1169 And Counting.....

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

Garda Jack Doyle had been working as an ordinary uniformed garda in Blarney , Cork , when he was approached by Edward Keating , a former British soldier and firearms enthusiast , who offered to pass on information about the criminal underworld in Cork : Doyle contacted his superiors and, before long, Keating was hired as a paid Garda informant , supervised by Garda Supt Dermot Dwyer.

In March 1995 , Garda HQ approved his first 'controlled delivery' - one hundred kilos of cannabis were brought in through Ringaskiddy , packed into suitcases in the boot of a hired Opel Vectra car. They were brought to Anglesea Street Garda barracks where they were kept for three days , then handed back to the gang. By arrangement , Edward Keating brought the drugs to Inishannon wood , where gardai later arrested three men picking up the drugs. Thirty kilos were seized - the remaining 70 kilos were found in a follow-up operation. It was hailed as a major victory against the drug barons.

The second operation took place on 5th April 1995 : Keating , according to Garda Jack Doyle , had been given assurances that he would have a free run . There was supposed to be Customs clearance , but Doyle was informed that there had been a change of plan because Customs apparently wouldn't 'play ball' . A senior garda had called to his counterpart in the Revenue Commissioners the night before and had explained what was happening but , on moral grounds, Revenue said they could not allow it to go ahead. But the operation did go ahead nonetheless.......
(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 urged the Minister to convey the information to the Taoiseach , saying that, inevitably, it would get a wider circulation in police circles and, perhaps , reach his ears indirectly. The Minister said that he would like to give the matter further thought , that the allegations were of the most serious kind and he hesitated to be the harbinger of such bad news.

I said that I shared his dismay but that I felt that the information should be passed on so that if it were untrue or exaggerated it could be refuted.

It occured to me, of course , that the Minister had already told the Taoioseach who would not want it known that he knew, except in the tightest of circles. The Minister was quite obviously not in good health from January onwards and it was very difficult to get him to do ordinary Departmental work - additionally, he was having difficulty in the staffing and functioning of his solicitor's practice in Castlebar and he was trying to exercise control day by day from Dublin......."
(MORE LATER).

3/8 - 188 YEARS AGO......

On August 3rd , 188 years ago to the day , 48-year-old Daniel O'Connell - misnomered 'The Liberator' , as he did not, as the name would suggest, 'liberate' this country from British misrule (which has still to be done) but rather due to the fact that the majority of the country's population at that time considered O'Connell to be liberating them from political irrelevance - founded 'The Catholic Association'.
This new organisation grew rapidly , as 'associate membership' cost only one penny a month which was affordable to small land-owners , those that worked for them , the many who had no jobs or land , the so-called 'middle class' and even the Catholic Clergy - all of whom either joined or strongly supported 'The Catholic Association' , quickly ensuring that, with tens of thousands of members and associate members, Daniel O'Connell became a man to be reckoned with. And the British - masters at 'people-reckoning' - quickly came to realise that O'Connell would only use "moral force" to achieve what he termed "...repeal of the Union.. " and, even then ,they knew he favoured the island of Ireland remaining as a unit governed by the British 'Monarchy'.
In actual fact , O'Connell worked within British 'law' with a vow NOT to use force against the British : the latter , of course , impose no such restriction on themselves....

On the same day that O'Connell founded 'The Catholic Association' - 3rd August 1823 , 188 years ago to the day - a baby boy was born to the Meagher family in Waterford : this child was to dedicate twenty-four of his forty-four years on this earth to challenging British mis-rule in Ireland .......
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Monday, August 01, 2011

BEWARE THE SELF-SERVING 'MONGO's'*.......

Natural / 'man'-made disasters , scenes of 'famine' (whether real or enforced) , television pictures of thousands of hungry , homeless people fleeing vast areas because of on-going strife and/or so-called 'civil war' , adult and child survivors of forced amputation etc - all accompanied by a serious-sounding voice-over person pleading with the readers/listeners/viewers to 'give generously...'
-but perhaps by so doing you could be prolonging the suffering ?

'A vast industry has grown up around humanitarian aid: a cavalcade of organizations--some 37,000--compete for a share of the $160 billion annual prize, with "fact-inflation" sometimes ramping up disaster coverage to draw in more funds. Insurgents and warring governments, meanwhile, have made aid a permanent feature of military strategy...'
(Here and here.)

"In case after case, a persuasive argument can be made that, over-all, humanitarian aid did as much or even more harm than good..."
-Philip Gourevitch, 'The New Yorker'.

However : not all those asking you for financial assistance are intent on ripping you off : CABHAIR is a charitable organisation, solely dependant on public subscriptions, which was established in early 1987 for "...the relief of cases of distress arising out of republican activity.." and can be contacted here.

As our regular readers know , we never ask for money and this post is no different : we are not looking for funds for ourselves but are asking you to donate whatever spare funds you can afford to the CABHAIR organisation to help the families of Irish Republican prisoners to meet their financial commitments. All monies donated will go directly to those families , with no administration costs being deducted.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
(*My Own Non-Governmental Organisation.)

Saturday, July 30, 2011

IRELAND 1871 : EVICTIONS , THE 'WESTMEATH ACT' AND THE BIRTH OF A CHILD TO THE SMYTH FAMILY IN LONGFORD....

In 1871 in Ireland , as evictions were being carried-out on a large scale , the British Parliament in Westminster realised that, as ever, there were still armed groups in Ireland that were not prepared to accept the genocidal diktat from the British as to how or, indeed, whether , they should live or die : amongst the measures employed by the British to destroy the Irish Rebels was the 'Westmeath Act' , which became 'law' in that year (1871)and which encouraged "....the arrest and detention without trial of persons reasonably suspected of membership in a secret society....."
Into this turmoil , a child was born to the Smyth family in Longford - a son , Patrick , who grew-up to be a good 'loyal subject of the crown' and , as such, wanted to 'serve queen and country' : he joined the 'Dublin Metropolitan Police' (seen here trying to drive striking workers off the streets of Dublin during the '1913 Lockout') and rose to the rank of 'Detective Sergeant' , and was known to viciously detest Irish Rebels of any class , creed or gender : he took particular delight in harassing Irish Republicans and , following the 1916 Easter Rising - which he appeared to have taken as a personal slight - he 'upped the ante' regarding his outright hatred of all things 'anti British' to the extent that he was warned by Irish Republicans to cease his activities against them - but he refused to do so.
On this day 92 years ago - 30th July 1919 - Detective Sergeant Patrick Smyth , having spent the day and evening 'serving queen and country' , returned to his home , alive, for the last time.......
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

In relation to the incident at Dublin Airpoprt , Det Sgt Denis Palmer said he was "horrified" to learn that Declan Griffin was caught with drugs , and was only there to meet him to get information about an unrelated crime. The jury of eight men and four women took just over an hour to reach a unanimous decision in the case : Griffin was acquitted.

Meanwhile , down in Cork , Customs had become aware of another operation where gardai were running a drugs courier who worked for one of the city's most notorious criminals , Tommy O' Callaghan: their concerns about the activities of Garda informant Edward Keating were raised at the highest level with the Garda but Garda HQ was well aware of what was going on - a garda from Blarney , Jack Doyle, had already raised the matter with senior officers in Dublin , so concerned was he that large amounts of drugs as well as firearms were reaching the streets in an operation which had been designed but had failed to catch Tommy O' Callaghan.

Garda Doyle had secretly recorded tapes of conversations with the informant Eddie Keating , who was the 'transportation manager' for O' Callaghan's drug gang , and handed the tapes over to the senior officers in the hope that they would carry out an internal investigation. Garda Doyle was then 'retired' from the force , on the grounds that he was mentally unfit to carry out his duties : he believes his forced retirement was a means of discrediting his story.......
(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.

" In Captain Kelly's book "Orders For The Captain" the action in this case is described (page 12) as "...a continuation of this 'softly softly' approach.." whereas the exact opposite was the intention , the Government's - or at least the Taoiseach's - desire that it should be seen publicly that the 'Twenty Six'-side of the Border could not be used for violent purposes in the Six Counties."

MID-JANUARY 1970 :

" I told the Minister that I had learnt from Mr Ward (the Assistant Secretary) of the Commissioner's visit on December 10th , 1969 , and of his instruction to the Commissioner to have further checks as to the authenticity of the information. I told him that I had spoken to the Commissioner that morning and that he had assured me that the information had been checked immediately after 10th December and that it stood up.

I had asked the Commissioner why had he not reported back and he said that he thought that the initiative for another meeting should lie with the Minister - I was not satisfied with this , as it seemed to me that there was an anxiety on both sides to let the matter die......."
(MORE LATER).

BRENDAN LILLIS , MAGHABERRY AND BUNDORAN....

Brendan Lillis , dying in prison....

Call for the immediate release of Brendan Lillis :in a statement on July 18 last, the POW Department of Republican Sinn Féin called for the immediate release of a seriously ill Republican prisoner in Maghaberry jail, Co Antrim.

"The continued incarceration of Republican prisoner Brendan Lillis in Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim is just further proof of the bloody-mindedness of the British state to Irish political prisoners.

When Brendan Lillis was arrested and charged his licence was revoked. Yet when the charges against him were dropped he was not released. If the charges were genuine then he would surely have been taken before the Diplock court - as is considered "normal" by the British state. But the charges were not proceeded with, and yet Brendan Lillis is still in Maghaberry.

Brendan has been very ill for some time and is now just five and a half stone in weight. To continue to keep him is jail constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment.

Republican Sinn Fein calls for the immediate release of Brendan Lillis, if for no other reason than on humanitarian grounds. To continue to keep him in jail is nothing other than vindictive".
Josephine Hayden
Republican Sinn Fein POW Department
223 Parnell Street
Dublin 1.

Maghaberry Jail , Antrim.

POWs refuse to accept criminalisation policy :

"The situation in Maghaberry jail has worsened over the last several months
while David Ford, British minister of justice in the Stormont regime sat on a report that would solve the impasse in the jail. For eight months this report has been with Ford, and no doubt his bosses the First and Second Ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, but he has refused to act on it and tries to justify his inaction by blaming the Republican prisoners.

The full-body humiliating and unnecessary strip search of the POWs is a major stumbling block to bringing about a conclusion to the protest and a major one in the commencement of this action by the POWs. The men were driven to take such drastic measures because they refuse to accept the British Government policy of criminalisation. A policy that was discredited by hundreds of POWs culminating in the deaths of Bobby Sands and his nine comrades in the H-Blocks in 1981.
For the past 13 days, (the ‘dirty’ protest commenced on June 5 last, alarmingly reminiscent of the notorious H-Block conditions) the prisoners have been locked-down 24-hours a day and were refused visits because of their refusal to be classified as criminals, similar to the stand taken by Bobby Sands and his comrades. Relatives are now being victimised and used to add extra pressure on the prisoners, including the ending of all visits until they capitulate on their principled protest.

The POWs are not allowed out of their cells even for a shower or exercise in the yard. They have been living in a ‘tomb’ for two weeks and it looks likely to continue. Everything except their mattress has been removed from the cells. The BOSS chair is a modern device which scans the prisoner’s body for concealed items without the POW having to be forcibly stripped naked and one is in use within the prison already. However in a bazaar twist, prisoners leaving and entering the prison, whether to courts or hospital, are still subjected to this vile naked body search. What is the rationale?
There is a hidden agenda here. Is it policy or disguised sectarianism?

The answer may lie in the mindset of the prison administration, the warders, all the way up to the British Government itself. The day–to-day running of the jail is done almost exclusively by men and women of a loyalist/unionist mindset with the express purpose of making life as difficult as possible for the Republican POWs. The very same mindset pertained at the time of the H-Blocks.

This, the 30th Anniversary of the H-Block Martyrs, is a grave indictment of the British and Stormont authorities that they still continue with the attempted criminalisation of Irish Republican political prisoners."

Issued by Josephine Hayden
POW Department
Republican Sinn Féin
223 Parnell Street
Dublin 1.

Bundoran Commemoration , Saturday 27th August 2011 , Donegal.

Show your support for Irish Republican Prisoners and for the Cause of Irish Republicanism.....
Thanks,
Sharon.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

When the case came to court three years later , Declan Griffin pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession with intent to supply and importing heroin and ecstasy at Dublin Airport.

He told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the importation of the drugs from Amsterdam had been cleared by his Garda 'handler' , Detective Sergeant Denis Palmer. When he was arrested and brought to Santry Garda Station , Griffin said he waited for Detective Sergeant Palmer to turn up "....and sort it all out , but when I saw the gates of Mountjoy Jail I realised Denis was not going to save me now, he's thrown me to the wolves to try and save himself...".

He told the court that his association with Palmer had begun in 1993 when he was arrested by gardai from Coolock station : Palmer had released him on £1000 cash bail and , Griffin claimed , the detective said that he would "look after" the charges against him . Those charges were dropped in exchange for information on petty crime. Palmer told the court that he and his colleagues believed there was insufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution, but agreed that he was wrong not to have contacted the DPP about dropping the charges.......
(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 did not know then and I was not to know until the arms trial in September 1970 of the Fort Dunree episode in the last week of September 1969 in which , with the approval of the Minister for Defence , a number of men from the Six Counties were taken into the FCA for training with rifled weapons - a course which was immediately cancelled when brought to the Taoiseach's notice.

Twenty-four hours later Mr Haughey was on the phone to me , furiously enquiring who had given the Gardai the "stupid" direction to arrest these men , and I told him that the decision came from the very top and he asked 'do you mean the Taoiseach?' and I said yes. I recapped what had happened and said that I had no doubt that when the defendants were before the court the indictable charges would be thrown out but that a new complication might arise if the defendants refused to recognise the court and were held to be in contempt , that for this they could be committed.

His language was not of the kind usually heard in church - he said that he would ensure that there would be no contempt. Subsequently , I consulted the Attorney General who, after consultation with the Taoiseach, instructed the local State Solicitor to appear at the District Court proceedings and the men were let go , but their weapons were held......."
(MORE LATER).

PAT CANNON COMMEMORATION , DUBLIN - SATURDAY 23rd JULY 2011 , BALGRIFFIN CEMETERY.

Pat Cannon (left) and Peter McElchar.

On Saturday 17th July 1976, two IRA Volunteers on active service - Patrick Cannon from Dublin and Peter McElchar from Donegal - set out in a car in which they were transporting an explosive device. They crossed the border from Donegal into Tyrone and were approaching the town of Castlederg when the device exploded prematurely. It was about 2.15pm.
Peter McElchar was killed instantly. Patrick Cannon was gravely injured and was taken to Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh. He was being transferred to hospital in Belfast when he died....

The Patrick Cannon Commemoration will be held on Saturday , 23rd July 2011 , at 1pm ; the assembly point is at the Cemetery gates. Bus number 42 from Dublin City Centre will get you there!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

Almost a year after the Urlingford operation , a secret Customs dossier was reported stolen from Lord Edward Street in Dublin where Customs are based ; the documents ended up in the hands of anti-drugs activists in the city , and were also leaked to a number of journalists.

They contained details of Customs' internal investigation into the goings-on at Urlingford , but also contained details of the Declan Griffin case , where Customs were concerned about the modus operandi of the Garda.

It was Christmas week 1995 , six weeks after Urlingford , when Customs officials pulled 29-year-old Declan Griffin over as he made his way through the 'Blue Channel' at Dublin Airport : in his bags they found four packages , wrapped in black tape , which contained three kilos of heroin and over 2,000 ecstasy tablets with a street value of over one million Irish Punts. Outside in 'Arrivals' , Detective Garda Denis Palmer was waiting for Griffin . Customs hadn't been informed of any 'controlled delivery'.......
(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.

DECEMBER 29th 1969 :

" I received a phone call late one evening from Gardai HQ to say that a group of men armed with rifled weapons had been arrested by uniformed Gardai in a disused house near the Border in County Donegal . Instructions were sought , so I informed the Minister.

He telephoned me back soon afterwards to say that he had consulted the Taoiseach and that they (a barrister and a solicitor) wanted to know what charges could be preferred and with what consequences. I replied that there were several courses open : (1) let them go , they had surrendered peacefully although they outnumbered the Gardai three to one, but their weapons could be confiscated / (2) they could be charged with unlawful possession of firearms which was a summary offence usually punishable with a fine of one Irish Punt - I mentioned that they could not be held in custody on this charge / (3) if it was the desire to hold them in custody it would be necessary to prefer charges of unlawful possession of firearms with intent to endanger life or property but , I added, while they could be held temporarily that charge could not be made stick when they were brought to Court.

The Minister telephoned back - the Taoiseach wants to throw the book at them , the indictable charges are to be preferred and they are to be lodged in Mountjoy Prison. I gave the necessary instructions and this seemed to indicate to me that the Taoiseach wanted it to be seen publicly that the Government would not tolerate any activity connected with violence......."
(MORE LATER).

"FOOL ME ONCE......

.....SHAME ON YOU......

......FOOL ME TWICE....

.....SHAME ON ME."

And that , in a nutshell , is what this is all about : a majority of people in Roscommon (and,probably, elsewhere in this IMF State...) are disgusted with the Leinster House politicians they voted for in the 'General Election' which was held here on Friday 25th February last , because the Fine Gael and Labour candidates that were elected in Roscommon have renaged on election promises made during the campaign in relation to Roscommon Hospital.

"Here we go again; as they appear from the wood work
Promising and speaking party rhetoric and waffle
Their wholesome and goodness act makes me irk
With minders in tow, through towns they waddle.

All on offer, their coffers now open
Shaking hands, kissing babies and pretending to listen
Hospitals, roads and schools, their voices will deafen
Be wary of promises that sparkle and glisten......"
(From here.)

But.....

.....in the opinion of those of us who put this blog together , that anger is mis-placed : those voters should , first and foremost , be angry , sickened and disgusted with themselves for believing those promises and for voting accordingly : the politicians who fooled them were only doing what comes naturally to them (ie "...tell 'em what they want to hear...") and should be only second 'in line' to be held to account ; the top of that queue should be reserved for those amongst the Roscommon protestors who , in February last , actually voted for the same politicians they are now protesting against !

And , at the next chance they get , those same voters/protestors will fall for it again and elect a 'different' political snake-oil salesperson , possibly from Fianna Fail , the Greens , Provisional Sinn Féin or some other politically-warped outfit.....

.....which is why we advocated a 'N.O.T.A.' vote in that 'General Election' and will more than likely be doing so again on the next occasion. Those with a vested interest will tell you that such a vote '....is a wasted opportunity..' but , in our opinion, the real 'wasted opportunity' is in not voting against all of those who want into Leinster House to maintain this corrupt political system and make a very comfortable living for themselves at the same time , at your expense.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

The Urlingford issue marked a new low in the relationship between Customs and the Garda , but there was more to come : Customs documents stolen from Dublin Castle and leaked to the media highlighted concerns about other cases in Dublin.

They were also worried about the Garda dealings with a side-kick of the Cork drug lord , Tommy O' Callaghan , concerns which were also raised by a former member of the Garda , Jack Doyle . Today , the two agencies are still involved in a turf war - customs officers throughout the country (sic) say relations with their Garda counterparts are as bad as ever , if not worse.

The two forces are supposed to work together , share intelligence and share the spoils in the fight against drugs but customs officers complain that the information is given on a one-way basis only , and they point to two major Garda seizures of drugs and cigarettes in the last six weeks to prove their point.......
(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.

" Knowing the Commissioner as well as I did I would regard it as entirely out of character for him to give such an expression of opinion and I do not think that he would go any farther than not to demur from an expression of opinion from the Minister.

It was known to me , of course , that it was known to Mr Wymes that he owed his appointment as Assistant Commissioner to Mr Haughey ; he was about twentieth in the order of seniority in 1963 and was not the nominee of the then Commissioner , Mr Costigan. Likewise , Mr Wymes was aware that he was not favoured by the then Minister for Justice , Mr Lenihan - when the question of selecting a successor to Mr Carroll was raised in March 1968 - and that it was largely due to Mr Haughey that he was given the post of Commissioner.

In such circumstances it would have been only natural that Mr Wymes should hope against hope - as I did myself - that the police information was not true in relation to Mr Haughey, or that at least whatever he was doing was Government policy......."

(MORE LATER).

LAST EVER POST ABOUT OUR 2011 NEW YORK HOLIDAY for now, anyway......

The 'Search And Destroy' alternative fashion store , East Village , New York - they tell it , and sell it , like it is......!

As you may have guessed (!) , I'm having a very hard time putting our recent New York holiday behind us and those of you who have been there for a holiday will understand why that is , whereas those of you who haven't probably won't have a clue as to why I am still in mourning.... :-(

.....however - I couldn't let the holiday pass without mentioning one of our best shopping experiences , in a rather racy establishment , pictured above , where Lady Gaga , amongst other famous people , can regularly be found : but a word of caution for those who would be what I consider reserved/prudish - shop elsewhere !

It's worth buying something - anything ! - in this shop , just to get your hands on one of their plastic bags :

.....now you know why I told you it is a "rather racy" store - but it's a brilliant experience. Just like the City itself....
Thanks for reading - I hope to have the NYC 'bug' out of my system in the next few days.....

Friday, July 01, 2011

HOLIDAYS AND SHOPPING OVER , NEW YORK NOT TOO BADLY DAMAGED......!

Breathless and empty : we are all breathlessly exhausted and our purses are empty - but we'd head back to NYC in the morning if we could !
We had an unbelievable two weeks in Manhattan , Queens , the Bronx , the Bowery , Hells Kitchen , Brooklyn and all points in between (!) and , of course , in New Jersey , in the ginormous shopping outlet that is Jersey Gardens - which we had to visit twice , such was the sheer volume of the clothes etc etc that the five of us purchased : it was just simply physically impossible to transport all our bags back to base in Queens in the one trip !
Our friends , colleagues and comrades in New York - Frankie , Shay , Mal , Kev , Lizzie , Sue , Beth , Tara and Coleen , to name but a few, spoiled us something rotten : between them all , the five of us had the free use of new apartments in Queens and the Bronx , and separate storage space (badly needed and much appreciated!) in the Bowery District plus - and a special 'Go Raibh Maith Agat Go Léir' to Charlie - the free use of a mini-bus and driver for the two weeks !
We publish with this post a few pics of our travels ,but there are some other pics from same which must never see the light of day....
;-)!

Myself and the girls pictured on one of our many raids on a Manhattan shop.....!

One of two venues we didn't visit.....

....and the other one !

A corridor in Jersey Gardens named in our honour...!

Hot Dogs made even us 'Cool Cats' thirsty !

Thousands turned out to say 'Goodbye/Good Buy' to us...!

That's it for now , Readers - we will be back 'properly' (!) on Wednesday 6th July 2011 ; in the meantime , here's a good blog that should keep you going until then....
Slán go foill anois ,
Sharon and Crew.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

RTE News had come and gone , leaving Customs to comment that the operation seemed to be stage-managed by the Garda. They assumed that the RTE correspondent was given ample notice earlier that day to be present for the Urlingford seizure. At first , the Garda claimed that the seizure of £130 million worth of cannabis resin was intercepted by them , but it soon became apparent that they had brought it in themselves. No criminals turned up to meet the consignment.

Nonetheless , the government of the day hailed the operation as a major success , an example of co-operation between the Garda , Customs and the Naval Service : nothing could have been further from the truth.

Fianna Fail , the main opposition at the time , shied away from the debacle - only the PD's , and most notably current Justice Minister Michael McDowell, insisted on raising awkward questions about the Garda operation. The public , he said, was entitled to know whether the Garda had standing authority to land huge amounts of drugs in the State without prior ministerial sanction.......
(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.

" As my Assistant Secretary , Andy Ward, said to me - 'How lack of information on this simple point cast doubts on the validity generally of the police information is a strange conclusion for the Minister to make'. It is evident at any rate , from the Minister's own mouth, that before 10th December he was aware of the situation and that the subject matter to be discussed with the Commissioner and Chief Supt. Fleming was no surprise.

It was subsequently learned in the Department of Justice that no note was made of what transpired at the interview but the Commissioner supplied , on request by me in May 1970 , a photostat copy of an aide memoire written by Mr. Fleming on a foolscap sheet of paper which, according to the Commissioner , Mr. Fleming read to the Minister and then handed it to the Minister to read.

In the months January to April when the Minister resigned , neither the Minister nor the Commissioner ever expressed doubts to me as to Chief Supt. Fleming's source of information. I find it all the more extraordinary that either or both individuals should entertain doubts in view of the facts regarding the promotion in the previous week of Mr. Fleming (from the rank of Superintendent to Chief Superintendent) and the positive action taken in 1968 to give him consultative assistance.......
(MORE LATER).

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON......?

Turn on your speakers ,take a look , and make up your mind.....

DOUBLE-UP SUNDAY.....

This Sunday , 12th June 2011 , RSF in Dublin will be dividing its 'personpower' between two events : The Annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration in Bodenstown and the Monthly Raffle : we wish the team in Bodenstown every success (and good weather!) - but we won't be there , as this blog crew and three others have been 'seconded' to work inside a dry hotel , with an operational bar (!) to 'run' the Raffle. But sure we don't mind 'roughing' it...... ;-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.... !
As previously mentioned - once or twice before (!) - myself and four other girls are off very soon now for a wee two-week break in the shopping outlets and in-and-around the Fifth Avenue area of New York City and , as such , this will be our last post until early July 2011 . We hope you will miss us as much as we will miss you but one thing we won't miss is the shopping outlets in-and-around ..... etc !
See you when we get back - stay good , and stay true : slán go fóill anois.
Thanks,
Sharon.

Saturday, June 04, 2011

PRIORITIES....

....we should keep events in perspective.

Our regular readers will be aware that myself and four other girls are due to fly out in the next few days for a two-week holiday in New York ; this is not our first holiday in NYC , so we are well aware of just how good a break it is. All five of us work fulltime , have children (and all the responsibilities and expenses that accompany them !) and we have been saving-up for this holiday for the past six months. Due to the generosity of good friends and comrades 'over there' , we had obtained the use of an apartment in the Bronx , for one week , and another apartment had been gifted to us in Queens for our second week - all free of charge , which is how we could afford to stay for two weeks. Also , we had secured 'storage space' elsewhere , again FOC , for our shopping because , as you can imagine , five young Ladies , with money , in NYC equals bags and bags of 'Goodies' !
It now looks like we won't be going , as an industrial dispute seems set to put paid to our escapade - so the five of us had a 'meeting' today to discuss developments and , not surprising - as we are friends that share more than a liking for just shopping and sight-seeing in NYC - all five of us were instantly in agreement that our holiday is less important than the rights of workers.
Management in Aer Lingus are attempting to force new terms and conditions on their workforce and those employees are attempting to fight back , to defend and hold-on to their present work practices , using the only 'weapon' they have at their disposal - their labour.
We fully support those workers , and urge them not to be swayed by their management , the media or , indeed , by their own Union , should it come to that , into giving up the fight : pressure will be applied on them to do so , they will be shouted at in relation to 'how lucky they are to have a job in the first place' etc and they will be projected to the public by anti-worker/right-wing elements as 'troublemakers' : the anti-trade union 'establishment' will attempt to present them as 'ungrateful' and 'greedy' etc but , for what it's worth - here are five members of the public , five Aer Lingus customers , five working-class women , advising you , the Aer Lingus workforce , to stand firm : fight for your right, fight 'to hold what you have' , fight to improve on that which you already have - in our opinion , the outcome of your fight will have much wider consequences for other workers , as their management/boss/owner attempts to increase the profit margin by reducing , financially , that which they pay out in wages etc.
Although the five of us are disappointed that we probably won't get away for our two-week break - having booked holidays from our jobs , arranged for baby-sitters , cancelled the milk (!) etc , we recognise that our holiday was a short-term gain , for us , whereas your needs , as workers , are greater ,in the longterm, for society as a whole : so persevere , Aer Lingus workers - don't let yourselves be traded cheaply. You have support 'out here' from those of us who have our perspectives in order.
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

When Customs questioned the skipper of the Castletownbere trawler , he said he was working for the Garda , and the Customs officers informed their superiors. At a meeting at Garda HQ later that day , senior customs officers were told that a drugs operation was going down and , the following day, another meeting was held between the two where details of the operation were given.

Customs were told that after landing in Castletownbere , the drugs had been loaded on to a container and moved to a warehouse in Galway - the customs officers expressed concern at not being informed.

The following day gardai complained that a leak to the 'Cork Examiner' newspaper was causing serious operational difficulties , and stressed that they wanted the operation to be finished by that evening. The 'knock' location would be on the Galway to Dublin Road , they said - two customs officers waited in Athlone for word from the Garda about the exact location and , at 2.40pm , they were contacted by gardai to say the operation was going down in Urlingford but , by the time they arrived, the operation was well over.......
(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.

EARLY DECEMBER 1969 :

" I phoned the Commissioner that it would be in the interests of all concerned that he , as Commissioner, should make a formal report to the Minister of the information that had been given to him by the head of the Special Branch as to the involvement of Ministers with the IRA in arms trafficing ; the Commissioner did not express any doubts to me then or at any other time that he had reservations about the sources of the information or the authenticity of the information itself so that it came as a surprise to me to read Mr O Morain's evidence at Para. 11774 of Booklet 28 in which he said to the CPA on 15th June 1971 -

"The source is a source that was not reporting direct to his [Chief Supt. Fleming's] section at all (this was untrue) and a source which was regarded as very doubtful by Commissioner Wymes and myself..." .

The Minister saw the Commissioner and Chief Supt. Fleming on this date at the Commissioner's request. I did not become aware that the visit had actually taken place until I was so informed by my Assistant Secretary , Mr Andy Ward (now Secretary) , in January , when he told me that the Minister had remarked to him that Chief Supt. Fleming had been unable to tell him the occupation of 'Jock' (Padraigh) Haughey (Charlie's brother) and on that account he doubted the general authenticity of the police information......."
(MORE LATER).

'ROYALTY' - A LICENCE TO KILL .......?

Whilst we on this humble blog are still trying to come to terms with the dreadful and disgusting shows of 'affection' and cap-doffing by Irish people in this 'republic' to a British 'queen' who colony-hopped her way over to us last month , we almost forgot to look at the whole 'royal' scenario from a different angle ie the manner in which they see themselves .

Our attention was drawn to the actions of a then 34-year-old member of the Saudi 'royal family' , who goes by the name 'Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud' and who , like 'royals' the world over , had a 'Staff' working for him : his 'manservant' , a Mr. Bandar Abdulaziz , then 32, was found battered to death in a London hotel in February 2010 - the British 'Old Bailey' heard that the 'manservant' had '...been murdered in a sexual attack...' committed by his 'Master'....' . The 'butler' had been beaten and strangled , and had bite marks on his face, but his 'royal' boss denied murdering him , although he did admit to manslaughter and to one count of causing him grevious bodily harm , with intent!

The 'royal' Saudi 'prince' assaulted the 'manservant' before he died , but denied being in a gay relationship with him , even though he had been receiving 'visits' from what were termed 'gay escorts' at the hotel. During the 'trial' , CCTV footage was shown in which the 'royal prince' could be clearly seen repeatedly kicking and punching his 'manservant' in the lift of the hotel and reports at the time suggested that Mr. Abdulaziz was 'barely tolerated' by his Saudi boss and had the demeanor of one so demeaned.
It seems obvious that so-called 'royalty' , whether British or Saudi is , due no doubt in large part to the 'reality cushion' afforded it by the nature of how society perceives it and by its ill-gotten wealth , considers that it is a law on to itself and is set apart from the moral guidelines which should govern 'normal' interaction between people - and , having observed the various 'toadies' in this State that couldn't wait to curtsy , bow and scrape in front of or , indeed, in the mere presence of a 'royal' - it is not surprising that the 'royal elite' eventually , sooner rather than later , come to see themselves as being entitled to such 'reverence'.
As far as Irish Republicans are concerned , those 'royal elites' are a 'sponge' which soak-up resources which should be directed towards the employed and the unemployed , the healthy and the sick , and the young and the old : in good times or bad , it is simply immoral for any just society to elevate any section of that society to the position enjoyed by the British 'royal family' and other such 'institutions'. Those in this corrupt State that are 'gracious' to them have nothing to offer this society and should stop embarrassing the rest of us by their actions.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.... !

SO GOOD THEY NAMED IT TWICE.....!

.....and we're practically packing our bags as I type - this will be our second-last Wednesday blog post as myself and four other girls are jetting-off to New York for a two-week holiday later on this month: we'll be staying , mostly , in the Bronx (thanks again to Frankie , Shay and the girls!) but will also be filling wardrobe space (!) in Queens , Brooklyn and Hell's Kitchen , with Kevin , Mal , Liz and Susie and all our other friends : which is why we can afford a whole two weeks - free accommodation !
And , if we have any money left over from our many shopping sprees (HELLO Jersey Gardens....!) we may take our hosts out for something to eat.
A hotdog , perhaps...... ;-) !

Sunday, May 29, 2011

CABHAIR TESTIMONIAL , SATURDAY 28TH MAY 2011 , DUBLIN.

CABHAIR 'Honoree Presentations'.

A fantastic night was had by approximately 100 Irish Republicans in Dublin on Saturday May 28th 2011 , in the Academy Plaza Hotel , at the Annual CABHAIR Testimonial Dinner : visitors , colleagues and comrades from England , Scotland , Wales and America were present to observe the presentations made to the five Honorees - Walter O'Dunphy , John Murphy , Neil Chambers , Joe O'Neill and Maggie Trainor.
A brief(ish!) history of the (on-going) involvement of each recipient with the Republican Movement was given , in some detail, by the Chairperson of the proceedings , Dan Hoban , and the presentation was then made by Lita Ní Chathmhaoil , on behalf of the CABHAIR organisation.
We publish with these few words some photographs from the event , and a full report and more photographs will be published in the June 2011 issue of 'Saoirse' , which goes to print on Wednesday the 8th of that month :

CABHAIR Testimonial Flagstand.

Section of the crowd.

CABHAIR bodhrán 'Shop' item - one of the many Republican items sold at the 'Testimonial Shop' on the night.

CABHAIR Mirror , sold at the event.....

....as were these two bodhráns -

Also , details were released regarding two up-coming Republican events - Bodenstown Sunday (12th June next) and the Bundoran Hunger-Strike Commemoration (Saturday 27th August next) , and posters for same were distributed :

Wolfe Tone Commemoration ('Bodenstown Sunday') 12th June 2011.

Bundoran Commemoration , Saturday 27th August 2011.

Finally , please note that a few words and some pics re the cleansing operation today at the Garden of Remembrance can be viewed on our 'Sister' site , here : thanks for reading !
Sharon.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

LAW IN DISORDER.......

The state trumpets every drugs seizure as a major victory over the barons. But the war against drugs is really a murky world characterised by botched operations , questionable use of informers and ego-driven squabbles between the Garda Siochana and customs officials.
Mairead Carey gets the inside story.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , August 2002.

Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne had yet to be appointed to the top job in An Garda Siochana when , in November 1995 , the Garda hired a trawler at Castletownbere , County Cork, and travelled 300 miles off the south-west coast to rendezvous with an oil-supply vessel to bring in what was , and remains, the largest consignment of cannabis ever landed in Ireland.

Pat Byrne was then Deputy Commissioner in charge of all Garda anti-drugs measures and Kevin Carty was in charge of the unit on a day-to-day basis. Chief Superintendent Dermot Dwyer , who headed the drug squad in Cork, is also expected to be called as a witness in the forthcoming trial.

About 20 Filipinos , armed and wearing balaclavas , were on board the oil vessel : Gardai , who later described the operation as "...like something out of 'Apocalypse Now'...." , loaded the 13 tonnes of cannabis on to the trawler and headed back to Castletownbere. Customs , who are responsible for the 'frontline' defence against drugs , were kept in the dark about the operation until local officers began investigating the suspicious activities of the Castletownbere trawler , which had its name and registration number painted over.......
(MORE LATER).

The CABHAIR organisation will be holding its annual Testimonial Dinner and Republican Reunion function this coming Saturday , 28th May 2011 , in the Academy Plaza Hotel in Dublin : the Honorees this year are Walter O'Dunphy (Leinster) , John Murphy (Munster) , Neil Chambers (Connacht) , Joe O'Neill (Ulster) and Maggie Trainor (USA).
As it happens , one or more of us that put this blog together have , at one time or another over the years , worked alongside each of the Honorees and can vouch without fear of contradiction on behalf of their commitment to the Cause of Irish Freedom - we are delighted that the internal Irish Republican 'powers-that-be' in Ireland , England and America have decided to honour these five stalwarts in a public ceremony and we are looking forward to the occasion !

BRITISH PRESENCE TO BE CLEANSED.....

Republican Sinn Féin will be holding a cleansing ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin on Sunday 29th May at 12 Noon.
The purpose of the ceremony is to cleanse the Garden of Remembrance of any residue of British Imperialism as a result of the recent visit there by an English 'queen'.
This is a timely initiative , and one which should be supported , physically and/or morally , by all Irish Republicans : there can be no doubt that the Garden of Remembrance is now unclean and tarnished by the recent visit of that person and - in the opinion of this blog - by the presence , also , of the pro-British spittle left behind by the Free State political 'elite' , one of whom - Enda Kenny ,
Fine Gael leader and present 'Chief Lemming' of this corrupt State , courtesy of his pay-masters in the IMF - has queried the Irishness of those who protested against the visit here of the English 'queen' !
Considering that Fine Gael has advocated a 'United Ireland' within the British 'Commonwealth' , his 'query' does not surprise us : the man is politically and morally demented and is simply 'serving time' in Leinster House until his owners in the IMF/EU can create a 'job' for him , as was done for one of his predecessors , a Mr Bruton.
It would be a betrayal by Irish Republicanism if the aura left behind in the Garden of Remembrance by the above-mentioned elements was not to be expunged : those with a knowledge of their history and a sense of their cultural background will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance next Sunday , 29th May 2011 at 12 Noon , to restore the honour which anti-Republican and/or pro-British 'Commonwealth' political morons besmirched by their presence and actions on that particular day.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.