.....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....

...six IRA men left number 22 Lower Mount Street by the back of the house, walking away up a laneway - they were challenged by British Auxiliaries and a gun-battle ensued ; two of the Brits were killed and one Volunteer , Frank Teeling, was wounded and captured . The rest of the IRA unit made good their escape ....

British Captain Bagally , who had made his reputation by presenting 'evidence' in showtrials which led to the executions of the Irish Republicans on 'trial' , was staying in number 119 Baggot Street when, on that Sunday morning, 21st November 1920, three IRA Volunteers (including Sean Lemass, a future Fianna Fail Free State Taoiseach) entered his room and shot him dead .

British Captains McCormack and Wilde were staying in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin's O'Connell Street when a number of men , claiming to be undercover British soldiers with a message to deliver to the two Captains, were shown by the hotel staff to the rooms they were looking for : as each man opened his door he was shot dead.

An IRA unit entered a guesthouse in Fitzwilliam Square to deal with a 'Cairo Gang' leader, British Major Callaghan ; he was booked in at the guesthouse but was not there at that particular moment - his colleague , however, a Captain Crawford, was present and was held at gunpoint by the Volunteers...... (MORE LATER)>


"..... I dare not conclude without finishing my grandfathers story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ?

"Son" , he said , "one day he caught himself on one of his own traps, and no-one would assist him to get free . His own people scorned him, and turned their backs on him . He grew weaker and weaker , and finally toppled over to die upon the land which he had marred with such blood . The birds came and extracted their revenge by picking his eyes out, and the larks sang like they never sang before ".

"Grandfather", I said , "could that man's name have been John Bull ?".

---- Bobby Sands, 'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , 3rd February 1979.
(NOTE- Bobby Sands did not write that the Lark came to the rescue of its captor or tried to ease its captor's suffering - in short, the Lark did not 'play ball' with its captor ....).


A correspondent, 'GS from Surrey' , from where he/she called "the mainland" (sic) deposited , or dumped, a vile load of .... comment in my 'guestbook' (bottom of page- still there!) a few days ago , telling me ,amongst other things, of how he/she would have dealt with 'The Maguire Seven' and other such "Irish scum" .

As a rule, I don't reply to that type of contact , but 'GS' was unparalleled in his/her ignorance ; so , here's my reply -
The Maguire Seven , the Birmingham Six , Judith Ward and the Guildford Four ; a total of 18 innocent people (13 men, 3 women and two children) who, between them , spent a total of 216 years in prison . Anne Maguire , a mother of 5 children, was menstruating heavily and denied all toiletries for a week, and was beaten senseless .
Carol Richardson , who did'nt even know she was pregnant , miscarried in Brixton Prison days after her arrest. Pat O'Neill , who had minutes before entered the Maguires house to arrange for a baby-sitter when the police arrived , was told by a cop to swear that he saw a big cardboard box on Maguires table or else he would be done , refused to lie - he served eleven years. On his release , he found his marriage was broken beyond repair and that his six children had left the family home.

So there you have part of their story , 'GS' - not that it will make you think twice or anything . Remember this ; there are over 800 years of similar stories in this country . Deposit some of your vile in a Westminster 'in-box' : you have reason to do that.

..... the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....

.... two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel (specialists in gathering intelligence) , who had been sent to Dublin from Russia , were working with the 'Cairo Gang' ; they were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street .....

McMahon had a score to settle with the IRA : he had previously shot dead a Sinn Fein member , John Lynch, in the mistaken belief that Lynch was the Divisional Commandant of the 1st Southern Division of the IRA , Liam Lynch . The IRA later shot McMahon in a billiard hall , wounding him, and he wanted revenge ...

The two 'Cairo' men were in different rooms in number 22 Lower Mount Street when the IRA unit was let in ; they entered McMahon's room just as he had picked up his revolver and shot him dead. On hearing the gunfire , Peel locked his door and then blocked it with a piece of furniture - unable to get in , the Volunteers fired more than a dozen bullets through the door , but Peel survived that day .

Na Fianna Eireann (Irish Republican Scouts) were also on Lower Mount Street that Sunday morning , as 'lookouts' ; one of their members ran into number 22 to tell the eleven-person IRA unit that the British Auxiliaries were on the street - five members of the IRA unit left calmly by the front door , the other six men went to the back of the house, out the back-door and walked away up a laneway . These six men were challenged by a number of Auxiliaries and a gun battle ensued - IRA man Frank Teeling was wounded , and two of the Brits, Garnin and Morris, were killed . The wounded Volunteer, Teeling, was captured, but the rest of his unit made good their escape. (MORE LATER)>


" But , dare I say it, similar to my little friend , I have the spirit of freedom that cannot be quenched by even the most horrendous treatment . Of course I can be murdered , but while I remain alive , I remain what I am , a political prisoner of war , and no-one can change that. Have'nt we plenty of larks to prove that ? Our history is heart-breakingly littered with them : the MacSwineys , the Gaughans , and the Staggs. Will there be more in H-Block ?

I dare not conclude without finishing my gradfather's story . I once asked him whatever happened to the wicked man who imprisoned , tortured and murdered the lark ...... " (MORE LATER)>


" Strenuous efforts must be made to bend towards the Unionists , to show them that their civil rights and their religious rights will be respected - EVEN (his emphasis) if that means making internal arrangements that will suit Unionists better than they will suit the rest of us ".

---- Gerry Adams , 'Hot Press' magazine, 19th May , 1993 , page 13 : so we can right an historical wrong by ..eh, carrying on in the manner that the wrong inflicted on us in the first place !

.... why did'nt I think of that ...

.... the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920.....

.....the 'Cairo Gang' member , British Captain Newbury , was shot dead by the IRA as he was half-way out of the window of his room ; his body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped.....

At 38 Upper Mount Street , a maid let a number of men in to the building and led them to two rooms ; British Captain George Bennett was in one of the rooms, and British Colonel Peter Aimes was in the other one. Both men were armed and resisted the Volunteers, resulting in a gun-battle which left the two 'Cairo' men dead.

More documentation on IRA members, compiled by the 'Cairo Gang', was found at 28 Earlsfort Terrace , where British Captain Fitzgerald was staying ; he was shot dead on that Sunday morning and the paperwork removed for examination by the IRA Intelligence Department.

Two British Lieutenants , McMahon and Peel , had been brought in by the British from Russia, where they had been involved in gathering intelligence information - they were to do the same job , in Dublin, this time as members of the 'Cairo Gang' . They were staying at 22 Lower Mount Street ...... (MORE LATER)>


" I am now in H-Block , where I refuse to change to suit the people who oppress , torture and imprison me , and who wish to dehumanise me. Like the lark I need no changing . It is my political ideology and principles that my captors wish to change . They have suppressed my body and attacked my dignity. If I were an ordinary prisoner they would pay little , if any, attention to me , knowing that I would conform to their institutional whims .

I have lost over two years' remission . I care not . I have been stripped of my clothes and locked in a dirty , empty cell, where I have been starved , beaten and tortured , and like the lark I fear I may eventually be murdered " . (MORE LATER)>

---- Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979.


" Don't call it the 'Dail' , it isn't the Dail for which people fought " - so said the speaker from the Jackie Griffith/Mairead Farrell Cumann of Provisional Sinn Fein (motion 150) at their Ard Fheis in 2001 .

" There is nothing wrong with using the word 'Dail'; we don't use the word 'Dail Eireann' - replied PSF Vice President, Pat Doherty . Ah well-that's sorted then ....(the speaker should have known that , as a career politician , Pat would have all the answers.)

Motion 147 called for the rejection "of the term Republican Labour" by PSF leaders when describing their party , but Ard Chomhairle member Micheal MacDonncha said to do so "would restrict our language" ; his fellow full-timers (Micheal works in Leinster House) agreed with his answer and the motion was lost .

So the Provos are "Republican Labour" while the other shower are "Partitionist Labour" : and James Connolly would have nothing to do with either of them .

....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920....

.... number 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin was the first address visited by the IRA on 21st November 1920 - the five members of the 'Cairo Gang' in the house were shot dead and the list they were working on was removed .....

British Lieutenant McLean , John Caldow (McLean's brother-in-law) and known informer T H Smith were staying at 119 Morehampton Road on that Sunday morning when six armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; McLean , Caldow and Smith were caught off-guard and escorted to the top of the building , where IRA men Vincent Byrne and Sean Doyle shot them . John Caldow survived that morning and , after receiving medical attention, fled to Scotland (where he had come to Ireland from in order to join the RIC).

British Captain Newbury and his wife were staying at 92 Lower Baggot Street and heard the front door being kicked in - he immediately blocked the door to his room and made a run for the window ; he was half-way out of the window when his door was forced open and Volunteers Bill Stapleton and Joe Leonard shot him dead . His body was left draped over the open window for hours , as the Black and Tans believed it to be booby-trapped . (MORE LATER)>


" This brings me directly back to my own situation : I feel something in common with that poor bird . My position is in total contrast to that of an ordinary conforming prisoner : I am a political prisoner , a freedom fighter . Like the lark , I too have fought for my freedom , not only in captivity , where I now languish , but also while on the outside , where my country is held captive . I have been captured and imprisoned, but, like the lark, I too have seen the outside of the wire cage " .

---- Bobby Sands , 1979 . (MORE LATER)>


The American career criminal John Gotti died from throat cancer in June 2002 , at the age of 61 - he was serving a life sentence for racketeering at the time of his death . A few days ago , in 'The New York Daily News' , his family marked the first anniversary of his death with the words of Irish Hunger-Striker Terence McSwiney , Lord Mayor of Cork -
" It is not those who can inflict the most , but those who can suffer the most, who will conquer " ( I believe it is '....those who can endure the most, who will conquer' , but that's not my point). John Gotti may have been a hero to his family (as indeed any father should be to his children) but to insinuate that he followed in the footsteps of Terence McSwiney is to burst the bounds of possibility and reveal an ignorance of the Irish freedom struggle .

" There can be no peace between wrong and right , between truth and fallacy , between justice and oppression , between freedom and tyranny . Between them there must always be war until the wrong is righted , until justice is achieved , until freedom is won " .

----- Terence McSwiney .

' New York Daily News ' please copy .....

....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920 ....

... the operation to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' was set for Sunday 21st November , 1920 , as it was felt that the GAA match due to take place in Dublin that day would provide 'cover' in which the IRA units could escape in ....

British Army Captain Leonard Price , a Major Dowling , a Captain Keenlyside and two British Army Colonels, Woodcock and Montgomery, were staying in premises at 28 Pembroke Street in Dublin when , at 9am on Sunday 21st November 1920, eight armed IRA Volunteers entered the building ; Price and Dowling were in a room by themselves sorting paperwork when the IRA entered the room and shot them dead - one of the Dublin Volunteers , Andrew Cooney , gathered up the sheets of paper and left the building .

At the same time , British Captain Keenlyside and the two Colonel's found themselves confronted by some of the same IRA unit and a struggle ensued between Keenlyside's wife (no doubt present as part of what her husband probably considered a 'working holiday') and IRA Volunteer Mick O'Hanlon ; another IRA man , Mick Flanagan, pushed Mrs. Keenlyside out of the way and shot her husband dead . (MORE LATER)>


" Take an ordinary prisoner . His main aim is to make his period of imprisonment as easy and as comfortable as possible . The ordinary prisoner will in no way jeopardise a single day of his remission . Some will even grovel , crawl, and inform on other prisoners , to safeguard themselves or to speed up their release . They will comply to the wishes of their captors , and unlike the lark, they will sing when told to and jump high when told to move .

Although the ordinary prisoner has lost his liberty he is not prepared to go to extremes to regain it , nor to protect his humanity . He settles for a short date of release . Eventually , if incarcerated long enough, he becomes institutionalised , becoming a type of machine , not thinking for himself , his captors dominating and controlling him . That was the intended fate of the lark in my grandfathers story ; but the lark needed no changing , nor did it wish to change , and died making that point " .

----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands , 1979.
(Each time I read the part about becoming "institutionalised , not thinking for himself, being dominated and controlled " , I picture Martin McGuinness and his colleagues shrivelling up in a grovelling position when sharing the same space with the Unionists or the Brits , in an attempt to appear less threatening - sickening !)


As President of the World Bank , James Wolfensohn , in launching its 2001 edition of its 'World Development Indicators' , pointed out re Cuba -

'Infant mortality rate was eleven in 1000 births in 1990 , then seven in 1000 by 1999 ; the sixth lowest in the world . Mortality rate for under 5's was thirteen per 1000 in 1990 , then eight per 1000 in 1999 - Latin America average 38 . Net primary enrolment for Cuban children reached one-hundred per cent in 1997 , up from ninty-two per cent in 1990 - higher than in the U S . Public spending on education in Cuba is 6.7 per cent of gross national income - the average youth (ages 15-24) illiteracy rate in Cuba is zero (seven per-cent in Latin America).

Public spending on health care accounts for 9.1 per-cent of its GDP (similar to Canada) , and Cuba has a ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1000 population , the highest in the world ' .

For all its faults , the Cuban leadership has apparently recognised at least one golden rule - stroke , fiddle and rip-off the system for your own personal benefit, by all means, but don't hog all the wealth ; let some of it trickle down to Joe Soap ......

.....the British 'Cairo Gang' in Dublin , 1920 .....

This gang of trained assassins settled quitely in bording houses and hotels in Dublin, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination : but the IRA were one step ahead of them .....

A Sergeant Mannix of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force,stationed at Donnybrook, was an IRA agent, and obtained the names and addresses of all the 'Gang' members and passed the list on to his IRA contact, Frank Thornton. A situation then developed that 'The Cairo Gang' were monitoring the movements of the IRA members that they intended to assassinate while being monitored themselves by the IRA Intelligence Department !

The Dublin Brigade of the IRA and the IRA Intelligence Department decided to work together on a plan to wipe out 'The Cairo Gang' , and a meeting was held at which Michael Collins , Dick McKee , Liam Tobin , Peadar Clancy , Tom Cullen , Frank Thornton and Oscar Traynor were present : the operation was to take place on Sunday morning, 21st November 1920 , as the then Leinster champions, Dublin and Tipperary, were to play in a GAA match, and large crowds would be in Dublin for the occasion, providing 'cover' for the IRA teams to escape in . (MORE LATER)>


"..... the lark refused , and the man became angry and violent . He began to pressurise the lark to sing , but inevitably he received no result . So he took more drastic steps . He covered the cage with a black cloth , depriving the bird of sunlight . He starved it and left it to rot in a dirty cage , but the bird still refused to yield . The man murdered it .

As my grandfather rightly stated , the lark had spirit - the spirit of freedom and resistance . It longed to be free , and died before it would conform to the tyrant who tried to change it with torture and imprisonment . I feel I have something in common with that bird and her torture, imprisonment and final murder . She had a spirit which is not commonly found , even among us so-called superior beings, humans " .

----Bobby Sands, 3rd February , 1979 .


In an 'Editorial' comment published on 6th May , 2001 (page 16), 'The Sunday Business Post' stated -

" The H-Block prisoners , and in particular the hunger-strikers, were people of extraordinary calibre and commitment, no less than the freedom fighters of earlier years that are celebrated as the heroes of our limited independence " .

---- And it should also be noted that Bobby Sands and the other hunger-strikers did not join or support the policies of the SDLP - the Provos today have policies similar to (if not borrowed from) the SDLP , yet the Provos still claim that Sands and the other men died for what Adams and Family are up to now . Each of the 22 hunger-strikers supported the use of arms to overthrow British rule and establish Irish democracy : Provisional Sinn Fein has condemned the use of armed struggle against British rule.

The Provos have retreated from the struggle , an indication that they have been purchased by partition.

Serving British soldiers , former British soldiers, RIC members and ex-members, carpenters, plumbers, electricans, landlords(and landladies), servants , busdrivers and taximen , businessmen and women , postmen and housewives - and the IRA ; all the above, and others, combined their knowledge and skills to great effect on the morning of Sunday, 21st November , 1920 : it was on that morning , 83 years ago, that thirteen senior British intelligence officers were executed in Dublin ......

The IRA Intelligence Department at that time was an extremely efficient machine, run by Michael Collins , and the British were well aware of that fact ; Sir Henry Wilson wanted it and Collins eliminated , and sanctioned the use , in Ireland, of 'The Cairo Gang' , a unit of British agents which specialised in political assassinations - they got their name , and their reputation, from 'hits' in the Middle East, carried out on the instruction of Wilson and others in Westminster.

'The Cairo Gang' lived quietly in boarding houses and hotels in Dublin , never drawing attention to themselves, and set about compiling a 'hit-list' of Irish Republicans for assassination ; the IRA , however, were one step ahead of them ...... (MORE LATER)>


" My Grandfather once said that the imprisonment of the lark is a crime of the greatest cruelty because the lark is one of the greatest symbols of freedom and happiness . He often spoke of the spirit of the lark relating to a story of a man who incarcerated one of his loved friends in a small cage.

The lark , having suffered the loss of her liberty, no longer sung her little heart out, she no longer had anything to be happy about . The man who had committed the atrocity, as my grandfather called it, demanded that the lark should do as he wished : that was to sing her heart out , to comply to his wishes and change herself to suit his pleasure or benefit . The lark refused , and the man became angry and violent ...... "

----'The Lark and the Freedom Fighter' , by Bobby Sands - first published on 3rd February , 1979. (MORE LATER)>


At their foundation in 1986, and since then , the 'Progressive Democrats' (PD's) stated that their intention was to reform the libel laws, abolish the Free State Senate, eliminate God from the Free State Constitution , to end the dual mandate and to curtail Free State ministerial pensions until members had either reached 55 years of age or left Leinster House ; and the result of this 'wish list' ... ?

---- the 'dual mandate' issue is being discussed now (as is a legal action against the proposed changes) , but the libel laws are still used by the media as a reason not to expose their buddies in the political and business worlds (save for the odd bone thrown to the public dogs), the Free State Senate is still in existence and still used by the politicians , including the PD's, as a 'holding centre' for their friends while they attempt to get their'career' back on track ,elected politicians (again including the PD's) continue to receive pensions from their previous political positions , and God ....well , they all think they're him (or her) !

....released from the Free State internment camp at the North Dublin Union in 1924 , Katie O'Connor was elected leader of Clann na nGael , a position she was to hold for almost fifty years ......

On one of her visits to England in the late 1920's , in a hall in Gay Street in Liverpool, the 'Countess Markievicz' branch of the Clann was established ; Katie O'Connor and two other Clann leaders, Cissie Cunningham and Kathleen McLaughlin, became firm friends with the 'Markievicz' membership, especially the O/C , Kathleen Walsh and sisters Rita and Kathleen McSweeney .

It was members of Clann na nGael that organised the first van-load of supplies for the nationalist population of Belfast, and other areas, following the August 1969 pogroms. In the 1970's, Katie O'Connor stepped down as Clann leader (her replacement was Maura Lyons) but Katie did not end her support for the Movement - she assisted the IRA and worked with the prisoners organisation, 'An Cumann Cabhrach' (now 'Cabhair').

On 11th January , 1983, at 83 years of age, Katie O'Connor died ; another patriot whose name is not as well known as it should be - she spent sixty-seven years as a 'dissident' and a 'terrorist' . Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.


".....don't let them beat you . I need to hear those voices. They anger the monster. It retreats. The voices scare the devils. Sometimes I really long to hear those voices. I know if they shout louder they will scare the monster away and my suffering will be ended. I remember , and I shall never forget, how this monster took the lives of Tom Ashe , Terence MacSwiney , Michael Gaughan , Frank Stagg, and Hugh Coney , and I wonder each night what the monster and his black devils will do to me tomorrow .

They always have something new. Will I overcome it ? I must. Yes, I must . Tomorrow will be my seven hundred and fortieth day of torture - an eternity. Yes, tomorrow I'll rise in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. Yes, tomorrow I'll fight the monster and his devils again ! ".

-----' I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands, first published 0n 7th October , 1978.


" Subject to the justification by overriding considerations of public interest , a journalist shall do nothing which entails intrusion into private grief and distress. A journalist shall strive to ensure that the information that he/she disseminates is fair and accurate , avoid the expression of comment and conjecture as established fact and falsification by distortion , selection or misrepresentation " .

------ the 'Code of Conduct' issued by the 'National' Union of Journalists : Bryan Dobson , and all the others who have'nt been collared yet , take note .....

..... like all other members of Clann na nGael , and its leadership, Katie O'Connor opposed the Treaty of December 1921 , and took the Republican side in the Civil War ; there was no split in the Clann over this issue .....

Katie O'Connor was jailed in Kilmainham in the autumn of 1922 and was subjected to degrading treatment by her Free State captors : she was stripped naked and jeered at by the Staters , who delighted in terrorising their 22 years-young female prisoner. She was the youngest of the women political prisoners , and was transferred along with other female prisoners to the Free State internment camp at the North Dublin Union Workhouse .

When released two years later (1924), Katie O'Connor was elected leader of Clann na nGael and, from then until well into the 1940's ,she travelled throughout Ireland and England setting up branches of the organisation (she was to hold her leadership position for almost fifty years)...... (MORE LATER)>


"..... Monsters do not exist . Nor do devils. There cannot be so many devils . I'm mad . Yes , that's it ; I'm insane. But my pain , suffering, and grief are real . It must be all real . No, I'm right , I know I'm right . I must resist, I have nowhere to run . My tomb may be my grave . I'm surrounded by a barbed wire jungle . The monster roars at me : ' You shall never get out of here . If you don't do as I say I shall never release you . ' I refuse.

My body is broken and cold . I'm lonely and I need comfort . From somewhere afar I hear those familiar voices which keep me going: 'We are with you, son . We are with you . Don't let them beat you ' " .

------- Bobby Sands, 7th October , 1978. (MORE LATER)>


.....the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces of India killed 1.3 million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine')......

Salt in their diet could have saved many people : sixty-three per cent of deaths were ascribed to fever and bowel complaints that could have been alleviated by salt , but still the British pressed these provinces for their salt tax and continued their bounty on any salt smugglers. The 'Great Hedge' was of a scale to be comparable to the Great Wall of China. Ghandi organised a 'salt march' in 1930 ; he marched 241 miles to the coast at Dandi , picked up a lump of salt and gave it away without paying taxes - millions followed his example and done the same , thus undermining British 'authority' in the country .

India , like so many other countries, has had its taste of British mis-rule ; Ireland continues to experience that 'bad taste' .....

At the funeral of the Fenian leader Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin , in August 1915, a fifteen-years young girl , from Henrietta Street in Dublin, was moved by the scenes she witnessed ......

One year later, that girl , Katie O'Connor , now aged 16, involved herself in the Easter Rising carrying messages between the different rebel garrisons , and the following year she joined Clann na nGael , the Irish Republican girl scout organisation ( which had been founded by the Kelly sisters in 1910).

During the Tan War (1919-1921) Katie O'Connor was a dispatch carrier and , like all other members of Clann na nGael, she opposed the Treaty of December 1921 , and took the Republican side in the Civil War (there was no split in the Clan over this issue) ...... (MORE LATER)>


"... but the monster does not kill me. I often wonder why not ? But each time I face it, death materialises before me. The monster keeps me naked . It feeds me. But it did'nt feed me today because it had tried so hard to defeat me and failed . This angered it once more, you see. I know why it won't kill me. It wants me to bow before it, to admit defeat .

If we don't beat it soon it will murder me . Of this I am certain. It keeps me locked up in a dark smelly tomb and it sends its devils to keep me on edge , to keep the torture going . Each time the door of my tomb opens , the black devils attack me ! They nearly won yesterday . It was inhuman . They beat me into unconsciousness . I think -'is this really happening to me ?' and 'can this happen in this day and age?' " .

---- 'I Fought a Monster Today' , by Bobby Sands , October 1978 . (MORE LATER)>


.... the British 'customs line' in India was over 2,300 miles long , and was guarded by 12,000 men - it was a massive hedge of native trees and bushes, bolstered with rocks when vegetation became too patchy ; it was a ruthlessly policed barrier that cut off an affordable supply of an absolute necessity of life for Indian people : salt !

Famine is common in India and salt depletion is often the fatal ingredient in illness caused by malnutrition - the 'famine' of 1877-1878 in the North-Western provinces killed 1.3million people when the harvest failed and surplus grain had been exported to Britain and southern India (shades of the Irish 'famine') ....... (MORE LATER)>

.....ex-British Army Quartermaster Sergeant Harry Timothy Quinlisk, from Waterford , Ireland, made it his business to mix in Irish Republican circles ; Michael Collins refused his request to join the IRA as a training officer , and Quinlisk then contacted the British Under-Secretary , claimimg to have information on Collins and the IRA ; there was a £10,000 reward on offer from the British for information leading to the capture of Collins , and Quinlisk was determined to claim it ......

A meeting was duly arranged at Dublin Castle between the representatives of the British administration in Ireland and Quinlisk - however , the IRA had people working for them in the Castle and were notified immediately that Quinlisk had been in contact with the British Under-Secretary. An IRA investigation into the contacts uncovered a telegram and a copy of a despatch which confirmed that Quinlisk was an informer ; arrangements were made to deal with him .

In February , 1920, Quinlisk was 'inadvertently' made aware that Michael Collins was staying in Cork , and went there himself to confirm it ; on 18th February , 1920, IRA Volunteers from Ballyphehane in County Cork shot him dead .

These days , if known (so-called) Irish Republicans meet with representatives of the British administration in Ireland they are praised as 'peace-makers' : but look who's doing the praising ......


" When I resist , it does'nt understand . You see it does'nt even try to comprehend why I resist . 'Why don't you give in to me ?' it says . 'Give in ! Give in to us !' the monster's army jibes . My body wants to say: 'Yes, yes,do what you will with me . I am beaten , you have beaten me'. But my spirit prevails . My spirit says: 'No , no, you cannot do what you want with me . I am not beaten. You cannot do what you want with me . I refuse to be beaten' .

This angers the monster . It goes mad . It brutalises me to the point of death . But it does not kill me . I often wonder why not ........ " .

----- 'The writings of Bobby Sands' : above article first published on 7th October , 1978 . (MORE LATER).


THE BRITISH IN INDIA .......

.... did not succeed in grabbing all of the Indian landmass , and in the princely states to the west of the country , the last descendants of the Mughal emperors were still clinging on to the fading vestiges of their glory . The British declared that goods passing from the autonomous states into 'British-controlled' territory were subject to custom duties (!) and so a 'customs line' was established , stretching across the whole of India -- an area, which, at the time (1869), extended from the Indus to the Mahanadi in Madras ; over 2,300 miles long ...... (MORE LATER)>

....on a recruitment visit to Limberg POW camp in Germany in 1915 , Roger Casement rejected the application from Waterford man , Harry Timothy Quinlisk who , as a captured member of the British Army, was being held in the camp as a prisoner ; Casement did not trust Quinlisk, describing him as "a rogue" ......

In November 1918 , Harry Timothy Quinlisk was released and returned to Ireland , and began mixing in Irish Republican circles . The Tan War started in January 1919 and Michael Collins found himself with a price of £10,000 on his head - the British would pay that amount of money to the person who gave them information leading to the capture of Collins ,the then IRA's Director of Intelligence . Quinlisk decided that the money was his ....

Harry Timothy Quinlisk used the fact that he was a 'known face' with Irish Republicans to seek a meeting with Michael Collins , which was eventually arranged : he offered his services to Collins as a training officer for the IRA but, wary of his eagerness and his repeated persistance, Collins turned him down. Quinlisk then contacted the British Under-Secretary for Ireland and asked for a meeting with him , claiming that he had information on Collins and the IRA....... (MORE LATER)>



" I fought a monster today and once more I defeated the monster's army. Although I did not escape , I survived to fight another day . It was hard : harder today than ever before , and it gets worse every day. You see I am trapped and all I can do is resist. I know some day I will defeat this monster , but I weary at times. I think and feel that it may kill me first .

The monster is shrewd . It plays with me, it humiliates me, and tortures me . I'm like a mouse in comparison to this giant , but when I repel the torture it inflicts upon me I feel ten feet tall for I know I am right. I know that I am what I am , no matter what may be inflicted upon me , and it will never change that fact " .

----- Bobby Sands , article entitled "I fought a monster today" , first published 7th October , 1978. (MORE LATER)>


OLD HANDS AT 'DIRTY TRICKS' ......

.... as any country that has been blighted by the Brits will confirm !
And they have done it in their own country too :

On 23rd May , 1945, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler "committed suicide" in British custody , according to the British themselves .

But they never said why they carried out two post-mortems on the body (1945 and 1946) , and won't explain why Himmler's file in the British Public Record Office is sealed until the year 2045 !
Himmler's identity card was in the name of Heinrick Hitzinger. No fingerprints or dental records were taken from the corpse because the British buried him with such haste ....

Himmler was born in October, 1900 - at 103 years of age , is it possible he is still in a 'safe house' in Britain , perhaps working as a toy-boy in Buck palace ..... ?

During the 'Tan War' , British Intelligence Officers , spies and other agents were executed by the IRA , as were almost sixty informers .....

A Waterford man , Harry Timothy Quinlisk , joined the British Army in August 1914, rose to the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant and fought in France with the 'Royal Irish Regiment' . He was captured that same year by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp in Limberg . In January 1915, Roger Casement visited the same camp in an attempt to recruit an Irish Brigade to fight against the British in Ireland ; Quinlisk put his name on the list but was rejected by Casement, who described him as " a rogue " ..... (MORE LATER)>


"..... they all glare at me , and then begin to shout at me : " I am a Sir" , " I am a Sir " , "You will conform" , "Conform" , "Conform" . They all grab me and start to beat and kick me while screaming : " You will conform " , " You will conform in H-Block 5 " . I awake , shouting and rolling on a filthy mattress on the floor . " Where am I ? ". "Are you alright?" , asks my cell-mate . "Where am I?" . " You are in your cell , you must've been having a nightmare," he says .

Our cell door opens and a black uniformed figure stands there , " Food", he says . "What was that, Mister?" I ask . "You call me Sir. You're in the H-Blocks now! You're in H-Block 5. Don't forget it, 1066 !" .

----- Bobby Sands , article entitled ' I am Sir, you are 1066' - first published 1st July, 1978.


Is 'Freddie' Scapatticci 'Stakeknife' ?
Is 'Stakeknife' a scapegoat ... ? A question asked , but, in all the 'answers' ...
...no-one asked about...
...the word 'scapegoat' :

The term is believed to have been coined by a famous translator of the Bible, named William Tyndale ; in LEVITICUS 16, there is a reference to two goats, one of which has the sins of the people symbolically laid upon it and is then allowed to escape into the wilderness . Tyndale called this goat the "scapegoat" , from 'escape' and 'goat' . LEVITICUS forms part of the Pentateuch, which Tyndale finished translating in 1530 ; he became a 'scapegoat' himself in the so-called ' Heresy Trials' which were raging at the time - in 1535, he was arrested for heresy and, in 1536, he was strangled and burnt at the stake !

(That's burnt AT the stake, not BY ..... oh forget it ...).

.....because of the circumstances of his birth , John Kells Ingram (author of the Irish ballad ' The Memory Of The Dead') felt that he could not publicly voice support for those trying to break the connection with England ....

T.F.O'Sullivan , an authority on Irish ballads and poetry of that period, wrote that, when published ,'The Memory Of The Dead' -
" Immediately attracted widespread attention , and there was a good deal of speculation as to the author . It was generally felt that a great lyric worthy of a great theme had been written " .

Ingram's ballad was translated into Latin by Robert Yelverton Tyrrell in 1870 and into Irish by Douglas Hyde in 1896 . John Kells Ingram died on 1st May , 1907 , at 84 years of age ; he went to his grave proud of his ballad 'The Memory Of The Dead' , which he wrote to perpetuate the memory of the men and women who , in 1798, fought and died for their country .


"..... several naked figures appear at the windows. The building is thirty yards away . I can see that all the figures are bearded , they all seem to be fairly young , but all their faces are pale and haggard . They are young men , but have old men's faces . Am I gazing at death ? These figures keep staring out at nothing , or pacing to and fro . Footsteps again !
I turn, apprehension again gripping me, to await my door being opened again . My new-found curiosity having diminished , I fall deeper into the depths of depression and despair .The thought of what lies on the other side of that door tortures me . The door swings open , and several black uniformed figures stand there , surrounding a very small , fat , evil-looking person who evidently is their leader .
They all glare at me , and then begin to shout at me : ...... (MORE LATER)<


THE SPINNING SUN.....

In April 2002, 'The Sun' 'paper carried a Page One headline - ' MARRY ! TIME FOR CHARLES TO WED CAMILLA ' , adding "Charles and Camilla are a perfect match.So why does'nt Charles marry her ? Marry her , Charles, the people would warm to you if you did so " .

Two telephone numbers , a 'YES, MARRY' and 'NO,DON'T MARRY' were published, and 'SUN' readers were asked to vote on the ssue . The next day , the 'paper published the results - 59,852 readers in total voted , of which only 16,934 voted 'YES,MARRY' .

However ,the 'SUN' put a spin on the result to suit its own agenda : it stated - "POLL BOOST FOR CAMILLA ; public opposition is falling, a SUN poll reveals today.The number backing a wedding is up fifty per-cent on six years ago " !!

...SUPER SOARAWAY FACTS AND FIGURES.....

.....John Kells Ingram , author of the ballad "Who Fears To Speak Of '98 " , was not a supporter of the Irish Republican struggle....

He was a student , in Trinity, of political economy and sociology and those in the College with him often discussed the effects of the 1798 Rising ; it is believed that John Kells Ingram wrote the song 'The Memory of The Dead' in one night in March 1843 , following a long discussion with fellow students about the Rising . He then , anonymously, dropped it in the letter-box of 'The Nation' newspaper , which published it on 1st April , 1843.

Although Irish-born , Ingram considered himself a Unionist but was drawn to the scholarly and impassioned reasoning of Thomas Davis and his colleagues in their quest to end what he himself also considered to be British mis-rule in his native land.He was not anti-Irish , as others in his circle were , and was not a staunch supporter of English rule in Ireland ;however , because of his circumstances, he felt he could not articulate publicly his position .... (MORE LATER)>


" A breeze: I feel a breeze coming from the wall behind me . Feeling about , I touch a piece of cloth . I tug it and it falls . A light of great intensity hits my eyes , temporarily blinding me . My tomb becomes illuminated with light , revealing a window divided with concrete bars . Stepping closer , thousands of lights of every size and colour appear in my view . These lights are perched upon mountains of barbed wire that glitter and sparkle on the ink-black horizon .

Another step forward , and still looking straight ahead , a small building looms up in front of me , displaying a dozen or so windows all of which are brightly lit up . Several naked figures appear at the windows ..... "

----- Bobby Sands , 1st July , 1978 : more later ... >


OOOPS ! Did I say that .....

"Partition is unravelling before our eyes "
--- Provisional Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle member Ann Speed , speaking at that organisations 1995 Ard Fheis .(See 'AP/RN', 2nd March 1995 , page 5).

" He has engaged and listened " .
---- Gerry Adams describing Tony Blair ! (See 'AP/RN', 18th December , 1997, page 3).

" The whole thing is a con-job " .
---- Me , 1998 and now !

On 1st April , 1843, 'The Nation' newspaper (published by the 'Young Ireland' group) published a ballad entitled 'The Memory of The Dead' ; the song commemorated the 1798 Rising and is perhaps better known by its opening line - " Who fears to speak of '98 " ..... "
The author of the song wanted to remain anonymous and , in his own mind, had reason to......

John Kells Ingram had no sympathy for the Irish Republican cause - he was born the son of a Protestant clergyman , at Templecarne Rectory, near Pettigo in County Donegal , in July 1823. He was educated in Newry and later studied at Trinity College in Dublin and , although he admired the integrity of the Irish rebels and their cause, he was not a supporter . (MORE LATER)>


"It's watching me. Once more the door opens. The dim light gives off a little illumination , revealing the black uniformed figure at the doorway . "I am Sir", it says , "here is your food, 1066". A bowl is thrust into my hands as the door slams. Before the light dies I catch a glimpse of the floor. It is covered in filth and rubbish . There are several maggots clinging to my legs. The walls are covered with a mass of fat bloated flies. Once again I am terror-stricken . I pace the floor, aghast at my surroundings. The bowl in my hand is cold , it contains some sort of porridge or gruel . The smell from it revolts me. I set it down on the floor.

Pacing the floor in total darkness , I become engulfed with depression and despair . I wish I was dead . "But I am dead" , I say aloud. I can't even kill myself , I think " .

----' The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 - first published in 'Republican News', 1st July 1978 . (MORE LATER)>


On Thursday , 29th May last , the 'Adams Family' loudly protested that the British would not allow elections to be held to the British parliament at Stormont ; in 'AP/RN' on 9th September , 1999, page 10, Gerry Adams described the Stormont Treaty ('Good Friday Agreement') as "British Government policy" and said to Tony Blair's administration that "it must implement British Government policy " in Ireland.

A so-called Irish 'Republican' leader calling on the British to implement its policy in Ireland ?

..... I can't be the only one to be confused...

.....for six decades , Brian O'Higgins explained Irish Republicanism to generations of young people , and was hounded by the British and Free Staters for doing so .....

On 10th March , 1963 , at 80 years of age , Brian O'Higgins died in Dublin. Again, like so many men and women mentioned in these columns, he deserves to be remembered as much outside the Movement , as he is within it. People like that are the backbone of the Movement - their efforts and the sacrifices they make are second-nature to them ; they don't seek, or expect, financial gain ; they don't make plans to sit at the so-called 'top table' with the same people who have worked for years to 'tame' them .
Men and women like Brian O'Higgins are not for turning - the Brits and Free Staters are aware of that , label them as 'dissidents and terrorists', purchase half of them and turn them on the other half . And unfortunately, that 'divide and conquer' trick still 'fools' those that are willing to be fooled .....


".....maybe it's better they don't know. They won't break my spirit. I won't let them do that. They can do what they will with me , but I won't concede my spirit . Yes , that's it. Calm down , fight back, show them your spirit , settle down, and get ready for them... There's a bible in the corner- flick through it and stop thinking about it. Six hours ! Take heart ... The prophet Sirach : 'Blessed is he whose heart does not condemn him, and who does not give up hope' .
Remember that . Remember those words . I'm alright. I won't give up hope . No , I won't give up hope " .

-----'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , from an article entitled 'Alone and Condemned' , first published on 13th January , 1979 .


Democratic decisions by the Irish people were made in every general election from the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872 . In each election from then until 1918 , the wish of the Irish people to govern themselves was expressed through the ballot box . In eleven general elections in succession through almost half a century , Irish voters used the ballot to show their will . Sixty per-cent of those elected by the county and borough constituencies in Ireland in 1874 were Home Rulers .

As more people qualified to vote , this demand grew accordingly . Over eighty per-cent of Irish representatives from 1885 onwards were elected to win self-government for the Country . Britain failed to accept the ballot results and , in 1920, when Britain partioned Ireland, they again ignored the votes of the people whom they insisted in keeping under the Butchers Apron ('Union Jack'). Constituencies which in every election for years had voted for Irish self-government were kept within the Unionist state established at that time.
And now we have the stomach-turning sight of so-called 'Irish Republicans' protesting because the British will not hold elections to a British Parliament (Stormont) !

.....they would crawl over a spinning grave to get a British pension .....
Disgusting.

.....during the round-up of Irish Republicans in May 1918 (the so-called 'German Plot' arrests) , Brian O'Higgins(36) was lifted and imprisoned in Birmingham, England - while in prison , he was elected to represent West Clare in the First Dail Eireann......

In the Spring of 1919 , Brian O'Higgins was released and went to West Clare, where he became a Justice in the Dail Courts . He took the Republican side in the Civil War , having opposed the Treaty, and was arrested in February 1923 - this time he ended up in the Curragh. On his release , he reported back to the Republican Movement and , in 1932, he published the first 'Wolfe Tone Annual ' , which he continued to produce until 1962.

With Joe Clarke's help, Brian O'Higgins published a newspaper, 'The Wolfe Tone Weekly' , which was first published in September 1937 but was quickly suppressed by the Fianna Fail administration. Brian O'Higgins published dozens of articles, books and pamphlets during the 1940's and 1950's on Irish history , songs and poems , under his own name and a pen-name, 'Brian na Bamban' ; for six decades, he explained Irish Republicanism to generations of young people, and was hounded by the British and Free Staters for doing so ..... (MORE LATER)>


"....I'm so scared , I can't even think right. I wish I was at home.I wonder what the family are doing now ? Sitting around the fire in a nice warm room having tea . Jesus , it's getting colder . My feet are blue. I wonder what they are thinking ? What would they think if they knew what is to happen to me ? It would only make it worse , they would suffer, they would worry so much, but maybe they have secretly been expecting this , and never said so. Maybe it's better they don't know ..... " .

---- Bobby Sands, first published on 13th January, 1979. (MORE LATER)>


In 1921 , British General Sir Hubert Gough stated-
" Law and order (in Ireland) have given place to a bloody and brutal anarchy in which the armed agents of the Crown violate every law in aimless and vindictive and insolent savagery . England has departed further from her own standards, and further from the standards even of any nation in the world , not excepting the Turk and Zulu, than has ever been known in history before " .

--- and that from a Brit 'insider' ! At least Gough spoke his mind- the shameless 21st Century-version would deny everything and then go running for his/her 'spin-doctor' and then their lawyer....

.....during the round-up of Irish Republicans in May 1918 (the so-called 'German Plot' arrests) , Brian O'Higgins(36) was lifted and imprisoned in Birmingham, England - while in prison , he was elected to represent West Clare in the First Dail Eireann......

In the Spring of 1919 , Brian O'Higgins was released and went to West Clare, where he became a Justice in the Dail Courts . He took the Republican side in the Civil War , having opposed the Treaty, and was arrested in February 1923 - this time he ended up in the Curragh. On his release , he reported back to the Republican Movement and , in 1932, he published the first 'Wolfe Tone Annual ' , which he continued to produce until 1962.

With Joe Clarke's help, Brian O'Higgins published a newspaper, 'The Wolfe Tone Weekly' , which was first published in September 1937 but was quickly suppressed by the Fianna Fail administration. Brian O'Higgins published dozens of articles, books and pamphlets during the 1940's and 1950's on Irish history , songs and poems , under his own name and a pen-name, 'Brian na Bamban' ; for six decades, he explained Irish Republicanism to generations of young people, and was hounded by the British and Free Staters for doing so ..... (MORE LATER)>


"....I'm so scared , I can't even think right. I wish I was at home.I wonder what the family are doing now ? Sitting around the fire in a nice warm room having tea . Jesus , it's getting colder . My feet are blue. I wonder what they are thinking ? What would they think if they knew what is to happen to me ? It would only make it worse , they would suffer, they would worry so much, but maybe they have secretly been expecting this , and never said so. Maybe it's better they don't know ..... " .

---- Bobby Sands, first published on 13th January, 1979. (MORE LATER)>


In 1921 , British General Sir Hubert Gough stated-
" Law and order (in Ireland) have given place to a bloody and brutal anarchy in which the armed agents of the Crown violate every law in aimless and vindictive and insolent savagery . England has departed further from her own standards, and further from the standards even of any nation in the world , not excepting the Turk and Zulu, than has ever been known in history before " .

--- and that from a Brit 'insider' ! At least Gough spoke his mind- the shameless 21st Century-version would deny everything and then go running for his/her 'spin-doctor' and then their lawyer....

...... at 22 years young,Brian O'Higgins left Dublin and went home to Glen na Mona in County Meath - he earned his living by writing for local newspapers .....

By the time he was 30 years of age , Brian O'Higgins was challenging , in writing, the British presence in his country and the native apologists for same. His articles were published in like-minded newspapers such as 'Sinn Fein' , 'Irish Freedom' and 'Nationality' and, in those and other newspapers , he wrote against conscription and recruitment into the British Army .

At 34 years young, Brian O'Higgins fought in the GPO during Easter Week 1916 ; following the surrender , he was imprisoned in Stafford Jail in England and Frongoch Internment Camp in Wales - he was released in February 1917. However , during the round-up of republicans in May 1918 (the 'German Plot' arrests), he was lifted and imprisoned in Birmingham , England - while in prison he was elected to represent West Clare in the First Dail Eireann . (MORE LATER)>


".....eight hours, that's all I've left .It will hurt. I know it will hurt. Everyone says it hurts. Oh God, it's not happening to me. It's not happening . I'm trapped . Entombed! No escape ! Nowhere to hide . And nowhere to run . I'm condemned to face what awaits me in eight hours . I can't appeal , I can't plead , they won't even listen , they just laugh, they're glad , they revel in it . That's why they give me a warning of eight hours , to watch me sweat and worry . They have it well planned .

They're watching me now. They're watching me through that little slit in the cell door . They won't give me peace , but what peace can I find ? I'm so scared , I can't even think right . I wish I was at home ..... " .

---- 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' ,April 1981 . (MORE LATER)>


From my lengthy and ever-increasing 'Do-As-I-Say-And-Not-As-I-Do' file ; this one from the 'Private Eye' report entitled 'Rock Bottom', February 1989 , page 3 -

Thames Television proposed to show, in late April 1988, a programme on the Rock of Gibraltar shootings ('Shoot-to-kill' policy) ; the British Tories condemned the TV station and lashed them for propagating "trial by television" . However ,following the Aberfan disaster in South Wales in 1966, a Labour British Attorney-General set up a full-scale public inquiry under a High Court judge. When the judge quietly suggested that press comment on Aberfan might be restricted until the public inquiry , he was subjected to a volley of abuse by the Tories and their friends in the media , who argued that any restriction on comment was "a gross violation of free speech" .

In 1988 , the same politicians and newspapers demanded the restrictions on comment which they had decried in 1966 !

------- it's only "a violation of free speech " if we say it is ....

In Glen na Mona,Kells, County Meath , in July 1882, a child was born who , even to this day, is remembered among Irish Republicans as a soldier,journalist , author and poet .....

Brian O'Higgins was educated at kilskyre National School , but left to work in a relatives shop in Clonmellon on the Meath/Westmeath border in 1896 , at fourteen years of age . It was around that time that he got to know Tom Daly , who was the Editor of the 'Meath Chronicle' newspaper ; Daly saw in the young Brian O'Higgins a flair for the written word , and encouraged him in that regard .

At 19 years young (in 1901) , O'Higgins was being taught Irish by Michael Cusack (GAA founder) in the Gaelic League ; he had moved to Dublin that year and joined the O'Growney branch of same there. In 1904 , he went back home to Glen na Mona and made a living by writing for 'The Meath Chronicle' , the 'Leinster Leader' and 'The Peasant' . (MORE LATER)>


"The heavy steel door of the punishment cell slammed shut behind me. In a bewildered daze I vaguely heard the jingle of keys and the steady footsteps fading away in the wake of its thunderous echo. An ungodly silence fell, leaving only the sound of my sharp rasping breaths .My eyes flashed at the bareness of my humble surroundings . A wooden board for a bed,a concrete block for a stool , a concrete slab as a table . A bright light burned high above me, reflecting off the chalk-white walls , and the severe cold bored through my body and numbed my bare feet .

Naked , alone and condemned, I began to pace the small freezing cold cell ; my thoughts in an entangled mess , riddled with panic, worry and fear. Condemned ! 'We'll be back in eight hours' , that's what they said . Jesus, what time is it now ? Eight hours , that's all I've left ..... "

------- From 'The writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 - first published in 'Republican News' , 13th January 1979 . (MORE LATER)>


For twelve years , a Mr. Davison Budhoo worked for the 'International Monetary Fund' (IMF) as an economist , but resigned in early 1988 over the attempt by the IMF to "crucify" the economy of Trinidad and Tobago , in the Caribbean -- "The IMF was never designed to help the 'Third World' or end poverty . It was established by the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 to restore economic and financial order to the western world . There was no element of compassion for humanity in its formulation . The Funds aim is first and foremost to secure the interests of developed countries " .

Yes, Yes- perhaps ; but that was back in 1988 !
Today , in this 21st Century, the initials 'IMF' (bless 'em) stand for 'Idyllic and Magnificent Faculty' .
Don't they ......?

.....in November 1922 , while an appeal against his death sentence was pending in the Free State High Court, Robert Erskine Childers was removed from his cell and shot dead by a Free State firing squad in Portobello Barracks, Dublin .....

His Irish Republican credentials are usually ignored by the 'establishment' , who praise his literary prowess - 'The Riddle of The Sands'(1903) ; 'War and the Arme Blanche'(1910) ; 'The Framework of Home Rule'(1911) ; 'Military Rule in Ireland'(1920) ; and 'The Constructive Works of Dail Eireann'(1921).

Robert Erskine Childers was shot dead by order of his former comrades on 24th November, 1922 , at 52 years of age ; those that pulled the trigger were following instructions from traitors.

FOOTNOTE - Robert Barton signed the Treaty of Surrender but later came to reject it;the Free Staters held a grudge for Childers over that issue :
The 'Court' that passed the death sentence on Childers (on 17th November 1922) came into operation on 15th October that same year and,as well as Childers,passed death sentences on seventy-seven Irish Republicans.


"....or throw scalding water around his naked body. It is also inconceivable for me to describe, let alone for you to imagine,our state of mind just sitting waiting for this to happen. I can say that this physical and psychological torture in the H-Blocks has brought many men to the verge of insanity.We are in a very, very bad state now. What will we be like at the end of the day , or in the years to come ? My mind is scarred deep. It is as equally a worrying thought that we may end up unable to even think at all ! With that in 'your' mind, I will leave off. Think about it, but just don't leave it at that " .

----Bobby Sands, from an article entitled 'The Battle for Survival' , first published in the old AP/RN , 27th January, 1979.


.....a paper produced by senior British civil servants in 1948, as the Free State was about to leave the 'Commonwealth' , concluded - " Now that Eire (sic) will shortly cease to owe any allegiance to the Crown, it has become a matter of first-class strategic importance to this country that the North should continue to form part of His Majestys dominions . So far as can be foreseen , it will never be to Great Britains advantage that 'Northern Ireland' (sic) should form part of a territory outside His Majesty's jurisdiction . Indeed , it seems unlikely that Great Britain would ever be able to agree to this even if the people of 'Northern Ireland' (sic) desired it " .

------Well, that's news to me :I always considered the Brits as a neutral , peacekeeping force.....

......Robert Erskine Childers was one of the principal secretaries to the Irish delegation in London during the Treaty negotiations from October to December 1921 - he strongly opposed that Treaty of Surrender .....

When the split took place, Erskine Childers supported the Republican side during the Civil War and was appointed IRA Director of Publicity and Editor of the Republican newspaper 'The Republic of Ireland' ('Poblacht na hEireann'). In November 1922 , Childers was imprisoned in Wicklow Jail , having been arrested by Free State troops while visiting his cousin, Robert Barton, at Annamoe, in County Wicklow, ; he was quickly transferred to Portobello Barracks in Dublin where he was viciously tortured and , on 17th November 1922, was court-martialled on a charge of possession of a revolver (which had been given to him by his former comrade, Michael Collins). He was sentenced to death.

The death sentence was appealed and, whilst same was pending in the Free State High Court , Childers was removed from his cell and shot dead by a Free State firing squad in Portobello Barracks, Dublin. (MORE LATER)>


"....but you know they never forget . They don't come. The next day is the same, and the next, and the next.You become more and more depressed . For days your thoughts have been the same , a mass of fear, fearing what lies ahead. Consider being in that frame of mind every day ! Knowing in your mind that you're to be beaten nearly senseless, forcibly bathed, or held down to have your back passage examined or probed. These things are common facts of everyday H-Block life.

It is inconceivable to try to imagine what an eighteen-year old naked lad goes through when a dozen or so screws slaughter him with batons,boots and punches, while dragging him by the hair along a corridor, or when they squeeze his privates until he collapses, or throw scalding water around his naked body ..... ".

From 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981. (MORE TOMORROW)>



A 1984 report commissioned by the Institute for European Defence and Strategic Studies recognised that Ireland has been of fundamental strategic importance to Britain since Tudor times , both as a potential foothold for the conquest of Britain and from the point of view of safe-guarding the approaches to Britains western ports. A paper produced by senior British civil servants in 1948 , as the Free State was about to leave the 'Commonwealth' , concluded ---" Now that Eire (sic) will shortly...... " (MORE LATER)>

....the Irish Republican , propagandist and world-famous author Robert Erskine Childers married Boston woman Mary Ellen Osgood in 1904 and , six years later, left his job in the British House of Commons to work full-time in politics .....

On 26th July, 1914, Erskine Childers sailed his yacht 'The Asgard' into Howth harbour in Dublin - he was carrying 900 rifles and 14,000 rounds of ammunition for the Irish Volunteers (the material had been purchased in Germany, by Darrell Figgis). At the time of the 'First World War' , when he served in the British Navy, Erskine Childers was, politically, a 'Home Ruler' but , after demobilisation , he embraced Irish Republicanism and vowed to accept nothing less than a British withdrawal from Ireland. In March 1919 , he moved to Dublin and joined Sinn Fein ; he worked with George Gavan Duffy and Sean T.O'Kelly in preparing material to present to the 'Peace Conference' in Paris (see '1169...' archives). He helped in founding a Republican newspaper , ' The Irish Bulletin' , in November 1919 and was appointed Editor of same in March 1921, following the arrest of Desmond Fitzgerald .

Also , in early 1921, he was elected as TD for County Wicklow in the 32-County Dail Eireann , where he distinguished himself as Minister for Publicity . He was one of the principal secretaries to the Irish delegation in London during the Treaty negotiations from October to December 1921, - he strongly opposed the Treaty of Surrender ..... (MORE LATER)>


".....in short, imagine being entombed, naked and alone, for a whole day . What would it be like for twenty torturous months! Now again , with this in mind, try and imagine just what it is like to be in this situation in surroundings that resemble a pigsty, and you are crouched naked upon the floor on a corner, freezing cold, amid the lingering stench of putrifying rubbish, with crawling, wriggling white maggots all around you, fat bloated flies pestering your naked body, the silence is nerve-wrecking, your mind is in turmoil . You are sitting waiting on the screws coming to your cell to drag you out to be forcibly bathed. You have heard and seen the horrible results of this from many of your comrades at Mass. You know only too well what it means : the skin scrubbed from your body with heavy brushes . The screws have told you that you are next. You wait all day, just thinking. Your mind is wrecked.Maybe they've forgotten, you kid yourself ; but you know they never forget.... " .

------- Bobby Sands .


From'The Evening Press' , 30th November 1988 , page 6 --

Imelda Marcos, wife of the (then) deposed Philippiners leader Ferdinand Marcos,accused Nancy Reagan of betraying them by blocking a 'Presidential Pardon' for her and her husband.

----- " When I could do for them, I had friends. Now I don't know anymore who my friends are. I only know from certain people what is happening in Washington and it is that Nancy Reagan is against a pardon. It was Mrs. Reagan who said to me 'Come to your friends in the U S .You will be safe here' . We were promised asylum. This is not asylum. This is a betrayal. "

Imelda went on to say that Nancy was opposed to granting a pardon because she "has been told that granting these pardons will be very detrimental for Reagans historical position " !

....but, Nancy, honey ; that was screwed-up anyway !

In June, 1870, a child born in London, who was reared at Glendalough House, Annamoe, in County Wicklow (at the home of his cousin, Robert Barton), grew up to be an Irish Republican, a first-class propagandist and a world-famous author .....

Robert Erskine Childers was educated at Haileybury and Trinity College, Cambridge; at 24 years young, in 1894, he was working as a committee clerk in the British House of Commons , and was already a skilled yachtsman . At 33 years of age (in 1903) he published 'The Riddle of The Sands' , a fictional account of German preparations to invade England , based on his experiences on sailing holidays in the Baltic. He married Mary Ellen Osgood , from Boston,in 1904 and, six years later, left his job in the British House of Commons to devote himself to political work. (MORE LATER)>


" For someone who is contented, or unconcerned with any great worry, living what is termed an everyday life, you may find my psychological circumstances hard to comprehend. For two reasons : firstly, my inability to describe the psychological struggle of myself and of my three hundred and fifty comrades ; secondly, it is terribly hard, if not inconceivable, to conjure up in one's imagination the pain and stress of psychological torture or to know its many forms or to understand its various effects.

Imagine how it would feel to be locked-up naked in solitary confinement , twenty-four hours a day, and subjected to total deprivation of not only common, everyday things, but of basic human necessities, such as clothes, fresh air and exercise, the company of other human beings ".

------ 'The Writings of Bobby Sands', April 1981 ; continued later ....


More on Maggie ...
In November 1988, Maggie Thatcher was on a 'tour' of Poland ;

She claimed to believe passionately in free trade unions - this was three days after the sacking of workers at the British Government Communications Centre in Cheltenham for refusing to resign their trade union membership ! The woman then associated herself with workers at Gdansk protesting against the closure "on economic grounds" of the Lenin Shipyard - this within one week of having forced through the closure of the Sunderland Shipyard for ... "economic reasons" ! The grocers daughter verbally lashed the then Premier, Miecazyslaw Rakowski, for rejecting "dialogue" with alienated sections of Polish society- not long after she herself dumped from her own cabinet those she considered "wets" ie Ministers who dared suggest dialogue as a means of resolving social conflict in Britain !

"She was only a grocers daughter ,
who could'nt admit, when she oughta,
....... NO, NO - STOP ......!
My stomach can't handle it :
...the hotel room is starting to spin .....

....the 2nd election results were announced on 12th March, 1875 (the day after the election);.....

The Conservative candidate , Stephen Moore, received 746 votes- John Mitchel won with 3,114 votes total, and was 're-elected' as MP for Tipperary. In a statement he released after the count, Mitchel wrote- "Your county has used her franchise in the best manner possible;that is, in making a desperate protest against the whole system of pretended parliamentary government in Ireland " (NOTE- shades of the present situation with Stormont : "pretended parliamentary government"). However, once again, the British House of Commons showed its contempt for democracy in Ireland, and disqualified John Mitchel as an "undischarged felon" - the Brits awarded the seat to Moore! But , by the time the British could put their man in the seat that belonged to John Mitchel , the winning candidate lay dead in his old home in Newry , County Down ; he died in March 1875, the same month in which he was elected,for the second time that year, as MP for Tipperary .

Once again,thanks this time to John Mitchel, the British had their arrogance exposed to the world .


"The sky began to grey as the dawn threatened , and the birds awoke to proclaim the existence of life and nature . In the outer corridor of silence a key jingled and footsteps approached from afar . Depression slipped away unnoticed , as tension attacked my nerves and fear fell with the dawn . Three hundred and fifty naked bodies stirred , a million thoughts and dreams fled , and a nightmare descended as the sun shone clear . Another day began . The footsteps grew louder and louder, and a voice said : "Get up, you bastards". I braced myself and thought- 'Oh for the darkness of a stormy night' " .

----- 'The Writings of Bobby Sands' , April 1981 ; first published in the old 'Republican News' , 6th January 1979 .


From 'The New Nation' magazine, November 1988, page 11 --

The Irish people are aware of the damage that Maggie Thatcher inflicted on us during her terms in Office , but perhaps less well known is the damage she caused in her own country :

Britain under Thatcher witnessed bank interest rates rise to what was then described as "NASA-style curves" ie up four times in one two-month period , a mortgage rate at a crippling 13 per cent , house prices actually falling in London , a balance of payments deficit piling up to £11 billion (at the end of 1988) which was more than 3 times the British Chancellors estimate , a fall of 25 per cent in the price of North Sea oil and inflation climbing to 6 per cent and beyond !

And here is my tribute to that special lady --

" She was only a grocers daughter
who propositioned the Tories
and they bought her,
she lead them all, smiling, to the slaughter
'cept the Irish Republicans, who fought her " !

I really need a room in a hotel after that .....

.....on 16th February 1875,the Irish rebel John Mitchel won a seat in the British parliament , representing Tipperary - however , the British House of Commons had other ideas on Mitchel's victory ......

The British declared that Mitchel's election was void as he was a felon,and stated that a new election to fill the Tipperary seat would be held on 11th March , 1875 . John Mitchel , not being in the best of health, canvassed locally and, as the 'ex-MP' , drew huge crowds, while his election team covered the neighbouring counties ; at the Theatre Royal in Cork , for instance,the following statement was read to a packed house on his behalf - "The first and greatest good which I see in that election is , that it was a magnificent pronouncement in favour of the national right of Ireland , and against the usurpation of the British parliament. The people of Tipperary elected me as the most implacable enemy of British tyranny " .
The (2nd) election results were announced on 12th March, 1875 (the day after the election) ; ...... (MORE LATER)>


THE WOMAN CRIED

Six days he fought
midst dying piles of gory mutilated heroes,
And the English cannon roared
Upon the ghosts of Celtic bones,
a nation's blood was poured.

Thousands fell in screaming bloody terror
whilst the informer hid cowering close by,
But there were none left amongst that bloody fray
to hear the woman cry.

------- Bobby Sands.

From 'The Evening Press', 14th November 1986 (a Friday, I think...) , page 3 --

On 13th November, 1986 (possibly a Thursday) Ronald Reagan confirmed he undertook eighteen months of secret diplomacy with Iran and sent over "small amounts" of weapons in order "to improve relations" ie for Iran to exert pressure to ensure that U S citizens were not kidnapped and held hostage in the Lebanon ! And the U S agents that delivered the "small amounts" of weapons travelled on passports issued by the Free State administration in Dublin .....
..... so we had U S agents (probably CIA) delivering weapons to Iran with the aid of Free State passports in an apparent attempt to bribe the authorities in Iran to put pressure on a militia in Lebanon not to kidnap U S citizens !
See - we play on the world stage with the big boys ; no wonder Bertie is the Statesman he so obviously is !

.....in July 1874 , John Mitchel returned to Ireland after an enforced absence (by the British) of twenty-six years and stated that he would stand for election to the British Parliament if a vacancy arose , but on one condition - that he would not take his seat , if elected ; he then returned to America .....

Shortly afterwards, a vacancy occurred in Tipperary , and his name was put forward as a candidate - his friend, John Martin, went to print with John Mitchel's election address , which he had left in Ireland for just such an occasion , and which finished with the declaration ; "I am in favour of Home Rule- that is, the sovereign independence of Ireland" (which was not what the British understood by the term!). Because he had been nominated to contest the election (due to take place on 16th February 1875) , John Mitchel again left America for Ireland and landed in Cork ; on his arrival , he was greeted by friends and supporters and was told that the election was over and he had been successful - he was now MP for Tipperary . The English House of Commons, however, had other ideas on Mitchel's victory ..... (MORE LATER)>


THE WOMAN CRIED

Cold black water lashed and splashed
and played around a tattered reed,
By dying embers, to God a woman prayed
that the Gael might but succeed.


The silver nails of a rugged boot
scarred a lonely lifeless stone,
'Cross rambling hill he marched afoot,
to fight along with Tone.

----- by Bobby Sands; final two verses tomorrow.


In October 1986 , Fine Gael's Garret Fitzgerald gave an interview to the 'Belfast Telegraph' , in which he said - "The fact is that, over the past year, Northern Nationalists have seen the judicial system operating in a manner .... that is equitable and fair.They have seen the security forces being even-handed in the way they have handled very difficult problems with great courage and dedication. They have seen progress in the willingness on the part of the British Government to tackle more effectively the problems of discrimination which remain " . Asked about the Dublin administration's 'meddlesome interference in the affairs of another country' (or some such similar 'Telegraph'-loaded question) , the Fine Gael man answered- " We have no desire to be involved in the process of Northern Ireland(sic) any more than is necessary to tackle the problem of the IRA and eliminate it " ! .... NOW, NOW , folks- don't be too harsh on Fitzer; he was only speaking his mind(and that of those in Leinster House.....)

In 1875 , when the results of an election held in Ireland did'nt suit the British Government , they did what they do best - they 'waived the rules' .... and then , within weeks, they done it again ....

In that year , 1875, the 'Young Ireland' leader , John Mitchel, was twice returned as MP for Tipperary - and was twice disenfranchised by the Brits !
When his newspaper 'The United Irishman' was suppressed by the British in May 1848, John Mitchel was arrested and charged with treason felony - he was sentenced to transportation to Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) for 14 years but escaped to America in 1853 (see archives). Still viewed by the British as a 'convicted felon' and liable to arrest, he landed in Ireland in July 1874 , after an enforced absence of twenty-six years ! He stated that he would stand for parliament if a vacancy arose , but on one condition - that the electorate be made aware that he would not take his seat in the House of Commons if elected ; he then returned to America . Shortly afterwards , a vacancy occured in Tipperary ...... (MORE LATER)>


THE WOMAN CRIED

From humble home in dead of night
a flitting shadow fled,
The yellow moon caught sharpened pike
where the night shades danced and played.

A bramble clawed at trembling hand
and a night owl watched unseen,
Through bog and glen a United man
marched out to win a dream.

(.... a six-stanza poem by Bobby Sands, published in 1981 : more later).


From 'The Sunday Tribune', 2nd November 1986, page 21 -

After U S Marines invaded Grenada in 1983 , Duane Clarridge, the CIA Organiser of the Contras, drove around Grenada with a car-bumper sticker saying - "Nicaragua Next" ! Clarridge was questioned by a U S Congressional Committee in relation to what he knew about the then situation in Nicaragua , and eventually admitted that - "civilians and Sandinista Officials in the provinces, as well as heads of co-operatives , nurses, doctors and judges " had been killed by the (U S-backed) Contras .
State-sponsored terrorism ; the Brits do it in Ireland , and .......

....by 1645 , Owen Roe O'Neill had a professional Irish Army of five-thousand men armed , trained and prepared for battle .....

The English Army General , Munroe, issued orders in June 1646 that the three Anglo-Scottish armies in the North of Ireland were to converge - his plan was to march south to invade Leinster ; O'Neill had his own plan .....

He moved his men from Cavan to Benburb in County Tyrone , on the River Blackwater, and positioned his army on a hill , with his flank protected by a bog on one side and the rivers Blackwater and Oona on the other side . When O'Neill heard that Munroe was marching on his position , he sent word for Brian O'Neill and Owen O'Doherty , with their men, to follow Munroe and his Army . On 5th June , 1646, Munroe and his men were facing O'Neills forces and by now must have realised that the other O'Neill and O'Doherty were behind them - they were trapped.
Owen Roe O'Neill gave the order to charge and Munroe's army panicked ; the two groups behind Munroe attacked at the same time and the English forces scattered- some tried to cross the Blackwater , others ran for the River Oona ,but most perished in the marshes nearby .The Irish rebels surged into the remainder of the invaders (from two directions) and won the day - Munroe lost more than three-thousand soldiers while the Irish suffered around seventy dead. 'The Battle of Benburb' was a total triumph for the Irish ; however, the victory was only enjoyed for three short years - in August 1649 , Oliver Cromwell got the revenge that the English craved.


"The concrete floor was so cold that to pace the floor would be impossible in one's bare feet. Three small flimsy blankets and lying upon a damp mattress would not provide enough warmth for escape through sleep. This night will be another night, huddled up in the corner, fighting the intense cold amidst despairing thoughts when pain and depression become almost overwhelming . The wind is rising and growing angry ; it will carry the blankets of falling snow in through the paneless windows. I am very, very cold now. I can stand here and freeze at the window gazing upon this barbed-wire jungle of colour and whiteness , or I can retreat to my little den in the corner of my tomb ...... " (continued tomorrow..) .
----'The Writings of Bobby Sands', April 1981 (first published in 'Republican News', 20th January 1979).


....'loyal' shipyard workers from Harland and Wolff physically prevented a rally for Labour candidates in the May 1921 elections from taking place in the 'Ulster Hall' , terming them "Bolsheviks" . At Stormont , Prime Minister Craig (later Lord Craigavon) moved an amendment saying- " The employment of disloyalists (meaning Catholics, in H+W) is prejudicial to the state and takes jobs away from loyalists" .Between January 1975 and December 1979, British governments paid out £103 million in grants and loans to H+W . The Thatcher administration came to power in 1979 , supposedly committed to strict 'no lame-ducks' criteria and to cuts in public spending - however, H+W went on to receive a total of £291 million from public funds !
In 1980 , a £42.5 million hand-out was partly paid for by a temporary suspension of housing repair work and an extra cut-back in welfare services , hitting the North's unemployed the hardest .
...." a cold house " indeed .

' The Battle of Benburb ' was fought in County Tyrone, in Ireland, on 5th June, 1646 ; the English lost more than three thousand soldiers- the Irish lost around seventy ......

Two Irish Chiefs, Rory O'More and Phelim O'Neill, recognised an opportunity to strike-out for Irish freedom in 1641 ; in the winter of that year, civil war was imminent in England between King Charles and the English Parliament . O'Neill and his army took control of Ulster , joined up with Rory O'More and his army and marched south into Louth and Meath ; their success was noted and within months uprisings took place in Munster and Connaught .
Owen Roe O'Neill (an Irish Chief) and his men had been exiled by the English , and had served with distinction in the Spanish Army ; in July 1642 , he returned to Ireland with his troops to join in the fight against English domination : he organised the Irish forces in a professional manner and , by the winter of 1645, had established a base of some five thousand trained soldiers in County Cavan ...... (MORE LATER)>


MODERN TIMES

As the bureaucrats, speculators and presidents alike
pin on their dirty, stinking,happy smiles tonight,
The lonely prisoner will cry out from within his tomb,
and tomorrow's wretch will leave its mother's womb !
----- Bobby Sands , 1979 .

(NOTE- there are still Irish Republican prisoners in jails today while so-called republicans meet with the "bureaucrats , speculators and presidents ",in their quest to build a career for themselves).


The Belfast shipyard 'Harland and Wolff' has made the headlines many times since the British partitioned this country (indeed, they not only partitioned the country, but also partitioned Ulster ie from nine counties to six); but the shipyard's 'protestant state for a protestant people'-ethics pre-dates partition :

In 1864 , approximately six-hundred shipyard workers armed with muskets , pistols, axes and other weapons attacked Catholic 'navvies' who were excavating new docks . Neal Fagan, a Catholic, was axed to death. In a similar attack in June 1886, Seamus Curran was murdered. In 1911 , out of a total of 6,809 shipyard workers, only 518 were Catholics , and expulsions were organised to get rid of the Catholics ; in 1912, 1920 , 1935, 1939 , 1969 and 1970 , they were forced to leave . In the May 1921 elections , a massed crowd of "loyal shipyard workers" physically prevented a rally for Labour-party candidates from taking place in the Ulster Hall, terming them "bolsheviks" ....... (MORE LATER)>

....the IRA prisoners planning to escape from Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England, had decided on how to escape and passed details of their plan to the IRA leadership in Dublin ; before they were locked-up for the night , the prisoners were allowed out to exercise in a small yard which itself was enclosed by a railings which, in turn , was surrounded by a forty-foot wall ....

On 15th October 1919 , at around 4.30pm , the six IRA prisoners were let out to the exercise yard as usual - but this time they overpowered the warder and climbed over the railings; they then signalled over the forty-foot wall to their comrades on the other side , who then threw over a rope-ladder . The six men were met on the other side of the prison wall by about thirty IRA Volunteers who had placed themselves at both ends of the street and held captive everyone on the street at that time . 'Safe-houses' in Manchester had already been arranged and the six men were lodged in same and left there for a number of days; they were then moved to Liverpool and put on a B+I steamer - all arrived safely in Dublin .
For the second time within a year , the IRA had used practically the same plan to escape from their captors : a fact which compounded British embarrassment .


MODERN TIMES

And while fat dictators sit upon their thrones
young children bury their parents' bones,
And secret police in the dead of night
electrocute the naked women out of sight.


In the gutter lies the black man, dead
and where the oil flows blackest, the street runs red,
And there was He who was born and came to be
but lived and died without liberty.

----- Bobby Sands, 1979 (last verse tomorrow).


Dr. John Austin Baker, the then Anglican Bishop of Salisbury , England, stated (in 1994) - " No British government ought ever to forget that this perilous moment, like many before it, is the outworking of a history for which our country is primarily responsible. Our injustice created the situation ; and by constantly repeating that we will maintain it so long as the majority(sic) wish it , we actively inhibit Protestant and Catholic from working out a new future together. This is the root of violence " .

-----and the "perilous moments" , the "injustice" and the "root of violence" will remain as long as the British claim of jurisdiction over any part of Ireland remains in place . Dr. Baker , and others, must realise that.....

.... Austin Stack contacted IRA GHQ Staff in Dublin and outlined his plan of escape from Strangeways Prison in Manchester , to them - they approved of the plan....

In September 1919 , Rory O'Connor and Peadar Clancy were sent over to England to help organise the break-out . Messages were sent out from inside Strangeways , to O'Connor and Clancy by the IRA prisoners themselves as they were released , and those still inside the prison were kept up to date by messages passed on by visitors and notes concealed in food parcels . By late September 1919 , only six IRA prisoners remained in Strangeways ; Austin Stack , Piarais Beaslai , Dr. Patrick Walsh , Paddy McCarthy , Con Connolly and Sean Doran . The prison routine was common knowledge now with the prisoners and the IRA on the outside - the prisoners were locked-up in their cells for the evening each day between 5pm and 5.30pm ; before being locked-up,however, they were allowed out to exercise in a small yard which itself was enclosed by a railings which , in turn, was surrounded by a forty-foot wall ...... (MORE LATER)>


MODERN TIMES

It is said we live in modern times
in the civilised year of 'seventy-nine,
But when I look around, all I see,
is modern torture, pain and hypocrisy.


In modern times little children die
They starve to death but who dares ask why ?
And little girls without attire,
Run screaming, napalmed, through the night fire.

---- five-stanza poem written by Bobby Sands , 1979.
(more tomorrow....).

As Dublin's Lord Mayor at the time, Sean Haughey (yes-its him; his old man has a shirt fetish)was interviewed by 'Hot Press' magazine (see same,February 23rd,1995, page 24) during which he stated - " And, generally, in Fianna Fail, we're not inclined to perpetuate privilege. It's not what we stand for as a republican party " . What Sean meant was that Fianna Fail will "perpetuate privilege" if they are sitting when the 'Privileged One' calls.....(and don't get me going on the claim to be a "republican party" ....).Anyway , young Sean went on to complain that the noise outside the Mansion House, from traffic, -"kept me awake at night" ! ( or was it the people shouting "resign, you f#*&£r, resign...? and/or (wha?) was it his conscience that kept him awake ?)
He also stated - "I was'nt allowed to go to see 'In The Name Of The Father' , which is a film I'd loved to have seen.(My wife) heard it was distressing so that was that " !
And proper order too ! (NOTE - No sexist comment/ macho drivel here.....).