FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Fianna Fail's contacts in the Six Counties were in tatters due to the demise of the 'Nationalist Party' and there was serious concern that the IRA might take the initiative . The (Free State) Army and Gardai were instructed to concentrate their intelligence work on both sides of the border .
(FS) Taoiseach Jack Lynch went on television and announced - " The Stormont Government is evidently no longer in control of the situation ....the Government of Ireland (sic) has requested the British Government to apply to the United Nations for urgent despatch of a peace-keeping force to the Six Counties ....many injured do not wish to be treated in Six County hospitals , so Irish Army (sic) authorities have been instructed to establish field hospitals in Donegal and other points on the border ... " .
The Republican tone of Jack Lynch's words such as "...Six County hospitals .. " illustrates the strong Republican stance of his Government* . But other things were happening behind the scenes which were not announced . ( * ' 1169 ... Comment - ...those words 'illustrated' no such thing ; what they did illustrate was that Jack Lynch was more than capable of 'playing' to his own party , amongst others . )
The British Army intervened and * defended the nationalist areas in Derry but on the night of August 14th trouble with a capital 'T' broke out in Belfast . ( * ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ...the British Army moved in , under pressure from the worlds media , to force the loyalists back out of the neighbourhoods in which the Nationalists lived . It was propagated as "defence" by Westminster . ) Ten people died that night , hundreds of houses burned to the ground and refugees in their thousands swept South . Northern nationalist leaders appeared at the nightly public meetings at the GPO in Dublin and everyone was openly demanding arms and money .
Dr. Patrick Hillery , then (FS) Minister for External Affairs in the Dublin Government , flew to London where he was told to mind his own business before flying off to America and the UN where he was to raise the matter at the Security Council .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
When Seamus Mallon (SDLP) began crusading on the UDR the general verdict inside his party was that he was electioneering - not that anyone blamed him . At 50 , with several episodes of heart trouble behind him and generally patchy health , this was his fourth and surely last try at Westminster .
He has suffered more than most Northern politicians for his political persistence - apparently doomed to watch at galling close-hand John Hume jetting off to 'hobnob' with other international statesmen forever , while he stayed home doing constituency work on the kitchen table with his wife Gertrude nursing to keep the family .
Out of expediency and principle and sentiment combined , the SDLP gave the Newry-Armagh by-election their all ; John Hume 'lent' Mallon the young Mark Durkan from his Derry office , and turned up along the border and in cynical Newry to boost him - though he did manage a trip to the U.S. to pick up another honorary degree in between - and party workers weighed in from all over the North .
Local canvassers slogged the hardline estates in Newry and Armagh alike ; the candidate slogged along with them in the sleet and rain , through Derrybeg and Barcroft , big ex-footballer's frame deep in the collapsed driver's seat of a bashed old car bumping up and down the lanes of Derrynoose and Darkley . He met enough cautious welcome to make him start to hope , though he did'nt always say so .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady succeeded in having a brief conversation with Tony McNeill about his Republican beliefs and getting the British soldiers out of the North of Ireland ; McNeill told him he wanted to see a Socialist State in Ireand and every other country that was not already communist . O'Grady was allowed read the newspapers and was given his son's walkman radio to listen to ; he tuned in to pirate radio station NRG 103 FM .
On Thursday October 15 Dessie O'Hare and Eddie Hogan returned ; the kidnap was by now public knowledge . O'Hare then asked O'Grady for the names of other people whom they could contact to make a ransom demand ; O'Grady suggested a relative , an 'Auntie Bettie' , and Hilary Prentice , a solicitor who worked in the firm of Matheson Ormsby and Prentice : Hilary Prentice was a patient of O'Grady's . O'Hare asked O'Grady for details which would show his bona fides when he contacted them to demand the ransom .
John O'Grady provided details which were written down by Eddie Hogan ; the two then departed . The following morning O'Grady was supplied with a basin of hot water and allowed to wash ; he was also given the three morning newspapers which were full of news of the kidnap . Toal and McNeill also read the papers but did'nt pass any comment on them . O'Grady was given two books , ' Murder in The Vicarage' by Agatha Christie and an adventure thriller by Wilbur Smith called ' The Power of The Sword' . He passed the day reading and listening to the radio . Overhead he could hear movement in the barber's shop as Gerry Wright tended to his customers .
On the following Saturday , October 17 , Dessie O'Hare returned alone . John O'Grady was to be moved to a new location - on the journey the gang were in high spirits . They joked about the "...poor old 'Border Fox' being blamed for everyrthing .. " . They stopped after about an hour and O'Hare went to a takeaway to get fish and chips and curries and ate it in the car . O'Hare joked to O'Grady that he would take him for a drink except he might be recognised . They drove on . O'Hare suddenly ordered everyone in the car to get down and shouted " Brits !" and fired two shots out the window . John O'Grady now presumed he was in the North - they had driven for three to four hours in all .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 15, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
1969 : Street fighting in Derry saw an end to the possibility of internment in the South of Ireland - instead the Dublin Government began a series of special emergency cabinet meetings .
On August 13th , 1969 , in response to massive demonstrations on the streets of the South in support of the Northern minority , an invasion of Derry was considered and all previous rifts within the (FS) Cabinet were apparently forgotten .
The (FS) Army statement on their lack of preparedness , read to the (FS) Cabinet , helped Jack Lynch to quietly resist the invasion proposals : but the danger of pogroms in other parts of the North was a real fear . A compromise of seeking the agreement of the British Government to send the Irish (ie Free State) Army to protect Nationalist areas was agreed , and stronger dramatic action came in the establishment of military field hospitals on the border for those injured who did not want to risk going to a northern hospital for aid .
The 'dangers' of the left-wing-led IRA taking the initiative was also discussed and all were united that it could not be allowed .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
In the aftermath of the Hillsborough Treaty , Seamus Mallon issued cautions : the 'Agreement' was only as good as its implementation , there must be visible progress , and eventually after Tom King's unhelpful elaboration on Dr. Garrett Fitzgerald's acceptance of partition in perpetuity , came a growl from Seamus Mallon that Dublin had better get on with representing Nationalists in there and stop worrying about Unionist sensibilities , since that was'nt what they were there to worry about .
Some veteran John Hume-watchers cannot decide if there really has been all that tension between him and Mallon over the years , or whether it is useful to the party leader to have a sea-green incorruptible , friend of Haughey even , on his right-hand side : and whether Mallon is now playing that role for all it is worth , with Hume's blessing , in the Anglo-Irish process .
Certainly during the months of horse-trading and the last touchy stages , the advantages could be imagined - when Hume could point over his shoulder to that lined face , so stern on television , and tell the perfidious hacks of British diplomacy - " You expect me to sell that to him ? " . To which the British replied , at a very early stage indeed on the question of the UDR : " It cost £45,000 to train a soldier to fire a nuclear weapon in Germany and we are not going to get his fucking head blown off in Ballymurphy , are we ? Without the UDR we just have'nt the manpower that's needed , available . And the UDR keeps the Loyalists where everybody can see them . "
The SDLP , at least those in the know , settled for that , implicity accepting also the RUC as 'semi-trustworthy go-betweens' , and , yes - 'police' , "...who knew where the UDR landrovers are supposed to be at any given time .. " , as one SDLP man puts it , and can pull them into line . If they want to , that is .......
( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - The RUC were/are ['PSNI'] 'go-betweens' , right enough - they share any information they have between the UDA and the UVF . )
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady was put in a cellar ; his glasses and handcuffs were removed - he took stock of his new surroundings : the walls were bare . There was a blue coloured blanket hanging from the ceiling separating him from his captors . There was a black Victorian fireplace in the corner . The only heat being provided , however , was from one bar of a superser heater .
A dinner of roast beef , vegetables and potato was provided . Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill , who had returned with Dessie O'Hare , took up guard duties . Eddie Hogan and Dessie O'Hare left . It was Wednesday October 14 ; the first full day of this kidnap was nearing a close . Gerry Wright's cellar was to be ' home' for the next four days .
4. The "...poor old 'Border Fox' .. "
John O'Grady's guards were prepared to make minor concessions ; on Wednesday evening he was asked if he would like a drink . He asked for , and was provided with , a bottle of Muscadet wine and Ballygowan mineral water . The two mixed together is known as a 'spritzer' and is a fairly popular drink in many of Dublin's upwardly mobile bar lounges .
There was nothing salubrious about his present surroundings , however . The spritzer was served in a paper cup ; there was a bucket to urinate in and , for most of the time , he was handcuffed and obliged to wear the pair of blacked-out glasses . Meals were strictly functional - tea , toast and boiled eggs for breakfast , yogurt , fruit and sandwiches for lunch and burger and chips or Kentucky fried chicken in the evening .
Toal and McNeill worked in rotation , taking turns for sleep .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
1969 : Street fighting in Derry saw an end to the possibility of internment in the South of Ireland - instead the Dublin Government began a series of special emergency cabinet meetings .
On August 13th , 1969 , in response to massive demonstrations on the streets of the South in support of the Northern minority , an invasion of Derry was considered and all previous rifts within the (FS) Cabinet were apparently forgotten .
The (FS) Army statement on their lack of preparedness , read to the (FS) Cabinet , helped Jack Lynch to quietly resist the invasion proposals : but the danger of pogroms in other parts of the North was a real fear . A compromise of seeking the agreement of the British Government to send the Irish (ie Free State) Army to protect Nationalist areas was agreed , and stronger dramatic action came in the establishment of military field hospitals on the border for those injured who did not want to risk going to a northern hospital for aid .
The 'dangers' of the left-wing-led IRA taking the initiative was also discussed and all were united that it could not be allowed .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
In the aftermath of the Hillsborough Treaty , Seamus Mallon issued cautions : the 'Agreement' was only as good as its implementation , there must be visible progress , and eventually after Tom King's unhelpful elaboration on Dr. Garrett Fitzgerald's acceptance of partition in perpetuity , came a growl from Seamus Mallon that Dublin had better get on with representing Nationalists in there and stop worrying about Unionist sensibilities , since that was'nt what they were there to worry about .
Some veteran John Hume-watchers cannot decide if there really has been all that tension between him and Mallon over the years , or whether it is useful to the party leader to have a sea-green incorruptible , friend of Haughey even , on his right-hand side : and whether Mallon is now playing that role for all it is worth , with Hume's blessing , in the Anglo-Irish process .
Certainly during the months of horse-trading and the last touchy stages , the advantages could be imagined - when Hume could point over his shoulder to that lined face , so stern on television , and tell the perfidious hacks of British diplomacy - " You expect me to sell that to him ? " . To which the British replied , at a very early stage indeed on the question of the UDR : " It cost £45,000 to train a soldier to fire a nuclear weapon in Germany and we are not going to get his fucking head blown off in Ballymurphy , are we ? Without the UDR we just have'nt the manpower that's needed , available . And the UDR keeps the Loyalists where everybody can see them . "
The SDLP , at least those in the know , settled for that , implicity accepting also the RUC as 'semi-trustworthy go-betweens' , and , yes - 'police' , "...who knew where the UDR landrovers are supposed to be at any given time .. " , as one SDLP man puts it , and can pull them into line . If they want to , that is .......
( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - The RUC were/are ['PSNI'] 'go-betweens' , right enough - they share any information they have between the UDA and the UVF . )
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady was put in a cellar ; his glasses and handcuffs were removed - he took stock of his new surroundings : the walls were bare . There was a blue coloured blanket hanging from the ceiling separating him from his captors . There was a black Victorian fireplace in the corner . The only heat being provided , however , was from one bar of a superser heater .
A dinner of roast beef , vegetables and potato was provided . Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill , who had returned with Dessie O'Hare , took up guard duties . Eddie Hogan and Dessie O'Hare left . It was Wednesday October 14 ; the first full day of this kidnap was nearing a close . Gerry Wright's cellar was to be ' home' for the next four days .
4. The "...poor old 'Border Fox' .. "
John O'Grady's guards were prepared to make minor concessions ; on Wednesday evening he was asked if he would like a drink . He asked for , and was provided with , a bottle of Muscadet wine and Ballygowan mineral water . The two mixed together is known as a 'spritzer' and is a fairly popular drink in many of Dublin's upwardly mobile bar lounges .
There was nothing salubrious about his present surroundings , however . The spritzer was served in a paper cup ; there was a bucket to urinate in and , for most of the time , he was handcuffed and obliged to wear the pair of blacked-out glasses . Meals were strictly functional - tea , toast and boiled eggs for breakfast , yogurt , fruit and sandwiches for lunch and burger and chips or Kentucky fried chicken in the evening .
Toal and McNeill worked in rotation , taking turns for sleep .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
One of those expelled from the Republican Movement for preventing the 'Connolly Youth' group from marching at an Easter Commemoration was Nobby Ferguson , the 1967 Mayor of Sligo ; a revolt in the ranks was obviously simmering when the bodies of IRA martyrs Barnes and MacCormack were brought back and buried in Mullingar ; the chief organiser of the Mullingar funeral was Ruairi O Bradaigh .
The platform was used by an 'old brigade' man for an attack on the IRA leadership for its left-wing policies - the attack had been preceded by a local Republican woman rubbing it into the 'Commies' - she recited five decades of the rosary just as the proceedings commenced !
Bank raids became fashionable with Saor Eire taking much of the credit ; between the IRA burnings of the foreign-owned farms which caused uproar in the West German Parliament and the bank raids , the Fianna Fail government seriously considered the possibility of selective internment - a figure in the region of 50 people to be interned was discussed .
In early August 1969 , (FS) Taoiseach Jack Lynch met the editors of the Dublin newspapers and requested that they ignore IRA statements about their actions South of the border ; he also drew to their attention that in fact it was illegal to be reproducing IRA statements ! But then the 'Troubles' in the North began to erupt .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Seamus Mallon , SDLP MP , made ritual angry noises on what he would expect in the line of curbing the UDR , though he knew that there was no chance of it being disbanded . Then he flatly denounced the very idea of an anti-violence pledge * to be taken by all future election candidates , still a negotiating gambit on the British side as the Agreement package reached the 'tying-up' stage .
John Hume duly showered Mallon with praise in the conference's big set-piece , the 'Leaders Speech' - he all but called his deputy the conscience of the party , to happy delegates' applause . Another piece of neat Hume 'packaging' .
* Re the British-imposed Political Test Oath :
" I declare that , if elected , I will not by word or deed express support for or approval of -
(A) Any organisation that is for the time being a proscribed organisation specified in Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 : or
(B) Acts of terrorism (that is to say , violence for political ends) connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland . "
The British 'Oath' called for the public disowning of the Irish Republican Army , Cumann na mBan , Fianna Eireann and a repudiation of the right of the Irish people to use force of arms to end British occupation . That right has been asserted in every generation and in those 836 years it has been asserted at tremendous cost in terms of life , liberty and human suffering .
Republicans will not allow Ireland's fight for freedom to be branded "...over 800 years of crime.. " - we have never accepted British 'oaths' of allegiance : for fifty years Republican candidates were debarred from public office because of their refusal to take such 'oaths' . Many public bodies were abolished for refusing to take an 'oath' of allegiance to the British Crown - it required the great upheaval of the Civil Rights Movement and the armed resistance of the people to smash the oath at local government level .
Meekly accepting the taking of such an 'oath' demeans the whole cause of Irish Republicanism and dishonour's all those who gave their lives for Irish freedom - particularly the twenty-two men that have died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981 .
(MORE LATER).
.......on 'The Sea Green Incorruptible'.
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
3. " Look As Natural As Possible... "
The car slowed down and mounted two kerbs or bumps ; from inside the boot John O'Grady could hear a roller door being opened . Dessie O'Hare got into a second car and drove off . The plan had been for McNeill and Toal , who remaimed behind in the house , to drive off after a time in John O'Grady's car which they were then to dump outside the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk . This was to create the impression that the gang had gone across the border .
Dessie O'Hare switched cars and drove off to meet with McNeill and Toal to bring them back to Dublin ; back in the lock-up garage John O'Grady could hear Eddie Hogan snoring . In the boot , O'Grady munched a pear from the stock of provisions . He , too , dozed off . When he woke he asked Eddie Hogan if he could go to the toilet but was supplied with a milk bottle which he filled twice . A short time later Dessie O'Hare returned ; John O'Grady was released from the boot of the car and ordered into the back seat of another car .
The blindfold was removed and he was given a pair of glasses with the lenses blacked out with masking tape . They drove for about half an hour in heavy traffic - O'Grady was given a cigarette on the journey and told to pretend to smoke it and to look as natural as possible . Their destination was a barber's shop at 41 Parkgate Street in Dublin near Guinness's brewery . They were met by the proprietor of the premises , Gerry Wright ; O'Grady was led to a cellar ; his arm was shaking . Wright took his arm , told him he was alright and not to worry . The cellar was dilapidated , dusty and disused .
He was put sitting in a sweaty-smelling armchair in a corner .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
One of those expelled from the Republican Movement for preventing the 'Connolly Youth' group from marching at an Easter Commemoration was Nobby Ferguson , the 1967 Mayor of Sligo ; a revolt in the ranks was obviously simmering when the bodies of IRA martyrs Barnes and MacCormack were brought back and buried in Mullingar ; the chief organiser of the Mullingar funeral was Ruairi O Bradaigh .
The platform was used by an 'old brigade' man for an attack on the IRA leadership for its left-wing policies - the attack had been preceded by a local Republican woman rubbing it into the 'Commies' - she recited five decades of the rosary just as the proceedings commenced !
Bank raids became fashionable with Saor Eire taking much of the credit ; between the IRA burnings of the foreign-owned farms which caused uproar in the West German Parliament and the bank raids , the Fianna Fail government seriously considered the possibility of selective internment - a figure in the region of 50 people to be interned was discussed .
In early August 1969 , (FS) Taoiseach Jack Lynch met the editors of the Dublin newspapers and requested that they ignore IRA statements about their actions South of the border ; he also drew to their attention that in fact it was illegal to be reproducing IRA statements ! But then the 'Troubles' in the North began to erupt .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .......
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Seamus Mallon , SDLP MP , made ritual angry noises on what he would expect in the line of curbing the UDR , though he knew that there was no chance of it being disbanded . Then he flatly denounced the very idea of an anti-violence pledge * to be taken by all future election candidates , still a negotiating gambit on the British side as the Agreement package reached the 'tying-up' stage .
John Hume duly showered Mallon with praise in the conference's big set-piece , the 'Leaders Speech' - he all but called his deputy the conscience of the party , to happy delegates' applause . Another piece of neat Hume 'packaging' .
* Re the British-imposed Political Test Oath :
" I declare that , if elected , I will not by word or deed express support for or approval of -
(A) Any organisation that is for the time being a proscribed organisation specified in Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 : or
(B) Acts of terrorism (that is to say , violence for political ends) connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland . "
The British 'Oath' called for the public disowning of the Irish Republican Army , Cumann na mBan , Fianna Eireann and a repudiation of the right of the Irish people to use force of arms to end British occupation . That right has been asserted in every generation and in those 836 years it has been asserted at tremendous cost in terms of life , liberty and human suffering .
Republicans will not allow Ireland's fight for freedom to be branded "...over 800 years of crime.. " - we have never accepted British 'oaths' of allegiance : for fifty years Republican candidates were debarred from public office because of their refusal to take such 'oaths' . Many public bodies were abolished for refusing to take an 'oath' of allegiance to the British Crown - it required the great upheaval of the Civil Rights Movement and the armed resistance of the people to smash the oath at local government level .
Meekly accepting the taking of such an 'oath' demeans the whole cause of Irish Republicanism and dishonour's all those who gave their lives for Irish freedom - particularly the twenty-two men that have died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981 .
(MORE LATER).
.......on 'The Sea Green Incorruptible'.
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
3. " Look As Natural As Possible... "
The car slowed down and mounted two kerbs or bumps ; from inside the boot John O'Grady could hear a roller door being opened . Dessie O'Hare got into a second car and drove off . The plan had been for McNeill and Toal , who remaimed behind in the house , to drive off after a time in John O'Grady's car which they were then to dump outside the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk . This was to create the impression that the gang had gone across the border .
Dessie O'Hare switched cars and drove off to meet with McNeill and Toal to bring them back to Dublin ; back in the lock-up garage John O'Grady could hear Eddie Hogan snoring . In the boot , O'Grady munched a pear from the stock of provisions . He , too , dozed off . When he woke he asked Eddie Hogan if he could go to the toilet but was supplied with a milk bottle which he filled twice . A short time later Dessie O'Hare returned ; John O'Grady was released from the boot of the car and ordered into the back seat of another car .
The blindfold was removed and he was given a pair of glasses with the lenses blacked out with masking tape . They drove for about half an hour in heavy traffic - O'Grady was given a cigarette on the journey and told to pretend to smoke it and to look as natural as possible . Their destination was a barber's shop at 41 Parkgate Street in Dublin near Guinness's brewery . They were met by the proprietor of the premises , Gerry Wright ; O'Grady was led to a cellar ; his arm was shaking . Wright took his arm , told him he was alright and not to worry . The cellar was dilapidated , dusty and disused .
He was put sitting in a sweaty-smelling armchair in a corner .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The General Election of June 1969 in the 26 Counties kept everyone busy in Fianna Fail and Neil Blaney abandoned his Northern speeches for the sake of the appearance of party unity . Nevertheless , the battles between George Colley , Charles J. Haughey and Neil Blaney continued with Jack Lynch as Taoiseach avoiding involvement .
Seamus Brady , the PR man/journalist , was active for Fianna Fail in the General Election turning out scripts which hit at the Labour Party for its 'red politics' ; Brady had been active in the previous year's referendum campaign on Proportional Representation and at a number of Fianna Fail Ard Fheisanna - always turning out 'hot' speeches for Fianna Fail leaders - mainly his friend Neil Blaney .
Seamus Brady was a member of the Dublin North-East Comhairle Dail Ceanntair of Fianna Fail and his professional touch - which he obtained while working for an English newspaper and later the 'Irish Press' newspaper - was always in demand . The Northern issues played little or no part in the June 1969 General Election when the country ' Backed Jack .... '
Meanwhile , in the 'unknown land' of the IRA , a group of Sligo members were expelled because they would not allow the 'Connolly Youth' group march at the Easter Commemoration .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Seamus Mallon went to Westminster on Monday January 27 1986 . That night a UDR patrol opened fire on a car full of young Tyrone Catholics in the car-park of a pub near Cookstown .
As a text-book example of the pitfalls in the way of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie the Hillsborough Treaty) the sequence could hardly be bettered . One of Mr. Mallon's colleagues in Tyrone spoke with restraint of the dubious circumstances of the shooting ; Peter Barry (Fine Gael) demanded an explanation from the British government , and the UDR said those who fired the shots would not be suspended pending an inquiry because that would suggest guilt .
In other words , Mr. Seamus Mallon , SDLP MP - make what you can of that ! There's your Irish voice in the inter-governmental machinery for you , and your new voice at Westminster , and what effect have they had on the behaviour of your favourite targets of criticism , the overwhelmingly Protestant/Loyalist Ulster Defence Regiment ? Who were not accompanied at the time of the incident by the Royal Ulster Constabulary , needless to say , as the Taoiseach promised Northern Nationalists in the wake of Hillsborough they would henceforward be .
Seamus Mallon knew the score all along , better than anyone . When tight-lipped he stood before the party's annual conference last autumn and promised in so many words that he would not be joining his friend and mentor the Fianna Fail leader , Mr. Charles Haughey , in immediate opposition to the then imminent Anglo-Irish Agreement , his face showed the struggle that cost him . Party observers were not surprised , though they were relieved to hear him be so definite . " Where else can he go ? " they said , " ...he is not a well man , he's not fit to be fighting John Hume ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady was taken upstairs to rejoin the rest of his family . He lay down on the bed beside his wife Marise ; he was aware that the gang had discussed the possibility of taking one of the children as well as himself . He talked it over with his wife . John O'Grady decided Anthony would be the one they should take along with himself . All the time gang-member Tony McNeill was sitting , armed with a shotgun , on a chair in the corner of the room watching them .
After an hour or two John O'Grady was taken down to the playroom where he was made to sit on a swivel chair ; Eddie Hogan talked with him for a while about Dr. Austin Darragh's wealth . Before the family was allowed go to bed for the night a ransom note demanding £300,000 was drafted .
2 . NOT THE SMOOTHEST OF OPERATORS .
In the morning , Dessie O'Hare took John O'Grady downstairs ; Marise O'Grady was told to get warm clothes , socks and wellington boots for her husband . He was to be kept in a field , she was told . John O'Grady was in the playroom with Tony McNeill guarding him . Shortly before nine o'clock one of the gang came in and blindfolded him with a lint and gauze dressing . O'Hare led him , still handcuffed , out to the back of the house to a car and John O'Grady was ordered to get into the boot .
Dessie O'Hare returned to the house . The 'phone rang . O'Hare stood over Marise O'Grady while she accepted an invitation from a friend to Sunday dinner . It was another cock up : O'Hare was not wearing his balaclava and Marise O'Grady got a good look at his face . O'Hare told her that he was leaving with her husband and warned her not to contact the Gardai . The car they were leaving in had already been packed with provisions from the house . The gang also took a walkman radio , walkie-talkies and a polaroid camera .
Two members of the gang , Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill , remained behind to ensure O'Hare's safe getaway . Dessie O'Hare and Eddie Hogan drove off with John O'Grady ; they intended driving to a lock-up garage on the north side of Dublin , but quickly lost their way . They were forced to rely on directions from John O'Grady who was blindfolded and in the boot . Less than twelve hours into the kidnap it was apparent Dessie O'Hare and his gang were not the smoothest of operators .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The General Election of June 1969 in the 26 Counties kept everyone busy in Fianna Fail and Neil Blaney abandoned his Northern speeches for the sake of the appearance of party unity . Nevertheless , the battles between George Colley , Charles J. Haughey and Neil Blaney continued with Jack Lynch as Taoiseach avoiding involvement .
Seamus Brady , the PR man/journalist , was active for Fianna Fail in the General Election turning out scripts which hit at the Labour Party for its 'red politics' ; Brady had been active in the previous year's referendum campaign on Proportional Representation and at a number of Fianna Fail Ard Fheisanna - always turning out 'hot' speeches for Fianna Fail leaders - mainly his friend Neil Blaney .
Seamus Brady was a member of the Dublin North-East Comhairle Dail Ceanntair of Fianna Fail and his professional touch - which he obtained while working for an English newspaper and later the 'Irish Press' newspaper - was always in demand . The Northern issues played little or no part in the June 1969 General Election when the country ' Backed Jack .... '
Meanwhile , in the 'unknown land' of the IRA , a group of Sligo members were expelled because they would not allow the 'Connolly Youth' group march at the Easter Commemoration .......
(MORE LATER).
THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE .
Seamus Mallon , at 50 , has finally made it to Westminster , but the Anglo-Irish Agreement is still a difficult gamble .
Fionnuala O'Connor reports on the North after the elections .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986 .
Seamus Mallon went to Westminster on Monday January 27 1986 . That night a UDR patrol opened fire on a car full of young Tyrone Catholics in the car-park of a pub near Cookstown .
As a text-book example of the pitfalls in the way of the Anglo-Irish Agreement (ie the Hillsborough Treaty) the sequence could hardly be bettered . One of Mr. Mallon's colleagues in Tyrone spoke with restraint of the dubious circumstances of the shooting ; Peter Barry (Fine Gael) demanded an explanation from the British government , and the UDR said those who fired the shots would not be suspended pending an inquiry because that would suggest guilt .
In other words , Mr. Seamus Mallon , SDLP MP - make what you can of that ! There's your Irish voice in the inter-governmental machinery for you , and your new voice at Westminster , and what effect have they had on the behaviour of your favourite targets of criticism , the overwhelmingly Protestant/Loyalist Ulster Defence Regiment ? Who were not accompanied at the time of the incident by the Royal Ulster Constabulary , needless to say , as the Taoiseach promised Northern Nationalists in the wake of Hillsborough they would henceforward be .
Seamus Mallon knew the score all along , better than anyone . When tight-lipped he stood before the party's annual conference last autumn and promised in so many words that he would not be joining his friend and mentor the Fianna Fail leader , Mr. Charles Haughey , in immediate opposition to the then imminent Anglo-Irish Agreement , his face showed the struggle that cost him . Party observers were not surprised , though they were relieved to hear him be so definite . " Where else can he go ? " they said , " ...he is not a well man , he's not fit to be fighting John Hume ... " .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
John O'Grady was taken upstairs to rejoin the rest of his family . He lay down on the bed beside his wife Marise ; he was aware that the gang had discussed the possibility of taking one of the children as well as himself . He talked it over with his wife . John O'Grady decided Anthony would be the one they should take along with himself . All the time gang-member Tony McNeill was sitting , armed with a shotgun , on a chair in the corner of the room watching them .
After an hour or two John O'Grady was taken down to the playroom where he was made to sit on a swivel chair ; Eddie Hogan talked with him for a while about Dr. Austin Darragh's wealth . Before the family was allowed go to bed for the night a ransom note demanding £300,000 was drafted .
2 . NOT THE SMOOTHEST OF OPERATORS .
In the morning , Dessie O'Hare took John O'Grady downstairs ; Marise O'Grady was told to get warm clothes , socks and wellington boots for her husband . He was to be kept in a field , she was told . John O'Grady was in the playroom with Tony McNeill guarding him . Shortly before nine o'clock one of the gang came in and blindfolded him with a lint and gauze dressing . O'Hare led him , still handcuffed , out to the back of the house to a car and John O'Grady was ordered to get into the boot .
Dessie O'Hare returned to the house . The 'phone rang . O'Hare stood over Marise O'Grady while she accepted an invitation from a friend to Sunday dinner . It was another cock up : O'Hare was not wearing his balaclava and Marise O'Grady got a good look at his face . O'Hare told her that he was leaving with her husband and warned her not to contact the Gardai . The car they were leaving in had already been packed with provisions from the house . The gang also took a walkman radio , walkie-talkies and a polaroid camera .
Two members of the gang , Fergal Toal and Tony McNeill , remained behind to ensure O'Hare's safe getaway . Dessie O'Hare and Eddie Hogan drove off with John O'Grady ; they intended driving to a lock-up garage on the north side of Dublin , but quickly lost their way . They were forced to rely on directions from John O'Grady who was blindfolded and in the boot . Less than twelve hours into the kidnap it was apparent Dessie O'Hare and his gang were not the smoothest of operators .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, September 12, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Fianna Fail Minister Neil Blaney advised Northern Catholics not to support Northern Premier Captain Terence O'Neill , who was seeking their support in the Stormont elections in early 1969 . While O'Neill gave away ground to Ian Paisley , Fianna Fail were shattered by the result .
Their lap dog party , 'The Nationalist Party' , was smashed in the election and its leader Eddie McAteer was defeated for the Derry seat by John Hume . On this stage Kevin Boland's recollection was - " We considered the establishment of Fianna Fail on the other side of the border and had almost decided that this might have to be done . " He explained his reasoning : re-unification was not an issue in the Northern elections .
Others in Fianna Fail felt the danger of the Northern issue dictating politics in the South was real and something must be done to control the situation . This second possibility was very dangerous for Fianna Fail if they were to remain a force in the 26 Counties ; therefore it was essential that the Fianna Fail presence in the North be restored following the collapse of their close associates 'The Nationalist Party' . It was during this period that the first contact in modern times between Fianna Fail and the IRA took place .
A prominent businessman in South Derry approached his local IRA Officer Commanding whom he personally knew and passed on the message that there were plenty of guns and money available from the South ; the IRA man played along and reported back to his GHQ in Dublin while the businessman reported this recitation to a leading Fianna Fail TD from the border area .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
The decision of the (FS) Government not to see members of Sinn Fein is important but even if there was'nt a general government policy on the matter , Ministers Kavanagh and Desmond could carry out a very effective embargo on their own . Environment and Health and Social Welfare are surely the two most important political Departments for a local politician .
Liam Kavanagh has made his position clear , the Donegal incident notwithstanding , and Barry Desmond has said that he would find it repugnant to have a member of Sinn Fein in his office , and that he would regard it as an act of political hygiene to have no dealings with a Sinn Fein member - Desmond was talking about a specific member of Sinn Fein : Phil Flynn , Vice President of Sinn Fein and General Secretary of the State's largest public service union , the LGPSU .
That trade union has several thousand members working in the health sector and it is doubtful that Phil Flynn will be withdrawing from delegations .
[ END of 'SINN FEIN ALONE' .]
(Tomorrow - ' THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE' - from 1986.)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O'Hare told John O'Grady to open the safe - all that it contained was birth , baptism and marriage certificates , passports , a TV licence , other personal documents and jewellery worth just over a thousand pounds . O'Hare took everything . Marise O'Grady was upstairs in one of the bedrooms with her three children - they were under armed guard by another member of the gang , Tony McNeill .
Marise O'Grady found that McNeill was reasonable - he acceded to all her requests but attempts to draw him into conversation failed . He put his finger up to his lips to indicate that she should be quiet . Downstairs , Dessie O'Hare was in a foul temper . He summoned Marise O'Grady ; he was trying to think of a ruse that would entice Dr. Austin Darragh out to the house : one of his suggestions was that John O'Grady should ring him and tell Dr. Darragh that Marise had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck . Marise O'Grady told O'Hare the plan would not work - O'Hare kicked her on the backside . On the way back upstairs he called her a " ...lying cunt.. " .
The kidnap gang held a conference over tea and biscuits ; O'Hare lamented the fact that O'Grady was not a son of Dr. Darragh - he took the view that John O'Grady would be 'expendable' . The idea of taking Marise O'Grady was discussed but O'Hare was against taking a woman . John O'Grady was summoned downstairs again - the fourth member of the gang , Eddie Hogan , produced a video camera and filmed O'Grady , flanked on either side by Dessie O'Hare and Tony McNeill who had guns pointed at his head .
Afterwards they asked O'Grady where his video cassette player was , to check if the camera worked . 'MANOR HOUSE' has almost every modern convenience imaginable but John O'Grady told an incredulous O'Hare that they did not own a video cassette player . The reason , he explained to O'Hare , was that he did'nt want his children to watch video nasties .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
Fianna Fail Minister Neil Blaney advised Northern Catholics not to support Northern Premier Captain Terence O'Neill , who was seeking their support in the Stormont elections in early 1969 . While O'Neill gave away ground to Ian Paisley , Fianna Fail were shattered by the result .
Their lap dog party , 'The Nationalist Party' , was smashed in the election and its leader Eddie McAteer was defeated for the Derry seat by John Hume . On this stage Kevin Boland's recollection was - " We considered the establishment of Fianna Fail on the other side of the border and had almost decided that this might have to be done . " He explained his reasoning : re-unification was not an issue in the Northern elections .
Others in Fianna Fail felt the danger of the Northern issue dictating politics in the South was real and something must be done to control the situation . This second possibility was very dangerous for Fianna Fail if they were to remain a force in the 26 Counties ; therefore it was essential that the Fianna Fail presence in the North be restored following the collapse of their close associates 'The Nationalist Party' . It was during this period that the first contact in modern times between Fianna Fail and the IRA took place .
A prominent businessman in South Derry approached his local IRA Officer Commanding whom he personally knew and passed on the message that there were plenty of guns and money available from the South ; the IRA man played along and reported back to his GHQ in Dublin while the businessman reported this recitation to a leading Fianna Fail TD from the border area .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
The decision of the (FS) Government not to see members of Sinn Fein is important but even if there was'nt a general government policy on the matter , Ministers Kavanagh and Desmond could carry out a very effective embargo on their own . Environment and Health and Social Welfare are surely the two most important political Departments for a local politician .
Liam Kavanagh has made his position clear , the Donegal incident notwithstanding , and Barry Desmond has said that he would find it repugnant to have a member of Sinn Fein in his office , and that he would regard it as an act of political hygiene to have no dealings with a Sinn Fein member - Desmond was talking about a specific member of Sinn Fein : Phil Flynn , Vice President of Sinn Fein and General Secretary of the State's largest public service union , the LGPSU .
That trade union has several thousand members working in the health sector and it is doubtful that Phil Flynn will be withdrawing from delegations .
[ END of 'SINN FEIN ALONE' .]
(Tomorrow - ' THE SEA GREEN INCORRUPTIBLE' - from 1986.)
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Dessie O'Hare told John O'Grady to open the safe - all that it contained was birth , baptism and marriage certificates , passports , a TV licence , other personal documents and jewellery worth just over a thousand pounds . O'Hare took everything . Marise O'Grady was upstairs in one of the bedrooms with her three children - they were under armed guard by another member of the gang , Tony McNeill .
Marise O'Grady found that McNeill was reasonable - he acceded to all her requests but attempts to draw him into conversation failed . He put his finger up to his lips to indicate that she should be quiet . Downstairs , Dessie O'Hare was in a foul temper . He summoned Marise O'Grady ; he was trying to think of a ruse that would entice Dr. Austin Darragh out to the house : one of his suggestions was that John O'Grady should ring him and tell Dr. Darragh that Marise had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck . Marise O'Grady told O'Hare the plan would not work - O'Hare kicked her on the backside . On the way back upstairs he called her a " ...lying cunt.. " .
The kidnap gang held a conference over tea and biscuits ; O'Hare lamented the fact that O'Grady was not a son of Dr. Darragh - he took the view that John O'Grady would be 'expendable' . The idea of taking Marise O'Grady was discussed but O'Hare was against taking a woman . John O'Grady was summoned downstairs again - the fourth member of the gang , Eddie Hogan , produced a video camera and filmed O'Grady , flanked on either side by Dessie O'Hare and Tony McNeill who had guns pointed at his head .
Afterwards they asked O'Grady where his video cassette player was , to check if the camera worked . 'MANOR HOUSE' has almost every modern convenience imaginable but John O'Grady told an incredulous O'Hare that they did not own a video cassette player . The reason , he explained to O'Hare , was that he did'nt want his children to watch video nasties .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, September 09, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The late 1960's were also the years of the Fianna Fail financial 'whizz-kids' of TACA : Colley , Haughey , Boland , Blaney and Lynch in the leadership and always in government . It was the days of the 1968 attempt by Fianna Fail to rid the country (sic) of Proportional Representation . But then came Derry in the middle of that campaign -
- on the 5th October 1968 , the RUC baton-charged a small march for Civil Rights at Duke Street , Derry . This was only the second Civil Rights march in the campaign of marches which commenced with 3,000 people marching from Coalisland to Dungannon on August 24th 1968 . On October 16th 1968 Fianna Fail lost the 'PR' referendum and the Derry 'scene' did not help .
Once the referendum was behind him , Fianna Fail Minister Neil Blaney turned his attention to the North ; he criticised the Civil Rights Association in the North for not having the re-unification of the country on its agenda . (' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...that was in 1968 ; in 1973 , Fianna Fail were amongst those telling Republicans that the 'Sunningdale Agreement' was the "solution" to the North . In 1985 they did the same with the 'Hillsborough Treaty' . In 1998 they did the same with the 'Stormont Treaty' ('GFA') . Fianna Fail and "re-unification of the country" are chalk and cheese . )
This was a deliberate tactic by those who initiated the Civil Rights Association - the leadership of the IRA . Neil Blaney strongly advised his party to discontinue the Lynch-O'Neill ' hands-across-the-border' and his speech was seen as an attempt to unseat his Taoiseach Jack Lynch ; Blaney kept up the speech-making on the North taking every opportunity of launching attacks on the Northern 'Premier' , Captain Terence O'Neill who was already under pressure from the Rev. Ian Paisley .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Pat Brady , a Sinn Fein member of Bundoran Urban District Council , was at a function last Spring in Killybegs at which Minister of State , George Bermingham , was also present ; Brady is a member of the local 'Vocational Educational Committee' and the function was a prize-giving ceremony for students .
Minister Bermingham was attending in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Education ; Brady (SF) says that the Minister said hello to him and that he feels he knew who he was .
County Councillors are frequently plagued with requests for support at (FS) Senate election time and often they remain on the Christmas mailing list . One member of Sinn Fein , Fra Browne , even recalls getting a box of chocolates from Fine Gael Senator Joe Lennon at the time of the last Senate elections . Sinn Fein members have often received requests for support from people on behalf of others and they have been asked to support members of other parties on certain local issues .
Before the ban many Sinn Fein members had had dealings with State Ministers such as Dick Spring , Ruairi Quinn , Austin Deasy , Alan Dukes and John Bruton .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Other members of the O'Grady household were aroused by the noisy incursion ; they were ushered at gunpoint by O'Hare into the bedroom of Anthony O'Grady (12) who was already on the telephone attempting to contact the gardai : " You little bastard , " said O'Hare , who promptly took the 'phone from him . The family was ushered into the bedroom of Louise O'Grady (6) , the youngest of the O'Grady family .
John O'Grady was taken downstairs to the front porch where the alarm and console for opening and closing the front gate in the driveway were located . He had difficulty convincing Dessie O'Hare that the alarm had not been switched on because it had been malfunctioning recently .
O'Hare wanted to know where Dr. Austin Darragh , the head of the Institute of Cinical Pharmacology , was . He was told that Dr. Darragh had not lived in the house for three and a half years . O'Hare went back upstairs . There was a telephone in Louise's bedroom too ; Marise O'Grady had dialled 999 , got through to the exchange and was awaiting connection to the police ...
... at that moment O'Hare entered the room - he flew into a rage and called Marise O'Grady a bitch and swore at her . The telephone was ripped out of the wall : Dessie O'Hare said that there had been a "...fuck up .. " and that they had got the wrong man . He told Marise O'Grady that a previous kidnap in which he had been involved had been bungled and it was important that they should not lose face .
John O'Grady was by this time handcuffed ; he had had to walk barefoot out to the porch through the broken glass . He was taken into the kitchen where he met Fergal Toal who was armed with a pump action shotgun and who he noticed was very nervous and breathing heavily .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
The late 1960's were also the years of the Fianna Fail financial 'whizz-kids' of TACA : Colley , Haughey , Boland , Blaney and Lynch in the leadership and always in government . It was the days of the 1968 attempt by Fianna Fail to rid the country (sic) of Proportional Representation . But then came Derry in the middle of that campaign -
- on the 5th October 1968 , the RUC baton-charged a small march for Civil Rights at Duke Street , Derry . This was only the second Civil Rights march in the campaign of marches which commenced with 3,000 people marching from Coalisland to Dungannon on August 24th 1968 . On October 16th 1968 Fianna Fail lost the 'PR' referendum and the Derry 'scene' did not help .
Once the referendum was behind him , Fianna Fail Minister Neil Blaney turned his attention to the North ; he criticised the Civil Rights Association in the North for not having the re-unification of the country on its agenda . (' 1169 .... ' Comment - ...that was in 1968 ; in 1973 , Fianna Fail were amongst those telling Republicans that the 'Sunningdale Agreement' was the "solution" to the North . In 1985 they did the same with the 'Hillsborough Treaty' . In 1998 they did the same with the 'Stormont Treaty' ('GFA') . Fianna Fail and "re-unification of the country" are chalk and cheese . )
This was a deliberate tactic by those who initiated the Civil Rights Association - the leadership of the IRA . Neil Blaney strongly advised his party to discontinue the Lynch-O'Neill ' hands-across-the-border' and his speech was seen as an attempt to unseat his Taoiseach Jack Lynch ; Blaney kept up the speech-making on the North taking every opportunity of launching attacks on the Northern 'Premier' , Captain Terence O'Neill who was already under pressure from the Rev. Ian Paisley .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Pat Brady , a Sinn Fein member of Bundoran Urban District Council , was at a function last Spring in Killybegs at which Minister of State , George Bermingham , was also present ; Brady is a member of the local 'Vocational Educational Committee' and the function was a prize-giving ceremony for students .
Minister Bermingham was attending in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Education ; Brady (SF) says that the Minister said hello to him and that he feels he knew who he was .
County Councillors are frequently plagued with requests for support at (FS) Senate election time and often they remain on the Christmas mailing list . One member of Sinn Fein , Fra Browne , even recalls getting a box of chocolates from Fine Gael Senator Joe Lennon at the time of the last Senate elections . Sinn Fein members have often received requests for support from people on behalf of others and they have been asked to support members of other parties on certain local issues .
Before the ban many Sinn Fein members had had dealings with State Ministers such as Dick Spring , Ruairi Quinn , Austin Deasy , Alan Dukes and John Bruton .......
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .......
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
Other members of the O'Grady household were aroused by the noisy incursion ; they were ushered at gunpoint by O'Hare into the bedroom of Anthony O'Grady (12) who was already on the telephone attempting to contact the gardai : " You little bastard , " said O'Hare , who promptly took the 'phone from him . The family was ushered into the bedroom of Louise O'Grady (6) , the youngest of the O'Grady family .
John O'Grady was taken downstairs to the front porch where the alarm and console for opening and closing the front gate in the driveway were located . He had difficulty convincing Dessie O'Hare that the alarm had not been switched on because it had been malfunctioning recently .
O'Hare wanted to know where Dr. Austin Darragh , the head of the Institute of Cinical Pharmacology , was . He was told that Dr. Darragh had not lived in the house for three and a half years . O'Hare went back upstairs . There was a telephone in Louise's bedroom too ; Marise O'Grady had dialled 999 , got through to the exchange and was awaiting connection to the police ...
... at that moment O'Hare entered the room - he flew into a rage and called Marise O'Grady a bitch and swore at her . The telephone was ripped out of the wall : Dessie O'Hare said that there had been a "...fuck up .. " and that they had got the wrong man . He told Marise O'Grady that a previous kidnap in which he had been involved had been bungled and it was important that they should not lose face .
John O'Grady was by this time handcuffed ; he had had to walk barefoot out to the porch through the broken glass . He was taken into the kitchen where he met Fergal Toal who was armed with a pump action shotgun and who he noticed was very nervous and breathing heavily .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 08, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
In 1969 , the IRA was experiencing its own 'transformation' - the Cathal Goulding leadership was moving the organisation in a definite left-wing direction . Instead of organising for another border campaign he was openly declaring for a revolution ; but what he meant by revolution was not necessarily a blood bath but a change in the ownership of the resources of the country .
His leadership wanted the working-class to be owners of the country's resources ; a policy document found on an IRA man in 1966 spelt out how this was to be done - infiltration of peoples' organisations - the trade unions , the tenant associations etc and the establishment of organisations where there was a possibility of movement in a left-wing direction .
This development by the post 1962 leadership caused a few 'splutters' among the 'old brigade' ; many became inactive in the Republican Movement while many more dropped out . In the late 1960's this policy of the IRA was directly responsible for the emergence of the ' Northern Ireland (sic) Civil Rights Association ' , the ' Housing Action' committees , the 'Fish-In' Campaign (where the nationalisation of 'privately' owned rivers and lakes was demanded ) , land agitations and a host of other agitations .
Cathal Goulding's idea was to organise the people in support of what he and the majority in his small organisation sought . Inevitably the gun was produced which saw the burning of foreign owned farms in Meath and other areas , in support of small farmers resisting spiralling land prices brought on by foreign bidders . A fishing boat was blown up in Rossaveal in Connemara again in the name of the locals . Buses owned by the Silverdale company which was involved in carrying strike-breakers to work at Shannon were burned and blown-up in several areas around the country .
It was all a far cry from the traditional Republican policy of non-action in the 26 Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Other examples of the embargo would be the refusal of Liam Kavanagh to see a delegation from Longford County Council to discuss road improvements ; the Sinn Fein member of the delegation , Michael Nevin , withdrew and the meeting then went ahead .
Minister Liam Kavanagh was accused of being anti-democratic ; he did not think he was - " I have accepted the democratic will of the people of Longford and saw the deputation . " He said that people who voted for Michael Nevin (SF) , who was Chairman of the County Council ... "...might not be aware of Sinn Fein policy .. "
Frank Glynn , who was elected by members of both the Fine Gael and Labour parties to the post of Chairman of Galway County Counci in 1979 and who has since voted for Fine Gael as well as Fianna Fail and Independent Chairmen , was turned away from Leinster House on March 15th . Minister of State at the Department of the Environment , Fergus O'Brien , said that he woud only meet a delegation from Galway County Council if Frank Glynn absented himself .
Eddie O'Doherty , a Sinn Fein member of Carrick-on-Suir Urban District Council , says that Minister of State , Eddie Collins , would not meet him on July 18th : O'Doherty says that he wanted to talk to the Minister about the closure of a local industry ........
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
1. The O'Hare Gang Comes Calling .
John O'Grady was standing at the top of his stairs when Dessie O'Hare , attired in a grey suit and black balaclava , came smashing through the wooden framed glass-panels of his front door with a sledgehammer . Up to that point it had been an unremarkable day ...
O'Grady had returned home from his dental surgery in Wellington Road at six o'clock , a little earlier than usual . He had dinner with his wife Marise and three children , Darragh , aged thirteen , Anthony , twelve , and Louise , six . After dinner he went up to visit his mother Kitty O'Grady , who was sick . He returned home just before nine o'clock .
The children were already in bed ; John and Marise O'Grady decided to have an early night . They were in bed watching television when at around half past nine they heard the sound of breaking glass . They thought it might have been Anthony and Darragh playacting ; John O'Grady got up in his pyjamas and went to investigate .
Confronted with a stranger breaking down the door with a sledge-hammer , John O'Grady instinctively descended a few steps of the stairs . Now , Dessie O'Hare was standing in front of him pointing a gun at his head , threatening to blow him away . There were three other armed men , also wearing balaclavas , along with O'Hare . O'Grady told O'Hare not to panic , that he (O'Grady) was not going to do anything .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
In 1969 , the IRA was experiencing its own 'transformation' - the Cathal Goulding leadership was moving the organisation in a definite left-wing direction . Instead of organising for another border campaign he was openly declaring for a revolution ; but what he meant by revolution was not necessarily a blood bath but a change in the ownership of the resources of the country .
His leadership wanted the working-class to be owners of the country's resources ; a policy document found on an IRA man in 1966 spelt out how this was to be done - infiltration of peoples' organisations - the trade unions , the tenant associations etc and the establishment of organisations where there was a possibility of movement in a left-wing direction .
This development by the post 1962 leadership caused a few 'splutters' among the 'old brigade' ; many became inactive in the Republican Movement while many more dropped out . In the late 1960's this policy of the IRA was directly responsible for the emergence of the ' Northern Ireland (sic) Civil Rights Association ' , the ' Housing Action' committees , the 'Fish-In' Campaign (where the nationalisation of 'privately' owned rivers and lakes was demanded ) , land agitations and a host of other agitations .
Cathal Goulding's idea was to organise the people in support of what he and the majority in his small organisation sought . Inevitably the gun was produced which saw the burning of foreign owned farms in Meath and other areas , in support of small farmers resisting spiralling land prices brought on by foreign bidders . A fishing boat was blown up in Rossaveal in Connemara again in the name of the locals . Buses owned by the Silverdale company which was involved in carrying strike-breakers to work at Shannon were burned and blown-up in several areas around the country .
It was all a far cry from the traditional Republican policy of non-action in the 26 Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Other examples of the embargo would be the refusal of Liam Kavanagh to see a delegation from Longford County Council to discuss road improvements ; the Sinn Fein member of the delegation , Michael Nevin , withdrew and the meeting then went ahead .
Minister Liam Kavanagh was accused of being anti-democratic ; he did not think he was - " I have accepted the democratic will of the people of Longford and saw the deputation . " He said that people who voted for Michael Nevin (SF) , who was Chairman of the County Council ... "...might not be aware of Sinn Fein policy .. "
Frank Glynn , who was elected by members of both the Fine Gael and Labour parties to the post of Chairman of Galway County Counci in 1979 and who has since voted for Fine Gael as well as Fianna Fail and Independent Chairmen , was turned away from Leinster House on March 15th . Minister of State at the Department of the Environment , Fergus O'Brien , said that he woud only meet a delegation from Galway County Council if Frank Glynn absented himself .
Eddie O'Doherty , a Sinn Fein member of Carrick-on-Suir Urban District Council , says that Minister of State , Eddie Collins , would not meet him on July 18th : O'Doherty says that he wanted to talk to the Minister about the closure of a local industry ........
(MORE LATER).
23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAPPING .
The Gardai had in their possession a clue which could have led them to the O'Grady kidnappers and their captive some ten days earlier .
A card found in a rucksack after the Midleton shoot-out led them directly to the gang once they checked it out - but this was ten days later , by which time John O 'Grady had lost two of his fingers .
First published in 'MAGILL' Magazine , May 1988 .
By Michael O'Higgins .
1. The O'Hare Gang Comes Calling .
John O'Grady was standing at the top of his stairs when Dessie O'Hare , attired in a grey suit and black balaclava , came smashing through the wooden framed glass-panels of his front door with a sledgehammer . Up to that point it had been an unremarkable day ...
O'Grady had returned home from his dental surgery in Wellington Road at six o'clock , a little earlier than usual . He had dinner with his wife Marise and three children , Darragh , aged thirteen , Anthony , twelve , and Louise , six . After dinner he went up to visit his mother Kitty O'Grady , who was sick . He returned home just before nine o'clock .
The children were already in bed ; John and Marise O'Grady decided to have an early night . They were in bed watching television when at around half past nine they heard the sound of breaking glass . They thought it might have been Anthony and Darragh playacting ; John O'Grady got up in his pyjamas and went to investigate .
Confronted with a stranger breaking down the door with a sledge-hammer , John O'Grady instinctively descended a few steps of the stairs . Now , Dessie O'Hare was standing in front of him pointing a gun at his head , threatening to blow him away . There were three other armed men , also wearing balaclavas , along with O'Hare . O'Grady told O'Hare not to panic , that he (O'Grady) was not going to do anything .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .......
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
A bank account in the name of 'Ann O'Brien' was opened just weeks before the December 1969 split in the IRA and the follow-on split in Sinn Fein during January 1970 . The money put into the 'Ann O'Brien' account was used mainly for the running of a newspaper titled ' Voice Of The North' : it was run from an office in Monaghan and put forward the views of Fianna Fail on the North .
The man who ran the newspaper was journalist and Fianna Fail scriptwriter and activist Seamus Brady . ' Voice Of The North ' first set out to influence and take over the Civil Rights Movement in the North and then turned its attention to the IRA .
When the possibility of a split emerged in the IRA , the Fianna Fail Government-financed newspaper and its founder Seamus Brady fanned the flames which eventually led to the establishment of the Provisional IRA . The events which led to the December 1969 IRA split and eventually the Arms Trial had their roots spread back a few years -
- it all began on November 10th 1966 when Sean Lemass resigned as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fail ; into the ring for the top job came the late George Colley and Charles J. Haughey . Neil Blaney entered on the nomination of another Fianna Fail Minister , Kevin Boland . Haughey and Blaney withdrew when Sean Lemass nominated Jack Lynch .
George Colley stuck in and was defeated by 53 votes to 19 ; the Colley-Haughey power struggle began to develop : meanwhile , the IRA was experiencing its own 'transformation' .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
An example of a stricter attitude towards meeting with members of Sinn Fein would be the proposed meeting between Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn and Gorey Town Commissioners due to take place during a Ministerial visit to the town last February : Quinn would not discuss unemployment with the town Commissioners unless Sinn Fein Town Commissioner , John Sheehan , was absent . The Commissioners refused and the meeting never took place .
John Sheehan was the cause of Minister of State , Michael D'Arcy's absence from the reviewing stand for Gorey's Saint Patrick's Day Parade : D'Arcy could not get an assurance that Sheehan would not be on the reviewing stand and consequently decided to attend the parade as an ordinary spectator . John Sheehan says that he did not get an invitation to an ash planting ceremony in Gorey to mark the GAA's centenary and that Minister D'Arcy was in attendance .
Then on June 16th he says that Minister Michael D'Arcy would not take a place on the platform for the launching of Feile na Gael in Gorey by GAA President , Paddy Buggy . The Gorey Saint Patrick's Day parade was not the only one affected by the new Government policy : Patrick Cooney , the Minister for Defence , ordered members of the 26 County defence forces not to take part in any Saint Patrick's Day parades where members of Sinn Fein were directly involved in reviewing it or organising it .
There was no parade in Longford that day - the organisers felt that it would not be possible without 26 County- army co-operation and they said they could'nt give the undertaking necessary to ensure their participation .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Sinn Fein , while opposed generally to hunger-strikes , recognises the frustrations of the prisoners and has pledged full support for the hunger-strikers' demands . Sinn Fein candidates in the forthcoming elections will be pledged to support publicly and unequivocally the campaign to end the paid-perjurer system .
In a statement , Sinn Fein's Jim McAllister , a Councillor and Chairperson of the party's Six-County Executive , observed -
- " It is noteworthy that here we are at the end of 1985 , which has been hyped-up by some as the year when the London-Dublin deal was going to solve all our problems , and still Irish political prisoners find themselves on hunger-strike for justice . "
[END of ' HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS ' .]
(Tomorrow - '23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAP' : from 1988.)
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
A bank account in the name of 'Ann O'Brien' was opened just weeks before the December 1969 split in the IRA and the follow-on split in Sinn Fein during January 1970 . The money put into the 'Ann O'Brien' account was used mainly for the running of a newspaper titled ' Voice Of The North' : it was run from an office in Monaghan and put forward the views of Fianna Fail on the North .
The man who ran the newspaper was journalist and Fianna Fail scriptwriter and activist Seamus Brady . ' Voice Of The North ' first set out to influence and take over the Civil Rights Movement in the North and then turned its attention to the IRA .
When the possibility of a split emerged in the IRA , the Fianna Fail Government-financed newspaper and its founder Seamus Brady fanned the flames which eventually led to the establishment of the Provisional IRA . The events which led to the December 1969 IRA split and eventually the Arms Trial had their roots spread back a few years -
- it all began on November 10th 1966 when Sean Lemass resigned as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fail ; into the ring for the top job came the late George Colley and Charles J. Haughey . Neil Blaney entered on the nomination of another Fianna Fail Minister , Kevin Boland . Haughey and Blaney withdrew when Sean Lemass nominated Jack Lynch .
George Colley stuck in and was defeated by 53 votes to 19 ; the Colley-Haughey power struggle began to develop : meanwhile , the IRA was experiencing its own 'transformation' .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
An example of a stricter attitude towards meeting with members of Sinn Fein would be the proposed meeting between Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn and Gorey Town Commissioners due to take place during a Ministerial visit to the town last February : Quinn would not discuss unemployment with the town Commissioners unless Sinn Fein Town Commissioner , John Sheehan , was absent . The Commissioners refused and the meeting never took place .
John Sheehan was the cause of Minister of State , Michael D'Arcy's absence from the reviewing stand for Gorey's Saint Patrick's Day Parade : D'Arcy could not get an assurance that Sheehan would not be on the reviewing stand and consequently decided to attend the parade as an ordinary spectator . John Sheehan says that he did not get an invitation to an ash planting ceremony in Gorey to mark the GAA's centenary and that Minister D'Arcy was in attendance .
Then on June 16th he says that Minister Michael D'Arcy would not take a place on the platform for the launching of Feile na Gael in Gorey by GAA President , Paddy Buggy . The Gorey Saint Patrick's Day parade was not the only one affected by the new Government policy : Patrick Cooney , the Minister for Defence , ordered members of the 26 County defence forces not to take part in any Saint Patrick's Day parades where members of Sinn Fein were directly involved in reviewing it or organising it .
There was no parade in Longford that day - the organisers felt that it would not be possible without 26 County- army co-operation and they said they could'nt give the undertaking necessary to ensure their participation .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Sinn Fein , while opposed generally to hunger-strikes , recognises the frustrations of the prisoners and has pledged full support for the hunger-strikers' demands . Sinn Fein candidates in the forthcoming elections will be pledged to support publicly and unequivocally the campaign to end the paid-perjurer system .
In a statement , Sinn Fein's Jim McAllister , a Councillor and Chairperson of the party's Six-County Executive , observed -
- " It is noteworthy that here we are at the end of 1985 , which has been hyped-up by some as the year when the London-Dublin deal was going to solve all our problems , and still Irish political prisoners find themselves on hunger-strike for justice . "
[END of ' HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS ' .]
(Tomorrow - '23 DAYS IN HELL : THE STORY OF THE O'GRADY KIDNAP' : from 1988.)
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION .
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
When Ruairi O Bradaigh and Daithi O Conaill walked out of the (1986) Sinn Fein Ard Fheis and announced Republican Sinn Fein , many comparisons were made with their walk-out from the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in January 1970 .
They again were refusing to enter or give official recognition to the parliament of the 26 Counties ; and once again a group of reds had taken control of their organisation . And again a generation gap existed with the younger members voting for change . But this year there was one major ingredient missing - the Fianna Fail gold .
In the course of the media attention focussed on this year's event , the Fianna Fail front-bencher John Wilson stated on RTE's 'Saturday View' radio programme that his party had always condemned the men of violence and that they never had any truck with the dangerous 'Dan McGrews' of the IRA : while Mr. John Wilson himself has consistently adhered to such a stance his party has certainly not .
His current party leader , Charles J Haughey , while Minister for Finance in the Fianna Fail Government which took office following the June 1969 General Election authorised the payment of monies into a number of bank accounts . One of these bank accounts was opened in a Baggot Street bank on 14th November 1969 in the name of 'Ann O' Brien ' .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
On March 9th , Liam Kavanagh (FS Environment Minister) opened a road between Donegal and Ballyshannon : Eddie Fullerton , as a Sinn Fein member of Donegal County Council was at the opening and he says he was standing beside Liam Kavanagh . Afterwards , there was a lunch during which , he claims , he was sitting opposite Minister Kavanagh .
Later on there were two delegations to see the Minister - one from Ballyshannon Town Commission ; there were Sinn Fein members on both . Things got heated when Kavanagh said that he would not meet delegations with Sinn Fein members present . Both sets of Sinn Fein members withdrew but there was some confusion about the Minister's refusal to see Eddie Fullerton in February , his attendance at functions at which it would be reasonable to expect Fullerton's presence and his subsequent refusal to see delegations containing members of Sinn Fein .
Eddie Fullerton claims that he was at the opening of an AnCO centre (ie a State jobs training body) in Letterkenny a month ago at which the State Minister for Labour , Ruairi Quinn , was present . Quinn later pushed this issue to the forefront .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper noted - " Peter Barry himself is on record as opposing supergrass trials . Logically , therefore , he cannot go along with convictions arising from those trials and , equally logically , he must have some sympathy with the men who have now gone on hunger-strike arising from them .
If Peter Barry fails to deliver on this , the first thorny issue to confront him in his new role on the Anglo-Irish conference , then the omens for the success of the agreement as a whole are not encouraging . Merely appealing for the men to come off the hunger-strike will not suffice . "
But even if Peter Barry does deliver on the "...thorny issue.. " of paid perjurers and show-trials , although it will be welcomed by Republicans it will also be recognised for what it is - an essential smoothing of the rough edges of Britain's repressive machine in the Six Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
By Breasal O Caollai .
First published in ' New Hibernia ' Magazine , December 1986/January 1987 .
When Ruairi O Bradaigh and Daithi O Conaill walked out of the (1986) Sinn Fein Ard Fheis and announced Republican Sinn Fein , many comparisons were made with their walk-out from the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in January 1970 .
They again were refusing to enter or give official recognition to the parliament of the 26 Counties ; and once again a group of reds had taken control of their organisation . And again a generation gap existed with the younger members voting for change . But this year there was one major ingredient missing - the Fianna Fail gold .
In the course of the media attention focussed on this year's event , the Fianna Fail front-bencher John Wilson stated on RTE's 'Saturday View' radio programme that his party had always condemned the men of violence and that they never had any truck with the dangerous 'Dan McGrews' of the IRA : while Mr. John Wilson himself has consistently adhered to such a stance his party has certainly not .
His current party leader , Charles J Haughey , while Minister for Finance in the Fianna Fail Government which took office following the June 1969 General Election authorised the payment of monies into a number of bank accounts . One of these bank accounts was opened in a Baggot Street bank on 14th November 1969 in the name of 'Ann O' Brien ' .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
On March 9th , Liam Kavanagh (FS Environment Minister) opened a road between Donegal and Ballyshannon : Eddie Fullerton , as a Sinn Fein member of Donegal County Council was at the opening and he says he was standing beside Liam Kavanagh . Afterwards , there was a lunch during which , he claims , he was sitting opposite Minister Kavanagh .
Later on there were two delegations to see the Minister - one from Ballyshannon Town Commission ; there were Sinn Fein members on both . Things got heated when Kavanagh said that he would not meet delegations with Sinn Fein members present . Both sets of Sinn Fein members withdrew but there was some confusion about the Minister's refusal to see Eddie Fullerton in February , his attendance at functions at which it would be reasonable to expect Fullerton's presence and his subsequent refusal to see delegations containing members of Sinn Fein .
Eddie Fullerton claims that he was at the opening of an AnCO centre (ie a State jobs training body) in Letterkenny a month ago at which the State Minister for Labour , Ruairi Quinn , was present . Quinn later pushed this issue to the forefront .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper noted - " Peter Barry himself is on record as opposing supergrass trials . Logically , therefore , he cannot go along with convictions arising from those trials and , equally logically , he must have some sympathy with the men who have now gone on hunger-strike arising from them .
If Peter Barry fails to deliver on this , the first thorny issue to confront him in his new role on the Anglo-Irish conference , then the omens for the success of the agreement as a whole are not encouraging . Merely appealing for the men to come off the hunger-strike will not suffice . "
But even if Peter Barry does deliver on the "...thorny issue.. " of paid perjurers and show-trials , although it will be welcomed by Republicans it will also be recognised for what it is - an essential smoothing of the rough edges of Britain's repressive machine in the Six Counties .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, September 05, 2005
A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .......
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
' Welfare on the cheap' was what Belfast wanted - and that's what it got : in William McGrath's day you got a job in Welfare because you ' knew someone at City Hall ' , not because you were qualified for the job or even had an interest in the work .
Sir George Terry is very lenient with the RUC ; he uses the excuse that in the mid-seventies the RUC were in the midst of a campaign of terror . However , they were not so busy that they could not resist arresting twenty gay people over a period of some months in 1976 and asking them questions about practically everything except Kincora .
The 'Northern Ireland (sic) Gay Rights Association' will have no truck with a judicial inquiry , for a number of reasons ; as there was no traffic in boys there is nothing to investigate . The consequences for gays would be dire - they would be driven out of any employment involving young people and they would be kept out of such employment for decades . This would lead to endless complications .
Sexuality is not easily pinned down and codified ; instability would be endemic in teaching , welfare and many other fields . Gay people would be faced with repressing their sexuality or going through life lying and prevaricating at every turn . This would set up destabilising suspicions , and so on ad infinitum , until we had reached the pinnacle of Victorian rectitude , where nobody was honest about their sexuality .
(' 1169 ... ' Comment - The main trust of this article was to attempt to dismiss all fears about Kincora , McGrath and others as "nonsensical" and it was maintained throughout the piece that any investigation into said fears sould be seen as an attack on the gay community as a whole . A truly sickening position to have held on that sordid episode in this countrys history. )
[END of ' A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA' .]
(Tomorrow - 'FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION' - from December 1986/January 1987.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
At the last local elections Sinn Fein won thirty seats on the State's 117 local authorities which represented an increase of ten seats . There are five Sinn Fein Town Commissioners , two in Ballyshannon and one each in Gorey , Loughrea and Passage West . There are twelve Sinn Fein Urban District Councillors (there were fourteen elected but two have since resigned ) - these Councillors are members of the following Urban District Councils : Midleton , Cavan , Tipperary , Carrick-on-Suir , Athy , Monaghan , Listowel , Clones , Dundalk , Buncrana and there are two Councillors in Bundoran , County Donegal .
Eleven Sinn Fein county councillors serve on nine county councils ; Louth , Clare , Kerry , Donegal , Roscommon , Cavan and Leitrim have one member ; there are two members on both Galway and Longford County Councils . So altogether there are now twenty-six members of Sinn Fein holding twenty-eight seats on different local authorities around the country . The two Urban District Councillors who resigned bring the total number of seats down from the 1979 figure .
On February 1st , Eddie Fullerton , Sinn Fein , who had never before been refused access to a Minister , was told that Environment Minister , Liam Kavanagh , would not see him . Fullerton , part of a delegation which had gone to Leinster House to discuss proposals for a sewerage scheme , says he had a meeting with Alan Dukes last autumn and that there had been no problem then .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Last Friday , December 27 , 1985 , several relatives of the Kirkpatrick defendants travelled from Belfast to Cork to see Free State Foreign Minister Peter Barry , but Barry , despite having had advance notice , was conveniently "...not at home .. " .
Following this snub , Peter Barry called on the hunger-strikers to end their fast and leave the issue to the London-Dublin Inter-Governmental Conference of which he is joint Chair . However , his verbal expressions of concern have been viewed with cynicism by the relatives and indeed by many nationalists ; Cathy Tohill commented -
- " Peter Barry asked the relatives to leave it to the politicians , but we've done that in the past and they've just given it lip service . Barry has condemned the 'supergrass system' in Leinster House but if he had taken some positive action maybe it would'nt have come to a hunger-strike . "
That the hunger-strike poses a challenge to Peter Barry's claims about the 'benefits' to nationalists of the Hillsborough Agreement has been noted by at least one of the deal's media supporters , 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper .......
(MORE LATER).
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
' Welfare on the cheap' was what Belfast wanted - and that's what it got : in William McGrath's day you got a job in Welfare because you ' knew someone at City Hall ' , not because you were qualified for the job or even had an interest in the work .
Sir George Terry is very lenient with the RUC ; he uses the excuse that in the mid-seventies the RUC were in the midst of a campaign of terror . However , they were not so busy that they could not resist arresting twenty gay people over a period of some months in 1976 and asking them questions about practically everything except Kincora .
The 'Northern Ireland (sic) Gay Rights Association' will have no truck with a judicial inquiry , for a number of reasons ; as there was no traffic in boys there is nothing to investigate . The consequences for gays would be dire - they would be driven out of any employment involving young people and they would be kept out of such employment for decades . This would lead to endless complications .
Sexuality is not easily pinned down and codified ; instability would be endemic in teaching , welfare and many other fields . Gay people would be faced with repressing their sexuality or going through life lying and prevaricating at every turn . This would set up destabilising suspicions , and so on ad infinitum , until we had reached the pinnacle of Victorian rectitude , where nobody was honest about their sexuality .
(' 1169 ... ' Comment - The main trust of this article was to attempt to dismiss all fears about Kincora , McGrath and others as "nonsensical" and it was maintained throughout the piece that any investigation into said fears sould be seen as an attack on the gay community as a whole . A truly sickening position to have held on that sordid episode in this countrys history. )
[END of ' A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA' .]
(Tomorrow - 'FIANNA FAIL AND THE IRA CONNECTION' - from December 1986/January 1987.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
At the last local elections Sinn Fein won thirty seats on the State's 117 local authorities which represented an increase of ten seats . There are five Sinn Fein Town Commissioners , two in Ballyshannon and one each in Gorey , Loughrea and Passage West . There are twelve Sinn Fein Urban District Councillors (there were fourteen elected but two have since resigned ) - these Councillors are members of the following Urban District Councils : Midleton , Cavan , Tipperary , Carrick-on-Suir , Athy , Monaghan , Listowel , Clones , Dundalk , Buncrana and there are two Councillors in Bundoran , County Donegal .
Eleven Sinn Fein county councillors serve on nine county councils ; Louth , Clare , Kerry , Donegal , Roscommon , Cavan and Leitrim have one member ; there are two members on both Galway and Longford County Councils . So altogether there are now twenty-six members of Sinn Fein holding twenty-eight seats on different local authorities around the country . The two Urban District Councillors who resigned bring the total number of seats down from the 1979 figure .
On February 1st , Eddie Fullerton , Sinn Fein , who had never before been refused access to a Minister , was told that Environment Minister , Liam Kavanagh , would not see him . Fullerton , part of a delegation which had gone to Leinster House to discuss proposals for a sewerage scheme , says he had a meeting with Alan Dukes last autumn and that there had been no problem then .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Last Friday , December 27 , 1985 , several relatives of the Kirkpatrick defendants travelled from Belfast to Cork to see Free State Foreign Minister Peter Barry , but Barry , despite having had advance notice , was conveniently "...not at home .. " .
Following this snub , Peter Barry called on the hunger-strikers to end their fast and leave the issue to the London-Dublin Inter-Governmental Conference of which he is joint Chair . However , his verbal expressions of concern have been viewed with cynicism by the relatives and indeed by many nationalists ; Cathy Tohill commented -
- " Peter Barry asked the relatives to leave it to the politicians , but we've done that in the past and they've just given it lip service . Barry has condemned the 'supergrass system' in Leinster House but if he had taken some positive action maybe it would'nt have come to a hunger-strike . "
That the hunger-strike poses a challenge to Peter Barry's claims about the 'benefits' to nationalists of the Hillsborough Agreement has been noted by at least one of the deal's media supporters , 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, September 02, 2005
A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .......
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Sir George Terry , in his report into the affair , slates the press for their handling of it , but does not mention the never-ending quality of the whole thing . For more than two years every single day every single medium regaled us with another Kincora fable - we very rarely got a fact . Public figures tumbled over themselves to prove that they were cleaner than clean .
Meanwhile , the Social Services Department were in the grip of paranoia ; gay women and men went in fear of their livelihoods - some had their private lives insultingly closely scrutinised . A number were made to assent to humiliatingly intimate physical examination . Non-gay people were just as deeply affected as the suspicion was all-pervasive .
Sir George Terry lays most of the blame for the actual events at the Kincora Home on the Eastern Health and Social Services Board , unjustly , one feels . This body could only be expected to work with the material to hand . This included that inherited from the Belfast Welfare Committee ; both bodies , like all such bodies , had to depend on the good will and the good faith of their employees .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
(FS) Minister of State Paul Connaughton (Fine Gael) feels that the two Sinn Fein Councillors and himself were elected to the same local authority and that in order to do his job as a local representative he has to attend meetings at which Sinn Fein members are present .
He is not so sure about his continued participation in the electoral alliance which has elected a member of Sinn Fein and members of Fine Gael to the position of Chairman in the past - he says that he would have to seriously consider the question of whether or not he would vote for one of the Sinn Fein Councillors for that position in the future .
He feels that the position has changed since 1979 and that Sinn Fein now has a much closer relationship with the IRA . He would , he says , talk to a delegation from the Council , with Sinn Fein members present , in Galway , so long as they were dealing with local issues .
However , if such a delegation were to try to meet him in Dublin the question of whether or not he would meet them would be a matter for Government and he would abide by that decision .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Most of Harry Kirkpatrick's 27 victims have already spent several years on remand . Gerard Steenson , detained on the word of a succession of paid perjurers , who later withdrew their statements , had been held in jail for almost four years before his trial .
The defendants fear that their appeals could be delayed for several years , even if the courts were eventually to release them for cosmetic reasons . Bobby Tohill , who was on remand for two and a half years , had earlier , in 1982 , been imprisoned without trial for six months on the word of paid-perjurer Jackie Goodman , but was released when Goodman retracted .
During Tohill's detention , his wife Cathy has had to cope with their four-year-old son , Michael , who has cystic fibrosis and requires daily medical care and has had numerous spells in hospital ; according to Cathy Tohill -
- " My husband could rot in jail for two and a half years waiting for his appeal the way the 'Black' defendants have . And then he would face the same system and could lose even though in England Kirkpatrick's evidence would'nt be accepted .... " .......
(MORE LATER).
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Sir George Terry , in his report into the affair , slates the press for their handling of it , but does not mention the never-ending quality of the whole thing . For more than two years every single day every single medium regaled us with another Kincora fable - we very rarely got a fact . Public figures tumbled over themselves to prove that they were cleaner than clean .
Meanwhile , the Social Services Department were in the grip of paranoia ; gay women and men went in fear of their livelihoods - some had their private lives insultingly closely scrutinised . A number were made to assent to humiliatingly intimate physical examination . Non-gay people were just as deeply affected as the suspicion was all-pervasive .
Sir George Terry lays most of the blame for the actual events at the Kincora Home on the Eastern Health and Social Services Board , unjustly , one feels . This body could only be expected to work with the material to hand . This included that inherited from the Belfast Welfare Committee ; both bodies , like all such bodies , had to depend on the good will and the good faith of their employees .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
(FS) Minister of State Paul Connaughton (Fine Gael) feels that the two Sinn Fein Councillors and himself were elected to the same local authority and that in order to do his job as a local representative he has to attend meetings at which Sinn Fein members are present .
He is not so sure about his continued participation in the electoral alliance which has elected a member of Sinn Fein and members of Fine Gael to the position of Chairman in the past - he says that he would have to seriously consider the question of whether or not he would vote for one of the Sinn Fein Councillors for that position in the future .
He feels that the position has changed since 1979 and that Sinn Fein now has a much closer relationship with the IRA . He would , he says , talk to a delegation from the Council , with Sinn Fein members present , in Galway , so long as they were dealing with local issues .
However , if such a delegation were to try to meet him in Dublin the question of whether or not he would meet them would be a matter for Government and he would abide by that decision .......
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.......
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Most of Harry Kirkpatrick's 27 victims have already spent several years on remand . Gerard Steenson , detained on the word of a succession of paid perjurers , who later withdrew their statements , had been held in jail for almost four years before his trial .
The defendants fear that their appeals could be delayed for several years , even if the courts were eventually to release them for cosmetic reasons . Bobby Tohill , who was on remand for two and a half years , had earlier , in 1982 , been imprisoned without trial for six months on the word of paid-perjurer Jackie Goodman , but was released when Goodman retracted .
During Tohill's detention , his wife Cathy has had to cope with their four-year-old son , Michael , who has cystic fibrosis and requires daily medical care and has had numerous spells in hospital ; according to Cathy Tohill -
- " My husband could rot in jail for two and a half years waiting for his appeal the way the 'Black' defendants have . And then he would face the same system and could lose even though in England Kirkpatrick's evidence would'nt be accepted .... " .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, September 01, 2005
A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .......
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
William McGrath's 'paramilitary' organisation , 'TARA' , appears to have consisted of a smallish number of 'chiefs' and no 'indians' at all ; even Roy Garland , once his deputy , admits that all its invitations to other Unionist 'chieftains' to 'pow-wow' were always refused . This fits in with the image of a psychologically dislocated dreamer . Such people are often attractive to young people .
Unionists in the early 1970's appeared to be 'girt' (ie 'be' and 'mix with' ) with cruel foes - and successful ones . The Unionist leadership did not have an idea between them . William McGrath had lots of ideas - all utterly impracticable - and the ability to put them across . Young Ulster (sic) Protestants who had not caved in to self-hatred probably momentarily enjoyed the thought that they were the Vanguard of the Chosen Race : McGrath was a British Israelite .
British Intelligence probably did know about McGrath and 'TARA' ; they probably also knew about his employment and they may have known that he was homosexual . So also did Ian Paisley , who told his informant , Valerie Shaw , that she should give thanks to God she "...was not born a pervert .. " But it required journalists working for Ireland's leading quality newspaper to turn this into something sinister .
We are asked to be outraged by the fact that Ian Paisley did not instantly assume that a homosexual must be sexually molesting his charges .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Fianna Fail's Ted Murphy was not happy with Dick Spring's 'no-show' ; he refused to meet Spring , whose letter , which expressed 'regret' at the 'annoyance' caused by the incident , was rejected at the council's next meeting . Murphy thinks the affair did not help the Labour Party locally : " I reckon they did'nt get ten votes from Midleton as a result of that . "
From bitterness to confusion : Galway County Council elected a Sinn Fein Chairman in 1979 . This election marked the installation of the first non-Fianna Fail Chairman since 1934 . To wrest this position from Fianna Fail , all the other members of the council had to band together . This alliance included members of Fine Gael , Labour , Sinn Fein and Independents , and it had a majority of one over the combined Fianna Fail vote . The alliance has since elected three Fine Gael members to the Chair .
There are two Ministers of State on Galway County Council - John Donnellan and Paul Connaughton ; Donnellan seconded Frank Glynn of Sinn Fein for Chairman in 1979 . Paul Connaughton is a member of Galway Committee of Agriculture , whose current Chairman is Patrick Ruane , also of Sinn Fein . Connaughton says he fully supports the government's position on Sinn Fein and as a Minister of State he would not meet public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein . Connaughton does not see any contradiction between this stance and his willingness to work with Frank Glynn , Sinn Fein , on Galway County Council and the Committee of Agriculture .
He distinguishes between his role as Minister and his role as a Councillor ....... ( '1169 ....' Comment - A typical 'Irish soilution to an Irish 'problem' ' : an 'issue' causes 'trouble' - the 'powers-that-be' introduce legislation to deal with that issue ; then carry-on as before . When it is pointed out to them that they have not 'solved' the problem , they point to the legislation and declare - " We have . Look - there's our solution to this problem ... !)
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Representatives of the 27 nationalists convicted last month on the sole word of self-styled former INLA member Harry Kirkpatrick have begun a hunger-strike in the H-Blocks against the corrupt paid-perjurer system .
The hunger-strikers have said that the fast will continue until they are given an early date for appeal against their sentences and an urgent review of all cases of people convicted on uncorroborated evidence of alleged accomplices . The hunger-strike began on Thursday , December 19th 1985 , hours after the 102-day show-trial ended , when 27-year-old Bobby Tohill refused breakfast . Tohill , who was sentenced to life imprisonment , is married with a four-year-old son and comes from the New Barnsley area of West Belfast .
He was joined a week later , on December 26th 1985 , by 28-year-old Gerard Steenson , from the Falls Road area , who is serving life with a recommended ' minimum' 25 years . A third defendant , un-named as we went to press , is due to join the fast today ( ie Thursday January 2 , 1986) , and others at weekly intervals .
In all , ten of the 27 defendants face life sentences and the other 17 were sentenced to savage terms of up to 20 years , after trial judge Carswell pronounced that Harry Kirkpatrick was a " ...credible.. " witness ; earlier , the Unionist judge had admitted that Kirkpatrick was "... a man of bad character and low moral standards .. " who had lied in court .......
(MORE LATER).
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
William McGrath's 'paramilitary' organisation , 'TARA' , appears to have consisted of a smallish number of 'chiefs' and no 'indians' at all ; even Roy Garland , once his deputy , admits that all its invitations to other Unionist 'chieftains' to 'pow-wow' were always refused . This fits in with the image of a psychologically dislocated dreamer . Such people are often attractive to young people .
Unionists in the early 1970's appeared to be 'girt' (ie 'be' and 'mix with' ) with cruel foes - and successful ones . The Unionist leadership did not have an idea between them . William McGrath had lots of ideas - all utterly impracticable - and the ability to put them across . Young Ulster (sic) Protestants who had not caved in to self-hatred probably momentarily enjoyed the thought that they were the Vanguard of the Chosen Race : McGrath was a British Israelite .
British Intelligence probably did know about McGrath and 'TARA' ; they probably also knew about his employment and they may have known that he was homosexual . So also did Ian Paisley , who told his informant , Valerie Shaw , that she should give thanks to God she "...was not born a pervert .. " But it required journalists working for Ireland's leading quality newspaper to turn this into something sinister .
We are asked to be outraged by the fact that Ian Paisley did not instantly assume that a homosexual must be sexually molesting his charges .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Fianna Fail's Ted Murphy was not happy with Dick Spring's 'no-show' ; he refused to meet Spring , whose letter , which expressed 'regret' at the 'annoyance' caused by the incident , was rejected at the council's next meeting . Murphy thinks the affair did not help the Labour Party locally : " I reckon they did'nt get ten votes from Midleton as a result of that . "
From bitterness to confusion : Galway County Council elected a Sinn Fein Chairman in 1979 . This election marked the installation of the first non-Fianna Fail Chairman since 1934 . To wrest this position from Fianna Fail , all the other members of the council had to band together . This alliance included members of Fine Gael , Labour , Sinn Fein and Independents , and it had a majority of one over the combined Fianna Fail vote . The alliance has since elected three Fine Gael members to the Chair .
There are two Ministers of State on Galway County Council - John Donnellan and Paul Connaughton ; Donnellan seconded Frank Glynn of Sinn Fein for Chairman in 1979 . Paul Connaughton is a member of Galway Committee of Agriculture , whose current Chairman is Patrick Ruane , also of Sinn Fein . Connaughton says he fully supports the government's position on Sinn Fein and as a Minister of State he would not meet public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein . Connaughton does not see any contradiction between this stance and his willingness to work with Frank Glynn , Sinn Fein , on Galway County Council and the Committee of Agriculture .
He distinguishes between his role as Minister and his role as a Councillor ....... ( '1169 ....' Comment - A typical 'Irish soilution to an Irish 'problem' ' : an 'issue' causes 'trouble' - the 'powers-that-be' introduce legislation to deal with that issue ; then carry-on as before . When it is pointed out to them that they have not 'solved' the problem , they point to the legislation and declare - " We have . Look - there's our solution to this problem ... !)
(MORE LATER).
HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS.
From 'AP/RN' , 2 January 1986 .
No By-Line .
Representatives of the 27 nationalists convicted last month on the sole word of self-styled former INLA member Harry Kirkpatrick have begun a hunger-strike in the H-Blocks against the corrupt paid-perjurer system .
The hunger-strikers have said that the fast will continue until they are given an early date for appeal against their sentences and an urgent review of all cases of people convicted on uncorroborated evidence of alleged accomplices . The hunger-strike began on Thursday , December 19th 1985 , hours after the 102-day show-trial ended , when 27-year-old Bobby Tohill refused breakfast . Tohill , who was sentenced to life imprisonment , is married with a four-year-old son and comes from the New Barnsley area of West Belfast .
He was joined a week later , on December 26th 1985 , by 28-year-old Gerard Steenson , from the Falls Road area , who is serving life with a recommended ' minimum' 25 years . A third defendant , un-named as we went to press , is due to join the fast today ( ie Thursday January 2 , 1986) , and others at weekly intervals .
In all , ten of the 27 defendants face life sentences and the other 17 were sentenced to savage terms of up to 20 years , after trial judge Carswell pronounced that Harry Kirkpatrick was a " ...credible.. " witness ; earlier , the Unionist judge had admitted that Kirkpatrick was "... a man of bad character and low moral standards .. " who had lied in court .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
A GAY VIEW ON KINCORA .
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Gay people have watched the growth of the Kincora industry with fascinated horror : a number of sordid and petty crimes perpetrated against teenage adults have been presented as atrocities on a par with Bloody Sunday , Bloody Friday and every other bloody day of the Ulster week .
Prejudices long dormant in the intelligent public have been gentled back into life ; homosexual people are underhand , sexually voracious and unusually interested in young people as sex partners , whether those young people are willing or not .
This is how the crazed notion that a boy brothel could exist in a city the size of Belfast got off the ground . It could be taken for granted that gay men in particular would find such a set-up congenial and that we would close ranks to protect the people who would try to organise such a venture . William McGrath is the central figure in the Kincora 'stew' - he had ideas which were lunatic enough to pass for fascist , he was also homosexual and subjected his charges to distressing and unwanted sexual attentions .
This , it is implied , is the crux of the matter so far as McGrath is concerned . Such an attitude is nonsensical ; William McGrath and his fellow defendants spent whole lifetimes building up images of familial rectitude . They never once said anything about their homosexual orientation . It is worth questioning whether they were entirely homosexual at all . No hint of their being gay ever seeped out into the gay community , much less the general community .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Ted Murphy , the Fianna Fail Chairman of Midleton UDC , was approached by two local Labour Party Officers , Eddie Allen and Billy Murphy , about arranging a 'Civic Reception' for Dick Spring , who was due to visit Midleton while touring the Cork area . Ted Murphy says he agreed readily .
Days before the visit , Dick Spring refused the offer of a 'Civic Reception' : the 'problem' was Charles Ronayne , a Sinn Fein member of the UDC , who would also be present . Ted Murphy was not impressed - " As an elected public representative himself it is disgraceful that Mr. Spring will not meet a fellow elected public representative . The Tanaiste (ie 'Tanaiste' - 'second-in-command' of the Free State Administration , as Dick Spring was at the time) , in refusing to meet the urban council , is acting like a dictator . "
The next day , Spring issued a statement saying - " I would not for the world have wished to offend the people of Midleton , or their elected representatives , in this way . " He pointed out , however , that for him to attend a function at which a Sinn Fein member would also be present would be in contravention of the government's decision not to deal with Sinn Fein .
He said he would be writing to the Urban District Council (UDC) to express his regret at the upset caused and to suggest a separate meeting with Ted Murphy - the latter , however , was not happy with that .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
At the same time as Garda Ted O'Mahony was transferred , his neighbour Stephen Moore was suing the gardai for injuries sustained while he was in garda custody . Eileen O'Mahony believes that the fact that her husband was friendly with Stephen Moore was the reason for his transfer .
When Stephen Moore was awarded £25,000 in an out-of-court settlement , the gardai immediately started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention . On 19 July , Stephen Moore gave evidence of his ordeal to two Garda Superintendents ; ironically , the interview took place on a Saturday in a deserted garda building on Saint John's Road in Dublin .
The building is used mainly for scrapped garda cars ; at one point , it housed the Garda Technical Bureau , part of which includes the 'Investigation Section' from which sprung the alleged ' Heavy Gang ' of the 1973-1977 period . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Nothing "alleged" about the 'Heavy Gang' : they did exist , and were given a free reign by the Free Staters to operate outside 'normal' practice when it came to 'interviewing' Irish Republicans . )
The file was expected to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for 'consideration' by 1 August .
[END of 'THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS' : from 1986.)
By Sean McGouran .
First published in 'FORTNIGHT' Magazine , May 1984 .
READERS PLEASE NOTE : This article was apparently penned by a gay supporter of McGrath / TARA / Kincora Boys Home . It is published here to give you a taste of the 'spin' which some people attempted to put on that issue ; read it with that in mind ..... Sharon. )
This is a link to the 'objectives' of the TARA loyalist paramilitary organisation with which William McGrath and Roy Garland were associated .
Gay people have watched the growth of the Kincora industry with fascinated horror : a number of sordid and petty crimes perpetrated against teenage adults have been presented as atrocities on a par with Bloody Sunday , Bloody Friday and every other bloody day of the Ulster week .
Prejudices long dormant in the intelligent public have been gentled back into life ; homosexual people are underhand , sexually voracious and unusually interested in young people as sex partners , whether those young people are willing or not .
This is how the crazed notion that a boy brothel could exist in a city the size of Belfast got off the ground . It could be taken for granted that gay men in particular would find such a set-up congenial and that we would close ranks to protect the people who would try to organise such a venture . William McGrath is the central figure in the Kincora 'stew' - he had ideas which were lunatic enough to pass for fascist , he was also homosexual and subjected his charges to distressing and unwanted sexual attentions .
This , it is implied , is the crux of the matter so far as McGrath is concerned . Such an attitude is nonsensical ; William McGrath and his fellow defendants spent whole lifetimes building up images of familial rectitude . They never once said anything about their homosexual orientation . It is worth questioning whether they were entirely homosexual at all . No hint of their being gay ever seeped out into the gay community , much less the general community .......
(MORE LATER).
SINN FEIN ALONE .......
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
Ted Murphy , the Fianna Fail Chairman of Midleton UDC , was approached by two local Labour Party Officers , Eddie Allen and Billy Murphy , about arranging a 'Civic Reception' for Dick Spring , who was due to visit Midleton while touring the Cork area . Ted Murphy says he agreed readily .
Days before the visit , Dick Spring refused the offer of a 'Civic Reception' : the 'problem' was Charles Ronayne , a Sinn Fein member of the UDC , who would also be present . Ted Murphy was not impressed - " As an elected public representative himself it is disgraceful that Mr. Spring will not meet a fellow elected public representative . The Tanaiste (ie 'Tanaiste' - 'second-in-command' of the Free State Administration , as Dick Spring was at the time) , in refusing to meet the urban council , is acting like a dictator . "
The next day , Spring issued a statement saying - " I would not for the world have wished to offend the people of Midleton , or their elected representatives , in this way . " He pointed out , however , that for him to attend a function at which a Sinn Fein member would also be present would be in contravention of the government's decision not to deal with Sinn Fein .
He said he would be writing to the Urban District Council (UDC) to express his regret at the upset caused and to suggest a separate meeting with Ted Murphy - the latter , however , was not happy with that .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
At the same time as Garda Ted O'Mahony was transferred , his neighbour Stephen Moore was suing the gardai for injuries sustained while he was in garda custody . Eileen O'Mahony believes that the fact that her husband was friendly with Stephen Moore was the reason for his transfer .
When Stephen Moore was awarded £25,000 in an out-of-court settlement , the gardai immediately started an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention . On 19 July , Stephen Moore gave evidence of his ordeal to two Garda Superintendents ; ironically , the interview took place on a Saturday in a deserted garda building on Saint John's Road in Dublin .
The building is used mainly for scrapped garda cars ; at one point , it housed the Garda Technical Bureau , part of which includes the 'Investigation Section' from which sprung the alleged ' Heavy Gang ' of the 1973-1977 period . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - Nothing "alleged" about the 'Heavy Gang' : they did exist , and were given a free reign by the Free Staters to operate outside 'normal' practice when it came to 'interviewing' Irish Republicans . )
The file was expected to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for 'consideration' by 1 August .
[END of 'THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ' .]
(Tomorrow - 'HUNGER-STRIKING AGAINST SHOW-TRIALS' : from 1986.)
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE .......
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure - aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .
He arrived at the Maguire house only hours before the police raid , on his first visit to England for seventeen years . He had come to inquire about his son Gerry , who had just been arrested . He died in prison in 1980 and on his deathbed asked Gerry Fitt to clear his name . Fitt promised that he would try .
The campaign to clear the Maguire's family name , and to achieve a posthumous pardon for Guiseppe Conlon , goes on . In a sense those jailed were victims of the IRA , for their 1974 bombings led to a great wave of anti-Irish hysteria in England and tremendous pressure on the police to catch the bombers . ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - Unfortunately , the fact that the police made a mistake in this case did not ensure that "tremendous pressure" was brought to bear on them to stop it happening again . )
Meanwhile , it stands to reason that the authorities will resist with determination any attempt to reopen any of these cases , for to do so would run the risk of having to grant up to seventeen pardons : such an admission of injustice would be to much for the system to bear . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ....and that remains the prevailing mindset within the British 'Establishment' regarding this country - its last colony . )
[END of '17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A Gay View On Kincora' - from 1984.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
During the last election , Patsy Wright , a Sinn Fein member of Athy UDC , met Alan Dukes (FG) and they had an argument about Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act : according to Patsy Wright , Dukes told him that Sinn Fein could go on the radio whenever they handed up their guns - Wright argued that Sinn Fein had no guns : " Would you ever fuck off , " Alan Dukes replied .
Six months later , however , in June 1983 , Joe Bermingham , (FS) Minister of State , invited Patsy Wright to the opening of a new Garda Station in Athy ; Wright declined the invitation . He said that he would not attend such an opening until there was a thirty-two county Republic . The Government's attitude towards Sinn Fein has hardened considerably over the past eight months . This hardening followed the Dublin Central by-election , the deaths at Ballinamore and the Harrods bombing .
The main result of this tougher approach is the embargo on dealings with elected public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein - this embargo was started by Labour Party Ministers and became Government policy on February 21 . It has caused intense bitterness and confusion .
There was , for example , the proposed Civic Reception for Dick Spring in Midleton , Cork , during the Euro elections .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Doctor Michael Moloney found a two-inch bruise on John Milne's chest and left shoulder , and found that he was mildy agitated . Milne also complained of back pain and pain in his leg from time to time . A jury heard the case in November 1983 and after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation , found that the two named gardai had assaulted John Milne . They made a £51,900 award , plus costs .
Stephen Moore was arrested a third time under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act : in June of 1984 , he became one of 2,216 people arrested under that Section , that year ! He was held for nine and a half hours - there was , this time , no questions , no interviews , no charges . He was fingerprinted and photographed . He lost a day's wages - at that time he started work at 4.30 pm and finished at 3am . He was arrested by his next door neighbour at 2.30pm - his neighbour , Garda Ted O' Mahony , had gone on duty half an hour earlier , and had been ordered to carry out the arrest .
The O'Mahony's and the Moores had been neighbours for eight years ; the two households got on well together . Last August , Garda O'Mahony was told that he was being transferred to Gorey , in Wexford , within two weeks . He appealed the decision to Commissioner Lawrence Wren - the appeal was turned down . He then appealed to the Garda Tribunal . Garda O'Mahony was well liked locally . He asked for an explanation as to why he was being moved , and was told that it was in the interests of the Garda force .
He was forced to take up duty in Gorey , by May 1 . He had spent 15 years in the gardai , almost eight of them in Clones , County Monaghan - he had never been disciplined . According to his wife , "...all he ever wanted was a reasonable explanation .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - The "explanation" was , obviously , that a 'cover-up' had begun , and people were being moved into , or out of , place . ) .......
(MORE LATER).
Last month PATRICK MAGUIRE was released from an English jail after serving 10 years for a 'terrorist' crime he insists he did not commit . A wide range of prominent people , from Cardinal O'Fiaich to Sir John Biggs-Davison , believe him .
DAVID McKITTRICK , London Editor of 'The Irish Times' newspaper , re-examines the evidence .
From 'Fortnight' magazine , May 1984 .
One of the defendants , Guiseppe Conlon , was a particularly pathetic figure - aged fifty-two , he suffered from Chronic Tuberculosis and had not worked for eleven years .
He arrived at the Maguire house only hours before the police raid , on his first visit to England for seventeen years . He had come to inquire about his son Gerry , who had just been arrested . He died in prison in 1980 and on his deathbed asked Gerry Fitt to clear his name . Fitt promised that he would try .
The campaign to clear the Maguire's family name , and to achieve a posthumous pardon for Guiseppe Conlon , goes on . In a sense those jailed were victims of the IRA , for their 1974 bombings led to a great wave of anti-Irish hysteria in England and tremendous pressure on the police to catch the bombers . ( ' 1169 ..... ' Comment - Unfortunately , the fact that the police made a mistake in this case did not ensure that "tremendous pressure" was brought to bear on them to stop it happening again . )
Meanwhile , it stands to reason that the authorities will resist with determination any attempt to reopen any of these cases , for to do so would run the risk of having to grant up to seventeen pardons : such an admission of injustice would be to much for the system to bear . ( ' 1169 ... ' Comment - ....and that remains the prevailing mindset within the British 'Establishment' regarding this country - its last colony . )
[END of '17 VICTIMS OF BRITISH JUSTICE' .]
(Tomorrow - 'A Gay View On Kincora' - from 1984.)
SINN FEIN ALONE .
As Sinn Fein has become more active , members of the government parties have sought to isolate the Provos politically .
The record shows , however , that some of those politicians have for years sought support from Sinn Fein - and some continue to do so in so far as it is politically expedient .
By JOHN McHUGH .
First published in ' MAGILL ' Magazine , September 1984.
During the last election , Patsy Wright , a Sinn Fein member of Athy UDC , met Alan Dukes (FG) and they had an argument about Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act : according to Patsy Wright , Dukes told him that Sinn Fein could go on the radio whenever they handed up their guns - Wright argued that Sinn Fein had no guns : " Would you ever fuck off , " Alan Dukes replied .
Six months later , however , in June 1983 , Joe Bermingham , (FS) Minister of State , invited Patsy Wright to the opening of a new Garda Station in Athy ; Wright declined the invitation . He said that he would not attend such an opening until there was a thirty-two county Republic . The Government's attitude towards Sinn Fein has hardened considerably over the past eight months . This hardening followed the Dublin Central by-election , the deaths at Ballinamore and the Harrods bombing .
The main result of this tougher approach is the embargo on dealings with elected public representatives who are members of Sinn Fein - this embargo was started by Labour Party Ministers and became Government policy on February 21 . It has caused intense bitterness and confusion .
There was , for example , the proposed Civic Reception for Dick Spring in Midleton , Cork , during the Euro elections .......
(MORE LATER).
THE INTERROGATION OF STEPHEN MOORE ....... .
On 11 July 1986 , Stephen Moore , from Clones in County Monaghan , accepted £25,000 plus costs to settle an action out of court .
He had sued 'Ireland' and the Attorney General for injuries he had received in garda custody in Monaghan Garda Station in March 1983 .
In that same year , John Milne received £51,900 for injuries sustained at the hands of two named gardai in that same garda station . He was also awarded costs .
Despite the fact that more than £75,000 has been paid out as a result of garda activity in Monaghan Garda Station , no garda has been charged with a criminal offence . In fact , some of the gardai who were accused have been promoted .
Doctor Michael Moloney found a two-inch bruise on John Milne's chest and left shoulder , and found that he was mildy agitated . Milne also complained of back pain and pain in his leg from time to time . A jury heard the case in November 1983 and after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation , found that the two named gardai had assaulted John Milne . They made a £51,900 award , plus costs .
Stephen Moore was arrested a third time under Section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act : in June of 1984 , he became one of 2,216 people arrested under that Section , that year ! He was held for nine and a half hours - there was , this time , no questions , no interviews , no charges . He was fingerprinted and photographed . He lost a day's wages - at that time he started work at 4.30 pm and finished at 3am . He was arrested by his next door neighbour at 2.30pm - his neighbour , Garda Ted O' Mahony , had gone on duty half an hour earlier , and had been ordered to carry out the arrest .
The O'Mahony's and the Moores had been neighbours for eight years ; the two households got on well together . Last August , Garda O'Mahony was told that he was being transferred to Gorey , in Wexford , within two weeks . He appealed the decision to Commissioner Lawrence Wren - the appeal was turned down . He then appealed to the Garda Tribunal . Garda O'Mahony was well liked locally . He asked for an explanation as to why he was being moved , and was told that it was in the interests of the Garda force .
He was forced to take up duty in Gorey , by May 1 . He had spent 15 years in the gardai , almost eight of them in Clones , County Monaghan - he had never been disciplined . According to his wife , "...all he ever wanted was a reasonable explanation .. " ( ' 1169... ' Comment - The "explanation" was , obviously , that a 'cover-up' had begun , and people were being moved into , or out of , place . ) .......
(MORE LATER).
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