1169 And Counting.....

Saturday, August 19, 2006

UPCOMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS :

Annual Bobby Sands Commemorative Lecture -
VENUE - Wynns Hotel , 35 Lower Abbey Streey , Dublin 1 .
DATE - Tuesday , 22nd August 2006 .
TIME - 7.30pm .
SPEAKER - Peig Galligan .
No Admission Charge ; ALL WELCOME !

Annual H-Block Hunger Strike Commemoration -
VENUE - Bundoran , County Donegal .
DATE - Saturday 26th August 2006 .
SPEAKER - Mary Ward .
Assemble at East End , 3pm .

A picket in support of the prisoners in Maghaberry Prison who are currently fighting for political status will be held at the GPO, Dublin on Saturday, September 2nd 2006 at 12:45pm .

Annual Eve-Of-All-Ireland Rally -
DATE - Saturday 16th September 2006 .
Assemble at the Garden Of Remembrance at 2pm , for parade to the GPO .
Also , on this same Saturday (16th) , Republicans will be holding a 12-hour fast at the GPO in support of Irish Republican political prisoners .

Friday, August 18, 2006

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS .......
James Keegan died in Granard Garda Station last September (1986) . Earlier this month , an inquest was held in Longford to ascertain the cause of death.
The central question - how James Keegan managed to tear a blanket and hang himself within four minutes - still remains unanswered .
DEREK DUNNE reports.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

James Keegan had been hospitalised on several occasions for a heart condition and alcoholism . In September 1986 he spent three weeks in Lisdarn Hospital in Cavan for heart problems . On 25 September 1986 , he was just four days out of hospital ; on that day , he left his home , located about three miles from Granard , and went into town to collect the dole .

At around 3pm , James Keegan was seen by Ban Garda Mary Doogue outside McEvoy's Chemist shop : he went over to talk to her . She did not think he was drunk . James Keegan often talked to her when he saw her on the street . Half an hour later he climbed into a van belonging to Gerry Maguire who was delivering eggs . Maguire was afraid that James Keegan might fall in front of a car so he left him home . Later that day Keegan thumbed a lift back into Granard .

Around 10.15pm , Ban Garda Mary Doogue saw James Keegan again - this time he was standing at a corner with a bottle of stout in his hand . At 11.50pm , Garda Eugene Watters and Garda David Martin were driving in their patrol car and as they passed the Greville Arms Hotel , a man staggered out onto the road - he had a bottle of stout in his hands and , according to the Gardai , he was shouting a lot . Garda Eugene Watters arrested the man for being drunk and incapable , brought him to the Garda Barracks and handed him over to Garda John Boyle , who was the Station Orderly for the night.......
(MORE LATER).

KERRY GARDA CRISIS .......

There is a crisis among the Gardai in Kerry and it is much deeper than one of morale . For years the Kerry Detective force has enjoyed a free hand in dealing with Section 30 cases in this heavily Republican county .
But the free rein given in these cases has had the inevitably corrupting effect . Now individual Gardai are being fingered for conduct that most of them had taken for normal : the heat is now on . Only the fall-guys remain to be named .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 .

James Sheehan was handcuffed and dragged by the hair to another room in Tralee Garda Station , where the questioning continued . Shortly afterwards , a senior detective came into the room and , seeing the wound on Sheehan's hand , decided he needed stitches . Sheehan was brought , still handcuffed , to the hospital where he received three sets of stitches to his hand , and was then returned to the Garda Barracks in Tralee : he signed nothing and was released after 24 hours .

In the same year (1982) , another Irish Republican , Gerald Shea , was brought to Tralee Garda Barracks and he too managed to have an altercation with a window (!) in an upper-floor room of the building . Gerald Shea required a dozen stitches .

THE MICK DAY CASE :
Mick Day was arrested under Section 30 in the summer of 1981 , in the Cahirciveen area of Kerry . He was taken to the local Garda station where he spent an hour before being taken all the way to Killarney : there , he alleges , he was subjected to severe brutality which was way beyond the 'norm' . Local Republicans estimate it as the worst beating since the 1970's . Mick Day signed nothing and was released after 48 hours . Two days later , he was admitted to hospital where he spent a week .
Next - 'THE AOH CASE.......'
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .......
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

It is decided that I will go out with Peter and Anna and drive around the city looking for the people who are sleeping rough . Peter is the boss for the night - he is a tall , friendly Franciscan Brother living in Leopardstown , Dublin , while Anna is a warm and jolly person who works in a solicitor's office . They know exactly where to go , as word gets around very easily .

The people that sleep rough in Dublin are mainly very private people - very few of them will go into the shelter for the night as some of them stay away because they have drink problems , whilst others have serious psychiatric issues . It takes a great deal of time and patience to make friends with them and win over their confidence . Most of them have been on the streets for years , and anybody familiar with Dublin at all would recognise the faces .

Seeing them curled up like little babies and covered over with blankets in a doorway can be somewhat depressing , especially if it is 1.00 am and almost below freezing point.......
(MORE LATER).

Thursday, August 17, 2006

UPCOMING REPUBLICAN EVENTS :

Annual H-Block Hunger Strike Commemoration -
VENUE - Bundoran , County Donegal .
DATE - Saturday 26th August 2006 .
SPEAKER - Mary Ward .
Assemble at East End , 3pm .

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS .
James Keegan died in Granard Garda Station last September (1986) . Earlier this month , an inquest was held in Longford to ascertain the cause of death.
The central question - how James Keegan managed to tear a blanket and hang himself within four minutes - still remains unanswered .
DEREK DUNNE reports.
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .

Jimmy Keegan lived with his brother three miles outside Granard , a small town in north County Longford : he was fifty-four years old and had been a cattle drover all his life . In the 1940's , '50s and '60s there was a good living to be made from cattle droving but , as marts began to replace fairs , Jimmy Keegan found that his livelihood was being eroded .

Some cattle drovers bought lorries and became more professional - others , for one reason or another , did not , including James Keegan . He was fond of drink and spent most of his money in that way . As a degree of prosperity made itself apparent in the 1960's he was left behind . In the 1970's and 1980's he survived by what he got from the dole and by selling ash plants to farmers at the local mart for one pound at a time . Locals regarded him as 'harmless' - he might make a nuisance of himself by singing in bars or on the street but he was never considered nasty or violent .

He was occasionally barred from pubs in Granard for his tendency to sing and generally create annoyance and he was well known to the gardai in the town . Sometimes they would pick him up and leave him home , or leave him in the garda station to sober up . He suffered from alcoholism , and he had a heart condition.......
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .......
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

At around 7.45pm some of the co-workers arrive for their shift , and the full-time workers have a chance to go off for a pint or whatever until they come back again at 11.30pm . Again , like the full-time workers , the co-workers (part-timers) are a friendly bunch . A good many of the residents have gone off to bed at this stage , some of them are still sitting around in the kitchen area , chatting amongst themselves , and others are just sitting there looking on with blank expressions on their faces .

Downstairs in a small room another group of co-workers have arrived in to give up some of their time to the Simon Community . They will go out on the streets and visit people who are sleeping rough and give them soup and sandwiches . The 'soup run' takes place every night between 10.00pm and 2.00am and those working on it have full time jobs during the day - they are mainly young people and are drawn from all walks of life . They will split up into small groups , depending on the number of cars that are available , and some of those groups will visit people living in flats that Simon have managed to find for them while another group will seek out people sleeping rough .

The co-workers will arrive in the shelter anytime after 8.30pm to make the soup and the sandwiches : tonight it is beef , cheese and egg sandwiches as well as French onion soup and tea . One of the residents who seems to have been wandering around the shelter all day sits down and looks at the assembled night crew who , before they actually set off , are being 'paired' and having their destinations designated . On the way out one of the girls smiles and says to the rest " Let's be careful out there..." Too right - Dublin's Buckingham Street and its environs may not be like Hill Street but it sure is a tough area.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, August 14, 2006

KERRY GARDA CRISIS .......

There is a crisis among the Gardai in Kerry and it is much deeper than one of morale . For years the Kerry Detective force has enjoyed a free hand in dealing with Section 30 cases in this heavily Republican county .
But the free rein given in these cases has had the inevitably corrupting effect . Now individual Gardai are being fingered for conduct that most of them had taken for normal : the heat is now on . Only the fall-guys remain to be named .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 .

DONAL DUNNE FALLOUT :
Another conflict at the highest level inside the Gardai was followed by the transfer of the State's two most senior officers early last year .

Following the crash of the State car of the then State Minister for Justice , Sean Doherty , in Ballyduff 18 months ago , statements from the State Administration in Leinster House , the 'Government Information Service' and the Garda Press Office all stated that the driver , Detective Donal Dunne , had been driven straight to the Mount Brandon Hotel where Sean Doherty was staying .

At Dunne's trial the following June , prosecuting officer Garda Michael O' Donovan flatly contradicted this account and said he had driven the driver of the State car , Detective Donal Dunne , to Tralee Garda Station . At the time of the accident , Garda Michael O' Donovan had given his account of the incident to Superintendent John Riordan : Chief Superintendent John Doyle was also aware at the time that Garda Michael O' Donovan was at the scene of the crash .

Within 12 months of the trial , Superintendents John Doyle and John Riordan had been transferred to Dublin and Mallow (Cork) respectively .

Next - a case involving a schoolteacher became known as 'Kerry's Shercock' * (* see 'Chaos In The Gardai' , here.) .......
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .......
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

The workers dish out the dinner , but the soup does'nt seem to be too popular tonight , and not everyone wants dinner either . A woman who has just arrived in drunk and oblivious to all and sundry dances around the floor on her own . A quiet and refined-looking gent sits in the corner on his own eating his dinner and stares on in amazement . The woman who is dancing comes over to Simon Project Leader Gerry Fulham who is eating his dinner with the rest of the residents . She wants to talk to him privately - he is like a father figure to them all .

One man does'nt want anything but potatoes - lots of them . He is a northerner and looks at one of the workers in amazement ; he is not too sure if he recognises her . In the end he takes one mouthful of potato , leaves the rest and staggers off to have a look at the television in an adjoining room . By 7.30pm he is fast asleep . The man who could take on ten Gerry Fulhams staggers off to bed saying that if anybody snores in his room tonight , he will throw them out the window . The rooms are cold , but to heat them would cost far too much - and the Simon Community has'nt got the money . A sufficient number of blankets make up for it and if anybody needs more all they have to do is ask .

Some of the rooms are single , others have two or three or sometimes four beds . Again a stale stench emerges from most of the rooms but , for the residents , it is a million times better than sleeping rough , something most of them would have experienced at some stage or other.......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Czech writer Milan Kundera once stated - " The struggle of freedom against tyranny is a struggle of memory against forgetting . The people remember their cause is just while their oppressors try to induce them to forget and turn their backs on the struggle ."
Ireland , Iraq , Lebanon - to name but three countries - are well-versed in experiencing the tragedies inflicted by imperialist governments . We salute and commend those opposition forces which "...struggle for freedom against tyranny.." in the above-mentioned countries . Your struggle is our struggle .
" It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inarticulate manner that they hurt one by their crude violence , their absolute incoherence , their absurd want of meaning , their entire lack of style ." Oscar Wilde.

Friday, August 11, 2006

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

As well as Mr. Paddy Cooney , there are many others in Fine Gael , and of course in the (State) Army , who would like to see this country (sic) tied into NATO : Paddy Cooney has not gone that far yet , but his performance over Poppy Day last November showed that he is determined to impose his political will on the perceived role and involvement of the (State) Army with one particular member of NATO ; when a group of high-ranking former (State) Army Officers came out publicly against the parading of State troops to the Union Jack flag , Generalissimo Paddy Cooney chose to dismiss their objections as "...the bigoted reaction of a coterie of retired army officers..." !

That "...coterie.." in fact included such 'stars' in the Pantheon of Irish (FS) Army 'greats' as Lt-Gen. Sean MacEoin and Lt-Gen. Costello , and it can hardly be forgotten that the Commander-In-Chief of the (State) Army , (FS) President Patrick Hillery , similarly declined to participate in the ceremony a year earlier .

Paddy Cooney's insistence on the Poppy Day turn-out split the (FS) Army right down the middle and it is not without significance that the new (FS) Chief-Of-Staff , Gerry O' Sullivan , was foremost among those who answered the call to attention in St. Patrick's Cathedral on Poppy Day in November 1983 . Slowly , very slowly , the (State) Army is assuming an ever-increasing role in the maintenance of 'law and order' in this State.......
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .......
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

The staff in the hostel are about the friendliest bunch of people you are likely to meet : they make all the residents feel welcome and work tirelessly day in , day out for the homeless of Dublin . They all have an enormous sense of humour and indeed they would want to , judging by some of the 'carry-on' of the residents . They get a meagre £28 per week (about €35) and they are not entitled to any form of social welfare , and the hours are long - working three days on and two days off .

All in all there are nine full-time workers , who all sleep in one small cramped room that doubles also as a store for medical supplies , and which is painted in an overpowering red and black . A long strip spanning the length of one wall bears the words ' Sex and drugs and country and western .' In addition to the full-time staff there are part-time voluntary staff , or co-workers as they are known : these will ensure that the full-time workers get their well deserved break and that the hostel will be staffed 24 hours a day - most co-workers have their own nine-to-five jobs as well .

As 7.00pm draws nearer the smell of roast meat wafts through the cold corridors . Tonight it is roast beef , boiled potatoes and mashed carrots with parsnips . The beef is intervention beef and Simon are absolutely delighted to get it . At this stage most of the people who will get beds have arrived back to the shelter - indeed , some of them never even left it that morning . They have a rule that if you leave it in the morning you can't come back until 6.30pm . The ones that do leave are very often the people who will go off and get drunk for the day and then arrive back in time for dinner and of course a bed.......
(MORE LATER).

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

Externally , there is little doubt that the move to involve this country (sic) with NATO or at least with an evolving European Defence Union is going on apace . Although Paddy Cooney has stated that it is the policy of Leinster House not to be allied militarily to any particular alliance , he regards this policy as one of expediency rather than principle -

" It is quite clear that though some commentators would see our neutrality as a matter of high principle , the majority of people and the historical evidence would suggest that it is a matter of expediency . It suits us to be militarily neutral . Our territory is not required or desired as a base by the Western alliance and we are in the happy position that , being ideologically and geographically allied to the Western block , we can confidently rely on it to protect our territory * should any state or combination of states hostile to the Western world threaten it . " ( * '1169...' Comment - Like Mr. Cooney and his small-minded colleagues in Leinster House , this "Western block" ignores the on-going "threat....to our territory.." from Westminster.)

Mr. Cooney continued : " Our economic , political and cultural interests lie very definitely with the Western world . This is entirely consistent with our historical stance and it is apposite to recall that during the emergency our neutrality was biased in favour of the Allies . " ('1169...' Comment - Apart from the very notion that politicians could be "...entirely consistent.." , there's this - "...our neutrality was biased in favour of the Allies .." - what hypocrisy ! Oscar Wilde probably had politicians in mind when he stated - " I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying ." )
(MORE LATER).

KERRY GARDA CRISIS .......

There is a crisis among the Gardai in Kerry and it is much deeper than one of morale . For years the Kerry Detective force has enjoyed a free hand in dealing with Section 30 cases in this heavily Republican county .
But the free rein given in these cases has had the inevitably corrupting effect . Now individual Gardai are being fingered for conduct that most of them had taken for normal : the heat is now on . Only the fall-guys remain to be named .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 .

The Hutchinson Case :
Liam Hutchinson was an emigre Kerryman who had spent 19 years in England . On Valentine's night in 1979 , he was approached by a Garda while looking into a shop window on his way home . The Garda engaged him in casual conversation - said he did'nt know him but had seen him about etc , and invited him to the Garda Station for 'a bit of a chat ' . It was 11.00 PM . Liam Hutchinson was surprised but , not wishing to be offensive , agreed .

On reaching the Garda Station , it became clear that the main topic of conversation was to be Hutchinson's hair and beard (both long) , his style of clothing and the possibility therefore that he might use drugs ! Liam Hutchinson took exception to these attitudes and made clear his desire to leave whereupon , he alleges , he received 'the mother and father of a beating ' . In fact , he alleges , he received a number of beatings in the course of the night involving at least six Gardai : in the morning he was charged with being drunk and disorderly !

But Hutchinson had at least ten years experience in England as a trade-union negotiator and knew his rights ; further , he was determined to see justice done . What happened subsequently was an astonishing series of adjournments at District Court level , concerning which Liam Hutchinson is deeply suspicious : on at least a dozen occasions , the Gardai applied for adjournments . Through an 'odd' conjunction of events , Hutchinson ended up missing the day of his trial - his solicitor then applied for an adjournment but was refused , and Hutchinson was found guilty in absentia and fined £2.00 .

But he would'nt leave it at that.......
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .......
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

A worn wooden stairs leads up to a small landing area adjoining the kitchen , which is probably the homeliest place in the whole building. It is the only room that is heated . Rows of tables and benches , probably belonging to the former occupants , line the dining area . A handful of people sit around , talking and arguing . One or two sit alone . There is always a smell of food cooking .

The building itself is a fairly large one : at any one time there are fifty beds available , but not everyone who arrives to the shelter will get one - first come , first served . Some of them are quite content to sit around the kitchen/dining area all night . Simon is a popular shelter for Dublin's homeless people - it is free , you get three meals a day and they will even help you get resettled in a flat if they can .

Most of the other shelters in Dublin charge anything from 70 pence to £3.00 per night , which is a lot of money if you are fond of a 'few drops' . The hostel , however , only caters for people over the age of forty - it would be virtually impossible to have it any other way , even though it is hard to categorise the type of person that stays there : some have chronic drink problems , others have psychiatric problems and some are homeless because of domestic and financial reasons . One man , 'Tony' , the one who could take on ten Gerry Fulham's 'once upon a time' , has been with the Simon Community for almost five years - he drinks a lot and is fond of meeting his old friends . He prefers the old hostel down on Sarsfield Quay for the simple reason that if one got drunk down in that area , one of the locals would help you back to the hostel.......
(MORE LATER).

Monday, August 07, 2006

KERRY GARDA CRISIS .......

There is a crisis among the Gardai in Kerry and it is much deeper than one of morale . For years the Kerry Detective force has enjoyed a free hand in dealing with Section 30 cases in this heavily Republican county .
But the free rein given in these cases has had the inevitably corrupting effect . Now individual Gardai are being fingered for conduct that most of them had taken for normal : the heat is now on . Only the fall-guys remain to be named .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 .

The Garda Superintendent who investigated the claims made by Emmet Walsh that he had been beaten in custody sent his findings to the DPP , and charges against the Gardai were ordered : furthermore , a charge of assault that the Gardai brought against Emmet Walsh was withdrawn on the instructions of the DPP . Detective Sergeant Tim O' Callaghan and Detective Garda Con Sullivan were found guilty in the District Court of assaulting Emmet Walsh and were given suspended sentences : there case is currently on appeal .

SERGEANT REDDINGTON :
In an encounter of an entirely different kind , senior Kerry Gardai initiated a remarkable series of events following internal disciplinary charges brought against Sergeant Reddington from Ballyduff , County Kerry : in 1982 , Reddington was found guilty on seven different charges arising out of a bungalow he had constructed in the town . Later , a series of public meetings in the town heard several residents claim they had been forced by senior Gardai into making false and incriminatory statements against Reddington , who was defended at the inquiry by a Sergeant Michael Flanagan from Dublin .

Both 'The Kerryman' newspaper and 'The Irish Times' newspaper printed statements , allegedly made by Sergeant Michael Flanagan , saying that Sergeant Reddington was the victim of a witch-hunt organised by senior Gardai Officers : in 1984 , the two papers' editors , Douglas Gageby and Seamus McConville , and a news journalist from each paper , were summoned to appear at another inquiry , this time to hear disciplinary charges against Garda Sergeant Michael Flanagan ; the journalists were denied permission to bring solicitors with them and , on withdrawing from the inquiry , were summoned under pain of prosecution to appear at a reconvened session .

The four then appeared but refused to answer questions that would incriminate anybody who might have made the 'witch-hunt' allegation . The inquiry , whose last session was held in October 1984 , has yet to reach a verdict on Garda Sergeant Michael Flanagan .......
(MORE LATER).

A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS .
From 'NEW HIBERNIA' magazine , March 1987 .

The bell over the big steel door rings twice . Gerry Fulham makes his way over to answer it but , before he gets to it , it rings a third and fourth time . He opens it to be faced by a weather-worn man in his late sixties but who , by all accounts , is only in his early fifties . The man looks at Gerry with a rather puzzled expression , and Gerry knew he had been drinking - he was drunk as a lord . Drunk as ten lords . It is only 6.15 in the evening and it is a sign that another eventful evening in the Simon Community's shelter for the homeless is about to begin . This scene will be re-enacted several more times as the night progresses .

As 'Project Leader' in the Shelter on Lower Buckingham Street in Dublin , this scene is familiar to Gerry Fulham : he is a big , burly and bearded man and firmly respected by both the staff and residents of the Simon Shelter . To some of the more bellicose and intoxicated residents his burly stature seems almost ominous . One of them tells me that he could take on ten Gerry Fulhams in his day , but would'nt dare do it now . He is far too drunk to even kick the wind out of a paper bag , and is content to shower abuse on some of his fellow residents instead .

This Simon Shelter is an old fire-brigade station : from the outside it looks drab , cold and very impersonal . Inside , it is much the same . As you enter the small re-inforced steel door a stale stench greets you . But you get used to it after a while . A notice-board has a circular to all staff asking them to help Brendan Ryan in his campaign to get elected to the (State) Seanad* : ( * '1169....' Comment - .....a well-known stomping ground for the poor and destitute..) Ryan is said to have spent most of his time working for the homeless in the State over the past decade and , according to some , without him there would be no Simon Community . Another notice advertises to the residents that there will be bingo on Sunday at 3.00 pm.......
(MORE LATER).

Friday, August 04, 2006

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

Paddy Cooney , who is now the political boss of the State Army believes that there is "...an unwillingness to obey the laws of the land . Every citizen must realise that the alternative to the democratic concensus is anarchy leading to revolutionary change.." ('1169...' Comment - when that "law" is an ass , and is being enforced by unprincipled careerist assholes , and that "land" is a corrupt , gombeen and morally-challenged poxy State such as this is , then we say - 'bring on the anarchy!' and God speed the 'revolutionary change'! )

Mr. Cooney is also concerned with "... the high level of national (sic- for Cooney and his likes , the word 'national' is used to describe the Free State) malaise manifesting itself in so many unpleasant ways in our society today * . Anything that we could do or the (State) Defence Forces could be involved in doing to cure that would be a high national (sic) priority " , said the man , speaking in Leinster House in June 1983 . ( * '1169...' Comment - that "malaise" is caused by those self-same political leeches that reside in Leinster House : they are the cause of it , not the "cure" for it.)

The (State) Defence Forces "...curing.." the "...national malaise.." ? This sounds more like Generals Pinochet or Zia than 'General' Paddy Cooney ! Such bright ideas from the midland solicitor do not raise too many eyebrows with the Irish public at present : but they must sow seed of thought - and ambition - in the ranks of young (State) Army Officers ....... ('1169...' Comment - this corrupt wee Statelet really deserves to be screwed if it's "young Army Officers" are anyway anxious to 'grow up' to be like their political masters!)
(MORE LATER).

KERRY GARDA CRISIS .

There is a crisis among the Gardai in Kerry and it is much deeper than one of morale . For years the Kerry Detective force has enjoyed a free hand in dealing with Section 30 cases in this heavily Republican county .
But the free rein given in these cases has had the inevitably corrupting effect . Now individual Gardai are being fingered for conduct that most of them had taken for normal : the heat is now on . Only the fall-guys remain to be named .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 .

Aside altogether from the Kerry Babies case , there is a mounting catalogue of controversial incidents involving Gardai throughout the Kerry division in the years up to , and including , 1984 : there is evidence of Garda brutality - sometimes quite casual brutality . In addition , there is evidence of abuse of powers , intimidation of citizens , and of malpractice in constructing cases which has already brought the Kerry Gardai into conflict with the State DPP .

The following catalogue of controversial cases is by no means exhaustive ; it is simply representative of the types of cases that have built up to the current crisis in the division - once again , they point to the necessity for a complaints procedure so long promised , and so long delayed , by the present (State) Minister for Justice .

The Emmet Walsh Case -
Emmet Walsh was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act , in April 1982 , and taken to Tralee Garda Station , Kerry , where , he says , he was asked to sign a confession : he had no previous arrests , and is a college graduate , indicating some degree of articulateness . Furthermore , his father is a retired Garda Inspector : in short , Walsh's background was as different from 'the usual' as is possible .

Emmet Walsh alleges that he was beaten by named Detectives and , on his release , had the sense to make straight for the doctor . Complaints were duly made and the incident was investigated by a Garda Superintendent .......
(MORE LATER).

PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

Recently , Eoghan Harris has helped out on the planned production of a film based on 'Up In The Park', the boring reminiscences of Liz Shannon , the boring wife of the former boring United States Ambassador to Ireland . And only last week , the Eoghan and Anne team were giving a polite lecture on politics and literature at the Arts Club in Dublin .

But as Anne Harris emerges ever more to the forefront of the partnership , Eoghan retreats into the provincial Ireland he loves to loathe - like Noel Browne , he is spending more time in his country retreat , privately fulminating against the body politic and the ignorance of those who vote 'Yahoos' into office . Writing plays - even bad plays - is one antidote for this malaise ; the other is to put his own pet theories and his reputation to the real test that they deserve - on the hustings in an election .
[END of 'PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS']
(Next - 'A HARD 'OUL STATION : LIFE ON THE STREETS' . From 1987.)

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

The year 1977 saw the 'electoral fluke' in which Paddy Cooney got his comeuppance : he lost his seat ! But there was the 'consolation prize' of leader of Fine Gael in the State Senate for the next four years - but he still insisted on keeping abreast of 'justice' matters . Towards the end of 1977 , Paddy Cooney charged that the "...notoriously guilty.." were not convicted because of their "...clever manipulation.." of legal technicalities !

His decrease in salary was cushioned somewhat by a £28,000 award made against the 'Sunday World' newspaper when he sued them in a defamation action . This stint in the State Senate seems to have set him thinking about politics on a global scale : it was around this time that he said that "...a takeover by communists could be avoided by a political , and if necessary , a defence union , of Europe . " He succeeded in getting himself back into Leinster House in 1981 and held the 'Transport And Communications' portfolio in the short-lived Coalition administration of that year .

Sitting on the backbench once more , Paddy Cooney found time to criticise the Irish charity , 'Trocaire' , saying that much of the money donated "...went to a myraid of quasi-social and political projects .. " and added that if the Catholic Church hierarchy wanted to promote social and political revolution in the Third World (!) they should tell people what they were collecting the money for , and not for the relief of hunger . Fine Gael leader Garret Fitzgerald (on the left of the photograph : the person on the right is a female) was forced to wield a Very Big Stick for this outburst by Cooney and that stick was brought down unequivocally on Paddy Cooney's knuckles . But all was forgiven as another election ensued and Mr. Cooney was then elevated to the Defence portfolio : this was seen as a concession to the less liberal wing of Fine Gael.......
(MORE LATER).

SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

If British strategists hope that an assassination campaign against Irish Republican activists specifically , will be accepted by nationalists as a 'logical outcome' of those activists' military opposition to British rule * , then they are sadly mistaken . (* ' 1169...' Comment - That 'logic' was , then [1983] , used by , amongst others , the political muppets in Leinster House and the SDLP ie - ' ...Westminster only has troops here because of the (para-)military opposition shown to them....' . Today , that nonsense is on the tip of the tongue of the new 'respectables'.)

Republican military resistance , as has been shown so often before , is too deeply a part of nationalists' rejection of the Orange State to be regarded as anything other than entirely legitmate , both politically and morally , and for the deaths of those Republican activists to be anything other than a deeply-felt tragedy . If the shoot-to-kill tactics persist , the Catholic bishops will have even fewer "...voices of moderation.. " left to talk to .
[END of 'SHOOT TO KILL' .]
(Next-'KERRY GARDA CRISIS' ; from 1985.)

PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

The 'cloak-and-dagger' days for the Workers Party are almost gone : although Eoghan Harris always took his role as 'Supreme Guru' very seriously , his elitist and bullying ways made him many enemies within the Workers Party .

Gone now are the days when a half-hour pep-talk from Harris in a smoke-filled back room would swing the party behind his latest point of view - his theories , too , have been somewhat discredited . The Telesis Report and the performance of multinationals inside the Irish economy in recent years have made his booklet 'The Irish Industrial Revolution' a tract which 'the comrades' would rather forget . Many members of the Workers Party also baulk at Eoghan Harris's complete commitment to the 'Two Nations' theory . Personally , poor Eoghan now has to contend with the twin debilities of being middle-aged and middle-rich !

Despite his favoured proletarian stance , Eoghan Harris and his wife must now enjoy a joint income of around £50,000 per year and the 'strain' of it is beginning to tell : the family is about to move house from an inner-city-but-chic residence off Dublin's South Circular Road to the blatantly burgeois comfort of Monkstown , overlooking Dublin Bay.......
(MORE LATER).

An tAthair Eoghan Ó Gramhnaigh (Father Eoghan O'Growney).

We wrote an article on Father Eoghan on this blog and have recently been contacted by a kind reader , Donncha , from Beal Feirste (Belfast) , who complimented our blog (*BLUSH!*) and wrote - " Could I request that you highlight in some way the fact that the homestead of this great man from county Meath is lying derelict. I think it is a shame that some memorial has not long ago been erected at this sacred spot. I know that there is a fine statue of him at the Church in Athboy but I think that something special should be erected at the place of his birth. I wrote to the Meath Co. Council but to date I have not received an acknowledgement of any sort. Keep up the good work."

It is a travesty , Donncha , that those who currently have the authority to authorise memorials to the the men and women that sacrificed so much , so often , in an attempt to build a better future for unknown generations would , instead , rather use taxpayers money on so-called 'modern street furniture' : an injustice to those of us who are proud of our history . We can at least console ourselves by believing that things will not always be so .

Thank You again , Donncha , a Chara ; your message was a joy to receive , considering the amount of anti-Republican/anti-Irish comments we get each week .
Slan go foill anois . Sharon .

Monday, July 31, 2006

GREAT TO BE BACK !

....but hard to get going again ! We enjoyed our break in Tramore , County Waterford - too much of this , perhaps (it was , on a 'guessitmate' , between 27 and 30 degrees on most days!) , just the right amount of this and , as always , not enough of this !
This blog will be updated every Monday , Wednesday and Friday : if you have any comments please keep them to yourself . Or leave them in our 'Guestbook' !

Thank You . Sharon .

PADDY COONEY'S ARMY .......
Not since the earliest days of the State has the role of the Irish Army (sic) been under such intense scrutiny . And not since the war years has it had such a forceful political master as Patrick Mark Cooney .
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , 3 February 1984 .

In the late 1970's , Paddy Cooney busied himself not making deals with Gallagher and Coyle in relation to the Herrema kidnapping and criticised both the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA as "... the two sources of subversion in Ireland * springing from a debased nationalism and a Sino-Hibernian version of the Communist Manifesto. " (* '1169...' Comment : typical freestate mindset - no mention of the British presence as a "source of subversion" on this isle .)

This was one of the first indications that the 'Red Scare' was on the way . Then , in 1976 , the British Ambassador to this State , Christopher Ewart-Biggs , was assassinated , the Fine Gael and Labour State Administration declared an Emergency and rushed through seven-day detention . Surprise , surprise , allegations of brutality against plain clothes members of the Gardai began to pop up everywhere ; newspaper reports appeared which alleged that there was in existence within the Gardai a 'Heavy Gang' , whose main function was to force self-inflicting statements from those held in custody . Calls for an Independent Complaints Tribunal were met with the usual enthusiasm .

Paddy Cooney said that those who called for adequate legal counsel and medical attention for suspects held in custody should also demand access to hairdressers , dentists and opticians if they were to be consistent . ('1169...' Comment - an arrogant , sneering and 'elitist' response from a career politician - this time a Fine Gael one - directed at those that Cooney and his type most probably view as 'worthless' . On this occasion , however , Cooney let his guard down and spoke his mind - and he was , then , commenting on "suspects" , not those actually convicted of an offence.)

In any event , 22 charges of Garda brutality were referred to the State Director of Public Prosecutions ; eight Gardai were charged , but the charges were all dismissed in court . 'Internal disciplinary action' was taken in four cases . Somewhere in there , the Sallins train was robbed and the fall-out from that one is still around.......
(MORE LATER).

SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

The British Government correctly believes that the main body of Northern Nationalist opinion is now , in the wake of the hunger-strikes and as seen partly in the Stormont Assembly elections , so totally alienated and polarised from British 'solutions' that it cannot be further polarised nor can it be wooed by velvet glove * tactics . (* ' 1169...' Comment : .....so Westminster commenced their tried and trusted 'Plan B' scenario : 'woo' the in-coming new leadership of the 'trouble-makers/dissidents/terrorist community' ie Adams and Company and use those that have been so 'wooed' to convince their followers that a 'respectable' way forward is possible . Then finance that new leadership and relax , then remove , restrictions on them . And in Adams , McGuinness , Kelly and others , they found willing 'wooables' .)

In those circumstances the British Government believes that its present tactical interests are served by satisfying increasingly outrageous loyalist demands for 'greater security' - which means further repression of nationalists - and for more drastic methods , and by attempting to sicken and terrify nationalists with a revamped 'tough image' RUC . Westminster also no doubt hopes , foolishly , to inflict a psychological wound among Irish republican activists by creating the impression that , given an opportunity , they will be shot on sight , in an attempt to intimidate them . Yet their own analysis should perhaps best teach them of the shortcomings of such a strategy against a nationalist people that has grown up in the face of such repressive terror tactics and has been hardned and steeled by them .

The killings in Lurgan and Armagh of Irish Republican activists had emotional repercussions right across the usual spectrum of nationalist opinion in those towns , and elsewhere in the North-East of Ireland , arousing an anger that the transparently futile calls for more Widgery-like whitewash enquiries did nothing to allay.......
(MORE LATER).

PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

In 1980 , Eoghan Harris tried to mobilise RTE producers against the mooted appointment of John Kelleher to Muiris Mac Conghail's slot as Controller of Programmes ; since then , however , Harris's star has waned inside the trade union as members have recoiled from the manipulative methods of Workers Party activists who wield a disproportionate influence inside the RTE complex .

Eoghan Harris can look back on 20 years in which he has pioneered a new intellectual and political framework for the force of ' moderninism' (or pro-imperialism , depending on your point of view) inside RTE and the Workers Party . But the Workers Party has moved away , politically if not militarily , from its obsessive secrecy - party members now seek open identification as the Workers Party now makes its bid to displace the Labour Party electorally . The methods of Harris were more geared to the infiltration of organisations : the unions , RTE , the Union of Students in Ireland and even the IDA .

Harris is an unusual phenomenon on the Irish political scene : he is an intellectual who is not an academic and a politician who does not seek public office : he is interested in political power but it is a power without responsibility or at least accountability .......
(MORE LATER).

Saturday, July 29, 2006

The present 'thug tactics' of the Israelis brings to mind similar atrocities 'visited' on a now extinct people , the Tainos , by Spaniards .

In 1492 , Columbus landed on an island which he and other invaders named 'Hispaniola' (now known as the Dominican Republic) . The natives , known as the Tainos , produced pottery and other ornaments using a local resource - gold . Columbus , being the first-class plunderer and pirate that he was , immediately recognised the gold for what it was and knew its value ; the native Tainos were , to their eventual detriment , a peaceful people who loved and respected the land which sustained all 600,000 of them . The Spaniards not only took whatever supplies of gold the Tainos themselves had stored , but put every native man , woman and child to work as slave labour to mine for more gold for them .

Due to their peaceful nature , the Tainos refused to fight back against their oppressor but were equally determined to end their oppression - mass suicide ensued . In the sixteen years (ie 1492-1508) after the arrival of Columbus and his thieves , 540,000 of the Tainos killed themselves by drinking the poisonous juice of the yellow yucca plant , or by hanging themselves after they had killed their own children and aborted their wives babies . Within the following nine years (ie 1508-1517) forty-nine thousand of the sixty-thousand Tainos that were still alive had killed themselves , leaving 11,000 natives on the isle , who were 'ruled over' by a 700-strong force of Spaniards .

In December 1518 , an epidemic of smallpox hit the remaining Tainos - the disease was rampant for two months until it had ran its course , leaving 8,000 natives dead . By this stage (ie early 1519 : twenty-seven years after slave-labour gold mining first began) the remaining gold was judged by the Spaniards to be not worth their time , so they left the 'surviving' natives to do as they pleased - 'all' 3,000 of them .

By 1550 - as other plunderers and pirates were beginning the plantation of Laois and Offaly on this isle - the Tainos were wiped out completely .

The so-called 'ruling elite' of the Spaniards , the Americans , the Israelis and the British , to name but a few , have consistently taught us , the 'ordinary' people , one thing , throughout history : that your way of life , your value system , your morals , are worth fighting for . The Tainos would have been described in their day , by their oppressor and their oppressor's business interests/'friends' , as " ignorant savages" : had they physically fought back they would have been labelled as "terrorists/dissidents" .

This blog , a voice in the wilderness as it may very well be , comes down firmly on the side of "ignorant savages" and "terrorists/dissidents" like the Tainos , wherever they are in this world . With no apology .

John , Sharon , 'Junior' : the '1169...' Crew .
Back on Monday , 31 July 2006 .

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

The ' 1169...' crew are back in Dublin - physically , at least , if not mentally !

The weather still feels 'holiday-ish' , deadlines remain something we left behind us in early July , but ....... in the most definite yard-stick that 'normality' is closing-in fast : the spending money has been spent !

As a 'holding-post' until such time as we properly re-organise ourselves , we re-publish a 'Letter to the Editor' of 'The Freemans Journal' newspaper , dated July 9 , 1806 , from a person who signed themselves 'Nemo' . This letter was penned three short years after Robert Emmet's insurrection had failed and gives a flavour of what 'Nemo' sensed was to come .......

' Pray Mr Freeman , are you not misinformed with regard to the Fete Champetre , which her Grace the Duchess has proposed to give in the Phoenix Park , ten or twelve days hence ?
700 NOBILITY AND GENTRY ! Ah! Be easy , Mr. Editor , you are joking , sure , clever as you suppose yourself , you will not go it that way on us . Seven hundred nobility and gentry - 700 fiddle-sticks . Why man , you might as well tell us that 700 of Napoleon's legion of Honor , with their Ladies , were to breakfast with our Viceroy , as to satyrise the IRISH Nobility and Gentry , by supposing that 700 of them could be collected in dirty Dublin , while London , with all its glories expanded to their view .

Do you think , Sir , they are so destitute of taste , so Gothic in their preferences , so Antideluvian in their habits , so vulgarly Irish in their feelings , as to show partiality to the country which contains nothing belonging to them but their DIRTY ACRES ?
Yours ,
Nemo . '

It comes as no surprise to some of us that they had their 'Yes men' then , and their 'Nemo's ' as well !
Back soon .......

Friday, July 14, 2006

Updated each Monday , Wednesday and Friday . The '1169...' crew will be heading off on our annual holiday today , July 14th , for about two weeks . 'Junior' considers himself "too old" to accompany old fogies like us but , if he finds time for the computer at all , it will be on 'Bebo/My Space' or the like . So whatever chance there is of him minding the house , there is absolutely no chance of him 'minding' the blog ! We should be back in late July , or possibly sooner - depends on the funds!

SHOOT TO KILL .......
The unchanging face of repression .
PETER HAYES examines reactions to the latest shoot-to-kill deaths .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.

It needs to be said at this stage , although it is a commonplace for Northern Nationalists , that the British shoot-to-kill tactic is nothing new in the arsenal of British repression in the Six Counties , and that - although it has been an on-going tactic at one level or another throughout the whole course of the present resistance in the North of Ireland - it is , like sectarian assassination campaigns run by British forces and their paramilitary puppets in Ireland , a 'tap' that can be turned on and off to suit British and loyalist needs in particular political situations .

Bloody Sunday in 1972 , when British strategists tried unsuccessfully to 'draw out' the IRA and teach civil rights protestors a sharp and brutal lesson in the process , provides one major illustration of this . Nothing fundamentally has changed since this , except perhaps that the British are generally prepared to let loyalist killer gangs carry out random attacks on Catholic civilians , while themselves preferring to engage in specific political assassinations against Irish Republican activists .

Even so , it has generally been the role of the SAS - as seen particularly in the South Armagh area during 1975 and 1976 when they assassinated IRA Volunteers John Green and Peter Cleary and , mistakenly for a Republican , Seamus Ludlow - to carry out covert killings with few or no questions asked , rather than regular British soldiers or the RUC : what has altered then is the political circumstances.......
(MORE LATER).

PILLARS OF SOCIETY : EOGHAN HARRIS .......
From 'The Phoenix' magazine , October 1985 .

The Workers Party embraced Eoghan Harris and his 'marxist' policies , hungry as they were for political 'clothes' that would mark them off from the Provos and the Communist Party of Ireland and which would also enable them to replace a jaded (State) Labour Party in the future . Such feverish activity with great matters of State were beginning to cause problems in RTE : Harris was often away 'ill' or , more recently , on sabbatical leave . Last year (1984) an enraged senior executive attempted to remove Eoghan Harris from the payroll because he was not working on any project . Other less flamboyant programmers resent a man they see as a talented yet dilettante producer who can wander in and out of the station as he pleases !

Harris is currently working as a producer on the 'Mailbag' television programme , which hardly exercises his mind to the full...

Something that has not damaged Harris within RTE , however , has been his close relationship with Muiris Mac Conghail , now Controller of RTE 1 television and aspirant RTE Director General ; Harris and other Workers Party members moved a motion at the FWUI station-branch backing Mac Conghail in his tussle with RTE Authority Chairman Fred O 'Donovan earlier this year , but the move backfired when other producers objected to the Director General race being turned into a political football.......
(MORE LATER).

Holidays tomorrow , Saturday 15th July : we will be back in '1169 Towers' towards the end of July . However , having said that , I am reminded of an Oscar Wilde quote : " There is a fatality about all good resolutions . They are invariably made too soon . " Slan go foill anois , and remember : Ni Seoinini sinn go leir ! Sharon and crew .