1169 And Counting.....

Sunday, November 28, 2010

ICTU PROTEST MARCH , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2010 - BRIEF REPORT AND PICS.

"Brits Out , IMF Out!"

Republican Sinn Féin had two different 'teams' out in Dublin yesterday , Saturday 27th November 2010 , at the ICTU-organised protest march in Dublin : one 'team' assembled at 10.45am on the traffic isle facing the GPO , while the second one assembled at 11.15am at Wood Quay , the main assembly point. Incidentally , members of both RSF 'teams' were present on the 'secondary' march , which made its way to Leinster House after the main event to continue the protest and was bullied , en route and once there, by uniformed 'guardians of the State' , as expected.

Our estimate as to the numbers present - and we are 'old hands' at street demos! - is between 100,000 and 150,000 people : at one stage , protestors , banners and placards could be seen to have secured all available space between O'Connell Bridge and the old Ambassador Cinema , with the main concentration gathered around the GPO area and, in our opinion, even more would have turned-out had it not been for the heavy snow and ice that we woke-up to here that morning. The mood was one of anger , and not only at the politicians and bankers etc that have thieved from the State purse and bankrupted this State , but also at some trade union leaders - Jack O'Connor and David Begg were , once again, poorly received by the crowd and, at points throughout their speeches, they could not be heard, such was the level of 'cat-calls' for them to stand down. In contrast , singers Christy Moore and Francis Black were well-received, as was the pensioner and the now-unemployed apprentice plumber who was let go just before his time was up.

For its part , Republican Sinn Féin distributed 2,000 leaflets (including '90th Celebrations' leaflets and 'CABHAIR SWIM' leaflets) and sold almost 100 copies of its newspaper , 'Saoirse'. As we have mentioned on our 'Sister Site' (linked to , below - with more protest pics on view, as well) protests like this are necessary and welcome but, on their own, are only a stop-gap 'solution' : it is not simply those that 'run' this State that need to be changed, but the very State itself , which must be re-organised and changed dramatically, on a 32 County basis, in favour of its citizens, rather than- as is the position now- in favour of its so-called 'elite'.
However : RSF more than held its own in Dublin City Centre yesterday, and was very well received by the crowds, and is to be congratulated for the two 'teams' it managed to put out there. We publish some pics from the protest, with a link to more of same at the bottom of this post :

A Dublin RSF member on the protest march - "Get Up , Stand Up...."

Some of the RSF members and supporters at the protest.

RSF 'Community Sector' placard.

Some of the 100,000-150,000 crowd.

Cowen the Reaper.

RSF 'Community Sector' headstone placard.

Well done to RSF and all the other organisations and individuals that were present at the protest and, hopefully, the ICTU will take comfort from the turn-out and take this issue to the next stage : an all-out strike , on a regular basis, with those on strike being bussed to the city centre of their nearest town to hold a sit-down protest. The support is definitey there , but the determination to do so is lacking on behalf of the trade union leadership . Shame on them.
As stated - more pics from this protest can be viewed on our 'Sister Site' , here (with thanks to TC, our camera person on the day!).
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.

On the Saturday when Niall Rush was buried, Garret FitzGerald broke off from Ronald Reagan's visit in Galway to attend the funeral and Barry Desmond , the State Minister for Health and, therefore, the person ultimately responsible for clinical drugs trials , was also there. Hundreds turned up to the small church in Dalkey , Dublin.

The day before the funeral Joe Claffey was discharged from the White Cross unit at Stillorgan - he was a friend of Niall Rush's and had become clearly upset when he heard of the death on the previous Tuesday. A week later he went to the Institute of Clinical Pharmachology in James Street to collect his paycheque and undergo a post medical examination. When he got there he was told that Dr Brick would like to speak with him , so he waited around for about half an hour. But no sign of the doctor and no word on him appearing anytime soon , and it was suggested that he might come back the following morning.

Later on that night , Joe met some friends and told them about Dr Brick wanting to see him - they thought that the fact that he was a close friend of Niall's might have something to do with the doctor wanting to see him. His friends told him that , for a variety of reasons, it would be best to tape the interview. Sometime around ten the following morning , Joe went to the ICP , wearing a combat jacket in which he carried an old legal dictaphone in the left breast pocket and, as he came through the door of the building, he pushed the 'Record' button. He was alone in the room with Dr Brick for a while and shortly after that Dr Darragh and Dr Walker came in and began a friendly conversation. He was asked how he felt about Niall's death and about how they knew he was upset and how shocked they were as well.

At some point, they were asking him about whether or not he was aware if Niall used any other substances , that they had done a full spectrum test on Niall which had not revealed any suspicious substances. Niall's heavy smoking was discussed then and, after about twenty minutes , the discussion came to an end. As Joe stepped outside the door, he turned the dictaphone off.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

"Mr Haughey told me that he had appointed 'X' and he then literally flung the file in disarray at me , and I walked out leaving the file strewn on the floor. Subsequently , the Commissioner told me that the appointment of Mr Haughey's man , 'Number 4' , was such an obvious ready-up that the clerks in Garda HQ had spread the word and that Haughey's name would stink throughout the garda force. I said that I hoped that he would spread the word that I was not a party to Mr Haughey's decision.

Mr Haughey had not come to an understanding yet, apparently, that the Secretary was an Office holder in his own right , appointed by Government under the Minister and Secretaries Act 1924 and that the Secretary should not be obliged to act as a rubber stamp for the Minister in official matters. It would make for chaos in administration and would not serve government or parliament if senior civil servants were not free to brief their Ministers and government according to conscience and their specialised knowledge and judgements.

There were occasions in the years to come where I and my colleagues were subjected to this kind of pressure but I always encouraged my colleagues by word and example to record their true arguments without in any way questioning the Minister's authority to make the final decisions . Even from the Cabinet , itself, we heard occasionally of particular views which would be advocated to the detriment or exclusion of alternatives. When the Devlin Commission of Enquiry into the functioning of the Public Service was set up in the mid sixties I gave oral and written evidence as to this form of mal-administration......."
(MORE LATER).

ICTU-ORGANISED PROTEST MARCH , DUBLIN , 27TH NOVEMBER 2010.

THE 'PEOPLE'S VOICE' NEWSPAPER , PRODUCED IN NOVEMBER 2010 BY THE ICTU , TO PROMOTE THE ICTU-ORGANISED 'ANTI-BUDGET/CUTBACKS' PROTEST MARCH , TO BE HELD IN DUBLIN ON SATURDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2010.

As stated ,the authors of this blog will be taking part in this protest,with other supporters and members of Republican Sinn Féin and, as such, we have assisted JI and CE workers in parts of the Dublin Mid-West area with the distribution of several hundred copies of that ICTU newspaper. However , once again, we want to make it clear that our assistance must not be misinterpreted as support for the ICTU or the trade unions affiliated to it, as that is most certainly not the case - in our opinion, those unions are far too closely linked , morally and financially, to the 'establishment' institutions it claims to oppose. The old adage that 'the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend' definitely applies here.

We will be taking part in the November 27th protest to show solidarity with JI , CE and other low-paid workers , the unemployed and other overburdened citizens of the corrupt and failed entity that is this mockery of a 'republic' and we view the ICTU leadership , and the leadership of the trade union movement, to be as complicit in the destruction of living standards in this gombeen shambles of a 'republic' as are the so-called 'establishment' that that trade union movement professes to be fighting against. And, given the opportunity, we, along with RSF, will make that fact clear on the 27th.....
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Monday, November 22, 2010

"Distant and out of touch, the IMF ruins economies great and small......the transparency problem is that the IMF never reveals the strings it attaches to loans......the IMF has 2,300 experts who can rationalize any sort of mischief....a far more serious problem is the IMF’s long history of doing much harm and no good......any list of countries "helped" by IMF programs reads like a casualty list.....to obtain a two-year IMF loan in 1982-83, for example, Chile deeply devalued the peso, raised tariffs from 10 percent to 35 percent, and raised income-tax rates. The economy collapsed, and inflation soared...."
(From the Washington-based 'Independent Institute')

The calling-in of the IMF by those in Leinster House should be seen as simply the natural progression of events , when the track record of the morally ill and politically incompetent halfwits in that institution is taken into account : despite their many fine words , their main objective has always been one of self-preservation - to ensure that they themselves will never experience what it is like to be financially strapped , never know what it's like to be in pain on a trolly in a hospital corridor and never have to worry about what tomorrow will bring. They have used and abused EU and State taxpayers money to insulate themselves and their family members , and other cronies, from the above concerns , and can now afford to 'retire' in comfort , with a 'Golden Handshake' and a large pension.
Fianna Fail , the Greens , Mary Harney and the so-called 'Independents' will in all likelihood be out of Office shortly , to be replaced by a slightly different crowd of morally ill and politically incompetent halfwits , of whom we will write about on this blog.
Depressing , isn't it?
See you on Saturday 27th November 2010 , in Dublin, at the protest march.
Thanks,
Sharon.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

IN REMEMBRANCE OF A NUMBER OF NOTABLE EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY.....

ON Sunday, November 28th , 2010 , Republican Sinn Féin will remember the 90th Anniversaries of a number of notable events in Irish history:

90th Anniversaries - Wynns Hotel , Dublin, Sunday 28th November 2010.

The venue is Wynn’s Hotel, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin , from 11.30am to 4pm, with a break for lunch. All are welcome to this day of commemoration which will take the form of narration of the events, followed by readings from the works of participants and songs connected with the event -

90th Anniversaries :
Terence MacSwiney
Kevin Barry
James Daly
Bloody Sunday
Kilmichael.

Clár :
11.30am: Cathaoirleach will open proceedings.
11.45: Narration by Seán Ó Brádaigh.
12.45pm: Terence Mac Swiney
Biography
Reading from Principles of Freedom:
Shall my sold pass through old Ireland .

1-2pm: Lunch
2pm: Kevin Barry
Biography
Reading
Kevin Barry

2.20: James Daly
Biography
Reading of letters
Lay him away on the hillside

2.35: Bloody Sunday
Biography
List of those killed
Song:

3.15 Kilmichael
Narration
The Boys of Kilmichael

3.45pm:
Summing up by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

Free admission , All Welcome!
Thanks,
Sharon.

Friday, November 19, 2010

ETHIOPIA TO HOLD 'LIVE AID CONCERT' FOR THIS STATE ?

No truth in that , as of yet - that we know of , anyway - but plenty of truth in this -

"The arrival of the IMF and EU into the 26 Counties is a damning indictment of the capitalist policies pursued by Fianna Fáil and clear evidence of the abject failure of the State as a whole. The IMF and EU officials will set about creating a capitalist dictatorship without any of the façade of democracy that used to prevail in the Free State. It is expected that there will be massive cuts in the public sector imposed and the probability of the selling of the family silver such as the ESB and Bord Na Mona looms.

The solution to the current economic woes is to create a new Ireland based on sound socialist principles with all banking and financial institutions coming under social control. Rather than offer a multi billion Euro loan Britain should declare her intention to withdraw from Ireland so that the Irish people can set about building this new Ireland. Republican Sinn Féin’s Éire Nua (A New Ireland) policy proposes the establishment of a 32 County Federal Democratic Socialist Republic with maximum devolution of power to local levels to help address both the power and economic imbalance in Ireland.

Only by the destruction of the current system that relies on gombeenism, clientelism and pandering to the capitalist classes is it possible to build an Ireland that truly cherishes all of her children equally. Only a socialist solution will be able to solve this Capitalist-caused problem. "
(Statement by Republican Sinn Féin Vice-President Fergal Moore.)

Incidentally , a lot of commentators on radio and television today have shared a common viewpoint regarding the IMF political take-over of this State yesterday, and have asked , in one form or another , 'is this what the men and women in 1916 fought and died for...' , to which Irish Republicans reply - 'No , it's not: whether the IMF are here or not, not one person fought or died , in 1916, for the establishment of a 26-County so-called 'republic'...."
And even those who, a short few years after the 1916 Rising, shouldered weapons in a campaign to ensure the establishment of just such an entity must surely be equally sickened to see that their political 'cousins' in Leinster House could not maintain the falsehood represented by a false and immoral 26 County 'Ireland'. This pathetic State was built on sand by short-sighted people ,and is now owned by business representatives based in Washington. As RSF VP Fergal Moore stated -
"Only a socialist solution will be able to solve this Capitalist-caused problem...."
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.

The 'Eproxindine 4/0089' test is a 'split test' , with a gap of three weeks between two sessions. One of the other participants had been in three weeks before Niall Rush and , on the first session, he says, they were taken in at night , some days after their pre-medical. The following morning they were given the drug and about one hour later he experienced numbness of mouth and lips , taste distortion and loss of balance. Another participant suffered an acute attack of nausea.

Niall Rush's father was an Ambassador , and the family spent time in the United States , Nigeria and Portugal. He was born in 1953. Later on , he was sent to Gormanstown College and , sometime in the mid 1970's , he was diagnosed a schizophrenic - he was still under treatment at the time of his death. Over the last six or seven years he worked at a variety of odd jobs , including one as a porter in a hotel. He lived in different parts of Dublin , moving to England and the Continent to stay with friends from time to time. Occasionally , he did clinical drug tests in James Street , as did many of his friends , and was not the healthiest of individuals , smoking up to 50grms of 'Duma Roll-Your-Own' cigarettes a day.

Under the 'Coroners Act', when somebody dies and a medical certificate is not forthcoming , there is an investigation by the gardai , as agents of the Coroner. Following the death of Niall Rush , there was a post-mortem , performed by John Harbison , the State Pathologist. Detective Inspector Connolly of Kevin Street Garda Station and Garda Joe McGarrity from Kilmainham were put onto the case.......
(MORE LATER).

THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.
From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.

" When he became Minister , Mr Haughey sought to appoint his man to a minor position which carried payment of a second capitation grant where one 'suffered in the public interest' : he could have sacked the person who was already working in that minor position , but that would have brought down on his head the wrath of the local Dail Deputies who had approached Mr Traynor , the other Minister. I told Mr Haughey that I couldn't make payment (to the second appointee) and when he insisted I should , I said that of course I would obey his direction but that I was requested under the Rules to report the matter to the Minster for Finance and to the Committee of Public Accounts. The matter was not pursued but I thought it prudent when leaving on my annual holiday to acquaint my Assistant Secretary of the facts involved.

On my return the Assistant Secretary told me that he had received a Ministerial directive to appoint the second man to the post in question , that he had informed the Minister that he was aware of the Accounting Officer's refusal earlier and that the Minister would be liable to personal surcharge. He said that the Minister was furious with me , not alone for my refusal but for forewarning the Assistant Secretary , thus causing the Minister to lose face.

I had a second disagreeable clash with Mr Haughey in 1962 ; a vacancy occurred for the appointment of a semi-civilian semi-police post as immigration officer at Cork Airport. The Commissioner of the Garda decided to have a selection board to decide which of the immigration officers serving at Dublin Airport , Shannon Airport and Cobh seaport would be most suitable for promotion. Meanwhile , Mr Haughey told me that he had representations from Mr Jack Lynch for appointment of the Cork based man and to convey that to the Commissioner. But the Commissioner put forward the names of four candidates in the order of merit assigned by the selection board in which the Corkman was fourth.

I supported in writing the Commissioner's recommendation that the number one should be appointed but the Minister , Mr Haughey, sent for me and, purple in the face and in a hectoring voice , said 'Didn't I tell you I wanted X appointed?' , so I pointed out that to appoint X in the teeth of the selection board's choice and the Commissioner's recommendation would be open to grave criticism and that I could not lend my support to it......."
(MORE LATER).

NATIONAL GRAVES ASSOCIATION FUND-RAISER.

The National Graves Association will be holding a fundraiser in the Milestone Inn, Balbriggan this Saturday night (20th November 2010) at 8.30pm. The Druids will be playing. Tickets are available at the door for €10.00 and all funds raised will go to the upkeep of Republican graves. As we stated here recently in relation to the NGA - "They are a tireless bunch , totally dedicated to their objective , and deserve any assistance you can give them....". If you can't come along yourself try and spread the word to those that might be interested , and maybe even buy a ticket or two anyway!
Thanks!
Sharon.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

106th RSF ARD FHEIS , NOVEMBER 2010 : BRIEF REPORT AND A FEW PICS.....

9am , Saturday 13th November 2010 - the Ard Fheis begins.

Although we had a two-day 'Visitors Pass' , we could only stay at the Ard Fheis for the Saturday morning session , as we had volunteered to assist in the collection of 650 raffle tickets from various locations around Dublin , and to attend the raffle itself , which was to be held in a different hotel to the Ard Fheis venue , on that Sunday afternoon. More on that raffle later.

Some of the Republican items for sale at the in-house Ard Fheis Shop......

....and more of the Republican items for sale. Such was the level of sales and orders placed that the two-day Shop practically paid for the hire of the Ard Fheis venue!

An assembly of seven 'Special Branch' operatives were kept busy at the entrance to the hotel and, as usual , they didn't distinguish between the hundreds of Republicans that attended the Ard Fheis and the hotel guests , and were observed 'talking to' the UTV camera crew that covered part of the proceedings today , Sunday 14th.
Messages of support for the Republican Sinn Féin organisation and for Des Daltons leadership of same were read out from the speakers lectern by representatives from CABHAIR , Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann , and similar messages were either delivered in person or read out on behalf of affialiated support groups and organisations in England , Scotland , Canada and America , to loud applause from the assembled Republicans.

Seán Sabhat bodhron.....

....and the 2011 Republican calendar , over a thousand of which were sold during the two days , with more than twice that amount being ordered.

The RSF Ard Chomhairle announced that new RSF/Saoirse websites will be launched in the next few days , which should be better able to deal with the volumes of traffic being received -

'Web Development' talk.....

...and 'PowerPoint'......

...presentation!

And the reason we had to leave early-

The raffle drum used in the Monthly Raffle, which was held today , Sunday 14th November , in a different venue to the Ard Fheis.

A fund-raising raffle like the one held today has been held every month , by the same Raffle Crew , since the mid-1970's. As is usually the case , the full compliment of tickets (650) was sold. Please note that this was not the 'RSF National Draw' , for which thousands of tickets were sold , which was also held today , but in the Ard Fheis venue. For the record , here are some of the details of the eight winners of the monthly draw : 1st - Winnie , ticket No. 374 / 2nd Cathy , 10 / 3rd Anthony 144 / 4th Paul 123 / 5th Joe 473 Joe / 6th James 15 / 7th Sharon 410 and 8th Alana 445.

We'll finish this post by congratulating Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach on a successful Ard Fheis, and by stating our belief that the 'Raffle Crew' we worked with today at the monthly raffle are a sincere and dedicated group of Irish Republicans ,as are those that were at the Ard Fheis , the RSF leadership and the many people that work 'behind the scenes' in ensuring that the whole operation works. They are a credit to themselves and to Republicanism !
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Friday, November 12, 2010

CORRECTION RE UP-COMING 27th NOVEMBER 2010 DUBLIN ICTU-ORGANISED PROTEST....

....our previous post in relation to this protest march gave incorrect assembly and destination points : the correct assembly point is at the Civic Offices on Wood Quay , from where , at 12 Noon , those present will form-up and march to the GPO in O'Connell Street , where a rally will be held.

However - no change or corrections needed for these three events :

The RSF Ard Fheis 2010 is unchanged in venue and time etc - this weekend in a Dublin Hotel , as stated, and.....

....the 650-ticket raffle will be held on Sunday 14th November , in a different Dublin hotel and , finally.....

....the Annual CABHAIR Christmas Day Swim : so far , five brave men , who have been gathering sponsorship for the past few weeks and who have each collected a few hundred Euro, have been trying to loose their beer-bellies (!) and co-ordinate the colour of their 'Speedos' ;-) !
The 2009 colour scheme can be viewed here...
Thanks!
Sharon.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.

The test also involved doing cycometric tests , which attempt to measure motor responses to drugs , and are considered an indicator of how a person who had been prescribed the drug might act whilst driving a car. These tests were taken three times a day : one such test monitored reaction when a light was switched on or off , another test involved watching a circular tray of lights , knocking each one off as it was switched on. After taking the drug , the time taken to complete these tests increased dramatically. When Joe Claffey was doing this test he was given four cardiographs a day , one of which was done while he was lying down , one standing and one sitting , with three minutes between each reading.

There are many different tests performed at the Institute , ranging from one-off tests lasting a few days up to those lasting a month. Some of the trials are split with intervals of perhaps weeks between each session. Conditions for individual volunteers inside the Institute vary according to what drug they are on : some volunteers might have to give , say, three blood and urine samples a day and, for the rest of the time, they would watch TV , play cards or read etc. Others might have to give more samples , some might have a permanent needle in their arm .

Meals are regular - breakfast , lunch , tea , supper ; some volunteers might have to fast in the morning with certain drugs and those on less exacting tests might sit around playing cards or chatting during the day. The Institute has always had a reputation among some of the people who went in there with , amongst other things , descriptions given of cannabis smoking sessions. A few years ago , the Institute began doing THC tests , which would show up cannabis residue in the bloodstream , and anyone found to have a positive test would be deemed unsuitable to continue their test.......
(MORE LATER).

Thanks to our colleagues in RSF in Cork for bringing this worthy 'Facebook' page to our attention. Contact details for the 'National Graves Association' can be found here , and we wish Matt and the team continued success in their great work. They are a tireless bunch , totally dedicated to their objective , and deserve any assistance you can give them.

Vinny Byrne, who was 15 years old at the time of the Rising in 1916, asked to see Lieutenant Peter Ames and Lieutenant George Bennett at the door of 38 Upper Mount Street in Dublin :
"As I opened the folding-doors, the officer, who was in bed, was in the act of going for his gun under his pillow...."
(From here : please note - the word "murder" is not a word we would use to describe that which happened....)

The ballad session which was to be held in the 79'r Pub in Ballyfermot , Dublin , on Friday 17th December 2010 has been postponed : one of the three acts which were booked to appear had, in fact , being double-booked and the organisers were unable to replace that act in time. As the event had been advertised and promoted locally as a "three-group gig" , the Organising Committee considered it best to postpone the event : a wise decision , I think , as the venue and the crowds who attended all the previous gigs in the venue might have considered themselves to have been 'short-changed' ie expecting a three-group event at which only two groups played.

It takes a lot of effort over a long period of time to build a good reputation - as that particular RSF Organising Committee have done - but only one 'wrong move' to destroy that reputation. When the gig has been re-organised we will , of course , post those details here.
Thanks for reading!
Sharon.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

A NUMBER'S GAME : 106 (13-14-11-10), 650 , 12/10/34/25......

106 (13-14-11-10) - As we have mentioned before ('106 All Round') , this number relates to the 106th RSF Ard Fheis , which will be held this coming weekend , 13th and 14th November , in a Dublin venue. By coincidence , that number (106) also relates to the number of motions which will be discussed at the Ard Fheis.

650 - Also an event we have covered before and , like '106' above , it will be held this weekend as well , in a different venue. The two events will help to 'balance' each other out : '106' will cost money , whilst '650' will make money!

12/10/34/25 - Again , mentioned on this Blog recently : that set of numbers indicate that the 34th successive CABHAIR Christmas Swim , in the Grand Canal, in Dublin , will be held in December ('12'/month) this year (twenty10) on the 25th - Christmas Day.

A busier than usual few days ahead for Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR , but nothing they haven't handled before. Those of us that put this Blog together have been 'jobbed' already , as we have always volunteered to assist the Republican Movement , and are proud to do so !
Thanks for reading ,
Sharon.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

On Saturday 27th November 2010 , the authors of this blog will be taking part with members of Republican Sinn Féin in a trade union-organised 'anti-budget/cutbacks' protest march through Dublin city centre : we want to stress - as we have before - that we do so in support of the employed and the unemployed ,the 'abled' and the 'disabled', the 'havenots' rather than the 'haves', who are about to be forced to pay €6 billion between them to bail out the politicians and their property-speculating and big builder friends , and that our participation should not be viewed as an action in support of the trade union leadership who are , in our opinion , as morally corrupt as the politicians they claim to oppose.
We dedicate this song to those who , like ourselves, are about to be penalised , again, for the wanton greed and incompetence of the fine-suited , corrupt and perma-tanned bastards that not only caused this poverty , but are determined that others should rescue them , financially - they are beyond any attempted moral rescue.
Hopefully , an attempt will be made by the protestors to forcibly enter Leinster House and to physically destroy that institution from the inside and such an event , if/when it happens , should not stop there - the State Senate , Anglo Irish Bank (amongst others) and the plush Offices on Merrion Street , Dublin, which we , the public, purchased for the politicians ,should all be either destroyed or converted into hostels for the homeless.
Any such action will , of course , be condemned by the politicians themselves , the union leadership , the churches , the business leaders and the mainstream media.
We can listen to their condemnation as they are being lined-up against a white-washed wall....
We will publish the details regarding the protest on this blog in the next few days.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......
From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.

'Clause 5' of the consent form states - "The health of an individual volunteer will not be improved by participation in any drug trial of this nature. On the contrary, some element, however small, of health and life endangering risk must always be involved in any study. It will be the responsibility of the Institute and its clinical staff to ensure, by all possible means, that the health of the participants is safeguarded." This is the standard clause on all consent forms.

According to Joe Claffey , Niall Rush was turned down for the test due to the condition of his veins , as the trial involved taking a large number of blood tests over the period. So it was important that the volunteers veins be in good order and others , besides Niall Rush, were turned down as well.

The same day, however, Niall Rush was accepted to undergo the Eproxindine 4/0089 test, a different one. Joe Claffey underwent his pre-medical on May 8th and was admitted on May 16th - he described the effects of the drug as being like an electric shock to the system , that it made you feel as if you had slowed down , even when you walked. He had the impression that he was never going to arrive at the point he was walking to but , mentally, there were no noticeable side effects - they were all physical.......
(MORE LATER).

NO WELCOME HERE FOR BRITISH 'ROYALTY'!

In the last few weeks there has been increased speculation by the establishment media that the present English 'queen' is planning to visit her loyal subjects in Stormont and Leinster House : the Irish Republican position on any such visit is clear -

'When the english robbed our language
and gave us theirs instead,
they gave us leave to cheat them
in the things we left unsaid,
when they robbed us of our claymores
and thought our pikes absurd,
we fashioned brand new weapons,
with each new fangled word.'

British 'Princess' Anne Windsor , for example, was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment of the British Crown Forces (29th/45th Foot) until it became the 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) . In 1916, the 178 (Forester) Brigade was sent to Dublin in an attempt to suppress the Easter Rising. The same women is presently associated with British political and military imperialism by virtue of the following positions which she holds :
* Colonel-in-Chief, The King’s Royal Hussars
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29/45 Foot)
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Corps of Signals
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Logistic Corps
* Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Army Veterinary Corps
* Commandant-in-Chief, The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps)
* Colonel, The Blues and Royals
* Royal Colonel, The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
* Royal Colonel, The 52nd Lowland Regiment, 6th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
* Rear Admiral and Chief Commandant for women, Royal Navy
* Honorary Air Commodore, RAF Lyneham
* Honorary Air Commodore, University of London Air Squadron
* Royal Honorary Colonel, University of London OTC
* Commodore-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
Irish Republicans will be opposing the presence on this island of Anne Windsor or any other British 'Royal' : details of the intended protest will be announced nearer the date concerned .
Sharon.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

'POLITICAL STATUS' AND 'NO TO ROYAL VISIT' PICKETS , DUBLIN , SATURDAY 30th OCTOBER 2010 : BRIEF REPORT AND A FEW PICS...

Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach members staged two protests today in O'Connell Street , Dublin, both of which lasted for 75 minutes : a 'Political Status' picket , and a 'No To Royal Visits' picket. About 20 activists , including a 'crew' who 'worked the immediate area' with leaflets and selling the 'Saoirse' newspaper , maintained a very visible presence on the traffic isle facing the GPO , and were well received by shoppers and passers-by ; indeed, tourists from France , Italy and America , amongst other places , not only took leaflets and purchased 'Saoirse' , but practically formed a queue at one stage to be photographed with the assembled Republicans!

'NO ROYAL WELCOME...' - RSF.

More than 30 copies of the 'Saoirse' newspaper were sold , and 900 leaflets distributed - 300 each of 'Political Status' leaflets , 'No Royal Visit' leaflets and 'CABHAIR Christmas Swim' leaflets , a 'job' which kept the seven-person 'crew' engaged for the duration of the pickets. Incidentally , two 'crew' members returned to base (!) with the equivalent , roughly, of €50 each (in American and Australian dollars!) , which they received as donations , from tourists who had earlier 'posed' in between the Republican placards and banners in O'Connell Street - they were full of praise for those on the picket , and were especially delighted to be given a half-dozen of each leaflet each , and a few 'papers!

'NO WELCOME FOR BRIT ROYALS!' - RSF.

"Just glance over the placard - don't read it slowly ...please...." : we can explain the.....

.....missing 'N' ! The missing letter can be attributed to a Special Branch man , Nicky , who, accompanied by his equally 'Special' girlfriend - too shy to give her name - tried their best to move the RSF 'picketeers' off the traffic isle and , when that failed, tried to scare away the on-lookers and the many tourists - but no luck there , either ! So , in desperation , we think he must have tried to interfere with the placards and obviously succeeded in damaging at least one. That's our story , icky (!) , and we're sticki g to it...;-) !

'Political Status' banner , O'Connell Street , Dublin , Saturday 30th October 2010.

Finally - even though we promised we wouldn't mention it (didn't we , Louise and Maire ?) , but it's almost Halloween and we're up for a wee bit of divilment (!) : an RSF Comhairle Laighean meeting ('Leinster Executive') was held today in a venue near Fairview in Dublin , from 12 Noon to 2pm , clashing with these two pickets. Bad timing on someones part , eh , girls.....;-) !
Anyway : full marks to RSF for the good jobs today , thanks to the many wishes of support from the thousands of people who seen us today , to Louise and Maire (!) and , of course , to icky and his girlfrie d , whom we hope will tie the knot soon.
Where they tie it , of course , is there own business....
Thanks!
Sharon.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

An 'Anti-Royal' picket....

.....and a 'Pro Political Status' picket will be held this Saturday , 30th October 2010 , from 12.45pm until 1.45pm , on the traffic isle facing the GPO in O'Connell Street , Dublin :
ALL WELCOME!