1169 And Counting.....

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

Indeed , the Bew-Patterson concept of imperialism is curiously eclectic - "....(either) a malign force deliberately generating under-development in dependent States....(or) a progressive force which tends to develop productive forces on a world scale." They complain that there is little detailed discussion of specifice cases based on any reliable documentation , but I suspect that this is an artefact of the English-dominated academic system.

Most analysis of imperialism is in the literatures of the anti-imperialist movements. Having said this , they go on to document the Anglo-Irish negotiations of 1947 in such a way as to conclude that neither model of imperialism holds in the Irish case.

This is just not good enough, especially when at the end of the day one is left with the impression that the 'main enemy' is the protectionist Irish bourgeoisie , feeding a common fallacy of the contemporary Irish Left.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

OCTOBER 10th 1969 :

" The Commissioner , Mr Wymes, called at my request and we discussed the problems and I undertook to seek the Minister's approval for a strengthening of the 'S Branch' by thirty men ; the Commissioner made no demur of any kind and seemed satisfied that the 'S Branch' were on top of their job and were adopting the right course."

OCTOBER 14th 1969 :

" The Minister , Mr O Morain , called at my request and I told him of my discussions with the police. I urged an increase of 30 in the 'S Branch' strength and more money for electronic equipment , to which he readily agreed and I informed the Commissioner. Months later I was to hear that the job of watching the bank robbers was allotted to the ordinary crime squad , with an addition of 16 men , none of whom was familiar with the Saor Éire set-up. The switch was due to local police friction in Dublin Castle......."
(MORE LATER).

AN ENGLISH QUEEN IN IRELAND IN 1849.....

Queen Victoria of England was of German descent : she was born in 1819, at the Kensington Palace, to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. In 1849 , as now , various Irish political seoinín wanted to be seen 'mixing' with those that they viewed as being in a similar 'Class' to themselves , and invited the woman to Ireland for a visit.....

"In the very midst of all this havoc, in August, 1849, her Majesty's Ministers thought the coast was clear for a Royal Visit. The Queen had long wished, it was said, to visit her people of Ireland; and the great army of persons, who, in Ireland, are paid to be loyal, were expected to get up the appearance of rejoicing......one Mr O'Reilly, indeed, of South Great George's Street, hoisted on the top of his house a large black banner, displaying the crownless Harp; and draped his windows with black curtains, showing the words Famine and Pestilence: but the police burst into his house, viciously tore down the flag and the curtains, and rudely thrust the proprietor into gaol......
'The Freemans Journal' newspaper says, that on passing through Parkgate Street, Mr James Nugent, one of the Guardians of the North Union, approached the royal carriage, which was moving rather slowly, and, addressing the Queen, said: 'Mighty Monarch, pardon Smith O'Brien.' Before, however, he had time to get an answer, or even to see how her Majesty received the application, Lord Clarendon rode up and put him aside....."
(More here....)

Also then , as now , protests against the visit of an English 'queen' will be held and , like Mr James Nugent (above) , Republican Sinn Féin will be hoping to 'have a word in her ear....'.
This blog will be only too happy to publicise such protests , so watch this space....
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

During the pre-1958 period of investment-starvation , Ireland was a net exporter of capital and the Irish rentier-bourgeoisie preferred to deal on the London stock exchange.

We identified partition as the main obstacle to the achievement of this important step in the completion of the bourgeois-democratic revolution , contrasting the Irish scene with other relatively successful bourgeois democracies such as Denmark or Norway. The copper-fastening of partition by declaring an independent 26-county Punt in the 1930's , '40's or '50's was politically unthinkable.

It is ironical that this has since been achieved , in a manner of speaking , within the greater EEC straitjacket , when the ability to use the financial system in the control process has been abandoned. However , for Bew and Patterson to admit arguments like this into the analysis of the 1950's would be for them to invoke what at all costs must be suppressed - the national question , the whole of Ireland as the natural political and economic unit.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" I was not to know until the proceedings before the Committee of Public Accounts of 27th January 1971 were published (Booklet No. 7 , paragraph 4102) that Mr Haughey had seen Captain Kelly with Col. Hefferon at his home in the last week of September and on 3rd October - the day before he visited me - he had given a cheque for £500 for Captain Kelly's expenses for the Baileboro meeting. Both Col. Hefferon and Kelly swore to this before the CPA."

OCTOBER 7th 1969 :

"I had a visit from a security chief who told me that a group in Saor Éire were planning armed robberies , that his own men were showing signs of the jitters and that lives were at risk. He told me that some of the group were psychopaths and that , short of placing them in detention without trial , he knew of no way of containing them except by having each individual followed by day and night and to do that he would need 30 extra men.

He said that his Authorities were short of men for other police purposes and that he had no hope of getting the manpower he required unless I brought Ministerial weight to bear on the Commissioner , and I undertook to speak to the Commissioner and to the Minister....... "
(MORE LATER).

EASTER COMMEMORATIONS 2011 , DUBLIN :

Easter Saturday (23rd April 2011):
Balbriggan Bridge at 2pm.

Easter Sunday (24th April 2011):
Assemble at gates of Deansgrange Cemetery at 1pm for the march to the Republican Plot.

Easter Monday (25th April 2011):
Assemble at the Garden of Rememberance , Parnell Square , Dublin City Centre , at 1.45pm for the march to the GPO.

HUNGER-STRIKERS COMMEMORATION 2011 , DUBLIN :

An RSF-organised Hunger-Strikers Commemoration will be held at the GPO in O'Connell Street , Dublin, at 2pm on Saturday 7th May 2011 - those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square , where the parade will leave from , at 1.45pm , for the GPO.

HUNGER-STRIKE COMMEMORATIVE FUNCTION , DUBLIN :

DATE - SATURDAY 7TH MAY 2011.

VENUE - THE 79'R PUB , BALLYFERMOT.

GROUP - THE DRUIDS.

DOORS OPEN - 8.30PM.

ADMISSION - €5 PER PERSON.

All Welcome !
Thanks ,
Sharon.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

650 ON THE 10TH + 3 ON THE 7TH and 8TH.....

This being the second Sunday of the month , the usual six of us spent the afternoon in a hotel on the Dublin/Kildare border , sorting through 650 raffle ticket stubs and making sure each stub was accompanied by the money for same - two Euro - , assembling the eight prize envelopes (pictured above) getting the forty result sheets ready for filling-in and selling the fifty tickets that were held back for sale on the day.
As there was some sporting event(s)-or-other (!) being shown on the television today , the hotel bar and lounge were packed to capacity , and we very quickly ran out of tickets to sell : we ended-up apologising to dozens of people who came to our table looking to buy a ticket but - although it was no consolation to the 'ticketless' - we did have four winners 'on site' !
Congrats to those four - Ciarán , Tony and Jackie , Anne R. and M. Egan who , between them , pocketed €340 !
The other winners were Jody , Róisin , J. Casey and E. Murray , and the winning ticket numbers were - 485, 094, 546, 647, 247, 567, 542 and 021. In total , €440 in prize money was handed out today , and another such raffle will be held on Sunday 8th May next , in the same venue , at the same time (between 3pm and 5pm) .
Incidentally , that same weekend will witness , on Saturday 7th May , the Annual Irish Hunger-Strikers Rally in Dublin City Centre (assemble at the Garden of Remembrance at 1.45pm for the Parade to the GPO) and , that same evening , a Republican ballad session in the 79'r Pub in Ballyfermot , Dublin West , at which 'The Druids' will be playing : doors open at 9pm and admission is a fiver per person.
If we recover from those two events in time (especially the latter one !) we'll have another 650-ticket raffle to work on during Sunday afternoon. Can't guarantee our hands will be too steady , though.....!
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

The Bew-Patterson analysis traces the roots of the decline of Fianna Fáil back into the depths of Boland's 'Belle Epoque' , specifically to the backtracking on agrarian policy : ".....and I think it is a mistake to give land to landless men.." (Seán Moylan , Minister for Lands , April 1946) ; also to the participation in the Marshall Plan(1947) .

The treatment of the transition period leading up to the conscious abandonment of protectionism in 1958 , with the 'First Programme' and its associated welcome to penetration by the transnational corporations (TNC's) , however suffers from its view being restricted to the vision of the prominent 'establishment' analysis of the time. There was analysis , of a sort, going on in the Fifties , without academic specialist resources , by the present writer and others.

We identified the key weakness of Fianna Fáil 1930's radicalism as failure to achieve an independent Irish financial system , with the consequent inability to control the movement of capital.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

OCTOBER 4th , 1969 :
"I received information which alarmed me : it was to the effect that the egregious Captain Kelly had had meetings with the Chief of Staff of the IRA , Cathal Goulding , and that he had set up a meeting for that weekend in Baileboro , County Cavan, with persons from both sides of the Border with a known history in the IRA.

From the information already communicated in recent weeks it looked as if an officer group in the (State) Army were collaborating with members of an organisation which had been proclaimed by Government Order to be unlawful and who were engaging in violence contrary to the declared views of Government.

It was a Saturday : I phoned the Minister - no reply. I phoned the Taoiseach - no reply. I phoned Mr Haughey - he would be with me within the hour. His arrival , in time for afternoon tea * , caused more excitement amongst the nurses than the visit of the President. I told him of Captain Kelly's goings-on and of the visit planned for Baileboro , but he did not seem unduly perturbed about Kelly but was quite inquisitive about what I knew of Goulding . I felt reassured......."
( * WHAT! No cricket....?)
(MORE LATER).

"Push them back lads, and push them back hard......gimme your name and address or I'll rape ya..."

Peaceful and (State) law-abiding protestors in this 'republic' are well used to being intimidated , on 'the picket line' , by both uniformed Garda and their colleagues in plain clothes : it is a refrain often uttered by Irish Republican protestors and ignored by some and , mostly , dismissed and/or ignored by the 'establishment' media.
We will make only a short post re this issue , least we be presented as attempting to make capital and/or 'propaganda' out of it , thus lessening the impact of a recent disgraceful episode in which legitimate protestors , involved in legitimate and worthy protest action , became embroiled , through no fault of their own.
This sick scenario involves a Dublin woman, in her 20s, who said: "I’m still in shock. Even though it happened a few days ago now, it’s hard enough to talk about it....."
The reason for this woman's distress can be listened to here , and read about here.
As far as this blog is concerned , the real issue at the heart of this incident is the on-going issue of Garda abuse of power ie their willingness to 'use' their uniform , presence , and a State 'blank cheque' to practically do as they want with , and to , those they consider "crusties" and/or "terrorists" , knowing full well that , at the most , they will receive a slight verbal 'slap on the wrist' , if caught , and will be moved 'sideways' within the apparatus of State 'security'. Meanwhile , there are many more waiting within their ranks to 'prove themselves' in just such a similar fashion........
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

Kevin Boland, being the active politician concerned primarily with the shop-window of the political process does not detect them (the 'roots of betrayal') until they have thrived and blossomed. He has , however, enough gut-feeling to recognise and reject them - "...the necessary measures to save our economy would be in breach of the EEC laws , framed as they are specifically and totally for the well-being of the unscrupulous capitalist proprietors of Europe.....it is illegal to have the only realistic type of 'Buy Irish' campaign possible.....appeal to the patriotism of the supermarket-owners ? We want our collective head examined."

He represents a high-point of Fianna Fáil radicalism ; he has remained consistently pointing in the right directions - against British imperialism and the neo-Unionism of the Common Marketeers. The Left, however, have always found him unpalatable , mostly because he explicitly despises them - "...tiny minorities opposed to all our traditions..." .

If an Irish Left were to emerge with growth potential and with a creative respect for the democratic republican core of our national and social revolutionary traditions, Boland and his like would end up as respected fellow-travellers , bringing with them what remains of the grass-roots Fianna Fáil radical-democracy. In the absence of such a Left , Kevin Boland remains an isolated , and somewhat embittered, maverick.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" I then told Mr Haughey that at that moment I was about to leave my house for Mount Carmel Hospital and if he wanted me for anything he could contact me on the telephone. He was very solicitous and apologised for bothering me in a time of personal stress.

I was given a private suite on the ground floor of Mount Carmel Hospital , with a direct entry from the garden : this was to prove important as I was to have many visitors , including Ministers and Garda Officers who could come and go without attracting attention. "

On Sunday , September 26th 1969 , Mr Berry's son , Peter, was involved in a serious car accident in County Galway , suffering injuries which were to lead to his premature death some years later. Mr Berry was understandably distressed with the news of this incident but consoled by numerous visits from a wide variety of callers, including the Archbishop of Dublin , Dr McQuaid , President de Valera , Peadar O'Donnell and several Supreme and High Court judges.

Mr Berry retained his personal supervision of the security nexus while in hospital and was visited frequently by the Garda Commissioner , Michael Wymes , and the head of the Special Branch , Chief Superintendent John Fleming.......
(MORE LATER).

RSF 'NO ROYALS WELCOME!' PROTEST , TUESDAY 29TH MARCH 2011 , AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY , DUBLIN.

About twenty Dublin members of Republican Sinn Féin held a two-hour picket outside the British Embassy in Dublin yesterday (Tuesday 29th March 2011) in protest against the up-coming visit to this State by an English 'queen' : an invitation for that woman to 'grace us with her presence' was issued by Free State 'president' Mary McAleese , who has welcomed her fellow-'royal' on Irish soil before , as per the following picture , taken in Belfast in 2005 -

Two 'royals' , one a Free State 'wannabe'.

The State 'establishment' here , and their colleagues in the media, are desperate to 'prove' to those they admire in Europe , and further afield, that the Irish people as a whole are not only 'all grown-up , politically' , but that we have 'moved-on' from the days when we held 'a political grudge against the English' and , hopefully soon , that will be the case. But not just yet : the British occupation of the north eastern part of Ireland is neither normal or acceptable , and it's not something that Irish Republicans are willing to 'move on' from until they 'move out' , politically and militarily. As long as our nation remains partitioned and occupied by the British state then 'relations' between our two countries will never be 'normal' and any attempt to portray the opposite will be opposed by Republican Sinn Féin.

Incidentally , as well as the usual uniformed Garda 'security presence' at and around the British Embassy yesterday at the RSF picket , eleven members of the State 'Special Branch' were also present , monitoring and recording the Republican picket , and taking the names of those present - a proper 'Irish Security Service' would be more interested in monitoring , recording and name-checking the details of those inside that Embassy , representing, as they do, a State which politically and militarily occupies this country.
But , as with 'president' McAleese - that's Free Staters for ya......
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

The neglect of the North by Jack Lynch's (and indeed all previous) Governments , and their insensitivity to the issues raised by the Civil Rights movement , had produced an opportunity for a regenerative "....caucus which insisted that this was our business, the moment of truth for the Fianna Fail party..".

The elimination of that caucus by Jack Lynch (on a tip-off originating from British Intelligence, which monitors all shipments of arms into Ireland, legal or illegal) laid the basis for what Boland calls "...Mark II Fianna Fail.." which deploys "....with ever-increasing efficiency the full resources of our security forces along the border imposed by the foreign enemy, where they act on our behalf in concert with Her Majesty's army to defend the integrity of Her Majesty's realm....the case for the ending of the Union....has been officially withdrawn by the Mark II government.....(replaced by)......the policy of Cumann na nGaedheal, the one-time government under contract with the enemy to maintain his overlordship."

The roots of this betrayal go back to the Lemass period , and indeed to the de Valera period , and are there to be seen in the Bew-Patterson analysis.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" Towards the end of September 1969 , I suffered a number of momentary seizures in which I lost power of movement - I was medically examined on September 26th and was ordered to hospital fortwith. The doctor's receptionist failed to get me a private room in Mount Carmel Hospital, as I wished, and I asked to be left to my own devices.

While at home, making arrangements by phone to enter Mount Carmel on the following day, I received a phone call from Mr Haughey asking if a watch could be kept on the movements of a prominent Unionist politician who had arrived from Belfast. In the event , I was able to tell Mr Haughey on Saturday afternoon that the Unionist's visit was without political significance and that his car was now heading for the border.

In order to impress Mr Haughey with the efficiency of 'S Branch', I told him that after dinner in his hotel on Friday evening , the Unionist politician and his wife had gone for a stroll in neighbouring streets , that they had spent some time looking at bric-a-brac in the windows of the Anna Livia Boutique in Dawson Street (run by a woman named Petersen whose husband was Press Attache in the German Legation during the war) , that the politician had retired early having ordered two bottles of tonic water to be sent to his room , that he had gone straight to the races (Curragh?) on Saturday morning and on his return journey had passed through Dublin without stopping....... "
(MORE LATER).

UNTROUBLED BY INTEGRITY - a flavour of the State we're in and why we're in the state we are in.....

Imagine this scenario : a State Government Minister with responsibility for Communications awards a mobile-phone operating licence to one of several companies competing for same. The losing competitors express concern at the manner in which the award was made but the politician concerned , and his political colleagues, attempt to dismiss those concerns as 'sour grapes', even though it is known that a professional political 'fundraiser' , a (Northern-based) property speculator , a legal practioneer from a jurisdiction other than Ireland and an Irish accountant had all played a part in securing the 'win' for the company and were also involved in 'advising' the politician on how best to spend a recent 'windfall' he had come into - 150,000 Irish Punts (worth approximately 190,500 Euros today) , which passed-through various banks in Jersey and the Isle of Man. Questions were asked by the 'Licence Losers' about that sum of money but the politician involved dismissed their concerns and stated that the money in question represented "loans" which he intended to invest in property abroad.

The 'sour grapes' people were not at all happy with the picture they believed was being painted and initiated further inquiries resulting , 14 years later (at a cost of about €150 Million to the taxpayer!) , in a legal finding, that the politician involved - the then State Communications Minister - had "assisted" the (then soon-to-be) winning company with their bid , encouraging the 'sour grape licence losers' to begin a legal action seeking a multi-million payout in compensation - which, again, the State taxpayer will somehow or other be found liable for.

Meanwhile , the wealthy , well-groomed and perma-tanned politician at the centre of this 'moneyfest' is still 'on the loose' , operating as an 'independent (non-party)' Leinster House member whilst the owner of the 'winning' company is now a billionaire : both are loud in declarations denying any wrong-doing and, this being the politically corrupt backwater State that it is, neither will suffer financially , politically or spiritually.
Could such a scenario exist , even in this morally-bent little backwater of a State....?
Sharon.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

MYLES BYRNE , IRISH REBEL - BORN 20th MARCH 1780....

Myles Byrne, United Irishman and officer in Napoleon's Irish Legion, was born in Monaseed, Co. Wexford , on March 20 , 1780: he was only a boy when he witnessed the attacks by the yeoman militia and other mercenaries which England let loose in Wexford in 1798. But he took his place in the United Irishmen and fought through the Wexford campaign , joined Michael Dwyer afterwards in Wicklow , later came to Dublin and was a comrade and friend of Robert Emmet in the continuation of '98 which failed so sadly in 1803. He was sent by Emmet (then on the run) to France to seek assistance from Thomas Addis Emmet and the other exiled United Irishmen. He went with no hesitation ,in the hope that he would return in the ranks of a conquering army - but it was not to be ....

The 18-years young 1798 rebel leader from Monaseed,escaped to France where he played a prominent role in the Napoleonic wars of Europe . In the 1850's he wrote his memoirs of the 1798 Rising ,in which he was critical of the "gentlemany nature" of the rebel approach, believing them to have been "too willing to negotiate and to accept(British)government protections and non-existent government good faith" .

In Montmartre ("Hill of Martyrs") Cemetery in Paris lie the remains of Myles Byrne , United Irishman,Wexford man and survivor of Oulart Hill and Vinegar Hill in 1798.The inscription on his gravestone reads~ " Here lies Myles Byrne,Lieutenant Colonel in the service of France. Officer of the legion of Honour. Knight of St Louis,born at Monaseed in the county Wexford in Ireland,20 March 1780. Died at Paris,the 24th January 1862,his long life was distinguished by the constant integrity and loyalty of his character and by his high-minded principles.Sincerely attached to Ireland,his native land,he gave faithful service to France,the country of his adoption. "

Myles Byrne was a "terrorist" in his day - a "dissident", dismissed and hounded by the 'establishment'. But , like todays 'dissidents', he and his comrades stayed on the Republican path and ensured that the 'flame' stayed alight for future generations.
Republican Sinn Féin are doing the same today , ensuring that future generations will have a first-class 'guide' to refer too , in assisting them to recognise the 'true path' and the many false cul-de-sac 'shortcuts' that may , indeed , lead to an 'easier' political life , but offer no proper solution to ending British interference in Irish affairs.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

Kevin Boland , with a nice sense of irony, contrasts the 1976 situation. A prestigious historian , T.P. O'Neill of UCG , Dev's biographer , was appointed in 1974 to produce for 1976 the history of the first 50 years of Fianna Fáil . It has , however, not yet appeared.

T.P. O'Neill , in an interview on 'Feach' , subsequently denied that he was writing it - he was to edit the contributions of others : " ...even at this early stage there were problems arising for his professional integrity as a historian.." , yet no dogs barked. There appeared to be a cover-up - "...a rigid decision by media controllers that the unsavoury matter safely and efficiently swept under the carpet in 1970 was to stay there undisturbed.....the loyal Fianna Fáil households ...... proud owners of the story of the first 25 years , have no corresponding record of the second twenty-five...."

The '1970 events' , of course, were those at the root of the Haughey-Blaney-Boland 'Arms Crisis' .......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

AUGUST 25th , 1969 :
" I informed the Taoiseach (being a Monday, the Minister was absent in his constituency) that an instruction had been issued by Cathal Goulding that 26-County members of the IRA should return to their homes on a 'stand-to' alert , that, for the present, operations would be conducted by selected personnel and local units.

I also told him that an approach had been made to Gardai on duty near the border to turn a blind eye to the movement of men and materials (weapons and explosives) but the Taoiseach instructed that that was out and that there should be "no fraternising" , and I conveyed that instruction to the Garda Commissioner."

SEPTEMBER 15th, 1969 :
" In the next week or so I received numerous verbal reports of the border activities of Military Intelligence officers and the name of Captain James Kelly cropped up again and again as consorting with known members of the IRA. It was alleged that he was so forthcoming in advocating the use of arms that doubts were entertained by his listeners as to whether he was , in fact, an Intelligence Officer . I made enquiries from Stephen O' Cearnaigh , Secretary of the Department of Defence , who didn't know but said that he would find out and he phoned me back to say yes. I passed this information to our security police and it is referred to in the evidence given by Chief Superintendent Fleming before the CPA......"
(MORE LATER).

BANNER DOWN , PLACARDS UP... !

Free State authorities have ordered the publican who erected a 'BRIT QUEEN BARRED...' banner on the front of his pub to remove it on 'Health and Safety' grounds (!) and have hinted that aspects of his operating licence may be questioned if he does not do so.

Had the banner been erected in favour of the 'Killer Queen', and inviting her in for a pint , the same State authorities would have had no quarrel with it - but the general public would have had.....

.....however : the pub banner may be coming down , but placards of a similar nature will be 'going up' : Republican Sinn Féin in Dublin are holding a picket on the British Embassy against the visit of the British 'queen' on Tuesday March 29th 2011 from 2pm to 4pm and , despite whatever moans and cries are spluttered by the State and other seoinín , this protest , and the issue itself , will not be 'taken down'.

Occupation breeds resistance - the 'queen' of England is not welcome in Ireland while her troops are here : she holds , amongst other 'Offices', the title of 'Commander-in-Chief' of the British Army and ultimate responsibility for all political deaths in this country rests with her. That point will be , once again , loudly exclaimed on the streets of Dublin on Tuesday , 29th March next , on Merrion Road in Ballsbridge - ALL WELCOME ! *

Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
( * Not really 'ALL' , if you know what we mean...!)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

GOOD 'PLAYERS' , WITH A 'FAIR VIEW' , QUICK ON THE 'DRAW'..... !

This being the second Saturday of the month , and tomorrow being the second Sunday of the month (!) , the usual 650-ticket CABHAIR raffle will be held , in the usual venue (an hotel on the Dublin-Kildare border) and, again as usual , all tickets have been sold for same.
However - had we been quicker on the 'draw' (!) we could have enquired about holding same in the above-pictured venue , 'The Players Lounge' , in Fairview , Dublin : I think we would have felt equally at home there..... ;-) !
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

THE FIANNA FÁIL STORY.......

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fáil , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

'The Rise and Decline of Fianna Fáil' by Kevin Boland gives a useful insider's view , while 'Seán Lemass and the Makings of Modern Ireland' by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson is a scholarly collaboration between Queens and the Ulster Polytechnic which consciously takes a detached , outsider's ("two-nationist") view.

There is a danger that the latter may be taken as a Marxist analysis , on the superficial ground that Paul Bew has contributed to the London magazine , 'Marxism Today' , on Irish topics . It is anything but.

Kevin Boland , an unrepentant thirties Fianna Fáil man , makes a creditable attempt to chronicle how the rot set in. The 26th anniversary of Fianna Fáil (1951) was held with fanfares in the Capital Theatre , an oration from de Valera and publication of a souvenir brochure outlining the triumphal history - "....a record that enabled every member to see himself or herself in the gallant company of our heroic dead who had striven over the centuries to free Ireland from the tyrannical grip of the foreign enemy....."
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" I was completely reassured when I heard of Mr Haughey , as when he was Minister for Justice (October 11th , 1961 to October 8th , 1964) he had taken very firm action in reactivating the 'Special Criminal Court' and in forcing the IRA to declare a cease-fire in February 1962. I had also in mind the action taken by him in September 1963 when the Minister for Home Affairs in Northern Ireland , Mr William Craig , was giving the IRA a new lease of life by ill-timed and ill-conceived statements to the press about IRA drilling in the Twenty-Six Counties , as to which there was very little indeed.

Later , I told the security forces that there seemed to be no truth in the story of a meeting between a Minister and the IRA Chief of Staff , Cathal Goulding. They repeated that their sources had proved reliable in the past , so I asked that they keep checking their sources...... "
(MORE LATER).

LEINSTER HOUSE SAYS 'YES!' TO 'NEW' ADMINISTRATION , OLD ADMINISTRATION SAYS 'YES!' TO GOLDEN HANDSHAKES AND PENSIONS FOR LIFE.....

Today , Wednesday 9th March 2011 , a 'new' political administration for this State will place itself in 'authority' in Leinster House and settle-in for the next few years. "Settle-in" , that is , for an opportunity to live the life of O'Donoghue.
However , it must surely be some comfort to know that if you fail to make it 'big' during your (part)term in Office , you will do so when your 'time' is up : politicians from the 'old' Leinster House administration have awarded themselves vast sums of money in compensation for losing their seats ie compo for losing the opportunity to award themselves vast sums of money !
The following is a list of 'Awards' which that out-going State administration gifted to itself :

* Mary Coughlan: €312,239.56 in the first year, €130,161.98 every year thereafter.
* John O’Donoghue: €310,370.98 in the first year, €128,293.40 every year thereafter.
* Mary O’Rourke: €310,370.98 in the first year, €128,293.40 every year thereafter.
* Dick Roche: €274,160.69 in the first year, €94,782.31 every year thereafter.
* Mary Hanafin: €250,986.98 in the first year, €102,364.91 every year thereafter.
* Pat Carey: €240,225.41 in the first year, €91,603.34 every year thereafter.
* Michael Ahern: €235,368.58 in the first year, €53,291 every year thereafter.
* Frank Fahey: €235,368.58 in the first year, €53,291 every year thereafter.
* Sean Power: €235,368.58 in the first year, €53,291 every year thereafter.
* Trevor Sargent : €230,164.88 in the first year, €57,410.49 every year thereafter.
* Seán Haughey: €220,289.42 in the first year, €57,893.93 every year thereafter.
* John Gormley: €212,274.07 in the first year, €63,652 every year thereafter.
* Conor Lenihan: €207,653.76 in the first year, €59,031.69 every year thereafter.
* Brendan Kenneally: €196,299.96 in the first year, €41,777.11 every year thereafter.
* Johnny Brady: €185,185.31 in the first year, €36,563.24 every year thereafter.
* John Moloney: €185,185.31 in the first year, €36,563.24 every year thereafter.
* Eamon Ryan: €164,014.75 in the first year, €49,074.55 every year thereafter.
* Barry Andrews: €146,218.33 in the first year, €31,278.13 every year thereafter.
* Tom McEllistrim: €146,164.51 in the first year, €31,224.31 every year thereafter.
* Peter Power: €146,164.51 in the first year, €31,224.31 every year thereafter.
* John Curran: €143,079.03 in the first year, €28,138.83 every year thereafter.
* Maire Hoctor: €142,890.67 in the first year, €27,950.47 every year thereafter.
* Ciarán Cuffe: €139,948.69 in the first year, €25,008.49 every year thereafter.
* Paul Gogarty: €136,925.99 in the first year, €21,985.79 every year thereafter.
* Peter Kelly: €136,925.99 in the first year, €21,985.79 every year thereafter.
* Michael Mulcahy: €136,925.99 in the first year, €21,985.79 every year thereafter.
* Charlie O’Connor: €136,925.99 in the first year, €21,985.79 every year thereafter.
* Martin Mansergh: €108,507.84 in the first year, €18,707.96 every year thereafter.
* Aine Brady: €105,368.54 in the first year, €15,568.66 every year thereafter.
* Seán Connick: €102,363.77 in the first year, €12,563.89 every year thereafter.
* Mary White: €101,960.15 in the first year, €12,160.27 every year thereafter.
* Chris Andrews: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Bobby Aylward: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Cyprian Brady: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Thomas Byrne: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Margaret Conlon: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Michael Fitzpatrick: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Michael Kennedy: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Darragh O’Brien: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Christy O’Sullivan: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.
* Eamon Scanlon: €99,215.50 in the first year, €9,415.62 every year thereafter.

TOTAL COST TO THE PUBLIC: €7,054,373.02 in the first year; €1,711,658.48 every year thereafter.

The 'new crowd' will do the same , when their time is up - they are living beyond our means , which is just one of the reasons we advised that they are not worthy of your vote.
Hopefully , more people will listen to us the next time... ?
Thanks,
Sharon.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Republican Sinn Féin will be actively opposing a visit by the 'queen' of England to any part of Ireland. As part of its campaign , the organisation will be holding a picket at the gates of Leinster House on Wednesday March 9th 2011 from 4.00pm to 6.00pm. More information here.

Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

THE FIANNA FAIL STORY.

The Rise And Decline Of Fianna Fail , by Kevin Boland - Mercier Press.

Seán Lemass And The Making Of Modern Ireland , by Paul Bew and Henry Patterson - Gill and Macmillan.
By Roy Johnston.
From 'Gralton' magazine, Aug/Sept 1983.

The analysis of the role of Fianna Fail , and the associated necessary synthesis of a replacement with a stronger socialist component , capable of taking the Irish revolution a stage further , has been the primary task of the Left since the 1930's.

The comprehensive and consistent failure of the Irish Left to address this task requires explanation, but this is another day's work.

Into the ensuing theoretical vacuum, however, have come two books which , while not fulfilling the needs may provide stimulus and raw material for those who are perceptive enough to understand that this task is still at the top of the political agenda.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" The Minister asked me for my opinion as to who it might be and I named a particular individual , saying at the same time that I had no reason other than his penchant for indiscretions. The Minister said 'it could be Neil Blaney or Kevin Boland'. He read the statement a couple of times , discussed it with me and put it in his brief case.

When the Minister returned after lunch , after the government meeting, he sent for me to discuss another matter and I took the opportunity to ask him if there had been any developments arising from the statement. He drew it from his bag and handed it to me - he had made notations diagonally across the left-hand top corner.

He said that he had read it to the meeting , adding that that was the last time that he would bring anything like that to the notice of all the members of government , that he would bring it direct to the Taoiseach. He said that no Minister had met Cathal Goulding and went on to say that Charlie Haughey had mentioned that he had been asked to meet some fellow from the IRA but that he had not paid heed to what was said , that it was not of any consequence......."
(MORE LATER).

AN ATTEMPT TO USE STATE APPARATUS AGAINST THE STATE....

Most of our readers will be aware that this blog , and the RSF organisation overall , have been involved for a number of years now in support of thousands of low-paid workers in this State who have been financially penalised by the State for the 'mistakes' (ie gambling incompetence) of big business-people and property developers etc who , through their own greed , bankrupted the State then put pressure on the political parties that they had purchased and instructed them to bail them out - which they did , at our expense, by financially and morally prostituting the working-class and the unemployed to the IMF and Brussels.
In 'fighting back' against this injustice , some of those low-paid workers (full history here) encouraged their trade union to legally challenge the 'right' of the State to deduct their wages and , following various meetings between the workers , their appointed representatives at ground level and the trade union(s) involved , a form of wording was agreed and a case was lodged in the 'LRC' under 'The Payment Of Wages Act 1991' to seek the return of all monies from wages which have been stopped by , in this particular case , the 'FAS' agency , which is the actual 'employer' in this instance.
Those low-paid workers are now being notified that their case will be heard , in Court, over a three-day period this month : if justice were to be done , they would win their case outright via 'technical' reasons alone apart , that is, from the morality involved in the State 'docking' each lowly wage-packet between €30 and €50 each week - we are aware of the Court defence to be entered by the workers and of a possible/probable 'Plan B' to be used by them , in the event that it becomes necessary to do so but , for obvious reasons, we won't be outlining same here.
We wish these workers every success in this endeavour , but would caution them against expecting too much : after all , one 'arm' of the State is being asked to challenge another , on behalf of low-paid and poorly-represented workers (ie no political 'clout') in an action which will not only embarrass the State and cost it , financially but will , and rightly so , 'open the floodgates' to a 'raft' of similar cases.
Win or lose , RSF will maintain its support for these , and other , workers , and for the unemployed.
As it should be !
Thanks,
Sharon.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

RSF ANTI-ENGLISH 'QUEEN' PETITION AND PICKET GPO , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 26TH FEBRUARY 2011.

About twenty members and/or supporters of Republican Sinn Féin in Dublin held a ninty-minute anti-'royal' picket on the traffic isle facing the GPO in O'Connell Street yesterday , Saturday 26th February 2011 , and had set-up a stall under the pillars of the GPO to collect signatures in support of the motion that an English 'queen' is not welcome in Ireland whilst her armed forces continue to militarily and politically enforce a claim of jurisdictional control over any part of Ireland .

At the RSF anti-'royal' stall at the GPO , Dublin , Sat 26th Feb 2011.

A Republican message from the steps of Dublin's GPO to the English 'establishment'.

Republican stall being set-up at Dublin's GPO , Sat 26th Feb 2011.

Hundreds of RSF recruitment leaflets and anti-'royal' visit leaflets were distributed over the ninty minutes , and dozens of signatures for the petition were collected , in what was a well-organised and well-executed 'job of work' by the Movement , which was well received by all passers-by , locals and tourists - indeed , the only objection came from the two members of the 'Special Branch' (Political Police) , who attempted to practically 'close down' the stall and , when that failed , contented themselves by trying to turn on-lookers away : however , that endeavour too , failed , so they retired to their car and observed proceedings from there.
Full marks to the twenty-or-so Irish Republican activists that carried-out this initiative and to Republican Sinn Féin for organising same - a good day's work!
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

Friday, February 25, 2011

PRO-'NOTA' / ANTI-'QUEEN' VOTES LODGED , 25TH FEB 2011.

This blog has received photographs and verbal confirmation that pro-'NOTA' and anti-'queen' votes have been made in at least 17* polling stations in the Dublin Mid-West constituency , and surrounding areas , including Tallaght, Ballyfermot and Bluebell. This campaign was started by three individuals in the Neilstown area of Clondalkin and , although none of them are members of any Irish Republican organisation , they are solid supporters of Republican Sinn Féin and have been for decades , and are highly regarded and valued as such by the local Cumann of the Movement. They , and their equally 'NOTA'-inclined friends approached members of the Clondalkin-based Maire Drumm/Kevin Barry Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach and an agreement was reached : in return for writing 'None Of The Above' and an anti-English 'queen' visit message on ballot papers , RSF would use its local network of contacts to distribute the leaflets provided by the pro-'NOTA' people - resulting in thousands of said leaflets being distributed in the locality and pro-'NOTA'/anti-'queen' messages being wrote on ballot papers in an area reaching from Balgaddy in North Clondalkin to the foothills of the Dublin mountains , in Tallaght, and down towards Dublin City Centre as far as Inchicore!
(*Final 'tally'[!] - 22 polling stations.)

Political candidates - 'None Of The Above'.

'ENGLISH QUEEN NOT WELCOME!' ballot paper , Friday 25th February 2011.

No welcome for wannabe or existing Free State politicians or English 'queens' !

This blog congratulates those involved in this (at the time of writing) on-going campaign , which will continue until 10PM tonight : hopefully , this campaign will prevent one or more Free State politician (or 'wannabe') from enriching themself in Leinster House and has encouraged dozens of people to take part in a political campaign who otherwise would not have got involved - plus , of course , Republican Sinn Féin , in that huge catchment area , has gained the trust and confidence of many people that it might not have otherwise been possible to reach : 'winners all round' except , of course , a few Leinster House politicians and their 'wannabe' colleagues!
Well Done!
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

LEGAL DRUG TRIALS : ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. (The following information was brought to our attention by a reader of this blog , and was published in a Sunday newspaper in September 2010 : the person who contacted us did so on reading our 'Death of Niall Rush' article and , upon checking to the best of our ability, we are satisfied that that person has no 'axe to grind' re the newspaper in question and/or to the companies or individuals mentioned in the piece.......)

Three volunteers were hospitalised last week after suffering violent seizures during drug trials at a private research clinic in Cork. The young men are reportedly recovering and the nine others involved in the test are being monitored at the clinic. The trial itself has been terminated.

Rising unemployment has resulted in a surge in numbers applying to take part in clinical trials , where volunteers can make up to €130 a day. The practice whereby wealthy corporations often pay impoverished individuals a pittance to risk their health is outdated and grotesque.

Clinical trials must be in accordance with European law , but some pharmaceutical firms go to great lengths to idemnify themselves against litigation if their human guinea pigs experience ill effects - which speaks volumes about the safety of those experiments.

[END of ' LEGAL DRUG TRIALS : ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT '.]
(Next - 'THE FIANNA FAIL STORY' - from 'Gralton' magazine , Aug/Sept 1983.)

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" The statement was written on foolscap sheets of a pink colour which I habitually used in giving directives in my Department and of which I kept a stock at home as I was used to taking home files for urgent completion. It ran to several pages and , amongst the items recorded was information that in the previous week a Cabinet Minister had had a meeting with the Chief of Staff of the IRA (Cathal Goulding) , at which a deal had been made that the IRA would call off their campaign of violence in the 26 Counties in return for a free hand in operating a cross-border campaign in the North.

I was told - and I reported it to the Minister - that the Army Council of the IRA could not understand the Taoiseach's statement of 19th August as it had been accepted that the Cabinet Minister was speaking to their Chief of Staff with the authority of Government.

The Minister questioned me as to whom the police officers named as the Cabinet Minister and I said that they did not name anybody and that I did not ask , that in matters of that kind a discretion had to be exercised by the police to prevent their sources of information being disclosed and that there was a normal reluctance on their part at all times to give all the information in their possession which might be so close to the bone as to identify their sources......."
(MORE LATER).

2 4 the 'queen' , 3 4 the Staters....

This coming Saturday (26th February 2011) , Republican Sinn Féin will hold a one-hour protest (from 12.45pm to 1.45pm) on the traffic isle facing the GPO in O'Connell Street , Dublin , in opposition to the proposed visit to this country by an English 'queen': a similar protest will be held on Wednesday 9th March 2011 , at the Kildare Street gates of Leinster House , from 4PM to 6PM. We hope our Dublin-based readers will attend either one protest or the other or, preferably - both!

In a statement in relation to the proposed 'queen of England' visit , the President of Republican Sinn Féin, Des Dalton, stated:

"The proposed visit of the Queen of England to the 26-County State is intended to signal that British occupation and the partition of Ireland is now normal and acceptable. A visit by the head of the British State while that state continues to occupy and partition Ireland be opposed.
Republican Sinn Féin will lead an active campaign of opposition and will be calling on all Republican minded people throughout Ireland to come out and make their voices hear in protest.

In 1911 patriots such as James Connolly, Maud Gonne and Helena Maloney among others led Republican and progressive resistance to a similar attempt to pacify Ireland with a British Royal visit. They did so under the banner 'Thou art not conquered yet dear land' and in 2011 those who have neither been purchased nor intimated will be sending out the same clear message.
Continued British Rule in Ireland is an obstacle to achieving a just and lasting settlement for all the Irish people and must be removed if we are serious about creating real All-Ireland economic and political democracy."

We hope to see you on Saturday 26th February next at the GPO and/or on Wednesday 9th March next outside Leinster House. And bring a friend.....!

3 MORE REASONS FOR VOTING 'NONE OF THE ABOVE' :

1) By voting for a candidate - perhaps because you consider him/her to be 'the best of a bad bunch' - you are in effect agreeing to not partake in decision making by transferring the authority to do this to a bunch of 'political experts'.

2) The use of the 'party whip' system undermines the ability of representatives to represent those who elected them and instead their representation switches to the party which is not the same thing.

3) You are electing a person based on promises to do something but there is no mechanism of immediate recall if this does not happen except , in this particular type of election , four/five years after the event when the damage caused by the broken promises will be long established.

This State cannot afford any more John O'Donoghue's , nor do we deserve any more of his type : use your vote wisely on Friday 25th February next - write 'British Royals Not Welcome' and/or 'None Of The Above' on it !
Thanks,
Sharon.