THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in Ireland in the early 1920's , a 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates (the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs') gave himself unprecedented powers to , for instance , " ... outlaw organisations..to detain or intern people indefinitely without charge or trial ..(and)..to destroy houses and buildings .... " , amongst other things . He was to become the envy of others with a similar mind-set .......
Some 40 years later (ie in [April] 1963) a Mr. Vorster , then South African 'Minister for Justice' , was introducing a new Coercion Bill in the South African Parliament when , no doubt thinking of 'Sir' Bates and his colleagues in Stormont and Westminster , stated that he "... would be willing to exchange all the legislation of that sort for one clause of the Northern Ireland (sic) Special Powers Act . " Birds of a feather indeed ...
'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates was a known bigot , and apparently took it as a compliment when it was said of him in Stormont (by a Senior Civil Servant) - " (He) has such a prejudice against Catholics that he made it clear to his Permanent Secretary that he did not want his most juvenile clerk or typist , if a Papist (Catholic) , assigned for duty to his ministry ." In 1935 , however , he seemed to believe that he could treat everyone like shit (pardon the language) regardless of their religion -
- on 18th June that year (1935) , 'Sir' Bates issued an Order banning all parades , not just those with a Republican/Nationalist 'flavour' : the Orange Order objected and told Bates and his people that it was their intention to hold a parade on the 23rd June (1935) and that said parade would be going ahead . Bates was not pleased - it was one thing to trample over the rights of the 'Papists' , but the Orange Order were his own people .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
[10 of 10].
The State Coalition Government , and recently Garret Fitzgerald (Fine Gael) , have at all times maintained that at no stage did they surrender to a threat of a hunger strike but the facts seem to suggest otherwise ; the fact of the matter is that changes of a kind being demanded by the Republican prisoners during the hunger strike occurred immediately after the protest .
The obvious conclusion must be that the Coalition Government has capitulated to hunger strikes but that the integrity of the prison system was in no way threatened by the nature of the concessions granted . The next big protest in the campaign comes on Saturday , December 6th , when there will be a protest outside the British Embassy ; the National H-Block Committee will be hoping for a demonstration at least as big as that to Leinster House on November 22 last , when as many as 30,000 people marched .
But whatever the outcome , the divide between the Catholic community in the North and the rest of the population on this island is deeper now than ever . The Catholic minority must now bear whatever further tribulations arise very much as an isolated case , ignored and reviled by the rest of Ireland .
[END of ' THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK '].
(Monday , 31st : 'How The Gay Life Killed Mountbatten' - from 1989).
DE VALERA AND THE AMERICAN CONNECTION .......
By Micheal MacGiolla Phadraig .
From 'NOW' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 4, October 1989 , pages 28 and 29 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(2 of 6).
The Irish Press newspaper group wrote a lot about Ralph Ingersoll , the second-generation American newspaper magnate who was to take half-control of the Group , but nothing about the Irish Press Plc company structure .
This was not surprising ; the Irish Press group of companies has been shrouded in secrecy since its formation in the year before Fianna Fail first took power in 1932 . Added to this secretiveness there is now a confusing permutation of company structures involving Irish Press Plc and its subsidiaries - Corduff Investments Ltd , Press Group Ltd , Irish Press Corporation , Irish Press Newspapers Ltd , and Irish Press Publications ; Ralph Ingersoll is to take a 50 per cent stake in the latter .
The Concerned Shareholders Group believes that if all the facts are revealed , the Fianna Fail Party would have a strong legal and moral claim to ownership . Letters concerning this claim have been sent to the Board of Irish Press Plc - so far , no reply has been received . Fianna Fail General Secretary , Frank Wall , has also been informed of the results of research carried out in Ireland and the U.S. for the Concerned Shareholders Group .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, January 27, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... December 1921 : the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , introduced a new 'law' (on 6th December 1921) compelling all local authorities (ie County Councils etc) in the (then 'new') Six-County 'State' to recognise and work with the new Stormont 'Government' . Tyrone County Council refused the order , and 'Sir' Bates instructed the RIC to close that Council down , which they did . Then , on 21st December 1921 , Fermanagh County Council ,too , issued a statement refusing to do as 'Sir' Bates had 'ordered' .......
Bates put together his RIC raiding-party and stormed the Offices of Fermanagh County Council ; the building was seized , the Council Officials were expelled and the institution itself was dissolved ! In the following four months (ie up to April 1922) , 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates and his RIC raiding-party were kept busy ; Armagh , Keady and Newry Urban Councils , Downpatrick Town Commissioners , Cookstown , Downpatrick , Kilkeel , Lisnaskea , Strabane , Magherafelt and Newry No. 1 and No. 2 Rural Councils and a number of Boards of Poor Law Guardians had all been dissolved and (pro-Stormont) 'Commissioners' appointed to carry out their functions !
The people of those areas (ie the voters !) were not asked their opinion on whether their Council should be closed down or not , nor were they asked if they agreed with the 'appointment' of a new 'Commissioner' ; in all cases , the new 'boss' understood what his 'job' was - to do as instructed by 'Sir' Bates and his bigoted colleagues in Stormont. In actual fact , the new 'Commissioner' for Armagh and Keady Councils , for instance , was a Colonel Waring , who later 'progressed' through the ranks to become a County Commandant of the 'B' Specials !
'Sir' Bates must have considered himself an all-powerful 'God' by this stage , because he then gave himself the 'legal authority' to -
- ".... outlaw organisations , to detain or intern people indefinitely without charge or trial , to make it an offence to refuse to answer questions put by a policeman , Special Constable or soldier , to impose curfews , make exclusion orders , to examine bank accounts and seize same if required , to block roads and bridges , and to evacuate or destroy houses and buildings . " The man was only short of issuing a decree that he should live forever and walk on water if he wanted to ..... !
That 'law' was introduced in Ireland in the early 1920's ; some forty years later , a certain South African Minister for 'Justice' was to make reference to it .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(9 of 10).
Concessions were wrung out of the (Free State) Coalition government by a hunger strike by a number of prisoners , including former IRA Chief of Staff , Joe Cahill . In an affadavit which Cahill swore during another hunger strike in 1975 , he states that the 1973 hunger strike ended when the Governor of Mountjoy , Frawley , read a letter to the prisoners in which the authorities conceded a list of demands , including that the Provisional IRA prisoners would be segregated from all other prisoners , would'nt have to do prison work etc .
The prison leadership replied that the hunger strike would continue until the government recognised the political status of the prisoners . The Prison Governor withdrew , according to the affadavit , and returned later to inform the protesting prisoners -
- " (a) since 1922 the Government had refused to afford any group of prisoners recognition as political prisoners .
(b) that in the present circumstances , because of the situation in the North , the government recognised that because of the involvement of the Provisional Republican Movement in the Northern situation , the prisoners were in a special category . "
On the basis of this assurance the hunger strike was ended . Shortly afterwards there was the helicopter escape from Mountjoy Prison and subsequently the Provisional IRA prisoners were moved to Portlaoise Prison .......
(MORE LATER).
DE VALERA AND THE AMERICAN CONNECTION .
By Micheal MacGiolla Phadraig .
From 'NOW' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 4, October 1989 , pages 28 and 29 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(1 of 6).
Money to launch The Irish Press newspaper in 1931 came from thousands of Irish-Americans . Contributing dollars and dimes at fund-raiser events , poor emigrants - many driven out of Ireland in the aftermath of the Civil War - helped build up a multi-million dollar fund that was to achieve the dream of the Fianna Fail party ; owning a daily newspaper .
Control of the money which was invested in The Irish Press was given to the President of Fianna Fail , Eamon de Valera .
Nearly 60 years later , there are signs that White Anglo-Saxon Protestant tycoon Ralph Ingersoll the Second - whose ideas must be poles apart from those Irish emigrant founders of the Press - will get control of the newspaper . But a group of small investors , who call themselves the Concerned Shareholders , have emerged to challenge the secrecy which has surrounded not only the Ingersoll deal , but much of the affairs of The Irish Press Group down the years .
Led by a former Irish Editor of The Irish Press , Michael MacGiolla Phadraig , the Concerned Shareholders have been investigating the organisation and structure of the secretive Irish Press Corporation of America which controls the voting in the Dublin company , Irish Press Plc. It has been suggested that an American court should be asked to rule on a number of matters connected with the mystery American corporation . The possibility is that The Irish Press Group belongs to Fianna Fail and is the responsibility of that Party's present President , Taoiseach Charles Haughey .
When a partnership deal between Ingersoll Publications of the U.S. and Irish Press Plc of Dublin was announced last July (ie July 1989) , The Irish Press gave a front-page report and devoted two inside pages to the joint venture .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... December 1921 : the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , introduced a new 'law' (on 6th December 1921) compelling all local authorities (ie County Councils etc) in the (then 'new') Six-County 'State' to recognise and work with the new Stormont 'Government' . Tyrone County Council refused the order , and 'Sir' Bates instructed the RIC to close that Council down , which they did . Then , on 21st December 1921 , Fermanagh County Council ,too , issued a statement refusing to do as 'Sir' Bates had 'ordered' .......
Bates put together his RIC raiding-party and stormed the Offices of Fermanagh County Council ; the building was seized , the Council Officials were expelled and the institution itself was dissolved ! In the following four months (ie up to April 1922) , 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates and his RIC raiding-party were kept busy ; Armagh , Keady and Newry Urban Councils , Downpatrick Town Commissioners , Cookstown , Downpatrick , Kilkeel , Lisnaskea , Strabane , Magherafelt and Newry No. 1 and No. 2 Rural Councils and a number of Boards of Poor Law Guardians had all been dissolved and (pro-Stormont) 'Commissioners' appointed to carry out their functions !
The people of those areas (ie the voters !) were not asked their opinion on whether their Council should be closed down or not , nor were they asked if they agreed with the 'appointment' of a new 'Commissioner' ; in all cases , the new 'boss' understood what his 'job' was - to do as instructed by 'Sir' Bates and his bigoted colleagues in Stormont. In actual fact , the new 'Commissioner' for Armagh and Keady Councils , for instance , was a Colonel Waring , who later 'progressed' through the ranks to become a County Commandant of the 'B' Specials !
'Sir' Bates must have considered himself an all-powerful 'God' by this stage , because he then gave himself the 'legal authority' to -
- ".... outlaw organisations , to detain or intern people indefinitely without charge or trial , to make it an offence to refuse to answer questions put by a policeman , Special Constable or soldier , to impose curfews , make exclusion orders , to examine bank accounts and seize same if required , to block roads and bridges , and to evacuate or destroy houses and buildings . " The man was only short of issuing a decree that he should live forever and walk on water if he wanted to ..... !
That 'law' was introduced in Ireland in the early 1920's ; some forty years later , a certain South African Minister for 'Justice' was to make reference to it .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(9 of 10).
Concessions were wrung out of the (Free State) Coalition government by a hunger strike by a number of prisoners , including former IRA Chief of Staff , Joe Cahill . In an affadavit which Cahill swore during another hunger strike in 1975 , he states that the 1973 hunger strike ended when the Governor of Mountjoy , Frawley , read a letter to the prisoners in which the authorities conceded a list of demands , including that the Provisional IRA prisoners would be segregated from all other prisoners , would'nt have to do prison work etc .
The prison leadership replied that the hunger strike would continue until the government recognised the political status of the prisoners . The Prison Governor withdrew , according to the affadavit , and returned later to inform the protesting prisoners -
- " (a) since 1922 the Government had refused to afford any group of prisoners recognition as political prisoners .
(b) that in the present circumstances , because of the situation in the North , the government recognised that because of the involvement of the Provisional Republican Movement in the Northern situation , the prisoners were in a special category . "
On the basis of this assurance the hunger strike was ended . Shortly afterwards there was the helicopter escape from Mountjoy Prison and subsequently the Provisional IRA prisoners were moved to Portlaoise Prison .......
(MORE LATER).
DE VALERA AND THE AMERICAN CONNECTION .
By Micheal MacGiolla Phadraig .
From 'NOW' magazine , Volume 1 , Number 4, October 1989 , pages 28 and 29 .
Re-published here in 6 parts .
(1 of 6).
Money to launch The Irish Press newspaper in 1931 came from thousands of Irish-Americans . Contributing dollars and dimes at fund-raiser events , poor emigrants - many driven out of Ireland in the aftermath of the Civil War - helped build up a multi-million dollar fund that was to achieve the dream of the Fianna Fail party ; owning a daily newspaper .
Control of the money which was invested in The Irish Press was given to the President of Fianna Fail , Eamon de Valera .
Nearly 60 years later , there are signs that White Anglo-Saxon Protestant tycoon Ralph Ingersoll the Second - whose ideas must be poles apart from those Irish emigrant founders of the Press - will get control of the newspaper . But a group of small investors , who call themselves the Concerned Shareholders , have emerged to challenge the secrecy which has surrounded not only the Ingersoll deal , but much of the affairs of The Irish Press Group down the years .
Led by a former Irish Editor of The Irish Press , Michael MacGiolla Phadraig , the Concerned Shareholders have been investigating the organisation and structure of the secretive Irish Press Corporation of America which controls the voting in the Dublin company , Irish Press Plc. It has been suggested that an American court should be asked to rule on a number of matters connected with the mystery American corporation . The possibility is that The Irish Press Group belongs to Fianna Fail and is the responsibility of that Party's present President , Taoiseach Charles Haughey .
When a partnership deal between Ingersoll Publications of the U.S. and Irish Press Plc of Dublin was announced last July (ie July 1989) , The Irish Press gave a front-page report and devoted two inside pages to the joint venture .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in December 1925 , the 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary had 'rebelled' and taken hostages - their own Officers ! They were dealing with (or trying to !) the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , a solicitor by profession , who was also the then Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council' (1905-1921). He was known as a 'hard-man' .......
'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates 'made his name' (or added to it !) in 1921 , when he ordered the RIC to close-down the Offices of Tyrone County Council as said institution had declared its allegiance to the rebel Dail Eireann (32 County body) !
On 6th December that year (ie 1921) , 'Sir' Bates seen to it that a 'Local Government (Emergency Powers) Bill' was passed into 'law' ; this new 'law' stated - " The Ministry , in the event of any of the local authorities refusing to function or refusing to carry out the duties imposed on them under the Local Government Acts , can dissolve such authority and in its place appoint a Commission to carry on the duties of such authority . "
However , 15 days later (ie on the 21st December 1921) Fermanagh County Council followed the lead set by its counterpart in Tyrone : the following statement was issued by Fermanagh Officials -
- " We , the County Council of Fermanagh , in view of the expressed desire of a large majority of people in this county , do not recognise the partition parliament in Belfast and do hereby direct our Secretary to hold no further communications with either Belfast or British Local Government Departments , and we pledge our allegiance to Dail Eireann . "
Short , sharp , and to the point . And it was (rightly) seen by 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates as a direct challenge to his 'authority' ; 'Sir' Bates ordered the RIC to ready themselves immediately .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(8 of 10).
The reaction of the southern political establishment to the H-Block protest is all the more surprising given the fact that the political prisoners in Portlaoise enjoy virtually all the 'privileges' being demanded by the H-Block men .
The Portlaoise political prisoners wear their own clothes , they enjoy free association among themselves and they are segregated from the other prisoners in the jail . They have special recreational and educational facilities and there is a prison shop where they can purchase food and cigarettes .
They have their own jail organisation - their Officer Commanding negotiates on behalf of the prisoners with the prison authorities and they hold classes and lectures on a wide variety of issues , including political subjects . For instance , one of the classes currently being held is on the origins of the war ie the war in the North of Ireland.......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
[31 of 31].
But NORAID spokesmen have consistently denied that their organisation is providing the funds for IRA weapons ; Martin Galvin is categorical -
- " It matters to me very strongly that when I say this money goes to dependents that it does so - I don't want to deceive people , " he affirmed in 1985 , " but morally I support the IRA's struggle . "
The spokesman for NORAID in San Francisco , Seamus Gibney , told the 'Los Angeles Times' newspaper -
- " We can't prove the money does'nt go for guns . But the British government never offers proof when it says that it does . "
[END of ' NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' De Valera and the American connection' - from 'NOW' magazine , 1989 .)
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in December 1925 , the 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary had 'rebelled' and taken hostages - their own Officers ! They were dealing with (or trying to !) the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , a solicitor by profession , who was also the then Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council' (1905-1921). He was known as a 'hard-man' .......
'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates 'made his name' (or added to it !) in 1921 , when he ordered the RIC to close-down the Offices of Tyrone County Council as said institution had declared its allegiance to the rebel Dail Eireann (32 County body) !
On 6th December that year (ie 1921) , 'Sir' Bates seen to it that a 'Local Government (Emergency Powers) Bill' was passed into 'law' ; this new 'law' stated - " The Ministry , in the event of any of the local authorities refusing to function or refusing to carry out the duties imposed on them under the Local Government Acts , can dissolve such authority and in its place appoint a Commission to carry on the duties of such authority . "
However , 15 days later (ie on the 21st December 1921) Fermanagh County Council followed the lead set by its counterpart in Tyrone : the following statement was issued by Fermanagh Officials -
- " We , the County Council of Fermanagh , in view of the expressed desire of a large majority of people in this county , do not recognise the partition parliament in Belfast and do hereby direct our Secretary to hold no further communications with either Belfast or British Local Government Departments , and we pledge our allegiance to Dail Eireann . "
Short , sharp , and to the point . And it was (rightly) seen by 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates as a direct challenge to his 'authority' ; 'Sir' Bates ordered the RIC to ready themselves immediately .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(8 of 10).
The reaction of the southern political establishment to the H-Block protest is all the more surprising given the fact that the political prisoners in Portlaoise enjoy virtually all the 'privileges' being demanded by the H-Block men .
The Portlaoise political prisoners wear their own clothes , they enjoy free association among themselves and they are segregated from the other prisoners in the jail . They have special recreational and educational facilities and there is a prison shop where they can purchase food and cigarettes .
They have their own jail organisation - their Officer Commanding negotiates on behalf of the prisoners with the prison authorities and they hold classes and lectures on a wide variety of issues , including political subjects . For instance , one of the classes currently being held is on the origins of the war ie the war in the North of Ireland.......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
[31 of 31].
But NORAID spokesmen have consistently denied that their organisation is providing the funds for IRA weapons ; Martin Galvin is categorical -
- " It matters to me very strongly that when I say this money goes to dependents that it does so - I don't want to deceive people , " he affirmed in 1985 , " but morally I support the IRA's struggle . "
The spokesman for NORAID in San Francisco , Seamus Gibney , told the 'Los Angeles Times' newspaper -
- " We can't prove the money does'nt go for guns . But the British government never offers proof when it says that it does . "
[END of ' NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......'].
(Tomorrow - ' De Valera and the American connection' - from 'NOW' magazine , 1989 .)
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... December 1925 : Westminster decided to get rid of the (5 year-old) 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary , but to hold on to the 'B' Specials ; 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') was given £1,200,000 to 'buy' them off and , on 10th December 1925 , the 'A' and 'C' men were offered two months pay each - the offer got a bad re-action .......
When the 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary realised that they were to lose their jobs , on the mouth of Christmas (10th December 1925) and with unemployment running at over 20 per cent , whereas the 'B' Specials were to be kept on , discontent in the ranks grew . The 'A' and 'C' Specials held meetings between themselves and , on 14th December 1925 , they mutinied !
'A' and 'C' members in Derry 'arrested' their own Officers (!), as they did in Ballycastle - two days later (ie on 16th December 1925) a demand from the 'A' and 'C' 'rebels' (!) was handed over to 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a solicitor by trade , who was also Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council' , a position he had held since 1905 . 'Tangent' here , re 'Sir' Bates -
- ... the man 'made his name' in 1921 when , at 44 years of age , he ordered the RIC to close down the Offices of Tyrone County Council - 'Sir' Bates did'nt like the way they were doing their business .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(7 of 10).
The Provisional IRA leadership on the outside has been apprehensive about this protest for a long time and were fervently opposed to the hunger-strike . Contrary to the frequently asserted belief , the Provo leadership have always tried to dampen down prison protests for these have consequences to the conduct of the military campaign which are entirely unpredictable and , in any event , often conflict with the immediate strategic plans of the IRA Headquarters Staff .
They have been more apprehensive about this present protest and hunger-strike than ever before , recognising that if the protest fades out or is beaten , then the 'loss of face' for the Republican Movement as a whole is almost catastrophic .
They have of course attempted to 'steer' its course - for instance , it was the IRA leadership which managed to hold off the hunger-strike until October 27th and they have had a say on which prisoners were to join the strike , but in no sense could the Provisional IRA leadership be accused of cynically exploting the situation in H-Block for its own advantage .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(30 of 31).
The traumatic months of the hunger strikes fused Irish-American emotional sympathy with the IRA's struggle against Britain in the North of Ireland . NORAID went through a resurgence that saw an immediate increase in the number of members . Martin Galvin claims that from that time onward NORAID has been able to raise about $150,000 every six months , double or triple what it was collecting in the years before the protest .
He also notes that now , for the first time , the number of American-born NORAID members exceeds those of Irish origin . The organisation keeps no recruitment figures , so it is not known exactly how many people are involved .
Of its founding members , only Michael Flannery is still alive . He remains steadfast in his identification with the IRA , even when they carry out attacks , such as that outside Harrods department store in London , in which innocent people die . His attitude is -
- " I wait to hear what the IRA have to say . When it happens in London it's good propaganda . I've no qualms when they take the war to England . Innocent people get killed in all wars . ......"
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... December 1925 : Westminster decided to get rid of the (5 year-old) 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary , but to hold on to the 'B' Specials ; 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') was given £1,200,000 to 'buy' them off and , on 10th December 1925 , the 'A' and 'C' men were offered two months pay each - the offer got a bad re-action .......
When the 'A' and 'C' Special Constabulary realised that they were to lose their jobs , on the mouth of Christmas (10th December 1925) and with unemployment running at over 20 per cent , whereas the 'B' Specials were to be kept on , discontent in the ranks grew . The 'A' and 'C' Specials held meetings between themselves and , on 14th December 1925 , they mutinied !
'A' and 'C' members in Derry 'arrested' their own Officers (!), as they did in Ballycastle - two days later (ie on 16th December 1925) a demand from the 'A' and 'C' 'rebels' (!) was handed over to 'Sir' Richard Dawson Bates , the Stormont 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a solicitor by trade , who was also Secretary of the 'Ulster Unionist Council' , a position he had held since 1905 . 'Tangent' here , re 'Sir' Bates -
- ... the man 'made his name' in 1921 when , at 44 years of age , he ordered the RIC to close down the Offices of Tyrone County Council - 'Sir' Bates did'nt like the way they were doing their business .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(7 of 10).
The Provisional IRA leadership on the outside has been apprehensive about this protest for a long time and were fervently opposed to the hunger-strike . Contrary to the frequently asserted belief , the Provo leadership have always tried to dampen down prison protests for these have consequences to the conduct of the military campaign which are entirely unpredictable and , in any event , often conflict with the immediate strategic plans of the IRA Headquarters Staff .
They have been more apprehensive about this present protest and hunger-strike than ever before , recognising that if the protest fades out or is beaten , then the 'loss of face' for the Republican Movement as a whole is almost catastrophic .
They have of course attempted to 'steer' its course - for instance , it was the IRA leadership which managed to hold off the hunger-strike until October 27th and they have had a say on which prisoners were to join the strike , but in no sense could the Provisional IRA leadership be accused of cynically exploting the situation in H-Block for its own advantage .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(30 of 31).
The traumatic months of the hunger strikes fused Irish-American emotional sympathy with the IRA's struggle against Britain in the North of Ireland . NORAID went through a resurgence that saw an immediate increase in the number of members . Martin Galvin claims that from that time onward NORAID has been able to raise about $150,000 every six months , double or triple what it was collecting in the years before the protest .
He also notes that now , for the first time , the number of American-born NORAID members exceeds those of Irish origin . The organisation keeps no recruitment figures , so it is not known exactly how many people are involved .
Of its founding members , only Michael Flannery is still alive . He remains steadfast in his identification with the IRA , even when they carry out attacks , such as that outside Harrods department store in London , in which innocent people die . His attitude is -
- " I wait to hear what the IRA have to say . When it happens in London it's good propaganda . I've no qualms when they take the war to England . Innocent people get killed in all wars . ......"
(MORE LATER).
Monday, January 24, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... having spent the previous two years dealing with the new Free Staters in the 26-County State , the Brits had them well-sussed ; Westminster realised that it had no need for the 40,000-strong 'Special Constabulary' force in the Six Counties of Ireland it was (and still is) occupying - the Staters were now known to be no threat to the British-enforced 'border' . 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') was called to Westminster to discuss the proposed redundancies .......
Westminster offered the approximately 40,000-strong 'Special Constabulary' organisation a few bob to 'go away' (!) - £1,200,000 was put on the table , provided most of them agreed to disband (similar to what is happening today , with the PIRA - buying them out with a 'bank-load' of money ...) . 'Sir' James Craig , up to then a great friend and supporter of the Specials , stated that they would have to go : on 10th December 1925 , Craig told the 'A' and 'C' Specials that they were out of work and offered each man two months pay . End of announcement !
The 'B' Specials were to be kept - indeed , it was only in 1969 that that gang of thugs 'disbanded' (ie changed uniform into that of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) and carried-on with their mis-deeds) . It was actually in September 1969 that the (British) 'Cameron Commission' described the 'B' Specials as " a partisan and paramilitary force... " , while the October 1969 'Hunt Report' recommended that the 'B' Specials be disbanded .
However - the 'A' and 'C' Specials were not happy with the ".. disband ..." Order from their old friend , 'Sir' James Craig .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(6 of 10).
Brendan Hughes , 32 years of age , had been on the Belfast Brigade Staff of the Provisional IRA prior to his capture in 1974 , and was now able to provide the young inexperienced prisoners with the kind of hard determined leadership which their protest campaign had lacked previously . The young prisoners had been pressing for some considerable time for a hunger strike in order to bring their protest to a head . Brendan Hughes had the maturity to resist this pressure , knowing that without adequate support from the outside there would be needless and wasteful deaths .
He went along with the various attempts that were being made for mediation , through Cardinal O Fiaich and Bishop Daly and others but eventually saw that there was no option but to accede to the demand for a hunger strike .
The prison authorities , recognising the pivotal role Brendan Hughes was playing in the unfolding protest , split up the protesting prisoners into different sections of the prison ; therefore , Hughes could no longer effectively act as overall Officer Commanding but his influence was nonetheless decisive .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(29 of 31).
In November 1985 , Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams ('1169...' Comment - Adams is now President of a Leinster House-registered political party , 'Provisional Sinn Fein' ) made a speech at Sinn Fein's Ard Fheis that was run in full in 'An Phoblacht' : that speech strongly identified the IRA's struggle with that of third-world liberation struggles , and berated Ronald Reagan , Margaret Thatcher and the Dublin Government .
Soon after the beginning of his address , Adams went on the attack -
- " It is no accident that the Dublin government finds common ground with Thatcher and Reagan in their attitude to liberation struggles . Dublin's attitude on these issues is but an extension of its attitude to the British presence in this country . The natural and logical place for Ireland is alongside the Palestinians , the Chileans , Salvadorans , and Nicaraguans . "
The approximately ninty paragraphs of the address also dealt with Sinn Fein's role in fighting various social evils like drug abuse in Ireland , and its support for social reforms such as divorce . A week later , 'The Irish People' newspaper ran an excerpted version of Gerry Adams' speech , some seventy-six paragraphs in length .
Among the most prominent omissions were the remarks by Adams quoted above , the appeal of Sinn Fein as a radical alternative , and the section on social reform .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... having spent the previous two years dealing with the new Free Staters in the 26-County State , the Brits had them well-sussed ; Westminster realised that it had no need for the 40,000-strong 'Special Constabulary' force in the Six Counties of Ireland it was (and still is) occupying - the Staters were now known to be no threat to the British-enforced 'border' . 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') was called to Westminster to discuss the proposed redundancies .......
Westminster offered the approximately 40,000-strong 'Special Constabulary' organisation a few bob to 'go away' (!) - £1,200,000 was put on the table , provided most of them agreed to disband (similar to what is happening today , with the PIRA - buying them out with a 'bank-load' of money ...) . 'Sir' James Craig , up to then a great friend and supporter of the Specials , stated that they would have to go : on 10th December 1925 , Craig told the 'A' and 'C' Specials that they were out of work and offered each man two months pay . End of announcement !
The 'B' Specials were to be kept - indeed , it was only in 1969 that that gang of thugs 'disbanded' (ie changed uniform into that of the 'Ulster Defence Regiment' (UDR) and carried-on with their mis-deeds) . It was actually in September 1969 that the (British) 'Cameron Commission' described the 'B' Specials as " a partisan and paramilitary force... " , while the October 1969 'Hunt Report' recommended that the 'B' Specials be disbanded .
However - the 'A' and 'C' Specials were not happy with the ".. disband ..." Order from their old friend , 'Sir' James Craig .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(6 of 10).
Brendan Hughes , 32 years of age , had been on the Belfast Brigade Staff of the Provisional IRA prior to his capture in 1974 , and was now able to provide the young inexperienced prisoners with the kind of hard determined leadership which their protest campaign had lacked previously . The young prisoners had been pressing for some considerable time for a hunger strike in order to bring their protest to a head . Brendan Hughes had the maturity to resist this pressure , knowing that without adequate support from the outside there would be needless and wasteful deaths .
He went along with the various attempts that were being made for mediation , through Cardinal O Fiaich and Bishop Daly and others but eventually saw that there was no option but to accede to the demand for a hunger strike .
The prison authorities , recognising the pivotal role Brendan Hughes was playing in the unfolding protest , split up the protesting prisoners into different sections of the prison ; therefore , Hughes could no longer effectively act as overall Officer Commanding but his influence was nonetheless decisive .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(29 of 31).
In November 1985 , Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams ('1169...' Comment - Adams is now President of a Leinster House-registered political party , 'Provisional Sinn Fein' ) made a speech at Sinn Fein's Ard Fheis that was run in full in 'An Phoblacht' : that speech strongly identified the IRA's struggle with that of third-world liberation struggles , and berated Ronald Reagan , Margaret Thatcher and the Dublin Government .
Soon after the beginning of his address , Adams went on the attack -
- " It is no accident that the Dublin government finds common ground with Thatcher and Reagan in their attitude to liberation struggles . Dublin's attitude on these issues is but an extension of its attitude to the British presence in this country . The natural and logical place for Ireland is alongside the Palestinians , the Chileans , Salvadorans , and Nicaraguans . "
The approximately ninty paragraphs of the address also dealt with Sinn Fein's role in fighting various social evils like drug abuse in Ireland , and its support for social reforms such as divorce . A week later , 'The Irish People' newspaper ran an excerpted version of Gerry Adams' speech , some seventy-six paragraphs in length .
Among the most prominent omissions were the remarks by Adams quoted above , the appeal of Sinn Fein as a radical alternative , and the section on social reform .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, January 21, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... British Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham was a good 'all-rounder' for the British Crown ; as the 'Divisional Commissioner for Ulster' in the RIC (from 1920 to 1922) , he helped to establish the 'Ulster Special Constabulary' . In 1922 , at 43 years of age , he was appointed as the Inspector-General of the RUC , a position he held until 1945 .......
In 1945 , British Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham was 66 years of age ; but no rest for the wicked ! He was sent to Greece to serve as the 'Head of British Police and Prisons Mission' , where he 'crossed swords' with the ELAS guerilla group . He remained in that position until 1952 (when he was 73 years of age) . The man died in 1972 , at the grand age of 93 .
'Tangents , tangents ' ! : As I was saying (ages and pages ago !) - on 7th October 1924 , British 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') practically threatened Westminster that he would be prepared to lead 40,000 armed men against said institution if same recommended changes to the Six County area (re the 'Boundary Commission' report) . Craig was referring to the 'Special Constabulary' - the Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association , a powerful group in its day .
It was estimated that , at the peak of its power , one in every five of the adult male Protestant population was a member ! Following the final report of the Boundary Commission it became clear that the Free Staters were no longer prepared (if , indeed , they ever were) to push for changes regarding the 'border' , and the British realised that they had no further use for the Special Constabulary , so they set-about disbanding them ; money was put on the table .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(5 of 10).
Inside the prison , the initial H-Block protestors were young inexperienced members of the Movement ; they understood the basic politics of jail protest but they had little sense of leadership . Through the aegis of the authorities , however , this deficiency was rectified by the placement of Brendan Hughes in the H-Blocks , where he quickly became the chief organiser of the protest . Hughes , aged 32 , had been on the Belfast Brigade Staff of the Provisional IRA prior to his capture in 1974 in a flat off the Malone Road in Belfast .
He had previously been arrested and beaten in June 1973 but he escaped from Long Kesh in October 1973 , hidden inside a used mattress which was being dumped .
Brendan Hughes was Officer Commanding of his cage in Long Kesh and was a Special Category Prisoner - the charge on which he was convicted was committed prior to March 1976 , the 'cut-off' date for Special Category status . Hughes got involved in a row between another prisoner and a warder after the latter had insulted the prisoner's wife during a visit .
Hughes was convicted of assualt on the warder , even though another warder had given evidence in support of Hughes' defence that he had moved in to break up the row . As the assualt charge related to a time after March 1976 , Brendan Hughes suddenly lost his Special Category status and was transferred from the compound at Long Kesh to one of the H-Blocks .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(28 of 31).
NORAID attracted many conservative Irish-Americans who could only see the Irish 'problem' as a British-versus-Irish struggle ; anything deeper than that , especially with a social and economic analysis smacking of socialism , was rejected angrily . The INAC is aware of this ; they know that if Irish Republican left-wingers had their way in America , supporting blacks and Palestinians and Salvadoran guerrilas , it would alienate many Irish-Americans .
In America , those contradictions are easily resolved by being ignored . The chief platform which the INAC has for expounding Irish Republican views is 'The Irish People' newspaper - though it is not in any sense owned or run by NORAID , it is edited by NORAID's publicity director , Martin Galvin , and its policies generally support those of both the IRA and the INAC . The bulk of 'The Irish People's ' material comes from Sinn Fein's weekly newspaper An Phoblacht but the left-wing world view of that newspaper is not evident from the selections that appear in 'The Irish Preople' .
Though South Africa-related stories have occasionally been reprinted , the Sinn Fein-IRA attitude on most other liberation struggles , which An Phoblacht expresses , is , in general , omitted .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... British Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham was a good 'all-rounder' for the British Crown ; as the 'Divisional Commissioner for Ulster' in the RIC (from 1920 to 1922) , he helped to establish the 'Ulster Special Constabulary' . In 1922 , at 43 years of age , he was appointed as the Inspector-General of the RUC , a position he held until 1945 .......
In 1945 , British Lieutenant-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham was 66 years of age ; but no rest for the wicked ! He was sent to Greece to serve as the 'Head of British Police and Prisons Mission' , where he 'crossed swords' with the ELAS guerilla group . He remained in that position until 1952 (when he was 73 years of age) . The man died in 1972 , at the grand age of 93 .
'Tangents , tangents ' ! : As I was saying (ages and pages ago !) - on 7th October 1924 , British 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') practically threatened Westminster that he would be prepared to lead 40,000 armed men against said institution if same recommended changes to the Six County area (re the 'Boundary Commission' report) . Craig was referring to the 'Special Constabulary' - the Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association , a powerful group in its day .
It was estimated that , at the peak of its power , one in every five of the adult male Protestant population was a member ! Following the final report of the Boundary Commission it became clear that the Free Staters were no longer prepared (if , indeed , they ever were) to push for changes regarding the 'border' , and the British realised that they had no further use for the Special Constabulary , so they set-about disbanding them ; money was put on the table .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(5 of 10).
Inside the prison , the initial H-Block protestors were young inexperienced members of the Movement ; they understood the basic politics of jail protest but they had little sense of leadership . Through the aegis of the authorities , however , this deficiency was rectified by the placement of Brendan Hughes in the H-Blocks , where he quickly became the chief organiser of the protest . Hughes , aged 32 , had been on the Belfast Brigade Staff of the Provisional IRA prior to his capture in 1974 in a flat off the Malone Road in Belfast .
He had previously been arrested and beaten in June 1973 but he escaped from Long Kesh in October 1973 , hidden inside a used mattress which was being dumped .
Brendan Hughes was Officer Commanding of his cage in Long Kesh and was a Special Category Prisoner - the charge on which he was convicted was committed prior to March 1976 , the 'cut-off' date for Special Category status . Hughes got involved in a row between another prisoner and a warder after the latter had insulted the prisoner's wife during a visit .
Hughes was convicted of assualt on the warder , even though another warder had given evidence in support of Hughes' defence that he had moved in to break up the row . As the assualt charge related to a time after March 1976 , Brendan Hughes suddenly lost his Special Category status and was transferred from the compound at Long Kesh to one of the H-Blocks .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(28 of 31).
NORAID attracted many conservative Irish-Americans who could only see the Irish 'problem' as a British-versus-Irish struggle ; anything deeper than that , especially with a social and economic analysis smacking of socialism , was rejected angrily . The INAC is aware of this ; they know that if Irish Republican left-wingers had their way in America , supporting blacks and Palestinians and Salvadoran guerrilas , it would alienate many Irish-Americans .
In America , those contradictions are easily resolved by being ignored . The chief platform which the INAC has for expounding Irish Republican views is 'The Irish People' newspaper - though it is not in any sense owned or run by NORAID , it is edited by NORAID's publicity director , Martin Galvin , and its policies generally support those of both the IRA and the INAC . The bulk of 'The Irish People's ' material comes from Sinn Fein's weekly newspaper An Phoblacht but the left-wing world view of that newspaper is not evident from the selections that appear in 'The Irish Preople' .
Though South Africa-related stories have occasionally been reprinted , the Sinn Fein-IRA attitude on most other liberation struggles , which An Phoblacht expresses , is , in general , omitted .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, January 20, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 9th November 1921 , the Divisional Commissioner of the RIC in the Six Counties , a Lieut.-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham , sent a 'secret' circular to his men stating that Westminster was considering hiring more UVF men to work as 'Special Constabulary' ; a copy of his circular ended up in the hands of Michael Collins who threw it at the Brits during the Treaty of Surrender negotiations (on 23rd November 1921) and told them that that circular , alone , could end the Negotiations - so the Brits instructed 'their' man in the Six Counties , 'Sir' James Craig (the Stormont 'Prime Minister') to withdraw and dis-own Wickham's circular .......
'Sir' Charles Wickham had an interesting background - he spent 23 years as the man in charge of the 'B' Specials , and was also Head of the RUC for a period . He was born in 1879 , in England , and was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst , where he no doubt picked-up his 'stiff upper lip' . At 20 years young he joined the British Army and served in the Boer War and in the 'First World War' .
Between the years 1918 and 1920 he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel with the British military 'mission' in the Russian Civil War , following which (at 41 years young) he was the 'Divisional Commissioner for Ulster' in the RIC , from 1920 to 1922 .
It was at that time in his 'career' that he helped to establish the Ulster Special Constabulary . At 43 years young he was appointed as the Inspector-General of the RUC , a position he held until 1945 when , at 66 years of age , his paymasters in Westminster formed the opinion that the 'johnnies' in the 'colonies' would benefit from a spot of ' Wickham-ism ' .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(4 of 10).
Perhaps the most important of these has been has been the failure of successive political initiatives on the part of the British Government . An indication of the Catholic frustration with the stalemate is the refusal of the SDLP to participate in another round of elections for another convention or assembly which does'nt offer them guaranteed power-sharing . Also the renewed interest by the SDLP in the all-Ireland dimension . Whatever else the SDLP may be , it is a good barometer of feeling within the Catholic community , even if it lags behind on the more hard line issues , such as H-Block .
Then , of course , there has been the continued tale of brutality and torture emanating from Castlereagh - it was'nt difficult to link this with the H-Block issue , as virtually all the prisoners of H-Block have graduated through Castlereagh and many of them have undoubtedly been brutalised and made to sign forced confessions .
And finally there was the apparent reasonableness of the demands of the prisoners ; whatever else the Catholic community thinks of the Provisional IRA , they know that there is a political motivation involved in their campaign and the refusal to acknowledge this by the authorities seems merely vindictive .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(27 of 31).
While Sean Flynn , an IRSP Belfast City Councillor , was in America , he undertook a tour of his own , organised by a small left-wing support group , the H-Block Armagh Committee , based in New York . Outside the INAC circuit , Sean Flynn spoke to mainly small , radical groups , not prime fund-raising sources . However , INAC people would occasionally show up .
On one occasion , on the West Coast , Flynn met a NORAID supporter who was a millionaire warehouse owner ; the wealthy Irish-American at first assumed that Flynn was just another IRA or Sinn Fein activist on the 'stomp' looking for dollars , not realising his left-wing background . Flynn mentioned the need for funds to cover the funeral expenses of two of the hunger strikers , and the millionaire generously offered to write a cheque out the following morning for whatever the cost was .
Flushed with this offer , the IRSP spokesman invited the would-be patron along to hear him speak that evening : the millionaire showed-up , only to find himself in the company of radicals , blacks , and various leftist politicos . He was appalled when Flynn spoke , comparing North of Ireland Catholics and their struggle with that of the blacks in South Africa .
The millionaire got up to leave - he told Sean Flynn their morning appointment was cancelled . Shocked , Flynn asked why . " I don't like niggers , " he was told .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 9th November 1921 , the Divisional Commissioner of the RIC in the Six Counties , a Lieut.-Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham , sent a 'secret' circular to his men stating that Westminster was considering hiring more UVF men to work as 'Special Constabulary' ; a copy of his circular ended up in the hands of Michael Collins who threw it at the Brits during the Treaty of Surrender negotiations (on 23rd November 1921) and told them that that circular , alone , could end the Negotiations - so the Brits instructed 'their' man in the Six Counties , 'Sir' James Craig (the Stormont 'Prime Minister') to withdraw and dis-own Wickham's circular .......
'Sir' Charles Wickham had an interesting background - he spent 23 years as the man in charge of the 'B' Specials , and was also Head of the RUC for a period . He was born in 1879 , in England , and was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst , where he no doubt picked-up his 'stiff upper lip' . At 20 years young he joined the British Army and served in the Boer War and in the 'First World War' .
Between the years 1918 and 1920 he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel with the British military 'mission' in the Russian Civil War , following which (at 41 years young) he was the 'Divisional Commissioner for Ulster' in the RIC , from 1920 to 1922 .
It was at that time in his 'career' that he helped to establish the Ulster Special Constabulary . At 43 years young he was appointed as the Inspector-General of the RUC , a position he held until 1945 when , at 66 years of age , his paymasters in Westminster formed the opinion that the 'johnnies' in the 'colonies' would benefit from a spot of ' Wickham-ism ' .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(4 of 10).
Perhaps the most important of these has been has been the failure of successive political initiatives on the part of the British Government . An indication of the Catholic frustration with the stalemate is the refusal of the SDLP to participate in another round of elections for another convention or assembly which does'nt offer them guaranteed power-sharing . Also the renewed interest by the SDLP in the all-Ireland dimension . Whatever else the SDLP may be , it is a good barometer of feeling within the Catholic community , even if it lags behind on the more hard line issues , such as H-Block .
Then , of course , there has been the continued tale of brutality and torture emanating from Castlereagh - it was'nt difficult to link this with the H-Block issue , as virtually all the prisoners of H-Block have graduated through Castlereagh and many of them have undoubtedly been brutalised and made to sign forced confessions .
And finally there was the apparent reasonableness of the demands of the prisoners ; whatever else the Catholic community thinks of the Provisional IRA , they know that there is a political motivation involved in their campaign and the refusal to acknowledge this by the authorities seems merely vindictive .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(27 of 31).
While Sean Flynn , an IRSP Belfast City Councillor , was in America , he undertook a tour of his own , organised by a small left-wing support group , the H-Block Armagh Committee , based in New York . Outside the INAC circuit , Sean Flynn spoke to mainly small , radical groups , not prime fund-raising sources . However , INAC people would occasionally show up .
On one occasion , on the West Coast , Flynn met a NORAID supporter who was a millionaire warehouse owner ; the wealthy Irish-American at first assumed that Flynn was just another IRA or Sinn Fein activist on the 'stomp' looking for dollars , not realising his left-wing background . Flynn mentioned the need for funds to cover the funeral expenses of two of the hunger strikers , and the millionaire generously offered to write a cheque out the following morning for whatever the cost was .
Flushed with this offer , the IRSP spokesman invited the would-be patron along to hear him speak that evening : the millionaire showed-up , only to find himself in the company of radicals , blacks , and various leftist politicos . He was appalled when Flynn spoke , comparing North of Ireland Catholics and their struggle with that of the blacks in South Africa .
The millionaire got up to leave - he told Sean Flynn their morning appointment was cancelled . Shocked , Flynn asked why . " I don't like niggers , " he was told .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... the 'Special Constabulary' had been formed , mainly from the ranks of the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , a pro-British militia - but the UVF was still in existence , with a British Colonel , F.H. Crawford , in charge of it . It had 20,000 armed members , and the politicians in Westminster were looking at Crawford and his organisation , and wondering if they could use it , too .......
The RIC was in favour of such a move by Westminster ; on the 9th November 1921 , the Divisional Commissioner of the RIC in the Six Counties , a Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham , stated , in a 'secret' circular which he sent to other RIC bosses in the Six Counties -
- " Owing to the number of reports which have been received as to the growth of unauthorised Loyalist defence forces , the (British) Government have under consideration the desirability of obtaining the services of the best elements of these organisations . They have decided that the scheme most likely to meet the situation would be to enrol all who volunteer and are considered suitable into Class 'C' (of the 'Special Constabulary') and to form them into regular military units .
There is no necessity to produce the maximum possible number of units ; what is required is to ensure that every unit recommended for formation can be constituted from a reliable section of the population . "
Note how the supposed 'neutral' RIC described the UVF paramilitary organisation as a "... loyalist defence force .." and as " .. a reliable section of the population ... " - the Brits were then , and still are today , 'in charge' of said Loyalist paramilitary organisations , and use them to carry-out 'jobs' which Westminster wants done , but not 'officially' . Also , about two weeks after 'Sir' Wickham wrote and dispatched his 'secret' circular , a copy of it found its way into the hands of Michael Collins who , on 23rd November 1921 , whilst attending Treaty negotiations with the British in London , produced it to the startled Brits and told them it may very well signal the end of the 'negotiations' .
Westminster called-in its top man in the Six Counties - 'Sir' James Craig , the Stormont 'Prime Minister' - and told him that the 'secret' circular would have to be withdrawen ; Craig then instructed his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a Mr. Richard Dawson Bates (a UVF man himself) to withdraw the circular . However , by way of a 'two-fingered salute' to his political masters in Westminster , when he returned to Belfast , Craig increased the number of 'A Specials' by 700 men , and the 'B Specials' by 5,000 men ! If they could'nt 'hire' " ... from a reliable section of the population ... " in one way , then they'd find another way to do it !
Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham had an interesting background - a Brit through and through .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(3 of 10).
The Provos themselves eventually agreed on a broad front strategy and took part in a Relatives Action Conference in the Green Briar Hotel , Belfast , in September 1979 . Even then they were ambiguous about their commitment to co-operation with other groups . The Chairperson of the meeting was a committed Provo and although there was a rule that no person could speak more than once , Gerry Adams , Vice President of Provisional Sinn Fein , spoke on at least ten occasions and managed to dominate preceedings .
Resolutions from other organisations were hindered and of course any criticisms of the Provo campaign went unheard . In spite of this a broad-based National H-Block movement got off the ground , with support from the IRSP , the Peoples Democracy , Bernadette McAliskey's organisation in mid-Ulster and a number of other small groups , as well as Provisional Sinn Fein .
The progress of the campaign has been classically successful ; there was a gradual build up of activity , with demonstrations attracting greater and greater support . But of course it was'nt just the astute organisation of the campaign which led to the vast volume of support it has won across the Northern Catholic community .
Other factors were of greater significance .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(26 of 31).
The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) sent over one of its leading members , Sean Flynn , a Belfast city councillor , to meet INAC officials in New York ; he was asking for one-third of the money , since in the cold arithmetic of death , approximately one-third of the ten men who died on hunger-strike were INLA members . Sean Flynn also pointed out that Liz O'Hara had played an important part in the tour which raised the money .
Sean Flynn met INAC officials in New York ; he told them that the families of two of the dead INLA men still owed money for the funerals of their sons . In one case , they did'nt have enough to cover the cost of their electricity bills and travelling expenses . When Flynn went to the home of a prominent INAC member , he was told that NORAID knew nothing about giving money to the IRSP .
Their meeting deteriorated into a shouting match , and Sean Flynn was asked to leave .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... the 'Special Constabulary' had been formed , mainly from the ranks of the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , a pro-British militia - but the UVF was still in existence , with a British Colonel , F.H. Crawford , in charge of it . It had 20,000 armed members , and the politicians in Westminster were looking at Crawford and his organisation , and wondering if they could use it , too .......
The RIC was in favour of such a move by Westminster ; on the 9th November 1921 , the Divisional Commissioner of the RIC in the Six Counties , a Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham , stated , in a 'secret' circular which he sent to other RIC bosses in the Six Counties -
- " Owing to the number of reports which have been received as to the growth of unauthorised Loyalist defence forces , the (British) Government have under consideration the desirability of obtaining the services of the best elements of these organisations . They have decided that the scheme most likely to meet the situation would be to enrol all who volunteer and are considered suitable into Class 'C' (of the 'Special Constabulary') and to form them into regular military units .
There is no necessity to produce the maximum possible number of units ; what is required is to ensure that every unit recommended for formation can be constituted from a reliable section of the population . "
Note how the supposed 'neutral' RIC described the UVF paramilitary organisation as a "... loyalist defence force .." and as " .. a reliable section of the population ... " - the Brits were then , and still are today , 'in charge' of said Loyalist paramilitary organisations , and use them to carry-out 'jobs' which Westminster wants done , but not 'officially' . Also , about two weeks after 'Sir' Wickham wrote and dispatched his 'secret' circular , a copy of it found its way into the hands of Michael Collins who , on 23rd November 1921 , whilst attending Treaty negotiations with the British in London , produced it to the startled Brits and told them it may very well signal the end of the 'negotiations' .
Westminster called-in its top man in the Six Counties - 'Sir' James Craig , the Stormont 'Prime Minister' - and told him that the 'secret' circular would have to be withdrawen ; Craig then instructed his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , a Mr. Richard Dawson Bates (a UVF man himself) to withdraw the circular . However , by way of a 'two-fingered salute' to his political masters in Westminster , when he returned to Belfast , Craig increased the number of 'A Specials' by 700 men , and the 'B Specials' by 5,000 men ! If they could'nt 'hire' " ... from a reliable section of the population ... " in one way , then they'd find another way to do it !
Colonel 'Sir' Charles Wickham had an interesting background - a Brit through and through .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(3 of 10).
The Provos themselves eventually agreed on a broad front strategy and took part in a Relatives Action Conference in the Green Briar Hotel , Belfast , in September 1979 . Even then they were ambiguous about their commitment to co-operation with other groups . The Chairperson of the meeting was a committed Provo and although there was a rule that no person could speak more than once , Gerry Adams , Vice President of Provisional Sinn Fein , spoke on at least ten occasions and managed to dominate preceedings .
Resolutions from other organisations were hindered and of course any criticisms of the Provo campaign went unheard . In spite of this a broad-based National H-Block movement got off the ground , with support from the IRSP , the Peoples Democracy , Bernadette McAliskey's organisation in mid-Ulster and a number of other small groups , as well as Provisional Sinn Fein .
The progress of the campaign has been classically successful ; there was a gradual build up of activity , with demonstrations attracting greater and greater support . But of course it was'nt just the astute organisation of the campaign which led to the vast volume of support it has won across the Northern Catholic community .
Other factors were of greater significance .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(26 of 31).
The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) sent over one of its leading members , Sean Flynn , a Belfast city councillor , to meet INAC officials in New York ; he was asking for one-third of the money , since in the cold arithmetic of death , approximately one-third of the ten men who died on hunger-strike were INLA members . Sean Flynn also pointed out that Liz O'Hara had played an important part in the tour which raised the money .
Sean Flynn met INAC officials in New York ; he told them that the families of two of the dead INLA men still owed money for the funerals of their sons . In one case , they did'nt have enough to cover the cost of their electricity bills and travelling expenses . When Flynn went to the home of a prominent INAC member , he was told that NORAID knew nothing about giving money to the IRSP .
Their meeting deteriorated into a shouting match , and Sean Flynn was asked to leave .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in November 1920 , recruitment commenced for the 'Special Constabulary' ; three months later (ie January[23rd] 1921) , the RIC (pro-British 'police force') got a call telling them that a pub in Clones , County Monaghan , was being destroyed by armed men - the RIC , thinking it was an IRA Unit 'closing-down' the pub because it served and sheltered enemy forces , 'tooled-up' and hit the road .......
The RIC pulled-up outside the premises - and opened fire on those inside ! And what a pity that those RIC men were'nt better shots or more heavily armed , or both , for those inside the pub were members of the 'Special Constabulary' , doing what they did best : looting ! One of them was shot dead by the RIC gunfire .
Meanwhile , while the 'Specials' were out looting and the RIC (when not doing the same !) were mistakingly shooting at them , the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , a Loyalist paramilitary organisation , (from which group the 'Specials' came) were still active ; the new man in charge was British Colonel F.H. Crawford , who had played an active part in the Larne gun-running episode in 1914 .
Westminster estimated UVF membership at 20,000 armed men ; its leader , Crawford , is perhaps better known for signing his name in blood on 'Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant' , and was regarded by those who worked with him as 'a fanatic' .
But rather than be alarmed at this 20,000-strong UVF organisation , the Brits were considering using it for their own advantage - the RIC were known to be in favour of such a move .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(2 of 10).
The support on the outside for the H-Block protest was minimal and Provisional Sinn Fein seemed unable to muster even a gesture of solidarity . Certainly they were not prepared to co-operate with individuals or organisations that were not also prepared to support the military struggle .
This has been one of the major issues of division within the Provisional Republican Movement for several years ; some of the die-hard elements don't want to co-operate with people who have reservations about the military campaign , while others are more aware of the need for a broad anti-imperialist front .
It was perhaps Bernadette McAliskey more than anyone else who convinced the die-hards within the Provos to co-operate with individuals and groups on a broad front ; she organised the 'Coalisland Conference' in early 1979 and while the Provos attempted to 'pack' the meeting and block votes on issues , it opened their awareness to the possibilities of a 'broad' campaign .
The 'Relatives Action Committee' included many non-Provo supporters and there had been several clashes within it over the question of support for the military campaign .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(25 of 31).
According to sources close to the U.S. tour itself , the three relatives raised about a quarter of a million dollars - more than the INAC had been able to collect in any year since 1972 , at least according to its official returns .
But the INAC alleges that no more than $200,000 was collected for the whole year , and that the relatives' tour was only a small part of the overall campaign .
The question of how much money was contributed was to have other ramifications when it came to deciding how it should be divided up , and whether or not the INLA and its political wing , the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) , were entitled to a share .
The INLA's political wing , the IRSP , met with Sinn Fein and demanded a slice of the $250,000 'cake' that the IRSP claimed had been produced by the U.S. tour , but Sinn Fein reportedly told the IRSP that it must address its requests to the INAC .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in November 1920 , recruitment commenced for the 'Special Constabulary' ; three months later (ie January[23rd] 1921) , the RIC (pro-British 'police force') got a call telling them that a pub in Clones , County Monaghan , was being destroyed by armed men - the RIC , thinking it was an IRA Unit 'closing-down' the pub because it served and sheltered enemy forces , 'tooled-up' and hit the road .......
The RIC pulled-up outside the premises - and opened fire on those inside ! And what a pity that those RIC men were'nt better shots or more heavily armed , or both , for those inside the pub were members of the 'Special Constabulary' , doing what they did best : looting ! One of them was shot dead by the RIC gunfire .
Meanwhile , while the 'Specials' were out looting and the RIC (when not doing the same !) were mistakingly shooting at them , the 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , a Loyalist paramilitary organisation , (from which group the 'Specials' came) were still active ; the new man in charge was British Colonel F.H. Crawford , who had played an active part in the Larne gun-running episode in 1914 .
Westminster estimated UVF membership at 20,000 armed men ; its leader , Crawford , is perhaps better known for signing his name in blood on 'Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant' , and was regarded by those who worked with him as 'a fanatic' .
But rather than be alarmed at this 20,000-strong UVF organisation , the Brits were considering using it for their own advantage - the RIC were known to be in favour of such a move .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .......
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(2 of 10).
The support on the outside for the H-Block protest was minimal and Provisional Sinn Fein seemed unable to muster even a gesture of solidarity . Certainly they were not prepared to co-operate with individuals or organisations that were not also prepared to support the military struggle .
This has been one of the major issues of division within the Provisional Republican Movement for several years ; some of the die-hard elements don't want to co-operate with people who have reservations about the military campaign , while others are more aware of the need for a broad anti-imperialist front .
It was perhaps Bernadette McAliskey more than anyone else who convinced the die-hards within the Provos to co-operate with individuals and groups on a broad front ; she organised the 'Coalisland Conference' in early 1979 and while the Provos attempted to 'pack' the meeting and block votes on issues , it opened their awareness to the possibilities of a 'broad' campaign .
The 'Relatives Action Committee' included many non-Provo supporters and there had been several clashes within it over the question of support for the military campaign .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(25 of 31).
According to sources close to the U.S. tour itself , the three relatives raised about a quarter of a million dollars - more than the INAC had been able to collect in any year since 1972 , at least according to its official returns .
But the INAC alleges that no more than $200,000 was collected for the whole year , and that the relatives' tour was only a small part of the overall campaign .
The question of how much money was contributed was to have other ramifications when it came to deciding how it should be divided up , and whether or not the INLA and its political wing , the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) , were entitled to a share .
The INLA's political wing , the IRSP , met with Sinn Fein and demanded a slice of the $250,000 'cake' that the IRSP claimed had been produced by the U.S. tour , but Sinn Fein reportedly told the IRSP that it must address its requests to the INAC .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, January 17, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... Joe Devlin was amongst those who objected to a Loyalist paramilitary organisation being armed by Westminster (the UVF) and being called a ' police force ' ; Devlin was a busy man - as well as other political jobs , he acted as General Secretary for the United Irish League (UIL)/Home Rule Party , from 1904 to 1920 .......
At 34 years of age , Joe Devlin served as the 'National President' of the Ancient Order of Hibernians , a position he held for 29 years (!) [until he died in 1934] , during which time he forged links between the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the United Irish League .
He first took a seat in Stormont in 1921 (at 50 years of age) [and stayed there until 1934] ; in 1928 (at 57 years of age) he founded , and Chaired , the 'National League of the North ' . Incidentally , he was not related to Bernadette Devlin or Paddy Devlin : end of that Joe Devlin 'tangent' !
Back to basics : in November 1920 , in Belfast , recruitment for the 'Specials' commenced ; the 'calibre' of these 'Specials' can be accurately gauged from an incident on 23rd January 1921 , when the RIC were called-out to investigate a claim that a pub in Clones , County Monaghan , was being destroyed by armed men .
Thinking it was an IRA Unit 'closing down' a pub because it served and sheltered enemy forces , the RIC 'tooled-up' and hit the road .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(1 of 10).
The H-Block issue has caused divisions in Irish society deeper than any exposed during the last decade of troubles in the North . Not alone are the unionist and nationalist communities now sharply polarised again , but there has arisen the spectre of a deep and hostile division between the nationalist community in the North and the vast majority of the people of southern Ireland .
The degree of support for H-Block protestors in the Catholic areas of the North has witnessed no parallel , certainly not since the Civil Rights demonstrations of the late 1960's . The Roman Catholic community's alienation from the Provisional IRA was thought to be almost complete following a succession of atrocities , culminating in the La Mons disaster , and the very obvious support given to the 'Peace People' in 1976 .
Yet it was during the 'Peace Peoples' most notable triumphs on the streets of the Falls and Shankill that the H-Block issue started to germinate .
It was that summer that young Kieran Nugent started on his blanket protest , which seemed doomed to failure and a wall of public indifference .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(24 of 31).
Objections were raised to Liz O'Hara's presence on the tour ; could'nt someone with more pure 'republican' connections be found ? Ironically , at the same time that some of NORAID's leaders were expressing these objections , ' The Irish People ' newspaper was praising Patsy O'Hara as a martyr .
In the end , Malachy McCreesh and Bobby Sands' brother , Sean , refused to go on the U.S. tour unless Liz O'Hara accompanied them - whatever INAC's objections were , they had to be put aside in the interests of solidarity with the hunger strikers .
The vexing question of exactly how much cash was raised on that tour was made even more complex than usual with NORAID at this time : because it was in dispute with the U.S. Justice Department over the registration issue , the Committee was refusing to file its six-monthly financial returns . The last period for which those figures were available before 1984 , when the dispute was resolved , was January-July 1981 .
For this period , NORAID disclosed that it raised $92,800 , a startingly small sum considering the huge swell of support it was then getting .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... Joe Devlin was amongst those who objected to a Loyalist paramilitary organisation being armed by Westminster (the UVF) and being called a ' police force ' ; Devlin was a busy man - as well as other political jobs , he acted as General Secretary for the United Irish League (UIL)/Home Rule Party , from 1904 to 1920 .......
At 34 years of age , Joe Devlin served as the 'National President' of the Ancient Order of Hibernians , a position he held for 29 years (!) [until he died in 1934] , during which time he forged links between the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the United Irish League .
He first took a seat in Stormont in 1921 (at 50 years of age) [and stayed there until 1934] ; in 1928 (at 57 years of age) he founded , and Chaired , the 'National League of the North ' . Incidentally , he was not related to Bernadette Devlin or Paddy Devlin : end of that Joe Devlin 'tangent' !
Back to basics : in November 1920 , in Belfast , recruitment for the 'Specials' commenced ; the 'calibre' of these 'Specials' can be accurately gauged from an incident on 23rd January 1921 , when the RIC were called-out to investigate a claim that a pub in Clones , County Monaghan , was being destroyed by armed men .
Thinking it was an IRA Unit 'closing down' a pub because it served and sheltered enemy forces , the RIC 'tooled-up' and hit the road .......
(MORE LATER).
THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK .
By Vincent Browne .
From 'MAGILL' magazine , December 1980 , pages 26 and 27 .
Re-published here in 10 parts .
(1 of 10).
The H-Block issue has caused divisions in Irish society deeper than any exposed during the last decade of troubles in the North . Not alone are the unionist and nationalist communities now sharply polarised again , but there has arisen the spectre of a deep and hostile division between the nationalist community in the North and the vast majority of the people of southern Ireland .
The degree of support for H-Block protestors in the Catholic areas of the North has witnessed no parallel , certainly not since the Civil Rights demonstrations of the late 1960's . The Roman Catholic community's alienation from the Provisional IRA was thought to be almost complete following a succession of atrocities , culminating in the La Mons disaster , and the very obvious support given to the 'Peace People' in 1976 .
Yet it was during the 'Peace Peoples' most notable triumphs on the streets of the Falls and Shankill that the H-Block issue started to germinate .
It was that summer that young Kieran Nugent started on his blanket protest , which seemed doomed to failure and a wall of public indifference .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(24 of 31).
Objections were raised to Liz O'Hara's presence on the tour ; could'nt someone with more pure 'republican' connections be found ? Ironically , at the same time that some of NORAID's leaders were expressing these objections , ' The Irish People ' newspaper was praising Patsy O'Hara as a martyr .
In the end , Malachy McCreesh and Bobby Sands' brother , Sean , refused to go on the U.S. tour unless Liz O'Hara accompanied them - whatever INAC's objections were , they had to be put aside in the interests of solidarity with the hunger strikers .
The vexing question of exactly how much cash was raised on that tour was made even more complex than usual with NORAID at this time : because it was in dispute with the U.S. Justice Department over the registration issue , the Committee was refusing to file its six-monthly financial returns . The last period for which those figures were available before 1984 , when the dispute was resolved , was January-July 1981 .
For this period , NORAID disclosed that it raised $92,800 , a startingly small sum considering the huge swell of support it was then getting .......
(MORE LATER).
Friday, January 14, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in September 1920 , Westminster decided to arm " well-disposed citizens " in the Six County 'State' (ie those that were pro-British) , give them uniforms and call them a 'police force' - these were the 'Special Constabulary' , consisting of members of the UVF , an anti-Irish Loyalist paramilitary organisation .......
In October of 1920 , a Mr. J.R. Clynes of the British Labour Party voiced his concern , in Westminster , that the British Government were actully " arming the Orangemen " to " police their Catholic neighbours ... " in the Six County 'State' , while Joe Devlin ('United Irish League' - UIL) pointed out that 300 of the 'Special Constables' from the Lisburn area , had already " resigned in protest " because their " fellow Constables " would not stop looting their (Catholic) neighbours !
Mr. Devlin stated - " The Protestants are to be armed . Their pogrom is to be made less difficult . Instead of paving stones and sticks they are to be given rifles . " Joe Devlin led a busy life , but died young , at 63 years of age , in 1934 . A barman and journalist at the start of his working life , he was elected as a 'Home Rule MP' (British Parliament) for North Kilkenny in 1902 , at 31 years young , and held his seat until 1906 , when he was elected again , this time for the West Belfast area .
He was that area's representative in Westminster until 1922 ; he acted as General Secretary for the 'United Irish League' (UIL) / Home Rule Party , from 1904 to 1920 , and was also involved with the 'Ancient Order of Hibernians' .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
[ 5 of 5].
When Alistair Logan goes in to see Paul Hill or Gerry Conlon or Patrick Armstrong or Carole Richardson in prison , he says - " They will put their arm around my shoulder and say ' Don't worry , Alistair , the truth will come out .' Now , they are people who are serving an unending sentence for something they have'nt done . And at the moment , they have'nt the remotest prospect of being released .
And yet they have this belief in the truth which is totally at odds with the situation in which they find themselves . When you see the way they behave , you feel ashamed about the comfortableness of your life and the comfortableness of your belief's . "
Alistair Logan has spent the last thirteen of his forty-four years involved with the case ; now , there are very senior 'establishment' figures such as Cardinal Hume , Lord Devlin and Lord Scarman on his side . This intimidates people who hitherto would have tended to put him down and as a result they give Logan a lot of respect these days because they are wary of what he might be able to achieve .
Even people who believed that he was wrong in 1974 and 1984 , have now come to believe that this case has been a miscarriage of justice .
[END of ' PASSIONATE FRIEND ... '].
( Monday , 17th - ' THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK ' : from 1980 ).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(23 of 31).
The 1981 Hunger Strike brought feelings to a pitch ; as sympathy increased in the spring of 1981 , NORAID organised a tour by the relatives of the starving men . Bobby Sands' immediate successors on the hunger strike were Francis Hughes , Ray McCreesh , and Patsy O'Hara : Hughes died on May 12th , McCreesh and O'Hara nine days later .
Sands' brother Sean , and Malachy , the brother of Ray McCreesh , were available to come to the United States , and Patsy O'Hara had a sister , Liz , an attractive and vivacious woman who was at the same time outspoken and articulate .
Liz O'Hara was , on the surface , an ideal person to tour the United States ; however , there was a complication : like Bobby Sands , Ray McCreesh and Francis Hughes were both members of the IRA , but Patsy O'Hara belonged to the smaller , left-wing Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) .
Left-wing connections were a liability in Irish-American circles - some INAC activists feared that the 'Marxist' taint would counteract the kind of support the hunger strike was producing .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... in September 1920 , Westminster decided to arm " well-disposed citizens " in the Six County 'State' (ie those that were pro-British) , give them uniforms and call them a 'police force' - these were the 'Special Constabulary' , consisting of members of the UVF , an anti-Irish Loyalist paramilitary organisation .......
In October of 1920 , a Mr. J.R. Clynes of the British Labour Party voiced his concern , in Westminster , that the British Government were actully " arming the Orangemen " to " police their Catholic neighbours ... " in the Six County 'State' , while Joe Devlin ('United Irish League' - UIL) pointed out that 300 of the 'Special Constables' from the Lisburn area , had already " resigned in protest " because their " fellow Constables " would not stop looting their (Catholic) neighbours !
Mr. Devlin stated - " The Protestants are to be armed . Their pogrom is to be made less difficult . Instead of paving stones and sticks they are to be given rifles . " Joe Devlin led a busy life , but died young , at 63 years of age , in 1934 . A barman and journalist at the start of his working life , he was elected as a 'Home Rule MP' (British Parliament) for North Kilkenny in 1902 , at 31 years young , and held his seat until 1906 , when he was elected again , this time for the West Belfast area .
He was that area's representative in Westminster until 1922 ; he acted as General Secretary for the 'United Irish League' (UIL) / Home Rule Party , from 1904 to 1920 , and was also involved with the 'Ancient Order of Hibernians' .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
[ 5 of 5].
When Alistair Logan goes in to see Paul Hill or Gerry Conlon or Patrick Armstrong or Carole Richardson in prison , he says - " They will put their arm around my shoulder and say ' Don't worry , Alistair , the truth will come out .' Now , they are people who are serving an unending sentence for something they have'nt done . And at the moment , they have'nt the remotest prospect of being released .
And yet they have this belief in the truth which is totally at odds with the situation in which they find themselves . When you see the way they behave , you feel ashamed about the comfortableness of your life and the comfortableness of your belief's . "
Alistair Logan has spent the last thirteen of his forty-four years involved with the case ; now , there are very senior 'establishment' figures such as Cardinal Hume , Lord Devlin and Lord Scarman on his side . This intimidates people who hitherto would have tended to put him down and as a result they give Logan a lot of respect these days because they are wary of what he might be able to achieve .
Even people who believed that he was wrong in 1974 and 1984 , have now come to believe that this case has been a miscarriage of justice .
[END of ' PASSIONATE FRIEND ... '].
( Monday , 17th - ' THE POLITICS OF H-BLOCK ' : from 1980 ).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(23 of 31).
The 1981 Hunger Strike brought feelings to a pitch ; as sympathy increased in the spring of 1981 , NORAID organised a tour by the relatives of the starving men . Bobby Sands' immediate successors on the hunger strike were Francis Hughes , Ray McCreesh , and Patsy O'Hara : Hughes died on May 12th , McCreesh and O'Hara nine days later .
Sands' brother Sean , and Malachy , the brother of Ray McCreesh , were available to come to the United States , and Patsy O'Hara had a sister , Liz , an attractive and vivacious woman who was at the same time outspoken and articulate .
Liz O'Hara was , on the surface , an ideal person to tour the United States ; however , there was a complication : like Bobby Sands , Ray McCreesh and Francis Hughes were both members of the IRA , but Patsy O'Hara belonged to the smaller , left-wing Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) .
Left-wing connections were a liability in Irish-American circles - some INAC activists feared that the 'Marxist' taint would counteract the kind of support the hunger strike was producing .......
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, January 13, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 2nd September , 1920 , the Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , demanded that Westminster establish a " special constabulary " in the Six County 'State' ; the Brits looked at the existing ' Ulster Volunteer Force ' (UVF) , a pro-British armed paramilitary organisation , and decided to give them uniforms .......
Nationalists knew the danger of such a move for them - the UVF were not by any means 'neutral' in the conflict . The then ' Daily News ' newspaper stated , re the proposed establishment of the 'Specials' -
" The official proposal to arm "well-disposed" citizens to "assist the authorities" in Belfast raised serious questions of the sanity of the government . It seems the most outrageous thing which they have ever done in Ireland . A citizen of Belfast who is "well-disposed" to the British government is , almost from the nature of the case , an Orangeman , or at any rate , a vehement anti-Sinn Feiner .
These are the very same people who have been looting Catholic shops and driving thousands of Catholic women and children from their homes . " But all words of opposition , or even caution , were ignored .
Sixteen (16) battalions (approximately 10,000 armed men) were organised throughout the Six County area , with about three times that number (ie about 30,000 men) being placed in the areas where the battalion structure did'nt reach : approximately 40,000 fully-armed and , for the most part , militarily-trained men , in all .
It was'nt only Nationalist and Republican's that were aware of the potential for trouble that could come from arming one section of a population - voices were raised in Westminster itself , against such a move .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 4 of 5).
The case , Alistair Logan says , " never leaves you , it is always there ... " . He was a middle-class solicitor in the Stock Broker belt in Surrey trying to get established when he took the case on . He had " notions of justice " which were a product of his upbringing and schooling and training as a lawyer .
" I did not believe that this sort of thing could happen , and in that sense I grew-up on the case . I could'nt even understand the Belfast accent when I started and it was three or four weeks before I was getting every second word from Patrick Armstrong (one of those convicted) ." The Guildford Case brought him into the areas of prisoners' rights and into the European Court of Human Rights - areas where he would not otherwise have gone .
The case has changed him in some ways ; " I'm not completely changed and I think the fundamental values still remain . We invest in judges but some of them have shown themselves capable of abusing their position , and that applies to politicians and to police officers . I no longer trust authority and I actually believe that authority will be abused . I can not now read a newspaper without first questioning the political standpoint of the person who wrote the article or the newspaper which published it , and wanting to know what is missing .
It has taught me that there are certain basic things about people which cannot change . "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(22 of 31).
In the fall of 1980 , NORAID smuggled two former prisoners , Fra McCann and Liam Carlin , into the U.S. to talk about conditions in Long Kesh Prison ; they toured American cities , hosted by one INAC Unit after another , giving interviews to the press and other media . Slowly , interest began to revive , not only through direct contact with the prisoners who had been brought over , but also because Irish-Americans could see the increasingly large demonstrations that were being reported from Belfast and Dublin .
Those demonstrations were in favour of the prisoners' demands for recognition of their political status . The change was reflected in the increase in the funds NORAID reported ; almost $70,000 for the perion between July 1980 and January 1981 , as compared with just over $50,000 for the previous six months .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 2nd September , 1920 , the Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , demanded that Westminster establish a " special constabulary " in the Six County 'State' ; the Brits looked at the existing ' Ulster Volunteer Force ' (UVF) , a pro-British armed paramilitary organisation , and decided to give them uniforms .......
Nationalists knew the danger of such a move for them - the UVF were not by any means 'neutral' in the conflict . The then ' Daily News ' newspaper stated , re the proposed establishment of the 'Specials' -
" The official proposal to arm "well-disposed" citizens to "assist the authorities" in Belfast raised serious questions of the sanity of the government . It seems the most outrageous thing which they have ever done in Ireland . A citizen of Belfast who is "well-disposed" to the British government is , almost from the nature of the case , an Orangeman , or at any rate , a vehement anti-Sinn Feiner .
These are the very same people who have been looting Catholic shops and driving thousands of Catholic women and children from their homes . " But all words of opposition , or even caution , were ignored .
Sixteen (16) battalions (approximately 10,000 armed men) were organised throughout the Six County area , with about three times that number (ie about 30,000 men) being placed in the areas where the battalion structure did'nt reach : approximately 40,000 fully-armed and , for the most part , militarily-trained men , in all .
It was'nt only Nationalist and Republican's that were aware of the potential for trouble that could come from arming one section of a population - voices were raised in Westminster itself , against such a move .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 4 of 5).
The case , Alistair Logan says , " never leaves you , it is always there ... " . He was a middle-class solicitor in the Stock Broker belt in Surrey trying to get established when he took the case on . He had " notions of justice " which were a product of his upbringing and schooling and training as a lawyer .
" I did not believe that this sort of thing could happen , and in that sense I grew-up on the case . I could'nt even understand the Belfast accent when I started and it was three or four weeks before I was getting every second word from Patrick Armstrong (one of those convicted) ." The Guildford Case brought him into the areas of prisoners' rights and into the European Court of Human Rights - areas where he would not otherwise have gone .
The case has changed him in some ways ; " I'm not completely changed and I think the fundamental values still remain . We invest in judges but some of them have shown themselves capable of abusing their position , and that applies to politicians and to police officers . I no longer trust authority and I actually believe that authority will be abused . I can not now read a newspaper without first questioning the political standpoint of the person who wrote the article or the newspaper which published it , and wanting to know what is missing .
It has taught me that there are certain basic things about people which cannot change . "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(22 of 31).
In the fall of 1980 , NORAID smuggled two former prisoners , Fra McCann and Liam Carlin , into the U.S. to talk about conditions in Long Kesh Prison ; they toured American cities , hosted by one INAC Unit after another , giving interviews to the press and other media . Slowly , interest began to revive , not only through direct contact with the prisoners who had been brought over , but also because Irish-Americans could see the increasingly large demonstrations that were being reported from Belfast and Dublin .
Those demonstrations were in favour of the prisoners' demands for recognition of their political status . The change was reflected in the increase in the funds NORAID reported ; almost $70,000 for the perion between July 1980 and January 1981 , as compared with just over $50,000 for the previous six months .......
(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 7th October 1924 , Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , delivered a speech in that institution in which he 'reminded' the Westminster Government that there were 40,000 armed men in the Six County 'State' who were , like him , not prepared to accept an " unfavourable " decision by the Boundary Commission .......
'Sir' James stated that he and his men would take any steps necessary " to defend their territory ... " (sic) ; he was referring to the 'Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association' , which was organised in three groups - the full-time A Specials , the part-time B Specials , and an 'on-call' (" loose category ") of C Specials .
The A Specials lived in barracks' and were used as re-inforcements for the RIC ; the B Specials concentrated on street-patrols and setting-up checkpoints , while the C Specials had no specific duties but were 'on call' as an armed militia .
Incidentally , when 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') demanded the establishment of " a special Constabulary " for the Six County area (which he did , at a meeting in London on 2nd September 1920) he had only to wait six days for a reply - on 8th September 1920 , Westminster agreed that a force of " loyal citizens " should be raised - the then 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , an armed pro-British paramilitary organisation in the Six Counties was , effectively , to become a ('legitimate') force of ' Special Constabulary ' - with a simple change of uniform !
It is arguably the position that this was the first instance of Westminster treating the Six County 'State' as a separate unit from what they alleged to believe was the 'United Kingdom' . However - the fact that Westminster was about to 'dress-up' a Loyalist militia as a ' Police Force ' , and arm same , sent shock-waves into the Nationalist community .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 3 of 5).
Alistair Logan received death threats from the 'National Front' and went to the police with them - they fell over laughing . He says they could have found out who had written the threats - they were posted in West Glamorgan and one of them indicated that one of the people responsible was related to one of those who had been injured in the pub in Guildford .
Friends and relatives have said to Alistair Logan that he has become " obsessive " about the case , but he would say it was a matter of conscience and determination . People , he says , tend to look at the case in hand rather than the wider issues : " If you are a believer in a democratic system and an impartial system of justice , cases of this nature are extremely important , because ultimately it depends on power and it's power which has caused these people to go into prison . "
In the event of the latest appeal failing , Logan would be prepared to go on doing it . At present , the case takes about one day out of every week , and he finances the entire campaign himself , flying to Ireland to attend meetings and so on .
" One of our battles is to keep the case in the public eye and it's very difficult to do that . There are so many other things going on ....... "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(21 of 31).
NORAID's lawyers and F.A.R.A. representatives met in court ; the battle was waged for four years - in 1981 , the courts found against NORAID , ordering it to register as an agent of the IRA . While appeals were heard , NORAID refused to file returns , in protest .
The wrangle lasted until the U.S. Justice Department threatened to sue NORAID for contempt of court in late 1983 ; early in 1984 , the court gave the Committee ninty days to comply with its ruling . Finally , something of a compromise was reached : NORAID agreed to file as an agent of the IRA , but with the stipulation that it be allowed to add that it had done so only under the court order .
The court agreed , and NORAID registered in the summer of 1984 , naming its " foreign principal " as the IRA " ... as ordered by the court ... " . During the period in which NORAID was facing the court order to file as an agent of the IRA , it was undergoing the greatest resurgence of sympathy and support it had ever experienced .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 7th October 1924 , Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , delivered a speech in that institution in which he 'reminded' the Westminster Government that there were 40,000 armed men in the Six County 'State' who were , like him , not prepared to accept an " unfavourable " decision by the Boundary Commission .......
'Sir' James stated that he and his men would take any steps necessary " to defend their territory ... " (sic) ; he was referring to the 'Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association' , which was organised in three groups - the full-time A Specials , the part-time B Specials , and an 'on-call' (" loose category ") of C Specials .
The A Specials lived in barracks' and were used as re-inforcements for the RIC ; the B Specials concentrated on street-patrols and setting-up checkpoints , while the C Specials had no specific duties but were 'on call' as an armed militia .
Incidentally , when 'Sir' James Craig (Stormont 'Prime Minister') demanded the establishment of " a special Constabulary " for the Six County area (which he did , at a meeting in London on 2nd September 1920) he had only to wait six days for a reply - on 8th September 1920 , Westminster agreed that a force of " loyal citizens " should be raised - the then 'Ulster Volunteer Force' (UVF) , an armed pro-British paramilitary organisation in the Six Counties was , effectively , to become a ('legitimate') force of ' Special Constabulary ' - with a simple change of uniform !
It is arguably the position that this was the first instance of Westminster treating the Six County 'State' as a separate unit from what they alleged to believe was the 'United Kingdom' . However - the fact that Westminster was about to 'dress-up' a Loyalist militia as a ' Police Force ' , and arm same , sent shock-waves into the Nationalist community .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 3 of 5).
Alistair Logan received death threats from the 'National Front' and went to the police with them - they fell over laughing . He says they could have found out who had written the threats - they were posted in West Glamorgan and one of them indicated that one of the people responsible was related to one of those who had been injured in the pub in Guildford .
Friends and relatives have said to Alistair Logan that he has become " obsessive " about the case , but he would say it was a matter of conscience and determination . People , he says , tend to look at the case in hand rather than the wider issues : " If you are a believer in a democratic system and an impartial system of justice , cases of this nature are extremely important , because ultimately it depends on power and it's power which has caused these people to go into prison . "
In the event of the latest appeal failing , Logan would be prepared to go on doing it . At present , the case takes about one day out of every week , and he finances the entire campaign himself , flying to Ireland to attend meetings and so on .
" One of our battles is to keep the case in the public eye and it's very difficult to do that . There are so many other things going on ....... "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(21 of 31).
NORAID's lawyers and F.A.R.A. representatives met in court ; the battle was waged for four years - in 1981 , the courts found against NORAID , ordering it to register as an agent of the IRA . While appeals were heard , NORAID refused to file returns , in protest .
The wrangle lasted until the U.S. Justice Department threatened to sue NORAID for contempt of court in late 1983 ; early in 1984 , the court gave the Committee ninty days to comply with its ruling . Finally , something of a compromise was reached : NORAID agreed to file as an agent of the IRA , but with the stipulation that it be allowed to add that it had done so only under the court order .
The court agreed , and NORAID registered in the summer of 1984 , naming its " foreign principal " as the IRA " ... as ordered by the court ... " . During the period in which NORAID was facing the court order to file as an agent of the IRA , it was undergoing the greatest resurgence of sympathy and support it had ever experienced .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 3rd December 1925 at a meeting in Downing Street in London , Free State President William Cosgrave and his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , Kevin O'Higgins , agreed that there should be no change to Britains imposed 'border' in Ireland , that the 'Council of Ireland' be scraped and that monies received from the Brits by way of financial compensation for the damage that Westminster's Black and Tans caused in Ireland would be re-paid ! Those Free State gombeens also agreed to continue paying land annuities to the British Exchequer ....... !
On their return to Dublin a few days later , Cosgrave and O'Higgins , after selling-out to the Brits once more , stuck their chests out and declared - " Today we have sown the seeds of peace ... " ! Bullshit 'spin-doctors' .
And to ensure that nobody could find out just how those " seeds of peace " had been 'won' , it was not only agreed that the Boundary Commission be revoked , but also that its 'findings' be kept hidden ; it was only published 44 years later , in 1969 !
Another episode relating to the Boundary Commission centres around the speech which the Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , delivered in said institution on 7th October 1924 , in which he 'reminded' the Westminster Government that he had 40,000 armed men who , like him , were not prepared to accept an " unfavourable " decision by the Boundary Commission and would take any steps necessary " to defend their territory ... " (ie - the Six County 'State') .
'Sir' Craig was referring to the 'Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association ' .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 2 of 5).
Alistair Logan was practicing in Guildford about three years at that time and was slightly afraid of taking the case ; firstly because it was so big , secondly because of the " attitude of the community ... " and thirdly because , unless he was prepared to go around saying that it was a " terrible job to have to act on behalf of these bastards .. " - under sufference - he was in trouble .
" If one was going to say that one had serious doubts about whether or not these people were guilty of the offences , it was going to cause a lot of trouble ... " At that time , as now , there was considerable anti-Irish hysteria in Britain due partly to the bombing campaign that was being carried out by the people later captured at Balcombe Street ; Alistair Logan was threatened by the National Front because of his involvement in defending his clients -
- " I was ostracised . I was sentenced to death by the National Front . I got hate mail . My car was done over . I published a letter in 'The Times' in which I asserted the innocence of the people involved and I got formal notification of sentence of death by the National Front . There was very great detail as to how they were going to carry it out - I would be taken out to one of the army ranges and dismembered whilst I was alive , and a variety of other things would be done to me . "
That letter from the National Front was " the straw that broke the camel's back ... " and his marriage broke up .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(20 of 31).
The U.S. Justice Department was not allowing this decline in INAC support to prevent it from pressing forward with its aim of proving NORAID in violation of FARA statues and of reducing its fund-raising efforts even more . Early in 1976 , it was decided that there was now enough evidence to file suit against the INAC to demand that it declare as its 'foreign principal' not the Belfast Northern Aid Committee or the Green Cross , but the Irish Republican Army .
An attack on NORAID was also launched from a different quarter - the year 1977 witnessed the first St. Patrick's Day appeal from the most powerful Irish-American politicians ; Senators Edward Kennedy and Daniel Moynihan , New York State Governor Hugh Carey , and House Speaker Tip O'Neill , directed at Irish Americans , asking them to stop supporting organisations connected to violence .
Though NORAID was not actually named in their statement , it was obviously the target . NORAID's lawyers fought back , accusing the U.S. Government of using FARA as an excuse to interfere with their fund-raising .......
(MORE LATER).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... on 3rd December 1925 at a meeting in Downing Street in London , Free State President William Cosgrave and his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , Kevin O'Higgins , agreed that there should be no change to Britains imposed 'border' in Ireland , that the 'Council of Ireland' be scraped and that monies received from the Brits by way of financial compensation for the damage that Westminster's Black and Tans caused in Ireland would be re-paid ! Those Free State gombeens also agreed to continue paying land annuities to the British Exchequer ....... !
On their return to Dublin a few days later , Cosgrave and O'Higgins , after selling-out to the Brits once more , stuck their chests out and declared - " Today we have sown the seeds of peace ... " ! Bullshit 'spin-doctors' .
And to ensure that nobody could find out just how those " seeds of peace " had been 'won' , it was not only agreed that the Boundary Commission be revoked , but also that its 'findings' be kept hidden ; it was only published 44 years later , in 1969 !
Another episode relating to the Boundary Commission centres around the speech which the Stormont 'Prime Minister' , 'Sir' James Craig , delivered in said institution on 7th October 1924 , in which he 'reminded' the Westminster Government that he had 40,000 armed men who , like him , were not prepared to accept an " unfavourable " decision by the Boundary Commission and would take any steps necessary " to defend their territory ... " (ie - the Six County 'State') .
'Sir' Craig was referring to the 'Ulster (sic) Special Constabulary Association ' .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .......
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 2 of 5).
Alistair Logan was practicing in Guildford about three years at that time and was slightly afraid of taking the case ; firstly because it was so big , secondly because of the " attitude of the community ... " and thirdly because , unless he was prepared to go around saying that it was a " terrible job to have to act on behalf of these bastards .. " - under sufference - he was in trouble .
" If one was going to say that one had serious doubts about whether or not these people were guilty of the offences , it was going to cause a lot of trouble ... " At that time , as now , there was considerable anti-Irish hysteria in Britain due partly to the bombing campaign that was being carried out by the people later captured at Balcombe Street ; Alistair Logan was threatened by the National Front because of his involvement in defending his clients -
- " I was ostracised . I was sentenced to death by the National Front . I got hate mail . My car was done over . I published a letter in 'The Times' in which I asserted the innocence of the people involved and I got formal notification of sentence of death by the National Front . There was very great detail as to how they were going to carry it out - I would be taken out to one of the army ranges and dismembered whilst I was alive , and a variety of other things would be done to me . "
That letter from the National Front was " the straw that broke the camel's back ... " and his marriage broke up .......
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(20 of 31).
The U.S. Justice Department was not allowing this decline in INAC support to prevent it from pressing forward with its aim of proving NORAID in violation of FARA statues and of reducing its fund-raising efforts even more . Early in 1976 , it was decided that there was now enough evidence to file suit against the INAC to demand that it declare as its 'foreign principal' not the Belfast Northern Aid Committee or the Green Cross , but the Irish Republican Army .
An attack on NORAID was also launched from a different quarter - the year 1977 witnessed the first St. Patrick's Day appeal from the most powerful Irish-American politicians ; Senators Edward Kennedy and Daniel Moynihan , New York State Governor Hugh Carey , and House Speaker Tip O'Neill , directed at Irish Americans , asking them to stop supporting organisations connected to violence .
Though NORAID was not actually named in their statement , it was obviously the target . NORAID's lawyers fought back , accusing the U.S. Government of using FARA as an excuse to interfere with their fund-raising .......
(MORE LATER).
Monday, January 10, 2005
THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION , 1921-1925 .......
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... with 'their man' on the Boundary Commission (Eoin MacNeill) gone from that body (and , indeed , gone from Leinster House as well !) the Free State President , William Cosgrave , and his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , Kevin O'Higgins , arrived in Downing Street in London for a meeting with British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Stormont 'Prime Minister' 'Sir' James Craig - that was on the 25th November 1925 . Within nine days (ie by the 3rd December 1925) , the Free Staters had been 'sold' another 'pup' by the Brits ....... !
On the 3rd December 1925 , all those present at a meeting (ie all those mentioned in the intro.) agreed that the 'border' , as fixed 5 years earlier in the ' 1920 Government of Ireland Act ' and as stated in the 1921 Treaty of Surrender , would so remain , and an agreement was signed to that effect by those present . But the Brits , no doubt smelling fear and relief at the same time from the Free Staters , wanted more 'concessions' .......
.......they pushed for , and got , a separate agreement that the 'Council of Ireland' (a 'talking-shop' which the 1921 Treaty promised to set-up) be scraped (even though it had not , in fact , ever been established !) , and , as a final insult to the Free State muppets , the Brits demanded that they repay the compensation which Westminster had paid to them for damage which the Brits themselves had caused in Ireland during the Black and Tan War !
And , in for a (British) penny , in for a (British) pound - no doubt by now realising the 'calibre' of the men they were up against , the Brits also insisted , and again, got , a commitment from the Free Staters that they would continue to pay land annuities to the British Exchequer !
The British Government 'leak' of mis-information to the 'London Morning Post' newspaper (on 7th November 1925) had worked as intended ; put the fear of God into the Free Staters and paid handsome dividends to the Brits . That is , of course , unless you believe the Free State version of how that meeting went .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 1 of 5).
In 1975 , eleven people were wrongly convicted of the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings in Britain the previous year . In the past eighteen months , there have been numerous television programmes about the case and British Home Secretary Douglas Hurd has finally sent the convictions back to the Court of Criminal Appeal for reconsideration .
One man , solicitor Alistair Logan , was mainly responsible for that gain , but his single-mindedness has cost him dearly ; it is now generally accepted that the eleven people are innocent , and should not be in jail . But Alistair Logan did'nt even want the case in the first instance - " I was on the panel of legal aid solicitors and they rang me up one morning and asked if I'd take the case of the Guildford bombers - thats exactly how they put it - and I said 'No' . I was a sole practitoner at the time and I felt that a case of that size would be too big for me to handle .
And they rang me back two hours later and said nobody else would take the case , so I said 'okay'....... "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(19 of 31).
Other NORAID activists were brought before the courts in places as far apart as Butte , Montana , and Baltimore to face weapons-smuggling charges ; on February 14th , 1974 , Federal Agents scored a 'coup' in New York - Treasury Department Agents arrested James Conlon and Michael Larkin , accusing them of conspiring to smuggle twenty thousand dollars' worth of arms , purchased at a Maryland gun shop owned by William Westerfund .
Westerfund was also arrested , as were two other Irish-American activists , Harry Hillick and Kieran MacMahon . Involved were one hundred Armalite rifles , which they were alleged to have obtained from William Westerfund .
All went to prison - James Conlon , who was in poor health , died soon after his release . From around this time , in the mid-1970's , NORAID's filings show a sharp decrease in funds . in 1975 , their returns reveal that for the first time the yearly collections dropped below $200,000 ; during 1975 , $174,000 was reported . The following year the amount fell to $119,500 , and the decline continued into 1977 , when the INAC registered collections of only $108,000 .......
(MORE LATER).
(If Mr. Peter Knox from Australia is reading this : I am unable to locate any further information on that person - I tried a number of times to contact you on the e-mail address you gave me , but my letters were , as Elvis would say , 'returned to sender' ! Sorry its not better news ; Sharon ).
A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland.......
....... with 'their man' on the Boundary Commission (Eoin MacNeill) gone from that body (and , indeed , gone from Leinster House as well !) the Free State President , William Cosgrave , and his 'Minister for Home Affairs' , Kevin O'Higgins , arrived in Downing Street in London for a meeting with British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Stormont 'Prime Minister' 'Sir' James Craig - that was on the 25th November 1925 . Within nine days (ie by the 3rd December 1925) , the Free Staters had been 'sold' another 'pup' by the Brits ....... !
On the 3rd December 1925 , all those present at a meeting (ie all those mentioned in the intro.) agreed that the 'border' , as fixed 5 years earlier in the ' 1920 Government of Ireland Act ' and as stated in the 1921 Treaty of Surrender , would so remain , and an agreement was signed to that effect by those present . But the Brits , no doubt smelling fear and relief at the same time from the Free Staters , wanted more 'concessions' .......
.......they pushed for , and got , a separate agreement that the 'Council of Ireland' (a 'talking-shop' which the 1921 Treaty promised to set-up) be scraped (even though it had not , in fact , ever been established !) , and , as a final insult to the Free State muppets , the Brits demanded that they repay the compensation which Westminster had paid to them for damage which the Brits themselves had caused in Ireland during the Black and Tan War !
And , in for a (British) penny , in for a (British) pound - no doubt by now realising the 'calibre' of the men they were up against , the Brits also insisted , and again, got , a commitment from the Free Staters that they would continue to pay land annuities to the British Exchequer !
The British Government 'leak' of mis-information to the 'London Morning Post' newspaper (on 7th November 1925) had worked as intended ; put the fear of God into the Free Staters and paid handsome dividends to the Brits . That is , of course , unless you believe the Free State version of how that meeting went .......
(MORE LATER).
PASSIONATE FRIEND .
For the past thirteen years , British solicitor ALISTAIR LOGAN has pursued with dogged determination an almost single-handed campaign to prove the innocence of a number of Irish people convicted of bombings in Britain in the seventies .
DEREK DUNNE talks to him about his motivation and his experiences .
First published in ' IN DUBLIN ' magazine , No. 274 , 19th March 1987 , pages 8 and 9 .
Re-published here in 5 parts .
( 1 of 5).
In 1975 , eleven people were wrongly convicted of the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings in Britain the previous year . In the past eighteen months , there have been numerous television programmes about the case and British Home Secretary Douglas Hurd has finally sent the convictions back to the Court of Criminal Appeal for reconsideration .
One man , solicitor Alistair Logan , was mainly responsible for that gain , but his single-mindedness has cost him dearly ; it is now generally accepted that the eleven people are innocent , and should not be in jail . But Alistair Logan did'nt even want the case in the first instance - " I was on the panel of legal aid solicitors and they rang me up one morning and asked if I'd take the case of the Guildford bombers - thats exactly how they put it - and I said 'No' . I was a sole practitoner at the time and I felt that a case of that size would be too big for me to handle .
And they rang me back two hours later and said nobody else would take the case , so I said 'okay'....... "
(MORE LATER).
NORAID'S UNTOLD MILLIONS .......
Irish-Americans have long had complex and contradictory relations with Ireland and the 'Irish Question' . On Saint Patrick's Day , all the ambiguities are apparent .
This year (ie 1987) , on Saint Patrick's Day , the latest book by Irish writer , Jack Holland was published in New York , exploring the tangled web of links between Irish-Americans and the Irish in Ireland , the IRA and the Irish government .
' The American Connection ' describes the activities of leading Irish-American politicians , of romanticising writers and of gun-runners .
In this edited extract , the author tells how Noraid was set up and how it has resisted pressures to disclose all the sources and uses of its funds .
First published in 'MAGILL' magazine , April 1987 .
Re-published here in 31 parts .
(19 of 31).
Other NORAID activists were brought before the courts in places as far apart as Butte , Montana , and Baltimore to face weapons-smuggling charges ; on February 14th , 1974 , Federal Agents scored a 'coup' in New York - Treasury Department Agents arrested James Conlon and Michael Larkin , accusing them of conspiring to smuggle twenty thousand dollars' worth of arms , purchased at a Maryland gun shop owned by William Westerfund .
Westerfund was also arrested , as were two other Irish-American activists , Harry Hillick and Kieran MacMahon . Involved were one hundred Armalite rifles , which they were alleged to have obtained from William Westerfund .
All went to prison - James Conlon , who was in poor health , died soon after his release . From around this time , in the mid-1970's , NORAID's filings show a sharp decrease in funds . in 1975 , their returns reveal that for the first time the yearly collections dropped below $200,000 ; during 1975 , $174,000 was reported . The following year the amount fell to $119,500 , and the decline continued into 1977 , when the INAC registered collections of only $108,000 .......
(MORE LATER).
(If Mr. Peter Knox from Australia is reading this : I am unable to locate any further information on that person - I tried a number of times to contact you on the e-mail address you gave me , but my letters were , as Elvis would say , 'returned to sender' ! Sorry its not better news ; Sharon ).
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