RSF PLACARD FOR SATURDAY MARCH 29 , 2008 .


HEALTH PROTEST MARCH / RSF BALLAD SESSION.

'ORGANISERS of a rally for better healthcare being held in Dublin this weekend will be disappointed if at least 70,000 people do not turn up to demand better health services across the state. Patients, hospital workers and trade unions will march to Leinster House on Saturday expressing anger in the Health Service Executive over restrictions in hiring staff and mismanagement of services....'
(...with apologises to the author for the changes to the text.)

Susie Long RIP.

Republican Sinn Fein members and supporters that are taking part in this protest march are asked to meet-up at Head Office , 223 Parnell Street , Dublin 1 , between 2pm and 2.30pm on the afternoon of Saturday 29 March.

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TWO OF THE BALLAD SESSION PRIZES FOR SATURDAY 29 MARCH 2008.

The organisers tell me that they have kept back fifty tickets, to be sold from the door at a fiver each on the night , for this ballad session . The doors open at 9pm and it looks like all the tickets will be gone before ten.....
See you there....!
Sharon.

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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .

ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

During his 1928 working trip to America , Ernie O' Malley made his own way through that country , and Mexico , living hard in the depression years , but always bearing the historical image of Ireland , the desire for freedom and the inspiration of a heritage .

Titles of the poems he wrote at that time indicate his old and new concerns for the victims of oppression - 'From Two Islands' , 'Deirdre' , 'We Have Not Sought For Beauty' , 'Navajo Country' and 'Mountjoy Hanged 1921' . It was during semi-exile in the artists' colony of Taos, New Mexico, that he first set down his memories of what may well be the most spectacular IRA career of the period . " As thrilling as a cinema drama..." , reported a Dublin newspaper on his gun battle and capture by Free State soldiers in the exclusive Ailesbury Road suburb of Ballsbridge , Dublin , in November 1922 .

Any outline of his later life may well seem anti-climax , but somehow more individualistic and interesting than the government , business or professional careers of Civil War companions . He was not a conformist . His back scarred by a hail of bullets , wounded and injured about a score of times , he was also at home in the quiet world of books , welcomed in the spheres of artistic endeavours , remembered as a stimulating friend by a wide circle . He loved the wild Mayo coast and the islands of his childhood , and had a reserved humour , a delicate irony . As a man of action and a man of letters , his abiding influence was hard years of war in a national resistance campaign.......
(MORE LATER).



AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE RUC . RUC brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a paramilitary force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule in the Occupied Six Counties of Ireland.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

In June of this year (1982) , the 60th anniversary of the formation of the RUC was marked by a series of commemorative events ; articles filled newspapers , editorials and letters from loyal correspondents heaped praise and glory on that force , church services , some attended by well-known Catholic clergy , prayed for its members , and local councils passed motions of support and congratulations in their 'honour' . In short , 'respectable unionist society' paid its tribute to its 'police force' , formed in its image .

60 years of brutality , torture , murder and lies were brushed aside as the unionist establishment congratulated itself for the continuing existence of a para-military force which had maintained and safe-guarded its rule over the turbulence of those years .

There were of course no prayers for young Michael McCartan, gunned down in cold blood in July 1980 by a plainclothes RUC man while painting 'Up The Provos' on a gable wall near his south Belfast home . Nor , doubtless , did any clergyman pause a moment in memory of 9-year-old Danny Rooney , shot dead by RUC men in August 1969 in his Divis Flats home ; or in memory of 42-year-old Samuel Devenney, beaten to death in his own home by those same 'guardians of peace' in April 1969.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The British Army lance-corporal had held the gunmen in his sights for only a few minutes , but for what must have seemed an age to him : fearing that his Sergeant would not return with the patrol in time and thinking that the gunmen were going to disappear he fired at about 9.55pm , fifteen minutes after they had got out of the car . He missed . The Volunteers took cover in the bunker area and returned fire .

Their bullets were striking the ground around the lance-corporal with a fair degree of accuracy as the rest of the British Army patrol took up fire positions beside him . The concentrated fire-power of the whole patrol , two LMG's and five rifles , soon forced the gunmen to seek cover or retreat . One was pinned down in the area of the bunkers where eventually he was lost to view , whilst the other three withdrew eastwards , two of them slowly and using all available cover towards House 'C' , which they reached some twenty minutes later .

The other man ran fast across an open field , but one of the LMG gunners chased him across the field with tracer , elevating the gun until he hit him . The gunman was seen to stagger and drop to his knees , managing only to crawl through a hedge near House 'A' . But he managed to escape while the gunner was changing his magazine . British Army helicopters were soon on the scene.......
(MORE LATER).

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IRISH REPUBLICANISM AND FOLKLORE : EASTER MONDAY , MARCH 24 , 2008 , AT THE GPO IN DUBLIN .

Before the Republican Sinn Fein Easter Monday Commemoration at the GPO in Dublin got underway today , RSF members present , and about 150 other people, were treated to a very fine and dignified tribute "...to the women who played a vital role in the Uprising , the War of Independence and the Civil War.." , which had been organised by the 'North Inner City Folklore Project' , Dublin . This post contains a few photographs from that event . But first...

The main Dublin Easter Commemoration was held today at the GPO in Dublin . A crowd of approximately 300 people stood their ground outside the GPO despite constant harassment from uniformed gardai and their colleagues in the Special Branch . The parade proper left the Garden of Remembrance at 2pm and marched down O'Connell Street , where the Colour Party , consisting of members of Na Fianna Eireann , Cumann na mBan and Dublin RSF , formed-up on the street , facing the middle two pillars of the GPO . Hundreds of people stood either side and behind the Colour Party , with dozens more standing on the footpath , behind the small stage and speakers lectern . The event was Chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin, and Liam Cotter , Kerry , delivered a stirring oration which met with roars of approval from the crowd . When the Commemoration finished - it was on for just over an hour - the RSF Chairperson thanked those who attended and asked that they not be intimidated by the rough tactics employed by the forces of the State , and reminded the crowd that it was in their best interest to attend the trade-union organised 'Health Protest March' next Saturday (March 29th) , which commences from the Garden of Remembrance at 3pm . A proper report will be published in the April 2008 issue of 'Saoirse' , which will be available from the 9th of that month .

Now for the 'Picture Gallery'! First , scenes from the RSF Commemoration.....

Liam Cotter , Kerry , at the GPO in Dublin , Easter Monday 2008.


One of the attempts by State Garda to interfere with the Easter Monday RSF Commemoration in Dublin . It failed.



The view from the traffic isle on O'Connell Street .


Roisin Hayden , Dublin , prepares to do the business at the GPO today!


Wrapping-up after the Commemoration.


...and a few photographs from the tribute held today , also at the GPO in Dublin , which was organised by the Dublin 'North Inner City Folklore Project' group -
















Finally - we would like to thank Malachy ,Terry and Cathleen (NICFP) and Peter , Liam , Matt and Mags , Dan , Bernard and Séan (with apologises to anyone I have not mentioned!) for helping to make such a busy day the success it was ! And 'Thank You' , too , to the hundreds of proud people that stood with us today outside the GPO . Go raibh maith agat !
Sharon.

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The card on the RSF Wreath which was laid at the Republican Plot at Arbor Hill Cemetery in Dublin today , Easter Sunday , March 23 , 2008 .

Before travelling to Deansgrange Cemetery for the republican commemoration, a few republicans stopped-off at Arbor Hill Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Republican Plot there :

Republican Plot , Arbor Hill Cemetery .


The Republican wreath laid today by RSF at Arbor Hill Cemetery .

At Deansgrange Cemetery, which was established in 1861 and had its first burial in 1865 , there is an area marked as the 'Republican Plot' and it commemorates prisoners who died in Wandsworth Prison in 1922. James Connolly's daughter Fiona is also buried here . It was at that Plot that approximately thirty Irish Republicans gathered today , in a ceremony chaired by ex-POW Seán Ó Sé , to listen as two republican speakers , Seán Ó Bradaigh and Peig Galligan delivered resounding speeches of the history of the cemetery they were speaking in , which they linked to the history of the on-going struggle itself .

Republican Plot , Deansgrange Cemetery .


A section of those in attendance in Deansgrange Cemetery today , Easter Sunday , March 23 , 2008 .

A proper report of todays proceedings in both Arbor Hill and Deansgrange cemetery will be carried in the April issue of 'Saoirse' , which will be available from the 9th of that month.

Thanks!
Sharon.

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"RIC Head Constable Peter Burke and his brother, Sgt Michael Burke are attacked by the IRA in public house (Mrs Smith's three miles outside Balbriggan, Co. Dublin) . In retaliation, the Auxiliaries carry out reprisals in Balbriggan killing two suspected IRA men..."
(From here.)

An RSF-organised Easter wreath-laying ceremony was held today (Saturday 22 March 2008) on the bridge in Balbriggan , County Dublin , in memory of Séamus Lawless and Séan Gibbons : about twenty-five republicans gathered on both sides of the bridge to take part in and watch the proceedings , which were chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin RSF , who mentioned , amongst other things , that the men and women who decided to take on the might of the (then) 'British empire' did not do so in order that a British-sponsored Administration , staffed and maintained by Irish gombeens , should be established .

Six Special Branch men were present throughout the proceedings , and it was those same 'agents of the state' that later stopped a car belonging to one of the republicans as he and a few comrades were driving home following the wreath-laying ceremony and threatened to immediately impound the vehicle if two of his passengers "...did not get out of the vehicle NOW and stay out of it.." . Alternative arrangements were quickly made and the two passengers were looked after by supporters . This act of petty vindictiveness was condemned by RSF representatives present , who stated that such acts of harassment have not prevented republicans from remembering their dead in the past , and will not do so now either.


Getting sorted in Balbriggan , 2.15pm , Saturday March 22 , 2008 .

'Na Fianna Eireann' flag in Balbriggan , Saturday March 22 , 2008 .


Tricolour at the Republican Memorial on Balbriggan Bridge .

Wreath laid at the foot of the Memorial , Balbriggan Bridge .

A full report will be published in the April 2008 issue of 'Saoirse' , which will be published on the 9th of that month .
Thanks!
Sharon.

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EASTER COMMEMORATIONS , DUBLIN , 2008.


" The people were tired of the RIC and their overbearing , strutting tyranny . The 'Law' and the 'Force' . Yes , and the Crowbar and the Battering Ram . The Torch and the Buckshot . The Bayonet and the Bullet and the Baton . These tools had been always associated with the 'Law' . The 'Force' was the eyes and the ears and the power behind the 'Law' . This is how my mother taught me the English alphabet :
A for the Army that covers the ground ,
B for the Buckshot we're getting all round .
C for the Crowbar of cruel ill-fame ,
D for Davitt , a right glorious name...... "

...an extract from Micheal O'Suilleabhain's book , 'Where Mountainy Men Have Sown', (Anvil Books , 1965).

It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (24 March 2008) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm , for a Parade to the GPO.
All Welcome!
(NOTE : Easter Saturday details here, Easter Sunday details here. )

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ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley was a fighter and a writer , scholar and farmer , involuntary Sinn Fein TD (elected for North Dublin while imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin in 1923) , lover of literature and promoter of the arts : he kept two ideals throughout his life - the Irish Republic and personal development through the study of the many shades of beauty in the world .

His first volume of memoirs (to 1921) was published soon after his 1936 return to Ireland . The second book (1921-1924) made fresh historical reading as the first detailed and personal account of the Civil War years by a high-ranking republican , so 'The Singing Flame', only published in 1978 , is a rare new source for a poorly documented period in our history .

Released from the internment camp in July 1924 , he felt that in Cosgrave's Ireland - "...my name was enough to damn me.." and , until 1935 , he mostly travelled abroad , either aiding the Catalan separatists, or walking through Spain , France or Italy , to follow his love of art and architecture , music and mountains . In 1928 he had journeyed to America (with a false British passport) to help raise funds for a newspaper that he hoped would "...arouse the (Irish) nation's concern , that would give to the world outside Ireland the truth , aims and aspirations of the Irish people , instead of a misrepresentation that served the interests of the British." That project later ironically became 'The Irish Press' Group .......
(MORE LATER).




BALLYMUN INTERVIEW.......
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

Problems such as the high population turnover in Ballymun is affecting the local all-Irish school , Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch. This forces parents to take their children away from the school when they move and has hindered its further development , such as the ability to start a secondary school based on the present school's turnover . But a symbol of the school's permanence on the Ballymun landscape is the new school building which is expected to be finished later this year (1982) .

Different from other schools , which are run by a bureaucratic and inflexible board of governors , Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch is primarily run by a democratically elected and responsive parents' committee which meets fortnightly .

In addition to winning the All-Ireland schools' drama slogadh ('festival') six times out of seven , and winning for Ballymun three annual awards for the area that has done most to promote the use of Irish , the Ballymun school has provided the impetus for a growth in popularity of adult Irish classes , hurling and camogie throughout the housing estate . And , hopefully , further afield .

[END of 'BALLYMUN INTERVIEW']
(Next : 'Sixty Years Of Repression - An Outline History Of The RUC' ; From 1982)


OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.......
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

On the fourth day of the observation operation , the British Army Staff Sergeant in charge suspected that his 'Observation Post' close to the pub in Belleek had been spotted by a man entering the premises . Shortly afterwards a small boy came out of the pub , crossed the road and made straight for the derelict house where the 'Post' was located . The BA Staff Sergeant concluded that the security of the 'Post' had been compromised and evacuated the position promptly . Later , when the Staff Sergeant and his Lance-Corporal had temporarily left the radio-operator and the gunner in order to reconnoitre a new 'Observation Post' with a better view of the pub , they paused at a gap in a hedge which gave an excellent view of the surrounding countryside .

They noticed a dark-blue car pull up at House 'A' : four armed men wearing white hoods got out of the car . It was 9.40pm and the car had been hijacked earlier that evening from a car dealer's showroom . The two British Army men watched as the four armed men made their way carefully along the hedgerows to House 'B' . The men stopped outside the house , spoke to the occupants and then moved , two of them just south of the house and two a short distance to the east , where there were some concrete bunkers . The Staff Sergeant , who was caught off his balance , had to make some quick decisions . He was temporarily out of touch with his colleagues in both ' Observation Post' parties , had not got the extra fire-power of his two light machine-guns , and his communication equipment to contact his base was not to hand . The range - about 500 yards - was too great for the lance-corporal's rifle to be used to any real effect .

Without rapid reinforcement , the gunmen would probably make good their escape to the east if fired on . The British Army patrol commander resolved to report the situation to his Battalion Tactical HQ as quickly as possible and then to concentrate his men and their firepower in the excellent position overlooking the gunmen in order to pin them down . He left the lance-corporal to observe the four gunmen , instructing him to open fire only if they started moving away . The Staff Sergeant moved back through the bushes to his OP position 50 metres up the hill and , from there , he relayed the situation to his Battalion HQ through his supporting OP up the hill and ordered the latter to join him . Collecting all his men , he set out to rejoin the lance-corporal but , before he could reach him , the lance-corporal opened fire.......
(MORE LATER).

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A 'NEW' VOICE REHASHES AN OLD STORY...


Tony Blair's one-time sidekick , Jonathan Powell, is apparently claiming that Westminster practically 'wrote the script' for the so-called 'peace process' regarding the Six Occupied Counties in the north-east of this isle.
Nothing new there -it seems that both the DUP and Westminster had more of an input to the PSF 'peace policy' than has been properly highlighted up until now.......

"The governments also proposed a form of words for a statement from the (P)IRA.... "


More here...
Mr Adams "...claimed that in advance of his party's executive two weeks ago the DUP had been given the text of a motion about policing that Mr Adams would put to that meeting.. "


....and here -
"...the draft of a PIRA statement on decommissioning was handed over to Downing Street for their approval but was rejected by Blair and his crew and returned to the Provos.. "

He who pays the piper , Mr Adams....

Sharon.

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"Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born...."
(From here.)

Details on those in Dublin intending to commemorate this "terrible beauty" can be found here, here and here.
Details on other Irish Republican Easter Commemorations 2008 can be found here.
Sharon.

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ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley wrote a book about his Black and Tan war days , which became an instant classic on its publication in 1936 - 'On Another Man's Wound', and which was a great seller again in 1979 when it was re-printed . It is a brilliant portrayal of a popular struggle against a foreign power : " It was a people's war , that is why we fought so well as from November 1920 . The people understood , they made allowances , and there was need for that , " O' Malley wrote , in a smuggled-out note from Mountjoy Prison Hospital in January 1923 , while expecting execution during the Civil War .

Once he would have followed his elder brother into the British Army of 'World War One' for the 'excitement' : instead , his military talents went into the IRA where he appeared a very regular 'Irregular' - " I was driven myself had they only guessed it, " he wrote , after agreeing that his strict training methods were resented by some of the country men he organised to wage guerrilla warfare . A hot temper triggered by impatience , which he could blame on "...my red hair and O'Malley name.." , plus the reverse coin of introspection seen as aloofness , were easily compensated for by special gifts and soldierly qualities .

It has been said that he would have made a great Jesuit- whatever about that , he did make a great IRA Commander . And at once that most dangerous of opponents , both an idealist and a man of action , much more so than were most of his contemporaries . Ernie O'Malley was a fighter and a writer , a scholar and a farmer , who kept two ideals throughout his life.......
(MORE LATER).



BALLYMUN INTERVIEW....... "Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats..."
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

'Mary' was asked about the attitude of the Gardai to those that 'live' in Ballymun Flats : " The Gardai treat us with contempt . They smash the doors in here in Ballymun , but they wouldn't do it in Fixrock or Rathgar . They don't give a shit about people over here . Every day they're here , mostly the Special Branch. People were afraid to go marching during the hunger-strike because it meant that the Branch would pull in people they didn't know afterwards , under Section 30. It kept active support down . If anyone forms any kind of radical group they come in for harassment by the Branch. So people don't , they just sort of become robots . "

Asked about Ballymun in general , 'Mary' says - " Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats , and people are more isolated in Ballymun than they would be in the other Dublin suburbs , like Coolock , Finglas , Cabra or Ballyfermot . There's probably a higher rate of crime in Ballymun than in those places . "

One glimmer of hope , of the people in Ballymun fighting back , was the establishment of a special school on the edge of the tower blocks : unique as an all-Irish school set-up in a Dublin working-class area -as compared to the middle-class origins and composition of other Irish schools- the 'School of the Seven Heroes' ('Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch') was established in 1973 after fierce fights with the State Department of Education , who scorned the idea . Fianna Fail State Minister Padraig Faulkner predicted that the school would collapse within six weeks ! Starting off with a couple of pre-fab huts, and engaged in continuous bureaucratic struggles , nine years later the school has about 200 pupils in the 5-11 age group and has recently started a pre-school group . But the population turnover in the area is working against the school.......
(MORE LATER).



OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER.
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook.
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

It is perhaps worth studying one incident in South Armagh in some detail : it was an operational success for 3 Para who completed a tour in South Armagh with Battalion HQ at Bessbrook in April to August 1976 . One morning in mid-June a routine patrol led by a Corporal called on a pub near the village of Belleek not far from Bessbrook , in Armagh.

Normally the proprietress was 'friendly' towards the 'Security Forces' but , on this occasion , she was not at all welcoming and appeared a little apprehensive . The pub was closed , but male voices could be heard beyond a door . The proprietress explained that her brother had come to visit her and suggested that the British Army patrol should call again , later on . The patrol departed , but the Corporal decided to leave the road when out of sight of the pub and to circle around under cover to watch the pub . Half an hour later three men left the Bar : the Corporal recognised one of the men as John Quinn, a PIRA suspect .

When the Patrol returned to its base it quickly established that the proprietress had no brothers and that John Quinn , who had not been seen in the neighbourhood for some time , was thought to have been undergoing clandestine military training in the Free State . It was therefore decided to watch the pub . Two Four-man British Army Patrols were dropped off from vehicles in order to establish Observation Posts (OP's) near the pub and to photograph and identify known republicans who were using the pub . One patrol was to establish the OP , in a derelict house , to watch the pub while the other was to watch the countryside to the north and to the east in order to warn the patrol leader , a British Army Staff Sergeant , of anyone approaching his OP . This OP was in direct radio contact with its Battalion Tactical HQ at Bessbrook . On Day Four , the Staff Sergeant became uneasy.......
(MORE LATER).

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Dermot Ahern - no blood relation to Bertie , but seems to share the same political mentality...

From 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper , 2 March 2008 , page 19 (Michael Clifford's column) -
" The same minister (Dermot Ahern , State minister for foreign affairs) gave us an insight last week into the mentality that we had been led to believe * had departed Fianna Fail - " Charles Haughey was a great politician , " he said on Thursday (28 February 2008) . When asked whether Haughey had been corrupt , Ahern replied : " No , he wasn't ." "

" Not corrupt" ! But of course one Fianna Fail mobster would say that about another : in the eyes of that particular 'family' , the only crime is in being caught!
As Oscar Wilde put it - " In all unimportant matters , style , not sincerity , is the essential . In all important matters , style , not sincerity , is the essential." For "style" , read 'spin' .
(* Who had been led to believe?)

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"...disease, together with the privations of other kinds which they endure, before long carry them off.."


Mass evictions or "clearances" will forever be associated with the 'Great Hunger' in Ireland : "It has been estimated that, excluding peaceable surrenders, over a quarter of a million people were evicted between 1849 and 1854. The total number of people who had to leave their holdings in the period is likely to be around half a million and 200,000 small holdings were obliterated ."
Under a law imposed in 1847, called the "Gregory Clause", no tenant holding more than a quarter acre of land was eligible for public assistance. To become eligible, the tenant had to surrender his holding to his landlord. Some tenants sent their children to the workhouse as orphans so they could keep their land and still have their children fed.
Other tenants surrendered their land, but tried to remain living in the house; however, landlords would not tolerate it - "In many thousands of cases estate-clearing landlords and agents used physical force or heavy-handed pressure to bring about the destruction of cabins which they sought."

Many others who sought entrance to the workhouses were required to return to their homes and uproot or level them. Others had their houses burned while they were away in the workhouse.

"When tenants were formally evicted, it was usually the practice of the landlord's bailiffs - his specially hired 'crowbar brigade' - to level or burn the affected dwellings there and then, as soon as the tenants effects had been removed, in the presence of a large party of soldiers or police who were likely to quell any thought of serious resistance. These helpless creatures are not only unhoused, but often driven off the land, no one remaining on the lands being allowed to lodge or harbor them. Or they, perhaps, linger about the spot, and frame some temporary shelter out of materials of their old homes against a broken wall, or behind a ditch or fence, or in a bog-hole, places unfit for human habitations .... disease, together with the privations of other kinds which they endure, before long carry them off.

As soon as one horde of houseless and all but naked paupers are dead, or provided for in the workhouse, another wholesale eviction doubles the number, who in their turn pass through the same ordeal of wandering from house to house, or burrowing in bogs or behind ditches, till broken down by privation and exposure to the elements, they seek the workhouse, or die by the roadside. There were hoards of poor on the roads every day. The Catholics who could gave some little they had to these, a saucer of oatmeal, a handful of potatoes, a drink of milk or a little bottle of sweet-milk to carry away with them. It was not unusual to see a woman with two, three or four children half-naked, come in begging for alms, and often several of these groups in one day, men too. If the men got work they worked for little or nothing and when they were no longer needed they took to the road again. These wandering groups had no homes and no shelter for the night. They slept in the barns of those that had barns on an armful of straw with a sack or sack or some such thing to cover them......."
(From here.)


It is from the likes of the above that republicanism was born : not to seek 'revenge' , but to obtain Justice. That same quest for true justice continues to this day and will continue - for as long as necessary - until the root cause of the injustice is removed .
Please help us, if you can : we are a small but significant organisation , as politically determined as we always were but we need your help.......
Go raibh maith agat!

Sharon.

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ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

Ernie O' Malley's reputation was made while in his early twenties : by 1939 , aged 41 , he was seen as a legendary figure from the past , and at his death in 1957 'The Sunday Press' newspaper praised him as the very type of the resistance , exceptional even amongst exceptional men .

Ernest Bernard O' Malley came from a respectable and middle-class Catholic family , which accepted the Union and did well by it , yet he showed an early dislike of authority . When British King Edward VII visited Dublin to the cheers of most of his Catholic 'subjects' , the very young O' Malley refused to remove his hat and would spell 'King' with a small 'k'. The second son in a large family , he was a first-year medical student at University College Dublin when the Easter Rising first moved him towards Irish nationalism and republicanism , which he was later to define as "...not only the urge of the people to possess the soil and its products , but the free development of spiritual , cultural and imaginative qualities of the race.."

It was not a sudden conversion - no 'flash of light on the road to Damascus' , no immediate enthusiasm . Involvement and understanding came slowly out of what was at first an unwilling interest : belief grew slowly and was unencouraged by those around him , but eventually , aged just nineteen , he left home and university to become a full-time member of the IRA . And , in a sense , he would be 'on the run' for the rest of his life.......
(MORE LATER).



BALLYMUN INTERVIEW....... "Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats..."
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

The kids from the flats have it tough , too . 'Pat' and 'Mary' said - " There's nowhere for the kids . The flats are no place for them . You know , when there was a housing shortage they just put up this place to put all the people . It was just a dumping ground . Most people just live for pay-day and then they go out and get a few drinks . During the week most of them just stay in and watch television . The drink is a sort of safety valve for people . It's an escape , isn't it ? "

Asked about how the Catholic Church helps out in Ballymun Flats , 'Mary' replied - " The only 'facility' that's being built out here is churches . The Church control everything , even the youth clubs . They have their lackeys running things for them , but they reap the profits . We're all living in boxes - thousands of families - but the local priest's living in a house , with his housekeeper and a maid . His lackeys run the bingo for him , and they'll come around and ask us to do things like bake cakes and give them groceries , and then they'll have a garden fete or a sale of work and sell the stuff back to us again ! "

The Gardai , too , have no time and little interest in those that 'live' in the flats.......
(MORE LATER).





REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

Relying on their own strength , the risen people had already shown to the world and to the British government their determination to bury their republican dead with honour and with dignity . Just as mass protest had smashed internment, just as the sacrifices of the hunger-strikers and mass protests had ended the systematic torture of republican prisoners in the H-Blocks, so once again the people had proved that courage and commitment and determination can change history and conclude successfully the long struggle for Irish freedom .

On Friday , May 8th , 1987 , republican Ireland suffered another tragic blow when eight Tyrone (PIRA Volunteers were mown down in an undercover British stake-out at Loughgall . At their funerals, the RUC were again present in large numbers but , for the most part , they kept their distance . They made no attempt to intervene when IRA guards of honour carried each Tricolour-draped coffin a short distance . Without RUC interference , the atmosphere was as it should be - quiet , dignified and respectful .

[END of 'REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC']
(Next - 'OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER' : from 1985)

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" A TERRIBLE BEAUTY...."


"Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?
That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.
What is it but nightfall?
No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?
For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.
We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;
And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?
I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born...."
(From here.)

Details on those in Dublin intending to commemorate this "terrible beauty" can be found here, here and here.
Sharon.

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British ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs : a willing pawn for his 'empire'.


ONE WELL-KNOWN ATTEMPT BY WESTMINSTER TO USE THE DEATH OF A 'FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE' AS A 'BARGAINING CHIP' . (Or - ' We have no permanent friends or permanent enemies , only permanent interests...')

British ambassador Christopher Ewart-Biggs CMG OBE was assassinated in Sandyford , Dublin , by the then IRA , on July 21 , 1976. Westminster and its agents attempted to use his death as a 'bargaining chip' in its dealings with Leinster House ....

' We should use this event to seek gestures from Dublin...'
Four days after the death of Ewart-Biggs , the then 'Acting Ambassador' , a John Hickman , wrote in a memo to the 'Northern Ireland Office' (that is , the British political 'Front Line' in Occupied Ireland) that he could not imagine "...a better time than the present for the Irish government (sic) to bring itself to make some specific gesture of good-will towards Britain . The biggest single benefit which we could expect to derive from the Irish people's sense of shame and responsibility (sic : it's Westminster that should feel "shame" and take full "responsibility" for its murderous outrages on this isle) ..." would be an official decision by Leinster House not to pursue the state case at Strasbourg concerning the inhuman and degrading treatment of suspects being interrogated by British forces in the North-East of Ireland ! Hickman also toyed-around with the idea of using the death of Ewart-Biggs as an opportunity to secure from Leinster House cross-border 'rights' for armed British forces that is , to allow those armed thugs to freely cross the imposed border whenever they wanted ! But then the good 'acting ambassador' changed his mind , stating - " The overall benefit (of 'cross-border rights') would certainly not be comparable in political terms to the removal of the prospect of Her Majesty's government being nagged and pilloried over the state case (ie the Strasbourg 'Inhuman and Degrading Treatment' case) for a long time to come..." In other words - 'We (Westminster) can get better value out of the death of our friend and colleague Ewart-Biggs by using it as a you-owe-us-one to convince Dublin to turn a blind-eye to the way we abuse suspects in the North'.


' I told Dublin that they owe us big...'
John Hickman stated that , on July 22 , 1976 , he told Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael party) that "...there would never be a time when the inhibiting effects of public opinion on the Irish government's (sic) freedom of action would be less than now ." Hickman then reported back to political officials in the 'Northern Ireland Office' , stating - " As time goes on , the psychological opportunity to speak in specific terms (ie 'to use the death of Biggs to get exactly what we want') to the Irish government (sic) will pass . It might not be possible to indicate to them (Leinster House) that the onus is on them to respond to the present situation (that is , the death of Biggs) by making a significant political gesture." He was of the opinion that Leinster House would issue "...an agreed statement.."
( 'agreed' , that is , between Westminster and the political misfits in Leinster House) that "...(the Irish government) do not intend to take further action.." on any Strasbourg report into the ill-treatment of suspects and/or detainees by British forces in the North !


' Any such deal for profit might be in bad taste...'
However - on hearing of Hickman's intentions , an un-named 'senior civil servant' at Westminster's 'Foreign And Colonial Office' voiced his un-ease over such a 'deal' : on July 28 , 1976 , this 'conscientious objector' wrote in an internal memo : " To canvass the idea of a 'bargain' , however tactfully and obliquely , on the lines adumbrated by Mr Hickman , would appear to be in bad taste , especially to the Irish who , if one may generalise , tend to treat death and funerals with more attention than we do." But the 'Northern Ireland Office' disagreed with their "in bad taste" colleague and , on July 29 , 1976 , a meeting was held by the 'NIO' to discuss , as they put it , 'How Her Majesty's Government might best profit from the situation .." It was actually during that same meeting that word came through that Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) had contacted Roy Hattersley , the then British Minister of State at the British Foreign And Commonwealth' Office , to say that his administration might postpone the publication of the Strasbourg report , but 'NIO' officials were already having second thoughts about looking for such a postponement , fearing that the report would actually have a greater impact if it became known that they had tried to 'hush it up' .


' Use the death to tell the Irish it's time to forget the past...'
In the summer of 1976 , Hickman reported back to Westminster : " Even the assassination of a British ambassador in Ireland has not been enough to persuade Irish opinion that the time has come to forget the past (sic- it's still a live and on-going political issue in Ireland) and unite to destroy the common enemy.." What he meant by 'the common enemy' was the IRA which , at the time , was indeed an 'enemy' of Westminster's plans for and intentions in Ireland , instead of the anti-republican militia which that organisation is today . Hickman added - " The goodwill passed as quickly as it came " , meaning that Westminster had believed that the opportunity to 'spin' the death of Christopher Ewart-Biggs and make politicl capital from his death , was their's for the asking at some stage .


' Let's get money from the Irish in compensation ...'
In December 1976 , the Leinster House administration (under Cosgrave , Fine Gael) handed over a sum of £65,000 sterling to Westminster in 'compensation' in relation to the death of Ewart-Biggs , but the 'NIO' wanted more : British Officials insisted that the Dublin Administraton should also pay for the transportation costs incurred by its people in relation to travelling to Dublin in connection with the Biggs case ! Apparently , it never got that 'claim for expenses' from Leinster House - probably only due to misplaced paperwork or some such 'innocent' reason , as it's not like those servile political idiots in that institution to say 'No' to Westminster !

Footnote : Britain invaded and occupied more than 56 countries , and murdered an estimated six million native people in those countries who resisted their 'presence' . It is the opinion of this blog , and an opinion shared by true Irish Republicans wherever they might be , that the only solution to that British presence is to remove it , by whatever means necessary . So-called 'Treaties' and/or 'Agreements' only prolong that vile presence , making the native lackies rich and 'respectable' in the process . For Ireland to 'Move On' , politically , Westminster will have to 'Move Out' .

Sharon.

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ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .
Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'.
From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.

When the truce of July 1921 took effect between the Irish Republican Army and British Crown Forces , a young IRA leader wrote to a fellow Republican Officer - " What do you think of the Peace Move ? There seems to be something in it whatever it is . Perhaps Dev would accept a Republic with the exclusion of Ulster . We are very much worried as we don't know what way the game is going . The number of real Republicans , even in the IRA is small - that is , of men who will see the Republic through to the bitter end. " That young IRA leader's name was Ernie O'Malley and he had been so active in the war that , in recognition of his energy , organising ability and outstanding personal courage , he was appointed Officer Commanding of the 2nd Southern , the second-largest IRA Division in the country .

Early in 1921 , RIC reports from Dublin Castle had named O' Malley as " ...a notorious rebel..". Late in 1922 , the Free State's military command would claim that " The capture of Ernie O' Malley should mean the complete breakdown of their ('Irregular' ie Irish Republican Army) organisation in the North Eastern area ." Ernie O' Malley was acknowledged by all to be an Irish Republican par excellence.

If it is now again fashionable in some circles to denigrate 1916 and all the Easter Rising ever sought , then by contrast the Civil War that followed the 1916-1921 fighting has been tacitly ignored . And yet the year 1922 was a watershed for Ireland . During that crucial year Ernie O' Malley had a prominent part in what he called , in a letter he sent to a Dublin newspaper while hunted and on the run in August 1922 , "...a just and holy Cause : namely , the defence of the Republic to which we have sworn to be faithful.." Ernest Bernard O'Malley, Soldier of Oglaigh na hEireann , was much more than 'just' a soldier.......
(MORE LATER).



BALLYMUN INTERVIEW : "Ballymun is just like any other working-class area in Dublin , or even in Belfast , I suppose . It's just that Ballymun isn't houses , it's flats..."
From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.

Aged in their twenties , with four young children , 'Pat' and 'Mary' have been living in their three-bedroom flat for about four years , and hope to move although they expect to have to wait at least two years . Even then they will have no choice where - Tallaght or Blanchardstown : " You need too many points for the other areas." They have asked that we not use their real names .

On the heating system in the block of flats that they live in , they said - " The hot water goes off when the heating breaks down . And it's always breaking down . The shortcoming of the system was that they didn't give each flat a controller to regulate the heat . It just comes up through the floor , if it's on everyone gets it . It's even too warm here in the winter ."

The lifts that are supposed to serve each floor are another source of grief- " They've hired a private maintenance company to fix the lifts , instead of replacing them . It probably wouldn't be in their interests that the lifts keep working , you know ? It'd put them out of a job . " Speaking about jobs and work , 'Pat' says - " If you go for a job and give a Ballymun address it's hard - this area has a bad name . You can't even get car insurance , it's a 'high risk' area . If you go for a hire purchase scheme to pay for something and give a Ballymun address you won't get the deal . And then there's shopping - there's only one supermarket and they charge what they like. " The kids from the area have their own problems , too.......
(MORE LATER).





REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC.......
Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals .
From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The RUC didn't like the fact that republicans had let it be known that they , too , were capable of disrupting funerals , if need be . So when at the end of April 1987 , the (P)IRA shot dead the UVF second-in-command William 'Frenchie' Marchant, whom the (P)IRA named as "directly involved" in the killing of Larry Marley , the RUC could not afford an embarrassing repeat of the Bingham funeral , when they were seen to stand back and just observe as UVF leader John Bingham was buried with full paramilitary trappings . The RUC pressurised the UVF into giving up the customary military funeral and William Marchant was buried privately . Even so , there was no RUC 'show of strength' , no riot gear , no attempt to stop mourners forming-up behind the Ulster-flag draped coffin .

On May 6th , 1987 , as (P)IRA Volunteer Finbarr McKenna was being buried , British 'Direct Ruler' Tom King made a well-publicised call for the "whole community" to support the RUC whose aim was , he claimed , to offer "...a just and impartial service to the community.." . That same day , acting under orders from Tom King and others , the RUC were batoning and firing lethal plastic bullets at unarmed civilian mourners at Finbarr McKenna's funeral . Tom King's remarks stand as a text-book example of Britain's real contempt for the opinions of ordinary nationalists .

The 1985 Hillsborough Treaty (the 'London-Dublin Agreement') and its promises of 'better times for Northern nationalist' was propaganda aimed essentially at a narrow sector of the Nationalist middle-class , and at public opinion outside the Occupied Six Counties . Tom King was not the only cynic - as the 'Irish establishment' broke its long silence over RUC attacks on funerals , the SDLP's Joe Hendron predicted out of the blue that the Free State government would "...intercede.." on behalf of Northern nationalists - using the Hillsborough Treaty , of course ! And of course a general election was almost upon us and Joe Hendron was one of the SDLP's candidates.......
(MORE LATER).

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