'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

Arthur Griffith wrote of James Fintan Lalor that he was a land reformer who tried to throw the agrarian struggle across the nation's road to freedom. He was equally hard-faced towards Jim Larkin in the period of the great labour struggle in Dublin and this , perhaps, explains his tentative relation with an armed uprising in which James Connolly played so dominant a role , for he was a courageous man within the range of his convictions.

He was a 'Home Ruler' with a sturdier sense of struggle than John Redmond , but the latter had the ear of the people , the control of a powerful party machine and the support of the clergy. In part , Griffith's policy was that the members elected for Irish constituencies should boycott Westminster and take their place in an Irish Parliament to which the people would give allegiance. But he could not make himself heard.

The 1916 Rising , however , changed the Irish political scene utterly : young men shouldered their way forward shouting new slogans and , after a short tussle, they pushed John Redmond's party aside and elected a majority of members pledged to constitute themselves 'Dáil Éireann' , the sovereign assembly of the Irish people assembled on the high ground of the Republic . Arthur Griffith had contemplated no such goal - his aim was 'Home Rule' for a democratic Ireland within the 'British Empire' and he now had to decide whether to take his stand with the people - without belief in their vision - or stay behind without hope to realise his own vision.......
(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 learnt that Captain Kelly had made a statement of his part to a friend , Mike Burns of RTE , who was described as a friend of the Taoiseach - I informed the Taoiseach who remarked 'Have I any friends left?' The pathos of this remark was such that I repeated it at a conference with the Minister and the Attorney General on May 20th , and I could see that the Minister was not pleased with my intimacy with the Taoiseach.

This was a curious phenomenon which I was to observe again and again in the following months - the desire of the 'Centurion Imperial Caesar's Bodyguard' , in the persons of a caucus in the Cabinet , to keep access to the Taoiseach within a chosen circle and resentment against anyone who breached it. It was very necessary , of course, in order that a prepared story should stand up , that persons with a knowledge of contradictions should be isolated and, as far as possible , kept in ignorance of the developing theme.

The necessity to keep the Fianna Fail government in power at all costs was the over-riding consideration and I had shown an independence of thought in recent years which , while not making me suspect of anti-Fianna Fail leanings , did not make for certainty that I would go with them all the way. What was happening in the Lynch regime would have been unthinkable under Mr Lemass or Mr de Valera . The naked face of self-interest in Ministerial circles was on exhibition without any attempts at concealment from the serving civil servants......."
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HOUSEHOLD TAX : STATE ROBBERY.....

.....the Fine Gael/Labour coalition administration in this State seem to have realised ,at this late stage, that it will not be physically possible to bring to court and/or imprison all those who refuse to pay their new household tax - so a 'Plan B' has been put together : to stop whatever money is 'owed' from your social welfare payments , your pay packet or your bank account. And you can see from that same statement by State Minister Philip Hogan (Fine Gael) that this Leinster House administration are "....determined to make sure that everybody pays...." - well, not quite "everybody" : State Ministers will , by their own decree ,be excused from having to pay - "....the exemptions from payment of the household charge (include)........residential property owned by a Minister of the Government....."

There are a number of ways by which you can let these political parasites know that you object to paying new taxes in order to bail them and their banker buddies out of the hole they have placed all of us in this State in but , of course , the best way is by not registering for the new tax and by not paying it. You can also voice your objection in an on-line poll , organised by the 'Anglo : Not our Debt Campaign' group , attend the Thursday 22nd March 'Here Come The Girls' above-mentioned/linked protest in O'Connell Street at 7pm , attend the State-wide Rally in the National Stadium on the South Circular Road in Dublin on Saturday 24th March and/or take part in the 'Household Tax' picket that will be placed on the Fine Gael Ard Fheis on Saturday 31st March 2012 - those attending this picket will assemble at 1pm at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square and will march from there to the Fine Gael Ard Fheis venue , the Convention Centre on Spencer Dock , Dublin 1 : whatever you do , don't just 'do nothing' - if not for your own sake , then do it for your kids and their kids because , such is the large scale nature of the financial injury done to this State by those that are in the 'elite' in this State , it's the only way to stop the forced emigration of those you love.....
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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HERE COME THE GIRLS.....!

Good to see this , and about time , too : a friend of mine , Dolores (Hi, Womble!) , whom I know from my 'life' outside politics (such as it is!) was 'talking' on 'Facebook' with some other friends and , naturally , the issue of the ever-increasing cost of living was mentioned. All were agreed that matters had gone way beyond just 'tightening your belt' (no space on same for more notches!) and so it was agreed that a stand should be taken , and discussions between the Ladies followed - resulting in this plan of action :

"On Thursday March 22nd , 2012, at 7pm, a Women's Candlight protest will be held on the traffic isle in O'Connell St, Dublin, at the GPO.
Women, in the main, are the ones who juggle the finances and are at the coalface when there are cuts so this is a protest against ALL the cuts and added taxes :health, social welfare, special needs, education, pensions, water charges, waste charges, household charge etc etc. It is time to stop bitching over coffee or to friends and show the contempt most of us feel for the government so any of you ladies please come along and fellas, tell your wives/partners/girlfriends and female friends. We need numbers if an impact is to be made. There is no political affiliation to this protest and no speechifying....."

Good on ya , Dolores , and to all us Ladies : we are indeed "at the coalface" in that most of us look after (or do the best we can to look after) the household bills ,school 'donations' and the everyday 'running costs' that maintaining a roof over our heads entails , and we certainly cannot afford to pay, and do not 'owe', for the greed of the banking and political 'elites' that have brought this State , financially and morally , to its knees. Hopefully , hundreds of women will turn up in O'Connell Street on Thursday March 22nd next , at 7pm, to voice their disgust at the well-suited men and women who are attempting to inflict further financial damage on us. Let's show 'em real 'Girl Power' !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

The greatest barrier to Mellow's appeal was not the confusion of the times , nor the late hour of its release, but the climate of 'innocence' in which the post-1916 independence movement was developed. The economic framework and social relationships , which expressed tyrannical aspects of the conquest were declared outside the scope of the Irish Republican struggle - even the traditional , explosive landlord-tenant relationship , and rancher-small farmer tension.

The Republican Movement was inspired by 'pure ideals' and, in the grip of this philosophy , the Republican struggle could present itself as a democratic movement of mass revolt without any danger to the social pattern and without any danger to the haves from the have-nots.

It is not the social origin of leaders that matter , but the social tier from which their philosophy derives. Under the shelter of 'pure ideals' , the Irish middle-class held its place within a movement it feared . Arthur Griffith was its most advanced theoretician - he was at once firm for his plan for a parliament for all Ireland , and set in his opposition to any struggle on social issues within the national fight : he had a thesis that Ireland's economic and social ills derived from British rule in Ireland and they must wait on Home Rule for progressive remedy.......
(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.

" Mr Tony Fagan , Personal Assistant to Mr Haughey (Minister for Finance) was invited by Chief Superintendent Fleming to come to Dublin Castle for questioning - he had no objection provided that he was authorised to do so by the Taoiseach , who agreed that it was proper that he should be asked to make a statement to the police and Mr Fagan received a suggestion that he might take two days leave.

He made a very lengthy statement in two parts : the first dealt with the attempted importation of arms through Dublin Airport in April and an earlier attempt, on 25th March , to import through Dublin seaport. The second dealt with the considerable sums of money placed in an account in Baggot Street branch of Allied Irish Bank , labelled 'Belfast Fund for Relief of Distress' , to which Captain Kelly had access.

At the end of the taking of statements the police were of the view that Mr Fagan had acted throughout under the instructions of Mr Haughey but that he had been in no doubt that the importation of arms, without compliance with the provisions of the Fire-Arms Act , was in progress........"
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EXCLUSIVE!!
EAMON GILMORE DECLARES THAT NEW TAX IS UNJUST.....





....but that was then (before he had 'made it' re securing a political career for himself and his fellow-State Labour Party careerists) and this is now (after he has secured a political career for himself) and, in that regard , he is simply confirming that no matter which political party he is a member of , he is motivated by being elected , not by any deep(or shallow)-seated political convictions.
The State Labour Party , which this ex-Stickie/DL career politician now leads, is rightly being referred to as 'the new Greens/PD's' for the manner in which , whilst in so-called 'opposition' , they 'talked the talk' about 'protecting the poor and the unemployed' etc but , once secure in Leinster House , they turned on those same people , many of whom, unfortunately, were conned into voting for them in order to remove the then Fianna Fail/Green coalition administration.
If people in this State hang around long enough - that is , if they're not all forced to emigrate in order to find employment - they will without doubt witness the same Mr Gilmore and his colleagues , at some time in the future , loudly condemn the new household tax , which they now champion. But that type of behaviour is to be expected from the interchangeable unprincipled curs that sit in the IMF/EU Sub-Office that is Leinster House......






HORSES FOR COURSES.......


" I give all me money to sick animals......" , said Daniel , as he bought his usual five raffle tickets from me at the monthly raffle last Sunday (11th March 2012) , ".....but I don't know that when I'm backing them....." , says he !
Danny was understandably delighted with himself , as were Charlene and Breda , whose names he put on the tickets.
We had yet another financially , morally and spiritually (!)-enhancing day out at the monthly raffle , in the usual Dublin/Kildare-border hotel venue last Sunday , at which a 'dacent few shillings' was earned for the Dublin Comhairle Ceantair of Republican Sinn Féin.

First prize of two-hundred Euro was won by one of our regular 'punters' , Brendan , who almost hugged our 'Racy' to death for selling him the ticket (number 256) , closely followed into the 'Winners Circle' by Gavin , who took second prize of one-hundred Euro on ticket 163 : Eoin , from Tallaght- an 'almost ran' up until that raffle! - finished in third place and was awarded forty Euro after number 617 romped home.
Daniel , as stated above, was associated with fifth and seventh prizes on ticket numbers 717 and 718 (each worth a twenty spot!) and Linda , 'Little Una' and Steve also got 'twenty quid' each , having won fourth , sixth and eight prize between them , on ticket numbers 666 , 633 and 191.
At the time of writing , there are just under one-hundred tickets left for the April raffle - and over two-hundred takers ; so , once again , it's going to be 'the early bird...' etc !
Very 'Well Done !' to the 'Raffle Crew' and to the Movement for making this the 'run away' success it is. Now , where's the 'Best Dressed Lady With The Funniest Hat' competition taking place......
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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HE SAID WHAT .....!!

A wee 'teaser' here for a piece we'll be posting tomorrow evening (Wednesday 14th March 2012) , concerning the leader of one of the political parties in Leinster House ; the man in question currently leads one of the coalition parties and is presently attempting to push through a new tax which he himself has described as "unjust" - and we will have proof , both text and pictorial, of that, by evening time tomorrow. Not alone does the politician in question actually attack the new tax that he is apparently trying to implement , he outlines his reasons for doing so in some detail. Our 'legal department' will have the article cleared and ready to go tomorrow evening so, for a view of a political hypocritical head on a brass neck , check back here on Wednesday evening......
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

" We are forced to recognise ," wrote Liam Mellows , " that the commercial interests and the merchants are on the side of the Treaty. We are back to Tone - and it is just as well - relying on the men of no property. The stake-in-the-country people were never with the Republic - they will always be against it until it wins." Mellows referred in bitter terms to the Catholic Bishops , who had issued a pastoral in support of the Treaty : " Invariably wrong in their political outlook ; against the people in 1798 ; against Emmet ; against the Young Irelanders ; against the Fenians ; supported the British in 1914-18; they were against the Easter Rising ; Bishop Cohalan's excommunication of Cork IRA in 1920......"

Mellows's proposals , apart from the formation of a Republican Government , were unreal. To have made an impression on the IRA , Mellows should have spoken his mind at the first general army Convention following the Treaty. He might not have carried the Convention with him - and he might - but anyway his views would have been argued over, and the dynamics of struggle , once the Republic was attacked , would have favoured them. His message from jail would then have been understood.

It did not help that the 'Lefts' outside , who alone hailed his teaching, misunderstood him ; they acclaimed him a socialist republican but the truth was that Mellows was a great Fenian who saw the poor as the freedom force of the nation , as Tone did. He was influenced by the lessons of Irish history , his experience as an organiser of the Fianna , his memory of the men and women who rose with him in Galway , and the way of life of the prisoners around him in Mountjoy Jail. It was clear to him that the middle class, which lurked in the shadow of the Republican Movement from its rise to popularity , was no part of the freedom forces ; it had no aim that could not be realised in Home Rule within the British Empire*. He spoke from his vision of the Irish scene , kin to Tone in his faith in the men of no property , and to McCracken in his distrust of the rich.......
('1169...' Comment : *Like those that inhabit this building ; rich and hoping to get richer by helping to stabilise and enforce the status quo.)
(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.

" Later on , to anyone reading the reports of the arms trials or the evidence before the Committee of Public Accounts it must have been evident that the Taoiseach knew on 14th May that what he was saying was not true. It was certainly evident to me that he was not speaking the truth when he said - ' I acted immediately on information conveyed to me' (vol. 246 , No. 9 , Col. 1592).

The Taoiseach , speaking on a Motion of Confidence in Government , said that he had made specific enquiries and that there was not and could not have been any payments made out of public funds for the purchase of arms. In its Report (page 57 , paragraph 70) , the CPA say that they were satisfied that the words used by the Taoiseach were justified by the form of words suggested to him by the Secretary of the Department of Finance but that they did not feel that the terms of the assurance suggested to the Taoiseach were justified.

The Report goes on - ' Moreover , the Committee feels that when shortly afterwards , suspicions were aroused that money for the purchase of arms might have come from the fund, the Taoiseach's attention should have been drawn to the implications of this so far as the assurance given to the Dail was concerned.' The Committee are referring here to a telephone call which I had made to Mr. Murray , Secretary of the Department of Finance , on 19th May (which was recorded on a dictaphone belt at my end) and to a semi-official letter which I sent to him on 21st May......."
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ORATION DELIVERED BY MARY WARD AT THE CLONMULT MARTYRS COMMEMORATION , CORK , SUNDAY 19th FEBRUARY 2012.

Clonmult Martyrs.


Despite many repeated requests to do so , we seldom post the full content of orations delivered at Republican commemorations , protests , pickets etc , as we prefer to reserve this 'spot' for items that might not otherwise see the light of day : however , we will break that 'rule' today , because the following oration , by Mary Ward , is one of the best we have ever had the pleasure of reading :



" The strongest common bond uniting mankind is love of liberty and a willingness to sacrifice anything to achieve it. From man’s earliest record to the present time the names that glow forth from the yellowed pages of history are not the names of rulers who controlled men’s lives, not the great orators and poets who stirred men’s hearts but the simple honest men of every race. Men like those we honour here today, the Clonmult Martyrs, who by sacrificing themselves for the ideal of freedom ennobled men’s souls.
Throughout history’s pages there is no story so sorrowful yet so grand as Ireland’s long struggle for freedom. Indeed no country has laboured so long and diligently, has suffered so much and failed so often and yet had the strength, the courage and the character to try again. The dying words of Robert Emmet - 'When my country takes her place among the nations of the world, then, not till then, let my epitaph be written'. The glorious words of Alan Larkin and O'Brien 'God save Ireland' were spoken before a hostile tribunal for a cause which they knew in their day at least was doomed to failure. They failed but they inspired other to follow in their example. And so it was the Fenians inspired the men and women of 1916 and they in turn inspired the men and women of the 1919-1922 period. During the 1919-1922 period the IRA were well aware that they faced the might of the British Empire, a far more superior and equipped enemy, so they changed and adapted their tactics. They perfected the art of guerrilla warfare; a method which was later employed by freedom fighters the world over from Kenya to Algeria. When the men from East Cork went to the farmhouse in Clonmult, they had witnessed the cruelty of the Black and Tans auxiliaries, they had attended the funerals of Tomás MacCurtain murdered in front of his pregnant wife and children and of Terence Mac Swiney following a long hunger strike in Brixton prison. They had witnessed the burning of Cork city, yet they pledged to fight for the freedom of Ireland, to uphold the Republic proclaimed in arms at Easter week and ratified by the Irish people in open ballot in 1918.

In January 1921 the active service unit of the fourth battalion of the first Cork Brigade IRA took possession of a disused farmhouse in a secluded position overlooking the village of Clonmult. Commandant O'Hurley decided to ambush a military train at Cobh junction on Tuesday February 22, 1921. He set out to make the necessary arrangement accompanied by Vice-commandant Joseph Ahern and Captain Patrick Whelan.

On Sunday February 20 Michael Desmond and John Joe Joyce left the farmhouse to go to a nearby spring when they noticed the house was surrounded by British forces. They both died as they fought to return to the house, but not before they had warned those inside of the situation. A sortie from the farmhouse was attempted in the hope that assistance could be organised from the local company in Conan. With the farmhouse burning around them, an attempt was made to escape, but many of the volunteers were killed in a hail of bullets from the Black and Tan forces who had come to re-enforce the British regulars. Of the prisoners taken, two were later executed, five others had their sentences commuted and one, Captain Higgins, who had been shot through the mouth, had his life spared by the advent of the truce in July.
The Ireland of today is a product of a counter-revolution, which succeeded in over throwing the 32-County Republic of 1916 and the all-Ireland Dáil Éireann of 1919. The forced partition of Ireland in 1922 was brought about by the threat of an immediate and terrible war by England and by the collaboration of erstwhile Irish Republicans. The more recent Stormont agreement of 1998 updated and secured English rule in the Six Counties, again with the collaboration of former Republicans. In helping to bring all of this about these lost souls, we are told, had been infiltrated by English agents. There is scarcely a doubt about this but they were already infiltrated from deep within by an overweening pride and arrogance, which has been the downfall of many before. No Irish patriot died for a new Stormont or a new style English crown police force. But some are so conceited in their self-importance that they think they can ignore this truth.
The objective of the so-called peace process never was a peace in Ireland; its objective was to bring the armed struggle for Irish freedom to an end, just as in 1921-1922 the English found more devious and wily ways of defeating Irish resistance to their rule.
There is also a more ominous, more menacing and longer-term objective behind this un-holy alliance of English imperialism and Irish collaboration, it is to extinguish forever Irish Republican resistance to English rule in our country, but there are still faithful Republicans in Ireland, north and South. We, you and I, men and women, boys and girls renew our Republican vows here today, we pledge ourselves, as the Clonmult martyrs pledged themselves never to desist in our efforts until we have ended English rule in our country for all time.
There is so much in the Ireland of today which is an affront to the noble ideals of our patriot dead. The dishonesty, the lies, the deceit, the mercenary and shameless selfishness and greed in public life are the very anti-thesis of the generous and honourable ideals of our patriot dead. The contrast is obvious and unmistakable.
Not only have we the unjust and undemocratic partition of our country, we also have an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots. This has not happened by any accident or misfortune. This is the result of deliberate and pre-meditated policies implemented under the cover of a clever smoke screen provided by well-paid and unscrupulous spin doctors.
The education system has been fundamentally re-shaped to train workers for the multinational enterprises which are now more powerful than governments and for export to Australia and elsewhere. Just this week the government was calling for the speeding up of apprenticeships from FAS, they can’t get rid of our young people quick enough, our best and our brightest.
Even in the universities, the classics, the Irish language, Irish history and Irish and Celtic studies have been downgraded, some would say virtually abandoned. Is this any wonder when the Smurfit’s and the O’Reillys now provide considerable finance for some of these colleges? Skills are certainly important, but the schools and colleges should also be helping parents to imbue their children with standards and values for life. They should also be helping students and pupils to appreciate and develop their Irish identity, as well as to develop their critical facilties, their capacity to think things through, to assess and appraise and evaluate all that they will have to encounter in life. The politicians and the bosses of finance and industry, however, prefer to keep young people malleable and compliant, a prey to advertising hype and disinformation.
The travesty of democracy, which we witness daily in our country, is a well-managed spectacle of mockery and deception. From the local councils and shady deals to the mock theatre of Leinster House and Stormont, to the mandarins of Westminster and the European Union, and the invincible looking power of the United States and Britain backed by the muscle and might of international capitalism, the ordinary, decent, hardworking people of Ireland in town and country are being exploited, and the weakest and most vulnerable, the old, the ill, the incapacitated, the disadvantaged many young people who come from our schools barely literate are the most exploited of all. We have ever rising levels of crime, some of it quite vicious and ruthless.
Both states fail to protect their citizens from exploitation by trans-national capital and manipulative commercial interest, from drug pushers and alcohol producers, as well as from British spies and agents. Politicians get into power backed by the wealthy groups and individuals and then they are the prisoners of these people. Two examples of this are the compliant hire of Shannon airport to the US administration and the revelations that Irish hospitals have to pay twice what they pay in Spain for essential drugs manufactured by companies in Cork.
In a democratic system, power rests with the people; in Ireland today there is collusion and a conspiracy among the wealthy, the politicians and sections of the media to accumulate and share the spoils at the expense of ordinary people. Yet the ordinary people have to pay for the bank bail-out and the excesses of these gangsters who are actually being paid up to €200,000 by NAMA, eight times more than the average industrial wage.
The priorities in public life in Ireland are the priorities of rampant capitalism and this is facilitated and made possible by politicians whose only interest is power for powers sake. Meanwhile we have a plethora of tribunals, enquiring into all kinds of misconduct and costing millions of euro each year. A lot of fraud and corruption has been unearthed, but nobody ever seems to be prosecuted for misdeeds. And since shame and embarrassment are in short supply , these tribunals serve now as expensive and protective shock-absorbers, where wrong doing can be reluctantly exposed while even more corruptive practices proceed apace.
We have lost our manufacturing base, our fishing rights, mineral rights and financial independence to the EU and the infamous Troika. No, the Ireland of today is not a pretty sight. English imperialism is alive and well and holds six of our counties in direct occupation. This same power infiltrates the other 26 Counties and dictates its terms to them. In the whole country, there is a basic affliction which is a lack of principle, standards, value and morality. Both states are in hock to English imperialism, neo liberal capitalism and its free market and culture of greed.
The great and almost daunting, challenge to us Irish Republicans is to confront and change all of this. In the 1790’s Wolfe Tone and his comrades faced a similar challenge. They rose to the occasion in every sense of the word. They formulated their plans and they confronted those who were the exploiters of the Irish people, foreign and domestic.
The hallmark of their approach was that they sought no personal gain for themselves, their rallying cry was liberty, equality and fraternity and they gave generous and unstinting service. Then, they made their appeal to the broad mass of the Irish people, Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter, and they organised their generation. They were truly revolutionary and their message struck a chord with the common people. The broad mass of the people always retain and cherish a yearning for freedom based on justice.
We are not alone in the task we seek to accomplish. We have many active supporters who are not present here today. We have our Republican prisoners, who are also a source of inspiration to us as they keep their lonely vigil for Ireland, and to whom we send greetings from this historic spot. We have many friends and sympathisers throughout Ireland and we have active supporters abroad. All share with us our vision of a New Ireland – ÉIRE NUA, a New Democracy of four provinces with regional, local and community self-government. For us the model is neither Boston nor Berlin. For us the task is to restore the historic Irish nation on the basis of liberty, equality and fraternity, and to put the people of Ireland in charge of their own destinies. We will continue to work to accomplish this noble task, for which so many have laboured over the centuries. We will continue to work regardless of the defections of recent years and regardless of the sinister efforts by certain elements in the Establishment and in the media to denigrate our work and to smear our good name.
In the Six Occupied Counties, the nightmare of the nationalist people continues. In some areas it is particularly acute and communities live in continual fear of attack. The Stormont Agreement has not brought reassurance to the Unionist people either. And neither Westminster nor Leinster House can bring peace with justice, because both of these institutions operate to a different agenda. As Wolfe Tone said of the Ascendancy of his time - "They see Ireland only in their rent rolls, their places, their patronage and their pensions".
The ÉIRE NUA programme for a four province federal Ireland represents a modern progressive project based on the original ideas of Tone. It is the surest guarantee of a secure place in Ireland for all our people.
I will conclude with the words of General Liam Lynch - 'We have declared for a Republic, We will have no other law.'
An Phoblacht Abú !"

As stated , one of the best speeches that has ever come across our desk , and one which we are proud to be associated with. Maith an Cailín , Mary !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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SEPTIC TANK CHARGE PROTEST , DUBLIN , WEDNESDAY 29th FEBRUARY 2012.


RSF paper-seller at the Dublin rally on Wednesday 29th February 2012.


At 11.30am on Wednesday last , February 29th 2012 , Republican Sinn Féin members and supporters began to gather at the Spire , in O'Connell Street , Dublin , to take part in the protest against the Septic Tank tax , which was assembling there prior to marching to Leinster House , in Kildare Street.

In preparation for the day , RSF Head Office had prepared 500 'leaflet packs' (each 'pack' containing four leaflets) for distribution at the protest and , had there been twice as many available , they would have been distributed as well - we ran short of leaflets and had to stop distributing them in O'Connell Street in order to ensure that we had at least 150 'packs' to distribute outside Leinster House !


In total , RSF distributed 2,000 leaflets on the day.


We publish with this post a few pics from the event , and a video re same and more pics can be seen on this 'Facebook' page : RSF are to be congratulated for taking part in this event and for being as well-organised as they were - dozens of new people were reached as a result , new contacts were made and are already being followed up and they showed , by their very vocal presence , that they are totally opposed to new taxes , whether imposed in large city areas or rural townlands. It was five hours well spent , in great company , and for a good cause ; well done to all who took part !


One of the RSF banners on display in O'Connell Street , Dublin.




Screwed-up Free State tax system.






The two RSF banners at the Spire.


There were two particularly noticable political speeches delivered at this protest : the first one , in O'Connell Street , came from ex-Fianna Fáil Leinster House member (now a so-called 'Independent' representative!) Mattie McGrath , from Tipperary - himself and four supporters that were with him were confronted , verbally , by a few people who were present to take part in the protest and questioned as to what he was doing on the street , as it is his type (ie rich career politicians) that are attempting to implement these new taxes. And those people were right to do so - but Mattie took offence at being questioned in that manner and , in between screeching remarks in reply ('Ah sure what would ya know about it sure you're a Dubliner...') he gave the impression that he was going to physically lash out at one man in particular , but his own supporters then stood in between him and the people asking him the 'awkward' questions , bringing the 'discussion' to an end.
The second political speech , which received loud applause from the crowd , was delivered from the Speakers Platform near the Leinster House gates : it was delivered by RSF Councillor Tomás Ó Curraoin who is , politically and morally , more than 'just a few streets' removed from the previous 'speaker'. A video of the second speech can be viewed here.


Three of the RSF protesters at the Dublin event.





Not even our waters....





Joan Burton take heed !





At the gates of Leinster House.





Kenny and Gilmore - two of the many 'asses' in that one house....




Clash of the Banners !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

They could not even let on not to know the road they took , for the British spared them no humiliation on that : 'Steps shall be taken , ' the Treaty declared, 'for summoning a meeting of members of parliament elected for the constituencies of Southern Ireland since the passing of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.......this instrument (the Treaty) shall be submitted....to a meeting....of members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland...'

It was all so unlike them , so unworthy of them, that one felt ashamed for them , and because of them , for all of us : they , justifying themselves to themselves by their motives , while embarrassed and humiliated by the reality , were equally bad tempered. In face of the news from outside, and in response to questions and discussions on the rapidly worsening political and military situation , Liam Mellows wrote his 'Notes From Mountjoy Jail' which fell into the hands of the Treatyite forces and was published under scare , and of course Communist, headlines. The document was addressed to the leaders of the Republican Army on a plan to rally the people for the better defence of the Republic.

It advocated , as a first step, that a provisional government be set up, and that the Democratic Programme adopted by Dáil Éireann in January 1919 be put into effect : estates and ranches in the hands of those who stood for the British connection to be seized and distributed , and Mellows reminded the leaders on the outside that a plan towards this end had already been drawn up by the IRA Executive - it was written by Paddy Ruttledge , a member of the IRA Executive , later Minister for Justice in De Valera's government , and I very much doubt whether a copy of it is still in existence......
(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.

" While the Taoiseach , in his winding-up speech on May 9th , made reference to me as having 'acted most efficiently and conscientiously' , he made no reference to the circumstances in which I was directed to report to him ; furthermore , he made no effort to dispel the nonsense that I was employing "a super-Special Branch" to spy on Ministers.

Although he had full knowledge of the Ministerial appointment of a consultative assistant to the 'S Branch' Head in 1966 , and in continuing years , he made an evasion of personal responsibility ; " I want to say before I proceed that I did not at any time have Ministers' homes watched during this investigation.....there was no attempt whatever at imposing Gestapo methods on any member of the Government , certainly none that I directed and none so far as I could ascertain."

MAY 14 , 1970 :
" The Taoiseach answered questions in relation to security measures : Deputy O' Leary asked - 'Is it a fact that a member of the Cabinet was aware of the complicity of other members of the Cabinet some months before the Taoiseach ?' , to which the Taoiseach replied : ' I do not believe that the Ministers to whom the Secret Service would report would have possession of such information months before....' "
(MORE LATER).







INKGATE - PRINTING LEINSTER HOUSE-STYLE : A LICENCE TO MAKE MONEY......!



Apologises for the later-than-usual posting time , but our 'legal department' got extra nervous on discovering that a high-powered PSF* team ( * 'P' for 'Paper' Sinn Féin , as they never refuse ink...) are searching the blogosphere with a view to taking legal action later on for any 'untoward comment' in relation to Aengus : indeed , that team of sleuths are believed to be printing that material out now as you read this....

Aengus Ó Snodaigh , a Provisional Sinn Féin member of Leinster House, Elvis impersonator* and mountain climber* (!) (*see pics, below...) has been discovered to have been in receipt of over €55,000 worth of printer cartridges - 434 units in total at a cost of €130 per unit , an average of 3 cartridges a day ; more than enough , overall , to print more than 3 million letters - in the last two years : indeed, in one year, when his 'job' was not-unusually only 'open for business' for 96 days in a twelve month period , the bould Aengus took 219 printer cartridges !

And , as if abusing taxpayers money for the above wasn't bad enough , the same man , who is paid a salary from the taxpayer of over €1930 a week (not including 'legitimate expenses'!) also removed enough quantities of copy paper (A4 etc) to use with the cartridges , adding tens of thousands of Euro onto the total value of the 'haul': interviewed on 'Newstalk 106' radio yesterday , Aengus defended his actions , stating that all his leaflets and printed material was in full colour , with pictures , solely for the benefit of his constituents , to whom he and his team delivered same to "once or twice a month , maybe more.." - the Fianna Fáil leader , Micheal Martin , asked , on that same radio station : "What is it with ex-revolutionaries in this country that they seem to have a love affair with printing machines ?" !

It then transpired that the Provisional Sinn Féin 'Press Office' in Leinster House 'used' 86 ink cartridges in one year , compared with all the other party 'Press Offices' combined which, between them , used a total of 54 cartridges. It should be noted that , at the time of writing this blog post , the last 'official' press release from Aengus to his constituents was one year and twenty days ago.....

....anyway : about those pics -


- this , believe it or not , is Aengus 'Elvis' Ó Snodaigh , captured a few years ago at a charity fund-raising night. Bet he's all shook up now, uh huh huh.....



....and this is the same 'public representative' , presenting coloured leaflets to a fellow mountain climber. Is it all down hill from now , one wonders.....!

Finally : it looks like we may be returning to this subject , as it now transpires that Aengus's leader in Leinster House , Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead , Gerry Adams , is the second-highest user of ink cartridges in Leinster House.....
.....and please note : no ink cartridges were used ,abused or mis-used in the production of this Post !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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TONERGATE / INKGATE....





...TO THIS BLOG :



Two of our many readers in the Ballyfermot area of Dublin , where Provisional Sinn Féin's Aengus 'CartridgeWorld' Ó Snodaigh rules the roost , have approached me with undeniable pictorial proof of , to say the least , shady dealings involving Mr Ó Snodaigh on stage and also showing him , again in disguise , handing over printed material on a mountain top to a woman.
We are 100% positive that the post re same which we will publish tomorrow evening - no sooner than that , as our legal department has not yet finished treble-checking it - will put a whole new slant on 'Inkgate'......





.....and , in an unusual move , I will be present and available for interviews at the Spire , in O'Connell Street , Dublin , tomorrow (Wednesday 29th February 2012) at 11.30am , for a while , before I move off to 'set up camp' outside the gates of Leinster House in Kildare Street. In between answering questions in relation to our intended 'InkGate' post I will be taking part in this protest - I will be taking questions both before and after the protest , but not during it (as I will be shouting obscenities at the feckers inside !) , so be first in the queue if you want to get your hands dirty re 'TonerGate' , 'cause you know what they say about the early bird : it gets a pain in its belly from all the worms.... !
But seriously - see you tomorrow , in Dublin City Centre , and then here , on this blog , tomorrow evening , for 'CartridgeGate : Revelations'......
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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"AND THE LOSER IS......REALITY !!

"Our little film was inspired by the people of Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic, who after 30 years of war, sat down, negotiated a peace and proved to the world that the Irish are great talkers. I want to dedicate this to them.This is about reconciliation in Northern Ireland, it is really close to my heart...." - the words of Terry George.


Provisional Sinn Féin 'Cultural Minister' for what she calls "Northern Ireland" ,
Carál Ní Chuilín (seen here ,looking for direction....) ,said the award was "a fantastic achievement by the Northern Ireland film industry - It is wonderful that local talent and hard work is being recognised on the global stage...."

Two bad scripts - and two lost opportunities : Belfast-born Terry George would be well aware that , truth be told , "Northern Ireland" is not 'about' "Protestant and Catholic" - it is 'about' the on-going British political and military interference in Irish affairs. Nor has it been "30 years of war...." , as that interference has been going on here for the last 843 years and is , unfortunately, not over yet. The "peace" that was "negotiated" is a false dawn , which could have been had here at any time over the last 843 years - all that was required was that the majority of those opposed to British interference should settle for less ie that they would take salaried positions from the British to administer the Occupied Six Counties on behalf of Westminister and , in return , the British would promote them world-wide as 'Statesmen/women' and allow them to claim that such participation was 'a stepping-stone to Irish Freedom'. The "reconciliation" that Terry George spoke about will only materialise when the British withdraw , politically and militarily , from Ireland - North , South , East and West.

Provisional Sinn Féin member and 'Stormont Minister' , Carál Ní Chuilín , found herself on a "global stage" , as an indirect result of the film in question, but - as expected , due to the fact that the lady herself , and her Party, are now Westminister-salaried 'estate managers' - 'fluffed' her lines : this is a golden opportunity for her to highlight the on-going injustice of the on-going British political and military claim of jurisdiction over part of Ireland but , as Irish Republicans know , there is no profit in that , nor is there a career to be had, so she stuck to her Westminster-supplied and PSF-leadership approved script of "...fantastic achievement....wonderful....local talent...".
Shame on both of them , and on their respective 'camps' : lost opportunities in front of a world-wide audience.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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RSF ON THE ANTI-HOUSEHOLD TAX PROTEST, CLONDALKIN , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2012....



...a protest against the recently-implemented State Household Tax was held today (Saturday 25th February 2012) in Clondalkin Village , Dublin : members of the local Máire Drumm/Kevin Barry Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin took part in this protest and maintained their presence outside the Offices of South Dublin County Council for the full ninty minutes that the protest lasted for.




Hundreds of leaflets were distributed in the area , and a very welcome response was received by the protesters from shoppers going in to the near-by Mill Shopping Centre and from the drivers and passengers of the hundreds of cars that slowed down as they passed the protest .








As usual , the Clondalkin-based 'Mr T' was present with his 'Browning' camera (!) , as was 'Baby t' and , between them , they took a sh.....utter load of pics which , when they eventually tire of pressing leaflets in through the open windows of passing cars (!) , they will post on this 'Facebook' page !
Congrats to all those who took part in this protest , and to the many hundreds of passing supporters who voiced their agreement with the objectives on those on the protest - 'DON'T REGISTER FOR THE HOUSEHOLD TAX , AND DON'T PAY IT !'
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

For a little while on the morning of the attack on IRA Headquarters , Four Courts , Dublin , 28th June 1922 , Liam Mellows and I shared vigil at one of the barricaded upper windows , and watched the city bestir itself , within our arc of vision, to the noise of rifle fire and light artillery fire. We thought our thoughts. Two men , obviously workmen making their way along the quays to their jobs, started us speculating on what role the trade unions would have been guided into were James Connolly alive and the Republic under attack.

It was the first time I heard Mellows on the play of social forces in the crisis of the Treaty ; I was present at the Dáil Éireann session when he made his speech against the Treaty but , while what he said then impressed me greatly , it gave no indication of the pattern of ideas he uncovered now.

The Four Courts fell and its garrison became prisoners , and with it members of the IRA Executive - Rory O' Connor , Liam Mellows , Joe McKelvey and Peadar O' Donnell. In the angry mood of the thronged cells in Mountjoy Jail , the prisoners instinctively turned to Mellows as the one among us who must, somehow , be able to explain how the Republican Army could permit itself to be overrun by much weaker military forces and why certain men of courage , hitherto devoted to independence , should choose to enter on a road of struggle to overthrow the Republic and raise on its ruins a parliament which rested on the penal British Government of Ireland Act 1920.......
(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 the Dail debate on May 8th and 9th , the Taoiseach gave an unqualified assurance that no postal warrant in respect of the telephone or correspondence of any member of government or, indeed , for any member of the Dail or Seanad had been signed by the Minister for Justice. The Taoiseach was right , of course, in what he said but it would not have been so if I had had my way. I saw no reason, then or at any other time, why there should be exceptions from the processes of criminal investigation."

MAY 8TH AND 9TH 1970 :
" The marathon two-day Dail debate on the circumstances of the dismissal of Ministers made unpleasant reading for me as I was mentioned by name and activities were ascribed to me which were without foundation. It was stated that I was working on a 'letter de cachet' basis to the Taoiseach : Deputy Kevin Boland's phraseology (Volume 246 , Number 7 , Cols. 744-48) and that I was employing a 'super-Special Branch' for surveillance of Ministers. It was complete nonsense. I was obliged to report direct to the Taoiseach in pursuance of directions from my Minister , Mr. O' Morain, who was to say so in Court in September 1970 and to say so with greater emphasis in his correspondence with and in his testimony before the Committee of Public Accounts - see Mr. O' Morain's letter dated 10th June 1961 on page 304 of CPA Report : "Any knowledge that I had of these events was fully reported both by me and , on my express instructions, by Mr Peter Berry ....to the Taoiseach at all material times....."
(MORE LATER).







BRIAN MÓR Ó BAOIGHILL RIP : Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis.....



I had the pleasure of meeting Brian Mór a number of times over the years , and each time we parted company we both knew it was only temporary due to the fact that we shared the same Irish Republican values and realised that , as comrades, we were destined to meet again : and we are , but, now , it won't be in this life.

Brian Mór's Christmas Greetings to Irish POW's , Times Square , New York , 1983.

'In June of last year he wrote an open letter to the Lord Mayor of Belfast to protest at one of his poster artworks, commemorating Theobald Wolfe Tone and the 1798 Rising, being hung in Belfast City hall. Brian saw this as merely an attempt to distract from the fact that Belfast and the rest of the Six Counties were still occupied by British forces. In his own inimitable style Brian finished his letter by declaring: "When the Belfast City Hall is located in a united Ireland, not the United Kingdom, I would be honored to see my artwork displayed. Until then, I request that it be taken down. Moving the picture of the Queen of England from one wall to another does not in any way make Belfast part of a United Ireland. I object to my artwork being used to pretend otherwise...." '
(More acknowledgments and tributes here and here.)

There is a lot more I could say about Brian , but this is not the most suitable venue in which to do so : I will close , for now , with the words of Oscar Wilde - "Friendship is far more tragic than love. It lasts longer."
Slán anois , A Chara.







'CAPTAIN MAC'S ' - A CLASS ACT.....

" I'm a Class Act. And you're paying for it...."

Beverley Cooper-Flynn , daughter of 'P' Flynn (from the 'ThreeHouse-Flynn' Clan) might very well have had her glittering political career whipped away from her by cruel circumstances (!) but at least she won't go hungry : she owns a chipper in Marbella , which enables her to top-up her tan whilst checking the accounts of her customers , some of whom may not realise that , on 'leaving' Leinster House , she received a few bob to help her on her way : a lump-sum payment of €186,000 , hardly enough, these days, to put fish and chips on the table. But not to worry : 'Class Act' Bev also receives a weekly State pension , courtesy of her services to those that had elected her to Leinster House, of €697 a week , every week , for the rest of her life. And no better girl to tell ya if it's index-linked or not.....
So - when you are next in Marbella on holiday (!) , you know where not to go if you're hungry , and where to go if you're angry.....
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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NIALL AND OWEN TALK SHOP , AND JIM WANTS IN : EARL GREY WITH THE 'RIGHT HONOURABLE....'

Jim McVeigh , PSF poacher turned gamekeeper.....


"Talk of Socialism, collectivism etc is all nonsense, people running around waving red flags is an embarrassment...."
- the words of Provisional Sinn Féin leader , head of the Provisional Sinn Féin Trade Union Department and leader of Belfast City Council, Jim McVeigh ,as spoken in the Waterfront Conference Centre , Belfast, on Saturday 11th February 2012.
It seems that these political misfits are not just content to welcome a British 'queen' to Irish soil , but also view their stated pro-working/unemployed-class policies as yet another 'chip' to be traded and/or ditched if doing so will integrate them further with the 'establishment'. Then there's this -



- a photograph taken earlier this month (Friday 10th February 2012) of the Provisional Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast , Niall Ó Donnghaile, (right) having a nice cup of Earl Grey with the British Secretary of State , the 'Right Honourable' Owen Paterson MP , in the 'Parlour' of Belfast City Hall. Niall , the 'Pet Rebel' , then took his new friend , Owen , on a tour of the Big House.

And , as with other members of that 'establishment' , he and his party continue , for now, to benefit from 'selling' something that they don't possess and, more than likely , never possessed in the first place - political integrity. Until such time as the 'buyers' cop-on , these snakeoil salespeople will continue to prosper.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....'
By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.

It was a near thing that the agitation did not burn itself out within the few townlands committed to it before other districts became involved. It was not easy , so late in the day as 1926, to convince even neighbour districts that this issue was vitally related to the independence struggle, since nobody raised it when the War of Independence was at its height.

The current annuity by itself , unrelated to a national issue, was not a matter of any great concern, and so for a time a few townlands stood alone. There is little left today of many of the townlands in which this agitation was cradled - they were a remnant of the Irish of history with little or no place in Irish life : its economy bypassed them. The Republic might have brought them back into it but its defeat sealed their fate. So they left, following well-beated paths into strange lands, a firm, gay people who blamed nobody for their lot.

It became them to make a proud stand against 'The Sherriff' before they set out, for, so to speak , that was where they came in - the prelude to Kinsale and its sequel. It would ill become me not to help them leave behind them some word of what they did. Indeed , I, too, might have failed them but for Maurice Moore. It is fitting that it should be from him the push came to make me write this, for he came to the aid of the townlands when they had few friends. He would like to be remembered with them , and they would like that, too.

For myself there is the further reward that this booklet is a footnote to Liam Mellows's 'Notes From Mountjoy Jail....'
(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.

" Of the two warrants signed by me , at the request of the Commissioner, one was never enforced after the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs consulted the Taoiseach : it was in connection with the attempted arms importation and it was in respect of a public servant (not a member of Parliament) who was deeply involved. I was no respector of persons and saw no reason for exclusivity but the Taoiseach took another view. This again made me - and the Garda Authorities - have doubts as to whether the Taoiseach was in earnest in directing on April 20th that the matter be fully investigated.

The manner in which postal censorship was exercised was dealt with by Mr Haughey in May 1963 and by the Taoiseach in 1970 (Vol. 246 , No. 7, Col. 1332) and by Mr O' Malley in the following month in even greater particularity but the answers of each were to the same effect.

I had been pilloried by 'Backbencher' , a gossip columnist in 'The Irish Times' , on several occasions in the 1960's for "tapping" telephones when I was completely innocent......."
(MORE LATER).







ON THIS DAY (15th FEB) 91 YEARS AGO (1921)....

IRA Column 1920's , Ireland.


Paddy Moran and Joseph Rochford are charged with the 'murder' of Lieutenant Peter Ashmun Ames at 38 Upper Mount Street , Dublin, on 'Bloody Sunday', November 21st, 1920. Joe Rochford was acquitted but Paddy Moran was found guilty and sentenced to be hung. A large number of alibi witnesses had come forward for Moran but three British soldiers identified him as being in Upper Mount St.
Paddy Moran "....was arrested on two occasions in early 1920. While in detention at Arbour Hill Prison, he was identified as being one of a group of men who had killed Lieutenant Ames at 38 Mount Street, Dublin. Moran strongly protested his innocence of any involvement in Bloody Sunday. His alibi was that he was at Mass in Blackrock (over four miles from the scene of the shooting) at the time and seen there by several people including a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police...."
(From here.)




15th FEBRUARY 1921 : UPTON AMBUSH , CORK -

"Let the moon shine out tonight along the valley
Where those men who fought for freedom now are laid
May they rest in piece those men who died for Ireland
And fell in that Upton ambush for Sinn Fein....."

On the 15th of February 1921 a planned ambush by the I.R.A. of a train carrying British soldiers went wrong resulting in the death of three I.R.A. men and six civilians. The plan was to ambush the train when it stopped at Upton station : the station staff were detained by the I.R.A. as they waited for the train , which held about fifty soldiers of the Essex Regiment , to arrive. The British soldiers were dispersed throughout the train rather than concentrated in the central carriage as the I.R.A. believed. As a result of acting on faulty information, the civilian causalities were high and the British soldiers were in a better position to repel the IRA attackers. The three dead I.R.A. men were Lieutenant John Whelan a native of Liverpool England, Lieutenant Patrick O'Sullivan of Raheen, Upton , and IRA Section Commander Batt Falvey of Ballymurphy, Upton.








CLONMULT MASSACRE TO BE COMMEMORATED....



On the 20th February 1921 , IRA Captain James P. Aherne and Volunteer James Glavin , two members of an IRA 'Flying Squad' that was based in Cork, watched as one of their number headed off on a short stroll to a near-by stream to collect water for the IRA Squad : a poacher , an ex-British Army man, was on the far side of the stream laying traps for rabbits when he spotted the man , whom he knew to be an IRA member, and watched as the IRA man filled as many buckets as he could carry and observed as the Volunteer headed to the near-by cottage. The poacher reported the sighting to the local RIC and they , in turn , called-in a Black and Tan murder gang. The cottage was soon surrounded by these armed pro-British thugs.
Twelve I.R.A. Volunteers were killed and another two were executed later :

Captain James Aherne from Cobh County Cork was killed while jumping a fence 200 yards from the house.
Volunteer Jeremiah Aherne, from Midleton, County Cork ,was killed in action.
Volunteer Liam Aherne, from Midleton, County Cork, killed in action.
Volunteer Donal Dennehy, from Midleton, County Cork, killed in action.
Volunteer David Desmond, from Midleton, County Cork, killed in action.
Volunteer Michael Desmond, from Midleton, County Cork, was killed while attempting to fight his way back into the house.
Volunteer James Glavin, from Cobh, County Cork, was killed during the fighting.
Volunteer Michael Hallahan, from Midleton, County Cork, killed in action.
Volunteer Richard Hegarty, from Garryvoe, County Cork, killed in front of the house when attempting to go for aid.
Volunteer John Joe Joyce, from Midleton, County Cork, killed while attempting to re-gain entry to the farm house.
Volunteer Maurice Moore, from Cobh, County Cork, was captured during the Ambush,and was later executed at Cork Military Barracks on April 28th 1921.
Volunteer Joseph Morrissey, from Athlone, County Westmeath, killed during the fighting.
Volunteer Christopher O'Sullivan, from Midleton, County Cork, killed during the fighting.
Volunteer Paddy O'Sullivan, from Cobh, County Cork, was captured and was later executed at Cork Military Barracks, on April 28th 1921.



The Clonmult Martyrs Commemoration Committee will pay tribute to those brave IRA Volunteers on Sunday , 19th February 2012 : those attending are asked to assemble at the Courthouse , Main Street, Midleton , County Cork , at 2.30pm , from where a parade will be held to the Churchyard at Saint John the Baptist Church , where a wreath will be laid and an oration will be delivered by Mary Ward.
ALL WELCOME !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

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