicle makes its way down Dorset Street . Passers-by look with amazement as they see James Connolly's successor (!) answering questions , facing into a camera , in a bus moving through the early morning traffic . Dick has own reservations about touring in buses , and what effect it has on people but , since the other parties do it , Labour would not seem to have a choice . It is a travelling circus.......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, August 30, 2007
THE DOGS OF FIONN..." It was a time of trouble-executions,
Death, searches, nightly firing, balked escapes –
And I sat silent while my cellmate figured
Ruy Lopez' Gambit from the 'Praxis'. Silence
Best fitted our mood: we seldom spoke.
'I have a thought,' he said, tilting his stool.
'We prisoners are so many pieces taken,
Swept from the chessboard, only used again
When a new game is started.' 'There's that hope,'
I said, 'the hope of being used again.
Some day of strength, when ploughs are out in March,
The dogs of Fionn will slip their iron chains
And, heedless of torn wounds and failing wind,
Will run the old grey wolf to death at last'.
He smiled, 'I like your image. My fat kings,
And painted Queens, and purple-cassocked Bishops
Are tame, indeed, beside your angry dogs! "
(....taken from here.)
- Written by Joseph Campbell, interned in the Curragh, 1923-24.
Read the above , follow the links and read what they offer . Then , read this link and see if you can help.......
Go raibh máith agat , from the '1169...' Crew .
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
" The Protestants of Occupied Ireland are thinking for themselves . They know that Irish Republicanism was born among them 167 years ago . They know that Protestant Ireland - and Protestant Ulster especially - has given some of her best sons to the cause of Irish Republicanism . They know that only in a truly Republican Ireland will equal rights and equal opportunities for all our citizens be assured , the memory of all past dissentions be abolished , and the common name of Irishman be substituted in place of the designations 'Protestant , Catholic and Dissenter' .
This Republican faith is not dead among them . They will yet return to the allegiance of Tone and Emmet, Mitchel and Davis, Orr and McCracken. The lies of those who stand to gain most by the British Imperial tie will then be exposed. The Irish people will then be united for the welfare of their country and the prosperity of the nation . God speed the day !
We must recover for the Irish people possession of the natural resources of our country. We must secure for the Irish people democracy , unity and sovereignty....... "
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
One founding member of the 'Irish Women United' group recalls : " A major problem in IWU was the issue of the North . Some women were members of anti-imperialist organisations , but others didn't want to hear about any struggle other than our own . Historically , the reasons for this are quite apparent and indeed valid - republicans had , like all other men , written women out of history . Anne Devlin had been relegated to the position of Robert Emmet's girlfriend - no mention of her part in the organisation of the 1803 Rising.
The militant and radical Ladies Land League, led by Anna Parnell, was disbanded and made out to be just a 'stand-in' while Charles Stewart Parnell was in jail . How many 'heart-broken sweethearts , widows or sisters' were activists ?
More recently , some republicans had been prepared to use the suffragettes, and support the women's right to vote , while others felt it was too trival to even discuss . Republicans had dismissed the suffragette hunger-strike as 'a very womanish thing to do'.......! "
(MORE LATER).
REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .
Gary Adams , from County Antrim , has one previous conviction for armed robbery in the South . Last year (1997) he gave the oration at the graveside of Johnny Morris, the young INLA man from Tallaght who was shot dead by gardai in an abortive robbery at Goldenbridge in Inchicore , Dublin .
Gary Adams and Damien Bond (31) of Doolargy Avenue , Dundalk , County Louth , were charged with INLA membership and intimidation at Oaktree Drive on August 1 , 1996 . The State later dropped the membership charge in return for both men pleading guilty to intimidation . Thomas Murray (25) of Marion Park , Dundalk , and Bart O' Connor (60) of Whitethorn Close , Beaumont , Dublin , were charged with intimidation , although the charge against Bond was later dropped .
The DPP recommended that no charge be brought against Thomas Gear.
[END of 'REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS']
(NEXT : 'The Left Behind' - from 1987)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
SOME UP-COMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS...POLITICAL STATUS PICKET -
Saturday , September 8 , 12.45pm , GPO , Dublin .
ANNUAL EVE OF ALL-IRELAND RALLY -
Saturday , September 15 : Garden Of Remembrance , Parnell Square , 1.45pm for parade to the GPO .
ANNUAL BOBBY SANDS LECTURE -
Monday , September 24 , 7pm-9.30pm , Wynn's Hotel , Dublin . Theme : 'The Fenians And The Manchester Martyrs' .
More details to follow...
Monday, August 27, 2007
A MANIFESTO : BRITAIN MUST WITHDRAW HER FORCES.......This Manifesto was posted throughout Occupied Ireland during the week beginning December 6 , 1957 , and ending on December 12 .
From 'The United Irishman' newspaper, January 1958 .
" Scores of our comrades are serving long terms of imprisonment . Many more are jailed without charge or trial . But their places in the Resistance have been filled ten-fold and now on the hills , in the glens , through the towns and villages of historic Ulster the young Volunteer freedom fighters are intensifying the struggle .
The Resistance is growing stronger . It will continue until Britain takes her forces of occupation out of our country . By force of arms our country is kept divided and unfree , by force of arms our people are robbed of their rights , by force of arms the usurper maintains his rule . Only by force of arms can Ireland be restored to her rightful owners - the Irish people .
We have no quarrel with any section of the Irish people or with any Irish man or woman . The puppet Assembly at Stormont - representing the vested interests of Tory-Unionism ('1169...' Comment - ....and nationalists/ex-republicans) who are tied to the British Empire by bonds of wealth , power and privilege - in appealing to sectarian passions have attempted to misrepresent us . Stormont has failed . ('1169...' Comment : Stormont was then , and is now , set-up by Westminster to manage the illegal and immoral occupation and to put a veneer of 'democracy' on same to the outside world , preferably , from Westminster's point of view that is , with the assistance of some local 'rebel pets') The Protestants of Occupied Ireland have not ALL been blinded by the propaganda of this Ascendancy class....... "
(MORE LATER).
A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced .
From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.
There was little attempt by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group' to organise or recruit working-class women , who of course were suffering most from the Free State's repressive laws and attitudes . It is especially significant that no demands on child care were ever formulated by the 'Irish Women's Liberation Group , but , however , their activities did raise the public consciousness of women's rights in the South , and it was through their agitation that , for instance , deserted wives and unmarried mothers now have the right to social welfare allowances .
A breakaway group of socialist and radical feminist women , the 'Irish Women United' group, emerged in 1976 - but the same inability to get to grips with the situation in the North remained . To those who raised the question of the war in the North of Ireland the stock objection put forward was that it did not 'prioritise' women and as such was not an issue for feminists ! The fact remains that many of those objectors had perceived no difficulty in supporting women struggling in anti-imperialist wars in other countries . Mairin de Burca, for instance , one of the most vociferous women who spoke against any support for the republican women prisoners in Armagh Jail, had been arrested at a demonstration held outside the American Embassy in Dublin against the war in Vietnam and subsequently served a sentence in Mountjoy Jail where she demanded and got privileges as a political prisoner.......!
(MORE LATER).
REPUBLICAN EVICTIONS.......Known members of the INLA were recruited to carry out a forced eviction of tenants in a Dublin house.
By Liz Walsh.
From 'MAGILL'magazine, June 1998 .
According to Thomas Gear , Bart O' Connor said 'they'll never bother you again' , and said there would be no cost involved but if he wanted to pay a nominal expense he could do so at a later stage . Thomas Gear denied being a member of the INLA . When Bart O' Connor was arrested he admitted contacting Gary Adams 'as a favour' to Gear - " I know he (Adams) is involved ," he told detectives , " I don't want to mention he is in the INLA , but you know yourself , it's no secret."
During questioning , Damien Bond said he had known Gary Adams for about 18 months . When asked how much he was getting for the job , he said - " I don't know . I was told it was a small job for drink money ." According to Thomas Murray's statements , the gang members were to get £100 for the job . He said he wouldn't have used the lump hammer found on him 'unless I had to.' Gary Adams refused to make a statement . The 36-year-old republican is a member of the executive of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), the alleged political wing of the INLA . According to 'security force' intelligence reports , Gary Adams is also the INLA's most senior member in the South of Ireland .
He was one of just 11 IRSP members to vote in favour of an INLA cease-fire at the IRSP Ard Fheis in Dublin last year (1997) . That vote was overwhelmingly defeated . Ironically , one of the issues he addressed at that Ard Fheis was forced evictions , caused by 'unionist-loyalist pogroms' . He condemned the evictions as 'cowardly attacks on defenceless men , women and children.......'
(MORE LATER).
Sunday, August 26, 2007
APPEAL FOR FUNDS.......
Republican Sinn Fein are embarking on a development and modernisation programme for their organisation which will include advances in recruitment , publicity , upgrading of technology and improved Office accomodation .
This will cost a considerable amount of money , which RSF haven't got , necessitating this financial appeal . All subscriptions , large or small , can be sent to the treasurer of the Republican Sinn Fein Development Fund at Head Office , 223 Parnell Street , Dublin 1 , or made payable to -
Republican Sinn Fein Development Fund ,
Allied Irish Bank ,
Capel Street ,
Dublin 1.
Account Number 15411-097.
All donations will be appreciated and acknowledged.
Go raibh máith agat !
Sharon.
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