HIDDEN HEAT , LOWRY'S LAND AND JUDGE JUDGING.....

'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY.....' By Peadar O'Donnell ; first published in January 1963.
I was in luck on transport - a young man , a commercial traveller, whose road led to Ballybofey, made no bones about going out of his way to enable me to do my errand en route and in a vague way he understood it was some sort of IRA business. We made stops here and there and it was well into the afternoon when we got to my place of call. A man in a postman's jacket chanced to cycle by , just as we needed guidance, and he pointed out the house I sought , then made a useful remark to me - 'You'll be somebody he knew in the army?' , he said. So there was that gap between us, too - 'the army' meant the Free State army. I proceeded on my way and was taken back when the boreen I walked down opened on to a nicely gravelled street, in front of a trig , white-washed three-windowed thatched cottage. The young woman who came to the door wore her hapiness like a halo. This home , this woman, should not be involved in so drab a business ; no, her husband was not at home, but he was nearby, in a quarry, raising metal for the County Council. She would call him , as it was his tea-time anyway. We were in the kitchen now. "It would be in the army you met him ? At Finner, was it...?" , she asked. I spent some dreary months there, a prisoner in solitary confinement. Let me take a seat : she would not be a minute in going for him, but I could not let things go at that : "Maybe you better tell him who is waiting for him. I'm Peadar O'Donnell." Light and welcome went out of her, like it was blown out from within. "It's about the cows...?" , she said. I nodded. And then she did a wonderful thing - she lifted the kettle off the crook , set it on the hearth and she went out. (MORE LATER).

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SOUTH ARMAGH......

The inside story of a personal feud that has left one man dead and tarnished the reputation of the PIRA's most fearsome brigade.

From 'Magill' magazine , April 2003.

By John Keane.
What happened next was unprecedented within the tight-knit republican community of South Armagh. At the beginning of March, a gang of 12 men in three cars ambushed one of the O'Callaghan brothers, 37-year-old Danny. After ramming his car on the Monog Road near Crossmaglen, they dragged him from the vehicle , leaving his son Danny (12) with a broken arm and another son, Joseph (10) with an eye injury caused by a glass splinter. The gang took their victim to the near-by Creggan housing estate and shot him in both ankles and elbows and he was then dumped, bleeding heavily, in a playground. Following the shooting, the O'Callaghan family made representations to the leadership of the republican movement ( '1169' Comment - sic : those representations were made to the leadership of the Provisional movement) in Belfast but the response, in the words of one PIRA veteran, was "a deafening silence". Worse was to come. On 10th March 2003, Patrick O'Callaghan and his brother Kevin, who both have homes on the southern side of the border, were warned by gardai of a plot to shoot them and similar warnings were delivered by the PSNI to two other brothers living near Crossmaglen, Anthony and Seán - the latter a gaunt, former H-Block prisoner known as 'Boney'. The possibility of the O'Callaghans defying the 'No Building' law on Larkin's Road was clearly not going to be tolerated. On the morning of Wednesday 12th March 2003, Kevin O'Callaghan and his son Seán (21) drove from their home in Inniskeen , County Monaghan, across the border to Waters Filling Station and shop in Cullaville - their intention was to get two five-gallon drums of home heating oil, which is cheaper in the North than in the South. PIRA Volunteer Keith Rodgers , who played football with the younger O'Callaghans, was among a group of eight PIRA men in two cars waiting to ambush him.......(MORE LATER).

HIDDEN HEAT , LOWRY'S LAND AND JUDGE JUDGING.....

The 'balance' is loaded in favour of a State minority.

Two recent events here in this bent State epitomise the prevailing characteristics that unfortunately exist in abundance amongst our 'Ruling Class', and which have a detrimental effect on the society in which the perpetrators have a say over. On the one hand we have a wealthy politician and a wealthy judge , both of whom were not satisfied with their already-secured place in the 'pecking order' and decided that they should have even more and, on the other hand, we can see the affect such greed has on the society they 'rule' over.

There are thousands either like that politician and that judge or who desire to be like them and, God help us, they are in a position in this poxy State to either help frame State law or help implement and enforce it , once framed. But there are millions more that are directly effected by the actions - sometimes 'suspect' , to put it mildly, and other times as blatantly corrupt as any so-called 'democratic' tyranny can sustain - as evident by that school in Bluebell , Dublin. The system here is so unbalanced that it is beyond 'tweaking' and can only truly be conquered by being dismantled and disposed of. I favour these two policies as foundation stones for a new beginning as, amongst other attributes, they have a 'check and balance' system built-in which would allow the people themselves the opportunity to ensure that fair play is obtained, and not leave it up to an overpaid , greedy and out-of-touch political and judicial Class to decide when - or by how much or how often - the rest of us are to be screwed by them. Until that change comes , we had all best get a second layer of clothes ready , 'cause that shower of time-serving gangsters are only warming up. Pardon the pun.

28TH NOVEMBER 1905 :

Part of a pamphlet issued following the ?rst annual convention of the 'National Council' held in the Rotunda, Dublin on 28 November 1905, the policy of which was proposed by Arthur Griffith (click on pic for clearer image) .

"National self-development secured through the recognition of the duties and rights of citizenship on the part of the individual, and with the aid and support of all movements originating from within Ireland, which, instinct with national tradition, do not look outside Ireland for the accomplishment of their aims" - this was the policy outlined at the First National Council Convention, held at the Rotunda, in Dublin, on Tuesday, November 28, 1905, under the presidency of Edward Martyn, at which the programme of the men who later became known as the 'Sinn Feiners' was promulgated by Arthur Griffith.

Sinn Féin was founded on November 28, 1905 ,compromised of an amalgamation of Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Council (which was founded in the main to organise protests at the visit of the British King, Edward VII, and included in its ranks Edward Martyn, Séamus McManus and Maud Gonne) and the Dungannon Clubs, a largely IRB-dominated Republican campaign group. Contrary to the perception which has been advanced by some that Sinn Féin in its first years was not Republican in character but rather sought a limited form of Home Rule on the dual monarchist model, Brian O'Higgins, a founding member of Sinn Féin, who took part in the 1916 Rising, and was a member of the First and Second Dáil, remaining a steadfast Republican up to his death in 1962, had this to say in his Wolfe Tone Annual of 1949: "It is often sought to be shown that the organisation set up in 1905 was not Republican in form or spirit, that it only became so in 1917; but this is an erroneous idea, and is not borne out by the truths of history. Anyone who goes to the trouble of reading its brief constitution will see that its object was 'the re-establishment of the independence of Ireland.' The Constitution of Sinn Féin in 1905, and certainly the spirit of it, was at least as clearly separatist as was the constitution of Sinn Féin in and after 1917, no matter what private opinion regarding the British Crown may have been held by Arthur Griffith." (More here.)

And today - 28th November 2012 - that same organisation , with the same objectives, lives on in the Republican Movement and continues to hold that same steely determination that its Founding Fathers had, a desire for justice for the Irish people and for full political freedom : 'freedom' , not just from the British, but from the 'Free State' mentality that has all but crushed the Spirit of our people. And our day will come.....

RTE TV DOCUMENTARY : 'RED COW 3'.

Ireland , 1922 - executed by Free State forces for political postering.

We have written before about this atrocity and we got good feedback from other parties that are interested in the subject matter - we have received notification that on Monday 3rd December 2012 , at 9.35pm , RTE One TV will be broadcasting a documentary on the issue : 'Eddie Hobbs meets people as they learn about their relatives' roles in the Civil War, including a Dublin special needs assistant who discovers the story of how his great grand-uncle was killed in one of the conflict's most disturbing events aged just 16.....' (From here.)

Although Irish republicans have good reason to shudder anytime the establishment main-stream media attempts to address any issue to do with republicanism (this, for instance , in which republicans blend-in seamlessly with drug pushing scumbags) , it would be hard (if not near impossible) even for RTE to attempt to put an anti-republican 'spin' on the events covered by this documentary as the actual facts of what happened, and how and by whom, are too widely known. Still , don't take my word for that , as it is RTE we're talking about....

Appropo of nothing in particular, other than it caught my eye at the time....

Susan Boyle - bulging back pockets !

......and, although her voice and choice of songs do nothing for me, they strike a chord (!) with enough people to make it worth her while. I'd give her a 'standing ovation' (!) if she spent some of her fortune and hired a new publicist or manager : a recent promotional 'tweet' from her camp , in connection with her latest album, 'back'(!)fired on her and it was for that sceneario , rather than the quality or otherwise of her voice, that she briefly 'trended' in cyberspace. Still, not such a bummer , maybe, when you're trying to shift a few extra copies of a new album.....

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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DUBLIN 'AUSTERITY PROTEST' 24-11-12 : 'FASCIST' PROTESTORS SHOUT DOWN TRADE UNION CHIEFS!

'THE GATHERING' ONLY POSSIBLE DUE TO 'THE SCATTERING' CAUSED BY FORCED EMIGRATION.

One of the placards carried by RSF on the Dublin 'Austerity Protest' , Saturday 24th November 2012.

I was proud to be one of the RSF "fascist" demonstrators on the 'Austerity Protest' in Dublin yesterday who, along with thousands of other protestors, called loudly and repeatedly on the organisers, the trade union leadership, to end their financial and moral support for the State Labour Party and to begin preparations for a general strike : the man at the 'Top Table' of that TU leadership, Jack O'Connor , responded by calling us "fascists". That man , and others of his ilk that sit around that 'Table' doing deals with professional politicians has lost his bearings and for a long time now has come to consider himself to be 'one of them'. His objective is to 'manage' the cutbacks on those that still have jobs and the unemployed, rather than to stop same. And he calls us "fascists" for highlighting the fact that his snout is in the same trough as those who seek to continue forcing a lower standard of living on workers and the unemployed! With a moral compass of that nature, 'Jack The Lad' is on course for a 'job' in Leinster House , or perhaps a less 'taxing' position in the useless State Senate.

And, again, I was proud to be there, with other supporters and members of RSF, as part of the 20,000 protestors that took to the streets of Dublin in opposition not only to the 'Troika' but in opposition, too, to the present Fine Gael/State Labour party Free State Administration - the real fascists in this gombeen State. Well done to all of us for taking a stand !

Incidentally , the RSF placard (pictured above), re 'The Gathering' , that was carried on the 'Austerity Protest' (more pics of that demo here and here) is in reference to an attempt by the State authorities to present a picture of 'normalisation' here, even though we (ie the 'ordinary Joe Soaps') are actually tethering on the brink of full economic collapse. We wrote about that subject already but an interesting thing happened yesterday on the protest when a gentleman approached us , pointing at that placard, and brought to our attention the fact that the State-appointed person in charge of 'The Gathering' is non other than ex-Fine Gael General Secretary Jim Miley , and that he is paid a salary of €3500 a week.

.....and you can call me "a fascist" for pointing that out, if you want !

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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'TOMATO KILLER' , IRELAND 1923 : UNSTABLE FREE STATER.

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

If I wanted proof of the miracle in a small victory, I got it at the committee meeting the next evening when I reported on the seized cattle ; I had already reported on the other matter privately to Phil and Black James. This good work was put down to Seán McCool and that was a useful rumour to get abroad. The problem of getting the cattle back became more complicated as we talked. We would set up a watch on that man's place and we would drive the cattle away in daylight or we would go to his place at night-time , a whole lorry load of us, and we would take the cattle out of his byre and nail the couple of pounds he gave for them on the door or we would get somebody of his district to pick him out for us at a fair in Glenties and Big Neil Houston and Jimmy Getins would corner him and make him pay. A couple of times Black James Duirnin tried to get a word in but the pace was too fast for him and it was not until he was asked if he had any suggestion that he got his chance - "What about this man of ours going to see him, and advising him to give the cattle back?" I was "this man". (MORE LATER).

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SOUTH ARMAGH......

The inside story of a personal feud that has left one man dead and tarnished the reputation of the PIRA's most fearsome brigade.

From 'Magill' magazine , April 2003.

By John Keane.

In 1990, the British government introduced legislation specifically targeting Thomas 'Slab' Murphy's oil company , 'West Star' , a name derived from the popular TV series 'Dallas'. Under the Newry and Mourne Regulation Hydrocarbon Traffic Order , oil tankers were banned from a stretch of Larkin's Road at Ballybinaby - the specific target was Tom Murphy's private free-trade zone , the sheds where tankers owned by his oil company , and others nominally owned by his family members, could evade the prying eyes of customs officers , to facilitate his smuggling operations. During the conflict ('1169...' Comment : sic - past tense?) it was an unwritten law in South Armagh that nobody could buy or sell land or build houses nearby without PIRA approval : premises could be sold but not advertised for sale. The logic was that strangers might move into the area and jeopardise the security of PIRA operations , but it was never foreseen that the same 'property rules' might be applied to a senior republican.

However, Patrick O' Callaghan's initial account suggests that is exactly what led to the death of PIRA Volunteer Keith Rodgers at Waters Service Station in Cullaville. Patrick O' Callaghan claimed that he and his brothers had bought four acres of land on Larkin's Road for development - that land is about a quarter of a mile from the Murphy farm , on a rise overlooking a derelict house , and the roadway in front of the house has been widened to allow parking and turning space for large vehicles. The O' Callaghan brothers had already obtained outline planning permission for one house several years ago but around the beginning of February they applied for full planning permission for two houses at the site. With one brother just leaving hospital and another on his way by ambulance, Patrick O' Callaghan claimed his family had been targeted because they had stepped-up their plan to build four house on their Larkin's Road site and had been seeking financial backing. He claimed the attacks on the family began after he had been seen visiting the site with an architect. Signs went up on the road saying 'NO BUILDING HERE'. (MORE LATER).

21ST NOVEMBER 1920 : 31 PEOPLE KILLED.

14 British military operatives, 14 Irish civilians and 3 Irish Republican prisoners ( 'whilst attempting to escape' ) : Peadar Clancy , Richard McKee and Conor Clune. The 14 British military operatives comprised an undercover BA Intelligence unit known as the 'Special Gang' (referred to more often than not as 'The Cairo Gang') , one RIC man and an informer : there is a fascinating account of one of Collins' 'Squad' here , which details how (and why) his new 'own (Free State) side' wanted to get rid of him , and were further prompted to do so after he took (deadly) offence to a man who was carrying a bag of tomatoes ! The 14 civilians were shot dead by frenzied British forces in Croke Park whilst watching a match.

Peadar Clancy (left) who, whilst defending the Irish Republic in 1916 with other armed Irish soldiers, came under sniper fire from a house on Bridge Street, Dublin , from the British Army, and instructed his comrades to open fire on the house. As the gunfire intensified, Clancy made his way across the street and broke a number of downstairs windows and set the house on fire. Clancy and his men then proceeded on their way. In 1967 , republican-minded people in New York raised enough funds for a bronze statue of Peadar Clancy to be erected in Kildysart , County Clare. He was a native of Carrowreagh East, Cranny, West Clare, and was a partner , with another IRA man named Tom Hunter, in a drapery business called 'The Republican Outfitters', located at Number 94 Talbot Street in the centre of Dublin.

Richard McKee (left) , highly regarded by, amongst others , Éamon de Valera, Austin Stack and Michael Collins. This Finglas , Dublin, man joined the Volunteers in 1913 and three years later found himself under British fire in Jacob's Factory. He was later to be appointed Brigadier of the IRA's Dublin Brigade and was also Director of Training on its General HeadQuarters staff. On 17th November 1920 he received a communication from Michael Collins saying - 'Dick . . . have established addresses of the particular ones. Arrangements should now be made about the matter. Lt. G. is aware of things. He suggested the 21st. A most suitable date and day I think. "M" '. On 21st November 1920, McKee was bayoneted in the liver, suffered broken ribs, abrasions to the face and received many bullet wounds 'whilst attempting to escape'.

Peadar Clancy and Richard McKee were informed on by an ex-British Army soldier , James 'Shankers' Ryan , and were arrested on the eve of 'Bloody Sunday' by a combined force of the RIC and the Tans at Sean Fitzpatrick’s house at 36 Lower Gloucester Street (renamed Sean McDermott Street). The informer Ryan was a brother of Becky Cooper one of the Madams of the famous red-light district known as 'The Monto'. On the 5th of February , 1921, William Stapleton and other IRA men were notified that 'Shankers' was drinking in Hynes Pub , on the corner of Lower Gloucester Street and Railway Street in Dublin, and they went there and shot him dead. A short video of the funerals of Peadar Clancy and Richard McKee can be seen here.

Conor Clune (left) the nephew of Archbishop Clune and a member of the 'Gaelic League' (but, according to most accounts, not a member of the Republican Movement) was arrested by the British in Vaughn's Hotel in Parnell Square, Dublin, on the 20th November 1920 (the day before 'Bloody Sunday') - his family connection to Archbishop Patrick Joseph Clune could very well have been 'reason' enough for the British to detain him. Incidentally , on the 7th of December 1920 , at the request of David Lloyd George, the then British Prime Minister , Archbishop Clune held a 'state-of-play' discussion with Michael Collins to discuss how things stood between the rebels ('dissidents') and the British. The meeting was held in Number Five Merrion Square , home of Dr Robert Farnan, a prominent gynecologist. To 'stop Conor Clune escaping from their custody' , the British shot him 13 times in the chest.

When asked about the executions of the 'Special/Cairo Gang' , Michael Collins replied - "My one intention was the destruction of the undesirables who continued to make miserable the lives of ordinary decent citizens. I have proof enough to assure myself of the atrocities which this gang of spies and informers have committed. If I had a second motive it was no more than a feeling such as I would have for a dangerous reptile. By their destruction the very air is made sweeter. For myself, my conscience is clear. There is no crime in detecting in wartime the spy and the informer. They have destroyed without trial. I have paid them back in their own coin."

Those "reptiles" are still active to this day , even though they are housed in more salubrious surroundings and are , as ever, motivated in their actions by 'the coin'. There are no such encouragements here but true Irish Republicans , unlike 'Shankers' and his 21st-Century equivalent never required any , except for the righteousness of their Cause.

A HALF-CLOSED/OPEN BOOK.

PSF Mayor of Dungannon Phelim Gildernew (left).

Provisional Sinn Féin elected representatives in the British-occupied county of Tyrone (and elsewhere!) have no bother at all in working side-by-side with British Establishment and other (local) anti-republican elements to the point where they will not only call on their constituents to report activities by Irish republicans 'to the proper authorities' but will wholeheartedly beseech their supporters to assist them in implementing the British writ as delivered to them in Stormont by their parent body in Westminster.

Hypocritical then, of them to object to a book of condolences being opened on the death of one of their fellow-government employees. A UUP council member proposed that such a book be opened but this was objected to by Mayor Phelim Gildernew and other ex-republicans on the council , but those objectors quickly backed-down after their position was made public and their 'leader' , the good Mayor, was actually the first to the table to sign the book !

Mayor Gildernew's hypocrisy has been exposed before , when he sought to honour those from Tyrone who had challenged the British, militarily whilst, at practically the same time and in the same breath, calling those who continue that struggle 'unrepresentative and misled criminals', and asking his supporters to betray them to the paramilitary RUC/PSNI. The brother of an assassinated PIRA member pointed this fact out to him recently : "His most recent charade rubs salt in the wounds of those of us who daily mourn the loss of family members who gave their lives for the promised objective of a 32 county democratic republic and not a regurgitated partitionist Stormont." (From here.)

Incidentally , Phelim's daughter , Michelle (a Seán Quinn supporter) is not happy with just taking wages from the British , but now wants a pay-out from the Free Staters as well ! Between their family businesses , their Stormont and Westminster wages and stipends and the 'fall-down-the-stairs' claim , this family might yet end up with a booty which their queen would envy !

SUPPORTING THE OBJECTIVES BUT NOT THE ORGANISERS :

Protests of this nature should be held during the working week for maximum effect , not at the weekend when traffic etc has wound-down for a day or two, and all firms and employers etc should be left in no doubt that there will be trade union repercussions for them should they attempt to prevent their employees from attending.

I'll be taking part in this protest on Saturday and my three daughters will be there as well - their school/college friends and some of the teachers are going , but no doubt we'll meet up somewhere along the route. I'll be marching with other RSF supporters and members and, from talking to them over the past few days it is clear that we share the opinion that, whilst the objectives of the protest are legitimate, the same cannot be said in relation to the 'parent body' of the organising committee ie the trade union leadership.

That overpaid leadership are as divorced from the economic reality which daily , if not hourly, faces the workers they claim to be 'at one' with - indeed, Jack and the Boys (and girls) have , in my opinion, more in common with the business elite and political bigwigs that are punishing the working class and the unemployed in this State for an economic crime they are not responsible for. But, as stated , I'll be there , on the street, on Saturday 24th - in solidarity with the hundreds-of-thousands of other hard-pressed ordinary 'joe soap' people more so than in answer to a call for support from trade union-members of the 'Establishment'. One over-paid 'suit' is as bad as another as far as I'm concerned , regardless of which side of the fence s/he purports to sit on.

A WISE DECISION BY A MAN WHO APPEARS TO KNOW US BETTER THAN WE KNOW OURSELVES.

Praveen Halappanavar , who lost his wife, Savita, in this State due to which the Authorities here have all but described as an 'unfortunate accident'.

'Mr Halappanavar said he has no confidence in the HSE to lead the investigation, saying he fears there could be some bias if it is carried out by people paid by the executive....' (From here.)

It's not Mr Halappanavar's refusal to co-operate with the proposed 'inquiry' into the dreadful situation in a Galway hospital that cost him his wife that should raise our hackles but rather the fact that the 'powers-that-be' in this morally bankrupt State could see nothing wrong with appointing three consultants from the same hospital onto the inquiry team : simply because we Irish have , for the most part, surrendered our 'Fightin' Irish' spirit and will (again, for the most part) accept any old verbal shite that those bastards in Leinster House feed us, doesn't mean that everyone will.

It will be extremely poor 'compensation' , if any, when the poor man successfully sues the medical authorities in this State and wins , hopefully , millions of Euro (which , of course, will have to be paid by us taxpayers which, in this instance, I don't have an issue with) but this State operates in such a haphazard , sloppy and disjointed fashion that, after the settlement is handed over, absolutely no lessons from this case will be learned and/or taken on board and whilst a few medical operatives may be moved 'sidewards' no political heads will roll because the State 'Elite' here protects its own.

We wish Mr Halappanavar the best of luck in his quest for justice and, not to take from the magnitude of his suffering and that of the families concerned, we are grateful to him for the part he has played in helping to publicise the complete lack of moral values that exist in this wasteland of a State : what a shame that that exposé had to come at such a high human cost to him and the families mentioned.

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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BEWARE OF THE KILLER TOMATOES !

Not to make light of the actual subject matter (...but just to have a wee bit of craic with this 'teaser' for same!) on Wednesday 21st November next we will be posting about an ex-IRA gunman , who was so highly thought off by the Republican leadership that he was one of an elite team that were hand-picked to take part in one of the most famous operations to date , during which he was captured by the British , court martialed, sentenced to hang and held at Kilmainham Jail ,Dublin, from which he escaped with other high-profile Irish Republicans. However, after he became a 'poacher-turned-gamekeeper' , he lost the plot over a pound of tomatoes and became such a liability to his new Free State 'friends' that they wanted rid of him and put a price on his head , using some of the funds that were to go to the State 'Secret Service' to solve their problem. But the man confounded his enemies , old and new, and lived to see his 77th year in 1976....(MORE ON WEDNESDAY 21ST NOVEMBER 2012).

Thanks for visiting, Sharon.

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A POLITICALLY-GIFTED SELF ADVANTAGE : 1689 TO DATE.

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

"They are good people. You have not the full story." I knew I must spend a while with them , else they would not be at their ease together after I left. I joked over the woman's statement that only crackpots were on my side, and I agreed with her that I noticed that people bruised by life often had a good word to say of me. I told a story of a woman of the road , with enough fixed residence in Ballybofey to have a vote. She voted for me in 1923 , and on her way home she passed by McGee's Hotel , just when the nabobs of the town were in session on the door-step - Jimmy McGee himself , a bank manager , superintendent of police, a solicitor, couple of shopkeepers and the like. She wore her shawl as a scarf across her shoulder and, dancing on her toes in front of them, one of her long, skinny arms thrust upwards as she shouted " I struck a blow at you bastards this day , I struck my blow. I gave my vote to the reverend father..." The woman had taken it from the sound of my name that I was an unfrocked priest and that by voting for me she was somehow taking it out on the world that had hurt her! I told other stories and she made us tea and there was no awkwardness among us when I rose to go. "What will we say brought you?" , she asked. I laughed - I had forgotten that no step goes unnoticed. I said she could tell the neighbours about the cattle, and how I came to get her man help me take them back. I said she could curse me a bit for putting her man into danger and the neighbours would know fine it's boasting she was. "Hell won't be full until you're in it," she told me, but we shook hands and we were friends. The husband saw me to the public road and promised to go with me to take back the seized cattle at any time that suited me. I said nothing to him then, nor later , about the letter - I just knew that all that was over and time proved me correct. I never had any way of confirming that I was right about the woman but I never needed any proof. The scientist is never so sure of himself as the novelist. (MORE LATER).

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SOUTH ARMAGH......

The inside story of a personal feud that has left one man dead and tarnished the reputation of the PIRA's most fearsome brigade.

From 'Magill' magazine , April 2003.

By John Keane.

The house searches, frustrating road blocks and street-corner humiliation of youth, all features of occupied nationalist areas, were absent from a region where British soldiers travelled only by helicopter in convoys of up to five aircraft at a time. But the downside of living in a liberated zone controlled by a revolutionary army is that, like all generals, Murphy has scant regard for civil liberties.

The last known chief of the Provisionals, Murphy lives in a modest cottage at Larkin's Road , Ballybinaby, on the Louth/Armagh border. Huge sheds in his farmyard each have an entrance on the County Louth side and another on the County Armagh side, as does his cottage. He has reputedly made millions from smuggling a variety of contraband , such as livestock, grain and fuel in either direction, depending on the prevailing tariff. The hostility of the local population towards the British Army and RUC extended also to HM Customs and Excise because a significant number of families earned their living from smuggling, and many of those who did not at least managed to reduce their living costs by purchasing black market fuel, cigarettes and alcohol. British authorities in the North have devoted almost as much time and manpower to Tom Murphy's smuggling operations as they have to his military operations. (MORE LATER).

ONE LAW FOR THE RICH.....

Article 9 of the 1689 Bill of Rights.

The above Article states - "The freedome of speech and debates or proceedings in Parlyament ought not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parlyament."

The kerfuffle here last week in relation to the so-called 'Childrens Referendum' debacle brought to mind the above-mentioned 'Bill of Rights' and the 'get-out'-clauses that politicians build into the system for themselves (1689 [and before then] to date).

The 26-County Free State is governed by what is known as 'Common Law' , which basically means that elected political legislators here (ie those in Leinster House) are covered by a 'Privilege' gifted to them under that 1689 Bill of Rights. However, not content with one 'get-out-of-jail' card , those political poker-faced cheaters decided to give themselves (and their pals in the Free State Senate) a 'second Ace' and framed Article 15.13 of the Free State Constitution to be such a beast : "The members of each House of the Oireachtas shall, except in case of treason as defined in this Constitution, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest in going to and returning from, and while within the precincts of, either House, and shall not, in respect of any utterance in either House, be amenable to any court or any authority other than the House itself."

Article 15.13 (which is usually referenced in conjunction with State 'sub judice' rules) insist that a Leinster House / State Senate elected member who is travelling to or from that institution is immune from arrest , cannot be sued for defamation for remarks made in that institution and cannot be prosecuted for contempt for remarks made in either institution which, if stated 'outside', could lead to charges of 'interference with a legal trial'.

If you or I are deemed by the court system here to have breached the above-mentioned 'rights' of that political class a legal case can (and in all probability would ) be brought against us for 'Contempt of the Oireachtas' but there is actually no set penalty for that 'offence' because it is not considered to be a 'statutory' one , but you can (will?) be summoned to present yourself in front of the Members of the institution you have 'offended' where an apology will be expected from you. Failure to apologise will lead to a punishment being imposed.

Richard Ryan , a Fine Gael member of Leinster House was quoted in a newspaper interview in May 1964 as stating that many members in Leinster House were "blatantly dishonest" in the manner in which they shared cars whilst travelling to Dublin for political business but still claimed individual travel expenses for the journey : the (Labour Party) Ceann Comhairle , Patrick Hogan , insisted that that statement amounted to a prima facie breach of privilege and insisted that the internal 'Procedures and Privileges Committee' investigate the matter. That Committee asked Richard Ryan if he had indeed made such a statement , he denied having done so and the 'PPC' stated that no further action should be taken : if an 'outsider' (ie not one of the 'political elite') had found him/herself similarly charged there is no chance that s/he would have just walked away as Ryan did.

One of the members of that 'PPC' , Seán McCarthy (Fianna Fáil), was driving his car in Rathmines in Dublin years later (1989) when the cops pulled him in, at 5am one morning, on suspicion of being drunk in charge of a car. McCarthy immediately claimed that 'as a member of the State Oireachtas' , he was immune from arrest as he was on his way home from a meeting of the State Senate and, as such, was not obliged to give a blood or urine sample (as is the normal course of procedure in such a case). The cops made enquiries and discovered that the State Senate had finished its business at 8.30pm the previous evening (McCarthy was pulled-in by them at 5am the following morning) and they proceeded with the case against him. But 'one law for the (political) rich...' intervened and the State Director of Public Prosecutions decided to withdraw the case ! Again , had that been you or I behind the wheel of that car no such 'immunity privilege' would have been available ; a 'get out' clause built into the system by those that operate that system strictly for the use of those within that system. And that's 'democracy' , Free State style !

RSF 2012 ARD FHEIS AND NOVEMBER 2012 MONTHLY RAFFLE RESULTS.

As stated yesterday, we only received seven pics from the RSF Ard Fheis, four of which we already posted - the remaining three are on this post and again , we apologise for the quality. The pics we did manage to obtain were taken on the Saturday of the Ard Fheis (10th November 2012) between 9.30am and 10.30am ; our photographer had to leave the event then as she was needed to do some work on the Monthly Raffle, which was being finalised that same day and was due to be held the following day, Sunday 11th, and it was.

A section of the RSF Ard Fheis delegates, 10am Saturday 10th November 2012.

Our congrats are offered to RSF's new Vice President, Cait Trainor, a lovely lady - and politically staunch - whom it has been my pleasure to march beside on many a protest in Ireland, and to the out-going RSF VP Fergal Moore , a great Irish Republican and a solid man to have at your back in rough times. And of course great to welcome the re-election of Des Dalton as RSF President, a man who gives his all for the Movement and is never found wanting.

Framed Republican poster , on view at the Ard Fheis.

Due to the fact that the 650-ticket Monthly Raffle was held on that same weekend and this Blog crew was part-responsible for the running of it, we are unable to give a more in-depth report on the Ard Fheis or post better quality pics of same but we do know that 'SAOIRSE' had a team on the ground and a full report and better pics re the Ard Fheis will be published in the December 2012 issue of the paper, which goes to print on Wednesday , 5th of that month.

RSF Ard Fheis delegates , Saturday morning, 10-11-12.

And one young lady , from Tallaght, in Dublin, who was actually at the Ard Fheis at the time, almost got herself barred for the roars out of her - we could hear her, and we were in a hotel in Kildare! - when she was texted within seconds of winning the first prize - €200 , on ticket number 680 - and had to be 'calmed down' by AF Security ! Good on ya , Róisín , for giving the RSF Security lads (and the 9 Branchmen on the footpath outside the venue) near-heart attacks as they all scrambled to find out what the hell all the screaming was for ;-) !

A much calmer customer - a real cool dude ! - Shay , from the RT Club in the area, presented himself in a nonchalantly fashion to the Top Table in the Raffle hotel with ticket stub number 286 , to claim second prize , €100 , and ever soooo professionally asked myself and the three other girls what we would like to drink - completely ignoring the three fellas with us (HA!) - and wouldn't pick-out the third prize (€40) until we told him ! So of course he won that one (!) and two local lads , John S. and Doug , collected €40 on ticket number 521 , courtesy of 'Mr Shay Smooth' !

Coílín , who had bought ticket 254 from one of our regular sellers , 'L' , won the 4th prize (€20) and then pulled-out the next winning ticket : number 360 , won by Jimmy K. from Wexford, who was enjoying a family get-together in the hotel and all of a sudden found himself with an extra twenty-spot in his pocket. Jimmy put his hand in the raffle drum and took out ticket number 147 , belonging to Linda, who had bought her ticket from Owen, winning herself the 6th prize, €20, and was pretty pleased with herself for having done so! She then pulled-out the second-last prize (€20), number 176, which local supporter 'PM' had sold to a lady named Irene , who was delighted to receive a few bob out of the blue, and she then pulled the last prize for us - the 8th , worth €20 , ticket 119 - which local bus driver, Anto, had sold to Paul H , a regular attendee at the monthly raffle, now a first-time winner.

It was, as per usual , a very successful fund-raising venture for the Movement on what was a busier-than-usual weekend : and it's to the credit of the overall organisation that it is capable of running two large functions like this at the same time. And that's an indication of the commitment of the people involved - a good solid foundation on which to keep building !

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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RSF ARD FHEIS 2012 AND THE STATE POLITICIAN FROM 1689....

RSF 108TH ARD FHEIS 2012 : FEW PICS , MORE TO FOLLOW.....

The lectern graphic which was used at the RSF Ard Fheis on November 10th and 11th 2012.

Apologises for the quality of these pics - we prefer to post good/decent quality pics but on this occasion we are governed by what is available to us : our usual camera-person wasn't on the job (she was one of the crew who was rounding-up some of the 650 tickets for the Monthly Raffle) so we were reliant on a hastily-assembled 'Plan B' , via which we received seven pics (four of which we post here now, with the remainder to be posted tomorrow night).

And, speaking about tomorrow night's post, we will be naming the member of Leinster House who was pulled-in for drink driving in Dublin and who had all charges against him withdrawn after invoking the Free State equivalent of a 'Privilege Bill' which was first issued in the year 1689..... (MORE LATER !)

Some of the graphics on display at the Ard Fheis.

This pic taken at 9.30am on Saturday 10th November as the delegates were taking their seats.

The 2013 RSF Calendar , on sale at the Ard Fheis - and elsewhere, usual outlets included - for €/₤5.

We will publish a few more Ard Fheis pics tomorrow (Wednesday 14th November 2012) and the results of the Monthly Raffle , plus details on that Leinster House politician , the one who , more than eight hours after he left 'work', was still making his way home when he came to the attention of a Garda patrol....

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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'GATHERING' BYRNE(D) : A GOOD SCRIPT !

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

I do not know whether that experience helped me now, but suddenly I knew ; maybe my father with his uncanny , charitable insight, saw into the heart of the problem at that moment and the vision leaped from his mind to mine. Maybe I caught it from some flash in the woman herself, but suddenly I knew. I still stood with my hands on the top rail of the chair , as she faced me on the hearth of the fireplace : "I am a lot more on your side than you think" , I told her, "a lot more. So let us sit down and talk about it." She went to her corner , and one could not but pity her. Ever since the first day she put a foot on this floor, this woman must have worried over the uncertainty and insecurity of her position, the wife of the younger brother who was not the tenant of the holding. In some twisted way she saw in the Land Commission threat to sell out the holding on account of the arrears a chance to grab at security, for now it was not as if her man were doing his brother a hurt. This was a way for her husband to save his brother from himself. I mentioned again that we had traced the seized cattle, but I put no great strain on her patience for I soon asked the tenant if it never entered his head to arrange with whoever of his nephews was to come into this place later on, to become joint tenant with him now, or in some way make it clear to him that this place would be his, so that he might have that in mind if he thought to set up his own home and he in Scotland. The other agreed eagerly, but he wondered would the Land Commission agree to the like now on account of the arrears ? I told him I would talk to a solicitor and see how best to arrange it, but that arrange it we would. (MORE LATER).

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SOUTH ARMAGH......

The inside story of a personal feud that has left one man dead and tarnished the reputation of the PIRA's most fearsome brigade.

From 'Magill' magazine , April 2003.

By John Keane.

While the IRA claimed Keith Rodgers as a member , it also stated, significantly, that he was not on active service at the time of his death. The intended victim of the botched ambush was Kevin O'Callaghan (48) , who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg , and a third casualty was shot in the head and seriously wounded. O'Callaghan's brother, Patrick , publicly condemned the kidnapping as an act of "criminal gangsterism" , and he also made public the fact that he and his brothers were in a land dispute with Murphy, though he stopped short of directly blaming him for the Cullaville attack. What made this public denouncement all the more remarkable is that Patrick O'Callaghan is one of the most senior republicans in the area and is also believed by security experts to have been at one time the IRA's director of finance and, as such, he would have worked closely with Tom Murphy and would have been involved in most of the major IRA initiatives which originated in South Armagh. The South Armagh brigade played a pre-eminent role in the (P)IRA's 25-year armed struggle : it was in farmsheds tucked below the craggy hillocks that blindside the numerous but inadequate British Army observation posts that the IRA developed its most devastating weapons technology , radio-controlled bombs, barrack-busting mortars and mobile sniper platforms. The terrain, the clan-like family structures and the ambiguous attitude towards smuggling that typifies this community allowed Thomas 'Slab' Murphy , arguably the IRA's best general since the War of Independence, to turn South Armagh into a virtual 'liberated zone'. (MORE LATER).

ON SATURDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2012 VOTE 'NO' FOR NO MORE OF THIS.......

14-years-young Tracey Fay.

"It was around 6.30pm on 12 May 1998 and Tracey Fay had no home to go to. She was in a shopping centre on the northside of Dublin, in the company of a social worker who had been assigned to her case. Tracey had officially been placed in care that day. She was a few weeks shy of her 15th birthday. Her mother, with whom she had a fractious relationship, was going back to England, to be with a partner who had been violent to both mother and daughter. Tracey was now officially in the care of the State. Naturally, she was fearful and nervous. The depth of her loneliness can only be guessed at. An out-of-hours social worker was due to attend to Tracey that evening. Tracey had never met this person. She asked her assigned social worker to stay with her until the out-of-hours worker showed up. The social worker said this was not possible.......her body was found in a coal bunker in Dublin's inner city on 24 January 2002. She had died of a drugs overdose. Last Thursday evening in the Dáil, an emergency debate was held following the publication by Fine Gael of the HSE report into Tracey Fay’s life and death. There were fewer than a dozen deputies present as children’s minister Barry Andrews opened the debate. The empty rows re?ected the priorities in the political system....." (From here.)

"We've paid lip service to child protection. It is entirely wrong that we criticise the (Catholic Church) hierarchy for concealing instances of sex abuse, while the State conceals incidents of children dying in the care of the State." - Fine Gael Leinster House member Alan Shatter ( in so-called 'opposition' at the time to the then Fianna Fail and Green Party Free State Administration, now FS Minister for 'Justice') : if passed on 10th November, this change to the FS Constitution will , by default, make it even easier for the State to conceal such incidents as the sentence ".....by proportionate means as provided by law..." will further encourage/allow State representatives to invoke 'FOI' legislation as the reason why the occurrence should not be publicised (ie '...as per the law , for the sake of the child involved..').

"I was a good mother to my daughter. The worst thing I ever did was let her into care. I am sorry I let social services get their hands on my Tracey. If I could turn back the clock I would have dragged her to England with me." - Doreen Curley , Tracey's mother. This corrupt State has no interest whatsoever , apart from lip-service 'concern' , in the well-being of its citizens , unless that citizen has money enough to 'go private' and pay for health service. To presume that they are capable or even interested in looking after the needs of those without money is pure folly ; the proposed changes to the FS Constitution will make it even handier for State reps to wash their hands of responsibility in this regard. Since the year 2000 , 196 children died in State care and over 200 more went missing. There are many 'quangos' in this State and most, if not all of them, are calling for a 'Yes' vote but to do otherwise would be like cutting off the nose to spite the face : the more legislation that is on the State Statute Book the more 'employment' there is for those groups and the more self-important they become - plus, of course, their work within an already bloated system ensures that they make the necessary contacts to practically guarantee their own survival and whatever they can do re the welfare of injured and/or at risk children quickly becomes a side-issue/'by-product' of what they see as their main function - their own economic survival.

This State and its agents (and agencies) simply cannot be trusted with the power it already has in regards to issues of this nature and a 'Yes' vote on the 10th November 2012 will backfire badly on those of us who are trying to do our best : don't let this morally bankrupt State into your family home any more than you have to - this time you have a choice , next time you may not be so lucky. VOTE 'NO!' ON 10th NOVEMBER 2012.

BUSIER-THAN-USUAL WEEKEND COMING-UP........

A multi-tasking weekend : three kids to pawn off, an Ard Fheis to attend , a 'NO' vote to cast and a 650-ticket raffle to help run...!

As previously mentioned , this coming weekend is going to be hectic : first thing on the agenda is to find a babysitter for at least two of my three daughters (all three, if I can help it, but the eldest one now takes it as an insult that I still consider it necessary to ask an adult to keep an eye on her !) but I have good family support and equally good neighbours so I don't think that will be too big a job. Then there's the RSF Ard Fheis , for which I have been asked to assist with the paper-work re delegates and visitors (...in itself practically a full-time job!) and then, after voting 'NO' in the so-called ' Children Referendum' , there's the 650-ticket raffle run by the Dublin Chomhairle of RSF and, as well as being present in the hotel venue for that particular gig (on Sunday 11th), there is also quite a lot of paper work involved in that job , as each ticket has to be traced from printer to drum and a report re the raffle has to be presented to the committee the next day and arrangements put in place for the following months raffle.

The Ard Fheis and the raffle almost run themselves at this stage , such are the quality and the expertise of the teams involved with each event, but kids (/'young adults') can be unpredictable and, whilst my three girls are well-mannered and treat each other (and others) with respect, none of them suffers fools gladly (or silently!) and have been taught and encouraged to speak their mind , a trait which can (and has!) occasionally led to 'misunderstandings'. All-in-all, I have a feeling that the coming weekend is going to be interesting.....!

ROBBED TO THE POINT OF DESTITUTION BY MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN FAMILY : LEFT WITH 3 EURO AND TWENTY CENTS.

A woman in her mid-80's , recently widowed (after 57 years of marriage) and now living on her own in a small bungalow. An easy target for thieves and an even easier target for unscrupulous family members....

This has left me seething with anger, even more so than I was before , having read other posts on that blog. As I mentioned in a previous post in regards to those two women , I live in the same area that they do and I use the same shops that they committed the crimes in but I'm glad I don't know them and I hope, for their sake, that I never do get to put a face to them. Because I wouldn't trust my reaction towards them if I were to meet them face-to-face. It's as simple as that.

"That last robbery left just €3.20 cents in my Nana's pension account. Three Euro and twenty cents. My Nana was then 84 years old and had, a few months earlier, buried her husband, my Grandad , after 57 years of marriage. And all she now had in her pension account was €3.20 cents. How could two women do that to their own mother ? "

I cried and cried when I read that part of the post , mostly in anger. I hope I never meet the women involved. For their sake.

PADDYWHACKERY AT ITS FINEST !

Irish actor Gabriel Byrne , reading from a good script!

A POORLY (YET EXPENSIVE) CONCEIVED SIDE-SHOW TO TRY AND DISTRACT US FROM THE REAL SITUATION.

This lifted my spirits a wee bit , and full marks for Gabriel for giving a 'Byrne Ultimatum' (!) type reply, when asked his feeling on this so-called 'celebratory' event that the Free State ponces have called 'The Gathering': "People are sick to death of being asked to help out in what they regard as a scam... most people don’t give a shit about the diaspora [in Ireland] except to shake them down for a few quid...." (from here).

It's hard not to be insulted and embarrassed by this 'Gathering' codology , as it seeks to link the overall population of this State with the morally bereft mindset of the greedy 'Establishment' here and depicts all of us as snake-oil salespeople and gombeens. So thank you , Mr Byrne - you have made this 'Little Woman' (!) a bit happier today !

EDENTUBBER MARTYRS COMMEMORATION , HELD ON SUNDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2012 -

Despite the intimidatory tactics and unwelcome presence of armed Free State political police , the Edentubber Martyrs Commemoration went ahead as advertised , and a very fitting oration was delivered to the large crowd by Seán Dolan, a member of the Seán Costello / Martin Hurson Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin ,Co. Westmeath. You can watch proceedings on this video and the full transcript of Seán's oration can be read here.

'THE POOR DEAR MIGHT GET EVEN MORE UPSET THAN HE USUALLY IS. LET HIM SIT IT OUT FOR THIS ONE....'

Lord McGuinness receives his just deserts from his queen, for 'Services Rendered...'

" Mr Black was gunned down by suspected dissident (sic) republicans at high speed on a motorway as he drove to work at the high-security Maghaberry prison on Thursday. It is understood Mr McGuinness, Northern Ireland`s (sic) Sinn Fein (sic) Deputy First Minister and Mid Ulster MP, offered to attend the funeral but that was declined by the family...." (From here.)

A sensible move on the part of the family concerned (and one not objected to by Stormont or Westminster) - a pet can easily develop bad habits (ie a sense of its own self worth / that it is 'in charge' and/or is as 'good' as its Master) if its owner allows it to accompany him everywhere. One must have rules and one must know their place.

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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POPPY-SELLERS SWIMMIMG IN THE SWILL.

FRANK , MARY AND THE JEDWARDS.....

Don't be fooled by their soft-spoken bluster that it's a harmless substance - millions have died (or suffered acute embarrassment , or should do...) because of the infectious harm it spreads amongst those who know no better.....

UNCLEAN ! Frank Feighan, a Blue Shirt with a red spot.

Mary Byrne , the 'Ballyfermot Rose' , is rumoured to have only worn it on condition that she could disguise herself on stage when wearing it. However, on seeing the Poppy , the Devil took most of the disguise back off her.

Jedward : 'entertainers' who will wear, say or do anything if there's a few bob to be made by doing so. And if Irish Republicans can collectively raise enough hard cash then they, too, can rent shoulder-space from the twins for an Easter Lily display. A tenner each should do , as our pic shows just how cheap they are.

The Poppy is sold (and worn) in 'honour' of all British military personnel , a fact acknowledged by the British Legion and echoed loudly (and often) in Westminster and Stormont. Members of that same blood-thirsty , drugged-up ragged bunch of world-wide mercenaries have caused havoc and spread destitution and moral syphilis in , amongst other global 'hot-spots' , Antigua and Barbuda ,Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados ,Belize , Botswana ,Brunei Darussalam , Cameroon, Canada , Cyprus , Dominica , Fiji Islands, Gambia, Ghana , Grenada , Guyana , Ireland , India and about 40 other countries yet the 'Establishment' here in this farce of a Free State constantly attempt to 'sell' the Poppy as 'our way of remembering our Irish soldiers , tens-of-thousands of them, who died in WW1 (sic)...'

But no Irish soldiers died then : rather it was British soldiers , recruited in Ireland who lost their young lives in that butchery. Irish soldiers also died in that period in Ireland , fighting the British Army , and they are honoured , properly, by the wearing of the Easter Lily and they do not deserve to be 'lumped in' with those from the cesspit ie the Black and Tans, the executioners of the men and women who challenged 'The Empire' in 1916 and the BA Para Regiment , to name but some of those who swim in that swill.

So , Frank , Mary and 'Jedward' : go sell your Poppy propaganda elsewhere.

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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CHILDREN ROUTINELY PLACED WITH UNVETTED PEOPLE.

'GIVE THE KID A CHANCE....'

.....ON 10TH NOVEMBER 2012 : VOTE 'NO'. Don't allow this corrupt State and it's morally bankrupt institutions to have more power in the way they treat our children.

"A review has been ordered into foster care in the south of the country after a damning audit found that children were routinely placed with people who had not been vetted. In one instance, the audit discovered that a child was placed with a foster carer who had a number of criminal convictions and who was not registered. In one area in the Health Service Executive's south region, evidence emerged of a two-tier payment system, with unvetted homes receiving less money from the HSE for accepting foster children....." (From here [paywall])

Those institutions, and the suits that run them, are incompetent and incapable of change and they need to be scrapped : a 'YES' vote on 10th November next will only increase their workload thus giving them more opportunities to damage, physically and emotionally, even more children. Don't give them that opportunity : VOTE 'NO!'.

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OBAMA V ROMNEY : LOSERS ALREADY 'ELECTED' .

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

It would sound unreal , after so many years, if I were to reconstruct the verbal skirmishing that went on for a while around that troubled fireside. I did not want a head-on conflict and I did my best to keep her off balance but she found new cause for anger with me in my asking her husband to run himself into danger: 'Had I not done enough harm already, with people all but on the roadside on account of me...' The scene was out of pattern. For a while I wondered whether it was possible she was out of her mind , as this great storm of abuse just did not make sense - 'You have not got the full story' . I might not have been so sensitive to her but for an incident some months earlier when a woman who lost her boy in the fight in defence of the Republic unloaded onto me the bitterness she had hidden from everybody else - it was by great good luck that I called on her by myself so that she got the opportunity. Her boy was working in a field when I went by and he left his work and went with me. He was killed. She bolted the door behind me and went on her knees and she cursed me and cursed me and as she cursed, short bursts of words escaped and they told the story. I was very sorry for her. When the storm ended I took her by the hand and helped her to her feet and I scolded her for doing her boy so great a wrong , by making him out in her own mind as a poor fool with no mind of his own, taken by the hand into danger when, in fact , he was a thoughtful , even brilliant, man. It was natural she should begrudge him , but she should not make little of him in her own heart. We then drank tea together. (MORE LATER).

FEAR AND LOATHING IN SOUTH ARMAGH.

The inside story of a personal feud that has left one man dead and tarnished the reputation of the PIRA's most fearsome brigade.

From 'Magill' magazine , April 2003.

By John Keane.

The people of South Armagh are notoriously taciturn. Getting them to discuss the (P)IRA is, as they themselves might say, "like pulling hens' teeth." But an escalation in the number and ferocity of punishment beatings meted out in the (P)IRA heartland has led to cracks developing in that traditional reticence. A major breach in the wall of silence occurred last month (March 2003) following the death of a 24-year-old IRA man , Keith Rodgers , in a shootout in the tiny border village of Cullaville , just inside South Armagh , part of the triangle bounded by Dundalk , Castleblaney and Newry , and known as 'Bandit Country'. Keith Rodgers was a member of an eight-man team assigned to kidnap and beat a member of a local family which had fallen out with the IRA's reputed chief of staff , Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, over a business project.......(MORE LATER).

"CLOSE THE GATES! THE HELICOPTER IS TRYING TO GET AWAY...."

An Alouette II helicopter - the type used in the IRA operation.

In March 1973, IRA leader Joe Cahill was arrested by the Free State Navy in Waterford, aboard the Claudia, a ship from Libya loaded with five tons of weapons, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, and another IRA leader, Seamus Twomey, was appointed IRA Chief of Staff.

In early October that year, Twomey was caught and arrested by the Free Staters and imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail, which meant that three top IRA operatives (Twomey, J.B. O'Hagan and Kevin Mallon) were now housed in the one location - and the IRA wanted them back!

An 'American businessman' , a 'Mr. Leonard', approached the manager of the 'Irish Helicopters' company at Dublin Airport and discussed hiring a helicopter for an aerial photographic shoot in County Laois and, after being shown the company's fleet of helicopters, this 'businessman' booked a five-seater Alouette II helicopter for October 31st.

'Mr Leonard' arrived at Irish Helicopters on the day and was introduced to the pilot of the helicopter, a Captain Thompson Boyes , who was instructed to fly to a field in Stradbally, County Laois, to pick up photographic equipment. After landing, the pilot saw two armed and masked men approaching the helicopter from nearby trees and he was held at gunpoint and told he would not be harmed if he followed instructions. 'Mr Leonard' left the area with one gunman, while the other gunman climbed aboard the helicopter armed with a pistol and an Armalite rifle. Captain Boyes was told to fly towards Dublin following the path of railway lines and the Royal Canal, and was ordered not to register his flight path with Air Traffic Control. As the helicopter approached Dublin, Boyes was informed of the escape plan and instructed to land in the exercise yard at Mountjoy Prison.

On this day (Wednesday) and date (31st October) in 1973, at 3.40pm in the afternoon, the Alouette II helicopter landed in the D Wing 'Exercise Yard' of Mountjoy Prison in Dublin , when a football match was taking place between the prisoners, and Twomey , O'Hagan and Mallon jumped aboard , but were quickly spotted (!) by an alert Screw who used his training and power of intuition to take immediate action - he *called on the Screws at the gate to close them over as he feared the helicopter was trying to escape (* ...according to the RTE 'Scannal - Prison Break' programme..) ! Another IRA prisoner who was in the yard at the time recalled how an embarrassed Screw told him that he had apologised to the prison governor in relation to the incident , saying that he thought the helicopter contained a visiting (Free State) Minister for Defence (and well-known publican) [Paddy Donegan] : the IRA prisoner replied that , in fact, ".....it was our Minister of Defence leaving...!"

All three men reported back to base and continued their work for the IRA but, after a few weeks of freedom Kevin Mallon was recaptured at a GAA Dance in the Montague Hotel in Co. Laois on 10 December 1973 , J.B.O'Hagan was recaptured in Dublin in early 1975 and Seamus Twomey managed to remain uncaptured until December 2nd , 1977, after the Special Branch came across him in a 'suspicious car' parked in Sandycove, in Dublin.

The 'Wolfe Tones' ballad group released a song called 'The Helicopter Song' which topped the Irish Charts for 4 weeks and 'The Wolfhounds' also recorded the event in song and, in January 1974, a close associate of Kevin Mallon's, Eddie Gallagher, along with Dr. Rose Dugdale, hijacked another helicopter in Donegal to bomb the RUC station in Strabane from the air but the milk-churn bombs they dropped never exploded.

There have been 'ups and downs' (pardon the pun!) in this long on-going struggle to achieve full Irish Freedom and Irish Republicans may tend to get on a 'high' (!) during the 'Up' periods but we very seldom go on a 'Downer' during the 'Down' periods : we know from our own experiences and from our history that we will witness both such periods repeatedly but we have learned to take the good with the bad , in that an 'up' period does not mean that victory has been achieved no more than a 'down' period means that all is lost. The prize we seek is more valuable to us than that sort of short-term thinking would allow for!

EDENTUBBER MARTYRS COMMEMORATION.....

....WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2012 : assemble at the 'Old Border Inn', Carrickarnon, County Louth, at 2.30pm.The main oration will be given by Sean Dolan, Longford.

The Edentubber Martyrs Memorial , damaged by thugs and/or Free State elements a number of times since it was first erected in the late 1950's, but repaired and rebuilt each time by Irish Republicans.

MICHAEL WATTERS of Edentubber , County Louth , 55 years of age.

GEORGE KEEGAN of Enniscorthy , County Wexford , 27.

PATRICK PARLE of Wexford Town , 26.

OLIVER CRAVEN of Newry , County Down , 19.

PAUL SMITH of Bessbrook , County Armagh , 19.

Street signs have been erected in the Newry and South Armagh areas in the last week.

The 2011 Edentubber Commemoration can be viewed here and the story of how these five brave men met their death can be listened to here.

S'NOW JOKE......

CABHAIR Swim , Christmas Day , 2010.....

....and a pic from the then 3-year-old CABHAIR Swim , 1979.

A bit of a write-up and some pics from the 2011 Swim can be seen here. At the time of writing, it's the last day of October 2012 and, as a Mam of three kids(/'young adults'!), I don't like even mentioning the word 'Christmas' in November, never mind October !

But it's for a good Cause - the Annual CABHAIR Christmas Swim , which first caused waves (!) in 1976 and will be 36 years-'old' on 25th December next. So far, five lads have confirmed that they will attempt to walk on water on Christmas Day next at the 3rd Lock of the Grand Canal in Inchicore , Dublin (opposite Kelly's 'Black Horse Inn' pub) and Santa has been requested to drop in and join the party!

Santa's little helper sorts out the Swim leaflets....

...and hundreds of them will be delivered, as usual, around the 'Swim area' over the next few weeks.

All monies raised go directly to the dependants of Irish Republican prisoners as all the 'goodies' , time , transport etc are donated to CABHAIR each year and no 'expenses' are taken. There will be a turf fire , Rebel music , lemonade for the kids and 'soup' (!) for the adults - it's not only a good Cause , it's great craic !

AND TALKING OF REPUBLICAN PRISONERS .....

.....a rally in support of MARIAN PRICE will be held on Saturday 3rd November 2012 in Dublin : those attending are asked to assemble at the Garden of Remembrance at 2pm , from where the rally will make its way to the GPO in O'Connell Street. The organisers have requested that no political-party banners or flags be carried , and Marian Price placards , banners and posters will be available on the day.

FINALLY : no matter who wins, these people still lose.

Homeless in New York - seeking warmth and shelter in the subway.

I have been to New York a few times , for holidays and for work-related reasons, and enjoyed the experience on each occasion. The girl friends that I travelled with the last time are like myself in regards to not wanting to spend all our time in the '5th Avenue'-type tourist areas and, as such, we explored both the beaten and unbeaten paths, going from the plush locations of that wonderful city to the projects of Harlem and beyond. The one constant we came across , as with any big city, was poor and homeless people. Not forgotten - they are, after all, some mother's child - but ignored.

The devastation that 'Superstorm Sandy' has inflicted on 'ordinary' New Yorkers will be felt even more by those that rely on the subway stations for warmth ,refuge and safety and, again as with any big city, those people will be the last to be looked after if, indeed, their needs will be addressed at all. And if their needs were deemed worthy of addressing in the first place then, 'Superstorm' or no, they would have been comforted before now.

Whether Obama or Romney 'win' on Tuesday 6th November next, the 'losers' have already been 'elected' and it will be for more than just one term. Some mother's child , without a doubt - but there's no profit in securing their future or no votes to be had by championing their cause. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Thanks for reading, Sharon.

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