"Health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped..."

"THE FAMILY of a woman who died in the toilet of the AE unit at Dublin's Mater hospital earlier this year after waiting hours for a bed has urged the public to turn out in large numbers for a protest march against health service cuts on Saturday...."
(From here.)

Over 20 years ago , the now main party in the State Administration, Fianna Fail, entered into a General Election campaign using the slogan 'Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped' . The majority of the voters didn't know it then , but that was more than a mere slogan - it was an (unstated) intention that Fianna Fail intended to prove. And, unfortunately, they're still chipping away at what remains of the so-called 'Health Service' in this State :
"It was reported earlier this year that there are at least 139,000 on outpatient lists at present, with some patients waiting up to eight years for an appointment..."
(From here, more here.)

Mary Harney , Millionaire State Minister for Health in the current Leinster House administration.

STATE PRIORITIES:
Recently a new facility was built inside Leinster House - a sweet shop. At a cost of €1.3 million it is said to have cost more per square metre than a fully equipped operating theatre for a hospital. One set of curtains purchased by taxpayers money to be used in the refurbished office of the Leinster House Chairperson cost €11,000 ; the curtains were supplied by the same firm that decorates the Palace of Versailles!

YOUR PRIORITIES:
Protest! Object! Complain!
A trade union-organised protest march over the useless health service will be held in Dublin on Saturday 11th October next : those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm. 'Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped' - don't wait until those health cuts have the potential to hurt you : take to the streets with us on October 11th next - it may well only be a small step , but even that can be enough to crush the political maggots with sticky hands which they clean on curtains bought by the taxpayer...
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

When the IRA's Director of Operations , Brian Keenan, was arrested in March 1979 and sent to Britain for trial on offences related to the 1974/1975 bombing campaign there , he had on him a torn half of a Libyan dinar bill ; a recognition signal that was used a lot during the 1972/1975 liaison between Colonel Gaddafi and the IRA .

Another curious piece of the Libyan jigsaw has also recently come to light : in August 1979 a shady arms dealer, called Sadiq Baahri, who operated his arms business from a legitimate export agency in Athens , disappeared while flying in his private jet on a flight from Cairo to Jeddah in Saudia Arabia . Reliable Arab sources in London now say that Baahri had incurred Gaddafi's displeasure for refusing to arrange an IRA arms shipment . The rumour in Libya , say the sources, is that Libyan jet fighters forced his plane down at Benghazi where he now languishes in jail.

In its campaign between 1977 and 1980 , the Provisional IRA has demonstrated what for the RUC and British Army must be an irritating ability to switch tactics : among the targets chosen for one to nine month campaigns have been businessmen , so-called 'off duty' UDR men, a sustained attack on the British Army and prison warders and the killing of prominent people like 'Lord' Mountbatten. Bombing targets have switched from co-ordinated , six-county wide attacks and smaller scale attacks on commercial premises , government buildings , hotels , banks and factories to the blasting of town and village centres . The methods involved in using such devices have also varied.......

(MORE LATER).




RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS: " Some supporters still question whether republican involvement in the electoral process will mean a de-escalation of military involvement . There is even perhaps an implication that this electoral strategy may have been forced on the Movement of necessity , because of the IRA's inability to guarantee a high level of military struggle in the future . Could you comment on this ? "

IRA: " No , it has nothing to do with the escalation or de-escalation of the armed struggle . The benefits in using it as another arm in the struggle are : A) the Brits don't want republicans to use electoral involvement , which proves that as a weapon it is very effective ('1169...' Comment- wrong on both counts; the Brits would much rather deal with political opposition only as that is any occupiers preferred 'theatre of war' and , secondly, political involvement can indeed be "very effective" but only when it is not being implemented by those who are prepared to sell short on issues , as the Provisionals have been doing since they left the Movement in 1986. Also - as forecast by Republican Sinn Fein - electoral involvement quickly became [for the Provisionals] the only opposition offered , rather than it being used as "another arm in the struggle" ) and B) it's a massive embarrassment to the Brits and the collaborationist political parties ('1169...' Comment - ....of whom the Provisionals can be numbered with) - highlighted by the response of all but a few honorable exceptions in Leinster House and Westminster at the time of the deaths of Kieran Doherty TD and Bobby Sands MP - and the way the British changed the law to prevent other sentenced prisoners being elected - when we involve ourselves in the 'democratic process' , because its always shown up to be completely undemocratic and false .

The electoral strategy wasn't forced on us - it was a conscious decision , and to a large extent the views of people throughout the Movement were canvassed and taken into account . Republicans must never allow themselves to be isolated ('1169...' Comment - yet , by there very nature , institutions such as Leinster House and Stormont [and Westminster] purposely "isolate" their cosy 'inmates' from , not only republicanism , but from normal 'day-to-day' issues as well , and those cosy inmates quickly become accustomed to their newfound fat salaries and expenses and quickly become insulated from the concerns and objectives of those they once claimed to represent) , we must never depend on one facet of resistance alone ('1169...' Comment - too late!) . Our resistance must be military , political , cultural , social and economic , at the same time . In that way we can involve all the people in the war against the British and the collaborationist forces . Within that wide spectrum of resistance there is a place for everybody , and everybody can find his or her place . Everyone is equal in the struggle no matter what job they are doing : selling papers , collecting for the prisoners , picketing , leafletting , carrying out an operation . But , at the same time , armed struggle is the first facet of our resistance and always will be till the British are removed from Ireland ." ('1169...' Comment - from the Provos support for armed struggle to this today: "I have met senior PSNI officers in my constituency, and my party (PSF) has also met them regarding ongoing activity......the PSNI must be allowed to do its job...." [from here] : the first statement was made in 1982 when the Adams faction was shaping-up to take control of the Movement , the second [linked] statement was made by the Adams faction after they had not only secured control of the Provisional grouping but had actually turned it from a revolutionary organisation into a parliamentary constitutional entity , with all the financial 'rewards' that accompany such a transformation.)

(MORE LATER).




THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

The women political prisoners organised debates on controversial issues - Teresa Holland stated re this issue : "We discussed how we thought the struggle was going , how we saw things developing in the long term . I remember a heated discussion on the 1975 truce and 'UDI'(Unilateral Declaration of Independence). The women were unanimous on rejecting any idea of an 'independent' Six Counties . Another debate was on young people , delinquency , joy-riding."

While the women were on the whole very politicised , women's issues however were rarely , if ever, discussed . " We never saw ourselves as different from the men in Long Kesh " is a common remark . Around 1973/1974 many men had been arrested and a lot of responsibilities had fallen to the women on the outside . The release of hundreds of male POW's later in 1975 would reverse the trend somewhat .

Medical care in Armagh Jail was primitive and still is . Doctor Cole - or 'Doctor Death' or 'The Pill Pusher' as he is referred to by the women - and his aides were quick to dish out pills ; Valium , Panadol and Distalgesics (DG's) mostly , which are now taken off the market because of their addictive effect . Many women who had dental care while in that prison developed abcesses but luckly three of the POW's were nurses and were able to advise their comrades on the type of medication they were given . Nonetheless , at least four women prisoners developed Anorexia Nervosa and other women who came in suffering from bad injuries like gunshot wounds or severe burns were not properly looked after by the prison authorities.......
(MORE LATER).

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MICHAEL COLLINS LOOKS ON AS PARTITION AND CONFLICT ARE SAID BY 'THE REBELS' TO BE 'IN THE PAST....'

One of our regular readers found himself with a few hours to spare last Sunday (5th October 2008) so himself and his Missus headed-out to the County of Meath to have a browse around the Fairyhouse Market .
Whilst browsing the hundreds of stalls and units etc , he came across a stall operated by Provisional Sinn Fein at which he noticed , incrediously , that not only were they selling framed prints of Michael Collins but they had one such framed print located right beside a framed poster which declared that partition and conflict on this isle are things of the past ! -

(A clearer pic of this 'Its In The Past!' poster can be seen here.)

- our reader asked one of the PSF stall holders if they would agree that they were being a wee bit premature in saying that partition and conflict on this isle are in the past : he ended-up giving a brief history lesson to the hapless rep and asked how they could possibly support the notion that partition and the conflict which arises from it can be said 'to be over' as this island is still partitioned by Westminster , which maintains an armed , and political , presence on the island ? The garbled reply was as dense as the framed poster- "But things are a lot better...we're almost there....the leadership know what they're doing....things are looking up...."
Our man walked away , shaking his head in despair , and wondering how such people can be left in charge of a market stall , never mind how they can 'claim ownership' to the best way to resolve the not yet resolved issue of partition and the conflict that arises from same! Needless to say, he wasn't buying it....!
Sharon.

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32 YEARS UNDER WATER........

....or 'A SWIM FOR EVERY COUNTY!'

It began - properly structured and organised - in 1976 ,as a ‘fundraiser with a difference’ combined with the need to gain extra publicity for a situation which was then - as now - making world headlines . Those that sat down together in early September 1976 to tighten-up the then ‘hit-and-miss’ affair were a dedicated team who fully understood that to fail in their business would not only bring derision on them and the issue they sought to highlight , but would give their enemy a publicity coup which they would exploit to the fullest extent . With that in mind , the team persevered - favours were called-in , guarantees were secured , provisions obtained and word dispatched to like-minded individuals in the near-locale . At the appointed time on the agreed day - 12 Noon , Christmas Day 1976 - a soon-to-be 32-years-young event was ‘born’…….
The CABHAIR Christmas Day Swim is , thankfully , still going strong and will be , as mentioned , 32-years-young on December 25th next!
Photographs of last years event can be viewed here and , if you can’t make it to the actual swim itself , you might consider posting a donation to the following address (please note that all monies raised goes to the republican prisoners themselves and to their families - no expenses or admin fees etc are removed) :
CABHAIR
Irish Republican Prisoners Dependants Fund
223 Parnell Street,
Dublin 1,
Ireland.
Thank You,
Go Raibh Maith Agat.
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

Contrary to press speculation the killings and bombings in Germany were not aided by the Baader-Meinhof group or other anarchist groupings but were a short term and largely unsuccessful attempt to arouse western European interest in the war in Ireland. According to one British Army source '...there are no operational links between the IRA and any of these groups..' by which was meant not only the Baader-Meinhof group but also ETA, the Bretons and the Corsicans. The IRA guns that come from those sources are few and far between .

The IRA buys its weaponry in Europe and the Middle East from conventional black market sources who also supply training : the last two years have seen the severing of an important link with the PLO -the British Army says that the Towerstream cargo at least in part came via the PLO . Now Yasser Arafat says the link has been formally ended in return for Dublin and EEC recognition of his cause . ('1169...' Comment : in much the same way as the Adams Provo leadership began the wind-down of the Provisional organisation in the years between 1983 and 1986 , leading to that disgraceful grouping now actually enforcing British mis-rule on this isle.)

Some mystery however surrounds the link with Libya's Colonel Gaddafi which most people thought had ended with the deportation of the last remaining Provo contact man in early 1975 . Now there is speculation that the link might have been re-established.......

(MORE LATER).




RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS: " What is your view of the 'normalisation' process ? Did the hunger-strike spell the end of it , or is it still ongoing ? "

IRA: " It's on-going . 'Normalisation' was a major problem in 1977 , 1978 and 1979 , although the IRA's efforts and operations etc blocked it to a large extent. The hunger-strike had a big effect in causing people to start looking again at the whole process of British involvement . So, while it is an ongoing process , the IRA too is involved in an ongoing process of defeating it."

(MORE LATER).




THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

The women POW's in Armagh Jail as a whole formed 'A' Company , which was eventually divided into three sections , one for each Prison Wing , and named after dead IRA Volunteers : Ethel Lynch from Derry , who had died in 1974 , Vivienne Fitzsimmons from Downpatrick , who had died in August 1973 , and Julie Dougan from Portadown , who had died in August 1972 - all three were killed on active service.

Before 10am the whole Wing had to be cleaned , bins taken out , cells tidied up and , after inspection by the IRA Officer Commanding at 10.30am , the women had a 15-minute to half-hour military drill in the exercise yard . Classes were organised , with quite a few prisoners taking official exams . Irish classes were taken by six of the women who were themselves receiving tuition from Seán O' Boyle, an old Gaelic scholar from Armagh . One of the POW's , Marie Dillon , taught Irish dancing .

Every Sunday the POW's would parade in the yard in full uniform : black skirts , black sweaters and berets that the women had crocheted themselves with black wool . " It was very important , " ex-POW Eileen Hickey recalls , " in keeping the women together . It kept them aware that they were soldiers . In Armagh you could feel so far removed from the Movement , from the struggle outside." Special parades were organised on Easter Sunday and on St Patrick's Day.......

(MORE LATER).

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One of the placards to be carried by Republicans on the up-coming Saturday 11th Oct '08 Health March in Dublin.

"What we are looking for is a revolution, that the people of Ireland take ownership of their own health service. Our incidence of hospital-acquired infections is one of the worst in Europe. There is no point, as the HSE does, comparing us with Britain. They are alongside us...."
(From here.)

'Forty-eight per cent of our viewers felt she had made a difference, but for the wrong reasons, with this proportion of those polled feeling services have declined since the current Minister assumed office.
A further 33% felt Mary Harney had made no difference, good or bad, to the service, while only 14% felt that services had actually improved under her tenure....'
(From here.)

" Every year in Ireland, around 10,000 people suffer a stroke and 2,500 die as a result, yet just one Irish hospital out of 37 has a fully resourced stroke unit, the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has said...... vital services are either ad hoc or non-existent......if a person has a stroke tomorrow, the quality of care that they can expect to receive will be determined by ‘chance, location and a haphazard combination of circumstances’.......at least 500 lives could be saved each year if stroke unit care was introduced......"
(From here.)

Register your objection in Dublin on Saturday October 11th next - don't leave it to someone else to voice your opposition to the millionaire politicians who use your tax payments to obtain private health care for themselves and their families while you and yours die in hospital waiting rooms or , if you're 'lucky' , on a hospital trolley . Join the protest!
Sharon.

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"Health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped..."

Over 20 years ago , the now main party in the State Administration, Fianna Fail, entered into a General Election campaign using the slogan 'Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped' . The majority of the voters didn't know it then , but that was more than a mere slogan - it was an (unstated) intention that Fianna Fail intended to prove. And, unfortunately, they're still chipping away at what remains of the so-called 'Health Service' in this State :
"It was reported earlier this year that there are at least 139,000 on outpatient lists at present, with some patients waiting up to eight years for an appointment..."
(From here, more here.)

Mary Harney , Millionaire State Minister for Health in the current Leinster House administration.

STATE PRIORITIES:
Recently a new facility was built inside Leinster House - a sweet shop. At a cost of €1.3 million it is said to have cost more per square metre than a fully equipped operating theatre for a hospital. One set of curtains purchased by taxpayers money to be used in the refurbished office of the Leinster House Chairperson cost €11,000 ; the curtains were supplied by the same firm that decorates the Palace of Versailles!

YOUR PRIORITIES:
Protest! Object! Complain!
A trade union-organised protest march over the useless health service will be held in Dublin on Saturday 11th October next : those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm. 'Health Cuts Hurt The Old, The Sick And The Handicapped' - don't wait until those health cuts have the potential to hurt you : take to the streets with us on October 11th next - it may well only be a small step , but even that can be enough to crush the political maggots with sticky hands which they clean on curtains bought by the taxpayer...
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

Other items in the 'PIRA financial account' which British General Jim Glover put together , like money spent on pay , are confirmed by IRA sources but yet other such 'guesstimates' are impossible to check . The amount of money gained from so-called 'racketeering' for instance is an example : there's no doubt that numerous businesses such as pubs , clubs , taxis etc in republican districts do pay money to the PIRA , which is collected by the (Republican) Civil and Military Administration Department and can vary from £15,000 to £20,000 per annum from a large club to £2 per week from a corner shop . No one will say whether it's 'protection money' or 'voluntary donations' .

An incidental factor resulting from the re-organisation of the PIRA is that now less money 'strays' into private pockets , or so it is claimed : in the past it was not unknown , and there are PIRA men in jail to prove it , for PIRA Commanding Officers and Adjutants in some areas of Belfast to send their men out , unknowing , on unauthorised robberies for their own enrichment and , equally , it was not unknown for those volunteers themselves to take a cut . ('1169..' Comment : as stated before in relation to the author [Ed Moloney] , he may have had his connections within the Movement but he himself was not a known or active republican.)

Up until 1978 the Provisional IRA had operated exclusively in Ireland and in Britain , but in that year there were bomb attacks at BAOR bases in Germany followed by more bombs the next year . In early 1979 the British ambassador to the Hague , 'Sir' Richard Sykes , was shot dead and a Belgian bank official also killed in mistake for the British ambassador to NATO . This year (1980) three British soldiers in Germany have been shot , one, a Colonel , was killed by the same 9mm pistol used to kill 'Sir' Richard Sykes . The bombings and shootings were the work of two separate PIRA Cells who had travelled to the Continent in the guise of Irish building workers . Both have since returned to Ireland.......
(MORE LATER).



RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : " The activities of petty criminals and organised gangsters pose a substantial problem within the nationalist community , particularly within Belfast . In recent months the IRA seems to have taken a strong line , through punishment shootings , the attempted execution of Danny 'Boy' Valliday and the execution of 'Gangster' Devlin . Do you intend to take a similar line in future , and does the IRA regard these activities as an irritating but largely insoluble problem ? "

IRA : " The type of criminal you refer to is one who organises crime , who is terrorising the local nationalist population who already have far too much to put up with for us to allow this to continue . Where we find that sort of organised criminal we will execute them .

Our efforts to find other means of dealing with this problem , and our pursuance of these efforts , are well documented over the past twelve years . We believe that the solution to the petty criminal problem lies with involvement by the community as a whole . "

(MORE LATER).




THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

A few months after the March 4th 1973 attempted prison break from Armagh Jail the four women internees - Liz McKee , Cathy Robinson , Marie Maguire and Evelyn Brady - secured from the then Prison Governor , Hugh Cunningham a transfer upstairs to 'A2' Landing with the sentenced POW's . This Prison Wing was at the time totally isolated from the rest and , whilst sentenced prisoners only got one visit a week , internees got three , and the women felt they could help their sentenced comrades to communicate with the outside world .

The women knew , too, that if they stayed downstairs the remand prisoners there would soon get sentenced and moved to 'A2' , leaving them isolated : from early on , the women POW's were aware of the need to build a strong position by keeping the maximum number of women together .

With British military swoops all over the North , numbers in the prison grew quickly and , in March 1974 , 'B' Wing was cleared for the POW's , who soon occupied 'A2' , 'B1' and 'B2' - most of the women internees came in from March 1974 onwards . One of the women stated - " It seemed that the Brits had suddenly realised that the women were active ." Inside Armagh Jail , republican POW's had worked to establish a military structure since the beginning of 1973 . After selecting an Officer Commanding and a full Staff , including an adjutant , PRO , and Wing O/C's , the women worked out their own routine , avoiding all contact with the prison staff . The O/C had a meeting with the prison governor every morning and would pass on her comrades' requests and , in time , the prison system was effectively 'railroaded' into working along with the structure set-up by the women prisoners.......

(MORE LATER).

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Lectern base , as used on the Eve Rally in Dublin , Sat 20 Sept 08.

What a difference a day makes...
The weather more-or-less made a good attempt to do us an 'injustice' today : we were near baked alive! In sunshine and heat that reached between 22 and 25 degrees Celsius , approximately 300 people in total - comprising RSF members and supporters and snap-happy tourists on both sides of O'Connell Street - maintained a supportive vigil for about two hours in Dublin today for the annual Eve Of All-Ireland Rally.

At least one hour before the marchers had even formed-up at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square , a separate RSF crew had assembled a small stage and lectern structure in O'Connell Street , on the traffic isle facing the GPO , and a 'warm-up' speaker had pulled a crowd around him and managed to hold them there until the main contingent arrived from the Garden of Remembrance. The event was Chaired by Des Dalton , and speeches from Pat Garvey , Kerry , and Richard Walsh , Derry, highlighted in the first instance the on-going political issue of Westminster's jurisdictional and military interference on this isle , and both speakers and , indeed , the Chairperson, also made reference to the brave stand taken by Maura Harrington regarding the 'Shell2Sea' injustice , the courageous stand of the Tara protestors and mention was also made in relation to the poor outcome from the so-called 'social partners' in relation to the recent pay-rise 'award' .
Also , all the speakers called for the crowd to join with those who will be marching through Dublin on Saturday , October 11th next , in the Trade Union-organised campaign for a proper health service.

Apart from the usual - and expected, though not accepted - Special Branch harassment , mostly around the Garden of Remembrance , the event went as planned : the on-going Six County injustice was again highlighted by Irish Republicans, the political prisoner issue received a two-hour airing in O'Connell Street in Dublin , the 'Shell2Sea' ,'Tara' and poor health service issues were all raised and hundreds of republican 'POW' leaflets were handed out and dozens of copies of the 'Saoirse' republican newspaper were sold. A full report of this Rally will be carried in the October issue of 'Saoirse' , due out on the 1st of that month : meanwhile , we publish with this post a few pics from today's Eve of All-Ireland Rally , with more pics available here and on this 'Indymedia' thread.

The Rally on the way down to the GPO from the Garden of Remembrance.

RSF Colour Party at Eve Rally , Saturday 20 Sept 08.

Séan the Piper and RSF Colour Party.

Hundreds of these leaflets were handed-out to the public at the Eve Rally today.

Richard Walsh , Derry , and two Republican banners , in O'Connell Street , Dublin.

Profile pic of the RSF Colour Party at the Eve Rally today.

Paddy from Blanch , at the Eve Rally today-trying out the lectern for size!

As stated , more pics on view at the two links mentioned above , and a full report will be carried in the October issue of 'Saoirse' .
Thanks!
Sharon.

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"One of the largest public rallies seen in Dublin for years was held by Sinn Féin at the GPO on the eve of the All-Ireland Football Final . Headed by a Colour Party and a pipe band , a parade of more than 2,000 people marched from Parnell Square through the main city thoroughfare as a protest against the continued unjust imprisonment of Irishmen without charge or trial .
Contingents from all over the country took part and many carried banners and placards including groups from England and Scotland . In the Ulster section was a strong representation of the Derry supporters who thronged the capital city for the Final . One placard they carried asked - ' Why are Six-County Nationalists interned in the Curragh?' ....."
(From 'An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman newspaper , November 1958)

This Annual Republican Rally will be held in Dublin on Saturday September 20th 2008 ; those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 1.45pm from where the parade will march to the GPO in O'Connell Street. The main speakers are Pat Garvey (Kerry) and Richard Walsh (Derry).
All Welcome!
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

The first of the mistakes made in the 'PIRA financial estimates' as put forward by British Army General James Glover relates to 'income from theft' : since 1977 nearly £5 millions have been stolen in the 26-County State and nearly £1.5 million in the North of Ireland . According to reliable sources at least a third of the money goes in to PIRA coffers , with the rest going to the INLA , 'freelance' Provos , and 'odc's' - 'ordinary decent criminals' . That would make the Provos' income on average during that period over £650,000 per annum .

The second mistake relates to expenditure on newspapers and propaganda - according to a reliable source the Provo's newspaper , AP/RN, which sells 34,000 copies each week and employs 12 full time staff , actually makes a profit . So the Provo's surplus for arms purchases could be as much as £300,000 more than Glover estimated .

This would accord with some quantifiable facts about arms shipments . The Towerstream Consignment, by General Glover's own reckoning , would have cost about £400,000 , notwithstanding the cost of arranging it . The M60's which were in that consignment along with some 40 military Armalites stolen from the Danvers Armoury in Massachusetts in America in 1976 , would have cost about £50,000 . That's over £450,000 on arms spending in one year.......
(MORE LATER).



RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : " Garret Fitzgerald recently talked about the desirability of some form of joint border security force , and generally in recent years there seems to have been an intensification of border collaboration . To what extent is this hampering the IRA ?"

IRA : " First of all , there is not an upsurge in collaboration , there is total integration of controls between the Free State forces and the Brits/RUC , co-ordinated searches , follow-ups , sealing roads , a direct radio link and a direct computer link-up . But because the operational IRA is self-contained within the six counties , cross-border collaboration doesn't affect us .

For example , out of a series of reported arms dump 'finds' in the Free State earlier this year , only two involved quantities of IRA equipment - seven rifles in one find and an ammunition find in Emyvale in County Monaghan . The other 'finds' either didn't belong to us , were of obsolete gear , or were fictitious. It's only window-dressing by the Free State to show the Brits that they are keeping up the collaboratrive process , and to do this they are manufacturing non-existent 'finds'.

But anyway , any increase in garda/Free State army collaboration has yet to affect an IRA active service unit in Ballymurphy or stop an operation on the Falls Road , or in Derry , Dungannon or anywhere north of the border . The only actual thing that the gardai , with the heavy increase in Task Force numbers , is involved in , is the harassment of republicans throughout the twenty-six counties . We have no doubt in the future that the garda Task Force will be used against militant trade unionists and other political activists as unemployment deepens in the twenty-six counties . " ('1169...' Comment : see this article re State forces being used against political activists.)
(MORE LATER).



THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

Liz McKee, then aged only 19 , was arrested in Andersonstown in West Belfast on December 29th 1972 and transferred to Armagh Jail on New Year's Day 1973 : she had been served with a 28-day 'Interim Custody Order', the new euphemism for detention without trial . Internment and the 'Special Powers Act' were , in name at least , no more . Stormont had collapsed in March 1972 and the British direct-rulers had been quick to vote the same repressive laws in under new names .

The 'Detention of Terrorists Order' of November 1972 enabled the Brits to intern , and this they did wholesale . About 650 people would be interned between November 1972 and the end of 1973 , over 60 of them women . The news of the detention of Liz McKee was received with emotion : on January 7th 1973 , several hundred women marched in protest through Andersonstown and were addressed by Maire Drumm. A few weeks later Teresa Holland was to join Liz McKee , soon followed by Margaret Shannon and Anne Walsh.

At first they were put in the Remand Wing , then on to 'A1' Landing , along with twelve remand POW's and about eight 'ODC' prisoners ('Ordinary Decent Criminals') . It is from 'A1' that , one Sunday night , March 4th 1973 , five republican women attempted to escape over the wall to freedom . As Teresa Holland put it - " Liz McKee and I were in one cell , three remand POW's in the next cell - Cathy Robinson , Marie Maguire and Evelyn Brady . We got hacksaws in our parcels and started on the bars . We also made ropes out of brown nylon wool . We had three cell searches that week . On Sunday night , at about midnight , we finished the bars and came out." Having reached the sentry post the women started to climb , but the alarm was raised by a Screw who had noticed a bar gone in Teresa's cell window . The escape attempt ended with the women being put 'on the boards' and sentenced to nine months . Military Police searched the cells and a fullscale riot developed . The Screws hosed the prisoners down with powerful jets of cold water.......
(MORE LATER).

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UPDATE ON RAFFLE , SUNDAY EVENING 14th SEPTEMBER 2008: All went well, as planned! The full compliment of tickets was sold, but we only had one 'in-house' winner (congrats Alyce , and Tony B. , for having sold her the ticket!) and , already , all 600 tickets for the October raffle (for CABHAIR) have been distributed. Today's winning numbers were 482, 242, 109, 626, 269, 97, 136 and 145. The reason why tickets are sometimes numbered over the 600 figure is due to the fact that some ticket sellers have their tickets removed from them by the political police and 'new/replacement' tickets,numbered from 601 to 6--, are put in in there place.
The extra prize of the wood-burn Portlaoise plaque could have been sold many times in the pub for at least €50 , but was not: instead , as intended, it was raffled in a separate (free) draw and was won by one of three locals who had just dropped-in to the Club for a game of pool/snooker! The same crew of Republicans that run this monthly raffle for the Movement are now in the process of helping to finalise arrangements for the next event - the Annual Eve Of All-Ireland Rally. Hope to see you there!
Thanks!
Sharon.
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" GET THE LAST OF THE TICKETS , NOW....! "

Since the mid-1970's , a dedicated group of Irish Republicans in the Dublin South-West/Mid-West area of Dublin have held a monthly raffle , on the second Sunday of each month : approximately 600 tickets are sold each month by this dedicated team , and the money made from one raffle is given to the Dublin Comhairle ('Executive') of Republican Sinn Fein whilst the money made from the next such monthly raffle is handed-over to the CABHAIR organisation .

Over €400 is handed-out as prize money in each raffle -


- and , occasionally , extra prizes are included , with no increase in ticket price : the Sunday 14th September 2008 raffle , for instance , will include an extra prize of a wood-burn plywood print , which was made this year in Portlaoise Gaol by Republican prisoners -


- so : this wee blog would like to say a big 'Go raibh maith agaibh!' to all concerned in this long-standing fund raiser - between ye all , you have helped pay the bills in Head Office and take some of the pressure off the families of imprisoned Republicans.
Thank you all for that !
Sharon.

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....and we're back..!

We had a wild time over the last few days :
Tipsy Bride!

:from Dublin to Wexford , where the Church ceremony took place , and then down the 'Copper Coast' road into Waterford , where the party continued : having abandoned the kids [and all sense of decency ;-)!] I did at least keep one of my fingers on the camera button !
We came across this beautiful monument on a wind-swept cliff top , where we stopped to stretch our legs -

-with this inscription plaque at its base :


By now , our thirst was well quenched but the hunger was on us , so we went looking for somewhere to get a wee bit of grub -

-but quickly decided to settle for a few more pints of cider and a bag of Tayto crisps instead !

On a more sombre note , we came across this IRA Memorial Plaque ,on that same Coast Road, dedicated to the memory of IRA Volunteer Jack (John) Cummins -
"Ballyvoile (6th June 1921)On the 6th June 1921, a military cycling column of about 30 men were ambushed at Ballyvoile. Tom Keating of Comeragh, a brother of Pat‘s who was killed at the Burgery was in charge of the ambushing party. It was first decided that the enemy should be attacked at Kilminion, near Stradbally, where the County Council quarry now operates. They lay in waiting for a time, but then received word that the British were returning by the lower Coast Road. The Volunteer party hurriedly made their way across country and had just reached Ballyvoile, when a volley of shots rang out. Evidently the (British) military had seen them moving into position. Two of the soldiers moved into higher ground and opened fire again, and this time, Jack Cummins of Stradbally was shot just as he was getting over a barbed wire fence. The Volunteers returned the fire forcing the (British) military to take cover.The fight lasted about half an hour and then the Volunteers had to withdraw due to lack of ammunition. A plaque to the memory of Jack Cummins can be seen at Ballyvoile..."

-where we said a prayer for the man , and for the many brave Irish men and women that followed in his tracks and that do so today.

Anyway ... although we're back , we haven't got our usual '3-in-1' post ready just yet , and have instead decided to post it next Wednesday (17th September 2008), as we need the time to concentrate on a major Republican raffle which is taking place this coming Sunday (14th) in a Social Club on the Dublin/Kildare border and also to prepare for the Annual Eve Of All-Ireland Rally in Dublin (Saturday September 20th next- pics and report on last years Rally can be obtained here)-


- so we'll leave it at that for now , but will soon be back to 'normal'.
Thanks!
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

Recruits are also given anti-interrogation training on a scientific basis : simulation is never employed but IRA leaders have isolated a dozen interrogation techniques used by the British which the IRA instil into their recruits . Cell members are also encouraged to adopt false identities and discouraged from habituating known Republican haunts .

The British Army reckons that the Provisional IRA campaign and related political activity now costs the organisation some £2 millions a year - in 1978 British General Jim Glover estimated that it cost £780,000 and that income exceeded that amount by £170,000 , which was all spent on arms and explosives . He drew the Provisionals 'profit and loss account' as follows - ' Income: Theft in Ireland £550,000/ Racketeering £250,000/ Overseas Contributors £120,000/ Green Cross £30,000 = Total £950,000. Expenditure: Pay (@ £7,500 per week) £400,000/ Travel and Transport £50,000/ Newspapers and Propaganda £150,000 / Prisoners' Welfare £180,000/ Surplus £170,000 = Total £950,000.

It's impossible to verify the claim by the British that inflation has more than doubled the Provo's costs since 1978 ; one source says that a spin-off benefit from the slimmed down re-organisation was a saving of money . However, there are one or two errors in Glover's calculations which as a result seriously understate the amount the IRA has left for arms spending . It could be the case that the Provos have a lot more to spend on weapons than the Brits realise.......

(MORE LATER).




RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : "The general tendency within the Republican Movement , especially over the past year , seems to be towards a massive upsurge in internal and external education . To what degree has this affected the average IRA Volunteer in terms of his or her politicisation and understanding of republican goals ? "

IRA: "If you're talking about new recruits since the [1981] hunger-strike , I think the honest answer to that is that it's too early to say how well the education process has been taken in . It will take several more months to assess . As for longer-established Volunteers , their politicisation has been going on for over ten years , inside and outside jail . The current education process will only be formalising it for them . " ('1169..' Comment : ....the question has since been asked re the education of Volunteers and Sinn Fein members as to how some of them have confused mere 'civil rights under the rule of Westminster' with true Republican objectives as outlined by Irish Republicans ?)
(MORE LATER).




THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

August 9th 1971 : internment re-introduced in the Occupied Six Counties . Hundreds of men from Nationalist areas were thrown in jail , most of them after severe beatings , some after horrific torture . Some internees were put in Armagh Jail at first but , by mid-1972 , all internees had been transferred to Long Kesh or Magilligan Prison.

On the outside , women began to take a more active and direct part in the armed struggle and in 1971 two republican women received long sentences for taking part in bombings - Margaret O' Connor (sentenced to 9 years) and Susan Loughran , (12 years) . In May and June 1972 sentenced republican prisoners went on hunger-strike for political status in Crumlin Road and Armagh Jails : their protest was successful and sentenced women POW's were to insist successfully that those hard-won rights be extended to them .

However their conditions improved more dramatically after the arrival of the first women internees at the beginning of 1973 . This is when the name Liz McKee came to the forefront.......

(MORE LATER).

(PLEASE NOTE : blogging will be 'light' over the next week or so and , indeed , we may even be late next Wednesday (10th) in posting our usual '3-in-1' article: we are leaving Dublin this Friday for Wexford to attend a wedding which will be taking place on Monday . However - this being an Irish wedding , celebrations begin on Saturday and will probably only finish the following Thursday . Somewhere in between those two days the happy couple may indeed find time to get married , but the celebrations will definitely be held regardless...!))

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Corrupt political institution turns its naval force on its own people....

RSF members and supporters at a 'Shell-To-Sea' protest demonstration in Dublin , February 24th , 2007.

'It would now appear that the 26-County government are willing to lock up its citizens whilst at the same time allowing Shell to dictate the energy and environmental policy of the 26 Counties...'
- Ruairi O Bradaigh, July 2005.

Part of the State Navy has been ordered , by State politicians , to move against its own people...

"Ask anyone you know how much royalties Shell Oil and its partners are paying the country to take our gas from the Corrib Field. I tried this over the past few days and I got answers ranging from fifty per cent to probably very little.
Nobody came up with the correct answer, which is not a single penny.
Did you know that? Did you know that the energy consortium, whose pipeline is being forced past protesters by hundreds of our own police, pays nothing at all to this country for taking our natural resources...?"
(From here.)

What we are witnessing with the 'Shell-To-Sea' outrage is the absolute moral corruption of a millionaire political elite who are completely reckless and shameless when it comes to lining their pockets with even more ill-gotten financial gains . They and their type are a free-loading cabal of non-productive leeches who will bend or break any moral , political or humane code of conduct that they see fit to ride roughshod over in order to further secure and enhance their moneyed lifestyle. I have wiped better than them from the sole of my shoe and had more respect for it : pond scum is more valuable.
Sharon.

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THE IRA : the new IRA is younger , more radical and has seen little of life other than violence.......
By Ed Moloney.
From 'Magill' magazine, September 1980.

A vital element in the new structures is recruitment : the old days when virtually anyone could join the IRA are seemingly over . One IRA leader says that vetting of potential recruits is now so thorough that only 2 out of every 13 applicants are accepted and sent on for training and then placed into the 'cell' structure. The IRA also says that the average age of new recruits is 18 or 19 , an assertion that would seem to back IRA claims that the organisation has passed through the generation gap problem that has always spelled defeat for past campaigns .

However , it's clear from a number of recent arrests such as that of an M60 ambush team in Belfast this year that the IRA is still heavily dependant on what British General James Glover called "...the intelligent, astute and experienced terrorist.." . The IRA also claims that less than 50 per cent of new recruits join up for the personal motive of seeking revenge for British Army violence and that most are politically committed to a socialist republic . Not even the IRA can know that for sure but if it is true then the policy of 'Ulsterisation', involving gradual withdrawal of troops from Nationalist areas will have less of an effect on the Provos than the architects of that policy hoped .

Once a recruit is accepted by the IRA he or she is taken along with three or four other recruits for training across the Border in 'specialism' ie assassination , sniping , bombing etc that his/her cell will later employ . In contrast to the past , when whole IRA Companies could be trained without firing a shot , all recruits are now trained using live ammunition , which has enabled IRA members to 'sight' sniping weapons more accurately : it is claimed that this sort of practice accounts for the success of the M60 machine gun in Belfast ambushes . When the M60 appeared on the scene in 1978 it was considered a propaganda weapon and too cumbersome and inaccurate for urban use but , in fact , the M60 has been responsible for the deaths of 8 members of the British 'security forces' since then.......

(MORE LATER).



RESISTANCE ON ALL FRONTS.......
IRIS talks to a spokesperson authorised to speak on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

IRIS : " The hunger-strike period was generally a time when nationalist commitment to the struggle was heightened and refreshed . But since then there have been concerted enemy efforts to confuse and demoralise * the nationalist population , through the use of informers , psychological operations and black propaganda . ( * '1169..' Comment - ...and , at that time, these two efforts to "confuse and demoralise" were only around the corner..) What impact on the immediate post-hunger-strike increase in support has this had , within the Movement and on external supporters ? "

IRA : " I think you have to deal with two separate circumstances . It had little effect internally because people who are actively involved understand the situation and what the enemy is trying to achieve . The use of paid agents by the RUC did initially have some psychological impact on nationalist supporters , but this has been quickly eroded as they have deepened their understanding of the situation , and by virture also of a number of IRA operations carried out at the time when RUC Chief Constable John ('Jack') Hermon was making his infamous "...the IRA are reeling.." statement."

(MORE LATER).



THE UNDAUNTED WOMEN IN ARMAGH.......

The full story of the republican prisoners in Armagh Jail has yet to be told. It has yet to be sung , and properly described , other than as an after-thought in public speeches - "...and of course the women in Armagh.." Republicans have a right to be proud of those women who, from the Divis Flats grandmother doing six months for what an Orange judge called "riotous behaviour" to the young IRA Volunteer inside for the second time and not yet 25-years-old , have managed, whether they numbered 12 or 120 , to maintain their resistance to the most vicious prison system in Europe. The words that follow , says writer Patricia Collins , were written to encourage more of those women to come forward and tell their story , and are based on conversations with several
ex-prisoners , and on visits and letters from those women presently imprisoned. They were written in the hope of jogging the memory of all those women who wrongly think their contribution to Ireland's future peace is not worth mentioning.
From 'IRIS' magazine , August 1984.

The Prison Governor in the 1970's was a Stanley Hilditch who was to torture the blanketmen some years later in the H-Blocks. Hilditch at first didn't know how to cope with the new situation posed by women political prisoners - Anne Maguire recalls : " When the Governor comes into your cell , you're supposed to stand up but we just sat down , anywhere, on the bed , on the chair . The same in the exercise yard . The Screws would get flustered , the other prisoners would stare at us..."

After four or five weeks , Hilditch copped-on . The women weren't allowed to talk to other 'classes' of prisoners : juveniles in red , or the ones in green . But two of the young ones were republican too - the women would not comply . Their ration of 20 cigarettes would then be held up , and a lot of petty harassment took place . Strip-searching was used in a few instances .

In July 1971 , Maire Drumm joined the women in Armagh Jail : earlier that month , she had made a fiery speech at Free Derry Corner- " It is a waste of time shouting 'Up the IRA' . The important thing is to join." She was bound over to keep the peace for two years on a surety of £500 , refused to sign and got six months for 'promoting the objects of the IRA' . A few days after Maire Drumm 'came in' to Armagh Jail , internment 'broke out' on the outside.......
(MORE LATER).

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